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Russian Radio Intercepts Reveal Talk Of Killing Civilians; How Could War Crimes Case Against Putin Play Out?; Polish Citizens Trying To Provide A Home For Ukrainian Refugees; Two Men Acquitted In Michigan Governor Kidnapping Plot, Mistrial Declared For Two Other Defendants; Three Killed, 40 Weapons Stolen During Georgia Shooting Range Theft; Sixty-Seven People Infected With COVID After Elite D.C. Gala; Academy Slaps Smith With Ban; Ketanji Brown Jackson Is First Black Woman Confirmed To Supreme Court. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired April 09, 2022 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[20:00:00]
JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: And remember, you can go to CNN.com/impact to learn how to help the people of Ukraine. Our CNN audience has already donated $7.5 million in aid. Thank you to all of you.
Your next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
I'm Jessica Dean, in Washington. And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
We begin with the latest news in Russia's brutal and unprovoked war against Ukraine.
And new reporting on a shakeup in Russia's military leadership. U.S. and European officials say Vladimir Putin has appointed a new general to direct the war in Ukraine after his army failed to take Kyiv.
Army General Alexander Dvornikov was the first commander of Russia's military operations in Syria in 2015.
The European official says this change in command, quote, "speaks to a Russian acknowledgment that it is going extremely badly, and they need to do something differently."
Now to Friday's shocking Russian missile strike at a crowded train station. We want to warn you, this video we're about it show is incredibly graphic.
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DEAN: Ukrainian officials say 52 people were killed at the station Friday as they waited to flee a war zone. And 80 adults and 19 children were injured. And 20 of the injured are reportedly in serious condition.
A furious President Zelenskyy calls it yet another war crime among others in Mariupol and Bucha.
Meanwhile, intercepted communications point to even further evidence of war crimes. Analysis appears to capture Russian soldiers speaking openly about shooting civilians, destroying villages, and raping Ukrainian people. We're going to have more details on that coming up.
Britain's prime minister, Boris Johnson, meantime, making a visit to Kyiv today to meet with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
He pledged continuing economic and military support so that Ukraine will never be invaded, bullied, or blackmailed again.
As Putin pushes toward declaring some sort of victory on May 9th, Ukraine's defense intelligence chief says Russian troops are regrouping across the border. They are believed to be preparing for an advance in what could be a major offensive against eastern Ukraine.
We want to talk more on those intercepted communications released this week by Ukraine's security service and analyzed by CNN.
They appear to show Russian soldiers in Ukraine openly talking about shooting civilians, destroying villages, and rape.
Matthew Chance has details.
And we want to warn you, what you're about to see and hear is disturbing.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is a war where every Russian atrocity can be recorded. As the Kremlin is finding out, every illegal order potentially intercepted and exposed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): A car drove by, but I'm not sure if it was a car or a military vehicle. But there were two people coming out of the grove dressed as civilians.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Kill them all, for (EXPLETIVE DELETED) sake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Got it. But all the village here is civilian.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): What's wrong with you? If there are civilians, slay them all.
CHANCE: Intentionally targeting civilians, something Russia categorically denies is a war crime. The Kremlin blames Ukrainian forces for the devastation and the
bloodshed.
(EXPLOSIONS)
CHANCE: But hours of audio recordings, said to be of Russian soldiers communicating with their commanders, and released by the Ukrainian Security Services, seem to tell a very different story.
One of civilian areas laid to waste by Russian forces on purpose.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Shell everywhere. Shell the settlements directly, got it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Got it. That's what I'm doing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Throw some to the west, dammit, several shells, to those closer to me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Kulinovka, Riabushki. I think they are working from there, aren't they?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Yes. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Roger that. I will pass on the coordinates now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Shell them. Shell them a lot to raze these two villages to the ground.
CHANCE: And killing civilians isn't the only excess of which Russian forces are accused. Multiple reports have emerged of rape of young women, even children by rampaging troops.
One intercept records a Russian soldier in a tank regiment telling a horrified woman on the other end of the line what he knew.
[20:05:01]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Basically, three tankers here, raped a girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through text translation): Who?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Three tankers. She was 16 years old.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through text translation): Our tankers?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through text translation): (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
CHANCE: But these are not the crimes of victors. Time and again Russian armor has been ravaged by Ukrainian forces and the reports of severely disrupted supply lines.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Do they feed you well?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Yes, OK. We feed ourselves alright. We butchered a dog and ate it. It was OK.
CHANCE: And plunging morale among inexperienced soldiers, some as young as 18, disturbed by the violence and desperate for peace so they can go home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): We are so fed up sitting here. And I just hope we are not going to get hit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through text translation): But are going to be a veteran after this special military operation in Ukraine. Putin has signed a decree.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): What veteran? They promised us we would all get medals, and money with each medal. But I want to go home. I don't need those medals.
CHANCE: Instead of medals, there are now growing calls for those suspected of war crimes to be tried.
(EXPLOSION)
CHANCE: It may never happen. But forensic teams are in Ukraine piecing together evidence just in case.
(GUNFIRE)
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CHANCE: Already, there are thousands to whom justice must be done.
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CHANCE: Matthew Chance, CNN.
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DEAN: Truly horrific.
Ukraine's President Zelenskyy says there's clear evidence of Russian war crimes, and the list of those who should answer for them starts at the top.
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SCOTT PELLEY, CO-HOST, "60 MINUTES": Should Vladimir Putin be prosecuted for war crimes?
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): Look, I think everyone who made a decision, who issued an order, who fulfilled an order, everyone who is relevant to this, I believe they are guilty.
PELLEY: Do you hold Putin responsible?
ZELENSKYY: I do believe he's one of them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: So how could a case against Putin with war crimes play out?
I'm joined now by Rebecca Hamilton, an expert on prosecuting war crimes, and spent time at the International Criminal Court.
You've also worked in conflict zones as an -- a foreign correspondent, and you're now a law professor at American University.
I want to talk first about war crimes themselves. We just saw that piece there from Matthew Chance. He walked us through what they are seeing.
These are some of the examples that we have seen -- mutilation, cruel treatment, and torture, taking of hostages.
You see a list of what would fall under war crimes. We just think about the recent headlines, what we've seen recently coming out of Ukraine. You're talking about the executions in Bucha, the train station attack that we talked about earlier in our broadcast, hospital attack.
Rebecca, how would you start to lay out a case here? How would that come together?
REBECCA HAMILTON, LAW PROFESSOR, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY & WAR CRIMES AND ATROCITY PREVENTION EXPERT: So we have an abundance of information that we're seeing literally on the screen right now of what prosecutors would call crime-based evidence. All of the bombings, all of the dead bodies, showing that atrocities have happened.
But the challenge for a prosecutor is to link that to an individual perpetrator. That's what we call linkage evidence.
And that requires getting in there, as a professional investigator, interviewing victims, witnesses, perhaps insiders in the Russian military, intelligence intercepts and forensics that can make the connection between these scenes we're seeing and an individual who can be held accountable in a court of law.
DEAN: When you lay it out that way, it sounds like that would take some time.
HAMILTON: Yes. It is never a fast process.
What I would note, though, is there's an incredible amount of political will around seeing accountability for the atrocities in Ukraine. More, in fact, than we've seen in any other conflict outside of Europe.
DEAN: Right.
And so I think that kind of leads us to the next question, which is, when could we start to see this play out?
And you -- you know well Darfur, for example, has taken some 20 years for this case to now start to be prosecuted.
Set expectations for everybody. We're seeing these atrocities and people are horrified. They want somebody to pay now. They want Putin or whomever to pay now. But this could take some time.
HAMILTON: Yes. I think it's important to manage those expectations.
I would love to see with all the political will that we have got some arrest warrants come out by the end of this year. The challenge is then enforcing them.
It's one thing to get the lower-level commanders, perhaps Ukrainian officials could arrest them. But the ICC, for example, the International Criminal Court, doesn't have its own police force. It relies on states to execute the warrants.
For the people sitting comfortably in the Kremlin right now, this could take a very long time.
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DEAN: And they probably know that. Right?
HAMILTON: Right. They're not going to travel out of Russia any time soon and put themselves at risk of arrest.
But the work on doing the accountability has to start now to secure that evidence so that we can see these people held accountable in the future.
DEAN: Are you confident that that's happening right now at the rate it needs to?
HAMILTON: I am.
DEAN: What makes you so confident?
HAMILTON: Just because I've never actually, in sort of 20 years of covering accountability in conflict zones, seen the amount of political will and resources dedicated to the task of accountability that we're seeing right now.
DEAN: What do you think makes it different this time?
HAMILTON: I think it -- it matters that it is happening in Europe. I think there's structural racism within the international system that means we haven't been this attentive when crimes have been happening in Syria, in Sudan.
And I think that is a challenge for the international community to take up.
Ukraine absolutely deserves every bit of attention we're giving it. But in the future, we need do better for other situations, as well.
DEAN: You also told us you think the world needs to have an important conversation about what's called a "crime of aggression."
And here it is right here. "The planning, preparation, initiation or execution of an act of using armed force by a state against the sovereignty, territorial integrity, or political independence of another state."
Why is that so important? Why is that important in this case?
HAMILTON: Crucially important, because this is the initial crime, the decision to war, from which these other crimes, the atrocities that we're seeing, flow.
And it is a leadership crime. It goes directly to the heart of leadership in Russia to make the decision to resort to war.
Now it's one where the International Criminal Court doesn't have jurisdiction in this case over that crime.
So viewers should be looking out in the coming weeks to seem, is there the political will to create perhaps a new tribunal specifically for prosecuting this crime of aggression?
DEAN: That is something to watch for it sounds like.
And going back to just how much political will there is, we also are getting so much video. People can see it on their phones. They can -- they have been following along with this.
What is the new technology or just the technology as it exists today, what kind of role is that playing in this?
HAMILTON: It's huge. Thinking back to when I was at the International Criminal Court, we were trying to do the Darfur investigation, we couldn't get on the ground in Sudan.
Had we had situations like today, where you have individuals with their cell phones able to do documentation, and in real time, that would be extremely helpful.
Now, not all of it is going to be useful to prosecutors. And again, we need to manage expectations.
Make sure that citizens who are doing documentation aren't taking unnecessary risks to do so because the professional war crimes investigators are getting in there.
DEAN: All right, Rebecca Hamilton, thank you so much for walking us through all this.
HAMILTON: My pleasure. DEAN: Really great information to have. We appreciate it.
HAMILTON: Thank you.
DEAN: According to the United Nations, at least 10 million Ukrainian people have fled their homes as the Russian military advances across the country. Many of these refugees have opted to stay inside Ukraine in safer places.
But at least 2.5 million have fled to Poland where people are doing their best to patch together a temporary home for them.
CNN's Salma Abdelaziz has more from the Poland/Ukraine border -- Salma?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Jessica, across Poland, many volunteers are asking how they can continue to care for the over 2.5 million refugees spread out across this country.
The welcome they received has been extremely generous. Friends opened up their doors to Ukrainian families fleeing violence. And good Samaritans stepped up to try to help where they can.
We met one of those volunteers. And he told us he wants to keep his doors open, he wants to allow more families to stay in his shelter, but he's running out of money.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): What does it take to care for just a few dozen refugee families? Storerooms packed with food, endless hot meals, hundreds of bunk beds, and lots and lots of love, says volunteer, Kamil Prusinowski.
KAMIL PRUSINOWSKI, VICE PRESIDENT POLAND WELCOMES: We see the women with the child in hand and see they have nowhere to go.
ABDELAZIZ: This abandoned school dormitory was in disrepair, unused for over a decade. But in just three days, Kamil and his best friends turned it into a shelter for women and children fleeing Ukraine.
PRUSINOWSKI: I need to use my skills, everything that I've got to help these people.
ABDELAZIZ: Now the challenge is to keep this place up and running, the organizers say.
PRUSINOWSKI: Up until now we received zero or whatever from any NGO or government. And there are huge bills which we need to pay.
ABDELAZIZ: Behind each of these doors is a story of trauma. Viktoria and her grandkids arrived only yesterday. They still feel so raw.
VIKTORIA DUDARIEVA, FLED KHARKIV, UKRAINE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
ABDELAZIZ: "It was so scary, but we had to go for the children," she says.
[20:15:04]
ABDELAZIZ (on camera): I'm very, very sorry.
Do you finally feel safe?
DUDARIEVA: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): "It will come,: she says. "Every time we hear a loud sound, we flinch and look up at the sky. We still feel fear."
ABDELAZIZ: Irina and her son, Krial (ph) fled from Chernihiv after spending days hiding in a cellar.
IRINA GORODNIA, FLED CHERNIHIV, UKRAINE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): "It's getting easier," she says, "But he flinches in his sleep."
"Mom, I have nightmares," he tells her.
(on camera): Does he still feel scared?
GORODNIA: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): "Yes, but I try to calm him. We go outside and breathe fresh air," she says.
And that is what's most needed, a sense of security, stability.
But Kamil doesn't know how much longer he can provide it.
(on camera): You have zero money. How does it work?
PRUSINOWSKI: I have friends who are helping. Some volunteers who are helping. But there's no sustainable support for us.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): These helpers need help to keep their doors open for the many forced out of their homes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ABDELAZIZ: Jessica, I asked Kamil what happens if he doesn't find any more funds. He said, look, if we don't have any money, we just won't pay the heating bill, and there will be no heat.
If there's not enough money for food, at least they have shelter, they have a roof over their heads.
You're going to hear stories like this repeated across Poland.
And the Polish government is appealing for help. They're calling on the international community to step in, to shoulder a part of this burden.
What's special about Kamil's place is that he allows families to stay as long as they can. Other places only provide shelter for a few days.
What that's done is create essentially a nomadic population of refugees across this country, with many wondering how they can get a more permanent sense of home -- Jessica?
DEAN: Yes.
Salma Abdelaziz, thanks for your reporting.
Up next, how the case against four men accused of plotting to kidnap the governor of Michigan fell apart.
Also tonight, with more people now eligible for a second COVID-19 booster, should you get yours right away? Dr. Saju Mathew is here to unpack new guidance.
And the Oscars slap back. Will Smith gets 10 years in the Academy Awards sin bin for slapping Chris rock.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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[20:21:32]
DEAN: "Not guilty," that's what a federal jury decided in the trial of two men accused of plotting to kidnap the governor of Michigan in 2020. The jury deliberated the fate of four defendants over five days.
CNN's Polo Sandoval has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, a federal prosecutor in Michigan says that he is disappointed with the outcome, but nonetheless respects that jury trial process.
This is a list of the defendants in this case, Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Daniel Harris, and Brandon Caserta. They faced charges for allegedly conspiring to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Harris and Caserta both found not guilty of kidnapping conspiracy.
But a federal jury failed to reach a verdict on the charges facing Fox and Croft. And that eventually forced a judge to declare a mistrial yesterday.
Two additional defendants, Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks, as you may recall, previously pleaded guilty to kidnapping conspiracy and even testified in the trial against those other four defendants.
An indictment had alleged that the six men conspired together to kidnap Whitmer and hold the Democratic governor for ransom in 2020.
In fact, Garbin testified during his trial that the group planned to kidnap Whitmer from her vacation home before the presidential election in November of 2020 to, quote, "cause as much of a disruption as possible" to prevent Joe Biden from getting into office.
Garbin also testified the group was going to bomb a bridge to delay law enforcement who would have been responding.
The defense claiming that the feds manufactured this kidnapping conspiracy through confidential informants and through undercover agents.
As for the governor's office, her chief of staff released a statement after this outcome writing in part:
"The plot to kidnap and kill a governor may seem like an anomaly, but we must be honest about what it really is. The result of violent, divisive rhetoric that is all too common across our country."
"There must be accountability and consequences for those who commit heinous crimes. Without accountability," they write, "extremists will be emboldened."
The U.S. attorney who has been overseeing the case says, even, though the jury did not reach a decision in their favor, they are certainly now waiting a potential retrial here, Jessica. Essentially, what they hope here is for a different jury to reach a different outcome.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: Polo Sandoval, thank you so much.
Let's go to Georgia, where we're learning more about a gun range shooting that claimed three lives, the owner, his wife, and their grandson.
Nadia Romero is following this story for us -- Nadia?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, it's a devastating scene really in Grantville, Georgia. It's in a rural part of the state about 50 miles southwest of the city of Atlanta.
The county coroner there confirming to CNN that he is related to all three victims. The owner of the gun range, Tommy Hawk, and his wife, Evelyn Hawk, and their 19-year-old grandson, Luke Hawk.
The coroner, Richard Hawk, says Tommy and Evelyn are his parents. You can imagine how hard this must be for their entire family and this very small community also knowing that 40 firearms were stolen Friday night.
Now the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the ATF are investigating. And there's a combined reward for $15,000 for any information leading to the arrests and conviction of the person or people responsible.
[20:24:59] And we know that this is a top priority for the ATF. And our crime stat show us that stolen firearms are sometimes used to commit other crimes.
If you remember, back in January, in New York City, there were two New York City police officers, very young, just 22 and 27 years old. They were gunned down in the line of duty while responding to a domestic disturbance call.
Police say the suspect used a stolen firearm. A firearm that was stolen from Baltimore in 2017. Then showing up in New York City, and in January of this year.
That's why the ATF is sending out this message releasing a message Saturday morning, saying:
"ATF and our law enforcement partners will work tirelessly to bring the killers to justice. The brutality of these senseless murders, along with the fact that these killers have acquired additional firearms, makes solving this case our top priority."
Again, Jessica, three family members killed, 40 firearms stolen. And there's a $15,000 reward for any information leading to the arrests and conviction of the person or the people responsible. --Jessica?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: All right, Nadia Romero for us. Thank you so much.
When it comes to COVID, the White House says President Biden is living lovey-dove normal.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do think it's important to note that, you know, it is possible he will test positive for COVID at some point. The president is certainly living his life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: Should we all be doing the same? Dr. Saju Mathew is here with his thoughts on where we are with COVID. That's next.
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[20:30:59]
DEAN: More proof tonight that an elite Washington D.C. gala at the Gridiron Club, one week ago today, was in fact a super spreader event. The club says, so far, 67 people who attended that event have tested positive for COVID. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is the latest high-profile attendee to reveal he is COVID positive. The other COVID positive Democrats who were there include President Biden's sister, the Attorney General, the Commerce Secretary and several members of Congress. Those of the dinner were asked to show proof of vaccination, but a negative COVID test was not required. Reportedly more than 600 people attended that gathering. And this week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also announcing she tested positive. She was not at the Gridiron dinner. But with so many breakthrough infections in his circle, the White House has been talking about the chances President Biden could get COVID.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY FAUCI, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER: It is conceivable that the President will get infected, given the fact that the people who are on one to one close contacts with him are all tested before they're with the president. Number two, that about 99 percent of the White House complex staff are vaccinated, and the President himself is vaccinated and double boosted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: Public health specialist Dr. Saju. Mathew is joining us now. Dr. Mathew, always great to have you on the program. This event proves we're not finished with COVID or maybe COVID-19 has not finished with us. What are these fresh waves of infections telling you?
SAJU MATHEW, PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN AND PUBLIC HEALTH SPECIALIST: Yes. Good evening, Jessica. Listen, you said it exactly right. We might be tired of the pandemic, but the virus is not tired of us. And listen at that dinner, I definitely think that they should have been tested hours before, because then, they could have caught maybe a few people who possibly were positive and prevented them from attending the dinner.
Even if you're vaccinated and boosted, we know for sure that people are getting infected. But the positive news about these many people in the White House getting infected is their symptoms are mild. I mean, Nancy Pelosi is about 81 years of age. Can you imagine two years before the vaccines perhaps this would have caused a severe illness and people off her age. So the vaccines work.
In fact, in a recent Commonwealth Foundation study, Jessica, it showed that 2.2 million lives were saved by the U.S. COVID vaccine campaign and 17 million hospitalizations were prevented. But my biggest concern would be long COVID. Even if you have a mild infection, number one, we don't know how many people in that dinner proceeded to infect other people. And secondly, even with a mild infection, you can still develop long COVID. And I'm seeing a lot of patients who still haven't recovered six months later.
Dean: And if this point, it's such an unknown, the long COVID, but it scares a lot of people because you know that that is something that could be with them for a long time. Is there anything you're seeing that connects dots there? Or is there really just a lot we don't understand about that part of it yet?
MATHEW: You know, I belong to a big hospital chain. And, luckily, we actually have a long COVID team comprised of neurologists, cardiologists, physical therapists, primary care physicians like myself, and we are seeing that a good number of patients are getting better, but not significantly better.
One positive aspect about long COVID is if you're vaccinated, your risk of long COVID goes down by 50 percent. So that is definitely some light at the end of the tunnel. But to answer your question, we don't know if patients are going to get significantly better or if this is going to be a lifetime of these symptoms.
DEAN: Yes. It's wild. Going back to President Biden, as of yesterday, we know he tested negative, but he was right there with Nancy Pelosi the day before she tested positive and you see they're not wearing masks. They are all kind of close together there. Should the White House be more cautious right now? Should the president, should the vice president be changing anything they're doing in your opinion?
[20:35:12]
MATHEW: You know, I think we kind of received mixed messaging. I'm not in the White House. So I don't -- I can't confirm this. Just from footage that we see on CNN, we've seen a good number of events, where President Biden is not masked in congested spaces, indoor spaces.
And then there are places where he is masked. I think that one picture where he was signing that document with Nancy Pelosi and three other people who later tested positive, that is a huge risk to President Biden. I mean, he's going to be 80 years old soon. And we still have to remember that even though the BA.2 variant of Omicron are not as infectious or deadly as delta. We still don't know what one person's risk might be compared to a younger person. So I still think that the White House needs to be careful.
DEAN: And this BA.2 variant is now the dominant strain in the U.S. If you look at maps showing levels of community transmission right there, we're showing it on the screen, you see it's high in the northeast, that's where we often see these leading edges of a surge. Do you think this is a surge, another wave? Is that what you're anticipating from this?
MATHEW: Well, I'm going to take a stab at this and be a bit daring here, Jessica. I am really hoping that we are going to see a continuing decoupling effect, which means while the cases go up, we're not going to see a proportional rise in hospitalizations and ICU admissions.
In fact, those are the more accurate metrics. It's not whether you get infected, it's also really whether you go into the hospital and get into an ICU. So the BA.2 variant has been the dominant variant for quite a while, a couple of weeks, maybe even longer in the U.S. And so far, we are not seeing surges in hospitals, or ICUs. And that's definitely good news.
DEAN: Yes, that's certainly good news. We always like good news when it comes -- when it comes to this. We do know, though, that so many places are dropping their mask mandates. People are going back to the office, they're trying to live a much more normal life once again. Are you concerned at all about the collision between the subvariant and kind of just the apathy that so many people have even people who have done all the right things, they're double vaccinated and boosted and maybe they're getting their second booster, but they're getting tired, right?
MATHEW: People are tired. I mean, I see patients all the time at work. And I see about 15 to 20 a day, it's a busy office. And I would say a good 40 to 50 percent of, get this, people over 65 have still not received the first booster shot. And I do blame that partially on CDC.
Remember, you're not fully protected until you've had all three shots of Moderna or Pfizer. And I think we really lost that ample opportunity, Jessica, to convince people that that first booster shot is not this luxury, it's a must. If your -- if your vaccine wants to get to up to 90 percent of protection, you have to get those three shots. So I think more importantly than the second booster is getting that first booster shot of all ages that are eligible to receive it.
DEAN: Yes. Get that booster shot. All right, Dr. Saju Mathew, as always, thanks so much. We appreciate you.
MATHEW: Thanks, Jessica.
DEAN: Coming up, Will Smith slapped with an Oscars ban. What the academy is saying about that next.
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[20:40:02]
DEAN: It was the hit seen around the world, now, Will Smith knows the consequences. He's now banned from attending the Oscars for the next 10 years. SCNN's Camila Bernal has more from Los Angeles.
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, this 10-year ban is what the academy believes is the right consequence for Will Smith's actions, actions that they called unacceptable and harmful behavior. Will Smith did respond to this ban, releasing a very short statement saying he accepts and respects the decision of the Academy.
Now, the board is made up of famous actors, producers and directors and they were supposed to meet on April 18th to discuss the consequences here. But once Will Smith decided to resign, they decided to move the meeting forward. And that's where we get this 10-year ban.
After the meeting, the President of the Academy and the CEO releasing a statement saying in part that they wanted the Oscars to be a celebration of the work and the achievements of so many people throughout the year. And instead, all of this was overshadowed by Will Smith's actions.
I want to read part of that statement where they say, "During our telecasts, we did not adequately address the situation in the room. For this, we are sorry, this was an opportunity for us to set an example to our guests, viewers, and our academy family around the world and we fell short, unprepared for the unprecedented." They also said that this was all part of a bigger goal here in terms of safety and also interest in the Academy. They also went on to thank Chris Rock for essentially keeping it together. And I think a lot of people still waiting for Chris Rock to speak out.
The other thing that we're waiting for is to see what happens next year because Will Smith was supposed to present the best actress award, that is the tradition for the Oscars. And, of course now, he won't be able to attend so there will be some changes next year. Jessica.
[20:45:07]
DEAN: All right. Camila, thanks so much.
The NFL world is reeling tonight at the sudden death of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, Dwayne Haskins, who was just 24 years old. His team tweeting, may he rest in peace. The Florida Highway Patrol says Haskins was trying to walk across Interstate 595 in Broward County when a dump truck hit him around 6:30 in the morning. It's not clear why he was walking. Steelers Coach, Mike Tomlin, says Haskins was a great teammate and a tremendous friend.
You are in the CNN NEWSROOM tonight. And coming up, from an historic nomination to a historic confirmation and soon a historic swearing in.
Up next, the role soon to be Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson will have in reshaping the Supreme Court.
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KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, CONFIRMED TO SUPREME COURT: We've made it. We've made it all of us -- all of us.
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JACKSON: It has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a black woman to be selected to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States, but we've made it. We've made it, all of us -- all of us.
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DEAN: Ketanji Brown Jackson just became the first black woman confirmed to the Supreme Court. She is expected to officially take her seat as Associate Justice this summer. Let's go to CNN Arlette Saenz who's at the White House for us.
And, Arlette, this is an historic appointment by President Biden. And when Jackson is sworn in for the first time ever, white men will not be the majority on the Supreme Court.
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jessica, it will look like a very different Supreme Court. And yesterday here at the White House, President Biden and Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson were really basking in that history making moment as the White House celebrated the first black woman to be confirmed to the Supreme Court.
Now, President Biden was making good on a campaign promise that he announced back in 2020 that he would name a black woman to the Supreme Court. And you could see the symbolism really play out through the entire day as Biden, who served as the vice president to the first black president was flanked on one side with the first black and South Asian American woman to serve as Vice President who he selected.
And then on the other side, Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first black woman who will serve on the Supreme Court and the President talks about the impact of that moment on history. And on so many young girls to come after Judge Jackson. Take a listen.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is going to let so much shine -- sunshine on so many young women, so many young black men, so many minorities. That is real, it's real. We're going to look back nothing to do with me, we're going to look back and see this as a moment of real change in American history.
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SAENZ: And as for the makeup of the court, for the very first time, white men will not be in the majority on the Supreme Court, women will be as close to parity as possible with four women serving on the Supreme Court. Of course, additionally, there is Judge Clarence Thomas, an African-American man, the longest serving justice who is on the court.
And then there's also a generational difference. Five of the nine justices will be under the age of 65, with four of them being as part of Generation X. Judge Jackson is 32 years younger than judge Justice Stephen Breyer, who will be -- she will be replacing later on. But of course, even as there are those changes to the court, the ideological makeup of the court remains the same with conservatives remaining in the majority.
DEAN: Yes. And, Arlette, Judge Jackson will make history again, obviously, when she's actually sworn in. When is that going to happen?
SAENZ: So she will not be sworn in until the end of this term, which is typically in late June, early July. At that point, Justice Stephen Breyer will be stepping down and retiring. Judge Jackson will continue to serve in her current position on the U.S. Court of Appeals, but she will not be officially sworn in to the Supreme Court until later this summer.
DEAN: All right. White House correspondent Arlette Saenz for us. Thanks so much. We appreciate it.
SAENZ: Thanks. DEAN: Coming up, CNN team is the first TV crew to get access to Chernobyl since Russian forces withdrew. The Ukrainians describe what they left behind as quote, crazy.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The radiation is increased here because they lived here and they went everywhere, on their shoes and clothes I asked, yes, and now they took the radiation with them.
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DEAN: But first, there was nobody like Anthony Bourdain, and this is the story you haven't heard from the people who knew him best. "Roadrunner" a film about Anthony Bourdain premieres tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN.
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DEAN: Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are engaged again. The couple are planning to walk down the aisle 18 years after calling off their first engagement. Lopez announced the news in her newsletter on the JLo sporting a glittering green diamond ring. This will be the fourth marriage for Lopez the second for Affleck.
And a new hour of NEWSROOM starts right now.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's time to impose a complete embargo on Russian energy resources.
BORIS JOHNSON, PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: We are going to ratchet up the economic pressure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Intentionally targeting civilians, something Russia categorically denies is war crime. Hours of audio recordings seem to tell a very different story.
