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Peskov Explains When Russia Would Deploy Nuclear Weapons; Ukrainian Family Flees Mariupol After Home Destroyed; Orphans Stranded in Ukraine Because of Invasion; Film Academy Condemns Will Smith Slap, Opens Review; Tornadoes May Impact More Than 20 Million People in U.S.; Royal Gathering Set to Pay Tribute to Prince Philip. Aired 4:30- 5a ET

Aired March 29, 2022 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: Our top story this hour. Right now, Ukrainian and Russian delegations are in Istanbul or a new round of talks to end the war in Ukraine. But on the ground the devastation continues. Russian forces are hitting fuel depots across Ukraine, including this one here, near the western city of Lutsk, as well as a depot in the nearby Lviv region.

In the capital Kyiv, Ukraine's Deputy Defence Minister says Russian forces are now attempting to block supply routes around the city. Fierce fighting has continued in Kyiv suburbs for days as Ukrainian forces attempt to retake areas near the capital.

On Monday local officials say troops successfully reclaimed the suburb of Irpin, that's just west of Kyiv. Though CNN cannot independently verify that claim. Meanwhile, the Kremlin is responding to renewed pressures of weapons. Saying Russia will only use them if it faces an existential threat. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DMITRY PESKOV, RUSSIAN SPOKESPERSON: Any outcome of the operation, of course, is not a reason for a usage of a nuclear weapon. We have a security concept. It very clearly states that only when there is a threat for existence of the state in our country we can use and we will actually use nuclear weapons to eliminate the threat for the existence of our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Now, let me take you back to Mariupol. More than 400,000 people lived in Mariupol before Russia's invasion. But less what than half of them remain. CNN's Ivan Watson spoke with residents who made it out who are unsure of their next move.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Shattered by Russian artillery. The windshield of a car that a Ukrainian family used to make their two-day escaped from the besieged port city of Mariupol.

We meet Natalia shortly after her family reaches relative safety in the parking lot of a superstore on the edge of the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia.

The day before yesterday, an artillery shell hit our house, she says, half of the house is gone. This is what was left.

NATALIA, FLED HOME IN MARIUPOL (through translator): If Russia sees this, I want them to know that they aren't defending us. They are killing us because they seem to think they're defending us. And that's just not true.

WATSON (voice-over): This parking lot, an unofficial gateway to Ukrainian controlled territory for more than 70,000 Ukrainians who official say fled Mariupol. The evacuees look shell shocked.

They arrive in vehicles draped with white rags and signs that say children and some like 4-year-old Alisa Isaeva show up in yellow school buses.

They were bombing us, she says, bombing us with planes and tanks.

Alisa's aunt Liliya says she suffered from a concussion for days after a strike hit her home.

LILIYA NALISKO, FLED MARIUPOL (through translator): We walked among corpses. There were bodies under the evergreens, soldiers without heads, without arms. They're lying there. Nobody is gathering them.

There was such fear that I feel like I was underwater. I wanted to wake up and now I'm here. And this feels like some kind of a dream.

WATSON (voice-over): Inside the superstore, volunteers and the city government are trying to help.

WATSON: Newly arrived evacuees are welcomed at this support center where they're offered warm meals, access to medics and information about how to travel deeper into safer parts of Ukrainian territory.

[04:35:00]

There's also a bulletin board here where some people are offering free repair of shattered car windows. And there are also postings here, looking for information about missing loved ones.

WATSON (voice-over): For some who survived, Russia's modern-day siege, this is the first hint of safety they've had in weeks.

Outside Yulia Mishodova and her son Stanislav have just arrived. Stanislav is chatty and upbeat, but his mother appears unsteady. When Russian warplanes bombed, she says, the family hid under the dining room table surrounded by pillows.

YULIA MISHODOVA, FLED MARIUPOL (through translator): When the plane flew past, we were sheltering in the center of town. Until now, my ear still hurts from the shockwave.

WATSON (voice-over): The unlikely safe haven provided in this parking lot is precarious. Ukrainian officials say Russian troops are positioned barely a half hour's drive away from here.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Zaporizhia, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Well, many children are still trapped in Ukraine, including orphans waiting for adoption overseas. Don Lemon went to an orphanage to find out how the children and the perspective parents were coping.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR, DON LEMON TONIGHT (voice-over): It was after midnight when the children from battle-scarred Donetsk arrived in Lviv.

STEPAN MASHCHAK, ORPHANAGE DIRECTOR (through translator): They were very tired and seemed to be lost. Some of their friends were separated. They were scared arriving in the new city.

LEMON (voice-over): A train full of children fleeing the war.

MASHCHAK (through translator): It took two days. They were stopped by shelling alert at several stations.

LEMON (voice-over): Now, they're relatively safe in this orphanage outside of Lviv, but their journey to find permanent homes has been halted by the war.

LEMON: Does the process slower now because of the war?

MASHCHAK (through translator): Definitely yes, because all their files and court decisions are still in Donetsk, and all the documents have to be prepared by regional authorities, and it's impossible now.

LEMON (voice-over): One of those children in limbo is Maure, who American Colleen Holt Thompson is trying to adopt.

COLLEEN HOLT THOMPSON, ADOPTIVE MOTHER FROM KENTUCKY: We have the paperwork from the court in Donetsk region to adopt, and a day and a half after we had everything to submit, Putin invaded and all the kids in the orphanage had to be evacuated to Donetsk.

LEMON: What has this been like for you? Five weeks, right?

HOLT THOMPSON: I have been here five weeks, yes.

LEMON (voice-over): She and other perspective adoptive parents are pushing the Biden administration to allow about 300 Ukrainian children, whose adoptions are pending, to come to the U.S. temporarily for their safety while the war is raging.

Right now, 73 U.S. lawmakers have signed on to a letter asking the State Department and President Biden to make it happen. Until then, Thompson remains in Lviv, bringing supplies to the orphanage, visiting Maure when she can, and worrying about her when she can't.

HOLT THOMPSON: I'm messaging her. And yesterday, she spent almost six hours in a bomb shelter. And we had missile strikes near both of us. And so, it's scary enough to have that happen, but when you can't physically be there to know your child is OK and to help protect them -- and all the other parents who are some in Poland, a lot back in the U.S., they're getting the same phone calls I'm getting. So, it's scary.

LEMON (voice-over): Maure meanwhile waits for the chance at a new start.

LEMON: Are you ready for a new life in America?

MAURE, ADOPTEE: Yes.

LEMON: Tell me why.

MAURE: I want to make a new life, make new friends.

LEMON (voice-over): With her new mom.

MAURE: I really love my mom. And I need to go.

LEMON (voice-over): Don Lemon, CNN, Lviv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: And still to come right here on the show. Hollywood superstar Will Smith says sorry for his Oscar slap. But is that enough to put the incident behind him? We'll have that story for you next.

[04:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: The committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol is under pressure to speed up the inquiry and get it done before the midterm elections when Democrats can lose control of the House.

But allies of former U.S. President Donald Trump keep stalling and refuse to testimony. So, the committee is recommending the U.S. Justice Department charge two of his former advisors with criminal contempt of Congress. That's former deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, and former White House trade advisor, Peter Navarro -- as you can see there. They will be the third as well as fourth ex-Trump aides to face potential criminal charges as opposed to the more than 750 people who have cooperated with the committee. Its members are frustrated with the Justice Department for not moving more quickly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA): This committee is doing its job. The Department of Justice needs to do theirs. REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): The Department of Justice has a duty to act

on this referral and others we have sent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Meanwhile, sources tell CNN the committee will seek an interview with conservative activist Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. That's after her back-channel communication before and after the riot became public. She had had urged the Trump White House to find ways to overturn the election.

And Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is also expected to appear before the committee this week and give voluntary testimony. We'll keep you posted on that story.

Now, Hollywood's biggest night, the Academy Awards show drew a larger audience than last year. According to early Nielsen numbers, the show drew an average 15.3 million viewers for ABC on Sunday. That's a 56 percent increase from last year's show which brought in just under 10 million viewers, an all-time low. It's not clear yet if there was a surge in viewership after, of course, Will Smith -- if you remember -- slapped Chris Rock.

But what is clear, Will Smith is showing remorse for the incident. In a post on Instagram, he called his behavior, quote, unacceptable as well as inexcusable.

He also wrote: I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There's no place for violence in a world of love and kindness, he wrote.

But this apology is not the end of the saga for Smith. The Motion Picture Academy says it's launching a formal review into his conduct. CNN's Stephanie Elam has the story for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[04:45:00]

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A slap to the jaw that had jaws dropping all around the world, and the Academy condemning Will Smith today, announcing a formal review to explore a further action and consequences. This after Will Smith confronted Chris Rock onstage for a joke about Smith's wife.

CHRIS ROCK, ACTOR: Jada, I love you, "GI Jane 2", can't wait to see it.

ELAM: At first, Smith appeared to laugh. But watch Jada Pinkett Smith's face. Their mood changes as the joke sinks in.

ROCK: Oh, wow. Wow. Will Smith just smacked (BEEP).

WILL SMITH, ACTOR: Keep my wife's name out (BEEP) your mouth.

ROCK: Wow, dude.

SMITH: Yes.

ROCK: It was a GI Jane joke.

ELAM (voice-over): The Dolby Theater crowd stunned. Denzel Washington and others stepped into counsel Smith as Sean Combs called for calm.

SEAN COMBS, RAPPER: Ok, Will and Chris, we are going to solve that like family at the go party.

ELAM (voice-over): Rock's words, a reference to the head shaving character from 1997's "GI Jane." Over the years though, Pinkett Smith has spoken publicly about her struggles with alopecia.

JADA PINKETT SMITH, ACTRESS: Look at this line right here.

ELAM (voice-over): An autoimmune disease that causes hair loss. It is unclear if Rock knew this when he made the comment on stage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will Smith.

ELAM (voice-over): When Smith won Best Actor later in the night, the world waited to hear what he would say.

SMITH: I want to apologize to the Academy. I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees. Art imitates life. I looked like the crazy father, just like they said.

ELAM (voice-over): Obviously missing from his apologies, Chris Rock. The actors date back to at least the mid-90s --

ROCK: Which one of your handsome men is Big Willie?

ELAM (voice-over): -- when Rock appeared on the "Fresh Prince of Bel Air". But it was in 2016 when Rock hosted to the Oscars, that he took aim at the Smiths for boycotting the show during the Oscar So White campaign. Joking that Pinkett Smith wasn't invited anyway and poking fun at the size of Smith paycheck for "Wild, Wild West". It's unclear if any of that fed into the Oscars fiasco.

Smith later joining the party circuit with Oscar in hand, dancing to one of his own songs.

Stephanie Elam, CNN -- Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Well, at least three people were killed in a massive multi- vehicle pileup on a major interstate in Pennsylvania. Video captured the terrifying moments. And multiple vehicles seen there crashing into each other even as some drivers scrambled away from their cars to safety. Snow calls were reported in the area at that time. An official says about 20 people were transported to hospital. At least 40 vehicles were involved. Drone video really shows the aftermath of Monday's devastating crash -- as you can see there. All lanes of Interstate 81 in that area were closed following the collision.

Another severe weather pattern is threatening to slam parts of the U.S. that are still covering from last week's major storms as well as tornadoes. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has that forecast, good morning, Pedram.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Isa. We've another day of severe weather across the U.S. here in a multi-day event setting up here with the Central U.S. initially and being aligned here for active storms. And then over the next 24 or so hours the energy begins shifting a little farther toward the east and impacting potentially some of the same areas we saw severe weather in last week. And it certainly tornadoes as well.

So, that's the risk here moving forward from Tuesday into Wednesday, upwards of 20 plus million Americans from Des Moines, as far south as Dallas, just north of Austin there where the highest risk for at least some straight-line winds, a few tornadoes. Some large hail are possible here. Notice that's a level two indicated in yellow on a scale of one to five. Notice when you get to the red territory, it's a level four in Wednesday afternoon's forecast there on a scale of one to five, potential for several strong tornadoes. That would be an EF-2 or greater, significant wind gusts and damaging hail certainly, and lot of these areas are similar to the areas we saw last week with the impacts of at least EF-3 tornado. And of course, fatalities in place as well.

So, we'll watch this carefully and watch for the significant amount of rainfall also in store going in for the latter half of the week where some flooding could be possible in this landscape. And the excessive rainfall risk has been increased as well with the flash flood threat widespread across the landscape.

Now, when it comes to the temperatures it is a classic spring set up. Some mild days, some very cold days and then rebounding again back to warn over the next several days. High temps, dipping very cold. Look at the maximum high temps there on Monday. LaGuardia, Bridgeport, Central Park among the coldest high temperatures we've seen for this time of year. A warming trend in store as we see the temps climb to 76 in Washington, almost 70 degrees out of New York City -- Isa.

Thank you very much, Pedram.

Now a royal gathering here in London today. Maybe Queen Elizabeth's first public event in months. The latest on the memorial to Prince Philip coming up next with Anna Stewart.

[04:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: And this just in to CNN. London Met Police are referring 25 to the issued over the "Partygate" scandal that shook Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government. Now you recall a series of parties were held at Downing Street in breach of COVID restrictions. Well, CNN is reaching out to Downing Street. As the statement does not name any of the persons the fine will be issued to. So, we'll on top of that story for you.

Now the world will be watching to see if Britain's Queen Elizabeth will attend a memorial service later today in honor of her late husband, Prince Philip. The 95-year-old monarch has not attended a public event since falling ill late last year from an unspecified illness. And that was before she had a confirmed case -- if you remember -- of COVID last month. For more on this let's bring in CNN's Anna Stewart in London. Anna, this will no doubt be an emotional service for the Queen whom we haven't seen in what, six months or so?

ANNA STEWART, CNN Reporter: Yes, just about six months since she's been at a public event outside Windsor Castle. And I think this will be an very emotional day for the Queen. This is where she married Prince Philip over 70 years ago.

[04:55:00]

And I think the service we see today will frankly be the service that the royal family would have liked to have had for Prince Philip's funeral last year. But couldn't as a result of the pandemic. I don't think any of us will ever forget that perfectly stark image of her majesty sat in a pew all by herself in a chapel that had less than 35 people, I think it was and no singing.

Today will be so different. We're going to see hundreds of people arriving here to Westminster Abbey. Members of the royal family, also royal families from overseas, friends, and hundreds of people that represent all the charities and organizations that Prince Philip was a patron of.

We will see lining at Westminster Abbey in the entry route here members of the cadets, also those holders of the Duke of Edinburgh Gold award and awards that Prince Philip himself set up and were very important to him. So, today very much a testament to Prince Philip's life. His life of commitment, of public service which he fulfilled with gusto.

And we are, we are told, expecting to see her majesty, the Queen, on hand. That was of course slightly in doubt. Given she has had to cancel a number of events leading up to this largely as a result of mobility issues. And of course, she also had COVID-19 last month. She's often seen using a walking stick now. But today will be a very moving day and a great opportunity to celebrate the life of Prince Philip -- Isa.

SOARES: And the day, of course, like you said, Anna, that he really wanted the kind of service that he really wanted. Anna Stewart for us there. Thank you very much, Anna. Good to see you.

And that does it for me here on the show. Thanks very much for your company. I'm Isa Soares in London. Our breaking news coverage from Ukraine continues next on "EARLY START." You are watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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