Transcripts For MSNBCW The Rachel Maddow Show 20220224

0 official, i asked him if president putin is directing this himself. and he said yes, that is how it is going. that is not surprising. we know that president putin makes all of the decisions. in the end, he will have had advice from that small clique around him, that ultimately he is the decision-maker. and another element of his televised address, which to reiterate, if russians will be stunned by. waking up and seeing now, another man from that televised address, which is chilling frankly. is that president putin requires russian's nuclear capability. and clearly, openly threatens western leaders. even after the collapse of the ussr, losing a significant part of the nuclear potential. today, russia is one of the most nuclear powers. and he says, i think that this is a direct message to the west. in this regard, no one should have any doubt that a direct attack on russia will lead to defeat and dire consequences for a potential aggressor. and so, i just want to say all, just before this all began, we did hear from french diplomats, raising real questions about president putin's state. saying that the man they met was to from the past. and that again, worrying aspect, as russians wake up to learn that their country is frankly have worn with ukraine. >> we are going to stay close to, clear summons in moscow, it is midnight in the east, it is a am in eastern ukraine, or 7 am in eastern ukraine, 8 am in moscow. and we have attacks underway in ukraine. we've heard the explosion of shells in the capital city of kyiv. explosions of shells. this is video being brought to us from the associated press. this is a highway out of kyiv. look at the cars down the right side, going into kyiv, very few of them. look at all those cars, leaving heave right now. our reporter on the ground there, erin mclaughlin, has heard shelling's. was on air with us, when she heard that song. this is unusual. because it seemed like a second phase, in something that just began a few hours ago. as you heard so, we've not heard the ruling over of tanks. or artillery over the eastern border of russia into ukraine. but, there are two regions in eastern ukraine that latin putin has declared independent. and today, he ordered a special military operation to protect those places. he says that he has requests from the leaders of those two republics, that nobody else in the world recognize us as independent, for russian military interference or involvement. and that is why they are sending activity that they have going on there underway. we have a few things going on that we should tell you about. airspace has been closed. all airspace in ukraine is now closed. we have heard some reporting that the bombs that we are hearing, dropped in and around kyiv, maybe missiles. somebody in the ukraine government had posted that to social media site and we've not been able to confirm that. as keir said. these are the moments in which we are in the fog of war and we are not entirely sure what is true or not, but our reporters have heard explosions with their own ears. there are reports, courtney kube had suggested that the u.s. intelligence had heard that we will start with russian gelling. perhaps of military installations or runways, airports. ambassador michael suggested moments ago that he had been hearing from people in ukraine, it may be the airport. the area around the airport in kyiv. i want to go to our to reporters in the region. in mariupol ukraine, southeastern ukraine aired, mclaughlin in kyiv. last we'll ask you a few moments ago, you are here in constant shelling. >> we are hearing missile strikes according to a advisor in the ministry of interior. and the last 30 minutes have been comparatively quiet. we've heard a stream of cars leaving the city. we are hearing reports that people here are waking up to these explosions. they are evacuating the capital of kyiv, and we have heard from the ukrainian president. . saying that russia is attacked military infrastructure. and also announced that he is imposing martial law. and we need each every one of you to stay calm. and the army is working with, and continuing with a common theme. trying to keep people calm, trying to keep people from panicking in the first time. induced coma o and i've been told that this is the city under attack. and. and you are hearing explosions now for a couple of hours. and you're asking about the sirens. the sirens are underway. . okay and the capital is now under attack. we have reports of missiles and explosions. let us listen for a moment. and all right, those are the sirens. we've been listening for. good to go to richard, there are the sirens again. . there's the signs again. >> and we have -- go ahead. >> we have been wondering why we hadn't heard sirens. we all heard the explosions. we are wondering where the signs were. but i was told by city officials, they've tested the officials. earlier in the week, hours into this attack. the science system alerting this, that this attack was underway all. the associated pressure showing us. this is the traffic leaving heave now. people are preparing in different ways. . what is the level of preparation you're familiar with? sending the school their blood type signify. they need blood transfusion? would also be heard? >> people have been preparing for the worst. while the government had been downplaying this threat. people are taking the situation extraordinarily seriously in terms of the western intelligence assessments. the evacuation plan, no plan b. people have been sending their children for the western children of. uk there closer to the polish border. people have been stocking up on food and water. and really deep down, in talking to ukrainians, there was a certain level of skepticism. 's. and that is why people are waking up, completely stun, that their country is at war with the russian neighbor. and, please stand by, i want to go to southeastern ukraine to nbc chief foreign correspondent richard engel. president zelenskyy and president biden, they have spoken already, and president zelenskyy has made some decisions tonight. president zelenskyy, issued a video statement, looked like a selfie that he took at his desk. in which he said that martial law is being imposed all across ukraine. did not describe exactly with that martial law would entail. but told people to stay calm, to stay in their homes and that military installations and border posts had been attacked. after announcing the star of military operations. but went on to assure people that the government is still with them. that the government will stay in contact and that the security services are on top of the situation. does seem that there is a psychological component of all of us. and that these early phases have been designed to leave the city, to create the panic, create the long lines of traffic that you are seeing out of kyiv. because there were reports of beach landings here mariupol. we are not seeing them. reports of beach landings in odessa. not being reported by witnesses. like the russian state news agencies are responding. the russians put out a short time ago when, not the military infrastructure of ukraine has been destroyed, and that civilians would not be harmed. and it seems like the russia narrative is trying to soften the population, to appeal to the people, to surrender without a fight, to appeal to the military, to surrender without a fight. because what is being described by the russians and what we are seeing at this moment, they do not correspond. russian, talk to me about mariupol, because it is important, we've heard matt bradley talk about when there might be troop movements, when we might see people come across the border, you're on the water, there are a whole different set of defenses, or offensive weaponry and techniques that the russians have, all throughout the southern coast of ukraine. so according to the pentagon, russia has been having ten warships with marines on board in the black sea. we are on the sea of azov, in the sea of azov, connected to the black sea. we have seen ships in the distance, but there are not firing. they are not at war, they appear to be normal commercial ships. and so, any kind of naval battle off of the sea of azov. as far as i can see, from where i'm looking at the water. it is not underway. and if there was going to be a beach landing, it could happen all along this southern coast. but as of now, there are no sirens here, there is traffic in the streets. we saw some police cars and ambulances moving with their sirens blaring. it was not clear if they were responding to any particular incident. although, now, as we are speaking, i just heard a one explosion. >> i heard that too. >> that first one could have been the reverberation of the first explosion. that is the first loud and clear it. since this operation began. we will see how that develops. and that was on the outskirts of mario pull. i'm right on the center now. that sounded like it was a few miles away at the very least. so we will continue. >> heard that as you are. speaking could hear that out here. whatever that was. just let us know, richard engel, nbc news foreign correspondent, who is in mariupol, ukraine. erin mclaughlin is in kyiv for us. i'm just going to ask my executive producer where she wants me to go. mike memoli is in washington d.c.. mike, you were reporting to us that even your colleagues have heard that the president was talking to vladimir zelenskyy. now we've heard that vladimir zelenskyy has released a video of himself, talking about the fact that there is going to be martial law. we are hearing explosions, we are hearing sirens in kyiv, we are hearing as you just heard with richard angle, and in mariupol, what is happening in the white house. >> we just got a new statement alley from the white house, on the presidents call with president zelenskyy. saying that is interesting ali. then more casual language. . presidents key says to biden in a statement, reached out to me tonight and we just finished speaking. condemned the unprovoked and unjustified attack from russian military forces. we are taking the steps to rally international, at the national security council. bind saying that zelenskyy asked me to call on the leaders of the world to speak clearly against the fragment aggression and to stand with the people of ukraine. tomorrow i will be meeting with the leaders of the g7 and the united states. imposing severe shanks on russia. that statement there, making explicit, it was implied by the earlier white house statements tonight, that the president will be as promised, escalating beyond the sanctions that he announced just 31 hours ago. we've been hearing all along, this is now three months in which the white house has been promising swift and severe sanctions on russia if it were to go ahead with the invasion. at the earliest indications of that invasion, a little over 24 hours ago, they took that initial step, banking sanctions on russian all the guards, the severing of nord stream 2 essentially. now essentially, the white house and president saying in the statement, that they will indeed go further. now that vladimir putin has gone further. and we will wait and see and try to work our white house sources, to see if they will be able to share exactly what those sanctions will white be. we've had some indication of what was on the table, sort of export controls, trying to limit russia's ability to get imports. critical imports from the west, from the united states for its manufacturing sector for instance. potentially even sanctions on putin directly. but we will not get ahead of what the white house says plan at this point. >> we are going to hear from the president after he has heard the conversation with the g7 leaders. >> that's right. the president speaking tomorrow morning at 9 am, with his g7 counterparts. and in the early afternoon, what the white house has told us at this point, the president would address the nation. >> more than a half hours away. we will tell you though, the future is looking not very good right now. we are looking at an opening. and there is much to happen tonight. so it is a little early to talk about. all major markets are looking to be 2% lower, right now we have seen a spike in the price of oil as well. crude oil. talk to warn her dollars a barrel since 2014. keeping a close eye on that as well honoring us had a gamble, on her way to moscow right now and has just spoken with ukrainian foreign minister. hollywood, if you heard? >> thanks so much for having me. essentially, i was speaking to the form minister of ukraine, henry from washington. he's going to take a car to get into kyiv from a third-party country. keith of course has cut all flights. he told me this. we are calling for the escalation, and this is an attack on world or. ukraine is calling on the united states, the west, to immediately implements heavy sanctions. including immediate disconnection of pressure from the system. saying that they need more financial assistance. more heavy weaponry in ukraine at this point. i've been speaking several times since december. and the message is always remained the same. if you do not implement sanctions ahead of an invasion, and evasion will happen. and it looks like that is exactly what has occurred. did tell me, in terms of will outline, a timeline, saying that five minutes after president putin announced, we saw this rockets flying, in major cities, including the several -- a grounded vision and the direction of -- and he said that i can tell you right now, heavy fighting is happening. as i told you previously, in many interviews that i've had with this gentleman, the ukrainians think that plans for themselves, already been issued weapons from the government. saying that they are ready to fight for their country. this is a country frankly, up in arms, and as you mentioned, the market, going 2% lower. i have to tell, you the asian markets have been reacting to the story. as you mentioned, oil, over $100 a barrel, topping $100 a barrel. this is significant, the white house, western powers, they declined to sanction the energy sector. and there's a reason for that. because this would just not get the gas section, this would hit oil prices, you gotta remember, when it comes to oil prices, united states at the end of last year took 7% of the oil from russia. european powers, the united states. it's exactly why it took a while before all of the nato countries were on board with all of these sanctions, and that's why it's took in a while since germany decided to cancel the nord stream 2 pipeline, because the fact is, the world relies on a lot of the energy that it gets from russia. also talking about the ukrainians calling for the removal of russian from the swift system. that is the society for worldwide into her bank financial transactions. that is how world trade is done. if you can't be on the serve system, anybody who was ever sent a wire, you know exactly what that is, if you can't be honest with system, you can trade with the world. let's go to kyiv, the capital of ukraine, where those sirens continue to blame. as a warning that kyiv, the capital city of ukraine, is under attack. and mclaughlin is there for us? >> hi ali, you can hear the sirens sounds. we have yet to hear further explosions. the sirens to indicate that this capital is under attack. they have been persuaded by hours of explosions, but it has been a while since we have heard the booms. the kind of booms that woke up so many citizens here in the capital. in the small hours of the morning. according to the adviser to the interior minister. crews, ballistic missiles, they have been launched on the capitol, striking military installations and air fields. no indication so far that civilian targets have been hit. but civilians have said that they broke up some of them to the windows being rattled by the sound of these explosions. it is absolutely terrifying and surreal to be standing here on this balcony alley in a flat track in the ukrainian capital. many here just simply did not think that it would come to this. and we've heard from president zelenskyy, urging people to remain calm. urging people not to panic in a social media post that he posted the fake punt -- itself video that he took. it's unclear where he is at this hour. and he declined to comment any further on with the president had posted on his facebook. urging people to remain calm. and he did say that marshall awe will now be implemented. and just yesterday, parliament voted to approve a state of emergency meeting that we will see checkpoints here in the city a number of restrictions and extraordinary powers to police to stop citizens and that sort of thing. and now another law. of martial law has been announced on top of that. and mclaughlin is in kyiv, where there are sirens, only go back to ambassador michael mcfaul, we are having an interesting discussions. and marcia law. and makes a interesting point. that's once again president biden were talking. we know that the u.s. embassy staff has relocated to western ukraine and we don't know whether it's on the skis involved in this or not. but we've been hearing intelligence reports, there is a plan to get zelenskyy out of here if that needs to happen. what happens in the capital city of ukraine it's under attack? >> great question. i don't have a great answer. but i've been corresponding for two hours now with people in kyiv, including people in the government. not revealing any names, but right now they are ready for war. they are not meeting, not thinking of evacuation, going to stand their ground and that obviously can change. really important for us to keep reminding us how quickly things can change. just two hours ago, we are talking about how everything is quiet on the streets of the major cities. now that is totally different. look at we are showing right now all, not a single soul is on that main street. i've been on that street 100 times, this time in the morning, that place is packed. i remember with a fast-moving story and updating as best we can. preparing for war, they're scared, they are nervous, they've sent their children by the way, sent their families and older elderly people to places like lviv. but most people are bracing for war. they are also talking about by the way, that they do not have enough civil billions events to do that. one of the calls i was on today, a few hours ago, silly things, not so they, thanks but pretty pedestrian things like knee pads. and those are the kinds of things, that every day ukrainians are thinking about, in terms of preparing for what i think will be pretty disastrous next hours and days. >> i want to bring up a map that shows the nato countries that are in that region, a lot of discussions about what the rest of the world can do for ukraine. and ukraine is not a member of the world's biggest military alliance, and that is nato. and so at the moment, there are no discussions of nato troops, or u.s. troops going into ukraine. you believe, and have said for several time, that ukraine needs massive military assistance. which is that look like, can you send enough stuff, they have enough people trained to use it? if there are going to be u.s. troops, if there are going to be european troops going into, what does military assistance look like now? >> first it is a little late now. months ago, was writing that more air defense systems were needed. patriots, they don't have any patience, stringers. they don't have anything or, a weapon used in afghanistan as you remember, they literally don't have more stringers. and i can go through a long list, i'm not a military expert, we should've done more, we need to do more now. and number one, number two, it is right. we are not going to go towards russia over ukraine. the president has made that clear. and i think it is however incumbent on the president that the nato alliance to take necessary actions to make crystal clear that any attack on any one of our nato allies will be an attack on all. something called the nato response force dnr off. and it has not mobilized yet all, i mean why is that, we know that it was designed to do exactly this and it was upgraded by the way in 2014. we have not had consensus in the alliance that is what i was told by my friends in the government. well now it needs to be mobilized, because the worst thing that can happen from our perspective is that what if the ukrainian military begins to get righty? if they run? what if they go into poland? to survive. right? remember don kirk? sometimes military commanders make decisions that in order to fight for another day, you have to retreat now. we need to be prepared for those kinds of contingencies. and the last thing i need to say, this is pretty dramatic, emotional day for me personally. i have hundreds of friends and ukraine. we've trained 200 ukrainians here at stanford over the decades. it is the right decision. i support the president. but i gotta tell you, i'm hearing for many ukrainians right now, i cannot believe that we now have to fight vladimir putin alone. and it feels alone at this very horrible tragic moment. in the history of their country. horrible tragic moment in t>> i have to ask you because you have been talking to people there about the sirens. we haven't heard them all night and we are wondering about that. they are saying they heard explosions, and then we heard them. that is a chilling matter for people who have not been in a war zone, or in a city where they have heard that. to hear sirens going off because your city is under attack makes that very real for our viewers in the world. >> it was, i listen to it with you. it was very chilling. those are for civilian defense, right. so, when you hear things like that you are supposed to go to bomb shelters. in kyiv, that means metro stations for instance or places like that. again, i am not a general -- although, i do talk to them pretty much every day. still in the early phases where they are trying to wipe out ukraine's military defenses. remember what putin said a couple of hours ago, he said we are going to demilitarize ukraine. and then they are going to the not suffocation. so, i think we're in the early phases where they are still attacking military targets. i don't want to second guess but mr. putin's gonna do next. that we know he is doing now and my twitter feed, my social media and we are looking at right now. it's all about people from all over the country, not in the far west, but people that i'm hearing from. some people are not under attack right now, but the rest in the major cities people are hearing attacks preparing for further attacks. >> ambassador, thank you. we are going to keep you close. i have a general now, i want to bring in the retired four star general mccaffrey. general, it's important to know that we've been hearing these explosions in kyiv. mike mcfaul suggested some of them might be in the area and the airport. when it comes to airports, civilian air force of the same as military installations. courtney expects that the russians may they may try endanger air forces, ruin runways so the defense systems are neutralized. >> this is simply not shock and awe and the sirens are important. these are precision strikes, they're not carpet bombing. this isn't london in 1941. the big battle that is coming is in the east, if you percent of the ukrainian the two separatists it's a major battle to illuminate ukraine's armed forces. once that is done, the rest of the country is open. the fact that they are actually unpacking even with very few strikes a means they're going to go in the ground it is psychological, lots of people fleeing from kyiv and mayor poland. we want to remind ourselves that's with the precision missiles are. we are greeted by the ukrainians. they were so fearful of stalin and the misery that he caused an option for german hostility and also other people, they would follow germany into the end of the war. so we definitely and this war is in my view going to take the country the next 90 days. >> i've got the map of ukraine of them are looking at, kyiv which is basically the north center of the country. due north of it would be belarus which is an independent republic. if you are leaving kyiv right now you can go east, that is where the danger is, you can't go north of the dangerous. you are indicating that they're probably going west closer to leave. or polish influence on that side. very close to nato country. >> yeah exactly, there's combat units in 110 are on the east in the north. we can expect a relatively unopposed advanced by the russians to circle cave. i don't think they'll be street to street fighting. jan mothers and young people, thank you 47 are action in a try and stand up to russian armor. the poor ukrainians have 125 combat aircraft. they will be eliminated before the assault begins. some of those ukrainians may go into belarus. they are already in the appeal of putin. very soft beginning to this whole assault. big battle is coming. it's in the east to eliminate the ukrainian armed forces in the line of contact. >> general, thank you for analysis. it's gonna become very important as you watch this unfold. i want to go to andrea mitchell, foreign affairs correspondent. nbc news pentagon correspondent. everything that the administration has told us it's going to unfold has unfolded this way. even the president of ukraine had suggested that the u.s. was overseen was going to happen. it is all happening right now, so given the intelligence of the united states has in the power that it's caught within the g7 and nato and nine tomorrow morning when you think is happening? >> already told president zelenskyy that they initiated within the last hour. as to the president's statement, told him when he was doing, we have the united nations and talking to the g7 tomorrow. they would have more tough sanctions against russia. that said, take us back a moment leading with the president march 1st, with the security council demanded that he will be replaced as leaving procession because his government just announced he was attacking ukraine's government. i mean, it was a very fierce argument. that tells you everything about the un and the security council. the security council overwhelmingly, while the general assembly today was overwhelmingly supporting ukraine. they were very strong statements. the security council, russia has a veto. then it has a veto. china is not gonna want russia to be -- you know, to be sidelined here. they are going to support -- not the invasion, but they will support russia and russians admission. russia has a veto so there will be a new and action over the presidential? we'll talk about more sanctions. presumably nato will have a meeting with the north atlantic council which is the decision-making military unit and they will order those troops, they were 8500 american troops it's a rapid defense force in that force will go to poland, lithuania and the frontline states. it will not cross into ukraine there will be an insurgency in defense but so far everything they laid out has been spot on. they expected the third wave of this will be the tanks coming down those highways towards kyiv from belarus. they've already been landing and can land from the ships, more ships in the black sea. so, you are kind of surrounded. the start of the east will move west and they're going to try and top of this government. they will go and to poland. it's gonna be a very long slog. but, with most military analyst let's conventional forces has blamed kyiv on top of the government. the super gonna fight like hell. let's put up the map of nato, because i want to ask you about it. ukraine, as we've seen on the map. you can see that belarus, north of it, which is not a nato nation, they're pro russia. there are russian troops all along that northern border of ukraine, with belarus. along the northeast, the east, and the southeast with ukraine. ukraine is not just surrounded but the south, the sea of as author, and west of crimea, has also got -- the cabin has also got russian navy in troops. >> well, the russian navy basically controls the access there, because they've had those warships, they've got landing ships. and what you've been hearing so far is likely, according to the ukrainian defense ministry, them trying to take out airports and other military infrastructure so they will control the air as well, they've got as for hundreds in belarus, and they control the airspace, you know the commercial aircraft have stopped running according to the european union so russia has some surrounded, and they've got a much larger conventional force. there are reports, i haven't confirmed this, i've been seeing this from the defense ministry. there are reports of the belarus army, those troops are also lined up at the russians, that would not be at all surprising given the way that they've been doing military exercises, and what's gonna happening in belarus. so, you've got a real, very large conventional force. there is no question that russia has the edge here, militarily. but they're not gonna win the hearts and souls of the ukrainians, they took on afghanistan, and look at how that went for them. they're withdrawal from afghanistan, their defeat there, was the beginning of the end of the soviet union. >> the one thing that people around the world, is not everyone's interest in the government getting into long, drawn out wars. as you said correctly, it's the blacks sea, not the caspian sea getting a little late in the night. secretary blinken has just tweeted out, andrea, that the defense secretary and i spoke with glenn still thunberg to condemn his attack on ukraine, and discuss the allies united response. reunited -- nato's eastern flank. nato's eastern flank, as it relates to ukraine, is mostly poland. but it's those countries that you named, the baltic states, are very deeply concerned about this. they all have large russian populations, sometimes in excess of 20%. they're very worried about this thesis that vladimir putin has that russians anywhere else require the umbrella of protection of russia it reminds them of what hitler did in 1939, an excuse to go into poland. these nato countries, that are already fully nato, are worried about this. >> of course they are, they're on the frontlines. who knows if this will stop with ukraine. so, what are vladimir putin's ambitions? all we know so far, is that he wants to control ukraine, and claims that is part of russia. you don't know how far he's gonna go, and that is precisely why they were so eager to join nato, they wanted that article five treaty protection. and even more eager to join the eu because they want to be economic benefits of joining the eu. of course, there are those, tom friedman in yesterday's new york times, criticizing the nato expansion, saying that at the moment that the soviet union had collapsed, and russian pride was ground into -- was been ground down, and people like vladimir putin, of course, we're grieving for the fall of the soviet empire. the follow the berlin wall, where he had been in charge of the kgb in east germany for so long. that was the worst time to then begin reaching nato expansion, because that was ending any hope that russia and the united states and nato could ever work peacefully together. i'm not sure i agree with that. >> does that not ignore the will of the people in those countries, they couldn't turn fast enough to the west, and one of the prosperity and democracy that the west brings. they could have chosen to stay with russia, they did not want to. >> well, in fact, the fall of the berlin wall was the most graphic example in history of the different economic systems between east and west. you had angela merkel growing up in the east, and immediately growing to the west, and valuing the education and the life of the west, even though she had spent her whole life in the east. and she's just one individual. it was apparent to the whole world, and it was in fact in those early years, after the end of the soviet empire, where we saw so much of a move toward capitalist instincts and the paris troika, and that gorbachev had in that, and was carried out by a suspect successors, and in so much of it became -- and the oligarchs who are now being punished in these sanctions but the sanctions will not touch vladimir putin, and his projects. there are so well protected, according to a lot of u.s. intelligence he may be one of the richest man in the world. >> it will hurt russians, but it may not hurt vladimir putin. i've spoken to you in all sorts of parts of the world, you have been nonstop, so i appreciate you continuing to bring me your very important analysis. andrea mitchell is nbc news's chief foreign affairs correspondent. courtney kube is nbc news's pentagon correspondent. i have to say, courtney, this has started to unfold the way you narrative it for me a 9 pm this evening. the things you said we're going to happen, including, surprisingly, to me, not to you. what's seems to be attacks on what might be an airfield or an airport near kyiv. you said they may intend tupac the runways so that those few aircraft that you crown in have can't work. >> that's right, so, the ultimate goal of this initial part of the invasion, of the kinetic phase of this invasion, is to stop the ukrainian air force and ukrainian military from mounting any kind of a response or defense, really. and especially any kind of a coordinated defense. the way to do that is to stop the air force from responding. literally damaging and blowing up parts of the runway can cripple an air force, depending on what kind of assets they are. they will also try to take out some of those air assets, most likely. and also take out some of the air defenses, so when russian aircraft are flying over, the ukrainian military doesn't have the ability to take those aircraft out of the sky. in addition to that, one of the ways that you really isolate a military, is you cut them off regionally. you stop them from being able to communicate with one another, and then you also stop them from being able to physically reach one another. so that includes, taking out some of their equipment, their ammunition depots, their vehicles, their command and control. one of the messages that we got from the ukrainian government, a couple of hours ago, was that they were coal going after ukrainian military control centers. that is what the u.s. military might call their command and control centers. so they are really trying to stop the ukrainian military from mounting any kind of coordinated defense, in advance of the russian military physically moving across those borders. another thing that we have been expecting to see, and we're hearing from ukrainian government is happening, is cruise missile strikes, so the russian military already had dozens of missile assets, all around that country. but the one that was particularly concerning to u.s. intelligence officials in recent days, where those ships that the russian military brought in to the black sea and then, into the sea of azov, the landing ships, they have the ability to bring russian marines, and russian military to shore their, but they also have missile capability. those are amongst some of the russian military's most precise capabilities, for targeting from afar. >> this is an interesting point, because we've had discussions about the ukrainian military, how fierce they are, and how enthusiastic they are. this is almost like a symmetric warfare, right? when you talk about missiles, you're talking about the sheer number of troops, when you're talking about the russian trained army, their warships in the black sea and the sea of azov, it doesn't really matter how enthusiastic the ukrainian defenses, they're not a match for a ground game with the russians. >> the ukrainian military really has grown and expanded by leaps and bounds since just 2014, and that has come in part because they have had training from a lot of allies, including the united states. and they've also had weapons, weapons systems, all kinds of different even non lethal aid to the united states and other allies, the british, the french have provided to them in those years. but the reality is, the russian military just towards them. both in size and capability, the russians have hypersonic missile capabilities, they have advanced fourth and fifth generation fighter aircraft. so, the ukrainian military has grown, in these last eight or so years, but the russians just have grown faster. the reality is, the ukrainian military, and the ukrainian people, are likely to mount a defense here. and it will probably be bloody against the russian military. but, at the end of the day, the russian military just wharf them >> did any alarm bells go off when vladimir putin, a couple of hours ago, made made reference to they are nuclear armed country. everybody knows they are, but the fact that he brought it up in the process of declaring military action in ukraine, struck me as unusually aggressive. >> yes, i agree completely agree, ali, i actually ask people about that. because, you know, most likely, when he's saying things like that. it's a message of deterrence. it's to say, look, i'm drawing this line, this is a capability that we have, and in case anyone's forgotten, i'm gonna remind you about it. there have been some other recent deployments that are so been similar determined surges from vladimir putin. he has sent some bombers, there are reports that he has some attack fighters in syria, which is meant to be a very specific deterrents in the united states military, if there's any sense of the u.s. military is gonna go in, he has those capabilities all over the area. also, there are reports that he sent some of these hypersonics, what's some military experts call super missiles, into conan, grad those hypersonic missile says systems have the ability to hit every european capital so if there ever was something that was saying, look, vladimir putin has laid out what he wants to do here. in a number of different ways, both in a speech, in previous speeches, in this long written op-ed back in july, and released publicly he has made it very clear what he wants to do here. he is also, now, sending signals, clear signals, with things like these hypersonic mix souls and these bomber deployments, to the world, and to rest an island eyes and to the nato alliance, saying i'm going after ukraine, don't try to stop me, and if you do, these are the capabilities that i have. he is making it very clear, he is willing to use it. >> that is remarkable, when he said that, i thought that was something we've come to expect everything these days, that when i didn't expect. courtney, thanks, say close please, and let us know as soon as you have any more updates. i wanna go back to kyiv, erin mclaughlin is standing by, matt bradley is in kharkiv, ukraine, simmons is in moscow. let's start with aaron, what is the situation there? >> we have just heard from the emergency services here in ukraine, posting to the people, to ukrainian saying, we ask you to stay calm, not to panic, pack your valuables and warm clothes, and be ready to act accordingly to official orders military objects are being shot, and this can cause a threat to civilian population. the state security service, ukraine, is ready to help you. it has been a while now since we have heard the last explosion. the last explosion we heard was about over an hour ago. the sirens, for now, also seem to have stopped. people are continuing to evacuate the city, here. although, while they are leaving in cars, we are hearing reports of some of the highways in the western direction of ukraine are now jammed with traffic. the streets of kyiv, themselves, though, are empty. authorities are trying to urge people to remain calm we have heard from one president zelenskyy, in a social media post, urging people not to panic. he was urging people not to stay home, and to stay calm, saying that ukraine is now under attack. this is a scenario in which, really, the ukrainian government had been downplaying for sometime, as early as the beginning of this week, president zelenskyy, saying, he didn't feel like russia and ukraine were going to go to war. this morning, the blasts that woke people in the capital, obviously, indicating that war is now very much underway, as we're waiting to hear more from authorities in terms of their next steps. i spoke to the ukrainian presidents spokesman ashore while ago, and asked him where the ukrainian president is. he declined to comment, ali? >> erin, i know you've been working hard, and you've been been pain attention to everything going on. but we're not sure, clearly you heard explosions in kyiv, we were together when you heard them, and you heard the attack sirens do we know where those explosions happened yet i'm asking you because when i was talking, he seem to be thinking who's hearing from people in ukraine who thought at least some of them might be near the airport. you indicated you thought you were hearing them from other directions. >> yeah, i was here in an explosion on all sides from where i am right now. really, in the heart of the capital, i was hearing explosions to my left, to my right, and then directly behind me. unclear, where exactly precisely those explosions were happening, of course we did hear from an adviser to the minister of the interior, say that ballistic missiles were launched, striking a number of military installations, as well as airfields, but we have no further clarity from authorities on specific targets at this time, ali. >> as soon as we hear about that, please, let me know. obviously, it's militarily significant and important that there be airports, because you greatest have a massive air defense capability. crippling it would be substantial. erin, stay safe, i want to go to kharkiv, in northeastern ukraine matt bradley is there, it's ten minutes to eight in the morning. matt, what is a situation where you are? >> ali, we're starting to hear some first rumblings of sounds of a ground invasion that's actually coming over the border from the north, where i ham, near where i am in a car cave, we heard this from the ministry of internal affairs and the border patrol people saying that troops are coming over the border. they're engaging the military in the national guard, north of where i am in kharkiv, and in sue me, which is a little bit northwest of where i am, there about 25 miles from the border and -- we're going to hear some fire fights i'm not sure exactly what's going on, i haven't had a chance to get out and walk around, but i've heard that there are people who are lining up outside of grocery stores right now, so those beginnings of some panic by the situation here in kharkiv, is remarkably different from there in kyiv. where there are sirens and people flooding out of the city, but there are successive bombings, we haven't heard one and a couple of hours now it seems as though we are starting to hear about a ground invasion, and engagement with the russian military. one interesting thing about this, is there been supported by belarus, they're coming from the belarusian side as well but it sounds as though they're being supported by belarus, and that's an interesting little detail here, and when that i think is going to become very relevant in the coming days, because belarus and its president lukashenko, have been so close with vladimir putin so cooperative. and now, we're starting to really see the effects of that, with belarus been used as a staging grounds for part of this operation. belarus, ever since the late 1990s, it had kind of a deal to create what it has been called a union state. sort of, vladimir putin's effort to kind of reconstitute the former soviet union. this is one of his ambitions, and could be one of the underlying notions why he is coming into ukraine. we keep asking that question, why is he invading ukraine? and we know, of course, the vladimir putin content considers the collapse of the soviet union, he said this, to be one of the biggest political disasters of the 20th century. reconstituting it, for him, or at least reconstituting some sort of sphere of influence that would include belarus and ukraine, it's one of the motives behind the dramatic actions he's taking this morning >> when you look at the, map and you look from the baltics to the black sea, only ukraine is in the way for rushes purposes. belarus is not a nato country, and strongly in a pro russian camp, and this is what is so alarming to those nato countries, latvia, lithuania, and estonia. match, we are going to come back to very shortly, if you get a chance to look around and let us know what's going on, we will come right to you i want to go to moscow now, keir simmons is standing by their, he's got some news out of moscow. here, it's early morning there, what is happening there? >> it's coming tonight in the morning, the traffic in the streets is just as calm as you might expect. this city not being targeted the way multiple cities and ukraine are. russian people are waking up to, first, see that speech by president putin that happened at 5:45 in the morton, just being played and played again, almost as if the russian television stations took time to begin their morning news stations, many of those journalists wondering what to say because i can tell you, russians across this country will be stunned. one little piece of news, we're hearing that the airports inside russia close to -- multiple airports in the southern part of russia, close to ukraine, those are being closed. i know that's not, surprising to prevent civilian aircraft flying while there is an air campaign taking place, close to those airports. another piece of news, on the financial side, the moscow exchange has been suspended. after shares dropped heavily, the rubble is frankly in free fall. it's hard to tell what's the value of the ruble's right now, because it's a straight line down against the dollar, i think this goes to an important question right now. for russians and for president putin, i'm on your territory here when i talk about this we have been talking about up until now is the potential impact of sanctions, clearly the markets will be very worried about the uncertainty, what will the sanctions look like. there's questions of the uncertainty of the conflict, once a war has started, you don't know what will happen. you definitely don't know how this is going to play out in ukraine. so the russian people, right now, they are seeing the value of their currency fall, fall, fall. and as you know, only too well, the next part of that is heavy inflation, and that continues. aside from the question of sanctions, with the russian people are waking up to right now is a heavy impact on their economy. how will that affect their psychology? you're gonna have these twin issues. one is, how is this conflict playing out for president putin. on the other hand, what is it doing to the russian economy, aside from the sanctions, what will be doing to the russian economy, will he be doing to the value of russian savings? what impact will that be having on russian public and pinion? president putin has clearly made the opinion, and opinion polls have shown that many russian people haven't wanted this conflict, and hope this conflict doesn't happen. but president putin has clearly made the calculation that he can lead his people into this war, and they will support him. he does have domestic issues to deal with, primarily the economy, the standard of living for ordinary russians is going to be a challenge for him, if the markets continue to react in the way they are. >> in fact, in 2014, any new years before, in ukraine, that's been the source of so much discontent. people not seen prosperity. i'm always happy when you wonder into the space, european markets aren't open yet, but it is looking like we're looking at more than 2% drop across the board of u.s. markets will be about a 700 point drop on the dow. more importantly, the price of gold, price of oil is soaring. the price of oil is up internationally over $102 an ounce, now, for crude. . almost $970 an ounce for the crude we use here in the united states. so i guess this is a long way of me asking you, pierre, what is the long game for vladimir putin right now. because you don't know economically how warm works out in the short term, and it often isn't good for regular people. but putin has something else in mind, he's got empire building in mind, here. >> he has, he has, as you just mentioned, when you talk about the price of crude, there is this terrible reality that the higher the price of crude goes, the more money russia makes. because, of course, it is an energy supplier that only go so far. if the currency is taking a beating, frankly, because of the other implications that has for inflation just in terms of what is vladimir putin's aim, here, i think another aspect, we've talked about some of the things he said in that speech, in the early hours of the morning here, how he talked about russia's nuclear capability, how chilling it is to hear him talk about that, at the point in which he launches this war in ukraine, because it's clearly directed at the west saying listen,, i have nuclear weapons, be careful what you do in reaction to this. that is frankly, chilling, also in that speech, he talks about nato you said this again and again, everyone will know, this ukraine is not part of nato, but the same time as launching this conflict in ukraine, vladimir putin once again saying that this is a part of his opposition to nato he is not fighting nato right now. and so, to answer your question, i think what his aims are aren't clear. is he trying to bring down the government of ukraine, that seems pretty likely, pretty clear. what is his plan after that? we simply don't know. does he plan to try to occupy the country, we simply don't know. we think, and that seems unlikely, not least because of russia's experience in afghanistan, for america's experience in afghanistan, russia had a very negative experience of trying to run afghanistan. it seems, just, hard to comprehend that presidents

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