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Ukraine Destroys Russian Helicopters at Kherson Airport; Russia Calling in Reinforcements to Replace Losses; Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) is Interviewed about Zelenskyy's Upcoming Address to Congress; U.K.: Russians Calling in Reinforcements to Replace Losses. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired March 16, 2022 - 06:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[05:59:51]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Wednesday, March 16. I'm John Berman with Brianna Keilar.

Overnight, a residential building just a short distance from the city center of Kyiv was hit by Russian shelling. You can see it right there. Apartments ablaze. Rescue workers evacuated 37 people. At least two people were injured.

The city is under curfew this morning after a night of air raid sirens and explosions. And with his capital under attack, Ukraine's president is set to address the U.S. Congress this morning. Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to renew his call for a no-fly zone over Ukraine, a request the Biden administration has not been willing to grant.

In Brussels at this moment, a meeting of NATO defense ministers. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin -- you can see him right there -- met with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg just moments ago.

And there are signs this morning of serious strain in the Russian attack. The U.K. Defense Ministry says the Kremlin is calling in military reinforcements from across the country to replenish its losses in Ukraine.

And the Ukrainians say at least three Russian military helicopters here were blown up during a military strike at Kherson's airport.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Still, Ukrainian cities are taking heavy fire. This is some drone footage that reveals just the utter devastation in Oturka (ph), which is near the hard-hit city of Kharkiv.

And then in Mariupol, Ukrainian officials say Russian forces are holding people captive in a hospital. Thousands of civilians are struggling to escape the city, but there is no safe evacuation corridor. We're going to speak to Mariupol's deputy mayor here in a moment. And after President Zelenskyy speaks to Congress this morning,

President Biden is expected to announce $800 million in new security assistance for Ukraine. Biden also planning to travel to Europe next week.

Our coverage begins with CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, who is live on the ground in Odessa, Ukraine.

Nick, good morning to you. What is the latest from where you are?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes. Sirens again this morning, Brianna. And concerns that slowly, we are seeing more and more Russian military activity around this, the third largest city of Ukraine on the Black Sea. Two Russian jets were in fact, shot down off the coast here and also suggestions, too, that shelling had occurred on a Kyiv split along the coastline here. And that may be, in the phrasing of this, another bit to test the defenses of this utterly strategic city.

Those are reports; we can't verify. But still show the growing concerns around this city.

Cast yourself way across to the East along the Black Sea coast. You were just referring to Kherson. That's been under Russian control for some time. Those satellite images do seem to show a pretty successful Ukrainian strike damaging Russian military hardware, three helicopters, at least, in that airport.

That's been under their control for a number of weeks. And it is between Kherson and Mykolaiv, where we were yesterday, that we have seen, I think, an uptick, it's fair to say, in the violence.

Now, there's been a lot of shelling in the villages along that road, certainly. And Russia claims it has control of the whole Kherson area, which runs halfway up that road. And Mykolaiv's defense chief has been suggesting that they're pushing down that road, trying to reclaim villages.

We ourselves saw people fleeing the devastation, the destruction of schools. One woman told us there were literally 10 out of 18 homes still standing in the village that she had fled from.

And there are apparently talk of humanitarian corridors on that particularly road to get people out today.

The flux there was Mykolaiv very important, because that's what Russia needs to have some kind of supremacy over along that road, to pressure the main city of Mykolaiv, after which many analysts think the feasibility of military pressure on Odessa become larger.

But a lot moving in this particular Black Sea area at the moment, particularly along those main three cities. And all of it really about Odessa here, where we've seen people putting up defenses over the days and weeks in the past. And a general sense, I think, of fear here that the ships that have talked of being in the Black Sea over the horizon may have the city in their sights, Brianna. KEILAR: May have the city in their sights.

If we look at Mariupol, we did see that there were evacuations there yesterday, Nick. But obviously, this is incredibly difficult. And it was just a tiny fraction of the people who were holed up in that city.

And furthermore, we -- it's difficult to get pictures, right? It's difficult to get images of what is happening there.

WALSH: Yes. Absolutely. And reports of thousands of people managing to get out. Well, that's a fraction of those who are said to be stuck in there.

And obviously, they're counting the people left there, the kind of supplies they have. It's patchy. The images are patchy. I believe you're about to speak to an official from there. And hopefully, that will be able to shed more light on it.

But it's important, Brianna, to put the is in the broader context of these negotiations still happening. Russia has done this in the past. They talk. They engage in diplomacy. And yet, still, they launch barrages against civilians in cities that are besieged.

[06:05:05]

Mariupol's fate is well-known and a clear example of how Russia wages war in 2022. I have to tell you, along this Black Sea coast, particularly in a city like Mykolaiv, which is threatened with some sort of encirclement. That is, essentially, what the Russian strategy appears to be. To head North and cut it off from the West. And then come up from the Southeast, as well. The fear being that that may be what they're attempting to do to the vast city of Mykolaiv -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. Nick. Thank you so much for that report from Odessa.

BERMAN: All right. Joining me now is journalist Sebastian Junger. His latest book, "Freedom," is out now.

Sebastian, thank you so much for being with us. One of the pieces of news we got in this morning is the U.K. defense ministry is saying that Russia is having to call in reinforcements from across the expanse of Russia to help them here, because they're being strained. Their troops are being strained.

You have a new story out where you look at why the Ukrainians are having success. What did you find?

SEBASTIAN JUNGER, JOURNALIST: Well, it's really interesting. History is littered with examples of the underdog winning. Winning military fights, winning political movements.

The labor movement in this country, the civil rights movement. And going all the way back to, say, the invasion of Montenegro by the Ottoman Empire. They outnumbered the Montenegrins 15-1. They had artillery, cavalry. And the Montenegrins fought a sort of low-level war that was incredibly effective. And they destroyed one-third of the Ottoman forces and drove them out.

So what -- The way it works is that the larger force goes through much more resources than the smaller force, and they just can't sustain it.

And that's even true, you know, in the fighting ring, in mixed martial arts. The guy with the big muscle, the big guy with the big muscles burns through oxygen faster. Big armies burn through ammunition, fuel, food. So what you have here, I think, is that dynamic in action.

BERMAN: Look, even the Russians are -- Russian troops are operating in more areas right now. You can see them moving up from the South. You can see them trying to close in on Kyiv.

But to an extent, the offensive seems to have been stalled there. You've been in many war zones. You've seen the effect of weapons like, say, the Stinger here, these anti-aircraft missiles. Why are these so effective for Ukrainian troops?

JUNGER: Well, big armies depend on armor. And if you can take out armor with something that one person can carry, you weirdly -- the smaller force has a sort of dynamic advantage.

During the Middle Ages, they invented the crossbow bolt. And it went through armor. And so a peasant with a crossbow could take out a knight who was worth hundreds of thousands, millions of times what the peasant was. And that changed everything.

BERMAN: Look, it's interesting. You know, the Javelin is the perfect example of that. Anti-tank weapon here that one person can fire. This is what the Biden administration has been sending in in huge numbers and wants to send more.

And the Biden administration is basically arguing these are more useful for you, Ukraine, than the MiGs you want.

JUNGER: Right. Right.

BERMAN: That may be not what the Ukrainians want to hear.

JUNGER: Yes, I mean, between -- between these and the Stingers, the air force and the armor of the Russian army is not maybe neutralized but reduced.

And one of the things that I found in my book "Freedom" is that there were three components that really helped underdogs win. First of all, you needed a cause that was centered around the idea of "freedom." The origin of the word "freedom" is the German word for "beloved."

In other words, when people are fighting for freedom, they are fighting for the people they love, for their communities.

Another is you need leadership that's willing to die, like literally die for the cause. If the leaders aren't willing to die, why should anyone else be? Clearly, the leadership in Ukraine is willing to die. They didn't flee. And finally, when you have women in a cause, whether it's the labor

movement or military fight like this. Basically, if women are involved; you have the whole society behind you. Women bring in kind of moral authority, which is hugely advantageous.

BERMAN: It's also representative of the entire nation rising up against the invaders here.

JUNGER: Yes.

BERMAN: Clearly, they have a cause to fight for. The Ukrainians are fighting for their freedom right now. Clearly, they have the leadership you're talking about there, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

JUNGER: Yes.

BERMAN: Willing to die, staying in Kyiv.

JUNGER: Yes.

BERMAN: He wants weapons, not a ride out. And you've seen the entire nation rally around him.

JUNGER: Yes. They have all three components that don't guarantee a win. But without those, it's very hard.

BERMAN: One of the things we have heard over the last few minutes, Zelenskyy and other Ukrainians saying the Russians are more realistic in what they're asking for right now. There's a sense that, in these negotiations, at least the message the Ukrainians are trying to send is maybe they're closer to something.

Zelenskyy himself has backed off, as he has in the past, demands to join NATO. But I do wonder where a settlement could be reached here. Would the Russians give up whatever territory they have here? Or is it a situation where they can't hold this stuff anyway.

JUNGER: I mean, history says that holding a country as large and complex as Ukraine is tough. I mean, the Russians barely took Chechnya, which I think had 2 million people, something like that. Ukraine has 44 million. I mean, that gives you an idea of the scale of the task for the Russians. I don't know what they're willing to give up. But if they're hurting enough, they'll start -- I assume they'll start talking.

BERMAN: That's a great point. I just want to end on this right now. Because people have been looking at versions of these maps up here for us all the time. And you can see, for instance, Kherson here. You can see -- well, you can see where the city is there. You can see the areas around Kyiv where the Russians have moved in.

Just because the Russian troops are operating there doesn't mean they can hold that, right?

JUNGER: Look, we -- we won the war in Afghanistan until we left. Right? I mean, we were fighting a force that had no air force, no tanks. A lot of them didn't have boots in the Taliban. And after 20 years, we could not sustain the effort that was required to control the battle space.

So yes, we controlled the ground in Afghanistan. But we -- the nation couldn't bear those costs. When does that point come for the Russians?

BERMAN: Yes. Again, just because it's red now, just because troops are here now doesn't mean they're going to be able to stay.

Sebastian Junger, the book is "Freedom." Thank you so much for joining us this morning. Really helpful.

JUNGER: Pleasure.

BERMAN: So his capital under fire, President Zelenskyy turns directly to the U.S. Congress. Will it put new pressure on President Biden to expand the U.S. role in the Ukraine?

KEILAR: And what will the Kremlin do to a woman who crashed a live state network newscast to protest the war in Ukraine?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:15:33]

KEILAR: In less than three hours, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be addressing the American Congress as the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its third week. That includes Democratic Congressman Jason Crow of Colorado. He sits on the Intelligence and the Armed Services Committee, and he's joining us now.

Sir, thanks so much for being with us this morning. What are you expecting to hear from Zelenskyy today?

REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): Well, good morning. I think you're going to hear a continuation of his emotional pleas for help.

Ukraine is fighting for its freedom. It's fighting for its independence. They're fighting for their literal lives here. They have shown their fierceness. They have shown that they will fight. They know how to fight. But they can't do that without support. That alone will not help them survive and win this war. Because the Russians are going to continue to throw more and more combat power at this. Vladimir Putin is not backing down.

They need more weapons and equipment. And specifically, they need to shoot down Russian aircraft. They need air defense systems or fighter jets. They need to contest the skies over Ukraine.

KEILAR: Fighter jets you say. We're hearing the president is going to announce an additional $800 million in assistance today, which is a big price tag. But no fighter jets. So what do you think about that?

CROW: I think that we should do everything short of actually imposing a no-fly zone. I agree with the administration that a no-fly zone is untenable. It would cause conflict directly with Russia, which we shouldn't do. But we should do everything in our power short of that, to include fighters, to include S-300 regional high-altitude air defense systems, more sophisticated air defense systems.

The Ukrainians have asked for this stuff.

And listen, I've heard the argument that, you know, from some folks in D.C. that Ukrainians really can't use it. It wouldn't be effective. Why would the Ukrainians ask for something that they can't use? These are people fighting for their lives. These are people fighting for their survival. They know what they need to fight and win and survive. They're not going to ask for something that's just going to sit on a tarmac and not be used.

So the things they're asking for, the things that they think they need to save themselves, to save their families. And I think we should provide them everything we possibly can.

KEILAR: What is the difference in the -- I guess the message that Vladimir Putin will take from, say, there being surface-to air- missiles and other security aid versus fighter jets, in your opinion?

CROW: I see no distinction here. This is equipment. These aren't U.S. pilots. These aren't U.S. infantrymen on the ground fighting Russia. This is equipment.

And I've heard some folks draw the distinction between offensive equipment and defensive equipment. And somehow something is offensive; other things are defensive.

This is all defensive. Right? Ukraine is not the aggressor here. Ukraine is not invading. They are fighting for their lives. They are the ones fighting off an offensive, an invasion by Vladimir Putin. So everything we're giving them is defensive.

And I've seen Javelin missiles be provided, plenty of Javelin missiles. The last time I saw a Javelin missile used in war, it was when the United States was using it during the invasion of Iraq.

So what's key here is the intent of the user. And the intent of Ukraine is to fight for survival and defend itself against against Russian aggression.

So everything we're giving them is defensive. So I don't see a material difference in providing aircraft or other types of systems here as escalatory. I think we provide everything possible that we can without sending U.S. servicemen and women into harm's way.

KEILAR: We've heard from Zelenskyy. And it seems that he's becoming a little more desperate as he's speaking. He has said, can you imagine when you call your friends, your friendly nation and you ask, please close the sky, close the airspace, please stop the bombing. How many more Cruise missiles have to fall on our cities until you make this happen.

And they, in return, they expressed their deep concerns about the situation. Is the Biden administration doing enough? Because they're doing an awful lot. But are they doing enough?

CROW: Yes, they're doing an awful lot. And I'm going to be clear. The Biden administration has done an exceptional job up until this point of providing aid, of getting the international coalition together, of getting sanctions packaged, unprecedented sanctions passed, and sending tons of weapons and supplies.

But war changes. It evolves. The needs of war and battles change. The needs have changed because the Ukrainians have shown that they can fight and win this, if they're given proper support. Three weeks ago not many people thought that could happen. But they have shown that they can.

So now we have new needs that I'm calling on the administration to step up and to meet. We need to up our aid package. We need to -- we need to send better, more sophisticated air defense systems. They need more. They need better stuff. And they need it yesterday.

[06:20:13]

KEILAR: It's really up to Putin to determine if he thinks that something crosses the line. In his view, right, he holds a lot of cards. So how do you navigate that? He's the one, obviously, who has a nuclear arsenal, who could use tactical nuclear weapons if he wanted to. Is there -- How do you approach trying to avoid that?

CROW: Vladimir Putin respects strength, and he preys on weakness. So we shouldn't let him set the terms of this. We shouldn't let him have veto power over what we -- what we're going to do.

We're actually in the power position here. The United States, the NATO alliance, we have a lot more resources at our disposal. We can impose a lot more damage on Russia than -- than he can impose on us. Let us start setting the terms here. And let us start dictating how we're going to do things and what we're going to do.

And let us say that we're going to stand up for democracy; we're going to stand up for freedom. We are not going to let autocracies and dictators take by force and destroy democracies. We're not going to do it. Let us take a stand and be bold.

Congressman Jason Crow, thank you so much. We know you're awaiting President Zelenskyy's comments, as are we. So we'll be checking for those around 9 a.m. Thank you so much.

CROW: Thank you.

KEILAR: So Kyiv remains under curfew as Russian forces are striking another residential building this morning. We're live from Ukraine next.

BERMAN: Plus, new reports this morning that Russia is calling up reinforcements -- it has to -- from across its country to replace its losses. So what does this tell us about their invasion?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [06:25:56]

BERMAN: We have new video in this morning. This is a residential complex very close to the central part of Kyiv, the city's center. You can see the apartment hit by a Russian attack. We're told at least two people injured, 37 people rescued from this building. You can see some of these efforts there.

And we do understand they are still fighting the fires there. They're trying to assess if there were any more casualties.

Now, as this happens, as the Russians continue their attacks on civilians, there are some signs of strain in the Russian offensive. Defense officials from the United Kingdom say that Russia is calling in reinforcements -- it has to -- from across its country, a wide swath of Russia, to replace personnel losses inside Ukraine.

CNN's Scott McLean live in Lviv for us this morning.

Scott, what can you tell us about this -- this statement from the U.K. Defense Ministry about the Russian positions?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John.

Yes, as you mentioned, this is a British military intelligence assessment that says that Russia is seeking to bolster its troop presence inside Ukraine.

That assessment says that those troops will likely be used to help hold areas that the Russians already occupy so that other troops and equipment can work on making inroads in areas that have been stalled.

One of those areas seems to be Kyiv, where Russian troops have not made a whole lot of progress in penetrating inside the city. And so, for the last few days, few weeks, they seem to be content to just lob bombs inside the city. And many of them are hitting residential areas.

The most recent hit a 12-story apartment building, the one that you mentioned already.

If there is good news from this country, John, it's that there are some optimistic signs from the talks that are going on between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators. This is the fourth round of talks taking place. This one is being held by video link. And they're continuing today for a third straight day.

Now, there were some optimistic signs going into these talks to begin with. The Russians said that they were optimistic that something could be signed at the end of these talks, saying that a lot of progress had already been made.

The Ukrainians said that the Russians seemed more sympathetic to their -- or more sensitive, I should say, to their position.

And just today, President Zelenskyy says that he's heard from his negotiators, and he says that the Russian positions are getting more realistic. But more time is needed in order to make a deal that's in the best interest of Ukraine.

We've also heard from the Russian side of the negotiations, who say that their goals have not changed. They want a peaceful, independent Ukraine that's not part of any military alliances. A neighbor that is their friend. They said that the talks have been difficult. They would very much like to speed those up.

Previously, the Ukrainian negotiator had said that there were fundamental contradictions but room for compromise. Of course, the speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament said yesterday that the best compromises are one where neither side is satisfied.

So it seems like at least the Ukrainian side is willing to make some compromises. It's not clear whether the Russians will play along -- John.

BERMAN: Yes. The financial markets this morning love the language that's coming out of Ukraine and Russia this morning about these negotiations. We'll see if any of that is actually realistic.

And just so people know what Scott was talking about, this is Kyiv right now. You can see the Russian troops trying to move around it. But they haven't been able to really move their positions over the last several days. And you can see the strikes. You can see where these missile strikes have hit in the center of Kyiv even as the troops are stalled there.

Scott McLean, thank you very much for that.

KEILAR: The employee of a Russian state news network who stormed a live broadcast to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine has been found guilty of organizing an unauthorized public event.

Editor at Channel 1 Marina Ovska -- pardon me, Ovsyannikova appeared in a Moscow district court Tuesday. And that's where she was charged with administrative offense and fined $280. She says that she was questioned by authorities for over 14 hours and was not allowed legal counsel.

[06:30:00]