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Staff of Restaurant Hit by Missile Looks to Keep Cooking; Austrian Chancellor: Putin Thinks He's Winning the War; Estonians Seek Out Russian Propaganda; Envoys to Discuss North Korea's Missile Launches; Jerusalem on Edge After Violence Flares at Holy Site; Teen Missing for Nearly 3 Years Found Alive in Utah. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired April 18, 2022 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: It is the first time that happened since the Russian invasion began. Poland says some of those entering and exiting Ukraine are aid workers who cross the border frequently and aid workers are coming under fire. On Saturday, a Kharkiv restaurant partnered with the Food Charity World Central Kitchen was hit by a missile injuring four workers and causing vast amounts of damage. But they're not letting that stop them. Workers at the restaurant are back at it salvaging what they can and gearing up again to feed the hungry.

World Central Kitchen's founder, celebrity chef Jose Andres spoke with us just a short time ago about the situation on the ground and what needs to be done.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHEF JOSE ANDRES, FOUNDER, WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: Please, stop killing civilians nonstop day and night. That's why people are afraid, that's why a lot of people (INAUDIBLE). It's why many people they don't want to be in the comfort of their homes and many nights they go to the safety of our subway. That's why, again, this war needs to end.

The best way to take precautions is not being in Ukraine at all. But are we going to leave the millions of Ukrainians here alone to fight this war for liberty and freedom and democracy alone? I think this war can be won in many ways. The cooks of America, the cooks of the world, we do what we know, we change one plate at a time giving hope. This is a way hopefully to be supporting the Ukrainian people as this war keeps going. We're going to be here for the long run. We're going to leave the Ukrainians alone. And again, we can be fighting this war, do what we could one plate of food at a time giving hope.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Chef Jose Andres there in Kyiv. Sadly, pleas like that have largely fallen on deaf ears. We are getting reports that Ukraine's deputy Prime Minister says there will be no humanitarian corridors today for a second day in a row.

And if you would like to help people in Ukraine who are in need of shelter, food and water, you can go to CNN.com/impact and you'll find several ways that you can help.

Well, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer says Vladimir Putin seems to have a full grasp of what's unfolding on the ground in Ukraine but has his own war logic. Mr. Nehammer met with the Russian president last week. The first European leader to do so since the war began. He said that at the end of their meeting, Mr. Putin warned him in German, quote, it is better the war ends earlier rather than later. Here is more from the Austrian Chancellor.

(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 Ukrainians for the genocides in the Donbas region. I think he believes he is winning the war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meantime, Estonia is finding it hard to battle the Kremlin's propaganda, once part of the Soviet Union, Estonia is home to a large Russian-speaking population, many of whom are going out of their way to make sure they still have access to Russian-state media despite the misinformation. CNN Scott McLean has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Eastern Estonia, the vast birch forests and open plains dotted with industry and 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. In the Estonian border town of Narva, more than 86 percent of the population speaks Russian.

MCLEAN: 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.

MCLEAN (voice-over): 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 don't I agree? Because I think great democracy can't be afraid of any propaganda.

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.

[04:35:00] 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 their Russian households as well.

MCLEAN (voice-over): They've got this TV hooked up to a Russian satellite dish, another to an antenna, both picking up all the Russian channels, though some they'd rather not watch.

FEDEROV: I can only watch 10, 15 seconds maximum because the levels of aggression and paranoia and the lies, just brazen lies, it's crazy.

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

MARGARITA TANAJEVA, ETV PLUS ANCHOR: We don't have propaganda. We can make news about corrupted ministers or presidents in our country or politics. Many Russian journalists can't do it.

MCLEAN (voice-over): On Friday, ETV Plus 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 launched, ETV Plus's ratings have made gains but gaining trust is much tougher.

TANAJEVA: 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. I don't want to judge them. I am ready to wait. I'm ready to give those people a time to make them believe me.

MCLEAN: Scott McLean, CNN, Narva, Estonia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The U.S. envoy for North Korea is in Seoul for talks on Pyongyang's recent missile launches. The most recent was on Saturday. State media reported North Korea test fired missiles that can deliver tactical nuclear weapons. The envoys are meeting as the U.S. and South Korea hold joint virtual military exercises for the next nine days.

And Paula Hancocks is in Seoul and joins us live now with the details. Good to see you, Paula. So, what is expected to come out of these discussions on North Korea's missile launches? PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, Sung Kim, the

special envoy for North Korea for the United States is here all week effectively. He's here for the next four day. He'll be meeting his counterparts here, meeting officials and the military trying to come up with a plan for how to deal with North Korea.

We're not expecting any significant announcements from these meetings. But it is interesting timing considering how much is going on surrounding Pyongyang at the moment. As you mentioned, there will be these military drills. The U.S./South Korea joint drills which start today, this Monday. Now there will be computer simulations but that doesn't necessarily mean that it will irritate Pyongyang any less.

These are military drills which every year North Korea reacts to in some way whether it's verbal or whether it is with some kind of a launch or a test. And we have seen just a few weeks ago, that there was a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile. It's a significant time for North Korea as well. Last Friday was the most important day of the North Korean calendar. This time it was the 110th anniversary of the birth of the founder and Kim Jong-un's grandfather, Kim Il-sung.

And so, we are seeing a lot of activity. There were festivities. There was a rally. There wasn't a military parade which some had been expecting or at least thought could be possible. That may come at an anniversary later in this month. But there is an awful lot going on with North Korea. When you consider that January is in the record books for the most number -- the highest number of missile launches from North Korea.

So, certainly these meetings do come at a very significant time. Many experts I've spoken to say that North Korea may well see this as a very opportune time to carry on with its weapons testing, to push its capabilities forward, given the fact that the rest of the world's attention is elsewhere -- Rosemary.

All right, Paula Hancocks joining us live from Seoul. Many thanks.

And still to come, tensions are high in Jerusalem after more clashes break out in and around the al-Aqsa mosque compound.

Plus, the northeastern U.S. may get a small reprieve from freezing temperatures. We will have the latest forecast.

[04:40:00]

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: An unusually cold air caused parts of the northeastern U.S. cold weather alerts for 20+ million Americans where temps into 20s in the early morning hours. But a massive change in the forecast -- big-time warmth. More on that in a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Jerusalem is on edge after Palestinians and Israelis clashed in and around the al-Aqsa mosque compound on Sunday, resulting in some people getting injured. This comes after violence fled at the holy site on Friday morning. CNN's Hadas Gold joins me now from Jerusalem with more. Good to see you, Hadas. So, what is the latest on these clashes in Jerusalem?

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, this was supposed to be a uniquely holy weekend because for the first time since 1991, Ramadan, Easter weekend and Passover were all overlapping. But it was marred by violence. Yesterday morning there were clashes and violence in and around the Old City including at the holiest sites the al-Aqsa mosque compound -- which is also known as the Temple Mount to Jews.

Now public city buses were stoned. People were throwing rocks at public city buses often used by Jews to reach these sites and according to Israeli emergency services around seven people were injured. And then at the mosque compound itself, Israeli police clashed once again with Palestinians there. Israeli police said that they went in to clear out young people that they said were gathering rocks in order to disrupt visits by Jews and others to the area. And those confrontations led to around 19 people being injured.

But the clashes we saw and the violence we saw yesterday was nowhere near the levels on Friday morning when more than 150 people were injured in clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces at the al-Aqsa mosque compound.

[04:45:00]

Those clashes were at levels we haven't seen since last year since this time last year. It was clashes like that that helped spark off that 11-day war between Hamas militants and Gaza and the Israeli army.

So, things have been relatively calm despite the clashes over the weekend. We haven't seen any rockets or anything like that fired by Hamas or the other militants group in Gaza. So, not nearly the same sort of response as we saw last year.

However, there have been some political ramifications including Raam, which is the Arab-Israeli party -- the first Arab-Israeli party that sits as part of this coalition government has announced that it is freezing its membership in the coalition government. Now, the Israeli Parliament is not in session right now, so this will only an effect when they comes back into session.

But if that freeze continues, it could mean that the opposition will suddenly have more votes than the current coalition government. It goes to show you how what happens at these holy sites, how what happens in Jerusalem, in the Old City, can have so much wider ramifications -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: Absolutely. Hadas Gold, bringing us the latest from Jerusalem, many thanks.

Well, freezing temperatures in the northeastern U.S. are set to be pushed out by a wave of warm weather systems moving in this week. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has the latest forecast -- Pedram.

JAVAHERI: Good morning, Rosemary. Yes, conditions across the southern and southeastern United States finally beginning to clear up and quiet down a little bit here after multiple days of severe weather. In fact, if you look at the last three days' worth of storm reports and upwards of 150 severe weather reports, notice the vast majority related to damaging large hail but significant number related to winds and few tornado reports as well in the last couple days.

But the hailstones from Tennessee to Alabama, parts of Mississippi, as large as 1 to 2 inches in diameter and areas that did not see hail did see significant rain fall. Look at Alabama, look at portions of Mississippi. Some of these areas 4 to 6 inches of rainfall came down in the last couple days.

Cold weather, that's the story around the northeast here. Cold weather alerts for as many as 20 million plus Americans there includes parts of Philly into Baltimore where temperatures into at least the early morning hours upper 20s and lower 30s and unusually cold across areas of Midwest as well. Kansas City a few spots there, temps struggling to get up above the upper 20s into the early morning hours as well.

But notice the afternoon temperatures also staying well below seasonal averages. New York City, you should be about 63 this time of year, aiming for about 53 over the next couple of days. Boston about 50 -- closer to 60 or so is what is average. And again, those major cities, plenty warm to support anything besides just rainfall, but work your way across the interior areas of New England and few pockets of heavier snow showers are possible.

Now back around the Western U.S., multiple systems coming in over the next couple days. Plenty cold enough in the higher elevations there to support snow showers. Parts of the Sierras, parts of the Olympics, Cascades in the Siskiyou, all getting in on a decent amount of snowfall over the next couple days. Temperatures ranging from the 30s across Minot and upper 90s down around the Valley of the Sun. In Atlanta, high temperatures around 67 degrees -- Rosie.

CHURCH: Sounds great. Thank you so much, Pedram, appreciate it.

And still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, the moment when this teen was found alive nearly three years after he went missing. We will have reaction from his family. That's next.

[04:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Well, now to a heartwarming story of a family's happy reunion. It began with police checking on a young man sleeping outside in the cold and led to a phone call his mother had been waiting to receive for nearly three years. CNN's Camila Bernal has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is a remarkable story and Summit County Sheriff's Office in Utah describing it as serving with compassion. I'll start from the beginning. Over the last couple of weeks there were a number of calls that were

made to report 19-year-old Connor Jack Oswald in the greater Park City, Utah area. Deputies went out there to offer help and he had refused. But last Saturday, deputies were called out there again. They were able to help him. All of that was caught on police body cam video. Here is part of that moment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You look like you're shivering. You cold? You want to come sit in his car and warm up for a minute? We can't have you sitting in front of the door here all night. Sorry. I can't hear you.

CONNOR JACK OSWALD, MISSING TEEN FROM CALIFORNIA: As long as I'm not being taken anywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, you're not being taken anywhere. Just come sit in the car and warm up. Where is your shopping cart at?

OSWALD: It got stolen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It got stolen?

OSWALD: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's no good.

OSWALD: I was in the last one there (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go and sit in my front passenger seat where it's warm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just come in here and warm up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, you have a knife or a gun or anything like that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A bazooka? A crossbow?

OSWALD: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Just have a seat. Where were you at when your shopping cart got stolen?

OSWALD: I don't know. It doesn't matter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's that?

OSWALD: It doesn't matter.

BERNAL: After this encounter, it was a dispatcher who went through pages and pages of missing children. They were able to find Conner Jack Oswald who was reported missing in September of 2019 in Clear Lake, California. Then deputies were able to get ahold of his mom who told him he had a very distinctive birthmark on his neck. His stepfather then went out to Park City, Utah, to identify him in person. And there was a moment when the stepfather called his mom to tell him that he was, in fact, alive. It was a very moving moment also caught on police body cam video. Here is what happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The missing person photo that we located was this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then the photo that came from Nevada for the arrest was this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy crap.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little bit older, but yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what stood out to me was the ears.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, not knowing him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

[04:55:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He looks pretty similar to this. His hair is longer right now. His beard is a little bit thicker.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Oh wow.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My sweetheart is alive. Oh my God. Then can he come home now, please.

(CRYING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I definitely will do my best to bring him home.

BERNAL: And the sheriff said there was not a dry eye in the room. We know that Conner Jack is receiving help and resources at the moment.

Camila Bernal, CNN Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: All right, an update now on a story we brought you earlier. We told you how Russian forces had entered Kreminna in eastern Ukraine's Luhansk region. Well, now the head of the Luhansk regional military administration says that at the moment control over the city of Kreminna is lost. Adding that heavy fighting continues. The town has been under bombardment for weeks now as Russian forces have pushed west into the Donbas region. The governor says Russian forces entered Kreminna with a huge amount of equipment. We'll continue to watch that story very closely. And just want to

thank you for spending part of your day with me. I'm Rosemary Church. Be sure to connect with me on Twitter @rosemarycnn. And our breaking news coverage of the Russia's war in Ukraine continues now on "EARLY START." You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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