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Six Russian Missiles Fired At Odessa; Ukrainian Father With Infant Son Documents Life In War Zone; Russia Prepares For Celebrations; Beijing-Backed John Lee Set To Become Next Hong Kong Leader; Northern Ireland Nationalist Party Sinn Fein Wins Largest Number Of Seats; U.S. CDC Investigates COVID-19 Outbreak On Cruise Ship; White House Warns Of 100 Million COVID-19 Cases This Fall And Winter; Emperor Penguins At Risk of Extinction. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired May 08, 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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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.
ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers in the United States and right around the world. I'm Isa Soares, live in Ukraine, where dozens are feared dead after Russia's latest assault turns a school shelter into a pile of rubble.
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): I'm Kim Brunhuber at CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, following our other top stories.
A historic election win in Northern Ireland: Sinn Fein promises a new era to supporters and opponents. We'll have a live report from Belfast.
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SOARES: Welcome to the show, everyone. It's 10:00 am in Ukraine.
And 60 people are feared dead after Russian forces reportedly bombed the school in the Luhansk region of Eastern Ukraine. Images from the scene show the building reduced to little more than a smoking pile of debris.
The regional governor says around 90 people were sheltering inside the school when that bomb hit; 30 were rescued from the rubble. So far, two bodies have been recovered and the governor says they are unlikely to find more survivors.
To the west, Ukraine's military says Russia fired six cruise missiles at the port city of Odessa. So far, no casualties have been recorded. But strikes on historic cities like Odessa almost inevitably lead to other collateral damage.
Saturday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said nearly 200 cultural heritage sites had been damaged so far during this war. Have a listen.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Today, the invaders launched a missile strike at Odessa, a city where almost every street has something memorable, something historical. But for the Russian army, it does not matter. They would only kill and destroy. Odessa, Kharkiv region, Donbas, they do not care.
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SOARES: Ukrainian officials say all women, children and elderly people have now been evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. Mr. Zelenskyy said they're now focusing on evacuating the medics and wounded still trapped at the plant.
The school that was bombed as it sheltered dozens of Ukrainian villages was just 10 kilometers from the front lines in Eastern Ukraine. Scott McLean filed this report.
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SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There are fears of a high casualty count after Ukrainians accused the Russians of dropping a bomb on a school in a small village in eastern Ukraine.
The head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration said the Russians were fighting with unarmed civilians when they dropped that bomb on the school in the village about seven miles west of the front lines.
And 90 people were thought to have been taking shelter there at the time. The official says that 30 people have been pulled out of the rubble. Though judging by the pictures, it is incredible that anyone could have possibly survived.
Now that official said that almost the entire village had been taking shelter there because it was one of the few places that were even left to shelter in.
This village is not too far from Donetsk, with heavy fighting has been taking place, recently, as the Russians try to push through the front lines.
That strike will try to bring back memories of a bombing of a theater in Mariupol, where hundreds of women and children were taking shelter. Some 300 people or more were thought to have been killed there.
They even spelled out the Russian word for children, in hopes of being spared by the Russian bombs.
This village, it has been taking Russian shelling for weeks now. Officials managed a successful evacuation operation in late April, where they got out 49 people, including eight children, by train to western Ukraine. But clearly, not everyone had left -- Scott McLean, CNN, Lviv, Ukraine. (END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Russia's war has upended life for so many people right across this country. More than 13 million have had to flee their homes in search of safety. Alex Dayrabekov fled his home in Irpin with his then 1-month-old son. He later gained some fame for a clip of him singing The Beatles' song "Yesterday" to his baby.
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SOARES: These days he's singing something a bit more patriotic, have a listen.
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SOARES: Alex joins me now.
First of all, your son is beautiful. I wonder if we'll see that video of you singing with him.
How are you doing?
How is your son doing?
ALEX DAYRABEKOV, UKRAINE REFUGEE: Thank you, Isa. He grows. He's now almost 3 months old. And most of his life he lived in a war. But we are more or less OK, safe. This is the word for the place where we are. We, of course, hear cruise missiles, once in a while air raid sirens. But other than that, we are safe, thank you.
SOARES: Wonderful to hear that you are safe, that he is well. You are from a suburb of Irpin. From what I understand, the area is free of Russian troops.
Are you wanting to return, planning to return or still too dangerous for civilians at this point?
DAYRABEKOV: We desperately want to go home. We really think about it every day. The place is liberated. There's already electricity, water, gas. And people start gradually coming back. So we are thinking about returning there. There's still land mines, there's still explosives in some areas. But we really want to go home.
SOARES: And you know, this longing to be home, of course, the danger it still faces, it's something that I've been hearing time and time again from people who have been fleeing to Lviv, Alex.
You know, as you heard probably earlier in the show, President Zelenskyy was saying about 200 cultural sites have been damaged by the Russians.
When you hear this, how does this make you feel? DAYRABEKOV: Well, this is the war. We know that this country came here, this country eastward of us came here to erase us as a nation, erase us people. Of course, the buildings are damaged.
But the -- I think that it's more important that the people stay alive. So the lives cannot be restored. The buildings can. So in any case --
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DAYRABEKOV: -- sorry. The buildings, we will restore them, that's OK.
SOARES: And buildings can be restored. Culture continues, of course, in the people, like you clearly said, Alex. We are all looking to -- ahead to Russia's victory day in Moscow. Something that happens every year. It is a show, as we've been saying, of Russia's military might.
How will this, you think, make you and other Ukrainians feel, as we look at those images, as we wait to hear from President Putin today?
DAYRABEKOV: You know, I was born in the Soviet Union. For me, this holiday was a big one. In fact, this is such a big and important holiday still in Russia. It was the number one holiday in the Soviet Union.
The importance of this holiday is probably equal to what Christmas is accepted in the Western part of the world and by the Catholic Christians. So in the Soviet Union, this was number one holiday.
And now we all are rethinking this holiday because I understand now that this was a fake holiday, a manipulation, that was aimed to make this feeling that it was the Soviet Union or even Russia that won the war, which is not true, it was not just Russia.
It was not even Russia, just Russia in the Soviet Union. Ukraine did a lot to win the war. Europe did a lot. U.S. did a lot. The entire world fought against Hitler during World War II. And Russia kind of got this holiday and made it like number one holiday in the country and now manipulatively politically uses it to attack the other country.
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DAYRABEKOV: And I expect the worst tomorrow from Putin, from Russia because this is the only holiday that keeps all the different nations of Russia Federation together. They've got to do something on this day.
SOARES: Alex Dayrabekov, great to have you on the show. Keep us posted. Wonderful to see video of your little boy. Thanks very much, Alex.
DAYRABEKOV: Thank you, Isa.
SOARES: Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to join U.S. President Joe Biden and other G7 leaders in a virtual meeting later today. The White House's focus will be on sanctions against Russia and shoring up international support for Ukraine.
The Western leaders agreed to meet ahead of Russia's victory day on Monday. We're expected to hear from Putin on the anniversary Nazi Germany's surrender in 1945. There are fears that president Vladimir Putin might use that occasion to escalate his conflict in Ukraine, where the military has struggled against fierce Ukrainian resistance.
CNN's Nic Robertson is following this from Helsinki, Finland.
What is likely to come out of this meeting?
And how significant is this ahead of victory day in Russia tomorrow?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Of course, this is the 77th anniversary of VE Day, Victory in Europe Day, for the vast majority of Europe. The 8th of May is that day, where they celebrate the unconditional surrender of the Nazis in World War II. Russia chooses to do it a day later.
This is significant. The date and the timing is significant particularly with reference to victory day on the 9th of May in Moscow.
We've heard that from the White House. Jen Psaki, the spokesperson at the White House, has said this should not be -- this should clearly be understood, that this is coming ahead of the day that President Putin is expected to try to make triumphalist -- provide a winning narrative to the Russians about Ukraine, which, of course, she says, that isn't true.
We are expected to hear from President Zelenskyy. We know from his conversations with world leaders and particularly others of the G7 that he will likely be asking for additional support, more support, heavier weapons, the sorts of weapons he thinks it's going to take to defeat the Russians.
What we are told to expect is he will tell the G7 leaders how he thinks the war is going at the moment, where things stand. We know President Biden has spoken in the last few days with the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau.
We know that Boris Johnson, the British prime minister in London, has spoken with Emmanuel Macron in France. They've all talked about the G7 coming up. And about this meeting coming up and the importance of it, of maintaining solidarity, commitment to Ukraine.
But I think, you know, we have a G7 foreign ministers' meeting coming next weekend. But I think what President Biden is doing here is keeping the momentum going, keeping that support going, keeping the narrative going.
These things don't happen by themselves. Importantly, it comes after the French president, Emmanuel Macron, has completed his own election. He can focus better on the war in Ukraine. Now British prime minister Boris Johnson also just going through national local elections in the U.K. He can focus more on this now, too. SOARES: Important context from our Nic Robertson in Helsinki,
Finland, thanks very much.
Just ahead, Thursday's elections in Northern Ireland were a game changer. The latest on a historic Sinn Fein victory after this short break.
And a familiar face back on the campaign trail in Brazil. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva kicks off his campaign for president. More next.
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BRUNHUBER: The Hong Kong security chief who oversaw the 2019 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters will become the city's next leader. John Lee was backed by Beijing and was the only candidate in a controlled, tight circle vote to replace Carrie Lam as chief executive. Kristie Lu Stout joins us now from Hong Kong.
Tell us about John Lee and what his leadership might bring.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, John Lee, the sole contender, the ex-security chief, who represents security and stability, law and order, he was, as expected, selected as the next leader of Hong Kong.
I'm standing in the Hong Kong convention exhibition center, where something called the 2022 chief executive election took place. But this was not a popular vote, not a popularity contest. The 7.4 million residents of Hong Kong had no say in who their next leader is.
Rather, under electoral overhauled rules, you had a less than 1,500- member election committee, consisting of mainly pro-Beijing patriots, who are eligible to vote and select the next leader of Hong Kong. That individual is John Lee.
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STOUT (voice-over): It's been almost 25 years since China assumed sovereignty over Hong Kong. And the sole contender for the city's top job would be the first security official to run it since the handover.
JOHN LEE, INCOMING HONG KONG CHIEF EXECUTIVE: This new chapter will be a new symphony.
STOUT (voice-over): And the new conductor?
John Lee, a former career police officer.
JOHN BURNS, UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: He is different from the previous kinds of leaders that we have had in the past. Generally, they have come from business or, they have come from the elite civil service.
He doesn't have any of that. He has networks that are in the police and in, say, public security, on the mainland.
STOUT (voice-over): Before serving as Hong Kong's former deputy leader, Lee was its top security official.
During the long and often violent pro-democracy protests of 2019, demonstrators held posters, slamming Lee and other top officials. In 2020, Lee enforced a sweeping national security law, imposed by Beijing and was among nearly a dozen people sanctioned by the Trump administration, in 2020, for his role in undermining the city's autonomy, a charge Hong Kong and Chinese officials deny.
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STOUT (voice-over): Last month, YouTube suspended his campaign channel, citing U.S. sanctions. The move was condemned by China's ministry of foreign affairs.
STOUT: As John Lee prepares to become the next chief executive of Hong Kong, many here say they no longer recognize the city. A national security law has dismantled the once vibrant local press and civil society. And a strict COVID policy has dented the reputation of a once thriving, international business hub.
STOUT (voice-over): At a recent press conference, Lee pledged to solidify the city's international role.
STOUT: What can you say, right now, to reassure the international community that Hong Kong is open for business?
LEE: COVID is not going to live with us forever. At some stage, it will be under control. It is important that we will do a good balancing act, so that, on the one hand, we will keep the disease under control but, at the same time, we will allow business to go about.
STOUT (voice-over): Lee also vowed to boost housing supply and press ahead with Article 23, a security measure shelved in 2003, after a half a million marched against it. With dissent now stifled, protests are not expected to get in the way.
BURNS: The Hong Kong government, you could say, is caught in a dilemma. They're supposed to be accountable to the central government but they are also supposed to be accountable locally. The central government is now emphasizing the vertical aspect, this accountability up.
STOUT (voice-over): If everything goes to plan, Lee will be sworn in on July the 1st. Exactly halfway through 50 years of "One Country, Two Systems," autonomy Beijing promised to Hong Kong. A law and order candidate, poised to ensure law and order, in this already changed Chinese city.
(END VIDEOTAPE) STOUT: And just a few hours ago, John Lee was selected by a small circle of pro-Beijing election committee of patriots. The next move, he will be sworn in on July the 1st, which is a very significant date. It will mark 25 years since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule.
BRUNHUBER: Thanks so much, Kristie Lu Stout.
Brazil's Luis Inacio da Silva is trying to get his old job back. He lost his bid for president on Saturday in Sao Paulo. He'll face the incumbent when voters go to the polls later this year. Stefano Pozzebon has more.
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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In an event charged with nostalgia, former Brazilian president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva formally threw his hat in the ring on Saturday, formalizing his candidacy to be the next president of the largest country in Latin America.
He's already served for two mandates (ph) as president of Brazil from 2003 to 2010. But his focus was firmly on showing he's the right man to fix the economy over the next four years.
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LULA DA SILVA, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (through translator): We need put Brazil back among the best economies in the world.
We need to reverse the slowing process of the industrialization of the country, creating an environment of political, economic and institutional stability that encourages business people to invest in Brazil again.
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POZZEBON: Just like much of the rest of Latin America, Brazil is currently battling high inflation rates that are being made worse by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And it is still recovering from the deep economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lula was speaking in Sao Paulo, flanked by other members of his coalition. But the candidate to be his vice president, the former Sao Paulo governor, could not attend the event in person, as he tested positive for COVID-19.
And the first round of the Brazilian presidential election is scheduled for October 2. Polls already put Lula as a leading candidate -- Stefano Pozzebon, CNN, Bogota.
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BRUNHUBER: Voters in the Philippines go to the polls in less than 24 hours in a presidential election that pits the son of the country's former dictator against a candidate with roots in the movement that opposed his father. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has led in every opinion poll. He faces Leni
Robredo, who narrowly defeated him in the presidential race in 2016. The human rights activist has links to the People Power uprising in 1986 that ousted Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
Other candidates include former professional boxer, Manny Pacquiao, the former mayor of Manila and a former police general.
Sinn Fein is celebrating a historic win in Northern Ireland. The Irish nationalists, once considered the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, have emerged as the largest party after Thursday's regional elections.
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BRUNHUBER: Sinn Fein supports Northern Ireland leaving the U.K. and joining the Republic of Ireland. As its vice president, Michelle O'Neill looks set to be Northern Ireland's first Republican first minister.
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MICHELLE O'NEILL, NORTHERN IRELAND DEPUTY FIRST MINISTER: Today ushers in a new era, which, I believe, presents us all with an opportunity to reimagine relationships in this society on the basis of fairness, of equality and of social justice. Irrespective of religious, political or social backgrounds, my commitment is to make politics work.
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BRUNHUBER: And journalist Peter Taggart joins me live from Belfast.
Peter, we heard Sinn Fein there promising a new era. They've said, quote, this is a significant moment of change.
So how far does this victory get them on their long path to reunification?
PETER TAGGART, JOURNALIST: Well, they obviously would see it as a boost. A lot of their supporters would see it as a boost. Of course, the system of government here is a joint, it's a power-sharing government between nationalist Republicans and Unionist who are British politicians.
So the breakdown is interesting. Sinn Fein is the biggest party. And that's the first time that an Irish nationalist or Irish Republican Party has been the biggest in the history, the 100-year history of Northern Ireland.
But 27 lawmakers, 25 for the Democratic Unionist Party, was pretty close. The emergence also this election of the Alliance Party, which is cross-community, where they're neither unionists nor nationalists. That's a significant movement as well. So people who do not want to be defined by nationality. So three distinct groups have to work together. Of course, the issue for the moment is the Democratic Unionist Party say they will not go back into a power-sharing government because essentially of Brexit, because of the checks (ph) on foods (ph) arising from (INAUDIBLE) one part of the United Kingdom into this part of the United Kingdom, which is Northern Ireland.
So the Unionists, the Democratic Unionists and (INAUDIBLE) supporters and others aren't happy about that. So the actual power-sharing government might not be formed for a while.
But as for a united Ireland, well, (INAUDIBLE) has made a significant difference. Certainly Sinn Fein, they are now entitled to have the position of first minister for the first time. So internationally, obviously, that will be seen as significant. So we shall see.
Will it be a boost?
Certainly Sinn Fein already saying it could be a referendum on the united Ireland within the next five years.
Will that happen at all?
It remains to be seen.
BRUNHUBER: In terms of the people themselves, I'm wondering whether the people who oppose reunification, they must be feeling a lot of anger. Some have said there might be more violence as a result.
Do you think that's likely?
TAGGART: Well --
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TAGGART: -- we never know what might happen in this part of the world. Obviously, you still have paramilitaries active on both sides of the divide, the pro-British and the pro-Irish sides.
At this stage, there's no indication that there will be any upsurge in violence as a result of this election as opposed -- (INAUDIBLE). What we have, I mentioned those three distinct groupings. Effectively in the election, you had around 40 percent voting pro British, around 40 percent, rough figures, voting pro Irish, and around 20 percent voting nonaligned.
So if there was a referendum tomorrow, how would it go?
Would there be a united Ireland?
Certainly opinion polls recently and over a number of years would suggest that Northern Ireland would not yet vote to be part of the united Ireland; i.e., break away from the United Kingdom.
So at the moment, I think indications of violence probably are a little bit premature on the back of this result. The issue for a lot of members of the pro-British community is Brexit and how that has operated and how they feel there is an Irish Sea trade border and how they perceive that they are being treated differently in other parts of the U.K.
Could that possibly manifest in violence?
Well, who knows?
Certainly at the moment, it remains largely peaceful in this part of the world.
BRUNHUBER: Many questions on how they'll deal with all of those issues. But still a hugely symbolic victory. Journalist Peter Taggart, joining me by phone from Belfast, thank you so much, appreciate it.
TAGGART: Thank you.
BRUNHUBER: A proud history is about to meet a grim present in Russia.
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BRUNHUBER: Next, how the Kremlin plans to use a World War II victory parade to prop up its operations in Ukraine.
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SOARES: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Isa Soares coming to you live from Lviv in Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials fear some 60 people were killed on Saturday when a school was destroyed in an airstrike. About 90 people, just about everybody in the village, were believed to have been sheltering inside it when it was bombed. About 30 people have been reported rescued.
But the governor says it is unlikely there are any more survivors. The village is very close to the front lines in Eastern Ukraine.
And in the strategic port city of Odessa, Ukraine's military says Russia fired six cruise missiles at the city on Saturday. No casualties have been reported.
Western leaders will keep an eye on President Putin on Monday for any possible announcements about Ukraine. May 9th is victory day in Russia, when the nation marks the Soviet win over Nazi Germany in World War II. As Matthew Chance reports, the event commemorates a past that Mr. Putin could use now.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Night time on the cobbles of Red Square and Russia's military is plotting its next steps. This is a rehearsal for the annual Victory Day parade every May 9th, commemorating the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany.
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CHANCE (voice-over): And it's also a dramatic stage for the Kremlin to showcase its military power and to celebrate.
"I'm looking forward to its grand scale," says this Muscovite. "It will show the power and strength of our country," he says.
Though who really needs a reminder?
These are the latest brutal images from Ukraine, where Russia is continuing what it calls its special military operation. The Kremlin says this is also a fight against Nazis.
And even though Ukraine has a Jewish president, it's being drilled into Russians that their country's soldiers are yet again, battling fascists. It's a comparison dismissed in the West but which many Russians seem prepared to accept.
"Every year, I go to these rehearsals," says this man, who gives his name as Misha (ph). "But I think this year, it's more special because of the special military operation happening in Ukraine," he says.
"Today, I waved the flag to support our army. But I hope it will end soon," he adds, a hint of awareness, perhaps, of the horrific cost.
This is what Victory Day is meant to mark, the Soviet Union's role in the Allied victory in the Second World War. Russia sustained millions of casualties, paying an enormous sacrifice.
But the power of a military parade to bolster national pride has never been lost on the Kremlin's leaders; most of all, President Putin, whose Victory Day parades have, for years, heralded Russia's resurgence as a military power.
There's speculation this year's parade will form the backdrop for a major announcement on Ukraine. Victory Day still marks Russia's triumphant past. What the Kremlin really wants is to celebrate that elusive victory in the present -- Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.
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SOARES: You can watch the victory day parade on Red Square on Monday. We'll have live coverage as troops as well as officials gather from 9:00 am Moscow time or 7:00 am if you're watching in London. The parade is expected to get underway an hour later.
That does it for me for this hour. Now back to Kim in Atlanta.
BRUNHUBER: Thanks so much, Isa.
U.S. first lady Jill Biden is in Eastern Europe, meeting with Ukrainian refugees. Right now, she's in Slovakia, as part of her four- day tour. On Saturday, she visited a school in Romania and heard heartbreaking stories from women and children, who fled the war in Ukraine.
This school in Bucharest opened its doors to refugee students after Russia's invasion began in February. Ms. Biden, also an educator, credits teachers for supporting the refugees.
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DR. JILL BIDEN, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: As a teacher, I so appreciated what that one teacher did, by saying, I'm a teacher, we're going to organize this, we're going to get it together.
And I think really, in a lot of ways, the teachers are the glue that helped these kids deal with their trauma and deal with the emotion and helped give them a sense of normalcy.
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BRUNHUBER: Ms. Biden's trip is timed around Mother's Day, an occasion that might feel vastly different for the Ukrainian mothers and children who fled their homes.
Pro-choice advocates made their voices heard outside the U.S. Supreme Court Saturday following the leak of a draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the U.S. CNN's Joe Johns was there in Washington and has the story.
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JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: It was die-hard pro- abortion protesters that showed up on this rainy Saturday.
Demonstrations picked up here in D.C. after the leak of that draft opinion, indicating the court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States.
While the numbers of protesters were few, there's every indication authorities are prepared for larger demonstrations in the coming days as evidenced by the fencing that goes all the way around the building, the same kind of fencing that was put up around the United States Capitol after January 6th, also around the White House at certain times during the Trump administration.
There's also an indication we will see more activity in the legislature of the United States. The Senate is prepared to vote next week on the issue of abortion -- Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, China's lengthy COVID lockdowns are creating growing despair for those unable to leave their homes. A look at the mental health toll it's taking -- just ahead. (MUSIC PLAYING)
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BRUNHUBER: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control is investigating a COVID outbreak on a cruise ship. The Carnival Spirit left Miami April 17th, docked in Seattle on Tuesday. The agency says it isn't allowed to say how many passengers or crew tested positive. But the CDC and Carnival say there were no severe cases.
U.S. health officials are looking ahead with concern to the colder months. The White House is warning the U.S. could see 100 million COVID infections this fall and winter and stressing the importance of vaccines.
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DR. ROB CALIFF, FDA COMMISSIONER: We are seeing an uptick right now in the number of infections across the country. We're not yet seen much of an uptick in death and hospitalization. But there's a lag that usually occurs.
So we're quite concerned, even about the summer, particularly in the areas of the country where vaccination rates are not so high and people are not so much up to date. And then in the following winter, we're very concerned.
Most of the predictors, the people that make these predictions, do anticipate that, unless we do something, we'll see a significant surge in the winter. We're going to look carefully at the vaccination that's needed.
We had an advisory committee meeting a few weeks ago. And sometime in the next month or two, we'll be looking carefully at the composition and the recommendations for vaccination in the fall.
A consideration is that it might be at the same time as the flu vaccine campaign that we have every year; take the vaccine then and also recommend the COVID vaccine. None of this is decided.
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BRUNHUBER: In China, strict lockdowns are creating a mental health crisis, as the government doubles down on its zero COVID policy. Selina Wang shows us how despair is growing among people living under the extreme conditions.
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SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Desperate to break free, one Shanghai resident pushed to the brink. And during the world's strictest COVID lockdown, no longer wanted to live. I do not know exactly what's sugar this man's mental anguish but many Shanghai residents saw this widely circulated video as reflection of their own despair, as they've been sealed in their homes for more than a month.
Protests have our updated, residents clashing with police, as the days drag on, hopelessness rises.
Multiple videos of bodies lie motionless face down outside of apartments have gone viral on social media. This one shows two dead bodies. Residents speculating that they jumped to their death from their windows amid desperation during lockdown.
The lockdown has sparked logistical chaos, leaving residents struggling to get food and medical care. Multiple hospitals refused to treat violinist Chen Shunping's extreme abdominal pain. His son wrote to a widely shared social media posts that his father was later found outside his building in a pool of blood. He said his father had jumped from his apartment window. He said his father left a suicide note that said, I am saying goodbye to my friends and family because I can't stand the pain.
CNN has been unable to independently verify the authenticity of the story. The hospitals have issued denials. Chen's family have not responded to multiple requests for comment.
This is China's most affluent city. Residents like marketing executive Rita Zheng who loved her social and sophisticated life in Shanghai never expected that they would be fighting for survival.
RITA ZHENG, SHANGHAI RESIDENT: I have been under eating for about a week. At the end of that week, I was just feeling very depressed. There was a fear for whether I am going to walk out of this alive.
WANG: At least 27 cities are under some for the lockdown, impacting 180 million people.
China's leaders are still doubling down on its zero COVID policy, calling it a, quote, magic weapon to keep the country's COVID death slow.
Even if the harsh measures lead to emotional scars, that haunt residents years down the line -- Selina Wang, CNN, Kunming, China.
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BRUNHUBER: Emperor penguins are tall, majestic and endangered. Ahead, what scientists say is threatening the species.
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BRUNHUBER: If you're traveling through the Midwestern United States this Mother's Day weekend, you'll experience a record heat wave. Temperatures will average 15 to 20 degrees above normal. Several records were set on Saturday.
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BRUNHUBER: Emperor penguins are so large, they can stand as tall as a 6-year-old child. But their imposing height does not protect them from our changing world. As Lynda Kinkade reports, some colonies in Antarctica may disappear in the next 30 to 40 years.
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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These emperor penguins are native to Antarctica. They are the largest of all the penguin species. And now, due to climate change, scientists say they are at risk of extinction.
Unlike Adelie penguins, which build nests on the continent, these penguins breed directly on marine ice. And ice melting puts the lives of the baby penguins at risk.
MARCELA LIBERTELLI, ARGENTINE ANTARCTIC INSTITUTE (through translator): When the ice platform loses stability, the little penguins, the ones that are growing, the chicks of that season, might not have their feathers. They might not be ready to go to the sea.
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LIBERTELLI (through translator): The ground they rest on, where the colony is developing, breaks. And if the water reaches them, they are not ready to swim. They do not have their definitive, grownup waterproof feathers and they die because of the cold and drown.
KINKADE (voice-over): Scientists say, for almost three years in a row, all of the chicks, from one colony in the Weddell Sea, died because of the loss of ice. Researchers from Argentina, travel to these colonies, each year, to study the penguins.
They counted, weighed and measured. And their geographic position is recorded. The scientists say that some colonies in particularly vulnerable areas, may disappear within the next 30 to 40 years.
LIBERTELLI (through translator): The disappearance of any species is a tragedy for the planet, whether small or large, plant or animal. It does not matter. It is a biodiversity loss. And surely, the connections that they have with the environmental, are much more than the human being can imagine.
The food chains of extreme places have fewer links, fewer members. It means that the disappearance of one of them would have very serious consequences on the ecosystem.
KINKADE (voice-over): The U.N. agency, which his responsible for promoting international cooperation on climate related concerns, recently warned of increasing extreme temperatures, unusual rainfall and ice slides on the continent. Losing emperor penguins would be another grim and sad consequence of climate change -- Lynda Kinkade, CNN.
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BRUNHUBER: That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back with more news after a quick break.
