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Putin Names New General; Odessa Marking Liberation Day Under Curfew; Biden Signs Tough New Russia Sanctions; Global Donors Pledge Nearly $10 Billion To Help Ukrainian Refugees; Pakistani PM Ousted In No Confidence Vote; Microsoft Disables Seven Domains Linked To Russian Hackers; U.S. Ag Secretary Tests Positive For COVID-19; Shanghai May Begin Easing Covid-19 Restrictions; NFL QB Dwayne Haskins Dies After Truck Accident. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired April 10, 2022 - 01:00   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.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello, welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world, I'm John Vause reporting live from Lviv in Ukraine.

There's an even tougher fight on the horizon for Ukrainians here, as Russian troops regroup and prepare to launch an renewed assault on the Eastern Ukraine Donbas region.

CNN has learned that Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has chosen a general to direct this war. Until now, it's believed that Russia did not have a theater wide commander in Ukraine.

We could see more coordinated Russian offensive compared to what we've seen so far, there he is. This, as Western nations move to ramp up military support for Ukraine.

On Saturday, the British prime minister made an unannounced visit to Kyiv, meeting with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Along with increased financial assistance, tougher sanctions on Russia, Boris Johnson promised to send dozens of armored vehicles and new anti-ship missiles.

Zelenskyy urging more countries to follow the example of the U.K. and step up their support.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The task of our anti-war coalition is quite clear: to end this war started by Russia as soon as possible, to liberate our land from invaders and to guarantee the security of Ukraine and, consequently, the security of democracy and freedom of the nations of Eastern Europe.

That is why it is not just the moral duty of all democracies, all of the forces of Europe, to support Ukraine's desire for peace.

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VAUSE: At least 20 people remain in serious condition in hospital, fighting for their lives, after a Russian missile attack on a railway station in Kramatorsk. They're among almost 100 people who were wounded while trying to evacuate. CNN's Ben Wedeman has the latest.

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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. 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.

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VAUSE: In the wake of that deadly attack on Kramatorsk, other Ukrainian cities are taking extra precautions. Right now, Odessa is under a strict curfew until Monday morning. No one is allowed on the streets or public places without special permission.

This comes among rising concerns that Russians will target the Odessa region soon, as they look to take more real estate along the Black Sea.

On Saturday, local authorities reported an explosion near a town south of Odessa. Officials say there were no casualties but they're investigating reports of a possible sabotage.

Lawrence Sheets is a former Moscow bureau chief for the U.S. National Public Radio. He is with us now from the Odessa region.

Lawrence, it's good to speak with you again. Tell us, you've been around the region in southern Odessa. You've seen what's happening there. This is now a region that seems to be so surrounded on two of the three major sides.

What's the latest of what you've seen? LAWRENCE SHEETS, MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF, U.S. NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO: That's correct. What exactly happened was on Friday, the local governance council in Odessa announced martial law, lasting until Monday but potentially longer.

What they're really worried about and what they stated is that there will be some sort of provocation, they say, or attack. Today is the commemoration of the liberation of the city of Odessa, the Odessa region, from pro-Nazi troops in World War II. So a lot of people got the message that bombing of the city was imminent.

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SHEETS: Things like this; I can't call it a panic but there was a mass exodus of people from the city. Roads were absolutely jam-packed. As you know, Odessa is blocked from two of three sides. Many came last night, there was a barge between the Romanian and the Odessa region of Ukraine.

Unexpectedly high numbers and, I like the others around here, you can see the background, spent the night in a one-room church on bunk beds and so on, because they naturally are on edge. And they took this martial law warning to mean that the city was in danger.

VAUSE: So what are your plans now?

Where are you heading, what are you planning on doing?

SHEETS: I'll be around here for a bit. We decided to go with the flow and see what was going on outside of the city. The port here, for the most part, where a lot of refugees have crossed through in the past weeks, the last month or so, they've typically quiet over the past few days.

Yesterday it was jam-packed. There is a 3- or 5-kilometer line of long haul trucks, that are picking up or delivering goods or exporting, because the Odessa port is blockaded by the Russians. So we basically followed them out.

It took seven hours to reach a destination that would take two because there was such a backlog of traffic all along the way, from regular motorists, refugees, to trucks and so forth, through about 18 checkpoints. So the story is basically that there was a panic. And people were fleeing.

VAUSE: So what do you know about the situation in Odessa itself, right now?

This curfew remains in place for another almost 24 hours.

Has there been that increased activity of missile strikes that was feared?

Do you know anything about that?

SHEETS: No, there has been none of that. I just spoke with my interlocutors and my people on the ground in Odessa. There was literally nothing overnight. That was really not necessarily expected.

What was the issue was that the city authorities were concerned, that, if people go out in the streets and observe the commemoration of liberation of the city during World War II, that somebody could stage a provocation, in their words.

And then it will be blamed on Ukraine and of course you get chaos and people running around and destabilization in what has been a relatively calm city, despite daily missile strikes.

For instance, on the port area and the oil facilities around the port area, they have not targeted the city, perhaps out of being the Russians cheering bombing this particular city, for various (INAUDIBLE). But the fact is, that it's a very strict martial law. You cannot go into the streets.

VAUSE: When you talk about someone staging a provocation, does that go back to these fears that there could be some kind of Russian sympathizers within Odessa and this theory that maybe sabotage has been behind some of these explosions?

SHEETS: Well, Odessa is a 90 percent to 80 percent Russian speaking city. There have been numerous individuals -- I've witnessed it myself -- who have been rounded up, not because they speak Russian, because everyone speaks Russian in Odessa but because they were walking around after curfew, which is a daily thing, at 7 pm.

And their documents didn't check out, they ran them through commuter bases, there were fake documents. This happens all the time.

So the fear of saboteurs is real, of cells being hidden inside Odessa, which is very easy because it's a Russian speaking city. Hard to tell who's who. So it's based on those fears.

And if you get groups of people commemorating an event, especially elderly people, a bomb is placed, for instance, in their words, it would be blamed on the Ukrainians, that they had carried this out, in the same vein that we're getting Russian claims, nonstop, that was actually the Ukrainians that bombed Kramatorsk and the train station.

It was the Ukrainians who staged the massacres or the Western media, by the way, in their words, on the north of Kyiv. And most notably, Russian television is taking to personally identifying Western correspondents, especially Americans, putting a price on their head, basically.

This is a foreign ministry spokeswoman, saying they are directly responsible, complicit in these massacres to basically please their Ukrainian masters. This is their words.

VAUSE: That's incredible. So stay safe, I guess. Lawrence, thank you so much for telling us what's been happening there. Obviously, this is a complicated situation but we appreciate your time as well as your insights, thank you so much.

[01:10:00] SHEETS: Thank you, John.

VAUSE: Take care.

Well, trips by the British prime minister and other European leaders to Kyiv are being praised by the Ukrainian government. But Boris Johnson said it's also an important symbol for everyday Ukrainians.

CNN's Nima Elbagir reports from Kyiv.

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NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL 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 that 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.

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VAUSE: We will take a short break here on CNN NEWSROOM. When we come back, we will head to Poland and will meet the volunteers going to extraordinary lengths to provide coverage for refugees fleeing through this war.

Also, political instability in Pakistan: Imran Khan joins a list of his predecessors by having his term as prime minister cut short.

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(MUSIC PLAYING) VAUSE: Well, the Biden administration continues to hit the Kremlin

with tough new sanctions. Two were passed just last week on Friday, targeting Russian energy exports as well as Russia's favored (ph) trade status. But as Arlette Saenz reports, the Russian president isn't the only Putin who's being targeted by U.S. sanctions.

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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The White House is looking for more ways to ramp up the economic pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin, as he continues to wage his war against Ukraine.

President Biden signed two pieces of legislation that impose new sanctions on Russia, marking the first time Congress passed measures that would enact such sanctions against Russia.

One of those measures suspends normal trade relations status with Russia and Belarus, essentially allowing the U.S. to impose tariffs on goods from those two countries. Additionally, another piece of legislation the president signed bans the import of energy products from Russia. This includes oil, coal and natural gas.

Now these pieces of legislation follow additional sanctions that the U.S. imposed on Russia earlier in the week, directly in response to those atrocities seen on the ground in Bucha that were committed by Russia.

Those sanctions include full blocking sanctions on one of Russia's largest financial institutions and one of Russia's largest banks. Additionally, U.S. imposed sanctions on Russian president Vladimir Putin's adult daughters, with the thinking being, from U.S. officials, that Putin may be hiding some of his wealth and assets with his daughters.

But this all comes as the U.S. and its allies look at a coordinated response to further hold Russia accountable for its actions. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said those will be part of the discussions as the U.S. tries to figure out how to respond to the atrocities that are being carried out in Ukraine.

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JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What we have done today and will continue to do is look at, unfortunately, the continued atrocities that we are seeing in the country and assess how that is going to impact sanctions, consequences and, obviously, additional security assistance.

So that is how we have been evaluating and working with our allies to date. And I'm certain, given the video footage we have seen on airwaves across the world and photos, that this will be a part of the discussion that our national security officials are having with our counterparts moving forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SAENZ: Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for stronger economic pressure to be placed on Russia on Saturday, calling for a full-out ban of Russian energy.

Now while the U.S. has banned Russian energy imports, European leaders have taken a much more cautious approach. European leaders this week did say they would ban the import of coal.

But the question now is whether they will go as far as banning Russian oil, since many European countries are heavily reliant on Russian energy. But all of this comes as the White House is facing questions about the effectiveness of their sanctions.

While the sanctions have had an impact on the Russian economy, so far, they have not seemed to change the calculus of Russian president Vladimir Putin, who continues to carry out this war as well as atrocities against civilians in Ukraine -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.

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VAUSE: Those sanctions reinforce partly, at least, to the atrocities committed in Kramatorsk this week, killing dozens of civilians. Ukrainian officials say they are now readjusting their evacuation routes but they are urging people in the east to leave before this Russian offensive begins in earnest.

On Saturday, more than 4,500 people escaped via humanitarian corridors. That is far fewer than the 6,600 who managed to get out on Friday. Global donors, including Canada and the E.U. have promised nearly $10 billion to help Ukraine.

This fund-raiser in Warsaw raised money especially for the internally displaced, numbering 7 million, those who actually fled Ukraine for other countries.

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URSULA VAN DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: I can only announce today, for the European Commission, that we want to pledge 1 billion euros.

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VON DER LEYEN: Six hundred million of those will go to Ukraine to the Ukrainian authorities and partially to the United Nations so that the Ukrainian authorities can -- who know exactly who is in need -- can distribute that.

And 400 million euros will go to the front line states that are doing such an outstanding job and helping the refugees that are coming.

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VAUSE: The official numbers from the United Nations, 4.4 million people have left this country since the fighting began. More than 7 million have left their homes and are internally displaced.

More than half of those refugees have actually ended up in Poland. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz shows us how many there are doing all they can to make a temporary home, mostly for women and children, on the run from war.

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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What does it take to care for just a few dozen refugee families?

Storerooms packed with food, endless hot meals, hundreds of bunk beds and lots and lots of love, says volunteer Kamil Prusinowski.

KAMIL PRUSINOWSKI, VOLUNTEER: As you saw, this women with the child on hands and they simply have nowhere to go.

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

PRUSINOWSKI: I need to use my skills, everything what I've got, to help these people.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Now the challenge is to keep these place up and running, the organizers say.

PRUSINOWSKI: Until now, we received zero USD, zloty, pound or whatever from any NGO or government. And there are huge bills which we need to pay.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): 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.

ABDELAZIZ: I'm very, very sorry.

Do you finally feel safe?

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): "It will come," she says.

"Every time we hear a loud sound, we flinch and look up at the sky. We still feel fear."

Irina and her son, Kriyal (ph), 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.

ABDELAZIZ: Does he still feel scared?

ABDELAZIZ (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.

ABDELAZIZ: You have zero money.

How does this work?

PRUSINOWSKI: The 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.

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VAUSE: Well, polls open in less than an hour in France's presidential election. President Emmanuel Macron is looking for a second term in office but he is facing a crowded field of challengers.

The top two candidates after the vote will move on to a second round in two weeks. The centrist president is facing his toughest challenge in the far right candidate, Marine Le Pen. There is also an unusually high number of undecided voters this year.

One thing that President Macron and Le Pen both agree on -- this election remains wide open.

Pakistan's prime minister, Imran Khan, is following in the footsteps of all of his predecessors by not finishing his full term. It marks the latest chapter in a political crisis, which has been playing out in Pakistan for weeks. Sophia Saifi has details.

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SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN PRODUCER: Pakistan's prime minister Imran Khan has been ousted in a vote of no confidence in the early hours of Sunday, after a marathon session that started at 10:30 am on Saturday and went on to past midnight on Sunday morning.

The vote had been due to take place last week on Sunday. However, the deputy speaker of the assembly had blocked the vote on the grounds of it being a foreign conspiracy linked to the United States.

We've then seen a long week of deliberations by the supreme court of Pakistan, which had then ruled that this attempt to block the vote of no confidence was actually unconstitutional.

Imran Khan has a large following here in Pakistan. And he's called for protesters to come out in Lahore in large numbers, to come out and protest what's happened. He said that the sovereignty of Pakistan has been threatened. He is now going to be in the opposition.

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SAIFI: And it just remains to be seen what happens next in the weeks and days to come here in Pakistan. One thing is for sure, that Pakistan has never had a prime minister who has completed a term in office. And Imran Khan is now just another name added to that list -- Sophia Saifi, CNN, Islamabad.

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VAUSE: Thousands gathered in Sri Lanka's capital for the biggest protest to date over the country's worsening economic crisis. Many protesters waving national flags, shouting anti-president slogans, pressuring him to stand down. Sri Lanka is facing one of the worst political crises in its history.

Residents there were hit by power cuts and shortages of food, fuel and other essentials, forcing protesters onto the streets in defiance.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By choice or by fate, we decided to stay in Sri Lanka. And again see the frustration. I have never stepped out on the streets. But today I needed to come to the streets. They have robbed us of a country. And they continue to do so. And as you can see, they must step down. So you see the power hunger they have.

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VAUSE: The country's finance minister says Sri Lanka needs about $3 billion in external assistance in the next six months to prevent this crisis from getting worse.

We will take a short break right now. For our international news, when they come back, "AFRICAN VOICES: CHANGEMAKERS" is coming up next. For those in North America, I'm John Vause. I'll be back with more breaking news in just a moment.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

VAUSE: Welcome back everybody, half past the hour. I'm John Vause, live in Lviv, Ukraine.

U.S. and European officials say the Kremlin now reorganizing its war against Ukraine, now under a single command. General Alexander Dvornikov commanded Russian forces in Syria back in 2015. Britain's former ambassador to Russia says his track record 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. Some Western military analysts believe Russia's losses may be deeper than Moscow has admitted.

A European official says a quarter of Putin's army may no longer be operable. Meantime, British prime minister Boris Johnson became the latest European leader to make the long journey overland to Kyiv, promising additional military and financial support for Ukraine.

The former Soviet republic of Georgia has its own history of brutal confrontations with Moscow's military. And pro Ukrainian sentiment is very strong there among Georgians. Matt Rivers has out report from the capital, Tbilisi.

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MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here in Tbilisi, Georgia, a twofold event. On the one hand, a day of national remembrance, people coming out to remember the events that happened here in 1989, outside of the parliament building here.

That's when Soviet troops opened fire on protesters that were here, trying to advocate for Georgian independence from the then Soviet Union. But this day obviously taking on added importance this year because of what we're seeing now Russian forces doing in Ukraine.

This is something that people in Georgia are paying very close attention to. A lot of the people here, when I say twofold event, is because this is a protest, in part, against the current national government.

Critics are saying that the national government is not taking a strong enough stance, choosing to be on the side of Ukraine. Basically accusing the national government here of kind of playing both sides of the fence.

On the one hand, not criticizing Putin and Russia openly enough for what they're doing in Ukraine. On the other hand, not advocating for Ukraine and for its government forcefully enough.

But some Georgians have taken the ultimate step when it comes to advocating for Ukraine. I want to show you a memorial that was set up here outside the parliament building. There's actually been Georgian volunteers that have gone to Ukraine to fight.

So you can pan off me and show that these are some of the photographs of a few of the Georgian volunteers that have actually died in the fighting in Ukraine. They chose to volunteer to go to Ukraine and lay down their own lives in order to fight for Ukraine.

What people here will tell you, is that there's a lot of sympathy here in Georgia, given Georgia's own history fighting with Russia. There's a lot of sympathy here for what's going on in Ukraine. Many Georgians, like these soldiers here, who died, want to do whatever they can to help Ukraine fight for its own existence -- Matt Rivers, CNN, Tbilisi, Georgia.

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VAUSE: Let's go back now to Paula Newton, standing by at CNN's World Headquarters in Atlanta.

Just think back to 2008 and the Russian invasion of Georgia. If the world had stopped Putin back then, I wonder how different things would be right now.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: And so many analysts have said, look, whether was 2008 or Crimea in 2014, there were warnings to be heeded here about Russia and specifically Vladimir Putin's motives.

John, we'll continue our coverage at the top of the hour with you in Ukraine. In the meantime we continue here in Atlanta with the cyber threat, now.

Both the U.S. government and private corporations have begun stepping up efforts to blunt Moscow's cyberattacks on Ukraine. This week, Microsoft said it disabled at least seven internet domains linked to Russia's military intelligence.

The company said Russian hackers were trying to infiltrate Ukrainian media organizations, in a probable bid to try to influence the war effort. In addition, Microsoft said the hackers were also targeting government institutions, think tanks, in the United States and the E.U. involved in foreign policy.

Now earlier this week, meantime, the U.S. Justice Department announced it had disrupted a large network of hacked computers that were also linked to Russian military intelligence.

Now both the Justice Department and Microsoft had obtained court orders in order to carry out those actions. Earlier, I spoke about this with Gilman Louie, the head of LookingGlass Cyber, in Boston. Listen.

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GILMAN LOUIE, LOOKINGGLASS CYBER: I think this is a different phase that we're in.

[01:35:00]

LOUIE: Our attitude in the U.S. government and in our cybersecurity companies is we can't wait passively until an attack comes. We have to hunt for it.

And so General Nakasone at Cyber COM, together with many other factors within the U.S. government, the 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. NEWTON: The Biden administration, as I said earlier, have been

warning for weeks about the threats from Russia. It hasn't really happened that we know of, at least we haven't been 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?

What I mean is, they have not decided yet to try to strike critical infrastructure and I include banks in that category.

LOUIE: Well, we can see at LookingGlass what is generally happening around the world in terms of cyber postures. We are 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 an attack, the Russians or any attacker are going to have to prepositioned their assets, build out the critical infrastructure.

Then you collect information and they infect your networks. They don't want to disclose themselves until they're ready to attack. And when they attack, it'll most likely to be a multipronged 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.

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NEWTON: Sobering insights there from Gilman Louie.

Now we go to COVID and Shanghai, where people are as frustrated as ever. Not only is the entire city under lockdown, now there are shortages of food and no one to deliver groceries. We've got an update, after the break.

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NEWTON: The COVID outbreak in Washington has one more cabinet member on its list. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced that he's actually tested positive for COVID. Vilsack says he's vaccinated and boosted and thankfully symptoms are mild. He recently traveled to Mexico.

But he did also attend 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 now have COVID-19. That's attorney general Merrick Garland and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

The concern is, who of the 67 were in close proximity to President Biden and if he'll eventually test positive as well?

His top COVID advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says it's possible but precautions are in place.

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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF COVID-19 MEDICAL ADVISER: It is conceivable that the president will get infected, given the fact that the people who are on one-to-one close contacts with him are all tested before they are 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: Meantime, in China, for the third consecutive day, Shanghai has hit a daily high in COVID cases. On Saturday, the city reported more than 24,000 new cases and that's not good for a city where frustrations are already running high, under the lockdown and crucial food shortages.

Shanghai's vice mayor announced that there would be some type of easing of the restrictions in low transmission areas. But that would also depend on the results from citywide testing. Anna Coren is in Hong Kong for us and she's following all these details.

Anna, given what residents there are going through in Shanghai, it this a little bit of relief, that perhaps some of those restrictions will be lifted?

ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: I have no doubt there are people who are just ecstatic at the thought that restrictions may be eased. And that is certainly what officials have indicated.

We should mention there are no details, no timeframe, other than it will be considered after the next round of mass testing.

We have to remember that this is the worst outbreak in China since the pandemic began two years ago. So they've taken these very strict and draconian measures.

But good news for the 25 million residents of Shanghai, who have been locked up in their homes since the end of March, who have been experiencing severe shortages of food and medicine. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COREN (voice-over): Workers stuck a truck with bags of food and supplies, to deliver to people locked down in the city of Shanghai. But this shipment was made more than a week ago. And residents say re- supplying China's most populous city of 25 million people is a logistical nightmare.

Much of Shanghai has been consigned to their homes, because of a severe COVID-19 outbreak in the city. And people are complaining that stores have run out of food and it's nearly impossible to schedule deliveries, because couriers can't keep up with the demand.

[01:45:00]

COREN (voice-over): One man in Shanghai, documenting the shortages on Twitter, says, "We had three deliveries that were booked to deliver today. All three were canceled."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).

COREN (voice-over): Public anger over the restrictions is at a boiling point. On top of the difficulty in getting food, people have been outraged by a policy separating COVID positive children from their parents, which was modified last week to allow infected parents to join them at isolation centers.

Uninfected parents of children with special needs can now also join their children, if they sign an agreement saying they understand the health risk, though the term of "special needs" was defined.

On Saturday, the city's vice mayor acknowledged that authorities had not met the public's exceptions in their handling of this situation and she also said the city may soon begin to ease restrictions in some areas where transmission rates are low enough.

But that came without a timeline and coincided with yet another round of mass testing. City residents were asked to self-administer at home COVID-19 tests and line up in their compounds for PCR tests.

Despite the frustrations in Shanghai, Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday praised the country's dynamic zero COVID strategy, calling it a great success.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Now Paula, as we reported yesterday, the U.S. State Department told its staff and non-emergency staff that they should leave Shanghai due to the surge in cases and also due to the restrictions that are in place.

China's ministry of foreign affairs has responded this morning. And they're taking great offense. Let me read to you what they said.

"China's anti epidemic policies are science based and effective. We are strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to the U.S. side's groundless accusations against China's epidemic response policies and have lodged solemn representations with the U.S. side."

So China's government, Paula, not taking kindly to the United States government telling its staff to leave.

NEWTON: No, clearly touched a nerve there. It was an important statement they put out there and it's dome insight into how sensitive they are. Anna Coren for us in Hong Kong, thanks so much.

Coming up for us on CNN NEWSROOM. Tiger Woods does something he has never done before the Masters. Is not necessarily what you're thinking, though. We'll have the details when we come back.

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NEWTON: Some tragic 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, who was clearly in shock, saying in part, "Dwayne was a great teammate but even more so a tremendous friend to so many. I am truly heartbroken."

Haskins played for Washington before joining the Steelers last year. The former Ohio State star was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy in 2018. We, of course, send our sympathies to his friends and family. Such tragic news there.

OK, to the sporting event just up the road from here in Atlanta, it was moving day at the Masters tournament on Saturday, when the world's top golfers try to climb the leaderboard to get their best shot to win Sunday's final round.

And Tiger Woods, yes, he likely won't be getting another green jacket after carding one of his worst rounds ever.

The leader, though, and the world's number one ranked golfer, Scottie Scheffler, struggled through some pretty windy and cold conditions. But he did end up at the top of the leaderboard, at least after day 3.

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NEWTON: Now the first fully private mission to the International Space Station arrived at its destination Saturday. It's the inaugural mission of a startup called Axiom Space. The company launched its crew on Friday on a SpaceX rocket.

A former NASA astronaut leads the Axiom mission, joined by three private citizens, who paid, wait for it, $55 million each for this ride. Better be a good one. NASA's head of Human Spaceflight Program sees the collaboration as a key step in commercializing space travel.

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KATHY LUEDERS, NASA'S HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT PROGRAM: This is our first step. We're working with a commercial company to have them come to our International Space Station.

And we're learning to work together and figuring out how to work together. And this is going to be an important step for us because, moving forward, we would actually like to now be able to buy a ride and time on orbit with a commercial company, to be able to have them do that.

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NEWTON: OK. The crew will now spend eight days at the space station not just as tourists. They will, in fact, carry out several research projects before returning home.

And that does it for me. I'm Paula Newton. Thanks for joining us. We'll be right back after a quick break. We will be live in Ukraine with John Vause. Stay with us.