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Survivors Of Russian Missile Attack At Train Station Have Been Evacuated; Putin Appoints New General To Direct War In Ukraine; Resources Stretched As Polish Shelters Provide For Refugees; Pakistani PM Imran Khan Ousted In No Confidence Vote; British PM Visits Kyiv, Pledges More Aid For Ukraine; Microsoft Disables Two Domains Linked To Russian Hackers; Shanghai May Begin Easing COVID Restrictions; Tiger Woods Struggles In Third Round Of Masters. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired April 09, 2022 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:18]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN HOST: Hello, and a warm welcome to our viewers here in the United States and right around the world. I'm Paula Newton live here at CNN headquarters in Atlanta.

The U.K. is sending more military support to Ukraine as the country prepares for a hard battle against Russian troops in the east of that country. Now the announcement came during a surprise visit by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He traveled to Kyiv on Saturday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Now they discussed a new package of financial and military aid from the U.K. which includes dozens of armored vehicles and new anti-ship missiles. Mr. Johnson also vowed to ratchet up sanctions on Russia. Ukraine's president says he hopes other countries will now follow the U.K.'s example. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINE (through translator): We have to exert even more pressure on the Russian Federation to exert pressure through supporting Ukraine. In defending itself, we have to exert pressure in the form of sanctions. And I'm grateful to the United Kingdom that continues and intensifies the sanctions and also provides a significant support of Ukraine by reinforcing our defense capacity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now Mr. Johnson is just the latest in a string of European leaders to visit Kyiv in recent days after Russian forces pulled back from areas near the capital.

And now we have new images of the destruction left behind. This is the town of Hostomel northwest of Kyiv. It's not far from Irpin and Bucha where horrific images have emerged following weeks of Russian occupation. The British prime minister says those scenes are now a permanent part of the Russian president's legacy. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: What Putin has done in places like Bucha and in Irpin is war crimes, have permanently polluted his reputation, and the reputation of his government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: So Johnson directly there calling them war crimes. Now meantime we've learned Mr. Putin has appointed a new general to direct the war effort in Ukraine. It comes as experts warn Russian troops are regrouping and preparing to launch a renewed assault on eastern Ukraine's Donbas region.

CNN correspondents are right across the region covering the conflict from every angle. Our Nima Elbagir is in Kyiv. Salma Abdelaziz in Poland with the latest on the refugee situation. But we will begin with CNN's Ben Wedeman in the Donetsk region now with the latest on Friday's deadly attack on a railway station.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: All the injured from Friday's missile strike on the railway station in Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine have been evacuated to the city of Dnipro and the capital Kyiv according to a local hospital official. At least 52 people were killed in this strike which took place at a time when there were around 4,000 people waiting outside to be evacuated.

Local officials in eastern Ukraine have urged all civilians, particularly women, children, and the elderly, to leave the area as quickly as possible in anticipation of a major Russian offensive. The Kramatorsk railway station was an important hub in that evacuation effort handling about 8,000 people a day. Russian artillery has been relentlessly pounding Ukrainian positions to the east of the city.

Now most residents of Kramatorsk and surrounding towns and villages have already left the region, fleeing to safer ground further west.

I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Now Ukraine's president says the attack on the Kramatorsk railway station is yet another example of Russian crimes, war crimes that is, in Ukraine. Earlier Zelenskyy spoke with CBS News about some of the other evidence he's seen of potential war crimes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT PELLEY, CBS' "60 MINUTES" HOST: The Ukrainian Security Service has intercepted communications, he told us. There are Russian soldiers talking to their parents about what they stole and who they abducted. There are recordings of Russian prisoners of war who admitted to killing people. There are pilots in prison who had maps with civilian targets to bomb. There are also investigations being conducted based on the remains of the dead.

[23:05:06]

Should Vladimir Putin be prosecuted for war crimes?

ZELENSKYY (through translator): Look, I think everyone who made a decision, who issued an order, who fulfilled an order, everyone who relevant to this I believe they are guilty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: In the meantime the people of Mariupol have spent weeks in hiding as the Russian military attempts to bombard their city into submission and surrender. But rather than allow civilians to flee to Ukrainian held territory the Russians are accused of forcibly deporting them to Russia by way of so-called filtration camps.

Listen to what one Mariupol city official told CNN's Jim Acosta.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAKSYM BORODIN, MARIUPOL CITY COUNCIL DEPUTY: The problem there is they don't let the people go out to the Ukrainian side. They make filtration camps and lines in these filtration camps about a thousand and in a day they only go on only for about 50, 60 people. So it's a terrible situation. And no one can get in the town now even volunteers who get from the Ukrainian side and take food and water and medical supplies.

Today for about one week they don't let them go into the city. And the cellular connection, Ukrainian cellular connection, they totally destroyed and only their own occupation model operator is a little bit working but there no (INAUDIBLE) with this operator, so no normal connections with the people in Mariupol from the outside.

If someone from the Russian military, FSB or something else, finds some evidence that people who want to get out from the Mariupol has connection with activism, pro-Ukrainian position or even have military in friends they can be killed or they can go to the prison. So they don't have any rights and no one outside Mariupol know about this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Keep in mind thousands, tens of thousands of people are potentially still trapped in that city without the necessities of life.

Now as we mentioned earlier Ukraine is preparing for an even tougher fight in the eastern Donbas region with the new military commander at the helm of Russian troops. We could see in fact a more coordinated and disciplined Russian offensive compared to what we've seen so far. Putin's pick to lead Russia's attack has also significant combat experience both in Syria and significantly in the second Chechen war. Even before that announcement Ukraine's foreign minister offered this grim prediction of the days and weeks to come.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DMYTRO KULEBA, UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: The battle for Donbas will remind you of Second World War with large operations, maneuvers, involvement of thousands of tanks, armored vehicles, planes, artillery. This will not be a local operation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: CNN global affairs analyst Kimberly Dozier joins me now from Washington.

Good to see you, Kimberly, and thanks for weighing in on this. This has been difficult the last few weeks and yet these dire warnings continue especially about what may now unfold in the east and the south. What will be menacing about the Russian campaign from here? And what significance should we put on the appointment of this new commander, this new general?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, this new general is known for backing brutal methods by their Syrian allies in the war in Syria. And you can only expect him to be prosecuting the same type of war in this country. The other problem for the Ukrainians in the fight to come is the terrain. The terrain in the east of the country is very flat. It's steps, plains. This means there's really nowhere to hide.

A lot of the fighting up to this point, much of it has been in either urban areas or even some mountainous or forested areas, where it lent itself to the kind of ambushes and sneak attacks that the Ukrainians had practiced for years in the run up to this particular fight and then have made such good use of. This flat plain lends itself to the kind of tank battles that Russia has trained for, for years. Russia will also be just because of this location closer in terms of supply lines to resupply.

[23:10:02]

However, on the Ukrainian side of things, they -- the Russians are going to be trying to connect the towns they're holding in the north with towns in the south. And the area that they are trying to close is about 300 miles or so long. That is going to be a long, thin line of Russian troops that will present a big target for Ukrainian forces to attack.

And the Russians are also going to be enclosing thousands of Ukrainian troops who have been garrisoned in that area fighting the ongoing war in the Donbas, in the disputed Donbas region. Those Ukrainian troops are not going to go down without a fight. And what you see with the British aid and the other aid that's coming in, the various partners of Ukraine know that what they're going to need most, armor. Ways to defend themselves and ways to take out tanks. And those are the kind of weapons that are heading in.

NEWTON: Yes. And as you said, principally as we continue to look at those maps you are so much closer to Russia operationally and they can really decide to platform so much of this campaign from there. I want to turn to some of the Russian propaganda in recent days. It's

already alarmingly nihilistic but it's turned even darker now with one, at least one pro-Putin pundit dehumanizing Ukrainians even more saying their Nazi tendencies so-called are more entrenched and that I really can't believe that this was written, translated from the Russian. It was that they were to be liquidated.

How might this inform us about what Russia's intentions are going forward and again to remind everyone in just the last few days what we saw of that horrific attack on that train station?

DOZIER: And I believe you're referring to an op-ed that was in (INAUDIBLE), which is one of the state-run outlets, mouthpieces. And if someone writing in that newspaper felt empowered to use those kind of terms, that is the kind of thing that the Russian state does to prepare its people to propagandize at its people that whatever you hear coming out of Ukraine about us hitting civilian targets, well, guess what?

Even the civilians are guilty and that's why if you believe any of these foreign reports which are wrong, but whatever you hear it was the right thing to do. That kind of dehumanization of the enemy which is the same kind of thing we saw in World War II. It's the kind of thing, also, that we're hearing about the atrocities and what many leaders are now calling war crimes committed on the ground, in the areas that the Russians have departed from, it's the kind of thing that troops somehow can get the green light to go ahead and do because their commanders are feeding them this garbage.

It's still an illegal order. These are war crimes that are being described again and again by CNN reporters and others.

NEWTON: Yes, and in terms of the long tale of history of course the Russians should be reminded that that kind of editorial does in fact implicate them in the allegations of Zelenskyy, right, saying that this is genocide and that these are war crimes.

Kimberly Dozier, as always, thanks so much for this. Appreciate it.

DOZIER: Thank you.

NEWTON: Now history repeats itself again in Pakistan. Next, Imran Khan joins a list of his predecessors having his term cut short.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:17:15]

NEWTON: Protesters staged an anti-war demonstration on Saturday in front of the Russian embassy in Prague, lying on the street covered in fake blood to represent the victims of atrocities in Russia's war on Ukraine. Now some had their hands tied behind their backs as did many of the bodies found in the city of Bucha. Ukraine has accused Russia of war crimes following the discovery of mass graves in towns around Kyiv and the missile strike on a train station that killed at least 52 people. Now following that strike in Kramatorsk Ukrainian officials say they

are now adjusting those key evacuation routes but they are urging people to leave before Russia escalates those attacks in the east. Ukraine says more than 45,000 people -- pardon me 4500 people have been evacuated from humanitarian corridors Saturday far fewer than the 6600 who escaped on Friday.

And global donors including Canada and the E.U. pledged nearly $10 billion to help Ukrainian refugees Saturday. The event in Warsaw raised money to aid both the internally displaced and those who fled the country.

Now according to the U.N. more than 4.4 million people have fled Ukraine and more than seven million are now internally displaced. Meantime more than half of those refugees have fled to Poland.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz shows us how some people there are doing all they can to try and patch together some type of temporary home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What does it take to care for just a few dozen refugee families? Store rooms 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": As you saw these women with the child on hands and you see they have nowhere to go.

ABDELAZIZ: This abandoned school dormitory was in disrepair unused for over a decade but in just three days Prusinowski and his best friends turned it into a shelter for women and children fleeing Ukraine.

PRUSINOWSKI: I get to use my skills. Everything what 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 USD, z?oty, pound 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. Victoria and her grandkids arrived here only yesterday. They still feel so raw.

It was so scary but we had to go for the children, she says.

[23:20:01]

(On-camera): I am very, very sorry. Do you finally feel safe?

(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.

Irina and her son (INAUDIBLE) fled from Chernihiv after spending days hiding in a cellar.

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?

(Voice-over): Yes, sometimes. But I try to calm him. We go outside and breathe fresh air, she says. And that's what is most needed here. 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 this work?

PRUSINOWSKI: Good friends who are helping. Some volunteers who are helping. But there is 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.

Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, Radymno, Poland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: To a developing story now, Pakistan's prime minister has been ousted. Imran Khan lost a no confidence vote in parliament early Sunday, the final chapter in a brewing crisis that has been going on there for weeks now. His ouster marks a remarkable fall from grace for the former cricket star turned politician.

Blake Essig has more on Mr. Khan's rise and fall.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IMRAN KHAN, OUTGOING PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER: Consequences for the rest of the world.

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Perhaps Pakistan's best known prime minister, Imran Khan made a name for himself as a politician, philanthropist, and sports superstar. He was elected to power in the summer of 2018 after a controversial election surrounded by accusations of rigging and foul play. He was celebrated as one of the world's best cricketers in the '80s and '90s, Khan then mined his superstar popularity to become one of the most formidable politicians of Pakistan.

Born in 1952 in the city of Lahore, Khan had a prestigious education rounded off with a degree in philosophy, politics, and economics from the University of Oxford in England. There and over the next two decades for his home country he would become among the best cricketers of his time. And with his athletic abilities and movie star looks he also gained the reputation of a playboy.

Khan who married three times has two sons with his first wife Jemina Goldsmith, an English producer. In 1992 he led Pakistan's cricket team to its first and only World Cup win amassing legions of loyal fans back home. The sporting success helped him whip up donations for Pakistan's first cancer research center, the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital, named after his mother whom he lost to the disease.

Riled up in the constant state of corruption in Pakistani politics Khan decided to start his own political party in 1996, the Movement for Justice or the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Khan won a seat in parliament in 2002. But his party mostly languished in the political wilderness. But then in the summer of 2013 with a crop of new voters reared on the tales of the magic of Khan, the PTI roared ahead in that year's general elections, but was unable to win a majority.

Khan led thousands of protesters to Islamabad shutting down the capital in the latter half of 2014 during a sit-in that lasted months. In 2018 after more than two decades of struggles in politics Khan achieved his long-awaited dream of becoming prime minister. Promising a new Pakistan to his countrymen, he vowed to eradicate poverty and corruption.

KHAN (through translator): I pledge to our people that we can put our governance system right here which will make life easier for our people and which will give opportunities for people to invest in Pakistan. I will try my best. Imran Khan will be very simple. I am just like you people, although I will have a big responsibility.

ESSIG: His tenure as prime minister saw rising inflation as his government dealt with record slumps in foreign exchange reserves and also accepted a major bail out from the IMF. In 2019 rising hostilities with neighboring India led to clashes between the two nuclear armed states. But the international intervention was reduced to a simmering stalemate that lasted throughout Khan's premiership.

The 2020 coronavirus pandemic tested Khan's leadership and while initially his government saw the infections spread, policies that were later adopted helped in curbing the rise in deaths and infections. On February 24th the day Russia began a military invasion of Ukraine, Khan was in Moscow on a state visit. His government has since refused to condemn Russia's actions. Facing a no confidence motion by the opposition that he was expected to lose, Khan plunged Pakistan into a weeklong political crisis.

Using claims that he was the victim of a foreign conspiracy to oust his regime Khan got his ally, the deputy speaker of parliament, to block the motion against him and then dissolve parliament while calling for early elections.

[23:25:12]

All moves which were then overturned by the Supreme Court for being un-constitutional. Khan inevitably had to face the vote of no confidence against him which has led to his immediate dismissal. No Pakistani prime minister has ever completed a full term. Imran Khan's name has now been added to that list.

Blake Essig, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: To France now where polls open in less than three hours in a hotly contested presidential election. Incumbent President Emmanuel Macron is hoping to win a majority in this first round of voting but he's facing a crowded field of challengers. If no candidate wins a majority on Sunday the top two will move on to a second round in just two weeks.

The centrist president is facing his toughest challenge in far-right candidate Marie Le Pen. Now there's also an unusually high number of late undecided voters this year. One thing the French president and Le Pen both agree on, the election is wide open at this point.

I want to thank you for watching. For our international viewers "INSIDE AFRICA" is next but for those here in North America I will be right back with more breaking news in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:30:25]

NEWTON: And welcome back to our viewers here in the United States. I'm Paula Newton at CNN headquarters in Atlanta. U.S. and European officials say the Kremlin is reorganizing its war against Ukraine under a single commander now, General Alexandr Dvornikov who commanded Russian forces in Syria in 2015. Britain's former ambassador to Russia says his contract in that conflict was savage.

Dvornikov will direct the next phase of the war which is expected to be a renewed assault on Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. But some Western military analysts believe Russia's losses may be deeper than they appear. A European official says a quarter, a full quarter of Putin's army may no longer be operable.

Meantime British Prime Minister Boris Johnson became the latest Western leader to make that long journey over land to Kyiv. He promised additional military and financial support to Ukraine. Afterward Ukraine's president called on Western allies to keep the pressure up on Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKYY (through translator): There are more and more positive things for Ukraine every day. However, still not as much so that we can determine the exact date of the end of this war. Russia can still afford to live an illusion and bring new military forces and new equipment to our land and it means even more sanctions are needed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now we get more on Mr. Johnson's surprise visit to Ukraine from Nima Elbagir in Kyiv.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: This evening in Kyiv, the city is somber and almost silent as it dims its lights for curfews. But during the day it was very different scenes, as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson became just the latest world leader to make a pilgrimage to the Ukrainian capital. He brought with him much of what was expected, a raising of Britain's

guarantee of Ukraine's debt ceiling at the IMF to almost $1.5 billion in total. More, much of the same defensive military aid, probably not exactly what the Ukrainians were hoping for or thought they needed. But he brought, as other world leaders had also done, something that Ukrainians tell us is almost more important.

He brought a sense of respite because they know that when Prime Minister Boris Johnson or others like him come here, then, for that short space of time, they are safe. For that short space of time, they feel a little less isolated by this conflict from the rest of the world. Prime Minister Johnson has gone and with it has gone the safety that he brought.

But for many Ukrainians, they hope that the visits will continue as well as the defensive aid, as the Russian offensive in the east of the country continues to build up steam. Eventually, they're hoping more than just visits and respite will come with these global leaders.

Nima Elbagir, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Now we've been warned for weeks of course that cyber warfare might be a potential weapon in this conflict and both the U.S. government and private corporations are stepping up their efforts to blunt Moscow's cyberattacks on Ukraine and perhaps elsewhere.

This week Microsoft said it disabled at least seven internet domains linked to Russian military intelligence. The company said Russian hackers were trying to infiltrate Ukrainian media organizations as well as Western think tanks.

Gilman Louie is CEO of LookingGlass Cyber in Boston and he joins us now for some insight in all of this.

I want to say, you know first-hand what the U.S. perhaps specifically the CIA and National Security officials are doing at this hour to try and prevent cyberattacks. What do you take from what was disclosed this week which I found extraordinary that at least twice court orders were obtained to covertly reach into computer networks to try and prevent these attacks?

GILMAN LOUIE, CEO, LOOKINGGLASS CYBER: Paula, thanks for having me here. I think this is a different phase that we're in. Our attitude and the U.S. government and in our cyber security companies is we can't wait passively until an attack comes.

We have to hunt for it. And so General Nakasone at Cyber Comm together with many other factors within the U.S. government, such as DHS as well as commercial companies, are doing everything we can to not only warn companies, warn not-for-profits like think tanks, bring up, shields up as they would say to really begin to posture, to reduce an effect of an all-out attack by the Russians on U.S. infrastructure and also with our allies and partners.

[23:35:24]

NEWTON: This seemed extraordinary, though, to me. Am I right? I mean, to obtain these court orders to go into these networks seemed another step forward in all of this.

LOUIE: I think it was really important given the history of the attacks. When you launch a cyberattack you are actually doing a campaign and the attacker in this case known as Fancy Bear or Astronium or APP 28 or Pawn Storm, all names for the same organization related to the GRU, in order to prevent that attack we have to take down their critical infrastructure. And the way they do critical infrastructure for an attack is they take over machines.

They use your machines against you. They create these bot nets. They also create domains that they'll use to actually receive stolen information. So this particular case they went directly to the courts to say we need to take down that infrastructure. We have to sync hold, which means do not forward information coming from these pieces of malware in your computer systems. And the courts agreed.

NEWTON: Yes. And the reach really was unprecedented at this point in terms of what they were able to do when that court order was granted. You know, the Biden administration as I said earlier they've been warning for weeks about these threats from Russia. It hasn't really happened that we know of.

At least we haven't been, you know, affected that much so far. Do you think this is more about playing defense on the part of the U.S. and its allies, or are the hackers not on offense yet? From what I mean is they have not decided yet to try and strike critical infrastructure. And I include banks in that category.

LOUIE: Well, we can see at LookingGlass what's generally happening around the world in terms of cyber postures and we're seeing a very active fight in the Ukraine where cyber attackers and cyber defenders are going back and forth. The thing that we have to remember is the way you should think about these cyber campaigns it's like a long game of chess. You really have to think many moves ahead.

So in order to set up attack, the Russians or any attacker are going to have to preposition their assets, build out the critical infrastructure, and then they collect information and they infect your networks. They don't want to disclose themselves until they are ready to attack and when they attack they will most likely be a multi- pronged attack. We saw that happen in Ukraine. We've seen that happen in Georgia.

They'll attack power, critical infrastructure, financial, media, government, all simultaneously as a way to project power and to coordinate with their other operations including disinformation and military operations. So just because we can't see anything visibly happening here aggressively in the U.S. at this moment doesn't mean the campaign has not begun.

NEWTON: Yes, which is sobering to think about as you said even though we can't see it or can't see the effects of it obviously the adage here is stay tuned.

Gilman Louie, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

LOUIE: Paula, thanks for having me.

NEWTON: After weeks of being locked down there may be a glimmer of hope for Shanghai residents. We'll update you on its devastating COVID outbreak, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:42:41]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ignition. Lift off. (INAUDIBLE) Dragon. Godspeed. Axiom One.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: It's always exciting, isn't it? A SpaceX capsule successfully launched on Friday in the landmark moment for tourism. This is the first crew entirely comprised of private citizens like you and me. They spent about 20 hours free-flying through orbit before arriving at the International Space Station. The first of its kind mission will last about 10 days.

Onboard are three paying customers led by a former NASA astronaut who's now an employee of a private company behind the mission. Each of the crew members will be working on a list of research projects.

Now the COVID outbreak in Washington has one more Cabinet member on its list. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced he too has tested positive for COVID. Vilsack says he is vaccinated and boosted and his symptoms are thankfully mild. He recently traveled to Mexico and attended the Gridiron Club Dinner last Saturday. That's a high- profile event where now 67 people have tested positive for COVID. In addition to Vilsack two other Cabinet members are infected. That includes Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

Now the concern now is who of the 67 were in fact in proximity to President Biden and if he'll eventually test positive as well. His top COVID adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci says it's possible. But precautions are in place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: 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) NEWTON: Now to the COVID outbreak in Shanghai where residents may get some eagerly anticipated news. Officials may in fact begin easing restrictions. That's despite the city's climbing case load. On Saturday Shanghai reported nearly 25,000 cases, another daily high.

[23:45:03]

Right now, all 25 million residents, yes, all of them, are under lockdown. The easing of restrictions would be tied to mass testing. Areas of low transmission would be granted more freedom.

Anna Coren joins us now from Hong Kong, and Anna, you've been following all of this. You know, any kind of easing of restrictions seems to be predicated as I was just saying on that mass testing. Is this at all a change in China's Zero COVID approach or really specific to what they see in that testing and not a change in policy at all?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Paula, we just don't know is the short answer. The reason being is that officials have been only said that there could be an easing of restrictions after the next round of mass testing but they've given no further details. No timeline. I mean perhaps they are listening to the residents, 25 million of them, many of them have taken to social media, have been yelling out the windows at community workers saying get us out of here. We are starving. We have no food.

I mean, there is so much anger in China's most populous cosmopolitan city. This is the economic engine of China. It contributes to 4 percent of the nation's GDP. And really up until this point it has remained relatively unscathed from China's COVID Zero policy. There have been particular lockdowns of individual building compounds but never something like this where they locked down the entire city.

But this we should mention is the worst outbreak since the pandemic began in China. So obviously officials are taking it extremely seriously. But as you say, these people, 25 million of them, have been locked up in their homes since the end of March.

Now we are hearing, also, from officials that they have resumed the operation of e-commerce platforms. That means that the food deliveries may resume. They were shut down and this has led to the food shortages, severe food shortages. People posting about this on social media and as we know domestic criticism is very much frowned upon, it's silenced, it's stamped out. People don't care about what the repercussions are.

That is how angry they have been. So now perhaps these delivery people will be able to deliver the groceries rather than residents relying on the community workers making those distributions.

We're also hearing, Paula, that the city of Guangzhou in Guangdong Province, there have been only 11 cases. Because of those 11 cases, city officials have announced mass testing. Now as a result that, there is panic buying going on in the city of Guangzhou. It just goes to show what people are experiencing with the government adamant that its dynamic COVID Zero policy which China's leader Xi Jinping heralded as a great success, that this is what they are having to live under and the fact that they can just call these snap lockdowns, it terrifies people -- Paula.

NEWTON: Yes. And you think for good reason that those residents, right, are out stockpiling food when as you say they have seen what has happened to other towns and cities when they have had a few cases.

Anna Coren, for us in Hong Kong, appreciate it.

Now coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, Tiger Woods does something, you know, that was kind of record breaking but it's not what you're thinking. We'll explain when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:52:30]

NEWTON: Some incredibly sad news from the National Football League. Police say Dwayne Haskins, the 24-year-old quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, was killed early Saturday after being hit by a dump truck while trying to cross an interstate in south Florida. Haskins was in Florida for a Steelers' training camp. The Steelers tweeted a statement from head coach Mike Tomlin saying in part, "Dwayne was a great teammate but even more so, a tremendous friend to so many. I am truly heartbroken."

In the NFL, Haskins played for Washington before joining the Steelers last year. The former-Ohio State star was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy in 2018. Just incredibly tragic news there. Hard to believe.

Now, it was in fact what they call moving day at the Masters on Saturday when top golfers, you know, they jockey for position to try and get into that best position for the final round on Sunday. Tiger Woods -- yes -- he showed he's human after all. He carded one of his worst rounds ever, but still a spectacular comeback, given his injuries.

Now the leader and world number one, meantime, golfer Scottie Scheffler, he struggled a little bit in the windy conditions but kept on top of that leader board.

CNN's "WORLD SPORT" anchor Patrick Snell gives us an update.

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PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORT ANCHOR (on-camera): Moving Saturday at the Masters didn't quite work out that way for Tiger Woods at least not in the direction he would have been hoping for on his emotional return to the sport following last year's horrific car crash in southern California.

(Voice-over): In cold, blustery conditions, Woods far from the only one to suffer out there at the iconic Augusta National during round three. His round started with a bogey and it would end with four dropped shots in the last three holes as the 15-time Major winner recorded a disappointing 6 over par round of 78. That is his worst score in 93 rounds at the Masters.

Woods ending round 3 at 7 over par for the tournament. In many ways, though, as Woods had already said, he's already won this week just by being here and competing. The 46-year-old American speaking after Saturday's round three.

TIGER WOODS, FIVE-TIME MASTERS CHAMPION: Never give up. Always chase after your dreams and I've -- I fight each and every day. Each and every day is a challenge. Each and every day presents its own different challenge for all of us and I wake up and start the fight all over again.

SNELL: Leading the way, though, going into Sunday's final round is Men's World number one Scottie Scheffler. The 25-year-old American had a five-shot lead going into round three.

[23:55:04]

But that advantage has now been reduced to three shots after his third-round 71. Scheffler has enjoyed a stand-out year in 2022 with three wins in his last five events. A magnificent last few weeks for him starting in February. Prior to that, he had not one US PGA tour victory to his name. High drama, though, on the last toll Saturday evening, seeing Scheffler put his drive into the woods and he would end up finishing with a bogey. Scheffler reflecting after round three on Saturday.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER, WORLD NUMBER ONE RANKED GOLFER: Being in this position, you know, it's nice to be in control of the golf tournament and, you know, all I am trying to do out there is be committed to my shots and execute. And after that, it's not really up to me. So, I'm looking forward to the challenges tomorrow and, you know, just keep doing my thing.

SNELL (on-camera): Well, Scheffler's finish will give at least some hope to those closest to him on the leader board, especially the young Australian player, Cam Smith, who won the players championship in Florida recently. He is at 6 under par right now and just three shots back.

Patrick Snell, CNN, Augusta, Georgia.

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NEWTON: It will be an exciting day of golf tomorrow.

Now you are not imagining things. Yes, this Hollywood headline has returned. Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are engaged, again. The first time -- yes, you'll remember, some of us do anyway -- was 20 years ago in 2002. This will be the second marriage for Affleck and the fourth for J. Lo. Don't be fooled by the giant green rock that she's got. Isn't it stunning? She is still Jenny from the block. And of course, we wish them well.

I'm Paula Newton. I'll be right back with more NEWSROOM and with the latest developments on Russia's war in Ukraine. We will be live in Ukraine with John Vause in just a moment.

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