Return to Transcripts main page
New Day
Ex-Ukrainian President Joins New Day From Surrounded Kyiv; Visa, Mastercard, American Express, And Netflix Suspend Operations In Russia; Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher Vow To Match $1 Million In Donations For Ukrainians. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired March 07, 2022 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:32:04]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we have some brand-new video just in to CNN. This is pictures of Russian tanks taking up positions, apparently, on the streets of Irpin. This is the city just west of Kyiv where we've seen the Russians actually shelling civilians on known evacuation routes. This video seems to show at least five tanks and their crews within yards of these civilian apartments. We're going to keep our eye on this and bring you much more when we get it in.
Joining me now is Petro Poroshenko. He is the former president of Ukraine. The former president has been on the streets with the territorial civilian defense forces. Mr. President, thank you so much for being with us.
We've seen civilian hits along these well-known evacuation routes from Ukrainian cities. Do you believe the Russians are targeting civilians?
PETRO POROSHENKO, FORMER UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (via Skype): Definitely, and we have absolutely clear evidence of that because our battalion -- you see, they are soldiers of these battalions -- yesterday and day before yesterday was responsible for the evacuation from Bucha, Hostomel, and Irpin. We evacuate 2 1/2 thousand children and women. And we see with our own eyes they attack with a mortar and artillery these civilians who are trying to leave the city. And this is the act of their bloody Bucha killer Putin.
And we see that, for example, the mayor of Hostomel, Mr. Yuri Prylypko, and two volunteers -- his name, Ivan Zoria in (INAUDIBLE). We know them. They were killed during their distribution of food and medicine directly -- direct fire. That is happening.
Again, the same situation in Bucha. When people are trying to assist civilians with the humanitarian aid was directly killed by Russian soldiers.
And we have a family who are going to our bus which was protected without soldiers. They opened artillery fire and the family -- the father, mother, and two children right in front of our battalion were killed. It's impossible to see that and this is -- they tried to erase the whole cities. The same humanitarian situation is in Mariupol, in Kharkiv, in Chernihiv, in -- and this is their picture must worse than in Aleppo. Very similar when like in Stalin during the Hitler attack and this is not any different.
[07:35:00]
And I want to thank CNN and all the western media just for demonstrating the truth about Russia. And this is just to make more responsibility for the Putin -- definitely will appeared on the International Criminal Court.
And we have another thing. Yesterday, it was several Russian military jet and their pilot, which was Russian pilot which were in this jet. We have -- they give the evidence that it is the same pilot who bombing Syria. Now, they're bombing Mykolaiv and Kharkiv and Irpin. We have a soldier who hit it. So, 30 Russian military jet -- and they're delivering the evidence about that.
This is -- again, this is the real war. This is the real blood. This is real victims -- Ukrainian civilians. And the number of these victims is hundreds and hundreds of civilians who were killed by Russian artillery fire, Russian tanks, and Russian crazy soldiers who was directed by another complete madman whose name is Putin.
And definitely, this is -- this is the war not against Ukraine and everybody should understand that. This is the war against collective west. This is the war against U.S. This is the war against NATO. This is the war against Europe. This is the war against the whole world.
And he wants to destroy not only Ukraine -- he wants to destroy our values. He wants to destroy any nation in the European continent.
And that's why when you assist in Ukraine by supplying defensive weapons, by supplying the rocket launcher which we spend (ph) in that and we need you just to keep the level of Ukrainian army on the same level. We definitely need it and this is my --
BERMAN: Right.
POROSHENKO: -- special request. We need jet swap. We -- please supply to the Poland, to the Germany, to the Slovak Republic the jets from NATO and deliver us old Soviet planes. We have -- we don't need your soldiers, we don't need your pilots -- we need just jets to keep the airspace above us secure.
BERMAN: Right.
POROSHENKO: The airspace about the nuclear power station, airspace above the civilians, and airspace above Ukraine.
BERMAN: You're talking about --
POROSHENKO: And by the way, in the U.S. --
BERMAN: Hang on.
POROSHENKO: One second.
BERMAN: OK.
POROSHENKO: Just in the U.S., 70 percent of the people support it. In Europe, 70 percent of the people support it. We are a democratic nation. Please, let's -- please do the decisive decision. Thank you.
BERMAN: You're talking about MiGs from Poland and then replacing the MiGs in Poland with other planes, second those MiGs into Ukraine so they can be used there.
Just so people know the areas you're talking about -- these cities that have been hit -- where civilians have been hit. They're just outside Kyiv right now.
Mr. President --
POROSHENKO: Yes.
BERMAN: -- you've been on the streets in the territorial defense. Do you have a sense that the Russians are closing in on Kyiv this morning?
POROSHENKO: The decisive and brave Ukrainian soldiers giving their blood and giving their lives to keep Russia on the same distance. But Russia increasing in the pressure on Kyiv (audio gap) -- 40 minutes ago to turn back from Vasylkiv (ph) where we delivered the weapons, and equipment, and ammunition, and uniforms to the battalion over there of the territorial defense to try to protect us from this direction. We have 206 battalion to keep it on the Hostomel and Bucha direction.
Unfortunately, we have losses and we lost one Ukrainian hero yesterday and one Ukrainian hero from our battalion the day before yesterday. And this is the real fighting and with that situation, definitely, we still keeping the Russian troops on the position. But we have 17 cruise missiles just only for Kyiv, together with the airborne. And definitely, we need to have -- to protect our combat capabilities from the air. But definitely, the situation is quite difficult and the -- we need for the weapons.
And by the way, we need for the sanction. And again, 50 percent of Americans consider the sanction is not enough. And every single day while Putin keeps the possibility to attack us, he should know that every single day sanctions will start to be stronger and stronger.
[07:40:00]
For example, why we should finance Putin through the buying, even with the discount, the Russian euro's oil. With that situation, I think this is simply --
BERMAN: All right.
POROSHENKO: -- immoral. Putin should definitely heed (ph) the embargo of oil.
Why the Europe pay for them dollars for supplying the Russian gas -- we -- every single dollar -- European or transnational corporation pay to Putin? This dollar will be spent for killing us -- Ukrainians. We shouldn't allow that. We should keep together.
And we have very admired with the United States with the leadership of the President Biden -- with your leadership. With the leadership of your administration, of your Congress. Let's do not stop. Let's go further. This is the moment of truth and with this moment of truth, Putin should be -- should take the place he has definitely ordered all this crime -- all this crime.
BERMAN: Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, thank you for being with us this morning.
POROSHENKO: It's a pleasure. Thank you.
BERMAN: As families remain underground in Ukraine, escaping the bombs, a little girl tries to comfort those around her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMELIA: Singing "Let it Go" in Ukrainian bomb shelter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:45:33]
BERMAN: Russian attacks on Ukraine's capital city Kyiv are expected to sharply intensify in the coming days. Heavy shelling reported on the outskirts of the city is sending families scrambling for cover. In the face of this fear, a moment of bravery and song from one little girl.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMELIA: Singing "Let it Go" in Ukrainian bomb shelter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: What a voice. What a face.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UKRAINIAN CITIZENS INSIDE BOMB SHELTER: Bravo! Bravo!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Inside a shelter.
The video of Amelia singing "Let it Go" from "Frozen" has already been viewed on Facebook more than three million times. BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: That's a beautiful moment.
Heavy fighting continuing in southern Ukraine today. This morning, Mykolaiv hit by multiple rockets. Some new images showing that the aftermath -- you can see here these are apartments shelled.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh joining us live from Odessa. That's about 85 miles southwest of Mykolaiv. Tell us what is happening there in the south, Nick.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes. I mean, it's extraordinary to try and grasp exactly what Russia's game plan is here. Obviously, the target is here -- Odessa, where I'm standing -- third-largest city, major port.
Another major port is Mykolaiv you refer to there. That's been a scene. We were there a week ago watching this sort of Russian blundering around its outskirts. Shelling, intense -- certainly, last weekend and certainly, this morning. You saw those residential blocks damaged.
We heard from one hospital official that one person died and three were injured as a result of those rockets landing clearly in civilian areas.
Clearly, we saw ourselves, too, that in another quiet suburb an unexploded ordinance had landed -- some of it looked like cluster munitions -- in vegetable patches, in civilian cars. A blatant disregard for civilian life if not actual targeting of those areas themselves.
And then, at the same time, too, we kept seeing these Russian bids to move into the city. Now, as of this morning, the regional government of Vitaliy Kim was saying on telegram that they were under attack at the airport and pushing that back. He's since put out a message saying that they have -- that's Ukrainian forces -- retaken the international airport in Mykolaiv. I can't verify what that is.
But we have seen persistently Russian bids to get into the city. They're being defeated. They've had their vehicles destroyed. They've had their vehicles captured. We saw some farmers (INAUDIBLE) and locals struggling to try to get going an abandoned Russian relatively new model tank.
And so, the question really is exactly what the final strategy is for Mykolaiv because Russia can't hope to occupy the town of (INAUDIBLE) if it's shelled intensely. It clearly hasn't got the military mite or force to push in decisively.
And so, along with the strategy, too, in the more eastern town of Kherson -- further along the Black Sea coast, in which there are Russians seeing significant civil disobedience -- you have to wonder if the Russian moves along the coast here are running out of steam, if they're changing strategy. And after the warning of Russian -- I'm sorry, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that we heard last night saying the bombing on Odessa was imminent, whether there is potential for a change of tactics. A bid to try and move in on this large city.
It is, frankly, ready. It's large. It would take a significant Russian force. But the strategy across the south here does appear to be stalling even though it had momentum in the early days -- Brianna.
KEILAR: Yes, it really is at this standstill that we're watching.
Nick thank you so much for that report from Odessa.
BERMAN: So, high-profile companies shutting down operations in Russia in response to that country's invasion of Ukraine. Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Netflix among the latest companies to cut off services complicated life -- complicating life for Russians there.
[07:50:07]
CNN chief business correspondent Christine Romans with that.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT, ANCHOR, EARLY START: Amazing all of these names and how quickly it's happened. It's been unprecedented.
And quite frankly, you have Vladimir Putin with his nostalgia for a pre-1991 Russia. People living in Russia are experiencing that. Long lines at the subway. They can't use Apple Pay. Long lines at the ATM because of restrictions for capital controls to keep money inside of the country.
You're soon going to start seeing store shelves. Imports are going to be choked off in many cases because of all of these restrictions from companies who actually ship this stuff there.
So, one after another, we are seeing companies isolating. Visa, Mastercard -- they are suspending business inside of this government. The isolation for the Russian people here is real and will likely get worse.
BERMAN: If you look at this wall here, it's really astounding. It has changed life for Russians inside Russia. Not to the extent the Ukrainians are suffering -- they're being bombed every day -- but Russians are feeling the pinch here.
Now, here in the United States, gas prices are up.
ROMANS: Yes, and we saw gas prices this morning surging nationwide. And you can look at these numbers here -- $4.07 today. That's up just six cents from yesterday so that is a big pop.
This is going to continue going higher. We're talking about touching the 2008 record high -- you know, $4.08 or $4.10 here.
And we've got oil prices hit $130 a barrel -- crude prices did yesterday. Now, as you have the U.S. and its allies considering sanctioning, specifically, Russian oil those numbers could continue to move higher here. The question is when you talk about the isolation for the Russians and you talk about gas prices for the Americans, how much pressure does this put on policymakers in their next choices? Does Vladimir Putin just completely ignore the pain that's happening in Russia and continue -- does he lose support there? And in the U.S., will U.S. consumers accept higher gas prices to punish Vladimir Putin?
BERMAN: Christine Romans, thank you so much.
The breaking news, mayors in major cities inside Ukraine accusing the Russians of deliberating targeting civilians. We'll take you there.
Plus, CNN's Clarissa Ward, moments ago, at a crowded train station in Kyiv with families desperately trying to flee.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:56:35]
KEILAR: Actress and Ukrainian native Mila Kunis and her husband Ashton Kutcher vowing to match up to $3 million in donations to help refugees amid Russia's invasion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MILAS KUNIS, ACTRESS: I have never been more proud to be a Ukrainian.
ASHTON KUTCHER, ACTOR: And I've never been more proud to be married to a Ukrainian.
KUNIS: The events that have unfolded in Ukraine are devastating. There is no place in this world for this kind of unjust attack on humanity.
KUTCHER: And while we witness the bravery of --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: So the couple has set up a "Stand with Ukraine" GoFundMe campaign while acknowledging all that America has done for her. Kunis saying that she cannot forget her roots.
BERMAN: So, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues and intensify -- intensifies, officials in neighboring Moldova are seeking security assurances from the west as it deals with its own fears of Russian invasion.
I want to bring in CNN's Bianna Golodryga, senior global affairs analyst and I should note, Moldovan born. You were born in Moldova here, which borders Ukraine down by Odessa and has been dealing with its own Russian separatist issue for decades.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: For decades -- ever since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. We're talking about this region right here -- an autonomous region that's been pro- Russian, called Transnistria. And just to give you a sense of Moldova's size, this is a country
that's slightly larger than the state of Maryland, OK? And you have a country that's one of the poorest in Europe as well -- GDP of a little over $11 billion -- that's it.
All of the sudden, you've got a deluge of refugees coming in from Ukraine. We're talking maybe 80,000 -- 30,000 children, alone.
And the concern here is what happens in this region? Will Putin do what he did in Donbas, right, with Luhansk and Donetsk and recognize this region, which he hasn't done up until this point even though there are Russian troops there at this point as we're talking. And that will only escalate the situation and that will only cause more concern about the future of Moldova.
And Moldova's President Maia Sandu has applied last week to join the E.U. That's a long shot. But at this point, if we start to see a Russian presence here, that's going to create a situation where the E.U. is probably not going to want to recognize Moldova.
BERMAN: Let me just give people a sense of the military situation -- why the Moldovans so upset right here.
Look, you can see the Russians moving up the Crimean peninsula here. They would only have to get to here --
GOLODRYGA: Right.
BERMAN: -- to be in Moldova.
GOLODRYGA: And that's why so much focus is on this large port city of Odessa. That's the largest city that's bordering Moldova. And for me, just as somebody who had been born there to digest what is going on and the division within this tiny country.
I was born -- if we want to pull that map up right there just to show viewers -- in a city of about 3,000 people. This is the capital right here. I was born in a city of about 3,000 people right here called Chisinau. My family lived right here in this Transnistria region in its largest city of Tiraspol. This area now pro-Russian. This area now Moldovan, leaning towards the west.
BERMAN: And this area -- Transnistria here -- has a deployment of Russian troops that's just been there.
GOLODRYGA: It's been there for decades and it's a matter of what's going to happen in Moscow. Is Moscow, as I mentioned earlier, going to do what they initially did before they invaded Ukraine and recognize this region as they did with those two breakaway regions in Donbas?
BERMAN: And the fear, obviously, that Putin won't stop.
GOLODRYGA: Of course.
BERMAN: All right, Bianna Golodryga, thank you so much for being with us this morning. GOLODRYGA: Sure.
BERMAN: And NEW DAY continues right now.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
KEILAR: Good morning to viewers here in the United States and around the world. It is Monday, March seventh, and I'm Brianna Keilar with John Berman.
[08:00:00]
