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New Day

Surveillance Video Showing Footage of a Plane Crashing in China; Arnold Schwarzenegger Condemns War in Ukraine; Putin May Feel Threatened; Ukraine Pop Star Performs at South by Southwest; Supreme Court Nominee Second Day of Nomination Hearing; Ukrainians Regained Control of Makariv. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired March 22, 2022 - 07:30   ET

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

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Some shocking new surveillance video that appears to show a China Eastern Airlines flight plummeting from the sky in a nosedive and crashing into the mountains.

The accident is China's worse air disaster in more than a decade, with 132 people on board and no survivors.

CNN's Will Ripley is live for us in Taipei with more. Will, what can you tell us?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That video, Brianna, it is so difficult to watch, to imagine what it must have been like for those people, 123 passengers, 9 crew members. They -- the plane essentially was in a freefall with its nose pointed straight towards the ground, traveling more than four miles in less than three minutes. Absolutely horrifying.

Witnesses who watched the plane fall from the sky described a deafening explosion after it hit that mountainous area. And there is debris now scattered everywhere. The rescuers have had a really hard time even getting to this location. Three mountains -- mountains on three sides and one narrow path in, no electricity and they're finding basically small pieces of the plane, they're finding charred wallets and I.D. cards and tattered pieces of clothing.

But so far, nobody who was actually been on the plane has been identified. And it may be very difficult, if not impossible, to identify these remains because of how violent this crash was, Brianna.

For the family members who are gathered at the Guangzhou International Airport, where that plane was supposed to land on Monday afternoon, it is beyond heart-wrenching to see some of the images from the airport. There was one video of a mankind of slumped over in his seat just moaning and sobbing and crying. And, of course, now the investigation is its why did this Boeing 737-

800 fall out of the sky? China is taking the lead on this, but they have yet to ask for the assistance of Boeing and the National Transportation Safety Board, which does raise a lot of questions, Brianna, about whether this will be a fully transparent investigation.

And we might have to wait a very long time before there are answers for the families and for the rest of the world about why this plane, 4,500 of them in service around the world, airlines use them as their workhorse for short-haul flights, why did this plane crash? And how can it be prevented from happening again, Brianna?

KEILAR: Yes, it demands transparency. This is a very popular aircraft, as you say. Will Ripley, live for us in Taiwan. Thank you for that.

RIPLEY: Yes.

KEILAR: Russian TV, state-sponsored TV, now responding to Arnold Schwarzenegger's blistering video, where he condemned the war and asked the Russian people to not believe the Kremlin's claims.

One Russian host dismissed the video as American propaganda, an example of, quote, "Imperialism and colonialism," and took personal shots at the former California governor and actor. Keeping in mind, Schwarzenegger is a major figure in Russia. He is one of only 22 people that Putin himself follows on Twitter.

Joining us now is the former Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor and CNN Global Affairs Analyst Susan Glasser. I do wonder what you think, Ambassador, of Russia, responding to this because I would think unless they thought his message actually might activate some people that they would just leave it alone.

WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: Exactly, Brianna. That it's getting this kind of play in Russia that was the whole point. That's exactly why he did this. And apparently, he's getting through to Russian people.

I think that -- and it's interesting it comes at the same time that President Biden is calling President Putin a war criminal. That also must be getting through. Even though these are two Americans, senior American, high-profile Americans, nonetheless, that's getting through and it's causing this buzz and that's what we're after.

KEILAR: So they're worried it is getting through?

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SUSAN GLASSER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well look, remember that the Soviet Union lives on in relatively recent memory. And you know, believe me, these were sophisticated consumers and debunkers of propaganda and disinformation. You know, that's part of what was happening before the Soviet Union collapsed.

So, plenty of Russians are capable of watching even propaganda on their TV. And when they see the Kremlin attacking or, you know, it's agents attacking Arnold Schwarzenegger, they say, wait I'd like to see that video. And so, it doesn't always have the intended effect, absolutely.

KEILAR: It's interesting, clearly some people take the info and it's hook, line and sinker and they fall for it. But, as you said, some people will read between the lines and they do in this case.

I do want to ask you and I want to play something that President Biden said. This is President Biden saying that the more Vladimir Putin's back is against his wall -- back is against the wall the more concerning it is.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And now Putin's back against the wall and the more his back is against the wall the greater the severity of the tactics he may employ.

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KEILAR: He's worried. This idea of a cornered Putin is a problem.

TAYLOR: It is a problem. It is a problem. But again, Putin's back is against the wall. He's -- his military is not doing well. He's lost an incredible number of military soldiers, of Russian soldiers. We're talking about 10,000 or 15,000 by the Russian's account.

So, that indicates that they're not doing well. President Putin does have his back to the wall. And then he has to decide, does he escalate, which is what President Biden is concerned about. Or does he look for some other way to get out of this? He's in a box, there's no doubt about it. Or back to the wall, whatever the metaphor.

KEILAR: I come back to this idea of what really deters Putin, because if he were succeeding swimmingly he would be emboldened. His back is against the wall, he's somehow emboldened. I mean, what is there besides an emboldened Putin in any -- in any different scenario?

GLASSER: Well, again, I think the question is really about costs and what -- you know -- what we think of as costs aren't necessarily looked at the same way by Vladimir Putin. And, you know, he comes out of -- you know -- he's a product born in, you know, Stalin-era Leningrad, OK, parents survivors of the siege of Leningrad.

And the bottom line is, even the enormous number of casualties, Putin is now immersed in a sort of world view and a historical sense of his mission to restore Russian empire. He probably thinks, well if I retake Ukraine for the Russian empire who's going to care if it's 10,000 or 20,000 or 40,000 Russian soldiers right now, when the sweep of history is going to be on my side. And I think that's what makes him dangerous.

The more messianic the leader is the harder it is to negotiate in our terms. And I think all along many western leaders, going back the whole 20 years of Putin's tenure, have underestimated or misunderstood what drives Putin's decision-making.

And I think we're seeing that right now. His playbook is being executed, perhaps, he thinks. He's destroying the cities. We knew he would destroy the cities. And he's prepared it seems, for now, to keep going.

KEILAR: And so it continues. Ambassador, thank you so much. Susan, thank you.

Just in, our CNN team on the ground is Kyiv is reporting new explosions. So, we're going to be taking you there live.

Plus, a Ukrainian pop star who escaped Kyiv, now here in the U.S. and sending a message to Vladimir Putin. She'll be joining us next.

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm John Berman in Lviv this morning. A Ukrainian pop star, who fled Kyiv when the war broke out, when the Russians invaded, performed at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas over the weekend.

Oleksandra Zaritska, lead singer of the band KAZKA, went to the United States without her band mates who stayed behind to fight. Zaritska, who goes by Sasha, performed a cover of Bob Dylan's "Masters of War," calling it a message to Putin.

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OLEKSANDRA "SASHA" ZARITSKA, UKRAINIAN POP STAR: (SINGING).

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BERMAN: And Sasha Zaritska joins me now. Thank you so much for being with us. I'm so lad you got to perform at South by Southwest. What was that like for you?

ZARITSKA: Hey, everybody. It's such an honor to be here. Thank you for having me. So, it was a dream to perform at South by Southwest. And we always dreamed, with all of my band, and we wanted to go there by like I have three more girls and I have three more boys in my band.

So, they are all in Ukraine now. And they are protecting our country. And these girls are volunteering now. And the -- my boys are protecting Ukraine. So, that was a big dream to perform at South by Southwest. But, I'm here by myself and it's really hard to me. But, I really hope that we will perform maybe next year.

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BERMAN: I'm sure it was hard for you to be there singing in a way alone without them. Part of your mind had be on them here in Ukraine. You sang "Masters of War," what did that song mean to you this that you sang it? ZARITSKA: I was on the stage by myself, but I have so much support here in America and I really want to thank all of you for big support. And I have American musicians on the stage and I had Charlie Sexton, who was with me on the stage. He was a guitarist of Bob Dylan like 15 years and he really helped me.

And this is song is, I think it can be like a national anthem of war. And it's a straight message to the Putin. So, this song is really powerful and I really want to sing this song.

BERMAN: What is the message you have for Vladimir Putin?

ZARITSKA: Actually, that is -- there are a lot of messages, but I really want him to stop the war. It's one message and we need this war to stop right now, because the civilians people are dying every day, the children and the woman.

I have my city, Kharkiv, is destroyed right now. This is my city where I was born. And my friends and the rest of my family are in danger right now. And my message to Putin, just stop this war right now.

BERMAN: Your band mates, are they all OK?

ZARITSKA: They all are in danger right now, because we have the danger sky and we don't know what's next because they are all are in danger. They are in a little bit more safe area, but we don't know when the bombs come out. So, they are all in danger, so.

BERMAN: Well, I hope they manage to stay safe. And I'm sure they're proud of you and the message you're sending around the world. Sasha Zritska, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

ZARITSKA: Thank you so much. It was a big honor. Thank you. Thank you.

BERMAN: So, Russia's military, with its disjointed and chaotic invasion of this country of Ukraine is leaving U.S. officials with a burning question. Who exactly is in charge of the Russian invasion?

And in Washington, questioning begins just a short time from now in the hearing of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. What you can expect, next.

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KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: I have dedicated my career to ensuring that the words engraved on the front of the Supreme Court building, "Equal Justice Under Law" are a reality and not just an ideal.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: About an hour from now members of the Senate Judiciary Committee will have their chance to question Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. And if confirmed, of course, Jackson will be the first African-American woman to serve on the country's highest court.

Joining me now is Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin of Illinois. Sir, thank you so much for being with us on such a critical day here.

We watched yesterday, the stage was really set for some of these angles that Republicans will pursue, some of them questionable. I did want to listen to one from Senator Marsha Blackburn.

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SEN. MARSHA BLACKBURN (R-TN): You have praised The 1619 Project, which argues the U.S. is a fundamentally racist country. And you have made clear that you believe judges must consider critical race theory when deciding how to sentence criminal defendants.

Is it your personal hidden agenda to incorporate critical race theory into our legal system?

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KEILAR: It was a rhetorical question. It's not something that actually Brown Jackson was able to answer. I just want to be clear about that, since we didn't play that. What did you think of that moment?

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): It was a startling moment. Senator Blackburn said some things which were pretty extreme. And the worse part, Brianna, let's be honest about it, is there sits Judge Jackson unable to respond, she'll get her chance today, but she sit there for four hours, the Democrats by and large were positive in their message. Many Republicans were negative, Senator Blackburn among them. And she had to sit there and wait for her turn. Well, her turn starts this morning.

KEILAR: And we'll certainly hear that. She's made an effort, clearly, to stay out of this fray, some of it pretty unappetizing. I do want to touch again on Marsha Blackburn though.

She had said, previously, I think folks may recall, when judicial nominee Andre Mathis was up for this confirmation process, and he's black, she said he had a rap sheet when he doesn't. I mean, is that a pattern with one of your colleagues that concerns you?

DURBIN: I -- that was an unfortunate choice of words for Senator Blackburn and many of us raised that point later. If a speeding ticket or a parking ticket constitutes a rap sheet, I guess we all have one. But the notion of a rap sheet is the commission of serious crime, which that nominee nor this nominee has any problem with.

[07:55:00] I hope that we're careful in our wording before the committee today and fair in our questioning. And give her a chance, finally, to respond.

KEILAR: Senator Josh Hawley wants to focus on her record when it comes to issuing sentences for defendants in child pornography cases. This is what he said about that.

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SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): And if you look at her record, what you see is this is someone who has consistently let sex predators, child sex predators off the hook. For people who have been convicted of child porn offenses, she's consistently given them lenient sentences, slaps on the wrist.

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KEILAR: What's he doing there as you see it?

DURBIN: Well, I can tell you, he isn't listening to his critics, because CNN News, ABC News, "Washington Post" and writes for "The National Journal" have all concluded the following, the charges being made by Senator Hawley against this nominee are meritless to the point of demagoguery, quote, unquote.

It's terrible that he has taken this approach and unfortunate that he chose to do it yesterday in front of her family. There is no truth to his charges and he's been told over and over, but he is bound and determined to make his case for those political followers who listen to Senator Hawley.

KEILAR: Very present at this confirmation hearing is actually Brett Kavanaugh and the hearing that we saw for him. Republicans think Democrats really treated him poorly in that case.

And yesterday you were asked if you regret how Democrats handled Kavanaugh. And I saw that you had said, we all learn from life experiences. Some of these were in our control and some were out of our control. What did you mean by that?

DURBIN: A letter was sent to Senator Feinstein and charges were made. And how that letter was handled and the timing of it, the handling of it is something that I've thought about over and over again.

The bottom line, we couldn't ignore that kind of allegation and we certainly, in this case, had an individual willing to testify under oath to the truth of her allegations. It was a very complicated moment for the committee.

Reflecting on it, things might have been handled differently, but we couldn't ignore serious charges like that and a misdemeanor.

KEILAR: Can you expand on that? The timing of it could have been handled differently. DURBIN: It -- the letter was sent while we were on August recess. And we addressed it as soon as we returned. And the interim period of time there might have been some steps taken. But as I said, hindsight is very clear, at that time we were trying to do the best we could under an extraordinary set of circumstances.

KEILAR: I wonder if you think that you're going to get Republican support for Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination at all. We should say, keeping in mind, that actually used to be the norm going both ways for both parties and now it's not.

DURBIN: Well, I haven't given up on that and I still think it is conceivable that there will be Republican support for this nominee. It will be healthy for the Senate and healthy for the Supreme Court if she receives bipartisan support.

Let me tell you, she's deserving. And she has been judged by this committee. This is the fourth time and each time came through with flying colors and bipartisan support. I hope the same thing emerges this time.

KEILAR: All right, we'll be watching today. The stage was set yesterday. Today, I think is going to be incredibly interesting with her chance to answer questions.

Senator Durbin, thank you for being with us.

DURBIN: Good to be with you, Brianna.

KEILAR: New Day continues right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

KEILAR: Good morning to our viewers in the U.S. and all around the world. It is Tuesday, March 22. I am Brianna Keilar here in Washington. As you can see, John Berman is live from Lviv, Ukraine in western Ukraine.

And all signs are pointing to a stalemate, less than a month into Russia's invasion of the country. The resistance is holding this morning in Kyiv.

And just west of the capital Ukrainian forces have actually regained control of Makariv after days of heavy fighting. Russian troops are said to be retreating. One Ukrainian cabinet member telling John Berman, more towns are about to be taken back from the Russians.

Kyiv will remain under curfew until Wednesday morning. There is already so much destruction in the city. And, CNN's team on the ground reports hearing a loud explosion just here in the last hour.

Then take a look at this video. This is a man searching through what is left of his bombed-out apartment, the exterior wall there blown completely off the building.

BERMAN: In Mariupol, this is now mostly rubble. Ukraine's President Volodimyr Zelenskyy, he says the port city is reduced to ashes, but he believes it will survive. Zelenskyy and Pope Francis spoke by phone earlier today. The Ukrainian president telling Italian lawmakers he would welcome mediation efforts by the Pope.

And I want you to listen to one man who just escaped from Mariupol, who he told me this about Vladimir Putin.

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