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U.S. President Request $33 Billion in New Aid for Ukraine; Ukrainian Town Braces for Russian Offensive; Kharkiv Takes Heavy Fire But keeps Russians at Bay; Ukrainian Girl Taken to Russian-Occupied Territory Now Free; U.S. GDP Falls 1.4 Percent in the First Quarter of this Year; Amazon Stock Plunges after $3.88 Quarterly Loss. Aired 4- 4:30a ET

Aired April 29, 2022 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and right around the world. I'm Isa Soares in Lviv, Ukraine. And we are following breaking news of Russia's war on Ukraine. Just ahead right here on the show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no way a war can be acceptable in the 21st century. Look at that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will find everyone just as we'll find all the other Russian thugs who killed and tortured Ukrainians.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We had to exhume some of the bodies because they were forcibly buried in people's gardens. And a lot were burned.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No one should be making idle comments about the use of nuclear weapons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

SOARES: Welcome to the show everyone, it is Friday, April 29, 11:00 a.m. here in Ukraine. Where officials say an operation is planned to get civilians out of the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, that's expected to happen today we're being told. But they didn't provide any further details. As soon as we have more of those details, of course we'll bring them to you.

Hundreds of civilians, of course, have been holed up there for weeks on end now. Along really the city's last defenders. The plant was hit on Wednesday night with what Ukrainian officials say was the heaviest Russian airstrikes yet.

Meantime, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling for a strong response to Russian strikes on Kyiv that happened while the U.N. Secretary-General was still in the capital. Now the strikes caused damage to an apartment building injuring at least ten people.

Ukraine's military says heavy shelling by Russian forces is continuing along the entire line of contact in the eastern region's Donetsk and Luhansk -- as you're seeing there in your map.

And we are learning of more attacks this hour on Russian-held areas. A fuel depot was set on fire in part of the Donetsk region controlled by Russian-backed forces. And the governor of the Russian region Kursk says shelling and mortar fire hit a checkpoint bordering Ukraine. And we haven't had any confirmation from Ukraine that it's responsible for either of those attacks.

Meanwhile, the U.S. president says Ukraine needs $33 billion in new funding to counter Russian aggression. Most of the money would go toward military as well as security assistance. But billions would also be spent on economic as well as humanitarian aid. Joe Biden is calling on Congress to get the latest aid package passed, quote, as quickly as possible. And if approved, this would bring the total U.S. spending on Ukraine to some $50 billion since the start of the invasion. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: We believe that it's a tangible demonstration of how seriously we're taking the continued threat to Ukraine's sovereignty, and to their livelihoods, to their people. And I think there's a lot in there. It's not just security assistance. There's humanitarian assistance. There's economic assistance. It's a complete package.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: We want to take you to a town in southern Ukraine that is bracing for that Russian assault. It's residents say Russian tanks are positioned just a kilometer away from their homes. They been testing Ukrainian defenders who still control the town. Our Nick Paton Walsh was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (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.

WALSH: That's the price, 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. WALSH (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 under the threat of rocket fire, planting onions.

"I'm here, until victory," she said.

LUDMILA: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

WALSH: OK. (FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

LUDMILA: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

WALSH: Her children have gone. It's just her and her mother. (FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

LUDMILA: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

WALSH: OK, her 80-year-old mother and her are staying here.

LUDMILA: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

WALSH: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

LUDMILA: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

WALSH: Her mother says she's not going anywhere and she's not going to leave her alone.

[04:05:00]

LUDMILA: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

WALSH: All her windows are blown out, she says.

WALSH (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.

LUDA, FLED RUSSIAN OCCUPATION: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

WALSH (voice-over): "We ran, ran early in the morning," said Luda. "They didn't let us out. We're shields for them. They don't let us out. And by foot and by bicycle we go. In the fields we ran."

WALSH (voice-over): "Our soldiers were two kilometers away," Nadasda (ph) adds, "and we ran to them."

"Well, they need the Russian' tank," she said, "take cars."

"They draw Zs on everything."

As their new unwanted guests demanded milk and food at gunpoint, they had a glimpse of their warped mindset.

LUDA: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

WALSH (voice-over): "They say they've come to liberate us," Luda 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 claim 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 fields, loathing and artillery swallow whole once-happy worlds.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Novovorontsovka, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Well, President Zelenskyy says ten Russian service men have now been identified as suspects in crimes committed in Bucha. That's the key suburb where scores of civilians -- if you remember -- were found dead after Russian forces pulled out. The town's funeral director and coroner spoke with CNN about the horrors he encountered there. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERHIY KAPLISHNY, BUCHA FUNERAL DIRECTOR AND CORONER (through translator): We collected them from the roadsides, from basements. We had to exhume some of the bodies because they were forcibly buried in people's gardens and a lot of them were burned. We found the family of six people, five adults and one child, and they were shot and then burned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Now, that's in Bucha. But to the east Russian shells and missiles have been raining down on Ukraine's second largest city for two months now. Kharkiv was one of the first cities to come under attack when Russia invaded and Russian bombardment is near constant. Take a look at what Russian missiles did to the city's regional council.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA AVDEEVA, SECURITY EXPERT: This building was hit by Russian missile rocket on the first of March. It is severely damaged. And especially damaged is this part of the building where the rocket hit. It has no floor there because everything fall upside down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: That video there and that voice you heard there is was taken by my next guest, Maria Avdeeva. She's a security expert and resident of Kharkiv who joins me now from the city. And Maria, thank you very much for taking the time to speak to us. We just looked at that video of you inside Kharkiv regional council building. You can paint a picture of what you've been seeing there as your last couple days.

AVDEEVA: In Kharkiv, generally the situation is getting worse in terms of the shelling. Because previously Russian troops were shelling residential areas to the north and east of Kharkiv where the Russian troops are now situated. So, they were basically shelling day and night those areas and people are not living in their homes. But sheltering and living in the metro station.

But what happens now is that Russian troops start to shell the territories all over the city. For example, yesterday the area which was before considered to be safe -- as if it can be safe here -- was shelled and people were killed there to the south of Kharkiv.

So now Russia again using its tactics of terrorizing different locations and different areas in the city so that people will be terrified and threatened and nowhere in the city now anyone can feel safe. And especially they are targeting civilian infrastructure around the city.

[04:10:00]

This will be schools, kindergartens. I myself was with a team of first responders near the school that was shelled. No children are of course there, but still people are hiding in the basement of these schools because that was considered to be one of the safe places where you can hide. But now it can happen anywhere in the city so that the tactics has changed and the Russian troops are now bringing more troops to Belgorod, which is the nearby Russian regions and five battalion groups have been sent there, missiles are now located there. And this means that the shelling of the city might intensify in the upcoming days.

SOARES: Let me break some of what you just said down slightly. In terms of civilians, you said that some were in the basements of schools, some on train stations. Give me the sense of the numbers and the struggles of course for people to leave to get out.

AVDEEVA: Well, for now it is possible, still we know that Russia is now also targeting the railways because several days ago five railway stations around Ukraine were targeted and that means that they will probably try to block the aid that is coming to the east from the western Ukraine and that is supplied by our allies. But railway station in the city itself is intact. Before it was not targeted. But the reason for this is that this is the major infrastructural railway station.

So, if Russian troops will at any moment try to bring something in Ukraine, they will need this railway here because it is the only way from Russia into the territory of Ukraine. So, what they will probably do is the will continue targeting the nearby station to blockade the city. If these tactics will continue and the battle for Kharkiv will eventually start.

SOARES: And Marie, you were saying that, you know, you expect some of the shelling, the intensity of the shelling to intensify in the coming days. From your vantage point, do Ukrainian forces have the upper hand here when it comes to control of the city?

AVDEEVA: Yes, I am pretty sure about that. And when I say that it will intensify, I have an example of Mariupol in my eyes. Because what is happening there, these atrocities, you of course know that now 500 -- more than 500 wounded people who were in the hospital and the steel plant in Azovstal.

They have been shelled, the hospital itself, and people are just literally dying there because they don't have access to water, to any basic medical assistance, to anything. And Russia continues to wipe out the plant itself from the face of earth and that is why Ukraine is urgently asking for evacuation through corridors that Russia blocks. So, that is their tactics that they use everywhere. And that is what they might use here as well.

But Ukrainian troops on the ground are ready for anything. And now they are even doing counteroffensive operations to the north -- to the direction to the north and to the east of Kharkiv. It means that several villages more have been liberated and Ukrainian troops don't just protect the city, but they are trying to move Russian forces back further to the border so that they will not be able to shell as intensive as they do now. Because they usually shell with a grad rocket system and they have their medium range. So, if they will be further, that means that the destruction will be lesser.

SOARES: And of course, I mean, on the point of Mariupol that you were making, you were spot on, we haven't had any humanitarian corridors for -- what -- a week or so now, but we have heard in the last I'd say about 45 minutes or so from President Zelenskyy's office, an operation is planned for today. We haven't been given any details as of yet. But that relates to the Azovstal steel plant and of course the 1,000 or so people -- civilians stuck inside that plant. But let me ask you this, Maria. I mean, we've been hearing anecdotally that supplies are not reaching the front lines fast enough which can be, of course, detrimental to those holding the Russians back. What are you hearing?

AVDEEVA: Well, I know that the supplies are what Ukrainian army here needs most. And they are coming. Because from the first day of the war, Ukrainian army here on the east is using these supplies and especially the supplies from the American allies to Ukraine to counteract and to thwart Russian forces.

[04:15:00]

For example, Russian troops now don't use fighter jets as they did previously because they are afraid that they will be shot down on the territory of Ukraine. And you of course know these cases when Ukrainian forces have captured the Russian soldiers and officers and some high top Russian officers were eliminated in the territory of Ukraine. And that is all possible because the aid and supplies from United States, Great Britain, Canada, others of our partners are coming here. Because Ukraine will not be able successful on just what we have. So, what we use now here to my understanding, is the help and the aid that Ukrainians troops are getting through all this time.

Maria Avdeeva, appreciate you taking this time to speak to us. Marie is speaking to us from Kharkiv, Ukraine. To stay safe please, Maria. Thanks for taking the time to speak to us.

AVDEEVA: Thank you.

SOARES: Now a former U.S. Marine is one of the latest victims on the battlefield here in Ukraine. According to his family, Willy Joseph Cancel was killed fighting alongside Ukrainian forces on Monday. The 22-year-old worked for a private military contracting company. Cancel's mother says he went to Ukraine because he believes in its cause.

Now millions of Ukrainians have been displaced since the war started but one of them has been reunited with family in Kyiv. A 12-year-old girl taken to Russian occupied territory after bombs killed her father in Mariupol. Our Matt Rivers has her harrowing story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): For Kira Obedinsky, her new iPad is everything. She's 12 after all. But the shiny screen is also a welcome distraction from an ordeal no 12-year-old should ever have to endure. Because just a few weeks ago, the young Ukrainian wasn't safe like she is now in Kyiv, but in a hospital run by Russian- backed separatist, forcibly separated from her family.

When the Russians first invaded Mariupol, Kira's dad, Yemen (ph) was still alive. Her mom had died just after she was born, and when Russian bombs started to fall, they sheltered in a neighbor's basement, she recalls.

(KIRA OBEDINSKY speaking in foreign language.)

RIVERS (voice over): "But they hit the house where we were staying," she says. "We were buried in the cellar, then the rescuers took us out of the wreckage." Her dad did not emerge, Kira told us. Now an orphan, she started to walk to try and find safety amidst chaos, and then another explosion from a mine.

(KIRA OBEDINSKY speaking in foreign language.)

RIVERS (voice over): "My friend saw something on the ground," she says, "And she hit it accidentally with her boot. The military came after the explosions and took us to a hospital because we were bleeding."

But in some ways her journey was just beginning. In the chaos, she was picked up by soldiers she says spoke Russian and eventually brought to a Russian-held area in Donetsk.

(KIRA OBEDINSKY speaking in foreign language.)

RIVERS (voice over): "I was taken there at night," she says. "They took shrapnel out of me, out of my ear. I screamed and cried a lot."

It was shortly after this happened that CNN first learned about and reported Kira's story because Russia paraded it on state TV.

(KIRA OBEDINSKY speaking in foreign language.)

RIVERS (voice over): State propagandists showed images of Kira in a Donetsk hospital and said she was being treated well. Convinced she was being mistreated, her family went public with her story, and it worked. A deal between Russia and Ukraine allowed her grandfather to travel to Russia and bring her back to Kyiv, where she told us what Russian state TV did not.

(KIRA OBEDINSKY speaking in foreign language.)

RIVERS (voice over): "It's a bad hospital there. The food there is bad. The nurses scream at you, the bed is bent like this. There wasn't enough space for all of us inside."

None of that came out on Russian state TV. Her injuries have largely healed now, though, she'll stay in the hospital a little longer. It was there that someone gave her that iPad after a presidential visit came bearing gifts this week.

She didn't love all that attention, though. So, for now, she says she just wants to see her cat and spend time with her grandfather recovering from the horrors of war, one game at a time.

Matt Rivers, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: And we've got much more of our breaking news coverage just ahead. For now, let's head to Max Foster in London -- Max.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Isa, thank you. Dozens of people were injured in clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem earlier today. Well, the Palestinian Red Crescent said at least 42 people were hurt. Israeli police said hundreds of rioters began a violent disturbance at the compound and two people were arrested. Tensions have been high at the site during the holy month of Ramadan. Clashes have occurred every Friday.

[04:20:02]

Amazon is getting a bad review from its shareholders, this after a disastrous earnings report. We'll get a look for you at what gave the tech giant so much trouble.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) FOSTER: Now the U.S. economy unexpectedly shrank in the first quarter of this year. Government data shows GDP was down 1.4 percent compared to the same period last year. That's far from the nearly 7 percent growth we saw at the end of 2021. While one bad quarter doesn't make a recession, two quarters do. U.S. President Biden says the signs don't point to another recession though.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I'm not concerned about a recession. I mean, you are always concerned about a recession. But the GDP, you know, falling 1.4 percent. But here's the deal. We're also had last quarter consumer spending and business investment and residential investment increased at significant rates both for leisure as well as hard products.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:25:00]

FOSTER: Now for years of being a tech juggernaut, Amazon has delivered a dismal quarterly profit report. The company reported nearly $4 billion in losses, that's far from the $4 billion profit analysts had been expecting. Amazon blames most of the losses on its investment in electronic automaker, Rivian, whose stock has been plummeting for months now. Amazon stock plunged 9 percent in afterhours trading. Selina Wang joins us from Western China with the reaction from Asia. What's going on, Selina, with these tech stocks at the moment?

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, not only was it a disappointing quarter for Amazon, Max, it also delivered a very bleak outlook. Right now, Amazon is facing multiple headwinds, that major boon to its business that it had during the pandemic. Well, that is starting to fade with online sales falling in the first three months of the year. Expenses are also raising as Amazon is offering higher wages to try to attract more workers.

On top of that, you've higher fuel costs which makes it more expensive to deliver Amazon packages. And on top of that, we also saw the major hit it took from its investment in that electric carmaker Rivian.

So, for the quarter it reported a loss of $3.88 billion, the first quarterly loss that Amazon has reported in seven years. But there were some bright spots including Amazon web services, that division jumped nearly 40 percent, more than analysts had expected.

But overall, this outlook that we are seeing from Amazon, this challenging environment, it does reflect broader industry challenges from the pandemic, from the war in Ukraine, including inflationary and supply chain issues.

For instance, in Apple's earnings, they delivered a strong revenue, a strong earnings, revenue jumping 9 percent year on year, but still during that earnings call, executives were warning about this grim macroeconomic environment. Including COVID-related shutdowns in China, chip shortages, all of that making it harder for Apple to meet customer demand. In fact, CEO Tim Cook said that he is more concerned about the supply issues than actually customer demand potentially dropping off.

Right now, in China the country is dealing with multiple, simultaneous COVID outbreaks across the country. Some 27 Chinese cities are under some degree of COVID-19 lockdown which is impacting around 180 million people that is more than half the U.S. population -- Max.

FOSTER: Selina Wang live in Kunming, China for us, thank you very much indeed.

Now a lack of discipline, bad coordination and tanks that have had a fatal design flaw are the growing signs that Russia's invasion of Ukraine isn't going according to Moscow's plans, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)