Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Manhunt Underway For NYC Subway Shooting Suspect; Biden Accuses Putin of Committing "Genocide" In Ukraine; Humbled British PM Apologizes After Fine For Lockdown Birthday Bash; Six Found Shot Dead In Basement Outside Kyiv. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired April 13, 2022 - 01:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:01:37]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Paula Newton at CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. We are following late breaking details on the manhunt for the person accused of opening fire on a crowded subway train in New York City.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Vause live in Lviv, Ukraine with the latest on Russia's military buildup for the Eastern offensive as the U.S. president for the first time, accuses Russia of committing genocide.

NEWTON: We begin this hour with that manhunt for the Brooklyn subway shooter. Police say the suspect set off to smoke grenades Tuesday morning, before firing his gun 33 times, shooting at the crowds both in the train and then on the subway platform. At least 10 people were hit thankfully no one was killed.

Police have identified the man you see here as a person of interest because he's believed to have rented a U-Haul van, whose keys were found at the scene. Now he has not been named as a suspect. Authorities are investigating any possible connection he may have to the shooting. We will have much more on this story in a moment. But first, we want to bring you the latest on Russia's war in Ukraine.

VAUSE: For the first time, U.S. President Joe Biden accusing Russia of committed genocide in Ukraine, Biden made the comments while talking about an increase in gasoline prices. He then repeated the accusation later on while speaking with reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: I call the genocide because it's become clearer and clearer that Putin is trying to wipe out the idea of us being able to hear Ukrainian and the mount -- the evidence is mounting. We'll let the lawyers decided internationally whether or not it qualifies, but it sure seems that way to me. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: President Biden's words were welcomed by the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who called them the true words of a true leader. Meantime, new satellite images reveal military equipment deployed on Russian soil not far from Ukraine's border, as military convoys also have been seen moving through eastern Ukraine, Donbas.

And on Tuesday, the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. could not confirm the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine in particular in the port city of Mariupol. But he noted there is credible information that Russian forces may use a variety of riot control agents. Here's what the Ukrainian president had to say about a potential chemical weapons attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Given the repeated threats of Russian propagandist use chemical weapons against the defenders of Mariupol, and its repeated use by the Russian army, such as phosphorus munitions in Ukraine, the world must respond now, react preventively, because after the use of weapons of mass destruction, any response will not change anything. And it will only look like a humiliation for the democratic world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: We're going to find words from the Russian President Vladimir Putin, who says peace talks are at an impasse and this war, he says we will go on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We have again returned to a dead end situation for ourselves and for all of us. The military operation will continue until it's fully completed. And the objectives that were set at the beginning of this operation are achieved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: As Russian forces retreated from areas in the north of Ukraine, they littered the area with explosive devices, many dropped from the air, others placed in homes or even stuffed in toys according to Ukrainian officials.

Many of these devices are antipersonnel mines or anti-vehicle mines set to exploit by timers or triggered by detecting motion nearby, as CNN's Nima Elbagir reports sweeping that area is slow, dangerous and potentially deadly work.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This is the central market area in Kharkiv. And this is the site of most of last night's strikes. We've come here with emergency service first responders, because the Russians have come up with a new tactic to ensure that the devastation of their attacks lasts far beyond first impact.

(voice-over): Lieutenant Colonel Igor Ovcharuk is the head of the bomb disposal team

[01:05:04]

LT. COL. IGOR OVCHARUK (through translator): The mines explode by themselves and cause damage. These elements can detonate between three and 40 hours later, so we have to detonate them remotely to avoid damage to the civilian population.

ELBAGIR: There are unexploded mines all over this area so they can't get too close. What they do is they wrap plastic explosives around a wire, link it to a detonator, that's then placed next to the unexploded ordinance. They retreat, then they blow it up. A brutal new tactic leaving death to lie in wait for unsuspecting civilians, Nima Elbagir, CNN, Kharkiv.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

VAUSE: Earlier I spoke with Matthew Schmidt. He's a professor of national security and political science at the University of New Haven in Connecticut. I asked him about why the Russians would use tactics, which are designed explicitly to terrorize the civilian population.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW SCHMIDT, FMR. PROF., U.S. ARMY SCHOOL OF ADVANCED MILITARY STUDIES: What the Russian troops are trying to do right now what they've been ordered to do is essentially to put so much pain, but so much horror into the civilian population that that forces Zelenskyy to negotiate from a position he may not be ready to negotiate from.

On the other hand, it also forces him to act before he's ready, particularly in the Donbas right now. And so, you know, the new General Dvornikov can sit here and use this kind of policy, this strategy of committing war crimes, and terrifying the civilian population to control the negotiating standpoint of his enemy.

VAUSE: Well, we heard from the Russian President Vladimir Putin actually talking about those peace negotiations that had been ongoing. He spoke publicly. It's been a while since he's actually made any kind of public remarks, and he said that Ukraine had violated agreements which had been reached during those talks earlier, by trying to apply security guarantees to areas of Ukraine, which are under Russian control. I want you to listen to a little more from Vladimir Putin. Here he is.

PUTIN (through translator): Now security requirements are one thing and the issues of regulating relations over Crimea, Sebastopol and Donbas are taken out of the scope of these agreements. That is, we have again returned to a dead end situation for ourselves and for all of us. VAUSE: So if peace talks, according to Putin are at a dead end, what does that dead mean, (INAUDIBLE) directly linked that to what will happen to civilians -- to the civilian population?

SCHMIDT: Well, they're at a dead end on both sides. Because Putin has been ordering these war crimes. He's also put Zelenskyy in a situation where, because he needs a national referendum to get through any kind of peace agreement. He's unlikely to get that now. The sense of the Ukrainian population has turned.

On the other hand, Russia has never been negotiating from a position of good faith. And so both sides now are racing to get position in the Donbas. The Russians are flipping the battlefield. They're going from the offense to the defense, in large part because they've lost so many junior officers that they need to be in a defensive position where it's easier to operate, right, where the simple order is hold the line, and they can wait to try to remain on when they get the new conscripts trained up and moved into place.

So that's the game that's going on right now. And I wouldn't put any faith into these negotiations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: A lot more from Ukraine later this hour. But let's go back to Paula in Atlanta. Paula.

NEWTON: Thank you, John. You know, we have more now on that investigation into the New York subway shooting. Police are looking for this man who they've identified as a person of interest, though not a suspect. 62-year-old Frank James is believed to have rented a U- Haul van that could be linked to the shooting.

The keys were found along with what police say were the shooters belongings. Tuesday mornings attack began with smoke grenades before a gunman opened fire, a man who was wounded in the shooting describes what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOURARI BENKADA, SUBWAY SHOOTING SURVIVOR: Normally, the train from 59th Street to 36th Street usually takes two minutes. But the train kept stopping in between tunnels. And between 45th Street it took forever, you know and it's an old style train. You can't switch cars, you know, some will we have to break -- somebody broke the first door down. The second door was really hard to break and I was just focused on the pregnant woman. And that's when I got struck into the leg, man.

I was just on my way to work. I was shocked. I'm still shocked and I'm shaking. I don't even know how I'm holding my phone. You know, I don't think I could ever ride a train again, to be honest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Is it chilling just to hear him describe what happened. Now Brynn Gingras has more on the shooting and of course the urgent manhunt that is underway this hour.

[01:10:02]

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It happened during the morning rush. aboard a busy New York City subway train in Brooklyn. Shots rang out and smoke filled the car. Witnesses say --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People screaming for medical assistance. It was just a scary moment,

GINGRAS: Law enforcement arrived within minutes.

KEECHANT SEWELL, NEW YORK CITY COMMISSIONER: An individual on that train donned what appeared to be a gas mask. He then took a canister out of his bag and opened it. The train at that time began to fill with smoke. He then opened fire tracking multiple people on the subway. And in the platform.

GINGRAS: 10 shot, five of them in critical but stable condition with many more people injured, according to the FDNY. As photos from the scene show blood on the floor of the subway station.

YAV MONTANO, ON BOARD TRAIN DURING SHOOTING: We were stuck in the train, right about to get to reach to the stops. And then thank goodness and train moves within a minute. Or I don't know what has happened if he was stuck there too long.

GINGRAS: A gun multiple high capacity magazines fireworks and gunpowder have been recovered in the station law enforcement sources say and they believe that gun jammed during the shooting. A motive for the attack remains unknown, with a suspect still on the loose.

SEWELL: He is being reported as a male black, approximately five feet five inches tall with a heavy build. He was wearing a green construction type vest and a hooded sweatshirt. The color is gray.

GINGRAS: Investigators located a U-Haul cargo van with Arizona license plates in connection with the shooting. New York Mayor Eric Adams who is an isolation recovering from COVID-19 told CNN it's too early to dismiss the subway attack as not terror related.

ERIC ADAMS, NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: This is Tara of someone attempted to terrorize our system. They brought in what appears to be some form of smoked device. They discharged a weapon. And so, I don't want to be premature in identifying if this was, was not. I think at this time the investigators are going to do their due diligence to properly identify what happened here.

GINGRAS: New York Governor Kathy Hochul on scene called for an end to New York's recent wave of violent crime.

KATHY HOCHUL, NEW YORK GOVERNOR: We say no more. No more mass shootings. No more disrupting lives. Don't worry creating heartbreak for people just trying to live their lives as normal New Yorkers. It has to end it ends now.

GINGRAS: Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

NEWTON: As we said the manhunt for that gunman continues and we will bring you the latest as soon as we have it.

Now a Chinese health officials expressing skepticism about efforts to contain the COVID outbreak in Shanghai. Coming up, I'll speak with an expert about whether China needs to rethink its COVID strategy. And later, new details about ongoing efforts to free several Americans detained in Russia and the growing concerns are their safety.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:17:05]

NEWTON: The British prime minister has apologized for breaking COVID locked down rules but he denies doing it on purpose. Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak received some of the dozens of fines issued by London's Metropolitan Police for attending illegal parties and government buildings during lockdowns.

Now one of those gatherings was held on the Prime Minister's birthday. He and his wife say they both paid their fines, but the amounts have not been revealed. Boris Johnson has so far deflected demands for his resignation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I have to say, in all frankness at that time, it did not occur to me that this might have been a breach of the rules. But of course the police have found otherwise and I fully respect the outcome of their investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: So the scandal known as "partygate" has sparked the most serious threat to the Prime Minister's leadership yet.

Now, the deputy director of China's National Health Commission warns Shanghai's COVID-19 outbreak has quote, not been effectively contained. The city seen tens of thousands of new cases for days with more than 220,000 new infections since March 1st.

Joining me now from Hong Kong is Dr. Ivan Hung. He is a clinical professor at the Medical Faculty and Chief of the Infectious Diseases Division at the University of Hong Kong. And it is really good to have you weigh in on this, especially as we learn that more than 26,000 cases reported today in Shanghai, it doesn't seem like cases there have yet peaked.

From a health perspective, I mean, what happens if China now at this point tries to move away from these harsh lock downs, even if it wanted to? What would be the risk at this point?

DR. IVAN HUNG, CLINICAL PROFESSOR, HONG KONG UNIV. MEDICAL FACULITY: Well, I think it's understandable that they are -- in mainland China they are adopting the dynamics zero policy as of many elderly people have yet to compete at the second or the third dose vaccination. They have a very high first dose vaccination rate of more than 90 percent. But that was like six months ago, so they really need to catch up on the second and third dose.

And if they have move away from the dynamic zero policy, then they will have a lot of people coming down with severe disease. And even though it's Omicron, because many of the elderly will come down with relatively severe disease.

So, I think it's advisable and it's the right policy to carry on with a dynamic zero for the time being. But of course, this mass testing will not be sustainable. So they really have to think of moving on once people have, you know, and focus on vaccinating as many elderly people as possible with the three doses, which is proven to work even inactivated vaccine as in study by the University of Hong Kong, you know, and they have learned from the Hong Kong experience.

[01:20:08]

NEWTON: So just to be clear here, doctor, you're saying that even with the efficacy of their vaccines, the Chinese vaccines if they started on a mass vaccination program for those third shots, and possibly even fourth shots, that they could see a way out of this?

HUNG: Indeed, yes, as shown by the study at University of Hong Kong, with three doses of the inactivated vaccine, the protection against the severe disease and death is more than 90 percent.

So, you know, if everyone can have like three doses especially for the elderly, then, you know, they will be very safe. And then hopefully, you know, within six months, they will have the second generation Omicron match vaccine available as a fourth dose booster.

NEWTON: The solution you're talking about, though, does not do anything, especially for those desperate people that are there. The other thing that's at issue here, though, is people's health in general, you know, there are people who can't find medicine for every day illnesses, not just COVID. At this point in time, what's at stake for China's health care system?

HUNG: Well, I think there are several things, really, they might have to consider, you know, stopping the mass testing, once they've isolated majority of the patients, and that they should focus on the general health care for other people who are non-COVID, who are seeking desperately for, you know, healthcare for other diseases, and also that they should be focusing on using the antiviral treatment for patients who have especially high risk patients have been infected with COVID.

NEWTON: Do you think it's sustainable? And given the fact that we have another high case count in Shanghai today, do you expect that the way Omicron works, we will continue to see this throughout China, not just in Shanghai? HUNG: Yes, I think it's very difficult to using the old strategy to tackle against Omicron. So really, they should be considering moving away from dynamic zero, maybe after like one or two months and to focus on vaccination, and also with the antiviral treatment for those high risk patients.

NEWTON: You know, Doctor, you guys have been through a heck of a time there in Hong Kong, with your own issues are hopefully coming out of it in the last few days. What advice would you have at this point, given, you know, the fact that so many people suffered through that latest wave in Hong Kong?

HUNG: I think the experience that we have learned from, you know, from our fifth wave, and also we have shared with experts from mainnet (ph), is that you really need to focus on vaccinating, especially among the elderlies, those about 60. They should all receive three doses of vaccine regardless the mRNA vaccine or the inactivated vaccine.

Once we have reached the third dose vaccine, then the really the number of cases who coming out with severe disease will be relatively few. And the health system will not be under stress.

NEWTON: And the open question is if the Chinese government will agree to change tactic, because it would be a big change from what they're advocating now. Dr. Ivan Hung, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

HUNG: Thank you.

NEWTON: Now just ahead here for us, investigators have begun the difficult task of collecting evidence of potential war crimes in Ukraine. Plus, we'll hear from a journalist who's just returned from villages near Chernihiv about the destruction she seen. Stay with us. John Vause is back live from Ukraine after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:27:53]

NEWTON: And welcome back. We are recapping one of our top stories, the manhunt that's underway this hour for a gunman who reportedly set off to smoke bombs, then open fire in the New York City subway now it happened Tuesday. Authorities say 33 shots were fired, and 10 people were hit including five students commuting to school. Thankfully, all are expected to survive.

Police named Frank James as a person of interest. Keys to a U-Haul van were found at the scene and that van was later discovered in Brooklyn. Now police eight James rented the van. But they don't know if he has any connection to the subway attack and he has not been named as a suspect.

VAUSE: The bodies of six civilians with gunshot wounds were found in the basement of a home outside the capital city of Kyiv, just more evidence of war crimes and atrocities according to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General who earlier had spoken to CNN's Fred Pleitgen and a warning to our viewers. His report contains some graphic images.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Even as Russian troops mass in eastern Ukraine for what the U.S. believes will be a huge offensive, authorities in Kyiv have continued digging up bodies, painstaking work that goes hand in hand with investigating Russia's attack on Kyiv and possible crimes committed by Vladimir Putin's invading troops.

Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova is leading the charge. She spoke to me at the edge of a mass grave in the key of suburb of Bucha.

IRYNA VENEDIKTOVA, UKRAINIAN PROSECUTOR GENERAL: For us the best motivation is justice. And of course we understand the total Ukrainian want fast justice, true and fast justice. That's why we do everything to document all evidence, all facts of war crimes that we have here in Ukraine.

PLEITGEN: French forensic investigators are now also on the scene, not because Ukraine lacks expertise, but because Kyiv wants to be as transparent as possible in the face of Russian disinformation efforts.

[01:29:35]

VENEDIKTOVA: We want to do our job absolutely open. With standards of international humanitarian law. It's a very high standard.

That's why, when here, we have our international colleagues, we understand that they can see everything. They can see the real situation here. The real graves. Real dead bodies.

PLEITGEN: After Ukrainian forces managed to expel Russian troops from around Kyiv and some other areas they'd occupied in Ukraine, authorities have discovered scores of dead bodies.

Today, another six found in just one basement outside Kyiv. The prosecutor tells me they are collecting evidence in thousands of cases.

VENEDIKTOVA: Now we are starting more than 6,000 cases. It's cases of war crimes, crimes against humanity, aggressive crimes, and we started on the first day so we started the case about genocide.

PLEITGEN: All this as Russia still claims its forces that invaded Ukraine have not harmed any civilians.

On a visit to a space port with Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin again claimed his forces are fighting against would be Ukrainian Nazis in what he called a quote, "special operations."

"The goals are absolutely clear and they are noble," he said. "I said it from the beginning and want to draw your attention to that.

(on camera): There are some in the U.S. at the top level who have spoke about a possible war crimes trial against Vladimir Putin. Is that something you think could ever be possible and it's something that you're working towards to provide evidence for?

VENEDIKTOVA: Of course, I think that everyone understands who is responsible for this war. That's why we do everything to fix, to document evidence. But we here in Ukraine actually understand who is responsible for all of this.

PLEITGEN (voice over): The investigators' work is complicated by the fact that the war is still going on. They can't reach many devastated areas like the encircled city of Mariupol where Ukraine's president says tens of thousands have been killed.

But Iryna Venediktova says no matter how long it takes, she will press on.

VENEDIKTOVA: It's actually extremely important, of course, if we will be successful as a prosecutor. I am sure that we can stop such aggressions in the future.

PLEITGEN: Fred Pleitgen, CNN -- Bucha, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Joining me now, Natalya Gumenyuk. She's an independent journalist in Kyiv. We appreciate you being with us. I know you had a very late night, so thank you for getting up and making the time.

You've just returned from some areas outside Chernihiv. And some parts have been left in ruins and some of these areas, the destruction is not on the same level as what we've seen in Bucha or Borodyanka. Why is that? Why these areas -- I wouldn't say they've been spared, but they haven't certainly suffered the same fate. Do you know why?

NATALYA GUMENYUK, INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST: So yes, sure. Chernihiv is the new capital of the northern region, just some 70 kilometers, 40 miles from the Russian border and from the Belarusian border.

The area outside Chernihiv has been occupied by the Russian troops within the first, maybe five, seven hours of the war. So the majority of the troops moved north in the direction of Kyiv.

However, they weren't able to overtake the city where 300,000 people live. There are quite astonishing destruction, to be honest. It's a bigger than Borodyanka, been in some areas where, you know, outside of the town where little houses remain.

But the difference is that these are villages, Bucha and Irpin, maybe that's why they look so significant. Their residential area was high buildings. In there, we speak about the villages.

So maybe for some people, it wouldn't look as impressive. But unfortunately, you know, a lot of houses of a lot of people are taken.

But something to tell more, the city was for months under siege. The city is quite large. They still don't have -- people didn't have water because the water pumps have been targeted. They didn't have electricity and we're speaking on quite a large town. It's about now to be fixed. Both electricity and water and people are coming back to life to the town.

[01:34:53]

GUMENYUK: But we are speaking about dozens, and maybe even more villages which, for one month, we're living, you know, where Russian troops were living. So, there we see various different stories.

Of course, the scale could be different because, for instance, Bucha is 30,000 people. And the village would be 1,000 people. But for instance, I've been to the village of (INAUDIBLE) it's in the outskirts of Chernihiv.

So, there was the case when --

VAUSE: Natalya, let me jump in there -- let me just jump in there Natalya for a moment. Let you clear your throat. I'll just ask you this question. I know that you've had a very hard late night so we appreciate you again being with us.

But you mentioned that a lot of residents in these areas had actually -- have disappeared. Do you know where they are? Are they accounted for? Because we're not hearing those sort of stories coming from this area outside Chernihiv.

GUMENYUK: I do think that we are not yet hearing the stories. The journalists would go travel there. It takes a lot of time. There was no access to those areas because the cities and the villages are based on the -- are situated on the rivers. And most of the bridges were blown up.

So, that was the problem why there wasn't -- you know, there is no fuel in this area. So any trip there, it's a bit of an adventure. You need to take care about that so a lot of places were yet not visited by the journalists.

But something to tell that I managed to be probably about six villages. And yes, in every village we hear the stories about people for instance being -- is he detained? The people being -- there were people who were shot, probably the scale would be different but for a village -- three, four, five, seven people would be an impressive amount.

But in one of them, the story which we find quite outstanding in Yahidne (ph), 370 people for one month, they were pushed and taken by the Russian troops to the basement of the school, and we're not allowed to go out.

They spent their time there while the Russian troops used the school as their military base full of equipment.

So the strategy was that they won't be attacked because the whole village is actually living under them. It was quite horrific condition. Some elderly couldn't really survive that situation.

And also people are saying that they were, you know, some of the soldiers were deliberately rude. So it's a bit different dynamic, because there for one month, the Russian soldiers were living in the houses of the people, with the people, in their basements. Because they tried to stay exactly with the people not to be targeted.

Though -- these stories -- that's still the story to be told, because we are speaking about many, many places and in one -- just add, the first three villages I visited just by occasion, I met a man who would say, I lost my son, my son has been killed. It doesn't mean that everybody is like that.

But for journalists, if you have this, it shows also quite a specific dynamic.

VAUSE: Natalya Gumenyuk, we thank you very much for your reporting. Thank you for shedding light on what's happening in the small villages around Ukraine. Very much appreciate it. And thank you very much for being with us today. Thank you.

GUMENYUK: Thanks.

VAUSE: U.S. State Department's calling on Moscow not to treat Americans detained in Russia any differently because of the horrific events in Ukraine.

The Biden administration says it believes 31-year-old Trevor Reed needs urgent medical care while the U.S. citizen remains in a Russian prison. Reed is one of three Americans waging high profile legal fights to be freed from detention in Russia, as the nation grows further isolated from the rest of the world.

CNN's Brian Todd has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): After spending nearly two months in a Russian jail, serious concerns about the condition of star American basketball player Brittney Griner, concerns voiced by the head of the WNBA Players Union on ABC.

NNEKA OGWUMIKE, PRESIDENT, WNBA PLAYERS ASSOCIATION: We're really most concerned about our health and safety, especially her mental health. We're hearing that she is, in that respect, she's ok.

TODD: The WNBA commissioner says Griner, jailed on allegations she was carrying cannabis oil at the Moscow airport is safe and is getting access to her legal team in Russia.

CATHY ENGELBERT, WNBCA COMMISSIONER: We're trying everything we can, every angle, working through with her legal representation, her agent, elected leaders, the administration.

TODD: Griner has been able to see her representative in Russia twice a week and is able to receive letters in correspondence, sources tell ESPN.

But Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine could dash any hopes for a speedy release.

EVELYN FARKAS, FORMER U.S. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: He's not going to release anyone that he has in custody. He's going to try to use it, as he has been probably behind the scenes all along, as a bargaining chip to get something from us.

TOM FIRESTONE, FORMER RESIDENT LEGAL ADVISER, U.S. EMBASSY IN LONDON: There's been little the U.S. government can do right now. We have very limited leverage over Russia for very obvious reasons right now because of the political situation.

[01:39:57]

TODD: One former U.S. official believes Putin has strong motivation to keep holding Griner. The fact that she's a U.S. Olympic gold medalist.

FARKAS: Remember, she was seized in February right after the Olympics when Russia was roundly embarrassed yet again for doping of its Olympic athletes. And so, this might be also a way of getting revenge at the U.S. Olympic Committee.

TODD: Another American held in Russia, Trevor Reed, on Tuesday on had a court appearance by video, where his appeal was kicked back to a lower court. His parents are worried he may have tuberculosis.

PAULA REED, MOTHER OF TREVOR REED: He looks terrible in that shot that they had on a tweet. And we are really concerned because, you know, he looks thin.

TODD: U.S. officials openly concerned about Reed's health.

NED PRICE, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: We do believe that he needs urgent treatment to prevent any further deterioration in his medical condition.

TODD: Reed was sentenced to nine years for allegedly endangering the lives of Russian police officers while drunk, which his family and U.S. officials deny. On Tuesday Reed's father made a bold statement about his son's situation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are taking him for trade, and that is what they want. He's not coming home unless they get that.

TODD: Could Brittney Griner, Trevor Reed or the other American detained in Russia Paul Whelan be traded?

FIRESTONE: They are extremely rare, and in the current political situation will be specially difficult to arrange something like that. Not impossible, but extremely difficult in the current conditions.

TODD (on camera): The analysts we spoke to say it is a risky strategy for family members and others to speak out so often on behalf of these detainees in Russia, especially now given that it might irritate Vladimir Putin even more.

And recently, WNBA superstar Lisa Leslie (ph) said that people in the woman's basketball world were told not to make a big fuss out of Brittney Griner's case, out of concern that she might be used as a pawn while the Ukraine war is still going on.

Brian Todd, CNN -- Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: I will see you again at the top of the hour.

Meantime Paula Newton will be back after the break with details on the U.S. President Joe Biden heading to America's heartland announcing new measures to tackle soaring prices. He is taking on inflation.

His message in Iowa in a moment.

[01:41:57]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: The war in Ukraine is causing the World Trade Organization to slash its global trade outlook for this year, while warning that the international community needs to brace for the fallout.

The WTO is now predicting a trade volume growth of 3 percent. That is down from its original forecast of 4.7 percent. Quite a revision there. But the organization says these estimates could change due to the fluid nature of the conflict.

Now the war is threatening supplies of food, energy, and of course, fertilizers which is causing a sharp rise in commodity prices. The lockdowns in China are also hurting world trade.

U.S. President Joe Biden has announced new steps that his administration is taking to address the rising inflation across the country and it includes emergency measures meant to ease the spike in energy prices we have all seen since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny has the details now traveling with the president in Iowa.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: President Biden scrambling to address the latest grim economic news, with U.S. inflation surging to a new four decade high.

The Consumer Price Index climbed 8.5 percent in March from a year ago, the fastest annual hike since December 1981 driven largely by rising oil and gas prices, after Russia invaded Ukraine.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Putin's invasion of Ukraine has driven up gas prices and fuel prices all over the world. ZELENY: The president taking aim at those high gas prices, while

touring an Iowa ethanol plant where he announced a plan to temporarily allow a higher content of ethanol blended gasoline to be sold this summer, suspending a ban on the fuel known as E-15 which is made of 15 percent ethanol.

It was a rare presidential visit to the small community of Menlo, in a conservative county where the economy is on the minds of detractors.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For me the comparative price compared two or three years ago on the same products today, it is tremendously higher.

ZELENY: And supporters alike.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When people are hurting and in tough times, we really struggle to put blame, you know. And we want to try to find the source or sometimes the easiest person to blame is the president and the current administration.

ZELENY: The president making clear that he hears the concerns as the White House focuses intently on inflation which has been above 6 percent for six straight months, well above the Federal Reserve's 2 percent target.

The Labor Department report also showed continued spikes in food prices with the cost of meat up nearly 15 percent from last year.

While the price of used vehicles appears to be leveling off, prices are still 35 percent higher than a year ago. While deeply troubling to the White House, the U.S. inflation rate is nowhere close to a record, with nearly 15 percent inflation in the early 1980s, along with soaring unemployment.

Today a low unemployment rate of 3.6 percent and a strong demand for workers offers optimism about the prospect for a stronger economy ahead.

BIDEN: In fact we have already made progress. Since March inflation data was collected. Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank not of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commit genocide a half a world away.

ZELENY: And as the president spoke about what he calls Putin's price hike in the gasoline prices, he used the word "genocide" for the first-time to refer to the atrocities being committed by Russia towards Ukraine.

He said American pocketbooks should not have to be dictated by the "genocide" of a dictator half a world away.

The White House has tried to shy away from using the word "genocide", the president used it in Iowa on Tuesday.

[01:49:50]

ZELENY: A central question for inflation though is whether this has hit its peak, or it still has a ways to go in the summer months ahead?

Jeff Zeleny, CNN -- Menlo, Iowa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: You are watching CNN. We'll be right back with more news in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: The world of comedy has lost one of its best known voices. Actor and comedian Gilbert Gottfried has died at the age of 67. Now he was best known for his roles in the 90s. He was the voice of Iago in Disney's "Aladdin", and appeared in films like "Problem Child".

Now, as a comedian though, Gottfried was far from family friendly, often using lewd and polarizing material in his acts. He is an original and he has been long known for his signature grating voice.

You will know it when you hear it. And he lent it to the mascot duck for Aflac Insurance. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Relax, you got preferential insurance.

[01:54:58]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you talking about?

GILBERT GOTTFRIED, COMEDIAN: Aflac.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Gottfried's family tweeted, "We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our beloved Gilbert Gottfried after a long illness. Although today is a sad day for all of us, please keep laughing as loud as possible in Gilbert's honor." Such a nice tribute to him his family gave him.

I'm Paula Newton at CNN Center. We will be right back with more news with John Vause live in Ukraine and Rosemary Church right here at CNN Center in Atlanta.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:00]