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Ukrainians Fight Russian Advance at Key Bridge in Kherson; Historic Supreme Court Pick; First on CNN: Biden Nominates Ketanji Brown Jackson to be First Black Woman to sit on the Supreme Court; U.S. is Concerned Kyiv Could Fall to Russia within Days, Sources Familiar with Intelligence Say. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired February 25, 2022 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Hello, everybody and welcome to "Inside Politics". I'm John King in Washington. Thank you for sharing this busy day with us.

In fact, the history books will grant this day some extra space. Just a short time ago President Biden announcing he is nominating the first black woman to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. The Federal Appeals Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is the choice. In a moment we will explore why and the confirmation process just ahead.

But we begin the hour with the war in Ukraine. There are new Russian assaults on key cities and provocative new words today from Vladimir Putin even as the Kremlin says it is willing to talk Ukrainian capital of Kyiv among the Russian targets.

Russia claims it now has control of a key airport just outside the city and a new U.S. intelligence assessment suggests Kyiv could fall within days. Ukraine's President and Kyiv's Mayor urging resistance 18,000 guns distributed to reservists to defend the capital, and officials urging residents use Molotov cocktails against any Russian advance.

The European Union today added to its sanction saying it would now directly target assets held by Putin and by his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, but Ukraine's Foreign Minister says it is still not enough. He wants the West to cut off Russia from Swift. That's the network for international banking transactions.

CNN is on the frontlines of this confrontation our reporters covering all the latest developments. Let's begin with CNN's Matthew Chance live in Kyiv. Matthew more reports Russian soldiers advancing on the city. What are you seeing?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, within the past few seconds, there has been more explosions in the distance here in Kyiv. The darkness has obviously descended here and we can't exactly see where they're coming from.

But we do know that about six miles to the north of this position over here. There are Russian troops backed by armor in a suburb called - which is inside Kyiv City limits. And there's been fierce fighting between those Russian forces that have come to that part of the city and Ukrainian security forces that have been fighting with them, preventing them to go - from going any further short distance from there the Antonov Airport that's the location that I went to a couple of days ago when I thought it was going to be talking to Ukrainian military personnel on the gates of the airport.

In fact, I came face to face with the Russian Special Forces that had been deployed there a few hours before there's been contradictory word from both the Russians and Ukrainians about who's in control of the airport. Now the latest statement we've had is from the Russian Defense Ministry they say they are very much in control of the Antonov Airbase important because it could be a landing ground.

If the Russians decide to bring in more reinforcements more troops more heavy armor they could fly in as well to the airbase further and circulate - encircle the city and you carry out an invasion of it to take it and that's the big concern in Kyiv, the Ukrainian Capital a lot of apprehension, a lot of dread about what the coming hours could bring John?

KING: Matthew Chan's live for us in Kyiv, Matthew; continue with the fascinating fabulous import live reporting. We'll come back to you as necessary. Let's go now to see CNN's Nick Paton Walsh he's in Kherson. That's in southern Ukraine where intense fight over strategic bridge played out. Nick, what is the situation right now?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it may have changed hands. Again we don't know at this stage. This morning, we woke to find that the Ukrainian forces who appeared to have been kicked back when we arrived here yesterday, we're gaining control of this important bridge.

It is important because - was being an important city on the way up from Crimea that's held by Russia, but lower Southern Peninsula of Ukraine and a way up towards the north Kyiv Capital. You have to pass through - and you have to cross over the Dnieper River, which cuts the country into that bridge is on the edge of this town.

And this morning, Ukraine held it we saw the extraordinary damage that had been done to the bridge in the areas around it by airstrikes by heavy shelling the dead left behind where they fell. We went back there this evening in our earlier reports, and we heard what sounded like an attack helicopter moving in after some shelling the targeted the Ukrainians, burst of rocket and then heavy machine gunfire and then silence and so it is unclear at this stage who holds that area.

It has gone back and forth. As I say we were in a similar situation last night when the Russians appeared to push the Ukrainians back. We are still hearing again, the impacts of what sounded like to grad rockets that were hitting areas near this town this afternoon.

We've heard some in just the last half hour or so and two blasts that have to be a lot closer to us possibly inside the city center frankly given how loud they sounded.

[12:05:00]

ROBERTSON: So nothing letting up tonight at all and while we had thought possibly that yesterday the Russian simply wanted to send forces over that bridge and let them move on elsewhere in Ukraine, it's clear that people have followed up behind them Russian troops and have it in their sights possibly tonight to take again.

It is vital because it appears that they're running into trouble running they're into greater Ukrainian resistance around - around areas of Kyiv, and coming up from Crimea provides another assault direction on the capital John.

KING: Nick Paton Walsh again, very important reporting please to you and your crew, please stay safe as you keep doing that reporting for us. Ukraine's President today made a televised appeal to his Russian counterpart; President Volodymyr Zelensky said he wanted talks to end the bloodshed.

The Kremlin says it is willing to talk but at the same time, there are tough new words from President Putin. Let's get to CNN's Nic Robertson. He is live in Moscow with the latest. Nic mixed messages if you believe anything; I guess that comes from the Kremlin.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, it is very hard to discern precisely what they mean. Often their words need to be taken in reverse. That's certainly been the experience of the past few weeks.

What we heard from the Kremlin today is that they are saying essentially that Ukrainian forces are hiding their military hardware in amongst the civilian population. This is ominous for exactly that reason. They had said until now they were just targeting military bases, that they weren't targeting civilians.

This seems to open up the possibility and certainly it's within the Russian playbook in the past where they will say something like this there are weapons in civilian neighborhoods, and then they will go ahead and target those neighborhoods. So that's ominous.

On the possibility of peace talks the Kremlin has said that Kyiv agreed that there would be a possibility for talks that these talks could be held in Minsk, Minsk the Capital of Belarus. Belarus the launching pad for some of the Russian forces, of course, coming into Ukraine, so hardly a neutral venue.

The Kremlin then updated and said well, actually the Ukrainian authorities now wanted the talks in Poland, in Warsaw in Poland and the Kremlin saying that that track of possible diplomacy there have a meeting between Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of Defense heads of state offices meeting that's now sort of slid to a halt.

They say the Kremlin says because the Ukrainians want a change of venue. But I think the most chilling words we've heard this afternoon have become - have come from President Putin, who has called on Ukraine's army to take down the leadership turn on their leadership and has a message for the Ukrainian people. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIA: We do not let Banda rights and Neo Nazis use your children, wives and old people as human shields. Take power into your own hands. It looks like it will be easier for us to come to an agreement than with this gang of drug addicts and Neo Nazis that has settled in Kyiv and taken hostage the entire Ukrainian people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: The words are pretty aggressive. But I think for a lot of people who study President Putin pretty closely over the past few years, he himself was looking very aggressive. Not perhaps his sort of karma self of previous years so a lot of concern around that statement, and specifically, this possibility that Russian forces are opening a pathway to attack into civilian neighborhoods coming up tonight, John.

KING: Nic Robertson, very important reporting from Moscow, Nic, appreciate it very much. Now let's get to CNNs Erin Burnett, she's in Lviv that's in the western region of Ukraine Erin air raid sirens in the city where you are this morning what the latest is right now?

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: So I'll tell you, you know, John, we've had air raid sirens obviously in the mornings here today. There was then there were air raid sirens in the morning, people did take shelter and then there was one - we haven't had one before, right in the middle of the day.

So we were outside, you know, and able to see people's reaction and things have probably shifted. John, as I said, it's a very dark day; things have changed when that air raid siren went off people moved. People started to go some people I saw sort of trotting as if they were going someplace someone that we were talking to so I - do I go home or do I go somewhere else people are taking shelter.

This is not just an exercise. This is now perceived by people to be life or death. This is real. And there's been a palpable shift in the streets. Some of our team you know been asked for identification that had not happened before. There is a curfew that is going to take place here in the next couple of hours.

It is supposed to be dark here in a couple of hours as it is across this country. The streets are very empty some of the side streets that cars use as cut-thru that we've seen over the past couple weeks have been bumper to bumper were completely empty. It was very hard to find anything open in terms of even getting food no retailers opened.

[12:10:00]

BURNETT: It is very much a hold and wait your breath and just I would say for lack of a better word John there it is bated breath and waiting for something bad to happen. That's the attitude that people have. KING: And let me just follow up on that point. I'm going to ask the comptroller if we just have a map of the country in the sense that we understood Putin very much one of the separatists regions to the east. Then there was the threat you want to topple the Zelensky government, you go for the Capital in Kyiv.

You are in Lviv to the west closer to Portland - to Poland, excuse me. Many people thought perhaps if there was going to be a "Safe city in Ukraine, it would be Lviv". But as you note, this changing mood and you hear the aggression in Putin's words, and the talk of taking all of Ukraine back that has changed things, right?

BURNETT: It has changed things. And yesterday morning, you know, we were - we were awakened such that we had napped for about a half an hour to bombs, to missiles and rockets, right that hit military establishments around here so that it shocked people.

It shocked people and it has completely changed the way they see things. But I will say John, you know, today I went to a place where army reservists were showing up. And I also talked to young men right now that they have been martial law here banned anybody between the ages of 18 and 60, who's a man from leaving the country.

Any men are here, they can't leave, right? So - reservist he said look, I could have hidden, I could have hidden and found a way to not show up, but I'm here and he's a veteran of the war in the east. I am here he said because I want to destroy Russians in my territory.

And the boys we talked to her 18 John, they said the exact same thing innocent little childish faces, and they're willing to take guns and fight in the streets of the city if that's what it takes.

KING: That's remarkable. We'll watch it play out in the - hours ahead. Erin Burnett grateful for the live reporting from Lviv! We'll come back to the Ukraine story in just a few moments. But next history made and perhaps more to come; President Biden nominates the first black woman for the Supreme Court why Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and what lies ahead in the confirmation process?

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[12:15:00]

KING: A big event at the White House just a bit later this afternoon. The Federal Appeals Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, you see her right there will be introduced as President Biden's Supreme Court nominee. She would replace the retiring Justice Stephen Breyer if confirmed, and she would be the first black woman to serve on the High Court.

A White House statement says "President Biden sought a candidate with exceptional credentials, unimpeachable character and unwavering dedication to the rule of law". CNN Legal Analyst Joan Biskupic joins me now Joan, why, why Judge Jackson?

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, she's got the package. First of all, in the courts 233 year history, it's never had a black woman. So you're right big, big change today. Also, she's credentialed Harvard Law School, clerked for Justice Breyer who she would succeed. She has been really in the trenches of civil and criminal trials.

And she was a Federal Public Defender. So she's bringing not just her personal history as the first African American woman, but very distinctive, professional history. Some of our viewers might remember two of her key rulings one, Former White House Counsel Don McGahn she ordered that he would have to testify when she was a trial judge before house investigators.

And then more recently, she signed on to an opinion with the D.C. circuit where she sits now that said that President - Former President Trump materials at the archive could be released to January six investigators.

But one thing I want to mention, John is that not only will she tried to make a difference, and President Biden would want her to make a difference with the current court. But she's only 51. She's going to be the second youngest justice on that court. So she presumably would serve for decades and as she serves as long as Stephen Breyer has and as his age he's 83. She's got three decades ahead of herself to make a difference with the nation's law.

KING: And we talked about first black woman, a Supreme Court, A, long overdue, but B, this would be the first time if she's confirmed that you have for women of the ninth justice.

BISKUPIC: That's right. Four women and the three liberals are all women. The fourth, of course, would be Justice Barrett, who was just confirmed in 2020 so quite a significant day John.

KING: Jones, stay with us. Let's bring into the conversation to share some insights and some expertise. Angela Onwuachi-Willig she is Dean and Professor at the Boston University School of Law and our CNN Contributor, Steve Vladeck. Dean, let me start with you. There's history here. But it's beyond that. What is this younger black woman justice? What would she bring to this court?

ANGELA ONWUACHI-WILLIG, DEAN & PROFESSOR, BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW: Oh, she would bring a tremendous amount of support. And but apart from her exceptional credentials, and exceptional legal mind, she brings so much diversity to the court.

She brings a unique perspective, of course, as a black woman with unique experiences. But she brings first of all, she will be the first Supreme Court Justice who is a - who was a public defender, some of the first Supreme Court Justice since Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first black justice on the court to represent people who were being tried for criminal offenses.

And so there was one point where she talked about the fact that being a public defender really taught her a lot about people who didn't understand their rights, and having a justice on the court, who understand what it's like for somebody to be at risk of their freedom. And then also who doesn't understand their basic human rights that would be incredible to have that insight on the court. The other thing that she really brings on the court she brings; she's somebody who understands what it's like to be personally impacted by the criminal justice system.

She had an uncle who was imprisoned in and who was imprisoned for the federal judicial system. And she helped him actually she helped him get a pro bono representation and also and helped him ultimately get his sentence commuted by President Obama.

[12:20:00]

ONWUACHI-WILLIG: But she understands the impact on families when someone is sent away to prison for decades and decades and decades, and in fact for life. And so that's a really, really important perspective. No other justice will bring that on the court.

I think it's incredibly important that she just like Justice Amy Coney Barrett is a mother. And so she's bringing that perspective as somebody who has a mother on the court, and particularly as a black mother, and there's so many issues that face women at the intersection of race and gender, and motherhood or just gender and motherhood and, and she's going to bring a really important perspective in that respect there.

And it's really important as a black woman, because black mothers have been so vilified in our, in our society, she just has brings a wealth of disparity to the bench, and she'll be a phenomenal justice in so many different respects. I am so excited. It's such a joy.

KING: Sorry if I'm interrupting a little bit of technology glitches. So Steve Vladeck, let's follow up on that point. I just want to read a little bit that Joan mentioned this. This is a ruling of the White House, Former White House Counsel Don McGahn and presidential documents, executive privilege and the like.

She wrote this the primary takeaway from the past 250 years of record American history is that presidents are not kings. One of the things that will come up now in the confirmation hearing is who is she is a jurist? You know, we know this is A, as Joan said a liberal replacing a liberal.

So you're not changing the ideological balance of the court. But in her legal writings in her legal rulings, does she bring any unique perspective to this court?

STEVE VLADECK, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SCHOOL OF LAW: Yes, I mean, I think she does John. I think you heard Angela mentioned a lot of the perspectives first justice since Justice Marshall to actually represent criminal defendants' first justice ever to be a public defender.

And you know, John, that's not going to move the center of gravity on the court. But I do you think it's an important perspective that perhaps over time, as Joan said, over the decades, that she's likely to serve on the court could potentially move some of the justices around her.

I mean, we know for example, that Ruth Bader Ginsburg had an effect on Chief Justice Rehnquist as they serve together. So, you know, I think it's such an important pick, not just for the obvious reasons.

But for the less obvious reasons for the ways in which a Justice Jackson would diversify, not just the color of skin of the justices, not just the first black woman on the court, but someone who actually understands what it's like to be in the nitty gritty of our criminal justice system in a way that frankly, none of the current nine justices do and in a way that could only help the courts jurisprudence.

KING: And so let's - we don't have cameras in federal court. So often when we're introducing new federal judges, people haven't seen them or heard them. You saw some pictures their video, let's listen. This is back in 1987, when Ketanji Brown Jackson was a district court federal judge introducing Justice Breyer for whom she clerked, listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA DISTRICT COURT: In 1999, Justice Breyer plucked me from obscurity and gave me the opportunity of a lifetime, which was the chance to work for him as a law clerk. It was an incredible experience just to be in the room, while the Justice grappled with some of the most difficult and consequential legal issues of the day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Dean Onwuachi-Willig that's 2017. So, Dean help me understand just again, I wanted America to hear her voice. They're about to see her in a confirmation hearing. Some of that will be bruising, but you talked about the value of having somebody with a different life perspective, in this unique setting of the Supreme Court of the United States.

ONWUACHI-WILLIG: Absolutely just incredible to have that. I mean, imagine somebody who brings the perspective of a criminal, public defender of somebody who has somebody who's led life has been imprisoned somebody who was told at the top of their class in high school that they shouldn't shoot so high and apply to Harvard University for college, right?

Bringing all those experiences to the Fourth Amendment cases on the Supreme Court, bringing those experiences as they think about affirmative action cases, some of the most pressing issues of our time that's a really important - those are really important insights to have.

And I want to add also, I think, really important to add to Professor Vladeck's point is that she was known to be a consensus builder. When she was on the Sentencing Commission when she was a Vice Chair on the Sentencing Commission she was known as somebody who was a consensus builder.

So I think she'll play a really important role in the Supreme Court as someone who can build consensus among the various justices.

KING: Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Steve Vladeck and John Biskupic, appreciate the time today. We'll continue the conversation obviously, other pressing breaking news today. We have a confirmation process ahead and we will continue the conversation throughout that. But next for us back to Ukraine for the latest news fighting underway in Kyiv, and a Senior U.S. defense official now warns that potentially thousands of Russian naval infantry being put in place.

[12:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Back now to our breaking news out of Ukraine; the Pentagon of course watching the fighting and it says Russian troops are facing resistance as they advance toward Kyiv. To the East Kharkiv is Ukraine's second largest city. Russian troops are crossing the border there near Kharkiv from the Belgorod region of Russia. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is there for us and joins us now live Fred, interesting things you've been seeing over the past few days. What about right now?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you're absolutely right, John, certainly some really interesting things. What we have right now is we're still hearing sort of rocket artillery fire going off at various times during the day.

It was a little bit less today and I think part of that had to do with the fact that was a massive snowstorm actually, in this region throughout the entire day of course makes it more difficult to operate those rocket launchers or at least have them be accurate.

[12:30:00]