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Ukrainians Battle Russians near Kharkiv; Ukrainian Prime Minister: Mariupol "Biggest Humanitarian Catastrophe" in a Century; Russia Sets Sights on Southern Ukraine; French Elect Next President Sunday; U.S. Markets Fell Friday on Fears of Rate Hike. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired April 23, 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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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Isa Soares live in Lviv, Ukraine. Coming up this hour --
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We thought they would shoot for a bit and then they will stop. But then around 8:30, windows shattered from a very loud explosion.
SOARES (voice-over): Refugees describing attacks by Russian troops as they escape Mariupol, leaving everything behind, all while the Kremlin reveals its ultimate goal in its war of choice.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And I'm Kim Brunhuber in Atlanta. We're live in France as voters get ready for a high-stakes presidential runoff election.
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SOARES: Welcome to the show, everyone. It's now 10:00 am here in Lviv, Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military says Russia's assault on the eastern part of the country is heating up as the next phase of Russia's war gets underway. Now a key town in that region is Slovyansk. Ukraine is accusing Russia of shelling the town on Friday with cluster munitions, which scatter over a wide area.
In the small town outside of Kyiv, drone video that you're looking at shows really the apocalyptic landscape left by Russian shelling during the first phase of the war. Ukrainian forces are being honored for holding the town and for blocking, of course, the Russian advance on the capital.
And President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is vowing to keep fighting. Have a listen.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We will defend ourselves as long as necessary to break this ambition of the Russian Federation. The armed forces of Ukraine continue to deter attacks by Russian invaders in the east and south of our country.
And I'm grateful to each of our defenders who are bravely holding on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Meanwhile, Russia military now confirming its objective is to take full control of Ukraine's Black Sea coast. President Zelenskyy warns that if Russia is successful, it would only be the beginning and other countries will be next.
But Russians' ministry of defense released its statement a short time ago, in the last 30 minutes or so, saying Russia has made no major gains in the past 24 hours. That is air and sea forces haven't established control in either domain.
And Russian troops continue to face heavy fighting in the city of Mariupol, despite, of course, the Russian claims by Putin that the city had, quote, been "liberated."
But the reality on the ground is that the city of Mariupol -- we have seen the images -- is battered. Evacuating the city is often is a perilous, thanks to constant Russian bombardment. Our Matt Rivers spoke to a few families who made it out Friday.
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MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The train was designated just for evacuees. If all went to plan it, would arrive here to Lviv packed with hundreds fleeing war.
Instead, just a handful of families finally found safety, including Paulina and her daughter, Iryna, who fled Mariupol. They are furious there are not more who got out.
She says, "So many should have been evacuated but the Russians kept shelling. They are not human beings. I don't know who gave birth to them. Horrific."
"Horrific" an apt word to describe what Russia has done to the people of Mariupol. Collecting dead bodies amongst the city's wreckage, a task now as commonplace as it is morbid. Some of the dead are loaded into Russian marked trucks while others have been buried in alleged mass graves, seen here in new satellite imagery.
And yet for the tens of thousands who survive here, they need to get out and cannot.
He says, "Humanitarian corridors declared by Russia are only on paper." Russian troops dominate the vast majority of the city. If they wanted
to let people leave safely, they could. And yet several humanitarian corridors agreed to this week have failed, with Ukraine accusing Russia of repeatedly violating cease-fires.
It's meant the number of evacuees following the planned route from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhya has slowed to a trickle and, even then, danger awaits.
RIVERS: Ukraine's military says this train actually came under fire as it was leaving a station in Zaporizhzhya. Some of the train cars were so badly damaged they had to be left behind. And even the ones that can still travel, have some damage left over. It's another example, Ukraine says, of how Russia continues to target civilians.
RIVERS (voice-over): For those from Mariupol, like Katya Yatsun, these are some of the first moments they have felt safe in weeks.
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RIVERS (voice-over): "We were just thinking about our survival," she says. "I don't know how I'm going to tell my son about such terrifying events."
She says she'll eventually tell her son about Russian military brutality, about the needless destruction of an entire city. And maybe her son will live long enough to return to Mariupol one day; others doubt they'll have their chance.
She says, "I want to believe that I will return there. I think we'll need many years to restore the city after what they've done. And I'm not going to be around that long" -- Matt Rivers, CNN, Lviv, Ukraine.
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SOARES: I want to bring in Ukrainian journalist Tanya Kozyreva. She joins us from Dnipro.
Thank you for taking time to speak to us. I believe you were in Zaporizhzhya, meeting the first evacuation bus from Mariupol. Give us a sense of what people are telling you from those who made it out.
TANYA KOZYREVA, JOURNALIST: Well, most of the people there, they're heartbroken and they just cannot stop crying. And they couldn't -- like they were just crying, and the tears were -- they couldn't -- yes, it's -- it was hard to watch even.
And every time there was like one family where -- of elder people, we spoke. It was Mischa (ph) and Maria (ph) and they're like 65 years old. And they were crying that they're homeless, the city is destroyed, and they have nowhere to go. They have no savings or nothing.
They were among 79 people who were lucky to get out. If you know that evacuation before was happening only for those people who have their own cars. But they were among those people who, like the most vulnerable citizens of Mariupol, who had no -- their own cars and yes --
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SOARES: -- trying to check if it was just me. We can't -- we don't have your connection. Let me ask you again to make sure that we you and can hear you clearly.
You were talking -- OK. So it was on my end. So apologies.
You were talking about this family, saying many don't have their own cars to be evacuated. These are the ones are waiting for transportation. And we saw the buses arrive. I know only 79 people got out.
In the buses, there's so many people smiling, I'm guessing it was relief but also many tears. Give us a sense of what these people went through inside Mariupol as they were trapped for weeks on end.
KOZYREVA: Yes, some of them spent 56-57 days in the bomb shelter. And it's hard to imagine but this is something that they're going -- some of the people who are still there are going through this. But those who managed to get out, they are saying that there was no electricity, no water.
Can you imagine this, to live in the basement, without water or food and electricity? Some of them were brave to say, at one point, the citizens were have to loot some shops and pharmacies just to get the most essential food and pharmaceuticals they need.
Some of people that we spoke, they were HIV positive and they were the ones who were -- who didn't get any medicine support for almost two months, which is crucial for their lives.
Some of the people were saying they were -- they had interaction with Russians, and it was very painful experience. Besides the Russians were asking them if they know somebody from Ukrainian military, like if they know where the location, where they are located and other things.
But the other experience, some of Mariupol has, this is filtration camps, where mostly men, but -- I mean, mostly men are stuck for one month. Like Russian are torturing them and getting some evidence and like any kind of information that they can use --
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KOZYREVA: -- to find out where the position of Ukrainian army is and if those men have any connection with the military or with Ukrainian government, like any kind of information.
So this is something I think which is very crucial. And many people of Mariupol are saying that not many are lucky to get out of those filtration camps. So this is something that is I think horrifying and, you know, yes. Hard to describe.
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SOARES: Yes, it's terrifying. It's something we heard yesterday from a young boy, a young man, coming out of Mariupol. Of course, he was telling me there are 100,000 so people still stuck in Mariupol. I believe that you have been traveling in other -- throughout other parts of Ukraine. Give us a sense of what you have seen.
KOZYREVA: Well, we were in Kramatorsk in Slovyansk a couple days ago and the situation in Slovyansk is also not very optimistic because the mayor of the city is saying that Russians declared the plans that they want to surround the cities, Kramatorsk and Slovyansk.
And he is asking actively the citizens to leave the city because he is afraid that something could happen in Mariupol can repeat in those cities, in Slovyansk and Kramatorsk.
So -- but at the same time, he is saying that evacuation is mostly completed. People -- more than around 30 percent is staying in the city and they don't want to leave. And most of them -- again, elder people, who don't have nowhere to go, for whom this is their home.
And you know -- and the mayor is saying that the situation can be crucial just because, in case the pharmacy will be closed, it will be very hard for those people, who have like a chronic disease, to survive this occupation.
So -- but for citizens, it's very hard to evacuate right now just because the only train exists in Krokrosk (ph) and this is the only train for the whole region of Donbas.
The buses are evacuating but many people are afraid to use the buses and the trains just because many of them are targeted by rockets in Kramatorsk. Specifically, the train station was destroyed by a rocket and we hear a lot of reports about evacuation buses that were shelled or shot by Russians.
SOARES: I mean the options you laid out are not great. You stay underground with -- surrounded by Russian military, with no food or water, facing shelling, or you get out and face the risk as well of being hit at the same time.
So it's incredibly hard to make the decision, especially if you are elderly and you may struggle. As you hear, we've been hearing the last 24 hours or so, the Russian military basically saying they want now full control of the east and the whole coast.
Really how, given what we have seen, what you have seen traveling the country in the last 58 days, what's your assessment?
And how bad do you think it will get, given what you have seen every day here?
KOZYREVA: Well, you know, when Russians are saying or declaring they won the battle for Mariupol and then you see the footage, where the whole building destroyed, the city is destroyed and it's unclear what is the strategy here, how Russians are planning to hold the cities or to -- if they even have the plan to rebuild it.
Or is it just a distraction campaign?
Which is like it looks like. It looks like all the occupied cities, they're heavily shelled and the infrastructure destroyed. The people who are disagree with Russians or who don't want to collaborate, they are killed or tortured or both or raped.
We have a lot of reports from Bucha about raping not only women but also kids and elder people, which is also devastating and it's -- I cannot -- I don't know what is the strategy here, to be honest, besides to capture some territory and to get land bridge between Crimea and Russia.
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KOZYREVA: Like regarding the safety of people that are on the occupied territory, the situation is horrifying. And it's like -- I think it has to be investigated by -- I mean, it is investigated by a war crimes prosecutor and they are collecting evidence right now.
And we'll find out the names of the soldiers who are torturing people and civilians. But also I think it's a hard case against the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin himself.
SOARES: Whatever the strategy is on the ground, what you have painted for us really helps describe and explain to viewers around the world really the fallout of this strategy.
Up and down the country, as you have seen, like you heard, children, families crying, people huddled in basements. You are saying young people, even elderly people being raped. It's -- one can't even fathom what is to come.
Tanya Kozyreva, please stay safe, thank you very much for taking time to speak to us.
And as we have been talking about and what we have seen, families in Mariupol facing really dire straits, with some traveling thousands of miles under the most dangerous conditions just to get to safety. Some of those who fled are describing the horror of living in the war zone.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They started hitting home. Phone connection failed. Electricity and gas as well. We had to cook on straight on grill. And they were shooting. There were incoming shells.
So it happened that, as soon as you set up your grill, you are running way so as to save yourself. Shells were flying literally over our heads. Splinters were falling into pots.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SOARES: According to the U.N. more than 5.1 million people have fled the country since the fighting began.
If you'd like to safely as well as securely help people in Ukraine, who may be in need of shelter, food or water, please go to cnn.com/impact. You will find several ways that you can help.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Thanks so much.
Coming up, our other top story: French voters prepare to decide who will lead their country for the next five years. We'll go live to Paris on the eve of an election, the impact of which will be felt well beyond France.
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BRUNHUBER: Political analysts often say the French vote with their hearts in round one of the elections but with their heads in round two. But heads or hearts, they'll be choosing between these two candidates Sunday.
Incumbent president Emmanuel Macron is facing far right challenger Marine Le Pen. Whoever comes out on top of the election is expected to have a far-reaching impact both at home and abroad. For more on this, Jim Bittermann joins us from Paris.
Where do we stand?
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Well, the cone of silence has descended on France. This is the 24 to 36-hour period before the voting takes place in France, where the media cannot broadcast any results of polls.
And so after weeks of sometimes noisy campaigning, there's a eerie calm this morning and probably will be throughout the day today and right up until the results are announced tomorrow night at 8 o'clock.
In any case, the newspapers have to resign themselves to very general headlines like this, "Decisive Choice for France." That's the way "Figaro" put it.
How decisive the choice in the minds of French voters, however, remains to be seen. The voters on the Left -- because these are two candidates that represent the center right and the far right, the voters on the Left say it's like a choice between the plague and cholera.
Some of them may not even vote, as a matter of fact. And that abstention rate will be something that I think a lot of people will be watching. It could have a big impact on the contest when we get the results tomorrow.
So we'll see what the abstention rate is. But there will be a substantial number of people that will abstain from voting, both because they're not happy with their choices but also because there are school vacations on, it's nice weather, any other factors that they can think of an excuse to not go to the polls.
BRUNHUBER: We have a about a minutes left. I want to ask you, we talked in the run-up, the stakes go far beyond just France but to Europe as well. And this choice is sort of brought into stark relief with the war in Ukraine.
BITTERMANN: Well, there are a number of issues here. Cost of living is an issue. Environment is an issue. And the war in Ukraine has been an issue throughout the campaign.
But I think as well the bigger, broader picture of Europe, there is some impact that this could have in the kinds of public sentiment you see elsewhere in Europe. The fact is that there has been a lot of talk for a number of years now about the rise of the Right in Europe and populism.
And there's going to be every bit of examination on this election to see if, in fact, that is actually happening in France as well.
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BITTERMANN: If the Right is rising as some countries.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. We'll be following along closely. Jim Bittermann, live in Paris, thanks so much.
Of course, join us Sunday at 8:00 pm Paris time, 2:00 pm Eastern in the U.S. for special live coverage of the French election, right here on CNN.
I'm Kim Brunhuber. For our international viewers, "AFRICAN VOICES: CHANGEMAKERS" is next. For those in North America, we're back with more breaking news after the short break. Stay with us.
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SOARES: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Live in Lviv, Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military says Russia's assault on Eastern Ukraine is heating up as the next phase of the Russia war gets underway. Russia's military now confirming its objective is take full control of Ukraine's Black Sea coast. President Zelenskyy warns, if Russia is successful, it will only be
the beginning and other countries will be next. But Britain's ministry of defense releasing this statement just about a short time ago, less than an hour ago.
It says Russia has made no major gains in the past 24 hours. Its air and sea forces have not established control in either domain. And Russian troops continue to face heavy fighting in Mariupol, despite President Putin claiming the city had been liberated earlier this week.
Ukraine says the discovery of more suspected mass graves near Mariupol is further evidence of alleged Russian war crimes. Ukraine's top prosecutor spoke earlier with CNN and said investigating all of the alleged atrocities is very hard right now. Have a listen.
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IRYNA VENEDIKTOVA, UKRAINIAN PROSECUTOR GENERAL: It's a huge difficulty for us, for Ukrainian prosecutors, to investigate because we are still in the war and we don't have access to the occupied territories.
I'm sure that they try to hide everything, that they tried to make information in different way. And, of course, they want after to say there were something else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: We have been telling you about Ukrainian soldiers and civilians holed up in inside Mariupol's sprawling steel factory. Video from the troops shows them delivering supplies to women and children huddled in the bomb shelter.
And we have learned this just a few minutes ago, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol says an evacuation column is planned for today from the city. There wasn't one yesterday. But one is planned today. Officials said about 100,000 civilians still remain trapped in Mariupol, surrounded, of course, by Russian forces.
A bit earlier I spoke with Stuart Crawford, a former British military officer and defense analyst. I asked him about whether President Putin is moving the goal posts of this was his plan all along.
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STUART CRAWFORD, DEFENSE ANALYST: Only he knows what his initial strategy was. I have no knowledge and I suspect very few people, apart from his closest circle, will know what the aim was initially.
It looks like it was to decapitate the regime there and install a puppet government but that obviously hasn't happened. I think more importantly is that other people have said beforehand, the Russians need a victory.
NATO and the West so far have supported the Ukraine admirably with sufficient weapons and materiel so that Ukraine does not lose. But I think what we now need to start doing is supplying the sort of weaponry and materiel so that the Ukrainians can look to win.
And that has started already, with tanks from some of the European countries and also from artillery systems from the USA and lots of other things.
SOARES: Yes, and we've seen that announcement from the U.S. in the last 24 hours or so. Stuart, I want to play to our viewers and yourself what President Zelenskyy said in his nightly address. Have a listen to this.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Comments by Russian commanders show Russia wants to invade other countries. An attack on Ukraine was only the beginning.
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SOARES: An attack on Ukraine is only the beginning, Stuart.
I mean how concerned should Moldova be here?
CRAWFORD: Well, it shouldn't be concerned in the short to medium term because I don't think the Russians have the means to do it.
However, if Russia isn't stopped in Ukraine, then who knows what will happen next?
We've seen NATO bolstering its forces in the Baltic States and Poland and elsewhere. I think that's a very sensible thing to do.
What I would say is that, at some point, Ukraine needs to stop having to react to what the Russians are doing and take the initiative.
And if I was advising President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian military -- and bear in mind, I'm only a lowly, retired lieutenant colonel, I'd be saying to him, if you've got the means, why don't you shift onto the front foot and launch a strategic offensive, possibly even toward Crimea and threaten to take that back from the Russians?
Which would really put the Russians on the back foot and get inside their decision cycle.
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SOARES: Question is, of course, does Ukraine have the means to do that, to be on the offensive?
I turn things over to my colleague, Kim, in Atlanta, following other top stories.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Thanks so much. Police in Washington, D.C., say the suspect in a Friday shooting that
wounded four people has died. Two of the injured were reported in critical but stable condition. A third victim had a minor gunshot wound and a fourth was grazed by a bullet.
One witness described what he saw.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was like five shots and then stopped for like one minute. And then four more, five more. And then again. That's why I think it was around like five and five and five and then five. That's why we're scared because it was five and then we were like, oh, might be shooting.
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BRUNHUBER: Authorities later said the suspect took his own life. Several firearms were found on the scene. Police say the investigation is ongoing and, so far, they do not have a motive.
Two Republicans are making headlines in connection with the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 of last year. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene is in court for a case that could bar her from reelection over her alleged role 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 has both stories.
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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 call that then President Trump had admitted to bearing some responsibility for the deadly attack.
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REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): 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 (voice-over): On a separate call the day before, McCarthy said he was done with Trump.
MCCARTHY: I've had it with this guy. What he did is unacceptable. Nobody can defend that and nobody should defend him.
REID (voice-over): 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.
MCCARTHY: I'm not sure what call you're talking about.
REID (voice-over): 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REID (voice-over): 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 today 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., GREENE'S ATTORNEY: The question of voter fraud in the 2020 election is 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 election of power testified for more than three hours, repeatedly saying she doesn't remember many key events or even her own actions leading up to January 6th.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My question was 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.
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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 is expected to address his colleagues next Wednesday when they meet privately. Some Republicans tell CNN they expect he might face uncomfortable questions. Ultimately, they expect this controversy will blow over -- Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: All right. Much more to come here on CNN.
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BRUNHUBER: After the break, Russia's war in Ukraine having an economic impact far from Eastern Europe. That's ahead.
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BRUNHUBER: U.S. markets plunged Friday amid fears of a hike in interest rates. The Dow falling nearly 1,000 points, about 2.8 percent.
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BRUNHUBER: The Nasdaq and S&P 500 were also down more than 2.5 percent.
Markets tumbled after the Federal Reserve chairman said a possible half-point rise in interest rates will be on the table in the Fed's May meeting.
The Federal Reserve hope raising interest rates will get inflation under control in the U.S. but rate hikes could also impact consumers, already hit by rising food and energy costs, driven by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Richard Quest explains.
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RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: The market has ended the week truly unhappy, with more worries about rising inflation and policymakers now talking about raising interest rates faster and more harshly than before.
So there's a realization that the good times have gone, for the time being. In the United States, as the prospect of a half-percentage point rate rise from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the same again in subsequent meetings.
Here at the IMF and World Bank, they've been talking about nothing other than inflation and how to tame it. And as the war in Ukraine continues, so the prospect of higher oil and gas prices simply won't go away. Put it all together and the downgrades of economic growth from the
World Bank and the IMF; the unhappiness of investors, wondering where money can be made; even the streaming problems of companies like Netflix, which are rewriting the rules of entertainment, it has led to investors basically saying, for the time being, the market is not the place to be.
And what's more, no one can see any improvement in the near future -- Richard Quest, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: A fire in Arizona scorching through thousands of acres but it's not the only dangerous wildfire in the U.S. We'll go to the CNN Weather Center for details ahead. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Only 3 percent of a massive fire in Arizona has been contained. The governor declared a state of emergency in at least one county earlier this week. Officials say deputies and officers have to go door to door throughout several neighborhoods in an attempt to warn residents of the threat.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're happy that we're all alive. We're here because we barely got out of the fire. He did. He didn't want to leave. He drove out behind us and the fire was right behind him.
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BRUNHUBER: The Tunnel fire has scorched almost 21,000 acres. And it's not the only fire we're watching in the U.S.
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BRUNHUBER: The crew of the first all-private mission to the International Space Station will be splashing back down to Earth this weekend. The four-member crew launched two weeks ago and includes a former NASA astronaut and three paying customers.
The three spots reportedly cost $55 million each. They're set to leave the station Saturday evening U.S. Eastern time and land off the coast of Florida Sunday.
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BRUNHUBER: I'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM and the latest developments from Ukraine in just a moment. Please stay with us.
