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Russia Demands All Fighters Leave Mariupol; Hundreds Seek Shelter Near Sievierodonetsk; Over 30,000 Ukrainians In Estonia; Kim Jong-Un Observes Test Of New Type Of Weapon; Wounded, Orphaned And Taken By Russians; Panicked Chinese Stocking Up On Food; U.S. Wildfires. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired April 17, 2022 - 04:00   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.

We begin with reports of renewed attacks near Ukraine's capital. The mayor of Brovary just east of Kyiv says the city was hit by a rocket attack today. This comes as a deadline looms in the besieged southern city of Mariupol.

With Russian troops now in control across much of the city, they're demanding all remaining Ukrainian forces lay down their weapons and leave by 1:00 pm local time. That's about two hours from now.

On Saturday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned the city was in the grips of a humanitarian crisis. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The situation in Mariupol remains as severe as possible. Just inhuman, this is what the Russian Federation did, deliberately did, and deliberately continues to destroy cities. Russia is deliberately trying to destroy everyone who is there in Mariupol.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Russian strikes have continued to hammer other areas in southern and Eastern Ukraine. Officials in the northeastern city of Kharkiv say at least two people were killed and 18 injured after a cruise missile attack.

To the south, officials in the Luhansk region say Russian strikes damaged nearly a dozen infrastructure facilities, including an oil refinery. Ukrainian officials say the renewed attacks on southern Ukraine are in retaliation for the sinking of a Russian warship in the Black Sea. Meanwhile, the Russian military said Saturday it shot down a Ukrainian

aircraft delivering Western military equipment near Odessa. The White House says more weapons, ammunition and other aid have already started arriving in Ukraine.

And for first time, the U.S. aid package will include additional high powered equipment like helicopters, cannons and more drones.

CNN correspondents are across the region, covering the conflict from every angle. Our Phil Black is in Lviv, Ukraine. Scott McLean is in Estonia with the latest on the refugee situation. But first, we begin with Matt Rivers in Lviv, with the latest wave of Russian attacks in the country.

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MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Air raid sirens once again ring out across Kyiv Saturday; a city that has endured so much damage and destruction from Russian bombs, once again hit.

Early Saturday, a Russian missile slamming into a southeastern district of Kyiv, killing at least one person and injuring several others. The latest attack coming as more Ukrainians are returning home.

State border guard officials saying on Saturday that roughly 32,000 Ukrainians crossed back into the country in the previous 24 hours, something that makes Kyiv's mayor nervous.

He says, "If you have the opportunity to stay a little longer in places where it is safer, do so. I understand there is no place like home; nevertheless, the city of Kyiv was and remains the target of the aggressor. And I do not rule out that further shelling of the capital will continue."

RIVERS: Here in Lviv, we woke up on Saturday morning to air raid sirens, as Ukrainian officials say air defense systems managed to shoot down four cruise missiles that were headed to one or more targets in this region.

They didn't say exactly what the targets were but say the cruise missiles were fired by Russian warplanes that had taken off from an air base in neighboring Belarus.

RIVERS (voice-over): This as Ukraine's military says it is watching Russia ramp up in the eastern part of the country for a large-scale offensive expected to be launched soon. Ukraine's calls for more weapons continue.

He says more and sooner we get all the weapons we have requested, the stronger our opposition will be and sooner there will be peace.

Peace, though, elusive in the city of Kharkiv. Ukraine's second largest city has been under constant bombardment in recent days, including here in a residential and business district in the center of the city. At least two people were killed and 18 injured, a scene likely to be

repeated many times over in the coming weeks, as Russia's renewed offensive in the east ramps up -- Matt Rivers, CNN, Lviv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: The aid group, World Central Kitchen, says one of its partner restaurants has been hit by a missile attack in Kharkiv. At least four staff members were injured and taken to hospital. World Central Kitchen's CEO posted this video to Twitter, describing the horrific scene after the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NATE MOOK, CEO, WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: Less than 24 hours ago, I was standing right here, picking up meals for the WCK team, meeting Vera and the staff. Not too long ago, a missile hit here.

[04:05:00]

MOOK: As you can see, tremendous amounts of damage; still a fire in the building there. Right here is the kitchen area. It goes back. A lot of damage to the kitchen as well, a number of staff were wounded. They've at the hospital right now.

Nobody was killed in the restaurant but we are told that one person was killed in this strike.

This was a big hit, as you can see. Over a dozen cars burned out all around me, some pieces of cars in a tree here. Just a tremendous amount of carnage left behind for no reason.

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BRUNHUBER: World Central Kitchen was founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres. He said he began cooking in Ukraine hours after the fighting started in February and it is serving some 250,000 meals each day.

Ukraine's deputy prime minister says nearly 1,500 civilians were evacuated from conflict areas Saturday. A number of humanitarian corridors were open but only 170 escaped Mariupol. And they have to use their own transportation to get out. So far nearly 4.8 million people have fled Ukraine.

The United Nations says, as of April 1st, more than 7 million were internally displaced. CNN's Scott McLean is in Estonia, where officials this week said they have taken in more than 30,000 refugees since the fighting began.

And, Scott, so a huge influx clearly of refugees there. Tell us about how they're getting there and why they're coming particularly to Estonia.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, Estonia has never traditionally been a real attractive place for refugees to come. The minister responsible for refugees told me three, four years ago, they had more than 100 in a single year, mostly from the Middle East, Afghanistan. And for this country, that was a lot to handle.

Now they have suddenly more than 30,000 people and Estonia is all of a sudden an attractive place for Ukrainians to come, especially those fleeing violence in the eastern part of the country, many of whom speak Russian.

Estonia has its own very large Russian-speaking population. For them, it is quite easy to get around and function inside of this country. But as you mentioned, it is a heck of a lot of people.

At first when the war started, they were coming by bus to Estonia, mostly picked up from Poland, Hungary, Romania, places along the Western border of Ukraine. More recently, though, those bus trips have largely stopped.

And so people instead are coming via Russia. In many cases, it is because that is the only option that people had. You mentioned some 1,400 people managed to escape areas with heavy fighting in Ukraine.

Only about 170, according to Ukraine's deputy prime minister yesterday, managed to get out of Mariupol. It is likely more than that who managed to escape the city but to Russia.

In some cases, people say they're being coerced, forced onto Russian territory; in other cases, it is simply easier. Of course, Russia has a stranglehold, a death grip on that city. It is, in many cases, much safer to go that route.

And so we spoke to a pair of neighbors yesterday, who, after 40 days of bombing and shelling, they had no choice but to leave that city. They went to several small towns in Eastern Ukraine before they managed to cross the border.

And with the help of some very generous, perfect strangers in Russia, they managed to get to St. Petersburg. And then just on Friday, they arrived here to Estonia and already made it their way to Tallinn, where they'll stay here in Estonia or figure out where to go next.

BRUNHUBER: Incredible journey there. It is a small country taking in that relatively large number of refugees.

So what kind of strain is it putting on the country?

MCLEAN: There is only 1.3 million people in Estonia; if you figure 30,000 refugees, more than 2 percent of the population now is Ukrainian refugees. It is a heck of a lot of people. Obviously there are space constraints here because there are only so many homes, only so many apartments for people to live in.

One of things the government has been relying on is putting people up in hotels. That is getting expensive. So for a lot of people, they have been putting them up on cruise ships instead.

I asked the minister responsible for refugees if there were limits to the generosity the country can provide. She said there can't be limits to the number but there can be limits to the amount of resources they have to share with people coming to Ukraine.

BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks so much, Scott McLean live in Estonia for us.

If you want to safely and securely help people in Ukraine, who need shelter, food, water, please go to cnn.com/impact and then you can find several ways you can help there.

We have a developing story out of North Korea, where state media claim the country made a new step to boost its nuclear capabilities.

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BRUNHUBER: South Korea says Pyongyang fired two missiles Saturday, which fell into the waters to the east. North Korea touts it as a test of a new weapon that will improve the nation's tactical nuclear ability.

The test came a day after a major holiday celebration in North Korea. As Will Ripley reports, the usual flexing of military muscle was missing from there this time around.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The grand finale of North Korea's biggest holiday celebration, the country launched a new tactical guided weapon, observed by its leader, Kim Jong-un, a show of force to mark the 110th birthday of the country's founder and Kim's grandfather, the late Kim Il-sung.

The show in the sky followed an extravagant parade on the ground. On Friday, Kim and his top aides, including sister, Kim Yo Jong, watched columns of colorful performers pass by. But there were no tanks, missiles or other military hardware that had been showcased in the past.

This latest launch not entirely unexpected by experts after the country conducted a powerful intercontinental ballistic missile test in March, though some experts now question North Korea's claim the launch in March was a new missile, saying it was actually an older model.

The Pentagon has also expressed concern Pyongyang is preparing for a possible underground nuclear test for the first time since 2017. In a New Year's speech, Kim praised military advances but mainly spoke about domestic issues, like food shortages, which have been made worse by the country's self isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last month, the United Nations warned more than 40 percent of North Koreans are food insecure. The new launch, an old tactic by the rogue nation, trying to deflect from the problems that are persistent in the country, even before Kim came to power.

And in another made-for-TV moment, Kim bestowed the gift of a luxury apartment earlier this week to long-time news reader Ri Chun-hee, who was given a VIP tour of the flat. Kim has a development plan to build 50,000 new apartments in Pyongyang over the next five years. This building, like so much else in North Korea, is reserved for the elite -- Will Ripley, CNN, Taiwan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And Paula Hancocks is monitoring developments related to North Korea's latest test and joins us now from Seoul.

Paula, on that test, how big a step is this for North Korea in terms of realizing its nuclear ambition?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kim, this is an interesting one because it is a short range missile, certainly appears to have been the projectiles that were fired on Saturday.

And it is yet something that Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, was present at. State run media saying he guided this launch. He doesn't usually turn up to the short range launches. The fact he was there shows it is significant in his eyes and in North Korea's eyes.

Now according to state run media, it was a new type of tactical guided weapon. kim Jong-un made it very clear he wants to have tactical nuclear weapons. This was on his wish list. It was one of the things he wanted his technicians and his scientists to push forward with and to be able to have that capability.

Now what it means effectively is that it could be a nuclear warhead put on a smaller device, a smaller missile, with a lower yield. So it means it could be more useful in battle. It could be put on the front line, It could be quicker to use, more efficient to use.

This is a technology that Kim Jong-un has said is very important to him. So certainly it is significant in that respect. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: Paula, the tactical missile, the ICBM test, the underground test, all of this has got the White House's attention, which might have been part of the point here. But some analysts suggest these ramped-up tests are a result of the U.S. deprioritizing North Korea.

Any truth to that, do you think?

HANCOCKS: Well, certainly one of the things we should consider is the fact that the world's attention and the U.S. attention is elsewhere, clearly, with Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

And many observers and experts I have spoken to say this could be a more favorable environment for Kim Jong-un to test his weapons capabilities and his missiles than the whole 10 years he has been in power.

In January you saw a record number of missile launches. And since the war has started as well, you have seen this ICBM launch, whether or not it was the most recent ICBM type that North Korea claims it was or a previous type. But it does appear as though North Korea is going to take advantage of

the fact that there isn't much international cohesion when it comes to punishing North Korea.

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HANCOCKS: The United Nations Security Council at this point they can't pass a condemnation of the ICBM in unison, when you consider China and Russia are on the U.N. Security Council. They are not going to side with the U.S. and agree to more sanctions against North Korea. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks so much, Paula Hancocks, live in Seoul for us, appreciate it.

Police in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, say two people have died in a Saturday shooting. They're among 11 people who were shot in the city's East Allegheny neighborhood. Police are still looking for the shooter and have not revealed a motive. They're urging people to stay out of the area.

Well, the news you're hearing now isn't the news you'll hear in Russia, obviously. We'll look at Russia's disinformation campaign and learn from one of its victims about tactics Russia uses to silence independent news. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, here on CNN, on media outlets around much of the world, you'll see the brutality that has unfolded in Ukraine over the last 53 days.

[04:20:00]

BRUNHUBER: In Russia, well, it is a totally different story. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The presenter you heard there calls the invasion of Ukraine "a special operation" against NATO weapons in Ukraine and not a war. Now the truth is, of course, it is a war and the U.S. and its allies are sending weapons to defend against Russia's invasion.

Here is another example, the sinking of the Moskva warship, which the U.S. and Ukraine say was done by Ukrainian missiles. Well, it was brushed off by Russian media as just a fire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).

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BRUNHUBER: Then there is the gruesome discovery in Bucha, a mass grave, that shows the brutality of Putin's war on Ukrainian people. Russia's foreign minister called it and the attack on a maternity hospital "fakes." Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): We will expose fakes as we did in early March with this situation, which was presented as a tragedy at the maternity hospital in Mariupol as well as now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: My next guest knows all about Russia's disinformation machine. Ekaterina Kotrikadze was a news director and anchor at the independent news outlet TV Rain and when Russia shot it down, she took it to YouTube.

Thank you for joining us here. I would like to start with what we saw there, the atrocities we're seeing in areas like Bucha. This isn't the first time Russia tried blaming Ukraine for the horrific scenes. They tried to blame Ukraine for the attack on the train station in Kramatorsk, which killed 50 civilians.

How powerful and how effective are these disinformation campaigns?

EKATERINA KOTRIKADZE, INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST: Well, disinformation campaigns are really powerful for people who are older than maybe 50, 55. For this kind of people, there is no internet actually.

And they -- I mean, I'm not talking about everyone, of course. But there are a lot of Russians, especially in the regions of the country, not in big cities, who are used to switching the television on when they come back from work, when they wake up. They always watch television. They don't have this habit of using internet, going online and double-check or criticizing the information they're watching.

So for them, the situation is clear: Russia is defending itself from NATO, from the United States of America and defending its sovereignty and independence and so on and so forth. And Nazis are sitting here, trying to gain control over whole Ukraine and over Russia as well. So --

(CROSSTALK)

BRUNHUBER: Can I just jump in there?

You mentioned the older Russians. I'm curious as to why. One might think, for many who lived through the era of Soviet state propaganda, most eventually became acutely aware they were being lied to constantly by the Kremlin.

So why the lack of skepticism now?

KOTRIKADZE: This is a paradox, actually, of the Russian society. They didn't like the Soviet Union. They didn't like to live there but still they miss their younger period of time, right. They miss the time when the people were younger.

That's why they think that they want to go back to Soviet Union. And Vladimir Putin represents this building of the empire thing, right?

So they trust him. They think he's bringing stability and power of Russian Federation or Soviet Union and big Russian Empire. The younger people in Russia, they were raised in the situation when Putin was in power. He's been in power for 22 years already. But still they did have the access to the internet.

They are already the part, a big part of the global world. So they are skeptical about what's going on. And they don't want to go back to the period of time when their parents were maybe happy or maybe just younger. And that's why they felt maybe better. They don't want to go back there.

So that's why I'm saying that and I'm sure that you cannot say exactly how many Russians support this war in Ukraine. You cannot say exactly how many Russians trust this ridiculous thing, criminal things that they hear on TV and, by the way, a lot of the people do not have television stations at all.

They don't have televisions in their apartments, in their houses. So in dictatorship, you can never say how many people exactly want this president to be in his -- on his throne.

[04:25:00]

BRUNHUBER: Let me jump in, because there are -- there have been polls, including, you know, relatively independent polls, that seem to suggest that, despite the fact that there have been so many high- profile Russian failures in this war, support for Putin seems to be growing, not shrinking.

Are you saying you just don't believe any of those polls or does that speak to the power of this disinformation?

KOTRIKADZE: There is just one polling institution in Russia, which is declared a foreign agent just as is Rain is, my television network. And this is the only independent institution that can bring some figures they may trust.

But even the center cannot be precise in the situation. People are scared in Russia. They are not willing to answer the questions. You cannot be sure that, if you live in Russia, for example, in town of Irkutsk, someone approaches you and says, pretty please give us an answer.

Do you like Vladimir Putin, do you like his policy? You understand there is always a chance that they detain you, you have some problems, your parents have problems or your kids have problems or other relatives. So you always say, like, oh, yes, of course, I do, or just don't answer the question.

So that's why you are not -- this is a dictatorship that we are witnessing right now in Russia. You cannot be sure in any figures that -- and yesterday, my friend was in Irkutsk, it is Siberia.

And when she sat down -- she was traveling from airport to the city -- and she sat down in the cab. And the driver was watching our YouTube stream. And it is my and my husband's YouTube stream. And we have this YouTube stream covering from Georgia.

This man was watching us and saying that we are all in the same internet. Don't trust the propaganda. And, yes, this is -- this is what gives me hope, really.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, well -- you spoke about YouTube; your TV network was taken off the air, along with most independent media. You're still on YouTube. Russia has, you know, warned they might crack down on that as well.

Let's hope you stay at least on YouTube and that people can find alternate information to fight all of this propaganda. Unfortunately, that's all the time we have. Ekaterina Kotrikadze, thank you for joining us.

She was wounded, orphaned and taken by Russian soldiers. Now she is in a Russian-controlled hospital and her surviving relatives fear they will never see her again. They have her story just ahead. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: And welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

We're following reports this morning of renewed rocket attacks near the capital, this time in the suburb of Brovary. The mayor said infrastructure was damaged, with possible disruptions of water and power. We'll bring you more details as we get them.

In the ruins of what used to be Mariupol, Ukrainian fighters still defending the city have been given until 1:00 pm local time to surrender. That's 90 minutes from now. They issued the ultimatum this morning, demanding Ukrainians abandon weapons and leave.

Now it is worth noting that Ukraine says no evacuation routes have been approved for today. Russia's defense ministry is also claiming it shot down a Ukrainian transport plane carrying military aid from the West. It supposedly happened near Odessa, in the south. But there has been no confirmation.

Despite that claim, the U.S. says its first shipment of heavy weapons has now arrived, including 18 Howitzer cannons and 40,000 artillery rounds. Ukraine's military says it repulsed 10 attacks by Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine on Saturday and destroyed more than a dozen Russian tanks and other equipment.

Since the war began, tens of thousands of Ukrainians have reportedly been taken from their homes and relocated to Russia or Russian-held territory. One of them is a young girl from Mariupol, who was grabbed by Russian troops as she and her family tried to flee. She's been featured in a Russian video. CNN's Phil Black has her story.

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PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's almost hard to comprehend. This was Mariupol not long ago when its people knew safety and happiness.

The girl in pink is Kira Obedinska -- joyful, loved, 12 years old.

This is Kira after the Russians came -- orphaned, injured, alone in a Russian-controlled hospital.

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BLACK (voice-over): Russian media released this video showing Kira in Donetsk, the capital of a Moscow-backed separatist region in Ukraine's east.

It shows her telling some of her story. Why she fled Mariupol.

KIRA OBEDINSKA, UKRAINIAN ORPHAN IN RUSSIAN CUSTODY: (Speaking foreign language).

BLACK (voice-over): "There was a lot of shooting," she says. "Our building was hit."

So was her father. Yevgeny Obedinsky, the former captain of Ukraine's national water polo team, was shot from a distance and killed as Russian forces fought their way into Mariupol on March 17.

Days later, Kira, some neighbors and her father's girlfriend, tried to flee the city on foot but someone stepped on a mine and Kira was injured in the blast. Russian soldiers then took her to Donetsk.

BLACK: The Russian military, which killed your son, now has your granddaughter.

OLEKSANDER OBEDINSKY, KIRA'S GRANDFATHER: (Speaking foreign language).

BLACK (voice-over): Kira's grandfather, Oleksandr, tells me her mother died when she was a baby. Now she's watched her father die. She misses her remaining family and wants to return to him.

Oleksandr is scared he may never see Kira again. He says an official from the breakaway government in Donetsk phoned and invited him to travel there to claim her. That is impossible because of the war.

When Oleksandr spoke to the hospital, he says he was told Kira will eventually be sent to an orphanage in Russia.

OBEDINSKY: (Speaking foreign language).

[04:35:00]

BLACK (voice-over): "They took her documents," he says, "and said they'll provide new ones when they send her into Russia."

The Russian government has said it's helped move at least 60,000 Ukrainian people to safety across the Russian border.

The Ukrainian government has said around 40,000 have been relocated against their will, describing it as abduction and forced deportation.

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BLACK (voice-over): The Russian media video shows Kira talking happily about how she's sometimes allowed to call her grandfather.

OBEDINSKA: (Speaking foreign language).

BLACK: "I called him today," she says. "I'll also call him in the evening."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language)

BLACK (voice-over): A Russian TV presenter called the video proof Kira wasn't abducted, proof of yet another Ukrainian fake.

Kira also sometimes sends her grandfather audio messages like this one:

OBEDINSKA: (Speaking foreign language).

BLACK (voice-over): She first tells him not to cry but she can't stop her own tears.

OBEDINSKA: (Speaking foreign language).

BLACK: "I haven't seen you for so long, I want to cry," she says.

The voice of a young girl who has lost her family, her home, her freedom, all to Russia's war -- Phil Black, CNN, Lviv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Pope Francis is now leading Easter Sunday mass at St. Peter's. For Catholics it is a joyous day commemorating the resurrection of Jesus after his crucifixion, the victory of life over death.

The pope condemned the cruelty of the war in Ukraine at the Easter vigil mass he attended on Saturday. Joining me from Rome is CNN analyst John Allen.

So John, a bittersweet Easter celebration in many ways.

What is the latest there?

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SR. VATICAN ANALYST: Hi, Kim. Happy Easter to you.

Well, as you indicated, Pope Francis is currently celebrating the Easter Sunday mass in front of a large crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square. This is the first time the pope has been able to do that since the COVID pandemic began. The last time he celebrated Easter in the square in front of the crowd was 2019.

And there is something of a shadow hanging over what is ordinarily a very joyous celebration for Christians around the world. And that, of course, is because of the Ukraine war.

Later today, at noon local, the pope will deliver his traditional message, Urbi et Orbi, to the city and the world, which is usually a sort of 360 degree review of the global situation. And there is every expectation that he will explicitly address the crisis in Ukraine there, undoubtedly repeat his denunciations of the war and compassion for those suffering as a result of it.

We should note, Kim, even without saying anything, the pope has already managed to make a statement about the war in Ukraine in these days. Friday, Good Friday, during the Way of the Cross ceremony at the Roman Colosseum, at one point, the pope entrusted the cross to a Russian and Ukrainian woman.

They are nurses who are friends here in Rome. Many Ukrainians objected to that, saying it is a kind of moral equivalence between the aggressor and the victim. The pope, however, sees it as a powerful sign of reconciliation and went ahead. So we'll see what he has to say later today. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right, we'll be following along. John Allen in Rome for us, thanks so much.

Still to come, what life is like for millions of people experiencing weeks of strict COVID lockdowns and restrictions in Shanghai. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: New COVID-19 cases are ticking up again in the U.S. but are still a fraction of where they were at the height of the Omicron surge. Health officials are keeping a close eye on New York, where two new Omicron subvariants are spreading quickly through the central part of the state.

COVID hospitalizations have also started to tick up there, pushing health officials to promote safety precautions, like testing and mask wearing, especially indoors.

In Shanghai, the COVID-19 outbreak shows no signs of slowing. More than 26,000 new cases were reported across China on Saturday. Almost all of them were in Shanghai. But after weeks of a strict lockdown, some residents there are getting a small taste of freedom. CNN's David Culver explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A few steps of freedom granted to some Shanghai residents, strolling their own neighborhoods as if taking in some strange new world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But where are you going to go?

There's nowhere to go.

CULVER: Shops still closed and public transportation halted, still this woman can't hold back her joy, recording as she and neighbors roam the empty streets.

After forcing 25-plus-million people into weeks of harsh lockdown, government officials facing mounted pressure lifted some restrictions, for communities like mine without a positive case in the last seven days, that meant we could actually step outside our apartments.

My neighbors enjoying the taste of relative freedom and so too, our pets, eager to stretch their legs, still keeping within the confines of our compound.

The extent of my freedom is all the way to here, the compound gate still double locked, it's been like that about a month. In recent weeks, community permission to leave our homes, mostly for COVID tests of which there were many. We could also step outside to pick up the occasional government distribution.

CULVER (on camera): Today's delivery, a bag of rice.

CULVER (voice-over): But even with heavy restrictions still in place, we had it good, for now at least.

The majority of this city remains in hard lock down, kept to their homes, some hungry and suffering.

This woman heard begging in the middle of the night, begging for fever medicine for her child and this man, recording his dwindling food supply.

Then there were those who've tested positive, tens of thousands being sent to cramped government quarantine centers whose residents described a host of problems, facilities quickly and apparently poorly constructed. Outside of shanghai, panic spreading quicker than the virus. The horror stories from China's financial hub have residents in other Chinese cities stocking up, from Suzhou to Guangzhou.

Online, sales for prepackaged foods surging. This as China's national health commission warns of more cases and publicly calls out Shanghai for not effectively containing the virus, shifting blame to local officials for allowing it to spread to other places.

[04:45:00]

CULVER (voice-over): China's strict zero COVID approach, forcing dozens of cities into weeks- long full or partial lockdowns. Residents in Jilin banging on pots to protest. Most of the 24 millions in the Chinese province confined to their homes for more than a month now.

Back in Shanghai, the joys of freedom for some might last only a few hours, as it only takes just one new case nearby to send them back inside, resetting the clock for their community. Another 14-day sentence in lock down, a seemingly endless cycle -- David Culver, CNN, Shanghai.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Sri Lanka is going through one of its worst economic crises in decades. It relies heavily on tourism, hit hard by the Easter bombings of 2019 and the ongoing pandemic.

According to the ministry of health, the government received $10 million from the World Bank to purchase medicine. But it is unclear when it is due to arrive. We have details now from CNN's Vedika Sud.

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VEDIKA SUD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Behind these smiles is a story of pain and struggle. This 3-year-old suffers from a malignant brain tumor. His parents have temporarily moved from south Sri Lanka to Colombo for his medical treatment.

UPUL CHANDANA, MYRU'S FATHER (through translator): I worked in my patty fields in Bengali. Now I look for odd jobs to make ends meet.

SUD (voice-over): They live in this damp room, where their son often suffers from epileptic seizures.

CHANDANA (through translator): My child suffers from a medical condition, where he suddenly falls unconscious. This medicine is given to him to prevent the seizures.

SUD (voice-over): Upul has been searching for an anticonvulsant medicine that helps stabilize his son's condition.

CHANDANA (through translator): This is not available in the hospital anymore. Even nearby pharmacies have run out of stock. SUD (voice-over): It is only a matter of time before the next seizure

over fears they won't know how to stop it without the medication. Sri Lanka's healthcare system has been hit hard by the unprecedented economic crisis, forcing it to dip into its dwindling foreign exchange reserves.

It has forced the government to cut back on basic supplies, including medicines, which are now unaffordable to import. The secretary of the state pharmaceutical association says the government was aware of an impending medical crisis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We have been alerting the ministry of health of this impending crisis for two to three months now. We are heading into further crisis.

SUD (voice-over): After an initial denial, the Sri Lankan government Wednesday acknowledged its healthcare crisis and assured measures have been taken to ensure continuous supply of medicines.

But for caregivers, time is running out. This man has visited almost every pharmacy in an outer suburb of Colombo. His 7-year-old daughter, a cancer patient, is currently in hospital.

WASANTHA SENEVIRTANE, FATHER OF CANCER PATIENT (through translator): For the last six days my daughter has not been given her medicines. No government hospital has it. No pharmacy has it.

SUD (voice-over): Desperate for his daughter's medication, he is slowly losing hope.

SENEVIRTANE (through translator): We are holding in a lot of pain and sorrow. We don't have the money to take our daughter overseas for medical treatment.

SUD (voice-over): The Sri Lankan government is in talks with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package; 22 million people are now depending on it. But for now, the helplessness, the endless search for life-saving drugs across the debt-ridden country, continues -- Vedika Sud, CNN, New Delhi.

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BRUNHUBER: Multiple fires are burning in the Western United States. We'll go to the CNN Weather Center for the latest. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: In the U.S., more than half a million people are under critical fire danger, stretching from Western Nebraska to New Mexico. And parts of that state are under evacuation orders as firefighters fight five blazes.

The wildfires have killed at least two people, charred thousands of acres and destroyed hundreds of structures. Windy and dry weather conditions could allow the fires to spread even more.

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BRUNHUBER: Music flowing in the streets of Dnipro, Ukraine, as musicians played, hoping to boost morale as the war rage on. The group played well-known pieces, including the James Bond theme, along with Ukrainian numbers. The conductor said the goal was to bring positivity to people at a difficult time.

That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back in a moment with more news. Please do stay with us.