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Ukraine Officials: Satellite Images Point To Evidence Of New Mass Graves; Evacuation Corridor Planned Today From Mariupol; Project Hope Tours Destruction Of Ukraine's Front Lines; Non-Profit Group Targeted By Cyberattack After War Report; Reps. McCarthy And Greene Facing Questions About Their Actions On Jan 6; L.A. County Renews Mask Mandates On Public School Transportation; Doctors Compare COVID-19 Natural Immunity And Vaccine; Florida Releases 4 Examples From Rejected Math Textbooks; "NAVALNY" Premiers Sunday. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired April 23, 2022 - 11:00   ET

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

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[11:00:28]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin with new Russian attacks across Ukraine. The latest happening just a short time ago in the port city of Odessa. Officials giving new details about Russian missile strikes that hit a military facility and two residential buildings.

And we're also seeing disturbing new proof of possible war crimes. Satellite images appear to show mass graves outside of Mariupol. An adviser to the mayor says they do in fact show mass graves. But CNN cannot independently verify those claims.

And the discovery happening as the heavy fighting continues in the long-besieged port city. An estimated 100,000 people, both soldiers and civilians, trapped amid the relentless Russian onslaught. One small boy praying for a miracle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I want to see the sun so that when our houses are rebuilt, we can live in peace, so we can live in Ukraine because this is our native home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And today another humanitarian corridor opening in Mariupol as civilians desperately try to escape the fighting.

Russia capturing dozens of small towns in the east, but U.K. officials say Russians have not made any major gains in the last 24 hours.

Russia also revealing its mission for the invasion. Top military officials say they plan to take full control over southern Ukraine and the eastern Donbas region. Let's bring in Scott McLean who is in Lviv.

So what details are we learning about the photos that appear to show mass graves?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey Fredricka. Yes.

So this is in an area to the east of Mariupol. It's in an existing cemetery. Most of the graves don't look like they've been touched for quite a long time. But there are these new trenches that have been dug. The earth is very freshly disturbed. They're 40, 45 yards long each and there are several rows of them. Local officials there in Mariupol say this is evidence of mass graves being dug.

CNN can't independently verify that, but it would not be the first time that that accusation has been made, just a few days ago, there was a similar accusation made, this time to the west of Mariupol. Again in an existing cemetery there was rows of freshly dug graves about 200 of them or so.

The Ukrainians put the death toll in Mariupol since the war began at around 20,000. There's no way for us to independently verify that number considering the state of the city. Obviously there has been widespread destruction of buildings. But the human toll, though, is not quite yet known.

WHITFIELD: And then let's talk about this evacuation corridor. It is supposed to open today. But what do people feel about whether that's true or not?

MCLEAN: Yes. So this is what Ukrainian officials were saying is. That this evacuation corridor would open. It would begin at a mall on the western edge of the city.

Again, we don't have an update as to whether that corridor has been successful, whether or not anyone has been able to get out. They did say that in addition to buses, people would be allowed to join that convoy with their own private vehicles but only women and children would be allowed.

Again these things have been hit or miss since the beginning of the war. Some have been successful, many others have not been. Ukrainian officials warned right off the bat that -- warned people that Russian troops may try to push people in the opposite direction, opening a so- called parallel corridor to push people into Russia.

And we've met people who have had to go that direction simply because they didn't know where else to go and they simply wanted to be able to get to safety.

This corridor, though, is a long way from the Azovstal steel plant. That is where Ukrainian troops are making their last stand. It is also where women and children are sheltering underground in this deep cavernous facility.

And that is where Ukrainian troops released a video from today showing children who have been underground for almost two months now, some of them have been pleading just to see the sun. Just to be able to get out of there simply, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So sad.

All right. So Scott, there was also some shelling taking place in Mykolaiv. Does this have anything to do with what the Russian military strategy or what this the new phase has been revealed is all about in the southern portion of the country?

[11:04:56]

MCLEAN: So the strikes that we've seen as of late seem to line up with the strategy that the Russians have made public. According to this military commander who spoke with Russian state media, they would like to have full control of the eastern Donbas region and also the southern coast of Ukraine as well to link up with Moldova. And specifically, the separatist region of Moldova, Transnistria. That is obviously not going over well with the Moldovans.

Now, the strikes that we saw, you mentioned Mykolaiv. There were no casualties in that case but city officials there say that there have been about 20 injuries over the last two days.

There have also been missile strikes just today in Odessa, the southern port city, which seems a long way from the front lines. But a military facility there was hit in addition to two residential facilities. This in addition to more fighting in the east.

Sort of paints this picture that the Russians are telegraphing exactly what they would like to accomplish here in Ukraine.

WHITFIELD: All right. Scott McLean in Lviv, thanks so much. We'll check back with you.

All right. As the war rages on, aid continues to pour in from around the world.

Joining me right now is Rabih Torbay. He is the president and CEO of Project Hope and just returned to the U.S. after visiting Ukraine. Rabih, so good to see you.

RABIH TORBAY, PRESIDENT AND CEO, PROJECT HOPE: Thank you for having me.

WHITFIELD: So you went to Kyiv and surrounding areas include Bucha. You saw the devastation in those places firsthand. Tell me about what you witnessed.

TORBAY: Yes. I went to Kyiv and I went to Irpin and Bucha and what I saw was heartbreaking. More than half of Irpin has been destroyed. Buildings completely razed to the ground. Hospitals have been attacked, windows have been blown out.

And the same thing in Bucha. More than half of Bucha has been destroyed as well. But I also saw how committed Ukrainians are to, you know, go and pass through this. Doctors and nurses working around the clock trying to help people, sending people to Kyiv for treatment.

I visited the mass grave at the back of the church as well. And it was just sad to see what Ukrainians are going through.

WHITFIELD: And then of the survivors, these Ukrainians that you have come across, I mean, what are their stories? What have they witnessed? How are they explaining how they've survived this?

TORBAY: I mean, I went -- I visited a trauma ward in Kyiv and I saw a lot of the war casualties, most of them were civilians -- women, elderly men. They were injured just walking down the street or by sniper fire or by unexploded ordnance or bomb.

And they said they just want to live and they survived because of the goodness of other Ukrainians who helped them, because of doctors and nurses who were committed to staying behind and helping them.

I mean, I saw a 63-year-old woman who was shot in the arm as she was walking by and the bullet went from the arm to the chest and she was just basically walking with her hands up, just to get through the, you know, the fighting lines.

And this is the story of almost every Ukrainian that I met that came either from Irpin or Bucha or some other areas like Kharkiv as well.

WHITFIELD: So tell me all the ways that Project Hope is able to assist. What's been the focus?

TORBAY: Right from the start, we've been sending medicines -- medical supplies, trauma kits to hospitals throughout Ukraine and Kyiv and Lviv, Kharkiv and Irpin. Right now we are actually rehabilitating the hospital in Irpin that has been damaged by the war. And our focus is to really get medicines and medical supplies in for the doctors and nurses. But also we're trying to focus on the mental health in Ukraine as well as the surrounding countries in Poland, Romania and Moldova.

People have seen a lot. People have seen things that nobody should see in their lifetime. And we're trying to help them cope with it, whether it's mental health assistance for doctors and nurses that have been there from day one, living in the hospital 24/7, or some of the people that have fled and seen the violence.

WHITFIELD: What other tools and supplies are still needed in your view?

TORBAY: Everything. Anything from basic medicines to insulin to bandages, trauma kits, I mean they're going through things very quickly. And you know, some supplies make it to Kyiv or Lviv and it's peaceful there, they're trying to send them to the front line like Kharkiv as well or to the east and south.

We're also -- we're also preparing for population movement from the east and the south based on attacks. So we're trying to preposition supplies in all of those areas. We're trying to help those doctors and nurses cope with the situation. WHITFIELD: And I know you have been, you know, focused on helping

others, but now that you're stateside and perhaps reflecting on your entire journey, is there a way to express how it has impacted you?

[11:09:58]

TORBAY: I mean, I grew up in a civil war. I'm originally from Lebanon and I was four when the war started. And I work in many different war zones.

And seeing those images in Ukraine obviously brought back painful memories of living in Lebanon when I was a kid and even my younger years.

And knowing how much people need help is what drives us. It's what drives Project Hope to continue working in places like Ukraine. And we're committed to stay there for the long haul. This is a sprint and a marathon. As long as we're needed, we will continue to stay in Ukraine.

WHITFIELD: Rabih Torbay of Project Hope, thank you so much. I know the people there are very grateful for all that you and your teams are doing. Thanks so much for being with us.

TORBAY: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, Russia's aggression is worsening on the ground and also potentially in cyberspace. A non-profit in Switzerland received a string of malicious links and pornographic material on their cell phones after publishing a report last month on Russian attacks on hospitals in Ukraine. But this isn't the first cyberattack on the aid groups involved in the war.

Joining me right now is CNN's cybersecurity reporter, Sean Lyngaas. So Sean, is it the case indeed that these attacks are coming from Russia?

SEAN LYNGAAS, CNN CYBERSECURITY REPORTER: Well, sometimes it's hard to pin down, Fredricka. In the case that you mentioned of the non-profit in Switzerland, I interviewed the director of that organization and she suspects that they may have come from Russia but can't be sure.

I mean the fact is they began -- as they've never really received many cyberthreats, but just so happens after they publish a report documenting some of the atrocities committed -- allegedly committed by Russian forces in Ukraine, they started receiving a flood of this -- of malicious links.

And she told me that it was basically designed to intimidate her colleagues and it's not working. They're continuing to carry out their work. But it was sort of a rude awakening to the landscape out there in terms of cyberthreats to humanitarian groups that don't necessarily have the resources to deal with them always.

WHITFIELD: So if intimidation is one of the goals, are there other goals that come with these attacks? LYNGAAS: Well sure, there's a range of types of hacking aimed at any

organizations, but in this case, humanitarian organizations. We also documented some cases of espionage, cyberespionage, meaning not disrupting the computer networks but lurking on them, surveilling them.

One case that we spotlighted, I believe that possibly the Belarusian government was behind this, trying to surveil European government officials and their efforts to help refugees fleeing Ukraine.

And the working theory is that there's possibly an effort by the Belarusians to use that information they gather to spread disinformation about -- they're whipping up antirefugee sentiment in Europe potentially. So that's another example of sort of what can be done when this data is exposed.

WHITFIELD: So cybersecurity experts are concerned that scammers or spies could be using data from non-profits and other entities exposed during the war. What harm ultimately will it be doing?

It's -- I mean any time you have vulnerable people whose data might be accessed, it can be used years down the road for, you know, scamming someone. Could try to impersonate you and, you know, conduct identity theft.

In the case of intelligence services potentially in Russia or Belarus, the concern is retaliation for political activists. Before the war even started, there was a lot of concern that the Russians would go after that data and try to target people with that.

So there's an array of things that could happen unfortunately, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sean Lyngaas, thanks so much.

All right. Coming up, Republican lawmakers Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kevin McCarthy are facing questions about the January 6th insurrection. Details straight ahead.

[11:14:12]

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WHITFIELD: Two Republicans are making headlines in connection with the insurrection on Capitol Hill. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene is in court for a case that could bar her from re-election over her alleged roll in the riot. And House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is doing damage control after audio recordings from the days after the riot were published.

Paula Reid is following both stories.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Two top Republicans on the defensive about their actions around January 6th. In the days following the insurrection, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told Republican lawmakers on a conference that then- President Trump had admitted to bearing some responsibility for the deadly attack.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: I asked him personally today, does he feel bad about what happened. He told me he does have some responsibility for what happened and he needs to acknowledge that.

REID: On a separate call the day before, McCarthy said he was done with Trump.

MCCARTHY: I've had it with this guy. What we did is unacceptable. Nobody can defend that and nobody should defend it.

REID: To date, Trump has never publicly accepted any responsibility for January 6th. His state of mind and whether he has privately admitted any culpability has been of keen interest to the House Select Committee investigating the insurrection.

McCarthy has refused to cooperate with the committee and previously evaded a question about whether he remembers telling House Republicans that Trump took responsibility.

[11:19:58]

MCCARTHY: I'm not sure what call you're talking about.

REID: McCarthy hasn't commented on the newly-released audio. The "New York Times" also revealed another bombshell audio recording Thursday where Representative Liz Cheney asked McCarthy if there was any chance Trump would resign in the wake of the deadly attack.

MCCARTHY: I've had a few discussions. My gut tells me no. But what I think I'm going to do is I'm going to call him.

REID: Before that audio was leaked, McCarthy vehemently denied the "Times" reporting as totally false and wrong.

The fallout from January 6th also playing out in a Georgia courtroom during a hearing about Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene potentially being disqualified for running for re-election over the insurrection.

Lawyers representing voters challenging Greene argued she helped facilitate violence at the Capitol but Greene's lawyers argue her constitutional rights are being violated.

JAMES BOPP JR., ATTORNEY FOR REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE: The question of voter fraud in the 2020 election, it was a -- quintessential example of political speech, legitimate political disagreements about what happened.

REID: Greene, who still pushes the big lie that Trump won the election and denied ever opposing a peaceful transition of power, testified for more than three hours repeatedly saying she does not remember many key events or even her own actions leading up to January 6th.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My question is just about whether anybody at all ever mentioned to you the possibility of violence.

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): I don't remember. I don't recall.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were going to flood the capitol with people.

GREENE: No. I don't remember ever hearing that. No, I do not remember that.

REID: The judge who presided over Friday's hearing will ultimately make a recommendation to the Georgia secretary of state about whether Greene should be disqualified.

Now, as for Representative McCarthy, he's expected to address his colleagues next Wednesday when they meet privately. Some Republicans tell CNN they expect he might face some uncomfortable questions, but ultimately they expect this controversy will blow over.

Paula Reid, CNN -- Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And still to come, across the U.S., some cities and local transit authorities are reinstating orders requiring masks on public transportation after a federal judge struck down the public transportation mask mandate.

We will discuss with a physician and professor of emergency medicine after this.

[11:22:32]

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WHITFIELD: All right. This weekend, the most populous county in America is bringing back some mask mandates. Los Angeles County reinstating an order requiring masks on public transportation.

The county says COVID-19 cases have jumped to over 2,000 per day, the highest level since February. That order comes just days after a federal judge struck down a federal mask mandate for planes and other mass transit. The DOJ is now appealing that decision.

All right. Joining us now to talk about all of this is Dr. Esther Choo. She's a professor of emergency medicine for Oregon Health and Science University.

Dr. Choo, always good to see you.

DR. ESTHER CHOO, PROFESSOR OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE, OREGON HEALTH AND SCIENCE UNIVERSITY: Good morning, Fred. Good to be on with you.

WHITFIELD: So cases have gone up in L.A. county but are still relatively low. Do you agree with this new mask mandate there? DR. CHOO: I do. And it really sounds like L.A. County is doing exactly

what health departments are supposed to be doing, which is be nimble and bring back some of these layered protections when it is for the good of the community.

L.A. County Public Health officials also, I thought, summarized their rational really well. You know, they're still adhering by current CDC guidelines which have extended public transit mask mandates until May 3rd. They kind of reject the idea that a judge with very little public health background has better thoughts or advice than our CDC. And they're also acknowledging, I think, what we should all be thinking of when it comes to public transit is that -- which is that these really need to be accessible spaces because they're used by 1 in 10 Americans, many of them are essential workers who require this type of transportation to get to work.

They are disproportionately low income workers, people who have been hit the hardest in this pandemic and they deserve public spaces, particularly ones that are crowded that don't always have great ventilation, and in order to feel that they can continue to pursue their livelihoods, provide services to our schools, to our health care settings without having to balance that with risk to themselves or their family members who are vulnerable.

WHITFIELD: And then there's Philadelphia this week, you know, the city renewed its indoor masking policy. They have it on Monday only to end it days later. Do you think these kinds of back and forth kind of decisions end up kind of hurting the public health messaging?

DR. CHOO: There really is so much pressure the minute that you put on any public health protections. This is why we have virtually none in place right now. I mean, we have really liberalized things like masking, testing, proof of vaccination in pretty much every space. And so it's really just this one space that some communities are trying to be consistent and asking people for the reasons I enumerated, to please, put on masks when we see things like uptick in cases and transmission.

[11:29:51]

DR. CHOO: And so I think it is really tough when there's so much pushback. You know, I think we need to get better at saying this is what public health recommends right now. Let's come together and do this until they turn it off. And so that we can get the things that we want, which is keeping our businesses and schools open and our health care systems able to take care of the people. So it is unfortunate so much back and forth.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Meantime, the CDC does continue to recommend masks be worn on public transportation despite, you know, the judge striking down a federal order this week.

So should people be wearing masks on planes at this point or just should it simply be people's discretion? What would be your recommendation? DR. CHOO: Well, I know we talk a lot about gauge your individual risk

and do what's best for yourself. But I think again, in these communal spaces, we actually need to think about how do we make it safe for everybody, including people who don't have a lot of choice.

I mean, airplanes are one piece of that. But 34 million Americans use ground transport during the weekdays to get to work. It's not like you're in a place like a mall or grocery store where you have some ability to modify when you go, how much distance you have between people.

On public transit, you're kind of stuck and by and large they are very crowded places. So I always think -- I'm actually not thinking about myself when I put on a mask. I'm thinking, what do I signal to other people, particularly those who are immunocompromised or who have children under the age of 5, who don't have a lot of (INAUDIBLE) N95. People for whatever reason could not get fully vaccinated or don't have access to quick health care in order to get (INAUDIBLE) some of these other downstream medications we have should they get ill.

And so I'm just kind of thinking about what is my piece, the thing that I can do that isn't terribly complicated, expensive or difficult that will make the entire space safe, and I hope that people can think in those terms and consider continuing to wear a mask.

WHITFIELD: Children under 5 still not eligible for a COVID vaccine, and that represents about 18 million people. In your view, is this taking a long time?

DR. CHOO: It has felt really frustrating, especially because it seems like it's always just about to happen. It's always -- you know, by the end of the month or the next month or within a short period of time and there have been a lot of hiccups. You know, Pfizer first looked at its two-dose series and decided to back off and go for a three-dose series. Moderna, as well, data released in March and I know both of those companies have plans to present this data soonest to the FDA.

So I know it's been really frustrating for families. At the same time, we haven't done a great job in vaccinating our children, for example, the 5 to 11-year-old age group, vaccination really stalled out. The vast majority of those children have not received their vaccination -- their full vaccination series.

So I think as eager as we are for that, we also have to think about how do we continue advancing vaccinations and get answers to parents who have questions or doubts about the vaccine even -- you know, who are currently eligible because those same concerns will hamper the vaccine effort for the younger children when it comes out this summer, hopefully.

WHITFIELD: All right. Dr. Esther Choo, always good to see you. Thank you so much.

DR. CHOO: Appreciate you.

WHITFIELD: All right. A new study from Providence Health Care System shows unvaccinated people who tested positive for COVID developed roughly the same amount of protection against reinfection as those who had been vaccinated.

But as CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains, it's really not that simple.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In this lab at Emory University, scientists like Mehur Suthar are working to answer one of the most common questions of the pandemic. How much protection does a previous COVID infection provide?

MEHUL SUTHAR, VIRAL IMMUNOLOGIST, EMORY UNIVERSITY: Where as a vaccine response, you may have all individuals that got the vaccine have high antibodies that sort of wane over time. With infections, you'll have lots of individuals that have very low and individuals that have very high antibody responses.

GUPTA: Take a look at this graph of people who have immunity from a prior infection. See how varied the blue dots and lines are? They represent the antibody response. It's all over the place.

It is proof, Suthar says, that not all infections are the same. But with vaccines, a much more predictable, consistent antibody response. But how do you use this data to make decisions in the real world? Especially now that states have loosened measures like masks and vaccine mandates?

(on camera): If I were to get my antibodies checked, could I then get some sort of measure of just how protected I am?

SUTHAR: There aren't good correlates of protection. Something that says that this is the measurement that one needs to know how well they are protected. And now with these variants, we're seeing how the antibody responses sort of take a hit.

DR. GUPTA: Let's say you're in a situation where someone essentially doesn't have antibodies anymore. If you were to measure their antibodies but you don't see them. Does that mean they no longer have protection?

SUTHAR: Not necessarily. So there's several aspects to one's immune system that can drive protection.

[11:34:55]

DR. GUPTA (voice over): Like b-cells which can make more antibodies if the virus comes back and t-cells which help activate the immune system and get rid of infected cells. Antibodies in your blood naturally wane over time.

Think of it like security lights at your home. When there's an intruder nearby, they should turn on. But when there's no more threat you want them to turn back off.

(on camera): Why do we focus so much on antibodies? SUTHAR: One aspect is that antibodies are probably one of the easiest

to measure in the laboratory.

DR. DORRY SEGEV, PROFESSOR OF SURGERY, NYU LANGONE HEALTH: The immunity you get from prior COVID infection has become way more politicized than anything I've ever seen in medicine. But it's still a very important medical question.

DR. GUPTA (voice over): Dr. Dorry Segev is a transplant surgeon who says antibody tests should be used in some cases to understand how protected people are. In February, he published research on hundreds of unvaccinated Americans who had COVID.

DR. SEGEV: Almost every single one of them had detectable antibodies.

DR. GUPTA: And the science says if those people then later got vaccinated, they will have even more robust immunity than infection alone. It's something Segev thinks we do need to take into consideration.

DR. SEGEV: COVID is a high-risk, high-consequence way of getting immunity. But if you had COVID and you went through that and you have immunity, that is something we need to respect and we need to incorporate in the ways we draw the sort of the new social contract of COVID.

DR. GUPTA (on camera): So there's no doubt that being previously infected can provide significant protection. The issue more is how consistent is it, how predictable is it.

An older person who didn't get that ill from the original infection, they may not generate as many antibodies as a young person who got very ill. That's the sort of issue you can't predict that.

And obviously getting infected comes with the risk of getting sick. Developing long COVID symptoms.

As things stand now, about 95 percent of the country probably has some degree of immunity, that is a combination of being both vaccinated and infected. But again, it's the vaccinated immunity that is going to be far safer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Sanjay Gupta, thank you so much.

All right. Coming up, we will show you samples of the math textbooks Florida education officials rejected, citing that they said were references to critical race theory or other prohibited topics.

[11:37:25]

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WHITFIELD: Florida education officials claim elementary school math books are being used to indoctrinate students. The state recently rejected about 41 percent of the textbook submissions claiming they referenced critical race theory or other prohibited topics.

CNN's Leyla Santiago has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These are the images released by Florida's Department of Education, examples of what it finds too objectionable to be included in public school math books.

One of the images which the Department of Education said were sent to them by the public shows a bar graph measuring racial prejudice by political identification.

Another adding and subtracting a section that begins with, "What, me, racist?" It goes on to talk about racial prejudice and measuring bias.

Public school textbooks just the latest battleground in a culture war waged by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): There's really outrageous things going on about what they're doing by basically using critical race theory to bring ideology and political activism as a sort of forefront of education.

SANTIAGO: Florida's Department of Education says it's rejecting publishers' attempts to indoctrinate students. The overwhelming majority of materials, they deemed problematic where for students K through Fifth Grade. Some of the books according to the department did not meet state standards. Others incorporated prohibited topics or unsolicited strategies including critical race theory.

SUMI CHO, DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC INITIATIVES, AFRICAN AMERICAN POICY FORUM: It's kind of interesting to see this ever-expanding umbrella under this fear-mongering campaign that is, you know, using critical race theory as the sort of Trojan Horse in education.

SANTIAGO: Another reason textbooks were rejected references to social- emotional learning in math. It's a practice that supports the social side of learning and emotional needs of children as described by the Collaborative for Academics, Social and Emotional Learning.

TIM SHRIVER, BOARD CHAIRMAN, COLLABORATIVE FOR ACADEMICS, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING: This is a fight about honestly next to nothing. A lot of this is inspired by political disputes and by political advantage. There's a vast industry in this country that uses contempt and hatred to divide us politically. And I think sometimes that industry of division and contempt uses schools to advance its own aims.

A "New York Times" review of 21 of the rejected books found many of the textbooks included social emotional content but found little that touched on race or critical theory.

Perhaps not a focus in the textbooks but a focus for the political playbook of a potential 2024 presidential candidate. DESANTIS: Nobody wants this crap. They're trying to shove it down the

throats of the American people. You're not doing that here in the state of Florida.

[11:44:57]

SANTIAGO: And we should mention that the Department of Education, Florida's Department of Education, released these images that they received from the public. When I asked the press secretary for exact textbooks that these images came from, we never heard back.

I have been talking quite a bit to Florida math teachers, a handful of them, and many of them tell me that they're worried this will set them back. That they're worried that this will now become a back-and-forth in an appeals process for the publishers with the state and they really just want to get their hands on the materials so they can start planning for the next school year.

Leyla Santiago, CNN -- Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Other top stories we're following this hour, the suspect in a shooting rampage that left four people wounded in Washington, D.C. on Friday is dead. Police say they believe as the yet unidentified man took his own life in the apartment where he was found.

They also recovered six firearms from inside that same apartment, including long guns, handguns and a multiple -- multiple rounds of ammunition. Police say they are still searching for a person of interest, 23-year-old Raymond Spencer who is not considered a suspect in this case.

All right. Four people were also injured in two separate shootings near the Indiana University campus early this morning. Bloomington police say shots were fired around 1:00 a.m. near a nightclub where three men were shot.

About 20 minutes later, another person was shot two miles away. It's not clear whether the shootings are connected.

And in New Mexico, dry conditions and extreme wind gusts up to 65 miles per hour are fueling at least four dangerous wildfires in two counties just east of Santa Fe. The Calf Canyon fire has forced the evacuation of at least 20 communities in Mora County with another eight areas prepping to evacuate today.

Meanwhile, in San Miguel County, the Hermit's Peak Fire has burned about 7,500 acres since April 6th.

All right. Still ahead, the story of Russian opposition leader, activist and fierce Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and how he became one of Putin's greatest enemies.

[11:47:10] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Russian opposition leader and fierce Putin critic Alexei Navalny has now been in jail more than a year. The story of how he ended up there after surviving an alleged murder attempt and tracking down his own would-be assassins unfold in the new film "NAVALNY".

Here's CNN's Alex Marquardt with a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: There is no greater antagonist for a political threat in Russia for Vladimir Putin than Alexei Navalny. As a result, the 45-year-old opposition leader is now languishing in a Russian penal colony serving a combined sentence of more than 11 years in prison.

ALEXEI NAVALNY, RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER: I understand how system work in Russia. I understand that Putin hates me.

MARQUARDT: Navalny's imprisonment is the culmination of more than a decade of activism, of being a thorn in Putin's side. He was a blogger and a lawyer who emerged in 2008 exposing corruption at some Russian state-owned companies.

NAVALNY: the Putin regime is built on corruption and Putin himself is the most corrupt.

MARQUARDT: In 2011, after allegations that parliamentary elections were rigged in favor of Putin's political party, Navalny rose to prominence as a leader in the large-scale protests.

Over the years, he was repeatedly arrested, evidence of a growing popularity that threatened the Russian establishment's grip on power. His shining rise somewhat complicated in his early days with cooperation and marching alongside other anti-Putin forces which included members of far-right nationalist groups. Navalny justifies it now by saying a broad coalition is needed to fight a totalitarian regime.

In 2013, he ran for mayor of Moscow and lost to Putin's favorite candidate. The same year, he was also convicted of embezzlement, a conviction which he called trumped up that would prevent him for running for president against Putin in 2018.

Two years later, in August 2020, he boarded a flight from the central Russian city of Tovsk Moscow. Soon his cries were heard throughout the cabin. Navalny knew exactly what had happened.

NAVALNY: Turned over the flight attendant and said "I was poisoned, I'm going to die."

MARQUARDT: He'd been poison with a chemical nerve agent called Novichok. He was flown to Germany for treatment. A joint investigation by CNN and the investigative group Bellingcat uncovered a team of agents from the FSB, the successor to the KGB, that had tracked and followed Navalny for years before the poisoning.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Is it your contention that Vladimir Putin must have been aware of this?

NAVALNY: Of course. 100 percent.

MARQUARDT: CNN's Clarissa Ward and her team confronted a member of the FSB's toxin team Oleg Tayakin (ph) at his apartment on the outskirts of Moscow.

WARD: Oleg Varisovich (ph), my name is Clarissa Ward. I work for CNN.

Can I ask you a couple of questions?

Was it your team that poisoned Navalny, please?

MARQUARDT: Five months after his poisoning, Navalny returned to Russia knowing what awaited him.

NAVALNY: I will go back because I'm Russian politician. I belong to this country.

I would never give Putin such a gift.

[11:54:53]

MARQUARDT: He was arrested on arrival. In prison, he started a hunger strike. He was initially sentenced to two and a half years for violating his probation, then another 9 were added for fraud and contempt of court charges, which Putin critics say are clearly political.

Alex Marquardt, CNN -- Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And you most definitely want to tune in to this all-new "CNN FILM: NAVALNY" premiering Sunday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

And we'll be right back.

[11:55:20]

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[12:00:03]

WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right. New Russian attacks targeting cities and towns across Ukraine.