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New Day

Brady Returns to NFL; Five Homeless Men Shot in NYC and DC; Ukraine's Rail Network Chugs Along; Rafael Grossi is Interviewed about Chernobyl. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired March 14, 2022 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:32:14]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: There is new concern this morning on the lengths that Vladimir Putin will go following the deadly missile strike at a military base in western Ukraine. You can see it right there. You can even close in more here to see just how close it is to the Polish border.

Secretary of State Blinken is condemning the strike which killed at least 35 people, injuring more than 100.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told our Dana Bash, this is the type of attack the Biden administration saw coming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: This does not come as a surprise to the American intelligence and national security community. What it shows is that Vladimir Putin is frustrated by the fact that his forces are not making the kind of progress that he thought that they would make against major cities, including Kyiv, that he is expanding the number of targets, that he is lashing out, and that he is trying to cause damage in every part of the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Sullivan underlined President Biden's commitment not to send U.S. forces into Ukraine, while noting the U.S. and its allies will defend every inch of NATO territory, which does include Poland. The next round of talks between Russia and Ukraine set to resume via video any minute this morning.

We do have more breaking news. Several heavy explosions heard across Kyiv this morning. We're told they appear to have been caused by Ukrainian air defense batteries aiming at either Russian aircraft or cruise missiles.

You can see trails of smoke heading into the sky that can be seen from the central part of the capital.

While we follow the breaking news out of Ukraine, some other news. Hall-of-famer, Hamlet or both, Tom Brady unretires. What's going on there?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Also, authorities are now looking for a man accused of a series of five shootings over the last nine days, all targeting homeless men in New York and Washington. We'll have details, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:38:50]

BERMAN: So, just when we had come to terms with everything, Tom Brady unretired, just 40 days after he retired in the first place.

Coy Wire here with the "Bleacher Report."

I'm just confused, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: As you should be, John, as a long- time Patriots fan.

Brady stepped away with seven Super Bowl titles, more than any NFL franchise has won, but he's so much more than just a football player, right, a cultural icon, a real-life underdog story who's proved doubters wrong all along the way to become the greatest.

Lat night the GOAT tweeting this, these past two months I've realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands. That time will come, but it's not now. I love my teammates, and I love my supportive family. They make it all possible. I'm coming back for my 23rd season in Tampa. Unfinished business. LFG.

Brady retired last season, saying that gaining family time back was one of the main reasons he was doing it. But he's still got more in the tank. He threw for more yards last season than any other in his career. And it had to make him sick, barely losing to the Rams in the playoff. Then seeing them go on to win the Super Bowl. He's one of the most competitive individuals in sports history. He'll have a stacked roster yet again, and history may be on his side, John, for the comeback.

[06:40:01]

His last nine seasons, look at this, they've alternated, lose a playoff game, then go on to win the Super Bowl the next.

The happiest people in the world right now are Bucs' fans that he's coming back. Maybe one of the most disgruntled fans is the guy who paid half a million bucks the day before this announcement for his final touchdown pass. It's not the case any more for that ball.

BERMAN: I just don't know why he retired in the first place. I just don't get the whole sequence of events here. And it's really hard. He's put us through a lot, Coy.

WIRE: Yes, no doubt. And, you know, it's interesting because, as I mentioned, he's one of the most competitive in the -- on the planet, that we've ever seen in sports. And he was just, in the weekend, over in England. He was watching Cristiano Ronaldo, another GOAT, become FIFA's all-time leading scorer. They had a conversation on the field afterward. He was there with the Glazer family, who also are the owner of the Bucs. And you just wonder if that played into this factor.

But he's just -- he can't give it up. You can't go out on top like that. This is different than other situations we've seen with like Brett Favre or Michael Jordan retiring and then coming back. Tom Brady is still the GOAT. He still has the ability to come back this year and win another Super Bowl. The trickle-down effects is huge. Twenty-four free agents on that team who are now going to have to strongly reconsider any thoughts they may have been having about going to play for somewhere else because they're going to have a legit shot at another Super Bowl.

BERMAN: I just got rid of Sunday Ticket. That's not a joke. It's true. It's true. So, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do now.

WIRE: He's better for the game. You know, whether you're a player on the field or you're a fan in the stands, he's going to pack those stands. You're either rooting for him or you're rooting against him. Either way, the game is better with him in it.

BERMAN: All right, Coy, thank you very much.

WIRE: You got it.

KEILAR: A series of shootings targeting homeless men in New York City and Washington, D.C., have now been linked. Police say two men have died in these five shootings, each of these with similar circumstances. And this is the person that they're looking for. They're looking for this man.

I want to bring in CNN's Brynn Gingras.

So, Brynn, I do understand, there's this joint investigation by police in these two locations trying to look into these horrific shootings.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, everyone is searching for this person. And chilling words really, Brianna, coming from the mayors of both New York City and D.C. They said this, a cold- blooded killer is on the loose. Five shootings we're talking about over nine days. The suspect targeting people experiencing homelessness. And some of the horrific incidents even caught on surveillance video.

Let's show that picture again. It's a picture of him, according to police, that's being circulated to hopefully help identify this suspect. And law enforcement in both cities, like Brianna said, along with the ATF, are sharing information and investigating this together.

In D.C., that's where it appears this whole spree started. Two men were shot five days apart earlier this month. Both expected to be OK.

But then authorities found a victim in the remains of a fire on March 9th. His body, according to the medical examiner, had multiple stab and gunshot wounds. And then it appears police say the same suspect came to New York City and shooting two people who were sleeping on the street within 90 minutes of each other on Saturday, over this past weekend. Both incidents caught on surveillance video showing the suspect kicking the victims before firing on them. One victim is dead, the other is wounded.

Now, there are rewards in both cities. They're being offered to hopefully again, help get this man in custody. In the meantime, we're being told police here in New York are being told to do wellness checks of those who are living on the streets and then encourage them to seek shelter.

Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, that picture is pretty clear of his face and his build, so hopefully they'll get some leads there.

GINGRAS: Right.

KEILAR: Brynn, thank you so much for that.

Right now, the staff at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, they are so exhausted that they've had to stop carrying out the repair and maintenance of safety-related equipment. We'll look at how big of a concern that is.

BERMAN: An American journalist killed by Russian forces near Kyiv. We'll speak to his best friend ahead.

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[06:47:37]

BERMAN: All right, the breaking news this morning. Several heavy explosions heard across Kyiv this morning. You can see in the sky here the streaks. The Ukrainians say that they were firing perhaps on Russian missiles or jets that were coming in. So, again, that's the news we're looking at this morning. These explosions there.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, we're getting more information from the ground. The site of that Russian missile strike on that base right near the border with Poland here. You can see just how close that base was. At least 35 people killed, as many as 100 injured.

Now, even as so many military targets are hit across Ukraine and civilians suffer, there is one aspect of life there that has maintained operations. We're talking about the railroads.

CNN's Scott McLean with exclusive access.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): First light in Chernobyl, (ph) Ukraine, is the rising sun. The city's lights have been kept off since the war began, more than two weeks, that have exhausted, overwhelmed and completely upended normal life. But through it all, Ukraine's rail network has kept running. Every

morning the railways executives, led by 37-year-old Oleksandr Kamyshin, gather for a morning call. No cell phones, no Zoom, just a Soviet-era closed circuit phone system that connects every station. They won't stay here long. They can't. They believe they're a prime Russian target.

OLEKSANDR KAMYSHIN, CEO, UKRAINIAN RAILWAYS: The strategy is to move fast so that they don't catch you.

MCLEAN (on camera): How long can you stay in one place?

KAMYSHIN: Hours.

MCLEAN (voice over): Instead, their work managing 231,000 employees continues on a single car train headed west, for now. Often their work is aboard ordinary passenger trains to blend in with the masses.

Since the war began, they've been in near constant motion, crisscrossing the country to keep the Russians guessing.

The decision to leave their headquarters in Kyiv was made in the early morning hours of February 24th. Kamyshin snapped one last picture with his two young kids, one still asleep.

MCLEAN (on camera): Are they still in Ukraine?

KAMYSHIN: (INAUDIBLE).

MCLEAN: How does that make you feel?

[06:50:02]

KAMYSHIN: For me it's easier. When they know that they are safe and I have time to do my job.

MCLEAN (voice over): The country's rail network, one of the largest in the world, has been a life-line in war, moving desperately needed supplies in and desperate people out of danger. More than 2 million since the invasion began.

Schedules are drawn up the night before and changed in response to panic scenes like this one in Kharkiv or in Lviv in the early days of war.

MCLEAN (on camera): How on earth have people still been able to use the trains in a war zone?

KAMYSHIN: That's something which is surprising for the whole country and for the president as well.

MCLEAN (voice over): Surprising, because every day the network is hit by Russian bombs. Small damage breaks the link between cities temporarily. A downed bridge, indefinitely. Near Kharkiv, an undetonated bomb fell right next to the tracks. ROMAN CHERNITSKYI, UKRAINIAN RAILWAYS DIRECTOR OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND

SPECIAL PROJECTS (through translator): We are reacting and repairing a railway even under artillery shelling every day. Unfortunately, some of my colleagues have been killed and injured during shelling.

MCLEAN: Thirty-three killed, 24 injured, and counting.

MCLEAN (on camera): The difficulty working aboard a moving train is that the cell phone signal is not always great. Now, ,they do have StarLink Internet systems now courtesy of Elon Musk, but they barely even turn them on because they say it makes it easier for the Russians to target their location.

MCLEAN (voice over): The Russians have taken control of rail links in cities like besieged Mariupol, Sumy, Hersin (ph) and Cherniev (ph). But for now, all of the major hubs are still connected by Ukrainian Rail.

MCLEAN (on camera): How bad would it be if the Russians took these major stations?

KAMYSHIN: A real mess (ph). Don't ask me how bad, but real bad.

MCLEAN (voice over): When the train reaches Lviv, Kamyshin makes a quick visit to the station. Then more calls and meetings and a message for the rest of the world.

KAMYSHIN: What we can do, we already do. What west can do, close the sky and all the rest we'll do ourselves.

MCLEAN: Scott McLean, CNN, in western Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Staff at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant have stopped repair and maintenance of safety equipment because they are so fatigued from working non-stop now for nearly three weeks. This is according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. There are more than 200 workers who have been effectively living at the site. And that's also raising concerns about supplies and food reserves for them.

Joining us now is the director general of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi.

Raphael, thank you so much for being with us.

And when you're talking about they're no longer maintaining some of the safety equipment, what kind of equipment are you talking about?

RAFAEL GROSSI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY: Well, hello, first of all. It's good to talk to you.

We are in constant contact with all the nuclear power plants and all the nuclear facilities in Ukraine, which, you know, are many and they have different requirements and different situations.

In the case of Chernobyl, there is a little bit of the issue that you were describing just now with the shifts not being able to proceed as it would be normal -- under normal circumstances. What we have is people there working, staying there. It doesn't mean that they're working nonstop. But it is, of course, completely abnormal to have them stay there and not being able to take their normal shifts.

We did have an issue with a power supply, external power supply, to this facility that was complicating the safety operations there. The relatively good news in the -- of course, in the otherwise quite bad situation, is that we have been able -- they have been able to repair power lines, and the plant is operating as -- under more or less normal circumstances.

But, still, I've been saying that these normal operations has nothing normal about it. It's very abnormal to be operating like this under the control of the military of the Russian Federation. And I've been -- I've been talking about this with the Russians, with the Ukrainians. Last week I was in Turkey speaking to Foreign Minister Lavrov and Foreign Minister Kuleba about the whole situation. Not only Chernobyl, but the rest of the facilities, because we urge -- we urgently need -- we urgently need an agreement, an overall agreement on the safety and the security of these places.

You'll remember that 10 days ago there was fire in a nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, in another places. And so before we have another accident leading to what might be more serious, we need to act soon -- as soon as possible, and this is what we are trying to do here from the IAEA.

[06:55:02]

KEILAR: Certainly. Certainly, Rafael, we've seen -- we've --

GROSSI: Yes.

KEILAR: Yes, we've seen concerns not just at Chernobyl. But can you speak specifically to the safety-related equipment that they are unable to maintain at Chernobyl? What is that equipment?

GROSSI: I -- I can tell you that, you know, this plant, you have to remember one thing. Chernobyl is not operating anymore. They have all reactors and one which is --

KEILAR: And there's a sarcophagus. Yes, there's a sarcophagus over reactor four, which is the one that exploded back in the 1980s.

GROSSI: (INAUDIBLE). Precisely.

KEILAR: So, the safety equipment is related to making sure that it doesn't leak radiation, I presume.

GROSSI: Exactly. And the -- and we're at --

KEILAR: That's -- that's concerning.

GROSSI: Yes, it's concerning. But what I would like to tell you is that the safety of the operation there is not compromised. I want to confirm this.

KEILAR: OK.

GROSSI: I don't want -- I don't want to -- at the same time I think we need to be precise. This does not mean that everything is OK, all right, but the safety of the plant there, there is no immediate radiation danger here. The plant is operating normally. The power supply, which is essential, has been restored. And there is, you know, the -- there -- there is normalcy in this sense. Of course, this is a very fragile --

KEILAR: Yes. Very -- very good news that -- look, very good news that they're off of diesel generators, but do you get the sense when you're talking to the Russians that they understand what's at risk here? Do you feel like they're acting in good faith as you speak with them?

GROSSI: Let me -- everybody understands very well what is at risk here. Let me -- let me make that perfectly clear. Everybody understands what is at stake. And this is why we need an agreement. We need a specific nuclear safety security specific ad hoc arrangement so that we are not moving from one another, you know, trying to prevent a thing here, a thing there, putting down a fire here, repairing a power line there, looking at the shifts here and there. So, this is what I'm trying to get to as soon as possible. If possible, this week.

KEILAR: These technicians in these nuclear plants that -- and they can't leave. They can't go home like they might normally do for -- when their shift is over. Are they essentially prisoners?

GROSSI: I wouldn't call it like that, you know. There are legalism indications to what you are saying.

KEILAR: Do they have the ability, do they have the agency to leave if they want to?

GROSSI: I think they could. But the problem there is that, first of all, and we're talking about Chernobyl, again, not to confuse people. It is very important. Zaporizhzhia, which -- where -- which is a much bigger and actually operating nuclear power plant, where we have the same problem, we were able to solve it. And people are going home, et cetera, et cetera. Here, you have to remember that Chernobyl is geographically located in what could be described as a war zone. It is a very -- it is a more dangerous and unstable geographic space than other places. So already moving people in and out has inherent risks.

So, in terms of the shifts, one has to ensure us in any other imagined -- you know, an industry, any activity, the United States, you have the people who come out, they have to be replaced. So, all of these logistics are far more complicated to arrange in a place where you have snipers, that you have military operations ongoing.

So, these people who are extremely courageous, I have said it, and I think they deserve praise for their courage, their dedication. You know, they've been working in this plant for many, many years. They have I would even say an attachment to the place. They -- KEILAR: Yes, and clearly they have -- and, Rafael, they clearly have an understanding of what it at stake. And we appreciate you discussing the big picture of everything that is going on in the nuclear plants in Ukraine.

GROSSI: They do. They do. They do.

KEILAR: Rafael Grossi, with the IAEA, thank you so much.

GROSSI: It's been very good to talk to you. Thank you.

KEILAR: NEW DAY continues right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

KEILAR: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Monday, March 14th. And I'm Brianna Keilar, with John Berman.

Just moments from now, Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will address the council of Europe amid dangerous moments that are unfolding this morning as the Russians bring their deadly war to NATO's doorstep.

[07:00:00]

New images showing Ukrainian rescue and evacuation efforts after Russian shelling hit a residential building this morning.