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U.S. will not Enforce No-fly Zone; Lynsey Addario is Interviewed about the Fighting in Ukraine; Putin Puts Nuclear Forces on Alert; New Poll on Russia; Dire Climate Change Report. Aired 6:30- 7a ET

Aired February 28, 2022 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:34:05]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: The Biden administration says it will not send in U.S. troops to enforce a no-fly zone in Ukraine. This despite repeated pleas from Ukrainian President Zelensky to close the skies.

Joining us again is CNN military analyst and head of geopolitical strategy at Academy Securities, retired Major General James "Spider" Marks.

OK, General Marks, can you just take us through where Russian troops are and where they're heading.

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, I can, Brianna. Thanks for the -- for the question.

Essentially what's happened, the Russians have come in on multiple avenues of approach. And where they've advanced so far, and I'll give you a rough approximation, is essentially in this area, which means they are kind of on the outskirts of Kyiv. Certainly in this area as well. Over here. And then what's really important is the advances essentially what they've made down in this area. So that tells you where most of the fighting is taking place right now.

[06:35:00]

Most importantly, obviously, is the focus on Kyiv. Absolutely essential. That's the center of gravity, the definition of which is, everything hinges on the success that Putin can have there. If that can hold out, if that can be resisted, if Ukrainians can continue to hold, they will achieve a tremendous success.

When you try to win everywhere, which is -- the Russians are trying to do. They're trying to win everywhere. They're committing forces in all of these areas in a significant way. If you try to win everywhere, you will win nowhere. So what the Russians are really trying to do is pour in on Kyiv. And then if they can achieve an objective in one of these what I would call economy of force location, kind of an alternate locations, that would be a big victory for them and they'll really push some disinformation on that. KEILAR: It's tough going there on the north coming into Kyiv. And perhaps that's the reason why it appears Belarusian troops may be joining the Russian troops. That's according to Ukrainian intelligence. What do you think about that (INAUDIBLE)?

MARKS: Right. No, that's absolutely a great point. Let me -- let me highlight this. This is the Dnieper River. Important to keep that in mind.

What's important now is that when the Russians came in, they came in on the west side of that river. They did not separate their forces wisely because if they got into Kyiv, they would have had a difficult time supporting each of those elements across the river. So, what the Ukrainians have been doing is they've been cutting some of these bridges across there. And so the Russian forces are getting tied up in this area right now. Therefore, center of gravity, they need some additional forces, and so they're going to bring some forces from Belarus. That's additional fire power, additional maneuver, additional infantry. Those forces have not been committed. And they've already been through exercises. They were exercising with the Russian forces, military exercises, a few weeks ago. So, they are fresh, they are ready, and they have increased their preparedness as a result of that. They're now going to be committed.

So, I would say that this would be a significant place that we really need to continue to pay attention to.

GOLODRYGA: All right, we'll see if the dynamics change because of that.

General Marks, thank you so much for showing us that.

MARKS: Thank you, Brianna.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, just moments ago from Matthew Chance, we saw here, north of Kyiv right there, evidence of a Ukrainian counterattack on a Russian convoy. The smoldering ruins of this Russian convoy with Russian KIAs, killed in actions, lying on the ground there. Just a remarkable scene of defiance from the Ukrainian military. And we're seeing that in different locations now across the country.

So, Lynsey Addario has covered war zones for more than 20 years. She says she didn't think this kind of war would happen again. She joins us now from Kyiv. She's a photojournalist for "The New York Times" and the author of the book "It's What I Do: A Photographer's Life of Love and War."

Lynsey, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

As I said, we just saw that one example of the Ukrainian forces pushing back on the Russians. You yourself are seeing evidence of all these different kinds of defiance on the streets.

What are you seeing? LYNSEY ADDARIO, PHOTOJOURNALIST, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": I mean I am out

shooting right now, so I just sort of stopped. The sirens just went off, so we're down in a bunker. It's an incredible operation. I'm seeing people around the city coming out. I'm seeing everyone from teachers. There's a coffee roaster behind me who is here now working with the volunteers and the military. An accountant. I mean I'm really seeing -- there's a woman here whose fiance decided to join two weeks ago and he said, I don't have time to get married, we're at war, so she decided to join. I mean it's incredible.

BERMAN: A coffee roaster, an accountant and a fiance.

ADDARIO: Yes.

BERMAN: And I'm not making light of it because it's the story of the moment, I think, in Ukraine and Kyiv where you are.

ADDARIO: Yes.

BERMAN: Have you seen the mood change day to day?

ADDARIO: I'm just going to stand up. Sorry, I'm like squatting. The mood is tense. I mean, I've seen it progressively get more tense over the last two weeks and definitely in the last five days. People are really jittery. There are checkpoints popping up around the city. You have to be really careful because people are nervous. They're worried about Russians infiltrating. And so there are random shootings. So, yes, it's very tense.

BERMAN: And look, Lynsey, you know war zones. You know places where the danger is very, very high.

Do you have a sense that the residents in Kyiv, and all around Ukraine, are thinking days in advance? Are there contingency plans being made for the what-ifs?

ADDARIO: Well, I think no one knows what's going to happen. I think everyone's sort of expecting the worst. But people are resigned and they're ready and they are kind of ready for whatever.

[06:40:05]

We were on our way out this morning. Every day there's sort of a new set of credentials or permits required to move around. We saw an open supermarket without a line, so we ran in and bought everything we could. I mean people are stocking up on supplies. It's really sort of a city under siege. It's a city that's just preparing for whatever happens next.

BERMAN: Lynsey Addario, big fan of your work. Appreciate what you and your team are doing there. Please stay safe.

ADDARIO: Thank you so much.

KEILAR: And joining me now also from "The New York Times," CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger. He is White House and national security correspondent for "The Times," as I mentioned there.

David, you have some excellent reporting out. Let's just talk about what this move means by Putin to put essentially nuclear forces on a heightened readiness. Tell us about this.

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, first, Brianna, I just have to shout out to my colleague Lynsey. I mean to see the kind of cool that they've got there under what's the worst working conditions you can imagine and the fear and the chaos is really remarkable reporting to see from "The Times," from CNN.

The nuclear alert yesterday was one of the stranger and more disquieting events I think I've seen in this case. When you listen to Putin talk about why he conducted the nuclear alert, he said because they have received, you know, great criticism and aggressive statements from the west. You don't --

KEILAR: Rhetoric.

SANGER: Rhetoric. You don't put your nuclear forces on alert for that, unless you're signaling. And the signaling basically here is, stay away from this or I could spread this war.

Now, we thought that the weapon he would use to go do that was cyber, and he might yet. But to reach for a nuclear threat two times in a week is quite remarkable.

President Biden had two ways he could have responded to this. He could have moved our forces on to alert. Instead, they just decided to say, you're escalating this again. You're doing another thing without provocation. We've got plenty of nuclear forces. We're not worried about it. And they kept the U.S. alert level where it is. So, they clearly do not want to get this into an escalation mode.

But it does make you wonder what it is that's going on with Putin that because he feels that there have been aggressive statements, he tells his generals who are sitting there, completely stone faced, let's go on alert.

KEILAR: It was stunning to watch how they responded to him. You could almost feel the gravity by what he was ordering just by watching their faces.

I do want to talk now about the sanctions and the economic moves by the U.S. and allies because they're having an effect, right? We're seeing the ruble tank. We're seeing the interest rates in Russia sky- high. I mean these are things -- I wonder if Putin expected this?

SANGER: A really good question because after he invaded Crimea in 2014, it took a year for the world community to put together some sanctions, and they didn't mean a whole lot. So, this is taking place in a weekend, partly because it was so well-organized and orchestra prior to this time.

But we've seen a lot chance since just Friday. The Germans moved from, we're not sure we want to cancel Nord Stream 2, to actually boosting the defense budget, saying they would send offensive arms and joining fully in these sanctions.

Well, knocking them off of SWIFT in part, some operations off of SWIFT, was significant over the weekend.

I think the big move was the one on the Russian central bank because that meant that they could not support the ruble. And you saw what happened today. It dropped by about 20 percent this morning. And, as you said, they closed the stock market.

So, these are short-term things. But you've got to wonder whether Putin is sort of saying to his aides, hey, no one told me this was going to be this effective this fast. Maybe he isn't. Maybe he expected it. But he's not acting like somebody who expected it.

KEILAR: Yes, all of this and airspace closed. I mean there are so many things that are infringing potentially Russian day-to-day life.

We should also mention, as Ukrainian intelligence indicates, that Belarus may join Russia in this offensive coming down from the north. Presumably they would suffer the same economic consequences then.

SANGER: One would assume. And Belarus is not in the kind of condition to be able to go survive those quite as well as Russia could. It's a really interesting choice that Belarus has made because for years President Lukashenko sort of kept his distance from Moscow but he is clearly throwing himself in with President Putin. We don't know for sure yet that he's putting the troops in. I'm sure he's being told by the United States, by western Europe, this is a big mistake, you might want to think about your economic future.

[06:45:02]

It will be really interesting to see what choice he makes because I'm sure that all of the allies would put pretty much the same kind of sanctions on Belarus if it became a co-combatant, that it has put on Russia.

KEILAR: Yes. And what is Putin saying in his other ear, right? That's also to know.

SANGER: That's really interesting.

KEILAR: David Sanger, excellent reporting, as always. Thank you so much.

SANGER: Thank you.

KEILAR: Next, we have some more on the breaking news. CNN just got access to the front lines of the invasion just there around Kyiv. Our Matthew Chance seeing a dire scene. Really describing an unbelievable scene that you must see.

Plus, how do Americans feel about how the U.S. is responding to the conflict? We have some new CNN polls -- pretty surprising -- just released.

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[06:50:01]

BERMAN: This is CNN's special live coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

This was our Matthew Chance just a few minutes ago on a bridge north of Kyiv. And what he's walking in now is the aftermath of a Ukrainian attack on a Russian convoy where the Ukrainians just decimated the Russian convoy. Matthew's walking amongst the wreckage of these Russian vehicles here. He's seeing Russian killed in action. Also, all kinds of unexploded ordnance on the ground there.

Matthew and our team are fine. They're safe. We're going to check back in with him in a little bit.

But this -- the story of the day, Ukrainian resistance like this all around the country.

In the meantime, we have a just-released CNN poll that shows how Americans are now thinking about this conflict and the U.S. response.

Joining us now is CNN's senior data reporter Harry Enten.

Harry, what are Americans saying?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: I mean, you were mentioning earlier on about the sanctions and how they might be playing a role in Russia. And what we see here is Americans are very much in favor of those. So, favor increased economic sanctions against Russia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, look at that. 83 percent favor it. That is up significantly from back in September of 2014 when, of course, there was that Russia incursion in east Ukraine. It was a majority then at 67. But a clear bump up. A lot more support for economic sanctions now.

Now, in terms of other actions the U.S. could take. So, in response to Russia military action in Ukraine, the United States should do more, 62 percent overall agree. Now, this, to me, is very interesting. There's no partisan split. Lean Democratic, 65 percent. Lean GOP, 62 percent. Democrats and Republicans are united on doing more against Russia based on their military actions in the Ukraine. But, I should point out, if sanctions fail, should they take military action against Russia? Just 42 percent overall say yes. And, again, no partisan split here.

BERMAN: So, do more as long as more doesn't include military action.

What concerns are you hearing among voters?

ENTEN: Yes. So, worried that the war in Ukraine will lead to broader war in Europe, lead to Russia attacks elsewhere, threaten U.S. national security, clear majority say, yes, they are worried about that, 80 percent, 77 percent, 72 percent. But then you break it down by, are you very or somewhat worried, and only about a third -- about a third of Americans are worried that it will lead to broader war in Europe, lead to Russian attacks elsewhere, threaten U.S. national security. The rest are just somewhat worried on that.

Now, also, there is talk about, you know, gas prices here in the United States. When the U.S. decides -- U.S. decides policies against Russia, should the impact on gas prices should be a major factor, 34 percent. When you add that with a minor factor at 37, you get well north into a majority. But most Americans say it's just a minor factor or not a factor at all.

BERMAN: But a factor nonetheless.

ENTEN: A factor.

BERMAN: This has captivated, I think, Americans, what's going on in Ukraine. Maybe as Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president and the heroism he's showing, but how closely are people watching this?

ENTEN: They are following it closely. And I -- this number, to me, was very surprising based upon some of the actions before the war actually started. Following the new closely of the Russian invasion in the Ukraine, look at this, 79 percent. You rarely get that type of attention on news stories. And we asked this question a few other times. Changes to voting laws since 2020 -- back in September of 2021, it was just 15 percent. The infrastructure and economic bills, back on October of 2021, it was just 58 percent. This 79 percent, a lot of people are paying very close attention to this.

BERMAN: Turns out people like standing up against tyranny.

Harry Enten, thank you very much.

ENTEN: Thank you, sir.

BERMAN: All right, we're going to go back to Matthew Chance on the front lines of this conflict, on the scene of this remarkable Ukrainian attack on a Russian military convoy. Our special live coverage continues right after this.

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[06:58:09]

BERMAN: This morning, a dire warning in a new U.N. climate report that the world is running out of ways to adapt to the climate crisis. It warns of unavoidable and irreversible impacts unless dramatic action is taken soon.

CNN's chief climate correspondent, Bill Weir, joins me now.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

This is the culmination of hundreds of scientists' work for years, around the world, 195 nations have agreed. And life as we know it on earth is being destroyed by this climate crisis faster and wider than was ever predicted before.

In the words of the secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, nearly half of humanity is living in danger zones now. Many eco systems are at the point of no return now. The world's biggest polluters are guilty of arson of our only home. It is really the starkest warning, which we have seen.

When you go back, nobody predicted it would be happening this fast. At some points around the globe, things are beyond the point of no return. Coral reefs, for example, the high arctic (ph) aren't coming back. But when you talk about adaptation, this focuses on adaptation.

This is Charleston, South Carolina. And this will be a story of the haves and the have nots. This is a mansion that one family raised 15 feet. Took 10 days. Cost almost half a million dollars. Dozens of similar homes like this are preparing for sea-level rise as the city debates build a billion dollar seawall that will take more granite than the nation produces in a years. That's the haves.

The have nots are those who live in low-lying countries around the world or even outside of the seawall, around Charleston, where 80 percent of the folks won't be protected.

So, these are the choices we're now facing when it comes to adaptation. This is like called sort of soft limits that humans can come up with ways to live with water, like this in Charleston. Harder limits are out west. And we have pictures of Lake Meade and what's happening to the drought out there right now. And that is just -- once you reach a certain point where desertification takes over everything, it becomes unfarmable and it has to change.

[07:00:01]

So, right now, we're on pace to increase fossil fuel emissions by 14 percent.