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People In Eastern Ukraine Prepare For New Russian Assault; U.S. Sending Another $800 Million In Military Aid To Ukraine; New York City Subway Shooting Suspect Arrested; Kharkiv Takes Heavy Fire Ahead Of Expected Russian Offensive. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired April 14, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

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[00:00:11]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause live in Lviv, Ukraine where the U.S. is now sending hundreds of millions of dollars in high tech heavy weapons, as well as helicopters and drones ahead of unexpected Russian military offensive in the East.

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kim Brunhuber at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta with the end of the Brooklyn subway shooting manhunt after police are tipped off by the suspect himself.

VAUSE: -- renewed attacks on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, saying so- called decision making centers will be targeted if Ukrainian forces continue to plan acts of sabotage and carry out military strikes on Russian territory.

There were a few other details from the Russian Ministry of Defense, but it's been two weeks now since Russian forces retreated from the north after failing to take the capital.

And the French military now saying a large scale Russian offensive in the Donbass region could happen within days, possibly 10 days. But a spokesperson also says Russian forces are yet to make any significant territorial gains in the east.

Meantime, Ukrainian fighters claimed to have used Neptune anti-ship missiles to cause serious damage to the muscular flagship of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. But Russian state media disputes it, saying a fire detonated ammunition onboard Moskva (PH) missile cruiser and was evacuated. CNN though cannot verify either claim. And to the south, Russia claims more than a thousand Ukrainian Marines have surrendered in the besieged port city of Mariupol. These images aired on Russian state television though. CNN is not in Mariupol and cannot confirm the report.

Ukrainian officials say the remaining defenders in Mariupol have joined forces and will fight until the end.

And in the city of Kharkiv, images on social media appears to show explosions from cluster munitions in civilian areas. The U.N. says such attacks may amount to war crimes.

Well, for weeks now, Ukraine's president has been pleading for heavier firepower from the international community. And now, the U.S. finally ready to deliver with a new $800 million security package.

Notably, it includes almost a dozen made Soviet era MI- 17 helicopters, which can also be used as gunships. That's something Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked specifically in a call with President Biden on Wednesday.

Also included, more Howitzers cannons, switchblade drones, anti-tank missiles, armored personnel carriers, protective equipment to guard against chemical attacks.

And the European Union has announced its own military aid package with $544 million, including military equipment, fuel, first aid kits. All of this comes following a direct appeal from President Zelenskyy in a video message which he released and which contained graphic images.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: The images of Bucha and Mariupol have demonstrated real Russia's intentions to the whole world. It could only be stopped by force of arms. It must be done now.

Ukraine needs weapon supplies. We need heavy artillery, armed vehicles, air defense systems and combat aircraft. Anything to repel Russian forces and stop their war crimes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Meantime, in a show of support, the president of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia traveled to the Ukrainian capital to meet with President Zelenskyy. They discussed aid for Ukraine and offered help to investigate the ongoing war crimes.

Well, as Russian forces continue to build up, preparing for a new potentially protracted assault on eastern Ukraine, many people who live in that region say they're not going anywhere.

CNN's Ben Wedeman has this report.

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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): All is not quiet on Ukraine's eastern front. Not far from the town of Barvinkove, Russian mortars warn of what's to come.

Ukrainian officials say the offensive in the Donbass region, the eastern part of Ukraine has begun. Perhaps, it has.

Or perhaps this is the softening up before the onslaught. Among Ukrainian troops, Bravado (PH).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are stronger than them.

WEDEMAN: This officer gives a more sober assessment. The Russians are building up for an attack.

They're coming and coming and coming, Lieutenant Leone (PH) tells me, we're not in an easy situation.

[00:05:03]

WEDEMAN: Russian shelling Tuesday killed three people including a 16- year-old girl according to the town mayor who has been urging residents to leave. Not everyone heeds his call. The stubborn few wait for supplies.

This is our town, insists Galena (PH). We're staying here. We know our soldiers are protecting us.

Yudmila (PH) looks to a higher power. We'll pray to God, she says, maybe he will save us all.

83-year-old Yeli Zavekta (PH) sits outside her home. She too is staying put. My son's wife is scared and will probably leave today, she says, but I'm not afraid.

And then, off she goes on her bicycle gathering storm be damned.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Barvinkove, eastern Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Joining me now from Washington, David Satter, journalist and Russian scholar at the Hudson Institute. He's also author of Darkness at Dawn: The Rise of the Russian Criminal State.

Mr. Satter, thank you for your time. There's no shortage of examples of Russia, trying to create this link between Nazis and the Ukrainian government.

Last week, as the world was finding out about the atrocities in Bucha. In Moscow, the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party proposed a law that would officially recognize the genocide of ethnic Russians by Ukraine, providing no evidence of this widely debunked myth.

A few weeks before that, the chairman of Russia's lower house said that the State Duma would send evidence of acts of torture of civilians by Kyiv to European governments. He was quoted as saying this, you realize more and more the real situation in Ukraine with a neo-Nazi ideology prevails among the authorities. They beat people, tied to stakes in the streets with sticks, kidnapped children for blackmail, place military equipment in residential areas, used civilians as human shields.

You know, it's almost word for word the crime is actually committed by the Russian military in Ukraine. But how deep does this myth run that Ukraine is a Nazi regime, prosecuting Russians and Russian speakers?

DAVID SATTER, JOURNALIST: Well, they've been saying this for eight years. And this is what they've been feeding their population. This is the way they organize the Russian population for a war against a neighboring people to whom they have no bad feelings in fact, and many of them are connected to the Ukrainians by family ties.

This is the way in which they disguise the fact that what's really going on is that a small kleptocratic group is making war not just on the Ukrainians, but it's making war on the Russians themselves. They're being used as cannon fodder, and they're dying in the thousands and for nothing.

VAUSE: This has been built up over the last eight years, without any real proof. What are the chances they are trying to convince Russians now that it's just not true?

SATTER: Well, there are ways. For one thing, the message is getting through, because people have cellphones. And there are still some avenues of communication. YouTube is still working, Telegram is -- Telegram is working.

The fact is that even forbidden sites can be accessed with the help of VPN. But most important people in Russia understand that their government lies to them.

Right now, what is motivating them, at least in part is kind of nationalist fervor. But that's going to -- that's going to dissipate. These horrendous casualties that they're suffering are going to have an effect and so will-- so will the economic sanctions.

But what we really need to do in the West, is start using every means that we have to talk about the Putin regime's real crimes and its real atrocities because Russians need to understand that they're being used by this regime, that they're just as much the victims as the Ukrainians.

VAUSE: Yes. In terms of military assistance, this new aid package from the United States will include artillery, armored vehicles, helicopters. Here's a little more now from Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, listen to this.

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JOHN KIRBY, PRESS SECRETARY, PENTAGON: It's the first time that we've provided these 155 Howitzers and the associated rounds that will go with them. And again, that's reflective of the kind of fighting that the Ukrainians are expecting to be faced with here in this little bit more confined geographic area. They specifically asked for fire support and that -- and specifically asked for artillery support. (END VIDEO CLIP)

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VAUSE: They also specifically asked for these helicopters, which seems to be one short step away from providing some kind of fighter jet cover as well. When would you expect to see maybe, you know, these fighter planes, these MiGs which Poland had offered earlier being sent to Ukraine?

SATTER: Well, I think as soon as -- a very soon in light of the kind of atrocities that are being committed against the civilian population. And the Ukrainian Armed Forces need this equipment to defend their own country. The war is going on in Ukraine, not in Russia.

And so, there shouldn't be any hesitation. But even the equally important, if not more important, is to do something to cut off the flow of money to Russia. And that means an embargo on oil and gas.

That in combination with the Ukrainians resistance can I think bring this war to a -- to a rapid end. But as long as they're getting more than a billion dollars a day in oil revenue -- oil and gas revenue, they can continue -- the Russians can continue to fight, and the Ukrainians will continue to suffer.

VAUSE: David Satter, we appreciate your expertise. Also appreciate your time in being with us today. Thank you, sir.

Let's go back now to Kim standing by at CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks so much, John. The man accused of shooting and wounding 10 people on a crowded subway train in Brooklyn is now in police custody. He doesn't appear to have gone on the run.

In fact, as Shimon Prokupecz reports, he apparently told investigators where they could find them.

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SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Patrol officers arresting the suspect walking the streets in New York City's East Village after sources say he actually called in a tip, leading police to his general location.

KEECHANT SEWELL, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: He was taken into custody without incident and has been transported to an NYPD facility.

We hope this arrest brings some solace to the victims and the people of the city of New York.

PROKUPECZ: The 62-year-old talked about violence and mass shootings and multiple rambling videos posted on YouTube, including this one uploaded Monday. FRANK JAMES, NEW YORK CITY SUBWAY SHOOTING SUSPECT: I've been through

a lot. What I can say, I wanted to kill people. I wanted to watch people die right in front of my face immediately. But I thought about the fact that, hey, man, I don't want to go to no prison.

PROKUPECZ: In other videos, the suspect said he has PTSD and ranted about race, homelessness and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Adams telling CNN.

ERIC ADAMS, MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: Why aren't we identifying these dangerous threats? Why aren't we being more proactive instead of waiting for this to happen?

PROKUPECZ: The videos also giving insight into the alleged shooter's path to Brooklyn. Leaving his home in Milwaukee on March 20th, the suspect said he was heading to the "danger zone". He then stopped in Fort Wayne, Pittsburgh and Newark, before arriving in Philadelphia on March 25th.

Police initially named him as a person of interest because they found a credit card and keys to a rented U-Haul van at the scene. Later tracking down the vehicle where sources say it appeared he may have spent the night. He rented the van from this Philadelphia store on Monday.

Court documents say the suspect visited a Philadelphia storage facility filled with ammunition and more weapons on the evening before the attack.

They also show surveillance photos of the U-Haul van crossing into Brooklyn at 4:11 a.m. Two hours later, a man matching the alleged shooter's description wearing a hard hat and construction vests left the U-Haul on foot.

WNBC obtained this video showing a man law enforcement believes to be the suspect and wearing similar clothing. Entering the subway system about two hours before the shooting began.

Investigators also linking the gun found at the scene to a purchase by the suspect sources say and authorities have tracked a purchase of a gas mask to him through an eBay account.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PROKUPECZ (on camera): The alleged shooter is expected to be in court later Thursday afternoon and of course, no one in law enforcement expected that this is the way the manhunt would end.

The suspect calling on himself, calling Crime Stoppers, telling them hey, I'm at this location, come and get me.

Shimon Prokupecz, CNN, Brooklyn, New York.

BRUNHUBER: For more on this story, let's bring in Bobby Chacon, who's a retired FBI special agent and he joins me now from Palm Springs, California. Thanks so much for being here with us. So, the authorities say they effectively, you know, shrunk the

suspect's world, they seem to be taking credit for apprehending him but in the end, you know, as we just heard there, he effectively turned himself in and that's after not really hiding his tracks as we heard there. He didn't try to get away in any traditional sense. He was walking around the city.

So, many are asking, why weren't the authorities able to find him first, perhaps much earlier?

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BOBBY CHACON, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Well, he didn't go back to any of the locations that they knew of. You know, they quickly developed addresses in Philadelphia, I think in Wisconsin, and some other places.

And so, he went back, he actually stayed so close that sometimes, when we --, when we throw out the net, we throw it out further thinking the person probably tried to get away. And there they are right next to or very close to the incident site.

So, I think that -- I think that we probably had more people looking for him in Philadelphia, in Wisconsin, possibly than we did in lower Manhattan.

Although, I'm sure every NYPD roll call this morning, officers were, you know, showing pictures of this guy, be on the lookout.

So, I think he was in a place where they didn't expect him to be. And that's, you know, as odd as that sounds, that close to the incident site is not where you'd expect somebody like this to be.

I certainly as of yesterday, or when I went to bed last night, thought he probably had left the state already, and was probably on his way somewhere out of state. And he certainly had the time that he could have done that.

Now, why he stayed so close, you know, I don't know. I was -- I was hoping if that were the case, that he wasn't hell bent on suicide by cop or something like that, which it turns out, it doesn't look like he was.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, thank goodness for that. So, but overall, obviously, his behavior has been very odd. You've seen some of the videos he posted professing some of his bizarre and racist ideology. Do you think he's a domestic terrorist?

CHACON: You know, he could fit the description. You know, I've been looking at that all day. And I've been looking at the statutes on domestic terrorism.

You know, some of the more radical black nationalist ideology does lean in that direction. And we have seen people radicalized online lone wolf, so to speak, on radicalized online with, you know, just consuming things like, I know, he distributed a Louis Farrakhan video and consuming videos like that can actually get some people that are susceptible to that kind of, you know, radicalization down that road.

Now, the odd thing to me is that, if he was going to do that (INAUDIBLE) espouse a race war, and he said, you know, black people, like, people shouldn't even be in contact with each other. So, he did some -- have some of that ideological bent.

But he picked a target that was very diverse. I mean, that neighborhood in Brooklyn, where that train station is, and where that train runs through is a working class, multicultural, multi-ethnic neighborhood. So, you would have -- you would think that if he -- if he espouses anti-white views, so to speak, that he would have targeted a different victim set.

And in this case, he didn't. So, it is really odd. Some of it doesn't make sense yet. Some of it may never make sense, because you're dealing possibly with an irrational person.

BRUNHUBER: But if we're turning towards sort of trying to prevent these types of things, I mean, he posted, you know, many videos on social media, they were professing hate talking about violent acts, shouldn't flags have been raised sooner?

CHACON: Well, our system isn't set up for it. You know, with the First Amendment and freedom of speech, you know, although, you know, there are people questioning, you know, these tech companies that allow these platforms, because these are private platforms, they can allow or disallow anybody, and they seem to be disallowing people at will, you know, if you talk about the vaccine in a certain way, or if you're talking about a certain political issue in a certain way, they shut you down, or they de-platform you.

And yet, certain people like this are espousing race wars and killing people. And they're allowed to stay up. So, I think that these tech companies who, again, are private companies and can allow or disallow anybody on their platform, they have -- they have some answering to do, I think. And in how they're monitoring this kind of speech.

I mean, we don't want the government overseeing all speech, especially on private platforms. But you know, in an age when these tech companies seem very willing to de-platform people, if they speak in a certain way, then if these people are speaking about murdering people and going out and committing violent acts, why aren't they being de- platform? Why aren't they being monitored? Why aren't they being reported to authorities by these private companies who run these platforms?

BRUNHUBER: Yes, certainly raises many questions. We'll have to leave it there. Bobby Chacon, thank you so much for joining us, appreciate it.

CHACON: Thank you for having me.

BRUNHUBER: Russian artillery is operating seemingly nonstop trying to soften the defenses in Ukraine's second largest city.

Still ahead, a CNN crew is in Kharkiv to show you what it takes to survive under a constant bombardment. Stay with us.

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VAUSE: Of all the Russian atrocities exposed so far in Ukraine, of all the heartache and pain caused by so many lives lost, the anguish of one mother for her dead child seems to reflect the collective grief of an entire nation.

The boy's body was found in a well of the village west of Kyiv, after Russian forces retreated. A warning, the video the mother at the scene, it's disturbing. It's painful to watch.

She recognized the shoes and she's saying my little son, my little son, a second body also found in that well.

Well, artillery fire and missile strikes continue to target Ukraine's second largest city, ahead of an expected Russian offensive in the east.

[00:25:02]

VAUSE: Officials say at least seven civilians in Kharkiv had been killed. 22 others wounded in the past 24 hours alone.

CNN's Nima Elbagir saw the firsthand what it's like to be in an area under constant attack.

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NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Desolate, bear, lifeless. This is what it looks like after weeks of relentless Russian shelling.

Saltivka, the most densely populated district in Kharkiv, it's been bombed day after day, night after night.

There are very few people left, the elderly mostly. One man stayed behind to keep his mother safe.

Igor (PH) says that he lives on the 16th floor of one of these buildings with his mother. He says his mother is deeply religious and deeply committed to staying here, even though they are almost entirely surrounded. And she won't leave, so he won't leave.

But this is a front line under renewed pressure. The Russians are pushing hard.

That is so close. Those are Russian positions, they're shelling towards us. We are just over a mile away from the Russian forces. This is that route into Kharkiv, and then on into Ukraine.

For now, this is the front line. That could change at any moment now. They are trying as hard as they can to push that frontline inwards.

The soldiers want to show us more evidence of the heavy bombardment.

The soldiers want us to move very quickly, because Russian snipers are operating in this area. We've got to move.

The rumble you hear is the constant shelling.

The shelling has just been absolutely relentless. From the moment we've arrived, we have been hearing it. We have to be careful where we step because the Russians are also dispersing mines from the rockets that they are sending over into here.

The shelling has identified over the last few days. Regional officials told CNN this is evidence of the renewed Russian military push.

Yes, let's go. So, from where we are, we are pretty much surrounded by Russian troops on three sides. Tens of thousands of Russian troops are believed to be amassing to come into Kharkiv, to come into Ukraine, from this direction. We've got to move.

The soldiers wanted us out of there. It was becoming too intense.

Just 30 minutes later, we saw one. This warehouse is in the south of Saltivka. It took a direct hit. This is an area that after the initial aborted invasion, has been beyond the reach of Russian ground troops. But now, once again, nowhere is safe.

Nima Elbagir, CNN, Kharkiv.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, for weeks the Russians are throwing almost everything they have at the port city of Mariupol but it still stands in Ukrainian control they say. (INAUDIBLE) one of the very latest on the fighting for that key Southern port city when we come back.

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. Thirty- three minutes past the hour.

[00:32:45]

Now, genocide is a loaded word with a specific legal definition. So when the U.S. president, Joe Biden, used it to describe alleged Russian atrocities in Ukraine, diplomats and legal scholars the world over were taken aback.

The White House says Biden was speaking to what everybody is seeing, but he did not signal a shift in U.S. policy.

And despite the horrors already documented, not all European leaders actually want to use that term, and that includes the French president, Emmanuel Macron. He explained why. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): I would be careful with the term "genocide" today, because they are brother nations. Genocide, it carries a meaning. The Ukraine people and the Russian people are brother nations.

What's happening now is madness. It is of an extraordinary brutality. It's the return to war in Europe. But at the same time, I look at the facts. I want to try my best to continue to be able to stop this war and rebuild peace. So I'm not sure the escalation of words serve the cause.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: There's not much left of the besieged port city of Mariupol after weeks of relentless artillery fire, missile attacks, as well as air strikes. Ukrainian officials fear that tens of thousands may be dead. Those who have been able to get out have escaped.

CNN's Matt Rivers reports now on those who were left behind, are fighting back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Weeks after Russia began an offensive bombardment to take the city and still, Ukraine's government says Mariupol has not yet fallen.

The key port on the Southeast coast of Ukraine increasingly a symbol of both Ukrainian resistance and Russian military goals. Ukrainian officials are holding up the city as a symbol of a heroic fight, with an aide to President Zelenskyy saying on Facebook that two different units defending Mariupol have managed to link up and continue their fight.

One of those units releasing a message, saying they, quote, "did not give up" their positions.

And now there are accusations from the Ukrainians that Russia has used chemical weapons here.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The day before yesterday, the Russian troops attempted to strike our city with a so-called chemical attack. They tried to drop a chemical agent on our defenders. The agent did affect our defenders, and there's evidence a number of people living in settlements in the outskirts of Mariupol were also affected.

[00:35:11]

RIVERS: President Zelenskyy accusing Russia of using, quote, "phosphorus bombs and other munitions prohibited by international law."

The U.S., as well as CNN teams on the ground, have not yet verified that such an attack did, indeed occur. No conclusive imagery has surfaced, and Russia denies even having chemical weapons. But chemical weapons or not, the destruction in Mariupol has been

devastating. The mayor says more than 90 percent of the city's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed. And officials say Russian forces have cut off crucial supplies, including water and food.

PAVLO KYRYLENKO, MILITARY GOVERNOR, DONETSK REGION (through translator): We are currently discussing 20 to 22,000 people dead in Mariupol.

RIVERS: Meanwhile, Russia is engaged in an intense propaganda campaign, saying it is close to capturing what would be its first major Ukrainian city since the war began.

IGOR KONASHENKOV, RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF DEFENSE (through translator): As a result of successful offensive actions of the Russian armed forces and the police units of the DPR, 1,026 Ukrainian military personnel of the 36th Marine Brigade voluntarily laid down their arms and surrendered.

RIVERS: The Russian military also taking some reporters on a tour of a now destroyed theater where hundreds of people had been sheltering when it was hit by a Russian airstrike last month, according to Ukrainian officials.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): you can see for yourself what the situation in the city is. There are a lot of dead people.

RIVERS: And for those still alive, a hellish landscape persists. Ukraine's government says about 180,000 people in and around the city still need to be evacuated. So far, many have not been able to do so.

Matt Rivers, CNN, Lviv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: I'll have a lot more from Lviv at the top of the hour. But now let's go back to Kim, CNN headquarters there in Atlanta -- Kim.

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: All right. Thanks so much, John.

The world has reached another staggering COVID milestone. Half a billion people have now been infected with the virus since the pandemic began, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.

Have a look at this graph. So it just took over a year for the world to hit 100 million cases and less than 200 days to reach 200 million. Since then, each new milestone has been reached much more quickly.

Now we're 500 million, but many people believe the real number is much higher.

Now, for the first time since the start of the pandemic, the CDC predicts the U.S. will record 1 million deaths from the coronavirus. And it says that's likely to happen by early next month.

According to Johns Hopkins, the virus has already killed more than 987,000 people in the U.S.

But despite the looming milestone, the number of newly-reported deaths is forecast to decrease over the next month.

The CDC also announced Wednesday that it's extending the federal transportation mask mandate for another 15 days. That means masks will still be needed on planes, trains, and other public transportation until at least May 3.

Well, North Korea is getting ready to mark a major anniversary, and it usually does so in a very provocative way. We're live in Seoul with details. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: North Korea is preparing to celebrate a major anniversary. Friday marks 110 years since the birth of its founding father, Kim Il- sung. And the festivities for the so-called Day of the Sun often involve weapons.

CNN's Paula Hancocks is covering this live from Seoul.

So Paula, what are we expecting, particularly in the context of North Korea's recent missile tests?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kim, what we've been seeing in the days running up to this -- this celebration, which is on Friday, are festivities like exhibitions and dancing. We've also seen Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, opening up some housing developments in his -- his name.

But as you say, the weapons is what the international community are going to be looking for. We know that the USS Abraham Lincoln, the -- the aircraft carrier, is in Korean waters for this week, a potential show of force against North Korea, in case they decide to test anything.

But North Korea has been very clear about what they would like to do.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS (voice-over): Kim Jong-un knows exactly which missiles and weapons systems he wants to perfect. And so do we, because he's told us.

In January last year, he gave one of the most detailed military reports in North Korea's history, according to state-run media. His five-year wish list. Since then, he's been systematically working through it.

ANKIT PANDA, STANTON SENIOR FELLOW, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS: The North Koreans have really, I think, laid out an ambitious agenda for military modernization. And it proves to be very credible.

HANCOCKS: Among the systems already at least partially tested, according to Pyongyang: a hypersonic glide vehicle, which if perfected could evade missile defense systems. It's a big "if." Only the U.S., Russia and China currently have this capability.

A military reconnaissance satellite, necessary, Pyongyang says, to keep an eye on the U.S. and its allies. Elements were tested earlier this year, but the Pentagon believes the space launch is a cover for a test of a new intercontinental ballistic missile system.

A 15,000-kilometer ICBM. That's 9,300 miles, which can reach mainland United States and beyond. An ICBM tested March 24 came closer to this than ever before. But South Korean officials doubt Pyongyang's claims it was their most recently unveiled Hwasong-17. Missile experts say a test of that weapon may have failed a week earlier.

LEE SANG-HYUN, PRESIDENT, THE SEJONG INSTITUTE: Given the shape of this warhead, it is likely to be a MIRV, an ICBM with multiple warheads. And also, if it was fired on the normal trajectory, it can hit anywhere on the continental United States.

HANCOCKS: And tactical nuclear weapons.

PANDA: Because Kim Jong-un has spoken quite explicitly about tactical nuclear weapons. These are the kinds of nuclear weapons that are designed to be put on small artillery rockets and smaller short-range ballistic missiles.

[00:45:08]

HANCOCKS: Meaning, North Korea's next underground nuclear test, expected at any time, may be smaller than its last, in September 2017, tremors from which could be felt in neighboring China and South Korea.

Tests which surely attract international attention. But Kim Jong-un also has a domestic audience.

SANG-HYUN: To cover up the economic failure, he needs to show off another achievement. I think that's the weapon program that he can be very proud of.

HANCOCKS: Timewise, Kim Jong-un may be in the most ideal testing environment of his more than ten years in power. The world's attention is on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And the chances of Russia or China siding with the U.S. and the United National Security Council to sanction North Korea are next to zero.

PANDA: There is just no chance of any kind of U.N. Security Council sanction action. The U.N. Security Council couldn't even condemn North Korea's latest ICBM test in unison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS: Which almost all observers agree signals to plenty of testing ahead. In fact, January is already in the record books for the number of missile launches -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Paula, we'll be watching. Thanks so much. Paula Hancocks in Seoul.

Pushing Russian propaganda from within the U.S. Well, its reach is small, but one radio station in the U.S. with ties to Vladimir Putin is sowing doubt about the war in Ukraine. We'll explore why some say it's up to listeners to decide the truth. When we come back. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: more than 300 people are dead after what officials call one of the worst storms South Africa has ever seen.

Heavy rain, flooding and mudslides have pummeled parts of the east coast since Monday, destroying homes, roads, and bridges. There are also widespread power outages.

Rescuers have been working to evacuate the affected communities.

This year's first major tropical storm in the Philippines has killed at least 76 people. Almost 30 others are missing, and officials say eight are injured.

The storm slammed into the Philippines Sunday with wind gusts as high as 50 miles per hour or 80 kilometers an hour. The agriculture department says the storm did more than $8 million worth of damage to the nation's crops.

Since the start of Vladimir Putin's invasion, his forces and state media have claimed Russia is liberating Ukraine from Nazis and nationalists. Among those pushing the bogus narrative is one radio station financed by the Russian government, which is heard in Washington.

Our Alex Marquardt got a taste of its programming.

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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Driving around downtown Washington, if you tune the radio to 105.5 FM, you land on --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're listening to Radio Sputnik, telling the untold.

MARQUARDT: Radio Sputnik, a station funded by a Russian state media agency, playing in the American capital on public airwaves.

(on camera): Here in D.C., you can listen to Sputnik on both FM and AM radio. Their shows are hosted by Americans. And they continue to broadcast, even when other Russia-backed outlets have been taken off of platforms like YouTube and Facebook, because of Russia's war on Ukraine. (voice-over): The hosts can often be heard parroting Kremlin talking

points on Ukraine.

LEE STRANAHAN, RADIO SPUTNIK HOST: I already knew that Ukrainian Nazis were real. And when Putin started talking about it, I was like, well, it's about time you talk about it.

MARQUARDT: Host Lee Stranahan calls himself pro-Russian. And while the world condemns Russia for the atrocities in Bucha, where Ukrainians were bound and executed, some Sputnik hosts aren't convinced.

DR. WILMER LEON, RADIO SPUTNIK HOST: There's not much dispute about whether these atrocities actually occurred. I think the question is, who's responsible for doing it?

MARQUARDT: They claim to simply be offering a different viewpoint, asking questions and challenging the narrative. Which often veers into seeing conspiracies, seeding doubt and distrust, classic elements of disinformation.

The companies that put Sputnik on the air are forced to register as foreign agents with the Justice Department. Sputnik is required to tell listeners who backs them, a media group funded by the Russian government.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, Moscow, Russia.

MARQUARDT: None of the Sputnik hosts we reached out to would speak to us for this story, except Scottie Nell Hughes, a former CNN contributor who is a temporary fill-in host for the pro-Russia Lee Stranahan.

(on camera): We know that Russian state media is putting out lies about this conflict. And I say that as someone who is on the ground in Ukraine. So why should the United States tolerate having Russian state media on its public airways?

SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, RADIO SPUTNIK FILL-IN HOST: Let the American people make that decision. Trust the American people to hear what they're saying and make the decision for themselves, whether or not they believe that that is the truth happening.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): After the 2016 presidential election, the U.S. intelligence community, led by James Clapper, put out a report, accusing Sputnik of being part of Russia's interference efforts.

JAMES CLAPPER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: There's this gray area of First Amendment protection rights, versus an insidious presence in -- in our country that is really there to weaken and destroy our system. That's really what this is about, and it's state-sponsored.

MARQUARDT: Sputnik programming is only broadcast in two U.S. cities, Washington, D.C., and Kansas City, Missouri.

RM Broadcasting helps get Sputnik on the air. Its owner, who lives in Florida, told us he, quote, "stands with Ukraine." "RM Broadcasting is dedicated to the unfettered exchange of information and ideas," Arnold Ferolito said. "That freedom of choice is the ultimate underpinning of our republic."

It isn't the job of the Federal Communications Commission, the FCC, to censor content either, commissioner Geoffrey Starks told us. Instead, it's to let listeners know where that content is coming from.

GEOFFREY STARKS, COMMISSIONER, U.S. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION: The public must have transparency in order to be informed and make their own decisions about separating truth from disinformation. Well, the FCC has given its authority here, given listeners transparency, so that they can decide to change the dial.

MARQUARDT: Starks said he finds some of Sputnik's content deplorable, but on public airways, even if a station is backed by a country allegedly committing war crimes, they can, in the U.S., continue to broadcast.

Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.

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BRUNHUBER: I'm Kim Brunhuber at CNN Center in Atlanta. John Vause will be back live in Ukraine in just a moment. Please do stay with us.

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