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Russia Launches Multiple Attacks On Major Cities Across Ukraine; New Russian Attacks Indicate Shift In Focus As Forces Regroup; Zelenskyy And Biden Spoke This Morning On Ukraine Crisis; Biden: Russia Will Pay "Severe Prices" In Chemical Weapons Used; New Images Show 40-Mile Russian Convoy Has Disappeared, Repositioned; Airstrikes Hit Civilian Sites In Dnipro, Military Airfield In Lutsk; Heavy Fighting Outside Kyiv As Russian Forces Push Closer; Ukraine: Russian Airstrikes Hit Kindergarten, Apartments In Dnipro. Aired 12- 12:30p ET

Aired March 11, 2022 - 12:00   ET

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

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[12:00:00]

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Hello, and welcome to INSIDE POLITICS. I'm John King in Washington. Thank you for sharing your day with us. The Russian assault in Ukraine is intensifying and expanding on this day 16 of Vladimir Putin's invasion, Moscow directing missiles deeper and deeper inside Ukraine this hour. In Dnipro, a key city, the Russia's battle plan playing smoke and blood, airstrikes demolishing an apartment building and a kindergarten.

In Lutsk, in Ukraine's northeast corner near Poland - northwest corner, excuse me, near Poland, you can see the fireballs, turn the sky orange. Ukrainian authorities say the missiles damaged an airfield. In (Inaudible), a Kyiv suburb, this wild picture. There's the reality on the frontline, Ukrainian soldier crammed in a trench, ripping his rifle wading out an airstrike.

In Chernihiv, to the two hours to the north of Kyiv, Russian warplanes hit a soccer field, a crater and scrap metal. You see it there on the remnants of the pitch. Zoom out and this is the awful damage from two plus weeks of nonstop air raids. Black clouds fill just about every satellite image, along with broken roadways and shells of buildings.

Kyiv today bracing for a Russian march on the capital. That 40-mile- long tank column that had idled is now spread-out, regrouping. And there are new worries, this horror could take an unthinkable turn. Ukraine's president reads new Russian propaganda today as a side Moscow's chemical weapons might be unleashed.

The president of United States just a short time ago, warning President Putin the price for such an atrocity would be severe. We short this hour in Kyiv and with our CNN's senior international correspondent, Matthew Chance. Matthew, what is the latest there?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, thank you very much. That's right. Well, as you just came to me, the air raid sirens here in Kyiv have been blaring, they've literally just this second stopped as we went live. But it just sort of indicates to us here that there is still a lot of anxiety, a lot of concern and a real threat, when it comes to the Ukrainian capital.

We've talked a bit about that convoy that's been dispersing. It's been gathering up to the north of the city for some days now, if not some weeks, and it's been hit hard by Ukrainian forces. And so, the Russians appear to have taken the decision to disperse it. It's moved off to various other locations that some of the convoy elements have taken cover under tree, so they're less visible from the air.

But it still all points to the same strategy being employed by the Russians right now, which is to move their forces to position them around the capital as much as possible to really tighten the stranglehold on the city of Kyiv. Why they do that, though, it seems that the scope of this invasion, and the number of attacks or the sort of what - you know, the breadth of the attacks has widened.

Over the course of the past 24 hours, we've been seeing attacks in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, where a shoe factory, a kindergarten, and a residential apartment block was struck according to local officials. The reports of one person so far, that has been confirmed as dead. But obviously that figure could change dramatically as more information comes to us.

Also, a strategic airfield, really in the far west of the country in Lutsk, a city there, which is about, I think, 70 miles or so from the Polish border. So, the Russians really showing they are, you know, widening the footprint of this invasion, which is so far for the most part, been concentrated to the main population centers across the country.

Meanwhile, we are here in Kyiv, there's been an advance according to Ukrainian officials in the north of the city, with Russian forces pushing closer towards the city, outskirts from the suburbs beyond it. And there has been for another day, a corridor, humanitarian corridor, I suppose you could call it that has allowed more civilians from the suburbs of the north of the city to come out to the relative safety of the central part of Kyiv. And so, that's the current situation here. But obviously, as I was saying, a lot of anxiety about what the next few days are going to bring.

KING: Without a doubt, Matthew Chance, grateful for the live reporting from Kyiv to start the hour. President Biden and Zelenskyy did speak this morning. The Ukrainian leader says, he gave his full assessment, candid assessment of the situation on the battlefield to his U.S. counterpart. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, says his army has survived longer than anyone thought possible, but to keep going. Zelenskyy says, the United States and the European Union must make sanctions on Putin even tougher and rush him more weapons.

[12:05:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINE: If this continues that means the sanctions are not enough and we are working now on new sanction decisions from our partners. Russia must pay for this horrible rule and the European Union must do more for us, for Ukraine and for itself. We are waiting for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: And there are new sanctions. President Biden announcing this morning, the United States is banning Russian luxury items, things like vodka and caviar plus, a big joint move. The United States along with the G7 and the European Union, will move to revoke Russia's most favored nation trading status.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PRESIDENT: We're also taking the further step of banning imports of goods from several signature sectors of the Russian economy, including seafoods, vodka and diamonds. Putin is an aggressor. He is the aggressor, and Putin must pay the price.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Let's get straight to the White House. Our correspondent MJ Lee. MJ at that event, the president also took a question from our CNN colleague, Arlette Saenz, about chemical weapons and he drew a line.

MJ LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. The president was asked about this new disturbing assessment from the U.S. that Russia could use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, or at the very least, use them to create a false flag operation in the country. The president saying that he is not going to get into intelligence details, but he did say Russia will pay a severe price if they were to use chemical weapons in the country.

Now, we don't know from the White House exactly what paying a price means. The U.S. has repeatedly and emphatically said that the president will not send U.S. military physically to Ukraine. This coming as the president, as you noted, announced new measures to hit Russia economically. For one, the U.S. and its allies announcing that it is going to revoke Russia's permanent normal trade relations status.

In plain English, this basically means that it is going to become even harder for Russia to do business with these countries. For example, countries can now raise tariffs on Russia, and the president also announcing a ban on more import goods from Russia, like caviar, like alcohol. He also announced a ban of luxury goods exports to Russia.

We're talking about things like tobacco, alcohol, expensive cars, and jewelry. All of this administration officials tell me is a way to try to further squeeze Russian oligarchs and the wealthy as they are increasingly cut off from traditional ways of doing business of managing their money. Of course, this is all part of a bigger effort to try to make Russia and economic pariah, John?

KING: MJ Lee, live from the White House. Thanks MJ very much. Let's get some important expertise and insights from Lieutenant General Mark Hertling. He's the former commanding general for U.S. army Europe and the seventh army. Of course, a CNN military analyst. General Hertling, grateful for your time today. Let's walk through several places on the battlefield to get your assessment. First, we just heard Matthew Chance in Kyiv. He says, as he was coming on the air, air raid siren signing again.

We know from satellite photos, we know from the Pentagon officials, we know from other European diplomats. They now believe the Ukrainian - the Russian advance, excuse me, which has been plotting is still now getting ever closer to the city. I was told by European diplomat this morning, somewhere in the ballpark of eight to 10 miles, both to the east and the west. What does that tell you about the Russian plan?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.) FORMER COMMANDING GENERAL EUROPE AND SECURITY ARMY: We've been watching this from an unbiased perspective, John, and the Russian operations in and around Kyiv have largely remained stalled over the last 24 hours, that Ukrainians have been fighting just ferociously. They've damaged that Russian armored column east of the city. It's disrupted the Russian effort to continue to encircle. They are moving slowly, but they are truthfully, it's a large force. They should have been moving much faster, and they should have gained much more ground. They have not.

That logistics column that Matthew Chance talked about. Yes, it has dispersed, which means, they've been hit hard. They have been knocked off the road. Their commanders have told them, get out from under the continual efforts of the Bayraktar drones and artillery shells that they've been, but they're in woods now. And when you're in woods and off the roads, you can't see anything, and you can't move. That logistic column is critically important to them, establishing the foothold and getting into Kyiv.

I'm convinced that the Russians are still stymied in around the capital city, which is their main objective. They're achieving some ground, (Inaudible) increasingly a tough fight. But it's becoming more and more difficult for them to accomplish the objective of taking the capital.

KING: So, let's talk about what we've seen in the last 24 hours, which is an expansion of the targets. I want your help on whether its strategic or whether it's Russia just launching out missiles they haven't. They're firing, one is this city here Dnipro. Most believe this would be absolutely essential for the Russians, airstrikes so far. What is the strategic importance of Dnipro?

[12:10:00]

GEN. HERTLING: What you see on the eastern side of Ukraine where the Donbass to the east, if you'll point to that John is been taking a lot of fire, but it should have been the main effort or at least a main supporting effort it has not been. Dnipro is halfway between Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhya.

So, if you're looking to encircle the forces, the majority of the forces that are in the eastern part of Ukraine, this is the so-called battle of annihilation, which I think the Russians planned early on, but they were thwarted across the board. They can't continue. So, they struck Zaporizhzhya with a couple of missiles this morning, again, terrorizing the citizens of the city.

Hopefully, they think prepping it for future actions coming up from the south, where the Russians have had some significant advances. But the Kharkiv, they're also stalled. They're continuing to hit that city with long range artillery, and missiles and rockets. But they haven't been able to take that city because the Ukrainian forces have done a magnificent job defending. It's been a tough fight. There are certainly a lot of casualties. But that's not a place where they have achieved success yet.

KING: And so general, if you look at the map and what you were just talking about, right? We've talked over the past two weeks about the assault down here to take the ports away in the south. You just mentioned Dnipro, Zaporizhzhya, Kharkiv, we're over here, right? We talked about Kyiv a minute ago. Most of the fighting so far has been from the western Kyiv suburbs to the eastern part of Ukraine.

Last night, there were airstrikes out here at Lutsk. There have been moderate strikes in the past out there, but why, in your view? One, you're 60 miles or so from the Poland border. Number two, it's an old cold war, military air base there. Is this a strategic strike on a facility that's important? Or is this more meant to send a message A, we're still watching western Ukraine, and B, Poland just across the border?

GEN. HERTLING: Yes. In my view, John, it's a message. It is a more propaganda and it's more the desire to create fear and terror within the population. In order to - if you take a closer look at Lutsk, I've been to that city. It's a beautiful city, about 200,000 population. It's an old. It was the centerpiece of Operation Barbarossa during World War II, but it was also a Polish city for a very long time.

Putin hates the Polish. So, he's hitting that city. And if you look closely at it, it's sort of like our town of Gettysburg was in the civil war. It has roads going off in every single direction. It has a main railroad going through the center of the city. It has historical importance to the Russians.

So, I think they're hitting that city primarily to tell Ukrainians we can strike anywhere, you should be afraid, you should be terrorized. You should have fear about what Russia is going to do. But if you look to the north in Belarus, there are no forces that can reinforce any kind of activity and Lutsk or Lviv.

So, there the Russians, I believe, are at the far end of their tether. They don't have any more forces. They have been plagued by logistics ever since it started this. So, these missile strikes in some of these cities, again, in my view, or just terror strikes.

KING: General Hertling, as always are grateful for very important insights. Appreciated very much. Next for us. Russia says, the United States helps Ukraine make chemical weapons. That's a lie. But is it also a warning? We'll ask the only man to serve as White House chief of staff, CIA director and defense secretary.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [12:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Just moments ago, this warning from the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: We have serious concerns that Russia may be planning to use chemical or biological agents against the Ukrainian people. Russia could use chemical or biological agents for assassinations, as part of a staged or false flag incident are to support tactical military operations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: The ambassador speaking just a little more than an hour after the president himself drew a line for Vladimir Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I'm not going to speak about the intelligence, but Russia would pay a severe price for these chemicals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: It is a frightening prospect, frightening prospect in an already horrific war. But irrelevant questions, sadly, because of Vladimir Putin's history. Joining our conversation is Leon Panetta. He's the former defense secretary, former CIA director in the Obama administration, also the former White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton.

Leon Panetta, grateful for your time. On what is a sober day to hear the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, speaking a bit after the president United States, publicly talked about the prospect that Russia would use chemical weapons in its backyard against the people of Ukraine. How likely is that? You understand the Russian playbook. We all know the history of Chechnya and beyond. How likely is that?

LEON PANETTA, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF UNDER PRESIDENT CLINTON: Well, it's part of Putin doubling down. I think he's cornered and when a bully is cornered, he's going to continue to strike out with threats and with the kind of terrorist attacks that he's making on the civilians in that country.

Look, I think we have to take whatever he says seriously. And I'm glad that the president made clear that the use of chemical and gas weapons is crossing a line. That is unacceptable. We've got to make clear to Putin, the price that will be paid if he resorts to weapons of mass destruction. And I think the president began to send that signal just this morning.

KING: One of the challenges of this war and this story is trying to parse translate Russian propaganda, sometimes whether it's President Putin or Foreign Minister Lavrov, they are telling lies or promoting conspiracies because of their domestic audience back home. They talked in recent days about the fact in their view the Ukrainians perhaps with the help of the United States are working on biological weapons in Ukraine. Listen here to President Zelenskyy. President Zelenskyy, who knows the Russian playbook well, says this is what they do.

[12:20:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. ZELENSKYY: They accuse us, again, us that we are allegedly developing biological weapons. Allegedly, we are preparing a chemical attack. This makes me really worried because we've been repeatedly convinced. If you want to know Russia's plans, look at what Russia accuses others of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: From your experience in the CIA job and with intelligence overall, is that a fair point? Does Russia often, you know, can you translate their propaganda when they're accusing you of something that perhaps in the back of their mind, they're setting the table to bring it onto the battlefield, so they can say not our fault, we didn't do it?

PANETTA: I think that's a pretty good bet. That's essentially what's going on here. Look, Putin is clearly being squeezed, squeezed economically. The president just added additional elements to cutting off and hurting their economy. In addition to that, as we've heard, their effort on the battlefield continues to be stalled. And the Ukrainians are putting up a very strong fight. Caught in that situation.

He's going to resort to lies, he's going to resort to making clear that other threats are possible here. And he's going to try to set up his ability to use chemical weapons by accusing the people in Ukraine of developing chemical weapons. That's the game. That's the propaganda that he uses in order to justify these actions. But, again, I think it's very important for the United States to draw a line when it comes to the use of chemical and gas weapons. That's a step, frankly, too far, even for Putin.

KING: What is your sense now, as we're halfway through the third week of this war? You're right, the Russian is not going for the Russians, as they expected inside Ukraine, and yet they are making gains, and they are punishing the Ukrainian people. And they are punishing Ukrainian infrastructure. But one thing they have done, Leon Panetta, is awakened the west.

Put this way, I think, very smartly. In the opinion pages of the New York Times today, Polish nationalists and EU bureaucrats or sudden brothers in arms back at home, Republicans and Democrats have put aside differences on climate change and voting rights. For an enemy who appears to have emerged from the cold war central casting, and evil empires again on the March in Europe. Has Putin unwittingly perhaps awakened the west to the idea of A, number one, the security challenges. He rewriting the security architecture of Europe, the economic architecture of the western world against him, after 25 years of perhaps overly romantic hopes that if we let him into the club, he'll behave.

PANETTA: I think Putin is losing this war on a number of fronts. I think the fact that the United States and our allies are as unified as they are, the fact that Republicans and Democrats have come together in support of these efforts, means that the world is much more unified in opposition to what Putin is doing.

It's probably something we would have had a very hard time doing on our own. But he has been through his brutal act here. The inspiration for that kind of unity. Secondly, Putin is losing, you know, he's losing on a number of fronts, but he's losing this effort. And I think deep down, he knows it, that ultimately, no matter how much he blows up, Ukraine, he cannot control Ukraine.

And so, the issue is going to ultimately be how long do we have to squeeze, Putin? How long do we have to continue to show him that he cannot win until he decides that he himself is going to have to take some kind of off ramp in order to protect his own net?

KING: Leon Panetta, as always so grateful for your very important insights. Appreciate it.

PANETTA: Thank you.

KING: Thank you. Coming up for us, much more on our breaking news in Ukraine. The latest developments and some brand-new CNN reporting on the hush talks, the Biden administration is having right now with Saudi Arabia.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KIN: A new and important battlefield development this hour. Western officials say, Ukrainian forces have killed a third Russian general, the commander of the eastern military district. But across Ukraine today more pain from new and relentless Russian strikes. Look here, those Russian airstrikes today damaging a kindergarten, apartment buildings and a shoe factory in the Dnipro. Debris everywhere. Seen in this video from the Ukrainian state emergency service.

Also, from the state service here this new video, showing staff trying to defuse a bomb that was dropped by Russian fighters. It's that delicate workplace out, you can hear explosions in the background. And these heartbreaking images of children and families in a bomb shelter in Mariupol. The mayor of that city accusing Russia of genocide. Mariupol now entering day six without humanitarian aid.