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Manhunt Underway in New York; Russian Troops Will Continue its Mission in Ukraine; War Affects Economy Worldwide; Ukraine Badly Needed Huge Amount of Financial Help. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired April 13, 2022 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world, I'm Rosemary Church in Atlanta.

Coming up, scenes of horror for passengers on board a Brooklyn subway train. We will bring you the latest on a shooting that left more than a dozen injured, and a man hunt now underway.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Vause, live in Lviv, Ukraine.

The U.S. President Joe Biden accusing Russia of committing genocide, as Russian troops prepare for an offensive in the eastern Donbas region.

CHURCH: Well, police are urgently looking for the man who opened fire on a crowded New York City subway train, authorities say the gunman fired off 33 rounds during Tuesday morning's rush hour commute, hitting at least 10 people, no one, thankfully, was killed.

Police are looking for this man, who they have identified as a person of interest, not a suspect. Sixty-two-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 shooter's belongings. We will have much more on the story, in just a moment. But first, we want to bring you the latest on Russia's war in Ukraine.

VAUSE: Right now, the presidents of Poland in the Baltic states are on their way to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. This comes as Ukraine braces for a new Russian offensive in the east. Ukraine's military reported heavy fighting in the central Zaporizhian region on Tuesday.

And officials in Kharkiv say anti-personnel mines now litter that area, in particular, civilian areas. And in the besieged port city of Mariupol, officials estimate as many as 22,000 people have died there since this war began.

And on Tuesday, the U.S. said it could not confirm if a chemical attack had taken place in Ukraine, in particular in Mariupol, but warned Russia may be willing and ready to deploy chemical weapons. Meantime, a Ukrainian deputy prime minister has just announced there

will be no evacuation corridors open on Wednesday. She accused Russian troops of blocking evacuating buses and violating ceasefire agreements. This comes as the Russian president, Vladimir Putin says that peace talks are at an impasse, and this war will go on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We have again return 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 said at the beginning of this operation are achieved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: We're also learning that the U.S. is expected to deliver hundreds of millions of dollars in new security assistance to Ukraine. This comes as U.S. President Joe Biden ramps up his rhetoric on the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I call it a genocide because it's become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being able to being a Ukrainian. And the mount -- the evidence is mounting. We will let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies, but it sure seems that way to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And a senior U.S. defense official now believes Russia still has about 80 percent of the combat power it amassed before the invasion began, but the Ukrainians continue to defy expectations with the level of resistance, their resolve has been plain to see in one small farming town, as CNN's Ed Lavandera reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One look at these massive craters in this small Ukrainian town of Bashtanka near Mykolaiv, and it's not hard to imagine the horror inflicted by Russian forces bombing this neighborhood. Bashtanka Mayor, Oleksandr Beregovyi brought us here, he says the Russian plane that dropped the bombs circled over these homes several times, before unleashing the explosive attack.

"This is a simple peaceful town," he says, "with just ordinary people. No military, farming is what we do here, to feed the country in the world."

[03:05:02]

There was a 70-year-old man in this house peeling potatoes when this bomb struck. What happened to him?

"God decided not to take him away," he tells me the man survived.

For more than a week in March this little town of 12,000 people fought off the Russians anyway it could. Town council member Vitaly Homerski (Ph) put out a Facebook plea that if anyone knew how to fire a cannon, they should race out to help. A humble force of about 100 people pushed the Russians out. More than 170 buildings were damaged. The charred wreckage was left all over town.

But the mayor tells the story of one fighter who became an instant legend. A 78-year-old man who was told, he was too old to fight. Instead, he made a Molotov cocktail and threw it at a Russian artillery system blowing it up. We've asked to speak with the man but we're told by city officials that they're protecting his identity to keep him safe.

The town might have won the battle, but this war never ends. Bashtanka is now a frontline refuge for thousands of Ukrainians hoping to escape. Every day at this church, buses drop off refugees fleeing Russian occupied areas. Just a few miles away, Zakruzetska Ruslana says she left the city of Kherson after enduring weeks of bombardment with her two children and nieces.

ZAKRUZETSKA RUSLANA, KHERSON RESIDENT (through translator): They break into people's homes every night, drag people out, beat them up. My neighbors were beaten up. Thank God they're still alive. They're probably doing that to scare people so they're always in fear.

It was horrible there. Every day people are going crazy to be honest. It's intolerable. The children, the tension is terrible. We don't know if we'll wake up alive.

LAVANDERA: Escaping alive is a dream as we found closer to the front lines. The nearby village of Yavkino has endured weeks of shelling. You can see the munition and the shrapnel. You can see this building over here peppered with holes.

As we meet with the village head man, it's clear the fighting isn't over. Yes, they are firing, he says. Oleksander Kovriga (Ph) tells us Russians fired cluster artillery at a group of young people charging their phones in this spot. "They do it on purpose, so people will panic," he tells me.

We understand that there was a refugee, 17 years old who came here trying to escape when she was killed. Lydia Dominika (Ph) couldn't escape the Russian strikes, a young woman trying to reach Bashtanka, her mother says she was studying food production and shared these photos so her daughter cannot be forgotten.

Inside Bashtanka's war room, council member Vitaly Homerski (Ph) shows us the calendar where they mark the days of war.

"When the war started, our life was divided," he tells me. "There is before and after. We mark every day we survive this battle. Right now, the Russian army is regrouping, and it's expected to attack again from the east. We are 25 miles away from the front line. How concerned are you that the Russians are going to be able to get back here? The mayor says, "we are not concerned, our country is good at two

things. Making bread and fighting. If we need to fight, we all rise up and fight. If we don't need to fight, we grow bread.

But right now, the town of Bashtanka remains on the frontlines, giving families like Zakruzetska Ruslana and her daughters a way to catch a bus and leave the war behind.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Bashtanka Ukraine.

CHURCH: More now on the manhunt in New York City for the gunman who opened fire on a crowded Brooklyn subway car Tuesday. Police say 10 people were shot and 13 others injured in a scramble to get off the train. Everyone thankfully survived.

Police have identified the man you see here as a person of interest, because he is believed to have rented a U-Haul van whose keys were found at the scene. He has not been named as a suspect.

Meantime, a survivor who says he was sitting next to the shooter is hospitalized with a gunshot wound. He spoke with CNN earlier from his hospital bed and describe what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[03:09:57]

HOURARI BENKADA, SUBWAY SHOOTING SURVIVOR: All I see this black smoke, and that's when I got hit. I didn't think it was serious until I got off the train. I pull my pants down, and the size of a quarter gushing blood. I lost so much blood.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: And it was where the bullet hit?

BENKADA: So, if you see right here, I am wearing a cane, but it was straight on my other leg right here. So, the bullet went through the back of my knee, and it came out over here. And it's the size of a quarter over here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Juliette Kayyem is a CNN national security analyst and she joins me now from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Always good to have us to have you with us.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Thank you for having me tonight.

CHURCH: So, Juliette, a manhunt is underway for 62-year-old Frank James, who police call a person of interest, not a suspect, despite his photograph fitting the exact description of the Brooklyn subway shooting suspect. And police are asking for help from the public. So, what does all this tell you?

KAYYEM: Right. It does seem complicated, so let me try to explain it, sort of the police talk that most Americans saw happening today. There's a reason why they did not call Mr. James a suspect. They might have a reason to believe that there might be others involved, possibly a third party. Or third person.

But also, they want to protect the prosecution, which is going to follow. So, if they call him a suspect already, that case might fall apart, then they find someone different, they're going to muddy up what should be a clear-cut case.

So, it seems really confusing that they said they have a person of interest and a suspect, and we don't know whether they're the same person. That is very purposeful to protect the prosecution. So, long story short, within, you know, 20 hours of the incident that they've got a name, they've got a person of interest, they're on a man hunt, they've got the truck. This thing will end relatively soon. This is not going to be a long-term investigation.

CHURCH: Interesting. Of course, what we know so far is after putting on a gas mask, --

KAYYEM: Yes.

CHURCH: -- and throwing gas canisters or smoke gas canisters inside the train, the subway shooter then fired 33 times, hitting 10 people. Thankfully, his gun jammed. Security cameras at the station were not functioning, but of course there is an abundance of smartphone video available to police to help them find the shooter.

They have linked Frank James to the U-Haul vehicle you mentioned, that was rented under the credit card --

KAYYEM: Yes.

CHURCH: -- that was dropped near the scene of the shooting. What procedure will they need to follow to ensure that they do actually get the person, the shooter, at the subway?

KAYYEM: So, this is -- this is where extraordinary events can seem sort of normal. This is going to seem like a normal criminal investigation, especially there is no allegations of a foreign terrorism tie, which the NYPD has been pretty clear they're not labeling this as terrorism. Nor if they thought that there is an ongoing threat.

So, this will be putting the pieces of the physical evidence together. It is -- it is clear that the police have a sense of who he is because they have ruled out what we would call a terrorism investigation, which would be one that was motivated for political purposes.

This maybe someone that was dealing with mental health issues or other issues related to why the police would rule out terrorism this quickly. So, as I said, extraordinary events, scary events, events that terrorize, there is no question about that are -- it will look pretty familiar through just the criminal justice process, and then - and then there will be prosecution, then ultimately, a determination if there is a conviction. This is a case that I think will -- will not reach sort of epic

proportions in terms of how we think about safety and security in this country because it's unlikely to be politically motivated. And because of all the investments that New York has made in its safety and security, and most importantly its response capacity. This really was a situation that could've gone from horrible to catastrophic, and actually resulted in no deaths. And that's a, in my role, that's a success story, it really is.

CHURCH: Yes, I absolutely agree, Juliette Kayyem, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your analysis with us, we appreciate it always.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

CHURCH: And just ahead, the cost of war on both sides and how the conflict in Ukraine is having an impact on the global economy. We will be joined by one of President Zelenskyy's economic advisers. Stay with us.

[03:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. Well, the World Trade Organization is slashing its outlook for this year because of the war in Ukraine, also warning the international community to brace for the fallout. The WTO now predicting a trade volume growth of 3 percent, down from its original forecast of 4.7. But the organization says all this could change because of the fluid nature of the conflicts. WTO's director general is also warning of a potential food crisis.

Joining me now is Oleg Ustenko, he is the economic adviser to President Zelenskyy here in Ukraine. Oleg, thanks for taking the time to speak with us.

The World Bank says Ukraine's economy will contract by 45 percent, a direct result of this war. The Russian economy will contract by 11 percent.

[03:20:04]

Is that alone, is that a clear indication that western sanctions on Moscow are just not cutting it?

OLEG USTENKO, ECONOMIC ADVISER TO PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY: I would say that yes, you're absolutely right, some sanctions are working, some sanctions are not working. And the most critical sanctions which we were expecting should be employed by the western world are still not employed, and I'm talking about basically oil embargo.

Look, Russians are having around $1 billion daily from their oil receipts, definitely you know they have enough cash to buy missiles or to buy bombs and continue to destroy our cities, our infrastructure, kill our people and rape our women. This is what we see all over the country. CHURCH: And when you say Russian oil, we also mean Russian natural

gas as well, which is, you know, heading to Europe and especially to Germany. According to the World Bank forecast, the war is having a devastating impact on human life and causing economic destruction in both countries, and by that they mean Ukraine and Russia, and will lead to significant economic losses in the Europe and Central Asia region, and the rest of the world.

So, the bottom line here, is that this war of choice by Vladimir Putin, the world should realize that all the economic hardships which we felt in the weeks and the months to come can be source back to the actions of just one man, Vladimir Putin. The problem it seems that that message is just not getting out.

USTENKO: Yes, exactly. Look, now the whole world has experienced a significant economic problem as well. Look, Ukraine is not able to do this or our (Inaudible) and campaign. Yes, it's true that more than five million of our people are now refugees abroad outside of our country and we still need, you know, to make social payments to them, and you -- the world who is accepting our refugees is also, you know, forced to cover for our people.

Look, everybody is suffering except Russia. Russia is going to decline only what, 10, 15 percent, and this is the price that they have to pay for this war? No, no, no. We have to continue. The sanctions should go further. And that's why, you know, the U.S. is saying about gas embargo as well. Yes, I'm also in favor of that.

But look, let's do the first step. let's do the first step. Let's cut off them from this bloody money. Because oil is 40 percent of their budget revenues, 40 percent of their budget revenues. They're spending this money not to support the economy. They are spending this money to buy weapons and military equipment to kill our people and to rape our women and to kill our children. This is what they are doing.

You know, we have to have a consensus, we have to stop financing the Russian Federation. I don't know what else should be shown to European leaders to follow up this idea of embargo. Look, after Bucha, after this mass murder in Bucha, after Irpin, after Kramatorsk railway station where more than 50 people were killed, including five children, after chemical weapons which were used a couple of days ago in Mariupol, now after President Biden was calling the war in Ukraine as genocide, and everybody here in Ukraine believes that it's genocide.

What else should be done in order to cut off Russian military machine out of this bloody money? So, we need you to act.

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: It is a good question. It is a good question. If not now, then when? How much worse does this have to get before the west and before the rest of the world decides to do something serious. But right now, let's assume that Vladimir Putin is stopped here in Ukraine. That the Ukrainian fighters can rid this country of every last Russian soldier. What does the rest of the world then owe Ukraine for doing that? USTENKO: Look, first of all, we lost our people but we also lost our

assets. If, after the first week of the war approximately our estimate was that we were losing around one -- sorry, $100 billion U.S. dollars after the first week, then the cost of this invasion grew exponentially.

And if now our latest current estimates according to our prime minister is around $1 trillion U.S. dollars.

[03:24:57]

Look, this -- this is the amount of money which will be needed in order to rebuild our economy. And if the war is stopped immediately right now, otherwise the price is going to increase again. So, basically, we are expecting that Ukraine will be able to have access to these it least $300 billion U.S. dollars of frozen assets of Russia's central bank. Plus, we have -- we have to get access to more than $100 billion U.S. dollars of other assets of inner of nomenclature of Putin.

We -- and we also of course count on support which will be coming from the E.U. side and from the side of our international allies. Look, but on the top of that, it's also true that we need money currently. As you rightly pointed out, our economy is shrinking. In the first quarter of this year, we fell down by 15 percent already. And we know that it's going to continue even further.

When your economy is declining, then obviously you have a shortage in your budget revenues. How you can -- how you can finance your militants, your defense sectors and social sector, these are actually two expenditures in which we are having here currently in Ukraine. We do not finance anything else but defense and social spending.

CHURCH: Yes.

USTENKO: And for that, we also need money. And you have to understand that international market, you know, just go privately to international market. And to borrow is not a choice for us. We need, you know, complete support from at least G7 also in supply and asset money. That is why actually the minister of finance is already calling for that kind of support.

CHURCH: Oleg, we understand this is a difficult situation. It's an urgent situation. And we really appreciate you being with us. Oleg Ustenko, economic adviser to President Zelenskyy outlining the urgency of the financial crisis here facing Ukraine. Thank you, sir. We appreciate your time.

USTENKO: Thank you very much.

VAUSE: Well, Ukrainians say they are uncovering a brutal new threat from Russia. This is in Kharkiv.

Just ahead, CNN follows an emergency response team with the dangerous job of finding and detonating countless explosive devices left behind by the Russians. [03:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Rosemary Church.

I want to return to our breaking news on the investigation into the New York City subway shooting. Police are looking for this man who they have 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 shooter's belongings. Tuesday's morning attack began with smoke grenade before a gunman opened fire.

CNN's Brynn Gingras has more on the shooting and the urgent manhunt underway for the man responsible.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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 --

UNKNOWN: Most people scream for medical assistance. It was just a scary moment.

GINGRAS: Law enforcement arrived within minutes.

KEECHANT SEWELL, NYPD POLICE 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 the time began to fill with smoke. He then opened fire, tracking multiple people on the subway and in the platform.

GINGRAS: Ten shots, 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 the stop, and then thank goodness the train moved within a minute. Or I don't know what would have happened if we were stuck there for longer.

GINGRAS: A gun, multiple high-capacity magazines, fireworks and gunpowder have been recovered in the station law enforcement sources say. And they believe the gun jammed during the shooting. A motive for the attack remains unknown with the 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. MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D-NY): This is terror of someone attempted to

terrorize our system, they brought in what appears to be some form or smoke device. They discharged a weapon. And so, I don't want to be premature in identifying if this was or 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 waves of violent crime.

[03:35:03]

GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D-NY): And we say no more. No more mass shootings. No more disrupting lives. No more creating heartbreak for people just trying to live their lives as normal New Yorkers. It has to end, and it ends now.

GINGRAS: Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.

CHURCH: And I'll have more news later this hour. But first, let's get back to John Vause in Lviv, Ukraine. John?

VAUSE: Rosemary, thank you.

As Russian forces retreated from areas in north of Ukraine, they leave the area with explosive devices. Many dropped from the air. Others placed in homes or even stuffed into children's toys according to Ukrainian officials. Many of these devices are anti-personnel or anti- vehicle mines set to explode by timers or triggered by detecting motion nearby.

As CNN's Nima Elbagir reports sweeping the area is slow, dangerous, and potentially deadly work.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the central market area in Kharkiv and this is the sight of most of last night's strike. We've coming here with emergency service first responders because the Russians have come up with a new tactic to ensure that the devastation of their attacks last far beyond the first impact.

Lieutenant Colonel Igor Ovcharuk is the head of the bomb disposal team.

IGOR OVCHARUK, HEAD OF PYROTECHNIC GROUP, EMERGENCY SERVICES (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 and wait for unsuspecting civilians.

Nima Elbagir, CNN, Kharkiv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: The Russian president, Vladimir Putin continues to defend his brutal war in Ukraine. And has to press on until his own personal mission is accomplished. During a news coverage with the Belarusian president, Putin said talks with Ukraine have reached a dead end. And this war will go on.

CNN's Clare Sebastian following developments now live from London. And Clare, we're also hearing there's been pushback by the Russians on this claim coming from the United States about, you know, the potential use, the likely use of some kind of chemical weapons attack here in Ukraine by Russian forces.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, this has come up in the last couple of hours by the Twitter account of the Russian embassy in Washington. They are denying the unconfirmed reports of a potential chemical attack on the port city of Mariupol. A very important strategic objective for Russia as this war continues.

They called it idle talk by Ned Price the State Department spokesperson who held a briefing yesterday when they said that the U.S. is very concerned that Russia might use chemical weapons. They called it provocative. They called it disinformation.

But one part of their statement, John, that I think it's worth noting is when they say the information confirmed, they say confirmed by the Russian defense ministry on the preparation of provocations by Ukrainian radicals with the use of chemicals is disturbing. They say we also have questions about the origins of these substances.

I wanted to highlight that section, because the fears that have emerged previously during this conflict is that Russia could potentially create this sort of false flag when it comes to chemical weapons, accused Ukraine of using them. And then use them themselves as a retaliation tactic.

This of course, we don't know that this is happening. We don't know that this report of a chemical attack in Mariupol actually happened. This is the concern right now. The rhetoric worth paying attention to very closely here.

VAUSE: Absolutely. Clare, thank you. Clare Sebastian with that update live from London.

We'll take a short break. When we come back, Ukrainians trapped in a conflict zone here having a much harder time escaping. We'll explain why there are no humanitarian corridors open today. Back in a moment.

[03:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHURCH: Welcome back. A Ukrainian deputy prime minister has announced

there will be no humanitarian corridors today. She accuses Russian forces of violating this ceasefire in Luhansk, and says that they blocked the evacuation buses in the Zaporizhzhia region so that civilians could not escape areas of fighting.

Three thousand people were evacuated from parts of southern and eastern Ukraine on Tuesday. Across the country more than seven million people have been displaced. And according to the U.N., more than 4.6 million have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded nearly seven weeks ago.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is covering the refugee crisis from near the Ukraine/Poland border, she joins us now. Good to see you, Salma. So, what is a situation now for so many refugees?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Rosemary, I'm at the pedestrian crossing, and I'm just going to start walking so you can get a sense of the space. Right behind me is the actual crossing itself, so after people go through, basically their passport checks, their paperwork, they come across, you are going to see them rolling their bags, again, they have only with them what they can carry.

[03:44:57]

You were mentioning those humanitarian corridors, oftentimes it might take a few days of course, but people fleeing by those humanitarian corridors wind up right here on this border. And I'm going to show you what greets them.

You can see there's a medical tent over there, there are troops, soldiers. We sometimes see their soldiers helping people with her bags, literally greeting families and taking their bags off of them. You can see this is a cell phone station, so if you need to call your family back in Ukraine, if you need to charge your cell phone because you haven't unable to do so in days, you can do that here.

And this whole little area, this whole area I'm walking, Rosemary, is just full of tents that provide these types of services. Yes, food and medicine and doctors, if that's what you need, but also a place to sit down or pampers, or baby clothes, or whatever other supplies a family might need to get through a few more days here.

And at the end of the station is buses, and those buses will take people either to train stations, or a refugee center if that's what they need to do for a few more days. I'm going to show you here you can just see this little tent has ballooned set up and little kid's toys.

So, there's a sense here that these volunteers, and these are volunteers from all over the world, Rosemary, they really want to be able to give kids especially a moment of respite. Here's another tent here that you can see. They set up lollipops and juices and these volunteers are going to be answering questions the best they can.

So, this is the arrival that greets these families when they get here. But you have over two and a half million refugees now in Poland. You're talking about the second month of this crisis, and people need help, they need assistance to continue to support these families.

We know the Polish president and the leaders of several other Baltic states are right now on their way to Kyiv and they will meet with President Zelenskyy and you can be sure that's going to be at the top of their agenda how do we get more support to continue to help these millions of refugees now spread up across these countries.

CHURCH: Yes, it's so true. Poland has really stepped up here and it needs the rest of the world to help look after all of these refugees. Salma Abdelaziz, many thanks for taking us on that tour. I appreciate it.

Well, humble and contrite. Britain's prime minister takes his punishment for breaching COVID lockdown rules. We are live in London with new details on the partygate scandal.

[03:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: London police are handing out punishments for those who attended illegal parties in government buildings during COVID lockdown. And that includes the British prime minister. Britain's transport secretary told Sky News that Boris Johnson paid a 50 pound fine, which is about $65. And he says the prime minister is completely mortified about the whole party gate scandal. His wife, Carrie, was fined as well.

So, let's bring in CNN's Nada Bashir, she joins us live from London. Good to see you, Nada. So, many Brits might be shocked by this very low fine that the prime minister had to pay compared to much higher fines that other Brits had to pay. So, what is the latest on all of this? What might be the ramifications of that. And is there more to come?

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Yes, Rosemary, there will be certainly frustration and anger as we have seen over the last few weeks and months over the fact that the prime minister not only directly implicated in the scandal but has now been fined. As you said, they are pretty low amounts, something like a parking ticket here in the U.K.

But it's not so much the financial cost that is a concern part for the government. But the reputational damage that the prime minister has certainly suffered. And of course, we've heard from the metropolitan police the investigation into the gatherings, the parties that have taken place at 10 Downing Street and other government buildings is still ongoing. There could still be more fines to come. So that will be a concern.

And we do know some details around the actual gatherings which has caused the prime minister to receive this fine. There were of course numerous gatherings reported over the Christmas period. We saw the prime minister taking part in a Christmas quiz. We saw him taking part in a garden gathering with colleagues. This of course, in June 2020 that brief birthday gathering that took

place in his cabinet office. But he says he wasn't aware that he was breaching those regulations. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: And amongst all these engagements on the day that happened to be my birthday, there was a brief gathering in the cabinet room shortly after 2 p.m., lasting for less than 10 minutes. During which people I work with kindly passed on their good wishes.

And 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)

BASHIR: Now Boris Johnson has issued that firm apology but that has come as little consolation to members of the opposition and to the members of the British public. He is of course the first sitting prime minister to have been found to have broken the law. That would certainly damage public trust in the prime minister and his party. There are of course local elections coming up in May.

But we have heard from numerous members of the opposition Labour Party, from the Green Party, the liberal Democrats, even the Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, all calling on the prime minister to resign.

[03:54:56]

Now he addressed this yesterday. He said he wants to draw a line onto the scandal to move forward and to focus on his policy, priorities to focus on Britain's response to the war in Ukraine. And that war in Ukraine has certainly taken some attention away from the partygate scandal.

Boris Johnson focusing on his role there. But this of course will come as a no consolation to the many people who have lost loved ones and were separated from friends and family while abiding by the rules put forward by the prime minister. Rosemary?

CHURCH: We shall watch to see what the British public make of all of this. Nada Bashir, joining us live from London. Many thanks.

And I'm Rosemary Church. Thank you for spending part of your day with me. Our breaking news coverage continues with Max Foster in London after a short break.

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