Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

U.S. To Send Advanced Rocket Systems To Ukraine; E.U. Leaders Agree On New Sanctions Package On Russia; E.U. To Ban 90 Percent Of Russian Oil Imports By End Oy Year; Shanghai Begins To Loosen COVID Restrictions; Official: School District Police Chief Not Responding To Investigators' Request For Follow-Up Interview. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired June 01, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:00:40]

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone, I'm Alison Kosik.

Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, new rockets to Ukraine. U.S. President Joe Biden says he's sending more advanced weapons to the battlefield.

Plus, the cost of cracking down on Vladimir Putin. Oil prices surge after the E.U. bans the vast majority of Russian imports.

And China's richest city tries to get back to business as usual, but hundreds of thousands still remain locked down inside Shanghai.

We begin with an important advance for Russia on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine. Local authorities report Moscow's forces now control most of Severodonetsk. The city has been a key target of Russian forces as they tried to bring the Luhansk region under their full control. Local authorities have suspended civilian evacuations.

They describe the city as a wasteland with most houses and all critical infrastructure destroyed. Each side is blaming the other for a chemical explosion in Severodonetsk. Ukraine says a Russian missile hit a nitric acid tank producing a thick orange cloud of smoke. Russian backed separatists claim Ukrainian forces blew up the tank as they retreated from the industrial area.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine is losing 60 to 100 soldiers a day in the war with Russia.

In the Donetsk region, Ukraine reports a Russian missile strike on Sloviansk, killed at least three people. The president's office says a school and seven high-rise buildings were damaged.

Ukraine will soon be getting more high tech help from the U.S., President Joe Biden has announced "We will provide Ukrainians with more advanced rocket systems and munitions that will enable them to more precisely strike key targets on the battlefield in Ukraine".

The Biden administration officials they stressed that the U.S. is not encouraging or enabling Ukraine to hit targets in Russia. But these new systems have a far greater range than any weapons the U.S. has sent to Ukraine so far.

For more, I'm joined by Dana Pittard. He's a CNN military analyst and retired U.S. Army Major General. He's also the author of Hunting the Caliphate: America's War on ISIS and the Dawn of the Strike Cells.

Great to see you and thanks for joining us, General. Let's go ahead and start with President Biden what he said in the New York Time opinion piece that he wrote that the U.S. will send more advanced rocket systems to Ukraine. And that's despite Russia warning that the U.S. will cross a red line if it supplies these weapons to Ukraine.

So first, what will these weapons be able to do? And secondly, what could be the ramifications from Vladimir Putin?

MAJ. GEN. DANA PITTARD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, hello, Alison. The weapons are definitely needed by the Ukrainians because right now they are outdistanced, outranged by the Russian artillery.

And so, in many ways, the Ukrainians at the full range of the Russian missiles and artillery are sitting ducks. So, they do need that capability to be able to strike at Russian forces and strike at different targets in a timely manner and at a decent range.

The ramifications of this is Russia, what are they going to do at this point? Russia has already invaded Ukraine. So, there's not much Russia can do. All they want to do is try to stop the weapons from flowing into Ukraine, as I know, that helps Ukraine overall.

KOSIK: You say what else can Russia do? And, you know, President Biden mentions in his piece he addresses nuclear weapons, saying, you know, we see no indication that Russia has intent to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

But you know, there has been a lot of discussion of Putin being -- you know, whether or not he's being a rational actor in this war, and with the U.S. crossing a red line, does anyone really know what Putin's next move could be?

[00:05:01]

PITTAR: We have to stop being afraid of Vladimir Putin and Russia's nuclear weapons. The nuclear capability of the United States and certainly of some nations within NATO far surpasses what Russia has. If Russia were to use nuclear weapons, even touched nuclear weapons, they would be crossing a red line and they could in fact cause the destruction of Russia based on that.

And so, it is time for the United States to continue to take the strategic initiative and make Putin and Russia react to what the United States is doing versus vice versa. The use of Russian nuclear weapons would be disastrous for Russia.

KOSIK: Yes. And watching what's going on the "battlefield" is disturbing. You look at what Moscow's advance on Severodonetsk has been like, it's been very intense. Talk us through why this area is significant. And how -- and how it's going for Russia at this point.

PITTAR: We'll Severodonetsk is obviously a major city in the Luhansk province, which is a part of the Donbas region. The Russians want to take Severodonetsk that would mean they really have most of the -- of the major cities and towns in Luhansk. And that's very, very important.

The Russians are making progress in eastern Ukraine. They've learned many operational lessons from their defeats around Kyiv and Kharkiv. Their coordination between their aircraft, their artillery, their rockets and their mechanized forces is much more aligned now. And they have limited objectives.

But the Ukrainians cannot defend everywhere in eastern Ukraine, and the Russians are finding weak points where they can take advantage of that and attack.

What Russia is doing now is they're gaining momentum, and they will probably take Luhansk province. But that will be a dilemma also for Russia, because Russia will then have to hold it which will take more forces to hold it than it -- than it's taking to actually take the province right now.

Ukrainians also have some hope. I mean, they've had some successful counter attacks in the Kharkiv region, and certainly down south east of Odessa and Kherson. But the Ukrainians right now are going to lose some of eastern Ukraine based on the Russian momentum.

KOSIK: OK, CNN Military Analyst and retired U.S. Army Major General Dana Pittar. Thanks so much for your analysis.

PITTAR: Thank you, Alison.

KOSIK: Global oil prices spiked on Tuesday in response to the E.U.'s partial ban on Russian oil imports. The oil embargo is part of a six sanctions package aimed at punishing Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. Brent crude gained one percent on Tuesday as E.U. leaders met to finalize the deal eventually settling at nearly $123 a barrel. That is its highest level since March. Right now, Brent crude is trading at a little over $115 a barrel.

Ukraine's president says that while he's grateful for the action against Russia, E.U. leaders took too long to make it happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We have agreed on the necessity to increase sanctions. It's more than 50 days since the fifth package of sanctions. This is unacceptable for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: CNN's Anna Stewart has more on the E.U.'s latest round of sanctions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER (on camera): It took a whole month of negotiations but finally the E.U. has passed its sixth round of sanctions. The package includes cutting the biggest Russian bank from SWIFT that's the messaging service that underpins much of the global financial system, banning three Russian state T.V. broadcasters and sanctioning more individuals for war crimes.

But the most significant measure on that list is the embargo on Russian oil, which came with a big concession.

In order to get the approval of Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republic, an exemption has been granted for a key pipeline delivering Russian oil to these landlocked countries.

Now, that does weaken the embargo overall, but it still means that at the end of the year, the E.U. will receive just 10 percent of the Russian oil it currently imports and Russia will have lost what is currently its biggest oil customer.

According to the think tank Bruegel, Russia currently receives $10 billion a month from the block for oil, that will drop off to just $1 billion by years end.

Of course, Russia will try to sell its oil to other customers like India and China as the E.U.'s top diplomat (INAUDIBLE).

JOSEP BORRELL, EU POLICY CHIEF: Certainly, we cannot prevent Russia to sell their oil to someone else. We are not so powerful. But we are the most important client for Russia. They will have to look for another one and certainly, they will have to decrease the price. The purpose is for the Russians to get less resources, less financial resources to feed in the war machine. And this certainly will happen.

[00:10:20]

STEWART: Russian grades of oil are currently much cheaper around $34.00 less a barrel compared to benchmark crude, so that makes it more attractive to markets outside of the E.U. But ultimately, it brings in less revenue for Russia.

The other problem with the E.U.'s plan to squeeze Russia financially is the fact that the E.U. is still buying Russian gas. And that is a huge source of Russian revenue.

Many would like to see the E.U. ban Russian gas in the next round of sanctions, but that would likely face even fiercer opposition from some among the 27 member states.

Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Joining me now from New York is Catherine Rampell. She's a CNN Economics and Political commentator, as well as an opinion columnist for the Washington Post. Catherine, great to see you.

CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Great to be here.

KOSIK: There's a lot of news to get to. First, let's talk about energy and the European Union making a huge commitment to ban the vast majority of Russian oil imports by the end of the year.

But you know, what kind of short term impacts on the war could this make?

Well, we don't really know how Putin is going to digest this information. We do know that it will be very painful for the Russian economy and for the E.U. economies for that matter. Not only the decision to stop importing Russian fossil fuels, but also the E.U. has announced that it will essentially ban the ability of private firms to ensure provide insurance to that is Russian ships tankers that are carrying this energy, which means that it will inhibit Russia's ability to export not only to the E.U., but to countries in Asia that have not yet impose their own sanctions on these products.

So, it'll be very painful, potentially for Russia, painful for the E.U. as well. Whether it actually ultimately achieves its geopolitical goals of ending the war is anybody's guess.

KOSIK: Yes, because then you've got countries like India, the world's third biggest oil importer, which has actually seen its crude imports from Russia climbed since the invasion. So, is there any pressure that can be made to get India to curtail its purchases of Russian energy?

RAMPELL: As long as India sees it as within its own self-interest to continue purchasing this Russian oil, potentially at a huge discount, by the way, because nobody else will touch it, I think India is going to continue buying it.

What kinds of tools are available or what kinds of negotiations might be happening behind the scenes, we don't fully understand the impact of yet. But India again may not have a choice, if the companies that usually ensure these deliveries right now are basically unable to participate, that basically shuts down these transactions, even if India is still willing to purchase the this oil.

So, this may force the country's hand whether or not they agree to discontinue engaging with Russia economically.

KOSIK: All right, let's switch gears and talk inflation specifically in the United States where, you know, inflation remains at levels that we haven't seen in 40 years and the question of who or what is to blame for it? And it's not every day we hear a high ranking administration official, in this case, the U.S. Treasury Secretary admitting I was wrong. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANET YELLEN, TREASURY SECRETARY: Well, look, I think I was wrong then about the path that inflation would take.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: What's your take on her admitting that she was wrong?

RAMPELL: I admire the candor. I think it's better than dodging the question or pretending that she's made public statements that she didn't make a year ago.

And by the way, Secretary Yellen was not alone in downplaying or publicly stating that forecasts for inflation were going to moderate essentially, this was the case for most economists with a few very loud exceptions, people like Larry Summers, for example, most forecasters at the Fed, within private industry, if you look at economists who work on Wall Street, for example, most of them were expecting that price pressures would come back down pretty soon after they popped up initially at the beginning of 2021.

Obviously, that didn't happen. And in hindsight, we can say, well, maybe we should have been -- maybe they should have anticipated, maybe we should have anticipated, I thought for example, that inflation would be transitory to use the term of art because basically supply chains would normalize, that was -- that was generally the understanding that people would get vaccinated, supply chains would normalize, people would go back to work. And those inflationary pressures would recede.

[00:15:17]

RAMPELL: Instead, what happened is supply chains remain snarled, they continue to be. That fiscal policy, the American Rescue Plan that was passed last year and monetary policy that is very low interest rates from the Fed continued to stoke demand and so you have very high demand, very constrained supply. That is a recipe for higher prices.

KOSIK: All right. Thanks for your analysis. Catherine Rampell, CNN Economics and Political Commentator, great to see you.

RAMPELL: Thank you.

KOSIK: After more than two months under lockdown, China's richest city is finally beginning to ease COVID restrictions in low risk areas. The majority of Shanghai residents are now able to go out.

While this is the biggest step Shanghai has taken toward a full reopening, the weeks leading up to this point have been filled with chaos, and the government has warned it will restore the lockdown if new cases emerge.

CNN's Selina Wang has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sprinting with shopping bags, residents racing to get out. After more than two months of a brutal city-wide lock down, Shanghai is finally cracking open the seal. The city's main train station, packed with people trying to escape.

But actually getting out of here is a treacherous journey. The city says it will fully resume transportation today but earlier, people have been seen trekking miles across highways, dragging their luggage or strapping it to bikes, even journeys of dozens of miles or more, not swaying their determination.

The train station parking lot has become a campsite, some leaving days earlier than their departure time, terrified they could be locked down again if they stay at home. The masses outside the train station, a stark contrast to the rest of Shanghai, hundreds of thousands still remained locked in but even the lucky ones allowed out face a laundry list of restrictions. There are check points everywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is definitely not freedom.

WANG: This Shanghai resident and her son who wish to remain anonymous for fear of persecution from authorities were finally allowed out after more than 80 days. Her only solace is seeing her son outside and smiling for the first time in a long time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My child now has depression because of the lockdown. He started waking up at night and crying and shouting and saying there were people wearing masks in his bedroom and he stopped eating.

WANG: That harsh reality, miles away from what the government wants to show. Watch this state T.V. reporter pull the microphone and camera away during a live interview, when the resident starts to complain about the lockdown. She says I've never lived through anything like this, being locked inside your home and not allowed to go out, what a big joke.

Officials say the city will start returning to normal in June but residents are doubtful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, this does feel like endless, endless nightmare.

WANG: Her freedom lasted less than a week, one COVID case found near her so she's back to lockdown. For over two months, Shanghai had its freedom taken away, residents imprisoned at home or forced into quarantine centers like these. No one knows when this nightmare will fully end.

Selina Wang, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Anguish and grief in Uvalde, Texas as questions mount over the police response to last week's elementary schools shooting, the latest developments next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:23:06]

KOSIK: We're following new developments in the investigation into the horrific Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas one week after a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers. Officials say the incident commander during the shooting, the school district's police chief is not responding to investigators requests for a follow up interview.

Meanwhile, heartbroken families are beginning to bury the victims and seek answers on the police response to the massacre.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A chilling new account from inside Robb Elementary during the mass shooting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you injured?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got shot!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where? Where?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A kid got shot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A kid? They shot a kid?

LAVANDERA: That audio was taken by a man who spoke to CNN but didn't want to be publicly identified. A Facebook live video includes what he says is audio from the radio in a Customs and Border Protection vehicle outside the school. It is not clear at what point during the shooting this video was taken.

We're also hearing from a Customs and Border Protection Officer whose wife is a teacher at the school where his daughter is also a second grader. He was off duty at a barber shop when he got this text message from his wife.

JACOB ALBARADO, OFF-DUTY CUSTOMS AND BORDER PATROL OFFICER: There's an active shooter. Help. I love you, from my wife.

LAVANDERA: That's when he raced over to what he describes as a chaotic scene at the school.

ALBARADO: Everyone's trying to get to the school. People are trying to get everything situated. I was just trying to get towards my wife's room and my daughter's room.

As I was going in. I could just see kids coming out of the windows and kids coming my way. And so, I was just helping all the kids out.

LAVANDERA: Both his wife and daughter got out safely.

One teacher describes the tense moments in her school room after spotting the gunman outside her class window.

NICOLE OGBURN, TEACHER, ROBB ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: I just kept hearing shots fired and I kept praying, God, please don't let him come in my room. Please don't let him come in this room. And for some reason, he didn't. [00:25:05]

LAVANDERA: ABC News obtained a portion of video that appears to be audio from a 911 operator relaying information from a child inside the classroom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a child online. Child is advising he is in the room full of victims.

LAVANDERA: Questions remained focus tonight on the police response. The Texas Department of Public Safety Director says it was the School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo who made the decision not to breach the classrooms earlier. Arredondo who hasn't been seen publicly since the shooting is facing harsh criticism and a Department of Justice review for what officers didn't do as kids inside the school repeatedly called 911 pleading for help.

JULIE GARCIA, ATTENDED MEMORIAL: You cry and mourn harder here because they didn't have a chance.

LAVANDERA: The first funerals for the victims in the mass school shooting in Uvalde were held today.

GARCIA: When that casket closes and they lower it down, for me, it's the realization that you won't be able to touch them again. One more hug, one more kiss, one more goodbye.

LAVANDERA: The funeral expenses for every family are being covered at no cost, thanks to an anonymous donor, according to Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

FATHER EDUARDO MORALES, PRIEST: Off the top of my head, I couldn't tell you how many, but I think one every day.

LAVANDERA: Father Eduardo Morales says he will preside at 12 funeral services for victims over the next two weeks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nobody should ever have to go through this hardship, you know, and something that could have very well been avoided.

LAVANDERA: If you remember last week, Texas Department of Public Safety investigators said that the gunman had entered Robb Elementary through a door that was left propped open by an unidentified teacher.

Well, now that turns out not to be entirely the case. Texas DPS officials are now saying that the teacher realizing that there was a gunman on campus went back, close the door, but it did not lock.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Uvalde, Texas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: In the wake of the tragedy in Uvalde and other recent mass shootings, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee plans to vote on wide ranging gun control legislation as early as Thursday.

A source says the bill would raise the lawful age to purchase a semi- automatic rifle from 18 to 21 years old, established new federal offenses for selling large capacity magazines, and it would also include a criminal penalty for breaking new requirements on the storage of firearms on residential properties.

U.S. President Joe Biden during a meeting with New Zealand's prime minister promised to meet with Congress on guns. His comments come as a small bipartisan group of senators met on the issue with one lawmaker saying it was a very constructive conversation.

The U.S. is sending more assistance to Ukraine's military to help repel the Russian invasion. But some ordinary Ukrainians living in Russian occupied areas in the east are bravely displaying their own defiance, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: There are new questions as to whether or not a car explosion in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol was an act of Ukrainian resistance.

[00:32:33]

The city's exiled mayor says the blast was most likely carried out by the Russians as they begin to, quote, "clean up collaborators." But he says it's also possible the explosion was the work of a Ukrainian guerrilla movement.

This as ordinary Ukrainians are finding their own ways to express their defiance to the Russian occupation.

CNN's Melissa Bell has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An explosion in the Southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol, blamed by Moscow on Ukrainian resisters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

BELL (voice-over): And on Sunday, "Melitopol is Ukraine," chanted in the heart of a town that's been in Russian hands for nearly three months. Yellow ribbons more defiantly displayed than elsewhere in Russian-held Southern Ukraine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

BELL (voice-over): From Crimea to Kherson, symbols of silent resistance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

BELL (voice-over): But Melitopol's noisily resisted from the start. After the early chants of its people was silenced, and when the town's mayor was kidnapped by Russian forces in early March, some locals turned to armed resistance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a very dangerous situation.

BELL (voice-over): Now, in Ukrainian government-held Zaporizhzhia, Ivan Federov says Melitopol will never give up.

IVAN FEDEROV, EXILED MELITOPOL MAYOR: They can kidnap. They can kill. They can make some tortures. But we can't give (ph) support. Because our citizens don't want to live in Russia. I know it. Melitopol will return to Ukraine.

BELL (voice-over): Melitopol fell quickly. And even as Russian forces pulled back to the South and East of the country, remained on the wrong side of a line that has hardened.

MYKOLA KRASNY, UKRAINIAN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE (through translator): Russia is using hybrid methods of occupation. That means the Russian federation is trying to identify and destroy centers of resistance; Ukrainian partisans. Such people are offered uncovered and will sometimes disappear in Russian prisons.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Idea of the yellow ribbon was --

BELL (voice-over): Which is why the yellow ribbon movement has become key, according to its spokesman in Kyiv.

He tells me, "The ribbons allow people to pass on the message that Ukraine is present here, that there is no other South than under the Ukrainian flag."

BELL: Here in Zaporizhzhia, there's also a sense that that line between Russian-controlled Ukraine and the rest of the country is hardening, even as it continues to move forward. We can hear, here, the regular sound of outgoing artillery fire. But we can also see an emerging refugee crisis.

[00:35:18]

Hundreds of families, living in their cars as they try to get back to their homes. Now, in Russian-controlled cities.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Zaporizhzhia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: Ukraine has identified more than 600 Russians suspected of war crimes. The country's prosecutor general says they've already started prosecuting around 80 of them.

The long list of suspects includes high-level Russian military officials, politicians and what Ukraine calls propaganda agents of the Russian federation.

The prosecutor general says investigations have been complicated by the ongoing fighting.

The International Criminal Court announced, at that same news conference that it's working on opening an office in Kyiv in the coming weeks.

BTS takes on Washington and the White House. The important message the K-pop stars delivered to the U.S. president, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:40:12]

KOSIK: Global K-pop sensation BTS brings their star power to Washington and for a good cause. The boy band visited the White House Tuesday to speak with the U.S. president about Asian representation, as well as discrimination. And they took over a briefing room, buzzing with excitement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARINE JEAN-PAUL, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Forget about me I -- know.

RM, BTS GROUP LEADER: Hi, we're BTS, and it is a great honor to be invited to the White House today to discuss the important issues of anti-Asian hate crimes, Asian inclusion, and diversity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: The group says they're devastated by the recent surge in hate crimes targeting Asian-Americans. Last year President Biden signed a bill into law aimed at addressing this global problem and growing problem.

BTS also took their time to think their diverse global fan base.

I'm Alison Kosik. Thanks watching for CNN NEWSROOM. Make sure and follow me on Instagram and Twitter, @AlisonKosik.

WORLD SPORT starts after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:45:22]

(WORLD SPORT)

[00:57:36]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)