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Russia's War On Ukraine; Biden's "Ghost Guns" Plan; U.S.: Russia Moving To Reinforce Forces In Donbas; Ukraine's Top Commander Defense Of Mariupol Continues; Nehammer: Talks With Putin Direct, Open And Tough; Zelenskyy: Russians Left Thousands Of Mines Everywhere; Devastated Ukrainian Families Mourn The Fallen; War Crimes Investigations Underway In Ukraine; UNICEF: Nearly 2/3 Of Ukraine's Children Displaced; Jewish Families In Poland Welcoming Ukrainian Refugees; U.S.: Putin May Escalate Election Interference Efforts; Russian Media Wage Propaganda Campaign; Appeal Hearing For U.S. Marine Veteran Imprisoned In Russia; WNBA Commissioner Voices Support For Brittney Griner; Biden And Modi Have" Candid Exchange" On Putin's War. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired April 12, 2022 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:45]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause, live in Lviv, Ukraine.

Russian tanks and troops on the move heading towards Eastern Ukraine's Donbas Region in what is likely to become a bloody, more devastating phase of this war.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And I'm Rosemary Church here at CNN headquarters in Atlanta.

Coming up. After mounting pressure to address rising gun violence in the United States. President Biden takes action, his plan to tackle untraceable so called "Ghost Guns."

VAUSE: Going to the U.S. in multiple sources, Russia continuing to redeploy weapons, material gear into Eastern Ukraine, as it looks to resupply and reinforce troops in the Donbas. New images show a long column of Russian military vehicles not far from Ukraine's border. All of them pointed towards the Donbas.

Meantime, Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy says reportedly tens of thousands of dead in Mariupol after weeks of bombardment by the Russians. And this is new drone video of Mariupol Theater where hundreds of people died last month after a Russian strike there. And many who died were women and children seeking safety.

And on Monday, there are unconfirmed reports of a chemical attack in Mariupol. CNN cannot independently verify that claim. But both Ukraine and the U.S. say the threat of chemical attacks needs to be taken seriously. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): Today we heard a statement from the occupiers confirming they are preparing for a new stage in their terror against us and our defenders. One of the spokespeople of the invaders said they are considering using chemical weapons against the defenders of Mariupol. We take it very seriously.

EDWARD PRICE, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: There was credible information available to us that the Russians may have been preparing to use agents, chemical agents potentially tear gas mixed with other agents is part of an effort to weaken, to incapacitate the Ukrainian military and civilian elements that are entrenched in Mariupol using these agents as part of an effort to weaken those defenses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Also, learning more about the Austrian Chancellor's visit with Russian President, Vladimir Putin on Monday. Karl Nehammer was the first European leader to meet with Putin face to face since this war began. And he says the meeting was intense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARL NEHAMMER, CHANCELLOR, AUSTRIA: (through translator): Those direct talks were very open and tough. It was not a friendly visit. I really confronted the Russian president with the facts arising from the Ukraine war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: President Zelenskyy also accused Russian forces of planning tens if not, hundreds of thousands of landmines and ordinance in Northern Ukraine, a move he calls a war crime. And so, after the Russian military's retreat from the Kyiv Region, as the Russians wrap up their efforts in areas in red here, they are leaving behind evidence of some intense battles near the capital.

Warning, our next report includes some very graphic images and graphic details. CNN's Fred Pleitgen shows us how the devastation and the ongoing dangers in the suburb of Iprin.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The tour is a sad routine for the body collectors in the outskirts of Kyiv, finding corpses has become eerily normal here. A house destroyed by an artillery strike, a body burned beyond recognition. A mangled car wreck two bodies burned beyond recognition. A house that was occupied by Russian troops, an elderly lady dead in the bedroom.

These bodies evidence of a brutal Russian occupation and then a fierce fight by the underdog Ukrainians to drive them out. A fight, 81-year- old Kataryna Bareshvolets witnessed up close in her village.

KATARYNA BARESHVOLETS, MOTYZHYN RESIDENT (through translator): There were explosions, explosions from all sides. It was scary, she tells me. I am in my house. I cross myself and lay down, and then I hear how it thundered and all the windows in the house were broken.

PLEITGEN: The Ukrainians tell us the Russian troops didn't even bother collecting most of their own dead.

[02:05:04]

PLEITGEN: More than a week after Vladimir Putin's army was pushed out of here, they showed us the body of what they say was a Russian soldier still laying in the woods.

And that's not all they've left behind. This demining unit says they found hundreds of tons of unexploded ordinance in just a matter of days, including cluster munitions like this bomb led, even though the Russians deny using them.

LT. COL. MYKOLA OPANASENKO, ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE (through translator): These weapons are extremely dangerous for civilians who might accidentally touch them, the commander says. There are about 50 such elements in one bomb he says. This is a high explosive fragmentation bomb to kill people designed just to kill people.

PLEITGEN: They blow up the cluster bomb let on the spot and then move the heavier bombs to a different location for a massive controlled explosion. The body collecting, the mind sweeping, and the clearing up of wreckage are just starting in this area. And yet, this pile of demolished vehicles, both military and civilian already towers in the Kyiv suburb of Irpin.

If you had to picture Russia's attempt to try and take the Ukrainian Capital Kyiv, it would probably look a lot like this, destruction on a massive scale and absolutely nothing to show for it. Russia's military was humiliated by the Ukrainians, and caused a lot of harm in the process.

And they've devastated scores of families. At Irpin cemetery, the newly widowed weep at funerals for the fallen. Ola Krutkev (ph), her husband Ihor (ph) fought alongside their 21-year-old son in Irpin and died in his arms on the battlefield.

Yulia Schkutina (ph) wife of Dimitro Pasco (ph) killed by a Russian mortar shell. And Tetyana Blisniyok (ph) her husband Alexandre (ph) Lytkina (ph) promised her he'd come back in a few hours, but was killed defending this neighborhood.

TETYANA LYTKINA, UKRAINIAN CITIZEN (through translator): I'm very proud of him, Tatyana says. He's a hero. We have many people in Ukraine who have not fled and are defending their homes. Sasha (ph) died just 200 meters from our house where we lived.

PLEITGEN: Laying the dead to rest, another sad tasks they'd become all too efficient at performing in this area close by the next funeral is already underway. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Irpin, Ukraine.

VAUSE: The longer this war goes on, the longer the list of alleged Russian atrocities in Ukraine. Among them bombing of a children's hospital, a massacre at a train station, raping mothers in front of their children, mass graves, other crimes so brutal it cannot be shown. Ukraine's Prosecutor General already looking at nearly 6,000 cases, that number continues to grow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IRYNA VENEDIKTOVA, GENERAL PROSECUTOR, UKRAINE: We see horrors of war. A lot of war crimes. Actually it is not only war crimes. Now we can say about a lot of crimes against humanity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: (INAUDIBLE) Russia's invasion is taking on children. New analysis like 2/3 of Ukrainian kids have been displaced since this war began. They've been forced to leave everything behind, their homes, schools, often (ph) family members as well.

UNICEF said about 1.6 million children's still here in Ukraine, maybe going hungry, not enough to eat, nor no food. The estimated number of people fleeing Ukraine has now surpassed 4-1/2 million. The vast majority crossing into Poland with Jewish families have their own hoarding memories of war and genocide.

As CNN's Kyung Lah reports, many of those of families opening their homes to Ukrainian seeking safety, seeking shelter, looking for hope.

JAN GEBERT, JEWISH VOLUNTEER: The Jewish quarter is just almost over here inside.

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is more than Jan Gebert's Warsaw neighborhood.

GEBERT: The white one.

LAH: Oh, the white one. It's a path to his family history.

GEBERT: That's the building when the-- my grandma was born and raised.

LAH: Gebert lives a block away from where his Jewish great grandparents lived before the Holocaust.

GEBERT: That's my grandma and her mom.

LAH: In the chaos of World War II, Sophia Posnanski (ph) was separated from her husband and child. The Nazis executed her at the Treblinka death camp of the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. Around half were killed in Poland's concentration camps. But Gebert's great grandfather Julian (ph) Posnanski escaped the horror sheltered by a non-Jewish family.

GEBERT: We are alive because someone helped us. And thanks to that, I can help other people. The apartment is one-bedroom apartment.

LAH: Gebert's home has little space.

GEBERT: We are sleeping over here. And that's used to be our bed, and then we give those-- that to our Ukrainian girls. [02:10:06]

LAH: But it's enough to share with the Ukrainian mother and child. The third family Gebert has taken in since the war began.

Gebert: I just felt it's part of me, and I don't know if it's fate or tradition. It's just part of me, I have to do.

MICHAEL SCHUDRICH, CHIEF RABBI OF POLAND: It's our time to do what we needed to have done for us 80 years ago.

LAH: Michael Schudrich is Chief Rabbi of Poland. In Warsaw, the Jewish community has plunged into help in this humanitarian crisis, offering everything from childcare to food and housing, counseling, and Polish lessons. Schudrich says Jewish philanthropies, mostly American have donated about $100 million to help Ukrainian refugees, no matter where they are, or whatever faith they practice.

The effort is centering on Poland, where in World War II, the majority did not help.

SCHUDRICH: Half of the Jews killed during the show of the Holocaust were from Poland.

LAH: So given that complicated history, how does that motivate the Jewish community today?

SCHUDRICH: It clearly has an added meaning for those who are Jewish. Understanding that this is what my grandparents needed. And if we still have somewhere in our hearts, a sadness that more people didn't help, it needs them to push us to do more to help now.

LAH: You're volunteering here?

GEBERT: Yes. Yes.

LAH: For Jan Gebert, he feels his country changing as Poland welcomes almost 2-1/2 million Ukrainians. His great grandmother's home is now a shelter for refugees. Have you think about what would happen if more of your family had been protected, had been taken in?

GEBERT: It's a great question. I will hope that there will be someone like me helped by grandparents, great grandparents, and my cousins during the Holocaust. Yes, that would be wonderful. I will have much greater family next to me to have the great big family in Warsaw, Jewish family and we survived the war that one-- that will be the most beautiful. Beautiful thing, definitely.

LAH: The $100 million raised by Jewish organizations worldwide that is going into the lessons that you saw, those language lessons, as well as the childcare. And we spoke to the women who are being helped out, none of them are Jewish. In fact, one of those Ukrainian refugees, she didn't even know that it was a Jewish organization helping her out.

So, after seeing the incredible inhumanity in Ukraine, they're seeing the grace of the Jewish community here in Poland. Kyung Lah, CNN, Warsaw.

VAUSE: Moldova is also helping Ukrainians as they try to escape the violence here. And according to the United Nations, more than 400,000 Ukrainians have crossed into Moldova since the Russian invasion began. Many of them have been taken in by host families who've opened up their homes as well as their hearts.

Let's bring in Conor O'Loughlin he's with Catholic Relief Services. He joins me now from Moldova, where he is coordinating the agency's humanitarian efforts.

Conor, thank you for taking the time. It's often the case those who had the least are the often ones who give the most. That seems to be what's happening right now in Moldova. So how can the rest of the world help Moldova to continue to support Ukrainian refugees?

CONOR O'LOUGHLIN, MEMBER, CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES: I think to your point, that is exactly what we're seeing here. And in the last segment, I saw that we had that-- you reference around the grace of people, and we are seeing the exact same thing in Moldova here. And Moldovan citizens continue to open up their doors and their hearts to Ukrainian refugees.

Well, we must remember that Moldova is a very small country, it's a poor country as well. And we're moving towards half a million Ukrainian refugees that have passed through or come into Moldova as well. And that puts a strain on the country as well.

So from the international community perspective, or humanitarian agencies, such as Catholic Relief Services, we have to support and sustain Moldova to be able to provide relief, immediate relief for Ukrainian refugees. But also, and it was referenced in your last segment as well. We are almost two months into this crisis now.

And other needs beyond meeting those basic relief like in terms of accommodation and food, we also need to think around education assistance for Ukrainian refugees, for children that are here, and for child care, and for psychological support for the trauma that so many families have experienced.

[02:15:01]

VAUSE: Are you now in that point where you're shifting away from, you know, the emergency response to crisis of people just getting out of harm's way to now sort of long-term assistance and give the resources that you need to do that?

O'LOUGHLIN: We are doing both. I think the emergency response absolutely remains, we still have people coming into Moldova from Ukraine, some that have lived through a war, and have experienced horrific violence as well that need immediate assistance. So that strand, and that pillar of our work is there. But in parallel, as you mentioned, we do need to consider longer term needs as well.

And also, I would say the other aspect to that is that we have to be prepared. Many Ukrainian refugees here hope that they can return to Ukraine soon. And we must hope for the best, but we must prepare for the worst as well. And we may see further inflows of refugees here.

So that preparedness that we're able to scale up our relief efforts in a situation or a scenario where that happens, we must be ready as well. And that's what Catholic Relief Services is also focusing on. But we do need to consider longer term needs now, we do need to consider access to education for children, longer term accommodation support for Ukrainian refugees, that, you know, builds off all that goodwill that we referenced at the beginning of Moldovan citizens that have opened up their homes and their hearts for Ukrainian refugees.

VAUSE: Are you concerned though, that, you know, eventually, all the generosity, all the help, all the goodwill that is out there, gets exhausted over time that becomes fatigue and, you know, the plan (ph) is so many and it need of so much that eventually the world turns away?

O'LOUGHLIN: I think that is a concern, and that is the-- that is the challenge. We know that there has been this impulse, this enormous, you know, goodwill that has been there, that is a challenge to sustain for any country. And particularly again, for Moldova, that is a small country of, you know, less than 3 million people that I see nearly half a million people come in.

So, that poses challenges for society as well. And I think for the humanitarian community, and for CRS, we do need to stay the course on this. And we do need that sustained international support in order to you know that Ukrainian refugees can continue to live in Moldova in indignity, in long term, and have access to services that they need, because we know that this war may continue that we wait-- we may have further inflows of refugees that people may not be able to go home soon. Even if that is what is in their hearts, and that's what they hope for. We have to be ready as an international community to sustain our support and continue that for the long run as well.

VAUSE: Yes. We should know that Moldova, as per capita, I guess, have taken in more refugees than any other country that we've seen so far. Conor O'Loughlin, thank you so much for being with us. And thank you for everything you do.

O'LOUGHLIN: Thank you.

VAUSE: Still to come. U.S. officials fear Russia's election meddling could get a whole lot worse as Vladimir Putin lashes out that the Washington support for Ukraine.

Also the Russian propaganda machine kicks into overdrive, state run media spinning the war ways that practically unimaginable.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:22:15]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, the U.S. believes Vladimir Putin may escalate his attempts to interfere with American elections in response to Washington support for Ukraine. So far, Russia has mainly used influence campaigns to create doubt about election legitimacy. Now, intelligence officials believe President Putin might be willing

to go further, including direct attacks on U.S. election infrastructure. One official says these assessments are not based on direct intelligence, but on signs of Vladimir Putin's increasingly unpredictable behavior.

Well, meantime, a prominent critic of President Putin has been detained in Moscow. Vladimir Kara-Murza has survived two suspected poisonings. A Russian opposition politician says Kara-Murza was detained outside his apartment building. It's unclear what charges he may face, but it's unlikely the Russian people will get much information about it anyway.

Independent media outlets have been banned, and state media is a propaganda machine. CNN's Chief Media Correspondent, Brian Stelter reports on the Russian misinformation campaign about its unprovoked invasion.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Here's what Russia's upside down media world is like. They claim the train station missile strike in Eastern Ukraine was committed by Ukraine. Despite all evidence to the contrary. This post from the foreign affairs ministry parroted by pro-Russian accounts on social media claims the Kyiv regime wants more of its own civilians to die.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MADELINE ROACHE, SENIOR ANALYST, NEWSGUARD: Russians who gets their truth from the state media are living in an alternate reality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: Every day Madeline Roache watches the morning news on Channel One, a top state run TV channel in Russia.

ROACHE: The Russian army is portrayed as triumphant, as not sustaining any losses, any casualties, and certainly not committing any atrocities. Meanwhile, according to the state media, it's the Ukrainian army committing atrocities killing civilians, sustaining heavy losses, and losing territory to the Russian forces.

STELTER: They deny, they deflect, and according to Julia Davis, creator of the Russian Media Monitor, they portray the Russian Armed Forces as liberators.

JULIA DAVIS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, RUSSIA MEDIA MONITOR: They are presenting it like the Ukrainians want them there. They want to be liberated. They have been oppressed by this so called Nazi government, and they welcome Russia's intervention.

STELTER: Independent news coverage disproves this, but there is almost none of that left in Russia.

ANNE APPLEBAUM, WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: Essentially journalism has been banned now in Russia.

[02:25:03]

STELTER: The Atlantic's Anne Applebaum notes that so many journalists have fled the country.

APPLEBAUM: So the true story of what goes on in Russia has now getting harder and harder to tell.

STELTER: Russians are thus even more dependent on state owned TV. CNN's Nic Robertson says.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It's no surprise that so many people are just following along with the Kremlin's lines. It's the easiest thing for them to do. They don't see an alternative. They feel powerless. And its information that they'd been fed year, upon year, upon year by Putin, and by the Soviet leadership back in those days.

ROACHE: The government is creating a sort of hermetically sealed bubble that doesn't allow for information that contradicts the government to enter.

STELTER: Roache is now writing a daily report for Newsguard, making a record of the false claims. She says others need to know what it's like

ROACHE: Russians would have every reason to feel proud based from what they're seeing on the state TV.

CHURCH: Well, next hour. A U.S. Marine veteran has an appeal hearing in Moscow. Trevor Reed was detained there in 2019, and was later convicted of endangering the life and health of Russian police officers during an altercation. He received a sentence of nine years. Reed's parents say he is in the hospital with tuberculosis, but they don't know if he's receiving any real medical care. They're urging the Biden Administration to help bring him home.

And the head of the WNBA is reaffirming the league's commitment to helping bring home Brittney Griner. The basketball star has been detained in Russia since mid-February on drug charges. ESPN reports Griner has been able to see her legal representative in Russia twice a week and is able to receive letters. The WNBA commissioner says they are doing everything they can to bring her home. But she acknowledged it's a complex geopolitical situation with Russia and Ukraine, and they don't want to jeopardize her safety in any way.

Well, still to come. President Biden and the Indian Prime Minister's candid exchange over Russia's war on Ukraine. Why India's neutral position has caused increasing concern in the United States.

Plus, economic sanctions haven't stopped everyone from doing business with Russia, who's still buying Russian gas and oil. That's just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:00] VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause live in Lviv, Ukraine. It's 31 minutes past the. A White House official says, there was a candid exchange of views about India's neutral stance on Putin's war during a virtual meeting Monday between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But President Biden did not specifically ask the Indian leader to take a stand. India's neutral position has caused increasing concern in Washington. America's most senior diplomat, Antony Blinken, is pressing India and other countries to use their leverage with Russia to end this war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: India has to make its own decisions about how it approaches this challenge. We, as a general proposition consulting with all of our allies and partners on the consequences of Putin's war, the atrocities being committed against the people of Ukraine. In our judgment, it is important that all countries, especially those with leverage, press Putin to end the war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Ukraine's president is calling for an embargo on Russian oil and gas as the European Union weighs news sanctions on Moscow. Russia though actively looking for new trading partners to buy its energy. And some countries, they're willing to step in. Even on rising pressure from the United States and allies. CNN's Clare Sebastian has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Less than three weeks before invading Ukraine, Russia's President visited China to attend the Winter Olympics. And most importantly, shore up relations with this biggest trading partner. In early April, with Western sanctions tightening on Russia, it was Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the travel circuit, this time, in India. The country dependent on Russia for about 60 percent of its military equipment.

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: We will be ready to supply to India any goods which India wants to buy.

MARIO BIKARSKI, ANALYST, ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT: What Russia is now trying to do is to find the replacement of these markets that it is now lost. So, to replace investment, replace investments, and to replace goods that are traded.

SEBASTIAN (voiceover): And Russia has options. This U.N. on March 2nd serves as a rough guide. Five countries against the resolution, urging Russia to end the offensive in Ukraine. Russia, of course, and Belarus, North Korea, Syria, and Eritrea. 35 abstaining, including China and India. 141 countries voted in favor.

SEBASTIAN (on camera): We are starting to see, is that this conflict is splitting the world. This map produced by the economist intelligence unit sets up what they say is the long-term stance of countries on this war. Those that broadly support the West in the very pale orange, those that are trying to stay neutral like India are in the darker orange here, and in red are those that either directly support Moscow or are staying close to its narrative on the war including China.

[02:35:00]

So, this is not an isolated Russia. But a potential redrawing of the global order when it comes to geopolitics trade.

SEBASTIAN (voiceover): There are signs this could be happening. Pakistan, whose now former prime minister was in Moscow the day the war broke out, struck a deal in March to buy Russian wheat and natural gas. And says it's close to an agreement for Russia to build a gas pipeline in their country. Meanwhile, some Indian refineries have bought Russian oil at a discount according to Reuters. Analysts say, this kind of deal making could though get harder as the conflict goes on.

BIKARSKI: The sanctions regime that is currently in place is constantly expanding, and it's also really unclear what the sanctions actually involve, and whether companies will fall on their secondary sanctions. And whether something is not sanctioned now could be sanctioned tomorrow. So, there's a lot of uncertainty there. And a lot of companies are really, really worried of being business, doing trade with Russia.

SEBASTIAN (voiceover): Despite saying publicly it opposes sanctions on Russia, China is staying silent on whether it will let Moscow covert its yuan reserves into dollars or euros, critical for a country facing default. Brazil, whose president visited Moscow in February, and which is heavily reliant on Russian fertilizer is set to receive its last shipment at the end of April, according to Risk Management Consultancy StoneX. It says, no more have been scheduled because banks and shipping companies didn't want to full file of sanctions. Russia, facing an 11 percent contraction this year, according to the World Bank, is working overtime to keep its remaining markets open as the risk for its allies grow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN (on camera): Well, John, this isn't actually a new strategy from Russia. It's been courting economies, particularly Asian economies like China and India for many years. That was a trend that we actually saw accelerate after the annexation of Crimea. But this time because of the nature of the conflict, because of the ever- expanding sanctions regime, it feels more enduring. President Putin actually said, recently, that he believes the sanctions are going to be in place for many years. And Russia should plan its economy accordingly. And on those sanctions, we know, from the EU top diplomat Josep Borrell, that they advanced the EU -- foreign ministers advanced discussions of further sanctions. Yesterday, he said nothing is off the table.

VAUSE: Well, let's hope that includes the oil and gas from the Russians to the Europeans because that's the only thing that's going to make a difference. Clare, thank you. Clare Sebastian live for us in London.

Ahead, the Biden administration announcing new firearm regulations amid growing concerns of gun violence in the U.S. We'll explain the new rules to so-called, ghost guns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: We all have cravings. And with spending more time at home, those cravings can hit big when you want to snack. So, here are some healthy ways to indulge. When you have a sweet tooth, snack on berries and yogurt or whip up a smoothie. This one has sweet potato, cauliflower rice and almond butter. It's packed with protein, fiber and healthy fats that will help you feel full longer.

[02:40:00]

Add spices like cinnamon, nutmeg or vanilla instead of sugar. Craving something crunchy? Replace potato chips with avocado on crunchy toast or whole grain crackers. It's great as a spread or a slice with seasoning, or try some crispy bell peppers or roasted brussels sprouts. Now, Brussel sprouts are high in fiber, vitamin K and C. And, when you want a salty snack, make it spicy instead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, the Biden Administration is cranking down on so-called, ghost guns. The untraceable weapons can be ordered in kits online and assembled at home. And they've been popping up at more crime scenes in recent years. New rules, announced Monday from the Biden Administration, require anyone purchasing a kit to undergo a background check. And those manufacturing and selling these kits will be required to include a serial number so the firearm can be traced. During an event at the White House, President Biden defeated the new regulation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Generate call this rule, I'm about to announce, extreme. Extreme. Well, let me ask you, is it extreme to protect police officers? Extreme to protect our children? Extreme to keep guns out of the hands of people who couldn't even pass a background check?

CROWD: No.

BIDEN: Look, the idea that someone on a terrorist list can purchase one of these guns is extreme, within extreme, just basic common sense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Christian Heyne is the vice president of policy at Brady United. And was at Monday's Rose Garden event. He joins me now from Washington. Good to have you with us.

CHRISTIAN HEYNE, VICE PRESIDENT OF POLICY, BRADY UNITED: Thank you so much for having me.

CHURCH: So, it is important to point out that you're also a survivor of gun violence. So, how confident are you that these new regulations President Biden announced for untraceable ghost guns, Monday, will make these homemade guns easier to trace?

HEYNE: Yes, I mean, this country is going off of one of the -- coming off one of the deadliest years we've ever seen with regards to gun violence. And we know we have a unique problem of gun violence here in America already. There were more gun related injuries in 2020 than any other year on record. In the last 20 years, 45,222. So, these ghost guns have been at escalating problem every year. And have been a huge part of the reason why we have seen those upticks. And this rule is going to be just a monumental step forward in being able to push down on this market of unregulated and untraceable firearms.

CHURCH: And President Biden addressed the main criticism that he's received for his new regulations. Many calling them, extreme. But he pushed back on that saying, it's not extreme, it's just common sense. But that won't satisfy the many critics, of course, linked to the very powerful gun lobby in this country. Is there any way to convince them? And how much they fight back against these regulations, do you think?

HEYNE: Yes, I mean, I think if you have the opportunity to talk to most Americans in this country, you'll find that, you know, asking individuals to undergo a background check or proper screening in order to purchase a firearm is something that a majority of American support.

[02:45:00]

Oftentimes, we see that 90 percent of Americans support things like universal background check. So, what we're really talking about with this ghost gun rule is to make sure that these firearms, these firearms that people are purchasing without any regulation, without any ability to trace them, that they are regulated the same way that we regulate other firearms. So, I think if you really get down to (INAUDIBLE) and start talking about it to the American people, you'll find overwhelming support for policies like these. And not just among a general population, but among gun owners and NRA members alike. So, I think Joe Biden's absolutely correct. These are common step measures men burst that are going to save American lives.

CHURCH: And President Biden also announced the name of the nominee he wants to leave the agency that regulates firearms, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms former U.S. Attorney Steve Dettelbach. If he gets confirmed, and that's a big if, because I mean, they haven't had anyone in this position confirmed since 2015. What would he bring to the table? And how we deal with this role?

HEYNE: Right, and it's a great question. You know, I think that the announcement today of Steve Dettelbach for this position is an absolutely vital one. Not only because Steve Dettelbach is clearly, you know, an accomplished former U.S. attorney. Somebody who, as President Biden noted, had unanimous support when he was appointed to that station. But he also has a history of working directly with the ATF on critical issues across the border. But we also know that that role of the ATF director is absolutely vital to being able to do everything that we can to combat gun violence.

We have a problem here where a small minority of irresponsible and negligent gun dealers are responsible for the vast majority of crime guns that are being used in our communities and tearing our communities apart. That station is critically important to make sure that we are holding the gun industry accountable. That we're holding them responsible. And that we're doing everything we can to prevent the -- prevent theft and stop purchasing that's allowing that market to thrive.

So, we're incredibly excited about this nomination. And we do hope that the Senate will react in kind because this role is so important in the face of what we are looking at with gun violence in America today

CHURCH: All right. We'll watch to see what happens with that. Christian Heyne, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

HEYNE: Thank you so much for having me.

CHURCH: Well, time for a short break now. When we come back, COVID cases are rising again. And at least one major U.S. city is bringing back its indoor mask mandate.

Plus, one of China's largest cities begins to ease its COVID lockdown. But, with certain conditions in place. And it comes amid a new warning from the U.S. State Department for Americans in the region. We'll explain when we come back.

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JACK MALLERS, CEO, STRIKE: With bitcoin, not only do we have the best monetary asset in human history, we have the best monetary network in human history. Bitcoin solved a lot of the monetary functions that we know as very expensive with cryptography and with math. And so, I can escrow a bare instrument in bitcoin. It's worth the same amount in Chicago as it is in London, as it is in Nigeria, as it is in Argentina. And I can zip it around the world instantly in for free.

What we can do is take your dollar and escrow them around the world over the bitcoin network. So, think about this, what if I want to send money from Chicago to London. What we can do, is take dollars from your bank account, turn it to bitcoin, zip that value to London, instantly for free. You blink. You've missed it. It goes so fast and it cost nothing. And then we turn it back into British pounds. That's innovation and that's how we use bitcoin in a monetary network.

SADHVI SIDDHALI SHREE, DIRECTOR, SURVIVING SEX TRAFFICKING: Nonviolence means feeling oneness with all living beings. My name is Sadhvi Siddhali Shree, I'm a Jain monk and filmmaker based in Dallas, Texas. I became a Jain monk in 2008 after serving in the Iraq war.

[02:50:00] I was deployed and I experienced a lot of violence. And I experienced it emotionally and mentally when I came back going through PTSD. A couple of years ago, another monk and I were talking about sexual abuse. And we knew as monks, we wanted to raise awareness about the taboo subject. We didn't know about human trafficking yet. And so, when we decided to raise awareness, we wondered, what are we going to do? And we didn't have any film experience, but we knew, by making films, we could educate many people.

"Surviving Sex Trafficking" is my second film and we wanted to follow the journey of healing of the survivors featured in the film. So, we traveled around the world, and also within the United States. It was important to us to know their journey and to see if they can truly heal. Is there hope?

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CHURCH: With COVID cases rising again, Philadelphia is reinstating its indoor mask mandate starting next Monday. The city's public health commissioner says, they are seeing an average of 142 COVID cases per day, that's more than 50 percent higher than 10 days ago. Nationwide, new infections are up in 26 States compared to last week. But they're nowhere near January levels and hospitalizations remain low. The new White House coronavirus response coordinator says, the rise in cases is not a cause for alarm just yet.

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DR. ASHISH JHA, WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE COORDINATOR: We are seeing case numbers rise in New England, here in the Mid-Atlantic. We're going to see this, right. In the pandemic, we're going to see moments where cases go up, cases go down. If we were to see a huge spike in cases, we'd also see that, eventually, trickle in the hospitalizations. We are not seeing that. Hospitalizations, right now at the lowest level since March of 2020.

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CHURCH: Well, the U.S. State Department is now ordering nonemergency personnel to leave the consulate in Shanghai due to surging COVID cases and China's tough restrictions. The city of 25 million, has begun easing its COVID lockdown, dividing Shanghai into three categories based on recent infections. But frustrations there are growing with residents complaining of food and medicine shortages because of the strict control measures.

And CNN's Anna Coren joins us on the phone from Hong Kong with more on all of this. Good to have you on the line there, Anna. So, an apparent easing of COVID restrictions, in some parts of Shanghai. But what does that mean in terms of access to food, water, and medicines for many residents there?

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, very good question, Rosemary. Look for those people living in neighborhoods that have been COVID-free for the last 14 days means that they can now leave their homes, they can leave their compounds. They have to go to the local shop, if the shop is open. This is a problem they're facing. Supermarket public transport is closed in Shanghai. But certainly, we're seeing footage of people dancing down the street, enjoying their new found freedom.

That is going to be the case with seven and a half thousand neighborhoods in Shanghai. For 2,400 neighborhoods who've been COVID- free for the last seven days, they will be allowed to leave their homes and go to the grocery store. Purchase essential items and then return to the confines of their home until their neighborhood is COVID-free for two weeks.

[02:55:00]

But for the remainder of Shanghai, and that constitutes 7,600 neighborhoods, Rosemary, you know, they have had cases in their community for the past seven days. That means they are still stuck inside. You know, these people have been locked up for the last two weeks. And as you say, there has been a severe shortage of food, of fresh vegetables, of fresh fruits, of meat. And, you know, I spoke to one resident earlier today, Rosemary, and she said, I feel like a caged animal. There is no end in sight.

CHURCH: Yes. Just an extraordinary situation. Thanks for keeping such a close eye on that. Anna Coren, joining us from Hong Kong, many thanks.

And thank you for watching. I'll be back next hour. CNN's breaking news coverage continue with John Vause joining us live from Lviv in Ukraine. We'll be back in a moment.

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JIM BRALSFORD, SENIOR DIRECTOR, INDUSTRY AND SOLUTIONS, KINAXIS: My name is Jim Bralsford and I lead the Industry and Solutions marketing team for Kinaxis. It's absolutely key that businesses incorporate sustainability into their business models. Firstly, you have got the corporate objective and being a good global citizen. You've also got the need to be reflecting that to your public, to your consumers. A show that you are actually being environmentally conscious. And also supply chains are more mature and are considering all of these things in the holistic way. It develops a, sort of, of a steadiness to their operation. Supply chain sustainability will become a qualifier. It will not necessarily be the winner, but it will become a qualifier enabling you to participate in the competition.

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