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Dozens Killed In Strike At Kramatorsk Train Station Crowded With Evacuees; Ukrainian Lawmaker Reacts To Atrocities In His Nation; Over 6,000 Evacuated Via Humanitarian Corridors On Friday; Eurovision Hopeful Dedicates Song To Ukraine; Chernobyl Facility Ransacked By Russian Forces; French Residents In Shanghai Will Miss First Round Of Voting; Ketanji Brown Jackson Speaks About Her Historic Confirmation; Academy Bans Will Smith From Oscars For 10 Years. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired April 09, 2022 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade. And I want to get you straight to some breaking news.
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. What you're about to see is graphic and disturbing.
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KINKADE (voice-over): At least 50 people were killed and many more wounded. Many of the victims are small children. The train station has become an evacuation hub for civilians escaping the Donbas.
People are desperate need of medical care because so many hospitals have been shelled and destroyed.
Ukrainian authorities say the station was hit by two Russian missiles. Ukraine's president vowed to pursue the attack as a war crime.
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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.
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KINKADE: Ukraine alleges the attack delivered cluster bombs which scattered over the wider area. Cruelty compounded by cruelty, Russia claiming the Ukrainians did that to themselves. The Pentagon says the Russian denial is 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.
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KINKADE: New reports are coming in of intense bombardment of the northern city of Kharkiv near the Russian border. The regional governor says at least 50 strikes have been reported, including artillery, mortars, tanks and rockets. Reports are they will continue to advance on the Donbas region.
A Ukrainian military commander says Russian forces massing near the Donbas region are almost ready to launch an all-out assault. The U.S. estimates Russia's fighting strength was degraded about 15 percent over the past six weeks, requiring substantial reinforcements and resupply.
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.
Well, CNN correspondents are covering the conflict from multiple angles. We have Phil Black in Lviv, Fred Pleitgen in Chernobyl and Salma Abdelaziz in Poland.
First, to CNN's Phil Black in Ukraine. Images are shocking and graphic but they reveal the true level of brutality that the Ukrainians are blaming on Russian forces.
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PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For many who fear what is coming in eastern Ukraine, Kramatorsk Station has been a gateway to safety. Crowds of people have packed its platforms in recent days desperate to increase their distance from a region Russia says it will soon conquer with overwhelming force.
Witnesses say thousands came again on Friday morning. They sought safety, they couldn't escape the war.
These are the moments after a ballistic missile exploded at the station after debris and shrapnel tore through the crown.
"So many dead bodies," a person cries. "Only children, just children."
When the screaming eventually stopped, the broken bodies of the innocent remain. We have to hide much of this scene; most of those lying, bleeding and still, are women and children. Survivors fled. We managed to contact some by phone while they sheltered together in a public building, still scared and shaken.
This woman says she looked up when she thought she heard a plane then it exploded and everyone went down.
This man says he heard the blast and threw his body over his daughter. The remains of the missile that terrified and hurt so many crashed down near the station.
Hand-painted Russian words mark its side, declaring the weapon's avenging purpose.
It says, "For the children."
The author and their intent are unknown. The result is yet another moment of horror in a war with endless capacity for taking and destroying innocent lives --
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BLACK (voice-over): -- Phil Black, CNN, Lviv, Ukraine.
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KINKADE: An Australian military expert says it's hard to believe Russian forces didn't know they were hitting civilians.
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MAJ. GEN. MICK RYAN, AUSTRALIAN ARMY (RET.): 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.
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.
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KINKADE: European Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen said it was important to start her visit in Bucha, where dozens of civilians were found brutally murdered. Von der Leyen says those responsible for the atrocities will be brought to justice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) URSULA VAN DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: It is the unthinkable has happened here. We have seen the cruel face of Putin's army. We have seen the recklessness and cold-heartedness with which they have been occupying the city.
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KINKADE: Ukraine's prosecuting general says 164 bodies have been found so far in Bucha. Remains are also being recovered in the nearby town of Borodyanka. And the prosecutor general says 28 bodies have been found in the past couple of days.
More are expected to be uncovered as teams search through the rubble.
For more perspective, we're joined now by a Ukrainian member of Parliament, Maryon Zablotskyy.
Good to have you with us.
Could you share your own experience at the moment?
Do you plan to stay in Ukraine with your family and continue working for the government?
MARYAN ZABLOTSKYY, UKRAINIAN MP: Of course, we will stay in Ukraine. My family, my wife and small kids, are, of course, with me. We have been working and gathering inside Kyiv during the hardest times. So we will never leave our jobs. And we will never leave our president.
KINKADE: In over 40 days of this war, give us a sense of what you're seeing and what you're hearing from people you're speaking to.
ZABLOTSKYY: What changed in the recent week is that Russian leadership with Putin are extremely frustrated. Their losses in Ukraine are significantly more in terms of power.
Of course, we believe more than 15,000 Russian soldiers were killed. And several times over that, they have deserters, they have people who have been injured. So that number goes up significantly.
And in the recent week, we have seen quite shocking statements from the former president of Russia, as well as one of the close political advisers to the Kremlin, advocating genocide. They are openly using such terms as reeducation of Ukrainians, the murders of them, deportations, et cetera.
KINKADE: The atrocities we're seeing in Bucha, with civilians in cars and on bikes executed and now the train station in Kramatorsk, where the scene is horrific. Many elderly men and women and children fleeing.
Why do you think Russia is targeting civilians in this way?
ZABLOTSKYY: First of all, it's deliberate. It's not a mistake. For example, when they fired two missiles at Kramatorsk, they for sure knew, from the media, that people were right there. They chose not precision guided rockets but those that end up just within +/- 1,000 feet in range.
I think they are probably not, in their recent statements about genocide, I think they're trying to provoke us on further behavior of revenge on Russian civilians, Russians still living in Ukraine.
Although none of this has happened so far, I think they want to turn this conflict more broadly, so that the Russian soldiers have greater motivation of fighting in Ukraine, which currently they do not have.
KINKADE: Talk about the support you're getting from Western countries.
What more do you need and, from where you're sitting, will Ukraine win this war?
ZABLOTSKYY: We will for sure win this war. More than 90 percent of Ukrainians, according to recent polls, actually believe in the victory.
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ZABLOTSKYY: We're extremely grateful for the billions of dollars spent in supporting Ukraine. That is not taken for granted. But we hope that everybody understands that we will continue to ask for more and as much as possible.
At the moment, we do need heavier weapons. So Stingers, Javelins are OK but they're only useful at the closer fights. And we have had losses of our own, of course. We lost tanks, we lost armored vehicles and we desperately need to replenish them.
So we're currently asking Western governments to increase the types of munitions to more aerial ones so we can target Russians more effectively.
KINKADE: And I understand, you have a baby son.
Do you have family helping you as you try to work in getting more weapons into the country.
ZABLOTSKYY: Of course. I think we will also be working more closely toward even the American public, because, for example, America has one of the largest community of gun owners.
I think we will be quite possibly maybe even asking some Americans to share their gear, which they may not find very useful for themselves. But we, for sure, will be asking and we'll use them very gratefully in Ukraine.
KINKADE: Maryan Zablotskyy, we appreciate your time. We wish you all the very best. And take care.
ZABLOTSKYY: Thank you.
KINKADE: Ukraine's prosecutor general is leading the country's investigation into Russia's war crimes. She appeared on CNN earlier to react on the attack on the Kramatorsk train station.
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IRYNA VENEDIKTOVA, PROSECUTOR GENERAL OF UKRAINE: It's ordinary strategy of Putin's army to kill just civilians, civilians who want save their lives, 52 deaths for this moment, we had in Kramatorsk.
It was women, it was kids who wanted to leave, who wanted to be evacuated. We understand that it was unnecessary deaths. And the end of these deaths, just to kill people, who are not they.
And this, we actually see in Ukraine. Kyiv region, for today, more than 800 deaths; Bucha, Hostomel, Irpin, Borodyanka. And it's cruelty, actually, it's atrocity crimes, war crimes, crimes against humanity. So we see they do their war no by rules at all.
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KINKADE: International condemnation has been quick to come. French president Emmanuel Macron calling it an abomination, saying the only things in the victims' hands were 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 says 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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KINKADE: The fate of Pakistan's Imran Khan hangs in the balance in the country's parliament. Lawmakers have been meeting today to vote on a no confidence vote against him. Khan has been dogged recently by claims of economic mismanagement.
And he claims the vote is part of a U.S. conspiracy to push him out, something the U.S. denies.
Still to come on CNN NEWSROOM, millions have fled to Poland to escape the fighting in Ukraine. We'll have a live report at the border just ahead.
Plus, we'll hear from a doctor, working out of the train station hit by the Russian airstrike. Stay with us.
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KINKADE: Well, according to the United Nations, more than 4.4 million people have fled Ukraine. And more than 7 million are internally displaced. Ukrainian officials are racing to get civilians out of endangered areas. More than 6,600 people fled through humanitarian corridors on Friday.
In the coming hours, there will be humanitarian corridors from Mariupol, blocked cities of the Zaporizhzhya region and from the Luhansk region. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is in Poland, where over 2.5 million Ukrainians have fled.
What sort of influx do you see now?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Every day, Lynda, we see thousands of people lining up here in Poland. It's a very organic process. You have to understand, there's no refugee camp or any large structure to absorb them. People get here and they have to figure out what to do next, where to spend the night.
This train station, oftentimes, it takes a few days, of course, to cross to Ukraine. Sometimes, we see the people cross by the humanitarian corridors in the far eastern part of the country.
It's really their first point of safety in Poland. So it's not just a transport hub, it's also a medical point. You see an ambulance here. Inside is a first aid station. There's always a paramedic available for people to be checked out if they have wounds or if they're pregnant, whatever might be their medical attention that they need.
We see people, oftentimes, Lynda, they only have what they carried so they need help the moment when they arrive.
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ABDELAZIZ: One of the places offering that help is World Central Kitchen. What they've been doing every day, is offer hot meals for the families. As you can see, they set up the warm tent, where people can sit down, take a break, get a nice meal, figure out where they're going to go next.
Every refugee you speak to, Lynda, is going to tell you the same thing, I don't want to be a refugee. I want to go home. I just need to find a place to lay down for a couple more weeks.
KINKADE: We can only hope it's a couple more weeks. World Central Kitchen are doing a great job.
Salma, I want to know what the people in Poland are saying about the Russian invasion and whether there are fears the war could come to them? ABDELAZIZ: There's a great sense of anger about what's happening in Ukraine here in Poland. There's been an outpouring of support of humanity, of welcomeness. Oftentimes, the volunteers are just ordinary Polish families, coming to the train station, offering a spare room in their house, offering a ride, donating food, clothing, whatever they can give.
Again, over 2.5 million refugees in this country. So they absolutely opened their doors to these refugees. But it's a completely organic process. Refugees are oftentimes staying at a friend's house or in a school turned shelter.
So it's a huge number for the Polish government to take in. Yes, there is support being rolled out. But you hear over and over again, the Polish government, the Polish authorities can't handle this alone.
They're appealing to the international community and they say everyone, the entire international community, needs to provide support for over the 2.5 million people here now. Lynda.
KINKADE: Salma Abdelaziz, good to have you with us. Thanks so much.
Earlier, I spoke with Dr. Joanne Liu from Dnipro, Ukraine. She's a physician with Doctors without Borders. I asked her about the challenges for people to leave certain cities like Mariupol. Take a listen.
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DR. JOANNE LIU, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: Right now, we're working in places that are basically close to the front line. And then we work on three main pillar, which is supply, making sure they have everything to respond to an increased influx of patients.
We're working on what we call mass casualty preparedness, which is, when you have a big amount of patients coming at once, because they're wounded, either you triage them or you prioritize them and you make sure everybody gets the care they need.
And the third part is working on evacuation, medical evacuation of wounded and medical people to a separate place, to make sure they have continued health care management.
KINKADE: And so talk to us about the sort of injuries that Doctors without Borders are treating right now.
LIU: So we've been, you know, seeing, in the most of like in many other crises, the early case management is actually done by the Ukrainian hospital. And they have great skills.
But we've been seeing patients we have been evacuating, a lot of them has been injured, especially the first transfer we did from fleeing Mariupol. So they had blast injury and they had gunshot wound but mainly blast injury.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KINKADE: Our thanks to Dr. Joanne Liu.
A Ukrainian killed by Russian forces in the Kyiv region has been laid to rest. Ukrainian authorities say she was brutally murdered, along with her husband and son, while being held captive. They were shot in the head with their hands tied behind their backs.
The gruesome nature of their death is shown in the photo and we want to warn you, it's very graphic and disturbing.
The family show here in a shallow pit, half buried. A friend of the mayor and her family spoke with CNN's Erin Burnett.
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OLENA SUKHENKO, MAYOR SUKHENKO'S FRIEND: When the wars came, lots of villagers left the city in order to escape from war. But the family decided to stay because they really wanted to help others. I think they're really heroes of Ukraine, because they stayed in order to help others and support others.
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KINKADE: Some 11 mayors are believed to be held captive by Russian forces. That's according to one of Ukraine's deputy prime ministers.
If you'd like to safely and securely help people in Ukraine, who may be need of shelter, food or water, please go to cnn.com/impact.
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KINKADE: You'll find several ways to help.
We started the hour with the devastating missile strike at the train station in eastern Ukraine but now we want to bring you a message of hope and love.
Amid the ruins of their city in Ukraine, a couple is showing their eternal love, dressed in their bride and groom finery. These two lovebirds used the aftermath of Russia's heavy bombing as their wedding backdrop.
The Kharkiv couple have volunteered as medics since the start of Russia's invasion. When asked about the decision to tie the knot during all this turmoil, the groom said, "Love will defeat anything."
And the bride adding, "Only these feelings will help us win."
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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KINKADE (voice-over): The band also did an impromptu performance at the news conference.
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I'm Lynda Kinkade. Thanks to our international viewers for watching. For you, "EXPO 2020" is next. And for those joining us from North America, we'll be back with more breaking news from Ukraine after a short break.
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KINKADE: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States. I'm Lynda Kinkade and this is CNN NEWSROOM. More on our breaking news out of Ukraine.
The northeastern city of Kharkiv is seeing renewed Russian shelling. That's according to the region's military governor, who said they've been hit dozens of times in the past day.
Meantime, the mayor of a city south of Odessa, by the Black Sea, says there's been an explosion. Residents are being advised to go to bomb shelters but he says the situation is under control.
Ukraine president is vowing to hold those responsible for the blast at Kramatorsk train station. He calls it a war crime. Thousands were there, waiting to escape to safety. Here's how one Ukrainian member of parliament described it.
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KIRA RUDIK, UKRAINIAN MP: This is one of their next level of Russian crimes. I can't even describe in words what we feel here. Russia are hitting where it hurts the most. They're hitting train stations where people are trying to evacuate.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KINKADE: The Chernobyl nuclear reactor site north of Kyiv was one of the first places they took over with Russian troops. Now there are fears that many Russian soldiers were exposed to dangerous radiation, possibly without knowing it. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen has 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.
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PLEITGEN: 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. 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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KINKADE: Well, 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.
Plus, Ketanji Brown Jackson has her moment in the sun before taking one of the toughest jobs in Washington. The details just ahead.
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KINKADE: The U.S. State Department has just authorized nonemergency government workers and their families to leave Shanghai. The U.S. is also warning travelers to avoid travel to China because of what they call arbitrary enforcement of local laws.
The once bustling city remains quiet due to the continued lockdown.
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KINKADE: Of the 25,000 new COVID cases reported in all of China on Friday, 23,000 were in Shanghai. Our Anna Coren is following this story from Hong Kong and joins us now live.
Anna, it's two years into the pandemic. This is a pretty extreme lockdown. People complaining they can't get food. And they're planning more PCR testing for the entire city.
ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, severe shortages, Lynda, of food and medicine. Food distribution also causing huge problems. People ordering food; it's not arriving due to road closures.
These people, these 25 million people in Shanghai are fed up. They've been voicing their frustration, venting their anger on social media. We know criticism internally within China is stamped out. It's silent.
These people do not care about the repercussions. They are fed up.
There have also been cases, Lynda, of COVID positive children being separated from uninfected parents, causing enormous outrage in the city. Shanghai is the populous city in China. It is the economic engine. It contributes 4 percent GDP.
Up until now, it's gotten away pretty much relatively unscathed from this strict zero COVID policy; the reason being, as officials have said, you cannot lock down the city because of its economic importance.
But due to the outbreak, this is the worst outbreak in China, since the pandemic began. Authorities have taken these strict, you know, measures of locking down the entire city since the end of March. Obviously, thousands of personnel, medical personnel, have been brought into the city.
We know that makeshift hospitals have been set up to deal with these cases, as you say, 23,000 cases. That is another record for Shanghai and, obviously, rising. We did hear, Lynda, from authorities today, that they may ease restrictions in some areas of Shanghai once they do this, another round of mass testing. But no timeframe has been given. Now we know there are public health implications.
There are concerns, obviously, that the health system would be completely overwhelmed if there was a major outbreak of COVID across China. But it's more than just public health that is at stake. There are political implications as well.
China's leader, Xi Jinping, has really pinned his leadership on this dynamic zero COVID strategy. He's called it a great success in that it shows that Socialist China is far better than Western democracy.
He's also looking for a third term later this year; that is unprecedented. He does not want economic, social, political instability. He does not want his authority to be undermined or for a COVID crisis to overshadow his momentous occasion -- Lynda.
KINKADE: Yes, certainly some difficult challenges ahead, especially in Shanghai. Anna Coren for us in Hong Kong, thanks so much.
Well, 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 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.
The COVID outbreak didn't stop U.S. President Joe Biden attending a historic moment at the White House Friday. It was the first time we've heard from Ketanji Brown Jackson since her historic confirmation to the Supreme Court. CNN's White House correspondent Phil Mattingly reports.
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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: For White House officials grappling with war in Eastern Europe, an up and down economy with rising inflation, sagging poll numbers at the lowest level at President Biden's time in office, joyful is not often the word to described every day here.
And yet, on Friday, that's exactly the word Jen Psaki used when asked to describe how the White House officials were feeling as the confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court became official.
It was an enormous moment, a historic moment, the first Black female justice on the court in its 233-year history. It was something Judge Jackson leaned into, the historic moment and its meaning.
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JUSTICE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, U.S. SUPREME COURT: 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.
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JACKSON: But we made it.
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JACKSON: We made it, all of us, all of us.
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JACKSON: And our children are telling me that they see now, more than ever, that, here in America, anything is possible.
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MATTINGLY: Psaki told me she spoke to the president shortly before he walked out on the South Lawn for the event and he was reflecting on the significance, not the legacy for his administration or what it meant politically for him, but the significance of the moment for the country.
And it's certainly something you heard from Judge Jackson's remarks but it also came at a very unsettled time at the White House. There are new COVID positives on a daily basis. Washington has been hit from top officials across both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue.
However the event was still held outside, White House officials making it clear. They're acknowledging it's possible the president could eventually test positive. But they said it's a risk assessment he and his doctors said they are willing to take to continue to interact with people.
He tested negative on Friday morning. One person who also tested negative on Friday morning, Kamala Harris, the vice president, who had a close contact. She is supposed to be wearing a mask on a regular basis for the next several days, according to CDC guidelines. But she was unmasked during the event.
She gave a hug to Judge Jackson at one point. Psaki said it was just an emotional moment, which is very understandable. For now, the administration making clear the next phase of dealing with COVID, living with COVID-19, is very much their philosophy -- Phil Mattingly, CNN, the White House.
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KINKADE: A key figure in Donald Trump's post election rally agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department investigation into the January 6 Capitol riot. Ali Alexander organized several stop the steal rallies after Trump's loss.
He says he was subpoenaed by a federal grand jury, looking into a number of post election events. He says he is not a target of the investigation and did nothing wrong.
Will Smith is facing implications for slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars. Now the Academy is punishing the actor. That story ahead.
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KINKADE: The Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences has revealed the repercussions actor Will Smith will face after slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars. CNN's Brian Todd has the details.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Oscar winning superstar Will Smith banned by the Academy from attending the Oscars for 10 years for the now infamous slap heard around the world.
CHRIS ROCK, COMEDIAN: That was a nice one.
OK. I'm out here -- uh-oh.
Richard --
(LAUGHTER)
ROCK: Oh, wow. Wow.
TODD: The decision to ban Smith for a decade comes after a meeting today of the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences. A board member telling CNN there was, quote, "tons of debate" on what the consequences for Smith should be.
BILL CARTER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: I'm a little surprised that he got a 10-year ban but I'm not surprised that this was the way they went. I knew they would give, I believed they would give a long-term ban.
I thought maybe three, five years because I think it was incumbent on them to send some kind of message that this was actual punishment, that there would be accountability.
TODD: An uncensored feed from a Japanese outlet the night of the Oscars shows how Chris Rock and Smith reacted immediately after the slap.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ROCK: Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me.
WILL SMITH, ACTOR: Keep my wife's name out of your (INAUDIBLE) mouth.
ROCK: Wow, dude.
SMITH: Yes.
ROCK: It was a "G.I. Jane" joke.
SMITH: Keep my wife's name out of your (INAUDIBLE) mouth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD (voice-over): In addition to announcing Smith's ban, an extraordinary admission from the Academy that it mishandled the incident.
In an open letter obtained by CNN, it said, quote, "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 for our guests, viewers and our Academy family around the world and we fell short, unprepared for the unprecedented."
CARTER: They bungled it. They had an opportunity to do something on the spot and at least address it. They didn't even address it, which was kind of absurd.
TODD: In the statement today, the Academy expressed its, quote, "deep gratitude" to Chris Rock for maintaining his composure under, quote, "extraordinary circumstances."
Will Smith, in a statement, says, quote, "I accept and respect the Academy's decision -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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KINKADE: Well, Tiger Woods continues his remarkable comeback following that harrowing car crash that almost cost him his leg and his career.
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KINKADE: That wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade, our breaking news coverage of war in Ukraine continues with Christi Paul and Boris Sanchez. Stay with CNN.
