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Ukraine Rejects Russia's Demand To Surrender City Of Mariupol; New Large Explosions In Kyiv As Russians Attempt To Encircle Capital; Victims Pulled From Rubble After Shopping Center Is Bombed. Aired 7- 7:30a ET

Aired March 21, 2022 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Good to viewers in the U.S. and around the world. It is Monday, March 21st. I'm Brianna Keilar in Washington with John Berman who is live from Lviv, Ukraine.

The Ukrainian city of Mariupol lies in ruins this morning, bombed into oblivion by the Russian military. But Vladimir Putin's ultimatum to surrender is still being rejected. More than 7,000 people in Mariupol did manage to evacuate Sunday but so many remain trapped, they remain behind, perhaps even hundreds of thousands.

The Russians just bombed an art school where as many as 400 people may have been taking shelter. At this moment, funerals are not even possible in Mariupol. This image, residents digging graves next to the side of the road, digging graves in the streets.

Mariupol is a thriving port city just one month ago. Now, the streets are lined with burned-out buildings like these.

In Kyiv, CNN teams on the ground report hearing several explosions overnight. One person was reportedly killed in an attack on a large shopping center. Dozens of firefighters running towards the blast, pulling victims alive from the rubble. Officials say flames reached as high as the fourth floor.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: That's the sound of anti-aircraft fire last night in Kyiv. The fight for the capital seems to be at a stalemate. Kremlin forces have now entrenched around the city because they are apparently unable to capture it.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, his calling with peace talks with Vladimir Putin of Russia immediately.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: I am ready for negotiations with him. I was ready over the last two years. And I think that -- I think that without negotiations, we cannot end this war.

But if these attempts fail, that would mean that this is a Third World War.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: 3.3 million Ukrainians have new fled this country. 10 million people have been forced from their homes.

Today, President Biden and the United States will hold calls with the leaders of Germany, Italy, France and the United Kingdom. He will travel, President Biden will, to Brussels later this week to meet with NATO and European leaders.

We want to go now to some breaking news. Our Nick Paton Walsh is live for us in Southern Ukraine, in Mykolaiv. Nick, I understand the air raid sirens have been going off. And I understand these may be real. What are you hearing?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes. We heard air raid sirens after we heard two impacts landing here. And the city of (INAUDIBLE), John, is not that there has been shelling around Mykolaiv. That's been the case over the last two or three weeks. These were two impacts certainly which landed in the city center. I won't go into exactly the details where they were to aid those firing them, but this was right in the heart of the city. That's not happened before, specifically in the area near where I am.

And that feeds into a pattern of Russian behavior here. Yes, it was followed by air raid sirens. Yes, life here was beginning to get back to normal because Ukrainian forces have seen some success, pushing Russia back towards Kherson, the city that it first took at the beginning of this war. But that's come at a cost and the cost is heavy weapons being used often indiscriminately, often against precise targets. We don't know what was just now. We do know though it is another sign Russia is angry and lashing out with exceptional violence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH (voice over): This is what the slow route of Russia in Southern Ukraine looks like. Kyiv's forces are pushing close to Kherson, the first city the Kremlin took.

Here, so many people being evacuated day by day and the area quiet in contrast to these impacts we see all around in the fields, just constant barrage over the past days.

The bus is the last way out of here, going from door to what is left of every door. The village Peasant Porkovsk (ph) has been Ukraine's last position for days. And so this is what Russia left of it.

The noise is the village gas main leaking furiously. Putin's war of annihilation was sure not to overlook this school, its front torn off by a missile. It is hard to imagine life returning here even when the shelling stops, which just now it does not.

[07:05:00]

We run down for cover. The marines here are mobile, pushing forward where they can. Kherson's nearby airport their prize. DANIYEL SALEM, FORMER LEBANESE SOLDIER (NOW FIGHTING FOR UKRAINE): Now we have a little mission to kill the (BLEEP).

WALSH: Daniyel is a former Lebanese soldier working in T.V., married to a Ukrainian.

SALEM: Two weeks ago, this place had life, and now, nothing.

WALSH: The bus is filled with anyone left who wants to leave, anyone who can move themselves. We are asked to take those who cannot and who remember the last time war came to Europe.

As we leave, shelling hits the village. It had become a death bed riddled with cluster munition mines, this man said.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

WALSH: Over days, the road out of there has been caught over. Its pock, marked concrete lined with these tiny peaceful worlds ripped open. This woman was in Poland when Russians took her hometown, Kherson, where her children are.

Nikolai (ph) can't really hear the blast at his age but sent his wife to live with his daughter in the city. He has stayed to protect whatever they have left.

Shelling hits the road out again. And we drive past the earthed shells Putin has happily scorched as his army slowly loses whatever ground here it gained. Ukraine's guns pushing them back.

But Moscow imposes a cost. These barracks torn in two, reduced to rubble by missile strikes that killed dozens of Ukrainian soldiers, some as they slept Friday morning in one of the worst known losses in the war.

This trauma unit struggles with some of the 40 injured. One soldier asking for his friends by name, not all injuries involve blood. This soldier was in bed on the third floor when the blast hit and he found himself on the second with both legs smashed, losing consciousness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

WALSH: That night, the Kremlin's blunt force hits another target around Mykolaiv. Moscow may be losing ground here, but does all it can to crush and stifle what it cannot have.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH (on camera): And you may, no doubt, that Ukrainian forces are taking back the ground that they lost initially to Russian forces, certainly towards the vital target of Kherson and its main airport, where Russian bases are. But the blast we just heard, they will be deeply troubling for those in Mykolaiv. They've seen explosions on the city outskirts but nothing really that close. And this may be another sign as Russia loses, its vengeance is brutal, indiscriminate and intent. Back to you.

BERMAN: Nick, I have to say, what a story, what a report that was, so many different arcs to follow. The military, yes, Ukrainians pushing the Russians back but the human stories there of so much suffering. Nick, thanks so much for that.

I want to go right to Kyiv at this point. Our Frederik Pleitgen is in the city right now near the site of this shopping mall, this retroville complex that was bombed over the weekend.

[07:10:04]

Fred, give us a sense of what you're seeing there now.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, John. We are actually at the site where that bomb hit or where that rocket hit. Not exactly sure what it was. We are right now standing in one of the buildings that was severely damaged by that impact. When I ask our photojournalist, Byron, to go forward and he'll show you exactly the damage that was caused there, and you'll see, I mean, it's just absolutely massive damage that was caused by that explosion.

If you look, I mean, you will see that one building, that taller building, it's just completely destroyed. Pretty much all the rooms in that building seem to be destroyed. And if you look in the middle, there's sort of still a sign laying there, that is a gigantic impact crater right on what appears to be the parking. You can see there are still a lot of cars that are destroyed around there. You can see there's obviously a lot of debris that's laying around there.

One of the things, John, that so far we have not been able to ascertain is what exactly the Russians thought they were targeting here. Because as you can see, this is a shopping center, it is a regular shopping center. There doesn't seem to be any sort of military installation that we could see or any sort of military gear that might be destroyed in that area. It simply seems to have just hit right here in the parking lot and then obviously killed several people in the process.

The latest that we have from mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, is he says that eight people were killed when that missile or bomb, or whatever it was, was dropped here. But it was clearly some pretty massive ordinance. And the house that we're standing in here right now was also badly damaged. All of the windows were destroyed.

I want to show you one thing that I think is absolutely remarkable, John, just for viewers to understand what sort of power these devices have. So, you see the explosion right there. We found this part here, John. This is a piece of shrapnel from whatever was dropped on that parking lot.

We did not find that here by the window. We found this through the front door of this building and was stuck in the hall way two rooms down. That's the power of the impact and the shrapnel, and, of course, all of this extremely deadly. You will see the rough edges here. Anybody who would have been in this building and the folks own this apartment, they told us that they bought it three months ago. Luckily, they were not here when this impacted. Obviously, anybody who would have gotten this would have been killed. This went through the front door of this building.

If we pan down, it can be a little bit difficult to do because the room is very small here, you can see that here, there's all sorts of glass. This entire window has been blown out. That's pretty much what this entire apartment looks like. So, the impact of this weapon, John, was absolutely gigantic. The explosion was absolutely gigantic. And you can see over there, obviously, a lot of that mall was destroyed over there.

What we're hearing here right now, and I think this is also important to point out, is there is fighting going on not too far away from here. You are going to be able to see it very well, but there is a lot of smoke on the horizon back there. You might be able to see it. If you look past this apartment complex there, it's pretty close that some of these shells, they are either outgoing or impacting. You've heard rocket fire going out not too close but certainly that we've been able to hear.

And we are hearing impact on a constant basis. What you are seeing, John, is the battle of Kyiv unfolding in this area with this rocket landing here, and certainly the battle going on not too far from where we are right now. As you have noted, John, that battle right now, the Russians appear to not be making very much headway at the moment. It is very difficult for them.

And one of the things the U.S. says is they believe that the Russians are now using what they call standoff weapons, which is air-fired weapons that they fire from a larger difference because they can't get their forces. They try to shoot in here. And, obviously, this appears to be the result of exactly that.

Needless to say, the folks who own this apartment and the folks who are in this compound absolutely traumatized by what happened. They were just telling us there's a lot of people who are actually still hunkering down in the basement of this building trying to shelter because they are afraid further things that can happen.

We're on the 11th floor here. This flew all the way into here, through here, into the hallway. It is an absolutely deadly projectile that could have killed anything in its way, and there's a lot more of that laying around here, John.

BERMAN: Yes. People are afraid for good reasons. Schools, theaters and now shopping malls destroyed by the Russians, Fred. And that shrapnel you were showing us moments ago designed not just to go through buildings but to go through people.

Frederik Pleitgen in Kyiv for us, please stay safe. Thank you so much for that report.

Brianna? KEILAR: U.S. officials confirming that Russia launched hypersonic missiles against Ukraine last week, the first known use of those weapons in combat. So, these are missiles that are capable of traveling five times the speed of sound. That makes it very difficult for defense systems to detect and to intercept them.

Joining us now is CNN Correspondent Tom Foreman to tell us a little bit more about these. What makes these so different?

[07:15:00]

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These are simply faster and more undetectable, as you rather noted there. Take a look at a piece of video here and let's talk about why that is the case. When these are launched, in this case, being dropped from a plane, essentially, what happens is this accelerates so rapidly. Hypersonic generally means above mach five or five times the speed of sound. The speed of sound, about 767 per hour at lower altitudes like this, right temperature.

So, if you're talking about mach five or mach ten, which some talk about, you're somewhere around 7,000 miles an hour in all of this. It's very fast.

In doing this, what it generates is essentially what would be called a plasma cloud around it. This is by the compression of the atmosphere. That plasma cloud makes it very hard for radar to see these things. And it also -- one of the big questions has always been, does it make hard to control it from an exterior source and then do they have to have all onboard guidance?

The bottom line is once you take all that aside, you have it traveling at this extraordinary speed, hearing warhead with precision far, far away. This whole country is only about 800 miles across. So at that speed, you can imagine, it can be fired even from Russian airspace and it could travel all the way across the country and hit a target pretty easily, Brianna.

KEILAR: How lasting is this threat?

FOREMAN: Well, that's the real question here. We have to look at the overall nature of these weapons. They are capable maneuvering in flight. Yes, they can easily avoid detection systems. Here is the problem.

When you have a weapon like this, it is also still not experimental but not as stable as other weapons out there. Flying at that speed generates tremendous heat, so much so that some of these are known to sort of warp in flight. So, the question is, how many do Russia -- does Russia actually have, how quickly can they deploy them and how much can they use them?

We have seen two used. Russia has always loved its military technology, has always prided itself on having advanced military technology but has also been known to sort of test new pieces in the field. Testing is not the same as rolling out dozens and dozens and dozens of them. We don't know how many they have. We do know that they have relied a lot on the lower speed, cruise

missiles, out there and they have used a lot of them. As General Spider Marks commented a short while ago, if you use a lot of these, you may be turning to these new weapons because you simply need them or you need to sort of establish that you have got something on the field that you think your opponent should be afraid of.

It's worth noting, the U.S. military so far has said, interesting to look at this. They don't think it is a game changer but something that does need to be watched.

KEILAR: All right. Tom, thank you so much for taking us through that. I really appreciate it. Berman?

BERMAN: All right. We do have some breaking news. We just learned that Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, they have announced a new 36-hour curfew. They are asking people to stay indoors for 36 hours starting tonight local time in just a few hours. We have seen this before in the capital city when they have reason to believe that there could be a lot of activity there. They want people to stay inside and stay safe.

Obviously with Fred Pleitgen there, you saw him moments ago at a shopping mall that had been hit, so, very much a city that is being pounded by the Russians.

Now, I'm in a different part of the country. I'm in Lviv this morning. You've seen CNN reporters here over the last month. This is in the far western part of Ukraine, not too far from the Polish border. This city has been spared the devastation of other parts of the country, though there were missile strikes nearby just a few days ago and they are always weary.

Now, earlier today, I spoke to the Mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadovyi. You'll see, he does speak English, though we also used a translation for some portions in Ukrainian. This is that conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Mr. Mayor, the air raid sirens are going off like they do every three or four hours. How safe is the city?

MAYOR ANDRIY SADOVYI, LVIV, UKRAINE: Day 26, Russia aggressor attacked all city, and three days ago, Russia attacked my city, Lviv. It is a very terrible time for my life. But my duty, maximum support, maximum -- make safe for citizens and refugees.

Today, Lviv host under 200,000 refugees from different city in Lviv, and very strong time for me. But population city in Lviv 1 million people. But next city change to Lviv. It is my job today.

BERMAN: Since the missile struck just a few miles from a few days ago, have you changed anything security-wise here?

[07:20:04]

SADOVYI: Before Russia attack, we cancel military fabric in Lviv. But Russia attacked two aircraft repair company, but zero result. The result only destroyed building.

Today, we have in Lviv very strong territorial defense. And we already in every one city today ready to new attack from Russian aggressor.

BERMAN: Do you think the Russians will attack this city?

SADOVYI: I don't know. Today, all cities in Ukraine have very similar situation. I don't know what is next target for Russian missile.

BERMAN: You know what's happening in Mariupol, what that city is going through. What are your thoughts for the mayor there, for the people there?

SADOVYI: Every day, I have conversation with mayor of Mariupol. It is disaster. It is catastrophic. Russia aggressor totally destroyed Mariupol. Today, Mariupol equal Aleppo and equal Grozny. It is a new strategy of Russia, kill children, kill women, kill old people, totally destroy.

I think after war, we must -- together, we start rebuild city of Mariupol. It is very important for other (INAUDIBLE) and for democratic inroads.

BERMAN: What do you need for Lviv right now?

SADOVYI: A lot of people who come in Lviv from different territory need new place to live. In school, in theater, you can be one week, two weeks. We reserve plan for building very fast mobile building. And today, international organization start to give money for this process.

We must completely must rebuild our city and our population more 1 million. And new school, new plan for job, new fabric. It is -- all countries rebuild after war.

BERMAN: We saw the memorial to the children in Ukraine. On Friday, it was 109 trams or strollers there. I'm sure the number has gone up now since Friday. Why was that important to see?

SADOVYI: Every day, increase, increase. A new angel in Ukraine.

BERMAN: Everyday, there is a new angel?

SADOVYI: Yes. This angel closed our sky. Everyone, normal people in war must have this information. It is not normal to kill children. We made sure and our ambition to show for the world.

BERMAN: To show the world?

SADOVYI: Yes.

BERMAN: When you look at the sky, or do you look at the sky in fear right now?

SADOVYI: I was gripped by fear on day one of the war when Russia made this brutal assault on Ukraine. And on February the 24th, there were some missile strikes in Lviv region as well. But right now, I've replaced fear with job duties because it's very important for each and every citizen in Ukraine to excel in whatever they can do, because each and every minute is of paramount importance for our country right now.

[07:25:00]

BERMAN: Do you have any thoughts of evacuating any areas around here?

SADOVYI: No. I don't really have these thoughts battering my mind right now. But, of course, we are trying to do our utmost to protect historical monuments in Lviv. We have covered it because we want to preserve what is the pearl for the entire world.

Of course, it's very challenging in our city right now because you have air roads four to five times during the daytime. At nighttime, people have to seek shelter. It is particularly challenging at nighttime with little kids. But believe me, Mariupol and Kharkiv in a much more dire situation than we are.

BERMAN: Mr. Mayor, thank you for being with us. Please stay safe.

SADOVYI: Never give up. Thank you for support. It is very important for Ukraine, for our independence. Only together, we will have victory.

BERMAN: Thank you, Mayor.

SADOVYI: Thanks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, says he is ready to talk to Vladimir Putin. But he says if negotiations fail, it could mean World War III. A number of senior Russian military leaders have been killed in Ukraine since the invasion began. That's according to officials from both countries. What does this say about the Ukrainian resistance?

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