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American Trevor Reed Released From Russia In Prisoner Swap; UN Chief Antonio Guterres To Meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy; Russia Cuts Off Two EU Nations From Its Gas In War Escalation. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired April 28, 2022 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[01:00:34]
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN Breaking News. Hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the US, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.
Marine veteran Trevor Reed is expected back home in the U.S. at any time now after his release on Wednesday in a surprise prisoner exchange with Russia.
Reed, who spent almost three years in Russian custody was swapped for Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko held in the U.S. since 2010. Reed's family has long been urging the U.S. government to secure his release, an official say it took months of work behind the scenes to finalize the deal with his parents, they still can't believe their son's coming home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not going to hit us until we see him.
PAULA REED, TREVOR REED'S MOTHER: I mean, we're excited. We know he's on the plane, but I think we're really going to -- it's going to really hit us when we get to put our arms around him and hug him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: And we'll continue to follow this story closely and bring you more on Reed's release later this hour.
For now, let's go live to Isa Soares who's covering all the latest developments on Russia's war in Ukraine. Isa.
ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much Kim, while an explosion rocked the Russian occupied southern city of Kherson on Wednesday.
Russian state media reported it was caused by three missiles fired by Ukrainian forces. We haven't had any confirmation of that from Ukraine. It reportedly happened near a TV broadcaster allegedly causing Russian channels to go dark in the city, that possible counter attack in the south comes as Russian forces intensify their assault on the east.
Ukrainian officials say the Luhansk region is bearing the brunt of relentless shelling. Severodonetsk is among the hardest hit towns and you are looking at the aftermath of the strike on the hospital there, said to be one of the region's only functioning hospitals.
One woman is reported dead. Officials say the hospital is still operating despite of course suffering significant damage, you can there. And this fuel plant was hit on Wednesday in the central region of Dnipropetrovsk. Russian forces have been repeatedly targeting Ukrainian fuel stocks and energy infrastructure them.
Well in the hours ahead. The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is set to meet with Ukraine's president as well as foreign minister. This is his first trip to Ukraine since Russia launched its unprovoked assault on the country.
The talks are expected to focus on humanitarian support and the evacuation of civilians in particular the civilians in Mariupol. The meeting comes just two days after the UN chief sat down with Vladimir Putin in Moscow. And as a Russian leader issues a new warning of a foreign interference in Ukraine. Have a listen.
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VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): If someone intends to intervene and what is happening from the outside and creates unacceptable strategic threats for us, then they should know that our response to oncoming strikes will be swift, lightning fast. We have all the tools for this once that no one can brag about. And we won't brag. We will use them if needed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Let's get more on this. Joining me now from Washington is Klaus Larres. He's a professor of history and International Affairs at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.
Klaus, thank you very much for taking the time to speak to us this morning. You heard President Putin there. What do you make of this threat? Is it more just more nuclear saber rattling here?
KLAUS LARRES, PROF. UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL: It seems to be because I can't believe that the Russians was really use nuclear weapons. Everyone knows the devastating consequences of such a use of weapons. And I can't think that the Russian two would be prepared to do that. But sabre rattling it certainly is quite a bit of it. Yes.
SOARES: Does this, though, Klaus, reflect any sort of Russian insecurity because we've been hearing these threats much more frequently now at least and at least since the U.S. secretaries came to visit last week or so. LARRES: Yes, yes. And the Russians are also talking about a proxy war that the West was really fighting itself that NATO was fighting itself in Ukraine, which is of course not correct.
[01:05:00]
Yu can say that the Russians are fear -- fearing that they are not achieving what they want to achieve. First, pushback from Kyiv. They could not conquer Kyiv. Now they seem to have difficulties in the Donbas area.
We don't know for sure whether that is correct. But their progress so far in the east of Ukraine is quite slow. That may be intentional to be better prepared, to be more precise than they were when they tried to attack Kyiv, the capital, but it may be also a sign of having difficulties of having perhaps difficulties with the discipline in the army with the equipment. You know, we don't know for sure, but it could well be so.
SOARES: And there's another thing, another element to this is, you know, we've heard from the U.S. secretaries, Secretary of State Blinken, Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin and Lloyd Austin made a position, U.S. position very clear, it seems clearer than we've ever heard it, Klaus, which he when he said, We want to rush it to be weakened.
Does this make this a more kind of -- does this change the dynamic of this whole? I know, you've talked about a proxy war, does it change what we and, you know, what the one looked down until now?
LARRES: Well, the rhetoric is certainly ratcheting up in both on both sides. The West is using much stronger rhetoric than at the beginning. At the beginning, we just talked about helping the Ukrainians was defensive Western weapons to defend themselves. Now we're talking about a weakening Russia.
And on the Russian side, we repeatedly hear about the possible use of nuclear weapons and other very negative rhetoric. So I don't -- I can't see where that will lead us and why that ratcheting up of rhetoric is being done on both sides because it doesn't lead to anything.
What we need is really an end of the war. And the end of the war can only be achieved by mediation. And that should be our focus that countries such as Turkey, or Israel, which have already tried to be mediators in the conflict that they should be called upon to do that again, and really try to bring the conflict to an end.
Another power, we should perhaps put pressure on to be a little bit more involved in the conflict. But putting pressure on Putin would be China, because China had a lot of leeway on Putin.
SOARES: And on, I mean, on the diplomatic front, we haven't seen anything really for several weeks now out of Turkey. Of course, we've got the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is in Kyiv (ph). But as he told our Anderson Cooper, he's very much focusing on the humanitarian corridors trying to get civilians out in the city of Mariupol.
But let me ask you this. We have seen also from President Putin, the last 24 hours or so, him using an economic weapon, which we have seen before, with annexation of Crimea, of course, cutting gas supplies to Poland, as well as Bulgaria. Explain that the strategy, the thinking here. Is this him trying to divide Europe as some are suggesting?
LARRES: Yes, I would say so. That is one of the reasons why he does it. And of course, he wants to hit these two countries by cutting off gas by making economic life difficult, difficult for them.
But both Poland and Bulgaria had expected that because by the end, in the end of March, Putin actually declared that now gas deliveries have to be paid for in ruble, and the Western countries are refusing that and Bulgaria and Poland are refusing to pay in ruble. And it is good, right? Because the contract say it either needs to be paid in euros or in dollars. And rubles is nowhere written down in any of the contracts concluded with Putin.
So Putin is clearly in a breach of contract. But that was not unexpected. And both countries are well prepared. So I think it will not actually hit them very badly, because they have, you know, instigated new pipe. And so for example, Bulgaria, as the pipeline has come. Poland has a pipeline in work with Norway. So I think, you know, in both cases, they will survive Putin's cutting of gas quite well.
SOARES: Well, and I will be speaking to a Polish minister in the next hour or so exactly. about this, how well prepared are they to deal, of course, with the fact the Russia has turned all that off of the tabs so to speak when it comes to gas. Klaus Larres, thank you very much for your insight. Thank you very much, sir.
And the United States says it has credible information that Russian soldiers executed Ukrainians who were trying to surrender. According to the U.S. it happened near Donetsk, that's in the Donbas region, the east of Ukraine.
At the United Nations on Wednesday, the U.S. Ambassador a large for global criminal justice that the U.S. also has credible reports of civilians killed execution style torture and sexual violence against women and girls. Have a listen.
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BETH VAN SCHAACK, U.S. AMBASSADOR AT LARGE FOR GLOBAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE: Let us be clear, those who unleashed perpetrated and ordered these crimes must be held to account. And the evidence of this criminality is mounting daily. Our simple message to Russia's military and political leadership and to the rank and file is this. The world is watching and you will be held accountable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Very important message there. Well, besieged outnumbered but not defeated. That is a situation for Ukrainian defenders in Mariupol, who are still holding out in the city's Azovstal steel plant that is, of course the last sliver of land in Mariupol not taken by Russian troops.
But as you're about to see, the fighting has taken in horrific toll, not just on the plant, the city but also its people.
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SOARES (voice-over): Ivan (ph) used to live on Mariupol Peace Avenue. You want your city to remain the same as it was in your memory, he tells me. That city now lies in ruins, a shell of what it once was.
And the steel plant his family has dedicated three generations to suddenly finds itself as Mariupol's last line of defense.
Seeing your city being destroyed is horrible, he tells me. You could compare it to a relative dying in your arms and seeing him or her dying gradually, organ after organ failing, and you could do nothing.
For his colleague Alexei (ph), it's also personal. He has lost not just friends, but his mother-in-law to shelling when they first tried to flee Mariupol.
(on camera): How does this make you feel? You must be so angry. My emotions appeared already there in Mariupol, he says, that's why there's nothing but hate.
(voice-over): Alexei (ph) has worked at the steel plant for 26 years. He's one of 11,000 employees who have kept the iron furnaces turning here.
A major player in the metals industry, Azovstal produces 4 million tons of steel a year. It's metal shining brightly in Manhattan's Hudson Yards and London shard. Now as Russia pummels its plant, and production jolts to a halt, the CEO of the company behind Azovstal steel, tells me at least 150 of his employees had been killed and thousands are still unaccounted for.
YURIY RYZHENKOV, CEO, METINVEST: Out of the 11,000 employees and as of style only about 4.5 thousand people get out of Mariupol and got in contact with us.
SOARES: This is our plant as Mapata (ph) says. He works here says little girl in a promotional video, built in 1933 under Soviet rule, Azovstal was partially demolished during the Nazi occupation in the 1940s.
Now it faces the wrath of a president who says he denazifying it, attacking the very foundation that this country helped build.
Holed up inside of thought to be around 1,000 civilians hiding in shelters, women, children and the elderly, who haven't seen sunlight in more than 50 days. And then there's the injured in field hospitals like this one. Russian forces continue to encircle the plant and they are not patching. RYZHENKOV: I don't think it's the plan that he wants. I think he's about the symbolism.
SOARES: But when in the port city of Mariupol will provide President Putin with a land bridge to Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014. If fully taken, Rinat Akhmetov, one of Ukraine's richest men and the main shareholder of the group behind Azovstal steel tells me via e-mail, under no circumstances will these plants operate under the Russian occupation. Alexei agrees. Telling me after what they did never.
A wall of steel defending to the bitter end, the place they have called home.
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SOARES: Incredibly strong and defiant people and thanks, of course, to Alexei (ph) and Ivan (ph) for taking the time to speak to me. And I'll have much more from Lviv in the next hour but for now, let's go back to Kim in Atlanta, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks so much, Isa. Appreciated. Two Eastern European countries are looking for a new source of natural gas, one of that after Russia cut off their supply. Coming up, what Poland and Bulgaria plan to do about it. Later, we'll hear directly from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres after he sat down with Russia's president in Moscow what his thoughts on the meeting ahead. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Poland is suing Russia for cutting off its natural gas supplies and Bulgaria is considering doing the same. Bulgaria's Energy Minister tells CNN his country has paid for the gas but the money was turned. Russia is demanding the payment be made in rubles.
Bulgaria and Poland are among those who've refused. Poland's prime minister says Russia broke the contract by not delivering the gas. Clare Sebastian takes a look at the situation.
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CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, after weeks of threatening Russia has now deployed its most powerful economic weapons, shutting off its energy exports. As of Wednesday morning, Poland and Bulgaria are no longer receiving Russian gas through these pipelines. The Turks stream from Bulgaria and up here the Yamal pipeline for Poland, where the EU says any impact on consumers will be minimized.
[01:20:06]
Poland has reassured its public that it has been preparing for this and has alternative suppliers. But this is now a warning to the rest of Europe, which relies on Russia for 40 percent of its natural gas. Russia clearly doubling down on its insistence that European countries pay for gas deliveries in rubles, something the EU says could be in violation of sanctions, many European countries have said they just won't do it. But experts say the European response will be critical.
SIMONE TAGLIAPIETRA, SENIOR FELLOW, BRUEGEL: I think the European answer should be coherent, should be unanimous and should be we don't want to stick to these rules. We stick to what is written in the contract, and therefore we will keep paying in euros or dollars as written in the contracts. That's the senior (ph) that Europe has to give. Because otherwise, what Russia is trying to do is that divide and rule strategy is try to create fragmentation among European countries, and east trying to leverage this fragmentation in a geopolitical manner.
SEBASTIAN: The Kremlin today rejecting EU accusations that this is blackmail, but there's no denying their leverage, especially because Europe is not yet united on what to do about its reliance on Russian energy.
And here's why. This graphic shows just how reliant some European countries are on Russian gas as a percentage of their overall energy consumption. Russian gas is shown there in red, and you can see for Poland over here, and for Bulgaria, it's relatively small, 11 or 12 percent. That is why they can stand firm and refuse to pay in rubles.
For Hungary though up here, it's a quarter. They are currently the only European country to have openly agreed to pay for their gas in rubles. And there's a lot of focus on Germany, Europe's largest economy, where Russian gas accounts for about 14 percent of its energy consumption. The central bank there recently warned if Russian gas supplies stopped, it would tip that country into a recession. And that of course, could spell more trouble for the rest of the continent. Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.
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BRUNHUBER: The war in Ukraine is hurting many other countries bottom lines as well. The war has sparked the biggest commodity price shock and half a century. That's according to the World Bank. And it's not ending soon.
Energy prices are expected to jump more than half this year before easing in 2023. In 2024, food prices will soar by nearly 23 percent led by weak prices that have jumped 40 percent. Ultimately, the World Bank world's poor will bear the brunt.
The UN Secretary General says the war on Ukraine will continue until Russia decides to end it. Antonio Guterres met with the Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, and he's meeting with the Ukrainian leader later today. CNN's Anderson Cooper spoke with the UN chief earlier.
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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Were you satisfied with what you heard from Vladimir Putin yesterday?
ANTONIO GUTERRES, UN SECRETARY-GENERAL: Well, I think it was a very useful meeting. First of all, because it was possible to tell President Putin the same things I say in New York, or I'll be able to say here in Kyiv, which means that the Russian invasion is against the Charter of the United Nations is a violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine. And that is what must end as quickly as possible.
And at the same time, our concerns about violations of international humanitarian law, human rights law, the possibility of war crimes. So I could express these concerns very clearly very openly, and at the same time at a very serious discussion on how we can at least minimize some of the most dramatic situations.
So I concentrated my efforts in humanitarian aid and evacuations corridors. And in particular, the situation of the civilians that are trapped in the steel factory in Mariupol.
COOPER: There may be as many as 1,000 civilians in there at last count. The humanitarian corridors it has been very frustrating obviously for Ukrainians trying to get out. Russia says the quarters are open, and yet Ukrainian officials say they continue to bomb into locations or the corridors may be open but heading only to Russia.
Do you believe Vladimir Putin would allow civilians in Mariupol to leave to Ukraine?
GUTERRES: Let's be clear, President Putin agreed with me in principle that we would have with the support of the UN and the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross that we will have the evacuation of those civilians into the territory controlled by the Ukrainian government.
And we have been working on the details at the present moment they are being discussed in Moscow between the ministry of defense and our people, here also in contact with the Government of Ukraine to see if we can have a situation in which nobody can blame the other side for things not happening.
COOPER: When, you know, some people look at the UN and are frustrated that on the Security Council, Russia obviously has a veto, and it can stop anything from the Security Council really ruling on what is happening here. What do you say to those who say that the UN isn't -- can't be affected because of that?
GUTERRES: Well, the UN is not only the Security Council, the General Assembly was clear in its positions, and we have 1,400 UN staff in Ukraine. And we have already distributed different forms of military aid to more than 3 million Ukrainians.
And one of the reasons of my visit is exactly to organize things in order to scale up our action, and to be able to do much more for the Ukrainians that are in such dramatic circumstances.
COOPER: As for now though, your sights are trying to focus on what you think may be achievable, just in terms of getting civilians out of desperate situations, as opposed to a multinational meeting to try to actually end the war.
GUTERRES: I mean, the water will not end with meetings. The war we went will end when the Russian Federation decides to end it. And when there is after the ceasefire, the possibility of a serious political agreement. We can have all meetings, but that is not what will end the war.
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BRUNHUBER: And the UN chief says the sooner this war ends the better for the sake of Ukraine and the world.
And still to come, two Americans still detained in Russia asking why they've been left behind after Trevor Reed was free than a prisoner swap. And later, millions being tested in Beijing, as China doubles down on it zero COVID policy of live report from Beijing coming up. Stay with us.
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[01:31:21]
BRUNHUBER: And welcome back.
Anytime now, we are expecting the arrival of American Marine veteran, Trevor Reed, back in U.S. following his release from a Russian prison. The prisoner swap between the two countries follows months of work from government officials, even protests from Reed's parents at the White House which eventually got them a meeting with President Joe Biden.
Reed's mother says having her son home will be one of the best gifts she has ever received.
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PAULA REED, MOTHER OF TREVOR REED: It is absolutely the perfect gift. And when we got the call early in the week, when they said something might be occurring this weekend, I said, am I going to have a happy mother's day? And they go, well, we can't say, but just, you know, be ready.
So yes, it is a perfect mother's day. Better -- well not better -- but almost as good as the day he was born.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: So while Trevor Reed is now free, two other Americans, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA player Brittney Griner, are still being held in Russia. The Biden administration says it will continue to work for their release as well.
CNN'S Brian Todd has more.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Attention now turning to the fate of two other Americans detained in Russia -- basketball star Brittney Griner and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan. The Biden administration stresses they are not forgotten.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The case of Paul Whelan is one we continue to work day in, day out. Paul Whelan is wrongfully detained in Russia.
When it comes to Brittney Griner, we are working very closely with her team. Her case is a top priority for us. I can tell you that with the utmost certainty.
TODD: Griner was jailed in mid February on allegations of drug smuggling. Russian authorities said they found cannabis oil in her luggage when she arrived at a Moscow airport. One former U.S. official believes Vladimir Putin has strong motivation to keep holding Griner. There's her celebrity status and the fact that she is a U.S. Olympic gold medalist.
EVELYN FARKAS, FORMER U.S. DEPUTY ASSISTANT DEFENSE SECRETARY: Remember, she was seized in February right after the Olympics, when Russia was roundly embarrassed yet again for doping of its Olympic athletes. And so this might be also a way of getting revenge at the U.S. Olympic Committee.
TODD: Griner has had access to her Russian legal team and has had at least one consular visit by a U.S. official in Moscow. They've reported she was in good condition.
Paul Whelan has been detained since 2018 on espionage charges which he has denied. One analyst says that charge doesn't bode well for him.
ALINA POLYAKOVA, PRESIDENT, CENTER FOR EUROPEAN POLICY ANALYSIS: Espionage charges, you know, that is basically for life in Russia. So I think that the United States, if they are involved in that negotiation together with other governments, that's going to take a very, very long time just because of the complexity of the case.
TODD: Whelan's brother says getting him out will require courage and high-level concessions. But --
DAVID WHELAN, BROTHER OF AMERICAN DETAINEE PAUL WHELAN: I'm not sure that I have a lot of confidence that the current administration or frankly, any administration has that courage or those concessions.
TODD: Former ambassador Bill Richardson, who helped secure Trevor Reed's release says a prisoner swap is not certain for either Griner or Whelan because he says the U.S. government generally frowns upon them.
BILL RICHARDSON, FORMER AMBASSADOR: You don't want to do prisoner swaps because it encourages the other side to use Americans as bargaining chips. And then there's justice issues.
TODD: The analyst we spoke to are all worried about the health and living conditions of Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan but they say as Americans, they're probably being treated better than the Russians that Putin has in prison because they say one thing the Putin regime will try hard to avoid is having an American die in their custody.
Brian Todd, CNN -- Washington.
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[01:34:43]
BRUNHUBER: And Paul Whelan is also a citizen of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada. After Trevor Reed's release, Whelan wrote in a statement, "Why was I left behind? While I'm pleased that Trevor is home with his family, why hasn't more been done to secure my release?"
Horrifying stories of atrocities at the hands of Russian forces are emerging in Ukraine. Among them, a 16-year-old who says she was raped by a Russian soldier.
She recounted the attack to our Nick Paton Walsh. And just to warn you, the details are quite harrowing.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is from these gentle shrugs of villages, lazy and clean, in the green expanses of the Kherson region, that some of this war's ugliest crimes are being dragged into the light.
This is Dasha. She is 16. And was six months pregnant when just over a month ago, Russian forces came to her village here. Her family were in the basement sheltering from bombs, the cold and the Russians shooting in the air or at cars and legs, she said.
At dusk, they brought the children out to the kitchen to eat, where there were two soldiers, one drunk.
DASHA: He asked how old every one was. There was a girl there who is 12, another one 14, and I 16. First he called my mother into another room. He let her go quickly.
Then he called for me and he started to shout. Well first he started telling me to undress. I told him, I will not. And he started shouting at me. He said if I don't undress he will kill me.
WALSH: His sober colleague then came in and told the drunk attacker to stop to no avail and left.
DASHA: When I resisted, he was strangling me. And he was saying he'll kill me. And he said, either you sleep with me now or I will bring 20 more men.
WALSH: By then, night had fallen in the cold house.
DASHA: I just remember that he had blue eyes. It was dark there and I don't remember more. WALSH: She heard the Russians say her attacker's name was Blue. He was from Donetsk and had a criminal past. He tried to attack her again, she said, until Russian snipers later came to help her.
But still some of the Russian soldiers in that unit even were disgusted by what happened then tried to move her and part of her family away to safety. That began a process in which Russian soldiers seemed to try to get her to go back on the claim she had made.
Two days later, she was taken to a Russian paratrooper commander who, she said, began shouting at her, like her attacker had.
DASHA: He said he would do to me the same as what the rapist did. I was so frightened I started crying. He it was a test for him to check whether I was lying or telling the truth.
WALSH: It seems that they did believe her, but the fate of her rapist remains unclear. While we cannot independently verify her harrowing story, Ukrainian prosecutors told us they have investigated the case and confirmed this attack, which they said was a war crime.
But like so much here, the question why is the one without a humane, palatable answer.
DASHA: If we hadn't gotten out to eat, he wouldn't have seen us and then maybe he wouldn't have touched me. We were told that he was going around the village looking for someone he could -- a girl of easy virtue as they said.
WALSH: There are lives here that you can see Russia has changed forever, but also those whose trauma sits beneath the surface and lives on.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN -- Kherson Region, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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BRUNHUBER: We are seeing long lines in Beijing as millions get tested for the coronavirus to prevent a Shanghai-like lockdown. Just hours ago, China's capital announced the closure of some schools and major hospitals with almost no advanced warning. And more neighborhoods are now considered high risk and are being sealed.
CNN's Steven Jiang joins us now from Beijing. So Steven -- China's ongoing zero COVID strategy, I mean it's been creating plenty of anger and outrage in Shanghai because of the draconian lockdowns.
What are you hearing there in Beijing? I understand you are in front of a hospital -- is that being closed now?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Well Kim, I'm actually in front of one of the city's main children's hospitals. And parents who come here are actually lucky because this one is still open.
You can probably see people lining up behind me to get their mandatory COVID tests because that is not only a requirement to get into this hospital but increasingly a pre-requisite to really access most public places in Beijing and across China.
As you mentioned, parents like myself, really woke up this morning with that most dreaded email in our inbox, announcing the immediate closure of many schools until further notice. Now, of course, they are saying they're switching to online learning but that was really little comfort for parents who just have to go to work, or parents like myself with small children. You know, my daughter is only five.
So that kind of -- that reality of the closures of major hospitals and many schools in the city really an ominous sign that the worst is yet to come even though the capital so far has reported fewer than 200 cases out of its 20 million plus residents, many of whom, as you mentioned, have gone through at least two rounds of mandatory COVID tests so far this week with one round to go.
[01:44:59]
JIANG: Now, already the streets feel noticeably quieter even during the morning rush hour. One reason for that could be many commuters who live outside of Beijing's jurisdiction is now being locked out, including the city of (INAUDIBLE), right next door to Beijing. They're locking down its entire population of 1 million for at least three days just because of one case.
But so far, inside the city we are still mostly free to move about, except into those sealed risky -- high-risk neighborhoods as you mentioned. But I think there is a realization here that it is almost inevitable the city may be placed under a massive scale of lockdown.
But of course, this is not just happening here in Beijing or Shanghai but across the country, more than two dozen cities affecting 165 million people, some for months with little outside awareness or attention.
At least here in Beijing, shops are still mostly open with supplies seem to be plentiful both in store and online, at least for now. But people again, like myself, have been stocking up because we are constantly being reminded by people in Shanghai things could change at any moment.
And officials promise and reassurances really don't mean much anymore. I think there is this realization -- this is a grim reality that zero COVID is here to stay, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. How many people possibly affected there. We will continue to be following that story in Beijing. Steven Jiang, really appreciate it.
Well, Dr. Anthony Fauci is walking back comments he made this week saying the United States is out of the coronavirus pandemic phase.
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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We are certainly right now, in this country out of the pandemic phase. Namely, we don't have 900,000 new infections a day and tens and tens and tens of thousands of hospitalizations, and thousands of deaths. We are at a low level right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Cases in the U.S. have tumbled dramatically over the past couple months as the omicron wave receded. But daily cases are still two times higher than they were for most of last summer.
A day after making those comments, Fauci clarified saying that while COVID-19 won't be eradicated, the U.S. has the tools to keep transmissions low. He also noted the COVID-19 situation in the United States doesn't necessarily reflect what is happening in the rest of the world.
All right. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, remembering former U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright. A former president reveals their last conversation.
Also ahead, the Ukrainian football team is doing what it does best but not for any sports title. Coming up next, the team helps the victims of war from the pitch. Stay with us.
[01:47:38]
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BRUNHUBER: Washington said goodbye to a diplomatic legend on Wednesday, former U.S. secretary of state, Madeleine Albright.
More than 1,400 people packed Washington's National Cathedral including President Joe Biden, who called Albright a force of nature, a champion of democracy who turned the tide of history.
Also in attendance, former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton and their former first ladies. It was President Clinton, who nominated Albright to be U.N. ambassador and later the nation's first female secretary of state. He credited Albright with helping to stop the genocide in Kosovo.
And in his eulogies, Clinton remembered the last time he spoke with her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our last conversation was two weeks before she passed away. She said, look, I have a little problem here, but I've got a little problem here but I've got a perfectly good doctor. I'm doing exactly what he tells me to do. So I'm getting good care and whatever happens will be the best outcome I can get. Let's not waste any time on that. The only thing that really matters is what kind of world we're going to leave to our grandchildren.
I will never forget that conversation as long as I live. It was so perfectly Madeleine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Madeleine Albright died of cancer last month. She was 84 years old.
A top Ukrainian football team is hoping to score a win for the victims of war back home. Dynamo Kyiv is on a European tour playing charity matches to raise money for those affected by the fighting.
CNN's Darren Lewis went to their game in Dortmund, Germany this week.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DARREN LEWIS, CNN SENIOR SPORTS ANALYST: The sound of football. For the players of Ukrainian side, Dynamo Kyiv, it is a far cry from the sirens and shelling back home.
Just ask (INAUDIBLE), the Kyiv player forced to flee his homeland and now training in Germany with Borussia Dortmund.
ALAN AUSSI, UKRAINIAN FOOTBALL PLAYER: I don't know why and what this situation HAVE of my city in this time. Russian aggression, propaganda -- why? Why do people die? Why do small boys and small girls and all people die for this? For what?
LEWIS: The impact of war is being felt throughout the football family.
HANS JOACHIM WATZKE, CEO, BORUSSIA DORTMUND: If you see something like in Bucha or in Mariupol, it is unbelievable for us. It brings the tears to the face. It is unbelievable.
The thought that such pictures are possible in Europe in 2022. It is very bad.
[01:54:57]
LEWIS: Alan is playing here for Dortmund against his parent club in a charity match to raise money for those affected by the war. There are thousands packed inside the Signal Iduna Park stadium.
Ukrainian flags in the stand everywhere. And over my right shoulder on the pitch, being held aloft. The match is the latest in Kyiv's European tour. The tour slogan, a simple plea, "Match for Peace, Let's Stop the War".
Some of the biggest clubs in Europe have all signed up to play in the coming weeks.
As for Kyiv, they do not know when they will return to Ukraine. For now, all the team and Alan can do is hope against hope that the bombs will stop dropping and the guns will be laid down. AUSSI: I hope after time, the world don't have this situation, don't
have aggression, people live normal good lives. I hope after time, my country and all countries in the world do not have this problem.
LEWIS: Darren Lewis, CNN -- Germany.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Thanks so much for joining us this hour. I'm Kim Brunhuber.
Our breaking news coverage of the war in Ukraine continues after the break. Please do stay with us.
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