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Ukraine: Body Count Near Kyiv Nearly 1,000; U.S. Confirms Moskva Sunk by Ukrainian Missiles; Russia's War Worsening Food Shortages; South Africa Flooding Death Toll Rises to 395; Drumbeat of War Echoes through Good Friday Services; Ukrainian Military to Compete in Invictus Games; U.S. to Accept 100,000 Ukrainian Refugees; Family of Patrick Lyoya Demands Justice; Twitter Board Keeping Musk at Bay. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired April 16, 2022 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause, in Lviv, Ukraine.
This country has been pleading for weeks, more advanced, most powerful weapons from NATO and allies. Now as Russia prepares for a new offensive in Eastern Ukraine, the first U.S. shipment due to arrive within hours.
Among those, MI-17 helicopters, which were specifically requested by Ukraine's president. Moscow this week formally protested the shipments, threatened "unpredictable consequences" if they continue.
Some within the Biden administration believes this indicates Russia's military is hurting after almost two months of this conflict.
Retreating Russian forces around the capital, Kyiv, is allowing Ukrainian authorities to finally see the full scope of Russia's brutal occupation. A warning: the images you're about to see are disturbing and graphic.
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VAUSE (voice-over): The national police report more than 900 civilian bodies, 900, have been recovered so far in areas surrounding the capital. Some show signs of torture before being shot, often in the back of the head.
Besides discovering mass graves and bodies down wells, there are a number of victims buried under tons of rubble left by Russian shelling. The extent of civilian casualties across Ukraine may not be known for many weeks, if ever.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: Over the last 24 hours, the city of Mykolaiv appears to be the target of multiple Russian attacks. Local officials say Russian artillery fired cluster munitions into residential areas, killing at least five and wounding dozens. CNN's Ed Lavandera is there.
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ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The cluster of explosions jolted this residential neighborhood in Mykolaiv Friday morning.
Witnesses say some people were walking their dogs in a park at the time. One of the munitions struck just feet away from an orthodox church.
You can see the impact spot of one of the munitions that went off this morning. As you look around here, you can see the impact and the damage done to this church here as well.
Multiple people were killed and more than a dozen others injured. Paramedics treated victims on the scene.
Across the street, under the shattered windows of an apartment building, this man told us, he help drag two injured people into a store for safety.
YURI ZAYTSEV, MYKOLAIV RESIDENT (through translator): The noise. The noise of a rocket flying and explosions, that's what I saw and heard when I was in the shop. People ran into the store and I saw people scared. I saw people dropping to the ground from explosions.
LAVANDERA: The sounds of explosions inside the city started around mid- morning and appeared to strike at least three different locations.
Mykolaiv authorities released this video of a private home burning after a rocket strike.
Mykolaiv strikes come as residents in southern Ukraine are worried about Russian retaliation for the sinking of the Moskva warship in the Black Sea and Russia's renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine.
In recent days, CNN has witnessed long convoys of families fleeing Russian- occupied areas near Mykolaiv. This bombing struck a densely populated area.
Galina Mironchuk says she was brushing her hair when the bomb landed just outside her apartment window. The blast shattered the glass and shattered her sense of peace.
Did you think something was going to happen to you?
I didn't think of anything, she tells me. I thought that was the end of the world.
The recent attacks have also crippled parts of the city's infrastructure. The water has been out for three days, forcing hundreds of people to get water from a river and natural spring. This man evacuated his mother and plans to stay in the city to fight off the Russians.
How worried are you that the Russians are getting closer?
It worries me a lot, he tells me. That's why I sent my mother away. That's why we are getting ready. We are still working. But if the Russians are close, I will fight them.
For now, residents are left to clean up the bloody aftermath and brace for the next attack -- Ed Lavandera, CNN, Mykolaiv, Ukraine.
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VAUSE: In an exclusive interview with CNN, Ukraine's president spoke about the sinking of the Russian warship the Moskva, saying it would reduce Russia's military capability but he would not go into detail about how they were able to sink the pride of the Russian navy.
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VAUSE: He also explained about the heartache he feels about Ukrainians facing the senseless deaths of loved ones.
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JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: The Russian warship, the Moskva, that one that Ukrainian soldiers told to F off, sank. The Russians say and the Russians are liars but the Russians say it sank on its own.
Can you offer some clarity and evidence as to what happened to that ship?
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We know that it does not exist anymore. For us, it was a strong weapon against our country.
So it's sinking is not a tragedy for us. I want you and the rest of the people to realize that. The least weapons the Russian Federation that attack our country has, the better for us, the less capable they are. This is important. And about what happened to it, the history will tell.
TAPPER: Do you have any idea how many Ukrainian soldiers or Ukrainian civilians have been killed?
ZELENSKYY (through translator): I know. I know about --
TAPPER: How many?
ZELENSKYY (through translator): As of now, based on the information we have, because it's very difficult to talk about civilians since the south of our country where the towns and cities are blocked, Kherson, Berdyansk, Mariupol, further east, the area to the east, where Volnovakha is. We just don't know how many people have died in that area that is blocked.
Let's take Volnovakha as an example. Volnovakha as other towns are empty, they are all destroyed. There are no people there. So it's difficult to talk about it now.
As to our military, out of the numbers we have, we think that we lost 2,500 to 3,000. In comparison to the Russian military who lost about 19,000 to 20,000.
That's the comparison. But we have about 10,000 injured and it is hard to say how many will survive.
TAPPER: I'm sure you've seen the video of the Ukrainian mom finding her son, her sorrow, her crying. It is devastating to hear. And you have seen a lot of videos out there. What is it like for you as the president of this country to see those videos, to hear the crying of the moms?
ZELENSKYY (through translator): This is the scariest I've seen in my life in principle. I look at this first of all as a father. It hurts so, so much.
It's a tragedy. It is suffering. I won't be able to imagine the scale of suffering for these people, of this woman. It is a family's tragedy. It's a disaster.
It's the dreams and the life you just lost. We live for our kids. That's true. Kids are the best we were given by God and by family. It is a great pain for me.
I can't watch it as a father, I know because all you want after this is revenge and to kill. I have to watch as the president of the state where a lot of people have died and lost their loved ones and there are millions of people who want to live. All of us want to fight but we all have to do our best for this war, not to be endless.
The longer it is, the more we will lose. All these losses will be just like that one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That's just part of Jake Tapper's exclusive interview with President Zelenskyy.
The war in Ukraine now prompting an urgent plea from organizations like the IMF and the World Food Programme. They say urgent, coordinated action is needed now. According to the U.N., world food prices jumped to their highest level ever in March.
Keep this in mind: the World Food Programme says both Ukraine and Russia are responsible for nearly 30 percent of the global wheat output. So geopolitical events like war, pandemics, global supply chain issues all make it harder to access food.
The threat is the highest for poorer countries, with a large share of consumption from food imports. [02:10:00]
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VAUSE: We are joined by David Beasley, the executive director of the World Food Programme.
Thank you for coming in. You just got back from Kyiv. I wonder right now -- we'll get to the crisis on the food in a moment -- what did you see in Bucha?
What are your impressions?
And why go there?
DAVID BEASLEY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WFP: You know, 80 percent of our operations are in war zones. We're used to seeing destruction and war. But what I saw in Bucha was just horrifying.
You can understand that tanks have been blown up and exploded. But when you see homes -- I walked into an orphanage that was completely decimated. And around there were unexploded land mines -- oh, don't walk there. You may hit a land mine.
Why in the world would this be happening in residential neighborhoods?
You just can't believe this is taking place.
VAUSE: It is horrendous what has been happening. What is also horrendous is what is about to happen. We all know this crisis is coming, a crisis with world food supply. If nothing is done, it will be a catastrophe.
What are you hearing?
Is there any movement around the world, world leaders, donors, whatever, trying to fix this crisis of food availability?
BEASLEY: Yes. Everybody talks about the unpredictability of what will happen in Ukraine with the military offensive. I can tell what you what is predictable, we're going to have a very serious global food crisis over the next 12 months.
Ukraine and Russia alone produce 30 percent of the world's wheat, 20 percent of the world's corn, 75-80 percent of cooking oil, like sunflower cooking oil; 50 percent of the wheat we buy, of the grains that we buy to feed 125 million people around the world, comes from inside Ukraine alone.
In Ukraine, the farmers inside this nation, who are now on the battlefronts, not in the fields, produce enough food to feed 400 million people. So when you compound that with fuel prices going up, commodity prices going up, shipping prices going up, you can see an immediate crisis and a long-term crisis.
VAUSE: So when you go to European capitals, you speak to European leaders and in the U.S. and elsewhere, do you explain this is a crisis that will affect their countries as well?
It is in their own interests to do something now.
BEASLEY: I say you need to address these issues in Ukraine. But if you don't, let me explain what will be in your national security interests. Here's what is about to happen.
This is not just one or two things. We have a compounding dynamic of many factors converging into a perfect storm right now, as we speak, from droughts in the Midwest in the United States, droughts in the Horn of Africa, droughts in China.
And you start adding all these factors together. You begin to realize, we've got a catastrophe on top of a catastrophe. It is one thing if we don't get the grain to reach 125 million we reach but this is going to affect 7.8 billion people on planet Earth.
VAUSE: Is it possible for countries like Canada, Australia, the U.S., big grain producers, to compensate for the losses here?
BEASLEY: That's what I'm talking to them about now. As I explain the reality we're facing, if we can't get the ports open in Ukraine, like in Odessa area, if we can't get the ports open -- because we've got 30 million metric tons of grains and foods stuck right now in the Black Sea.
If we can open that up, that will alleviate a lot of pressure, notwithstanding the farmers not being in the fields that will impact global food security. But what I'm asking the leaders around the world to do now, you have to evaluate every available piece of land you've got your country to offset the diminished productivity and harvesting that will take place.
And I don't think it is a likelihood; it is pretty much a guarantee. You're going to have a major decrease in production.
VAUSE: You been asking the billionaires, the Elon Musks and the Jeff Bezoses, they've made so much money that they could afford to spare a few billion. There is a lot of billions sitting in frozen assets owned by oligarchs and the Russian president and the Russian Federation itself.
Can you get access to that?
BEASLEY: Well, we would love access to whatever we could get right now, that or those who've made lot of money during the height of COVID. They made an average of $5.2 billion net increase per day during COVID.
I need about two days' worth of your net worth increase to alleviate these problems.
If we don't get the monies we need, it is not just that people in Ukraine will suffer or people in the Sahel, what will happen, you will have starvation. You'll have destabilization of several nations. And you're going to have mass migration. It will cost a thousand times more than if we could get in it advance.
There's $430 trillion of wealth on Earth today.
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BEASLEY: There's no reason a single child should starve to death.
VAUSE: Give us a number.
How much?
BEASLEY: Worldwide, about $6 billion to $8 billion more.
VAUSE: That's a drop in the bucket for a lot of these people.
BEASLEY: Yes, it's a couple days of their net worth increase.
What's the problem here?
VAUSE: Yes, good point. Thank you very much.
BEASLEY: Thank you. Appreciate it.
VAUSE: We will take a short break. When we come back, South African officials are calling this week's severe weather along the east coast one of the worst storm in the country's history. Kim Brunhuber will talk with a local official about the growing death toll and the destruction.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Hello, I'm Kim Brunhuber. Thank you for joining us here.
The death toll from severe flooding along South Africa's east coast this week has risen to 395. Over 40,000 people have been affected. Have a look here.
These images are from the city of Durban, one of the hardest hit areas. Officials are scrambling to repair damaged infrastructure. Forecasters warn more rain and damaging winds are expected in the region through Saturday evening.
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BRUNHUBER: For more on this, let's bring in Malcolm Canham, a senior official with the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, which includes the city of Durban. He joins us now from Durban.
Thank you for being here with us. I've lived in South Africa. I've never seen anything like this before. Just put what is happening right now in context for us. MALCOLM CANHAM, ETHEKWINI METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY: Thank you for
inviting me to communicate with you on this important matter that has affected not only our metro but our province.
For Americans, it is a state in your geography. We've had four or five days of intensive rain. It was caused by a flow set off just over the municipality. We had lots of inundation. So the ground, the water table was already fairly high.
In addition, the water that came from the sky as such, caused lots of softness of the soil and, subsequently, many landslides. We've seen across the board, this is the first time we've seen such bad devastation.
It has been landslide, landslip, one after the other. And with that is not only just arterial roads and major routes closed to traffic, we've had washaways of formal and informal dwellings and, consequently, displacement as we've never seen before.
You mentioned 40,000. We presume it will escalate, given that we haven't been able to access all the areas; the reason being that we've had so many landslips and some of the areas are still inaccessible.
May I add that it caused major infrastructural damage. So our supply of water and our supply of electricity has been hampered. Again, in order to get to the points where there has been damage, one has to stabilize the soil in order to undertake repair.
So the disaster just caused by the rain has been compounded now by the infrastructural impact and in the lack of supply to residents.
We know that the --
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BRUNHUBER: Let me jump in, if you wouldn't mind. I want to get to some of the human stories. Too often we interpret these disasters through the math, the number of dead, the cost of the damage.
But so many lives here have been shattered; family members right now missing, children have lost their lives.
What hit you the most about what you've seen on the ground?
CANHAM: Well, I think the issue is very personal. Everybody knows of somebody who has been affected, either through loss of life or by being displaced and loss of all their goods. So there are very harrowing tales which cut to the heart when one listens to what has happened on the ground.
Families wiped out; five in a family at one go; 10 in a family; bodies that have not yet been recovered because they are covered with the mounds of soil and to find them is an arduous task.
The issues we have, 111 wards on our municipality. Each has been similarly affected. To prioritize one over the other is a very difficult task to do, when residents on the ground are calling for assistance.
So it is the loss of life that has been the worst. And the case of a father, who would refuse to leave his young son, carried him all the way up the hill until the service system, mortuary services could come collect him.
And he got into the back of the van with him to make sure that the other deceased people in the van would not fall onto his son. So he traveled the whole journey just to protect his son, not only through life but also in death, harrowing stories.
BRUNHUBER: Gosh, just absolutely heart-breaking to hear stories like that. And, unfortunately, there are so many of them. We have to leave it there, unfortunately, but we wish you the best of luck in dealing with the recovery in this horrible tragedy, which will take months, if not years to fully recover from.
Malcolm Canham in Durban, South Africa, thank you so much.
CANHAM: Thank you.
BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll take a short break. We'll take you back to John Vause live in Lviv for more of our coverage of the war in Ukraine. Stay with us.
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VAUSE: Welcome back. I'm John Vause, live in Lviv, Ukraine.
Ukrainians continue to leave their homes as Russia steps up the attacks in Eastern Ukraine. This number from the U.N. keeps ticking upwards. It is the number of Ukrainians who have left the country. It now stands at more than 4.7 million people. Another 7 million are internally displaced.
That's almost 12 million people have left their homes. That's about a quarter of the country, a quarter of the population.
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VAUSE: According to the Ukrainian government, nine military corridors were opened on Friday. But increasing Russian attacks are making it difficult for civilians to leave the areas where the fighting is ticking upwards.
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OKSANA POKALCHUK, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL UKRAINE: The situation is really quite challenging because there are problems with evacuation on each stage. The roads are broken. They are damaged. There are shell fire and ongoing airstrikes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is live at the Poland-Ukraine border.
You've seen these Ukrainians crossing almost nonstop, it seems, this city exodus of Ukrainians trying to find safety and shelter.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. But what I want to show is that the traffic goes back and forth. It goes two ways. Take a look behind me.
You can see there, it is for lorries. There is also a section for regular cars. What we're looking at -- and we'll just pan around to show you -- it is an hours-long line of vehicles, of cars; cars with families that are going back, many to the western part of Ukraine, where they feel relatively safe to go back.
You're also looking at what are humanitarian convoys going across, bringing aid. You will see the vans, those big vans, they are going back and forth ferrying people. This is an extremely busy border.
There are border crossings, border cars, checking them. And people wait for hours to go back into Ukraine. And that's significant. It means, yes, you still have this population flowing out of the country, particularly from the east.
But it does mean many who come from the west of Ukraine are feeling a bit more safe to go back home.
VAUSE: We'll get back to Salma in a moment, it seems.
Yes.
Salma, we lost you there for the end. But we kind of get the idea that there is a lot of traffic there. And it is not all one direction. There are people heading back, mostly to the west. Salma, thank you for that. We appreciate it.
If you would like to help people in Ukraine, they need shelter, food, water. Please to go cnn.com/impact. There are a number of ways to help out and you can be sure your money is going to where they need it the most and it will get there.
Some breaking news coming into CNN: the Kyiv mayor, Vitali Klitschko, reporting that the Ukrainian capital came under fire this morning. In a statement, he says, there were explosions in a district on the outskirts of the city, adding that rescuers and medics are currently on the scene.
There are no reports of casualties as of yet. We'll bring you the details as soon as they become available. But we do know the Russians had threatened renewed attacks on the capital, Kyiv, in retaliation for the sinking of the Moskva, the flagship in the Black Sea of the Russian navy. When we come back, tensions are high in Jerusalem after violence
breaks out at the al-Aqsa mosque compound. Kim Brunhuber, my colleague, will bring that you story and more. You're watching CNN. Back in a moment.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back. I'm Kim Brunhuber.
The war in Ukraine is casting a shadow on Holy Week activities. Pope Francis presided over a somber service at St. Peter's Basilica on Good Friday, which commemorates the death of Jesus on the cross.
Some Ukrainian Catholics objected to the Vatican inviting both Ukrainians and Russians to participate in the Way of the Cross procession, calling it "inopportune." The planned recital was scrapped for several minutes of silence. The pope added his own final prayer. Listen to this.
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POPE FRANCIS, PONTIFF, ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): Allow adversaries to shake hands so they can taste the mutual forgiveness, to disarm the hand raised by a brother against a brother, so that concord can spring from where there is now hate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The pope has been outspoken of his criticism over Russia's actions against Ukraine.
Jerusalem is on edge after clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound. Palestinians say more than 150 people were injured by Israeli security forces on Friday.
Israeli police say they made more than 300 arrests inside the mosque but only entered the compound because those throwing rocks were jeopardizing safe worship.
Taiwan is condemning military drills by Beijing taking place as U.S. lawmakers visit the island. A bipartisan U.S. delegation made an unannounced to meet Taiwan's president and defense minister on Friday.
This as China has conducted joint combat readiness drills around Taiwan, which Beijing says were in response to, quote, "wrongful signs of support for Taiwan by the U.S."
All right. To Sri Lanka, where there are fears the entire health system could collapse because of the worst economic crisis in decades. Protests have been taking place over the past few days, even as they welcome in the Senegalese new year.
Demonstrators punctured the festivities with repeated calls for the president to resign. Many across Sri Lanka are struggling to find not only medicine but other basic supplies, like food and gas.
A tournament that celebrates the endurance of the human spirit itself will welcome members of the Ukraine military this weekend in a powerful display of solidarity.
The Invictus Games, founded by Prince Harry, was born on the idea of resilience. They compete in a wide range of sports, like rowing, archery and wheelchair basketball. This year's event in the Netherlands will see Ukrainian athletes taking part.
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BRUNHUBER: Many of whom were on the front lines days ago. President Zelenskyy has given his full support, saying he believes the competitors will make Ukraine proud.
South Korea plans to lift most of its COVID restrictions on Monday, as cases continue to decrease and hospitalizations remain stable.
On the 25th, bans on eating in public places will end. And then if the cases stay low, indoor and outdoor mask mandates will be lifted. But the measures will stay in place for places like hospitals.
I'm Kim Brunhuber. Thanks for joining us. For our international viewers, "MARKETPLACE MIDDLE EAST" is next. If you're joining us from North America, I'll be back with more news after a short break. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: A U.S. government source said, for weeks, unaccompanied minors from Ukraine have been entering the U.S. at the southern border. The source tells us that minors fly into Mexico and then make their way to the U.S. border. Though relatives in the U.S. may meet them in Mexico if they try to cross the borders without their parents, they're considered unaccompanied.
In a statement, the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Office says it will care for the minors until they're released to a sponsor.
This comes as the Biden administration plans to roll out a program to accept Ukrainian refugees in the U.S. It would expedite the process for 100,000 fleeing to come to the U.S. They would need sponsors while in the U.S.
But Ukrainians aren't the only people trying to get through the U.S. -- to the U.S. from Mexico. One migrant fleeing Honduras says all migrants should be treated the same.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): They should let us in because we're also fleeing. It is different what we're running from. But it is still a war, a war against gangs.
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BRUNHUBER: Texas governor Greg Abbott has signed agreements with four Mexican state governors on border security. The plan is to enhance security measures on the Mexican side, which will scale back commercial vehicle inspections at the border crossing.
And that would ease the logjam we've been seeing lately. This starts as Abbott started sending migrants to Washington, D.C. and protests at the end of the COVID restriction the blocked most asylum seekers from entering the U.S. Priscilla Alvarez was there with those making the journey.
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PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Buses carrying migrants have started to arrive to Washington, D.C., from Texas. This is part of an action by Texas governor Greg Abbott in rebuke of President Biden's immigration policies and, more recently, the termination of a public health authority known as Title 42.
That was an authority that was used on the U.S.-Mexico border over the course of the pandemic to turn migrants away.
I spoke to migrants, who arrived to Washington, D.C., this week and they said it was a long journey of over 30 hours. They were provided food and water. And they are now moving on to their next destination in the United States.
These are migrants who have been processed by immigration authorities and are now allowed to be in the United States while they go through their immigration proceedings.
Texas governor Abbott said in a statement, Texas should not have to bear the burden of the Biden administration's failure to secure the border.
Of course, it is Texas taxpayers who are paying for these buses. The White House and the Department of Homeland Security have reiterated, these are migrants allowed to be in the United States while they go through the proceedings.
This is all part of an ongoing feud between the Biden administration and Texas as the state digs in on immigration -- Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: New York is honoring a group of city workers, who helped saved lives Tuesday, during the subway attack in Brooklyn. On Friday, the mayor joined other officials virtually to recognize the subway and bus operators with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Here's more from the mayor.
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MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D-NY), NEW YORK CITY: Your actions were indicative of what is great about the service that you deliver every day in general but, specifically, the service you deliver during times of crisis.
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BRUNHUBER: In addition to those heroes, five people will share a combined $50,000 reward for providing critical information that led to the arrest of the shooting suspect. Officials blame 62-year-old Frank James of shooting 10 people in the attack and committing multiple other crimes.
There have been more protests in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and more expected today. The demonstrations have been peaceful and come as the family of a Black unarmed man was shot and killed during a traffic stop, called for the officer to be prosecuted. Omar Jimenez has more from Michigan.
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DORCAS LYOYA, MOTHER OF PATRICK LYOYA (through translator): I'm really deeply hurt and wounded.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The parents of 26-year- old Patrick Lyoya speaking publicly through their pastor for the first time since police released video of their son being killed.
D. LYOYA (through translator): I think about him every time. And I still cannot believe that my son died.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): The family came to the United States, to flee war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
[02:50:00]
JIMENEZ (voice-over): But it was in the United States that a bullet killed her son. The father still remembers asking police how his son was killed.
PETER LYOYA, FATHER OF PATRICK LYOYA (through translator): Very astonishing, amazing. They told me that he was killed by an officer. I didn't believe it. I said, the police that was supposed watching him, is the one who kill him.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): Back on April 4th, shortly after being pulled over for what police say was improper car registration, Lyoya starts running. The officer chases and they go to the ground, beginning what would become minutes of wrestling and struggling. The officer used his Taser twice but failed to make contact. As Lyoya puts his hands on the Taser, when the two go to the ground for what would be the final time, struggling for a few brief moments before the officer's final words.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the Taser.
I was just involved in a shooting. Nelson. Griggs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sending medical.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 1915. I'm Nelson. North of Griggs. That's 10-4. Suspect down.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): The officer got up. Lyoya didn't.
The shooting sparked a mass protest in downtown Grand Rapids, centered on justice for a new face in what many see as a familiar story.
The officer who fired the shot still hasn't been named but has been stripped of his police powers. The Lyoya family's power is now focused on one thing.
P. LYOYA (through translator): If really Patrick is dead, I just ask for justice.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): Omar Jimenez, CNN, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
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BRUNHUBER: New Mexico is raising concerns over the air quality as several wildfires spread across the U.S. state. Officials are encouraging residents to learn ways to maintain air quality safety, warning smoke exposure can aggravate some health conditions. There are currently five wildfires burning in New Mexico, resulting in thousands of charred acres and hundred of destroyed structures.
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BRUNHUBER: Twitter's board of directors adopted a so-called poison pill that may thwart Elon Musk. He's offering over $41 billion to buy the company. The board is making it harder and more expensive, preserving the right of other shareholders to acquire more shares at a relatively inexpensive price.
Thursday the Tesla CEO says the takeover move is about more than just business. Musk says Twitter needs to be, quote, "transformed," saying there's a lack of free speech on the social media platform.
All right. I'm Kim Brunhuber at CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. We'll go back to John Vause, live in Ukraine, in a moment. Stay with us.
