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Russians Forces Attack, Take Over key Nuclear Plant in Ukraine; CNN: U.S. Sharing Intel with Ukraine at "Frenetic Pace". Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired March 04, 2022 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:19]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to viewers here in the United States and around the world. It is Friday, March 4th and I'm Brianna Keilar with John Berman.

We're beginning with our breaking news. Terror at an unprecedented level according to Ukraine's president as Russian forces are now occupying Ukraine's largest nuclear power plant after shelling it and setting it on fire.

Overnight, the fire at the Zaporizhzhia facility was extinguished after a relentless Russian attack. The fire starting in a training building just outside the main reactor and according to reports, there are dead and wounded among the Ukrainian defenders.

Radiation levels at the plant appear to be normal. The International Atomic Energy Agency reporting the fire did not affect essential equipment at the facility. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is warning the world that a much more dire outcome could be imminent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We remember that Russia propaganda to cover the world with the nuclear ashes. We remember. Now it is not a threat. Now it is a reality.

There are 15 nuclear reactors in Ukraine. If one of them blows, that's the end for everyone. That is the end for Europe. All of Europe will have to evacuate.

Immediate action must be taken to stop the Russian army. Don't allow the death of Europe. Stop this potential atomic catastrophe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Happening now: that was just a briefing from the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency giving an update on the situation at the nuclear plant. He said, quote, we are fortunate there has not been a release of radioactive material and the integrity of the reactors has not been compromised. Again, that was the head of the IAEA just moments ago.

Let me give you a sense of where this plant is. You can see Russian forces moving their way up from the south now occupying, we are told, the main administrative buildings at the plant.

President Biden spoke to the Ukrainian leader Zelensky about the nuclear situation overnight. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm confirms the U.S. has activated its nuclear incident response them.

And this is just one part of the intensifying Russian attack on Ukraine, new video this morning shows the aftermath of a strike on an apartment complex in Chernihiv. Look at that. This is difficult video to see.

Bodies on the ground there. Dozens of them scattered in the rubble.

You can hear the sound of victims crying in the streets begging for help. One woman can be heard screaming, little kids.

Officials tell us at least 33 people were killed there, 18 others injured. Horrible.

And just moments ago, Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Belgium for talks with NATO allies, declaring unity is the strength of the alliance.

I want to go to first to the Black Sea coast.

Our Nick Paton Walsh is in the very important city of Odessa.

But, Nick, first, I just want to start with the very dangerous situation at the nuclear power plant. What do you know?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yeah, the director of the IAEA, Raphael Mariano Grossi, talking about the situation being extremely tense and challenging.

But as you said earlier, John, most importantly the integrity of the reactors has not been damaged. It appears now, clearly, the Russian defense forces are in charge, Russian I should say military invading forces are in charge of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. But there seems to be clearly some sort of division between them and the Ukrainian staff that are there. Hearing from the Ukrainian state regulatory inspector, that while the Russians federation military forces are currently occupy the site, that is the administrative building and checkpoint. The six reactors remain intact and unit 1's auxiliary buildings have been damaged.

So, essentially, we're talking here about some of the parts of the plant that assist the reactor's functioning have been damaged in this, but the actual reactors themselves appeared to have not been compromised. It's important to put all in focus, to listen to the IAEA, their evaluation of this, too.

When this first occurred, there was great concern about what we might be seeing here and Ukraine's foreign minister talked about this being potentially ten times worse than Chernobyl. As it stands at the moment, that is not the case in terms of what we are hearing. Of course, information is patchy. We're talking about a conflict zone here, and it's important to understand this is an extraordinary by the Russian Federation's military forces to even consider taking a nuclear plant.

[05:05:08]

They would have known that there would have been resistance. They would have known Ukraine would not want to give up a facility which contributes a significant percentage of Ukraine's electricity. Yet still, on the livestream video of that night, the world was watching, shells landing near that facility. NATO's talked about recklessness, so does the United States, so is the European Union.

If we ever needed proof that Russian forces have a complete disregarding for civilian life as they move forward, it's pretty much this instant, because they're talking about the fallout. If this goes wrong, fallout that will likely drift towards Russia as well. So, an astounding move yesterday which I think just shows you frankly the mindset of this invading Russian force, what they feel the red lines are, perhaps there are none.

It is obviously good news this morning, John, there is no damage to the reactor as far as we know. That the Russian forces, it's good news, at least there's stability in the fact that they control the area and it's no longer the scene of a pitch battle. But my gosh, last night, we saw a worrying new glimpse as to how far Putin's troops appear willing to go -- John.

BERMAN: I think that's exactly right, Nic. The fact of firing on a facility like that, it's an enormous risk and it shows us there may be no red lines for Vladimir Putin.

So, we are told by the IAEA that the situation is stable this morning, Nick. But what about the power situation? This power plant is crucial to electricity and the power needs of all of Ukraine. What about that need?

WALSH: Look, I mean, the infrastructure for power has been under pressure. Some of that may be deliberate or munitions landing in places, but they've damaged that infrastructure.

It's pretty clear that Russia's tactics in the past have involved depriving towns they want control of basic utilities, electricity, water, heating and so we've seen some that have in Mariupol on the southern coast on the Sea of Azov. That is besieged. And residents talking about a lack of those basic facilities to essentially cow, bow, the population, and admit the invading forces.

Concerns here in Odessa, we may see some of that later on. We've seen power cuts in the various towns we've been through over the past days or so. Hard to work out if that is purposeful or just a facet of the destruction or chaos, frankly, that this invading force is sparking in the country. But it just shows you again, John, that nothing appears to be off the

table. There are no sacrosanct things at this stage that the Russian forces won't do. They talk about not targeting civilian infrastructure, but only is that being born out as a complete falsehood by what we've been witnessing on the ground.

Our teams across the country, when they are thinking that it's a good idea to stage a pitch battle for a nuclear plant, there's clearly something missing in the notion of what is not acceptable, John.

KEILAR: Yeah, certainly, Nick. And I know that as we're watching the Russian advance from the north of Kyiv, it does appear to be stalled but there in the south there's been more progress where you are. What can you tell us about Odessa?

WALSH: Yeah, look, Odessa at this stage, quiet. We had some sirens about 3:00 in the morning. That leaves people deeply edgy because it's round about that time that people have warned just before dawn you might think an amphibious force might make its way here. Other warning signs yesterday too when an Estonian flagship was sunk from shelling from Russian vessels were going to use it as a shield so they could begin their amphibious landing.

Unclear what really happened there, but it is clear an Estonian ship was sunk in the waters off here. That's devastating for maritime trade. I know that sounds like a side issue, but vast numbers of people around the black sea, they rely on free movement through the sea.

Here barricades still up. Deep concerns about what may be coming in the hours and days ahead. Concerns, too, that we may possibly see movements from the west of Odessa, from Moldova from a break away republic known as Pridnestrovia or Transnistria in English. Deep concerns with Russian troops there as well, shelling to the south of that, on the spit that connects parts of the Odessa coast to the Romanian border. Lots of deep concerns about what may be happening here.

Activity, too, around Kherson continued. Russian troops in that town. Obviously the local population deeply concerned about the Russian presence and are protesting it, according to videos that we've seen.

And we've also heard from the mayor of Mykolaiv. That's the major port city between Kherson to the east and Odessa to the west, that Russian troops have been pressuring.

[05:10:04]

The local administration has said there have been civilian casualties overnight inside the town. So, continued pressure on that inside the town. You say progress in the south. Yes, they appear to be having more forward momentum.

Kherson is clearly in their hands at this point. They're resisting that idea as much as they can and Mykolaiv potentially next. It is concerning for ordinary Ukrainians across the country if they do see the Black Sea area increasingly under Russian influence because of the impact it has on the economy and the influence. That will give a leverage that will give Moscow of daily life inside of Ukraine -- John and Brianna.

BERMAN: Nick Paton Walsh for us in Odessa this morning -- Nick, keep us posted. Thank you.

KEILAR: We do have some new CNN reporting on how the U.S. is sharing intelligence with Ukraine. Officials say that it's being done at a frenetic phase, rejecting some criticism that intelligence might not getting to Ukraine's military fast enough.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand is live at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, where Secretary of State Tony Blinken arrived just moments ago.

Natasha, what can you tell us?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, the secretary of state is here today meeting with NATO foreign ministers, meeting with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg to kind of discuss increased humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, increased lethal aid equipment to Ukraine and kind of assess the situation and where they stand now one week into the war.

But we are told that this criticism about the U.S. not necessarily sharing intelligence with Ukraine fast enough in order to give it kind of an edge over the Russian military as they fight them off is unfounded. We're told by U.S. officials that intelligence is actually being shared very quickly, sometimes between 30 minutes to an hour and that the way they're doing it because secure communications are very hard to come by in Ukraine at the moment given all of the power outages and the war, they have set up a portal where the U.S. intelligence officials will upload intelligence pretty much in real time that the Ukrainian officials can access themselves.

And what we're told is this is different from a usual war that the U.S. has been fighting, for example, in the Middle East where they have drones overhead, for example. This is not that kind of situation. Obviously the Russians would shoot down United States drones if they were flying overhead. So, they have not been able to have that kind of specific targeting intelligence that some Republicans have been calling for, but they have been providing real time intelligence to the Ukrainians we are told about the Russian military movements, about their conversations, about their military planning, and kind of giving them information about where the Russians are so that the Ukrainians have situational awareness.

We are told there has been a policy decision made the U.S. is not providing this in order to target the Russians specifically. It's a very small but notable kind of messaging distinction. They're providing it to the Ukrainians so that they have awareness where the Russians are so they can proceed accordingly. So, what we are told the bottom line is, the information is being shared very quickly, as quickly as possible with Ukrainians. Any lag in that intelligence sharing is going to be from scrubbing methods. So, there is some downgrading of the messages being given to the Ukrainians. We're told that is not impacting the substance of the intelligence. Rather, it is just standard procedure to protect the very sensitive sources on the ground there, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yeah, interesting distinction. Perhaps a legal one and certainly, it's up to Ukraine about how they wish to use the information, which may be different than the reason for which the U.S. states that it's providing it.

Natasha Bertrand in Brussels for us, thank you.

So, coming up, we're going to speak with a woman whose hometown of Kherson is suddenly flooded with Russian invaders. What she is facing as Russia takes control of the city where she lives.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:18:16]

BERMAN: A dramatic and tragic new images coming out of Kharkiv. The Ukrainian civilian was speaking into his phone before he was interrupted by a blast and heavy shelling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translated): Friends, I report, we have spent all the money. The terminals at Rost are back in order, and we bought and delivered stuff, will just go down the metro now. So if there's another fundraiser --

(EXPLOSION)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translated): I'm here, here!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: You can see the impact this has on civilians in the city. Kharkiv is been under assault for several days. This happened as the Kharkiv council building was hit. So, that's up in the north.

Meanwhile, the Russians seem to be making progress in the southern part of the country. They now do control the city of Kherson right there, not far from the Black Sea, a city of roughly 300,000 people. That was the scene of constant shelling since Russia invaded a week ago.

I'm joined now by Svetlana Zorina, a woman who lives in that city.

Svetlana, thank you for joining us. You were in Kherson. Give us a sense of the situation this morning.

SVETLANA ZORINA, LIVES IN RUSSIAN OCCUPIED KHERSON, UKRAINE: Sorry. Can you repeat the question? Because I didn't hear part of it.

BERMAN: First of all, I hope you're doing well. Tell us what's going on in your city this morning. [05:20:01]

ZORINA: My city -- hi. Thank you very much for opportunity to share the information, real information about what is going on in my city, because now, there is a lot of Russian propaganda and fake about what's going on here in Kherson. They occupy the TV station and, you know, in our local channels, they show interviews of our politicians translated into Russian and it's false information, so -- because they change the information.

And there is a lot of information from government and just in the local sources of my friends and people I know that Russians are going to organize a fake bulletin. They brought people from Crimea and they are on the square of our city and they will make a video of Russian television that Kherson wants to become a part of Crimea, part of Russia.

I want to say that that is not true. We are Ukrainians. We are Ukrainian city. Ukrainian flag still flies in our town. So, Ukrainian people, people of Kherson are not going to join this meeting at any point.

BERMAN: Have you seen resistance among the Ukrainian civilians against the Russian occupation?

ZORINA: Our resistant now is just to sit at home and take care of ourselves because we are scared. They already started to rape our women. There was an information from people who personally know that a 17-year-old girl, it's happened to her (ph), and then they killed her. So, we are terrified and scared, but we are not going to give up.

BERMAN: I'm so sorry to hear that. This is devastating.

ZORINA: Thank you. Yeah.

BERMAN: What else in terms of what you've seen and that you know have Russians done to your city?

ZORINA: They destroyed the one mall we have. They destroyed a lot of houses. They destroyed governmental organizations.

So, during daytime, it's pretty quite, but people are going outside because we don't have a choice. People are looking for food and medicine because still, there is no opportunity for us -- for our mayor to organize deliver food and medicine to Kherson.

And, you know, I don't know -- it's very -- today I was brave to leave the apartment where I am. I needed to go outside but I was scared to death. So it's horrible situation here right now.

But I want to make myself clear that we are going to stand as much as needed and, you know, we're not going to give up. We are Ukrainians.

BERMAN: I know you're taking care of your grandmother. How is she doing?

ZORINA: She's doing fine. She's inspiring me. She's holding up, you know?

She's very brave and she's not panicking. She's staying calm. She's trying to. We all trying to.

But we heard huge explosion yesterday at night. Our windows and doors start are trembling and also we know the information that nuclear power plant was attacked yesterday, so we were very afraid. We couldn't sleep last night.

But she is brave woman. She inspires me a lot.

BERMAN: You're a brave woman too.

Svetlana Zorina, we appreciate you being with us. Please be well and I wish nothing but better days for you ahead.

ZORINA: Thank you very much. Thank you for the opportunity to share the information with the world.

BERMNA: As bad as the situation sounds in Kherson where Svetlana was there, the worst is yet to come. That was the assessment after the French president's call to Vladimir Putin.

Stay with us. Our special live coverage continues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:28:54]

KEILAR: The worst is yet to come. That is the warning from a source connected to French President Emmanuel Macron after a 90-minute chat between Macron and Putin failed to deliver a diplomatic break through.

Putin telling the French leader the war against Ukraine will continue and, quote, go all the way.

CNN's Scott Mclean is live for us in Lviv, Ukraine.

Scott, good morning to you.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Brianna.

A diplomatic break through seems like a distant dream at this point. As you pointed out, the French side of that call said Putin is open to negotiating but only on the grounds that Ukraine is neutralized and disarmed. If that doesn't happen, well, he's prepared to make it happen by force.

Afterwards, the official statement from Macron's office concluded that we should expect the worst is yet to come. There is nothing that Putin said that should reassure us, and it is difficult to imagine things getting much worse than the absolutely horrifying videos that we are seeing from the ground.

Perhaps among the worse is a video from Chernihiv yesterday. That's a city about 90 miles north of Kyiv, that earlier on in the morning, an oil depot was struck there and then early in the afternoon, an apartment complex was hit by a series of strikes.