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E.U. Pledges Another $544M In Military Aid For Ukraine; Zelenskyy Meets Leaders Of Poland And Three Baltic States; Families Look For Loved Ones After Bucha Atrocities; Gathering Evidence Of Potential War Crimes In Ukraine; U.S. Sending Another $800M In Military Aid To Ukraine; New York City Subway Shooting Suspect Arrested. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired April 14, 2022 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[01:00:20]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, 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 an expected 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: Moscow has warned of renewed attacks on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv saying so-called decision making centers will be targeted if Ukrainian forces continue to play an act of sabotage and carry out military strikes on Russian territory. There are 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.
The French military now saying a large scale Russian offensive in the Donbas region could happen within days, possibly 10 days. But a spokesperson says Russian forces are yet to make any significant territorial gains in the east at least so far.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian fighters claimed to have used Neptune anti-ship missiles to cause serious damage to the Moskva, flagship of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. But Russian state media says a fire on board detonated ammunition on the guided missile cruiser and it was evacuated. CNN cannot verify either claim.
And to the south, Russia claims more than 1,000 Ukrainian Marines surrendered in the besiege port city of Mariupol. These images were aired on Russian state television. CNN is not in Mariupol. We cannot confirm this report. Ukraine officials say remain defenders in Mariupol have now managed to link up and will fight until the end.
And in the city of Kharkiv, video on social media appears to show explosions in civilian areas from cluster munitions. The U.N. says such attacks may amount to war crimes.
For weeks, Ukraine's President has been pleading for heavier firepower from the U.S. and NATO. And now, Washington appears to be coming through announcing a new $800 million security package. Notably it includes almost a dozen Soviet era Mi-17 helicopters, which can be used as gunships, that something Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked for specifically in a call with President Biden on Wednesday.
Also included in that military aid package, more Howitzer cannons, switchblade drones, anti-tank missiles, armored personnel carriers, protective equipment against chemical attacks. And the European Union has also announced a new $544 million package of military equipment, fuel, first aid kit. All of this comes after a direct appeal from President Zelenskyy in a video message which he released, which contains some very graphic images.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): The images of Bucha and Mariupol have demonstrated real Russians intentions to the whole world. It could only be stopped by force of arms. It must be done now. Ukraine needs weapons 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: And a significant show support by the presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, all traveling to the Ukrainian capital to meet with President Zelenskyy. They discussed aid for Ukraine, also offering to help investigate war crimes. Those war crime investigations have already begun in the city of Bucha as well as surrounding areas.
ITN's Dan Rivers went there to see firsthand the devastation Russian troops left behind. And a warning, the images you're about to see are very graphic. They're difficult to watch, but it's important to show them as investigators document potential war crimes.
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DAN RIVERS, ITN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If there is one place in Ukraine which has come to symbolize the barbarity of this war, it is Bucha. The images which emerged from this town gave the world its first glimpse into the terrible consequences of a conflict prosecuted without limits. Today, the drive into Bucha looks very different to those first hours after it was liberated, on the first of April.
This was the first evidence of the crimes perpetrated here. The bodies of civilians left decomposing where they fell.
[01:05:00]
For more than six weeks, the world's attention has focused on the horrors unfolding in Ukraine, in particular the town of Bucha to the west of Kyiv. We've investigated three separate atrocities in Bucha to give a sense of the widespread, indiscriminate murder being carried out by the Russian army. The first involves a man whose body was found at this mass grave next to St. Andrew's Church, where investigators are beginning to uncover the scale of the slaughter in Bucha during the nearly month long Russian occupation.
Volodymyr Steffianko (ph) is just one of dozens of relatives looking for answers. The number of bodies buried here is unknown, but it's thought there are at least 115. They were horridly interred here by locals, most were shot on the streets of Bucha. Now each has been carefully recovered for a full forensic examination.
We're with Volodymyr as he waits to find out if his brother Dimitro (ph) is among the dead. As the face of each is uncovered, suddenly the awful moment of recognition.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Close his eyes, my brother, over there, the fourth one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): The fourth one?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): The fourth one, or which one is it?
It was painful. I felt very sorry. I wanted to hold him, to close his eyes, to talk to him and then it was just tears and pain. What else? Hatred towards these Russians.
We accompany him to the place where his brother Dimitro (ph) was killed. We find an eyewitness who was there that day entertained moments later by the same group of half a dozen Russian soldiers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): They ran that way, and then they shot him and dragged him here. And here they shot him dead.
RIVERS (voice-over): Oleg's (ph) testimony matches the physical evidence here. We find a 7.62 shell casing from an RPK machine gun on the ground where Dimitro (ph) was executed. Bullet holes in the fence match Oleg's (ph) description of the shooting. Other neighbors here heard shots at around 10:30 on March the 26th, the day he disappeared.
Oleg (ph) h like recognizes the photo of Dimitro (ph) and confirms he was shot dead here. Adding another man who is with Dimitro (ph) managed to escape.
I asked Volodymyr (ph) if he feels he got closer to the truth about how his brother died.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Yes, yes. I have already got everything. I I'm just wondering when that guy ran away. Did my brother ask for help or just lie there thinking, "what will be will be"?
RIVERS (voice-over): Dimitr's murder was just one of possibly hundreds of similar summary executions. But a mile north of the place he died is a children's camp where there's evidence of more organized killing.
What you're about to see is a video recorded by the Ukrainian authorities after they first entered the basement of the building used by the Russians. Their hands bound, they appear to have been shot as they knelt on the floor. While the Russian government has accused Ukraine of faking massacres like this, we found several pieces of evidence pointing to Russian responsibility.
The children's camp was marked with a V, a symbol used by Russian forces to identify themselves. Russian ration packs lit at the entrance to the cellar. But inside, there are more clues.
(on-camera): You can see the bookmarks still in the wall here. The angle that the bullets came in, is coming down suggesting the person was standing over there and the victims were down here. There is actually a bullet down here which is a 545 caliber Kalashnikov bullet with a steel core, which is only issued to the military.
(voice-over): We were given access to this cellar because forensic teams have concluded their work.
[01:10:03]
The identities of the men found here have now been established. They were Sergei Miteshco (ph), Vladimir Pachenko (ph), Victor Progko (ph), Valerie Progko (ph), and Dimitro Shulmeister (ph).
Dimitro (ph) sister says he and four others refuse to flee, deciding to help others to escape Bucha until the Russians caught them.
TATIANA SHULMEISTER, SISTER OF DIMITRO (through translation): He lived a normal life, he was in his own house on his own land. Those animals, barbarians, showed up and took his life away. Why? What for?
RIVERS (voice-over): Two miles south of the children's camp is the site of another massacre, this time even larger. Outside an agricultural construction agency, the bodies of eight men were found near the steps to the side of the building. Three more were found elsewhere on the site.
This is the scene which investigators found. This man had his hands bound behind his back and his fingernails removed. One has electrical cable tied around his feet and has been beaten across the back. A military crate with the markings of the seventh paratroop unit was found close by. Inside the building was another body on a stairwell.
(on-camera): This is where some of the most harrowing images to emerge from Bucha were taken. The police have found eight bodies here and more inside. They don't know how many people were killed here in total. Forensic offices are continuing to comb this building for clues, but it appears this was some sort of torture center.
ANTON ONOPRIENKO, UKRAINIAN STATE SECURITY GUARD (through translation): It was one of their headquarters but they also executed people right here. They also used the place for filtration activities.
RIVERS (voice-over): By filtration activities, he means selecting which prisoners will be executed. We've identified one of the dead men found here as Anatoly Prohecco (ph), who was born in 1983. There may have been targeted because he was with Ukraine's territorial defense. A witness who saw his body told us his cheek had been cut out. There were multiple stab wounds on his torso, and he'd been shot through the chest.
PETRO NEVIRETS, KYIV PROSECUTORS OFFICE (through translation): As for the people executed here, most of them had their hands bound. That is a sign of torture.
RIVERS (voice-over): One man has spoken to us who saw heard and survived the massacre. Speaking for the first time but still too scared to show his identity. He says Russian soldiers were going house to house rounding up civilians to decide who to execute. He was only spared because he could prove he'd fought in Afghanistan as a Soviet soldier 40 years ago.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): I saw the first guy who was shot in his back and after him another two guys. I was put in another group, with some other people. Then they took 10 to 12 people they'd separated from the crowd and put their t-shirts over their heads, their hands were tied behind their backs, and took this group around the corner of the building and then the soldiers came back alone. I heard shooting and then the soldiers came back and all those people were killed.
RIVERS (voice-over): As the war crimes investigation starts, there are of course questions about whether these three cases were part of a wider campaign of orchestrated murder directed by senior leaders in Russia. Something I put to Ukraine's Prosecutor General.
(on-camera): Was this orchestrated or was this from just rogue units of the Russian?
IRYNA VENEDIKTOVA, UKRAINIAN PROSECUTOR GENERAL: Of course it was order to kill civilians because we see gunshots. That's why it's actually it was order. And what you see here in Bucha, small city, small religious worship are occupied in Kyiv region, actually, you see it's not on the war crimes, its crimes against humanity.
RIVERS (on-camera): To what extent does President Putin have responsibility for this?
VENEDIKTOVA: President Putin is a main war criminal of 21st century. Of course, he is responsible of all of these, what is going on now in Ukraine. But you remember that it was Chechnya and what is after Chechnya. It was in Georgia, it was in Syria, and he still are not responsible for all these crimes against humanity. That's why we should do everything to punish people who are responsible for this.
RIVERS (voice-over): The service to remember the victims of Bucha at St. Andrew's Church involves a choir, now a quarter of the size it used to be.
[01:15:07]
One has died, the others have fled. But the Russian occupation hasn't silenced those who remain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Forgiving those who before your eyes raped your children is very difficult and this road is long, this road is difficult.
RIVERS (voice-over): But while survivors search their souls for the strength to forgive, Bucha will never forget what happened here. And neither should we.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: A report from ITN's Dan Rivers. Thank you, Dan.
Now, Pete Layton is a visiting fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute. He is with us this is from Brisbane, Australia. Peter, thank you for taking the time to speak with us. The growing evidence of atrocities committed by Russian soldiers. If nothing else, it's now moving the needle, I guess, on the level of military assistance, which is being offered to Ukraine. I want you to listen to the Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby on this latest military package coming from the U.S. Here he is.
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JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Some of them are reinforcing capabilities that we have already been providing Ukraine, and some of them are new capabilities that we have not provided Ukraine. All of them are designed to help Ukraine as we talked about, help Ukraine in the fight that they are in right now. In the fight that they will be in coming days and weeks in the eastern part of the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That new capability we're talking about as heavy artillery as well as helicopters, there the Soviet era helicopters. But, you know, does this just demonstrate the futility of holding out, on, you know, supplying those heavy weapons in the first place? I mean, it's taken weeks, if not months to get to this point.
PETER LAYTON, VISITING FELLOW, GRIFFITH ASIA INSTITUTE: I think that you're right there. Unfortunately, it's taken. As you say, this is now the eighth week of the war. And it's taken a long time before governments around the world have decided to fully support the Ukraine. Initially speaking, of course, Ukraine was expected to fold relatively quickly. I think that -- to that was a view that was informed by an over optimistic view of the Russian army. All of that has fallen apart. And now we have the Ukraine clearly able to hold its own.
As they start giving the Ukrainian forces, more heavy weapons, the Ukrainians will be able to mount offensives as well. The Ukrainians are obviously very angry now as your previous segment there about Russian torture show. So the Ukrainian forces may be able to conduct offensive right up too and possibly into Russian territory. So there will be some nervousness about giving Ukraine to many offensive forces, let's say.
VAUSE: How significant though is this strike on a Russian warship, the Moskva which is in the Black Sea? It was hit by Neptune anti-ship missiles which are developed by the Ukrainians. I mean, if their side of the story is true and, you know, it appears that it is.
LAYTON: Yes, certainly the Neptune sounds like if you like a modern version of the Harpoon missile, that American made during the 1970s. So it's a small subsonic missile, and the ship was apparently hit by two missiles. The fact that the ship then caught fire and exploded and while most of the crew are believed to have left, the fact that the ship was in such a parlous state after any to two missiles hits, does further highlight that Russia's military forces are rundown and fairly poor in a relative sense.
It certainly shows that the Ukraine is still a difficult enemy. Bear in mind that the Neptune only entered service last month. So they have turned that into an offensive weapon and achieved remarkable success extraordinarily fast. That highlights I suppose that the West being a little bit --
VAUSE: So, I mean, (inaudible) the Russian side as well.
LAYTON: Yes.
VAUSE: Yes.
LAYTON: Sorry?
VAUSE: Sorry, a delay (INAUDIBLE). But I just want to -- the delay is a bit of a problem so I apologize. But I want to talk about the Russian convoys that we've seen. So let's say talking about the Russian military equipment here.
And when we look at these convoys, there's dollar tanks. There's a lot of heavy artillery. There doesn't seem to be fuel trucks. It doesn't pay a lot of supply trucks. There are a lot of APC, armored personnel carriers with soldiers on the outside, sitting around on the outside of those APC. So what does that say about where the Russians might be right now in terms of preparations for this offensive -- this long way to the offensive in the East?
[01:20:16] LAYTON: It suggests that they're possibly still up to one week away from it. Their offensive in East appears to be relatively limited in that they just trying to capture a bit more of the Donbas and join up the Donbas region and the Crimea. Everyday gives the Ukrainian forces time of course to reconstitute also. So, I would suggest that the Russian forces will again have a very difficult time pushing the Ukrainians out.
VAUSE: Peter, thanks so much. We really appreciate you being with us. Peter Layton there in Brisbane, in my home town. Thank you, sir. Thanks for your time.
LAYTON: Thanks, John. Cheers.
VAUSE: Ahead this hour, possibly another major miscalculation by the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Finland, Sweden now could be just weeks away from a decision on joining NATO.
Also ahead, the New York City subway shooting, suspect down in police custody. Our intense manhunt for the alleged gunman came to an unexpected end.
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[01:25:27]
BRUNHUBER: The New York City subway shooting suspect is due in federal court in the coming hours. He was arrested Wednesday shortly after apparently calling in a tip about himself to police. Brynn Gingras has more on what we're learning about the alleged gunman.
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BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The gunman in the Brooklyn subway attack now in police custody.
ERIC ADAMS, NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: 33 shots, but less than 30 hours later, we're able to say we got it.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Sources telling CNN, 62-year-old Frank James reported himself to police by calling Crimestoppers. Police later spotted him walking on a Manhattan Street.
KEECHANT SEWELL, NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER: He was taken into custody without incident and has been transported to an NYPD facility. He will be charged with committing yesterday's appalling crime in Brooklyn.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Authorities say it was James who set off smoke canisters and opened fire into a crowded subway car Tuesday morning.
SEWELL: We used every resource at our disposal to gather and process significant evidence that directly links Mr. James to the shooting. We were able to shrink his world quickly. There was nowhere left for him to run. GINGRAS (voice-over): Investigators determined the gun found at the scene of the attack was purchased by James in Ohio in 2011. Elevating him from a person of interest to a suspect. Keys found at the crime scene led police to the U-Haul van, investigators say James rented in Philadelphia, leading police to a storage facility and apartment there filled with ammunition.
His motive in the attack still unclear. But investigators have pointed to repeated chilling rants by James on his YouTube account. The latest video posted on Monday where he talked about committing violence.
FRANK JAMES, NYC SUBWAY SHOOTING SUSPECT: I've been (INAUDIBLE) where I could say I wanted to kill people. I wanted to watch people die right in front of my (INAUDIBLE) face immediately. But I thought about the fact, hey man, I don't want to go in the prison.
GINGRAS (voice-over): James also advocating for mass shootings on social media.
JAMES: We maybe see more mass shootings. Yes, you mean does that? No. You see more. That's the more mass shootings. To make (INAUDIBLE) understand this you're going, you're going, you're going down? It's not, no, it's not about the shooter. No, it's not about the shooter. It's about the environment in which he is -- he has to exist.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Other videos included James claiming he had post-traumatic stress and more rants about race, homeless people and the policies of Mayor Eric Adams.
ADAMS: We are watching signs around us of those who are leaning toward violent actions and we are ignoring them. Why aren't we identifying these dangerous threats? Why aren't we being more proactive instead of waiting for this to happen?
GINGRAS (voice-over): Before James has gun jam during the shooting, 10 people were shot and more than a dozen others were injured.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll never ride the train again.
GINGRAS (voice-over): All are expected to recover physically, but the mental toll of the attack will likely weigh on the victims and everyday New Yorkers for some time.
SEWELL: We hope this arrest brings some solace to the victims and the people of the city of New York.
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GINGRAS: James now in federal custody, and there's still a lot of work that's being done behind the scene. Investigators are still going through all of his social media also sifting through all the evidence that they have collected, seeing if they can bring even more charges against him or maybe even zero in on a motive. That single federal charge is against him at the moment and he will be in court on Thursday.
Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.
BRUNHUBER: Putin's bullying backfires as Sweden and Finland edge closer to joining NATO. We'll look at how the invasion of Ukraine prompted renewed talks and serious consideration when we come back. Stay with us.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back everybody. 33 minutes past the hour.
Of all the alleged Russian atrocities exposed so far here in Ukraine, of all the heartache, all the loss, all the people are being killed, loss of life, the anguish of one mother for her child seems to reflect what is a grief of an entire nation. The boy's body was found in a well in a village west of Kyiv after Russian forces have retreated.
Now, a warning, the video of the mother at the scene is disturbing and it's really hard to watch.
(VIDEO OF MOTHER AS DEAD SON WAS FOUND IN A WELL.)
VAUSE: She identified her son by his shoes -- his shoes. She is crying out, "My little boy, my little son." She knew his shoes. A second body was also found in that well.
Well, "genocide" is a loaded word with specific legal definition. So when the U.S. president Joe Biden used it to describe the Russian atrocities in Ukraine, diplomats were taken aback. The White House says Mr. Biden was speaking to what everyone has seen but did not signal a shift in U.S. policy.
[01:34:52]
VAUSE: Despite the horrors already documented, not all European leaders are actually comfortable using that term. Among them, the French President Emmanuel Macron. Here he is explaining why.
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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 is happening now is madness. It is of an extraordinary brutality. It is the return of war to Europe, but at the same time, I will look at the facts. I want to try my best to continue to be able to stop this war and rebuild peace. I am not sure the escalation of words serve the cause.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Vladimir Putin has made no secret about his concerns about an ongoing expansion of NATO. But if the invasion of Ukraine was meant to act as a warning for European nations not to join the alliance, put that down as another miscalculation.
As CNN's Anna Stewart reports, non-aligned Sweden and Finland now just weeks away from a decision on whether or not they will apply for membership.
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ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Stirred by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, rumblings of a momentous geopolitical shift in Europe. War now uniting the west against Moscow as NATO's military alliance may receive new membership and move closer to Russia's doorstep.
Standing side by side in Stockholm Wednesday, the prime ministers of Finland and Sweden say they are strongly considering joining NATO.
MAGDALENA ANDERSSON, SWEDISH PRIME MINISTER: Even though our respective security choices are independent, it is up to every country to decide for themselves, who do depend on each other in our deep security cooperation.
SANNA MARIN, FINNISH PRIME MINISTER: There is no other way to have security guarantees than under NATO's deterrence and common defense as guaranteed by NATO's Article 5.
STEWART: The benefits of collective defense growing more appealing to both Sweden and Finland. NATO's Article 5 states an attack against one ally is considered an attack against all allies ensuring members would come to one another's defense should they be invaded.
If the two countries join, NATO's land border with Russia would double, adding more than 1,300 kilometers along the Finnish perimeter. That would likely enrage Russia, potentially triggering a backlash as Kremlin officials repeatedly warn against expanding NATO.
DMITRY PESKOV, KREMLIN PRESS SECRETARY: The alliance remains a tool geared towards confrontation. It's not the kind of alliance which ensures peace and stability, and its further expansion will not bring more security to Europe.
STEWART But Russia's attempt to disrupt NATO appear to be backfiring. Instead, Moscow's aggression has led to a dramatic shift in public sentiment particularly in Finland where support for joining NATO jumped up to 68 percent according to a recent poll by private broadcaster MTV.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You never know what Russia is going to do. So I think that should be -- if it is not NATO, something has to be done to make our lives safer here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Russia has shown their two faces. I think we should join NATO.
STEWART: Finland's prime minister says parliament is expected to make a decision on the coming weeks. While Sweden is anticipated to finish reviewing its security policy by the end of next month.
It is possible that by June, both countries could be seeking membership in NATO, expanding an alliance against Russia as its brutal war in Ukraine rages on.
Anna Stewart, CNN.
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VAUSE: A lot more from Lviv at the top of the hour. But let's go back to the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. Kim is standing by there with the rest of today's news. Hey, Kim.
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: John, thanks so much.
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, and also widespread power outages. Rescue workers have been working to evacuate the effected communities.
Well, this year's first major tropical storm in the Philippines has killed at least 76 people and that includes 22 who were buried under a landslide in the city of Baybay. Almost 30 other people are missing. And officials say 8 are injured.
The storm slammed the Philippines Sunday with wind gusts as high as 50 miles per hour or 80 kilometers an hour. It affected more than 900,000 people, including about 200,000 who had to evacuate.
[01:39:50]
BRUNHUBER: Well, Boris Johnson has become the first British prime minister caught breaking the law while in office. He's paid his fine and wants to move past party-gate, but will the British public forgive and forget?
We'll look at that when we come back. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: China is struggling to contain the surge of the ultra contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus. A new report shows at least 44 Chinese cities are now under full or partial lockdowns due to COVID. Now despite China's zero COVID policy it's logged more than 350,000 new infections since early last month, most of them in Shanghai which is enduring the country's most severe lockdown.
There's new fallout from the party-gate scandal, the British justice minister has resigned in protest at what he called repeated rule breaking and criminal breaches at Downing Street.
[01:45:00] BRUNHUBER: Now, this comes a day after London police issued dozens of fines over illegal parties in government buildings during COVID lockdowns. The prime minister has already apologized and paid his fine, but this will leave a stain on his legacy.
CNN's Nada Bashir explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The first British prime minister found to have broken the law while in office. That now forever a part of Boris Johnson's legacy, after he, his wife Carrie, and chancellor Rishi Sunak were issued a symbolic 50-pound fine or $65, by London's Metropolitan Police for breaking COVID-19 regulations.
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: On the day that happened to be my birthday, there was a brief gathering in the cabinet room, shortly after 2:00 p.m. lasting for less than ten minutes. Let me say immediately that I've paid the fine, and I once again offer a full apology.
BASHIR: More than 50 fines have been issued to government personnel following a probe into what's become known as the party-gate scandal. Gatherings at 10 Downing Street and other government offices held despite strict COVID regulations put in place by Johnson's own government.
The prime minister repeatedly assured parliament that no such gatherings took place.
JOHNSON: All guidance was followed completely during Number 10.
I have repeatedly assured since these allegations emerged that there was no party, and that no COVID rules were broken.
BASHIR: But the truth eventually caught up with him.
JOHNSON: I want to say sorry.
BASHIR: A 12 page report published in January detailed an investigation of 16 gatherings that occurred across an 11-month period when the country was under strict COVID restrictions and found that such gatherings represented a serious failure on the part of government personnel.
All the while, the British people were under strict COVID rules put in place by the government. Hundreds dying on a daily basis. An all-too- familiar reality for frontline Dr. Saleyha Ahsan, who not only cared for countless COVID patients in intensive care, but also lost her own father to the virus.
DR. SALEYHA AHSAN, COVID-19 BEREAVED FAMILIES FOR JUSTICE: I feel vindicated. But not fully. because we now have someone who is in the highest office in the country having broken the rules that they set everyone else to abide by. So I feel that his position is untenable. BASHIR: Calls for the prime minister to resign have been reignited. As
have questions over whether Johnson knowingly misled the British people, and indeed parliament.
And while Johnson may have hoped the Russian invasion of Ukraine would provide ample distraction for what has become a divisive topic in the U.K., new revelations around the party-gate scandal may shift the focus away from Johnson's statesmanship, and more towards his moral authority with many questioning why it's one rule for the British public and another for the prime minister.
Nada Bashir, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: The rule that kept migrants out of the U.S. is about to expire. A look at what that means for these migrants and what they're up against as they look for a better life in America.
Stay with us.
[01:48:28]
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BRUNHUBER: The governor of Texas is sending a message to the U.S. President. If you let the migrants in, you have to deal with them. The migrants, who are in Texas, awaiting immigration proceedings, took Governor Greg Abbott up on his offer to bus them to Washington.
Abbott has long been a critic of President Biden's border policy. He said his administration should be able to meet their needs.
After being dropped off near the U.S. capital, the migrants told CNN, they were treated well on the bus. Critics call it a stunt by Abbott who is running for reelection this year.
Now, the immigration problem in Texas is about to get worse, thousands of people are waiting just over the Mexican border to get into the U.S. next month. That's when Title 42 expires. It's a Trump era rule that kept asylum seekers out of the country due to COVID restrictions.
As Rosa Flores reports, for those asylum seekers life in the waiting can be tough.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SISTER NORMA PIMENTEL: It's amazing. Look at all these papers. It's a life. Every single one of them.
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Sister Norma Pimentel visits migrants in Reynosa, Mexico every week, where she says more than 7,000 of the tens of thousands along the entire border, U.S. officials say, have been waiting --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- more than seven months FLORES: -- for the lifting of Title 42.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: More than eight months.
FLORES: That's the pandemic public health order that is set to end next month. For the last two years, Title 42 has allowed U.S. immigration agents to swiftly expel more than 1.7 million migrants to Mexico including everyone here.
(on camera): What are you afraid of?
They all say that they're afraid of kidnappings.
(voice over): Since Biden has been in office, Human Rights First has identified nearly 10,000 cases of kidnapping, torture, rape or other violent attacks on people blocked or expelled to Mexico under Title 42.
The migrants here feel blessed to live within the walls of faith-based shelter. But capacity is only 1,200 Sister Norma says.
With an additional 3,000 migrants living here in a dangerous plaza turned tent city.
PIMENTEL: The people at the plaza are in great danger.
FLORES: To meet demand, Sister Norma shows us how the faith-based shelter that she helps fund is expanding to a second location.
(on camera): What is capacity going to be here?
PIMENTEL: I'm hoping we can hold up to 3,000 people.
[01:54:58]
FLORES (voice over): It's being built by migrants themselves, including this woman who for her safety, we will call Nora.
(on camera): You're emotional. Tell me about that.
(voice over): Nora says she fled Honduras after her daughter was kidnapped and beaten. She said she's been at the border for one year, waiting for Title 42 to be lifted. And recently she had seen Ukrainians arrive at the border and swiftly be allowed to enter the U.S.
(on camera): She says that she's not opposed to Ukrainians entering the U.S. being exempt from Title 42 because she understands that their country is in war.
(voice over): As the end of Title 42 approaches for these migrants --
(on camera): -- whose destination is the United States?
(voice over): They write their desperate pleas for help on little pieces of paper for Sister Norma. PIMENTEL: Here's another one.
FLORES: Hoping for an end to life in limbo.
Rosa Flores, CNN -- Reynosa, Mexico.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: I'm Kim Brunhuber at CNN Center in Atlanta.
Our coverage continues with John Vause in Ukraine and Rosemary Church here in Atlanta after the break. Please do stay with us.
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