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U.S. Expelling Russian Diplomats; Hundreds of Thousands Flee Ukraine; Russian Convoy Nears Kyiv; Live Coverage of Zelensky Speech; Volodymyr Zelensky Speaks to European Parliament. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired March 01, 2022 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Around the world. The United States is ordering a dozen Russian diplomats from Moscow's United Nation mission in the United States to leave the country, accusing them of engaging in espionage activity that threatened national security.

CNN's Kylie Atwood live at the State Department with the latest here.

This had been in the works for some time, Kylie.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. The U.S. spokesperson for the United Nations said that this had been in the works for a few months.

But, John, this is still incredibly significant. Twelve Russians, who were based at the mission to the -- to their mission to the United Nations in New York being expelled from New York because the United States says that they are essentially there spying, pretending that they were diplomats but actually there spying on the U.S. and, of course, on all of the other countries that have representation at the United Nations.

I want to read to you this statement from the United State' embassy in the united missions saying, quote, there were 12 Russian diplomats were intelligence operatives who have abused their privileges of residency in the United States by engaging in espionage activities that were averse to our national security. That is from the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.

As you said, this had been in the works for some time. But, of course, it comes at this incredibly critical and tense moment because of the crisis unfolding in Ukraine. And it's also a situation where we have seen a back and forth between the United States and Russia over their diplomatic presence in one another's countries over the last few months and over the last few years. And as a result, the United States is now operating in Russia with a skeletal staff because the Russians have kicked out so many U.S. diplomats from the country that the United States said were there actually doing their job.

So, we haven't yet seen what Russia is going to do in responding to this. But, of course, this makes diplomacy all the more challenging when you have the expectation that there could be another tit for tat and a downturn in the number of U.S. diplomats that are in Russia.

We should also note that earlier this year even the number two U.S. diplomat that was based in Moscow was kicked out of the country for no reason and, of course, the United States had to respond and they sent home the number two Russian diplomat based here in Washington, D.C.

John.

BERMAN: Kylie Atwood for us at the State Department. Kylie, keep us posted.

In the meantime, this fighting here has created an exodus of people from Ukraine, trying to get out of the country as quickly and as safely as they can. The U.N. says nearly half a million people have fled so far, although that number probably very low at this point. You can see Moldova, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, the largest number heading over the border into Poland. Again, the estimate right now, 280,000. But that's almost certainly low at this point.

Our Arwa Damon is live -- I think we have her live -- no, yes, Arwa Damon now live across the Polish border.

And, Arwa, you've been speaking with these people who traveled hundreds and hundreds of miles in some cases.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and some of these stories, as you can imagine, in fact all of these stories, are absolutely heartbreaking. And among these horrendous stories of fear and of bombs falling, you also have a segment of the population that was living in Ukraine who are students, who are foreign nationals, and they have been going through unimaginable waiting times.

In fact, let me just show you what I mean because the line here -- and we've been here since last night -- has not moved at all. And if we just go and ask most of the people in this line how long they have been waiting out here for -- keeping in mind that these temperatures go below freezing.

I'm sorry, can I ask you all, how long have you been waiting here now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From last six days.

DAMON: Six days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

DAMON: And how long have you been waiting here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More than a week. A long time.

DAMON: Since it began, four days?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, more, five.

DAMON: I mean, and the line here isn't moving at all. And a lot of these young men, when they try to get on the trains or the buses, they're told that they can't do that. They're actually having to walk to get here. And it takes hours. And as I was saying, the temperatures are freezing cold.

On the other side of this street here, you have the line for Ukrainians and for those who are mostly women and children. And looking over on this side is just as heartbreaking because everybody in that line is either there without their husband, father or brother because they have to stay behind, or they have come with them and they're waiting these last final hours together before they have to say good-bye.

[06:35:19]

We were speaking earlier to a couple. He is from Ukraine. She is from Vietnam. They have two little children. And he had walked them all the way up to try to get them out.

We met a family from Afghanistan. I mean, just think about that. They had fled Afghanistan. They came here. They have a five-day old baby. They just made it across only to be told because the baby doesn't have a birth certificate, they will not be able to cross. What everyone here will tell you, though, is that this system needs to be addressed. It needs to be quicker. It needs to be faster. These people have all suffered so, so much. They really cannot psychologically go through any more.

BERMAN: And the numbers will only increase in the coming days.

Arwa Damon, I misreported where you were. You were actually on the Ukrainian side of the border, but you can see Poland from where you're standing. That last few feet is where those hundreds of people are trying to get to.

Arwa, thank you so much for that report.

So, a huge explosion in Ukraine's second largest city. It hit a government building. At this point, we're hearing more than 20 people were injured, including at least one child. But based on the size of that blast, you can expect that number certainly will increase.

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

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:57]

BERMAN: All right, this map now shows the progress that Russian forces have made in Ukraine here. The red areas now essentially under Russian occupation. You can see the Russians moving ever closer to major population centers in Kharkiv and also the capital of Kyiv. Of particular concern is this 40-mile long convoy which isn't far now from the city center, about 20 miles.

Joining me now is the chief foreign affairs correspondent for "The Wall Street Journal," Yaroslav Trofimov.

Yaroslav, thank you so much for being with us right now.

Kyiv, obviously the capital, knows the Russians are moving ever closer. What's the atmosphere this morning?

YAROSLAV TROFIMOV, CHIEF FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL": Well, you know, the Russians have been close to the city. The Russians were in the city. Russian attacks were repelled just a few days ago. And the thought of Russian artillery can be heard every day. And every day there are air raid sirens as well.

So blocked (ph) exits from the city except the routes going south are no longer sort of passable because Russian forces are on the outskirts. And this convoy is just coming in to re-enforce them.

BERMAN: And when we look at what happened in Kharkiv, the second largest city, I have to believe that's a cause for concern in Kyiv as well, the idea that major population centers, major government buildings could be targeted.

TROFIMOV: Oh, yes, absolutely. Absolutely. You know, in the initial days of the war, the targeting was more or less pinpointed to sort of -- looking to hit military infrastructure. After the shelling of residential neighborhoods of Kharkiv yesterday, it was, you know, multiple rocket launch systems, it became clear that President Putin of Russia has changed this strategy and is now really trying to intimidate Ukrainians and to break their resistance by attacking civilians.

BERMAN: And are they being intimidated? This is day six of the conflict. The first few days of the war saw this incredible esprit de corps. Ukrainians literally taking to the streets with their weapons to fight the Russians. Is that still taking place?

TROFIMOV: Oh, yes, very much so. Very much so. There is this incredible solidarity in the city. A lot of (INAUDIBLE) local men and women have joined the Territorial Defense Forces. And you not only see them in the city this much because after clearing it from Russian infiltrators in the first few days of the conflict, they deployed to the front lines, to the edge of the city where they are helping the regular military, the regular army with their tanks and their artillery pieces and other heavy weapons.

So, I mean, the city itself you see volunteers distributing food. We were in the hospital today where a pizza company just brought in, you know, a couple of vans of free pizza, for example, for the children and the staff that are there.

BERMAN: It's amazing how something as simple as a pizza can lift moral and be a sign of defense in and of itself.

Yaroslav Trofimov, thank you so much for being with us. Please stay safe.

TROFIMOV: Thank you. BERMAN: All right, we're waiting to hear from Ukraine's President

Volodymyr Zelensky speaking to the European parliament. He is describing Russia's attack on his country as undisguised terror, war crimes that no one will forgive. We'll hear from him in just a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:46:51]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: We're listening to --

PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINE (through translator): In this session hall (ph), you know, over the last couple of days, I --

KEILAR: Can we drop the banner?

ZELENSKY: (INAUDIBLE) to welcome and greet everybody because I cannot say "good morning" or can say "good afternoon" or "good evening." And I cannot -- and that's true because every day for some people this day is not good. For some people, this day is the last one.

I speak today now about my citizen, citizens of Ukraine, who are defending by paying the ultimate price. They defending freedom.

I'm very happy that what I've seen here now and heard here now, I'm very glad to sense this mood. The united, unifying mood. I'm happy that we have unified today, all of you, all the countries of the European Union, but I did not know, but this is that -- that this is the price they will have to pay.

And this is a tragedy for us -- for me. It's a tragedy for every Ukrainian. A tragedy for our state. I mean this price -- this high price, very high price. Thousands of people who were killed. Two revolutions, one war. And five days of full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation.

You know, I am -- I'm not -- I don't read off the paper, off the sheet, because the paper phase in this -- in the life of my country has ended. Now we are dealing with reality. We're dealing with killed people, real life, you know? And, you know, I believe that we, today, we're giving lives for values, for rights, for freedom, for the desire to be equal, as much as you are. We are giving away our best people, the strongest ones, the most value-based ones. Ukrainians are incredible.

And very often we love to say that we will win over everyone. And I'm very happy that you are not only talking about it, but you can see that. And we indeed, we will overcome everyone. And I'm sure, I'm convinced, there is an expression, Ukrainian, choice. European choice of Ukraine, that's what we're striving for, and that's what we're going to and we went to.

[06:50:01]

So, I would like to hear that from you, to us, we could hear that Ukrainian choice for Europe from you. I have had some time off here because we have breaks between the missile strikes and bombardments. And this morning was a very tragic one for us. Two cruise missiles hit Kharkiv, the city, which is located to the borders of the Russian Federation. There were always many Russians there. And they're always friendly. And there were warm relations there. More than 20 universities are there. It's the city that has the largest number of universities in our country. The youth is bright, smart there. The people who gathered there all the time and was gathering there all the time, for celebrating all celebrations, in the largest square in our country, the Freedom Square. And -- and this is the largest square in Europe. And that's true. This is called the Freedom Square. Can you imagine, this morning, two cruise missiles hit this Freedom Square, dozens of killed ones. This is the price of freedom we're fighting just for our land and for our freedom.

Despite the fact that all the large (ph) cities of our country are now blocked. Nobody is going to enter and intervene with our freedom and country. And believe you me, every square of today, no matter what it's called, is going to be called as today Freedom Square, in every city of our country. Nobody is going to break us. We're strong. We're Ukrainians.

We have a desire to see our children alive. I think it's a fair one. Yesterday, 16 children were killed. Again and again, President Putin is going to say that is some kind of operation and we are hitting a military infrastructure. Where are our children? What kind of military factories do they work at? What tanks are they going with or launching cruise missiles? He killed 16 people just yesterday.

Our people are very much motivated. Very much so. We are fighting for our rights, for our freedoms, for life -- for our life. And now we're boring for -- we're fighting for survival. And this is the highest of our motivation. But, we are fighting also to be equal members of Europe. I believe that today we are showing everybody that's exactly what we are. The European Union is going to be much stronger with us. That's for sure. Without you, Ukraine, is going to be lonely -- lonesome.

We have proven our strengths. We have proven that as, at a minimum, we are exactly the same as you are. So, do prove that you are with us. Do prove that you will not let us go. Do prove that you indeed are Europeans and then life will win over death and light will win over darkness. Glory be to Ukraine.

[06:55:36]

BERMAN: Oh, what a moment that was.

Volodymyr Zelensky raising his fist, speaking to the European parliament, thanking them for their unity, but talking about the sacrifice of the Ukrainian people. The missile attack on Kharkiv, up here, that he says has killed dozens of Ukrainian civilians in Freedom Square in Kharkiv. He says every square in Ukraine right now should be called Freedom Square.

I'm joined now by CNN's chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour. Christiane, it almost sounded like the translator was choking up

because there was so much emotion there.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, I think you're absolutely right. You know, he said I can't even say good morning, good evening, good afternoon to you all because it is not good for anybody in Ukraine. Although we're fighting hard, every day brings more deaths.

And again, he raised this unbelievable global specter. This is not justified, he says, for Ukraine or by brave Ukrainians, but it is for the entire world, particularly the free world and particularly for Europe. And he used this address here at the European parliament actually, obviously, in Brussels, to ask for immediate accession to the EU.

Now, it's unlikely that he will get that, but this was a point that he absolutely made. And let me say, I spoke to the French finance minister today. And they have been working, along with the United States, along with the rest of the entire EU, all the different countries, to impose these unprecedented sanctions. And to me he said, this is Bruno Le Maire, that our goal is to wage war on Russia's economic and financial institution and to collapse the Russian economy. And he said, yes, the Russian people will bear the price, but that is what we have to do to make Putin stop.

And this is what they're doing right now. And we have seen so much change in Europe almost overnight in the few days since Russia did invade Ukraine. And again, Zelensky today saying that we have suffered two revolutions, we've suffered a war and now five and now six days of a massive Russian invasion. And as you know, because U.S. intelligence has been reporting this, as he speaks, satellite imagery shows some 40 miles, maybe it's even more now, of armored Russian columns, tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and the like.

And we know that the civilian population in Kharkiv, close to the Russian border, has been pounded. The French, the Europeans are really concerned that this is going to amount to just escalating war crimes, i.e., slaughter of civilians in this -- in this war right now.

Back to you, John.

BERMAN: Christiane, there was something of a metaphor in all this. You saw the bearded Ukrainian leader in a t-shirt in the midst of a war speaking to the people in dress suits in the European parliament. And, yes, there has been remarkable European unity, and, yes, they have taken economic actions. But when you see that juxtaposition, it makes you wonder, is it enough? Can it be enough to save that bearded man from the Russian onslaught?

AMANPOUR: You know, he's in his presidential palace and he's not wearing just any t-shirt. He' wearing military outfits so to speak. The t-shirt in the green of the military. He's letting, obviously, for presumably necessary reasons, his beard to grow. He's one of the people. This is more than symbolic. This is, you know, a man who nobody thought would be -- would have to face this, you know, rising to the occasion and showing that he will not leave his people at the most dire moment in European history since the end of World War II.

I mean, we haven't seen this kind of thing in Europe since the 1940s. It is extraordinary what's happening. And as this brave president does that in an encircled and perhaps soon to be besieged capital city, you have the Russian foreign minister talking to the U.N. in the safety of his, you know, foreign ministry in Moscow and lying again about who Zelensky is, calling him a neo-Nazi, calling the regime there a bunch of drug addicts and neo-fascists. Saying that we had to do this. Why? Because the people of Donbas, the Russian separatists here, he said, were somehow not being allowed to speak Russian. Seriously?

[06:59:58]

That is the level of the disconnect of what's going on right now, that they are trying to say in Moscow that it is the people and the government of Ukraine that has brought this on themselves.