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ambassador haas is here, and jeff zeleny and nick paton w walsh. first to you, am ban dos . -- ambassador. >> if russia cannot defeat ukraine, why in the world would russia want to take on nato and the united states? i don't see the logic of that. i think there's a big question, not simply as to whether the united states continues to help ukraine, obviously it will, but the quality of the systems we provide. do we give certain offensive systems that will help them reach more into russian territory? that some people believe could raise the risk of escalation. putin always has the threat of nuclear weapons. bottom line, no, i don't think this changes the fundamental of the war or the calculations around it. >> nick paton walsh, you have spent a lot of time in ukraine. will there be satisfaction with the deliverables from this visit? >> i mean they should be, frankly. they're getting essentially the gold standard, which are often handed out to particularly close or precious allies. it's remarkable, frankly that the u.s. is taping the logistical -- you

nick paton walsh, very important perspective. more important perspective on this deal, the former deputy director of national intelligence beth santer joins us now. you've been in the room when difficult things like this are discussed. this is a basketball star, an american athlete who played for a russian team, who was accused of smuggling cannabis oil into russia, traded for you just heard nick paton walsh and you've seen the file, you know who viktor bout is, traded for a notorious arms dealer. how dogs the president of the united states decide it's my only choice, i'm going to do it? >> well, in this case, i mean i think the all or nothing, the russians were telegraphing this for some time that it was going to be a one for one and wouldn't do a two for one swap and the white house knew this and people were prepared for this but it does not make it feel any better. it's often two bad decisions you have to make and pick the best you can. this won't be the last the president has to make in terms of prisoner swaps. we have dozens

and from london, nick paton walsh, who sat down with victor bout for the very last interview he ever did with the western reporter. we want to start with phil mattingly. what are you reporting, phil? >> you know anderson, there were months of fits and starts, arduous negotiations, where this really crystallized over the course of the last 72 hours. just a few days ago, brittney griner was removed from a penal connally to moscow, a clear and concrete signal to administration officials that what had long been thought as a possible deal was very much coming together. they summoned cherelle griner to the white house, telling her that she was going to get an update. national security adviser, jake sullivan, about ho w things were going. however, cherelle griner arrived, she was actually lead back into the oval office not knowing exactly what was going on. there, she was met by president biden, it was president biden who had told his team, he wanted to deliver the message. the message that the deal had been complete. britney griner was on her way home, the two were speaking when president

nick paton walsh joins us now. nick, we heard from president zelenskyy warning russia still has enough missiles for several more massive strikes. what more are you learning? >> reporter: yeah, the ninth significant attack on infrastructure across the country. 76 missiles fired, 72 of them cruise missiles. but, say ukraine's armed forces, 60 intercepted. that's abnormally high but still significant damage achieved against the infrastructure of that country, already reeling from electricity, water, blackouts at times. always hard to tell exactly what's been hit but there was a loss of water, power in parts of kyiv restored. kharkiv, the second largest city you heard there, local officials refer to damage as being, quote, colossal. partially good news the interceptors appear to be reducing the number of missiles that get through. it is bitterly cold in ukraine, the impact of a few hours without electricity, without water and heat that hot water can provide, damaging to daily life. people seeking shelter in the metro an

nick paton walsh reports. >> reporter: add to the frost the rumble. that makes it yet colder and deadlier still. the persistence in the gloom on friday, the sound of electricity, water, and life being ground away. russia's brutality is routine, but life above ground has adjusted, even police patrols ordering people underground. and life there finding it own rhythm too. this couple knew what they had to take with them as they walked to acting rehearsals . morale ukraine likes to say is unbroken, unbreakable. bul but when your skies look like this and when the water went out in kyiv, friday's news that 60 out of 76 russian missiles fired were intercepted can only lift spirits so far. particularly in the bitter cold, second biggest city kharkiv hit especially hard friday. the power did go off for a while leaving locals gathered around whatever source of food or heat the state could provide. this called an insidevincibilit point, aspiration, not a promise. a 64-year-old woman and a young couple whose remains stay under the frozen remains. here woman's fat

cnn's nick paton walsh reports. >> up here in the arctic, you would not get the feeling that russia'sy its catastrophic invasion of ukraine. to moscow, this ice quickly receding with climate change, is vital to its defense and future. these new satellite images obtained by cnn reveal the changes that key military installations over the last year, and show that, despite the damage done to russia's military from their invasion of ukraine, they are still expanding up near the arctic circle, fast. towards the, east domes have been built from this october and last. work here to over the last year on the runway in nicholas coy airfield near the arctic circle. and five new and radars that they claim confined stealth jets emerging out of nowhere, here. this new building, and one radar station near in our way, emerging since june of last year. in an exclusive interview, nato's chief is aware of the growing threat. >> what we see now is a significant russian military buildup in the high, north as we see russia reopening old soviet bases, military sites, but also testing novel weapons in the arc

cnn's nick paton walsh is following all of us.today. >> reporter: not something they mentioned by name but really the spine of every comment they made. the first is getting the most amount of attention, that of vladimir putin saying he was not there necessarily as part of absorbing belarus into part of russia. wind the clock back, back in august 2021, lukashenko, the president of belarus, lent on moscow to send forces in to put down protests and russia asked for payback asking belarus to allow its territory. now they appear to be using belarusian territory against ukraine again, on the ukrainian border, involving russian troops, leaving ukraine concerned as to whether this might be the beginning of another bid to cross over and invade into ukraine. ukraine's top brass openly talking about that. today's visit a rare one of putin going to minsk, going to belarus to see his geopolitically weaker neighbor, certainly heightened that sense of speculation. there were references, bleak ones, to special kinds of weapons that might be in be

and cnn's nick paton-walsh joins us to talk about this. nick, you're one of the few u.s. journalists who has had access to viktor bout. tell us about him. >> yeah, this is a man of extraordinary contradictions, frankly, because of the denials he's always put out there publicly that he is somehow just a pilot, an entrepreneur who's happened to be moving materiel, non-military materiel around some of the key conflict zones in the '90s and early 2000s and at the same time is obviously of such extraordinary value that they've been through this high-profile diplomatic to and fro over months to get him home, decades you might even say. he is accused by u.n. investigators, by analysts, by journalists, by officials of being one of the most prolific arm dealers possibly in history. again, something he denies. having worked in africa to fuel its small wars in the '90s, in afghanistan. he's a man too, intensely charming frankly, if you're speaking to him. in the months i spent trying to get him to agree to a sit-down interview 13 years ago as he awaited extradition in thailand but a

can't tell germany who to let out of prison. >> nick paton walsh reporting for us, thank you very much. >>> let's discuss what's going on with the principal deputy national security adviser to president biden, part of the team that secured brittney griner's release. thanks for all you're doing. first of all, can you give us an update on how brittney griner is actually doing now that she's back on u.s. soil? >> i want to be very respectful of brittney griner's privacy at this time, but what i can say based on the reports we've heard from our colleagues who have both accompanied her and been present for her reunion with her family in texas that she's in very high spirits, very positive, and i think very happy to be home. >> that's good to know. you just heard those remarks from vladimir putin. how do you interpret that victory lap from putin and his suggestion that more exchanges with the u.s. are, in fact, possible? >> well, look, i think at this point we should all have experienced enough russian propaganda in the course of this conflict and before to not take too much that president p

. >>> let's speak to international security editor nick paton walsh. you were the last journalist to sit down for an interview with viktor bout. this mer comment of death as he's been known for the arms dealing he's done, remarkage in interactions with him while he was behind bars . tell us more about him. >> reporter: this was sort of 13 years ago while he was awaiting extradition from thailand to the united states where eventually he was convicted for plotting to supply weapons to colombian terrorists who were, in fact, american agents pretending to be colombian agents. essentially what happened in thailand he agreed to meet meet people from the drug enforcement agency and agreed to provide them weaponry. he was arrested and then there was an extradition process in thailand which took months, ages as russia and his lawyers tried to held him back to keep him outside of the u.s. justice system which eventually put him away for 25 years. he's not served all of that sentence. this is a very capable man and the enormous disparity here, jim, is between wha

frederik pleitgen is with us along with nick paton walsh. you've reported extensively from inside russia. you were there during the trial. how is this playing out this morning? >> first of all, the russians are making it seem as though it's a big victory for russia. some of the statements from the russian foreign ministry, they say they've been working on viktor bout's release for a long time and said the u.s. wasn't open to it for a long time. we know from what kylie was saying, this went through a lot of up and downs. when the u.s. came out and said, yes, they had put a substantial offer on the table to try to get brittney griner released, the russians were irate and said they wanted to stop the entire process because all of it had to happen behind kwloesed doors. just a couple days ago the russians came out and said they believed there wouldn't be further talks about prisoner swaps until the end of this year. clearly something was going on behind the scenes. the public messaging from the russians was very different. one of the things i wa

ana. >> nick paton walsh and kylie atwood. thank you. the picture you saw was paul whelan.s family is applauding griner's release today. whelan is a former marine. he's now in year four of his 16-year sentence in russia. in 2018 he was charged with espionage. the white house says he's been wrongfully detained. here's more from cnn's exclusive conversation with him today and his message now for president biden. >> i would say that if a message could go to president biden that, you know, this is a precares situation that needs to be resolved quickly and i would hope that he and his administration would do everything they could to get me home regardless of the price they might have to pay at this point. >> paul whelan's brother, david whelan, is joining us now. david, it's nice to see you. i wish under other circumstances. i wish we were celebrating your brother's return today. i'm sure it's an emotional day for you first as you listen to your brother in that clip what do you hear in his voice and what's going through your mind? >> he sounds tired and he sounds disappointed an

nick paton walsh is tracking this. this sounds like a multifaceted attack.ifferent types of missiles launched from different locations targeting refrlg regions. what more are you learning? >> reporter: 60 is a high rate but still the reports of damage to infrastructure and what senior officials called the ninth wave of attacks on infrastructure are in some area, quote, colossal. there was a 50% deficit of power it seemed in ukraine according to energy officials. they do appear to be getting reports from different parts of the country suggesting that electricity is being row stored but the second largest city kharkiv significantly hit and pictures are sheltering in the metro stations of kyiv. dual use now frankly places that get you to work but also keep you safe when there's bombing, in fact, one of the younger citizens of kyiv there found in the metro station said how she'd simply been walking her way to work, saw a rocket in the sky and sort of to some degree shrugged, went underground to wait for that wave of strikes to pass. officials are suggesting some

for more details, here's nick paton walsh. >> it makes a trip to a smaller, neighbor delirious, and the timing has everyone wondering why. putin, talking to local specially baked bread has always been bigger on the world stage, demanding his towering belarusian counterpart come and see him. but we'll see, here does he want something? >> at least -- >> we have certain areas of military cooperation and it is not just applying each other which in my view is incredibly important, it is also working together and cooperating. >> as usual, it is hard to decipher what the kremlin is actually up to. but, his forces have been dropping hints for weeks, and-less public exercises along the border with russian and belarusian troops, not at the top tier, but at least designed to leave ukraine worried. -- sounded the alarm of a full scale invasion from belarus in the weeks ahead. and late last, week accusing russian planes of flying from below recess guys, as they drop to the missile behind this raid, which killed a young boy and three others. careful -- as helmet camera footage shows another child, pu

here is cnn international security editor nick paton walsh. >> reporter: add to the frost, the rumbleet colder and deadlier still. the persistence in the gloom on friday, the sound of electricity, water and life being ground away. russia's brutality is routine but life above ground has adjusted even police patrols ordering people underground. and life there finding its own rhythm too. this couple knew what they had to take with them as they walked to acting rehearsal as. >> in the morning i woke up and i saw a -- in the sky and i wasn't surprised. i just saw -- i'm still -- [ inaudible ]. >> reporter: morale, ukraine likes to say, is unbroken, unbreakable. but when you're skies weekly look like this but 66 out of 76 were intercepted could only lift spirits so far. particularly in the bitter cold of the second biggest city kharkiv, the power did go off for a lyle leaving locals g gathers around what source of food and heat the state could provide. this is an aspiration, not a promise. in one town, three died. a 64-year-old woman and a young couple whose infant son remained under the fr

. >> nick paton walsh, thank you for that report.ering a member of the cnn family, drew griffin, who died this weekend at the age of 60. we'll be right back. create something new? our dell technhnologies advisors can provide you with the tools and expertise you u need to bring out the innovator in you. i'm feeling better. body pain? headache? nope. all in one and done. cuh-congestion? better cough? fever? better. mucix all in one relieves 9 symptoms in 1 dose. celebrate your comeback with $5 cash back. hi! need new glasses? get more from your benefits at visionworks! how can you see me squinting? i can't! i'm just telling everyone! hey! use your vision benefits before they expire. visionworks. see the difference. oh, no, not about that. about what comes next in life. for her. i may not be in perfect health, but i want to stay in my home, where my family visits often and where my memories are. i can do it with help from a prep cook, wardrobe assistant and stylist, someone to help me live right at home. life's good. when you have a pla

. >> and in fact, nick paton walsh who also spent a lot of time in ukraine, one of the main items of discussion both leading up to this event and also today's press conference is this new advance missile defense system, the patriot system that the u.s. is finally agreed to send to ukraine, it's going to take up to 100 individuals to operate the system, it's a defensive missile system and it was brought up today and zelenskyy said he wants more. >> as soon as they implement that on the battle field, they'd like to see as much more of it as possible to keep the skies safe of the bombardment of infrastructure in the often times kills civilians. a little tension i think there, too, president biden pointing towards his european allies potentially as the reason why for example the united states hasn't delivered all these separate weapons capabilities that it slowly seems to deliver as the challenges mount for ukraine, widening what they're willing to give in terms of technology. suggested they hadn't given them at once because they didn't want to upset european allies. i'm fparaphrasing no

nick paton walsh is out front. >> reporter: russia's president makes a rare trip to his smaller neighborputin demands his towering belarusian counterpart come and see him. but was he here because he wants something? >> translator: we have certain areas of military cooperation, and it's not just supplying each other, which, in my view, is incredibly important. it's also working together and cooperating. >> reporter: as usual, it's hard to decipher what the kremlin head is actually up to. but his forces have been dropping hints for weeks. endless public exercises along the border between russian and belarusian troops. not the top tier, but at the least designed to leave ukraine worried. kyiv's top brass have gone one further and sounded the alarm of a full-scale invasion from belarus in the weeks ahead. and late last week, accusing russian planes of flying from belarus' skies as they drop the missiles behind this raid which killed a young boy and three others. he warns a rescuer here as another child is shown being pulled from the rubble that. relentless russian targeting of ukraine's infr