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CNN Team, Ukrainian Minister Come Under Mortar Fire; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Asks Europe And NATO For Security Guarantees At Munich Security Conference; New York, Ukraine: Small Town On The Front Line; Olympic Winter Games Final Day; Hong Kong Steps Up Efforts To Contain COVID-19; Moscow's Possible Disinformation Campaign; Russia May Ramp Up Cyber Activity Against Ukraine; Ottawa Police Use Pepper Spray To Disperse Crowds. Aired 2-2:40a ET
Aired February 20, 2022 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:00]
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello, everyone, I'm Michael Holmes, live in Ukraine, where the shelling has ramped up in parts of the country. Now Ukraine's president calling for Western nations to announce sanctions on Russia, before a full-scale war breaks out.
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello, I'm Lynda Kinkade, live at CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta.
The closing ceremony at the Beijing Olympic just hours away. We tell you which country is making a historic run at the top of the medal standings. A live report, coming up next.
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HOLMES: We begin in Ukraine, where the standoff with Russia shows no sign of easing. President Biden set to discuss the crisis with his National Security Council in the coming hours. All of this, as Western leaders make an 11th hour push for diplomacy.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, spoke with Ukraine's President Zelensky on Saturday, ahead of a phone call with Russia's president, Vladimir Putin. Mr. Zelensky also addressed the crisis with other world leaders, at the Munich Security Conference this weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Faster. Go, go, go.
HOLMES (voice-over): On the front lines, though, no sign that tensions are cooling. A CNN team, on tour with Ukraine's interior minister, came under mortar fire on Saturday, the latest example of escalating cease-fire violations near the border.
The Kremlin is offering a reminder of where the conflict could lead. Mr. Putin and the Belarusian president overseeing nuclear drills on Saturday. Russia, of course, denies it has plans to invade Ukraine. But Western leaders say the evidence suggests otherwise.
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LIZ TRUSS, U.K. FOREIGN SECRETARY AND MINISTER FOR WOMEN AND EQUALITIES: There are many people who would want to think hopefully about the situation. But I think we need to prepare for the worst-case scenario. And that worst-case scenario could happen as early as next week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Meanwhile, a different story being spun by Russian state media, of course, which continues to claim Ukraine, not Russia, is the aggressor. And now some pro-Russian leaders in Eastern Ukraine are telling residents to either flee or prepare to fight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (voice-over): A steady stream of civilians leave Donetsk after the leader of the Russian-backed separatist region orders an evacuation of civilians. He's claimed that Ukrainian armed forces plan to attack the breakaway region, which the Ukrainians repeatedly deny.
The exodus so far, according to Russian officials, some 10,000, mostly women. The men have been told to stay and take up arms.
Russian media are calling those leaving "refugees" and covering their arrival from every angle. Some are at temporary camps set up near the border.
This woman is saying that she hopes everything will calm down soon and that they will be able to go home.
Not that it's been all smooth; the group arriving in Rostov-on-Don complaining they're unable to register their arrival. The Ukrainians see this very choreographed evacuation as a pretext by Moscow to begin an invasion -- and President Biden sees that as a certainty.
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QUESTION: You are convinced that President Putin is going to invade Ukraine, is that what you just said a few moments ago?
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, I did. As of this moment, I'm convinced he's made the decision. We have reason to believe that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES (voice-over): President Vladimir Putin not responding. He spent Saturday observing exercises involving Russia's nuclear deterrent. Russian officials repeat every day that there are no plans for invading Ukraine. But the NATO allies say the evidence around Ukraine's borders, from
Belarus in the north to Crimea in the south, show a continued buildup of Russian armor.
The latest satellite imagery released on Friday detects a new addition, combat and transport helicopters deployed at two sites close to Ukraine's border. Video geolocated by CNN show some of them on the ground, part of a force of more than 150,000 Russian troops close to the Ukrainian border.
The Ukrainian leadership assesses the risk of a full-scale invasion as low and continues to insist diplomacy can work. President Volodymyr Zelensky in Munich rallying support and appealing for calm.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We are not panicking.
[02:05:00]
ZELENSKY (through translator): We are very consistent that we are not responding to any provocations.
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HOLMES (voice-over): On the front lines in Eastern Ukraine, the pace of cease-fire violations continues to rise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go, go.
HOLMES (voice-over): A CNN team, on a tour with Ukraine's interior minister, taking shelter quickly amid incoming mortar fire. Whether this sporadic, rumbling conflict erupts into something far worse now in the hands of the Kremlin.
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HOLMES: As we just mentioned, Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, attended the Munich Security Conference, on Saturday. He told CNN's Christiane Amanpour, sanctions against Russia should be made public, before a possible invasion. Have a listen.
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ZELENSKY (through translator): We had a discussion some time ago with one of the leaders of one of the leading countries and we were talking about the sanction policy.
We had a different vision on how sanctions should be applied when Russian aggression will happen. And we are being told that you have several days and then the war will start.
And I said, OK, then apply the sanctions today. Yes, they say, we apply sanctions when the war will happen. I'm saying, fine, but you are telling me that it's 100 percent that the war will start in a couple days.
Then what are you waiting for?
We don't need your sanctions after the bombardment will happen and after our country will be fired at or after we will have no borders, after we will have no economy or part of our countries will be occupied. Why would we need sanctions then?
What is this about?
So when you're asking, what can be done?
Well, lots of different things can be done. We can even provide you the list. The most important is willingness.
The question is not about introducing them today. The whole world understands that tomorrow there's a high probability of escalation by Russian Federation and if Russian Federation if they are pulling back their militarizing, there would be a bad step. If they are pulling back, then there is no question. That's a soft option.
I'm talking about the diplomats who cannot apply sanctions automatically. I'm talking about the logic. If they pull back their troops, there will be no sanctions.
But today, even the question of just making it public preventively, just the list of sanctions, for them, for Russia to know what will happen if they start the war, even that question does not have the support.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky there.
Let's turn to Ukraine's Donbas region, where many residents fear a Russian invasion is imminent. CNN's Sam Kiley, visiting one place with a familiar if incongruous name.
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SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a small town called New York, in Eastern Ukraine, and a short flight for a mortar bomb from rebel territory, lies Slavyanska Street.
After eight years of war, so close to the front line, homes here are, almost, worthless. These houses haven't been smashed by war; they've been destroyed by the poverty that conflict brings. Torn down and sold as recycled bricks and tiles, locals tell us these houses sell for about 70 bucks.
KILEY: This is the end of Slavyanska Street. Just down there is the checkpoint and, beyond that, is rebel held territory. In the last hour or so, we have heard at least eight explosions.
KILEY (voice-over): Lilly (ph) is 3. She's out, amid the shelling, with her mum, lending a hand, playing with the family pup through a gate riddled with shrapnel holes, from a shell that landed before she was born. Her parents tell her that the latest barrage is thunder. But it is something to worry about.
LIUDMILA PONOMARENKO, RESIDENT OF NEW YORK, UKRAINE (from captions): She does not understand. But very soon she will understand because she is 3. So now we are thinking about whether we stay here.
KILEY (voice-over): Andrey is a rescue worker. He is acutely aware of the surge in recent shelling. According to Ukrainian authorities, there were at least 70 strikes along the front line that Saturday.
KILEY: So what kind of life do you think your daughter is going to have?
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ANDREY PONOMARENKO, RESIDENT OF NEW YORK, UKRAINE (from captions): How could I know?
There is no stability in the country. I'm doing my best to provide all that's needed. But still, I can't change reality.
KILEY (voice-over): The increased Russian-backed rebel shelling that killed two government soldiers on Saturday is being seen as a possible prelude to a Russian invasion, perhaps along this very street.
Across the road, Matsun (ph) draws water from a well. This community is sliding back into the 19th century. And fear bears down on everyone.
KILEY: Is there much shelling?
MATSUN (PH), RESIDENT OF NEW YORK, UKRAINE (from captions): There, you hear it. Yes.
KILEY: You have had this for a long time.
Are you feeling frightened now though?
MATSUN (PH) (from captions): Yes, I'm scared, very scared.
KILEY (voice-over): Many living in Ukraine's New York are trapped by these wartime blues.
A. PONOMARENKO (from captions): Where should we go?
Why?
Nobody cares.
And where should we get money to live and rent?
So that is why we are staying in this house.
KILEY (voice-over): Sam Kiley, CNN, New York, Ukraine.
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HOLMES: Let's bring in Kira Rudik, Ukrainian member of parliament. She joins me now from the Munich Security Conference in Germany, a very important meeting.
Thanks so much for doing so.
Are you happy with the support that Ukraine has received from the West?
Has there been enough?
What more should be done?
KIRA RUDIK, UKRAINIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT: Hello and good morning. So though Ukraine is really grateful for the support we are receiving during the last few months, we see that right now is the time for more critical measures and more active actions.
We see that Putin is going through with his strategy and he is able to move really rapidly, without having to align with any democratic rules or procedures. Right. So the events are unwrapping, very fast and the democratic countries need to start, ASAP, on the procedures that are required to protect Ukraine right now.
The near-term actions that we see, they need to be personal and sectoral sanctions on Putin and his closest circle and then additional military support land leave (ph) and guarantees for no-fly zone in Ukraine, in the near-term future.
HOLMES: Strong measures you are asking for. I wanted to ask you this, when it comes to diplomacy, we see a lot of Russian officials speaking with European leaders. You see American leaders speaking with Russian leaders.
Do you feel Ukrainians are involved enough or being heard enough directly?
Or is everyone talking around Ukraine?
RUDIK: So for Ukrainian diplomacy, there is this goal, that nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. However, in reality, we often see that this does not happen. And though President Zelensky aims to have a direct negotiations with Putin, we, in Ukrainian parliament, are persuaded that the discussion and this table, where all the countries sit, needs to, at least, have Zelensky, Putin, Biden and a U.K. representative, probably Boris Johnson.
That would be at least configuration where we have enough of strong support from our allies because all the negotiations, so far, have not led us anywhere.
HOLMES: Yes, which is very true. I'm curious, your thoughts on whether you think Vladimir Putin -- how
he views Ukraine. There many people who say what he is doing is not about or just about security but he wants a return to Ukraine's, if you like, Soviet role, as part of a greater Russia.
Do you agree with that and how do you combat it?
RUDIK: So, yes, Putin wants to rebuild either Soviet Union or even Russian empire. And he sees all the countries surrounding Russia as satellites or potential satellites. This is what happened in Belarus and in Kazakhstan.
Now he sees Ukraine, which is a democratic country, with freedom of speech and all that stuff that Putin hates. He sees it as this threat. And he sees it as a -- like a child who ran away and now needs to come back.
He denies Ukraine's independence or ability to make its own decisions on its future. That's why he can act like, right now, when he demands that his neighbor, that Ukraine, gives up its intention to join NATO or to join European Union.
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RUDIK: You just can't imagine that the tyrant from one country says, I want another country to stop doing this or that. This is like --
HOLMES: Right.
RUDIK: -- unbearable and unbelievable but this is what is happening in the 21st century.
HOLMES: We are nearly out of time. But you raise an interesting point about what Putin wants, which is for Ukraine to give up the whole idea of NATO membership.
Do you think there would come a time when Ukraine would entertain that, just say, OK, we won't join and take that part of the pressure off?
RUDIK: I don't believe that Ukraine is saying that we would do this and that would take any pressure off. So Putin has this plan in his mind, where he wants Ukraine to become part of Russia.
And he will push to execute on this plan no matter what. Plus joining NATO and E.U. is written in Ukraine's constitution. And there is no way that we are giving up on that, especially that we already have known for eight years what Putin is capable of.
There has been a war in Ukraine for eight years. And there is nothing that we can say right now that would stop him. The only thing that could stop him is the united position of the Western countries that would push back and show him exact sanctions that are going to be put on Russia and on the Russian people and strong military and diplomatic and political support.
This is the only way that could stop him. The rest would just be rhetoric, just like talking and would not lead us anywhere.
HOLMES: Kira Rudyk, there in Munich, great to get your perspective, really appreciate you taking the time. Thank you.
RUDIK: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right, I'm Michael Holmes here in Lviv, in Ukraine. I will have more from here in a little bit. But first let's send it back to Atlanta, where Lynda Kinkade has today's other stories.
KINKADE: Interesting perspective there, as the minister said. Ukraine certainly knows what Russia is capable of. Thanks to you.
The final whistle has blown on the Beijing Winter Olympics and we are just hours away from the closing ceremony. We will look at who won the medal count and some of those historic moments coming up in a live report, next.
Also Hong Kong is coping with rising COVID cases, pushing its health system to the brink.
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KINKADE: After 16 days of competition, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics are now in the books as the final event of this year's games finished a short time ago.
Finland won gold in the men's ice hockey, defeating the defending champions, the Russian Olympic Committee.
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KINKADE: And the world is now just a few hours away from the closing ceremony for what's turned out to be a historic competition.
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KINKADE: After nearly two years of strict pandemic rules, Australia is ready to welcome tourists from abroad. Fully vaccinated international travelers will be able to fly into the country beginning on Monday.
Prime minister Scott Morrison says, pack your bags, come and have one of the greatest experiences you could ever imagine.
I can't wait to get back there this year.
And, of course, in England, prime minister Boris Johnson is set to lay out the new plan for living with COVID. Downing Street says all regulations that restrict public freedoms will be repealed. They are calling it a move away from government intervention to personal responsibility.
And Hong Kong is stepping up efforts to contain the runaway spread of COVID cases. It has overwhelmed the city in recent days and some of the strictest quarantine and tracing measures in the world don't seem to be working anymore. For more, CNN's Vedika Sud joins me now from New Delhi.
Sadly, Hong Kong's COVID zero policy has failed to eradicate the virus.
How are they attempting to control the spread?
VEDIKA SUD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's a good question, Lynda. With each passing day, the 5th wave, so intense for Hong Kong, is only getting worse. And we know this to the figures we've been reporting on the last week.
As of Saturday there have been 6,036 new cases and 15 new deaths from COVID-19. We are awaiting Sunday figures. But from these figures it is quite evident that a 5th wave is here to stay, at least for a while.
And the Hong Kong administration is really struggling to keep hospitals and the influx of patients into hospitals at bay, which they have failed to do currently. And that's also because of the dynamic zero COVID strategy they have.
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SUD: Because in the last two years they have been trying to make sure that the stricken stringent COVID-19 measures in place, even when other countries have eased restrictions, Hong Kong has not; well, comparatively.
What we also know from Hong Kong authorities, what are the measures being used to contain cases, one is that they have identified 20,000 rooms for quarantine accommodation, according to press by Hong Kong authorities.
And 10,000 community isolation units and treatment units are now being constructed with the help of the Mainland. And they are very sure that they can continue with the dynamic zero COVID-19 strategy.
And, of course, this has had an adverse bearing on hospitals. Earlier this week my colleagues were reporting on a hospital where there were patients waiting outside in the parking lot, which turned into a field hospital because this hospital system is just overwhelmed.
So the big takeaway from what we are seeing in Hong Kong currently is, how long can Hong Kong administration sustain this COVID zero strategy, Lynda?
KINKADE: Yes, Vedika Sud, it is a key question in New Delhi, thanks so much.
Still to come, CNN is on the ground in Ukraine and even faces mortar fire as the threat of war with Russia looms. Plus, a distorted narrative from Moscow. We will have details on the
disinformation war ahead.
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HOLMES: Welcome back.
Back in Ukraine, a foretaste of a possible confrontation. Have a look.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Faster. Go, go, go.
HOLMES (voice-over): That's Ukraine's interior minister, along with a CNN news crew and another journalists, facing mortar fire in Eastern Ukraine on Saturday. Thankfully, no one was hurt in the incident.
But it's all part of the escalation that has convinced the White House that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is likely to happen in the days ahead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: President Joe Biden expected to hold a meeting with the National Security Council to discuss the crisis later today.
Critics say Russia is using a disinformation campaign to justify an attack on Ukraine. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh breaks down that strategy, one that Russia has used in the past.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voice-over): Wars come with their own fog, chaos, phone lines down, panic sewing confusion but in eastern Ukraine, that fog has long been fanned, amplified with false narratives, critics say, part of Moscow's strategy.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have reason to believe that they are engaged in a false flag operation, to have an excuse to go in. Every indication we have is they are prepared to go into Ukraine, attack Ukraine.
WALSH: Sometimes it is easy to spot, a separatist leader Denis Pushilin called on citizens in the separatist Donetsk People's Republic to flee Friday's escalating violence into Russia but the video file of this speech which mentioned Friday's date -- was, in fact, created on Wednesday according to its metadata.
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WALSH (voice-over): A similar speech from the neighboring separatist area Luhansk had the same timing issue. So unless the same technical fault occurred both times both leaders seem to know midweek how bad things would get by Friday, making the call for civilians to flee a lot less spontaneous.
Then an explosion hit the city of Donetsk. Separatist media says they showed in military jeep destroyed, nobody was harmed but the apparent blast fed the narrative of violence mounting around the separatists.
Then there is the mass exodus of civilians from separatist areas, planned for hundreds of thousands but so far, a lot less. Pictures on Russian state TV. They get 10,000 rubles on $130 on arrival in Russia and however many really arrive, it is the sort of pretext Russia used in the past to justify assisting separatist rebels.
This video is quite dramatic and separatists said it was of clashes with polish saboteurs trying to blowing up an ammonia storage plant on Friday morning. But the video's metadata shows it was created ten days earlier, another technical fact that doesn't fit the separatist narrative.
A separatist news crew was at hand, too, to capture this, another blast at a pipeline.
The cameraman could have miraculous timing or it could fit into the slow pattern of misinformation, which grows often in advance of the violence in eastern Ukraine and provides a signal of what is to come, the direction in which the fog of war is being fanned -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Poland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: I am Michael Holmes, in Lviv, in western Ukraine. I'll be back with more in the top of the hour. Let's get back to Atlanta and Lynda Kinkade.
KINKADE: Good to have you, there my friend. We will see you at the top of the hour.
It is not just the threat of a physical attack from Russia but a virtual one as well. U.S. officials are now preparing American companies, big banks in particular, for possible Russian cyberattacks.
Both the U.K. and U.S. security officials, say Russia is already carrying out similar tactics in Ukraine, blaming Moscow for a widespread cyberattack on Ukrainian bank sites last week. Russia has rejected those claims, calling them baseless.
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KINKADE: Philip Reiner is the CEO and founder of the Institute for Security and Technology, joining us now.
Good to have you with us.
PHILIP REINER, CEO AND FOUNDER, INSTITUTE FOR SECURITY AND TECHNOLOGY: Thank you for having me. KINKADE: As U.S. officials have blamed Russia's military intelligence
agency for a cyberattack, that temporarily, blocked access to Ukrainian bank websites and government sites, last week, Ukrainian officials describe it as the worst they had seen.
How would you describe that attack?
And should Russia face repercussions?
REINER: I think, really, it is an unfortunate circumstance in which we find ourselves talking about these things here. The Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian government, really, have been dealing with significant cyber challenges, from Russia for quite some time.
I think what we've seen in the last couple of weeks, is a ramp-up into that kind of activity. We have seen malicious defacements through deniable actors, who may not, necessarily, look like they are Russian government affiliated.
So really, it was of interest this week to see the U.S. National Security Council and the deputy national security adviser and then the British government, actually say quite clearly, that some of this distributed denial of service attack activity, the DDoS activity, was directly attributable to the GRU.
I think the interesting and challenging thing here, is what do you do about it?
As you are asking, is there something that can be done to put consequences against the Russian government?
That is a perennial challenge in cybersecurity affairs.
How do you, actually, prove that these can be traced back to the GRU?
And what do you do about it?
I think that is a broader conversation about everything that is happening, when it comes to Russia and its aggression with Ukraine right now.
KINKADE: Yes, it's a major concern, especially when you consider that Ukraine's department of foreign affairs reports more than 100 of the world's Fortune 500 companies, rely, at least partially, on Ukrainian I.T. services, with several Ukrainian I.T. firms being among the top outsourcing options for I.T. services globally.
Explain for us the risk for the global economy and for companies, if there is, indeed, a major breach.
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REINER: I think what is incredibly important here is there is a very different scenario in which things can unfold, over, really, the coming hours and days. There is the situation in which we find ourselves where Russia may ramp up its cyber activity against Ukraine itself.
And that can come in a whole variety of different forms, some of which we've seen in the past couple of weeks, distributed denial of service- type attacks, DDoS, web defacements.
But then there are much more serious things that we also have seen in the past couple of months, where you can actually even imagine destructive attacks, that could occur against Ukrainian systems, government systems, business systems and against the people of Ukraine.
KINKADE: Of course, as you have noted, Philip, in a recent article, the U.S. has warned that the digital conflict zone could expand to include the U.S. You used to serve as President Obama's -- in President Obama's White House on the National Security Council.
If you were working with the Biden administration right now, what advice would you have?
And would you possibly explain what a Russian attack on the private sector could look like?
REINER: I think what the Biden administration has been doing, in this regard, has actually been pretty remarkable. Their inclination to disclose, not only in direct conversation with business leaders but publicly, what these activities look like, to make sure that companies can protect themselves.
And again, if Russia reinvades Ukraine and the West imposes sanctions, even then, it is still not guaranteed that Russia will come after U.S. critical infrastructure and businesses. That is just something that I think the U.S. government has been trying to -- and the U.K. government, as I have seen, has been trying to get ahead of.
I think what they've been doing is actually quite smart, which is just to prepare for the worst-case scenarios. If I were in with the current administration, I think what I would be making clear is that this is not just a government to government issue.
This is a public/private set of challenges. And anything that is going to address what might be coming, really, is going to require very close coordination with the private sector, which owns 90 percent of the internet. So they are the ones who will see some of this malicious activity first.
KINKADE: Philip Reiner, good to have you on the program. Thank you for your time.
REINER: My pleasure, wish it was under better circumstances.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: There is much more to come on CNN. Police in Canada, doubling down on demonstrators in the capital, using pepper spray, as protests in Ottawa enter their fourth week.
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KINKADE: Canadian police, appearing eager to end the protests choking the area around the nation's parliament for several weeks. They are declaring the occupation, as they call, it over. But after arresting 170 people, firing pepper spray and towing dozens of trucks, police in Ottawa are still facing off with diehard protesters. Paula Newton, with the latest.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: An historic day like no other on the streets of Canada's capital. I want you to have a look at some of the video here, as hundreds of police officers squared off with dozens of protesters.
Those protesters again, wanting those COVID-19 measures gone. They have been in the streets for more than three weeks, along with hundreds of cars and trucks. And they say they will not move.
These kinds of confrontations went on for hours as police stood their ground but also protesters as well, saying they will not leave. Police say there have been at least 100 arrests and 21 vehicles have been towed. They say they will stay day and night until they can, in their words, give the streets back to Ottawa's residents.
But they also say that this continues to be a complicated operation. Just one of those complications: the fact that some parents have brought their children to this protest. I want you to listen now to Ottawa's interim police chief.
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INTERIM POLICE CHIEF STEVE BELL, OTTAWA: Even through all the planning, it still shocks and surprises me that we are seeing children put in harm's way in the middle of a demonstration where a police operation is unfolding.
We will continue to look after their safety and security. But we implore all the parents who have kids in there, get the kids out of there. They do not need to be in the middle of this.
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NEWTON: Now as this operation continues, it comes at great cost to the residents of this city. The entire downtown core is essentially sealed off. There are about 100 checkpoints, where you have to explain why you are going into the downtown core.
And this will continue to go on for days, the police say. Some of the protesters have been arrested, some are waiting to make bail. Others have left town. The protesters themselves, some say that this protest was actually worth it, saying that they do believe that they have made their point about COVID-19 measures -- Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Thank you for spending part of our day with me, I am Lynda Kinkade, you can follow me on Instagram and Twitter. "AFRICA AVANT- GARDE" starts after a short break.
