In this “Face the Nation” show moderated by Margaret Brennan:
- Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal
- Senator Elizabeth WarrenMassachusetts Democrat
- Dr. Scott Gottliebformer FDA commissioner
- Christine LagardePresident of the European Central Bank
Click here for full transcripts of “Face the Nation.”
MARGARET BRENNAN: I’m Margaret Brennan in Washington.
And this week in Face the Nation: there is a new urgency to bring weapons to Ukraine, as the Russians intensify their missile attacks in the south and east. And diplomatic transport between Ukraine, the United States and Russia seems to mark some developments.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he will meet today with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in person inside the war-torn interior of the country. We will have the last one.
And on an exclusive Sunday, we spoke with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal at the end of his trip to Washington.
Then: the confusion and chaos about mask warrants on airplanes and public transportation raised by a federal judge. Also, how long does it take to get vaccines for young people? We will contact former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb.
With inflation soaring, interest rates soaring and the stock market showing some stress, are we seeing more economic turmoil ahead because of the war in Ukraine? We will talk to the head of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren says her party is running out of time to come together. We’ll ask him what he thinks could save most of the party on Capitol Hill.
Plus, Republicans are facing more internal turmoil, after the House minority leader criticized former President Trump on a leaked audio tape.
Everything is ahead of Face the Nation.
Good morning. Welcome to Face the Nation.
We have been told repeatedly that the coming weeks in Ukraine will be crucial. Therefore, the urgency of more support in the country is not a surprise. But the United States has not confirmed the official announcement of a top secret trip by Biden administration officials as we go on the air, but progress has been made.
Charlie D’Agata, CBS News’s chief foreign correspondent, is in Ukraine – Charlie.
CHARLIE D’AGATA: Good morning, Margaret.
It was a surprise, to say the least, when President Zelenskyy dropped that the Secretary of State and the U.S. Secretary of Defense would arrive here today, saying it’s no big secret.
It’s no big secret that tops the agenda, more guns and fast.
(Start VT)
CHARLIE D’AGATA (voiceover): At an underground marathon press conference at a subway station, pausing at times for trains, President Zelenskyy gave a defiant but grateful tone.
(PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY SPEAKS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
CHARLIE D’AGATA: “Let me emphasize,” she said, “all the signals, deadlines, and quantities on U.S. weapons, all of that has improved. And for that, I’m grateful.”
It may be too late to save Mariupol. Ukrainian officials say Russia has launched airstrikes today against the besieged steel plant that housed soldiers and civilians. This video of families hiding in large bunkers for months was made three days ago and published by the Azov Battalion. Cannot be independently verified.
President Zelensky warned Russia against killing the remaining resistance fighters.
(PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY SPEAKS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
CHARLIE D’AGATA: “If our men are killed in Mariupol,” he said, “Ukraine will withdraw from any negotiation process.”
To the west, at least six cruise missiles crashed into the Black Sea port city of Odessa. City officials say a strike in an apartment building killed eight people, including a mother and her 3-month-old baby.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the missiles destroyed a facility that stored weapons supplied by the U.S. and Europe. Russian shells opened fire in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine. Although these forces have achieved some territorial gains along a 300-mile front line, Ukrainian troops have repelled the worst, at a significant cost to the Kremlin, according to British military intelligence.
Russian television broadcast live footage of President Putin attending an Orthodox Easter midnight mass, with the war in which it began and the deaths of innocent civilians increasing every hour.
(VT final)
CHARLIE D’AGATA: President Zelenskyy said he is open to a direct meeting with President Putin to end the war.
In his Easter speech, he said, “Our soul is full of fierce hatred for the invaders and all that they have done. Do not let this rage destroy us from within” – Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Thank you, Charlie.
We now turn to CBS News national security correspondent David Martin.
Good morning. Nice to have you here, David.
President Zelenskyy said at the news conference that arms transfers have accelerated at a rapid pace from the United States. But he also said he expects Secretaries Austin and Blinken to come up with something else for him. Do you know what this is?
DAVID MARTIN: Well, guns are coming into Ukraine today.
I asked and was told that there were no weapons on the specific train carrying Austin and Blinken to Ukraine. But it is clear that there is a race to arm the Ukrainians in time for the next battle. And the US is sending 90 of these 155mm shells to Ukraine, but that’s only half of what Ukrainians need.
The Ukrainians have their own artillery, but it is of a smaller caliber. So the Russians – sorry – the US is – are asking all kinds of countries with this smaller caliber to provide it to the Ukrainians. But these countries are not like the US, with these big arsenals.
When you ask them to give up their artillery, that’s a big question. But the race to arm the Ukrainians with heavy artillery will probably decide the outcome of this upcoming battle in the east. And of course, it looks like the next battle in the east will decide the outcome of the war, so there’s a big game.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And time seems to be of the essence.
When it comes to what the United States has admitted is transferring to the Ukrainians, gun rates continue to change. Are they still discussing what will happen to Putin? Are they still saying there are things we can’t do?
DAVID MARTIN: They certainly give all weapon systems a clear cleaning, will that cross their red line?
The problem is that no one knows …
MARGARET BRENNAN: What is that?
DAVID MARTIN: … what a red line it is.
The Russians sent this diplomatic note warning: do not send – quote, without quotes – “sensitive weapons”, because they will produce unpredictable consequences.
Who knows what they consider a sensitive weapon, probably not a piece of artillery. But in the weapons list provided last week, there was something called Phoenix Ghost Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems. And I’m reading a horrible list here, because last week was the first time I heard about it.
It is a classified program. We can’t show an image because there is no image. But this is a kamikaze drone that flies, looks around for a target, finds one and sinks into the target to kill it. Now the US has already given the Ukrainians about 700 smaller Switchblade kamikaze drones.
These have a larger warhead. These have a longer scope. Will these be the weapons that cross Putin’s red line? Who knows. But there is a dangerous dynamic here, which is that the worse Putin does, the more dangerous he becomes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And if you go back to a corner, like you said, the question is, what do you do then?
The United Kingdom has said that the Russians have not been reorganized or fully supplied. Ukrainians have an advantage right now?
DAVID MARTIN: Well, they definitely have a chance to fight.
Only the general rule of the battlefield is that the attacker needs a 3-1 advantage over the defender. And Russia tries a 7-1 lead. And they just don’t have that kind of numbers.
Beyond that, for weeks we have been talking about all the shortcomings of the Russian army, poor morale, poor command and control, poor logistics. This is not the kind of problem you can solve in a few weeks.
An American Secretary of Defense once said: You go to war with the army you have.
MARGARET BRENNAN: That’s right.
DAVID MARTIN: And the war with which Russia will go to the east of Ukraine is essentially the army that went to war in the north of Ukraine and could not take Kyiv.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
DAVID MARTIN: Just to give you an example, they’re trying to encircle the Ukrainian army.
MARGARET BRENNAN: That’s right.
DAVID MARTIN: To do that, some units have to travel 100 miles to get …
MARGARET BRENNAN: Come on.
DAVID MARTIN: … in the rear of the Ukrainian army.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Then they’re …
(CROSSTALK)
DAVID MARTIN: On the offensive against Kyiv, they exceeded their supply lines at 60 miles.
MARGARET BRENNAN: David Martin, great analysis. Thanks.
DAVID MARTIN: Of course.
MARGARET BRENNAN: President Biden met with the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, here in Washington.
We sat down with the Prime Minister just before returning to Ukraine and began our conversation with the situation in Mariupol.
(Start VT)
DENYS SHMYHAL (Prime Minister of Ukraine): Mariupol is now surrounded by the Russian army.
A few thousand of our soldiers, a few thousand civilians along with them, most of them women and children, are hiding in the basements of these companies. Soldiers are protecting civilians, but the amount of Russian soldiers, the amount of Russian techniques is sometimes – times more than our soldiers.
But now we hear the Russians start bombing, bombing this company, these shelters where our soldiers and civilians are saving from their bombs.
So there are terrible atrocities, terrible war crimes in the territory of Mariupol.
MARGARET BRENNAN: There have been satellite images of mass graves around the city.
PRIME MINISTER DENYS SHMYHAL: Absolutely.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Your government has said that Mariupol could be a red line, and because of the atrocities, diplomacy may not be possible.
Are we at this point? Has this line been crossed?
PRIME MINISTER DENYS SHMYHAL: Mariupol is like a symbol of the brave Ukrainian soldiers and civilians who for two months protect their city from Russian invasion, from Russian atrocities.
So this is like a symbol for the world. And I think it will be a red line for the whole civilized world, not just for the Ukrainian people. So we will protect our country. We protect our cities. Mariupol will remain until the end because of our soldiers who say: We will stay here and protect our city until the end.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I heard you say it could be the worst catastrophe of the century.
So do you think, after doing something like this, that Russia can negotiate in good faith?
PRIME MINISTER DENYS SHMYHAL: Russia has committed many atrocities and many war crimes in Ukraine.
But we understand that this terrible war could only end on the negotiating table, with the presence of … the presence of our partners, of world leaders, of civilized countries. But we should sign some documents about the end of this war.
MARGARET BRENNAN: President Biden says he will go to Congress next week and ask for more money to provide weapons to Ukraine.
The last time it happened, it took Congress three weeks to sign the funds. Do you have three weeks to wait?
PRIME MINISTER DENYS SHMYHAL: We count every minute, every hour, not every day, not every week or every month, because every minute and every hour soldiers, civilians, children, women die.
That’s why we need faster decisions. But the United States, the European Union, and the civilized world make much faster decisions. And we are very grateful …
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