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Top Intel Officials: Putin Won't Be Deterred By Setbacks In Ukraine; Kharkiv Bar Now A Shelter, Owner Braves Bombs, Debris To Deliver Food; Today: Blinken Meets With French Pres. As Russia Kills More Civilians. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired March 08, 2022 - 12:30   ET

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

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JOHN KING, CNN HOST: A new and grim assessment this morning from top American intelligence officials. The U.S. government now believed setbacks on the ground in Ukraine will push Russia's Vladimir Putin to escalate the attacks. Let's get straight to CNN's Katie Bo Lillis, a lot of new information there. What is most significant?

KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN REPORTER: John, every year the U.S. intelligence community releases what it calls the Worldwide Threat Assessment, which is this unclassified report that ticks off all of the major threats to the United States as the intelligence community sees them. The timing of the release of this year's report is of course significant because it coincides with this investigate -- with this invasion of Ukraine by Russia, offering the U.S. public perhaps a one of -- and it really extraordinary real time look into how the U.S. intelligence community is viewing Russia and Putin in this moment.

Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, telling the House Intelligence Committee this morning that Putin is unlikely to be deterred by setbacks in Ukraine, and in fact, is more likely to double down to escalate because he views it as a war that he cannot afford to lose. Haines also telling the Committee that -- Haines telling the Committee that Putin's sort of invocation of the nuclear threat is more likely messaging and in fact, Russia, according to the U.S. intelligence community, does not wish to engage in direct conflict with the United States. John?

KING: Katie Bo Lillis, grateful for that important update from the intelligence community, a new marker from U.S. officials just last hour, American intelligence now estimates between 2,000 and 4,000 Russian troops have died in the first 12 days of the Ukraine war. Let's get some important perspective now. Our military analyst retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton is with us, Colonel Leighton, grateful for your time.

So we're just looking at the battlefield as it stands right now, you just heard the Intelligence Assessment that this is not going. We've talked about this for the last 10, 12 days. This is not going as quickly or as well as Vladimir Putin would hope. The Pentagon now believes as many as 4,000 Russians dead in Ukraine. You might think that would cause pause, but not for Vladimir Putin. So what would you expect now? COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: So that's exactly right, John. This Intelligence Assessment shows us that the Russians are moving forward in a way that, you know, is not constant -- in concern with how we would do things. If we had 4,000 dead at a time like this. We would really be reconsidering our operations. That is not the case with the Russians. Right here, what we will see is a still further action around Kyiv. We see the on the eastern side, we see them moving in this way, and I'll erase this just to make it clear that this is the area that we really want to be careful of right here, this eastern part.

And of course the West right near where Hostomel Airport is that, is an area where we can still see further advances of the Russians. There are some reports that Russians are already in the city. These are probably advanced units. But they are not the main body. So the main body is just outside of the city limits of Kyiv, right now.

[12:35:18]

KING: You also hear officials down in Mariupol, say the Russians on the outskirts of the city. They've isolated the city now. This has gone on for a long time, again, much longer than the Russians would have wanted or hoped. But you are beginning to see, and I'll rise as well and then come back up, you are beginning to see a key strategic gain. Odessa still on the Ukrainian control, that is over here. But the Russians beginning essentially shipping access, Port Access, resupply access, the Russians slow and plotting, but strategically important.

LEIGHTON: Exactly. And this is the key right here, as you mentioned to Odessa right about here. This is the whole idea of the Russian plan is to move forces throughout this area to cut off Ukraine from the sea. They're doing it over there on the Sea of Azov, they're doing it here. And then look at what's happening here. Basically, you have an arc that goes kind of like this. And the idea is to surround Ukraine on three sides, that's where they had poised their forces before they came in. This is how they're executing now.

KING: So let's look at it this way. I brought this up as this map we made. This is June 2018. So it's an older highway map but the main highways have not changed. These are the international highways out and if you look at where attacks have been up here right now, so here's Kyiv, the capital. We know the other day there were attacks out here at Zhytomyr. We know the airport here in Vinnytsia came under attack. We know Belarus is here and Russian troops have come in. Do you see a scenario where the Russians tried to do this, essentially, take eastern Ukraine?

LEIGHTON: Right.

KING: Leave this for now. Leave this for now and take care of the Capitol here obviously the coast down here. If you watch the force of Russian troops, they're coming in for here and they're coming in here. They're not going west yet.

LEIGHTON: That's right. And in fact, a little bit where a lot of our correspondents are is an area that has been relatively safe right now. There has been no attack, there have been air raid sirens, but as far as I know, no attacks in that particular area. So what we could see is --

KING: I bring this map back to do it on this map so people can see it.

LEIGHTON: Sure. This area right here, John, this is the Dnipro River. This is a big dividing line. So one of the possible Russian scenarios is that they take everything east of here, east of the Dnipro, so that would include of course, the Donbass region, plus everything up through Kyiv, it is possible that they'll move a little bit further west to here, but that is a natural dividing line right there.

KING: And this is cynical, I just want to bring up these evacuation quarters that have been proposed. We do know some came out of Sumy today down to the central part of the country, some, some. But the Russians have proposed these evacuation corridors. If you want to leave Kyiv, you can go to Belarus. If you want to leave Kharkiv or if you want to Sumy, you can go to Russia. If you want to leave Mariupol you can go to Russia. If you have any -- if you needed any evidence, the Russians are not serious. You're asking people whose country is under attack to move to the country attacking you.

LEIGHTON: Exactly. And that's, like you said that's completely cynical. It has hallmarks of what the Nazis during World War II to some of the occupied populations. It is absolutely something that any Ukrainian would reject out of hand.

KING: Not good faith, to say the least from the Russians. Colonel Leighton, as always appreciate it.

[12:38:12]

Next for us, the heartbreaking, simply heartbreaking young faces of Ukraine's refugee crisis, and for those determined to stay, there are wartime heroes trying to deliver meals and provide shelter.

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KING: More breaking news off the battlefield in Ukraine, the southern coastal city of Mariupol has now been isolated by Russian forces, this according to a senior U.S. defense official watching things play out. But amid all this heartbreak, there are some heroes, remarkable heroes. This bar in Kharkiv, Ukraine second largest city, is now an emergency shelter and food distribution center.

The owner, Bohdan Yurov and his network of volunteers are driving through the debris and shelling to deliver food and medication to those in need now feeding about 1,800 people a day. Bohdan Yurov joins us now. It's remarkable, breathtaking what you're doing amid shelling, amid shortages, amid communication issues. How are you doing this?

BOHDAN YUROV, SHELTERING AND FEEDING FELLOW UKRAINIANS: Hey, John. Well, I mean, let me just talk with my mode. Basically, it's all about danger. Because you know, there is some force right in our city, we -- they are trying to attack us. So we aren't thinking about sleeping, they are not thinking about why we do this. We just do it because for everyone here that's the only way.

KING: Well, that spirit is an example to your community. It's also an example to the world. We're looking at some of the video, essentially a GoPro on your dashboard as you and your teams are delivering around the city. This sadly, I know this is your hometown, so I hate to say it. It looks like footage out of a World War II war movie, the debris. As you're driving through your city, your community trying to help the desperate, what does it feel like to see this devastation?

YUROV: Well, it's kind of painful, because, you know, the last 10 booms has fallen on Kharkiv and literally in Second World War. So it's just unimaginable like we still couldn't believe that in modern world someone just attacks huge Syria. I mean, obviously this happens all around the world. But as soon as you see by with your eyes, that's ridiculous. Like you just go the same streets, you try to visit some houses where your relatives try to hide from bombing and everything is just destroyed like literally hundreds of houses.

[12:45:11]

Every time we drive, we just think, OK, which street is going to be next, which shelter is going to be next. So, yes, some places we cannot say even recognize anymore, so horribly destroyed.

KING: How are you pulling this off to the degree that if there's somebody out there who needs food or needs medication, how did you set up this communication network? And how are you refining it with all of the difficulties?

YUROV: You know, first few days it was quite chaotic, because we just wanted to organize a shelter for local people like in the bar, we have open some shelter downside, just for every citizen right next to us to keep safe. But later, we've started with some direct calling. And then finally, we've got Google Form, CRM, and all requests go through the same pipeline. So right now we are much more organized. And as soon as someone calls us, we are ready to deploy some supplies. So instead of being --

KING: No, I was just going to say, how do you deal with this -- the shortages, the disruptions? How are you finding food? How are you finding medicine? And how has this network grown over the past week?

YUROV: Well, this is the most, yes, this is really strange for me, because I didn't really expect to see that to be that's united. So the first few days were quite ridiculous. We were just thinking about where to get some fresh water. But now I have like a few 100 people in line. We -- they are in touch with us, different malls, supermarkets, bakeries, they literally just continue to supply in free food so that we can live it and distribute it. So it's hundreds of different people all around the city that just help us and help other volunteers.

KING: And if there's somebody watching this, who wants to help you, can they?

YUROV: Absolutely. Like literally we have some hotline, we managed to set up yesterday, just for everyone who wants to join us to do it. So basically, we have some food to distribute for a couple days. But every day we go through all the goodies to get some new bread, new green, and so on. So while we have some supplies, obviously we're looking for some new ways to help local people.

KING: Bohdan Yurov, grateful for your time. Just amazed, amazed in awe of what you're doing to help the people in Kharkiv in the communities around it. We will stay in touch and we will do what we can to help you as well. Appreciate your time, sir, today. And for more information for those of you watching on how you can help humanitarian efforts in Ukraine go to CNN.com/impact.

Up next, the Secretary of State and his biggest challenge, Tony Blinken work behind the scenes with Joe Biden for decades. Now, he is the face of American diplomacy in crisis.

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[12:52:23]

KING: A whirlwind trip through Europe ending right now in Paris for the Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He's meeting with the French foreign minister and the French President Emmanuel Macron. American diplomacy is absolutely critical to the coalition vowing Russia's invasion of Ukraine must not stand. And it is the biggest public test for a long time and loyal Biden advisor who for most of his career, worked quietly behind the scenes.

CNN's Kylie Atwood joins us from the State Department. Kylie, that has been what's most interesting, I just want to put up all the flags of the European countries, NATO allies, especially those along the big front line with Russia and Belarus and Ukraine. Tony Blinken going to all these countries today, pledging U.S. support and pledging Vladimir Putin's invasion, well, let's say for a career staffer, if you will, I don't say that as an insult.

It's a remarkable rise from working with Joe Biden in the Senate working in the Obama White House. I worked at the State Department well before that. This is a giant public test.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. He is the tip of the spear right now when it comes to designing what the Biden administration does next alongside those European allies. And his conversations over the last few days have been twofold. They'd focus on the humanitarian aspects of this and on the military aspects of this.

And on the humanitarian side, he did it travel the Ukraine-Polish border, met with refugees over the weekend. And he called yesterday for Russia to stop its attacks, these allegations, these reports that they are attacking humanitarian efforts from getting into the country, calling those reports shameful.

And then on the military side, it's a complicated situation right now, because he's hearing from some Baltic leaders who are calling on the United States to do more than they have already done. Some of them saying that NATO needs to have a more permanent presence in some of those countries, they are of course concerned about what comes next here with Russian aggression into Ukraine only continuing and then being so close to that aggression.

And when it comes to this military conversation, there's also the United States engaging in the possibility of backfilling some of these countries with the fighter jets that they would need if they share their fighter jets with Ukraine. So a lot of moving pieces here, the Secretary of State engaged in all of those conversations over the last few days. John?

KING: And look, the Biden team, including Secretary Blinken promised to clean up what they called the chaos of the Trump era, then there was a lot of dissatisfaction to say the least with the U.S. withdrawal and how it was handled from Afghanistan under the Biden presidency. The one ask that I think Blinken has that perhaps others might not have, is it everybody knows when he speaks, he speaks for the President, his longtime friend.

ATWOOD: That's exactly true. They know that he has worked with the president for decades now in different capacities. But he is considered to be part of President Biden's inner circle so what he's being told in these countries rest assured, it will be delivered right back to the Oval Office. And that is an incredibly important aspect of this.

[12:55:15]

And when he's hearing from other countries who are wanting more U.S. military support in those countries as part of course, the NATO bolstering its support, that's going to get back to the White House. And I think we should also talk about these conversations about the possibility of a no fly zone. Of course, the Biden administration until this point has said no to any of those discussions.

KING: All right, it'd be interesting what conversations Secretary brings back when he meets with the President on his return. Kylie Atwood at the State Department, grateful for that important reporting.

And thank you for your time today, a busy breaking news day, Ana Cabrera, Anderson Cooper, pick up our coverage, important breaking news coverage right after a quick break. Have a good day.

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