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U.S. Embassy in Kyiv Says, War Crime for Russians to Attack Nuclear Plant; Blinken in Brussels for NATO Talks as Russian Attacks Intensify; U.S. Basketball Player Escapes Ukraine After Being Trapped. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired March 04, 2022 - 07:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN NEW DAY: Nuclear plant takes his reign of terror one step further, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky warning that the worst may still be ahead.

[07:00:08]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: There are 15 nuclear reactors in Ukraine. If one of them blows, that's the end for everyone. That's the end of 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 NEW DAY: And this happens as the Russian invasion is intensifying. This awful video shows the aftermath of a strike on an apartment complex in Chernihiv.

Ukrainian officials tell us at least 33 people were killed there, 18 others injured.

And in Kharkiv, you can see a Ukrainian civilian speaking into his phone, he is interrupted by an explosion and heavy shelling.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Belgium for talk with NATO allies, they're going to be trying to find new ways to deter Vladimir Putin, if any ways, at this point exist.

We're going to begin our coverage with CNN's Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto. He is live on the ground in Lviv, Ukraine. Jim, I want to focus on the news coming out of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant this morning. Word from the company that runs it that station managers are now working under invaders' gunpoint. Just chilling.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It is. I think we should be clear, it is not clear that Russia intended attack or attack the reactors themselves of the plant, that this was attacks around the plant. Now, that, of course, by its own nature, dangerous because shells can go astray and it's a highly sensitive site.

I should say that it was U.S. intelligence leading into the invasion that Russia did not have an intent to to attack nuclear plants with the intent of blowing them up or raiding the country because Russia's plan is to take over the country and occupy it.

However, U.S. intelligence indicated going in that Russia might attempt to disconnect those nuclear power plants from the electrical power grid, sort of a temporary cutoff so that they could to squeeze urban centers as part of a broader plan to attack and occupy those urban centers.

So, I think we should be aware that as we go into this, the fire is out. And as you said, John, the technicians there, the people running the plant are still running the plant but, of course, under duress, under the point of a gun. And that seems to fit with the broader plant, as the U.S. understands it, right? Is it for Russia to take over the country, including the nuclear power plants, not destroy those plants, but perhaps use those plants as leverage, the power that those plants generate as leverage, as part of a broader push to take over the cities and then they hope, the Russians do, to take over the country?

BERMAN: Again, no elevated levels of radiation, that very important, no serious damage to reactors. But, Jim, the risks you are willing to take, the Russians willing to take, by firing at a nuclear plant, even if it's the outlying buildings at that plant, when something, even as minimal as a power outage could have a serious impact does show you how far the Russians are willing to take this.

SCIUTTO: It does. Listen, this is a broad scorched earth strategy, it seems, for Russia to take over this country. And we are certainly seeing that with civilian casualties, which more and more don't look like collateral damage, and I hate that phrase, don't look like the unintended consequences of indiscriminate fire, but the explicit intent of these attacks when you look at those residential areas, like you were showing in Chernihiv, northeast of the capital. Civilians are dying here and Russia has used that playbook in the past in Syria, in Chechnya and elsewhere deliberately to help pressure a population to get in.

The other piece, of course, is when you are lobbing missiles and bombs and artillery and rockets, which aren't particularly accurate, some of those weapons systems, you're going to hit things you don't intend to hit or would prefer not to. And that could include a nuclear power plant. I have said to you many times, John, that the U.S. view of Russian targeting is not complimentary, that they don't have confidence in precision targeting by Russia, that a lot of their shots, they miss. And last night, we saw the danger of that.

BERMAN: Absolutely. And I'm so glad you brought up the words, collateral damage, I think remove the focus where it needs to be on the actual real suffering in the civilian population right now, and that might be design.

[07:05:03] Jim Sciutto, I really appreciate your reporting this morning. Thank you so much.

SCIUTTO: Thank you.

BERMAN: Joining us is a professor at the Middlebury Institute for International Studies Jeffrey Lewis. Professor, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

The news this morning is no elevated levels of radiation, no serious damage to the reactors. What's your main takeaway from what we're learning?

JEFFREY LEWIS, PROFESSOR, MIDDLEBURY INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Well, I think we're probably through the worst of it at this point, but it's a really jarring thing to see. This was an extraordinarily reckless thing for the Russians to do. And there are other nuclear power plants in Ukraine. And so I think this is going to be an issue, it's going to continue to be a concern as long the fighting continues.

BERMAN: Yes. Zaporizhzhia right there, and they can see plants all over, including, of course, Chernobyl, which everyone knows very, very well.

When we talk about Zaporizhzhia, no elevated levels of radiation, no serious damage to reactors, I was reading there was some concern. You know, what you're talking about a complex like that, there's a lot that go wrong. And there are spent fuel rods that are being cooled in open pools. What is the significance of those?

LEWIS: Yes. This is a very complex system. So, once fuel is removed from the reactor, it is still extremely hot and it's radioactive. And so it needs to be cooled in what we call a pool. That water has to be kept at a certain temperature. And if something were to say knock out the electricity, then what would eventually happen is the water would boil off and the fuel would catch fire, and then you would have a radioactive fire. And then how bad that is depends on the cooling that's around it, but that is something no one would want to see.

So, again, these are complicated facilities. There are lots of ways that things can go wrong. And it's one reason why you don't shoot them.

BERMAN: Lots of things that can go wrong, one reason you don't shoot them.

What about the human beings inside there, these workers who are now told are working at invaders' gunpoint? How dangerous is it to have people inside a nuclear power plant working under duress?

LEWIS: Well, I don't think it's good for their actual performance. It's unfortunate. I mean, there do need to be people on site at all times. And so I'm glad that there are people there. It seems that they have extinguished the fires. I'm glad that there are firefighters on scene. But, again, as a long-term issue, I would like to know if Russia is seizing these power plants that they have some sort of strategy to make sure they are staffed and running safely. And it really seems like they are just making it up as they go along.

BERMAN: Professor Lewis, you have been so helpful overnight. I was reading everything you were writing. Look, obviously a lot of concern. You never like to see anyone firing at a nuclear plant. A little bit relief this morning that the reactors don't appear to be damaged. We appreciate you being with us. We're going to lean on you in the coming hours or days. Thank you.

LEWIS: It was a pleasure.

KEILAR: So, as we're watching potentially Russian troops stalled there, north of Kyiv, Vladimir Putin's forces are making significant gains in the south, in Southern Ukraine. Russian troops now surround cities there.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is live for us in the key city of Odessa with more on this. Just give us a sense of how things have developed in the south and where they are headed, Nick.

NICK PATONN WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes. I mean, the key news this morning is a report from a local head of government in the town of Mykolaiv. That's a key port along the Black Sea coast between where I'm standing in Odessa and Crimea, that there have been civilian casualties overnight, saying that there is intense fighting going on around that city.

Another snapshot we're getting to about life under Russian occupation looks like, I spoke to a resident in the town of Kherson just now talking about how they, overnight, saw a convoy of civilian cars coming into that town. The fear amongst residents being that is part of some civilian infrastructure or presence designed to reinforce or legitimize the Russian military occupation of that town. And they say that local men are still being led away and detained.

They also say that Ukrainian T.V. has gone off air and they are now basically watching Russian T.V. channels piped at them, which show pictures of Kherson being calm and children going to school. They also said they have lost some elements of cell phone coverage.

So, what we've seen in the past when Russia takes areas, the removal of local television, the imposition of the nonsense that we hear off on Russian state media, that appears to be part of the playbook in Kherson at the moment despite the ongoing violence and repression, it seems, against local civilians there.

Mykolaiv under attack here, Odessa, calm for now, edginess like we have seen for days. Overnight, we heard sirens twice, about 3:00, 4:00 in the morning.

[07:10:00]

Yesterday, we heard that an Estonian flagged vessel was, in fact, sunk off the coast here. Ukrainian officials said that was from Russian shelling and they suggested it was part of some kind of bid to use civilian ships here as shields in the event of some Russian amphibious landing.

Look, we have heard warnings about a Russian amphibious assault here for months and intensifying in the past days. It is what the city is most troubled by, that and reports of different military movements around the outskirts of the city. It's the third largest in Ukraine. It's a vital economic cup. It is the main port for the country. And so whatever happens here will essentially decide a lot of what occurs is Ukraine's economy.

And people are deeply on edge here seeing the progress or the speed or momentum possibly, it's fair to say, of Russian troops along the Black Sea coast. Brianna?

KEILAR: Nick Paton Walsh, we appreciate the report. Thank you.

BERMAN: Let's talk more about the Black Sea coast. Joining us now, retired Army Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, former commanding general of Europe and the 7th Army.

We talk about Kherson now in Russian hands, Mykolaiv under siege right now, Odessa, where Nick Paton Walsh is, I will pull out so people can get a sense of where we are. This entire coast line, General Hertling, it really does seem as if the Russian are tying to take control of it. You said the other day, you thought that would be hard but they're trying. What's the significance here?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: They're trying, John, but they are attempting to occupy, but I continue to say what I've said before, they will not be able to control. We have seen a level of the incompetence, in discipline, and extremely uninformed or dangerously purposeful plan. And now we are seeing repeated examples of criminality to the extreme degree baked into their operational plan.

All of these things are going to contribute to a lack of success. They may be surrounding cities right now. They may be arresting people. But what I'd suggest is it's going to be very difficult to lead -- I mean, I don't know how many men are in Ukraine right now after we have seen the flow of people to the Polish and Hungarian border, but I would say it would be extremely difficult for 190,000 soldiers, even with arms, to control probably close to 20 million men.

We're still early. We want instant gratitude that things are going extremely well. But as Russia continues to walk into these areas and perhaps attempt to occupy, we are going to see increasing problems with logistics, control of their forces and the inability to encounter a guerrilla war that I believe the Ukrainian people will start to execute.

KEILAR: Look, even if, General, they can't -- the Russian military cannot control these areas, they can inflict so much pain. And I think we are seeing that already. Can the Russian army get to the point where they are encircling Kyiv, and it is under siege? And if that's the case, then what?

HERTLING: Yes, they can, Brianna. And that's what we have talked about so many times before. Again, I'm going to say it one more time. These aren't soldiers or generals. These are criminals dressed in uniform. What they will do will attempt to encircle the cities, as Nick Paton Walsh has basically just said. In some cases where they can't, we're going to see more of what they've done in places like Kharkiv, where they continue to shell and bring in artillery and rockets from a far where the Ukrainian fighters won't be able to get to them. You're talking continuous landing of artillery rounds, of missile rounds, on civilian, infrastructure where it's not only damaging and killing people, but it's delivered from 17, 20, 50, 100 miles away. Those weapons systems fly over the countryside and land in the cities.

And those things do two things, truthfully Brianna. This is the intent of the Russians. They not only destroy buildings and kill people but they also compound themselves in a psychological approach. You just showed a film of an individual under artillery fire. You never know when those rounds are going to land until you see or until you hear the screaming of the incoming. And then it's constant. And those kind of things you can't protect yourself against other than by attempting to run away or get into other shelters. So, the psychological destruction of the will is what Russia is trying to do.

But I still firmly believe Ukraine is extremely strong. Their will is much greater than the Russian soldiers. And we are seeing at the same time these artillery rounds are falling. An increased will by Ukraine and the Russians continuing to have a decrease of will on the part of their soldiers on the frontline.

[07:15:00]

They can't do the things that -- I'm continuing to say they can't do the things they want to do with the force they have there. It will soon start to shatter.

KEILAR: Yes. But the cost that it will exact, I think, is we are already watching sort of the prelude to that unravel here. Retired Army Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, thank you so much for being with us.

HERTLING: Thank you.

KEILAR: So, just in, chilling new video of another school being hit by a Russian rocket.

Plus, the American basketball player who escaped Ukraine after days of being trapped will join us live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Right. This just in to CNN, the Russian onslaught in Ukraine intensifying. This was an attack on a school. You can see the aftermath here. This is in the northern city there.

[07:20:02]

The school simply just devastated, almost nothing left standing.

In a video statement, the mayor of the city confirms the attacks, saying the Russians, quote, do not stop at anything.

So, an American basketball player who was trapped in Ukraine is safe and home in Maryland after a harrowing four-day journey. Maurice Mo Creek was greeted by his mother as he arrived at Dulles Airport, former college standout at Indiana and later George Washington University, was under contract with the Ukrainian Basketball League and living in Mykolaiv when the fighting broke out.

Joining me now is Maurice Mo Creek along with his parents, Pammy and Mike Creek. This is their first interview since Mo returned home.

Mo, Mykolaiv is right here, just north of the Crimean Peninsula, so people can get a sense of where it is. You were there when the fighting broke out. What was that like?

MAURICE MO CREEK, AMERICAN BASKETBALL PLAYER WHO JUST ESCAPED UKRAINE: It was crazy, something that you just don't want to be part of. We go to overseas to play basketball is our job. We don't come across this to be a part of a war.

BERMAN: And where were you physically when it started? What did you hear? What did you see?

M. CREEK: I was in my apartment. We had like speculations that it was actually going to happen. So, when everything started, everybody just went to their apartments and their homes and tried to be with their families and stuff. I tried to call mine. I had people that were close to me. So, we just tried to be as safe as possible.

BERMAN: And when did you decide you just had to get out?

M. CREEK: Well, I decided to turn in my contract February 21st, so I'm just getting out a couple of days later. And it's been pretty tough.

BERMAN: How was it? How did you manage to get out?

M. CREEK: Well, it was crazy. We had -- me and my group, we had like four different options. But the fifth option came alive when my assistant coach, his wife and his sister were leaving the country, and they just happened to have one more space for me and I took it.

BERMAN: And you drove, you drove to the border? Tell us about that journey.

M. CREEK: No. They had a personal driver. The journey was wild. You know, you don't see the checkpoints and stuff that you have to go through. It looked like a maze. We had to swerve back and forth just to get through a straight, a narrower street and everything. So, just seeing like parts of the road being dismantled and everything like that was kind of crazy to me, having to show your passport to the people every time to make sure you're the right nationality and not an enemy towards them. It was a wild experience.

BERMAN: How long did you have to wait at the border before you did get across?

M. CREEK: It was like nine hours. We're sitting there in freezing cold, got kids sitting out, freezing cold. There are food and drinks outside but that's not really going to determine what you had to actually go through when you're standing there shivering and just waiting for everybody to get through.

BERMAN: And, Pammy, he did get over the border, ultimately did get a flight home. We saw a video of you meeting him at Dulles. What was that like to finally get him home?

PAMMY CREEK, MO CREEK'S MOTHER: It was a lot of emotions because I had to touch him. I think people were making a joke that I was patting him down. But I needed to touch him. I needed to feel him. I needed to make sure that it was really him, that he was back in one piece, mind, body, spirit. So, it was very overwhelming.

BERMAN: I can see you holding onto him right now like you're not going to let him go.

P. CREEK: Yes.

BERMAN: Probably hurting his arm as you sit there, you're squeezing it so tight.

Mike, I have to believe to have your son, and this is something that I think the parents of a lot of soldiers and sailors and marines often deal with in harm's way, it's a feeling of helplessness when they're overseas. Your son was in the middle of a war zone. What did that feel like?

MIKE MORGAN, MO CREEK'S FATHER: It was crazy. For your son to be there and the only thing he has is a basketball to protect him, it's unbelievable.

[07:25:03]

BERMAN: And, Mo, what are you going to do now, now that you're home?

M. CREEK: I'm just going to spend a lot of time with my family. I'm going to spend a lot of time with my friends. I'm home now. And I know everybody is happy for me to be back. I'm happy to be back. You know, you go through stuff like this, you don't want to take nothing for granted, you know? You know, a lot of times we just -- we waste time.

And one thing that I learned the way it is, is just we want to cherish every time, every minute that we have because you never know when it's your time.

BERMAN: And, Mo, you must still have some friends or people you know in Mykolaiv right now, which is very much a city under siege. Russian troops are advancing on that city right now. Have you heard from them? Are they doing okay? M. CREEK: I haven't really heard from them. You know, we want to check up on those guys. All of my teammates that I was just a part of are like brothers to me. Just because I'm home and they're there, the training staff, the coaches, everybody is part of a big family, you know?

Of course, I'm going to start and continue to check on those guys and make sure that everything is okay. I hope everything is all right because it is tough over there right now. And I'm just thankful that I got out.

BERMAN: Pammy, hold onto that arm. Don't let it go. Keep him by you as long as you can.

P. CREEK: I am. I will.

BERMAN: Mo, thank you for being with us. Mo, we're glad you got home.

M. CREEK: Thank you.

BERMAN: So, at this moment, Russian troops control Europe's largest nuclear power plant. The company that owns it say that station managers are working under invaders' gunpoint. We're going to talk about the potential danger to Ukraine and beyond, next.

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[07:30:00]