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Dozens Killed in Strike at Kramatorsk Train Station Crowded with Evacuees; Ukraine Pleading for More Heavy Weapons; Russian Troops Discussed Killing and Raping Civilians in Intercepted Audio; Chernobyl Facility Ransacked by Russian Forces; Donald Trump Jr.'s Texts Include Ideas for Overturning 2020 Election; U.S. Issues Warnings about COVID- 19 in China; Academy Bans Will Smith from Oscars for 10 Years. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired April 09, 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.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello. I am John Vause, live in Lviv, Ukraine. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world.
Russia's long list of alleged atrocities against Ukrainian civilians hit a new low Friday, with a devastating missile strike on a train station in Kramatorsk, a major rail hub, where men, women and children were waiting for a train to escape the conflict.
The station was hit by two Russian missiles. Dozens were killed where they stood. Ukraine's president vowed to pursue the attack as a war crime. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): We expect a firm global response to this war crime. Like the massacre in Bucha, like many other Russian war crimes, the missile strike on Kramatorsk must be one of the charges at the tribunal, which is bound to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: There are allegations the Russian missiles delivered cluster bombs, which scatter and explode over a wide area. The Pentagon says Moscow's denial of involvement is simply not credible.
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ADM. JOHN KIRBY (RET.), PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: We find unconvincing Russian claims that they weren't involved, particularly when the ministry actually announced it and then, when they saw reports of civilian casualties, decided to un-announce it.
So our assessment is that that this was a Russian strike and that the use of short-range ballistic missile to conduct it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And Ukrainian military commanders say Russian forces, massing near the eastern Donbas region, are almost ready to launch an all-out assault. And the United States has been ramping up its military presence in neighboring Poland, conducting joint exercises with Polish forces.
America's top general has endorsed creating permanent U.S. bases along NATO's eastern flank as a deterrent for further Russian aggression.
CNN's Christiane Amanpour has more on the horrific aftermath in Kramatorsk. A warning: the images in her report are shocking, they are graphic. But they reveal the true level of brutality the Ukrainians are blaming on Russian forces.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): You can hear the fear and the anguish, you can see the desperate efforts to rescue civilians after an attack on this train station in the eastern city of Kramatorsk.
A crowded platform hit by Russian missile strike as people tried to escape heavy fighting. Russian forces also struck the station building itself, the head of the railway told CNN. Now dozens are dead, including children and many people remain unaccounted for.
I asked Ukraine's chief of military intelligence for his reaction.
MAJOR GEN. KYRYLO BUDANOV, CHIEF, DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE OF UKRAINE (through translator): What can I say this is another example of criminal activity of war criminal dictator, Putin.
It is in our case that I hope that would be added to the criminal investigation against him in the international courts conducting a powerful missile strike against a civilian infrastructure during the evacuation of civilians. It's an act of terrorism.
AMANPOUR (voice-over): In the hours and days before this attack, the station was crowded with thousands of refugees. Kramatorsk has been a hub for internally displaced people in the Donetsk region.
Families desperately boarding trains to escape the Russian assault. Now body bags and abandoned luggage are all that remain. The hundreds wounded are one step further from evacuation.
Painted on the side of this deadly rocket were the words, "for the children," a chilling message, the European Commission president tells me, just strengthens her resolve to make sure Vladimir Putin fails in Ukraine.
URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: If you look at the attack today at the train station, I watched on pictures where the shelling had written on, "for our children," which means like revenge for children. So they are building indeed this awful narrative, as if they would be returning something, a nightmare.
AMANPOUR (voice-over): Russia has denied responsibility for the strike, calling it a provocation by Ukraine. But the brutality of this invasion is well-documented despite Russia's military consistently denying attacking civilians.
Kramatorsk was one of the first places targeted when the Russian invasion was launched February 24th.
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Why do they need this war against Ukraine?
Why do they need to hit civilians with missiles?
Why this cruelty that the world has witnessed in Bucha and other cities liberated by Ukrainian army?
AMANPOUR (voice-over): On Friday, Ukraine announced 10 humanitarian corridors, including one in the Donetsk region.
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AMANPOUR (voice-over): But civilian casualties are increasing every hour that Russia's bombardments continue -- Christiane Amanpour, CNN, Kyiv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: International condemnation has been quick. French president Emmanuel Macron calling it an abomination, saying the only things in the victims' hands, push carts, teddy bears and suitcases.
U.N. secretary general Antonio Guterres tweeted that there must be accountability for a gross violation of humanitarian and human rights law.
And the president of the European Parliament saying, there can be no doubt that war crimes are being committed in Ukraine.
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ROBERTA METSOLA, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Children's lives cut short; mothers and children, women and men, bombed indiscriminately. What we are seeing there are crime scenes, international war crimes, being committed against a sovereign people, who are simply fighting for democracy and for their country.
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VAUSE: Mick Ryan is a retired NATO general in the Australian army, former commander of the Australian events college. He is also author of the book, "War Transformed: The Future of 21st century Great Power Competition and Conflict." Major General, thank you for being with us. I want to talk about this attack in Kramatorsk by the Russian military. All armies have situations where, in wartime, civilians are killed. The Americans had it in Iraq. The Australians had it in Afghanistan.
But what we are looking at here in Ukraine is entirely different to that, right?
MAJ. GEN. MICK RYAN, AUSTRALIAN ARMY (RET.): Yes, John. It is a very different scenario. There is only two ways this could have happened. One, that the Russians were surveilling the station and they would have seen it was civilians.
Or two, they weren't but they should have expected there were civilians there. So this is a significant breach of the laws of armed conflict. There is no reasonable prospect of not being guilty of some kind of war crime, at least for those operating the rocket and, potentially, the military chain of command above them.
VAUSE: OK. We also know now that the Ukrainians and the Russian militaries are building up their forces in the east.
So how will the Russians make up for the heavy losses that they suffered over the past seven weeks?
RYAN: I think we saw, in the most recent briefing from the Pentagon, that we have seen a buildup of the Russians, at least 10 new battalion tactical groups. But it is going to take the Russians some time to reinforce, recondition, reequip those troops they pulled out of the north of Ukraine after their defeat in the battle of Kyiv.
So both the Russians and Ukrainians are going to be rushing forces to the east, in a battle of buildups, to ensure one side can defend and the other side can go on the offensive.
VAUSE: At this point, is there any evidence that maybe those international sanctions are having an impact on the Russian military and Putin's war effort?
RYAN: I think there have been some indications that supplies for the Russian military are starting to hurt, particularly in advanced manufacturers, precision missiles, which rely on chips and other advanced technologies from Western countries.
This kind of war places a premium on large stocks of precision missiles and other munitions. And there is some evidence that the Russians are starting to run out of these things.
VAUSE: Does that mean they then resort to the less precise form of, you know, artillery shelling and that kind of thing?
RYAN: I think we have already seen that in places like Kharkiv, even in Kyiv, in Mariupol and other cities around Ukraine. The Russians have been quite happy to resort to dumb bombs dropped from aircraft and artillery shells, to indiscriminately shell and bomb those cities and kill the civilians within them. VAUSE: On Friday, we heard from the Ukrainian president. Once again,
he talked about the desperate need for more military aid. Here he is.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I address the parliament and the people of Finland today. I called on Finnish politicians to do everything possible to help Ukraine.
I also reminded that the best way to stop tyranny and protect freedom is to provide Ukraine with the necessary weapons, the weapons we have repeatedly asked for from the West, the weapons that are available there. I will continue to fight every day, literally every hour, to get everything our state needs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: This is been going on now, not just for days but for weeks, this plea to the West for these heavy weapons.
What is the hesitation?
Why is there a delay?
RYAN: Well, there is a couple of things for this. One is a concern that some weapons might prove escalatory to the Russians. I can't see how a squadron of MiG-29s or a few additional armored vehicles really is going to escalate a situation, when the Russians have a vast, vast advantage over the Ukrainians with these things.
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RYAN: But also Ukraine just needs ammunition, food, medical supplies, which is consumed in very, very large quantities every day, hundreds of precision missiles a day, millions of rounds of ammunition each week.
So they need the high-end stuff as well as the normal stuff that is consumed in large quantities.
VAUSE: You mentioned this concern that, you know, providing this sort of military aid to the Ukrainians could escalate it on the Russian side.
How much worse can it get than a missile on a crowded train station, killing mums and dads and kids?
RYAN: I think that's the real question, right?
I think, in the early days of the war, there was a concern that some of these higher-end technologies might prove escalatory. I think NATO and the U.S. is starting to rethink that position.
As I said, I think it's hard to see how a few additional tanks for the Ukrainians, a few additional missiles or a few MiG-29s really is going to escalate the situation with the Russians. The Russians are escalating the situation themselves with these (INAUDIBLE).
VAUSE: Yes, exactly. Well, the Ukrainian military proved to be successful defenders up to this point. They have stopped the Russian military offensive. They forced Putin to redefine his goals here.
What are their chances, though, of launching a successful counteroffensive?
What would that look like?
RYAN: Well, I am pretty sure the Ukrainian high command will be -- or have been talking to the president about this for a few weeks.
Since the war started to turn and as the Ukrainians started to seize back more and more of their territory in the last week of March, the Ukrainians have proven themselves to be the most successful and effective military organization probably of the 20th century so far.
They have done a magnificent job as the small dog, fighting off the big, brutish, vicious dog that is the Russian army. So they would have to back themselves for pushing back the Russians further.
And all it will take is Western aid, Western sanction and Western information operations to support them.
VAUSE: General, thank you, General Ryan there, we appreciate your time, sir.
RYAN: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, intelligence officials say they have intercepted disturbing radio transmissions of Russian soldiers, talking about killing Ukrainian civilians.
As CNN's Matthew Chance reports, the recordings add to the growing evidence that war crimes have been committed and are being committed by the invading forces. And a warning: the images and the details in Matthew's report are graphic.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is a war with mass digital evidence. Every Russian atrocity can be recorded as the Kremlin's finding out, every illegal order potentially intercepted and exposed.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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. Kill them all, for fuck's sake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got it. But all the village here is civilian.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's wrong with you?
If there are civilians, slay them all.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
CHANCE: Intentionally targeting civilians, something Russia categorically denies, is a war crime.
Kremlin blames Ukrainian forces for the devastation and the bloodshed. But hours of audio recordings said to be of Russian soldiers communicating with their commanders and released by the Ukrainian security services seems to tell a very different story. One of the civilian areas laid to waste by Russian forces on purpose.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shell everywhere.
Shell the settlements directly, got it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got it. That's what I'm doing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Throw some to the west, damn it, several shells, to those closer to me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kulinovka, Riabushki, I think they are working from there, aren't they?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roger that. I will pass on the coordinates now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shell them. Shell them a lot to raze these two villages to the ground.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
CHANCE: And killing civilians isn't the only excess of which Russian forces are accused. Multiple reports emerged of rape of young women, even children, by rampaging troops. One intercept record a Russian soldier in a tank regiment, telling a horrified woman on the other end of the line what he knew.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Basically, three tankers here, raped a girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three tankers -- she was 16 years old.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our tankers?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fuck. (END AUDIO CLIP)
CHANCE: But these are not the crimes of victors. Time and again, Russian armor has been ravaged by Ukrainian forces with report of severely disrupted supply lines.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (from captions): Do they feed you well?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (from captions): Yes, OK. We feed ourselves all right. We butchered a dog and ate it. It was OK.
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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.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are so fed up sitting here and I just hope we are not going to get hit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But you are going to be a veteran after this special military operation in Ukraine. Putin has signed a decree.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
CHANCE: But instead of medals, there are now growing calls for those suspected of war crime to be tried. It may never happen but forensic teams are in Ukraine piecing together evidence just in case.
Already, there are thousands for who justice must be done -- Matthew Chance, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Much more to come from Ukraine this hour. The Russian forces have left the Chernobyl nuclear plant but they have left behind evidence of their incredibly reckless conduct. An exclusive report from the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster.
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VAUSE: Well, the site of the defunct nuclear reactor at Chernobyl was one of the first areas seized by Russian troops, just north of the capital. And now they have left.
CNN is now able to report on the Russians' utter disregard for safety. There are credible fears many of the Russian soldiers may have been exposed to dangerous levels of radiation, possibly without knowing it. CNN's Fred Pleitgen traveled there for this exclusive report.
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FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Simply getting to the Chernobyl exclusion zone is a treacherous journey. Many streets and bridges destroyed, we had to go off road crossing rivers on pontoon bridges.
Finally, we reached the confinement dome of the power plant that blew up in 1986, the worst nuclear accident ever.
Russian troops invaded this area on the very first day of their war against Ukraine and took Chernobyl without much of a fight. Now that the Russians have left, Ukraine's Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky took us to Chernobyl and what we found was troubling.
The Russians imprisoned the security staff inside the plant's own bomb shelter, the interior minister told us, no natural light, no fresh air, no communications.
PLEITGEN: So the Russians kept 169 Ukrainians prisoner here the entire time they held this place and then when the Russians left, they looted and ransack the place.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Among the prisoners, police officers, National Guard members and soldiers; Ukraine's interior minister tells me the Russians have now taken them to Russia and they don't know how they're doing.
DENYS MONASTYRSKY, UKRAINE INTERIOR MINISTER: (Speaking foreign language).
PLEITGEN (voice-over): "When I arrived here, I was shocked," he says, "but only once again realize that there are no good Russians and nothing good comes of Russians. It is always a story associated with victims, with blood and with violence. What we see here is a vivid example of outrageous behavior at a nuclear facility."
While the plant's technical staff was allowed to keep working, the Ukrainians say Russian troops were lax with nuclear safety. And as we enter the area Russian troops stayed and worked in, suddenly the dosimeter's alarm goes off: increased radiation levels.
"They went to the Red Forest and brought the radiation here on their shoes," this National Guardsman says.
"Everywhere else is normal. Only this floor is radioactive." I asked, "Everywhere is OK but here is not normal?"
"Yes," he says, "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."
"Let's get out of here," I say.
The so-called Red Forest is one of the most contaminated areas in the world, especially the soil.
The Ukrainian government released this drone footage, apparently showing that the Russians dug combat positions there.
The operator of Ukraine's nuclear plants says, "Those Russian soldiers could have been exposed to significant amounts of radiation."
We went to the edge of the Red Forest zone and found a Russian military food ration on the ground. When we hold the dosimeter close, the radiation skyrockets to around 50 times above natural levels.
PLEITGEN: Ukraine says Russia's conduct in this war is a threat to nuclear safety in Europe. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant hasn't been in operation for years. But of course, this confinement needs to be monitored 24/7 and also their spent nuclear fuel in this compound as well.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): And it's not only in Chernobyl. Russian troops also fired rockets at Europe's largest nuclear power plant near Zaporizhzhya in southern Ukraine and are now occupying it. Ukraine's energy minister tells me the international community must step in.
GERMAN GALUSHCHENKO, UKRAINE ENERGY MINISTER: I think it's dramatically impacting. That is the really the act of nuclear terrorism what they are doing.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Chernobyl is close to the Belarusian border. The Russian army used this road as one of its main routes to attack Ukraine's capital. The interior minister says his country needs more weapons to defend this border.
MONASTYRSKY: (Speaking foreign language)
PLEITGEN (voice-over): "Today, the border between totalitarianism and democracy passes behind our backs," he says.
"The border between freedom and oppression.
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PLEITGEN (voice-over): "We are ready to fight for it."
And the Ukrainians fear they may have to fight here again soon, as Russian president Vladimir Putin replenishes his forces, continuing to put this nation and nuclear safety in Europe at risk -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine.
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VAUSE: We will take a short break. But for our international viewers, "INSIDE AFRICA" is up next.
For our North American viewers, stay with us. I will be back with a lot more from Ukraine in just a moment.
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VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. I am John Vause live in Lviv, Ukraine.
And the Ukrainians demanding a tough global response to that missile strike on the Kramatorsk train station that killed at least 50 people and wounded dozens of others. The Ukrainian foreign minister says Russia knew that train station was packed with civilians waiting to be evacuated but that strike went ahead anyway.
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VAUSE (voice-over): And this is video from moments just before the attack, showing crowds of people inside the station. This is filmed by Ukrainian journalist Oleksiy Merkulov, who was there covering the evacuations. He spoke with CNN's Erin Burnett and described the moment the missile hit.
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OLEKSIY MERKULOV, JOURNALIST (through translator): When that horrible thing happened, what I could feel right away was this just air blast, this really powerful wave, something -- although the explosion itself didn't seem to be that hard.
The wave was unbelievable. It's as if something just hit you on your head and your legs couldn't keep you any longer. You couldn't stand on them. And you understand that something terrible happened but you're not aware of what it is. And you're afraid to look up but you know you have to do something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The U.S. President Joe Biden has signed off on two bills that will further sanction Russia and Belarus for the invasion of Ukraine. The first will suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus. And the second will ban any imports of Russian energy. Both bills were unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate,
overwhelmingly supported by the House.
There's now belief that Russia has already lost more than 15 percent of its military assets sent into Ukraine. A senior U.S. Defense official says Moscow is down to less than 85 percent of the combat power it initially set aside for the war.
That assessment including Russian tanks, fighter jets, missiles and troops. The official did not say how many Russian troops have actually been killed in battle so far.
Now to a very public display of military might from NATO on its eastern flank. For the first time, a close-up look at American troops, training on the ground in Poland. CNN's Kyung Lah has our report from a base, where joint military exercises have been taking place.
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KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No words needed. This is the NATO message to Russian president Vladimir Putin. This is the first look at American troops firing weaponry on the ground in Poland since the war in Ukraine began.
U.S. and Polish forces publicly showed off the might of the West in a bilateral, live fire training exercise. One by one, Polish tanks lined up heavy artillery and paratroopers dangled from helicopters, landing on a battleground that is designed to prepare for a war just a short drive away.
The 82nd Airborne Infantry Brigade Combat Team, based at Ft. Bragg, has been drilling with American Blackhawks here in Poland for weeks, deployed in mid-February before Russia invaded Ukraine.
As the U.S. soldiers run across the field, a U.S.-made Javelin missile launches. It's a portable surface-to-air system that's been critical for Ukrainian forces in the war.
What we understand is that there are two platoons here, about 60 American troops, taking part in this live fire act. It's a show of force. We're about just two hours away from the Ukrainian border. The Americans trying to show that they are indeed working with the Polish troops.
This is just a small snapshot of the greater U.S. force here. A U.S. official says approximately 11,000 U.S. troops are deployed in this NATO country. They're a visible sign of a larger military ramp-up near Ukraine.
A senior U.S. official tells CNN about eight to 10 aircraft a day land at airfields near Ukraine, with weapons and security assistance materiel that is moved into the war-torn country by truck convoy.
This bilateral drill ends with a photo-op for the cameras, the two countries side by side.
LAH: What is the message you're sending to Russia?
COL. MICHAL MALYSKA, POLISH TERRITORIAL DEFENSE FORCES: We are strong. We are cooperating with our forces from all NATO. We're ready for any action. We are ready to defend our country.
LAH: You may notice we didn't interview any members of the 82nd Airborne in that story. That's because there is a blanket no-media policy with the Army right now here in Poland. At least that's a directive from Washington.
But we did speak to them. And they told us that, since they have arrived in Poland, mid-February, they have been sleeping in tents. It's been winter out here. They haven't seen any of their families. But this isn't being presented to us as complaints. They just look at it as part of the job -- Kyung Lah, CNN, Warsaw, Poland.
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VAUSE: Let's get back now to Paula Newton, standing by CNN headquarters in Atlanta.
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VAUSE: And, Paula, it is interesting, when you look at this firepower, which is just next door in Poland, the U.S. and polish troops training there, and what a difference it could make here, when you look at all the atrocities being committed by the Russian forces on Ukrainian civilians and just how close they are. But just so far away.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Yes, especially given the will at this point to really continue to stay out of it in terms of putting boots on the ground.
But I was also struck, John, by what you said there, what you reported. You know, 85 -- down to 85 percent; it doesn't matter. Anything even tiny will continue in terms of the combat power, continue to lead to that indiscriminate suffering and violence that we have reported on.
John, we will be with you again at the top of the hour. Good to see you.
Now meantime, the New York Yankees paid tribute to Ukraine before the season opener on Friday.
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NEWTON (voice-over): The Ukrainian national anthem was performed by --- you see her right there -- an 11-year-old Brooklyn resident. Her family emigrated to the United States in fact from Lviv in 2006. The Yankees also flew the Ukrainian flag alongside the U.S. flag at Yankee Stadium.
(END VIDEO CLIP) NEWTON: To some other news now. People in former president Trump's inner circle tossing around ideas about subverting the Electoral College. Next, you will see their texts about keeping Trump in power, no matter what the 2020 election result says.
And despite a strict lockdown and widespread testing, a COVID outbreak in China shows no sign of slowing. Details on that and the latest travel warning from the U.S. government.
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NEWTON: Top allies of former president Donald Trump brainstorming ideas about how to subvert an election. That is what apparently played out during the 2020 presidential race. That is according to communications exclusively obtained by CNN.
Now they include texts between the former president's son, Don Jr., and White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows. As Ryan Nobles reports, the texting began before the vote was fully counted.
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RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: November 5th, 2020, two days after the 2020 election, votes were still being counted, the final outcome, still in doubt. But President Trump's son, Don Jr., was already passing on ideas for overturning the election if necessary to ensure a second term for his father.
"It's very simple," Trump Jr. texted, before outlining several options.
"We have operational control, total leverage."
Trump Jr. was texting White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. This text, reviewed by CNN, hasn't been revealed publicly before. It is in the possession of the January 6th Select Committee.
In a statement to CNN, Trump Jr.'s lawyer says, quote, "After the election, Don received numerous messages from supporters and others. Given the date, this message likely originated from someone else and was forwarded."
Meadows' attorney declined the comment.
On Election Night, President Trump, was already laying the groundwork to claim the election was stolen.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: To me, this is a very sad moment and we will win this. And as far as I'm concerned, we already have won it. NOBLES: Behind the scenes, his son and adviser, Don Jr., was sharing ideas with Meadows for how to subvert the Electoral College process, leveraging Republican majorities in the Senate and swing state legislatures.
"State assemblies can step in and vote to put forward the electoral slate," Trump Jr. texted.
The text message, from days after the election, ticks through questionable legal theories, many of which would eventually be employed by the Trump campaign and GOP operatives across the country.
"We have multiple paths. We control them all."
The paths Trump Jr. refers to in the text include creating alternate slates of fake electors, pushing the vote back to state legislatures and forcing a scenario where neither candidate had enough electoral votes to win, leaving it to the House to vote by state delegation to elect the president.
"Republicans control 28 states, Democrats 22 states," Trump Jr. texted. "Once again, Trump wins."
Trump Jr. was a prominent surrogate for his father, traveling the country on his behalf. In the days leading up to the election, he told Trump supporters that, if Trump lost, it would be because the radical Left cheated.
DONALD TRUMP JR., FORMER PRESIDENT'S SON: Make sure everyone gets out and votes because, if you don't, they are going to steal it from you.
NOBLES: But while he publicly warned against fraud on the Left, his private text message to Meadows foreshadows a legal strategy his father's allies would eventually launch, even teasing the showdown in Congress on January 6th, two months before it happened.
"We either have a vote WE control and WE win OR it gets kicked to Congress 6 January 2021."
This text part of a tranche of thousands of texts from Meadows the committee has in its possession and has already used as part of its investigation.
NOBLES: Donald Trump Jr. also sharing ideas for what should take place in his father's second term. Among them, firing the FBI director, Christopher Wray, and Dr. Anthony Fauci; also suggesting that William Barr, the then attorney general, appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Joe Biden's son, Hunter -- Ryan Nobles, CNN, on Capitol Hill.
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NEWTON: So the number of people who attended a Washington event and are now infected with COVID just continues to grow. The Gridiron Club says 53 people have now tested positive. They all attended a dinner of the Washington power players last Saturday. Now among the high-profile guests who have COVID include the attorney
general, Merrick Garland; the Commerce Secretary, Gina Raimondo; several members of Congress and President Joe Biden's sister. And no one has reported severe symptoms from their infections, so far, thankfully.
The U.S. is responding to China's COVID outbreak, meantime.
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NEWTON: Its advice to most Americans there?
Get out or just don't travel there. The U.S. State Department just authorized nonemergency U.S. government workers and family members of all government employees to voluntarily come home.
Meantime, in Shanghai, the outbreak shows no signs of slowing. Of the 25,000 cases reported Friday in all of China, more than 23,000 were reported in Shanghai. Anna Coren is following this story for us from Hong Kong and joins us now.
Anna, good to see you. You know, it is notable that, given these numbers, residents of Shanghai, you know, they still have no idea when this harsh lockdown might come to an end.
ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Paula. People in Shanghai are absolutely furious. You mentioned what the U.S. government has issued its staff, the consulate there. That is not a luxury obviously extended to the residents of Shanghai, 25 million of them in full lockdown.
They have not been allowed to leave their homes since the end of March. And we have to remember, too, that the zero COVID strategy that has been issued around China for really the last two years, Shanghai has been relatively unscathed.
You know, they have had staggered lockdowns. They have managed to lock down perhaps individual housing compounds but never something that shuts down the entire city.
This is the commercial, the financial hub of China. It contributes to 4 percent of the country's GDP. And many economists are saying, Paula, that there may be no growth this quarter coming out of China because of this lockdown.
There is no end in sight and people are scathing (sic). You know, they are taking to social media, you know, furious at what is taking place, which we really don't see in China. That is generally shut down and sense that any sort of domestic criticism.
But people particularly, you know, in Shanghai, which is where the rich and the powerful live, the educated, the people who are connected, they are voicing their fury at what is going on.
We are seeing drastic food and medicine shortages. There have been reports of children, who are infected with COVID-19, being separated from their uninfected parents, Something that we saw here in Hong Kong, which, you know, caused enormous outcry.
But the government is sticking to this dynamic zero COVID policy, as they have done for the last two years. The reason, they say, is public health. they need to make sure that this doesn't get out of control.
And you mentioned those case numbers today. 25,000 across China; 23,000 of those, in Shanghai. The numbers, you know, increasing, Paula, every single day. You know, Xi Jinping is going for an unprecedented third term at the end of this year. He does not want, you know, COVID chaos to overshadow that.
NEWTON: Yes and, still, they continue to insist, as you say, on the zero COVID policy. Anna Coren, really appreciate the update. Thank you.
Coming up for us here on CNN NEWSROOM, Tiger Woods makes the cut at the Masters. You will want to see his remarkable return.
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NEWTON: Tiger Woods continues his incredible comeback following that harrowing car crash that almost cost him his leg and his career. Now the five-time Masters champion, he made the cut in this year's tournament. But before you get ahead of yourself, he still has a very high hill to climb to get that sixth green jacket.
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NEWTON: Will Smith will not be allowed to attend the Oscars for the next 10 years. Now the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences made the announcement Friday because, of course, you all remember -- you see it there -- the actor slapped comedian Chris Rock onstage at this year's awards show.
Smith's ban extends to any Academy event, in person or virtually.
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NEWTON: Smith responded, saying, quote, "I accept and respect the Academy's decision."
Now you should note this does not prevent the Oscar winner from being nominated or winning in the future.
Now in a buildup to the 2022 Eurovision, Ukraine's nominee arrived in Israel for a preview contest. Kalush Orchestra, a Ukrainian musical group, will be performing at the Eurovision contest, which will be held next month in Turin, Italy.
Ahead of the event, the front man of the group said they will be dedicating their song, "Stefania," to their motherland.
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OLEG PSYUK, KALUSH ORCHESTRA (through translator): I want to say that this song was dedicated to my mother. But now that there is war in Ukraine, it is gaining new meaning and sense, because, metaphorically, many people interpret the words "my mother" as "my Ukraine," that needs to be protected.
That is why I want to urge people to cherish peace. It became clear only now how important peace is when there is no peace.
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NEWTON (voice-over): The band also did an impromptu performance at the news conference. You can hear them singing "Stefania" right there.
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NEWTON: I am Paula Newton. Stay with us. John Vause will be with us live from Ukraine right after the break.
