Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Biden: Vladimir Putin "Cannot Remain In Power"; Ukrainian Rock Star Describes Life In A War Zone; World Central Kitchen Helping Feed Ukrainians; Russian Family On Deciding To Leave Country; North Korea Tests First ICBM In Four Years; Concert In Kharkiv Metro Shelter; South African President Blames Nato For Russian Invasion. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired March 27, 2022 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.
HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world and in the United States as well this hour. I'm Hala Gorani, reporting live from Lviv, Ukraine.
The American president, Joe Biden, is back at the White House now, after a flurry of high-stakes summits in Europe to address the war in Ukraine. But before leaving Europe, while in Poland, he delivered an unprecedented broadside at Russia's leader. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A dictator bent on rebuilding an empire will never erase the people's love for liberty. Brutality will never grind down the will to be free. Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia, for free people refuse to live in a world of hopelessness and darkness.
We will have a different future, a brighter future rooted in democracy and principle, hope and light, of decency and dignity, of freedom and possibilities. For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: On no uncertain terms, the American president told the world that Vladimir Putin must go. The White House said, that last part, that Vladimir Putin must go, was ad-libbed and denied that the president was calling for a regime change in Moscow.
A Kremlin spokesperson reacted by saying it was not Mr. Biden's decision to make.
Even as the U.S. President was still in Poland, Russian missiles landed just across the border in Western Ukraine and not far from our position here. This time, the target was another fuel storage facility in the city of Lviv. CNN's Phil Black rushed to the scene to cover the attack and filed this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was around 4:30 local time Saturday afternoon that the war in Ukraine finally came here to the western city of Lviv. And this is the immediate aftermath.
This is where there were a series of explosions heard across the city. You could see that huge black column of smoke spreading across the city. It's not just the column of smoke that is huge. The flames are really significant.
And down there, you can see there are fire crews desperately trying to fight them. It seems like, frankly, an insufficient effort. The hoses that you can see being targeted into those flames look very small by comparison. Those flames are still burning ferociously. They look like they are set to do so for some time.
What is extraordinary is that this is very much within the city limits of Lviv. It is very close to homes. It's a residential area very nearby; some high-rise, lots of houses; just to the left, a huge shopping center.
This is part of a very specific targeted campaign and tactic by the Russians, because, in the last couple of days, a number of fuel depots in different locations across the country have been knocked out by their cruise missiles, often launched from naval vessels, we believe, in the Black Sea.
Late last week, there was a big fuel depot near Kyiv; just today, earlier on Saturday, they announced that they'd hit another one near Mykolaiv; now here, in far Western Ukraine in the city of Lviv -- Phil Black, CNN, Lviv, Western Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: CNN's David McKenzie is tracking the diplomatic situation for us in London. He joins me now live.
I can't imagine when world leaders, Western leaders, NATO presidents and heads of state heard the President of the United States say that Vladimir Putin must go, what the reaction would have been there, because the White House tried to walk that back pretty quickly after he was done.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, very quickly, Hala. That was the aim of the White House, just moments after President Biden made those statements, where he appeared, at least at first, to be calling for some kind of regime change, that Putin must go.
But it was quickly walked back by the White House. They said he didn't mean that this was a call for regime change. They said, in fact, this was something, where he said he shouldn't be holding power over those countries near Russia and over NATO.
But certainly it was stepping over that very delicate line that's been played by the U.S. President and NATO over the last few weeks, trying to indicate this is about the war in Ukraine and not about pushing Vladimir Putin out of power.
[03:05:00]
MCKENZIE: Of course, a very quick response from the Kremlin, saying that it's up to the Russian people to decide who is the president. So it is perhaps a minor kerfuffle at this point.
But it does show the delicate nature of the diplomacy. You had President Biden, Hala, in the region for several days, trying to shore up support from NATO. And even because -- well, in spite of that support, you had a late-night address, as he does, from President Zelenskyy, again asking for more support and saying words are not enough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): One percent of all the planes, 1 percent of all the tanks. That's all we're asking for, just 1 percent. We do not ask for more and we've already been waiting 31 days.
Who runs the U.N. Atlantic committee?
Is it Moscow because of intimidation?
Partners need to step up assistance to Ukraine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKENZIE: The Ukrainian president again saying he needs more support, asking for more, objectively, attack weapons, which he has been doing for several days now. Of course you've seen the Ukrainian military pushing into fightback in both the central and eastern parts of the country, Hala.
He says he needs more. NATO says they will support him with defensive weapons. But you have this instance, again illustrated by Biden's remarks off the cuff, that this is a very delicate situation that everyone fears blowing out of even more proportion -- Hala.
GORANI: OK. David McKenzie, live in London. Thanks.
Last hour, I spoke with someone who is a household name here in Ukraine, Svyatoslav Vakarchuk. He's the lead singer of a rock band, Okean Elzy. He was speaking to me from the ravaged city of Kharkiv in Eastern Ukraine, that has been really just hurt and destroyed by missiles and artillery.
And the images behind him spoke volumes about the situation in Ukraine's second largest city.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SVYATOSLAV VAKARCHUK, ROCK SINGER AND ACTIVIST: You can very, very distinctly see one of the main streets of Kharkiv behind me. I think I don't need to tell anything about this background, right?
On the back of me is the building of one of the -- of the buildings of Kharkiv State University, one of the oldest in Eastern Europe. So I don't know if it was a military object but it was -- I'm sure not -- but it was ruined by Russian bombs.
While I'm speaking to you, you see the sky above me is clear and good and seems like nothing happens. But next to us, maybe couple of miles from here, there are distinctive blows right now.
And it's -- it's scary. I mean, it's blowing up somewhere. I think missiles or bombs are being used by Russians. And this is Kharkiv today, 21st century. And this is what Russians do with our cities.
GORANI: And just about a month ago, six weeks ago, I mean, you're one of the best known singers in this country, Ukraine. You're on the Ukrainian version of "The Voice." And now you're in a bombed-out city in Kharkiv.
What's life been like for you?
How are you helping in the defense of your homeland?
VAKARCHUK: Nobody's staying behind in this country anymore. Everybody is trying to defend our land. I enlisted to the army as a lieutenant, because I had a military training in the university.
But mostly what I'm doing is going back and forth in the country, meeting people, meeting the troops, meeting people in hospitals, wounded and also the personnel, trying to raise the morale.
Actually, I don't need to raise the morale because the morale of Ukraine is very high. What actually everybody is -- what everybody needs is just generally like mutual support, to see each other, to say good words, to stand behind, to stand by others and just to make sure the whole country is united in fighting against Russians. And united we are and we will win this war, no doubt for me.
Just the only question is what will be -- what will be the price for that?
GORANI: Exactly. Well, the -- I was reading that you do have quite a few fans in Russia, Russian fans.
(CROSSTALK)
GORANI: Have you heard from them?
Do you try to -- in Russian as well -- do you -- how are -- do you think you're reaching some of these fans in Russia?
[03:10:00]
GORANI: And if so, how are they reacting to your posts on social media, to what you've been doing in the last month? VAKARCHUK: I'm not sure that I can be heard anymore in this country because this country -- now I mean Russia, sorry, Russia, I mean by this country. And I think that Russia reminds me now of Orwellian "1984" society, because they're so much afraid of just going out to the streets. They've been so brutally suppressed.
So all those who are against war are very silent, because either they emigrated or they just shut up their mouths. But the majority of Russians, as we've been -- we don't know but the statistics say they still stay behind Putin's crime and they still believe that Putin's doing some good things, which is very overwhelming and probably even more scaring than the fact that what they're doing now.
Because if they believe what Putin and his generals do is right, then it's even bigger problem, because then it means, after we win the war and after we hold the Russians' leaders and generals accountable, it still should be a long time since the society will come back to normal.
So I don't know what to say to Russians anymore. I've been trying so many times. So the only things that can work now -- and I understand it very vividly, that the only thing that can work now is these harsh sanctions.
Because if they feel that something's going wrong, not with their hearts -- because their hearts now are closed -- but probably with their stomachs, I mean when there will be really problems with economics to the extent that they will have some shortages of some food or something like that.
So maybe, maybe -- I'm not sure, it will change the situation. I remember being in a kid when, in 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed. Two or three years before nobody could predict it. But then economic situation in the country worked much more than geopolitical situation, believe me.
When you have lines of people, who want to buy like milk and can't do that, it works very hard and it works very, I would say, effectively. So maybe, maybe Russians will go out to the streets and flood the streets by millions when their life becomes miserable.
Ukrainians don't want anybody live miserable. But we also didn't invite these people, didn't invite their soldiers to come and destroy our homes and kill our children and women. And that's what they've been doing right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: One of the best-known celebrities in this country, Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, there from the Ukrainian rock band, Okean Elzy, speaking to me from the bombed-out center of Kharkiv in Eastern Ukraine.
He's really spent the last few weeks, trying to help in the defense of his country in any way that he can, whether it's by singing for troops, delivering supplies, traveling also at great personal risk, from one front line to the next. Now you may be far from the fighting in Ukraine wherever you are. But
you'll likely feel its effects when you buy food. We'll look at the looming global food crisis after the break. What is happening here will impact that in other areas.
Plus a former retail superstore becomes a stopover for refugees, helping Ukrainians flee Russia's war. We have that story as well coming up.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:15:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
GORANI: All right.
Ukrainian officials say more than 5,200 people were evacuated through humanitarian corridors yesterday, Saturday. The vast majority were from Mariupol, that devastated city. More than 4,300 came from the eastern city of southeast of Mariupol and reached Zaporizhzhya.
Hundreds more were evacuated from the Kyiv and Luhansk regions, now safe in countries like Romania. Refugees are describing the fear that is driving them to flee. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZANA, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE (through translator): Families and friends are scared. Many are leaving the country, leaving behind their homes with tears, with pain. But they are leaving because it's horrible. It's the 21st century. No one could have thought that something like this would happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, according to the U.N., more than 3.7 million people have fled to safety in other countries since the war began.
While in Poland, U.S. President Joe Biden met with some Ukrainian refugees at the national stadium there, at one point, carrying a Ukrainian girl in his arms, and tried to offer some comfort to those displaced.
Now the war may be in Ukraine but you can feel the effects of it around the world. The latest example is food, food prices, food availability. Experts say the world is heading for a crisis in that regard because the war has sent prices sky-high.
The biggest problem is wheat, because 30 percent of the world's wheat comes from this part of the globe, Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine's president says his country will have enough food for itself. But the countries that depend on its exports will not.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Russian troops are covering fields in Ukraine with mines. They are exploding agrarian equipment. They are destroying our ports. They are destroying all our resources needed for agriculture.
Why they are doing this?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, Volodymyr Zelenskyy was speaking to the Doha forum there. And obviously wheat prices will have a big impact on the Arab world, North Africa and other parts of the African continent as well that depend so much on Russian and Ukrainian grain.
[03:20:00]
GORANI: That being said, the immediate need is getting food to cities that are surrounded and in dire need of more aid on a daily basis. The U.K. has pledged nearly $3 million in food aid. And my next guest is working on this as well.
Nate Mook is the CEO of World Central Kitchen, that has been onsite and on the ground now since the war began, really.
Talk to us about the logistics. I mean you're telling me you have dozens of kitchens in places like Kyiv and other parts of the country that are under assault right now.
How does it work for you?
NATE MOOK, CEO, WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: Yes, so it's a multi-pronged approach. We started working on the border with Poland, as refugees were fleeing Ukraine. We're now set up at every border crossing in Poland and also in Romania, Hungary, Moldova.
Here in Ukraine, it's really about supporting the communities, the families leaving their communities from the east, to places like here in Lviv and the West and also getting food to those cities for Ukrainians that are not able to leave.
So it's very complicated. We've got incredible partners, Ukrainian restaurants, that have activated across the country. We're also sending truckloads of food. And starting this weekend, we're sending rail -- these are rail wagons, filled with food -- out to cities that are very hardhit, including Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhya, which is supporting many of the evacuees from Mariupol.
GORANI: When you say you have active kitchens, how do you, in a matter of weeks, find a kitchen, turn it into an operational facility to distribute food on this scale?
This is a humanitarian effort. This isn't just feeding someone at a local eatery.
How does it work? MOOK: Yes. So really it's about tapping into the resources that are already there and the incredible work of Ukrainians to support other Ukrainians, which is happening already.
So we've been able to identify restaurants around the country, kitchens that were already there, that already had some food supplies to start working.
Chef Jose, our founder, likes to say we have kitchens all over the world. The restaurant community, chefs are so strong and they work together and they jump into action.
So we've been able to support those restaurants financially, to purchase what they need, also bringing food supplies to them in hardhit communities, like Odessa and Mykolaiv, and also provide that guidance.
When we started here in Lviv, for example, one of our restaurant partners was producing about 2,000 meals a day, which is a lot. Yesterday, they produced over 33,000 meals for Ukrainians here.
GORANI: So it's one thing producing them but then you have to distribute them. In some cases, that's quite a risky enterprise.
MOOK: It is. We have to take multiple approaches. So where we can, we have delivery drivers. Here in Lviv, for example, we're distributing to over 70 shelters here, that are housing evacuees, refugees from the east here in Lviv.
Then we also have trucks that are going out across the country. It's a lot of logistics coordination. We have four warehouses here in Lviv, that are filled with food, that are supported by our team in Poland as well. So a lot of moving parts. But it's incredible, the Ukrainians here, that are helping us manage this and get food to where it needs to go.
GORANI: Are you getting all the supplies and resources that you need?
Because there are some shortages in hard-hit parts of the country.
Do you get it from Poland in.
MOOK: Absolutely, there are a lot of shortages. We try to purchase what we can here in Ukraine. We're also purchasing in Poland and other European countries and bringing it across to sort of backstop and support the work.
Really the teams try to find whatever they can, wherever they can. We're buying as much as we can from local farmers, local producers as well, because it's important to keep the money in the local economy right now, because, obviously, everything is shut down.
That's one of the reasons we work with restaurants because, by supporting them, they can keep all their staff employed.
GORANI: How do you identify who needs the food deliveries? Not everybody does in a city like Lviv, for instance, which is still operational.
MOOK: Absolutely. Here in Lviv, we're really focused on those displaced Ukrainians. We have a hotline set up, so we get phone calls from shelters. We work closely with the regional administrators as well.
Then across Ukraine, we're in touch with the leaders of cities' mayors; for example, in Odessa and Kharkiv and Kyiv, to identify where they need food. Cities like Kyiv, right now, are starting to stockpile food in warehouses in case the city gets encircled.
Cities like Zaporizhzhya are really taking the brunt of evacuees coming from really devastated cities like Mariupol. So we're in touch with them about what their needs are. For example, they've requested energy bars, because some families haven't eaten in days and they just need some sustenance.
GORANI: How do you decide what food to deliver?
Presumably you're not delivering hot meals, right?
You have to either vacuum pack them; they have to be somehow preservable, I guess, is --
(CROSSTALK)
MOOK: So it's a combination.
GORANI: Yes.
MOOK: So here in Lviv and many other cities where restaurants are cooking, they are hot meals.
GORANI: OK.
[03:25:00]
MOOK: So it's incredible to see that get out to folks, because the kitchens are cooking and then they get put in these thermal boxes to keep them hot and then out.
In other places, exactly, it's non-perishable food items, as much as we can getting fresh food out to partners that are cooking on the ground. So we've got chefs, for example, in Kherson. We can't get there ourselves. But we've been able to get some supplies to them and then support them financially, so they can purchase what they need locally to prepare hot meals.
Then we take the requests in. So they let us know what they need. And we're starting to use rail, which will help us get to some really hardhit areas that may be a little bit dangerous for us to send trucks into.
GORANI: Absolutely. And let's hope those rail tracks remain intact. Is your background in humanitarian work before you started with World
Central Kitchen?
MOOK: So I've had a very background -- I was actually -- before Jose and I went down to Puerto Rico in 2017, I worked in documentary films and producing, which is sort of, you know, all the moving parts.
GORANI: You need to know moving parts and how they work when you produce for sure. Thanks so much, Nate Mook, from the World Central Kitchen.
Thanks for joining us. And if you would like to safely and securely help people in Ukraine, who may be in need of some basic necessities, go to cnn.com/impact. There are several ways listed that can allow you to help.
Thanks for watching. I'm Hala Gorani. For our international viewers, "NEW FRONTIERS" is next. For those in North America, we're back with more breaking news from Ukraine after this.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:30:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
GORANI: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States. I'm Hala Gorani, reporting live from Lviv, Ukraine. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Let's bring you up to date with the very latest from Ukraine.
The U.S. President, Joe Biden, is back at the White House after traveling to Europe to rally support for Ukraine amid Russia's invasion. Mr. Biden ended his trip in Poland, where he delivered a forceful rebuke of Russia's president, saying Vladimir Putin, quote, "cannot remain in power," unquote.
Now that comment, as you can imagine, sent shock waves around the world, even as the White House denied that Mr. Biden was actually calling for regime change. However, the U.S. President did deliver a stark warning to Mr. Putin, should Russia's attacks extend beyond Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Don't even think about moving on one single inch of NATO territory. We have sacred obligation. We have a sacred obligation under Article 5 to defend each and every inch of NATO territory with the full force of our collective power.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Those comments were cold comfort, though, to some in Ukraine. On Twitter, a Ukrainian lawmaker Inna Sovsun reacted to Mr. Biden's speech, saying, quote, "The bombs are exploding in Kyiv and Kharkiv, not in Warsaw."
She told CNN many Ukrainians were, in fact, disappointed with the speech, adding that they had hoped for bigger security guarantees from the U.S. and its allies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
INNA SOVSUN, UKRAINIAN MP: Ukraine was very hopeful with President Biden visiting Poland. But after the visit and after the speech, I did follow the social media. I did follow the posts by other people. And the general reaction was that of disappointment, unfortunately.
Well, what would have helped are the fighter jets. What would have helped us, giving us artillery. What would have helped is giving us air defense system. That would create security, not just for President Biden's visit, who is very much welcome here in Ukraine, but for all of us here in Ukraine.
So that is what we're asking for. We're not asking for NATO troops on the ground. But we're asking for helping us and give us the fighting chance to win against Putin, because what President Biden did very good in his speech.
He did explain how Putin is a threat, not just to Ukraine but actually to the whole world, to the ideas of democracy, of respect of human rights and human dignity. And then, if he raises this issue to this level, we expected that the response would also be, you know, higher.
The response will not be laying simply on our shoulders, as it is right now, because Putin is, indeed, a threat to all of us. But we expected that the whole world, recognizing this, will actually step in to help us fight against this evil.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: With Russian forces seemingly stalled in some parts of Ukraine, the invasion does not appear to be going according to plan for the Kremlin. But CNN military analyst Cedric Leighton says Ukraine should prepare for Russia to prolong this war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think we should be prepared for a long slog, unfortunately, because that is kind of their way of doing things. You know, they did, you know, indicate that they wanted to, you know, attack these areas in one way or the other.
And they find it, I think, useful from their perspective to try to keep the Ukrainians off balance. That's -- that's, in essence, what's happening here. But they are, you know, clearly doing things that, you know, indicate that their first plan has really failed.
It's -- it's really, you know, kind of a sequencing issue for them, I think, more than anything else. They've -- they thought that they could conquer Ukraine very quickly. That did not happen. So this is, in essence, plan B, a corollary to plan A, which was to take the whole thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, it's been said by many people, including the U.S. President on Saturday, that Russia is facing a remarkable brain drain, as more than 200,000 Russians have left the country just in the past month. Many of them are going to Turkey.
Some Russian families in Istanbul spoke to CNN's Jomana Karadsheh about why they decided to leave their own home.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Baby Natasha was born in Moscow.
[03:35:00]
KARADSHEH (voice-over): But her parents say they just can't imagine bringing her up in the country Russia has become.
TANYA, SCHOOL TEACHER AND REFUGEE: We were brought out in the country who like beat the fascism. And now we are in this unspeakable evil and everyone seems to be OK with it. Not everyone, of course but many, many people.
EGOR, RUSSIAN PHYSICIST AND REFUGEE: Many people.
KARADSHEH: A war they describe as immoral and illegal being waged in their name was the final straw. Earlier this month, they got on a flight out to Istanbul.
EGOR: Young people, people who had their hopes in the country, there was a significant part of them who really like this who were kind of patriotic, if you wish, that they are leaving. They see the situation. They cannot do anything more there. They need to move on even if they didn't want to before.
To me, the country continues that I don't yet see the bottom, like how deep it goes.
KARADSHEH: Igor is a theoretical physicist, Tanya a school teacher. They are among Russia's best and brightest, the kind of people their country can ill afford to lose.
EGOR: The flight we took, it was full of people how they say in Russian just too clever to be in this country. Like you can say that, well, this could really contribute to innovation, contribute to economy, contribute also to the intellectual climate, the atmosphere of the society.
KARADSHEH: One Russian economist estimates that more than 200,000 Russians left the country just in the first ten days of the war. And it's an ongoing exodus of many young, well-educated professionals, including I.T. specialists, journalists and academics who have ended up in countries like Armenia, Georgia and here in Turkey. They're escaping a brutal crackdown against those opposing Putin's war, including the threat of a 15-year jail sentence for spreading so- called fake news about the military. Others are worried about conscription and the impact of sanctions. But some feel like they just don't belong anymore.
This couple in their 60s are both independent journalists. They asked us to conceal their identities for the safety of friends and family back home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really don't understand how I can survive there. Really, many people in Russia support this politics and this is absolutely unbearable. They are brainwashed, I think. During Hitler's time, it was the same thing. People were brainwashed. Still, it is not all the population and it is important maybe to speak out.
KARADSHEH: Staying and remaining silent was not an option, they say. With rumors of borders closing, they only had an hour to pack a small bag, leaving behind all they own, their memories, their life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Deeply inside we are patriots. We speak Russian so our friends are Russians. We love to travel. But in any case, we are Russians. That is why it is even more complicated to make this decision. We never know if we will be able to meet all our relatives.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is very difficult for us to restart. We are too old to restart everything new. For young people, it is easier. Still, smart people, they will find their way. For us, it will be a problem to find our place in this new world.
KARADSHEH: A world where Russians like them now feel helpless and ashamed of a country they still proudly call home -- Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Istanbul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: All right. Well that's it from me for now. Back to Kim Brunhuber in Atlanta. Kim.
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thanks so much, Hala.
Just ahead, after North Korea carries out its first intercontinental ballistic missile test in four years, we'll look at why some experts don't think the U.S. missile defense system could do anything about it.
Also, U.S. health officials are expected to sign off on a second COVID booster shot, possibly as soon as this week. We'll have details on who will be eligible coming up. Stay with us.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:40:00] (MUSIC PLAYING)
BRUNHUBER: China's representative on Korean affairs was in Moscow Saturday, meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. The Chinese diplomat said they discussed the Korean Peninsula and, quote, "international issues of mutual concern."
That comes days after North Korea tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile in more than four years. As our Will Ripley reports, some experts question whether U.S. missile defense systems could successfully intercept an ICBM.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one, ignition.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): America's missile defense system, the best and perhaps only line of defense from a North Korean nuclear missile aimed at the U.S.
Now a stunning warning from some of America's leading experts.
FREDERICK K. LAMB, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS: If North Korea were to fire a nuclear armed ICBMs at the United States, we cannot be assured that our missile defense system would prevent the loss of millions of Americans.
RIPLEY: Kim Jong-un's most powerful test in almost five years, an intercontinental ballistic missile. A warning to President Joe Biden and America as North Korea sharpens its nuclear sword.
For years, U.S. leaders have reassured the public --
MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Missile defense begins here.
RIPLEY: -- and America's allies --
GEN. LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: They should be very confident.
RIPLEY: -- missile defense systems can keep them safe.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can easily shoot them out of the sky.
RIPLEY: Senior Defense officials project confidence the U.S. could also shoot down a North Korean ICBM.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The defense of the homeland --
RIPLEY: These experts say the odds of success are very low.
LAURA GREGO, STANTON NUCLEAR SECURITY FELLOW, MIT: It has been described as hitting a bullet with a bullet, trying to hit a warhead. RIPLEY: For the first study of its kind in 10 years, commissioned by the American Physical Society, their conclusion: despite more than six decades of missile defense efforts and 350 billion U.S. taxpayer dollars, no missile defense system has been shown to be effective against realistic ICBM tests.
Why is it so hard to shoot down an ICBM?
LAMB: That warhead would undoubtedly be accompanied by decoys and by things to fool the defense or overwhelm the defense.
RIPLEY: A fundamental problem.
JAMES D. WELLS, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: We do not see in the next 15 years that an effective defense can be mounted against ICBMs.
RIPLEY: The current system has only been tested 19 times since 1999.
GREGO: And those tests, they have been essentially scripted for success. Even still the test has only succeeded around half the time.
RIPLEY: But what about all those successful intercepts in the Middle East?
What about the Iron Dome?
[03:45:00]
WELLS: ICBMs are a qualitatively different threat than any of the missiles that we have read about in the news, traveling significantly higher and having potential penetration aids and countermeasures.
RIPLEY: CNN reached out to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. When asked about the report's findings, a spokesperson cited this defense report from January.
It says, "The missile defense system has demonstrated a measure of capability to defend the United States, deployed forces and allies from a rogue nation's missile attack," and that its most advanced radar will be able to separate the warhead from a cloud of decoys.
U.S. think tank CSIS says these images show an undeclared North Korean missile base, just miles from the Chinese border, a potential launch site for ICBMs.
JOSEPH YUN, FORMER U.S. ENVOY TO NORTH KOREA: We need to understand that there is no military solution.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Former U.S. ambassador and special envoy to North Korea, Joseph Yun, believes the only option is for President Biden to take the page from the playbook of former president Trump and reach out directly to Kim Jong-un.
RIPLEY: Do you think it is a mistake the Biden administration is not focusing more on North Korea? YUN: I think it is a mistake. I think the longer the situation continues, more serious will the provocations be.
RIPLEY (voice-over): He says diplomacy may be the only way to keep the missiles from flying, to keep America safe -- Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Chinese state media reports the second black box has now been recovered from that deadly crash of a Boeing 737-800 on Monday. That's the flight data recorder from the China Eastern Airlines flight.
The cockpit voice recorder was recovered earlier. Officials say all 132 people on the plane died when it crashed into the mountains of southern China's Guangxi region. The cause hasn't been determined.
Older adults in the United States may soon have the option of getting a second COVID-19 booster shot. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize a fourth dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for those older than 50.
That decision is expected as early as this week. Then soon after that, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to follow suit with a similar recommendation.
State health officials in China reported more than 5,500 locally transmitted COVID cases on Saturday. It was the second consecutive day with more than 5,000 cases. Nearly half of them were in Shanghai.
Current daily infections in the city are at the highest reported levels since the pandemic began. But Shanghai refuses to implement a citywide lockdown, citing the economic damage it could cause.
The U.S. is limiting the use of a particular COVID treatment due to a more contagious subvariant. The Food and Drug Administration says the monoclonal antibody treatment sotrovimab has been successfully keeping people out of the hospital. But it doesn't seem to help people who contracted the Omicron subvariant known as BA.2.
The FDA says BA.2 is now the dominant strain in at least eight states, two territories and rising elsewhere. It's also driving a surge in cases in parts of Europe, particularly the U.K., Germany and the Netherlands.
Many African leaders are hesitating in their response to Russia's invasion. We'll have the details on why and how some countries view Russia and Putin ahead. Stay with us.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:50:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): An underground concert rings through the tunnel of a metro station in Kharkiv. A tear trickles down a woman's cheek, as she watches the performance from a distance, with a baby in her arms. A few others smile and clap.
One of the orchestra members says it was his way of helping his country and to send the message that they're fearless and strong. For some in the audience, events like this offer more than just entertainment.
MARIA, KHARKIV RESIDENT (through translator): Events like this are a ray of light that helps us to trust in positivity and to be sure that, soon, everything will end and everything will be OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: But for now, many of them are stuck, hiding in makeshift shelters underground.
African students were among those forced to flee Ukraine by the Kremlin's invasion. But many African leaders have been hesitant to criticize Russia and its war. CNN's Stephanie Busari explains why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN.COM SUPERVISING EDITOR, AFRICA (voice-over): President Vladimir Putin's actions have been strongly condemned by several African nations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ghana remains deeply concerned about the escalation of military bombardments in several cities of Ukraine.
BUSARI (voice-over): But many African states, while still denouncing the violence unleashed on Ukrainian civilians, have been much more muted in their response to Russia. When the U.N. General Assembly voted on a resolution urging a Russian cease-fire and withdrawal, 17 African countries abstained, including Senegal. Beside them is a growing share (ph) of the African Union.
REMI ADEKOYA, UNIVERSITY OF YORK: There's also a strong strand of thought in African diplomacy that says African states should maintain the principle of non-interference. And so they shouldn't get caught up in proxy wars between the East and the West, as some states did get caught up in proxy wars, during the Cold War, for instance.
BUSARI (voice-over): Nelson Mandela once put it like this. It is a mistake to, quote, "think that their enemies should be our enemies."
South Africa also abstained from the U.N. vote and president Cyril Ramaphosa has since blamed NATO for considering Ukraine's membership into the military alliance, which Russia is against. CYRIL RAMAPHOSA, SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT: The war could have been
avoided if NATO had heeded the warnings from leaders and officials over the years. We are insisting, we are insisting that there should be dialogue.
BUSARI (voice-over): South Africa has historical ties with the former USSR, which supported its fight against apartheid.
[03:55:00]
BUSARI (voice-over): Former president Jacob Zuma, seen here with Putin in 2013, even recently said he believed the Russian president was a man of peace, who would take steps to make peace a reality.
ADEKOYA: There are many people in many parts of the world, who would like to see other regions gain in strength and would like to see the end of Western domination of the world order, putting it simply.
And now, of course, no right-thinking person in Africa or anywhere in the world looks at what is going on in Ukraine now and thinks that it's a good thing.
BUSARI (voice-over): In recent years, Russia has established itself as one of Africa's most valuable trading partners, becoming one of Africa's major suppliers of military hardware, with key alliances in Nigeria, Libya, Ethiopia and Malawi.
Given the strategic and economic concerns, African leaders will likely continue to tread carefully in response to the war in Ukraine -- Stephanie Busari, CNN, Lagos.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM and the latest developments in Russia's war on Ukraine right after the break. Please do stay with us.
