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Russian Troops Hit Mariupol the Hardest; Ten Russians Identified Responsible for Brutal Attacks; U.N. Secretary General Saw the Remnants of War; More U.S. Aid Coming to Ukraine; Shanghai's Lockdown Choke World's Economy; Apple Feeling the Brunt of Supply Chain Crisis; Ukrainian Refugees Continue Their Studies in Poland. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired April 29, 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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ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and warm welcome to our viewers in the United States, and right around the world. I'm Isa Soares, live in Ukraine.
Ukraine's president says the investigation into Russian war crimes is underway, and they have identified 10 serviceman suspects of the atrocities in Bucha.
MAX FOXTER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Max Foster in London, with our top stories including Shanghai's COVID lockdown causing supply issues across China, and those delays could soon be felt are all around the world.
SOARES: Welcome to the program, everyone. It's 10 a.m. here in Lviv, Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia must be trying to humiliate the U.N. with its strikes on Kyiv while the organization's the secretary general was visiting the capitol.
Ukraine's emergency service says 10 people were injured from a missile that hit an apartment building. Mr. Zelenskyy said that attack took place right after he finish meeting with the U.N. chief who was unharmed.
Now during that 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 the heaviest, with the heaviest Russian airstrikes yet. Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers are hold up there, along with hundreds
of civilians. Ukraine says an operation is planned today to get civilians out, but hasn't provided other details. Of course, we'll stay on top of that as soon as we have more details, but possibly some good news for those civilians.
Well, Guterres also visits the Kyiv suburb of Bucha where scores of civilians were found dead after Russian forces pulled out, if you remember. President Zelenskyy says that 10 Russian servicemen have now been identified as suspects in the crimes committed. He is vowing to hold those responsible accountable. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): We know all the details about them and their actions, and we will find everyone, just as we will find all the other Russian thugs who killed and tortured Ukrainians, who tormented our people, who destroyed houses and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Ukraine's military says heavy shelling by Russian forces is continuing along the entire line of contact in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, as you can see there on your map. And we are learning of a fuel depot attacked and set on fire in part of the Donetsk region controlled by Russian backed forces. Pro-Russian separatists are blaming Ukrainian forces but Ukraine has said nothing about the incident.
And in the south, the mayor of Melitopol says Russia is rubbing the town of weed stocks. Well, as the war enters a brutal new phase, the American president is proposing the biggest aid package yet for Ukraine. He is asking the U.S. Congress to approve $33 billion in additional funding. Much that, as you can see there, for military and security assistance, and billions more in economic, as well as three billion for humanitarian assistance, as well as security funding.
Well, Joe Biden says investing in Ukraine's freedom is a small price to pay for to reduce the risk of future conflicts. He's waiting for the funding bill to be passed as quickly as possible. But in reality, it could take weeks if lawmakers question the price tag.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The cost of this fight is not cheap. But caving to aggression is going to me more costly if we allow it to happen. We either back Ukrainian people as they defend their country, or we stand by as the Russians continue their atrocities and aggression in Ukraine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Kremlin warned western powers against, quote, "pumping up Ukraine with weapons." Meanwhile, NATO and U.S. officials say Russia is making some degree of progress with its renewed assault on eastern Ukraine.
CNN's Nada Bashir is following this live from London this morning for us. Good morning to you, Nada. So how much progress are we talking about here? How much progress is Russia making this, and critically how does this impact the dynamics of battle, Nada?
NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, Isa, according to the U.S. and western officials, they have seen some evidence that Russia is learning their lessons from the challenges it faced in the first few weeks of its invasion of Ukraine. We do understand of course according to western and NATO officials that Russia face a significant challenge in that first phase of its invasion, particularly when it came to coordinating its air and ground operations.
[03:05:04]
That seems to be an area, according to western officials where they have focused on improving their operations. We also know that the Russian armed forces pose significant challenges in supply, and of course, in command as well across its armed forces during these first few weeks.
Particularly in terms of supplying its troops, it's convoys with fuel, its troops with medicine, and food as well. So that has been a key focus of area, particularly as you mentioned there as the Russian armed forces as Moscow refocus its attention and its goals on the eastern and southern region, namely on the Donbas region.
But according to U.S. officials, these improvements have been slow and uneven. They haven't been as significant as perhaps the Kremlin would have hoped. And they continue to face challenges. We know that according to U.K. intelligence the Russian armed forces has lost nearly 600 tanks.
As you mentioned previously, we are seeing NATO allies stepping up their military support for Ukraine. That's a concern for the Kremlin, but of course a huge support for the Ukrainian armed forces, and their defense against Russia. We also understand of course that Moscow will be doubling down its efforts on the Donbas region. But as this war continues, we can expect to see further troop losses.
Now the Kremlin has previously tried to deny significant troop losses. Earlier this month, Peskov, the spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry, acknowledge that there had been significant troop losses. He said this was unfortunate fact that this had occurred. But of course, that has been an attempt to hide that, because of the low morale we've seen in the Russian armed forces. That's been a significant challenge. And according to the U.S. that will continue to be a challenge for Russia. Isa?
SOARES: Nada Bashir for us in London, I appreciate it. Nada, great to see you.
If you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date our breaking news that we brought in the last few minutes in fact. Ukraine is telling us, telling CNN that there's an operation planned to get civilians out of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. That's the besiege city of Mariupol. If you remember, that steel plant, Azovstal steel plant has about 1,000 or so civilians, it's got soldiers, wounded soldiers, it's also got women and children who've been holed up inside now for days, for 50 plus days without any sunlight.
We know from one of the soldiers inside that steel plant that they're running short on food and water. And they're looking, they made a plea just in the last 24 hours to try and get out. It's an evacuation for them. And we've heard in the last few minutes that an operation is planned to get them out of that steel plant. How that is this going to happen? We're not clear that we haven't been given details.
But this comes less than 24 hours of course when we have the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres here. We had him in Ukraine in Kyiv. And this is something that we know he's been working towards. You'll remember he went to -- he went to Russia. He spoke to Putin. And he came here with some sort of deliverables, he said that Putin agreed in principle to allow the U.N. and the Red Cross to evacuate those civilians inside the Mariupol steel plant.
So, if that happens, we'll of course bring you the very latest. But at the moment, we are short on details. But let me get the thoughts of the former U.N. assistant sec -- general -- Secretary General Franz Baumann who joins me now from Vienna.
And Franz, on this point that we are just breaking -- breaking news in the last few minutes. If this happens, of course, it's wonderful news for so many of those civilians stuck inside without, of course, they haven't seen any sunlight for days, but also, very important for the secretary general, who has been pushing hard to get them evacuated.
FRANZ BAUMANN, FORMER U.N. ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL: Absolutely, absolutely. You know, in diplomacy, it's not only to do the right thing, but to do it at the right time. And Secretary General Guterres was cut short not being in Russia in January in February, not using the Beijing Olympics to get Putin and Xi in the room with him to get assurances that Ukraine will not be attacked.
So that has bolted. And so now, he cannot be a mediator, he can only be a humanitarian. And if on the one hand he was humiliated with the attacks in Kyiv yesterday, but if they allow now the evacuation of not only the steel works but of the city of Mariupol that would still that would be wonderful, and that would redeem the secretary general.
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SOARES: And I want to talk about that Kyiv attack in just a moment, Franz, but how exactly on the terms of evacuating the civilians inside the steel plant, how would that go about? Because I know from what the Secretary General Antonio Guterres said, this would involve the U.N., this will involve potentially the Red Cross in those meetings. How exactly would that happen? Any insight at all? BAUMANN: I mean, he also mentioned that it would involve Ukraine. I
do not believe that the Russians would allow Ukraine authorities to be involved in this. But you know, the U.N. is like the Red Cross, the blue flag conveys immunity. And there are hundreds of U.N. staff -- human rights one of this and others underground in Ukraine.
And so, if the Russians have the will to make this succeed, the way will be found is not very difficult. Stop the shelling, and let the convoys go out.
SOARES: And you said, Franz, you said that with those strikes that we saw in Kyiv last night, that, you know, these strikes happened where the secretary general still in the capital. You said that the secretary general was humiliated. Was that a message directed to the secretary general from Russia, was this directed at Ukraine or at NATO here?
BAUMANN: I think it confirmed the humiliation, I think, was more Russia's self-humiliation, confirming that it has moved to the status of an international pariah. I can't believe that someone in authority in Moscow would think anything can be gained by doing this, I don't know whether some military people without the chain of command did this.
But in any event, it confirms that Russia is outside the norm of civility. Remember, the U.N. was founded to prevent war and Russia as a founding -- by the way, Ukraine is a founding member of the U.N. at the insistence of the Soviet Union, so Russia is simply trampling not only international legal norms, but of course norms of humanity and decency.
SOARES: Yes.
BAUMANN: So, they've gone completely rogue.
SOARES: They've gone rogue, yet at the same time we heard from the secretary general speaking to our Anderson Cooper, I think it was yesterday, that this war won't end with meetings, that's exactly what he said. It will end when Russia says so. You know, if Putin can't be trusted, where does this leave the role of the U.N. in Ukraine here, Franz?
BAUMANN: I mean, very clearly, as long as both sides, Russia and Ukraine think they can prevail in the battlefield, there is no role for any mediation for any peacemaking or anything. That's why the secretary general speaks also about the fallout in Africa and elsewhere, higher food prices, et cetera, and the damage to multilateralism which is needed for climate change, pandemics, and all kinds of other issues.
So, I think the secretary general will now hopefully mobilize other countries like China, like South Africa, like Turkey, like Brazil in other words, countries that are friendly towards Russia, to exert some kind of pressure, it is an exercise and damage limitation.
SOARES: Franz Baumann, great to get your perspective. Thank you very much for taking the time to speak to us in the show. Thanks, Franz. I appreciate it.
BAUMANN: Thanks for having me. Thank you.
SOARES: Now, Apple says they expect to make -- to take a financial, a massive financial hit in fact this quarter. More on the bad news, and why they say certain COVID restrictions are partly to blame, that's just ahead.
And Thursday was a pretty rough day for Amazon. After the break we'll look at the abysmal earnings report, and how it's affecting the markets. Both the stories after a very short break. You are watching CNN.
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FOSTER: Dozens of people were injured in clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem earlier today. The Palestinian Red Crescent said at least 42 people were hurt, Israeli police said hundreds of rioters began a violent disturbance. Two people were arrested.
Tensions at the site have been high during Ramadan and clashes occur every Friday.
Council of -- Chinese officials rather say almost all of the more than the 15,000 new cases reported across that country on Thursday came from Shanghai. The city has been under strict COVID lockdown for weeks, but it could come at a heavy economic cost as CNN's Kristie Lu Stout explains.
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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's China's biggest and most affluent city, and the streets have been empty for weeks. Shanghai is battling its worst ever COVID-19 outbreak, determined to crush it with its zero COVID policy. It comes at a steep cost to its economy, and has implications for the world.
MATTIE BEKINK, CHINA DIRECTOR, ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT: We are forecasting that the lockdown in Shanghai will rock China's economy. You know, Shanghai is an economic powerhouse for China, it holds one of the two stock exchanges. Shanghai's port accounts for something like 3 percent of global carfare throughput at any given time.
LU STOUT: Shanghai is home to the world's busiest container port. It remains operational, but according to logistics platform project 44, on April 18th some ships had been diverted away due to truck shortages. But the containers are piling up at the port, waiting on average for 12 days before they are picked up and delivered compared to just over four days in late March.
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Shanghai is also a major aviation hub, but the outbreak has forced the suspension of many flights, causing air freight rates to skyrocket. All of this is putting even more pressure on global supply chains.
PETER LEWIS, DIRECTOR, PETER LEWIS CONSULTING (CHINA) LIMITED: This is having a supply shock, a lot of these shipments now can't leave the ports, can't leave the airports in Shanghai. And these are goods which are ultimately going to Europe and the U.S. It's going to push prices up. We're going to see more inflation will be pressure.
LU STOUT: The zero COVID strategy has also forced many factories in Shanghai to suspends operations. The Apple supplier Pegatron has suspended production at its Shanghai plant. And Volkswagen and Tesla's factories has been shut for weeks. Now production has resumed at Tesla where CEO Elon Musk saying this. Tesla Shanghai is coming back with a vengeance. But the company warned it too, is not immune from supply chain problems.
LEWIS: Authorities in Shanghai are trying to get essential production plants open under what they call a closed loop system. That means that their staff is actually sleep on the premises, on the factory floors, eats there. Don't leave. Don't go home. But the problem is there's a lot of staff who don't want to do that and there's a shortage of parts to get these factories reopened. So, it's going to be a global problem.
LU STOUT: Analyst Yanzhong Huang warns that the economic pain caused by the zero-COVID strategy could spiral out of the control. Saying this, quote, "implementing this strategy in an excessive manner by itself could lead to disruption on the supply chain, mass unemployment, and then it could translate into social political instability. Exactly what the zero-COVID strategy wants to avoid." Unquote.
And yet, Shanghai weeks' long lockdown still has no end in sight. The bottom line from China watchers to the world, brace yourselves for the fallout.
Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.
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FOSTER: Apple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday that supply constraints caused by COVID and the war in Ukraine are impacting ability to meet customer demands. Apple shares dipped after Cook's warning, overshadowing news of the company's record profit in sale last quarter.
Now after years of being a tech juggernaut Amazon has delivered a dismal quarterly report. The company reported nearly $4 billion in losses. That's far from the $4 billion profit that analysts had expected. Amazon blames most of the losses on its investment in electronic automaker Rivian whose stock has been plummeting for months now.
Now stock plummeted in afterhours trading down 9 percent.
CNN global economic analyst Rana Foroohar calls it the correction many have predicted. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: 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 have seen the war interrupting all kinds of things. Supply chains, creating inflation. That has a knock-on effect for companies that makes prices higher. Consumers start to feel that. You know, it just anecdotally, I'm hearing and seeing a lot of people saying anything that's not necessary, I'm not going spend money on right now.
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FOSTER: Coming up, European school systems are struggling to find space for Ukrainian children. We'll talk to some from nearby Poland on how they're adjusting.
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SOARES: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Isa Soares coming to you live from Lviv in Ukraine.
Let me bring you up to speed on the latest developments out of Ukraine. Another fuel depot caught fire in a Russian controlled part of the country. A separatist leader in Donetsk says the fire was caused by Ukrainian shelling. This has happened recently at several other Russian controlled fuel depots.
And any time now an effort to rescue civilians from the Mariupol steel plant could begin. The Ukrainian president's office says the operation is planned for time today but offered no further details. It is believed hundreds of civilians are trapped inside the sprawling complex. As soon as we have more details, of course, we shall bring that to you.
Well, many of the refugees escaping Ukraine are children. That is putting a tremendous burden on schools in neighboring countries.
CNN's Erica Hill has a story of one Poland school struggling to find space for the students.
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ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: New school, new language. New country.
ANDRESZJ JAN WYROZEMBSKI, PRINCIPAL, 1ST LICEUM WARSAW (through translator): We follow the needs. When we open 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 Alaina's (Ph) her 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 given me some space or given me the feeling of safety. I'm safe here. I'm in my normal life.
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ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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.
ANDRESZJ JAN WYROZEMBSKI, PRINCIPAL, 1ST LICEUM WARSAW (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 new Ukrainian classmates.
UNKNOWN: 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.
Is it good to meet other Ukrainian kids?
DENYS, 16-YEAR-OLD REFUGEE FROM KHARKIV, UKRAINE: Yes. Because you're not alone.
HILL: 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.
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: Eric Hill, CNN, Warsaw.
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ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: And I'll be back at the top of the hour with more news from Ukraine. In the meantime, I want to send it back to Max Foster in London after this short break. You are watching CNN.
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MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Now on Mission Ahead we introduce you to innovators who are taking on big bold missions in science. Today, we're looking at robotics, a field of technology that's advancing by the day. Sometimes in ways you might not expect.
CNN's Rachel Crane discovers a new kind of robot unlike any you've seen before.
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RACHEL CRANE, CNN INNOVATION & SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Building the next big thing in tech can take time.
LI ZHANG, PROFESSOR AND ROBOTICIST, THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: Sometimes innovation should not be too fast.
CRANE: In this case, it's moving at a snail's pace. Meet Li Zhang. Engineer, professor, and now, maker of sludge like goo.
ZHANG: It behaves sometimes like a liquid. Sometimes like a solid.
CRANE: Inspired by the cheap slime toy that children play with all over the world, Zhang's team first created the substance in 2021 by mixing a simple polymer with borax. The magic happened when they added magnetic particles.
ZHANG: Then basically, you get the so-called magnetic slime bot.
CRANE: So, when it comes close to a magnet it can move, change shape, and grasp objects. Zhang is one of a growing number of scientists worldwide on a mission to better understand a relatively new field in tech. Soft robotics.
CONOR WALSH, PROFESSOR OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCES, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Traditionally when people think about robotics, they think about big robot arms in factories that are very strong and very fast and very precise. And in the field of soft robotics, we're thinking about how do you make robots that are more flexible and more adaptable.
CRANE: Sometimes looking to nature helps. Like the agile but entirely boneless octopus. In 2016, Harvard unveiled the silicon proof of concept called the octo bottom. Hydrogen peroxide inside the robot is converted into a gas which moves its arms. Others are working on soft robotics that mimic human limbs or even augment them.
While Zhang is testing how his robot can work inside the human body, for instance, a patient who accidently ingested a foreign object. Zhang's idea, rather than performing surgery, the doctor asks the patient to swallow the robot. Directed by a magnet, the robot would locate the object such as battery, nail or coin like this one, cushioning sharp edges and stopping any harmful chemical leaks. Nature would eventually take its course for both.
So far, the process is still hit and miss. And it's years from approval according to Zhang. Experts say that this kind of research may ultimately have a much wider influence in the world of robotics.
CECILIA LASCHI, PROFESSOR, THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE: Completely soft robots don't make much sense. I think that now that we have learned that compliance is helpful, softness is helpful. We cannot build robots without any compliance part.
[03:40:09]
CRANE: But like any big mission to develop new technology, this one will take time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: I'm Max Foster. If you are watching internationally, Inside Africa is up next for you. For those in North America, stay tuned. Our coverage continues in just a moment.
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