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Russian Strikes Destroy Town and Homes Outside Kyiv; New Round of Ukraine-Russia Talks set for Tuesday; U.S. Official Try to Walk Back Biden's Putin Comment; Many Fleeing Ukraine Have No Idea Where They'll End Up; Ukrainian official: Missile Strikes Hit Multiple Cities; Will Smith Appears to Strike Chris Rock on Oscars Telecast; Blinken Tours Middle East; Shanghai Going Into Lockdown for COVID testing. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired March 28, 2022 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[01:00:04]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody and welcome to our viewers all around the world, and also in the United States this hour. I'm Hala Gorani reporting live from Lviv in Ukraine.
We are following breaking developments in Russia's war on this country and advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is accusing Russia of trying to "wipe Ukraine off the face of the earth" as it steps up and continues to step up missile strikes across the country.
This as we're seeing new images of widespread destruction and devastation left behind by the brutal Russian assaults in cities like Mariupol. Russia's attacks from the air are coming as Ukrainian forces launch counter attacks on the ground and are even managing to gain back some territory.
On Tuesday, Russia and Ukraine are set for another round of talks this time in Turkey. And ahead of that President Zelenskyy says his country is now ready to accept neutral non-nuclear status and even shared some hopes for the latest negotiations. Listen.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translation): Our priorities in the negotiations are known. Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity are beyond doubt. Effective security guarantees for our state are mandatory. Our goal is obvious, peace and the restoration of normal life and our native state as soon as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, Ukraine, meantime says there will be an immediate investigation after a video surfaced, you may have seen it online showing what appears to be Ukrainian soldiers shooting Russian prisoners in the knees. This was said to have been -- to have taken place during an operation in the Kharkiv region.
Now, Ukrainian forces have pushed back the Russian military in some rural areas outside of Kyiv, but intense fighting had already taken a heavy toll on homes and villages there. ITV's Rohit Kachroo has this look at a town obliterated by Russian strikes not far from the capital.
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ROHIT KACHROO, ITV NEWS: Shevchenko survived, but not much else did. A statue of the Ukrainian poet still stands after almost everything else was wiped out by Russian airstrike. The library was hit. Residents take the books they might have once borrowed. The town hall was destroyed too, and the shop for kids and the pharmacy and even the off license. Byshiv is village one hour from Kyiv. And it tells two stories. The crater reveals the force of Russian might. But there's a story of failure too, more than a month into this war, life of sorts carries on. The Russian troops never arrived. Although plans were laid to stop them getting in.
(On camera): It looks like an earthquake hit. There is complete destruction absolutely everywhere. But maybe the most interesting thing to see is not the fact this place was flattened. But the fact it wasn't flattened into submission.
(Voice-over): In the Capitol monuments are being protected as history is rewritten because met with a fierce resistance. Moscow now says it no longer wants to focus on the capital, but the Ukrainians don't believe that.
COL. OLEKSANDR MOTUZYANYK, UKRAINIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY SPOKESMAN (through translation): We cannot trust them. At the moment, we don't see any withdrawal of Russian troops from certain areas of Kyiv.
KACHROO: Because you needn't go far from Kyiv to see the area around it was in Russia sites until not long ago. And the strategist protecting the capital believe nothing has changed. Rohit Kachroo, ITV NEWS, Byshiv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Joining me now is Mick Ryan, a retired Major General with the Australian Army and former commander of the Australian Defense College. He's also the author of War Transformed: The Future of Twenty-First-Century Great Power Competition and Conflict. Thanks for being with us.
So, when the Russians say they're now focusing on eastern Ukraine, yet they continue to batter other parts of the country, including some targets around where we are right now in western Ukraine. Do you think they're just plain lying, and if so, what's the what's the ultimate goal here?
MAJOR GEN. MICK RYAN, (RET.), AUSTRALIAN ARMY: Hi, Hala. Well, I don't think we can ever take at face value the briefing by a Russian general that gives us an update on the situation. The political value of Kyiv is still high to both the Russians and the Ukrainians so the Russians aren't going to give up on taking Kyiv but they will probably seek to better it into submission from long distance using artillery and rockets, rather than a direct attack.
[01:05:13]
The East is a different proposition. I think the Russians will probably reinforce their troops there and seek to make more gains on the ground in the Donbass region.
GORANI: Yeah, are they trying to sort of split this country and two, as some have sort of cut -- some have come to that conclusion based on their actions that they couldn't take Kyiv, they couldn't take the whole country and blitz their way into the Capitol. And so they're going to try to have an occupied and non-occupied situation on the ground, do you believe that may be is the aim here?
RYAN: That is an interesting proposition. And it looks like the Russians might be able to achieve that, particularly if they're able to take all of Ukrainian territory to the east of the NEPA (ph), certainly if they're able to siege Dnipro. And the areas east of that. We are set up for a potential future where there is an East and West Ukraine like there is a North and South Korea.
GORANI: Yeah, and that would be really a disaster for the civilians living in those areas, is there? Do you have any hope for these talks that are taking place in Turkey? Because we're starting to hear rumblings from President Zelenskyy himself that perhaps there is an acceptance, that in order to bring this carnage to an end? There, you know, there has to be some pronouncement to the effect of yes, we will -- we will accept a neutral status. What do you think of that?
RYAN: Well, I think if both sides are still talking, I'm still encouraged. I mean, this the only solution to this war is a political one. So they have to keep talking. The fact that President Zelenskyy has said they will be a non-nuclear potentially neutral is some kind of progress, although Ukraine gave up all the nuclear weapons it had after the Cold War. Being neutral, and also having security guarantees will be an interesting balancing act for Ukraine and how Ukraine and Russia were able to achieve that out of these negotiation remains to be seen.
GORANI: Right. And also, how do you trust Russia? I mean, obviously, the security guarantees were supposed to be in place before Russia launched this unprovoked attack. What about the staying power of the Russian military here, they -- this is taking a lot longer than they had hoped. We're hearing reports and they're taking huge losses in terms of troops. We're hearing reports of low morale even in some cases of soldiers and troops deserting their posts. We've seen all these images of Ukrainian farmers dragging Russian tanks across their fields. Can they sustain this in the longer term?
RYAN: Well, the fact is some of these things were seeing and hearing features of every war. Every conflict features, these kinds of behaviors from soldiers on all sides. But I think the unique dimension we're seeing out of the Russians here is a large proportion of the Russian soldiers were lied to. They weren't told that they were going to Ukraine and I was certainly not given good purpose for going in. That has a massive impact on morale, it has a huge impact on the cohesion of units. And frankly, it makes soldiers not really want to fight and the leaders that have lied for them. So the Russians are in big trouble when it comes to manpower. If they are going to reinforce, it's going to take them a long time to generate the tens of thousands of soldiers that they might need.
GORANI: And finally, Ukrainians have -- and many members of parliament and other officials have told me over the last several weeks, look, if NATO is not willing to enforce a no fly zone, allow us to enforce our own no fly zone, we need to anti-aircraft weaponry, we need fighter jets. How much of a difference would it make if Western countries did supply those weapons to the Ukrainians?
RYAN: Well, the Ukrainians have proved themselves to be a very professional military, and it's hard to see how a few extra aircraft who's going to escalate the situation. My sense is, if they've asked for a few extra aircraft and a few air defense systems, we should be providing it to them. NATO has 1000s and 1000s of these systems sitting there not being used at the moment. If they can help Ukraine hold on and get a better position at the bargaining table, perhaps that's something that NATO should consider.
GORANI: Major General Mick Ryan, thank you as always for joining us, live from Brisbane, Australia.
U.S. officials are trying to walk back President Joe Biden's fiery remarks about Vladimir Putin when he said the Russian President "cannot remain in power." CNN's Arlette Saenz has the details on that for the White House.
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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: With President Biden back in Washington, the White House continued to try to clarify his comments that Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot remain in power. Those comments which the President made in a speech in Poland on Saturday caught many of his aides by surprise. They were not part of his prepared speech and seemed to suggest he wanted to see regime change in Russia, which would mark a significant change in U.S. foreign policy.
But President Biden was asked directly by reporters here in Washington on Sunday, whether he meant that he wanted regime change in much Russia, and he said, no. Secretary of State Antony Blinken further elaborated on what the White House's view on the matter is.
ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: The President, the White House made the point last night that quite simply, President Putin cannot be empowered to wage war, or engage in aggression against Ukraine, or anyone else. As you know, and as you've heard us say, repeatedly, we do not have a strategy of regime change in Russia or anywhere else, for that matter. In this case, as in any case, it's up to the people of the country in question. It's up to the Russian people.
SAENZ: Now, that moment, really marks the third time that the White House had to clarify something President said regarding Russia and Ukraine during his trip abroad, the White House very aware of the tense situation and how every word matters at this moment.
Now, while the President was abroad, he really was trying to shore up support and signal Western unity against Russian President Vladimir Putin amid his invasion of Ukraine. But the White House is also fully aware that the work is not complete simply because that foreign trip is over. And they will continue to look for ways to hold Russia and punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for his invasion, as well as further offers support to the Ukrainian people as they continue to defend themselves. Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.
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GORANI: Well, meanwhile, some European leaders seem to be distancing themselves from Mr. Biden's remarks calling Vladimir Putin a butcher. The French President Emmanuel Macron suggested that the comments could escalate the situation.
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EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translation): I think we must keep to the facts and do everything to not escalate things. I wouldn't use this type of wording because I continue to hold discussions with President Putin. What do we want to do collectively? We want to stop the war that Russia has launched in Ukraine without waging war and without escalation. And through diplomatic means, the objective is to obtain a ceasefire and complete withdrawal of the troops, if this is what we want to do, we should not escalate things, neither with words nor actions.
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GORANI: Well, British officials are also reacting to President Biden's comments. A member of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's cabinet says Downing Street believes it's up to the Russian people to decide who leads them.
Now, on Sunday, CNN spoke with a Ukrainian lawmaker to get her reaction to Biden's comments, listen.
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MARIA MEZENTSEVA, MEMBER OF UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT: It's a general perception of a democratic world, that such person who is trying to invade other independent states, which is not just Ukraine, we've witnessed that into Slovenia (ph), in Georgia, in the 90s was Moldova, we've had so many other exercises, military exercises in the middle 60s, et cetera, which are proving that the -- this is a playground of geopolitics for Putin. And I think, you know, this message was -- has to be taken, very straightforward. Putin does not represent the whole Russian people, we do believe that there has to be an internal protest, which can become bigger and bigger only, which will lead to the change of the leadership. And, of course, this is not the only thing we rely on. We rely on the help of the U.S. the dedicated 2 billion which are now as allowance for military support, and missiles. And now our defenses, 1 billion for humanitarian aid and many other programs, which are enjoined efforts will lead to the whim of Ukraine, for the whole world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, just ahead on CNN, millions of terrified people on the move. Why the hardest part for some refugees doesn't start until after they make it out of the war zone?
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[01:18:17]
GORANI: We continue the heavy fighting in the city of Mariupol is devastating the lives of those who remain. Many who have taken shelter in basements during the Russian bombardment are returning to find their homes destroyed.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): I've lived here since my birth my husband as well. We got married here and had babies. What now? What is left for us? I don't want to go anywhere from Mariupol, but there's nowhere to live here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, this comes as Ukrainian officials say humanitarian aid is beginning to wane, adding that more support is desperately needed and needed now. According to the U.N., more than 3.8 million people have fled Ukraine to nearby countries, and another six and a half million more have been displaced inside Ukraine.
Crossing the border is just one stop on a long journey for many refugees and there is no telling where it might end. CNN's Ed Lavandera has more from Lviv near the border with Poland.
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ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are now more than a month into the war here in Ukraine and the refugee crisis continues. I've spent a great deal of time in the last few weeks reporting from the Polish border city of Przemysl. City officials there tell us that they're still getting about 1000 refugees a day coming through the train station there in that city. At one point in the early days of the war, they were getting about 50,000 to 60,000 refugees a day in that region. And so even though the numbers have declined dramatically, there is still a steady stream of people arriving, not only just there, the 1000 or so at the train station every day but there are still several 1000 crossing by foot at the land crossing several miles away from there. So the need for humanitarian care, the need for housing for many of these refugees still moving into much of Europe, still very much needed.
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And right now, the focus on helping those refugees is to get them away from the border region, putting them on buses and heading to cities like Warsaw, Krakow, deeper into Poland. And from there, they can start reassessing and figuring out where they're going to go. And, of course, the big question that so many of these people are facing right now is just how long are they going to be gone? Where do they set up? Where do they find a place to live for what could be weeks, if not months? Those are the questions that are facing so many of these families. And it's a question that just continues to happen as this refugee crisis continues, of folks leaving Ukraine trying to find safe haven in other parts of Europe, Ed Lavandera, CNN, Lviv, Ukraine.
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GORANI: Well, 1000s of people who fled the terror are finding peace and security in an unlikely place. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz talks with some of them in a mountain sanctuary that they now call home.
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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: (Inaudible) in the Carpathian Mountains, far from the bombs and bullets, lies the idyllic ski resort of Slavsko. With plenty of room for those fleeing violence, to find solace in the slopes, many hotels have opened their doors to displace families, some at no cost or discounted rates. Guests, Stacy and Ramir found refuge here after Russian forces invaded their hometown of Kharkiv.
RAMIR HOLUBOV, FLED KHARKIV: During this time we're usually had, like, shells blowing up. Lots of bombardment.
ABDELAZIZ: How did you feel when you arrived?
STACY HOLUBOV, FLED KHARKIV: When you look at these mountains and into the news, it seems like not real.
R. HOLUBOV: And you're here, you're safe. I feel kind of guilty because at the beginning, I left all my family there.
ABDELAZIZ: After a terrifying week, mom and daughter finally squeezed onto a train out of embattled keys, but where to go? Then they remembered a special family trip.
LARVSA KOALVOVA, FLED KYIV: Yes, we love this place because our summertime we provide here.
ABDELAZIZ: So you had good memories here?
L. KOALVOVA: Good memories, we have good memory. We had good memories in this place.
DIANA KOALVOVA, FLED KYIV: I feel safe here. But I hope that this one soon and we'll go home because living at home is much better because it's my home.
ABDELAZIZ: This tiny mountain community of Slavsko go has taken in 3400 displaced people, nearly doubling their population, but they say it's not a burden. They want to share the sanctuary.
(Voice-over): Some have chosen less traditional accommodations also found peace for her two children in this glamping pod.
My daughter wakes up every morning, opens the curtains, wipes the dew from the windows and looks out at the view, she tells me. Yes, she loves it here. But it's calming, I feel lighter, and I start to believe everything is going to be OK.
For these families, this feels like the safest place and a country where it seems everywhere is a front line. Salma Abdelaziz, CNN Slavsko, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, in recent days, Russia's push on Kyiv has stalled but Ukraine's capital is still enduring the brutal realities of war. We've got the latest on the conflict in Ukraine after the break.
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[01:27:25]
GORANI: Welcome back. I'm Hala Gorani, we're live in Lviv, Ukraine.
More details now on our top story this hour. Ukraine's President says his country is ready to accept a neutral non-nuclear status as part of a peace deal with Russia. It comes as both sides are expected to meet this week for another round of negotiations in Turkey.
On the ground though a different story. Ukrainian officials say Russia is launching more and more missile strikes across the country, especially in Mariupol. The city has been the target of Russian attacks for weeks now. And the near constant fighting has trapped 1000s of civilians inside and killed so many people in the last several weeks.
And Ukrainian troops meanwhile, have gained some ground launching counter offensives to take back territory from Russian forces. But the country's military intelligence chief suggested Sunday that Russia is now changing its focus to the south and east attempting to carve Ukraine in two after failing to take the Capital, Kyiv.
So as we've been reporting, the Russian push for Ukraine's capital has stalled on the ground with Ukrainian forces, pretty valiantly defending the city. Our Fred Pleitgen is in Kyiv with more.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyiv, of course, still is very much a city that is on a war footing. People here still do remain very concerned for their safety. However, I do believe that today may have been a little bit more quiet than what we've seen here in the past couple of days pretty much this entire week.
However, we are still hearing those air raid sirens, we're still hearing automatic weapons fire, we're still hearing shelling as well, a lot of that could be due to the fact that the Ukrainians are saying that they're pressing that counter offensive towards the north of the city. This was northwest and the northeast of the city where they say that they've gained back some ground from the Russian military. But of course, the going up there is still pretty tough for them.
We managed to get up to a village today to the north of Kyiv, a small town where the people who live there, the few that actually still remain, they tell us that the Russian military really hasn't managed to gain any sort of ground over the past couple of weeks. But what they're doing is they are heavily shelling that area, a lot of that, of course, indiscriminate shelling and it's really unsafe for the people who still remain there. Nevertheless, the Ukrainian forces, they say that they're pretty confident they're further going to be able to push the Russians back. But their leadership, they understand that these gains that the Ukrainians are making, they're still pretty fragile. And of course the Russian army has a huge force here outside of Kyiv and does really mean very dangerous.
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[01:29:43]
GORANI: That was Fred Pleitgen in Kyiv.
Joining me now to talk about the latest developments is Asami Terajima. She's a political reporter with "The Kyiv Independent". Thanks for joining us.
We're telling our viewers about some of these counterattacks that the Ukrainian forces, ground forces, are able to mount. They are pushing back in some cases the Russian military forces on the ground. How significant are those counter offenses?
ASAMI TERAJIMA, POLITICAL REPORTER, THE KYIV INDEPENDENT: The situation hasn't changed dramatically. But at the same time Ukrainian forces have been, you know, lodging counter attacks on several fronts which is very good. And this also includes the outskirts of Kyiv where the battle has been really fierce.
But however Russia continues to shell different cities including, you know, Makhariv (ph) which is a strategic town which prevents, you know, Russia from encircling Kyiv from the west. So this is good, but the Russians are still pushing (INAUDIBLE) outside the cities. And the civilian still can't return there because, you know, Russia continues to bombard them.
GORANI: What about Mariupol? I mean this just poor city, absolutely besieged, and encircled for weeks. They are continuing their assault, the Russians.
TERAJIMA: Yes, according to the city council there about 170,000 people still left in Mariupol. And the situation is getting worse every single day because humanitarian convoys haven't been able to get in a Mariupol. So food, and drinkable water is running out and medical equipment is running out.
And Russia continues to shell the city. Almost all the buildings are destroyed or, you know, damaged because, you know, it continues on Russian shelling.
And according to the estimates between 20,000 to 40,000 people in Mariupol have been forcibly moved to other places of unknown locations.
GORANI: Right. We've heard that. Potentially, Russian controlled territory. We're here in Lviv in western Ukraine. And in the last few weeks, we've had a few strikes.
One significant a couple of days ago on a fuel depot not too far from here. I mean visible from our location even. Is that mood -- I mean I haven't noticed that the mood has changed.
Yesterday, I was out and about on a Sunday. It feels almost like people are getting used to this tragic kind of war, the air raid sirens, the rest of it.
TERAJIMA: Yes. People -- most of the people have been ignoring the air raid sirens in Lviv so far because even if the sirens go out, they were outside and just chilling on a bench but right now, I think that more people have become aware. It's not like air raid sirens actually work because their missiles still hit right after air raid sirens went out.
But, overall, I think people know that, you know, someday Lviv would be attacked. So people were expecting this. So it's not a big surprise, but we didn't expect it on that day.
GORANI: Yes. And also it was really close to a populated area which was different from for instance the attack on that aircraft repair facility at the airport which was quite clearly, on the outskirts. That makes a difference?
TERAJIMA: Yes because --
GORANI: In people -- I mean in people's morale?
TERAJIMA: Yes. I think that you know, because every single week, it gets closer, so we don't know what could happen. And also because Lviv is one of the few other centers in Ukraine where you know, it has been spared of like the significant direct attacks on the city.
But we don't know what's going to happen in the future because Russia has shelled other major cities like Kyiv and you know, Kharkiv. So hopefully things will stay calm, but we don't know for sure.
GORANI: Yes. You don't know for sure. What about this idea that the Russians are potentially trying to just basically carve the country into an occupied zone, and a non-occupied zone? And it would kind of look like a North or South Korea situation? Is that a concern here?
TERAJIMA: It's a big concern but at the same time Russia is shelling other parts, and you know, launching missiles in other parts of Ukraine, so you don't exactly know what Russia is after because you know, (INAUDIBLE) after Kyiv and we don't know if, you know, it would settle for anything less.
So we will see what happens. But we don't like -- we will not accept this either way because you know, Donbas and Crimea, are both Ukrainian territory.
GORANI: Sure. And I was speaking with an ordinary Ukrainian civilian who was telling that despite the really huge amount of support that President Zelenskyy benefits from, that there may be some concern that he, in order to stop the war, will give too much away to the Russians. Have you heard anything along those lines, among the people you're speaking to?
TERAJIMA: Zelenskyy has said that -- President Zelenskyy said that he will hold the (INAUDIBLE) relatively same -- he's saying that, you know, (INAUDIBLE) to decide on primary concessions, so I think that right now what he is after, is trying to save as many people as possible. because as long as this war continues, more civilians are dying and this is his main concern.
GORANI: Sure. Asami Terajima, thanks very much, a reporter with "The Kyiv Independent". Always great having you on the show.
We are going to take a quick break. I will have more at the top of the hour.
But first let's go back to Lynda Kinkade in Atlanta. Lynda.
[01:35:01]
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you so much, Hala. Great job there you and the team are doing in Lviv, Ukraine.
We will catch up with you very soon.
For now, a world away from Ukraine, here in the United States, an unscripted moment at the Oscars. A smackdown on stage. The controversy, surrounding Best Actor, Will Smith coming up next.
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It was the biggest night in Hollywood, the Academy Awards show. And it had an unscripted fight that stunned the audience. It started when Chris Rock made a joke on stage about Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head. Now she has alopecia, which is an auto immune disorder, which causes hair loss.
Will Smith, Jada's husband then took to the stage and punched Rock in the face. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS ROCK, ACTOR: Uh-oh. Richard --
Oh, wow. Wow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Although it appeared to be a joke at first, Smith returned to his seat, and yelled at Rock using some pretty foul language. Viewers at home did not hear the entire exchange, as censors muted it.
[01:39:48]
KINKADE: For more, I'm joined by Rebecca Sun, senior editor at "The Hollywood Reporter". Good to have you with us Rebecca. So I have to say, when that happened, my phone lit up with messages saying, "Was that scripted? Was that meant to be a piece of the comedy?" Explain to us what went down.
REBECCA SUN, SENIOR EDITOR, "THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER": Yes. I think, as your viewers just saw, Chris Rock made a little joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's appearance, you know, just as part of the general celebrity roasting that comes with the Oscars.
But you know, she -- you know she didn't think it was funny, you could tell by the expression on her face, but then when Will Smith kind of got up there, there was still a chance, that maybe this was a bit, maybe this was -- they were going to kind of pretend to be fighting.
But Chris Rock was very visibly shaken. And you know, ABC had to mute the sound for quite a long time, as viewers at home could clearly read Will Smith's lips. He said, and I will leave out the profanity but he basically said keep my wife's name out of your mouth. And it was not a joke.
KINKADE: Yes. And of course, his wife does have alopecia, which is this autoimmune disorder which causes hair loss. Smith went on to win Best Actor for "King Richard" and then apologized.
Are you still with us Rebecca?
SUN: Oh yes, I am. Sorry, I thought you were going to roll the clip.
I want to say, we should be clear that he apologized to the academy, and he apologized to his fellow nominees. You know, I would assume, for sort of causing a disturbance.
He did not apologize to Chris Rock, the man that he hit onstage, on television. So, he sort of alluded to the incident by talking to Richard Williams, the real life man he played in "King Richard", and about how Richard Williams was a man that fiercely defended his family and sort of you could easily read between the lines and kind of interpret that as Will Smith's explanation for why he took those actions.
KINKADE: Yes. So he tried to bring it all back to the film, and protecting his family.
I want to talk about some of the other awards now because Jane Campion is now the third woman in history to win an academy award for best director, for "Power of the Dog".
SUN: Yes. It is significant that she was also the first, right. So this is a full circle moment for Jane Campion. A woman has never repeated as best director. So, that is hugely significant, I'm sorry as a nominee. You know, this is not the first time she was nominated, back in 1994 for "The Piano".
And so, you know, that was not a surprise I think, she had been picking up a lot of the best directing accolades throughout this award season. So certainly, you know, back to back, female winners of the best director race, I think, we are a long way from some sort of sustainable parity. But certainly very amazing to have Chloe Zhao last year and now Jane Campion this year being award best director by the academy awards.
KINKADE: And in terms of best picture, Rebecca, many thought it would go to "Power of the Dog", but it was "CODA" that claimed that Oscar.
SUN: Yes. I mean I think that, you know, by this weekend, CODA and "Power of the Dog", were kind of running neck to neck. Early -- "Power of the Dog" was an early favorite, but CODA picked up a lot of key wins in other awards shows late in this season, like the SAAG Awards, winning best ensemble. And so it wasn't a total surprise, especially when CODA won adapted screenplay earlier tonight. That is something that Oscars watchers would know that that screenplay win is often a great predictor of best picture.
And it is an incredible milestone for inclusion. I mean we can't even say that there have been many films that have spotlighted death, or disabled communities at all. And so, for this one to go all the way to the end and win best picture is actually a really significant achievement.
KINKADE: Yes, exactly. In terms of best supporting actress, Ariana DeBose from "West Side Story" edged out the likes of Kirsten Dunst for "Power of the Dog" and Judy Dench for "Belfast" and in doing so made history.
SUN: Yes. Ariana DeBose, there is a couple of different milestones there with her. She is the first Afro-Latina ever win an acting Oscar. She is out LGBTQ and she talked about that in her acceptance speech. Talking about, really showing queer women of color that there is a place for us. That is a famous reference to a lyric in "West Side Story". [01:44:45]
SUN: And this is I believe maybe the first time that an actress has ever -- that the same character -- how do I put this -- that one character has yielded multiple Oscars for different actresses. Rita Moreno, of course, winning the Oscar for playing Anita in "West Side Story" back in the 1960s.
KINKADE: And so overall, you obviously cover this very closely. Was there any stand out surprise for you apart from the Will Smith punch?
SUN: You know, I mean we were going into this, thinking that this was going to be a pretty predictable night. And in fact I wouldn't say there was any real surprises in terms of the awards that were handed out. You know, even the ones that we weren't sure about -- you know, best actress, Jessica Chastain I think was -- nobody was surprised she would win, although, she wasn't like as much of a runaway front runner as Ariana DeBose or Troy (INAUDIBLE) from CODA was.
But it's all about the slap. I kind of say. I don't think a single person could have predicted that, especially where the conversation this year was about how fewer and fewer people have, been watching the Oscars. And the producers have been trying to come up with exciting ways to get the audience back. You know, inviting Instagram influencers, controversially excluding many of the below the line categories to non televised events, just trying to get as many people in. And at the end of the day, all you had to do is have Will Smith hit Chris Rock onstage.
KINKADE: Exactly. A moment that will go down in Oscars history, for sure. Rebecca Sun, good to have you with us from "The Hollywood Reporter". Thank you so much.
SUN: Thank you.
KINKADE: America's top diplomat is touring the Middle East and North Africa. Russia's war against Ukraine is on the agenda, but it's not the only major issue for Anthony Blinken. We'll explain, coming up.
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KINKADE: Welcome back.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has tested positive for COVID- 19, his office said a short time ago. It comes a day after he met with U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, during his tour of the Middle East and North Africa, over the weekend.
Journalist Elliott Gotkine is following the high stakes diplomatic trip from Jerusalem.
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ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: For once the main conflict discussed by U.S. secretary of state and Israeli foreign and prime ministers wasn't the one between Israel and the Palestinians.
It was on the agenda. Just that Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the Iran nuclear deal, were, at least on Sunday, more pressing concerns.
Secretary Blinken lauding Israel's denunciation of the war, the field hospital it set up in western Ukraine and its diplomatic efforts to end the fighting, as well as Israel's promise not to become a backdoor for Russian sanctions evasion.
He also wrote back on President Biden's apparent call for toppling Putin, saying, the U.S. does not advocate regime change in Russia or anywhere else.
The other big issue discussed was the U.S. desire to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal, something that would reportedly include America's delisting of the country's Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization.
Prime minister Naftali Bennett, repeated Israel's objection, saying he hoped the United States will hear the concerned voices from the region.
After meetings in Jerusalem, Secretary Blinken headed to Ramallah to meet with Mahmoud Abbas. The Palestinian Authority president said the situation with Russia showed a flagrant, global double standard saying that despite its occupation, ethnic cleansing, and racial discrimination, no one was holding Israel to account.
Secretary Blinken said, the U.S. was focused on concrete ways to help the Palestinian people, and reiterated the U.S.'s commitment to the principle of a two-state solution.
He then flew by helicopter to southern Israel for a summit with foreign ministers from Israel, Egypt, the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco. On the menu discussions on regional security, the Iran nuclear deal and other shared opportunities, and concerns.
Elliott Gotkine, CNN -- Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, China's financial hub is going into lockdown for mass COVID-19 testing. The Shanghai government says half the city begins four days of lockdown on Monday. The other half follow on Friday. All of Shanghai's roughly 25 million residents must get tested to maintain a green health code status. It allows them into grocery stores and other public areas.
China reported more than 6,200 new cases Sunday, more than half of them were in Shanghai. The city now has seen more than 16,000 infections since the latest outbreak began March 1st.
CNN's Beijing bureau chief, Steven Jiang, joins us now, for more. Steven, much of the world, dropping restrictions, opening up, but Shanghai, locking down, in two stages this week. STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, Lynda. You know,
this really follows days of confusion or even chaos on the streets and online in the terms of what the authorities would do to Shanghai, which is experiencing its biggest surge of the COVID infections since the pandemic began.
Now for days officials actually have been denying there would be a citywide lockdown with police even launching investigations against so called rumor mongers about the city's imminent closure.
When you look at the number, 16,000 since March, as you mentioned, this obviously is a huge deal in China. But the overwhelming majority, over 97 percent of these cases had been asymptomatic which does not really require much hospital care, according to most experts.
That is why before this latest wave of cases, Shanghai had prided itself on its less disruptive approach to COVID containment. You know, there was never any citywide mass testing, and their quarantine measures were considered more lenient. So there was a lot of hope that this would inspire other cities in China to do the same thing eventually, leading to the country being reopened, to the outside world.
But instead, the opposite is now happening in Shanghai with this citywide lockdown, all but in name is happening to a lot of people. Millions, confined to their homes.
The city's public transportation, including the world's biggest metro network, a large portion of it, being shut down. And then of course, growing concerns and agony with the city's health care system, especially with a lot of people trying to seek medical attention, for non-COVID illnesses being turned away. At least one case of somebody dying, because of this.
And also remember, Shanghai has the country's oldest population among all the major cities. So this is a major concern among the elderly population especially those who are not vaccinated.
[01:54:54]
JIANG: So all of this, of course, leading to a lot of fatigue, frustration and anger online. But ultimately this is something being decided here in Beijing.
And for the leadership here it seems their most important item on the agenda for the year is the Communist Party National Congress being held later this year. Before that happens, it's very unlikely they're going to loosen the zero COVID policy, because they simply do not want to tolerate this prospect of COVID cases, raging across China as President Xi Jinping is expected to take his third term in office, Lynda.
KINKADE: All right. Steven Jiang (INAUDIBLE) first from Beijing. Good to have you with us. Thank you.
And finally, take a listen to this. You are listening to choirs in Spain leading a global livestreamed sing-along in support of peace in Ukraine. Many gathered in Madrid on Sunday, wearing blue and yellow ribbons with some holding signs urging peace.
The organization Choirs for Peace created the event and were joined by choirs from Portugal and eight other countries. Singers also observed a minute of silence before the event to honor the victims of the war.
That does it for this hour. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Thanks so much for your company.
Our breaking news continues, after a short break.
You're watching CNN.
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