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Mariupol City Council Says, About 300 Killed in Airstrike at Theater; Biden Heads to Poland Following Critical NATO Meeting; More Than 2 Million People Have Fled Ukraine to Poland. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired March 25, 2022 - 07:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN NEW DAY: Many children who were hiding there last week.

[07:00:02]

This is the aftermath that you're seeing right here. You can see just how packed this facility was. You can see the people here in this particular image are trying to evacuate.

And in another clip, a Ukrainian man can be heard saying there are many people under the rubble and that the airstrike was right in the center of the drama theater where people came to get some water. Remember, the word, children, was spelled out on both sides of the building in white paint, in the parking lot, incredibly visible from the sky, couldn't miss it. But despite this, hundreds of people were killed anyway.

Still unclear how many people were inside the theater during the time of the attack.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEW DAY: Intense fighting overnight in several parts of Ukraine with Ukrainian forces making gains east of the capital. In one town, about 35 miles east of Kyiv, a Ukrainian soldier talks about the destruction of three Russian tanks and nine infantry fighting vehicles. He calls them trophies.

The U.K.'s Ministry of Defense confirms that Ukrainian forces have been able to retake towns and some defensive positions up to 25 miles east of Kyiv.

And breaking overnight, Russia's Defense Ministry claims its forces destroyed what they call the largest of the remaining fuel depots in Ukraine, that's near Kyiv, with a cruise missile strike. CNN has not been able to verify this claim. Ukrainian officials tell the U.S. they are facing potential weapon shortages and need 500 Javelins and 500 Stingers per day.

Now, some officials are pushing back on that request, pointing out that more military aid is already heading into Ukraine.

I want to begin this hour with CNN's Phil Black who joins me here in Lviv. And, Phil, we are getting our first look inside this Mariupol theater, and it is devastating. And the Ukrainians at least 300 people were killed there.

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it really is, John. The thing that strikes me about this video when you watch it is how calm people are as they are evacuating this theater. Just moments after this apparent airstrike has taken place, people are covered in dust. They're making their way out.

What we now understand is that around 300 people at least were killed in that moment, in that strike. That's according to local council officials based on eyewitness reports. These are the first images that we are seeing out of this because everything in Mariupol is broken and devastated. And so it has taken this long to get a real sense of what took place in that theater that day when there were thought to be around 1,000 people sheltering inside, many of them children. And even with a big Russian words for children spelled out outside on the ground, that didn't protect them.

BERMAN: And one of the things that you'd hear being said is that the shells or the bomb landed right in the middle of the drama theater where people were going to get water.

BLACK: Yes, people were there, still shelter, for aid, for whatever, just the basic life stuff that the Russian bombardment had taken away from.

BERMAN: So, new information, at least from the Russians, not confirmed yet by the Ukrainians or us, that they've hit a fuel depot with some kind of a missile strike.

BLACK: They said they launched a cruise missile from a naval vessel overnight, hitting what they say is the largest remaining fuel depot in Ukraine. This could potentially be a big logistical blow to the Ukrainians. It shows once again the firepower that the Russians can bring to bear and it's why it is such an uneven fight because these cruises missiles are fired from a long way away, all the way in the Black Sea or even at the Caspian. And they have the ability to pretty much strike anywhere in the country.

BERMAN: Uneven but not without success for the Ukrainians, who have made gains around Kyiv.

BLACK: Indeed, more evidence of gains around Kyiv, and we've been hearing this from U.S. and British officials. And now we've got these videos which do back that up. These are social media videos posted by very happy celebrating Ukrainian soldiers. We have geolocated those videos to an area of about 35 miles east of the capital Kyiv, and they show, these soldiers, as I say, celebrating pointing out trophies, destroyed and damaged Russian tanks, claiming that they have just carried out a very successful operation, and in their words, knocked out the enemy.

BERMAN: All right. Phil Black, thank you for keeping us posted. We'll come back to you in a bit. Stand by. Brianna?

KEILAR: So, moments ago, President Biden was leaving Brussels, heading to Poland. There he is going to get a firsthand look at the humanitarian response to the massive refugee crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine a month ago. The president has said that he hopes to speak to some of the refugees.

Let's go now to CNN's Wolf Blitzer. He is in Warsaw and he is joining us live on what we should expect. Wolf?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Brianna, this is going to be a very, very emotional two days for the president of the United States here in Poland. Poland has been on the frontlines, and Poland being a NATO ally, but it's also been on the frontlines in dealing with the enormous humanitarian crisis that the Russians unfolded as a result of their brutal in invasion of Ukraine, what, more than 3 million, almost 3.5 million, maybe 3.6 million Ukrainians have fled the country.

[07:05:01]

More than 2 million of them, maybe 2.2 million have come here to Poland.

And the Polish people have been so receptive, so wonderful in receiving these Ukrainian refugees. About 300,000, by the way, are here in Warsaw where I am right now. The president will be coming here to Warsaw later in the day. He's going to be landing in (INAUDIBLE), which is a town 60 miles or so from the Ukrainian border.

He's going to be meeting with refugees there. This will be a very, very poignant time for the president of the United States to see the heartbreak, the suffering, what's been going on. And remember, Brianna, a lot of our viewers will remember that most of these refugees are women and children. Men in Ukraine between 18 and 60, they have been, for all practical purposes, prevented from leaving because they have to deal with the military. They have to get involved in this enormous fight that's going on now in its second month in Ukraine.

The president will meet with them in this town, (INAUDIBLE), as I said, about 60 miles or so from the border.

He's also going to -- while he's there, NATO troops, including members of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division are based there. And as you know, Brianna, the number of U.S. troops has increased dramatically in these Eastern European NATO countries over the past month or two since it became clear the Russians were going to invade Ukraine. And once the invasion started four weeks or so ago, the numbers have continued to increase. Along the eastern part, there used to be 20,000 U.S. troops. Now, there are more than 40,000, total, more than 100,000 U.S. and NATO -- U.S. troops or the NATO force right now.

So, this is going to be a difficult day for the president. He will meet with the president of Poland, President Andrzej Duda, today and tomorrow, and he will be delivering what White House officials are calling a major speech.

KEILAR: Yes, and highlighting the uncertain future of so many Ukrainians who are there in Poland. Wolf, thank you so much. We will be watching that with you today. I really appreciate it. BERMAN: Joining me now is Admiral James Stavridis. He's the former NATO supreme allied commander and author of the new book, 2034, A Novel of the Next World War. Admiral, it's always so great to have you on.

If I can, I want to ask first about his new ask from the Ukrainians. They want 500 Javelins and 500 Stingers per day. How do you assess that request? Does it seem fair?

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: It absolutely seems fair. And if you look at their track record thus far, John, they are putting them to very good use. There are already thousands of Stingers and Javelins that have gone into that country. But it's a huge boost to the Ukrainian fighters on the ground watching Russian tanks and armored vehicles go up in flames, watching Russian aircraft come out of the sky.

I suspect a lot of these casualties we're hearing about, reliable reports, John, about 10,000 Russians killed in action. That's many more than the U.S. suffered, killed in action over a 20-year forever war. That has happened in a month, a lot of that you can attribute to those Javelins and to the Stingers. I'd says, we're going to get a good return on investment out of those weapons.

BERMAN: I was smiling there because I was speaking to a Ukrainian member of parliament earlier this morning to me, haven't we proved we know how use them, because of the success that they had on the ground.

How do you assess these counteroffensives that the Ukrainians are trying to undertake around Kyiv? How successful can they be?

STAVRIDIS: The numbers are against them in terms of pure firepower on the ground. And we shouldn't underestimate, despite all those Stingers, John, that the Russians don't quite fully control the air over Ukraine they can maneuver quite a bit. And also Putin has long- range fires, cruise missiles. He has got them coming from sea and from shore, from Belarus. So, you still feel as though the Russians have a big war machine inside Ukraine.

Having said all that, yes, the Ukrainians have showed us they can fight. They're now taking that fight to the Russians. And they'll continue to damage morale inside the fighters themselves, the Russian line of troops, but also back home in Moscow, as those unfortunate image here, but those body bags come home to haunt Vladimir Putin. All of it adds up.

BERMAN: So, Admiral, we hear from NATO it's reinforcing its chemical, biological and nuclear defenses.

[07:10:00]

You've been there. What exactly does that mean and do you believe it's necessary?

STAVRIDIS: Unfortunately, John, I do believe it is necessary. I think it is highly unlikely Putin would use tactical nuclear weapons. I think it's also unlikely he will reach for biological weapons. But chemical weapons, nerve agents, we've seen him use those. You guys have reported on that very effectively against Alexei Navalny, against former defectors from the KGB. And he's been part of their use in Syria with this creature, Bashar al-Assad.

So, unfortunately, he has a track record of moving toward chemical. He is also talking about it, trying to pre-lay the blame on the Ukrainians or on anybody else. It adds up to an unsettling picture. What adding to capability means, these NBC teams, nuclear, biological, chemical, are highly expert troops. They have been trained very well. They come from the U.S. and other NATO allies. They can deal with the chemical weapons. But it's a dangerous escalation if Putin chooses it.

BERMAN: Admiral James Stavridis, it's always great to have you on. Thank you so much for your help.

STAVRIDIS: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: President Biden and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, met on the sidelines of the NATO summit to discuss deescalating the war of Ukraine or the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The French ambassador to the U.S. joins us to talk about the next steps.

And we're going to be joined by a Ukrainian teenager who spent weeks hiding in a basement and nearly got hit by a Russian missile as she tried to escape Mariupol.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:00]

KEILAR: In the month since Russia invaded Ukraine, 2 million people have left their homes to neighboring Poland. CNN's Melissa Bell spoke to some refugees about what made them leave and she joins us live from Poland.

Melissa, what did you find?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna it is a Ukrainian child entering the European Union every single second at the moment, according to European officials. That is presenting huge logistical problems here in Poland because, of course, you're talking about fragile populations that are fleeing the worst.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BELL (voice over): For a month now, they have arrived day and night at Medyka crossing, mothers and their children carrying little, burdened only by the images of what they fled.

Tetiana spent more than two weeks getting to Medyka with her niece, nephew and daughter, traveling by day and sheltering in basements at night, in fear of the sound of constant shelling, but she says, worst of all, the sound of planes at night dropping bombs.

They dropped them on the hospitals where the sick are, she says, on the bakeries where they make bread, so we don't have anything to eat, on the water facilities, so we don't have anything to drink.

For Darya as well, it was the sounds of the planes at night that scared her the most on her three-day journey from Kharkiv. It was that sound, she says, that forced her and her son from their first underground shelter. As a mom, she says I was scared. My son handled it better. It's harder for the mother.

And her grandmother, perhaps hardest of all, Larissa and her daughter, Elizaveta escaped from Irpin more than a week ago. A shell hit our house, says Elizaveta. That's it, on the fifth floor. We had a Ukrainian flag hanging on the balcony, so they targeted it.

That was when the family decided to flee, heading from Irpin through other towns, like Hostomel and Bucha. People can't get out, says Larissa. It's too dangerous. Because even if a woman walks out with a white flag and a child, they don't look, they just shoot, kill, they spare no one. Anyway, we can't go home now, she say, because there is no home.

So, like millions of others, they head into Europe after crossing a border they never wanted to have to cross.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BELL (on camera): Now, Brianna, one month on from the start of this war, more and more of those refugees are making their way across Europe. Of course, the United States has now announced that it will take 100,000 of those refugees in. But it remains the immediate question of that coordination.

Now, that question is very much going to be at the heart of discussions when President Biden lands here just 60 miles from the Ukrainian border within the next couple of hours. He'll be greeted at the airport just next to me by President Duda, the polish president. They'll be looking at the humanitarian crisis in Poland and what more can be done to help the country. Brianna?

KEILAR: I think it's so important to hear those voices that you just shared with us, Melissa, thank you for that.

President Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron speaking off to the side during this critical meeting at the G7 on Thursday, Macron, who has been a central player amid the conflict in Ukraine, regularly speaking with both President Putin and President Zelenskyy.

And joining me now is French Ambassador to the United States Philippe Etienne. Ambassador, thank you so much for being with us. I would like to first talk about this agreement between the U.S. and the E.U. when it comes to trying to reduce energy dependence on Russia. How significant is this in your view?

PHILIPPE ETIENNE, FRENCH AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES: It is very significant. We decided in Europe to reduce sharply our dependence on imports from Russian energy while we are also increasing sanctions to raise the price of the Russian invasion.

[07:20:07]

And a big part of this policy to reduce our dependency is how to increase our supply from other countries. And here, the U.S. announced with Europe yesterday -- or today, actually, an increase of 15 billion cubic meters of gas in their sales to Europe. It's very important.

KEILAR: You can't solve this overnight, right? This is slow.

ETIENNE: Exactly. We are more dependent in Europe, not that much in France, but Europe, European Union, in general, much more dependent than the United States, of course, because we do not produce as much as the United States.

KEILAR: When do you think Russia really starts to feel this? I mean, we have to say, we're here going into spring now. The weather is getting nicer everywhere. We see that in the U.S. We see that in Ukraine. And in Europe, it is really winter where that dependence really hits. Is this going to take a long, long time?

ETIENNE: There will be first step this year preparing next winter. And then we want to reduce already very, very much our dependency. And in the middle term, let's say until 2027, we want to get rid of dependency. But we will already start this year and this year is fundamental to get started very much in this reduction of our dependency.

KEILAR: How do you think Vladimir Putin receives that?

ETIENNE: I think the price paid by Russia and the Russian economy is very high already. Look at what we have decided for the central bank of Russia, for the banking system, for the oil industry, oil and gas industry, export technology completely stopped. It is huge. And the effect is already very high. And if there is no more money coming from the export of gas and oil, it will be a new, very, very big blow to the Russian economy.

KEILAR: What is France's hope for negotiations with Vladimir Putin and how much do you see him as operating in any sort of good faith?

ETIENNE: Well, as you said, our president is speaking with the Russian president in close coordination with the president of Ukraine, President Zelenskyy, but also in close coordination with the United States, as we have seen here yesterday in Brussels. We want to keep the contact. It is important even if the outlook is not good because we see the heartbreaking images from the Ukrainian cities, we continue to support Ukraine in different respects, we continue to increase the sanctions, but we have to continue to speak with the Russian president. What we want is a cease-fire. And we are doing this because the cease-fire only will allow negotiations to take place.

For the time being, he is not accepting this, I mean, Putin, but we have to continue to do this together with some other leaders, such as the German chancellor or the Turkish president. Our president has talked already, two times already, with him this week.

KEILAR: I do want to ask you because of about food insecurity. I think a lot of people around the world are realizing where their food comes, right, comes from. And a lot of it does come from Ukraine. Tell me about this effort to combat that and how bad do you think the global food insecurity problem is going to become because of what we are seeing in Ukraine?

ETIENNE: You're right. The Russian invasion is a global crisis. It is a violation of all principles of the United Nations. This is the reason why we isolated again Russia this week at the United Nations with a new (INAUDIBLE). But it is also a threat against not only the Ukrainian people who are killed by the Russian bombings but also for the whole world. And one important aspect is the food crisis, which is threatening many, many vulnerable countries in the world because Ukraine is such an important producer of wheat.

So, yesterday, one important aspect on the summit yesterday in Brussels was to launch an initiative on food security and to ensure that those countries will continue to receive what they need, what the populations need. But the first thing which would have to be done is a cease-fire to allow the Ukrainians to sell wheat this spring because it is a time for starting the preparations for the wheat to be cultivated.

KEILAR: Well, I really appreciate you being with us, Ambassador Etienne. I would love to continue the conversation here in the coming weeks and months. It is certainly going to take that, I think, before any chance at a cease-fire. Thank you.

ETIENNE: Thanks, Brianna. Thanks.

KEILAR: A teenager and her family barely making it out on Mariupol alive, narrowly avoiding a rocket explosion during their escape. She will tell us about her experience of spending nearly a month in one of the worst hit cities in Ukraine, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

BERMAN: This morning, Mariupol is a city under siege. Tens of thousands of people trapped inside, in terrible and terrifying conditions.

An 18-year-old university student and her parents living in Mariupol say they barely made it out of that city alive, narrowly missing a rocket that hit the street in front of them as they ran to their car to escape. This video shows the basement the family lived in, sharing the space for a week strangers before they finally decided to leave. The father managed to keep this video on his phone despite demands by Russian soldiers at checkpoints to delete any negative content.

Joining me now to talk about her escape is Maria. For security reasons, we're not sharing her last name, but she and her family have made it safely to Dnipro where they're now staying with relatives. Maria, first of all, I'm so glad you made it out.

[07:30:02] Thank you so much for joining us.

I don't think people have a sense of what it's like in Mariupol.