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Ukrainian People Protest Russian Invasion; U.S. Secretary Of State Antony Blinken Goes To Ukrainian-Polish Border; Mayor Says Russian Troops Are Everywhere In Kherson; Indian Students Trapped In Ukraine Ask To Be Evacuated; Ukrainian Nuclear Officials Talking To Staff At Zaporizhzhia Reactor After Seizure By Russian Forces; Civilians Show Defiance In Cities Now Under Russian Control; Lviv Hospital Taking In Sick Children Fleeing Fighting; Tornado Kills At Least Six In Iowa; WNBA's Brittney Griner Detained At Moscow Airport. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired March 06, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello, everyone, welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes, coming to you from Lviv in Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES (voice-over): We begin this hour with the unfailing resistance of the Ukrainian people. From one city to another, civilians taking to the streets to voice their anger at Russia and often putting themselves in harm's way in direct confrontation with Russian troops.

Have a look at this. This is in the city of Kherson. And you see that man jumping onto a Russian armored personnel carrier, waving the Ukrainian flag.

The city's mayor telling CNN earlier, the city is surrounded and Russian troops are everywhere.

Now all of this coming as the temporary cease-fire in parts of Eastern Ukraine to let civilians get to safety is now on hold, after allegations Russian fighters violated the agreements of that cease- fire, Russia blaming Ukraine.

And an ominous threat from the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): Much of what is happening and what we are seeing right now is, of course, a way of fighting Russia and the sanctions being introduced. They are equivalent to a declaration of war now. Thank God this hasn't happened yet. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now that comes as the Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett made an unannounced trip to Moscow on Saturday, where he met for some three hours with President Putin. Details of that meeting not yet public.

Now for his part, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he had a Zoom call with members of the U.S. Congress on Saturday, asking for a ban on Russian oil imports, a no-fly zone and more lethal equipment, like fighter jets.

He also posted another address to the Ukrainian people, urging them to keep up the resistance against Russian's invasion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Ukrainians, in all our cities, where the enemy invaded, go on the offensive. Go out on the streets. We need to fight every time we have an opportunity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And that Ukrainian resistance is, indeed, being seen, in actions, both by the civilian population and this country's military. CNN's Arlette Saenz with that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, new images emerging from the battlefront, Ukrainian armed forces releasing this video of the moment they say they shot down a Russian helicopter, the fire-engulfed aircraft hurtling toward the ground.

Here, another Russian aircraft, a fighter jet, falls from the sky. The Ukrainian military says it took down the plane, smoke billowing in its wake as it crashed into a residential neighborhood about 90 miles from Kyiv.

The Ukrainian emergency services says these are the remains of the jet, bombs undetonated mere steps from homes, the scenes of war, a war Ukrainians continue to fight with limited help from Western allies.

In a Zoom call with U.S. lawmakers, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling for greater military assistance, including the transfer of fighter jets from Eastern European countries and the establishment of a no-fly zone.

The U.S. and NATO still resisting such a move, warning, it could prompt a full-scale war in Europe.

REP. RUBEN GALLEGO (D-AZ), MEMBER, ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: A no-fly zone is a -- might just be a bridge too far and not one (INAUDIBLE) right now. A U.S. plane shooting down another Russian plane or vice versa is something that could really escalate to a nuclear war. SAENZ (voice-over): Russian president Vladimir Putin declaring that

any country or organization implementing a no-fly zone would be considered participants in the conflict.

And as Ukraine pushes for more sanctions, Putin stating the sanctions already imposed on his country are equivalent to a declaration of war against Russia.

On the ground in Ukraine, a show of solidarity from the U.S.; secretary of state Antony Blinken side-by-side with the Ukrainian foreign minister on the Polish border.

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ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: As for the pressure on Russia, not only is it unprecedented, not only is it producing very, very concrete results in Russia but that pressure, too, will not only continue. It will grow until this war, this war of choice, is brought to an end.

SAENZ (voice-over): Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett today also speaking by phone with Zelenskyy, after a face-to-face meeting with Putin in Moscow.

Meanwhile, one senior Western intelligence official warns that Russia now seems prepared to bombard cities into submission, with the U.S. official saying Russia is poised to deploy 1,000 more mercenaries in the near future.

But with the war in its 10th day, stories of Ukrainian bravery in the face of Russian aggression continue to spread. Watch as a man jumps on top of a Russian armored vehicle, waving a Ukrainian flag.

And sounds of gunfire in a small town in northeastern Ukraine, as unarmed protesters stood their ground.

In this chilling video, a man in the front of the crowd appears to be shot in the street.

Another video shows protesters scattering, as a barrage of gunfire rings out. Tonight, Ukraine's foreign minister with a new message for Putin.

DMYTRO KULEBA, UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Putin, leave Ukraine alone. You will not win this war.

SAENZ (voice-over): Arlette Saenz, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now as we mentioned, Ukrainian authorities say plans to evacuate thousands of civilians, trapped inside the battered cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha, are on hold. They blame Russian forces for breaching a temporary cease-fire that would have allowed those citizens a safe passage out and aid to get in. CNN's Scott McLean reports. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On Saturday morning, Ukrainians living in hard-hit areas of southeastern Ukraine had a sliver of optimism. But by Saturday afternoon, that optimism was all but gone.

Ukraine and Russia, with the help of the Red Cross, working as a coordinator, an intermediary on the ground, had agreed to open up humanitarian corridors to get people out of the cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha.

According to Ukraine, there are some 200,000 people who would like to evacuate Mariupol alone; at around 20,000, wanting to get out of Volnovakha.

But just a couple of hours later, Ukrainians accused the Russians of continuing to shell Volnovakha, allowing only a few hundred people to get out of the city before the whole operation was canceled.

For Mariupol, there was fighting along the agreed-upon route that this corridor would have taken. And also the deputy mayor accused the Russians of continuing to shell the city, even in the places where the buses had gathered to pick people up, just hours after they would have left.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEI ORLOV(?), DEPUTY MAYOR, MARIUPOL: The Russian army started to bomb the places where people connected a half an hour ago. So the targets of the artillery was to make -- to kill as much citizens of Mariupol as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: And the effects of the shelling, the bombing, the violence in Eastern Ukraine, is being felt here in Western Ukraine as well, with hundreds of thousands of people trying to flee to safety, often traveling for several days to get here to Lviv.

And then their journey still is not over. Whether they're driving or planning to cross the border on foot or, like many people here, take the train. At the central station, there was a lineup on Saturday that stretched outside of the building.

People were waiting for hours, just to get inside for the right to wait for a train going to Poland -- Scott McLean, CNN, Lviv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And joining me now is Oleksandra Zhovtyuk, a Ukrainian citizen. She is a mother of three. She is seeking shelter inside her grandmother's home in the Russian occupied city of Kherson in Ukraine.

I really appreciate you taking the time. That city has been the scene of a lot of fighting. The Russians took the city. The people continue to resist. Give us a sense of what the situation is right now for you and your family.

OLEKSANDRA ZHOVTYUK, UKRAINIAN CITIZEN: Hello. For right now, it's -- they're not bombing outside, because we are like occupied and they have their people inside our city. That's why they are like trying to hide behind our backs, like civil people, because they know that the Ukrainian army won't do anything to harm us. So they just like occupy.

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ZHOVTYUK: We don't have much left in, like, medical supplies, we don't have much left food in the stores, because they won't let the West, the U.S. help to come to our city and bring us something. So we are feeling, you know, isolated from the rest of Ukraine for right now.

HOLMES: So it's difficult to get food and supplies. People are resisting there.

What is the interaction like with the Russian forces?

ZHOVTYUK: We don't go outside, you know, because, as far as I know, they shoot civil cars. And actually, my friend's mom passed away two days ago and she lives in another district of our town.

And she couldn't even come to her and say goodbye to her, because they won't let us, you know, like, drive through the town. So -- we don't, like, communicate with them, we, just civil people.

HOLMES: What a horrible situation. You're a mother of three kids, as we said; I think one is a newborn. I see one on your lap there, a beautiful young child.

How are the children dealing with all of this?

ZHOVTYUK: My oldest kid, she's 7 years old. She's sitting there. You cannot see her right now. She only understands what's going on. She wakes up in the night and she cries and he asks me when it will be all over.

My middle kid here, she doesn't understand. She thinks it's like a game or whatever. And actually I really want her to think, like, it's like game, you know, we have to play for their rules.

But my baby boy, he's not a newborn; he is 1.5 years, he doesn't understand what's going on. But he feels like -- I think all this atmosphere, he sleeps very bad at night and he cries and all these things. He wants to be, like, you know, with me all the time, because he feels that something's going on like this.

HOLMES: What do you tell your oldest, as this is all unfolding?

You know, when there were explosions and all of that, what did you tell the child sitting there on your lap, that beautiful young child? ZHOVTYUK: The only thing I want to keep them safe and I say we have to be strong right now. We need to be together right now and she needs to listen to me.

And, you know, the scariest thing, I have never thought I would tell my child that something will explode right next to her, because they sleep in the corridor for right now, because it's very unsafe to sleep in bed.

And we find the most, you know, like, safest place, as we thought -- I read a lot about the safest places, like, we need to have two walls before the window. It means this place is, like, much safer than other place in the building.

So they sleep there. And I told her, if something will explode or whatever, she needs to hold her sister and don't run to me. They need to stay there and be there for her.

And, like, the scary thing, she's 7 years old. I never thought I would tell my child not to run to me but stay with her sister and keep her with her, not to, you know, like -- I don't know what to say, it's very scary. But I tell her all the time --

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: It would be -- yes, I -- I think there would be parents all around the world now, listening to you, just horrified that you have to do that, that you have to tell your children that.

You told our producer that you just want your lives back and that all of this feels like a terrible dream. I mean, when you think back a few weeks, a month or two months ago, could you have ever imagined hat this would be happening in your country, that Russian troops would be outside your door?

ZHOVTYUK: You know what, I -- even right now, I cannot imagine. My brain is, like, trying to block this information. Even for right now, my mom, she wakes up every day and she's like, everything is OK, I think it was like a dream.

If you are asking me about, like, a month ago, like, no never. It's 2022.

You know, what war?

Like, we live here, we have all these -- I don't know, internet. People are traveling around the world. People can speak to people from other countries. And all this, all of a sudden just, like, faded away for us.

HOLMES: What do you think will happen in the days and weeks ahead?

And do you have a message to the world?

ZHOVTYUK: I don't know what will happen, because, like, you know, the first days, when it all just started, I was like, it can't last forever. It can't last, like, for a week.

[00:15:00]

ZHOVTYUK: But it does.

My message is, we're trying to keep -- we're (INAUDIBLE) here. We're trying to save our kids' lives, we're trying to save our lives. Just pray with us and just be with us, because we are all praying, every single day. Every hour, I pray for my kids to be safe and kids all over my country, because I know they are suffering much more than even we do. It's horrible.

HOLMES: I can't imagine what you're going through, it's impossible to imagine what you're going through. Your courage is just so -- it's just shining through. So stay strong, give that lovely daughter a hug from us. And we will touch base later. Oleksandra Zhovtyuk, thank you so much.

ZHOVTYUK: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: That is hard to listen to, isn't it?

Well, over a million refugees have now fled this country. Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, how governments around the world are trying to help.

Also still to come, hundreds of students from India stranded in a city near the Russian border, pleading for help and accusing their government of leaving them behind. We'll be right back.

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HOLMES: Welcome back.

The humanitarian crisis growing in Ukraine, as waves of people continue to try to escape Russia's invasion. At a train station here in Lviv, in the west of the country, people braving freezing temperatures in the hopes of making it to safety in a neighboring country.

And governments around the world are now stepping up to offer them help. CNN's Ivan Watson with more from Moldova.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They are the world's newest refugees, Ukrainians fleeing en masse from the Russian invasion of their country. The United Nations says more than 1.3 million Ukrainians have crossed

the country's borders in the last 1.5 weeks, more than half of them traveling to neighboring Poland. And that's where the U.S. secretary of state was on Saturday, trying to send a message of support to some refugees that he met with on the border.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLINKEN: What Ukrainians are doing is inspiring the world. And the world is united in support of Ukraine and against Russia's aggression. And we are working very closely with our Polish friends.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON (voice-over): Hundreds of thousands of other Ukrainians have come to other neighboring countries. And we have recently traveled through Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and now Moldova.

And everywhere in the border regions, you can see Ukrainians on the move. They're almost always women with children; they're in the train stations, in airports; sleeping on the floor, in hotels, in guest houses.

The populations of these neighboring countries have largely opened their arms to the displaced Ukrainians; the governments, as well, providing free transport, warmth, food, even donated toys to give some sense of normalcy to the children.

WATSON: Here in Moldova, there is an extra sense of vulnerability to this new conflict, because Moldova, the government, it shut down its airspace on the first day of the Russian invasion, fearing that civilian aviation could be somehow damaged by the conflict.

And there is no real air access in and out of this former Soviet republic. So Ukrainians are largely traveling through Moldova to neighboring Romania. There are backups at the border.

And some Moldovans, who are spooked by the conflict, have also started to move away from here, clearly nervous that their country could become the next target of the Russian military -- Ivan Watson, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now in an alarming new warning, the U.N. Children's Fund telling CNN that time is running out for Ukrainian children to escape. A spokesperson for UNICEF says humanitarian access is becoming a matter of life and death and the situation worsens with every passing moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES ELDER, UNICEF SPOKESPERSON: Yes, absolutely. And it's already run out for those children who have been killed in these bombardments.

You know, getting that humanitarian access in is fundamentally critical. But opening up those corridors, so those people can leave, the people you've seen, your viewers have seen, mothers and children, fundamentally have to leave.

I mean, they do everything they can, as you know, moms, to keep a child safe. But talking to moms who spent nights lying on top of the children, not just to keep them warm, because they think that's an extra layer of protection in this madness, they have to be given safe passage out of there.

But of course, for all those others who can't leave, the conflict has to stop. The missiles have to stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: But it's not only Ukrainians who can't get away from the fighting here. At least 700 students from India are stranded in the city of Sumy, about 30 miles or 50 kilometers from the Russian border.

The Indian government says it's been unable to get them out. But with food starting to get scarce and water, power and heat out, the students are begging to be evacuated. For more, we have more from Mumbai.

And thousands of people from India have escaped Ukraine and are in the process of going back home. A lot of Indians were here in this country but these 700 students in Sumy, I mean, they're running out of everything, including hope, by the sound of it.

VEDIKA SUD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Michael. You're absolutely right here.

[00:25:00]

SUD: Because Indian students are known to go for medical education to Ukraine. And as of now, there are about 700 students -- that's been confirmed by the Indian government -- that are trapped in the city of Sumy by the Russian border.

The video you were talking about, according to the students, is the last video they posted, urging for help from the Indian government.

According to the Indian government, over 20,000 Indian students have already left the Ukrainian border borders. This is since the first advisory was released. But these 700 students have been hunkering down in bunkers.

There is fighting happening very close to where they are and their university can't get in their hostels. They are waiting for any kind of help to come their way. Let's just listen into what they had to say to the Indian government through that video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the last video from the Sumy State University students and we are just risking our life and we are just going to this border which Russia has offered so this will be our last request and last video, guys. Just pray for us.

And government, please let you guys know that we are moving from our own risk. This is our last video.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SUD: Responding to this video, an Indian official on Saturday has put out a message to these students. He said that you need to be very responsible at this moment in time, don't take any risks.

And the Indian officials have also said they've been talking to both Russia as well as Ukraine for safe passage for these students.

For now, we do know that the channels are open with both countries to get these people out. But the Indian official yesterday said the biggest issue is the fighting that is taking place there. There isn't a local cease-fire that we have requested for. It is more than just risky to pull our students out and bring them back.

But we're hoping it happens sooner than later and that's where it stands.

But yes, like you said, Michael, a lot of issues that these students are facing currently in that area. They are out of electricity most of the time and water. Students are actually going out of their hostels. They're scooping up snow into buckets. They are waiting for that to melt to drink that as water for now to quench their thirst.

They live in fear and they are just hoping to get back to India, to their families and they're hoping for the safe passage to come through, Michael.

HOLMES: Just a desperate situation for them. And to the point that you were just talking about with cooperation. Russia and India share strong bilateral ties.

I mean, what has the Indian government's stand been on Putin's military offensive so far?

SUD: Well, there has been criticism from the West for India's stand. But you really have to understand the geopolitical ramifications of India taking a stand here, because Russia is seen a very close strategic ally; so is America.

So this is a balancing act that India unfortunately has to actually, you know, walk on a tightrope for now, because if you remember, Putin had visited India last year. It was only his second visit outside Russia in the year.

And there was a lot of spotlight on that visit, S-400, the missile defense systems were being sold to India. Now Russia is the biggest defense supplier to India, Michael. And it has been for a while. It's also been a trusted ally.

So, for India to come out and make a statement is going to be very difficult. They've not openly criticized Russia for their military offensive at the moment.

But what they've done is they've taken a step back, they are waiting for these students to be evacuated and they do not want to make any comment against Russia for the moment. Like I said, it's a balancing act for now. Michael.

HOLMES: Yes, politics. Vedika Sud, thank you so much, good to see you there in Mumbai.

All right, quick break here on the program. When we come back, more on our breaking news. Scenes of resistance, as Russian troops grow more impatient with Ukrainian defiance. We'll be right back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Ukraine.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

HOLMES: Welcome back.

The International Atomic Energy Agency says that Ukrainian nuclear officials are in contact with the staff at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after it was seized by Russian troops on Friday.

The head of the agency calling the situation tense but says workers are now allowed to change shifts, following reports they had been forced to work at gunpoint. He says the situation, though, cannot last too long.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAFAEL GROSSI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY: I think it's imperative that we have a framework and this is why I am prepared to come to -- to Ukraine as soon as possible.

This has a number of elements that need to be considered. I am in active consideration of those with the two interested parties. But, yes, of course, we are following this permanently.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials say thousands of civilians are still trapped in the southeastern cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha.

And the U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken meeting with Ukraine's foreign minister on Saturday. He is demanding a new round of sanctions against Russia.

Now it comes the same day that president Vladimir Putin warned that sanctions imposed on Russia are, in his view, equivalent to a declaration of war.

The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy meanwhile spoke with U.S. lawmakers on Saturday, asking again for a no-fly zone in the skies over Ukraine and also more military support. He also spoke with President Joe Biden. And as the fighting presses on across his nation, Mr. Zelenskyy is urging his people to not give up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Ukraine, which we know, love, protect and will not give up to any enemy, when you don't have a firearm but they respond with gunshots and you don't run, this is the reason why occupation is temporary. Our people, Ukrainians, don't back down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Angry protesters showing their defiance as Russian troops push further into Ukraine but those forces appear to be losing patience with those fighting the invasion. CNN's Matthew Chance reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We have seen scenes of these kind of civilian defiance, really up and down the country, in the areas where Russians have taken control of these population centers.

[00:35:00]

CHANCE: And for the most part, even though the scenes have been often quite angry, you know, we're now starting to see, you know, the Russian forces, perhaps, lose some of the patience that they've been exhibiting to these kinds of -- these kinds of angry crowds in the past few days.

Take a look at this astonishing moment, in which angry protesters in the northeastern town of Novhorodske (ph), which is a Russian-speaking area, filled with ethnic Russians, remember, take a look at how these protesters are shot, for want of a better way of describing it, by the Russian forces they're confronting. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: Very astonishing, isn't it?

But it just underlines, you know, the amount of defiance that there is in this country, when it comes to this Russian invasion force. If the Russians thought that these people were going to back down easily and capitulate and welcome them, they were very badly mistaken.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Matthew Chance there. Coming up, we'll go inside a Ukrainian children's hospital, where

dozens are seeking shelter and treatment amid this invasion. That story when we come back.

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HOLMES: Welcome back.

[00:40:00]

HOLMES: Many children with cancer in Ukraine must take shelter as the sirens blare and the bombs fall, all while they undergo treatment. Hospital basements in some cities being turned into makeshift bomb shelters, as medical staff try to carry on under dire conditions.

CNN's Anderson Cooper takes us to a hospital in Lviv, where sick children are finding a refuge.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST (voice-over): The fighting hasn't come to Lviv but the war's littlest victims have. This children's hospital is full with kids being treated for cancer. More than 100 have arrived here in the past few days from Ukrainian cities already under attack.

COOPER: How did they get here?

DR. ROMAN KIZYMA, WESTERN UKRAINIAN SPECIALIZED PEDIATRIC MEDICAL CENTER: Different ways. So they try to get any bus or train. And mostly at night they arrive. And we try to get them from the trains. And it's chaos in the railway station, so people just push them because it's panic.

COOPER (voice-over): Dr. Roman Kizyma has barely slept in three days.

COOPER: What do you need here?

KIZYMA: First of all, we need the information to be spread, that there is kind of a problem. So we need to stop the violence and get the treatment for kids.

And the second thing is strategical planning. We will face shortages of the drugs and technologies in very short future.

COOPER (voice-over): He's trying to get as many kids as possible into hospitals in Poland to save their lives.

KIZYMA: A lot of them will die in the nearest future because of the shortages of drugs and the treatment breaks and not only for cancer but a lot of other things. And we know that and we are desperate.

COOPER (voice-over): The rooms here are crowded and conditions are less than ideal.

KIZYMA: We have the constant alarm. Like we had four of them last night, I guess and we --

COOPER: Air raid sirens?

KIZYMA: Yes. And then we have to have all these kids grabbed and taken into shelter.

COOPER: So every time there's an air raid siren, you have -- even if it's a false alarm, you have to bring them down --

KIZYMA: Yes, yes. It is a mess. An it looks like, I've never seen that, like in the movies, you know, a lot of bald kids and mothers crying. And they are just running somewhere.

COOPER: What game are you playing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

COOPER: Ah.

How do you play?

COOPER (voice-over): Eight-year-old Alexei (ph) has brain cancer. He'd been making good progress in Kyiv until the war stopped his treatment. He got here four days ago with his mother, Lida (ph).

COOPER: How are you doing?

LIDA (PH), ALEXEI (PH)'S MOTHER (through translator): It is difficult, because we've gone through such a long way of treatment. We have been getting treatment for a year now. And when we had such a little step left to make to the finishing line, to the happy end, this dream abruptly stops.

COOPER (voice-over): Tomorrow, she'll take Alexei (ph) by bus to a hospital in Poland. She's left her other children behind in Kyiv.

LIDA (PH) (through translator): My youngest is 3 and my oldest is 16. They have to stay there. And my heart is breaking. I am grateful that we can go and continue the treatment and help my child, who really needs it right now. But on the other side, I am so worried, as I'm leaving my two other kids behind.

COOPER: That is an impossible decision to have to make.

LIDA (PH) (through translator): Yes, but we have made it so far in the treatment and I have strong belief that our treatment will be successful.

COOPER (voice-over): In another room, we met Bogdan (ph).

COOPER: Is this your truck?

COOPER (voice-over): At 2, he survived a heart attack, a stroke and stomach cancer. Now 8, the cancer's come back. His mother, Nataliya (ph), is with him around the clock.

NATALIYA (PH), BOGDAN'S (PH) MOTHER (through translator): We have only gone through one course of chemotherapy. Now we are doing more blood tests. So far, the results are not good. We're preparing for the second course of the therapy.

You know, it is very difficult now and, when the sirens go off, the doctors come and disconnect him from the treatment.

COOPER: What is it like to be a mother, trying to protect a child during this war?

NATALIYA (PH) (through translator): It is so difficult. I cannot just put it into words. Do you understand, it is impossible to put it into words because every mother wants their baby to be healthy.

COOPER: How do you explain what is happening to an 8-year old?

NATALIYA (PH) (through translator): I am trying not to involve him too much in the situation, not to traumatize him. When we are running, he asks if we can take a break, as he wants to walk a bit. He wants to walk around his room a bit, as he's constantly bedridden, getting the treatment.

At first, when we were going down to the bunker, he was getting very scared.

What is going on, everyone is running to hide?

BOGDAN (PH), PEDIATRIC PATIENT (from captions): First time when I came here, I was very afraid. I did not know where we are going.

[00:45:00]

COOPER: It's scary to see the other people who are scared.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).

BOGDAN (PH): Yes.

COOPER: You're very brave.

COOPER (voice-over): There is no shortage of bravery in this place, these kids, these moms; they've been fighting for years.

NATALIYA (PH) (through translator): Please help us. It is very difficult for us here. Help us to save our country. There's every day in the news, we hear about invasion. But our big city, Kyiv, capital of Ukraine, and the rest of our land is bombarded.

People are running away from there and we do not know what awaits for us. We just cannot know. We hope that the whole world will help us to stop the aggressors.

COOPER (voice-over): Anderson Cooper, CNN, Lviv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now a U.S.-based humanitarian group is trying to help the Ukrainian hospitals, just like the one you saw there in Anderson's report. Direct Relief is shipping urgently needed medical supplies out of a warehouse in California.

This warehouse there, they include heavy duty tourniquets that stop severe bleeding, the number one item requested by Ukraine's government. The group's CEO says the demand for that kind of aid will not go away anytime soon.

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THOMAS TIGHE, PRESIDENT AND CEO, DIRECT RELIEF: If this ended today, it would still be a major humanitarian crisis in Europe.

We're -- I think Direct Relief isn't alone to be trying to adjust to circumstances that we didn't anticipate in 2022 in Europe, that we would have a -- basically a ground war that's targeting civilians, blowing up hospitals, for reasons known only to one man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now Direct Care (sic) is also shipping N-95 masks, partly because it is concerned about possible COVID outbreaks among Ukrainian refugees as well.

Organizations around the world and on the ground here in Ukraine, trying to help those who need food, shelter, water and other assistance, basic needs. For more information about how you can help, go to cnn.com/impact.

All right, that will do it from here for now. Let's go back to Paula Newton in Atlanta.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thank you, Michael.

A deadly tornado touches down in the state of Iowa. We'll go live to the CNN Weather Center for the latest. That's after the break.

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NEWTON: So we're tracking the aftermath of a deadly tornado in the U.S. Midwest. Images show a massive twister churning across Iowa.

Officials say the storm killed at least six people. It hit south of Des Moines on Saturday and at least four other people now have serious injuries. The National Weather Service estimates the storm was an F-3 tornado, indicating severe damage. (WEATHER REPORT)

NEWTON: Growing concerns for U.S. basketball star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner after "The New York Times" reported she was arrested in Moscow.

Customs officials said they found cannabis oil in her luggage upon arriving in New York, the report said, adding that drug-sniffing dogs detected the possible presence of narcotics in her carry-on baggage.

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NEWTON: Credit card companies Visa and MasterCard say they're suspending all operations and transactions in Russia, both citing the invasion of Ukraine for the reason. They say cards issued by Russian banks will no longer be supported by their networks and cards issued outside the country won't work at Russian merchants or ATMs.

On the Ukrainian-Polish border, a musical interlude to try to forget the sounds of war, if only for a few moments.

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NEWTON (voice-over): A woman in front of a train station, she serenaded heartsick Ukrainian refugees with the ironically named Louis Armstrong tune, "What a Wonderful World."

Wow, that's lovely.

On the other side of the border in Poland, traveling piano man, Davide Martello, also greeted weary travelers with songs. Some people even played along with him.

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NEWTON: I am Paula Newton. Please stay with us. Our breaking news coverage continues right after the break and we will be live in Ukraine.