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Hala Gorani Tonight
Mariupol Mayor Says New Mass Graves Have Been Discovered Near Mariupol; U.S. Defense Secretary Cites The U.S.' Goal Is To Weaken Russia; Elon Musk Strikes Deal To Buy Twitter For $44 Billion; Ukrainian Couple Torn Apart By War; Survivor Tells Of Forced Deportation By Soviets; North Korean Leader Pledges To Strengthen Country's Nuclear Force; New Video Glimpses Fatal Film Shooting; Making Mother's Milk. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired April 26, 2022 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Hello everyone, live from CNN in London, I am HALA GORANI TONIGHT. A new mass grave discovered near
Mariupol, the latest reports from the besieged city. Also, as NATO allies pledge new weapons to help Ukraine beat and weaken Russia, what is in this
new U.S. messaging? Then, they've made a deal. What the future holds for Twitter under Elon Musk's leadership, if it happens?
And later, caged in Shanghai, we will show you more backlash against China's zero COVID policy. The U.S. and its allies are taking a tougher
line against Russia as the war in Ukraine enters a critical phase, with more evidence of apparent atrocities emerging. The mayor of Mariupol says a
third mass grave has been found around the city. He says Russian fighters forced local residents to dig trenches in exchange for water and food.
Officials in eastern Ukraine say, Russia is firing across virtually the entire frontline, and it's a long frontline. Some areas like this village
in the Luhansk region of Donbas have been completely decimated. Ukraine says though, that it is successfully repelling some attacks in the eastern
south. The Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin says the U.S. will quote, "move the heaven and earth to help Ukraine defeat Russia", and he had this very
pointed message about Vladimir Putin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LLOYD AUSTIN, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, UNITED STATES: The war is now entering a new phase. But nobody is fooled by Putin's pretext or by his phony claims
on the Donbas. So, let's be clear, Russia's invasion is indefensible, and so are Russian atrocities. We all start today from a position of moral
clarity. Russia is waging a war of choice to indulge the ambitions of one man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Lloyd Austin there, we'll discuss what he said about weakening Russia a bit later in the program. But first, I want to bring in Scott
McLean, he's following the latest developments out of Mariupol and Odessa as well, live from Lviv. Let's start first with Mariupol and these
satellite images that look like more mass graves were discovered, and the announcement made by the mayor that it's the Russians that forced locals to
dig those trenches.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so, Hala, as you mentioned, this is the third time that these kind of accusations have been made. The first two
times involved villages just to the east and another one just to the west of Mariupol, where inside of existing cemeteries, graves, in some cases,
individual plots, and in other cases large trenches were seen dugout. Again, officials in Mariupol claim that this was evidence of mass graves.
CNN not in a position to confirm that other than to say that of course, the satellite images did show that there were a lot of new holes or trenches
dug in the ground and which had been disturbed. This latest accusation is in a village just north of the Mariupol city. Again, it is in an old
cemetery.
[14:05:00]
You can see there's a rapid expansion of it. This first showed up at the end of March when the Russians first began to control the city, and then it
seemed to grow into April. And the latest satellite images show that these trenches have gotten some 200 meters long In total, these rows of graves
that officials there are saying are in fact mass graves.
And the worst accusation, the most serious accusation, Hala, is the one that you mentioned that local people are being employed to dig these graves
in exchange for the bare necessities, food and water. That is how dire the situation there has become.
Now, in terms of getting people out, the U.N. Secretary General today, of course, met with Vladimir Putin in Moscow and suggested that the U.N. could
be helpful in brokering some kind of a deal or working on the ground as a goal between the Ukrainians and the Russians to try to help facilitate
humanitarian corridors alongside the Red Cross, which is already doing that frankly.
This is something that the Ukrainians had requested. Putin didn't exactly commit to that. He said that he's already in touch with people at the
Azovstal plant, in particular, where civilians are sheltering underground there. And he says that look, Russia's unilaterally declared corridors
actually do work. Hala?
GORANI: Let's talk about Odessa there, and we have video of another strike on that city. Tell us more.
MCLEAN: Yes, so, this is perhaps one of the most significant development over the last 24 hours. This is a bridge which connects the southwestern
part of Ukraine with the rest of the country. And the reason why this is so significant, that this is now in operable, is because it essentially cuts
off southwestern Ukraine from the rest of the country. There is only one way to go by road or by rail from that region to the rest of the country.
And this bridge was it. The other road goes through Moldova. And so, if you can't cross the border, then, that bridge was really your only option,
other than that, you would have to take some kind of a boat or a ferry across to that -- to that region. One of the things I wanted to mention,
Hala, and that these attacks on the rail system yesterday, they seem to be targeting junctions, choke-points all across the country.
And U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was asked about this, especially the timing, given that he had just left the country mere hours before those
rail sites were targeted. And, of course, we know that the U.S. delegation traveled by train. And he was asked whether he thought that he might be the
target. And he said that he is not completely sure, but it seems to be that the Russians were trying to cut off the rail network and cut off the flow
of weapons heading from east or west.
He doubts that the Russians had any specific knowledge about where exactly the American delegation was at any point in time, Hala.
GORANI: All right, thanks very much for that. Scott McLean is live in Lviv. NATO allies and partners of the U.S. from around the world have been
showing a united front at Ramstein Air Base in Germany today, gathering for high-level talks on the war in Ukraine. And dozens of nations, by the way,
have agreed to meet, agreed to meet on a monthly basis. So, this is an ongoing conversation.
Countries have been stepping up support, and among them is Germany. Quite a u-turn from that country, it's announced that it will deliver anti-aircraft
tanks like this one, to Ukraine. CNN's Pentagon correspondent Oren Liebermann is at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, and joins us now live with
more. I will ask you about what Lloyd Austin said in a moment, that shift in the U.S. messaging.
But first, this u-turn by Germany and these tanks, talk to us about what kind of military equipment this is, how many thanks, how much of a
difference will it make in the Ukrainian troops effort to repel the Russian invasion?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: You are absolutely right that Germany has faced quite a bit of criticism for not sending in the sorts of
weapons, the sorts of powerful weapons at that, that other countries including the U.S. and many other countries in Europe have been willing to
send in for quite some time now. Well now, it seems Germany has arrived on that same page. The announcement coming from the German defense minister
just a short place -- spot from where I'm standing.
Earlier today, where she said that Germany would send in 50 Gepard tanks. These look like tanks, but they are in fact anti-aircraft systems. They
have a radar used to track incoming targets. They are short range, so they don't have a range of 50 or 60 miles. It's a few kilometers, which could
prove effective against drones, against helicopters, and lower-flying systems like that.
So, quite a statement from Germany, and that's to some extent what this was all about, making sure that all the countries here, and in all, there were
more than 40 countries here, are on the same page when it comes to the commitment to Ukraine, the more clarity behind Ukraine's position, and the
condemnation of Russia's position.
So this, it seems, was hailed, not only by the U.S., but by others as a significant announcement from Germany, as the U.S. works to see where this
goes from here.
[14:10:00]
You're right to point out the Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in his closing remarks, that this will be a monthly discussion, and that's an --
GORANI: Yes --
LIEBERMANN: Indication of how the U.S. sees this going. We're way past talking about this in days and weeks. This is now months, and perhaps many
of them.
GORANI: And briefly, we talked about this messaging shift from the United States, where the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is saying that beyond
protecting Ukraine, beyond allowing Ukraine to defend itself against Russia, the aim of the U.S. intervention in these operations is to weaken
Russia so that it cannot invade its neighbors in a similar fashion. That is kind of changing the goal of the whole operation. It's bringing the U.S.
and Russia closer to -- not direct conflict, but you know, closer certainly than they have been in the past, in terms of this -- of this war.
LIEBERMANN: It is certainly stronger rhetoric that we've heard from not only Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, but others in the administration,
calling for a Ukraine victory, but also this idea of weakening Russia. He has tried to clarify his remarks, saying he doesn't believe there's a risk
of -- a serious risk at least, of U.S.-Russia confrontation, and that's not the goal. But he says pragmatically, if you look at what's happening in
Ukraine, the attrition from two months plus now of combat, as well as Ukraine's successes on the battlefield, have weakened Russia's military.
And then the point is, from the U.S. and the West to use sanctions to weaken Russia's economic ability to wage war and its defense industrial
basis ability to keep supplying arms. That he says, is the explanation behind the idea of weakening Russia.
GORANI: All right, thank you, Oren Liebermann in Germany. That U.N. Secretary General is in Moscow, where he's been meeting with President
Vladimir Putin and the Foreign Secretary Sergey Lavrov. He is pleading for peace as Russia issues pointed threats about possible nuclear war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO GUTERRES, SECRETARY-GENERAL, UNITED NATIONS: But it is my deep conviction that the sooner we end this war, the better for the people of
Ukraine, for the people of the Russian federation, and those far beyond.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, you saw the return of the big table there at the Kremlin. Putin and Lavrov though are repeating the lines they've been saying since
the invasion that this war is Ukraine's fault, and that Ukraine is the one that's not willing to negotiate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SERGEY LAVROV, FOREIGN MINISTER, RUSSIA (through translator): But again, I will repeat, we are committed to solutions by negotiation, and are
committed to a ceasefire, which is what we do on a daily basis by declaring humanitarian corridors which are ignored. So we are ready for negotiations,
and if anybody has interesting ideas, we are ready to listen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: So, we've heard that before. They're ready for negotiations. That has not quieted the Russian guns, certainly. Nic Robertson joins me from
Brussels. The expectations were, I don't think they could have been lower for this Guterres visit and the result was unsurprising.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, Sergey Lavrov calls for interesting ideas. Of course, he appears and Putin appears
tenured to the interesting idea being floated by mostly the international community, that Russia should stop the war and pull troops out of Ukraine.
And that certainly, the message that was coming from the U.N. Secretary General, that the war should stop.
The U.N. Secretary General did feel that he had some sort of commitment from President Putin that the U.N. and the Red Cross could be involved in
some way in helping out, helping get the civilians out of Mariupol. But President Putin's definition of what is happening in Mariupol at the
moment, again, flies in the face of the perceived reality of the people on the ground.
President Putin saying that it's Ukrainian forces that are preventing the Ukrainian civilians inside Mariupol from getting out. What Ukrainian
officials say is that many of those civilians want to leave and come to the main part of Ukrainian territory controlled by the Ukrainian government.
And what keeps happening, they say, is that Russian forces manipulate the situation and force those few who do decide to take the plunge and leave,
and force them to go to Russian-controlled areas in Russia or in Russian- controlled parts of Ukraine, which is against their will.
So, really, no change. And as you said, not to be -- not to be surprised, not unexpected in that -- in a platform again for President Putin sitting
next to him, a very important world leader, to tell the Russian people that the U.N. is against Russia, that everything is stacked up against Russia,
and this was a war they had to fight. No --
GORANI: Yes --
ROBERTSON: Change fundamentally in the Russian position.
GORANI: OK, Nic, thanks very much. As Russian forces shell and continue to shell the city of Kharkiv, rescue workers are finding themselves under
fire. Paramedics are very bravely working around the clock to save victims of the war while putting their own lives very much on the line. Clarissa
Ward is there to witness their bravery firsthand.
[14:15:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the beginning of a 24-hour shift for paramedics Alexandria Lufskovkia(ph)
and Vladimir Venzel. They prepare their ambulance for the carnage that Kharkiv residents confront every day.
"We have two tourniquets", Vladimir says. Alexandria's(ph) mother stops by the dispatch center to give her daughter a hug. This is one of the most
dangerous jobs. Every moment together is precious. A loud stream of booms signals the day's work is beginning. "That's incoming now", this ambulance
worker tells us. Alexandria(ph) and Vladimir answer the call. "Temperatura(ph)", she says, the code used when someone has been wounded by
shelling. Their flak jackets on, they're ready to roll out.
(on camera): So, they said that they've got reports one person at least has been injured in the shelling and they're hearing some rockets as well.
So, we're going to see what's going on.
(voice-over): The shells hit a residential apartment building. The paramedics need to act fast. Russian forces are increasingly hitting the
same target twice. It's called a double tap. A horrifying strategy to take out rescue workers as they respond. We see for ourselves. "Get in",
Vladimir shouts. "Faster". We take cover under the stairwell. Alexandria(ph) is trying to find the wounded person. But there is no
signal. At that moment, another barrage goes off. We brace for the impact.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WARD: "Is everybody OK?" Alexandria(ph) asks, our team member Maria Ardeva(ph) has cut up her hands on broken glass. Vladimir treats her
injuries as Alexandria(ph) calls the dispatch again to find where the wounded are.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WARD: "We got no connection, we are sitting in the entrance", she says, and they're shelling the shit out of us." The connection keeps dropping.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WARD: Finally, she gets through to the person who called for the ambulance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WARD: "Tell me your damn house number", she says. "I repeat, 12 G, I told you a 1,000 times", he replies. The man is dying. We decided to try and
make a run for it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One-three-three, let's go. Go! Come on, Maria. Maria, come on. Come on, Maria. Come on, go! In the car, in the car.
UNIDENTIFIEID MALE: The ambulance was hit, yes?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
WARD (on camera): OK, so we were just in an apartment building, they were looking for an injured man, a bunch of rounds came in and hit the next door
building. So, now we are getting out as fast as we can.
(voice-over): While we run out, Vladimir and Alexandria(ph) run back in. We find them treating the injured man on the side of the road. Their back
window has been blown out by the blast. He has shrapnel injuries and head trauma. Once they've stabilized him, they rushed him to the hospital.
Vladimir asks about his pain. The man has been deafened by the blast. Arriving at the hospital, they've have done their part, it's up to others
now to save him.
(on camera): I have to say, I think you guys are like the bravest people I have ever met.
(voice-over): Back at base, we asked them why they continue to do this work with all the danger it entails.
[14:20:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
"It's normal. This is our work, of course, it's scary like for everyone", Alexandria(ph) says. Today, you were with us in the hottest place, in the
oven. But we're still alive, thank God."
WARD (on camera): (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
"You feel it's your duty or obligation", Vladimir tells us, "to help the people who are still here." And what do your parents say? What does your
family say? Aren't they wanting you to stop this work?
(LAUGHTER)
VLADIMIR VENZEL, PARAMEDIC: No comments. No comments. Very difficult.
WARD: They must be scared.
VENZEL: Yes.
WARD: Wow, but scared.
VENZEL: I call her all day, all night.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Vladimir --
WARD: We saw your mother.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
WARD: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WARD: "She is worried to the point of hysteria", Alexandria(ph) tells us. "She says, you need to leave, you need to go to some safe place. Why are
you doing this? I have only one child, stop it." And what do you say? "I have to do it", she says, simply. And with that, they go back to cleaning
their ambulance. Their shift, only halfway through. Clarissa Ward, CNN, Kharkiv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Just wow. Unbelievable. Great report there from Clarissa. Still to come tonight, more explosions in a breakaway territory in Moldova. Raising
new worries that the war in Ukraine could spread. We'll hear why Moldova's president is calling the blast a provocation. But first, many are
speculating about what could happen to Twitter now that billionaire Elon Musk is poised to take over. We'll take a closer look.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Well, U.S. markets and markets around the world are down very sharply this hour. Monday's recovery has proven short-lived. Investors
continue worrying about an economic slowdown, even a recession. Some people are worried about -- take a look at the Dow, down 1.6 percent, that's more
than 500 points at 3,512. Tech stocks are leading the losses as markets awake key earnings reports. Right now, the Nasdaq is the hardest hit, it's
down more than 2.5 percent, but it was down more than 3 percent earlier in the session.
Elon Musk is officially set to buy Twitter, I'm sure most of you are aware. The social media platform accepted his $44 billion offer on Monday even
though it initially seemed that the board would reject it.
[14:25:00]
Well, it had adopted that poison pill ten days earlier to keep the billionaire from getting a large stake in the company. Musk says he wants
to make Twitter better than ever, but not everyone is optimistic about what potentially lies ahead. Let's bring in CNN's Richard Quest, he's the host
of "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" coming up at the top of the hour. And Elon Musk just wants this to be a platform for free speech.
Implying that currently, Twitter is maybe monitoring or controlling the message a little bit too much. What would happen under Musk on Twitter?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: We don't know. I mean, that's the problem with this. He talks a good talk. He says he wants it to be the
town square. He said that -- he's actually tweeted a couple of days ago before the deal was announced, saying, you know, I hope my critics stay on
Twitter because that's the place where they'll be --
GORANI: Wow --
QUEST: Able to have their views heard. But he's already received a warning from Thierry Breton, one of the European commissioners, who has just
reminded him that while Tesla, his other company has to follow EU rules when it comes to auto-manufacturer, so, Twitter will have to follow the EU
GDPR and all the other rules about the right to live and all of those sort of things. Right to remain anonymous on Twitter --
GORANI: Right to be forgotten, yes --
QUEST: Within the EU -- and right to be forgotten, yes, when he buys it. So, what does it actually mean when he says I want it to be an open source
for debate, for discussion? It's not clear, it's woolly, and I think that's his biggest problem.
GORANI: Also, I'm wondering, what does this mean? And debate -- I mean, we have debate and discussion on Twitter. There's so much of it frankly, and
sometimes --
QUEST: Right --
GORANI: You have to switch it off, otherwise, your head, just -- you know, explodes. What Twitter bans is, it bans misinformation or tries to. It bans
things like the promotion of child exploitation and child pornography. It bans things and it signals to users when it's a government-affiliated --
QUEST: Right --
GORANI: Account, which can be seen as a bad thing. I mean, what -- does Musk want to get rid of all this? Does he want to put the deplatformed
conspiracy theorists back on the website?
QUEST: I think what he wants is to certainly get rid of the auto bots. He wants to get rid of the various amounts of -- putting it bluntly, rubbish
and crab that's on there. That just sort of loads up everybody's fields and everybody's --
GORANI: Right --
QUEST: Timelines. And he wants it to become a more structured streamline. Now, to do that, of course, there is a rumor that he might go do a pay sort
of method or a pay wall or a subscription --
GORANI: That doesn't always work, Richard, that doesn't always work.
QUEST: Well, yes, I suspect we've got evidence of that all around us. However, I think what he is saying is if -- remember, he might be talking
about the people posting will pay. So, if you want to get your message out --
GORANI: Right --
QUEST: You're the one that pays, not necessarily the subscriber, not necessarily the person who receives it. The only thing that is absolutely,
abundantly clear is one, his employees are worried about what's going to happen to them or --
GORANI: Yes --
QUEST: Prospective employees. Number two, he's going to have problems with Europe and GDPR and the right to be forgotten. Number three, how is he
financing it? Morgan Stanley says he's got the money, but let's actually wait and see. And number four, how realistic is his vision? And look at the
share price today, we're at $51 -- in fact, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" just bought one share of Twitter for $49 to work --
GORANI: OK --
QUEST: Into plan --
GORANI: And that's less --
QUEST: We've got only $5 --
GORANI: Than he's offering, which tells you what? Investors -- let me ask you about the anatomy of the deal because he wants to take this company
private, and he wants to use his own money, $44 billion. If he has to sell Tesla shares for instance to do it, then investors are a little bit worried
about the value of the current stock price of Tesla shares.
It's down almost 11 percent right now so far this session. Does he have to take out loans? I mean, how is he going to finance this?
QUEST: All we know from Morgan Stanley and from the SEC filing is that financing has been arranged. Now, we imagine that's part debt. It might be
part issuance, it's loans. It's all those things. And it might be some way of hiving it off or tranches it off, we don't know. There is much about
this that we simply don't know.
And that uncertainty is both its enticing attraction what's going to happen to this public square. This town square that he talks off. And it's also
its biggest problem. The fact that the share price is where it is, it should be getting closer to 54, which is the --
GORANI: Sure --
QUEST: Asking price, not further away.
GORANI: We'll see if we have to put a dime in the -- in the coin slot every time we post a tweet.
(LAUGHTER)
Thank you very much --
QUEST: Thank you --
GORANI: Richard Quest. We'll see you at the top of the hour.
Now tonight, we return to the war in Ukraine. Newlyweds torn apart by war, CNN speaks to a young bride whose husband is fighting in Mariupol. To hear
how she is coping with her world suddenly falling apart. We'll be right back.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
GORANI: More mysterious explosions have rocked a breakaway province in Moldova called Transnistria. It is raising fears that the war in Ukraine is
potentially spreading outside of the borders of the country.
Transnistria is a fairly thin sliver of land, a self-declared, independent, pro-Russian territory within Moldova, which is not internationally
recognized. The latest blasts there occurred early Tuesday, when two radio towers were severely damaged.
They followed explosions on Monday near the ministry of state security in the Transnistrian capital. Now no one has claimed responsibility but
Ukraine's government and Moldova's president are calling the incidents provocations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAIA SANDU, MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Our analysis indicates there are tensions between different forces within the region who
are interested in destabilizing the situation.
This makes the region of Transnistria vulnerable and create risks for Moldova. We condemn any provocations or attempts to involve Moldova in
actions that could threaten the country's peace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Now the heartbreak of Russia's war on Ukraine is being felt in many ways, from the killing of civilians, to the destruction of
communities, to the displacement of millions. And for many, it is personal as well, the trauma of being torn from loved ones.
[14:35:00]
CNN's Matt Rivers met a young woman in Kyiv, whose very new husband is fighting in Mariupol, risking their love for their country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over) Before Mariupol became a hellscape, before Russian military depravity turned a city into a
cemetery, there was love here.
Just two weeks before the war began, Natalka Zarytska spent Valentine's Day with her boyfriend in the city. They took this picture at a cafe and this
one after eating. And a few days later, she snapped this one of him from her window seat on the train that would take her back to Kyiv.
NATALKA ZARYTSKA, GIRLFRIEND OF UKRAINE FIGHTER: He kissed me and told, "Natalka, I don't know when I will see you again."
RIVERS: Resignation from a man who understood the realities of the war to come. Natalka's boyfriend, who we are not naming or showing for security
reasons, is a soldier in the Azov Battalion, a unit that has fought the Russians in Mariupol for months.
We went to see Natalka at her home in Kyiv, where she told us her boyfriend was given a command to, quote, "fight until the last drop of blood."
RIVERS: What did you think when he told you that?
ZARYTSKA: I recommended him to save his life but he answered no. I should keep on the command. I'm a soldier and I have to be here.
RIVERS (voice-over): She says her boyfriend lost cell service on March 3. His silence was as deafening as the bombs that by then had started to fall
around Kyiv, forcing her and her family down into this cellar. It was in here that, after two weeks, she heard from him.
ZARYTSKA: Then he called. It could be 10 or 15 seconds. There was bombing and no connections.
RIVERS (voice-over): But with what connection he did have, he would send her videos of the utter destruction that surrounded him. We can't show you
those for security reasons.
RIVERS: What do you think when you watch these videos?
ZARYTSKA: I think that empty. I feel the empty. Absolute empty.
RIVERS (voice-over): Along with the videos were selfies and texts and on his birthday, a particularly special message.
ZARYTSKA: He gave me a proposition that I couldn't --
RIVERS: Say no to.
ZARYTSKA: -- say no, yes.
RIVERS: What did he write to you?
ZARYTSKA: (Speaking foreign language).
RIVERS: So "I love you. And do you want to be my wife?"
RIVERS (voice-over): A few days later, a marriage certificate made it official. Now a wife, she says she refuses to cry. Her husband is stoic in
the face of death, so she will be, too. How else to describe her reaction to the last message he sent?
ZARYTSKA: My husband told me that, "Natalka, please, be glad, because very soon it will finish."
RIVERS: When you say it's going to finish very soon, what are the two options?
ZARYTSKA: Very simple. They will arrive or they will be killed. Just two options.
RIVERS (voice-over): Matt Rivers, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: And Ukranian officials have accused Russia of forcibly deporting civilians across the border. It's something Russia has done before in
history. Scott McLean speaks to a survivor of this kind of deportation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These photos were shot in the Siberian city of Nakhodka, just a stone's throw from North Korea.
Global Russian media reported that over 300 Mariupol residents arrived here by train.
Ukrainian human rights commissioner says the new arrivals were forcibly deported from Ukraine and taken into Siberia, a violation of the Geneva
Convention. The story appears to fit a growing pattern.
Mariupol's most desperate people being pushed into Russian territory. The American ambassador to the U.N. has raised concerns about the apparent
forced removals, a tactic that is well worn in Soviet history.
MCLEAN: Your mother worked in the coal mine?
ENNO UIBO, FORCED DEPORTATION SURVIVOR: Yes. We built a nice cover (ph).
MCLEAN (voice-over): Enno Uibo is 76 today but he was only 3 when soldiers showed up at his family home in southern Estonia, then part of the Soviet
Union, to take his family away.
UIBO (through translator): We saw cars very, very rarely. I had never been in a car before. But this time, we got to ride a car.
MCLEAN: You couldn't understand why everyone was upset because you were excited to be able to ride in a car?
UIBO (through translator): For me, it was not understandable. My family used to be very cheerful. I couldn't understand why my brother was not
making jokes. My sister was not laughing. My mom had tears in her eyes and Father was very gloomy.
MCLEAN (voice-over): In the dead of winter, that pickup truck took them to the train station --
[14:40:00]
-- where they were loaded with others into a packed cattle car and taken on a journey that took 18 days. Some people didn't survive the trip.
His family was among the millions of people who, under Joseph Stalin, were forcibly taken from their homes and sent to remote parts of the Soviet
Union. Political dissidents, rebels or farmers who opposed the Communist takeover of their land were all marked for deportation, all in an effort to
crush any dissent.
In Siberia, his family lived in the barracks of an old prisoner of war camp. It was almost a decade before they were finally allowed to return to
their home, which, by then had been destroyed.
The names of the more than 22,000 Estonians who were killed or died in that brutal conditions are inscribed in this memorial. Uibo's older brother, who
took up arms for independence, is one of them.
Historian Meelis Maripuu also has family on the wall.
MEELIS MARIPUU, HISTORIAN (from captions): It was a possibility to actually to kill the people without doing to doing nothing. But people just
died from diseases, from starvation.
MCLEAN: It made people realize that they should just sort of bow down and accept the system as it is?
MARIPUU (from captions): Yes. after such reparations with people, they should just accept the system as it is.
MCLEAN: What has been the lasting impact of this experience on your life?
UIBO (through translator): I lost my childhood. I have to remain myself in a foreign and hostile environment.
MCLEAN: Do you see any parallels with what's happening today?
UIBO (through translator): I was sure that nothing like this could ever happen again. But what has happened in Ukraine has brought these painful
memories back very vividly. It's unbelievable that time hasn't changed anything at all. Evil has become even worse.
With my whole soul, I feel for Ukrainians who are taken violently, against their will, from their homes to the unknown.
MCLEAN (voice-over): Scott McLean, CNN, Tallinn, Estonia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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GORANI: Now a military show a force in North Korea, as the country celebrated its army's 90th anniversary on Monday, you can see the images
there, a parade proudly displaying North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missiles and leader Kim Jong-un said more is to come.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIM JONG-UN, NORTH KOREAN LEADER (through translator): We will continue to take measures for further developing the nuclear forces of our state at the
fastest possible speed.
[14:45:00]
The fundamental mission of our nuclear forces is to deter a war. But our nukes can never be confined to the single mission of war deterrent, even at
a time when a situation we are not desirous of at all is created on this land.
If any forces try to violate the fundamental interests of our state, our nuclear forces will have to decisively accomplish its unexpected second
mission.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: South Korea responded by urging its northern neighbor to stop causing tensions in the region and to move to denuclearize.
China is struggling with its zero COVID policy, that controversial policy. Beijing is testing more than 20 million people in a race to contain its
latest outbreak. In Shanghai, weeks of strict lockdown have sparked some widespread anger. CNN's David Culver reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the video Chinese censors do not want you to see or share, as it sparked a rare
digital uprising on social media this weekend, highlighting a shared misery and helplessness felt across Shanghai.
The video points to dysfunction, mismanagement, a study in chaos, struggling to cope with a surge in COVID cases. It resonates with so many
of Shanghai's 25 million residents, feeling trapped, turning to the most popular Chinese communication platforms Weibo and WeChat to vent.
Amidst what is government-controlled Internet, with any dissent quickly suppressed and erased, China's censors over the weekend struggled to keep
up.
No sooner would they block one version of the video, did another resurface. Rapidly multiplying, flooding China's cyberspace. Some versions even
disguised as QR codes to throw off the censors.
The online rattling of social stability was a growing rejection of China's harsh COVID containment measures. Some even sharing this clip from the 2012
movie "Les Miz," referencing a 19th Century uprising in Paris. The censors swiftly clamped down, extinguishing the spread.
But the users also taking aim at the obvious censorship itself, sharing clips of their own officials proclaiming China's citizens have a right to
freely express themselves. Seemingly ironic, given even the first line of China's own national anthem is now blocked online.
The words "Rise, those who don't want to be enslaved," now used as a veiled reference to criticize their own government.
For some, Shanghai feels like the world's largest prison, CNN witnessing it firsthand.
CULVER: The extent of my freedom is all the way to my terrace door here. We're lucky enough to at least get some fresh air outside.
Our community volunteer sending me this image of what's on the other side of our door, a freshly-taped paper seal, a reminder not to leave.
CULVER (voice-over): And if I managed to get out, there's now a COVID guard posted day and night.
Outside several apartment compounds, fences going up, neighbors sharing shocking images of new barriers on social media. Listen to them howl from
their balconies as they're further caged in.
Some finding work-arounds, buying their groceries through the added layer, others desperately rattling locks, hoping to escape.
And then there are those who managed to tear down the walls.
For folks locked into their homes, scenes like this are a terrifying reality. An apartment fire over the weekend in Shanghai's business
district, state media quick to report that everyone got out safely.
But it raises questions: might these COVID barriers be more of a danger than the virus itself?
And if you thought the city might be near reopening or easing lockdowns, images from the streets of Shanghai show giant containers, not bringing in
much-needed supplies but rather helping to build more blockades.
This as more positive cases and close contacts are rounded up and sent to government quarantine facilities, some left to sleep in tents in the middle
of deserted streets as their dormitories are disinfected.
As the rising tune of discontent echoes throughout the eerily empty metropolis, for many, Shanghai has fallen -- David Culver, CNN, Shanghai.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: New evidence offers a glimpse into the shooting at the "Rust" film set that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins back in October.
The Santa Fe County sheriff's department has released dozens of interviews, photos and video, including this body cam footage, showing the moments
immediately afterward when they were taking photos of actor Alec Baldwin.
Hutchins and director, Joel Souza, who was injured, were shot while rehearsing a scene. We are looking at the last rehearsal footage there.
[14:50:00]
GORANI: Baldwin's police interview, in which he described the incident, was also released.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: She hands me the gun. I'm assuming she's done it the right way. She's done it for the last two weeks. I pull out the holster. I
pull it out slow. We are rehearsing. (INAUDIBLE). I pull it out slow. Turn, cock it, just a bang. It goes off and she hits the ground.
In the rehearsal, the gun is normally empty. But my point is, is that they were standing in positions they wouldn't ordinarily be because they assumed
it was an empty, cold gun. We weren't shooting. We were rehearsing. There's a vital difference.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think someone would deliberately do this?
BALDWIN: I can't imagine who would. If I am standing there in a rehearsal, I'm thinking to myself, could someone actually believe that, in a
rehearsal, I would actually aim the gun and hit those two people?
That's farfetched.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, the district attorney's office says that a decision on charges has not yet been made.
We will be right back. Stay with us.
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GORANI: All this, week CNN brings you stories of innovators tackling some of the world's biggest challenges. CNN's Rachel Crane looks at how
technology could replicate something mothers have done for centuries.
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RACHEL CRANE, CNN BUSINESS INNOVATION AND SPACE CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Courtney Miller is a mom of two and a lactation consultant from
(INAUDIBLE), North Carolina. It's her job to help parents breastfeed.
But even for a professional, this is harder than it looks.
COURTNEY MILLER, LACTATION CONSULTANT (voice-over): I was like, oh, (INAUDIBLE) I've got this. Like I have taught moms how to breastfeed.
Surely, I will be fine. Then I realized (INAUDIBLE) the first 2 to 3 days and then from then on, that mean things changed.
CRANE: Oh, yes.
CRANE (voice-over): Biologist Leila Strickland knows how that feels. In 2009, she struggled to make enough breast milk for her child and had to
rely on formula. Strickland wondered if she could create an alternative in the lab, one that's a lot more like mother's milk.
LEILA STRICKLAND, BIOLOGIST: What would this mean for mothers and fathers and babies, if you could produce human milk outside the body?
CRANE (voice-over): Over 10 years later, Strickland is getting closer to finding out. She cofounded BioMilk, to develop cell culture technology.
It's the same kind of process used to make lab-grown meat. But BioMilk is culturing human milk-making cells.
STRICKLAND: We are collecting milk from two different sources, the milk and from the tissue.
[14:55:00]
CRANE (voice-over): That milk contains many of the beneficial fats and proteins you normally only get from breasts. It's the first step toward a
potential solution for parents who can't breastfeed their babies or access donated milk.
It's still a long way off from selling a product, at least three years, Strickland says. First, BioMilk needs to grow memory cells at a much larger
scale, at a lower cost and convince regulators that the product is safe for our most vulnerable humans, Strickland says. Even if BioMilk gets that far,
the product won't be the same as mother's milk, experts say.
NATALIE SHENKER, HUMAN MILK FOUNDATION (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE) components of human milk are produced by the (INAUDIBLE) being cultured in
these bioreactors. (INAUDIBLE) the fatty acids, the fats that to help bring development, they come from the mother's blood.
CRANE (voice-over): But Strickland believes BioMilk's work can also further our understanding of breast milk and that could lead to new
scientific breakthroughs.
STRICKLAND (voice-over): Breast milk is a collection of many thousands of molecules that all have beneficial effects throughout the human body.
CRANE (voice-over): It's enough to convince investors like Bill Gates' breakthrough Energy Ventures, which hopes BioMilk's product will be more
sustainable than formula. Miller, too, she is donating a few ounces of her own milk to BioMilk's research.
MILLER (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE) replacement to breast milk and I don't see it that way. I see it as just another choice.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Thanks for watching. I am Hala Gorani. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is next.
END
