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Russia Gave a Green Light to Evacuate Civilians; Son Not Giving Up to Find His Father; Another Batch of Weapons to be Shipped to Ukraine; Media Needs to Emphasize How Russia Lies; Shanghai Seeing an Uptick of COVID Deaths; U.S. and E.U. Leaders Talk to Send More Support to Ukrainian Forces. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired April 20, 2022 - 03:00   ET

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

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause, live in Lviv, Ukraine. Where the coming hours maybe critical for the besieged city of

Mariupol.

According to intercepted communication, Russian troops planning to level a sprawling steel factory where the last remaining Ukrainian fighters looks set to make a final stand.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rosemary Church live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

With the latest this hour on the new era of maskless travel after a federal judge struck down the U.S. mandate. We will look at how the Biden administration could fight to revive it.

VAUSE: We begin in Mariupol where an agreement has been reached for Russia to evacuate women, children and elderly from that city via humanitarian corridor, a deputy prime minister from Ukraine making that announcement, that corridor set to open about four hours from now.

The Russian defense ministry has also offered an apparent ceasefire for the last remaining Ukrainian fighters in Mariupol. But they've said that proposal is nothing more than a demand for their surrender and so those Ukrainian fighters say they will not give up.

Russian state media released drone video of the city sprawling of Azovstal steel factory where the fighters, Ukrainian fighters are hold up. Ukraine says as many as a thousand civilians are also taking shelter inside that facility with food and water in short supply.

Ukraine's security service claims it intercepted communications from a Russian commander threatening to level everything to the ground in the area. But the Pentagon press secretary says the U.S. is still holding out hope that the city will not fall to the Russians. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: We're not willing to accept what some critic say is the evidentiality of it falling. They didn't take Kyiv either. They didn't take Chernihiv. And Ukraine continues to fight over Mariupol.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Russia's assault on Mariupol is a key part of its offensive in Ukraine's industrial heart land known as the Donbas. Moscow says it wants to liberate the region from Ukrainian nationalists.

Meanwhile, new video shows some of the damage to a shopping center and a grocery store in Luhansk. A camera pans across the street revealing another building destroyed by military strikes.

Ever since the Russian tanks began rolling across the border, millions of Ukrainians have been on the move, millions fleeing the country and millions more leaving their homes just trying to find safety. During the chaos and brutality of this war, countless lives have been lost. Families have torn apart. There is no shortage of grief and heartache. And for some there's also anguish, the anguish of not knowing if loved ones are alive or dead.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has the story of one son desperately searching for his dad.

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ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oleksii Karuk is searching for answers in a place where answers were buried or bombed. But Oleksii must find his father. Igor Karuk disappeared while helping a friend escape the war zone west of Kyiv.

OLEKSII KARUK, SEARCHING FOR HIS MISSING FATHER (through translator): He talked about it so light heartedly that I felt like everything would be all right. We didn't have information that civilians were being shot. So, I wasn't worried.

LAVANDERA: On March 8, at eight o'clock in the morning you got seven different texts from your dad. What do they say?

KARUK: He said he's going to drive here and meet me in Borodyanka. He has to take his friend and to bring him to Kyiv.

LAVANDERA: What did you right back to him?

KARUK: I asked him to be careful. To care for himself. And that's all.

LAVANDERA: Those were the last words father and son exchanged. Oleksii is joined by his father's friend, Andriy Filin. They're looking for Igor's car. Hunting for clues in the neighborhoods ravaged by Russian forces. Putting up pictures of the 48-year-old father of two boys. Hoping someone has answers. Unraveling the mysteries of what happened to countless missing people

is another horrific chapter in this war. In the after math of Russia's siege around Kyiv, Oleksii and Andriy are on their own to find Igor.

UNKNOWN (on screen text): Maybe his car was stolen? things like that were happening here.

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LAVANDERA: How difficult is it to do this? So many days searching and searching and no answers.

ANDRIY FILIN, FRIEND OF MISSING FATHER: I don't know. I don't know what, because we don't know where he might be.

LAVANDERA: This map shows the ground they have covered looking for Igor. But so far, every question leads to another dead end.

UNKNOWN (on screen text): I didn't see an Opel car left on the road or gas station.

FILIN (on screen text): We have been driving around looking for it, but we haven't found it. We have been told that we can check the impound lots.

UNKNOWN (on screen text): There is a lot near the police station.

LAVANDERA: That lead didn't help. Then the men discovered four civilian cars scorched on a quiet road. Inside, one of the cars, human bones were visible. Andriy thought one of the cars might be Igor's.

When you arrived here and you saw this, what did you feel?

FILIN: I just cry. I don't see anything because I cried.

LAVANDERA: It wasn't Igor Karuk's car.

FILIN: It's not his car.

LAVANDERA: Do you still think you can find him alive?

KARUK: Hope dies the last.

LAVANDERA: Hope dies the last?

KARUK: Yes.

LAVANDERA: The search continues for this father who vanished in the war.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, west of Kyiv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Joining me now, Romeo Kokriatski, a journalist here in Ukraine and host of the Ukraine Without Hype podcast. Romeo, thank you for being with us. Your podcast Ukraine Without the Hype. So, tell us what's one part of the story that we're missing? What are we not getting right?

ROMEO KOKRIATSKI, JOURNALIST: Thanks for having me. I think that coverage of this time around of the war has been a lot better than it has for the past eight years. But one major part that I think is still unreported is how pervasive the lies spread by the Putin regime in Moscow are. Even just now, you guys reported on the Moscow regime calling for a ceasefire as if it was an alternative position.

But there's nothing that they say that is truthful. Every single word that comes out of their mouth is a lie and we have at least eight years of evidence in Ukraine to prove that. I think focusing more on how this disinformation is so pervasive and not allowing the regime to have this ability to pass itself off as another party in this conflict instead of a malicious actor. Act that we're trying to twist every bit of information to its benefit. I think would be another step up in coverage of this war.

VAUSE: So, you're saying look at action that are coming from the Russian not words.

KOKRIATSKI: Exactly. You cannot trust a single statement. But what are the actions we've seen? We've seen humanitarian corridors shelled. We've seen eight years of their so-called ceasefires and the Minsk agreement repeatedly violated. The constant lies that the puppet authorities in the Donbas are independent. Referring to the so-called republics of Luhansk and Donetsk.

So, there is nothing that they say that can be considered accurate. It is all quite simply another tool of war for them and should be treated accordingly.

VAUSE: Many of the experts now should expect this conflict to settle into our blow for a blow protracted war. If that happens, can Ukraine go the distance with Russia? Do they have the ability to hang in there for any period of time?

KOKRIATSKI: To be frank, I don't believe Russia has the ability to settle into the kind of attrition-based warfare that we have seen in the Donbas for the past eight years. Quite frankly at the moment, they are trying to accomplish incredibly complex maneuver.

As a researcher I follow on Twitter noted they are attacking from four different axis with elements of two military districts. One separate division it is in operational structure that they have not operated with since at least the Second World War. None of the generals were commanding staff at all have any experience with such, I think.

So, I think what we're going to see instead are more mistakes, more casualties. And the intensification of such on the Russian side. Making them unable to really accomplish their goals.

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Because again, we've seen how poor their logistics are, we've seen how uncoordinated they are. And now they're expecting to pull off this incredibly complex procedure. I mean, it does string credulity that they can do this.

VAUSE: How is it that Vladimir Putin continues to underestimate the determination and the resolve and the resilience of the Ukrainian people?

KOKRIATSKI: I mean, this is something that any Ukrainian can tell you that the Russian leadership from the time of the tsars has never understood Ukrainian independence. They have never acknowledged that Ukraine is truly a separate nation. A separate culture and a separate language.

This is just not something they are capable of understanding. For them, Ukraine is small Russians. Belarus as they call it. And that's it. Ukrainians are incapable of being governed independently. And the only way that we can be independent in their eyes is because we get foreign support. We get western support. Or in the tsar state it was Zionist support.

So, they simply cannot acknowledge that we, as Ukrainians have agency. It is beyond their helm. And as we can see the Russian empire has done this to Ukrainians many times and this time finally, they're not going to succeed. We've had 30 years of independence and we're not giving that up ever again.

VAUSE: Wish you the very best of luck. Romeo Kokriatski, host of Ukraine Without the Hype podcast. Thank you, sir. I appreciate you being with us.

KOKRIATSKI: Thank you very much.

VAUSE: Well, the United States working quickly to get more weapons into the hands of Ukrainian troops. That's according to a senior U.S. defense official. White House sources say there will likely be another weapons package for Ukraine valued at $800 million just like the other one that was approved last week.

CNN's Oren Liebermann has now -- more now from the Pentagon.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It used to take weeks or even months to ship weapons to another country, especially through presidential draw down authority. Which is when the U.S. ships its own military stocks to another country.

Now, during this ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, a senior defense official says they're working around the clock, 24/7 to try to get the shipments reviewed, approved and sent as quickly as possible. And that includes what it can generally be a long process. It starts with the bilateral conversations between the U.S. and another country. Of course, Ukraine in this case.

Then the U.S. checks its own stocks to see what's available. What can be sent. It then again gets a recommendation from the chairman of the joint chiefs, as well as an analysis on what affect it would have on military readiness, it then requires secretary of defense approval, a presidential approval and then the secretary of state before it comes back to the Pentagon to actually begin the process of shipping the weapons.

That process compressed to as little as humanly possible to get it done to ship weapons from U.S. stocks to Ukraine as they need not only small arms ammunition and artillery but all of the other weapons and equipment to stay in the fight. The U.S. knows this is a priority. They know the almost insatiable need of Ukrainian forces in this fight against Russia and they're trying to make it go as quickly as humanly possible.

Again, a process that's now down to 48 to 72 hours from beginning to end to start shipping weapons. And we see it with, for example, last week's approval of $800 million from the Biden administration to ship to Ukraine. Within days, that has already begun shipping.

A separate senior defense official saying five flights have already got in. Another seven flights are also expected in the next 24 hours. That speaks to the speed at which these shipments, these weapons, these packages of equipment are moving.

VAUSE: After the break, my friend and colleague Rosemary Church will be with us. She'll have details on Shanghai's low COVID death rate and why that it's raising questions about the authenticity of China's data. And we also have a live report. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

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CHURCH: The U.S. Justice Department says if the Centers for Disease Control determine masks are necessary for public health, it will appeal Monday's ruling. A U.S. judge struck down the mandate for public transportation taking the airlines and passengers by surprise.

Major airlines, ride sharing companies and some transit agencies quickly made masks optional. The CDC is weighing whether its transportation mandate is necessary. But it's advising people to wear masks in indoor public transportation settings for now.

Well, the COVID death toll in China is rising. Chinese health officials say at least 17 people have now died from COVID-19 in Shanghai since the current outbreak started. Seven new deaths were reported on Tuesday alone. Most of the city has been under lockdown for weeks as China doubles down on its zero COVID policy. The lockdown has sparked widespread anger, crippled supply chains and resulted in shortages of food and essential supplies.

And CNN's Kristie Lu Stout is following this story for us. She joins us now live from Hong Kong. Good to see you, Kristie.

So, more COVID deaths reported in Shanghai although the number seems strangely low for a city of 25 million. What is the latest on all this? KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's interesting, Rosemary.

Look, you have the lockdown Chinese megacity of Shanghai reporting more deaths caused by COVID-19, earlier today reporting an additional seven deaths from the virus. So, the total official death toll is 17. That's it in this city of 25 million people.

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It was on Monday early this week when Shanghai reported its first three fatalities in this ongoing massive outbreak that has infected some half a million people in Shanghai. So that has made a number of people wonder what is going on here? Especially experts based here in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has been going through a very brutal fifth wave of infection at the peak of infection here in the city, this city was reporting more deaths than any other country or territory around the world. So why is Shanghai different?

Let's bring up a statement for you. This is from Jin Dongyan, a top virologist. He is based at the University of Hong Kong. He says this, quote, "on the mainland, if the deceased had underlying ailments, most of them would be categorized as having died of other diseases instead of COVID." Unquote.

So, Rosemary, in China, they count them differently. Back to you..

CHURCH: And Kristie, meanwhile in Hong Kong, where you are of course, cases maybe falling but the city still trying to keep the virus out by suspending more flights. What is the latest on that?

LU STOUT: Yes, COVID cases are falling here in Hong Kong. But travel, air travel in and out of the city remains very, very difficult because authorities here are banning flights for carrying infected passengers. In fact, around a dozen flights operated by around 10 different airlines have been affected by the ban.

Let's bring up this graphic for you. So, you'll see all the airlines have been affected by this ban. They include Cathay Pacific. Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways, the list goes on. On Tuesday and Wednesday, in fact, only a single flight came from outside the Asia Pacific region and that was an Emirates flight.

You know, this ban has added an extra layer of anxiety and complication for residents and would-be travelers. And of course it continues to erode the international aviation status, the international business status of Hong Kong. Back to you.

CHURCH: All right. Kristie Lu Stout joining us live from Hong Kong, many thanks.

The United Nations secretary general is condemning the deadly attacks on two schools in Afghanistan. At least six people were killed and dozens injured following three explosions in a Hazara neighborhood in western Kabul. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks yet. The U.S. State Department also condemned the attacks and said all

Afghan children deserve to pursue their studies without fear of violence.

And still to come, new hope for the tens of thousands of people who remain trapped in the besieged port city of Mariupol in Ukraine. Those details next.

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VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause live in Lviv, Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials say they have reached an agreement with the Russians for a humanitarian corridor to evacuate women, children and the elderly from the city of Mariupol. The corridor is set to open at 2 p.m. local time. About three and a half hours from now.

It's the same deadline the Russian defense ministry has set for Ukrainian soldiers still fighting in Mariupol telling them to lay down their weapons and ammunition and leave or face the prospect of death.

But Ukrainian forces have already declined two other offers to surrender and despite being surrounded they vow to fight until the end. Most have consolidated in the massive sprawling steel factory there. They say hundreds of civilians are also taking shelter along with them. And also, 500 wounded soldiers who are in need of urgent proper medical attention. A Ukrainian official says food and water are in short supply while within that steel factory.

Well, CNN's Nic Robertson is live for us this hour in Brussels for another part of the story we've been following. And yet another high- ranking E.U. official making that long journey from Brussels to Kyiv for what, a photo op with Zelenskyy? What's going on with this time?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. A conversation with Zelenskyy very likely. No -- not to many details being given by the European Council. Here of course the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, the European parliament president was one of the first European leaders to visit several weeks ago. Followed by Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president. And Josep Borrell, the top diplomat at the E.U., if you will have all

been.

So, Charles Michel the last in the sort of European Union leadership, if you will. This, like the other visits have sort of come prior, it's to provide moral support, it's to provide, you know, an unambiguous reassurance that the European Union is behind the E -- is behind Ukraine.

One of the things that came out of the phone conversation that President Biden had yesterday with European Union leaders with France, Germany, Italy, Romania, Poland, the U.K., Canada, Japan also on that call. But one of the things that came out of the that was, you know, what sort of security guarantees can be given to Ukraine to help it find a peace deal with Russia. Should that -- should that moment arrive and it's not close.

But the model that's being looked at is it a NATO model or is it sort of, you know, a stronger binding to the European Union and commitments coming that way from E.U. nations.

The view from Paris yesterday following that phone call, President Macron of course on that call, was that security guarantees can be given but perhaps not along the lines of strong as NATO article five of all NATO nations coming to support Ukraine if it were attacked again.

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So, you know, undoubtedly, these are going to be part of the conversation scoping out what it is in the longer term that European Union nations and Charles Michel as the one who sort of sits with all the European Union leaders when they gather at the counsel. To sort of see what -- what Ukraine can be willing to tolerate.

It doesn't appear that they -- what they want that strong NATO close to article 5 level of security guarantee is on the table. So, we can expect that to be discussed. But again, the details of what's going to come up today, how long the meetings will last, where they'll be, that's all under wraps at the moment, John.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Can't keep them away it seems, from Kyiv. They just keep coming. Nic Robertson, live for us there in Brussels. Thank you, sir.

Well, the heads of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are calling for more help to rebuild Ukraine. And to try to keep this country's economy afloat. They are scheduled to meet Thursday with Ukrainian prime minister and finance minister to discuss additional support. The IMF's warning ripple effects from Russia's war on Ukraine are like an earthquake rattling the global economy.

CNN's Anna Stewart has details now reporting from London.

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: The economic effects of the war in Ukraine are spreading far and wide. That's the main reason the IMF slashed its forecast for economic growth to 3.6 percent for this year and next. It reflects a 0.8 percent downgrade for this year from their last forecast which was only made in January.

Now unsurprisingly, the greatest impact will be felt in Ukraine. The IMF warns of a double-digit contraction of 35 percent this year. And for Russia's economy to shrink by over 8 percent. However, all of this is the baseline scenario. If sanctions on Russia were to escalate, with Russian energy being targeted as well, the IMF sees a much greater economic shock. It would be punishing for Russia with an additional 15 percent drop in GDP by 2027.

Bu, it would also drag global GDP down by about 2 percent just this year. With energy, metal and food prices continuing to climb. And for Europe, hugely reliant on Russian energy. They say the impact would be sizeable with a 3 percent drop in GDP. Which is why sanctions on Russian energy remains a hotly debated issue for E.U. member states.

Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

VAUSE: After the break, my friend and colleague, Rosemary Church will have details on a decisive vote in France. Heading for another chance to evaluate the presidential candidates in a debate in just a few hours from now. Details on that presidential debate between Emmanuel Macron and all the rest when we come back.

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CHURCH: In several hours France's presidential candidates will face each other in a debate just days before the run-off election.

Jim Bittermann is in Paris and joins us now with the latest. Good to see you, Jim. So, how important is this presidential debate for most French voters and what are they hoping to hear that might possibly sway their vote at this juncture?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think, Rosemary, there's a couple things going on here. First, these debates have made a difference in the past. We have seen in 1988, for example, when Mitterrand, President Mitterrand was squaring off against Jacques Chirac was then the prime minister. Mitterrand demeaned him throughout the debate referring to him as Mr. Prime Minister. Never as Mr. Chirac. He never mentioned his full name.

And there been a number of occasions like got you moments during these debates in the past. Something like 20 percent according to some polls here of voters who have not yet made up their minds and maybe influenced by this debate. They're waiting to see what the debate looks like tonight.

If we can go by past performances back in 2017, the last time that these same two people faced off against each other, about a quarter of the French population were watching that battle on television. And it was widely said that Marine Le Pen in fact lost that debate. She became discomforted and her tone raised kind of alarm. And she actually acknowledges that and says she messed up because of the fact that she had been campaigning too hard and she was tired.

So, this time around she's taking two days off before the tonight's debate. And going over her notes and relaxing trying to stay calm. And whereas Mr. Macron, he is also going over his notes even though he's ahead in the poll. He's ahead by some polls as much as 10 to 11 points.

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Nonetheless, he's been prepping hard for this debate because he expects to get a lot of criticism unlike the last time, he now has a track record. So, he can be criticized on that track record, Rosemary. VAUSE: All right. We shall wait and see what happens as a result of

the debate. And of course, the vote on Sunday. Jim Bittermann, live from Paris. Many thanks.

Well, for our international viewers Inside Africa is next. For everyone here in the U.S., do stay with us. I'll be back with more news after a short break.

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