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Weapons, Security Aid Still Flowing into Ukraine; Women Return to Ukraine; Sharon Bass is Interviewed about Helping a Refugee Family; Oil Prices Tumble. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired March 16, 2022 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Two hundred and eighty dollars. She says that she was questioned by authorities for over 14 hours and was not allowed legal counsel. Her lawyer says the charge there is based solely on a video statement that she had reported before her on-air protest that then came to light afterward.

The U.S., this morning, warning that the Russian military may use chemical weapons in Ukraine. So, how would the world react if that happens?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, the Ukrainian resistance, it does seem to be slowing the Russian advance into key cities throughout the country. How long can that last?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: President Biden is today set to announce an additional $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine, which would bring the total to $1 billion here in just the past week. Officials say this package includes anti-tank missiles and defensive weapons, but it stops short of the no-fly zone, also stopped short of providing fighter jets the Ukrainian president, Zelenskyy, is requesting.

[06:35:07]

CNN's Barbara Starr live at the Pentagon with more.

Look, no doubt the administration is doing a lot here, Barbara, but I think this is going to be very frustrating when President Zelenskyy knows exactly what he's getting and what he isn't.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, he, of course, the Ukrainian president, speaks to Congress virtually in just a short while this morning, and it will be after that that President Biden comes out and details this latest round of security assistance. No indication the president is changing his mind about a no-fly zone.

And there's -- the Pentagon believes there's good reason for that because they are not seeing the Russians really fly. The Russians are using their missiles. So, this aid package is going to be structured to go after the advantages that the Ukrainians have with -- going after anti-tank, anti-air, radars that can locate the incoming Russian munitions and try and get to them. The Ukrainians much more mobile than one might expect. Really maximizing their shoot and scoot tactics, if you will.

Look at that list we have up there. This is what the U.S. has already sent. And it really lays out the strategy that the U.S. has for trying to help the Ukrainians take advantage of what they can do. We have seen massive amounts of stingers, anti-air, javelins, anti-tank, those counter-artillery, counter aerial systems. Those are the ones that try and help locate where the Russians are and help the Ukrainians target all of that. And the list goes on and on and on. Expect to see more of this.

But, there is something else really in the wings here. The U.S. is also trying to help the Ukrainians locate in eastern Europe countries who are willing to give them the surface-to-air missiles that they need so badly to go after the Russians. These would be Soviet-Russian- era, Russian-manufactured type anti-missile systems that are already in east European inventories. These are the things the Ukrainians are already trained on, have some familiarity with, can readily start using as soon as they get them. So, that is going to be big to get these other systems into the hands of Ukrainian forces.

And it continues, of course, to be a race against time. Those supply lines out of eastern Poland and the eastern flank of NATO into western Ukraine, a big race to get it all in as fast as possible before the Russians attack those supply lines.

Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes. It is a long list there. Of course, Ukraine is going to want more than what is on that list. But there are many, many things there.

Barbara, thank you so much.

BERMAN: So, millions of refugees have fled Ukraine. Three million. More at this point according to the United Nations. But, a growing number of people are returning to Ukraine to help in the fight.

CNN's Ed Lavandera with the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The rail line from Ukraine ends at platform five at the train station in Przemysl (ph), Poland. After refugees walk off, this same train will go back.

For weeks, it's mostly been men returning to join the Ukrainian fight against Russia. But in front of the sign reading train for Ukraine, women are waiting hours for a ride back into the war zone.

Near the front of the line, we found Tatiyana Veremychenko. She came to Poland three days ago to bring her two adult daughters to safety. Now, the 40-year-old is going home to a town in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border. Ukraine is equally important for men and women, she says. We're the

real Ukrainians. Women have the strength and will and the heart as well.

By our count, women accounted for about half of the passengers in this line waiting to cross the border back to Ukraine.

Irina Orel brought her grandchildren to Poland. She's returning now to be with her family in Odessa.

LAVANDERA (on camera): How worried are you about your safety?

LAVANDERA (voice over): I'm anxious, she says, but the feeling has become dull over time. I just want to be next to my family.

LAVANDERA (on camera): Do you feel like this is a way of fighting for your country?

LAVANDERA (voice over): Of course, she says. We have all become united during this time, each one doing what they can to help our military. Women are doing it and men as well.

Standing with several women, we met Mariia Halligan. She's going to Kyiv to be with her husband and family to fight, in her words, Russian terrorists.

MARIIA HALLIGAN, KYIV, UKRAINE, RESIDENT: If you know what you need to do, it's impossible to feel nervous or something like this. If -- I have to do this. I can do it for my country, for my relatives, for my friends.

[06:40:02]

LAVANDERA (on camera): And what stands out to me in this line of people going back to Ukraine is that there are so many women. Why do you think that is?

HALLIGAN: I'm not man. I can't kill. And woman. And my work keeps balance and help and be kind and care about relatives, family, friends and all we care about. Now I feel that all Ukrainians my relatives.

LAVANDERA (voice over): Before she leaves, Mariia shows us a heart- shaped Ukrainian flag given to her by Polish children to protect her.

Those returning walk past a carriage that reads, safety above all, but the train leaving platform five disappears into a war zone where safety is a dream.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Przemysl (ph), Poland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: What a story. I had to going back, she says.

So, 80 years ago, a Ukrainian family sheltered and saved the life of a Jewish women during the Holocaust. Now the roles are reversed. We're going to speak to a granddaughter paying back a life-saving act of kindness.

KEILAR: And, President Zelenskyy will be addressing the American Congress here in just hours. We're going to talk to one of his closest advisers ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:45:24]

KEILAR: As Russia continues its vicious attacks on the people of Ukraine, more than 3 million refugees have left from their homes. And, this morning, we have a truly remarkable story of immeasurable kindness repaid over generations to two Ukrainian refugees.

During World War II, Maria Blyshchik sheltered and saved the life of Fania Rosenfeld Bass, a Ukrainian Jew. And now Fania's granddaughter is returning the favor. She is helping to bring Maria's family from Ukraine to Israel.

Joining me now is Sharon Bass.

Sharon, this story is amazing. And I think about watching you. I see you. You are here because your grandmother survived because of someone else's grandmother. The roles are really reversed here.

Tell us about your grandmother's survival of World War II first.

SHARON BASS, HELPED REFUGEE FAMILY WHO SAVED HER GRANDMOTHER DURING HOLOCAUST: OK.

So, the story of my grandmother and my whole family, you know, goes back 80 years ago to World War II when my grandmother was the sole survivor of her family. And the rest of her family was slaughtered and put in mass graves by the Nazis.

And she found herself for a whole year, you know, wandering the forest of Ukraine. Until one year later, this righteous family found her in the forest and gave her a home, and shelter, and treated her like their own daughter.

And by doing that, you know, they -- they risked their whole life -- the whole lives of their whole family. And, you know, I'm indebted to them forever. And I feel like you said, the reason I'm here alive and I have a family, three sons, and, you know, is because of them. So, it was my moral obligation to assist them and to get them out of the war zone.

KEILAR: And so Maria, who is the woman who saved your grandmother, this is her granddaughter Lesia, I hope I'm saying that right, and her great niece Alona, right, who you were helping bring to Israel.

BASS: That's right.

KEILAR: You have been in touch with them actually for decades. I wonder what you were thinking when you saw that Russia was invading Ukraine and just how incredibly worried you were for them. BASS: Yes, we were very worried. We couldn't imagine that the

situation would be good to, you know, to a war. And we talked frequently. And we sensed the feel and, you know, tense. And they wanted to come and to be safe.

So, it wasn't a question for me. It was really obvious for me to bring them here to be safe. Although, you know, they're really -- their guilt feelings for leaving the rest of the family back there. But, you know, that family wanted them to be safe.

So, they are hear now and it's home for them. And we're very happy. And still our thoughts are with the rest of the family and the Ukrainian people back there in Ukraine.

KEILAR: Yes. And I know -- Sharon, tell us about this because there are still struggles. I know that they have had problems with visas, right, and that you want Israel to do more to help people like your really adopted family. What do you -- what do you think needs to happen?

BASS: Well, you know, we submitted a request that they could come here in a week and a half ago. And the immediate answer was, no. And I couldn't accept it because, you know, my -- my grandmother and grandfather were sheltered for as long as they needed back then when it was really horrific. And, you know, if they would have found a Jewish girl in their house, then they would kill everyone.

So, I started -- you know, I involved the media. And from then on it was the, you know, the interest that people found in this story was amazing. So, the former head of the Jewish agency, (INAUDIBLE), and the foreign interior ministry, they got involved. And then, you know, their (INAUDIBLE) was canceled.

[06:50:00]

The reason they didn't get, you know, like immediate acceptance was that there is a guest visa to (INAUDIBLE) among the nations for five years -- a five year -- years visa to come here and work. And after that they have to forfeit.

So -- so, I -- you know, it's -- if I can compare it, you know, my grandmother, they didn't -- she didn't get a time limit on her stay over there when it was really terrible and, you know, all her family was murdered. And now we should not do that either. That's the --

KEILAR: Well, Sharon, it is -- it is a -- she didn't have a time limit, as you said. And I have to tell you, thank you so much. It is -- it is amazing to hear this story of kindness and bravery repaid generations later.

Sharon, thank you so much. And best of luck to your adopted family.

BASS: Just one -- just one -- one last thing. Just one last sentence. You know, in Israel we have a saying, that you should treat your neighbor like yourself. So I think that's what the rest of the world should do now. And, you know, think about others and be kind because kindness comes back to you. Yes.

KEILAR: Maybe generations later. Maybe eight decades later, as you say.

BASS: Yes.

KEILAR: Sharon, thank you so much.

BASS: Thank you.

KEILAR: The city of -- the city of Kyiv remains under curfew as Russian forces strike another residential building this morning. We're going to speak to an adviser to President Zelenskyy ahead.

BERMAN: And an economic thunderclap. The possibility of a Russian default. A process that could begin today. We have the very latest, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:47]

KEILAR: Oil prices are dropping fast, down 30 percent in just a few days. Welcomed relief for the global inflation story. But prices at the gas pump not dropping as fast. When can consumers expect some of that relief?

Let's check in with CNN chief business correspondent Christine Romans.

When, oh, when?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I know. You know, not soon enough, right, Brianna? This is the way the market works. There's a lag time before those tumbling oil prices reach your local gas station.

If oil prices can stay in the double digits here, look at that oil crash there, you'll start feeling it in the next couple of weeks. Crude closing below $100 a barrel, thankfully yesterday, down 30 percent in just a few days. That is a big move.

So, when will it help gas prices? Well, last night gas prices fell just about a penny. Still up, as you can see, really sharply from last week and last month.

These wild oil swings are really hard for gas stations to handle. On the way up, they lose customers if they raise prices too quickly, right? And on the way down, especially if they're stand-alone gas stations with no other revenue, like a convenience store or a mechanic, they try to recoup their losses so it can be slower to pass those along to consumers.

Patrick De Haan at Gas Buddy says the national average should fall to under $4 in the weeks ahead. He puts it this way, Brianna, gas stations lost their shirts on the way up and now margins are finally starting to improve. They'll start to pass the discounts onto you. Looking at oil futures right now, stabilizing a little bit after that

big, big decline. But I think you're going to start hearing some grumbling from Washington about how to get those gas prices to fall a little bit faster.

Look, it is a complicated market and those -- those gas stations, they 're -- a lot of times they're small business owners who, they're still, today, selling gas they bought maybe a week ago, right, for much, much higher prices. So they can't pass those prices on quite yet.

KEILAR: All right, makes sense. We'll wait. We'll wait just a little while.

I do want to ask you while I have you, Christine, Russia is expected to default on its debt really any -- any day now.

ROMANS: Yes.

KEILAR: What is that going to look like for Russia and for the world?

ROMANS: Well, for Russia, it's catastrophic. I mean this hasn't happened since the Bolshevik (ph) revolution 100 years. I mean, think of that, this is Russia not paying its foreign creditors. There's $117 million in interest payments due today. There's a 30-day grace period. That interest has to be paid in U.S. dollars. This is a Euro bond from back in 2013.

There's other debt that is coming due as well. That debt, though, doesn't have the dollar denomination on it because some of that was issued after the invasion of Crimea, right? So it became harder for Russia to borrow money.

What it -- what it just shows you, it's a Russian economy, Brianna, being taken backward by Vladimir Putin, backward by 100 years. There was a domestic debt default back in 1998 when commodities crashed. We had that long-term capital management brouhaha. And Russia got through that. But this external debt, a very big deal. I mean it means Russia will have a very hard time borrowing money in the future, right, and interest rates will skyrocket. It will put the Russian citizens, their standard of living, back in time.

KEILAR: I'm not sure how Putin spins this. I mean he's going to try, but I don't know how you spin this.

Christine Romans, thank you so much for that.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

KEILAR: And NEW DAY continues right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

KEILAR: Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. It is Wednesday, March 16th. And I'm Brianna Keilar, with John Berman. Breaking just moments ago, before he addresses the U.S. Congress,

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia is suddenly getting more realistic in their negotiating position as talks between the two countries continue. What does that mean, though? Zelenskyy wasn't really specific here. This does come, though, as Russia continues to attack and even call up reinforcements.

The Russian military's ruthless assault on civilian targets in Kyiv is intensifying, overnight shelling a 12-story residential building near the center of the capital. There, rescue workers evacuated 37 people. At least two people were injured. And the city is under a strict curfew this morning after a night of air raid sirens and explosions.

With his capital under attack, Ukraine's president is set to address the United States Congress this morning.

[07:00:02]

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to repeat his call for a no-fly zone over Ukraine.