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First Trip as President for Biden to Asia; Azovstal Fighters Ordered to Stop Defense of Mariupol; Australia Votes; Federal Judge Blocks Biden Administration from Ending Title 42; Man's Horrific Loss in Russian Strike on Odessa; Record Breaking Heat in U.S. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired May 21, 2022 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Paula Newton.
Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, Joe Biden is working to strengthen ties across Asia this hour, hoping to reassure longtime allies about Washington's resolve in the region with North Korea watching closely.
Climate and the economy on the minds of many voters, as Scott Morrison goes up against a long-serving politician.
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NEWTON: At this hour, the U.S. President is holding talks with his newly inaugurated South Korean counterpart on his first trip to Asia as commander in chief.
Last hour Joe Biden participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the South Korean national cemetery before arriving at the Korean ministry of national defense for his meeting with Yoon Suk-yeol.
We're expecting them to give their remarks soon. On Friday Mr. Biden says the future of the world will be written in Asia and the region will prove to be critical in the years and decades to come.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're standing at an inflection point in history, where the decisions we make today will have far reaching impacts on the world we leave to our children tomorrow.
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NEWTON: Now the threat posed by Pyongyang is expected to be a main focus of Mr. Biden's bilateral meeting with South Korea's leader. We've also learned that Beijing is holding military drills in the South China Sea during this visit. The U.S. says Pyongyang could conduct a missile test while the
president is there. But even with those issues, the war in Ukraine is still on Mr. Biden's mind.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Putin's brutal and unprovoked war in Ukraine has further spotlighted the need to secure our critical supply chains so that our economy -- our economic and our national security are not dependent on countries that don't share our values.
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NEWTON: Following all of this, CNN's Paula Hancocks is live from Seoul as this meeting is now underway.
Paula, to start with you, listen, this is a new man on the job, President Yoon, and a lot to go through here.
Can you tell us a little bit more about his posture, especially when it comes to defense, given all the moves by North Korea, even in the last few days?
He seems to be a man who's talking more about deterrence rather than diplomacy.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Paula, this is a man who was inaugurated just 11 days ago. So clearly, we are learning more about him every day that we see him in the public eye.
Certainly, when he was campaigning to be president, he focused very much on the fact he wanted a stronger relationship with the United States. He wanted a strong defense posture with the United States and to have a strong security relationship.
But he said he wanted to go further than that. He wanted a comprehensive and strategic relationship. He pointed out he wanted stronger economic ties.
Now all of this clearly would have been music to the ears of Washington, as this appears to be what President Biden wants as well, given the fact that his very first stop on this Asia trip was to a Samsung semiconductor plant.
So President Yoon certainly wants a more comprehensive and a different relationship with the United States than simply the security partnership. Now when it comes to North Korea, again, we are still learning what President Yoon exactly wants.
We know, for a fact, that he is more hawkish than his predecessor. President Moon Jae-in really staked his legacy on engagement with North Korea, really pushing for some kind of breakthrough, which never came, although there were a number of summits between the two leaders.
So what we know from President Yoon is that he is more hawkish on North Korea. He has, though, been very open to helping Pyongyang in the past weeks since Pyongyang admitted that they do have a COVID outbreak within the country.
Of course, that is a completely unvaccinated country as far as we know, one of only two countries in the world that doesn't have a COVID vaccine program. So President Yoon has offered vaccines.
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HANCOCKS: He's offered masks, testing kits, which we know are few and far between in North Korea, given the data that they are giving out.
But at this point, from the South Korean side, they say that the North simply has not responded. Now we understand that that will be something that will be discussed within this meeting as well with the U.S. President, that both the U.S. and South Korea would like to offer help and assistance to North Korea.
But of course, the question is whether North Korea would accept it, whether the leader, Kim Jong-un, would accept outside help for his people, which would really show that he himself was unable to help them.
So I think many experts doubt very much whether he would -- certainly publicly wouldn't accept any help from the U.S. and South Korea. Whether there is something to be done behind the scenes, something to be done through COVAX is uncertain.
But President Yoon has a more hawkish outlook on North Korea to his predecessor. But as he has said very publicly, he is willing to help North Korea when it does come to COVID.
But of course, overshadowing all of this is the fact that both intelligence agencies from South Korea and from the United States believe that a missile test may be imminent. They believe that a seventh underground nuclear test may be imminent at least within this month. So that could change everything. Paula.
NEWTON: Absolutely. Militaries in the Pacific have been put on alert for that.
Kevin Liptak, you have been following this for so many years in terms of that pivot to Asia. It seems a long time since President Obama discussed that. So here we are. And yet the shadow of what's going on in Europe looming large. President Biden said it himself.
But he is looking at the security architecture of Asia, Kevin, and saying what when you talk about the challenges of North Korea or China?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, he is basically saying that the U.S. is an indispensable partner. Even as he remains so consumed by this war in Russia, his time, attention and resources, by coming here and stopping in South Korea and then in Japan, he is sort of demonstrating that he continues to prioritize this region. And you're right. He is the third successive American who has
attempted this so-called pivot to Asia with President Obama and President Trump, various things sort of complicated that. And now President Biden is experiencing something of the same thing.
And it was so interesting on the day he left. You saw this pivot in real time because in the morning he met with the leaders of Sweden and Finland at the White House to discuss their desire to join NATO. And he immediately turned, pivoted, got on the plane, flew 15 hours and arrived near Seoul.
So you see him trying to balance these things. And it is a balance for any president. And what the White House says, what the president's aides say is that they can do two things at the same time, that one crisis doesn't mean that another crisis is going unfocused upon, if you will.
When they say that the president's ability to rally American allies behind a sanctions regime against Russia is actually very reassuring to their allies in the Pacific, as they look on the horizon at what might happen on this continent in the next years and decades.
And, of course, the overarching theme on that is China, the country that is sort of shadowing this trip in an unspoken way. The president certainly wants to make clear that the U.S. intends to compete very strongly with China, both in the economic space and in the military space.
And so when the president goes on to Japan tomorrow, he'll be meeting with also a somewhat new leader in Japan. And then he'll meet for that quad summit with a number of Pacific allies.
What you'll hear him say is the United States is here to stay. That is something that I think allies are really looking for after those tumultuous years under President Trump. He talked about withdrawing U.S. troops from this region. He was very sort of belligerent on the trade front.
President Biden wants to say that has changed. It's an open question whether that message will be taken. Of course, President Trump is waiting in the wings, potentially will run for president again. So not sure how durable that outlook is, sort of an open question for the allies.
NEWTON: Top of mind for the allies, given the complications and the nuance really in all of these relationships. I'm going to leave there it for now. We have a press conference coming in less than two hours. Paula Hancocks and Kevin Liptak, appreciate it.
To Ukraine and the steel plant in Mariupol, Russia claims nearly 2,000 Ukrainian forces have now surrendered, including more than 530 just on Friday. This after the Ukrainian commander ordered his fighters to stop defending the city.
CNN cannot confirm if all Ukrainians have left the massive industrial site. We get more now from CNN's Melissa Bell. [01:10:00]
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MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The latest picture of Dmytro Kozatskiy, a soldier with the Azov regiment who helped the world to see the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. Posting, that's it. Thank you for the shelter Azovstal. The place of my death and my life.
A steady stream of its haggard and injured defenders has been leaving these last few days, Russian forces and their allies in the Donetsk militia surrounding the plant.
SERGEI SHOIGU, RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER (through translation): Nationalist back to the plant are actively surrendering. So far 1,908 people have laid down their arms.
BELL (voice-over): The injured taken to hospital. The evacuees now prisoners of war in the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic.
Some of their families finally beginning to hear news from their loved ones.
NATALIA ZARYTSKA, WIFE OF AZOV FIGHTER: So my husband wrote me two days ago and as a situation as really hard and horrible. And my husband is on the way from one help to another help.
BELL (voice-over): Russia has promised to treat the fighters according to international law but has said nothing about any exchange of prisoners of war. According to Ukrainian officials, negotiations are difficult.
After weeks of bombardment, the place that symbolizes Ukraine's resistance seems at last to be quiet -- Melissa Bell, CNN, Kyiv.
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NEWTON: With us now from Berlin is Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament and a former deputy prime minister of Ukraine.
Thank you for being with us as we try and parse exactly what this means for the larger war. You yourself said it. You said that the surrender of Mariupol and, of course, of the soldiers fighting in that steel plant would be devastating for Ukraine.
I mean, where do you think this puts the conflict now, the state of play, if you will?
IVANNA KLYMPUSH-TSINTSADZE, UKRAINIAN MP AND FORMER DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you for having me. Unfortunately, it's heartbreaking to watch that our soldiers, our defenders, our best people are being taken as prisoners of war at this particular moment. And one can only imagine what kind of tortures and what kind of hell
they will go through once on the -- they are right now on the Russian side. It's hard to believe that Russia will treat them respectfully and that Russia will treat them in accordance to Geneva Conventions.
I think -- I understand today the decision of the Ukrainian authorities to give the command to save the lives for the defenders.
But I think that, for the whole Ukrainian nation, it's extremely important that they come back home through exchange, which is not, as we see happening at this moment and I'm afraid not anytime soon.
Where does it put it?
It is a painful, painful, painful loss for Ukraine. But I do not think that anybody in the country, in the society, would agree that this is a loss for -- of the country, of the territory for good.
So I am hoping that we can count on many heavy weaponry that could come to Ukraine and, with that, we will regain the city. We will regain those territories that have been lost. While we didn't have enough instruments to, for example, deblock Mariupol or some of the other cities, where we were lacking the long-range weaponry.
NEWTON: You know, I can read the concern, the apprehension, the fatigue, the worry in your face right now as you're speaking, not just thinking about what's going to happen to those soldiers in Russia but also where this leaves the conflict.
I mean, look, you know what it means to say that you have a stalemate or you have a frozen conflict.
What do you think it will take to move this along?
Because in the meantime, you know, Ukrainians are suffering through this.
And what would it take to actually get to peace talks again?
It seems to me, and correct me if I'm wrong, that Ukraine and Russia seem much farther apart than they were even one week into this conflict.
KLYMPUSH-TSINTSADZE: Well, I'm sorry if you see fatigue on my face. I'm definitely tired. But --
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NEWTON: You know that's not what I mean, though. I mean, we see it every day. It must really weigh on you. It must weigh on everyone to see everyone fighting so hard.
KLYMPUSH-TSINTSADZE: It does.
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NEWTON: And then to see civilians in the crossfire.
KLYMPUSH-TSINTSADZE: It does. But that does not mean that we are less resolute in trying to defend our country and less resolute in trying to achieve the real, total, full restoration of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.
And I think that none of Ukrainians and none of the people, none of the citizens of the free world countries and societies has the right to be fatigued because this war, in this war, Russia has to be defeated.
So that all the nations' dictatorial regimes, all the dictatorial countries in the world would understand there is no way that the free world would stand, that the free nations can be attacked, that, with might, you can change the borders.
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NEWTON: But does that mean hanging on to every piece of Ukrainian soil?
And does Crimea have to come into the fold before we go back to the table to see what can be resolved, if anything?
KLYMPUSH-TSINTSADZE: I really do not understand. I'm getting this question a lot, why Crimea is different from any other part of Ukraine, as a part of our territory.
Yes, the weak response of the West back in 2014 to Russian illegal annexation of Crimea, that is definitely, unfortunately, a fact. But I think that, with our ability to fight and with the sanctions -- and I would like the E.U. to finally conclude the sixth package of sanctions and go further, pressing on Russian Federation, together with the U.S., together with the U.K., together with other free nations.
And that will lead to the necessity of this country, of Russian Federation, as being totally, I believe, a terrorist state. And I hope the U.S. Congress also will work on that, on recognizing this country as a terrorist state, that it will come back to respecting international law.
It will come back to being normal in terms of not putting this -- its troops to the other territories without any provocation and fighting wars of aggression.
So therefore, I think that we don't have the right to be fatigued. I -- sometimes it is necessary. And that's a difficult notion. Sometimes it's necessary to step back some kilometers, some miles or some dozens of miles in order to be able to regain them, as it was also near Kyiv, for example. Russians have come very close.
Or what they have done in Kharkiv region as well. But they are being kicked out from our land. And they have the necessity to retreat and to withdraw there. So we just need additional, additional backing from our partners and
are very grateful that Congress has finally adopted this $40 billion package of aid, which will allow to get -- for Ukraine to get more weaponry. And that's why I am in Berlin today. And yesterday we had this immense number of meetings, specifically to get more heavy weaponry --
NEWTON: Right.
KLYMPUSH-TSINTSADZE: -- for Ukraine. And that's the major humanitarian aid that one can give to Ukraine at this point.
NEWTON: We have to leave it there for now. But the message has been consistent now, I will note for three months, that that is what you want, $40 billion, as you say on the way from the United States, billions more from Europe as well. We will leave it there. But I really want to thank you for giving us some insights today. Appreciate it.
KLYMPUSH-TSINTSADZE: Thank you.
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NEWTON: Now Election Day in Australia is winding down. But Australians still have a few more hours to go in the polls. We'll have the latest in a live report after the break.
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NEWTON: Australians have just a few more hours to go to the polls and choose the party that will lead their country for next three years. Voting compulsory in Australia. More than 17 million are expected to cast their ballots.
And prime minister Scott Morrison is seeking reelection for his center right coalition government. His biggest opponent is the Labor Party headed by party veteran Anthony Albanese. We get more now from Anna Coren.
And, Anna, I'm assuming that, at this point, a few more hours left in voting, right, in terms of an outcome, that is really up in the air?
ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is, Paula. There are many people saying this is a lot closer than what the polls may count. So far the prime minister, Scott Morrison, who is seeking a second term on a platform of strong economic management, he's trailing in the polls.
And the reason for that, Paula, is that Australians have just had enough. There is a real feeling of disillusionment that the two-party system, which is what it is, the nationals, the coalition, versus Labor, is not providing for the people.
These people leading the parties are not visionaries. And they don't really represent the people. That is certainly the sense from the voters that we have spoken to. I mean, I've spoken to liberal voters, Paula, who have been liberal voters their entire life.
And they're so sick of Scott Morrison that they're going to be voting Labor for the first time in their lives.
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COREN: They don't like his arrogance. He has described himself even as a bulldozer. And even though the Libs have a track record of good economic management, people want a change.
And that is what we're seeing in the polls. Anthony Albanese, he has been the opposition leader since 2019. He addressed the media a short time ago after he cast his ballot.
And he said that he wants to represent all Australians. He wants to unite the country, that there has been great division. And it's time to heal. He seemed to really take on this leadership role, which he will need to do if he is elected the prime minister of Australia, Paula.
NEWTON: OK. Anna. We'll wait the see the results in the coming hours.
I am Paula Newton. For our international viewers, "LIVING GOLF" is next. For those in the U.S. and Canada, the news continues right here after a break.
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NEWTON: And welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and in Canada. Thanks for your company. I'm Paula Newton and you are watching CNN NEWSROOM.
The Biden administration is enlisting the help of the U.S. military to address the nationwide shortage of baby formula. The White House says a military aircraft will soon transport the first pallets of Nestle formula from Europe.
Meantime, the second largest infant formula maker in the United States says it has increased manufacturing by 35 percent. This in response to a recall by the top manufacturer in the U.S., Abbott Nutrition. That was back in February. Officials say this was the catalyst for the baby formula crisis.
World health experts are concerned as more cases of monkeypox emerge globally. According to the World Health Organization, there are at least 80 confirmed cases now and 50 suspected worldwide.
But what's worrying experts is why cases are being confirmed in areas where the disease isn't typically found. CNN's Jacqueline Howard has more.
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JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH CORRESPONDENT: This is something that the CDC is actively staying across. The agency is monitoring people who may have been exposed to monkeypox here in the U.S. and internationally.
I spoke with CDC official Dr. Jennifer McQuiston about the agency's investigation and what exactly makes this current situation unusual. Here's what she had to say.
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DR. JENNIFER MCQUISTON, U.S. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: This is a very unusual situation. Monkeypox is normally only reported in West Africa or central Africa and we don't see it in the United States or in Europe.
And the number of cases that are being reported is definitely outside the level of normal for what we would see.
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HOWARD: So we heard there that this is outside the level of normal. And another important detail, monkeypox does not usually spread easily among people. Overall, it's a rare infection.
Symptoms include flulike illness, swollen lymph nodes, rashes, lesions on the skin. It's called monkeypox because it was first identified in lab monkeys back in the late 1950s. And the last monkeypox outbreak here in the U.S., it happened in 2003.
It was due to the monkeypox virus spreading from animals to people, specifically pet prairie dogs were the source. But these recent cases that are being investigated, they appear to be from person-to-person transmission.
So they're spreading, some of them, from human to human. Now while there is scientific concern here, health officials say the public should not panic. There is no clear immediate risk. And, of course, CDC officials will issue updates as they learn more.
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NEWTON: And our thanks to Jacqueline Howard.
Now a largely flat day on Wall Street to close out the week. But what's worrying market analysts is eight straight weeks of losses for the Dow, its longest weekly losing streak since 1923.
And the S&P 500 briefly touched bear market territory on Friday, slipping more than 20 percent from its record high in January. This is all being fueled by investors, who are getting increasingly spooked about high inflation and the possibility of a recession.
Officials are still counting votes in Pennsylvania's Republican Senate primary and Trump-endorsed TV personality Mehmet Oz is still holding onto a very slim lead over former hedge fund executive David McCormick.
Now there is less than half a percentage point of difference between them, meaning the race is likely headed to an automatic recount. Whoever wins the Republican primary will face Democratic lieutenant governor John Fetterman in the general election.
A step back for the Biden administration. A federal judge in Louisiana blocking it from ending a Trump era restriction on immigration called Title 42. CNN's Rosa Flores has more from the U.S.-Mexico border.
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ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This 27-year-old Haitian woman is seven months pregnant. She and her husband have been at the South Texas shelter for three days.
FLORES: They say that they left Haiti because the situation in Haiti was very dangerous.
FLORES (voice-over): They are part of an unprecedented surge of migrants at the southern border. More than 1.2 million people have attempted to enter through Mexico since October. About half have been expelled under Title 42, the pandemic public health order that allows immigration agents to return migrants to Mexico without a hearing. The other half have been allowed into the U.S., pending their immigration cases.
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FLORES: Where are you going?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bridgeport.
FLORES: Bridgeport, Connecticut.
FLORES (voice-over): Nora and France (ph) want to go by their first names for their safety and say they have no money to get to their final destination. They're part of a new pattern happening at the border, migrants entering the U.S. with no money and no immediate family to stay with or the family and friends they did have, backed out.
That was the case with this group of migrant men in San Antonio.
FLORES: How many of you had money to buy a ticket to get to your destinations?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
FLORES: No?
FLORES (voice-over): The result, a growing homeless population that could only get bigger when Title 42 lifts and up to 18,000 migrants attempt to enter the U.S. every day.
In Miami, Malena Legarre says she has already helped hundreds of homeless migrants.
MALENA LEGARRE, HOUSING DIRECTOR, HERMANOS DE LA CALLE: It has been 60 families that we helped since December. Two hundred eighty, almost 300 people. One hundred are under 18.
FLORES (voice-over): She runs a small nonprofit and says she's housing about 15 migrant families, including Joksey and Gender (ph) and their three children. The Venezuelan couple asked CNN to use their first names only and says they would be on the street if it wasn't for Legarre.
Migrants continue to call for help but Legarre says her housing capacity is maxed out.
LEGARRE: So we are relocation.
FLORES (voice-over): To Wichita, Cincinnati, Detroit and New York City, she says.
Ismael Martinez (ph) is an artist from Venezuela. He was with the group of men we spoke with in San Antonio last month.
FLORES: He says that after two days, his girlfriend's aunt told him that he had to leave the home.
FLORES (voice-over): He says he's now homeless in New York City.
Nay (ph) says she's homeless, too, along with her two children. She asked CNN not to show her face nor share her full name. A month into living with her cousin in New York City --
FLORES: She told you that you had to leave?
FLORES (voice-over): She says she ended up on the street and now lives in a homeless shelter.
ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We are addressing the challenge of irregular migration.
FLORES (voice-over): The Biden administration issued a 20-page border plan for the end of Title 42. People like Ron Book from Miami-Dade's Homeless Trust are sounding the alarm about the increase in homeless migrants.
RON BOOK, CHAIRMAN, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY HOMELESS TRUST: I cannot be responsible for the cost from a flawed immigration policy that has no legitimate plan.
FLORES (voice-over): As for the Haitian couple -- FLORES: He said that his cousin is willing to take them into their home.
FLORES (voice-over): Nay (ph) and Ismael (ph) say that's what they were told but the situation changed dramatically and now they're homeless.
FLORES: We reached out to the White House and DHS about this story and we were directed to the border plan that was issued by DHS and specifically to the portion of the plan that says that the administration plans to bolster the resources of nonprofit organizations.
We followed up, asking, "What is the plan for the interior of the country where we are seeing this pattern of homelessness?"
And we were directed back to the border plan -- Rosa Flores, CNN, along the U.S.-Mexico border.
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NEWTON: A heartbreaking time to come in Buffalo, New York, after last week's hate-filled mass shooting that claimed the lives of 10 people. On Friday, people began to bid their final farewell to victims.
Hayward Patterson was a father of three. He is the first of 10 victims to be laid to rest. The 67-year-old taxi driver was waiting for passengers outside the supermarket where the shooting occurred.
His nephew told CNN that Patterson, quote, "took pride in helping people and that he would give people rides if they had little more money or none at all."
Patterson worked as a deacon at his church and was described by another deacon there as someone who was, quote, "a provider not only for his family but for the community." The deacon said Hayward Patterson will be sorely missed.
Still ahead for us here on CNN NEWSROOM, we take you to a village outside Kharkiv, where the Russians have pulled back but are now shelling with incendiary bombs. That story next.
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NEWTON: Ukraine is accusing Russia of launching constant attacks on civilian targets in areas, including the Black Sea port of Odessa. CNN's Sara Sidner speaks to two men, whose lives have been ripped apart by just one of those missile strikes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The moment a Russian missile slammed into an apartment building on Easter weekend in Odessa.
Yuriy Glodan's family was inside, waiting for him to return from the grocery store.
"On the way home, that's when I heard an explosion. I felt immediately something bad had happened. I tried to call my wife."
She did not answer. When he got there, chaos. Police and EMS had arrived. He and a bystander ran in to try and find his family.
"We began to clear away the rubble and this is how alongside EMS staff we were able to find the bodies of my family, all murdered."
First they found his mother-in-law Ludmilla's body, then his wife's body. But his 3-month-old daughter was missing. They were being told to leave for fear of a building collapse.
"I was constantly shouting," he says, "there is still a child up there.
"Did you find the child or not?"
Eventually they found her, her little body lifeless. He returned to find her blood-soaked baby stroller the next day.
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SIDNER (voice-over): "It is hard to live with this, my family was my whole life. I lived for their sake. When my baby came along, I understood the meaning of life," he says.
Nineteen-year-old Oleksiy (ph) can't believe he is still alive. He was in the same apartment complex. The explosion sent slabs of scorching hot concrete and shrapnel into his body.
"I realized that a rocket had hit my place and I started to burn," he says.
"I thought another minute and I would definitely turn into ash. I felt everything."
Twenty percent of his body was burned, his hands, arms and back. Jagged pieces of shrapnel had to be removed from his legs as well. He cannot do simple things for himself at the moment. But he is thankful for simply being alive.
"It is a miracle for everyone, for me as well," he says.
Before the blast, he was preparing to take to the seas and work on a commercial supply ship. Now he's just practicing walking again.
His neighbor, once surrounded by family, now walks alone.
"We used to walk in the park when my wife was pregnant."
Everyplace he now goes in Odessa, a reminder of what a Russian missile took from him, his wife, child and mother-in-law, now dead and buried. With each deadly strike, a new and terrible story is born in Ukraine -- Sara Sidner, CNN, Odessa.
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NEWTON: A U.S. State Department official has been allowed to visit detained American pro basketball player Brittney Griner in Russia. Griner, who has been held since February, was described as, quote, doing "as well as expected under these exceedingly challenging circumstances."
Meantime, former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed, who was recently released from a Russian jail after almost three years in detention, is speaking out about the brutal conditions he faced there. He sat down exclusively with CNN's Jake Tapper.
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JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Any prison is brutal. Russian prisons are notoriously awful and tough.
Did you have a strategy for surviving?
TREVOR REED, U.S. MARINE VETERAN: I did. I tried to, to kind of compartmentalize and focus not on being in prison kind of, you know, distract myself.
Think about future plans, what university I was going to go to, you know, what plans I was going to have with my family. All of those things and just tried to distract myself from reality, which, you know, was not something that you want to think about.
TAPPER: Did you have confidence you were going to get out?
REED: No, I didn't. And I know people are not going to like what I'm going to say about this but I kind of viewed their having hope as being a weakness. I did not want to have that hope of like me, you know, being released somehow and then have that taken from me.
TAPPER: You denied yourself hope?
REED: Yes. I wouldn't let myself hope.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: So many startling revelations in that interview. You can watch it in CNN's special report, "Finally Home: The Trevor Reed Interview," 8:00 pm right here on CNN.
A rare tornado devastates a community in Michigan. We'll bring you the latest from CNN Weather Center. That's ahead.
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NEWTON: At least one person is dead and dozens others hospitalized after a damaging tornado touched down in Gaylord, Michigan. The state's governor has declared a state of emergency. A city council member says the tornado took out an insane amount of buildings throughout the community, adding the town is devastated.
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NEWTON: The Greek composer behind some of the most unforgettable music for the movies has died. Vangelis was 79 years old. He's best known for the soundtracks of "Blade Runner" but his most famous work "Chariots of Fire."
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NEWTON (voice-over): That iconic music, he won an Oscar for that classic theme in 1982 for Best Original Score. He was known for his innovative use of electronic music and synthesizer in his work. The newspaper reports he died Tuesday in a French hospital while being treated for COVID-19.
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NEWTON: And I want to thank you for spending part of your day with me. I'm Paula Newton. Stay with us. I'll be back with more news in just a moment.
