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Kyiv Residents Say They Don't Believe Moscow's Words; U.S. Skeptical Russia Is Scaling Back War On Ukraine; Survivor Recalls Deadly Attack On Mariupol Theater; Civilians Flee Fighting Near Southern City Of Mykolaiv. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired March 30, 2022 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. Welcome to our viewers around the world and in the United States. I'm Hala Gorani reporting live from Lviv in Ukraine. It is just past 7:00 in the morning, it is raining down on this Western Ukrainian city.
The very latest on our breaking news, U.S. and European leaders are reacting with skepticism to Russia's claim that it's scaling back some military operations in the country.
A CNN crew on the ground in Kyiv has reported major artillery and rocket fire around the capital and some intense fighting in the suburbs. Take a look at the latest video.
Well, Russia said during negotiations in Turkey, that it plans to reduce military operations in Kyiv and Chernihiv, calling it a de- escalation, not a ceasefire. But the Pentagon says it's likely that Russian forces are in fact repositioning and not withdrawing.
Now, Turkey is describing these talks in Istanbul as the most meaningful so far. The Ukrainian delegation outlined its demands for security guarantees, and both sides floated the idea of a possible meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents.
Now, we have to warn you that this next video is graphic before we roll it. It shows the absolute destruction in the Kyiv suburb of Irpin.
In fact, we've blurred them out but you can see dead bodies and cars and also on the streets, Ukraine's military claims that it pushed the Russian forces out of the city in the past few days.
But by the looks of this new video, there is not much left here. You can see the utter destruction -- the utter destruction on some of those buildings and these poor souls who lost their lives on the streets, not even given a proper burial, too dangerous to retrieve their bodies.
Meanwhile, in a new online address, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says it is difficult to trust pledges to scale back military activity in some areas when Moscow is obviously still pursuing his country's annihilation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The signals that we hear from the negotiating platform can be called positive but these signals don't drown out the explosions of Russian bombs. The enemy is still in our territory. They carry on shelling in our cities. Mariupol has beseiged. Rocket and air attacks are not stopping.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Now, take a look at this map. It shows the places near Kyiv where Russian troops are still operating mostly to the Northwest and North East of the city.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen spoke with residents and Ukrainian troops in Kyiv to find out what they made of Russia's promise to scale back assaults on the capital.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Even after Russia announced it plans to withdraw most forces from around Kyiv, the fighting continues. Residents we spoke to told us they don't believe Moscow's words are for real.
On the one hand, they retreat and on the other, they will transfer their efforts to other positions, Alexander (PH) says, so it's difficult to talk about a withdrawal.
I do not believe in it. It's probably just a rotation, says Yuri (PH). It's a regrouping of their troops.
Despite its forces being stalled near Kyiv for weeks, Russia claims it will withdraw because it has achieved its military objectives, and now wants to make a positive gesture to Ukraine. Moscow's negotiating team said after talks in Istanbul.
A decision was made to radically at times reduce military activity in the Kyiv and Chernihiv directions said Russia's deputy defense minister.
But the Russians also made clear this is not a ceasefire and the sounds of heavy battles still reverberate around the Capitol. But the territorial defense forces at this checkpoint say make no mistake, if the Russians really do withdraw, it's because they lost.
YURIY MATSARSKI, UKRAINE TERRITORIAL DEFENSE FORCES: From the first days of war, it was obvious that the Russians will be defeated on the battlefield, in the diplomatic field, in political field. It was out of the questions.
PLEITGEN: While many here hope the battle for Kyiv could end soon, the toll both in blood and infrastructure is massive. And parliamentarian Roman Hryshchuk tells me he's not sure Ukrainians will ever be able to trust Russia again.
How long do you think it could take to make relations better again, before there can be trust between Russia and Ukraine again?
ROMAN HRYSHCHUK, UKRAINIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT: I don't believe --
PLEITGEN:Or trust towards the Russians, I would say.
HRYSHCHUK: I think it will be years and years. Maybe hundreds of years and you know, every people in Ukraine lost all their house of relatives, of friends in this world. And our children, they have a night in shelters, they listen to bombs and it's for ages.
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PLEITGEN: While both Ukrainian and Russian negotiators say talks to end this war are progressing, few in the capital trust that peace could be coming soon.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Joining me now from Washington is CNN Military Analyst and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.
So, do you believe that this is simply a repositioning of Russian troops, not in any way a de-escalation?
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Hala, I believe that it is at the very most a repositioning of the Russian forces, I don't think they're really de escalating. And I don't think that they are withdrawing. And it looks as if the Russians are not being true to their word in this case.
GORANI: So, why say it?
LEIGHTON: Because I think it gives them the idea that a little diplomatic leverage for them. And it makes it look as if they are doing something that is related to perhaps a peaceful resolution of this crisis.
But in essence, it gives them cover a lot. And that's the -- that's the issue here. It gives them cover to do other things. And it also serves to deceive. And that I think, is really the the difficult part of this. But it does work with not only their military doctrine, but also their diplomatic doctrine as well.
GORANI: But it doesn't -- they're not being very convincing. I mean, from the moment they said it practically, every Ukrainian official and military commander said we just don't believe them.
What do you think, ultimately is the Russian military strategy at this point in the war?
LEIGHTON: So, I think we have to divide between strategy and tactics. So, their strategy really remains mostly unchanged, although people have made some different comments about that.
But strategy is to take down the Ukrainian government, the tactics are that they will bide their time, they will take a longer time to do what they want to do. Their goals are to take Kyiv at some point and, you know, take the government down. And perhaps, the entire country, but they can't achieve that right now.
And so, they will buy their time. And they will move their forces to places where they can control the territory and the population.
In some cases, they will eliminate the population as much as they can, such as in Mariupol. But they will then go ahead and make an accommodation, but that accommodation will be temporary, at least in their view. And they will wait for another opportunity to do what they've done, you know, since February 24th.
GORANI: But it's interesting that you say that because some analysts believe perhaps that Russia has come to the conclusion and has realized that it can't take Kyiv in any significant way, certainly can't hold it. And therefore, potentially that any negotiation position would end up being, well, we can control Mariupol, which we've gutted and completely leveled.
Anyway, some parts of Eastern Ukraine, we have that landbridge to Crimea, and essentially cut the --cut the country in half, or you have the occupied and unoccupied zones. You think their objective is still the entirety of the country, including Kyiv?
LEIGHTON: I think so. If you remember, Hala, I think they have a calendar, whereas we have watches, so they have a much longer term view of how this is going to work.
And you know, this year, next year, if they can settle for a division of Ukraine, they'll settle for that. But a decade from now, in 20 years from now, they will try to take the entire country. And that's the difference. So, they have a longer term plan. We tend to operate in increments and in short -- with short term thinking.
And that's, I think, a different -- a different perspective. So, both sides may think they're winning at this point in time. But the Russian side is looking at this from a very long term perspective, I believe.
GORANI: But the Ukrainians could really get in the way of those plans if they're given the right weapons, right? I mean, what could make the Russians back off? If they -- what makes them back off at this point because they have no real incentive to negotiate and withdraws. Really your your analysis here, what could make them rethink that position?
LEIGHTON: I think a different set of weapons for the Ukrainians. If the Ukrainians got more offensive weapons, the weapons that we've supplied them with so far are defensive in nature. You know, if they -- if they got a you know, something like the MiG-29 fighter jets out of Poland, if they got a more robust air defense system, something akin to the Patriot missile system, that would be a game changer for them.
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LEIGHTON: But those things are perhaps unrealistic at this point in time. So, a more realistic approach would be augmentation of their drone fleet and Ukrainians have been pretty good at integrating these more modern and miniaturized versions of weapon systems into their battle plans. A more of that and a more offensive spirit with that, that could change things and that could at least thwart the plans for some time and may result in a change in plans eventually on the Russian side.
But at the moment, I don't see the Russians changing anything. And you know, if the Ukrainians continue to only receive the weapons systems that they're getting currently from the West, then it will result in somewhat of a stalemate I believe.
GORANI: Thank you very much Cedric Leighton as always for joining us.
We are getting a better look at the destruction caused by Russian attacks in the city of Mariupol. These are some of the first images we're getting from the center of the city not released through Russian state media.
The satellite images show what used to be a neighborhood with houses and two separate apartment complexes. The homes are completely leveled. You can see the residential streets filled with debris, uninhabitable basically.
And these images show the exact same spot near the center of the city before on the left. And after the Russian aggression. Dozens of homes ravaged by explosions.
We're also getting new images of the Mariupol theater, which you'll remember was sheltering civilians when Russia bombed it earlier this month.
Well, Ukrainian officials say about 300 people inside were killed. A survivor of that attack is speaking to CNN about her family's terrifying experience. Here's Ivan Watson with that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This was the Mariupol drama theater before Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, a cultural and architectural symbol of the city.
And when the Russian military laid its deadly siege of Mariupol, the theater became a safe haven.
MARIA KUTNYAKOVA, FAMILY SURVIVED MARIUPOL THEATER BOMBING: Six people like with a cat were gone on the street and Russian down started shooting us and we run in, there was craziness and then we go to the theater.
And you know what, in the theater was a lot of people there was like, be OK, we have a food, they give us a tea and they said like you should find a place where you could like, abet (PH). WATSON: This woman and her family recently escaped from Mariupol.
KUTNYAKOVA: My name is Maria Kutnyakova. I'm from Mariupol. I'm Maria from Mariupol.
WATSON: On the morning of March 16th, Maria, her mother, sister and cat joined hundreds of other civilians sheltering in the theater. Footage from March 10th shows families huddled there in the dark, feeling protected perhaps by the signs Children in Russian that volunteers posted outside the building.
Shortly after arriving, Maria went to check whether an uncle who lived nearby was still alive.
KUTNYAKOVA: Now, I hear in there noise of the plane, like bombs plane. We know how it's not -- you know, how it's -- this noise because there's bomb every day.
WATSON: She returned to the theater to find it destroyed.
KUTNYAKOVA: So, I understand that my family is in this theater and everyone screaming the names, you know, like mama, papa, Lucia, Sasha, and I'm (INAUDIBLE) like mom Gala (PH).
WATSON: Footage of the immediate aftermath shows dazed civilians covered in dust, while the roof over the main auditorium had completely collapsed.
KUTNYAKOVA: When the theater was bombed, my sister was standing with a window and the window was like blow up, and she's fallen down. And my mom was in another part of the theater and wall fallen to her.
WATSON: Maria's mother and sister were wounded but survived. Your sister, is she doing all right?
KUTNYAKOVA: No.
WATSON: Really?
KUTNYAKOVA: She's like, (INAUDIBLE).
WATSON: She's got a concussion.
KUTNYAKOVA: Yes.
WATSON: Shortly after the initial strike on the theater, Maria says what was left of the building came under a fresh artillery attack.
KUTNYAKOVA: Everyone starts screaming. The theater is on fire. So, we should run and we run in but Russians bombed it. So, we run in from the theater and bombs was like these, these, these.
WATSON: It eventually took nine days for Maria and her family to get through Russian checkpoints and reach relative safety in Ukrainian controlled territory.
You seem very positive and upbeat right now.
KUTNYAKOVA: I understands that I'm very lucky. I understand like thousands and hundreds people still in Mariupol and they're bombed. They have no food, no water. They have no medicine, nothing, and I'm going to say I'm very lucky.
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KUTNYAKOVA: Like, I have my arms. I have my legs. What I need any more? Nothing.
WATSON: And your family?
KUTNYAKOVA: Yes, and my family. My cat is inside.
WATSON: This is little Mischka (PH). She's a 2-year-old cat. And she survived the bombing of the Mariupol theater with her family. And they're now headed to Western Ukraine in this bus.
But no one knows how many people may have died under the rubble. Russia has denied that its forces bombed the theater and Russian state T.V. recently showed what was left of it after Russian troops moved into this part of the city.
Judging by the damage, the Russian reporter claims it was bombed from the inside. He alleges there is information that Ukrainian nationalists organized a terrorist attack here. A claim that people inside the theater strongly reject.
Are you angry right now?
KUTNYAKOVA: No, I want that Russian just go away. This is Ukrainian territory. I don't understand why they come in and tell me that it's not my land. They're not fighting with the army. They fighting with every citizen.
You know, they bombed hospitals. They bombed kindergartens. They bombed the houses of peaceful people. They not fighting with the armies.
WATSON: Maria and her family rushed to a waiting van. The driver will take them for free to Western Ukraine, where Maria hopes her sister can safely recover from her injuries.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: And still to come, as fighting continues in Southern Ukraine, some residents are finding that they have no choice but to flee. Details ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:21:13] GORANI: A deadly strike on a government building in Southern Ukraine.
This is the latest CCTV footage that shows the moment a missile hit the regional military governor's office in Mykolaiv.
Officials say at least 12 people were killed and other 33 were injured in the attack. You clearly see that missile traveling through the air. The region's governor says half of his office was destroyed and images from the scene show a massive hole ripped right through the middle of the building.
Mykolaiv was among the first regional capitals attacked when Russia launched its invasion, while Ukrainian troops have forced Russian soldiers out of the city itself. Mykolaiv remains a key target in Russia's quest toward Odessa. You see Odessa on the map there to the West.
But for many civilians living near the frontlines, the fighting has become just too much to bear.
CNN's Ben Wedeman is there on the ground.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The blasted burned down homes of Russia's might lie on a road outside Mykolaiv where rumbles in the distance.
Lieutenant Colonel Yaroslav Chepunny doubts peace or even a pause is in hand.
Russia, he says, put such a huge effort into invading Ukrainian territory. It's hard to imagine it will leave so easily.
As fighting raged on the road, just a few minutes drive from here where civilians, many of them huddling in their cellars for protection, scared of the fighting, but terrified of the danger if they tried to flee.
This house in the nearby village of Shevchenko took a direct hit, bombardment is less frequent now.
It's just common enough for 72-year-old Natalia to pack up and go. It's impossible to tolerate this anymore, she says, I'm already an old woman.
A neighbor will drive her to nearby Mykolaiv. Shrapnel (PH) riddled his car and shattered the back window.
I'm not afraid to die says Natalia. But I'm just not ready. I haven't gone to confession yet. In an adjacent town, Yuba (PH) shows me the potato cellar she hidden for days.
It's cold here she says, there was no electricity for two weeks. As fate would have it, she did well to stay down there.
One day, a rocket landed in her backyard. Tongue in cheek she told us, the Russians left a gift for her, a gift that keeps on ticking.
All right, we have to leave this spot because this rocket has not exploded.
Many of the villages near the front have been largely abandoned. Only the most stubborn stay behind.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, outside Mykolaiv.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: You may not recognize the name Roman Gribov but you will recognize his words. He's the Ukrainian soldier on Snake Island, who defiantly told Russian forces "Russian warship go f yourself".
So, Gribov was honored Tuesday with an award for defending Ukraine. The former POW (PH) was recently released as part of a prisoner exchange with Russia. His phrase became a rallying cry for Ukrainians and the incident was also commemorated on a postage stamp. You can see it across the country on road signs as well. Designed to confuse Russian troops as they invaded the country.
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GORANI: Ukrainians who fled the country are talking about the lives that they left behind and what they have lost and it's a lot. We'll hear some of their stories just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: U.S. officials are -- and not just them by the way Ukrainians as well, are extremely skeptical of Russia's claim that it's scaling back its military operations around Ukraine's capital in Chirnihiv. Take a look.
Artillery fire can be heard in the distance around Kyiv. The Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said a small -- said a small number of Russian forces are repositioning themselves away from the capital but can still inflict massive brutality elsewhere in Ukraine.
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Russia made its announcement after talks with Ukrainian negotiators in Turkey took place. The Russian deputy defense minister says the move is designed to increase mutual trust and create conditions for further talks. But U.S. President Joe Biden says he'll wait and see.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We'll see. I don't read anything into it until I see what their actions are. We'll see if they follow through on what they're suggesting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: President Biden discussed the peace talks by phone with European leaders on Tuesday. He says the consensus is to see what the Russians will offer.
Now, an adviser to the Ukrainian president says negotiators are still discussing a humanitarian cease-fire. He stressed that safe corridors are desperately needed in many parts of the country.
According to the U.N., Russia's invasion has forced more than 10 million people in Ukraine from their homes. That's almost a quarter of the population. An estimated six and a half million are internally displaced. And nearly four million others have fled the country.
The vast majority have crossed into Poland, where they've been waiting in long lines and living in limbo. Some are looking for work. Others are heading to other parts of Europe, grieving the lives they've left behind.
CNN's Kyung Lah has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They fled from Russian missiles, now wait for Polish papers, but all they want is to be in Ukraine.
"We've been waiting for four hours," yells this woman out of frustration. "I have a special needs child."
But every refugee here, almost all of them women and mothers, has needs. The more than 2 million Ukrainian refugees in Poland will have to show documents if they want a Polish national identification number for official services.
YULIA ISAYEVA, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE: You can work.
LAH (on camera): You want to work?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: yes.
LAH (voice-over): Yulia Isayeva and her two children waited since 3 in the morning. Six hours later, they got that national number, so she can work.
"I wish I could continue my old life," says Isayeva. There, she had a job, a family. Her husband now fights in the war.
"It was taken away," she says of her life. "I have to live here by force."
While she's grateful to build a safe life in Poland for her children, "I want to go to Ukraine," she says.
You hear this story repeated again and again from the women pulled from their lives, stuck in a purgatory of passing time while a war rages at home.
SERENA YUSHINOVSKA (ph), UKRAINIAN REFUGEE: And I live here.
LAH (on camera): This is where you live?
YUSHINOVSKA (ph): Yes, yes.
LAH (voice-over): This cot is Serena Yushinovska's (ph) life now.
YUSHINOVSKA (ph): I worked in Ukraine. I'm policia. Yes.
LAH (on camera): You're a police officer?
YUSHINOVSKA (ph): Yes.
LAH (voice-over): She was. She now grabs a neon vest instead. She's a volunteer at a Warsaw refugee center where she herself arrived in early March, fleeing bombing in Kyiv.
Most refugees leave here in days for temporary housing or for other countries. But it's been a month, and she refuses to, unless it's to go home to her life in Kyiv, where her brothers are on the front lines.
(on camera): Do you think you'll see them again?
YUSHINOVSKA (ph): Yes.
LAH (voice-over): "Yes," she says. They talk twice a week, at most.
"I think everything will be fine," she says. "At least I hope for it. Not just my brothers, but everyone."
But life outside the war doesn't stop, even though Yulia Isayeva wishes it would.
"If I have to," she says, "I'll do it. We'll start."
(on camera): The extraordinary thing is in talking to these refugees here in Warsaw is that they believe this life in Poland is temporary. They are seeing the same news. They are seeing the same images or having to explain it to their children.
Yet, they all tell us that they believe that they are going to be able to return to Ukraine and pick up life where it stopped.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Warsaw, Poland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, if you'd like to help the people in Ukraine, you can go to CNN.com/impact, and you'll find a list of organizations trying to help.
I'll have more from Lviv at the top of the hour. First, let's bring in Lynda Kinkade in Atlanta -- Lynda.
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Thanks so much, Hala. We will check in with you soon.
Well, still to come here on CNN, some Americans could be eligible for another COVID booster. Not a moment too soon. We're going to speak with an expert about the Omicron strain that's now dominant in the United States and much of the world.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Thanks for joining us.
The Omicron subvariant BA.2 has now become the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the United States. It accounts for more 50 percent of all cases, according to the CDC.
And it comes as the FDA expands the emergency use authorization of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, so that adults stage 50 and older can get a second booster shot, which means four shots overall.
Those eligible are able to get that shot four months after their first booster shot. Something a counselor to the U.S. president says everyone should take advantage of.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF ZIENTS, COUNSELOR TO THE U.S. PRESIDENT: And the boosters work, and Americans should get their booster. There is waning across time. So it's important that people take advantage of the extra protection of a booster shot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[00:40:09]
KINKADE: For more, I'm joined by Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, an internal medicine specialist in viral research. And good to have you with us.
DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, BOARD CERTIFIED INTERNAL MEDICINE SPECIALIST: Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.
KINKADE: So this Omicron subvariant known as BA.2 is now dominant here in the U.S., causing more than half of all COVID infections last week. More than 70 percent of cases in the northwest of the country.
What can you tell us about this variant? And could it trigger another surge in cases here, like we've seen play out in the U.K. and other parts of Europe?
RODRIGUEZ: Well, it certainly can sort of start another surge here in the United States, and it more than likely will.
The only silver lining in this is that right now in the United States, we're at a very low level of infectivity. So think of that as a hurricane hitting, and we're not at high tide. However, no one can predict that.
But what we do know about the BA.2 variant of Omicron is that it is 30 percent more infectious than the original Omicron. And remember how devastatingly infectious that was in the beginning of this year.
So we need to keep our fingers crossed to see exactly what will happen and how big this surge will be. Because it undoubtedly is coming, and in the Northeast, it's already here.
KINKADE: Yes, exactly. And Dr. Rodriguez, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized additional booster shots for those are over the age of 50 and also those over 12 with immune deficiencies. So that's four COVID shots. What do we know about the effectiveness of a fourth shot?
RODRIGUEZ: Well, we know, first of all, that the fourth shot is safe. And I want to reiterate this and emphasize it to people. You really are not fully protected and vaccinated unless you had three shots to begin with. The booster makes a big difference.
So what we know is that the fourth shot gives even more increased protection, especially for people that are over 50 and that are immune-compromised.
There's a huge study of over half a million people that showed that the fourth shot, the people that got the fourth shot, in other words, the second booster, are 78 percent less likely to die of Omicron than even the people that got the three shots.
KINKADE: Wow. And so at what point, Doctor, do you think we'll all need a fourth booster shot? And why do we call these extra shots booster shots? Why aren't they simply another shot? Is it the same dose as the first ones?
RODRIGUEZ: Well, it's actually a smaller dose. I got mine today, this morning, as soon -- I've been waiting for it, to be quite honest, because I got my booster shot, my third shot, almost eight months ago.
And I know, I've been checking my antibodies, that they're going down. And that is not the total immunity. But you know, better safe than sorry.
So I don't know why they called it a booster. I think if I were a marketing person, I certainly wouldn't have called it that, because it sort of implies that you are OK. You know, your car's running OK, but if you want to boost it a little bit, you know, take the third shot or the fourth shot. And that's not the case.
To be completely and maximally protected, you should get, first of all, the third shot, because only 30 percent of Americans have gotten it, and if possible, if it's been over four months, get the fourth shot to be as protected as possible.
KINKADE: Good advice, as always. Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, thanks so much for your time.
RODRIGUEZ: Thank you.
KINKADE: Well, Shanghai, the engine of China's $18 trillion economy, is tightening COVID restrictions, with the city of 25 million people now in day three of a COVID lockdown.
This is happening as the country fights its worst COVID surge since the original outbreak in Wuhan two years ago.
CNN's Kristie Lu Stout is following the story and joins us now from Hong Kong. Good to see you, Kristie. So what does this lockdown look like for people in Shanghai right now?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Lynda, this is day three of this sweeping lockdown in Shanghai, China's financial capital, this metropolis megacity of 25 million people. On Tuesday, Shanghai reported nearly 6,000 new cases of COVID-19.
And while that number may pale in comparison to what we've been hearing out of big Western cities, this still represents China's biggest outbreak since the early days of the pandemic, and Shanghai is the epicenter.
Now, the lockdown in Shanghai is a two-part, or two-stage, operation in order to get millions of people tested. So far, we learned that nine million people have been tested since Monday. On Monday, the first half of the city was locked down for four days. On Friday, the second half of the city will be locked down.
And you're looking at right now -- we can bring it full screen for you -- drone video of what Shanghai under lockdown looks like right now. The streets are completely empty. That is an area right next to the Shanghai exposition center, which has now been turned into an isolation and quarantine facility.
[00:45:00]
And what you're -- what's happening right now is some, like, 6 million residents, they are not allowed to leave their homes during this testing period. Public transport has been suspended in lockdown areas.
We also know that work at some firms and factories also has been suspended.
This is a test for China's zero-COVID policy. It's testing people's patience there. It's also a test to see whether China's economy can withstand it.
Let's bring up a statement for you. This is from an economist at Macquarie Bank, Larry Hu, and he writes this: "China should be able to contain the virus in the next few weeks as lockdown is effective, but COVID does pose substantial growth risk in the rest of the year, as lockdown is very costly."
I'd also like to add that on Tuesday, the Shanghai government issued a statement saying that they support the import of COVID treatment and vaccines. A very interesting statement, because, it seems to suggest that the Chinese government may pursue the approval of foreign vaccines, like the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which has yet to be approved in China.
Back to you.
KINKADE: All right. And Kristie, I want to get the latest on Hong Kong where you are. Thousands of COVID-positive children were separated from their parents. The government is now saying they will prevent such separations.
STOUT: OK, this is a story that we've been following very closely here at CNN. Because of a very strict policy that Hong Kong has for isolating patients for -- isolating COVID patients, we know that COVID-positive children, even infants, have been separated from COVID- negative parents.
Earlier this week, a local charity called Mind Hong Kong issued a statement. They said 2,000 children under the age of 10 have been separated from their parents because of this policy. Mind Hong Kong also accused the Hong Kong government of child abuse.
We approached the Hong Kong government and the hospital authority for a statement. This is a statement that we received from then, saying in part, quote, "Even for parents or carers who tested negative for COVID-19, we will seek the agreement of the Center for Health Protection, so that the public hospitals can also accommodate their request for accompanying the pediatric patient, subject to availability of isolation capacities," unquote.
Now, it appears that this policy has been reversed. It was a very convoluted statement. We are still trying to find clarity from the hospital authority, from the chief executive's office and the Hong Kong government.
But the damage has been done. The damage has been done in the form of the mass exodus that we've witnessed in the last few months. Thousands of people leaving Hong Kong, many families leaving, citing the threat of family separations.
The damage has been done to the families who have been separated. One father told me that he and his wife were separated from their 1-and-a- half-year-old son for seven days as he was undergoing COVID-19 treatment. They were not able to talk to him, even face time, this small child, during that time.
And he's now showing signs of PTSD. He is irritable. He's having nightmares. He doesn't want to let go of his mom, even at night time.
For the parents who've been victimized by this policy in Hong Kong, the damage has been done -- Lynda.
KINKADE: Absolutely heartbreaking that that can possibly happen. Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong for us, thanks very much.
STOUT: Thank you.
KINKADE: Well, U.S. lawmakers hit a stumbling block in a January 6th investigation. Details on the sizeable gap in White House phone records. That story when we come back.
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KINKADE: Welcome back, Israeli police say five people were killed during a shooting at a city near Tel Aviv on Tuesday, the third attack in Israel in just a week.
Authorities say at least one attacker used an assault rifle against civilians in several locations before being shot by police. An Israeli police officer was among those killed in the attack.
The shooting came just a day after a landmark summit between Israel, the U.S. and four Arab countries. At least 11 people have died in three attacks over the past week.
ISIS has claimed responsibility for two earlier attacks.
Lawmakers investigating the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol are now facing a substantial gap in White House records about what Donald Trump was doing that day.
It's known the former president reached out to a number of Republican lawmakers to press them to reject the electoral vote certification. But as Paula Reid reports, there's a critical timeframe where no calls to or from Trump were recorded.
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PAULA REID, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A key mystery for the January 6th House Select Committee to now solve: Who was talking to then-President Trump during the insurrection? And why is there a gap in the official phone records?
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): It could be a burner phone for all we know. There's also the possibility that somebody is deliberately suppressing the release of these materials. And we just don't know.
REID: CNN previously reporting that records turned over to the committee show no calls to or from Trump for several hours as violence unfolded on Capitol Hill.
Today, "The Washington Post" reporting that gap stretched for seven hours and 37 minutes.
Bob Woodward was one of the reporters who broke the story.
BOB WOODWARD, "WASHINGTON POST" ASSOCIATE EDITOR/AUTHOR: He's one of the people he is a telephone addict, and the idea that nothing happened in the afternoon on the phone January 6th is -- is unlikely as the sun not rising.
REID: All these revelations adding to the pressure on Attorney General Merrick Garland to pursue investigations or even bring charges against Trump and his allies.
REP. ELAINE LURIA (D-VA): Attorney General Garland, do your job, so that we can do ours.
REID: Monday night, members of the January 6th Committee venting frustration with the Justice Department, which still has not acted on the House's criminal contempt referral against former Trump White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows.
Now, the full House will vote on the committee's recommendation to refer two more top Trump advisors who are refusing to cooperate with the Justice Department for possible prosecution. They are Dan Scavino and Peter Navarro.
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REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): The Department of Justice has a duty to act on this referral and others we have sent. Without enforcement of congressional subpoenas, there is no oversight. Without oversight, no accountability. Not for the former president or any other president, past, present or future.
REID: Also on Monday, a federal judge in California writing that Trump more likely than not committed a crime when he and conservative attorney John Eastman tried to block Congress from counting votes on January 6.
The 44-page opinion, in a case over the committee's subpoena for Eastman's emails, reads like a legal memo to Garland, with the judge writing, "The illegality of the plan was obvious."
Trump spokesman called the ruling absurd. But committee chairman Bennie Thompson praised it, saying --
REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-MS): This ruling is a clear victory for the rule of law.
REID: Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.
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KINKADE: I'm Lynda Kinkade at the CNN Center in Atlanta. We're going to go back to Hala Gorani, live in Lviv, after the break. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.
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