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Zelenskyy: Working On "Securing Humanitarian Corridors Again"; Ukrainian Orphans Flee To Romania As Russia's War Rages; Key Inflation Measure Jumps To Highest Level Since Jan 1982. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired March 10, 2022 - 12:30   ET

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

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[12:30:53]

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Today's new Ukraine war developments include more economic isolation for Russia. Today, Goldman Sachs and Western Union join a growing list of companies suspending or ending operations in Russia. This new video obtained by CNN shows a deep crater in the ground.

That's the aftermath of another airstrike in Mariupol. The same town where that strike in a hospital yesterday killed at least three people. Getting her family out of Mariupol top of mind for a woman who spoke to CNN Sam Kiley, she's volunteering at a refugee Welcome Center in Zaporizhzhia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YULIA KARAULAN: My daughter told me she loves me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course, she does.

KARAULAN: Actually, how she's alive, it's a miracle. She's doing like all of the children doing now in Mariupol, almost no food, no drinking water, no electricity. It was minus five this night. They have no heat sitting in a cold basement in some coats.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: In the capital city of Kyiv, military recruits being trained how to use new antitank weapons. In the port city of Odessa civilians there, getting a lesson on rifles at a local university. And in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, Anderson Cooper spoke to a family that left the Donbass region of Ukraine and now must decide whether to leave their home again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: What do you tell a child about what is happening?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Adventure, just an adventure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking of Foreign Language)

COOPER: The kids think it's an adventure. But for Anna (ph) and Timor (ph), it's more like a nightmare. It's the second time they've lost their home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): They will never defeat us because this is our land. I just want the whole world to help so our kids don't die. Now we are playing hide and seek so they can learn to hide when it will be needed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Amen.

Today the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his government is working on securing humanitarian corridors again for Ukrainian cities. CNN's Scott McLean, tracking this for us, he's live in Lviv, Ukraine, Scott?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John. Yes, the President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that some 35,000 people were able to get out through these humanitarian corridors yesterday. But the reality is it is extremely difficult to verify numbers that high. Today, we understand that about 2,000 people were able to get out of the town of Izyum in eastern Ukraine where earlier this week, a military strike hit a medical facility a hospital there.

We know that of course yesterday, a military strike hit a hospital in Mariupol, where the situation is particularly dire. The president says the corridors are being opened to get people out of Mariupol. He says the buses to pick people up and aid is on the way. But at this point, there's no evidence that that aid or those buses have actually arrived. Local officials in Mariupol say that their bombing campaign continues, the roads are being cut off.

And they say that the Russian aim is to completely cut off the city from the rest of the country. And we know the situation is particularly dire from the International Committee of the Red Cross. They're supposed to be the neutral party, sort of helping to facilitate these corridors to get people out of the city. They say that people are running out of food and water we're talking about hundreds of thousands of people. They are sitting inside their homes with no heat at all. And the temperatures are absolutely frigid.

People are fighting each other for food. People are stopping cars to try to get fuel out of them. They're trying to get medicine out of them. The World Food Program, meanwhile, it's set up warehouses to get food across the Ukraine because there is such a need. The problem of course, at this stage, John, is actually getting it where it needs to go.

KING: It's devastating, devastating. Scott, grateful, grateful for the very important reporting as we watch this piece, the humanitarian piece of this crisis play out, Scott McLean in Lviv, thank you very much.

Ahead for us, Putin's war and Ukraine's defiant President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the face of resistance.

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[12:34:55]

PRES. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINE: It's not about I want to talk with Putin. I think I have to talk with Putin. The world has to talk with Putin because there are no another ways to stop this war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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KING: The Ukraine refugee count sadly keeps climbing, now more than 2.3 million as the war enters week three. Romania is one destination for those fleeing the violence. CNN's Miguel Marquez is there, talking to young children, orphans, who face an uncertain future.

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[12:40:05]

SASHA RESNICHENKA, NINE-YEAR-OLD UKRAINIAN ORPHAN: Hello. My name Sasha.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Nine- year-old Sasha Resnichenka, one of hundreds of Ukrainian kids with no parents, or separated from them, now being cared for in Romania.

I have no mother and father. They died, he says. I lived in several places, and I know it's important to listen to my teachers and behave myself.

This government facility north of Bucharest has taken in 27 kids, all with varying degrees of physical or mental disabilities.

This is a tragic moment for all of us, she says. It's a huge challenge for the system and our community. But we have the resources to care for these children.

These kids, along with a few teachers, fled Ukraine's southern Odessa region last week.

Our trip took all morning and all night, he says. I don't know how to explain it.

MARQUEZ (on camera): Was it a long trip?

(voice over): Stas Glikman turned eleven the day we visited.

I wanted a smartphone for my birthday, he says, but I'm afraid to ask the teachers.

Angelina, Stas' big sister, says their mother is still in Ukraine, unable to travel.

I'm thinking about my family, she says. My mother can't walk. She was injured in a vehicle accident.

They all know a war is happening back home. They don't totally understand it.

There is a war in Ukraine, he says, so the director of our school decided to bring us here.

Nearly 220 Ukrainian children, like Sasha, are now in Romania, say immigration officials here, their futures before the war, uncertain today.

(on camera): How long will you stay here?

(voice over): Maybe two or three months, she says. Maybe four months.

Just this one county sheltering 66 Ukrainian children in three different facilities, kids who have no parents with them and, for now, no country.

(on camera): How do you feel they are doing?

(voice over): They are feeling good, she says. They're sleeping well, playing lots of games, and eating well. These teachers and staff from the Ukrainian school upended their lives, too. Leaving loved ones behind, they stayed with these kids. Their responsibilities for them and hope for their homeland, boundless.

(on camera): How do you feel about the future? Where will all this go?

(voice over): We believe in a better future and that the war will be over, she says. I believe Ukraine will stay united as a nation.

And, like kids everywhere, they have dreams, big ones.

(on camera): What do you want to be when you grow up?

(voice over): I want to be an American, he says. Then adds, I also want to fly into space and take my teacher with me.

Those caring for these kids have a simpler, maybe more impossible hope.

(on camera): If you had a magic wand and you could wish for one thing, what would it be?

(voice-over): Peace, only peace. No translation needed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: Remarkable, remarkable work there. We thank our CNN's Miguel Marquez for that. And we want to take a moment to remember the lives lost in Ukraine. Valeriia Maksetska was described as quote a brave woman with a kind heart.

The USAID Administrator Samantha Power, says Valeriia who was a partner of the agency in quote, just shy of her 32nd birthday stayed behind to help others in Kyiv when she could have evacuated. A Russian tank fired on Valeriia, her mother, and driver, Power says killing all three.

And there's a gut-wrenching backstory behind this tragic and very graphic photo of a dead mother and her two children taken by American journalist Lynsey Addario. Their father and husband learned of his family's death when he saw a photo on Twitter. He tells "The New York Times" quote, I recognize the luggage and that is how I knew. As for the picture, that father says quote, the whole world should know what is happening here.

[12:44:33]

For more about how you can help the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine go to CNN.com/impact. We'll be right back.

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KING: Big inflation report out from the government today. The consumer price index up 7.9 percent over the last year, that is a pace not seen since January 1982, 40 years ago. Driving that surge, prices for gas, food, and housing. Food prices alone rose 1 percent last month. That's the largest monthly increase since April 2020. It comes of course on the back of rising energy costs which have spiked further since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. CNN Business reporter Matt Egan joins us now for the context. Matt, what do we learn from this?

MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Well, John, inflation is clearly moving in the wrong direction. And Russia's invasion of Ukraine is only going to make it worse. As you mentioned, a 40-year high for headline inflation we've seen record price increases in February for everything from breakfast, sausage and lunch meat to chicken and baby food, new cars and trucks, men's apparel, it really is across the board.

[12:50:20]

And we know that inflation was very high heading into this period, a lot of that has to do with COVID disruptions and the economic recovery from COVID. And now you have this situation in Ukraine. Russia is an energy powerhouse. It was the number two producer of oil in the world last year, we've seen oil prices skyrocket, gasoline prices have gone up to record highs, they're probably not done rising just yet. And so that means that inflation is only going to get worse most likely, in March.

A lot of those price increases that have been driven by Russia, Ukraine are not even captured in the numbers that came out today, which really only cover February. So we know that inflation is a big issue for the U.S. economy.

And it's easy to see how that's going to continue. The question is what Washington going to do about it? Next week, the Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates for the first time in years. And that will be the first real concrete step from Washington aimed at addressing high inflation, John. KING: And to the point of what comes next, Matt, you say indications or it's not going to go away quickly. Obviously, the American people paying these higher prices want to know when. President of the United States his party has a big election year coming up this year wants to know when, any indications that it will at least get better or do we not know?

EGAN: We don't know. I think that if anything, you know, the past year on the inflation front shows how hard it is to accurately forecast anything about the COVID economy. Remember, last spring, consumer prices were rising and there was a big debate, Larry Summers on one side the White House on the other about how long inflation would be here. And a lot of people have been very surprised by how high inflation has been here and how long it's been here.

And then you have this situation with Russia invading Ukraine, this sort of black swan event and that has just added even more uncertainty to the inflation situation. Now the job of the Fed here is to try to raise interest rates without short circuiting this economic recovery, they don't want to do too little because that means inflation could get too hot. And they don't want to do too much because that could actually hurt the economy. This is going to be a very delicate task here on the inflation front.

KING: Something important to watch in the days ahead. Matt Egan, grateful for the important update. We'll be right back.

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[12:57:25]

KING: President Biden's Supreme Court nominee Appeals Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson making the rounds on Capitol Hill, meetings with key senators. Democrats are impressed but winning support from Republicans who in the past voted to confirm her to lower jobs, still an open question. Let's get up to our chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju. Manu, the Democrats say this is great. She's great. She's smart. But what about the Republicans?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They're really not there yet. It's really uncertain how many Republicans ultimately will vote for her. They don't -- just need Republicans to get confirmed. She almost certainly will have all 50 Democrats on board. But well even those three Republicans who voted to confirm her to the D.C. Circuit be on board, that is still uncertain.

One of them Susan Collins has indicated that she's probably going to support Ketanji Brown Jackson. Another one, Lindsey Graham, seems like he may be going the opposite direction. And the third one, Lisa Murkowski, she is undecided. She's also up for reelection in a year in which a Trump back challenger is going after her on the judicial issue. She has supported Lisa Murkowski has 37 of Joe Biden's lower court nominees.

But she told me that she is not there yet on this. She says even though she voted before for the D.C. Circuit, the second most important court in the country, she said this is a completely quote, different game. And she says he wants to watch the hearings of what happens here.

But John this really underscores that even though this is a historic nomination, the first black woman ever to serve on the court if confirmed, getting more than a handful of Republican votes at this point seems unlikely, just given how partisan the Supreme Court fights have become.

KING: Fascinating to watch as this plays out over the next week or so before the hearings. Manu Raju, grateful for that.

Right now, we mentioned earlier in the program, Kamala Harris is in Poland. She also had a sit down while there with the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Our senior White House correspondent Phil Mattingly back with us. This is a critically important trip for her.

But it's also critically important we were talking about this earlier, the Biden administration realizes one impact of this, we don't know what's going to happen in Ukraine but a serious rewrite of the security infrastructure in Europe now to build up and intensify and keep for at least a while now more of a U.S. and NATO presence on Russia's doorstep.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I think that a really critical point is in this moment in time we view things in 24- hour news cycles, or in a few days or in a few weeks. Every White House official I've spoken to that's working on this feels like this is going to take a significant amount of time. This is not going to be short, not just because the Russian vision hasn't necessarily gone as they thought it was going to go but just because it's going to be a long drawn-out process.

I think when you talk to officials and the President alluded to this, there's a very real sense that the Western alliance is -- has a momentum and is juiced up to some degree, but in a way it hasn't been now for a decade or more. And that is an important change sustaining that particularly over time particularly when there's economic pain that's coming in the days and weeks ahead is a critical component of this, that is what the President and his team were focused on.

[13:00:10]

KING: And what the Vice President hears in Poland and Romania reports back, important as well.

Thanks for joining us in INSIDE POLITICS. Ana Cabrera, Anderson Cooper pick up our coverage right now.