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Ukraine to Declare State of Emergency Amid Russian Aggression; U.S. Warns Businesses to Watch for Russian Cyberattacks; Trump Sides with Putin as Biden Tries to Stop a War; Disgraced Former Governor in Race for Senate. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired February 23, 2022 - 06:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Wednesday, February 23. I'm John Berman with Brianna Keilar. And this is CNN's special coverage of the escalating crisis in Ukraine.

[05:59:50]

Breaking just moments ago, Ukraine's national security and defense council announced a state of emergency is to be introduced across all government-controlled region across the entire country.

This comes as Vladimir Putin is getting more aggressive, and the world applies pressure. Putin announced that Russia's interests in security are nonnegotiable, though he does insist he's open to dialogue on the most difficult problems he says facing the region.

New satellite images from Maxar Technology show the Russians adding logistics infrastructure near the Ukraine border, including a field hospital and shelters.

KEILAR: In the meantime, the Pentagon is moving f-35 and Apache helicopters already in Europe to the Baltic states and to NATO's eastern flank.

About 800 U.S. troops are being repositioned from Italy to the Baltic region.

And overnight, NATO secretary-general announced that there's evidence Russian troops moved into the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine is also calling on all of its citizens in Russia to leave the country. The country's foreign minister says diplomacy is still Plan A, but Plan B is to fight for every inch of land in every city and every village. Here in the United States, American businesses are also

being warned to watch out for ransomware attacks in retaliation.

So let's get now to CNN's Jim Sciutto, who is with us is Lviv, Ukraine. What can you tell us about these latest announcements BY Ukraine, Jim?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: Well, Brianna, there have been times in this crisis when there's been daylight between Ukrainian officials and U.S. officials as to the seriousness, urgency of the threat from Russia. That time has gone.

You have Ukraine today in the span of just a couple of hours making two announcements, in fact. First, let's talk about the state of emergency.

This is going to be in effect for 30 days. What does that mean practically? It means they're going to increase security at critical infrastructure in this country. That's power stations, bridges. And also increase security at transport hubs, roads, et cetera.

Why is that? It's the U.S. view that Russia already has operatives on the ground in this country, right? That there are Russian, both the undercover military and intelligence here, but also that part of their battle plan, if they follow through, is to go after critical infrastructure.

This happens as just a short time before that the Ukrainian government made, really, a stark recommendation to all Ukrainians living in Russia or traveling there to stop. Stop going to Russia. And if you're there, come back now.

That's remarkable. There's a lot of movement across the border from Ukraine. The Ukrainians with family there, with business there.

I mean, imagine the U.S. saying all Americans in Mexico, come home. Right? It's that kind of situation -- and they're doing that because they don't consider those Ukrainians safe there anymore.

It's a -- it's a truly urgent state of affairs.

BERMAN: Yes. The Ukrainians themselves are raising the alert level. And that is new. They've been reluctant to do that until now. And that just happened over the last few hours.

Jim, you also watched Vladimir Putin so closely and listen to his words so closely. And you think he is having more aggressive rhetoric over the last several hours. What do you mean?

SCIUTTO: No question. Just last night, his words. He made a point of saying Russia has the most dangerous weapons in the world. He mentioned hypersonic missiles, other weapons systems.

Why is that crucial? Because those weapons are not principally or even, really, about Ukraine. He's got loads of forces around Ukraine that could take this country, in the view of the U.S. military, tomorrow. And that's more tanks and fighter bombers and missiles, et cetera.

Those hypersonic weapons, other weapons he's referring to, that's aimed at Europe and the U.S. He's talking about Russia being a country that can stand up, right, to the West.

And when you combine that with his speech the other night, where he really made a case that Ukraine is not a country, right, he's not respected. He said it's historically part of Russia. Not true, but that's his belief. He was also challenging the departure of former Soviet republics from

the Soviet Union. And that encompasses a whole host of countries that are independent, thriving democracies, NATO members, some of them, like the Baltics today.

But his message seems to be he doesn't respect their independence either. It's -- it's a remarkable time. And I think folks at home, as they're watching this and might think that this is a million miles away or not in their interests, have to pay attention to what Putin says. Because normally when he says something, he tries to follow through on it.

KEILAR: It's very good point. Jim, thank you so much for that analysis. We do appreciate it.

Let's go now to the State Department. I want to bring in CNN's Kylie Atwood. Kylie, what can you tell us about this FBI warning to American businesses and potential ransomware attacks.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This was a call that happened just minutes yesterday after President Biden announced those new sanctions against Russia. And this was the senior FBI cyber official, convening this call with local U.S. businesses and local U.S. governments and explaining to them that they need to be cognizant of the possibility for Russian ransomware attacks as this crisis with Ukraine grows. And as, therefore, that tension between Ukraine and Russia grows, and of course, the tension between the Ukraine and the west grows.

[06:05:13]

Now, there isn't a specific threat that they are talking about here. But what they are warning local governments and businesses to be cognizant of is the possibility of these increased ransomware attacks.

They specifically told the folks on this call to be thoughtful about those things that they have in their control that are considered critical infrastructure, right? Critical provisions.

Think back to the Colonial Pipeline attack that originated from Russian hackers. They want folks to be prepared for the possibility of attacks like that.

Now, this is part of a campaign that the DHS and the FBI have been carrying out for a while now as this tension between Russia and Ukraine has brewed.

And I want to read to you a statement from a DHS spokesperson explaining what their motivation is here. Quote, "DHS has been engaging in an outreach campaign to ensure that public and private sector partners are aware of evolving cybersecurity risks and taking steps to increase their cybersecurity preparedness."

Now David Ring, he is the senior FBI cyber official who had this phone call with these businesses and governments -- local governments yesterday. And he also warned that there could be increased cyberattacks. Not

just ransomware attacks but cyberattacks that originate from Russia.

And we should note again there isn't a credible threat stream that they are tracking right now, but this is a warning call. They want these businesses, local governments to be prepared, to be on their front foot and to have their defensive as strongly positioned as possible -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes. Get their defenses in order just in case. Kylie, thank you so much for that live report from the State Department.

BERMAN: All right. Joining me, Steve Hall, CNN national security analyst and former CIA chief of Russia operations.

Steve, thanks so much for joining us.

We're getting our first look at these new satellite images from Maxar Technology, which shows a further Russian buildup on the border here. Just let me show people what we're looking at here.

You see this, which appears to be some kind of a field hospital or whatnot. This picture here, a supply depot. And to give people a sense of where this is, it's up here. Right?

STEVE HALL, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes.

BERMAN: So the question is, if we're talking about this region, if this is the region at our greatest focus right now, why do the Russians appear to be building up still more forces and supplies up there?

HALL: Well, that's precisely the right question to be asking. Because just commonsensically, even though we're not necessarily military analysts, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Vladimir Putin is stating, of course, that this is what he's focused on, these new little states that he has created, essentially, after sending his own intelligence operatives and military folks in.

And so you would think that the focus would be primarily here or perhaps a little bit further around here where you see the rest of the Donbas region. This is just the occupied region. But Luhansk and Donetsk, of course, go all the way out there. So the thinking is, will he expand out into those?

But if that's the plan, well, then what's that all about? This bespeaks -- and by the way, it's not just there. He's got troops in here in Maldova. He's got stuff further out here in the west, and there's a big concentration over here on the West (ph) area.

So he's really got them surrounded, and it seems to me that they're poised to see what happens after this area is -- is sort of resolved.

BERMAN: Yes, Kyiv is over here. So obviously, the message is I can come right there whenever I want, even as you're watching it down there.

Let's talk a little bit more about that region that you were just focused on. Because I think this is important for people.

This right here, everything over here is Ukraine. No matter what anyone else says, this is Ukraine. This area here is area controlled by the Russians right now, the Russian-backed separatists. But what the issue is, and you were just alluding to that, is this is the area that they claim. This is where they are. This is what they claim.

HALL: Yes.

BERMAN: So what are you watching over the next few days?

HALL: Well, I really want to see how this is going to play out. Because of course, we can't really take Vladimir Putin at his word, regardless of whether it's geopolitics or his athletes at the Olympics. He's going to lie about whatever he has the opportunity to.

So what he's done is he's, of course, moved in here. And I think he's waiting now to see what's going to happen with the totality of sanctions and other international actions that might occur. That in part, I think, in my mind at least, is going to determine how quickly and aggressively he's going to continue to move forward into these areas, which would be a further invasion.

Again, using the people that he himself has already put there years ago, to move into those areas. And then, of course, as that increases, here -- as the area that Russia controls increases, will he then go ahead and say, Look, I'm going for the whole enchilada here. And I'm going to take it all.

BERMAN: Initially, when you include this area, this may be his primary focus. Mariupol, which we don't have on the map here, that's a huge port. And he would want to connect the Donbas region with Crimea, which of course, he already controls.

HALL: And this is -- military folks I've talked to in the past say, Look, this isn't a cake walk. I mean, it is a relatively flat country in general, but it's -- it's a distance of some hundred miles through here. So it's not going to be necessarily easily done.

[06:10:08]

But you're right, the port of Mariupol is, indeed, one of the most important tactical positions. Of course, Odessa, right on the other side of that control. You wonder where he's going to go next, right?

BERMAN: So in terms of what NATO has done and the U.S. is doing, this is where they are sending new forces. Or they're rotating forces through. Some troops that had been in different parts of Europe. They're going to start going here to the Baltics. New F-35s are rotating through here.

Why? Why send more troops and resources there? HALL: Well, somewhat ironic, isn't it, John, that this is exactly what Vladimir Putin says, you know, I want to avoid, is more NATO troops. And yet here we have it. But as a reaction to the aggression that Russia has done.

Why in these particular locations? Because from a strategic perspective, the Baltic countries here, which of course, were part of the Soviet Union, and Vladimir Putin remembers that quite clearly, formerly part of the Soviet Union. Small countries, small militaries. And I think an obvious place where IF you're thinking, OK, once Putin is done with Ukraine, what's the next step?

I think these countries are extremely concerned that they might be the next step. Of course, the difference is they have the Article V protections from -- from the NATO alliance.

BERMAN: And just to be clear, it's not militarily -- Ukraine is down here.

HALL: Yes.

BERMAN And this is where the United States is sending more troops here. Which is exactly the opposite of what Vladimir Putin wants, as you say, which is Joe Biden telling Vladimir Putin, you're getting the opposite. Your actions now are creating the situation you're trying to avoid.

HALL: Yes.

BERMAN: Steve Hall, thank you very much.

HALL: My pleasure.

BERMAN: So the former president just called Putin's latest step genius. We'll discuss.

Plus, hundreds of millions of dollars in luxury cars up in flames on a floating cargo ship. Why putting out the fire isn't so simple.

And watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It crashed! It (EXPLETIVE DELETED) crashed!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Stunning video capturing the moment that two Army Black Hawk helicopters crashed near a popular ski resort.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow, that's bright.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:16:13]

KEILAR: Former President Donald Trump praising Vladimir Putin, calling his invasion of Ukraine, quote, "savvy" and "genius."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (via phone): I said, this is genius. Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine -- of Ukraine. Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that's wonderful. So Putin is now saying it's independent. A large section of Ukraine. I said, how smart is that?

And he's going to go in and be a peacekeeper. That's the strongest peace force. We could use that on our southern border. That's the strongest peace force I've ever seen. There were more Army tanks than I've ever seen. They're going to keep peace, all right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Joining us now is Tom Nichols. He is a contributing writer at "The Atlantic." He's also the author of "Our Worst Enemy: The Assault from Within on Modern Democracy," which is, I think, how you could label what we're seeing here, Tom.

You know, I don't want to waste a lot of time wondering why Trump is doing this, right? I mean, we would just waste time on that. I think the bigger issue is that the Republican Party is pro-Kremlin. Maybe not all of them but a lot of them. How is that affecting Putin's calculus?

TOM NICHOLS, AUTHOR, "OUR OWN WORST ENEMY": Well, he sees a country divided. I think you're right. That, you know, spending a lot of time trying to figure out the inner workings of Donald Trump's mind is probably a waste of time.

But there is a larger problem here, which is that the kind of bipartisanship that we once counted on during the Cold War and afterward just isn't there anymore.

And that -- Putin has to notice that. I mean, he has an entire political party that -- that tends to disagree with Donald -- Donald Trump, that thinks, you know, he is a genius and that he's, you know, pretty popular within that party. It's something he clearly has to take into account, and it works in his favor.

KEILAR: It was pretty telling that the -- a spokesperson for Trump, who posted part of that interview, posted the criticism of Joe Biden but didn't post what we just showed you in that interview where he's, you know, dishing out compliments to Vladimir Putin. The point being the GOP could be critical of Biden without being pro-Putin, right?

NICHOLS: Right. And you know, it's part of -- I think it's a citizen's duty to hold the president accountable. But that's not what the GOP is about at this point. This is about, you know, whatever Biden is in favor of, they're

against it. And they will change positions back and forth, depending on what the president is doing at any given moment.

And -- and this kind of weird fanboying for Vladimir Putin, who they think, I think they see as kind of the leader of a white Christian Europe, which is a fantasy, really. It's kind of a GOP wish-casting. But they -- it's not just criticism of Biden. It's coupled to this obvious admiration for a Russian dictator.

KEILAR: You have a new column out in "The Atlantic," which is I think is really great in explaining more broadly why people should pay attention and that this isn't just something happening kind of way over there. You say this isn't just a Russian war on Ukraine, it's a war against the international order of the last 30 years. Explain that.

NICHOLS: What Putin's really doing here is partitioning Ukraine as a way of trying to recapture and bring it back under the control of the Kremlin.

Because what Putin is really saying is that he rejects everything that's happened since about 1989. That the peaceful outcome of the Cold War, the implosion of the Soviet Union, its peaceful dissolution -- and it's important to remember, the Soviet Union was torn apart by its own people. Not by us, not by NATO, not by the United States.

[06:20:11]

And Putin is saying, I reject all that. In addition, he's saying I reject the international system's rules of compromised negotiation, working through international institutions, refusing to use violence to change borders.

He's basically saying, I have an army. I'm in charge. I don't like the way things came out. And if I have to go to war to overturn them, that's what I'm going to do. And that's going to put him in permanent conflict with not just European nations but with the whole global order.

KEILAR: Tom, really great column. Thank you so much for being with us to discuss it. Great to see you.

NICHOLS: Thank you.

KEILAR: A top Republican senator lays out an 11-point plan for the GOP. So what is included here? A border wall named after former President Trump. Also, a tax hike for more than half of Americans.

BERMAN: Porsches, Lamborghinis and Bentleys, oh, my. It's the best line from "The Wizard of Oz." They're all up in flames. What caused the multi-million-dollar inferno at sea?

And more on our breaking news this morning. Ukraine set to declare a state of emergency as Vladimir Putin gets more aggressive. We'll take you live to the ground in Ukraine. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:25:46]

KEILAR: Disgraced former Governor Eric Greitens attempting a comeback in the Missouri Senate race. After resigning in 2018 amid a sex scandal and charges of campaign misconduct, the crowded field of his Republican opponents say the controversial candidate will hurt the party's chances of taking back the Senate.

CNN's Manu Raju has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CCN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The allegations were stunning. The sitting Missouri governor, who was a Rhodes scholar and a Navy SEAL, accused by his former hairdresser of coercing her into oral sex and threatening to blackmail her with nude photos of her to cover up their affair.

That was nearly four years ago, forcing Eric Greitens to resign, as Republicans threatened to impeach him after witness testimony detailed the startling accusations.

Now he's trying to revive his political career, joining a crowded GOP field filing papers for the Senate on Tuesday. And he stands a real chance of emerging as the GOP nominee. And that has Republicans, including his primary rivals, very nervous.

(on camera): Has he been exonerated?

REP. VICKY HARTZLER (R-MO): Absolutely not. It was deplorable, his behavior. It brought shame and disgrace on our state. It's just really, really disgusting.

REP. BILLY LONG (R-MO): It's not that he's not electable, but we're going to spend 40, $50 million, the Republican Party is, to try and drag him across the finish line.

SEN. DAVID SCHATZ (R), MISSOURI SENATE CANDIDATE: I served with Governor Greitens. He was unfit for office then; he's unfit for office now. He was not exonerated from that.

RAJU (voice-over): But Greitens is employing a Trumpian playbook: defiant and dismissive, calling the allegations made up and full of lies.

(on camera): None of that was true? The black mail allegations? None of that was true?

ERIC GREITENS (R), MISSOURI SENATE CANDIDATE: None of that was true.

You know that those were lies. And what's great for us is that here we are. And again, God is good. That pain will come, that suffering will come, and eventually the truth will reign. And that's what's happening today. RAJU (voice-over): A criminal charge against Greitens was dropped by a

Democratic prosecutor in St. Louis. And an FBI agent investigating the Republican was later indicted for lying about his interview with Greitens's accuser.

A Missouri ethics board also found no evidence of wrongdoing by Greitens over separate allegations of campaign misconduct from 2016 that would fine his campaign for not reporting in-kind contributions.

Yet, his accuser has never retracted the allegations of sexual assault, including that he taped her hands to pull-up rings as he allegedly took a picture of her with her pants down. Allegations all detailed in a GOP-led statehouse investigation.

MARK MCCLOSKEY (R), MISSOURI SENATE CANDIDATE: You will find out there is no exoneration. Because it shows his basic character in a way that I think would be shocking to the average person if they just read it.

ERIC SCHMITT (R), MISSOURI SENATE CANDIDATE: There's a lot of questions that were left unanswered when he left. And so that's going to be his job on the campaign.

RAJU: It's been a decade since the last GOP nightmare in Missouri, when Democrat Claire McCaskill defeated a Republican engulfed in controversy.

(on camera): Look, ten years ago, Missouri lost a Republican seat because of the controversies involving Todd Akin. What of folks who are saying this could be a repeat?

GREITENS: Well, I think that's absurd.

RAJU (voice-over): Yet, Democrats like Lucas Kunce are hoping to take advantage.

(on camera): What kind of impact will that have in the general election?

LUCAS KUNCE (D), MISSOURI SENATE CANDIDATE: I mean, I think it's going to be good for us.

RAJU: Now, Donald Trump has been actively monitoring what's going on in this campaign. He's been on the phone with a number of these candidates, including Vicky Hartzler. He called Billy Long, as well.

Eric Greitens was spotted in Mar-a-Lago. He even met with Donald Trump Jr. They are angling for that Trump endorsement. And it's unclear if the former president will get involved in this race.

A number of them even aligning themselves with the idea, the false notion that the 2020 election was stolen. Only one of them would back down that idea when I presented it to them yesterday. That was State Senate President David Schatz, who said he has not seen any evidence to suggest the election was stolen.

But just how badly do these candidates want that Trump endorsement? One candidate, Billy Long, pulled out his tie that he was wearing yesterday. It was signed by Donald Trump. And he also had a fake $45 bill from the breast pocket of his jacket. He pulled it out. The picture on the dollar -- $45 bill was Donald Trump's -- guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: This morning, as Senate Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy stays mum on the party's agenda, Florida's Rick Scott is getting ahead of his own party and rolling out an agenda for the right wing.

[06:30:00]