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CNN This Morning

Biden Makes Surprise Trip to Kyiv. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired February 20, 2023 - 06:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[06:30:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Over the border from - from Ukraine. I'm curious what your thoughts are on hearing the president of the United States, in a country that is currently in war with sirens going off, there are no U.S. troops there and yet, he says, we are going to stick with you for the long haul. In other words, you have our full support. What does that mean to Ukraine? What does that say to Russia and the rest of the world?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Sara, good morning.

This is, you know, a really big deal. And the way that the president has orchestrated this, this would like of be like if Roosevelt had visited London during The Blitz in World War II. This is that significant.

So, what we're seeing here is really a transformation of the world order. The Russians, by their invasion of Ukraine, have tried to go in and they've tried to upend the world order. They - they and the Chinese are very much interested in making sure that the United States is not the dominant power in the world. And by doing this invasion of Ukraine, you know, almost a year ago today, you see that there is so many different aspects to this.

You know, you had the initial attack on Kyiv, the one that was repulsed (ph). We all remember that 40 mile long column of tanks that was - and armored personnel carriers and trucks that was supposed to make it to Kyiv. They never made it to Kyiv. And the very fact that the president of the United States, a year on, can say to President Zelenskyy, on President Zelenskyy's home turf, that we are standing by you, that we are standing with you, that is incredibly significant because what it shows is that there are so many different things.

So, you look at, for example, the tanks that all the allies have pledged. You know, you've got 31 tanks from the United States, the Abrams tanks, the Germans with their Leopard IIs, and the Canadians as well, and the Brits bringing their Challengers in. That's just symptom of what's really going on here. Those tanks can make a big difference on the battlefield because what we want the Ukrainians to do is engage in a war of maneuver.

Right now there's a bit of a, you know, some people would call it a stalemate. But basically the forces are stalled, especially in the east. And if they can break out of that, it would be kind of like what happened in World War I where the United States came in, the tanks were invented, and that really increased mobility on the very static front, on the western front in that war. And this same kind of philosophy is what, you know, the military party of this is going to be like.

And, you know, seeing these pictures coming out of Kyiv, that not only underlines the military dimension of this, but it also underlines the geopolitical part of this, which is very significant because the United States is not going go quietly as the dominant power of the world. And we're saying to the Russians and to anybody else who is watching that we are not only sticking with Ukraine, but we're going to do this for, as the president said, as long as it takes.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: I think the next question, Colonel, is, what else will come to get the job fordone for Ukraine, right? And the fact that Russia has tapped almost all of its ground forces, but as our reporting shows, still has a significant air power reserve that it hasn't tapped. Can this be won by Ukraine without U.S. F-16s?

LEIGHTON: Well, bottom line, Poppy, on that is, probably no. And the reason I say that is, in modern warfare, air superiority has been key to the success of land forces and it's also been key to providing that cover for the military actions of whatever domain they're using. So, what's remarkable is that the Russians haven't achieved air superiority at all in anything, you know, that they've done here. And when you see, you know, the possibility of an F-16 coming in there with, you know, it's ability to not only hit ground targets but hit air-to-air targets, that becomes a significant element of an air campaign.

The problem that we have is bringing all these forces together and making sure that the Ukrainians have the training that they need in order to effectively use this weapon system. And, of course, we're seeing them do this In - you know, in Britain we have the initial aspects of training pilots, Ukrainian pilots. That's going to be exceptionally important to get this right. And in order for Ukraine to succeed, I believe that air power is going to be a significant component to that.

And you made a very interesting point, Poppy, because the Russians have not used a significant portion of their air power.

HARLOW: Right.

LEIGHTON: There are Probably several reasons of that -- for that. But the very fact that they're not doing that shows that either they have it in reserve or it doesn't work. And if it doesn't work, the Russians have major problems, even more significant than what we've seen so far.

HARLOW: Yesterday, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham called on the U.S. to start training Ukrainian pilots today on those F-16s.

[06:35:02]

Thank you very much, Colonel Leighton. We appreciate it very much. And coming up for us as we continue to follow this breaking news,

quite a day on the world stage with President Biden in Kyiv meeting with President Zelenskyy. We'll be joined with much more on the national perspective. All of this. David Sanger is here.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our coverage. I'm Kaitlan Collins, live here in Warsaw, Poland, where President Biden was scheduled to visit before he made an unexpected and surprise stop in Kyiv, in Ukraine. His first visit to the country since Russia invaded nearly a year ago. The anniversary is this Friday.

For more perspective on this just absolutely historic visit that we are now seeing still underway right now, I want to bring in David Sanger, who is CNN's national security analyst and national security correspondent for "The New York Times."

David, obviously, you know, you and I both cover Biden. And this has been a trip that he had been wanting to take for about a year now. He has not done so, so far. They were talking about security reasons, why he could not go.

I think one big question, though, is, what do you think the reaction is like right now? What's the response happening inside the Kremlin as they are watching President Biden on the ground with President Zelenskyy?

[06:40:07]

DAVID SANGER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: You know, Kaitlan, it's a fascinating question because President Putin is supposed to give a speech tomorrow that was supposed to be his rational for continuing a war that has already produced about 200,000 Russian casualties, including, we think, 50,000 or more dead. That was not the plan. The plan was that, of course, Ukraine, and Kyiv, was supposed to be Russian territory by now.

And so what you're going to see tomorrow are two very different visions of not only where the war could go but between President Putin's speech and then President Biden's speech, two very different visions of how Europe should be organized. And that's why this is really such a critical moment in that - that -- the end of the post- Cold War order we've been discussing for so long.

COLLINS: Yes. And so President Biden will then come here to Poland, of course, where he is supposed to speak tomorrow. That's going to be a huge aspect of this as well. We've talked about the role that Poland has played, a critical role. They've had a big change in just the last year.

But a big question has been where they've been funneling, of course, these weapons and arm shipments that they have been getting into Ukraine. Obviously, Ukraine wants to see different levels of that. And what the White House announced today, the half a billion dollars in aid package, had a lot of the things that we've seen them send before. It, obviously, did not include the longer range missiles that Ukraine has been wanting, or the F-16 fighter jets that they've also said that they believe they so desperately need.

What you are watching on that front, David?

SANGER: Well, Kaitlan, I've spent the weekend at the Munich Security Conference, where we had about 50 members of Congress, a number of members of the cabinet, Secretary of State Blinken, of course, Vice President Harris, who gave a speech (INAUDIBLE) I think with good evident that the Russians have conducted not only war crimes but crimes against humanity.

But that leaves open the question of how far President Biden is ready to go to expand the support, because while he says we're there as long as it takes, he doesn't say what we're there with. And the complaint that we heard here from the Ukrainians, who were at the conference in large numbers, was that they simply don't have what they need to sustain over the long term. And there is, in fact, some tension inside the White House and inside the administration about whether you give them what they need for the next few months or you give them what they need to make it impossible for Russia to try something like this again. And those maybe be very different things. And, of course, President Biden increasingly concerned that weapons that can reach deep inside Russia could provoke a much wider war or nuclear use.

COLLINS: Yes, those are major questions over what exactly they're willing to provide and whether or not they wait until later, what that looks like, that timeline.

David Sanger, great analysis from you. Thank you so much for providing your perspective.

And we're going to get more in just a moment on the historic visit that President Biden is currently making inside Ukrainian territory, inside Ukraine, as a war is underway. A rare trip by a president to a war zone where there are no U.S. forces. We're going to get more perspective on that from Julian Zelizer. That's going to be next right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:47:46]

HARLOW: Welcome back to our continuing coverage of this breaking news. President Biden with an unannounced surprise visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, meeting with President Zelenskyy. By the way, President Zelenskyy just tweeting this about President Biden's visit. Historic, timely and brave.

Let's talk about the history that has just been made here with Julian Zelizer.

Thank you, Julian, so much for joining us. I thought it was interesting that last hour we heard - well, earlier this hour, Colonel Cedric Leighton said that this is such a big deal it would have been - because, by the way, this is an active war zone, right? We haven't seen this really from a U.S. president before in this context. Cedric Leighton said, this would kind of be like if FDR had visited London during The Blitz. And that's how significant it is. Do you agree?

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. I mean we've had U.S. presidents visiting U.S. troops during wars. Franklin Roosevelt did it in 1943 in North Africa. President Lyndon Johnson and Nixon did it in Vietnam and so on. President Clinton visited Bosnia in 1997, where U.S. troops were peacekeepers. But here he's visiting without the U.S. troops as a backdrop and in the middle of a very hot war. So, it's a very significant moment, I think, for him and for the situation broadly.

SIDNER: You know, when you were looking at these pictures, I mean you talk about the historic moment. But there is, of course, a huge background to this. This is the upcoming one-year anniversary of the unprovoked invasion by Russia into Ukraine. Can you give us a sense of what this might mean in the future for democracy? A lot of people in the region will talk about this isn't just about Ukraine, it's about something that is much bigger. Do you agree?

ZELIZER: Well, that's certainly how the Biden administration sees it. It is a global effort. It's part of a global effort to preserve democratic governments and institutions. And this is a show of force from the president in term of U.S. support that it will not go away. It will not vanish as this war continues. And I think politically, diplomatically, that's exactly what the president is trying to assert.

[06:50:05]

SIDNER: Can I - sorry, Poppy.

HARLOW: Go, go, go.

SIDNER: Can I just quickly ask you about that. There has been, I think, over the last couple of presidents, concern that the United States is wishy washy when it comes to its role in the world. And there's been a pulling back of -- in the past administration of engaging internationally. Do you think the United States is still seen that way or does this change the game really with this visit?

ZELIZER: Well, I think U.S. involvement in Ukraine through support has been an effort to move away from that. I mean since the war in Iraq, in many ways like the war in Vietnam, there has been a bipartisan sentiment in many ways to pull away.

And I think with President Biden and very strong support for Ukraine in a very heated situation, this has done something to reverse that. It's not a commitment of troops, so it is a little different. But it is a commitment of support.

And it's been very steady. And now we are well into this. And President Biden is reminding the world, this isn't stopping right now.

So, I do think this will be quite pivotal in that way.

SIDNER: That's really interesting.

Julian Zelizer, thank you so much. Always coming with some really interesting and historical perspective.

And we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:31]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One year later, Kyiv stands and Ukraine stands. Democracy stands. The Americas stand with you and the world stands with you.

We know that there will be very difficult days and weeks and years ahead. But Russia's aim was to wipe Ukraine off the map. Putin's war of conquest is failing. Russia's military has lost half its territory it once occupied.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: President Biden making an historic visit to Ukraine. CNN has crewed in all of the key places covering this story, including Clarissa Ward in Kyiv.

We'll be right back with our breaking news coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:00:00]