>> with putin talking about a nuclear arsenal, how concerned are you? >> of course we take this seriously. these are dreadful and dangerous weapons that can change the face of the world in seconds. i want to tell you, i'm going to get in trouble, but your interview with mitt romney, i thought when it was over what do i disagree with, and the answer is nothing. >> mr. chairman, we're out of time. i'm so sorry to interrupt you. thank you so much for watching. thank you for being on. the news continues next. thank you for joining me for this coverage. russian president vladimir putin says he's putting his country's nuclear and other deterrent forces on high alert as russian

forces continue to move across ukraine. >> top officials in leading nato countries have allowed themselves to make aggressive comments about our country. therefore i hereby order the minister of against and chief of staff to place the russian army on combat alert. >> a cnn official telling cnn it's being seen as a torn and unnecessary step. ukraine confirmed today that delegations from both ukraine and russia will meet tomorrow for talks on the border of ukraine and belarus. ukranian president zelenskyy saying a short time ago that he doesn't expect much from that meeting, but adding, quote, let them try. ukraine's ambassador to the u.s. also making it clear what won't happen at those talks.

>> our president from the beginning always was focused on the diplomatic solution. even after they started the war, he actually called for peace talks all the time, but he always said, we're ready for peace talks, we're not ready to surrender. >> the talks come as western forces can be seen moving into kyiv, ukraine's second biggest city. showing western equipment as well as ukranian forces fighting in parts of that city. u.s. officials say russian forces are meeting tougher than expected resistance from the ukranians. new video showing ukranian forces destroying russian carriers and other vehicles on the edge of the capital of kyiv. as the fighting intensifies, poland says almost 200,000 refugees have crossed into its country from ukraine so far, and

the european union is now warning that countries should prepare for the possibility of millions more. earlier on cnn, nato's secretary general condemned putin's order, putting russia's deterrence forces, including nuclear arms, on high alert. take a listen. >> this is dangerous rhetoric. this is behavior which is irresponsible, and if you combine this rhetoric with what they're doing on the ground in ukraine waging war against the independent sovereign nation, conducting full-fledged invasion of ukraine, this adds to the seriousness of the situation. >> cnn's nic robertson and kylie atwood join me now. nic, you're in moscow. does it seem that putin's move is a legitimate threat talking about this nuclear deterrence force or an effort to raise the

stakes, trying to intimidate and threaten ukraine? >> reporter: it does seem as if it's set to raise the stakes. that's undoubtedly clear. what is not clear is how far he's willing to push the situation. and until now, his narrative has been to go into ukraine to change the leadership, to d demilitarize the country, and overall in the region is raises the stakes. there are, again, a lot of people in this country that are not supporting the war. there's been a fourth day of protests in russia, more than 5,000 people arrested. in one of those quiet protests today, you see the flowers laid here. this is not just about ending the war in ukraine, but about this man, boris manstov.

he was shot right here seven years ago today. right outside the kremlin, shot dead right outside the kremlin seven years ago today. people were arrested but they feel those responsible were never adequately prosecuted. this really gives you a flavor of the anti-war sentiment, no to war. i'm just going to walk along here with lee. no to war up here. more no to war. no to war. look at all these flowers, and this is the number of people that are coming out all day with a ukranian flag here as well. all day people coming and laying flowers. one flower, two flowers, three flowers. and over here more anti-war logos. that's the sentiment. now, a lot of people in this country still do support president putin. we've heard for the first time today the russian ministry of

defense admit that some of their soldiers have been killed and wounded in ukraine. that also is a change. but there's talk about the strategic deterrent, the nuclear deterrent, that raises the stakes. so much pressure on ukraine, but as you can see, so many people in this country laying their flowers right outside the kremlin. one message, it's right here, no to war. that's the message they want to communicate here. fred? >> nic and those anti-war sentiments and they have been arrested for contesting the war and being outspoken against the kremlin and putin. thanks so much, nic. we'll check back with you. kylie, you are at the state department. what are they seeing and what's behind all this? >> fred, a senior defense official acknowledging that in

the south the russians are are having a little more success. but they're saying in the north they have steep issues. they're talking about a fuel shortage and logistical issues they have run into. we've seen kyiv specifically, of course, the capitol of ukraine is one of those places. but the senior defense official its saying russian forces railroad about. that is where they were also 24 hours ago. that just shows what we've seen the last day or so. we also have president putin putting these nuclear deterrent forces on alert. the nation's ambassador to the united nations calling that totally unacceptable this

morning, and she also said this isn't altogether surprising because this is from putin putting more pressure on russia to get what he's trying to attain. the biden administration has continued to say no u.s. troops are going to go on the ground in ukraine, and ambassador thomas-greenfield said also this morning, that applies to the air space as well. there are not going to be any american soldiers who go into the air space to create or to defend a no-fly zone. >> right, instead the commitment as of now is u.s. troops there in european/nato to bring

sovereignty. the question is why now? why did putin decide to make this high alert announcement today. fareed zakaria from gps joins me now. i know it's hard to know why putin is motivated to do what he's doing, but is there a feeling he might be bluffing or that he means it when he says these nuclear deterrent forces are on alert and might be utilized? >> it's difficult to know, but what we can we can say is this is highly unpredictable, er erratic, almost irrational behavior that is very dangerous. i had a conversation on my show with robert gates, the former secretary of defense, and we were talking about how putin -- the old putin was a tough, nasty russian nationalist aggressive, but he was rational. he was calculating costs and benefits. when he went into georgia, it was a limited intervention. he ended it. he went into syria similarly,

limited, ended it. this appears to be reckless. bob gates' phrase was, he's gone off the rails. the nuclear deterrents -- the nuclear alert piece is unjustified. the u.s. has said time and time gone it's not getting involved directly. as you pointed out, not even in the air space. there are no sncenarios under which that would happen. you have to ask yourself, why is putin doing this? why this massive invasion of ukraine. he could have achieved this direction in many different ways. i have to look at putin's emotional, irrational, reckless behavior as something unhinged. it's like the bully giving the

threats as he sees reaction to his actions. there is no rational reason to why you would do this. this is the kind of thing that happened maybe during the cuban missile crisis. i cannot recall, since the advent of the nuclear age, something like this, putting your forces on combat alert. >> he is in further isolation for a host of reasons. so in addition to ukraine's president zelenskyy going to the airwaves, so is his predecessor frederick poroshenko. this is not what president poroshenko told you needs to be put in place. >> president poroshenko, do you believe this negotiating offer from the russians is a ploy?

>> i think this needs to have a strong combination of factors. readiness for the negotiations but without any pre-condition, and the only pre-condition should be please withdraw your troops from ukraine. >> so don't you suspect, again, not getting into the mind of putin, but doesn't anyone kind of suspect that putin must be stu stunned at this kind of bravery coming from putin? >> i think the surprise is the bravery from the man on the street, the woman on the street. he has been tough in the negotiations. that's why putin hates the government. he calls it nazi drug leaders, because he's seen them stand up to him. part of the delusion is he

thought this would crumble the government, the military would step in. he called for popular uprising, which is all crazy. zelenskyy was elected by about 70% of the vote. the ukranians have become nor nationalistic, more anti-russian. the number one person who is not helping create a real ukranian nation is vladimir putin. >> now, how will it be calculated? how crippling is this for putin to see the quickness of sanctions, other global responses from restrictions on air space for our russian aircraft, to limitations on russian banking. japan is now putting a freeze on putin's assets. >> there is a lot going on. some it have is symbolic. putin doesn't keep assets in his own name. i think it's all symbolic and

won't have much effect. the one that will have big effect is kharkiv said they would characterize it as a war, which means they can invoke a 1936 treaty which allows them to block all shipping in those waters which border ukraine and russia and turkey. if that happens, primarily it affects russia, it means russia cannot do amphibious landings like they've been doing. the way in which countries that perhaps putin didn't think would get involved like turkey are getting involved, and the degree to which the europeans have unified. the other extraordinary moment is that germans who have long said they would not send nuclear weapons to any country are now sending nuclear weapons to ukraine, and they have agreed with what is probably a 40-year demand to the united states that they raise their defense

spending to ever 2% of gdp. this is to revitalize them. putin has triggered almost a 180-degree reversal in german foreign policy. >> and it's remarkable because germany was reticent for a moment, and this surprise announcement yesterday certainly changed the game, perhaps, in terms of helping to demonstrate a kind of cohesion around ukraine. >> exactly. but i do want to say, fred, it's important to remember, the russian army is the largest land army in europe. it is a fearsome army. this is a totally unequal contest and the russians are using every weapon at their disposal, other than nuclear weapons. it's a brutal assault. it's a david versus goliath fight. we have to keep in mind the pressure has to keep rising.

it's difficult to hope that the ukranians will be able to hold out forever. i think the hope has to be they will hold out enough that putin realizes it's causing real costs, unanticipated costs, the world is coming together to condemn him, but we cannot bank on the ukranians holding out. they're up against forussia ande have to think of every financial and non-financial way that we can help the ukranians. >> fareed zakaria, good to see you. thank you very much. the world calling out russia in a very special way from the sports you watch to the spirits you drink and everything in between. president putin getting hit from

all sides. russian planes and private jets from oligarchs can no longer fly over dozens of countries now. the european unions, and russian made vodkas have been pulled from the shelves in ohio and new hampshire. the governor in new hampshire has gone one step further and also banned russian spirits across new hampshire. and the gymnastics federation will not allow russian or belarusian flags or the country's anthems to be played. sanctioned gymnastics and boxing

events will not hold anything in russia. and spacex helping stabilize inner yet access in ukraine. there's more. social media sites, twitter, facebook and instagram all banning russia state media from advertising and monetizing their contact. and more is likely to come. all right, still to come on this podcast -- >> new video on cnn of street fighting in the northern city of kharkiv. we're live in ukraine in just minutes. stay with us.

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get it right at nhtsa.gov/therightseat welcome back. a senior u.s. defense official telling cnn that russian forces are facing stiff resistance in northern ukraine with fighting reported around kharkiv which is very close to the russian border. the russians have also abandoned some of their army trucks near the city. the commander of ukranian forces in kharkiv reporting that a number of russian troops have surrendered. this new videos shows russian

carriers at the capitol destroyed in a battle a ukraine forces. the sight on the capitol has been verified by cnn. cnn's alex marquardt is in kyiv. what are you experiencing and seeing? >> reporter: it is very volatile. it is still very tense, fredricka. we continue to regularly hear those blasts from here in the center of the city. they are outside of the city, some closer than others. it's difficult to tell from this vantage point often where they are coming from, or whether it is ukranian outgoing fire or whether it is russian incoming fire. we continue to hear gunfire as well as those air raid sirens that go off fairly regularly. this is still very much a city on edge. the streets are empty. people are either inside their homes or in bomb shelters when those sirens go off.

fred, what is becoming increasingly clear that the ukranian military is really standing its ground in keeping the russian forces at bay from this city. i remember the most dire warnings were that this city could fall in 24 to 48 hours. here we are on the fourth day of this invasion and that has not happened. there was some fighting on the west edge of kyiv in a place called boucha. you can see a column of russian vehicles, including armored personnel carriers, that were torched, burned out. some have rolled over, they're on their side. this is evidence of the fierce fighting and pushback that the ukranian forces have given these russian troops. you can hear in that video someone speak ing in ukranian saying, they've come to our land. i wish you all would burn in hell, and i would give my life if needed. that video has been verified by cnn and they were located to the

western end of that capitol. to the second biggest city of kharkiv, russian forces are in that city fighting against ukranian troops, residents of that city being told to stay inside. that city has been a particular focus for the russians because it is so close to that russian border. so while the ukranians are managing to stand their ground, it is clear that the assaults on the two biggest cities of ukraine, the russians still very much trying to take control of this capitol and to topple this government, fredricka. >> i'm sure there is some surprise they're confronted with the kind of resistance they're seeing. >> alex marquardt, thank you very much. here to talk with us is retired lieutenant general mark hurley. he is the acting general for

europe and cnn analyst. good to see you. let's talk about how the ukranian forces are holding up. the russian forces must be surprised, must have thought this would be a cake walk and so far it's demonstrating not to be. >> it's been a very challenging fight for the russians, fredricka. they're taking tanks and bmps into cities. i heard a commentator just a while ago talking about how kyiv was encircled, and the only thing i would say, i would use a quote from 1992 where someone said, the poor bastards, they have surrounded us again. we're seeing some extremely tough fights by ukraine. when you see this, it's always going to be ugly. we're seeing the kind of destruction that truthfully,

they have not hlet up on. >> how is it ukranians seem to have the upper hand in kharkiv? >> it's critically important because we're talking about combat in key cities. the key cities, kharkiv and kyiv, are a big part of this. kyiv is 3 million people, the same size as chicago. kharkiv is the same size as philadelphia, with a population of 1.5 million. to put people in tanks against

those cities against a willful ukranian army underground will just spell disaster. you add to that, and this is the piece i've been making, and i am a tanker so you know what they can do with fuel, forces or food. you're talking about a decline as well of the russian forces. >> is that possibly what's behind the surrendering? the ukranian ambassador to the u.s. told dana bash that they had a record that a number of ukranian troops have been fighting? >> they didn't know what they were going in to do. they were told it would be a peace mission. and the tank on the screen, which is russia's most advanced tank, that has a turbine engine.

it carries about 230 gallons of gasoline but it only gets -- gallons of fuel, but it only gets about 200. when you run out of fuel and you don't refuel those tanks, they stop being aly maneuver fg it. >> so let's talk about kyiv. we have video showing aggression by ukranian troops and now russia is facing some logistical challenges. you spelled out what some of them are, lack of fuel, so what might some of the other challenges be? >> the other challenge is when you're talking about using anti-tank missiles, which are all ground mounted, you're entering a terrain that's like a

desert. the united states have been fighting in afghanistan and iraq where there is not a lot of trees, not a lot of buildings if these kind of places. but when you have mobile sources going down the street, you can hide the infantry within those locations. most of these vehicles, you'll see, have been attacked in the rear. truthfully, fred, i'll confront t this, so you have ukranians picking off tanks, personnel carriers, bmps is what they're called, i think this is rell. that's going to point to a bad thing. what's go-- we're going to see more artillery defenses, and

ukraine is doing well fighting against this, but president putin did not know what he was getting into and ukraine is positive when they planned this situation. our breaking news coverage continues straight ahead. take look at these very large pro-ukraine demonstrations taking place globally. this one is from pololand. e, ca. your shipping manager left to “find themself.” leaving you lost. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instant delivers quality candidates e (vo) you can be well-dresse you can be well-mannered.

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for the manicure that makes everything right, for right now. show up, however you can, for the foster kids who need it most— at helpfosterchildren.com welcome back. i'm quoting now another escalatory and totally unnecessary step by vladimir putin. that is how a senior official is describing the president of russia's decision to put his nuclear deterrence force on heightened alert. with me now, david sanger, white house and national security correspondent for the "new york times" and cnn political and national analyst. he is also the author of "the perfect weapon: war, sabotage and fear in the cyber age." david, always good to see you.

what's your thinking? is putin bluffing when he says he's putting this nuclear deterrence force on high alert? >> i don't think he's bluffing, fred, i think he's signaling. and i think the signal he's sending is, this is isn't going well for me, so all of you stay out of the way. don't think you're going to get involved, don't try to help the ukranians, because this could spin into something nuclear. you know, he referred to it as his nuclear d tereterrent, but using it in this case for threatening purposes. the administration had two ways they could have reacted. they could have gone to def con 2 or def con 3, what you've seen in the cold war muse ovies, or could have sent people out to say, our nuclear defense is totally secure, this is vladimir putin once again manufacturing an issue and escalating again.

and that's what they chose to do. that's fine as long as his actual moves with the nuclear weapons don't look like they are particularly threatening. >> it also seems like it's cementing what has become a global response to support ukraine. and perhaps putin might have thought that this would intimidate others, but it seems like it's done quite the opposite. >> well, it could end up intimidating some of the eastern flank nato countries that have long worried not about russia's strategic weapons, icbms that can reach the united states, but their tactical nuclear weapons. i think one of the concerns that they have long term is that if russia does end up taking control of ukraine, they will move those tactical weapons right to nato's borders, which

is one of the reasons you've seen president biden move troops out preemptively in those nato countries, obviously not in ukraine itself. but we could be right back in the days of nuclear standoff that we had so many years ago. >> let's talk about what could potentially happen tomorrow. delegations from ukraine and russia are to meet now without pre-conditions on the ukraine/belarus border. your initial reaction to this. does it seem like it is a sincere attempt at negotiations, at furthering diplomacy, or, again, might this be a distraction? >> could well be a distraction, but you'll never know until you try. that was the theory under which the united states met the russians in geneva a month ago, seems like an eternity ago, had continuing conversations between president biden and president putin. it's the reason the french

president, president macron, went to moscow. if you don't create these diplomatic moments, then there is no offramp. but that's it, i think expectations are low. we don't expect that president zelenskyy will be there partly because of the fear that the russians could use this as a moment to try to decapitate the government. the russian representative sounds like he is mid-level at best, so i wouldn't put a lot of stock in it. >> also this weekend, we've seen a lot. we've seen a flurry of activity from the u.s., from europe, targeting russia's financial system, including russia's central bank. additionally there are plans to go after the assets of russian olig oligarchs, their yachts, mansions, you name it, properties in other ways. putin has not been deterred by sanctions in the past. could these moves offer some pressure to him in country, in russia, where he might change

his course? >> i think the one that has the biggest chance of creating pressure in the country is actually the move on the central bank. it sounds spruce, but basically what they're doing is taking away the ruble, which has already been in considerable fall in recent days. if they can't support it by buying the ruble with hard currencies, you're going to see potentially significant inflation in russia, and i think that the concept here is begin to put enough pressure on the russian people that they put pressure on putin. he may think he's immune to that. there is a lot of thinking underway right now that he's isolated, that he's not listening to a wide range of

ad adv advisers. he certainly seems to have bitten off more than he can chew in ukraine, but i'm not sure that he see sanctioned efforts will get him to change course. it may get him thinking of not going firthurther than ukraine, which that's one of the big ges worries. >> david sanger, thank you so much. appreciate it. >> thank you. moments ago russia responded to deterrence of putting the nation on high alert. we'll talk to the president. looking to get back in your type 2 diabetes zone? once-weekly ozempic® can help. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪ ♪ oh, oh, oh ♪

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the white house is calling president putin's decision to put his country's nuclear forces on high alert just another manufacturer threat to justify his attacks on ukraine. cnn's arlette saenz is with the president, president biden, in wilmington, delaware where he is spending the weekend. arlette, what more is the white house saying about this new threat from putin? well, they tell me they view this move as another escalatory and totally unnecessary step. the biden administration really believes this follows the playbook we've seen so often from russia that includes these manufactured threats. take a listen to what white house press secretary jen psaki had to say earlier today.

>> this is really a pattern we've seen from president putin during the course of this conflict, which is manufacturing threats that don't exist in order to justify further aggression. and the global community and the american people should look at it through that prism. we've seen him do this time and time again. at no point has russia been under threat from nato, has russia been under threat from ukraine. this is all a pattern from president putin, and we're going to stand up to it. we have the ability to defend ourselves but we also need to call out what we're seeing here from president putin. >> reporter: now, this comes as the united states and its european allies have really shown this united front against russia's attack on ukraine. w when it comes to implementing those sanctions that they hope will isolate russia from the global administration. they are also flying defense supplies direct toly to ukraine.

a u.s. official says they're monitoring this threat from putin, but they also say the u.s. stands ready to defend itself and is confident in its ability to do so, including when it comes to, quote, the st strategic deterrent. fred? >> and iran has also said it will join other nations in blocking russia from s.w.i.f.t., an international banking system. what more can you tell us about that? >> reporter: japan was the last one to sign on to this move, but they did announce and said they would be agreeing to this decision to isolate banks from russians. they will also be freezing the assets of president vladimir putin and other government officials. this is something the united states has praised as japan has now joined the u.s. and other western allies as well.

as the u.s. and its allies continue to try to show that they are in lockstep in punishing putin for this attack that he has engaged in and waged against ukraine. >> arlette saenz, thank you so much in delaware. coming up, a closer look at the man who has become the face of ukranian defiance against russia. the unlikely path of vladimimir t -- volodymyr zelenskyy, when we comeme back. hi, i'm debra. i'm from colorado. i've been married to my high school sweetheart for 35 years. i'm a moth of four-- always busy. i was starting to fe a little foggy. just didn'feel like things were as sharp as i knew they once were. i heard abt prevagen and then i started taking it about two years now. started noticing things a little sharper, a little clearer. i feel like it's kept me on my game. i'm able to remember things.

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. welcome back. as the world watches the fighting unfold in ukraine, many eyes are focused on president volodymyr zelenskyy who is leading a defiant nation in this david and goliath battle. brian todd looks at how zelenskyy's life imitated art. >> reporter: just three years ago, volodymyr zelenskyy may never have envisioned himself deal with the largest

conventional military attack in europe since world war ii. zelenskyy was known to ukrainians then as a comedian, playing the role of a schoolteacher in the series "servant of the people." on that show, zelenskyy's character unexpectedly became president of ukraine after ranting about corruption. then life imitated art. positioning himself as a political outsider, running on a platform of fighting corruption and ending the conflict in eastern ukraine. zelenskyy won a landslide victory over petrol poroshenko. >> his background, he's jewish and was very comfortable in the russia world. he made a great career for himself as a comedian and businessman by appealing to ukrainians and russians. >> reporter: zelenskyy became enmeshed in the scandal that led to then-president donald trump's first impeachment trial. a phone call in which trump leaned on zelenskyy on investigate allegations of corruption against joe biden's family in ukraine. allegations that were never supported by any evidence.

zelenskyy made no promises on the call and later denied trump pressured him. >> he handled it well. because he understood what he's being asked was outrageous. >> reporter: but this crisis makes the trump phone call seem almost trivial. this was the 44-year-old president's message to his country on thursday. >> translator: the enemy has marked me as target number one. my family as target number two. they want to destroy ukraine politically by destroying the head of state. >> reporter: according to axios, zelenskyy told eu leaders in a video conference thursday, quote, this might be the last time you see me alive. how enormous is the pressure he's under right now? >> it's really tremendous. i mean, he to a certain extent is alone and it's clear the russians have put a target on his head. i don't envy the position he's in. >> reporter: by friday night, zelenskyy's warning to his nation was dire. >> this night will be very difficult. and the enemy will use all

available forces to break the resistance of ukraines. >> is he in over his head? >> you need a real churchill type leader to excel at a moment like this. i think he is scrambling and trying to find the right tenor and the right message. >> reporter: even top russian officials won't flat-out deny that zelenskyy is in danger. when asked by cnn, do you intend to decapitate the ukrainian leadership, russian foreign minister sergey lavrov didn't say no only, no one is going to attack the people of ukraine. brian todd, cnn, washington. stay with us. the next hour -- in the next hour, we'll return to our breaking news. ukraine and russia set to hold talks tomorrow. this as we have new video from ukraine showing russian tanks in the streets as the fighting rages on. we'll talk with former u.s. ambassador to germany richard birch when we return. [bikes passing] [firire truck siren]

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hello. thank you for joining me. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm fredricka whitfield in atlanta. we begin with major new developments in the escalating crisis in ukraine. russian president vladimir putin says he is putting his country's nuclear and other deterrent forces on high alert as russian forces continue to move across ukraine. >> translator: top officials in leading nato countries have allowed themselves to make aggressive comments about our

country. therefore, i hereby order the