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David Priess is Interviewed about the Russian Attacks; Vladislav Davidzon is Interviewed about the Russian Invasion; Russian Economy Takes Serious Blows; Biden Condemns Putin; Zelensky's Path to Leading. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired March 02, 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]

DAVID PRIESS, FORMER CIA OFFICER: There's three different levels here at play. One is the soldiers on the ground and how much leeway they have to fire weapons, such as that at will. Maybe they've been given a very shallow version of the commander's intent, telling them that we must take this city, and they decide when to fire these weapons. That's possible.

There's also the commander's level. Perhaps the generals or the unit commander. And perhaps they're making the decisions to employ these tactics, again, following what they're hearing from up the chain.

It is possible, though I think less likely, that Putin himself is directing individual units to fire on specific buildings. Now, he is still ultimately responsible for the invasion, for the actions of the troops following his orders, but I'm not sure that Putin is making hour-by-hour decisions on which buildings should be fired upon in these cities.

Those three levels, however, give us some insight into what's going on because you're seeing some videos of Russian soldiers who are surrendering to Ukrainians, who are saying that they did not know there was going to be this type of invasion against a country that did not want to be liberated from its own government.

At the commanding level, the generals, there appears to be some confusion as well. There are lots of reports coming in about logistical issues, lots of reports coming in about communication issues among Russian troops. And then, of course, there's Putin. And we don't know exactly what his objectives are now and if they've changed since he first launched the invasion.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: David, great insights and we really appreciate you sharing them with us this morning. Thank you.

PRIESS: You bet.

KEILAR: The Russian ministry of defense says that its troops have taken full control of the city of Kherson. The Ukrainians deny this though. We are live on the ground right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [06:36:04]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Welcome back. This is CNN's special live coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

I want to show you some video right now. We've had this. But, this morning, we're just getting a new understanding of it.

What we now know is happening here is these are nuclear power plant workers trying to block access to the Russians who are trying to advance on a nuclear power plant. You can see them throwing obstacles into the road to block the Russian advance towards this nuclear plant. It is just one of several nuclear plants around the country. Everyone knows Chernobyl, but there are other sites as well. This is the site right here that they were just trying to block.

Also this morning, we are learning the Ukrainians are now asking for assistance to try to keep the Russians away from these nuclear sites because there is concern about what might happen if they falls into Russian hands. Just one of the events happening around the nation this morning.

Joining me now is Vladislav Davidzon, Atlantic Council fellow and journalist who is on the ground in Ukraine right now. He was just outside of Kyiv when the invasion started. Now I can show you where he is. He's in the city of Chernowitz, right here, not far from the Romanian border.

Vladislav, thank you so much for being with us.

Let me just first ask about you and your safety this morning.

VLADISLAV DAVIDZON, FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Hi. I'm great. I was warned to get out. I'm a dual Russian-American national. Also European passport. I'm a Russian citizen. So I was told that there would be tremendous problems by multiple people, American embassy, American political operatives, British intelligence. Lots of people told me not to get encircled and have my passport checked by the Russians. So I -- I went to a town outside of the Belarus border. I reported from there. And when it looked like the Belarusian army was about to invade, I was also told to leave.

I'm in Chernowitz regrouping, having a rest for a day, and then I'm going to be on my way back to -- to report in the east tomorrow.

BERMAN: All right. Well, we wish you the best of safety when you do head back there.

You know it's interesting, Vladislav, because I did learn that you are a Ukrainian Jew, one of the Jews who still lives in Ukraine after so many left or were killed in World War II.

We saw this attack on the TV tower. And we also know that in that attack, Babyn Yar, a site of a horrible Holocaust massacre, was also hit. And I'm just wondering what it's like for you, as a Ukrainian Jew, to see Babyn Yar get hit by an aerial attack? DAVIDZON: It is utterly remarkable and it is the worst kind of symbolism. We just had the 80th anniversary of the Babyn Yar commemorations of the actual massacre, which took place at the end of September. So, just a few months ago we had all the world's leaders and the presidents and prime ministers and the secretary-general of this and that and the head of the European Union come here. And four months after that, I attended those commemorations, a rocket hit the TV station. I do not think that the Russians were actually trying to hit Babyn Yar, but they missed, as happens, with, quote/unquote, precision rockets. They hit the area of Babyn Yar. Five people, according to the Ukrainian government, though I haven't checked those numbers, were killed in that attack. And one of the rockets actually hit the park where the -- where the people were, you know.

BERMAN: And it is just remarkable. One of the rabbis in Ukraine I heard say, the victims of Babyn Yar, they just keep killing them, which is a horrible, chilling thing to think about.

DAVIDZON: That's right.

Absolutely. It's absolutely horrific on the 80th anniversary of the killing of Babyn Yar.

And it wasn't just Jews who were killed in Babyn Yar. There were -- there were Roma (ph) gypsy people who were killed there. There were lots of Soviet POWs. There were Ukrainian nationalists. I think about 600 of them. And they emptied out the insane asylum and the psychiatric ward not far from there.

[06:40:01]

They took all the people there and they shot them.

So, the killing of the Jews at Babyn Yar was just the beginning of the killing of 100,000 people there.

Of course, it's a Jewish tragedy and it is the metaphor for -- the metaphoric place for the Holocaust by bullets across eastern Europe.

BERMAN: Look, it --

DAVIDZON: But it was not only -- it was not only Ukrainian jews who were killed there. There were Ukrainians and red army guys and Roma who were shot there also. But it's a Ukrainian tragedy (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: Yes, some 30,000 Jews in two days, some 100,000 people overall over the course of weeks and months.

Vladislav, this just shows us history under assault, a nation under assault this morning. Thank you for being there. Please stay safe in your journeys.

DAVIDZON: Thank you for your coverage.

BERMAN: This morning, from Apple to Ford and ExxonMobil, big American companies cutting ties with Russia. The enormous, global, economic impact ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:45:09]

BERMAN: This morning, major American companies pulling business out of Russia. Disney, Warner Brothers, ExxonMobil, Ford, Harley Davidson, and now Apple halting all sales of its products in Russia.

CNN chief business correspondent Christine Romans joins us with that.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, this is moving quickly here. Apple won't sell its phones and gadgets in Russia anymore, telling CNN in a statement, it's deeply concerned about the invasion of Ukraine. Apple stopped exports into Russia last week and has cut off Apple Pay in the country. It pulled the Russian state media app from its app store, it disabled live data in Apple maps in Ukraine. That, they tell us, is to protect Ukrainian citizens.

Apple joins that growing list of global companies suspending business there in Russia in protest of the invasion, or -- or its fallout from wide-reaching sanctions like shipping giant Maersk halting cargo to and from Russia with the exception of food, medicine and humanitarian supplies. The Danish company says the stability and safety of its operation is being hurt by the sanctions. It cannot make or receive payments to sanction Russian banks.

Western sanctions are crippling the Russian economy. And they were deigned to do that. The Kremlin even acknowledging it is taking a, quote, serious blow.

The pain so deep for Russian companies, John, the stock market closed for the third day in a row. The ruble worth less than a penny. Near an all-time low. The Russian central bank has jacked up interest rates to support the ruble. Imagine interest rates of 20 percent.

But sanctions on the Russian Central Bank limiting its power to finance this war and protect its economy. It has the Russian government enacting emergency measures this morning. Capital controls in effect. Russian citizens waiting in long lines to withdrawal their cash but they can't get it out of the country or send foreign currency abroad. That's to keep cash in Russia and halt a potential run on the banks.

In fact, the European arm of Russia's biggest banks, Sber Bank, already collapsed, John, following a big run on deposits there.

BERMAN: So, I mean, can they keep the market closed indefinitely?

ROMANS: They're going to keep the market closed, I mean, until they think it's not going to go straight down. But here, the trouble for -- for Russian companies, especially companies listed around the world, they can't be traded because we're still trying to figure out what exactly is happening with sanctions.

You know, Greg Valliere, an economist you and I have both talked to many, many times, he says there is -- there is the certainty of a depression in Russia. This is financial warfare from the west and it will be effective.

BERMAN: A depression with a "d."

ROMANS: Yes.

BERMAN: The question is how soon and how hard does it hit.

ROMANS: And when, right.

BERMAN: Christine Romans, thank you very much.

KEILAR: President Biden beginning his first State of the Union Address with a powerful rebuke of Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Six days ago, Russia's Vladimir Putin sought to shake the very foundation of the free world, thinking he could make it bend to his menacing ways. But he badly miscalculated. He thought he could roll into Ukraine and the world would roll over. Instead, he met with a wall of strength he never anticipated or imagined. He met the Ukrainian people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, the president also promising to inflict pain for the unprovoked invasion.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond live at the White House with more.

He basically said, you know, he doesn't know what's coming.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. President Biden vowing to make Putin pay a price there and saying that he made this bad mistake by miscalculating how united the west would be. And in this show of resolve and strength that we heard from President Biden last night, we also saw an unmistakable show of unity among Democrats and Republicans here in Washington. The president receiving multiple standing ovations during this Russia-Ukraine focused portion of his speech, showing how united the country is in the face of this Russian aggression.

We heard the president also talk about his efforts, the countless hours he said that he has spent uniting the west around these sanctions, around this shared effort against Russia. But even as President Biden praised the resolve of the Ukrainians, he also demonstrated the limits of American support. He made clear that U.S. troops will not be sent to Ukraine to fight Russia, ruling out this possibility of a no-fly zone that the Ukrainian president has been asking for. And he also made clear that there would be costs for Americans but he didn't really get into what exactly those costs would be. He said that he would be mitigating those costs and he talked about gas prices, for example, the release of Strategic Petroleum Reserve oil from the United States, but he didn't really get into what those other costs would be. He was clearly trying to avoid alarming Americans, downplaying the prospects of a third world war, but at the same time making clear that the U.S. would defend, quote, every inch of NATO territory should Putin decide to move further west.

KEILAR: All right, Jeremy Diamond, at the White House, thank you.

And coming up, how President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine went from a comedian, this is him on their equivalent of "Dancing with the Stars," to Ukraine's version of this champion, to the voice of Paddington Bear -- yes, we are serious -- to what many would describe as an international hero.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:54:20]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We've hardly slept for seven nights. Or we sleep, but anxiously. My dears, the time will come when we will be able to sleep, but it will be after the war, after the victory, in a peaceful country as we need.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: After the victory.

A brand-new video message released moments ago from Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. Of course, he's a former comedian who was a political novice and now he's leading his country in this fight for survival.

CNN's Phil Black takes a look at his path to leadership.

[06:55:02]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): There's one really good reason why even in peace time many wondered whether Volodymyr Zelensky had what it took to lead his country. His preparation for the job was pretending to lead his country.

In the popular Ukrainian TV show, "Servant of the People," he played another unlikely president. A teacher suddenly elevated to the highest office after a private rant about corruption goes viral.

In real life, his political party uses the name of the show as its own.

Zelensky's showbiz career was all comedy and light entertainment, including playing Paddington Bear in the movie franchise's Ukrainian release.

Somehow that part had led him to the role of wartime president at a perilous moment for his country.

BLACK (on camera): Is it fair to say that he was an unlikely presidential candidate and he is a thoroughly improbable wartime leader?

JOHN HERBST, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: I think that is fair to say. He's a man of extraordinary achievements and capabilities.

BLACK (voice over): Capabilities widely noticed through his recent example of leadership. Zelensky's videos from the streets of Kyiv are being watched everywhere. Calm, determined, insistent the world must do more. And he's provided perhaps the most memorable line of the war so far, responding to a U.S. offer to get him out of Kyiv with, the fight is here. I need ammunition, not a ride.

HERBST: And you can be sure that that courage is appreciated and has strengthened his own people in their resolve to deal with this act of blatant aggression.

BLACK (on camera): He could personally make a difference to the outcome, you believe?

HERBST: Oh, there's no doubt about it. Look, he is now an international hero. A living symbol of standing firm against overwhelming odds.

BLACK (voice over): In an exclusive interview with CNN's Matthew Chance, Zelensky played down the personal risks and hardships he's enduring.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: I'm the president of Ukraine. And I'm not iconic. I think Ukraine is iconic. And I always was sure (INAUDIBLE) and I knew it always. I knew it that Ukraine is special country. Ukraine is the heart of Europe.

BLACK: Zelensky has met his foe. He sat across from President Putin during talks in late 2019, clearly the junior, vastly less experienced statesman. Now, Putin's forces are coming for him. This moment is revealing Zelensky's character as he rallies his people and the world to resist Russia's assault and save Ukraine's democracy.

Phil Black, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: What an evolution.

NEW DAY continues right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

KEILAR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. It is Wednesday, March 2nd.

Russia stepping up its air and ground assault on multiple Ukrainian cities with apparent disregard for civilians. This is new video overnight showing an air strike that happened. An

air strike targeting Kharkiv. A regional police department hit there. And Ukraine says that Kharkiv's national university was also hit. Preliminary reports say that four people have been killed, nine have been injured amid massive shelling and bombing across the city today. And authorities say that a firefighting operation is now underway there.

Also overnight, Russia's defense ministry claims they have captured Kherson, which is a major, strategic city in southern Ukraine. There are some new images that show Russian military vehicles parked in a main square. Ukrainian defense officials, though, deny that Kherson has fallen. They say that a battle is still ranging for control of the city. And CNN has not been able to independently verify the Russian claims.

BERMAN: So, just a short time ago, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that 6,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the invasion began seven days ago. Six thousand. Now, CNN cannot confirm that number.

And also just in to CNN, I want to show you some new video. This is at a nuclear power plant. And on the road here are Russian -- sorry, are Ukrainian plant workers and citizens. And what they're doing, you can see in the distance there, they're blocking or trying to block a Russian military advance toward the nuclear power plant. So, Ukrainians filling the streets, just filling the streets right there once again to block that Russian advance.

[07:00:04]

We are getting word that Ukraine is asking the International Atomic Energy Agency for immediate assistance.