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Missile Strikes Kyiv while U.N. Chief Visits; Former U.S. Marine Killed Fighting in Ukraine; Ukrainian Town Braces for Russian Offensive; Amazon Reports $4 Billion First Quarter Loss; Biden Requests $33 Billion in New Aid for Ukraine; Weapons Manufacturers Seeing Profits from Ukraine; Strict COVID Restrictions Make Travel Difficult Amid a Surge in China; Polish School Struggles to Make Space for Refugees. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired April 29, 2022 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
[00:00:212]
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers here in United States and all around the world. Live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.
Now, as the war in Ukraine enters a critical new phase, the U.S. president calling for an enormous aid package to support the Ukrainian government, military and people. He's asking Congress to approve $33 billion in additional funding, much of that for military and security assistance.
Now, if approved, this would bring the total U.S. spending on Ukraine to some $50 billion since the start of the war. Joe Biden says investing in Ukraine's freedom is a small price to pay to punish Russian aggression and reduce the risk of future conflict.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're not attacking Russia. We're helping Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression. And just as Putin chose to launch this brutal invasion, he can make the choice to end this brutal invasion.
Our unity at home, our unity with our allies and partners, and our unity with the Ukrainian people is sending an unmistakable message to Putin: you will never succeed in dominating Ukraine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, we'll have a closer look at what the proposed aid package entails in about 30 minutes or so from now.
All right. Let's go to Lviv in Ukraine. That's where our Isa Soares will pick things up from here. Hi, Isa.
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: A very good morning to you, Michael.
That's right, Ukrainian officials this hour condemning Russian strikes on Kyiv they say happened while the U.N. secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, was wrapping up his visit to the capitol on Thursday. Now, Ukraine's emergency services say one missile hit an apartment building, setting it on fire, as you can see there, with smoke billowing from those windows. Parts of the first two floors were completely destroyed. And authorities say that ten people were injured.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that attack happened right after he finished meeting with the U.N. chief, who wasn't harmed.
During the visit, Antonio Guterres spoke of the urgent need for humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol.
A Ukrainian official in the city says the Azovstal Steel plant there has been hit, meanwhile, the heaviest air strikes yet. Hundreds of the Ukrainian soldiers are holed up there, along with hundreds of civilians. Guterres also visited the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, where scores of civilians were found dead after Russian forces pulled out.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says ten Russian serviceman have now been identified as suspects in crimes committed there.
Meantime, the U.S. says Russia isn't making much headway in its renewed offensive in the East, with a senior U.S. defense official calling Moscow's progress, quote, "slow and uneven."
With no end in sight for the conflict, NATO's secretary-general says Ukraine needs to be supported for as long as it takes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: We need to be prepared for the long term. It's a very unpredictable and fragile situation in Ukraine, but there is absolutely the possibility that this war will drag on and on for months and years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Jim Sciutto has more now on where things stand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR (voice- over): President Biden standing firm.
BIDEN: Aggression will not win. Threats will not win. We are prepared for whatever they do.
SCIUTTO: As Putin warns a retaliation, should other nations interfere in the conflict in Ukraine and cuts off Russian natural gas supplies to neighboring countries.
BIDEN: We will not let Russia intimidate or blackmail their way out of these sanctions.
SCIUTTO: Biden rejected the notion that the Russian-led conflict was becoming a proxy war between Russia and the U.S. and NATO.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: It shows the desperation that Russia is feeling about their abject failure.
No one should be making idle comments about the use of nuclear weapons or the possibility they use that. It's irresponsible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the ground in Kyiv today, visiting the nearby towns of Bucha, Irpin, and Borodyanka.
ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: There is no way war can be acceptable in the 21st century. Look at that.
SCIUTTO: The bodies of more than 1,000 civilians have been recovered in the region, the police chief says.
GUTERRES: Innocent civilians were living in these buildings. They were paying the highest price.
[00:05:08]
SCIUTTO: Guterres met with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, after meeting with Putin first in Moscow Tuesday.
GUTERRES: This war must end. I'm here to say to you, Mister President and to the people of Ukraine, we will not give up.
SCIUTTO: Russia's assault is now focused on key areas in Eastern Ukraine. The U.S. now assesses that Russian forces are making, quote, "slow and uneven progress" in the Donbas, in part because of Ukrainian resistance and poor Russian morale, this according to a defense official.
The steel plant in Mariupol in the South, the last Ukrainian military holdout in the city and shelter for hundreds of civilians, hit by the heaviest Russian airstrikes yet.
This video is said to show the aftermath of shelling at a military field hospital on the steel plant's grounds. The city of Kherson, under Russian occupation, rocked by explosions, as well. Russians have now overtaken the local government, attempting to eradicate its Ukrainian identity.
And yet, video shows protesters chanting, "Glory to Ukraine," as tear gas is set off.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: And Michael Schwirtz is an investigative reporter for "The New York Times." He joins me now from Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine.
Michael, great to have you on the show. And we saw there, as you heard there from Jim Sciutto, that missile strike in Kyiv last night. But we've also seen, as you saw in that report, some of the heaviest shelling in Mariupol's Azovstal Steel plant.
I know you've been speaking to some of the soldiers inside that plant. Give us a sense of what they've been telling you.
MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": The situation continues to be grim. Obviously, this -- these rocket attacks and the heavy bombardment that we saw yesterday continues to drive them further and further into a corner.
The situation was already becoming untenable. They're out of ammunition -- running out of ammunition, running out of food and water.
What I'm told about the bombardment yesterday is it caused a cave in, as your report said, in a field hospital.
The -- I spoke to one of the commanders last night, who told me it's possible to say how many people might have been killed or injured in that attack. He was showing me video that he had taken from inside that field hospital a few days ago, in which there are dozens of wounded laid out onto the floor, some of them with absolutely gruesome injuries.
They're out of medicine. They're out off -- running out of anesthesia to carry out surgeries. They do have some clinicians, some doctors, some surgeons still on staff there, working with injured soldiers. But the situation has become incredibly dire.
SOARES: Yes, it is incredibly dire. And it does seem like it's getting worse, has gotten worse in the last few days, of course, given those strike that we -- the bombing we saw.
We also heard them, though, Michael making a fresh appeal yesterday to the world, you know, hoping that perhaps the U.N. secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, would help in creating some sort of evacuation.
The trip, it seems, with the U.N. secretary-general hasn't quite got the resounding success that many people were asking for. Why do you think that is? SCHWIRTZ: Well, it certainly wasn't a success when a missile strike
hit Kyiv at the time that the secretary-general was -- was standing there.
I think the Kremlin, under Vladimir Putin, has its own agenda. It is going to follow that agenda. There's going to be very little pressure brought to bear by the U.N., which the Russian government has basically accused of being in cahoots with the West on this.
So I don't know the Guterres's visit from the outset was set to achieve much success.
The -- the individuals, the soldiers in the Azovstal Steel plant in Mariupol have said that they're ready to leave. This is the last holdout in that city. Should they leave, Russian forces would control it in full.
But rather than give some kind of quarter out, which, admittedly, would allow these fighters to get back on the battlefield, Russia has continued to bomb this -- this factory into oblivion. As you mentioned, there are civilians in there, perhaps hundreds, that are looking for a way out, as well.
SOARES: And just explain to our viewers, Michael, because I think this is really important, why they simply just don't walk out? What are the fears here?
SCHWIRTZ: One of the fears is they don't trust the Russian government to honor the rules of war. They feel, many of them, the ones that I've spoken to, that if they were to hand themselves over to Russian forces and just surrender, they will be killed or executed.
Russia has, in the past, offered terms of surrender to -- to Ukrainian troops, only to turn around and kill them later. And so there is -- there's no -- there's no faith in any kind of Russian deal at this point.
[00:10:13]
The soldiers are willing to negotiate some kind of a deal that will allow the civilians, at least, to get out. But so far, any sort of green corridor that -- that they've attempted to negotiate hasn't been brought to fruition. The Russian government hasn't permitted it.
SOARES: And there's another element to this -- to this, too, Michael, and I'm sure you've heard, being in Zaporizhzhia, which is that we've been hearing, as well, from our correspondents on the ground, is that some people are being sent, forcibly sent, to Russian-held territory. And that is of huge concern, no doubt, for any of those civilians wanting to come out, seeking a place of safety.
SCHWIRTZ: Right. There have been a number of people who have been directed -- people who have surrendered or have sought a way out of these regions that are under heavy, heavy fire, who have been directed to Russia. Though there's a little bit of nuance in this story, because some of them get to Russia are processed through what are being called filtration camps and end up, eventually, making their way West anyway, back to Ukraine, or back to European countries.
So it's not as if the Russian government, at least in some cases, is forcibly holding them in Russia. But you're right: many of them would prefer to find some way to make it through Russian-controlled territory, which is becoming increasingly vast in Eastern and Southern Ukraine, and make it back to Ukrainian-held territory.
And the Russian forces, for reasons of practicality and propaganda, are not willing, necessarily, to let them do that.
SOARES: Yes. A very important context there.
Michael Schwirtz, always great to have you on the show. Thank you very much for all your great work. Appreciate it. Thanks, Michael.
SCHWIRTZ: Thanks for having me.
SOARES: Now, a former U.S. Marine is one of the latest victims on the battlefield in Ukraine. His family says Willy Joseph Cancel was killed fighting alongside Ukrainian forces on Monday.
The 22-year-old was sent to Ukraine by a private military contracting company that he worked for. Cancel's mother says he went to Ukraine, because he believed in its cause. She also says her son's remains have not been recovered yet.
He leaves behind a wife and seven-month-old baby.
We now want to take you to a town in southern Ukraine that's bracing, really, for Russian assault. Its residents say that Russian tanks are just a few kilometers away from their homes. They have been testing Ukrainian defenders who still control the town.
Our Nick Paton Walsh was there for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If Moscow had any surprises left in this war, it is along here. The other side of the river has been Russia's for weeks. But here, the Western side, is caught in the fast-changing landscape of this week's push.
(on camera): That's the prize over there, the Dnipro River, up past which on the left side bank here, the Russians are trying to push, wanting control of both sides of that vital part of Ukraine.
(voice-over): Here, in Novovorontsovka, we are told there are a handful of Russian tanks just over a kilometer away on its outskirts, pushing, probing, but ultimately kept at bay by Ukrainian forces that still hold the town. Resilience here embodied in Ludmila (ph), under the threat of rocket fire, planting onions.
"I'm here until victory," she said.
LUDMILA (PH), NOVOVORONTSOVKA RESIDENT: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WALSH (on camera): Her children have gone. It's just her and her mother.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
OK. Her 80-year-old mother and her are staying here.
LUDMILA (PH): (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WALSH: Her mother says she's not going anywhere. She's not going to leave her alone. All her windows are blown out, she says.
(voice-over): Ukrainian forces who don't want their positions filmed are dotted around the town, as too, are the signs of innocent lives lost here. Rockets peeking out from under the water.
And this boat, in which 14 civilians tried to flee Russian occupation on April the 7th. Four of them died, when Moscow's troops opened fire when it was 70 meters out.
Yet still, the desperate keep fleeing. This morning, these women left behind their men to defend their homes near Novovorontsovka.
"We ran, ran early in the morning," said Luda (ph). "They didn't let us out. We're shields for them. They don't let us out by foot, by bicycle. We go in the fields. We ran."
[00:15:04]
"Our soldiers were two kilometers away," Nadashda (ph) adds. "And we ran to them."
"Well, they need the Russians' tanks," she said, "Take cars. They draw Zeds on everything."
As their new unwanted guests demanded milk and food at gunpoint, they had a glimpse of their warped mindset.
"They say they've come to liberate us," Luda (ph) said. "These aggressors, that's what they told us. They say America is fighting here but using the hands of Ukrainians to do it. That's what they say."
Another claimed to be fueled by the violence of the long war with separatists in the East.
In general, the Donetsk militants say, she said, "You have been bombing us for eight years. Now we bomb you."
Across the field, loathing (ph) and artillery swallow whole once happy worlds.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Novovorontsovka, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Incredible bravery, as well as defiance that we are seeing across this country. I'll be back at the top of the hour, but for now, I send it back to my colleague, Michael Holmes, in Atlanta -- Michael.
HOLMES: All right, Isa. Great reporting there. Appreciate that.
Well, the American Trevor Reed is back in the U.S. after being released by Russia in a prisoner swap. He arrived at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas early on Thursday morning.
Reed's mother confirming that he'd returned almost three years after being detained in Moscow. And here, you can see the former American Marine with family members and a U.S. congressman.
Reed's parents say he'll be taken to a military hospital for monitoring. His mother tweeted it had been a day of joy for her family. She also called for the release of other Americans detained in Russia.
Now, the war in Ukraine causing tremendous harm to its economy. But for certain American businesses, the conflict has been very profitable. We'll explain.
Also, Amazon getting a bad review from its shareholders after a disastrous earnings report. We'll take a look at what gave the tech giant so much trouble.
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HOLMES: And welcome back, everyone. Let's get a check of the markets for you now. We'll pull them up there. You can see the Shanghai composite up 0.37 percent. The Nikkei up one and three-quarter. Green arrows, too, in Seoul and Australia.
Let's take a look at the futures now. Dow, let's call that pretty flat. NASDAQ down nearly 1 percent in the futures. And the S&P down nearly half of 1 percent. We'll keep an eye on that as the hours pass towards opening.
The U.S. markets reacting to quarterly reports from tech giants Amazon and Apple, in after-hours trading. The main stock affecting the U.S. markets, Amazon. After the closing bell, stocks of the e-commerce giant plunged, when it reported a nearly $4 billion loss in the last quarter.
Analysts had predicted a $4 billion profit.
Amazon's stock plunged more than 10 percent in after-hours trading. The company partly blaming a large investment in the electric auto maker Rivian, whose stock has been plummeting for months now.
In a statement, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said, quote, "The pandemic and subsequent war in Ukraine have brought unusual growth and challenges." He added, "Our -- our teams are squarely focused on improving productivity and cost efficiencies throughout our fulfillment network."
Rana Foroohar is a CNN global economic analyst, and columnist and associate editor for "The Financial Times."
It's good to see you. We've seen the markets' reaction in after-the- bell trading with Amazon. What do -- what do we like to see when -- likely to see when the markets open? Just how big of a deal is this?
RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Well, it is a big deal. I mean, you know, you think about Amazon as being one of the richest, certainly one of the strongest companies in America.
And this is coming off the back of some wobbles that we've already seen with other earnings reports, other tech companies in particular. So, you know, it's going to have an impact.
I would not be surprised if this led the market lower for some time. And it's a correction that, frankly, a lot of us have been expecting. You know, you've seen the war interrupting all kinds of things: supply chains, creating inflation. That has a knock-on effect for companies. It makes prices higher. Consumers start to feel that.
You know, just anecdotally, I'm hearing and seeing a lot of people saying anything that's not necessary, I'm not going to spend money on right now. Discretionary purchases, you know, Netflix, streaming, you're seeing those numbers go down. Electronic gadgets, vacations.
So I think that you're starting to see a trend here, where consumers are worried. They feel the tremors around the world, and they're concerned.
HOLMES: Because I guess it's a combination of things, isn't there? You've got these economic worries, inflation and so on. But also, Amazon benefited greatly from the pandemic shutdown, as people, you know, they jumped into online buying, not much else to do.
FOROOHAR: Yes.
HOLMES: So what, then, would be the outlook for Amazon in the post- pandemic environment, especially with those, you know, inflation worries, fears of even a recession?
FOROOHAR: Well, you know, I think in some ways, Amazon is kind of a very big canary in a coal mine of the global economy. If this company is starting to feel the bite from the war, and from inflation, and from you know, other -- other troubles. There were some investments that perhaps didn't pan out. But if they're starting to feel the pain, then you can bet that other companies will, too.
In the very beginning, a lot of the big tech firms did well because, as you mentioned, everybody went online. You know, the online economy boomed. The big got bigger.
[00:25:03]
But, you know, nobody is immune from a cut in consumer spending, from -- from supply chain fiascos, and certainly from rising inflation. This is going to bite. And -- and we're feeling it. I think that this could be the beginning of some -- some real jitters on the market for the next -- rest of the year.
HOLMES: That was my next question: Can you see a correction coming across the whole market?
FOROOHAR: I could. I definitely could. And in fact, it's something I've been expecting for some time. You know, you can look back in history, and you can draw some parallels with the '70s, even with the Thirties, when you saw very similar and just very similar geopolitical issues. A lot of strife, a pandemic leading into a recession, a lot of monetary stimulus, that then props markets up. We've got rising wages, but then you have World War II coming, and you saw market crash.
So you know, we're in the middle of some of these similar dynamics, as I wrote in my past Monday column for "The Financial Times." You know, we could be seeing that kind of a correction at some point.
Now, one question I have is, is that going to derail the U.S. consumer? The U.S. consumer has still, in the midst of pandemic, in the midst of war, played this role as the buyer of last resort. We're starting to see that change a little bit. Are we going to now see that consumer really pull back and say, No, I want to keep more cash on hand. I'm going to, you know, really save, and saving rates go up in the U.S.? That would be a big shift.
HOLMES: Yes, and when it comes to Amazon, you know, specifically, I mean, a loss of -- what was it? -- 3.8 billion. Compared to the same period last year, it made a 8.1 billion. The projections were a profit of four billion, I think. How could projections to Wall Street have been so wrong? What happens to make it so wrong?
FOROOHAR: Well, you know, there's just a lot in play right now. It's -- I've been doing this for 30 years. I can't remember a period when the amount that could change at any given moment in the economy was as much as it is now. It's just incredibly volatile.
And, you know, even a company like this is feeling it. Consumer sentiment could turn on a dime. The war is changing in real time. China is still locked down, yet again --
HOLMES: Yes.
FOROOHAR: -- because of the pandemic. So, there's just a lot in flux right now. I think it's really difficult for anyone to predict, really on a week-by-week basis what's going to happen.
HOLMES: Yes, yes. Always terrific analysis. Great to see you. Rana Foroohar, thank you.
FOROOHAR: Thank you so much.
HOLMES: The U.S. president wants to spend an enormous amount of money for aid to Ukraine. Ahead, what this proposed funding would pay for, and who stands to profit. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:32:18]
HOLMES: The U.S. president is asking Congress to approve more than $30 billion in new aid for Ukraine. Joe Biden admits, his words, "The cost of the fight is not cheap." but he says, quote, "Caving to Russian aggression is going to be more costly."
M.J. Lee explains what the aid package entails.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
M.J. LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden is asking Congress to approve $33 billion in supplemental funding for Ukraine. Here's how that price tag breaks down.
Some $20 billion in military and security assistance; another $8.5 billion in economic assistance; and then another $3 billion in humanitarian assistance.
And in terms of what this money would actually translate to, a lot of it would be weapons and equipment that the Ukrainians have said they so badly need more of, like artillery, armored vehicles and anti-armor systems.
And then, we're also talking about food, money and medicine, the sort of day-to-day necessities things that the Ukrainian people need as they try to survive out this war.
Now, this is money that U.S. officials say should last the Ukrainians around five months. Just another stark reminder, both this price tag as well as the five-month timeframe, that U.S. officials are currently planning for this conflict to be a long-term conflict.
M.J. Lee, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now, if approved by Congress, this huge aid package won't just be helping Ukraine. It's also going to mean lucrative new deals for U.S. defense contractors.
CNN's Alex Marquardt looks at who's going to be getting rich.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Russian troops poured across Ukraine's border, kicking off the Russian invasion in late February, something else was happening at the same time in New York. The stock prices of the biggest U.S. weapons manufacturers spiked, many eventually climbing to their highest point in years.
MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: War is good business for parts of the economy, historically. It doesn't mean the defense contractors cynically want it. I know a lot of people in these companies, and they're as heartbroken by the war in Ukraine as the next person.
But yes, war is good business for certain parts of the economy.
MARQUARDT: The latest American weapons shipments to Ukraine include systems, like scores of 155-millimeter Howitzers, that haven't been sent before. Switchblade and Ghost drones, hundreds of armored personnel carriers, joining the now well-known and brutally effective Javelins and Stingers on Ukraine's battlefields.
Sometimes, it will speak softly and carry a large Javelin because we are sending a lot of those in, as well.
Javelins are made, in part, by Raytheon. The CEO said last month they do expect to benefit from the need to replenish U.S. stocks.
[00:35:09]
GREGORY HAYNES, CEO, RAYTHEON: We don't apologize for making these systems, making these -- these weapons. The fact is, they are incredibly protective in deterring and dealing with the threat that the Ukrainians are seeing today. Eventually, we'll have to replenish it. And we will see a benefit to the business over the next coming years.
MARQUARDT: Raytheon, along with seven other weapons companies, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman, met earlier with top Pentagon brass in a classified meeting about not just supplying Ukraine but replenishing U.S. and allied inventories.
O'HANLON: I'm not going to deny that these kinds of conflicts can help certain companies. It is the reality of a situation, but we should also be glad that they want to help Ukraine and we have this industrial base that is capable of producing this stuff at short notice at such high quality.
MARQUARDT: The Biden administration alone has contributed almost $3 and a half billion of military aid to Ukraine in the two months of Russia's war. Compared to the Pentagon's 2023 requested budget for weapons, that's just 1.2 percent.
Critics say the Pentagon and contractors could use the Ukraine conflict to justify bigger budgets and more weapons sales.
WILLIAM HARTUNG, SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, QUINCY INSTITUTE FOR RESPONSIBLE STATECRAFT: My concern is when those weapons are replenished, will it be at a reasonable cost? Or will the contractors gouge the taxpayer?
And also, will there be ancillary changes in our military spending that don't really relate to Ukraine but are used because of the fear related to the Russian invasion, to spend on things that they really don't have to do with the defense of Europe?
MARQUARDT: There are also concerns about where the billions of dollars of weapons are going. Once they cross the border into Ukraine, officials say that the U.S. has no way to track weapons, nor, of course, where they end up in the long run.
ADMIRAL JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Once it gets into Ukrainian hands, it's up to the Ukrainian armed forces to decide where it goes; what unit gets it; when; where it's stored, if it's stored at all, temporarily. That is up to the Ukrainians to decide, not the United States.
MARQUARDT (on camera): In the $33 billion of Ukraine funding that President Joe Biden requested on Thursday, more than a third of it, 11.4 billion, would be allocated towards replenishing the U.S. weapons inventory and money for Ukraine to buy more weapons.
That's where the new business for these weapons companies will come from, and there will be more. So a major concern now is making sure that weapons companies don't take advantage of this crisis, of this moment to raise their prices.
Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: A new report from the Pentagon says U.S. forces left behind $7 billion in military equipment after pulling out of Afghanistan last year.
They abandoned equipment including 40,000 military vehicles, 300,000 weapons and 78 aircraft. Although the U.S. Defense Department says the aircraft had been rendered in operable.
And much of the equipment left behind needs specialized maintenance, previously supplied by U.S. contractors.
The U.S. gave more than $18 billion of equipment to the Afghan defense forces from 2005 to 2021 before the Taliban takeover.
COVID cases in China are rising and safety regulations in some places getting tougher. We'll have an inside look at what it's like traveling to and within the country, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:42:31]
HOLMES: Moderna is seeking an emergency-use authorization from U.S. drug regulators. This would be for its COVID vaccine for children aged from six months to five years.
In late March, Moderna announced the results of clinical trials mostly collected during the Omicron wave. Data shows its vaccines are 51 percent effective at preventing symptoms in children ages six months to under a year, and 37 percent effective at 2 through 5.
The company says these results are similar to those among adults after two doses.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is weighing whether to consider granting emergency-use authorization vaccines for young children for both Moderna and Pfizer at the same time.
Parts of China are being hit hard by a surge in COVID-19 infections. And they're not happy about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SHOUTING)
(BANGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: What you hear there is the sound of banging pots in Shanghai as people protest from their balconies over insufficient and inequitable distribution of daily supplies and the month-long lockdown, which means they need supplies.
Officials say almost all of the more than 15,000 new cases across China on Thursday were reported in Shanghai. By contrast, Beijing reporting only 49 new cases.
At least 27 Chinese cities are now under some degree of COVID lockdown, affecting around 180 million people. CNN's Selina Wang shows us just how hard it is to travel to and within the country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Traveling into China is like entering a fortress. The country has been virtually sealed off since the start of the pandemic, guarded by strict border controls and the world's harshest quarantine. My journey to get in started with three PCR tests in Tokyo.
(on camera): Seven days out from my flight, just got my first COVID test.
(voice-over): Back at home, I tracked my daily temperature and packed a suitcase full of snacks to prepare for 21 days in quarantine. Within 48 hours of boarding, China requires PCR tests at two different government-approved clinics.
(on camera): This is possibly the most paperwork I've ever needed to board an airplane.
(voice-over): I say goodbye to Tokyo, my home for the past one and a half years, checking in at the airport, relatively smooth.
[00:45:00]
(on camera): Still checking my documents. I finally have my boarding pass.
I'm at the gate. I'm going to China. (voice-over): Most people on my flight are Chinese citizens.
Foreigners can only enter under very limited conditions. It's even harder for American journalists because of U.S.-China tensions.
All the flight attendants in full protective gear.
(on camera): We're reading to take off. Here we go.
(voice-over): Flights into China, especially Beijing, are extremely limited. Even though I'll be based in the capital, first, I'm flying to Kunming (ph) province.
At the landing, I get another COVID tests. A bus eventually takes us to the quarantine location. No one can choose where they'll be locked in for the next 21 days.
Hours later, we arrive. I count myself lucky. It's a hot spring resort converted into a quarantine site. It's my first time here, but I'll have to enjoy the view from the window. I can't step out onto the balcony or open my door, except for health checkups and food pick up.
Two temperature checks today, regular COVID tests, sometimes even twice a day. Food delivery isn't allowed, but breakfast, lunch and dinner are part of the quarantine fees.
These restrictions are all part of China's zero-COVID policy. Across China, tens of millions are sealed inside their homes. Since mid- December, Chinese average new daily case count has surged from double digits to more than 20,000. Any positive case in close contact has to go to government quarantine.
Entire metropolises brought to a standstill. Most of Shanghai's 25 million residents have been locked in for weeks, many struggling to get enough food and medical care.
In year three of the pandemic, most of the world is learning to live with COVID. But in China, no case is tolerated, no matter the emotional and economic cost.
Selina Wang, CNN, Kunming (ph), China.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Absolutely extraordinary.
Well, many Ukrainian refugees have been trying to enter the U.S. from Mexico, as they fled the war at home, but President Joe Biden now telling them, there's a better option. We'll bring you up to date on that.
And also European school systems struggling to find space for the Ukrainian children. We'll talk to some from nearby Poland on how they're adjusting.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. We'll be right back.
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[00:51:40]
HOLMES: President Joe Biden urging Ukrainian refugees not to try to enter the U.S. from Mexico. Thousands have been trying to do just that, because it's been easier for them to get a Mexican visa than an American one.
But Mr. Biden is asking them to use a new visa program called Uniting for Ukraine. It allows them to fly directly from Europe, as long as they have a U.S. sponsor.
Washington has promised to accept up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees.
More than 5.3 million Ukrainians have fled their country since this war began, while more than 7 million others are internally displaced.
Now, many of these refugees, of course, are children, and that is putting a tremendous burden on schools in neighboring countries. CNN's Erica Hill now, with the story of one Polish school struggling to find space for the students.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR (voice-over): New school, new language, new country.
ANDREZJ JAN WYROZEMBSKI, PRINCIPAL, 1ST LICEUM WARSAW (through translator): We follow the needs. When we opened these classes, we did not know what would be in a week, what would be in a month.
HILL: There are now 50 Ukrainian refugees enrolled at this Warsaw high school, bringing the student population up to 700. It's Elena's (ph) first day. Lesia is a few weeks in and happy to be back in class.
LESIA, 14-YEAR-OLD REFUGEE FROM RIVNE, UKRAINE: It's giving me some space, or given me the feeling of safety that I'm safe here. I'm in my normal life.
HILL: In Warsaw alone, the mayor's office estimates the city has taken in more than 100,000 children. With 17,000 already enrolled in public school, the question now is, how many more will come?
RENATA KAZNOWSKA, WARSAW DEPUTY MAYOR: It's a big problem for us, because we don't know how many students go to Warsaw and go to our schools.
HILL: Warsaw was already short 2,000 teachers before Russia invaded Ukraine. The city needs more staff and money.
WYROZEMBSKI (through translator): This is a huge challenge for us. A good heart, willingness to help, and volunteering are not enough.
HILL: And yet, they're finding ways to make it work.
Polish students are paired with their new Ukrainian classmates. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We use a lot of Google Translate.
HILL: Local families have donated supplies. The school provides breakfast and lunch.
In Lviv, Maryana taught German. Officially, she's now a tutor. Yet it's clear: this mom of three, who also fled the war, is so much more.
MARYANA DRUCHEK, REFUGEE FROM LVIV, UKRAINE (through translator): We don't just speak Ukrainian. We speak the language of emotions and the language of what we've gone through.
HILL: Comfort, amidst the uncertainty.
(on camera): Is it good to meet other Ukrainian kids?
DENYS, 16-YEAR-OLD REFUGEE FROM KHARKIV, UKRAINE: Yes. Because you're not alone.
HILL (voice-over): While there are more smiles every day, the principal says he can't forget what lies beneath.
WYROZEMBSKI (through translator): We have some who escaped in the middle of the night, in their pajamas, from the basement where they were.
[00:5505]
HILL: While school is a welcome distraction, it's also a reminder of how much their lives have changed.
DRUCHEK (through translator): In our hearts, we want to start the new school year in September at home, and we really hope for that.
HILL: Erica Hill, CNN, Warsaw.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now, if you'd like to safely and securely help people in Ukraine, do go to CNN.com/impact. You'll find several ways there that you could help.
I'm Michael Holmes. Our breaking news coverage continues after the break.
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HOLMES: And welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. Live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.
Now, as the war in Ukraine enters a brutal new phase, the American president is proposing the biggest aid package yet to support the Ukrainian government --
