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Renewed Shelling in Eastern Ukraine Damages Kindergarten; California Unveils Plan to Transition to Endemic Phase; COVID Cases Soaring Across Parts of Asia; Storm System Brings Snow, Ice, Flooding and Extreme Winds; Anger Over Police Response to Fight Between Black, White Teens. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired February 18, 2022 - 04:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[04:30:00]

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes in Lviv, Ukraine.

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kim Brunhuber live at the CNN Center in Atlanta. If you're just joining us, let me bring you up to speed with our top stories this hour.

A New York judge ruled that Donald Trump and two of his children Donald Jr. and Ivanka must sit for depositions within 21 days as part of an investigation into the Trump Organization. The judge is rejecting attempts by Trump and his lawyers to block the subpoenas for their testimony calling their arguments quote, audacious, preposterous and something out of a George Orwell book.

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva failed to medal after falling multiple times during her free skate routine at the Beijing Olympics. The 15-year-old was favored to finish in her first after being in the top spot following Tuesday's short program. But several mistakes dropped her to fourth place. We'll have more on these stories at the top of the hour.

HOLMES: All right, now here in Ukraine renewed shelling has been rattling the contested eastern regions. A kindergarten in the Ukrainian controlled territory was shelled on Thursday. It's unclear at the moment who fired first, but authorities say a few people suffered minor injuries. Fortunately, no kids. Ukraine's president calling the shelling a big provocation. CNN's chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward takes us inside the damaged school.

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CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Ukrainian military has brought us nearly 400 miles towards the frontlines in the east of the country.

It's already dark by the time we land. We'll only have a short time on the ground, but they are determined to show us the aftermath of heavy shelling earlier in the day. WARD: This kindergarten is less than three miles from the so-called line of contact, the frontline. And witnesses in this area said that around eight or nine o'clock this morning, they started to hear shelling. It was loud enough they could hear the whistle of the shells going by.

[04:35:00]

And two of them landed here at this kindergarten. Let's take a look.

WARD (voice-over): At the end of the hallway, this is what remains of the play room. The military says the first shell hit at 8:45. Mercifully, the children were eating breakfast in another part of the building.

Chief Julia Savojenko (ph) tells me she immediately rushed them into the hallway, away from the windows.

WARD: So, she's saying, in that moment he was only really afraid for the children.

WARD (voice-over): I asked her how they reacted to the situation.

"Our youngest children thought it was all a game at first, and we just let them pretend," she tells us. "Our older children understood what was happening, and they were afraid."

A video released by Ukrainian police shows the kids being hastily evacuated from the building.

WARD: I have to say, it's very dark here. I'm not sure if you can see, but this is actually a children's playground. And if you just turn over here, you can see, this is a crater, and the local authorities are telling us that this is where the other shell hit.

WARD (voice-over): Our time on the ground is restricted. Fighting usually begins after dark here. As we finish up a live shot, our Ukrainian minders grow nervous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you hear a sound?

WARD: Yes, I hear it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go.

WARD: John, please excuse me, but our Ukrainian military minders are asking us to move because of that shelling, so we will check in with you as soon as we can. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go.

WARD: Let's go.

WARD (voice-over): On an average day, there might be three or four major cease-fire violations around here. Today the military says there have been more than 30. WARD: OK. They're telling us we have to go now. There's a steady stream of artillery that we can hear in the distance, so we're getting onto the bus to leave.

WARD (voice-over): In the hours after we leave, another shell hits a house in the same town, as this frontline continues to heat up at a time when calm is desperately needed.

Clarissa Ward, CNN, Stanytsia Luhanska, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And that'll do it from us here in Lviv, in western Ukraine. Let's send it back to Kim Brunhuber in Atlanta -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks so much, Michael.

Most COVID infections here in the U.S. steadily fall and states begin to contemplate next moves. There is encouraging news on the vaccination front. At least half of each state's population is now fully vaccinated according to data from the CDC. Alabama is the final state to cross the 50 percent mark. Nationally over 64 percent of the total population is fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, more states are moving ahead with plans to ease restrictions. California's governor Gavin Newsom unveiled his state's plan for the next phase of the pandemic which focuses on learning to live with COVID. But as many states start moving away from mask requirements, including in schools. Some health experts are saying, not so fast.

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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: It is risky. It is risky. You may get away with it very well. It's possible you are going to get away with it, but you do have the risk when you pull back if you have a certain dynamic of infection that you'll have a rebound. And hopefully the states that are doing that have a plan if, in fact, we do see a rebound.

They'll be able to reinstitute the mitigation that they're now pulling back on. You know, when you want to pull back and say we're done, well, you know, the virus may not be done with us. So, going down maybe the right thing. Keep going down. Pulling back. But you have to be prepared to re-mitigate again if you see a rebound coming up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Coronavirus cases are soaring across parts of Asia fueled by the omicron variant. South Korea topped 100,000 new daily infections for the first time in Thursday. And infections in Hong Kong are climbing fast with thousands of new cases are reported every day. So, for more on all of that, I'm joint by CNN's Paula Hancocks in Seoul, South Korea. So, Paula, so before we get to Hong Kong, give us an update on what's happening where you are in South Korea. PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kim, we're seeing really

across Asia, there are many countries which are now hitting record levels as Omicron really takes hold. More than 109,000 new cases reported here in South Korea. And it's the same time as we're seeing these very high figures, officials are telling us that they're seeing cases doubling every week. And at this point we have not reached the peak and they don't know when we will.

They're estimating potentially the end of February, the middle of next month, middle of March may be when it starts to peak. But they're not as concerned as they might be because they're pointing out that the number of deaths and the number of critical cases while rising is relatively low still. They have enough ICU beds. They have the capability and the medical system here is stable.

[04:40:00]

In fact, stable enough for the decision coming out Friday that they were going to ease some of those social distancing restrictions, just one really. There's a curfew on restaurants and entertainment venues of 9 p.m. that's being pushed back to 10 p.m. So, not a massive difference. But the Prime Minister says it is a nod to those small businesses that are really struggling to keep their heads above water.

And we're also seeing a significant thing here, which is the QR code system, which was really the pinning -- underpinning that the track and trace system here in South Korea which worked so well for so many months. They've now dismantled that so they're not going to need that. Because they realize that you cannot contact trace when you have over 100,000 new cases a day.

Now it's a very contrasting view in Hong Kong though. They are still sticking to their zero COVID strategy. Now those 6,000 cases, the last daily case to be reported and the medical system is struggling under that caseload. One of the reasons being is that Hong Kong still sends to a hospital or to a facility everybody who tests positive. And when you have that number of people testing positive every day, there is inevitably going to be strain.

We have seen some people on guernseys, on stretchers lined in a row in a parking lot of a hospital. A couple of doctors speaking to CNN said that they felt frustrated because they had patients outside who were feeling cold, asking for blankets and they simply didn't have anywhere inside to put them.

But at this point Hong Kong is saying it will stick to its zero COVID strategy. The chief executive saying they may test everybody within the territory -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, huge undertaking there. Paula Hancocks, thanks so much.

Parts of the U.S. will be dealing with, quote, a plethora of weather hazards this morning. That's according to the National Weather Service. On Thursday a powerful line of storms moved east from the Plains and Midwest. At least two tornados were confirmed in Alabama. Power was knocked out to more than 100,000 homes and businesses across a number of states. All right, let's bring in meteorologist Derek Van Dam. Derek, so a plethora. What are we looking at here?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. It was a very multi-faceted storm. I mean, we had snow on the northern side, the cold side of the storm. We had severe storms and tornadoes on the warm side of the storm. And then flooding in between.

Here's a look at what it appeared like on the roads in Kansas City. This is of course being the wintry side of this major storm that's moving across the eastern portions of the country. And let me take you to the South where we had tornadoes across Alabama with severe wind reports stretching from Mississippi, through Georgia, and into Tennessee.

You already mentioned, Kim, over 100,000 people without power. That is slowly being restored to customers across eastern portions of the country as this storm start to exit the coastal areas of the U.S. In fact, the low pressure and cold front associated with this located over New England at the moment. It is still bringing wintry weather to upstate New York, for instance, and to the downwind areas of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. That's where we're going to start kicking up the lake effect snowmachine.

This will be an all-rain event for Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and D.C. this morning. So, slick spots on the roadways because of the rain. But at least it's not snow. Right. You have to travel a little further north, a little further inland away from the coast to see the snowfall.

There's a look at the individuals under a flood alert at the moment. Over 8 million Americans impacted by the heavy rain that has brought flash flooding to the area. In fact, we broke some daily records in Cincinnati that were in place since 1976. Other impressive rainfall totals in excess of 5 inches of rain in Missouri. We still have high wind alerts across the East Coast. Wind warnings for the Boston metropolitan area. And another clipper system will help kick up some snowfall later this weekend across the Great Lakes then again, for the downwind areas of Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. But the east coast spared from the snowfall this time -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks so much. Derek Van Dam, appreciate it.

Coming up, a fight between a black teen and a white teen that's captured on video in a New Jersey mall. Well, now there's outrage over the stark difference in how police responded to each boy. We'll have more on that next. Stay with us.

[04:45:00]

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BRUNHUBER: Outrage is growing over the police response to a fight between two teenagers at a mall in New Jersey. One teen was white, the other black and they received very different treatments from the officers who responded. Now even the state's governor is weighing in. CNN's Athena Jones reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Accusations of racial bias by police after they broke up a fight between a pair of teenagers, one black, one white, at a New Jersey mall. A now viral video shows the teens having a heated discussion. The white teen pointing his finger in the face of the black teen who pushes the white teen's hand away. The white teen then shoves the black teen and the two begin to tussle.

At one point, the white teen tackling the black teen and pinning him to a couch then throwing him to the ground. When police arrived to break up the fight, a female officer pulled the white teen away and pushes him to the couch without handcuffs. While the other officer presses the black teen to the ground and kneels on his back. The female officer also coming over to kneel on his upper back while they place him and only him in handcuffs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, no. Holy (BEEP).

JONES (voice-over): Treatment some viewed as unequal, unfair and racially biased. One bystander explaining and surprised as police handcuff the black teen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yo, it's because he's black.

JONES (voice-over): CNN affiliate WCBS spoke with one of the teens involved, 14- year-old Kye, who asked his last name not be used.

KYE, TEEN INVOLVED IN MALL FIGHT: I was like confused, I go why they saw me as a bad person, me as like aggressive.

JONES (voice-over): The eighth grader telling CNN affiliate WABC the fight began after he stood up for a friend, a seventh grader, being picked on by the other teen who the station identifies as a high school student. The teen calling the encounter with police scary and frustrating.

KYE: If they don't know how to treat the situation and deal with the situation equally and fairly, then they shouldn't be able to deal with the situation at all.

JONES (voice-over): New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy saying --

GOV. PHIL MURPHY (D-NJ): I'm deeply disturbed by what appears to be a racially disparate treatment in the video. We are -- underscore with emphasis that we're committed to increasing the trust between law enforcement on the one hand and the communities they serve on the other.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And our thanks to CNN's Athena Jones for that report.

Earlier CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson spoke to Wolf Blitzer about the troubling incident. Here he is.

[04:50:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Concerned about the tactics. Concerned about the measures. Concerned about the strategy. Concerned about the message. Concerned about the attitude. Concerned about the culture. I could continue. The bottom line is that we have to ask ourselves what motivates that. What is it about the black male that makes people believe that there are people who don't love them? Who don't support them? Who are not in tune with having them be the best people that they can possibly be in communities? Why is it that they are, right, African-American males, that we are targeted in a way that looks like this.

Look, police are out there, Wolf, doing some very good things, protecting communities. This does not have anything to do or ultimately does not bridge the gap between trust between African- American communities and police. We've got to do better. We have to send a better message to our youth and to our community.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And the internal affairs unit of county prosecutor's office says it's investigating the fight and the police response to it. We'll be right back.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, if you work remotely and prefer sweats to dress pants, you're in the majority.

[04:55:00]

Pew Research Center found 60 percent of people who work from home want to stay remote even when the pandemic is over. That's up from 54 percent in 2020. And as COVID forces a shift to more flexible work, Belgium will let employees choose a four-day work week. Workers will also have the right to ignore their boss's emails after business hours.

Britney Spears may be back in the limelight in the future not in Vegas but on Capitol Hill. The pop star said she was invited a month ago by members of Congress to speak about conservatorships. Spears fought a very public legal battle to be freed from her own 13-year arrangement. She posted the invitation on Instagram and wrote in part because of the letter I feel heard and like I matter for first time in my life. Spears didn't say whether she'll actually go to Washington.

Victoria's Secret's new model is making history. 24-year-old Sophia Jurua is the first person with down syndrome to be in a campaign for the retailer. The Puerto Rican model appears alongside 17 other women to promote a new collection. It will feature both professional and nonprofessional models with all different skin tones, body types and age is. This is part of Victoria Secret's recent attempts of rebranding, following criticism of the narrow image of sexy they cultivated for decades.

Well, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. "EARLY START" is next. You're watching CNN.

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