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Official: Another Train Stations Hit by Shelling; Ukraine Prepares for Renewed Russian Offensive; Austrian Chancellor to Meet Putin in Moscow; Macron and Le Pen Set for Rematch of 2017 in Second Round; Shanghai Struggling to Contain COVID-19 Outbreak; More Storms Threaten U.S. South and Central Plains. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired April 11, 2022 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. We are following breaking news out of Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Ukraine won the battle for Kyiv. Now another battle is coming. The battle of Donbas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Most crucial thing is weapon, weapon, and weapon. There is no other way to stop Putin.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, the enemy are Russians, they are demotivated. They're war criminals, but there are so many of them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These acts are cruel and criminal and wrong and evil and need to be responded to decisively.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

FOSTER: It is Monday, the 11th of April. It is 11:00 a.m. in Ukraine. It's 5:00 p.m. in South Korea. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about to address South Korean lawmakers in just a few minutes time, this as a senior Ukrainian official says a renewed Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine is already underway with Russian forces massing in the Donbas region. You can see that to the right of your screen.

And we're just learning that another railway station in eastern Ukraine was hit by Russian shelling. That's according to the chairman of state railway company. He says there were no casualties in the attack, but it follows last week's strike on a train station in Kramatorsk that left dozens dead.

Recent satellite images also showing a long military convoy east of Kharkiv that appears to be moving south. Ukraine's president says his country is prepared to fight but he says victory won't be possible without increased international support. Mr. Zelenskyy is likely to repeat that call as he addresses the South Korean Parliament. Though last week the country's defense minister reported he denied a request from Ukraine for more weapons.

Meanwhile, the new Russian commander taking over the war in Ukraine is raising alarm bells in Washington. U.S. officials say he has a history of brutal attacks on civilians.

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JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: This particular general has a resume that includes brutality against civilians in other theaters in Syria. And we can expect more of the same in this theater. This general will just be another author of crimes and brutality against Ukrainian civilians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Meanwhile the Austrian chancellor is due to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow later today. Karl Nehammer. He'll be the first EU leader to meet with Mr. Putin since the war began. Over the weekend, Mr. Nehammer met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and visited the town of Bucha. He said Bucha is a place of war crimes and called for a full investigation.

CNN is covering the story from every angle with reporters across the globe. Paula Hancocks is following Zelenskyy's speech in South Korea and we'll go live to her in Seoul shortly. Chief diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is in Brussels with the latest on the Austrian chancellor's meeting with Vladimir Putin. But let's begin with CNN's Matt River live in Tbilisi, in Georgia and the focus very much on that eastern part of Ukraine this week.

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No question, Max. And I think it's safe to say that every Ukrainian official that you're hearing from is talking about this war in terms of we are now a new phase of this war after what we saw in Kyiv. It is clear that Russian forces are moving to the east looking at this new offensive. According to the chief of defense intelligence who talked to CNN over the weekend.

Basically, what they're expecting to see over the coming days and weeks is a new offensive that will first center on the city of Kharkiv which is one of Ukraine's largest cities, it's in the eastern part of the country. And what Ukrainian officials are seeing as Russian forces once again regrouping, massing in the city of Belgorod, which we did see in the beginning of the war and it does seem like we're seeing that again. As Russian forces are basically regrouping after the losses that we have seen them take in so many other parts of the country.

There will be an offensive according to Ukrainian officials to take the city of Kharkiv. Also, to finish their campaign in the southern city of Mariupol which is a city that our viewers will know by now has been under siege for weeks now with its citizens bombarded by constant Russian shelling. The goal, according to Ukrainian officials, is to finish that campaign in the southern part of the country. And only after those two cities are taken, if that happens, according to Ukrainian officials, will Russian forces once again move on the capital of Kyiv.

[04:05:00]

But you know, what we're hearing from other senior officials in Ukraine, including an adviser to the minister of internal affairs who spoke at a national address -- on national TV rather -- over the weekend. Talking about how Ukrainian officials -- even though we haven't seen these offensives begin yet -- that they believe that this new phase of the war has begun.

And the man, according to U.S. and European officials who will oversee this new phase of the war for Russia is a new Russian General Alexander Dvornikov. This is a notorious general who oversaw -- was one of the first Russian commanders to oversee its campaign in Syria where such notorious crimes against humanity were committed. And we heard from Ukraine's foreign minister over the weekend who acknowledged this new Russian general and the fears surrounding his command. But said that Ukrainian officials remain confident.

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DMYTRO KULEBA, UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Well, let's go back to the very beginning of the war when Russia's plan was to defeat entirely Ukraine in something like three days. And so now they have -- this plan failed obviously. And now they have another plan, but we have our plans. And history will demonstrate whose plan will prevail. So whatever Russia is planning to do, we have our strategy and this strategy is based on the assumption that -- on the confidence, that we will win this war and we will liberate our territories.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS: So, Max, clearly signaling confidence there, but what was very clear is that we're in a new phase of this war, something the Ukrainian officials are preparing for. We will have to see in the days and weeks to come what these new offensives from Russia's military in the eastern part of Ukraine will look like.

FOSTER: OK. Matt, thank you.

We're going to go to Nic now. Ahead of this crucial meeting, the first EU leader to meet with President Putin, he also met, didn't he, with Zelenskyy. So, he's going to have some real insight off the back of these discussions.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It's going to have some real moral authority walking into that meeting with President Putin just a few days ago he was in Bucha, witnessing firsthand the war crimes being able to talk to witnesses, being able to get the Ukrainian government's perspective. And he said there must be accountability for the war crimes. Austria has an historic position of neutrality, military neutrality with respect to the former Soviet Union, with respect to Russia. It has had better relationships or at least deeper understandings with Russia than perhaps some of its European neighbors. But there seems to be no doubt in the Karl Nehammer, the Chancellor's

mind about what he needs to achieve while he's in Moscow. And that is to tell President Putin to stop his aggression, to end the war, to create humanitarian corridors. But it's that moral authority of being able to say, we are going, the international community, is going to find and get accountability for the war crimes. It is your troops who have been involved in the war crimes, at least that's what the evidence points to at this stage. And therefore, you are the person, you know who is most responsible for that. And that affects your position, the European Union sanctions are going to continue to applied to Russia.

So, it's a very strong and forceful and powerful message he'll be able to take to President Putin. The real question is President Putin listening? Is he just sort of using this visit for his own domestic, political consumption to sort of say, well, Russia is not so isolated. They're coming to talk us to. And just play it for propaganda at home. That, of course, is what would be expected of President Putin at this time. But the message that he's getting face to face, I think you can't underestimate that but the real value is very unlikely to be witnessed in the coming days or weeks even -- Max.

FOSTER: Nic in Brussels, thank you -- also, Matt.

Now the official death toll from Russia's strike on the train station in Kramatorsk has risen now to 57. More than 100 were injured including many women, children and the elderly. Friday's attack on those civilians has drawn international outrage including claims of genocide. CNN's Ben Wedeman has more now reporting from Kramatorsk.

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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At 10:30 in the morning, Friday, as many as 4,000 people were here at the Kramatorsk railway station waiting to be evacuated when there was a large blast overhead, it rained down thousands of pieces of shrapnel on the crowd below. At least 52 people were killed. You can still see the blood all over the ground.

[04:10:00]

As many as 100 people were wounded. All the injured have been evacuated out of this city to the city of Dnipro and the capital Kyiv because, of course, there is a profound fear that there is going to be a massive Russian assault on the eastern Ukraine. Here we can see there's a shoe that's been ripped apart by shrapnel. There is just blood everywhere.

The authorities in this part of Ukraine have urged all civilians, especially women, children and the elderly to leave as quickly as possible because of fears of that Russian assault. This is a city where just to the east of here there have been intensive Russian bombardments on Ukrainian positions. So that evacuation continues prior to the blast on Friday they were dealing with about -- handling about 8,000 people leaving the city. Now the evacuation effort has moved elsewhere because this station is no longer functioning. Here inside this station, more blood on the floor. Many of the wounded

were dragged inside for fear there might be yet another blast. This is the luggage of those who were killed and wounded, left behind. There's more blood here on the floor. Cleanup crews are just almost 48 hours after the blast coming to clean up. But here we see more glass on the floor. What happened here can only be described as a massacre.

I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: To France now where this year's race for the Elysee looks a bit like deja vu. Voters narrowed down their presidential candidates. And the finalists are incumbent President Emmanuel Macron and his far- right rival Marine Le Pen. France's interior ministry reports the current president won about 27 percent in Sunday's first round of voting but he came in first place in a crowded field of a dozen candidates. Le Pen is second with around 23 percent. The second round of voting in two weeks is set to be a rematch of the 2017 elections.

CNN's Melissa Bell joins us now live from Paris. Of course, last election Macron was this shiny new thing, so much excitement around his presence really. Now we know more about his leadership. So, does that play to Le Pen's advantage?

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: You're right to point out, Max, that it is re-run of 2017 in many ways insofar as those two candidates will face off on April 24th. But the difference is that five years on from that political experiment of Macron's that you allude to, what he's shown by getting 28 percent in the first round is that essentially, he consolidated that position in the center. But the extremes have as well consolidated there. So not just Marine Le Pen who again scored a better score this time in the first round than she had last time. But also, the man who outflanked her to the right Eric Zemmour, and Jean-Luc Melenchon who came a very close third. More than 50 percent of the French electorate this time voting for extreme candidates, Max.

And so, it is a very intense new round that begins now, new campaign that heads for those two weeks that looks to be very bitter and lead to one of the closest races that we have seen in a very long time. Have a listen to what the two winning candidates had to say at their campaign headquarters last night.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): I want a France which inscribes itself in a strong Europe, which continues to form alliances with great democracies that defend itself, not a France that exited from Europe would have for its only allies the international populist and xenophobia, that's not us.

MARINE LE PEN, FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (through translator): The French people have spoken and gave me the honor to be qualified in the second round against the incumbent President Emmanuel Macron. Let me express to the millions of voters who expressed their trust in me, my sincerest gratitude. I acknowledge with humility, all the responsibility that comes with it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BELL: So, a different campaign that enters -- that begins today. Emmanuel Macron campaigning in parts of the country in the north where Marine Le Pen scored particularly well. And I gave you a hint of what's to come. The two will face off in a debate. She has already said that she intends to devour him in that debate. Remember last time in 2017 it hadn't gone that well for her, but it will be two very different visions for France that will come face to face. And everyone, of course, will be watching that very closely.

[04:15:00]

One of the certainties of this first round though, Max, is that the traditional parties, the Republicans, the Socialist parties that had essentially shared power since 1958, we've seen them swept aside in 2017, this time a very disappointing result for both. Valerie Pecresse scoring just 4 percent and the socialist candidate less than 2 percent. Really confirming that France's political landscape has really changed beyond all recognition -- Max.

FOSTER: He's become well known on the international circuit. He's very strong internationally, isn't he, when he's dealing with issues like Ukraine. But she's taken advantage of that by focusing on domestic issues such as the cost of living. And that has helped distract from the far-right policies that she's become famous for.

BELL: That's right. And really Emmanuel Macron, many of his supporters last night at that headquarters were particularly surprised and pleasantly surprised by his score given all the criticism he's come in for because he said many critics here in France, too focused on Russia, too focused on the international stage, not bothering to debate with the candidates, not focused enough on the problems faced by the French.

And you'll remember that is the end of a mandate and the end of a term, Max, that saw Macron face those yellow vest protests that lasted for a long time and had really shown a great amount of violence on the streets of French cities because of that problem, the cost of living. That remains a problem and, in fact, probably worsened here in France with rising inflation, growing prices at the petrol pump and a lot of the French saying they're struggling a great deal. That is exactly what Marine Le Pen intends to tap into.

FOSTER: Melissa, it's going to be fascinating. Thanks for joining us from Paris.

Shanghai officials say more COVID testing is needed to help slow a surging outbreak. But residents there are clearly growing frustrated with the government lockdowns and now a food shortage as well.

And April's wild weather continues in the U.S. Pedram Javaheri will have the latest forecast for you.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And severe weather once again back in the forecast across portions of the Central United States, not just over the next 24 hours but possibly over the next 48 hours. We'll touch on this in detail coming up in a few minutes.

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FOSTER: These are live pictures in Seoul where the South Korean Parliament is listening to an address from the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. We'll have a live report from Seoul in just a few minutes with details of the message that he's giving out there. Do stay with us for that.

Officials in Shanghai say they'll start to ease COVID lockdown measures starting today, allowing residents in COVID-free areas to start moving around their neighborhoods more freely. This comes amid days of soaring infections and growing frustration amongst residents over the tough restrictions. Shanghai has stuck to China's zero COVID policy with multiple rounds of testing and restrictions on movement. As well as mandatory quarantine in government centers for anyone testing positive. Anna Coren joins us from Hong Kong with more. And you know, we really have seen the frustrations boil up on social media, haven't we?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Max. There is a video circulating online. We cannot independently verify it. We should add, however, it shows protests happening at a residential compound in Shanghai. It would appear that these residents managed to break out of their homes and they are confronting police who are holding the gates, screaming at them, saying give us supplies. I think it just goes to illustrate that the level of desperation that these people are feeling.

They have been locked up in their homes since the end of March. We are talking about 25 million people in the most populous, cosmopolitan city in China. Shanghai is the engine of the country. It contributes to 4 percent of GDP. And officials had thought prior to this wave that they didn't have to adhere to the COVID zero COVID strategy, I should say, where we saw these snap lockdowns take place in the rest of the country. They were more about targeted lockdowns, which they were commended for and said how visionary they were in allowing this economic engine to continue operating.

But with this wave that has hit Shanghai the way it has and we saw numbers today, record high of 26,000 cases in Shanghai., I know relatively that is low compared to the rest of the world, but in a country like China, they cannot afford for COVID to rip through. The reason being is the low level of vaccination, particularly among the elderly. There is no immunity because they have really cut off China from the rest of the world. And quite frankly, Max, their health system would be completely overwhelmed.

And that was pointed out today in a commentary in Xinhua News Agency. And let me quickly read this to you. It says China's medical system would risk a collapse leading to enormous loss of life if it gives up on epidemic prevention and control. The government doubling down on the zero COVID strategy, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Anna in Hong Kong, thank you for watching that for us.

Now in New York, the Mayor Eric Adams has tested positive for COVID- 19. A spokesperson says Adams has no major symptoms and is now isolating. It's unclear where he contracted the virus, but he attended several public events recently including a club dinner in Washington on April 2nd. More than 60 people who were at that dinner have since tested positive for the virus. The infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says he not surprised cases are rising right now.

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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, U.S. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Well obviously, there is concern that we are seeing an uptick in cases as I've mentioned over the last couple of weeks, this is not unexpected that you're going to see an uptick when you pull back on the mitigation methods. This is not going to be eradicated and it's not going to be eliminated. And what's going to happen is that we're going to see that each individual is going to have to make their calculation of the amount of risk that they want to take.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:25:00]

FOSTER: Fauci says another factor contributing to the rise in U.S. cases is the high transmissibility of the omicron BA.2 subvariant. Currently the dominant strain in the U.S.

More wild weather expected for real parts of the U.S. -- would you believe. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has the details on a new round of severe storms -- Pedram.

JAVAHERI: Good morning, Max. Yes, the severe weather concern back in action across parts of the central U.S. and the southeast. It is not the same areas we've seen impacted significantly in the last several weeks. But still worth noting. And you'll notice parts of Texas, Oklahoma, these regions have seen hailstones as much as 1 1/2 inches or more in diameter in the past 24 hours. And that's the sort of weather we're concerned for here as we go in for Monday into Tuesday. That's a level 3 indicator in orange there on a scale of 1 to 5. It is a smaller area but does include folks across Little Rock, Arkansas, about 12 million people in its entirety. Much it's centered over Dallas here in line for large hails and straight-line winds. Certainly, can't rule out a few isolated tornadoes.

And as we go in towards Tuesday afternoon the severe weather threat expands a little more up to 40 million impacted from areas around say Austin as far north as Des Moines. Area indicated in orange. Once again that the level three and some of these regions can see some strong tornadoes. Of course, the middle of April not unheard of, but that's the sort of pattern were expecting here over the next couple of days. One system after another ingredients in place to spark off those

strong thunderstorms and certainly a lot of rain fall here that could lead to flooding across western areas of Tennessee, portions of eastern say Arkansas as well. Could see two to three inches of rainfall before it's all said and done.

Now that's the Eastern United States. Look at the Western U.S., far too cold to produce rainfall at least across the higher elevations. It will get up into the Cascades, 8 inches or more have come down across some of these areas. Winter weather alerts for as much as 20 inches in store across portions of the say the Cascades in the Siskiyou. And even into the Sierras up to 18 inches. Not unheard of but late-season snowfall will take it in some of these areas that have been very dry in recent months.

Now how about the cold temperature outlook? Looking out to the next say week and a half to two weeks, significant threat here for much below average temperatures across a large area of the United States. So, enjoy it over the next couple days. 90s in Dallas, 70s in Atlanta 80s across the Carolinas -- Max.

FOSTER: Thanks to Pedram.

Now in market news, investors are cautious about monetary policies in the U.S. and also how China's COVID-19 outbreak could affect its economy. The Asia markets are largely in the red right now. There was some relief in European markets after the far-right failed to win the first round of the French presidential election. And U.S. stock futures are down and the worries could deep within the consumer price report due on Tuesday. The median forecast is rise of 1.2 percent.

Coming up, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is addressing the South Korean Parliament right now. We'll go live to Seoul for an update next.

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