Monday, Feb 28, 2022 • 27min
The Battle for Kyiv
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This episode contains strong language.
Over the weekend, the battle for Ukraine arrived at the capital, Kyiv, as Russian forces attempted to advance.
Would the Russian military quickly overrun the city? Or would Ukrainians, despite being outgunned, somehow find a way to defend their capital?
Guest: Sabrina Tavernise, a national correspondent for The New York Times, reporting from Kyiv.
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Sabrina Tavernise
Michael Barbaro
Mitt Romney
Transcript
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Break
Sabrina Tavernise
00:33
It's 7:30 AM on Saturday in
Kiev
. Last night, President Zelensky
was standing outside the government building and trying to reassure his people. He was standing with other government officials. He was holding the phone.Share
00:51
It was kind of shaky and he said, “Good evening [... ]", "The head of the fraction is here [... ], "The head of the presidential offices is here [... ]. "The Prime Minister is here [... ], "I am here”. And points to each of the men standing behind him [... ] and he's telling people, “We're here, we're going to defend our country”.
Share
Michael Barbaro
01:38
From
the New York Times
, I'm Michael Barbaro
. This is The Daily.Share
01:43
Over the weekend the battle between
Russian
and Ukrainian
forces came to Ukraine's
capital of Kiev
, transforming a once vibrant, bustling city into a war zone. And the question was, would the Russian
military quickly overrun the city or would Ukrainians, despite being outgunned somehow find a way to defend it once again. Sabrina Tavernise
reports from Kiev
. It's Monday February 28.Share
Sabrina Tavernise
02:25
It's 10: 00 AM in
Kiev
. I'm walking out to the main street in front of the hotel, I just saw an ambulance go by. Another ambulance go by. There are a number of cars on the street this morning. We're on our way to a blood bank and a recruiting center where people are getting guns and volunteering in civilian defense forces.Share
02:58
It was a really loud night. There was fighting as close as the
Zoo
, which is kind of in the Western part of the city. So Russian
forces reached quite far in fact into Kiev
last night.Share
03:14
And it was there was also a small arms fire which might have been a kind of a saboteur group of
Russian
soldiers or fighters not far from the hotel. I heard that one as well. Several times during the night, big explosions and... we're going to go out and check things out this morning. Okay.Share
03:43
So I'm standing outside an office where people are signing up to do territorial defense work or receive weapons. People of the line is quite long keep. It's sort of a courtyard. A lot of men milling around um holding rifles on their backs guarding the gate. A man says, "where do we where do we sign off? " And this gentleman is sending him to a different building. Okay, I'm going to go try to talk to some people who have come to sign up.
Share
04:24
Hello, My name is Sabrina. I'm a journalist from
the New York Times
. Can I talk to you?Share
04:33
Nice to meet you too.
Share
Sabrina Tavernise
04:35
Hi Andre, why are you here today?
Share
04:39
Why am I here? Okay, I'm living here just in that area right here.
Share
Sabrina Tavernise
04:46
This is where you live, what 's it called? This neighborhood?
Share
04:50
Tatarka. And I feel I need to protect my house, my home place as I think they get us free. But it's life. It's completely life because they want to destroy us. They, they're quite stupid because for all of that time for 30 years didn't identify us as a nation. But it 's true. We are!
Share
Sabrina Tavernise
05:26
They always said, "Oh,
Ukraine
is not a nation", but Ukraine
is a nation.Share
05:32
Ukraine
is. So they need to kill a lot of people to kill a nation and it's not possible. Just not possible.Share
Sabrina Tavernise
05:54
So we're walking along the sight of this really major firefight. There's an
Ukrainian
position dug in over the railroad tracks and there's debris all over the street, pieces of branches, ah, pieces of concrete looks like various glass shrapnel. Oh wow! Oh my God! Oh my God, look at the truck! So a major major firefight here.Share
06:37
Two trucks, look at two transport trucks. Very, very strong smell of burned, maybe tires rubber to completely burned out and just smoldering transport trucks. There 's a kind of a slick oily staying around one of them right now the
Ukrainian
are soldiers picking through the wreckage of the two trucks. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 Ukrainian
soldiers.Share
07:11
They're putting what looks like munitions in small wooden boxes that they have salvaged from this firefight.
Share
07:24
And then what time is it?
Share
07:26
It's about one.
Share
Sabrina Tavernise
07:27
It's about 1: 00 PM in
Kiev
on Saturday.Share
07:35
This is the sound of
Ukrainian
soldier digging positions above the highway.Share
07:42
Hello.
Share
07:43
Hello.
Share
Sabrina Tavernise
07:43
I'm from the media. It's nice to meet you. Are you digging a position here? What's your name?
Share
07:53
Alexander.
Share
Sabrina Tavernise
07:54
Alexander, nice to meet you.
Share
07:56
Why are you... why are you doing this?
Share
07:58
Why? I don't want die? And you know this problem in
Ukraine
, yep. Yeah, yeah. Uh... I...Share
08:21
[... ]
Share
Sabrina Tavernise
08:25
“We don't want to die", [... ] "And and and we understand that wars is inescapable now. So we're we're digging in positions. The war, it's not that it's inescapable. It's already started. We have to protect all of the peaceful people who stayed here and who are trying to leave
Kiev
so that they can peacefully leave. ”Share
09:05
"I'm 29 years old. "
Share
09:10
Sasha has some blood on his cheek. He said "it's just a scratch". Bye Sasha.
Share
09:21
I think we should try to talk to them.
Share
09:25
God, that is really quite a terrifying site. These trucks God, God.
Share
09:42
Hello, my documents, New York Times. Sabrina. We're going back to work.
Share
10:01
Very jumpy here bunch of moltov cocktails.
Share
10:05
"Watch out, they're going to freak out if you take a picture".
Share
10:07
A bunch of molotov cocktails here at the base of a tree box of looks like they're actually in beer bottles.
Share
10:18
Oh man, I still can't believe this is happening in
Kiev
. I cannot believe it.Share
10:28
So we're going down into the parking garage of this building where the firefight was outside of two to look to talk to people. There 's a trail of blood going into the parking garage. The gentleman who 's leading us says it 's a a shelter.
Share
10:57
So we're going down into kind of a cavernous area, clearly parking garage. There are men and women walking up on the other side of us.
Share
11:18
I'm walking along and seeing blood, I see blood on a footprint. So somebody's footprint with blood and it's leading to a boot that is lying by itself. I can't tell it's clearly wet, but I'm looking at the boot and it seems to have...
Share
11:57
Oh look at the plastic, plastic thing has blood on it as well! God, yeah it is blood. Okay. What happened here?
Share
12:22
The young man was saying that it happened around four or 5: 00 AM and he helped bring the wounded down into the parking garage. That's now a bomb shelter? He's pointing out, look, there's the blood, there's the trail. [... ] "He didn't die. He survived". "He's in hospital now". Look if that's the trail of the blood, that's where he came from. "We dragged him and we carried him with our hands".
Share
Michael Barbaro
13:18
We'll be right back.
Share
Break
Sabrina Tavernise
14:39
We're going upstairs to the blood donation. This appears to be some sort of a hospital or health center or something and people are lined up along the stairs.
Share
14:56
Hello. So I'm a reporter from
the New York Times
. My name is Sabrina. What is your name?Share
15:02
My name is Sasha. Irina, my sister.
Share
15:05
Hi, nice to meet you.
Share
Sabrina Tavernise
15:07
Why did you guys come today? What made you what drew you here?
Share
15:13
I think it 's just a little thing which we can do right now to support our guys who are fighting for our independence.
Share
15:25
I want to be
Ukrainian
. I'm okay on my land. I'm okay in my country, and it's just a little thing that I can do. I'm psychologist, I support my people and now I can take just a little of the blood of my blood just to support the bodies of my people. I'm crying, sorry.Share
Sabrina Tavernise
15:46
Did you sleep last night this last night?
Share
15:48
Just a little bit because it was bombing and was... sirens, sirens, yeah. So we were scared just on the first day. But now no, it's ok. It's okay. We are together. We are on our land and we will stay here.
Share
Sabrina Tavernise
16:10
How are you yourself feeling right now?
Share
16:12
Um... you know, I'm calming down and angry. I'm calm and angry. Like I'm sometimes scared, but I'm calm.
Share
Sabrina Tavernise
16:31
And what is the anger?
Share
16:33
Anger? You see this good weather. It's wonderful weather. It's the sun. It's the Spring. The broad is thinking and I want to live my peaceful life. I don't want to have worked on my land. That's why I'm angry.
Share
Sabrina Tavernise
16:54
Thank you.
Share
16:55
Thank you.
Share
Sabrina Tavernise
17:08
It 's 3: 42 on Saturday driving around
Kiev
lots of boarded-up windows and tape and plastic on windows to prevent them from shattering. Really, really has the look of a city that has closed down and expects a storm. I'm on my way to go inside the metro where people are taking shelter overnight.Share
17:41
We've arrived. That's why it was called university.
Share
17:48
[... ]
Share
Sabrina Tavernise
17:58
There's now a checkpoint to get into the metro and the um the guy who's guarding it is asking me for my passport so I have to show it to him.
Share
18:10
[... ]
Share
18:21
[... ]
Share
Sabrina Tavernise
18:22
[... ]
Share
18:31
Okay. [... ] I talk to the ticket taker. He said, "The metro isn't working but you're welcome to go down". About 3: 30 PM. So it 's getting close to curfew. These soviet metro 's are deep built deep, deep into the ground. Because they were originally designed as bomb shelters by the Soviets in the event of a nuclear attack.
Share
19:12
This one is very deep off the street has three escalators and the white marble walls and there 's a giant kind of semicircle very thick metal plated opening. That is the entrance to it. But that can be closed up in the event of a bomb attack kind of like being sealed up in a safe. So I'm walking down...
Share
19:40
"Hello. "
Share
19:42
One woman sitting there. So when I look and stare down this escalator, it's really almost as far as the eye can see, it is hard to overstate just how deep into the earth this escalator goes and yeah, I'm just gonna walk down. It's gonna take me a while.
Share
20:18
Still walking.
Share
20:24
Okay, we're getting close to the bottom. The train... It 's just sitting on the tracks in front of them with its doors open. I see blankets. Someone's black purse, a few wheelie bags in this one.
Share
20:53
[... ] You and Andre are two very, very cute little kids.
Share
21:14
How old are you? [... ] She says "I'm four and is a year and a half". "Hi, Hi, how are you guys doing? "[... ] "We're here for a second night. " [... ] How was last night? Did you hear anything? "No, we didn't hear anything. I'm hoping that it will be safer than home".
Share
21:51
Saying "I can't understand that this is happening". "It 's just like a complete nightmare. It 's like a movie".
Share
22:05
I'm speaking with Liana. "My grandmother told me how terrible it was when there was bombing and she had two little children about the children. She grasped the two children to her chest and the Germans were shooting down". [... ] "This is like that. This is like grandmother running from from the Germans shooting. It 's the same. I myself am a grandmother and these are my grandchildren and I am in the same situation! " "It 's just impossible. It 's impossible. "
Share
23:01
[... ] "My father and mother have passed and I'm really glad that they haven't seen this because it would be impossible for them to bear. These are my grandchildren. " "So I just I just wanted to finish as fast as I can".
Share
23:22
"What should we do, where there's no work? We're not... My son-in-law isn't working, can't work. The jobs are closed. But what to do? He can't... there's no money to feed the children. " "It just can't be. It cannot be, it cannot be my life". Liana Saying "We don't know how to be. We just don't know everything was great. It was peaceful. " "It's hard. "
Share
24:13
Alright, I'm going to go back up. Good luck you guys. [... ] God be with us, God be with us.
Share
24:31
Now I'm walking out back up the longest stairway. The longest, deepest escalator in the city. Curfews almost starting.
Share
Michael Barbaro
25:07
On Sunday, as
Russian
and Ukrainian
forces battled for control of Kiev
, the two countries agreed to hold their first negotiations since the war began. But even as the talks neared, Russia
dispatched more troops to Kiev
satellite imagery showed a miles-long convoy of hundreds of Russian
military vehicles bearing down on the capital city.Share
25:45
Meanwhile, Western governments intensified their efforts to punish
Russia
and to rally around Ukraine
a growing list of European countries banned flights from Russia
, The US and the European Union
imposed sanctions that personally targeted Russian
President Vladimir Putin and his foreign secretary.Share
26:09
And in an extraordinary declaration,
Britain 's Foreign Secretary
said she would support British citizens who wanted to travel to Ukraine
to fight against Russia
as of Sunday night, according to Ukrainian
officials, Russia
's assault has killed 352 Ukrainian
civilians, including 14 children. We'll be right back.Share
Break
Michael Barbaro
27:17
Here's what else you need to know today. Congressional Democrats are promising the swift confirmation of President
Biden's
first nominee to the Supreme Court. Ketanji Brown Jackson
a federal appeals court judge who would be the first black woman to serve on the high court.Share
27:35
All 50 Senate Democrats previously voted to confirm
Jackson
to the appeals court, a level of support that would be sufficient to put her on the Supreme Court. The question for Biden
is how much support Brown
will win from Senate Republicans.Share
Mitt Romney
27:53
Look her nomination and her confirmation would or will be historic, and and like anyone dominated by the president of the United States, she deserves a very careful look, a very deep dive
Share
Michael Barbaro
28:05
Over the weekend, republicans like
Senator Mitt Romney
of Utah
in an interview with CNN
said he was open-minded.Share
Mitt Romney
28:13
And I'll provide fresh eyes to that evaluation and hope that I'll be able to support her in the final analysis.
Share
Michael Barbaro
28:20
And US regulators have issued new guidelines for living with
COVID-19
that could allow about 70% of Americans to stop wearing masks and social distancing, including schools in certain communities.Share
28:36
Unlike previous guidelines which were based on the number of infections in a community, the new recommendations are based on measures such as
COVID
related hospital admissions, which have fallen significantly.Share
Break
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Sabrina Tavernise
Michael Barbaro
Mitt Romney