tv Andrea Mitchell Reports MSNBC April 6, 2022 9:00am-10:00am PDT
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hear from president biden about the new sanctions. and we're minutes away from my full, exclusive interview with secretary of state, tony blinken. we begin with the need get aid to the besieged people in mariupol. these images released by the red cross, rescuing 500 mariupol residents after they've endured more than a month of constant shelling and starvation from russian forces. humanitarian groups getting through the russian lines still hoping to evacuate thousands more. thousands more civilians along 11 separate corridors. they're going to try again today. while some are are moving to safety, the bombardment of kharkiv in northeast ukraine is continuing with more than two dozen strikes reported on residential areas overnight and blocking entry from multiple points. and officials say 10 million people, 10 million, nearly one in every four ukrainian
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citizens, have been displaced inside ukraine or outside by refugee along with those who -- now refugees fleeing the borders since the russian invasion began february 24th. and now to my exclusive interview with sec is reitary of state, tony blinken, here in brussels. i asked the secretary about the horrible scenes emerging from ukraine, especially in bucha. a warning that some of the images provided by ukraine are graphic. the chairman of the joint chiefs has told congress this will likely last years, this war. a protracted war is going to last years, according to the chairman of the joint chiefs. will today's new commitment of javelins, antitank weapons to ukraine shorten that time? >> andrea, we want to see this come to an end as quickly as possible and that's why we're making sure we are doing everything we can to support ukraine and give them the
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aissistence they need to put pressure and to increase pressure on russia, even as we're strength issening the defenses of our nato alliance. >> so, what about the javelins? >> the president authorized another $100 million in a drawdown that will provide more javelins to our ukrainian partners. between the united states and other allies and partners, fraevery russian tank in ukraine we have provided or will soon provide, ten antitank systems. ten for every russian tank. in terms of what they need to act quickly and effectively, to deal with the planes that are firing at them from the skies, the tanks that are are trying to destroy their cities from the ground, they have the tools that they need. they're going to keep getting them and we're going to keep sustaining that. to the chairman's point and the president said this as well. as much as we want to see it come to an end as soon as possible to stop the death and destruction being wrought by russia and ukraine.
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there's a likely scenario where this goes on for some time. the russians, they've retreated from kyiv, from the north and the west. they're consolidating forces in the east in the donbas. they have a lot of force still left. the you yanians have something else ultimately stronger and that is a fierce determination and will to defend their country with the support of many countries around the world. >> can they win? >> so, ultimately, yes, because what is success? what is victory? it's holding on to the sovereignty and independence of their country. and there is no squenairio by which, over time, that will not happen. the problem is it may take time. and in the meantime, tremendous death and destruction. but what is so powerful here is that the ukrainians have made it very clear they will not subjugate them selves to
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vladimir putin's will. >> no matter how much we give them, how can ukraine ever last against russia for the long term? unless the u.s. and other countries guarantee its borders, its safety as president zelenskyy wants? >> the first thing is to see this aggression by russia comes to an end. that there is a ceasefire that russia withdraws forces, that ukraine asserts its sovereignty and its independence. but then, yes, we have to do things to make sure that, to the best of our ability this can't happen again. russia is deterred, ukraine is defended. we're having constant conversations. >> will the u.s. get more involved. >> constant conversations with our ukrainian partners pretty much on a daily basis, including about what it is we and others could do in the event of a successful negotiation to defend them and help them defend themselves going forward. all of this is the subject of
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conversations right now. we're going to do everything we can and others will do what they can to make sure ukraine can defend itself and deter russia aggression being repeated by russia. >> he says he wants to re-create the glory of the soviet union. how can ukraine ever be safe as long as putin's in power? >> two things. first, in terms of what russia set out to do in ukraine, this has already been a strategic setback, if not a failure. keep in mind that the goal that putin said in his own words was to eliminate ukraine's sovereignty and independence. he sees it as a state that doesn't deserve to be independent. needs to be subsumed back to a greater russia. that is not happening. not just the retreat from kyiv but no matter how you play this out, the ukrainians are are not going to subject themselves to a russian dictatorship. >> he's more popular than ever
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at home. >> so, he may be for now more popular. if you were getting fed a steady diet, morning, noon and night of propaganda, which the russian people are, that speaks to what popularity he has. at the same time, when people are responding to poles, they may be very much afraid of giving a truthful answer. there's a 15-year criminal penalty for anyone who in any way opposes the special military operation. having said that, i think there's a fundamental problem which is the russians don't get the factual information they need to make judgments for themselves and that's because of a system vladimir putin has perfected in which that information is denied them. >> president biden has called putin a butcher, a war criminal. you have said the people responsible for the crimes in bucha and those who ordered them will be held accountable. >> that's right. >> how can that happen without slatd mere putin standing trial? >> first, andrea, the wheels of
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accountability move slowly but they move. and some day, some way, somewhere those who committed these crimes and those who ordered the crimes will be held accountable. but it takes time. and part of this is building the case. part of -- which we're doing. and others are doing. there's a ukrainian special prosecutor who is working on this. we're supporting her efforts. we set up, at the united nations at the human rights counsel a commission of inquiry looking into this as well. we're supporting those efforts, building the case, documenting it. the international criminal court is looking at this too. but all of this will play out over time and we have to build the case, get the evidence, document it. we're doing all of that. so, is that next month, next year, in five years? it could take time but i think i can guarantee you there will be a relent wlszert to make sure those responsible for what we're
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see rg held accountable. and what we're seeing, andrea, is i think beyond what any of us even could fully anticipate. we said before russia committed the aggression that there would be atrocities. it was a deliberate part of their campaign. and even knowing that, when the russian tide receded from bucha and we saw the death and destruction in its wake and what that looked like, including people who had been assassinated, in effect. executed. their hands tied behind their backs. the abuse committed against women, children. it's horrific and there has to be accountability for it. >> did you see the video president zelenskyy provided to the united nations and other images from bucha as you describe it, the atrocities. what do you tell your children? what would you tell them? >> thankfully they're too small to actually see it and digest it.
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>> but some day they will. >> and i have to tell you and i suspect most of us have the same reaction, especially those of us with children or small children. you put yourself in the shoes of the father, the mother, the grandfather, the grandmother who's in the middle of this, who is suffering this, who's kids' lives are at stake or in jeopardy or who have been lost and it hits you -- i said the other day. seeing the images from bucha was like a punch to the gut. it takes the wind out of you. you can know something intellectually but then when you see these images and you translate that into your own life, when you ask yourself what if this was happening in my town to my kids, to my family? i think it only reinforces our determination to do everything we can to support the ukrainians, put pressure on russia to bring this to an end as quickly as possible. >> your u.n. ambassador
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described the and compared it by extension to the holocaust. talked about what the counsel of mariupol have described. people forcibly, 10s of thousands taken from their homes to russia and put in camps. isn't that the very definition of genocide? >> we have to get all of the information, all of the evidence. as i said document everything that's happened fully understand what's happened. it's an interesting irony, in a sense. this is, in some ways, the most documented war in real time we've experienced because of technology, smart phones and the incredible courage of reporters who have remained in ukraine. but even so, the things we're not seeing in real time, including bucha. and it's only when the tide reseeds that we see what's happened. i'm afraid what we're going to
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learn is even more horrifying. >> do we know anything about what's happening in the russian camps with ukrainians? and do we have hope of getting them back? >> we don't have good information on that. but certainly we're doing everything we can and other countries are doing everything they can to make sure anyone being detained is released. >> and up next more of my exclusive interview with secretary of state, tony blinken. including what he says about resettling refugees and the impact of our sanctions on russia, at least so far. you're watching a very special edition of "andrea mitchell reports." we're live in brussels on msnbc. .
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russia and the chances of agreeing to a new nuclear deal with iran. the u.s. has promised to take in 100,000 of these millions of refugees. europe has opened their doors, put them in their homes. nbc has reported on these two ukrainian women at our southern border, who were taken, and for two weeks put behind barbed wire and at times shackled in an ice camp. how can we do that compared to the way europe is welcoming them? >> i'm not aware of those reports something i'll look into. but here's what's going on some europeans have been extraordinary in their generosity and opening their hearts, arms, homes to so many people. our friends in poland, in the first instance, have had more than 2 million people come through poland. many of the refugees, most in fact, want to stay close to home. because i know you're seeing this first-hand is virtually
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everyone is a woman and children. most of the men between 18 and 60 have stayed in ukraine to fight. they want to go back, be reunited with their husbands, brothers, sons. and once they're in europe, they have a lot of freedom of movement and the ability to reunite with other family members there. having said that, president biden made clear we will welcome 100,000 ukrainians. >> is there a timeframe? >> over a period of time. we're looking at what are the legal pathways we can do that? because there's the normal refugee program but that, by definition, takes a long time. >> now europe is putting on new sanctions. china and india keep buying fuel from russia and fuelling this war, helping to fund putin's war. why aren't we sanctioning china and india? >> these sanctions are having a dramatic impact. >> but they're big loopholes and europe is buying natural gas.
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>> there are loopholes that piece by piece, one by one, they're trying to close. sometimes that takes time. the sanctions cumulatively have put the russian community in a deep recession. we're seeing a retraction by 15%. that's dramatic. and we've seen an exodus from russia of almost every major company in the world. putin, in the space of a matter of weeks, has basically shutdown russia to the world. all of the opportunity, opening that took place over the last 30 years is gone. and the russians will feel that, i'm afraid, in their daily lives. they won't be able to buy the things they're used to buying and won't be able to afford to buy what they used to buy. and beyond that, the export controls we put in place, denying the technology they need to modernize critical energies like defense. over time they're going to have a greater impact.
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and yes, there are are places where different countries are doing different things. we're working every day to close that down. >> you're talking about iran in brussels. is iran's revolutionary guard, which has attacked americans and our allies, are they a tear arerist organization? >> they are. >> will they continue to be? >> i'm not going to get into the details of where we are in negotiations. i would say simply i'm not overly optimistic at the prospect of getting an agreement to conclusion, despite the fact i believe our security would be better off. we're not there. >> is time running out? >> and time is getting extremely short. but this is something wale talk to our european partners about this afternoon. and then over the course of the next day. we've been working in very close coordination with europeans, european union, france, germany,
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the u.k. so, we'll see where we get. i continue to believe it would be in the best interest if iran will do the same to get back in compliance with the deal. we're not there. >> reporter: joining me back to ukraine. chief foreign correspondent in kyiv and chief white house correspondent, cohost of "weekend today." so, where is the russian army shifting its focus? they're going north to belarus, repositioning and leaving behind some of the devastated cities. >> reporter: so, there are three fronts and that, i think, was one of the strategic flaws of the entire conflict that russia, which vladimir putin probably over estimated the capabilities. there was a northern front coming down from belarus directed at this city with the goal of knocking out the government quickly because belarus is only about 60 miles from here. the eastern front, which would
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have to cross the entire width and breadth of the country across the heartlands, if you will. that's the eastern front across the western border and the southern front up from crimea with the idea of the southern front linking up with the eastern front to create a land corridor to russia. that was always sort of the battle plan as it unfolded. the northeast, and south. the northern front has collapsed and rapidly and unceremoniously because it was taking a tremendous hits from the ukrainian army. also they had terrible logistical problems, running out of gas. and because the northern front has collapsed, that's why we're seeing all these atrocities in towns and villages that were occupied by russian forces and quickly retreated from. so, they were able to document in real time the things that
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just happened to the people as the russians just left. the soldiers who were here, the russian soldiers who were in this area appear to be going back to belarus to be refit and have their equipment that they still have left with them rearmored, reget ready for battle again and seems like they're going to head to the east according to u.s. officials to bolster that front, potentially going to the south. although they caution they might come back at this stage, they can't rule out vladimir putin has given up on taking kyiv. but seems like, at least in the short and medium term, they're going to reinforce the eastern and southern fronts. >> and richard, we understand from the pentagon that they believe all the -- while all the russian forces are out, that there's still risk to kyiv, that they've left behind mines. people in your unit and elsewhere are being very
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careful, right? >> reporter: so, as russian forces pull back and this is one of the most unexpected and sudden shifts that we've seen in the entire conflict. the first being that vladimir putin decided to invade, even though u.s. intelligence was saying it, many ukrainians didn't believe it and it came as a shock that russia did invade and russia went, not just for the east and south but decided to take over the entire country. that was the first shock. second is russia performed so badly. and the third one has been this collapse of the northern front around ceive, which is allowing ukrainian forces to push out. they're finding ordinance, artillery, land mines, rockets that russian troops fired into towns and villages that ukrainians are trying to clear. generally, residents are not going back to the villages yet. in fact, they're telling people don't come back. it's not safe yet.
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there's all these unexploded bombs everywhere. today we were out with local officials and they were trying to clear away debris and frankly, they have to clear away a lot of bodies. in the town we were in earlier, there were several collapsed build gsz and under the rubble had been bomb shelters full of hundreds, according to res dependents of primarily women and children who died, these buildings collapsed several weeks ago. they're not looking for survivors but they're trying to recover the remains. so, these villages are not suitable for any kind of habitation. they look far more like crime scenes being excavated so they can get a sense of how many people died while russian troops were in these positions around kyiv. >> so horrific. it looks like a giant earthquake zone.
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thanks for all your reporting. and kristen welker, the president, his nato a allyis are ranking up sanctions including against vladimir putin's two daughters. but they're propping up the regime. the propaganda goes on. >> reporter: you're right, andrea, in the latest round of sweeping sanctions, which are coming in consolt with the u.s. g 7 allies as well in the wake of the atrocities the world witnessed in bucha, which richard has been reporting on extensively. one of the key headlines is these sanctions target putin's inner most inner circle. his two adult daughters and targets sergey lavrov, top diplomats, wife and daughter. black lists the security council. the aim are to hit putin and his inner circle very personally. they go further than that.
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they target russia's two largest banks and really prevents americans from doing business with russia at all. as one official said any transaction in any currency with a u.s. institution is prohibited. so, that is the bottom line. now, of course, the sweeping sanctions come,and are eau, as president zelenskyy has been calling on the u.s. to do more. has been calling on europe to do more and calling for a no-fly zone. president biden has been clear he's not going to take the step. overnight we reported u.s. is sending $100 million in new security aid, javelins ukraine has felt have been effective at trying to push back russian aggression. in terms of the sanctions and secretary of state anthony blinken reiterated this in the extensive interview is they do believe the sanctions are start issing to have an impact. but the sanctions will take time. and so far, of course, they have
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not deterred vladimir putin militarily. this is the latest action by president biden. we anticipate we'll hear about all of this in just about 20 minutes from now, andrea. >> at the white house, thank you so much. and the world reacts. what we know about secretary blinken's meeting with nato's secretary general. and how this could effect the global response to ukraine. you're watching a special edition of "andrea mitchell reports" live from brussels only on msnbc. russels only on msnbc okay, this is a freezer, not a time capsule. sometimes the house itself can tell you how a young homeowner is turning into their parents. -not those two. -yep, they're gone. -forever? -yep. that there is progressive's homequote explorer website, where i compared home insurance rates. we don't need to print the internet. some are beyond help. i will give you $100 if you can tell me what this is. -scotch egg. -it's a meatball. progressive can't help you from becoming your parents,
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we face a grave situation with ongoing war in ukraine. >> and joining us is michael crowley at nato. what can you tell us about what nato is going to do to try to meet zelenskyy's demands at the u.n. yesterday? >> reporter: as has been the case for weeks now, nato will likely not be able to satisfy zelenskyy's demands. there is real determination here to keep up the fight against russia. but also, as i think you know well, a real consciousness of not crossing that line and no one knows exactly where it is. that's the problem, that could escalate this conflict into a direct nato conflict with russia. but united states did announce yesterday another 100 million there in military assistance to ukraine. the conversation now is going to assess, in large part, new
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realities on the battle field. trying to figure out russia's plan now that it's pulling back from its designs on attacking kyiv. and how best to equip ukrainian forces for what looks like it could be a more protracted war in the donbas. >> and in fact, what secretary -- joint chiefs chairman milley was saying yesterday is that this war is going to last for years. that means arming the ukrainian resistance and supporting them with humanitarian relief but that russia is capable of really devastating the country. how long can ukraine keep up this resistance? >>. >> reporter: that's right. and to some degree there are diverging, i would say nrbtdests here, which is to say it could be in ukraine's interest to try to end the fighting, make some concessions to russia, is and say how many lives are we going
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to lose to try to continue this fight and pushing russia out, even of the eastern donbas region, where it has been involved in supporting separatists for eight years is going to be very difficult, potentially bloody and costly and we're seeing huge devastation in ukraine. it's possible that some ukrainians would want to bring this to an end and reach a settlement with russia. however, there are also nato nations who feel like this is time to draw a line. you cannot reward russia with any kind of gains. russia has to be completely expeld and defeated or vladimir putin could be emboldened to try to make new assaults on nato's frontier. i heard remarks from lithuania's foreign minister that was here saying it's not enough for nato to talk about ways to deter putin. nato has to get serious about being able to respond and fight the russians on the eastern
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flank if it comes to that. people are worried, even with russia somewhat in retreat on next steps and whether he could have designs on other nations in the nato alliance. >> exactly why these talks are so important. thank you very much for reporting from nato. and the threat assessment, as we see the russian military struggling to hold ground in ukraine. what can we expect them to do over the coming weeks and months, if not years? congressman and army ranger jason crow, joining us next. this is a special edition of "andrea mitchell reports" from brussels on msnbc. "andrea mitchell reports" from brussels on msnbc.
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as the u.s. is pledging $100 million to put javelin missiles in the hand of ukrainian troops. and a small number training on the switch blade drones. joining us is the democratic colorado congressman, a member of both the armed services and intelligence committees who served as an army ranger in iraq and afghanistan and helped protect his colleagues january 6th. you and your colleagues recently wrote a letter to the white house asking for more military aid from the ukrainian people. we've seen the atrocities out of bucha. what more can the white house and congress do, what more could they do to stop these horrific acts of violence? >> these are horrific. the images are heartbreaking. they're worse than heartbreaking. they're horrifying. there are war crimes being committed.
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it's worse. i think we're going to see more scenes like this. we have to give ukrainians everything they need to defend themselves. the administration has done a nice job of doing that so far. number one, we need to give them the supplies they need today. the are reports of running low or running out altogether. that's an operational concern because we have allocated money in those supplies. the second thing is the russian forces are what's called retrograding to reposition in the south and east to surround the ukrainian forces there. those withdrawing forces are extremely vulnerable. it's an opportunity to hit those forces, to strike them while withdrawing.
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and third, this is a long-term conflict. we have to help them modernize and help train them for a longer term conflict. >> well, the joint chiefs chairman, mark milley told the house committee that this is going to last years. can we keep -- can we help the ukrainians keep this going for years? >> yes, we can and we must. this is a battle for democracy we have is a stake in, a battle for freedom, for human rights. there is increasing evidence of potential genocide. i don't think we have enough information to make that determination. but certainly war crimes. we do not stand by -- the united states of america does not stand by and allow autocrats and dictators to destroy and kill peaceful democratic nations and peoples. that is not who we are are. we have to stand with ukrainians and we're going to.
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>> you've been in combat. have you ever seen anything in war like what you're seeing now, the aftermath in bucha after the russian withdrawal? >> unfortunately, i have. during the invasion of iraq, we saw the evidence of these mass graves uncovering torture chambers from the sudomrue jeem. innocent people that were killed. these are images that are not unfamiliar to me. they're real and i think about what i'm seeing in washington today and pushing hard for these weapons and for the support. i just think about my own service experience and how i understand what it's like to be at war. i understand what it's like to be in civilian areas and have innocent civilians caught in this fighting and killed. this is a terrible thing and that's frankly one of the big
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drivers behind the work i'm doing and why i'm pushing so hard. >> president zelenskyy is asking for the u.s. and other nations to be guarntors if there's any ceasefire agreement with vladimir putin. doesn't that suggest sest that if you're going to guarantee putin's not invading again, that you have to have boots on the ground, more engagement than right now, which is exactly what -- >> it could suggest that in the long term. i think that's purely hypothatical. i've not seen any evidence that he's negotiating in good faith. that does not mean we don't try. president zelenskyy has an obligation to do that for his people. i see no indication that vladimir putin is going to do anything other than continue to commit war crimes and kill innocent civilians and devastate ukrainian cities. we operate under the assumption nothing is going to change.
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at the same time, if there is a breakthrough in the months ahead, and there is a peace agreement, i think the united states will have to serve a very important role and serving as a guarantor. >> and do you think vladimir putin will ever be held accountable? >> i think nobody knows that. there's various forms of account lkt. russian people are the ones who will have to hold vladimir putin accountable. he's not going to leave russia anytime soon. the russian people will have to say this is enough. this is not who we are and we're not going to allow ourselves to be oppressed anymore and we will chart a different course for ourselves and retake control of our destiny. that's ultimately what i think will have to happen. >> congressman crow, thank you very much. thank you for your service then and now. >> thank you.
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>> and moments from now the president expected to address today's new sanctions against russia, including banning new investments and sanctioning vladimir putin's adult daughters. joining us pentagon correspondent chief white house correspondent peter baker. as a former moscow bureau chief, you know vladimir putin and watched him for years. how significant are these new sanctions especially in light of china and india refusing to take sides and germany still relying on russian energy, will this have an impact. >> it is one more tightening of the screws. it suggests that the united states is not going to let it up, it is not going to relent and will continue to find new and different ways to turn up the pressure. you know, but you're right to point out that russia has outlets elsewhere through china and india and that is a
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diplomatic challenge for biden and his administration to knit together a tighter coalition beyond europe otherwise putin will find ways to secure economic substitutes for western activity and until that has happened, he could minimize to some extent the impact of the sanctions. but you know, look, the west obviously has been an important market for russia and the big question is whether or not and when they could wean themselves off the russian energy. that is the biggest source of income and europe has been one of the biggest customers ever. now they see the necessity it seems like to move in that direction. the question is how effectively and quickly they could do that. >> helene, at the pentagon, we're hearing there is a complete russian withdraw from the area between belarus and kyiv. while they retrofit, prepurpose their troops, try to figure out
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their strategy. what are you hearing? you're right there. >> reporter: they anticipate, hi ant rea and peter. they are anticipating that the russian troops as you know are now getting ready for a big fight in the east. they are out of the areas to the north of kyiv. they have moved back towards belarus, but they're getting ready to now shift and they're going to be heading the expectation from the pentagon towards the donbas region and the east. you saw the reports earlier this day -- today about the thousands of ukrainians who live in eastern ukraine starting to flee. this is a region that has been at war since 2014. so it is not one that is not used to fighting. because there has been this not even a low grade war under -- going on with russian-backed
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separatists fighting the ukrainian military, the ukrainian military has already lost thousands of soldiers fighting to keep the east in ukrainian hands. so nobody thinks this is going to be a walk in the park for russia. particularly now that they have demonstrated the limits of their own military might. so it is going to be -- but i think it is going to be a tough slog. i think the pentagon officials talk about they fear we will continue to see images of civilians who have been, you know, hurt or savaged by troops and russia is also now bringing in -- calling for help from foreign fighters as well, from the wagner group and syrian fighters. so it is expected that it may get ugly. >> peter, when you look at what is happening with vladimir putin, for all of the sanctions
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already, he's more popular than ever at hope. the propaganda war is working for him? >> yeah, well, vladimir putin already had pretty tight control over the media and has tightened it even further. the few independent smallish media outlets echo moss v and tv are closed and taken off the air or otherwise silenced. and so first of all, the russian people are getting only a very, very, you know, propaganda version of events and that influences public opinion and there is a national quality to russian public opinion that supports, you know, putin's type of regime and has now for 22 years. there is the false support and then the genuine support for him in that sense. and thirdly i think that russians have prided themselves on, you know, enduring hardship generations, for centuries and
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in some ways putin is appealing to their history and their sense of russian dna, that we could survive anything and we could take this punishment from the west because there is this still long-standing grievance and resentment toward the outside world, toward europe and the united states and he's presenting nationalist terms for the moment has rallied people behind him. whether that sticks as more body bags have come home. they have suffered more casualties as helene knows better than i do. you have to wonder whether or not funerals at home overshadow propaganda on tv. >> helene, one of the things so striking is there is no commander in the field who was managing the ground war and that the russian troops have been doing things extraordinary things. we're seeing that there are dead bodies that have been mined, a former zelenskyy adviser was
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tolding me that his 13-year-old daughter's friend, the russian forces ate their dog, the family dog. the lack of discipline is really striking to former commanders like barry mccaffrey. what are they saying at the pentagon. >> it is so weird, andrea. nobody understands what we are seeing and certainly nobody anticipated it. putin denies it, excuse me, but he's used a con script military in russia who were lied to and told not -- not told where they were going at the time. but the level of barbaric that we're seeing is something that is surprising because these are russia's ethnic, slovic brothers. this is not as if they're fighting in syria or even where you see this kind of really crazy level of bar barrett we
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saw in yugoslavia where people have been taught to hate this other population for so long. the serbs, the bosnians and that sort of thing. that is not the case here. ukrainians and russians have been slovic brothers forever. so there is a lot of shock at the images we saw coming out of bucha. and shock at the idea that you know, with the kind of interviews that you've been having, andrea, the lack of a war time commander in the field on the ground in ukraine calling all of the shots is another thing that has completely be fuddled the pentagon. the idea that this war is being run out of moscow, which it essentially is, american intelligence officials have concluded that, and it is one of the reasons why the russian military has had the kind of problems that they're having. you can't respond very quickly to -- to events on the ground if
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you're running or trying to maneuver out of military -- out of moscow and this is part of the problem as well. it is a confounding thing. >> well peter and helene, our thanks to you because the president has just taken the podium. i believe he's at the washington hilton and we will address the new sanctions so we'll go to the president joe biden in washington. [ applause ] >> it's good to be home. whoa! [ applause ] >> thank you. thank you. [ crowd chanting ] >> thank you. thank you, thank you, thank you.
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you better stop, i'll start believing it. please, have a seat if you have one. it is good to be home. you know, i look out there and i see an awful lot of you who, as they say in claymont, delaware, who brung me to the dance. and i really mean it. there is no exaggeration, i'd not be standing here without labor, without union -- union labor. [ applause ] folks, as they used to say when i was senator, if you excuse the point of personal privilege, before i turn to my main remarks would you like to have -- i have to briefly address the horrifying reports of the atrocities taking place in ukraine. and the steps the united states
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is taking to respond in close coordination with our allies and our partners. and i'm sure you've seen the pictures from bucha and just outside of kyiv. bodies left in streets as russian troops withdraw. some shot in the back of head with hands tied behind their backs. civilians executed in cold blood. bodies dumped into mass graves. a sense of brutality and humanity left for all the world to see unapologetically. there is nothing less happening than major war crimes. responsible nations have to come together to hold these perpetrators accountable. and together with our allies and our partners we're going to keep raising the economic cost and ratchet up the pain for putin and further cause economic isolation. [
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