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Ukraine Forces In Mariupol Defy Russia's Surrender-Or-Die Demand; Missile Hits Chef Jose Andres' Humanitarian Kitchen In Ukraine; More Contagious Omicron BA.2 Subvariant Now Dominant In The U.S.; China's Economy Grows 4.8 Percent In The First Quarter Of 2022. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired April 18, 2022 - 01:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:17]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm John Vause live in Lviv, Ukraine. Day 54 of Vladimir Putin war of choice, Ukrainian forces reject a Russian ultimatum to surrender in Mariupol what appears to be a defiant last.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Michael Holmes at CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. China says its economy grew better than expected in the first three months of the year. But challenges remain as the country deals with widespread COVID outbreaks and strict lockdowns.

VAUSE: The last remaining Ukrainian forces in the besieged city of Mariupol appear to be making their final stand, rejecting Russia's demands to lay down their weapons and ammunition and surrender or die.

Russian forces have surrounded the strategic port city for more than a month. Ukrainian troops are confined to small pockets of resistance. The city itself is in ruins after weeks of heavy fighting. Many residents have fled, but an estimated 100,000 remain trapped without running water without heat, without electricity, without regular supplies of food. On Sunday, Ukraine's Foreign Minister painted a very grim picture of what the coming weeks could hold.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DMYTRO KULEBA, UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Intensification of heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine in Donbas, large scale offensive of Russia in that part of Ukraine and also desperate attempts of the Russian forces, as I said, to finish with Mariupol at any cost.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: In his address to the nation, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy also warned that a Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine is coming soon. And he says Russia is intensifying assaults on Ukraine's second largest city in the Northeast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Constant shelling of our city of Kharkiv continues. Today, Russian troops hit in particular the streets of Culture, Shevchenko and Darwin. Apparently, these are especially dangerous words for Russia. Culture, Shevchenko and Darwin, this is something that threatens its existence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: There is more evidence of the human toll this war has left behind. In Kyiv 41 bodies have been recovered so far, while crews have searched the rubble of a destroyed apartment block.

In the coming hours, Russian forces are expected to close all exit and entry points into and out of Mariupol, an adviser to the city's mayor says that will leave tens of thousands of civilians with no way out, no way to escape. Also warning the men who remain will be quote, filtered out. CNN cannot independently verify that claim more details now from CNN's Phil Black.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): An ultimatum was given and it was ignored. Russia's military gave Ukraine soldiers in Mariupol until Sunday afternoon local time, to put down their weapons and leave the city peacefully or be eliminated.

Ukrainian officials say no one is leaving. They are not putting down their weapons. They are not giving up the fight. That fight increasingly resembles a last stand. But that does not mean Mariupol is set to fall imminently.

Ukraine's defenders there have consistently defied expectation, holding out against Russian forces since the start of March while being surrounded cut off and without resupply. Those Ukrainian forces have been pushed back to a relatively small patch of territory in the city that Ukrainian officials say they are still engaging with Russian forces in other parts of the city as well.

Ukrainian officials say that residential areas in the city are also still suffering under Russia's bombardment. There are thought to be more than 100,000 civilians still trapped there. Ukraine's President Zelenskyy says Russia's actions its behavior in Mariupol. The possibility of more atrocities against civilians being uncovered there could mean the end of any further negotiations between the two countries. Phil Black, CNN, Kyiv.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

VAUSE: Ukrainian forces in Mariupol have held off a Russian offensive for seven long and deadly weeks and defiance stem which has left the city reduced to rubble. And according to Ukraine's President killed an unknown number of civilians. Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the crisis in Mariupol both dire and heartbreaking during an exclusive interview with CNN's Jake Tapper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKYY (through translator): The situation is very difficult in Mariupol. It's clear that things were won't get better, with each passing day it's growing more unstable. Unfortunately, it is difficult for different reasons.

[01:05:09]

I will not talk about the cruelty with which the Russian authorities have treated Mariupol the Russian military.

There are two components. No one knows how many people died among the civilian population. If anyone gives you a figure, it will be a total lie. Hundreds of thousands were evacuated. Several thousands, tens of thousands were forced to evacuate in the direction of the Russian Federation. And we do not know where they are. They've left no document trail. And among them are several thousands of children. We want to know what happened to them, whether they're in good health. Unfortunately, there just isn't any information on this.

And regarding what population has remained there, we also don't have a definitive answer. One day, they say there are 50,000 or 60,000. And then another day, someone says 100,000. And now we have information that perhaps 10,000 people have died there, all civilians who stayed, we're talking about civilian deaths, not military.

And we are about five about 5,000 children deported from these region to Russian side because they didn't allow them to go to the Ukrainian side. I mean, they're Ukrainian controlled side. Yes, that's it. So we don't know what it was that children, where are they? Nobody knows. And so that is -- and that's why I said that -- the question is more than difficult and more than complicated. So it's that -- there are a lot of information which we have to check and which we don't know exactly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And update now on the (INAUDIBLE) restaurant, which was hit by a missile strike over the weekend. This restaurant had partnered with World Central Kitchen, an injured for workers in this missile attack, causing a lot of damage as you can see there.

But despite that damage, it's like a lot of destruction, workers at that restaurant are now back at it. They've salvaged whatever they can find and then now working to start their kitchen again to continue to feed the hungry. World Central Kitchen CEO spoke with CNN about how the staff was forging ahead, despite the horrific attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NATEZ MOOK, CEO, WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: We have very limited international staff from World Central Kitchen here in Ukraine for this exact reason. It is a dangerous, unpredictable situation right now. Regardless of us, they are moving forward, they are determined. They see this as their way to support their country and defend their democracy and their freedom right now.

And so, the work will continue and as long as they are comfortable to do it. And of course, we trust their judgment on this and how they're taking care of themselves and their staff.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: We'll have a lot more on this story here on CNN in the coming hours. We'll be speaking with the founder of World Central Kitchen, that will be chef Jose Andres.

Nearly 5 million people have fled Russia's war on Ukraine since the fighting began becoming refugees in neighboring countries. A recent arrivals are increasingly coming from eastern Ukraine as Russia steps up the intensity of its military offensive.

Many of those leaving are forced to make an agonizing choice of remaining under the threat of war and death, or fleeing to safety, and leaving loved ones everything they know, everything they own behind. Here's how one woman described escaping the fighting in Kharkiv.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Everything was left there, we went out with one suitcase, when we were leaving, fighters were flying, we did not understand whether they were ours or the enemies, because they could drop bombs as it happened when they were dropping mines directly on houses. A rocket flew directly into our yard twice, children are dying. It is very scary to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Joining me now is Sevgil Musaieva, the editor-in-chief of Ukrayinska Pravada, an independent news site based in Kyiv, and one of those visited news websites in Ukraine. She's live in Kyiv. Thank you so much for being with us.

You have been on the forefront of the battle of disinformation. And I want you to listen to the Russian president speaking last week on his special military operation, Here's Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The military operation will continue until it's fully completed. And the objectives that were set at the beginning of this operation are achieved. We are helping people. We're saving them from Nazism in the first place. And on the other hand, we're protecting Russia taking measures to protect Russia security. And it's obvious that we had no choice. It was the right thing to do. And I have no doubt the objectives will be achieved.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: How helping people no choice doing the right thing, no. I mean, come on. I mean, these are pretty obvious examples of Russian disinformation. In general, how successful have you been in sort of countering all the propaganda, all the disinformation coming out of the Kremlin?

[01:10:05]

SEVGIL MUSAIEVA, EDITOR IN CHIEF, UKRAYINSKA PRAVADA: Hello, good morning. Good evening. Yes, it's morning already in Ukraine. Yes, disinformation, the main challenge for Ukrainian media's till 2014. So it started much earlier with -- for us. I mean, with us, it was the first occupation of Crimea, and I'm originally from Crimea. So I know what I'm talking about, and how things changed during 2012-2013. So what even one year before my dad (ph).

So because of this experience, because of this experience for last eight years, now we are able to do bring this Russian propaganda talking about whole world vault. So I think that only experience helped us during this war.

And I mean, for all Ukrainian media, so we know how to do fact checking, how to cancel all these propaganda narratives. And I think that it's really useful. And I think that also the presence of independent journalism in Ukraine from to (INAUDIBLE) help us as well.

VAUSE: Do you know if you're having much impact inside Russia?

MUSAIEVA: No, I think that they were trying also consume our media market. They were trying to put all this Russian narrative in European -- Ukrainian media market for different TV channels, for example, but it wasn't successful.

So, people still consume like a lot of information news. So our information field is much different from Ukraine -- from Russian. And I know that I'm talking about what I'm talking about.

VAUSE: You know, in Moscow not only spreads disinformation, but actively tries to shut down media outlets, which prove that information false. Have you been on the receiving end of sort of Russian sponsored cyberattacks?

MUSAIEVA: Yes, yes, absolutely. It's all the time, actually, two weeks ago, it was the most powerful DDoS attack in our history, I mean, cyberattack. We received 100,000 request per second, which was extremely even difficult for our IT team, but we were able to be successful in this excitation as well.

So they are trying to shut up all kinds of Ukrainian medias as well, for example, we banned in Russia, but still a lot of people use this (INAUDIBLE) and still read our news and consume other news. So Russia in first place for all readers of our news in whole world, I mean, after Ukraine, after the years, after Poland. So the first place is Russia, and we are officially banned in Russia, it's important to mention. VAUSE: More than a dozen journalists have actually died. They've been killed while covering this war. You've had losses in your newsroom as well, right?

MUSAIEVA: Not in -- in my newsroom, unfortunately, we have a terrible situation that our colleague that was killed in Bucha by Russian soldiers in the beginning of March. Then another of our colleagues spent almost 10 days in his shelter in Vorzel, which city very close to Bucha in this Kyiv region.

Also, unfortunately, I lost my friend Brenda Law, who was an inland fellow. We were together this program and he came to Ukraine to film a story about refugee, Ukrainian refugee and he was killed in Irpin. And also another my colleague was killed Max Levin, famous photographer around three weeks ago near Kyiv region, unfortunately, a lot of people already, 21 journalist already killed in Ukrainian war.

VAUSE: Sevgil Musaieva, I'm -- my condolences for your losses. But my encouragement for everything that you're doing, please stay safe and thank you for being with us.

MUSAIEVA: Thanks.

VAUSE: Thank you. The Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer says Vladimir Putin seems to actually have a full grasp of what is unfolding on the ground here in Ukraine. But he thinks he's actually winning the war. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARL NEHAMMER, AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR: I think he is now in his own war logic. You know. He thinks the war is necessary for security guarantees for the Russian Federation. He doesn't trust the international community. He blames to Ukrainians for genocides in the Donbas region. So well, he is now in his world, but I think he knows what is going on now in Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: They have visited Bucha, where terrible atrocities have been discovered once it was liberated by the Ukrainians before he met with the Russian president last week. Despite the war in Ukraine, the Austrian Chancellor says cutting off Russian gas is not possible right now. Ukrainian leaders must look at sanctions that hurt Russia, more than the European Union.

But sanctions are hurting Russians even if one Moscow politician insists nothing in his life has changed, and economic contraction is expected and a major recession also seems likely.

Carl Dinnen has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CARL DINNEN, ITV NEWS REPORTER (voice-over): It's not just the oligarchs, ordinary Russians are also finding their lives disrupted by sanctions. Vira (ph) rents a small apartment. She was about to buy her own place, but then interest rates hit 20 percent. And along with everything else, the price of dog food is going up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): More luxury products not everyday necessities have risen in price by about 30 percent. Everything else bread, milk, eggs, potatoes, fruits and vegetables have increased by about 10 to 15 percent.

DINNEN (on camera): Who do you hold responsible for the economic problems that Russia faces?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The people responsible for these economic problems are the people who impose the sanctions. Our government is responsible for the fact we didn't properly find substitutes for foreign products. We should pay more attention to this now.

DINNEN (voice-over): Those who are closer to the center of par talk tough on sanctions. Pyotr Tolstoy, deputy chairman of the Duma is himself under sanction.

PYOTR TOLSTOY, DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF STATE DUMA (through translator): I'm under EU sanctions. I'm under British sanctions, under U.S. sanctions and under Japanese sanctions. And you know what, nothing has changed. I have a Japanese car, a Toyota. Probably I should sell it a retaliation. That's all. Nothing else has changed in my life, I assure you.

DINNEN: In downtown Moscow, international designers have shut up shop temporarily they say and for what the signs on their doors euphemistically call technical reasons.

(on camera): More than 600 global companies have voluntarily withdrawn from the Russian market and whole or in part, and economists are expecting a 10 to 15 percent contraction in the Russian economy, potentially the sharpest recession since the days of the Soviet Union.

(voice-over): So far, Russia central bank has managed to prop up the ruble and alleviate some of the initial financial shock, but the Russian economy is heading for a difficult place. Whether that has an impact on Russia's actions in Ukraine is another question. Carl Dinnen, ITV News, Moscow.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

VAUSE: Chinese economy beat market expectations in the first quarter but the economic outlook ain't so hot. Live to Beijing when we come back to learn what's weighing down the world's second largest economy.

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[01:22:03]

HOLMES: U.S. health officials are closely monitoring an uptake of new COVID-19 cases the White House COVID response coordinator says it has been driven primarily by BA.2, that is the highly contagious subvariant of Omicron.

Just over half of all states the ones in orange and red on the map there have reported a rise in cases in the past week but overall hospitalizations remain low. And health officials say there is no need to sound the alarm just yet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ASHISH JHA, WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE COODINATOR: If you look across the country, infection numbers are still low by historical averages and hospitalizations as you said are at the lowest level of the pandemic.

BA.2 is causing an increase in cases. We're going to want to watch that carefully. See if it translates into severe disease. At this point, it's much more about paying close attention seeing what happens and that's what we're doing right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Meanwhile, a group of business owners and residents are suing the city of Philadelphia to overturn its renewed indoor mask mandate which takes effect today. The city is bringing back the requirement due to a rise in COVID cases.

South Korea lifts most of its COVID-19 restrictions starting today, curfews for businesses, caps on private gatherings and rallies and restrictions on religious activities have ended after more than two years.

Indoor and outdoor mask wearing will remain mandatory, but officials say other restrictions will be lifted if cases continue to decrease and medical system capacities remained stable.

China says its economy grew 4.8 percent in the first quarter of this year beating market expectations but the country's economic outlook has worsened since March as China struggles to contain its biggest COVID outbreak in two years. CNN Steven Jiang is following the story from Beijing. What do we make of the numbers? Are they accurate or a bit rubbery? Do we know?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAUE CHIEF: Well, Michael, the positive spin of the Q1 GDP growth you just mentioned really belies the fact that this country is in the middle of the most precarious period, both politically and economically since the pandemic began, because one it's further -- it's worth remembering their annual growth target for 2022 is around five and a half percent. And that figure was actually set before the current brutal lockdown of Shanghai, the country's biggest city and its business and financial capital.

So, you know, the impact of the increasingly draconian lockdown in Shanghai, which actually started late in March and into early April, probably not going to be fully reflected in numbers until later this year. But already we're seeing some very worrisome trends, as we mentioned, especially in key sectors where the government has been counting to transform it set growth model from being driven by export and manufacturing to what consumption and services and some key figures in those two areas already dropped in March.

[01:25:11]

And that trend, of course, is expected to become worse in the coming months because of the status of Shanghai and the importance of its international port and airport. So the impact and the ramifications really going to be felt out both wide and far and also even long term.

And because of that, perhaps the government here in Beijing has just announced a so called white list of more than 600 companies in some of Shanghai's key industries, allowing them authorizing them to resume production, managed by a so called closed loop system. That is, of course, the system we last saw during the Beijing Winter Olympics.

The problem right now, Michael, of course, is almost no local officials or corporate executives are probably willing to take the risks given the potential fallout if new cases emerge in their jurisdictions, not to mention all the logistical nightmares of getting employees and workers from their lockdown residences to their places of work.

So all of this is really likely to mean more economic disruptions and headaches in a month to come, as well as the potential rising unemployment or even social stability in the year that government simply cannot afford to see these things. As you know, President Xi Jinping, the strongman leader expected to take an almost unprecedented a third term later this year, Michael.

HOLMES: All right, Steven. Appreciate the update. Steven Jiang there in Beijing for us.

Well, while some Estonians on the Russian border seek out programming funded by the Kremlin, a new station in their own backyard is working to show Russian propaganda isn't true. We'll have that story after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:30:36]

VAUSE: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause. Just gone 30 minutes past the hour. I'm live in Lviv, Ukraine.

We're following breaking news on Russia's war on Ukraine with the President Volodymyr Zelenskyy now warning -- we're now hearing a number of explosions. It does sound like there was a plane overhead just a few moments ago.

Sorry, that does sound like there has been at least three or four explosions nearby. We're going to try to work out what's happening here in Lviv as soon as we can.

In the meantime, we will move on with the warning from the Ukrainian president of that looming Russian offensive in the east of the country. In the south, the besieged port city of Mariupol, Ukrainian forces said the last remaining fighters have rejected Russia's demand to surrender, despite a threat that Moscow would eliminate all resistance.

The unrelenting assault has leveled the port city which has been surrounded by Russian troops since March 1st. Now according to an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, Russian forces say the city will be closed for entry and exit on Monday. And they will be issuing passes for movement within that city.

The fight to control Russian propaganda has been especially hard for countries on the border with Russia. Estonia, once part of the Soviet Union, has a large (ph) Russian speaking population. And many seem to be going out of their way to ensure they can get access to Russian state media despite the bounty of misinformation and inaccurate information.

CNN's Scott McLean has that report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In eastern Estonia, the vast birch forest and open planes dotted with industry, concrete apartment blocks can feel a lot like Russia. Most people are ethnically Russian, many signs are in Russian, and Russia itself is just across the river.

The Estonian border town of Narva (ph), more than 86 percent of the population speaks Russia.

(on camera): Even on this side of the river, native Russian speakers make up a substantial chunk of the Estonian population, one of the many lasting legacies of the Soviet era. Many older people don't speak Estonian well, and in the absence of a whole lot of Russian language media in Estonia, Russian state media has been left to fill the void, giving people a steady dose of Kremlin propaganda.

That is until the start of the war in Ukraine, when Estonia blocked many Russian news outlets and TV channels, a decision that came with plenty of controversy

VLADIMIR ZAVORONKOV, NARVA CITY COUNCIL CHAIRMAN: Why I don't agree? Because I think that a great democracy can't be afraid of any propaganda.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many people here is buying some systems to pick up the Russian channels. It's not the way. Restrict is not the way.

MCLEAN (voice over): Antennas are suddenly a popular item at electronic stores for Russian speakers to easily pick up Russian TV channels. Others watch online through VPNs.

Ilya Federov and his father Oleg have an even better setup in their home right across the river from Russia.

ILYA FEDEROV, NARVA RESIDENT: Basically, this is just a lineup of the channels people usually get in the Russian households as well.

MCLEAN: They have this TV hooked up to a Russian satellite dish, another to an antenna. Both picking up all the Russian channels. Though some they would rather not watch.

FEDEROV: I can only watch ten, 15 seconds, maximum because the levels of aggression and paranoia and lies -- the blatant lies -- is crazy.

MCLEAN (on camera): A lot of people here are still very connected to Russia. Do you think that they believe everything that the Kremlin is saying about the war in Ukraine?

OLEG FEDEROV, NARVA RESIDENT (through translator): I don't just think. I know they're a lot of people who think Russian state media is the truth. But for sure, it's a lot of false news and lies. And only a minority in Narva don't believe Russian propaganda.

MCLEAN: Some of those true believers are reluctantly tuning into this channel. ETV+ was launched in 2015 to give Russian-speaking Estonians access to reliable news about their own country and the world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't have propaganda. We can make news about corrupted ministers or presidents in our country, or politics. Many Russian journalists cannot do it.

[01:34:55]

MCLEAN: On Friday, ETV+ reported on the sinking of Russia's flagship, the Moskva, giving both Ukraine's claim that its missiles sunk the ship, and the more benign Russian version that it sank after a fire.

Since the channel's launch, ETV+'s ratings have made gains, but gaining trust is much tougher.

MARGARITA TANAGEVA, ETV+: Many of our viewers are ready to blame us, are ready to judge us, because they don't believe us. But we are ready to speak with them. We don't want to judge them.

I am ready to wait. I'm ready to give those people a time and to make them believe me.

MCLEAN: Scott McLean, CNN -- Narva, Estonia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: To just update you with the latest on the situation here in Lviv, in the western part of Ukraine. About 45 minutes ago, there was a warning, an air raid warning, telling people to go to bomb shelters to seek cover, that kind of stuff.

Within the last five minutes, there was the sound of a plane overhead, at least one plane jet. And then came at least five loud explosions over a period of time.

So what that is at this point, we do not know. The assumption would be some kind of airstrike not far from where we are, but we are also working to confirm that at this point.

But there have been fires, loud explosions heard. There was a warning of some kind incoming air strike, that was 45 minutes ago. We are maybe hearing that play out right now.

It has been weeks since Lviv has been targeted by Russian forces. And when it was targeted, it was on the outskirts of the city. They hit a fuel depot at one point, some kind of military insulation as well, close to the border with Poland.

This is an area which has been spared the worst of the fighting by the Russian forces, but there is concern that maybe as those military shipments come in from the west, coming by the Polish border through this part of Ukraine, that there will be some kind of strikes being carried out by the Russian military.

At this time, we still don't know. This is all still up in the air. We are waiting to confirm what's been happening. But this is where we stand right now. We will get you more details as soon as we can get them.

In the meantime, we will move on with residents of Ukrainian town of Bucha. There have been a lot of disturbing images and atrocities that emerged from that town, and those residents have gathered to mourn those who were killed in the war as they marched Palm Sunday yesterday.

Among them a 63 year old mother whose son was killed while fighting the Russians. She described the heartbreak she now has to live with.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GALINA BONDAR, SON KILLED FIGHTING IN WAR: Three days ago we buried him. My Sasha was 32 years old, a wonderful man, a patriot, a wonderful son. For me it is a torn soul and a torn heart. I don't know how I will survive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: A priest in this Bucha church held a Palm Sunday service. The (INAUDIBLE) was gathered in the dark because there is no electricity.

Let's go back to Michael Holmes, CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

Michael, I think -- you know what it's like during those explosions that you heard, you're not entirely sure where they are, what they are, but we, you know, we will find out I guess, sooner or later.

HOLMES: Yes. It's hard to tell initially. Yes. We will check back in with you, John, let us know when we need to come back to you and we certainly will.

VAUSE: Thanks.

HOLMES: Appreciate it. We certainly will. Now, in Pittsburgh, local public schools will be implementing a, quote, "modified lockdown" on Monday following a horrific shooting in the city over the weekend.

CNN's Nadia Romero with the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADIA ROMERO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A busy weekend of gun violence across the country. Let's start with Pittsburgh. There police say that there was a large party of some 200 people, the majority of them juveniles. People who were underage attended this party. Police say there were drugs, alcohol, and guns. And a shooting happened where the shooting happened inside and outside of a rented AirBNB property.

And here's what we know. Two people are dead. Police tells us that they were both boys under the age of 18. There're eight gunshot victims and more people who were injured as police say, many people were jumping out of windows trying to get away from the shooting.

Police are looking for multiple shooters, but they don't have any suspects in custody right now. Police say this is their top priority. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF SCOTT SCHUBERT, PITTSBURGH POLICE DEPARTMENT: You had officers and medics who were trying to attend to victims that they found, would be notified that there was a victim over this location, Pennsylvania state police were able to stop the he vehicle that had a victim in it.

So there are multiple scenes, it was very complex and very chaotic.

ROMERO: No suspects in custody in Pittsburgh, but in Columbia, South Carolina, police have arrested one suspect and charged him. 22 year old Jwayne Price (ph) has been charged with unlawful carrying of a pistol in relation to a mall shooting in Columbia, South Carolina, Saturday afternoon.

Here's what we know. 14 people were injured, nine of them gunshot victims, including a 73-year-old and a 15-year-old recovering from their injuries.

[01:39:58]

ROMERO: Now that suspect has been charged, but police say there could be more charges and more arrests as this investigation continues.

We also learned of an early Sunday morning AND early Easter morning shooting in Hampton County, South Carolina, where nine people were injured and police are still looking for the person or people involved in that shooting as that remains under investigation.

Nadia Romero, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: U.S. and South Korean caught convoys may just concerns grow over North Korea's stepped up missile launches. We will have details of that and a live report after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: South Korea and the U.S. will conduct military exercises for the next nine days, Seoul's joint chief of staff announced that plan on Sunday. The defense command post training though will be computer simulation, no actual military forces training in person.

The joint chief said the decision to go virtual was made based on conditions such as COVID-19 and maintenance of the combined defense posture, as they put it.

Now that's as the U.S. envoy for North Korea arrives in Seoul for talks on Pyongyang's missile launches.

[01:44:52]

HOLMES: Paula Hancocks here to discuss that more. Now, I guess Paula, you know, the world's attention is so focused on Ukraine. Has that played a role in Kim Jong-un's strategy or calendar, the timing of all of these tests?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Michael, it certainly may have done. There is a reason for North Korea to be quite active at this time of year, anyway. The reasons being, you've mentioned one, the fact that there will be these joint military drills between the U.S. and South Korea.

Even if they are computer simulations, just the fact that they take place irritates Pyongyang every single year. We've just had as well a very significant anniversary, the 110th anniversary of the birth of the country's founder, Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-un' grandfather.

There's been a lot of festivities. There has been an increase in missile launches and testing over recent months. In fact, January was a record when it came to the number of missile launches.

But when you look at the fact that the world's attention is on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, most experts agree that that would play a part in this. Not least because they know that there would be potentially less attention on them so any weapons capabilities that they wanted to perfect, any testing they wanted to carry out, it could be one of the most ideal testing environments for Kim Jong-un in the ten years he has been in power.

And also, when you consider in the past there have been United Nations Security Council resolutions, the Security Council meeting to condemn, to sanction North Korea, that chance -- the chance of that happening is close to zero at this point. You can't imagine Russia and China which are part of that Security Council siding with the United States to penalize North Korea for any launches.

So it really is, according to most observers that you speak to, an ideal testing time for North Korea, Michael.

HOLMES: All right. Paula, thanks so much Paula Hancocks there live in Seoul for us.

Now, explaining war, so even the youngest minds can understand. It is the task one private preschool in the U.S. has taken on for children with strong ties to Ukraine.

We'll have a look inside their classroom after the break.

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HOLMES: At a private daycare and preschool here in the United States, many of the children and their parents were born in Ukraine. Because of the conflict, they are being taught a lesson about war and peace.

CNN's Gary Tuchman gives us a look at what they are learning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's called the Ukrainian Academy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good afternoon, everyone.

CHILDREN: Good afternoon.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So today we are going to speak about war and peace.

TUCHMAN: In the Cleveland suburb of Parma Heights, Ohio.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you raise your hand if you have grandparents in Ukraine?

TUCHMAN: Almost all of their parents were born Ukraine and many of these children were also born there.

This is a private preschool, daycare as well as an after-school program for children ages 6 months to 12 years.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are we in a state of peace or are we in a state of war in this country?

STUDENTS: Peace, peace, peace.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What about Ukraine?

STUDENTS: War.

TUCHMAN: The feeling here is that although what's happening in Ukraine is frightening, it's important for these children to learn about it and talk about it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What can you say about soldiers of Ukraine?

How do you feel about them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're brave.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're brave, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Soldiers help people to not die.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If someone comes to your house, start destroying it or taking your stuff, you know, would you be happy about that?

STUDENTS: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think this is right?

STUDENTS: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When another country like coming to another country and taking stuff and bombing and do you think this is right?

STUDENTS: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. Who came to Ukraine?

STUDENTS: Russia.

TUCHMAN: The teachers ask how the children are feeling about all this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Worried.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Worried.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Scared.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Scared. What other words is war?

How can we describe a war?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sadness.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sadness.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My family is -- well, are very scared for my gram, my great grandma, my relatives that are also in war. And is very anxious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope Ukraine wins, because some Russian people are good and saying stop to the other Russian who is being bad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So not all the Russian people are bad, right? There are some people who just, you know, say no war, please stop it. They're asking the president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. It's not because of the Russian people. It's because of the president. He's greedy and trying to take over the country.

TUCHMAN: Roman and Helena Dutka are the owners of the academy.

(on camera): Do you think your students here are now prouder to be Ukrainian American than even before this war?

ROMAN DUTKA, UKRAINIAN ACADEMY OWNERS: Yes, I think they are proud about their roots, that they're Ukrainians and about that Ukraine is standing strong. I think that --

HALYNA DUTKA, UKRAINIAN ACADEMNY OWNER: Staying together.

TUCHMAN (voice over): Before we say goodbye to the students, I get to talk with them a bit.

(on camera): If you had superpowers, what would you do if you had superpowers?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Save the good people.

TUCHMAN: Save the good people?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

TUCHMAN: That's what you would do as superwoman?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, yes and make the house fly into the air.

TUCHMAN: Make the house fly into the air?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

TUCHMAN: Fly to safety?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

TUCHMAN (voice over): The laughter of children who have a lot on their minds.

Gary Tuchman, CNN -- Parma Heights, Ohio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: I'm Michael Holmes, appreciate spending part of your day with me, we will have more CNN NEWSROOM in a moment, with John Vause and Rosemary Church.

But before we go, I want to leave you with this. Singer Dave Matthews, performing his brand-new song, in support of refugees.

[01:54:53]

(DAVE MATTHEWS SINGING)

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[02:00:06]

VAUSE: Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world.