Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Leaders Look to Keep Pressure on Moscow, Ease Price Spikes; Russian Strikes Kill One and Wound at Least Six in Kyiv; Abortion Rights Protests Take Place Across U.S.; Clinics in Canada Prepare for Possible Influx of Americans; U.K. Parliament to Debate Bill to Change Part of E.U.-Brexit Deal; Shanghai to Gradually Allow Indoor Dining at Restaurants; Study: Children of All Ages Can Face Long COVID Symptoms; Somalia Faces Climate Emergency, Risk of Famine; Company Aims to Build a Working 3-D Printed Rocket. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired June 27, 2022 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:00:22]
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to everyone joining us all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes live from Studio 7 at the CNN Center in Atlanta. Appreciate your company.
Coming up here on CNN Newsroom, shocking images out of a bullfight in Colombia when part of the stadium collapses sending spectators falling. Russia's assault on Ukraine showing no signs of slowing after an attack on the Capitol leaving families buried in the rubble. And overshadowed by Putin's invasion, G7 leaders are meeting as the war takes an economic toll on their own country.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with Michael Holmes.
HOLMES: A balancing act on the world stage right now. G7 leaders gathered in Germany for a second day of a summit dominated by Russia's war on Ukraine and the impact that war is having around the globe. Leaders are hoping to show a united front and sustain their pressure campaign on Moscow, while also limiting the economic fallout. That after months of war, their unity is being tested. Leaders are now facing political blowback at home as prices for energy, food and other goods surge.
On Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden and the President of the European Commission urging allies to stand strong and confront those challenges head on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, (D) U.S. PRESIDENT: The entire world is feeling the impact of Russia's brutal war in Ukraine and on our energy markets. We need worldwide effort to invest in transformative clean energy projects to ensure the critical infrastructure is resilient to changing climate. URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: As the global economy was just recovering, Russia's vicious attack on Ukraine happened, driving prices up everywhere from food to energy, and casting deep uncertainty, especially in the most fragile countries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Whereas the G7 got underway, Russian missiles continued to rain down on Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, calling it the Russian method that is to escalate attacks every time international events take place. One of those attacks hit an apartment building and a kindergarten in Kyiv. One person killed, at least six wounded. President Zelenskyy scores of Russian missiles hit Ukraine over the weekend, and he slammed Moscow for again attacking innocent civilians.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The second army of the world triumphantly defeated a kindergarten and an apartment building. The man died. He was only 37 years old. There are wounded among them, a girl named Zhenya. He is seven years old, the daughter of the deceased, now she is in "Okhmatdyt." Her mother was also wounded. By the way, a citizen of Russia. That's that. She was not threatened by anything in our country, she was completely safe, until Russia itself decided that everything was equally hostile to them now -- women, children, kindergartens, apartment buildings, hospitals, railways.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, Ukraine may soon get some of the military, it's been requesting a source telling CNN the U.S. is poised to announce as soon as this week that it has purchased an advanced missile defense system for Ukraine, which will provide medium to long range surface to air defenses. For more, let's bring in CNN's Kevin Liptak. He is live in Austria near the site of this year summit. Tell us more about this weapons assistance on offer and what more President Zelenskyy might want when he speaks with the leaders?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, heading into these talks, Michael, U.S. officials did say that they had hoped to make announcements on security assessments. And as you said, we do understand that this missile defense system could be announced as soon as this week that had been something that had been on Ukraine's wish list and it's our understanding that the Ukrainians will still have to be trained to use it. Other things that are sort of in the offing in the next couple of days could be a new round of artillery ammunition, a new radar system. So all of these announcements are coming as the leaders are meeting here in the Bavarian Alps and When President Zelenskyy speaks with them today, I think he'll lay out sort of the trajectory of this war where he sees it going in the next couple of months.
[01:05:09]
And when you talk to Western officials, they do say that they would really like to shift the momentum on the ground in Ukraine, as Russia continues to make small gains in the east. At the same time, they're balancing this question of escalation, looking at whether these announcements could potentially escalate the situation. And White House officials have said that every time President Biden comes out and announces one of these new systems, he takes into account how President Putin might respond. And so certainly that is something that is at the front of mind for these leaders, as these talks continue here in Germany, you saw the leaders yesterday, literally rolling up their sleeves as they got around the table to discuss these huge issues, really, the question that's still looming, is what is the next phase of this war? What will it look like? And it's not necessarily true that these leaders are in 100% agreement on this issue, you hear some leaders sort of edging more towards negotiations with Russia, other leaders have made clear that they want to see a more decisive victory on the battlefield. And that's something that they'll want to discuss with Zelenskyy and among themselves as they continue these discussions, particularly as the economic fallout of this war continues.
And you heard yesterday, the leaders announced a ban on gold from Russia. They're also discussing potential price caps on Russian energy trying to mitigate the effects that this war is having around the world. The question remains to be seen when President Zelenskyy on when the Ukrainians want to pivot to sort of this more diplomatic approach. Talking to one European official ahead of these talks, they said that there is consensus among the G7 leaders that they will follow Zelenskyy's lead there, but there's no sign that he's nearing that point anytime soon. Michael.
HOLMES: All right. Good to speak with you Kevin. Kevin Liptak there live in Telfs, Austria for us. I appreciate it.
Well, just hours after Russian missiles hit Kyiv, the British Prime Minister urged the West to remain steadfast in punishing Moscow for its war on Ukraine. Boris Johnson spoke with CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: And if we let Putin get away with it, and just annex, conquer sizable parts of a free, independent sovereign country, which is what he is poised to do, if not the whole thing, then the consequences for the world are absolutely catastrophic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And joining me now from Germany, Erik Kirschbaum is a freelance journalist and a special correspondent for The Los Angeles Times.
Good to have you on. Joe Biden said this when he was in Germany, he said, we have to stay together, as Putin has been counting on from the beginning, that somehow that NATO and the G7 would splinter. But we haven't. And we're not going to. There's no doubt Putin is counting on a failure of consensus. How important is it then for Ukraine, but Europe itself that the line holds here?
ERIK KIRSCHBAUM, FREELANCE JOURNALIST: It's very important, and Germany has always sort of been the weak link in the chain. It's a deeply past us his country, which has no appetite for war or military. And they resisted everything they could about being aggressive against Russia and Putin. After Crimea was invaded in 2014, Germany rewarded Russia by connecting a building a deep gas pipeline to Russia. So they doubled their dependence on Russian gas. They were really shocked in Germany when Russia did invade Ukraine a few months ago. And the country is going through a metamorphosis right now of being willing to be part of a war effort. That's something very alien and foreign to Germans. They just don't like war. They have deeply opposed to war. But now they see the danger coming from Moscow. They were dragged reluctantly into this. And they're still foot dragging as far as delivering weapons, but they're slowly but surely coming around. And Biden praised German Chancellor Olaf Scholz profusely yesterday and I've never seen Olaf Scholz smile as much as he was yesterday when Biden was praising him in front of the whole world.
HOLMES: Yeah. What are the arrows are in the G7 leaders quivers to blunt Russians attacks? As you point out the host of the gathering Germany, well, they for one have been criticized for their contribution, particularly when it comes to weaponry. Zelenskyy has been quite open about that. So what other arrows are there for the G7 nations?
KIRSCHBAUM: Well, Germany has a lot of weapons. Germany is one of the world's leading arm makers, the fourth leading exporter of weapons, they make really high-tech weapons that Ukraine badly needs and has been demanding and asking for and pleading for. So Germany, promised to start delivering some of these weapons by August maybe this will happen a little sooner if they see the urgency of the situation. The G7 is also trying to ratchet up the economic pressure on Ukraine. We saw yesterday a ban on gold, which will also hurt Russia, economically in theory. There's other arrows in the in the basket that the G7 is trying to do.
[01:10:03]
They want to keep ratcheting up the pressure on Russia because the war looks like it's going to drag on a lot longer. And all the G7 countries have their own domestic problems, rising inflation, also a factor of this war's causing problems in G7 countries. So they know that -- they're beginning to think that they're in this for the long haul. And they need to keep ratcheting up the pressure on Russia to try to starve their war machine. And so something that Ukraine and Zelenskyy is going to be reminding them of today.
HOLMES: I was going to ask you, too, about this when it comes to Germany that when the G7 was initially planned this meeting, the focus was going to be chiefly on climate, ironically, because you know, this was before the invasion, which of course caused energy crunches, and actually is boosting the use of all of all things, coal, what's all that done to climate action as a priority item for the G7 and for Germany? KIRSCHBAUM: Yeah, the climate issue is definitely part of the talks here. But it's definitely on the backburner right now. The war in Ukraine is the central issue and the economic response to it and how can the G7 stay united? Climate change is a big issue in Germany. It's one of the world's leaders in renewable energy. And they hope to make this a summit about climate change. I think Chancellor Olaf Scholz is also helping to make some passive, his breakthroughs here, like relieving the food shortage, because of the other grain caught up in Ukraine. That's something I think the German hosts of this G7 would really like to accomplish, finding a way to get some relief to the country. So dependent on Ukrainian grain. That's right now stuck in Ukraine, that would be a big feather in the cap for Germany.
HOLMES: Exactly. And also, I just want to get your sense on this, when it comes to U.S. leadership, I mean, we've seen in, you know, well, what's come out of the January 6, hearings, the sort of evidence coming out January 6, the events of that day themselves, has it become more difficult for the U.S. to say to other nations, you know, be like us to be a beacon of human rights and democracy when the U.S. political system has been so shaken in recent years?
KIRSCHBAUM: Oh, not at all. I think the European countries in the G7 are fully aware of the problems in the U.S., the polarization. But they're really turning to the United States for leadership on the Ukraine question. United States has been the only country to really deliver the weapons that Ukraine needs quickly without any bureaucratic tango mentioned. The United States, it's really been showing the leadership. The United States wants Germany to show more leadership. Germany, as we mentioned, has a hard problem with leadership when it comes to military issues. But they are being slowly dragged in the front. It's the biggest NATO country in Europe. And there's a lot of hope that Germany will show more leadership, is difficult that is for the Germans. They like to lead from behind. And they're being pulled out of their shadow to lead from the front. And that's something that the Biden administration and every American government will be happy to see a democratic Germany showing more leadership on questions like Ukraine.
HOLMES: Yeah. Fascinating. Great to get your thoughts. Erik Kirschbaum, thanks so much. I appreciate it.
KIRSCHBAUM: Thank you.
HOLMES: All right. Well, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has resulted in a massive influx of refugees into its neighboring countries. As we've been reporting throughout, more than 5.2 million refugees have fled the nation, 82,000 of them are in the U.K. according to the latest United Nations numbers. The British government pays citizens who volunteer to host Ukrainian refugees in their homes. But the matchmaking process sometimes doesn't work. CNN's Clare Sebastian with the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's upside down. CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A new phrase somehow fitting for Natalia Lymar, at the age of 49, she's starting again from scratch, including a whole new language. Just four months ago, she was running her own hairdressing business and putting the finishing touches on her dream house in what was then the affluent Kyiv suburb of Bucha. She watched from her second floor window as the bombs started falling. A few days later, she says the Russian soldiers came.
NATALIA LYMAR, UKRAINIAN REFUGE (through translator): I lay on the floor, on the tiled floor, and that was immediately freezing. And I heard them discussing, here's a basement, there's probably an entrance and I heard the glass break. I started crying and saying guys, don't kill me.
SEBASTIAN: On March 10, she managed to leave with a neighbor driving through apocalyptic scenes. She made it to Germany and finally in early May to London, under the British government homes for Ukraine scheme.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The scheme will allow Ukrainians with no family ties.
SEBASTIAN: The government pays a monthly allowance to hosts but matching them with refugees is left to charities, individuals, or even social media. In Natalia's case, a friend living in London found an older couple willing to host her and arrangements she says lasted just two weeks, ending over some minor disagreements.
LYMAR (through translator): There was one trivial thing and I didn't even know what they weren't happy with, then another. And even if they said something it was done with such a smile. But I thought everything was OK.
[01:15:03]
It upset me so much that I felt that I was going through more stress right now when I understood I had to pack my bags than I did in my basement in Bucha.
SEBASTIAN: We couldn't reach Natalia sponsors to comment for this story, but her friend who knows them confirmed she was asked to leave.
(On camera): Her situation is far from isolated. New data from the U.K. government shows 660 Ukrainian households sought homelessness assistance during the first three months of the war. That's both from the home for Ukraine scheme, and another scheme that allows Ukrainians to stay with family members in the U.K. And the reality is probably worse than that, almost a quarter of counselors haven't provided any data at all, including here in Bexley when Natalia first lived.
(Voice-over): The government denied several interview requests. It says more than 77,000 people have arrived from Ukraine since the war started, and the overwhelming majority are settling in well, when relationships do break down, a government spokesperson told us, the local councils have a duty to ensure families are not left without a roof over their head. DENISE SCOTT-MCDONALD, COUNCILOR, ROYAL BOROUGH OF GREENWICH: The whole scheme in my opinion has been very much shambolic from the very beginning.
SEBASTIAN: Greenwich Council in southeast London is dealing with 19 such cases.
SCOTT-MCDONALD: We will not turn anyone away. We're not that type of borough. But we do need support in all of this. We've experienced cuts since 2010, over 100 million and cuts to our borough.
SEBASTIAN: They're worried this is just the beginning, hosts were asked to commit for a minimum of six months. So September could see a sudden surge in homelessness cases.
SARAH NATHAN, CO-FOUNDER, REFUGEE AT HOME: On any exercise of this scale, there are going to be failures. There are going to be placements that don't work and there isn't a coherent rematching scheme, which we would like to see.
SEBASTIAN: The government says councils do have access to a rematching system. The reality though is some refugees are ending up in temporary accommodation, or like Natalia Lymar outside the system. She is now staying with a new host found through a local Whatsapp group and is trying to build a future.
The victim not just a war, but of the cracks appearing in the very systems designed to help those who escaped. Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now, if you would like to help people in Ukraine who might be in need of shelter, food, water go to cnn.com/impact. There you can find plenty of ways to help.
The President of South Africa has expressed his condolences to the families of the 22 people who died at a tavern in the city of East London. Forensic examiners were on the scene Sunday trying to figure out what actually caused the deaths. A local health officials said the victims were between 18 and 20 years old, although some reportedly maybe as young as 13. CNN's Larry Madowo with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: South African Police say they're spending maximum resources to investigate and figure out exactly what happened at a tavern in the coastal city of East London, where kids essentially aged between 13 and 17 according to provincial authorities died in unclear circumstances. The South African Police Minister Bheki Cele said it was not natural causes, but he stopped, should have given the exact cause of death because that's what an investigation will unearth. He was reduced to tears after seeing the bodies at the morgue later, this is what he told reporters.
BHEKI CELE, SOUTH AFRICAN MINISTER OF POLICE: But when you look at their faces, you realize that dealing with kids, kids, kids, kids. You have heard the story that they're young but when you see them you realize that is a disaster.
MADOWO: President Cyril Ramaphosa said his own condolences to the families. A statement from his office also said, while the President awaits more information on the incident, his thoughts are with the families who have lost children, as well as families who are awaiting confirmation of how the children may have been affected. He pointed out that it was especially tragic that this happened during South Africa's youth month when they talk about advancing opportunities, economic and social for the country's youth and he expects the full force of the law to take effect on those who may have been responsible. But a nation truly in mourning devastated by such a tragedy on people so young. Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: A Sunday bullfighting event turned deadly in Colombia after the stadium partially collapsed. Have a look at this.
Terrifying, officials say four people were killed after the three- storey structure collapse. And local hospitals have treated more than 300 injured patients from this event. Well, now investigators -- investigations are underway to try to find out what might have caused all of this. Nothing reported so far as to what happened.
There is much more to come here on CNN Newsroom, including a look at protests that have swept the United States in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling ending abortion rights. And that ruling could have some Americans crossing the border into Canada, look at what that could mean for clinics there? That's when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:22:33]
HOLMES: Two days after the U.S. Supreme Court ended constitutional protection for abortion. Angry demonstrations continued across the country. Although there have been some arrest, protests have been -- might have been largely peaceful. In fact, pretty much all of them. They are taking place in both red and blue states. Meanwhile, officials in those predominantly democratic blue states are taking steps to protect access to abortion. And dozens of prosecutors have released a statement saying they won't prosecute abortion providers nor patients.
Similar scenes playing out in Los Angeles. That's where we find CNN's Camila Bernal, who has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the third day of protests here in the downtown Los Angeles area and today the crowd has been listening to speakers. Many of them sharing their personal stories about even getting an abortion. One of the speakers saying she does not regret her abortion and is actually very thankful for what her abortion has allowed her to accomplish.
Organizers are telling this crowd to introduce themselves to each other, saying that these are the people that will fight with them over the next couple of months. There are also telling many of these protesters to focus on abortion fund, because they say money and volunteer work will make a difference as they prepare California for an influx of women coming from other states in search of an abortion here in California. That is actually a sanctuary state where the legislature and the governor have said they will stand up and fight back against abortion bans. They have said that they will protect not just the women of California but also women from other states.
Governor Gavin Newsom signing a bill into law that actually protects both providers and patients against civil action taken in another state. So a lot of the protesters who are thankful for the work that California will be doing over the next couple of months. But they do say that a lot more needs to be done. They believe they will have a lot to do over the next couple of months but they say that the work starts right here on the streets. Camila Bernal, CNN, Los Angeles.
[01:25:00]
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: That's actress Jodie Sweetin there, who started the classic television show full house and they you saw her being thrown to the ground by police in Los Angeles on Saturday. Sweeti's publicist says she was with pro-abortion rights protesters who were trying to march on the U.S. 101 freeway. Witnesses says Sweetin got back up and continued on demonstrating. The LAPD said in a statement it was reviewing the incident.
Some U.S. states have already taken quick steps to effectively ban abortion following the Supreme Court ruling that has clinics in Canada preparing for a possible influx of Americans seeking services. Belle Puri, our Affiliate CBC News with the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BELLE PURI, CBC NEWS VANCOUVER REPORTER: Canada has long promised that clinics will be open for American women who want an abortion.
KARINA GOULD, MIN. OF FAMILIES, CHILDREN AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT: We've had conversations about what it could look like for candidates to support American women in need. And I know those conversations are ongoing.
PURI: Those who crossed the border for reproductive services will pay out of pocket or through their own insurance.
JILL DOCTOROFF, NATIONAL ABORTION FEDERATION CANADA: Some of the added barriers to get to Canada would be things like a passport, potentially longer stays and navigating a healthcare system that isn't the one that they're used to. So it's a big unknown.
MICHELLE FORTIN, OPTIONS FOR SEXUAL HEALTH: You know, 60% of the people that seek abortions are people that already have children.
PURI: It's hard to say how many Americans might come to Canada for abortions.
FORTIN: Coming to Canada would be their only way out of not being criminalized for healthcare.
PURI: But some provinces will likely see more than others.
FORTIN: Especially in the prairie provinces, they are bordering with states whose trigger laws that are in place may make it a crime to get an abortion as of today.
PURI: In some urban areas, Canadian patients don't usually have a long wait for an abortion appointment. But what happens if Americans begin to access the health care system?
JOYCE ARTHUR, ABORTION RIGHTS COALITION OF CANADA: But even a small number of Americans coming out could overwhelm our health systems. And yes, we're concerned. Currently, we don't have the capacity or the access to accommodate Americans, at least not very many of them.
PURI: Right now they see very few Americans look to Canada for abortions.
FORTIN: It's not super common. I would say that our clinics and our success line field calls, you know, maybe five or six times a week for people looking for resources.
PURI: Whether that changes will be up to Americans to decide if it makes more sense to seek an abortion in states that still allow it or come to Canada. Belle Puri, CBC News, Vancouver.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: From our affiliates CBC for that report. Now, perhaps not surprisingly, some Americans are floating the idea of leaving the U.S. since the high court's ruling and mean leaving for good according to Google Trends data searches for how to move to Canada from the U.S. surged on Friday. Just have a look at the spike there following the Supreme Court's abortion ruling.
Abortion is legal in Canada and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the U.S. court's decision, horrific.
Coming up here on CNN Newsroom with day two of the G7 summit getting underway soon, Russia's war on Ukraine is casting a long shadow over this year's meeting.
Also young children stuck with lasting symptoms of COVID-19. I Speak with a doctor about who has the most severe cases and how much more we have to learn about the virus in kids. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:31:02] HOLMES: Welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm Michael
Holmes. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Now the U.S. is expected to announce as soon as this week, that it has purchased an advance missile defense system for Ukraine which will provide medium to long range surface to air defenses. That's according to a source familiar with the matter.
Meanwhile on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Germany, the U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken says the bloc along with NATO will do everything they can to continue aiding Ukraine.
And Indonesian state media say President Joko Widodo will meet with his Ukrainian and Russian counterparts after the G7 summit wraps up. He is expected to call for dialogue and an end to the war.
The conflict in Ukraine dominating the agenda, of course, at this year's G7 summit with a second day of talks getting underway in the hours ahead.
Leaders are looking for ways to step up the pressure on Moscow, while also trying to soften the economic fallout. But with the war fueling a surge in food and energy prices around the world, many are dealing with political costs back home. On Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden urged allies to stand firm, in the face of all those challenges.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have to stay together, because Putin has been counting on from the beginning that somehow NATO and the G7 would splinter but we haven't. And we're not going to. So we can't let this aggression take the form it has and get away with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Also in the day ahead, the U.K. parliament is set to debate a bill to change the Northern Ireland protocol. Part of a post Brexit deal agreed to with the European Union two years ago. This even though the E.U. has launched legal proceedings against the U.K. over its failure to implement parts of that deal.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is expected to tell the House of Commons that the legislation will help uphold the Good Friday Agreement and fix problems the protocol has created.
The U.K. says those problems include a quote, "burdensome customs process".
CNN's Nic Robertson spoke about this with the Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The (INAUDIBLE) British government is providing for change in the law and the way that it's saying it's not breaking the law -- international law here, it's that there's a state of necessity. There is political instability, social instability in Northern Ireland. Are you seeing it?
MICHEAL MARTIN, IRISH TAOISEACH: Well, the British government is contributing, it's sharing enough to political instability in Northern Ireland, I regret to say. But I think the key point that needs to really be reflected on is the fact that the protocol has worked for a lot of Irish industry and businesses of Northern Ireland -- businesses and industry.
This British government get into discussions with the European Union. I am in no doubt that those issues can be resolved satisfactorily. But there needs to be a will to resolve this and to get involved in substantial negotiations.
ROBERTSON: And you're not seeing the will?
MARTIN: No, I'm not seeing the will and haven't seen it for quite some time.
ROBERTSON: You're talking with President Biden's administration about Brexit as it moves along. What commitments are you getting from them, for supporting Ireland?
MARTIN: The U.S. government has communicated consistently over the last two years, to the United Kingdom government. But it wants a resolution on a negotiated basis and I think that makes sense between like-minded democracies. That's how you resolve issues of this kind.
You don't resolve it by unilaterally breaking an international agreement that was entered into not too long ago. We are all democrat democracies. We should all be aligned, given the enormous geopolitical pressures at the moment and the war in Ukraine.
The U.K. government has done very well in terms of protecting and working with eastern European countries and indeed Ukraine itself, that has to be acknowledged.
[01:34:57]
MARTIN: So really, there is an obligation in my view, that makes sense that we would work to resolve this issue.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Shanghai will allow restaurants in areas at low risk for COVID-19 to gradually open up for indoor dining starting on Wednesday. Officials say restrictions will only be lifted in areas without any community level spread of the virus.
This coming just one day after Shanghai's top party leader declared victory over COVID-19 after the city reported zero new local cases.
CNN's Ivan Watson joins me now from Hong Kong with more. And we all remember those lockdowns of Shanghai residents. Are those days over or not yet? IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well I think they
are over to a degree with this top official declaring victory in the battle for Shanghai. But what's very clear, Michael is that the nationwide war in the People's Republic of China against COVID is far from over.
So yes, you have Shanghai, which had this really incredible two months of lockdown where more than 20 million people, a lot of them were stuck in their homes for more than 60 days and rationing food and worrying about how to get fresh food. And that, to a great degree, is over. Now within coming days restaurants, most restaurants should be able to resume in restaurant dining.
In Beijing, we are hearing this week that elementary school students will be able to go back to in school learning, for example. And as a whole, mainland China reporting just under two dozen confirmed cases of COVID on Sunday. That's the daily case count.
But the COVID restrictions, the commitment, the top priority placed by the government on trying to eradicate COVID completely under its so- called zero COVID policy, that is still very much in place.
So if you're in Shanghai and you want to travel to another part of China. You are likely to face 7 to 14 days of compulsory quarantine anywhere in a Chinese city. If you want to go to public places, you probably have to get a COVID test, a PCR test, every 72 hours to be able to go into those places, to commute to work, for example.
Still in Shanghai the gyms, the swimming pools the movie theaters, those karaoke bars, those are all closed right now. And in a continuation of this policy you still have cities playing whack-a- mole. If there is even a sign of a COVID infection such as in the southern city of Shenzhen where the center of the city is now being placed under partial lockdown because of several confirmed cases.
So that uncertainty, the arbitrariness of life suddenly being brought to a screeching standstill is still a specter that's very much hovering over daily life in Mainland China right now.
HOLMES: All right. Thanks for the wrap up there, Ivan. Appreciate it. Ivan Watson in Hong Kong for us.
Scientists in Denmark warning of long lasting symptoms among children previously infected with coronavirus. Their study in "The Lancet, Child and Adolescent Health Journal" looked at 44,000 children -- it's a big sample -- from infants all the way up to 14 years old.
A quarter of those children had tested positive for COVID-19 sometime up to July of last year. They were found to be at least a third more likely to report a symptom lasting two or more months than the unaffected group.
Now, the most common symptoms vary by age, ranging from mood swings and rashes in younger children, to memory and concentration issues in older kids.
Joining me now, Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, an infectious disease specialist with Stanford Medicine. He joins me now. Doctor, good to see you.
This study published in "The Lancet", it was a big study. Does what it found regarding kids worry you? Just how widespread are cases of long COVID in kids?
DR. YVONNE MALDONADO, N INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST, STANFORD MEDICINE: Well, I think we have been worried about COVID in children for a long time. I think what's happening is in the general population, people have not understood how serious COVID can be in children. Even the youngest children, where people think it is really minor.
And so what this study has done and another like it, is demonstrated that many children do have, not only COVID symptoms, but they can last for more than two or three months.
And in this particular study at every single age group, from zero to 18, children had more symptoms that were described as COVID-like symptoms compared to children who had never had COVID.
[01:40:01]
DR. MALDONADO: So for example, things like mood disorders, fevers, headaches, body aches, rashes. You name it, there is just so many different types of symptoms in these children.
And in a second study, about one quarter of children with COVID reported having symptoms that lasted more than two months. These were again mood disorders, headaches, fatigue, in some cases chest pain and other serious symptoms. So we have to take this seriously.
HOLMES: Yes. And it was sad to see in the report, if I read it correctly, children three and under suffered more than most. Is there any indication why that is?
DR. MALDONADO: You know, we really don't understand exactly how long COVID works. Remember, most children, at least in the U.S., most children were infected during the omicron phase, which really just started to end in February or march.
So we don't have a lot of information yet. We are collecting samples, blood samples and examining children to try to figure out what is different about their response. But we really don't know.
I also want to make another point here that I think is critical. And that is, we know that vaccines work to actually prevent things like MISC, which is a very serious complication of COVID in young children. And we know that children who are vaccinated have a very high protection rate from MISC.
We also know that vaccines can actually help protect against long COVID. Although the data are not great at this point, we do have indications that they can help with long COVID.
HOLMES: Yes. And of course, the vaccines are becoming available to younger and younger kids all the time. What to do you think the impact of long COVID in kids will be? Years from now, are you worried what their futures might hold?
DR. MALDONADO: Well, first of all, as a pediatrician, I am just worried about the impact of the COVID pandemic has had on everybody especially our children. We have seen studies that show that our children stopped major neuro developmental achievements at the beginning of the pandemic. So we have a long way to go just with kids who even didn't have COVID.
We also know that there are data that suggests at least here in the U.S. at least three-quarters of kids have COVID. So I am worried that some of these children will have longer term problems such as heart issues, in some cases long problems. Mood disorders as I mentioned before and we have seen those.
The other that is really discomforting is that in some of these children they never even knew they had COVID. They just developed the long COVID symptoms. So we really need to protect our kids.
HOLMES: Is there any greater understanding now about why some people, not just kids, but why people get long COVID and others do not?
DR. MALDONADO: You know that's a really important question and millions and millions of dollars are being spent at this time to try to figure that out. But collecting data from people really takes a long time. And that is just being done now.
Now, there are some indications that the duration of the inflammatory response, certain underlying conditions could affect COVID and potentially could affect the long COVID. But we really don't have a good answer to that yet.
HOLMES: Fascinating insights, and an important issue, Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, thank you so much for being with us.
DR. MALDONADO: It's been a pleasure. Thank you.
HOLMES: Somali's worst drought in decades coupled with soaring food and energy prices, putting millions of people at the risk of starvation. We will have a closer look at the crisis when we come back.
[01:43:53]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Welcome back.
The Taliban promising not to interfere with the distribution of humanitarian aid for victims of the deadly earthquake last week. Supplies have been arriving in the country, but aid groups had initially been worried the Taliban might try to divert it to their own supporters.
The 5.9 magnitude quake struck near the Pakistan border, killing more than a thousand people. And heavy rain and mudslides are making it difficult to deliver aid to some remote areas. If you would like to help people in areas hit by the quake, who might be in need of shelter, food, water, go to CNN.com/impact. And we have resources there you can tap into.
A devastating drought has triggered a humanitarian crisis across the Horn of Africa, putting millions of people at risk of starvation.
But climate change, sadly, isn't the only concern. The conflict in Ukraine, seemingly a world away from this region, is only making desperately needed food aid that much harder to get.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: In southern Somalia, two mounds of earth heaped over the tiny graves of twin girls. They lived for only one day after their mother, severely weakened by hunger, gave birth a month early in a camp for displaced families.
Sadly, their tragic story is now part of a grim reality facing millions across the region.
HALIMA HASSAN ABDULLAHI, GRANDMOTHER OF DEAD TWINS (through translator): This is the worst drought that I've seen in many years. After years of drought, we lost all of our livestock. We tried to survive on our goats, but one after the other, they all finally died. We fled our home and looked for water nearby.
HOLMES: Somalia is among the countries in the Horn of Africa facing the driest conditions in four decades, and it's leading to what one United Nations official described as an explosion of child deaths.
The ongoing drought is causing hunger mortality rates to rapidly rise across the region. The un says in Somalia, as many as 29 percent of children younger than five are experiencing acute malnutrition.
It comes after four consecutive rainy seasons have come and gone with little rain. According to the World Food Programme, that is killing crops and livestock, and making food and clean water scarce.
CLAIRE NEVILL, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: The humanitarian effort in Somalia is only 15 percent funded. So what we need now is right now is money. We need the cash to avert the risk of famine. In 2011 famine, a quarter of a million people died.
So if we don't act now with the money that we need I fear we might head in that kind of kind of direction.
HOLMES: Making matters worse, the World Bank warns that the war and Ukraine is contributing to an historic rise in global prices of energy and food.
That's hitting communities in countries like Somalia that rely on staples like grain, particularly hard, relief groups say.
RUKIA YACOUB, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: The fundamental issue in Somalia and in the Horn at the moment is a climate induced crisis, right? It's drought. But where the effects of the Ukraine crisis come in is that the food prices and fuel prices and others are hiked up to a point where we need more resources to secure what we would've secured before. We need a lot more.
[01:49:41]
HOLMES: As G7 leaders meet this week to discuss a series of global emergencies, a convergence of crises in Somalia and the Horn of Africa is proving ever more dire as climate change and war in Europe drive desperate need in one of the most vulnerable areas of the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: To California now, where firefighters are battling a wildfire in the Jurupa Valley. Evacuation orders were issued on Saturday in some areas but later downgraded to a warning. No homes destroyed, thank goodness.
And on Sunday evening, firefighters said the fire was 65 percent contained. The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.
Still to come, the quest to make a sci-fi dream a reality. One company's ambitious plan to build working rocket on a 3-D printer. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Tennis fans are gearing up for the third Grand Slam of the year with Wimbledon getting under way in just a few hours. But there have already been some controversial changes to this year's tournament.
Players from Russia and Belarus are banned amid the war in Ukraine, a decision that led the governing bodies of men's and women's tennis to strip Wimbledon of ranking points.
Still, the world's top players will be taking part, among them Rafael Nadal and the top seed Novak Djokovic looking for his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title.
Meanwhile, the women's singles is being energized by the return of Serena Williams after a year-long absence, (INAUDIBLE). And everyone hopes that she does well.
All right. the Colorado Avalanche, the Stanley Cup champions if you follow Hockey, they defeated the two-time defending champs, the Tampa Bay Lightning 2 to 1 in game six of the National Hockey League finals on Sunday.
The game was tied one all until halfway through the second series when Colorado scored the deciding goal.
This is the team's first Stanley cup title since 2001, they're third overall.
Well, from making furniture to working guns, and even entire homes, it is clear that 3-D printing technology has really taken off in recent years. Well now, one company is hoping to blast off with a 3-D printed spacecraft. CNN's Rachel Crane shows us how it's being done.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What you're watching is a rocket being built by a giant 3-D printer.
TIM ELLIS, CO-FOUNDER/CEO, RELATIVITY SPACE: This is really creating the sidetrack (INAUDIBLE) sci-fi future that we've seen in movies for many decades. But no one's tried to build at th9is scale, yet.
CRANE: This is your baby.
ELLIS: Yes, this is the baby.
CRANE: Tim Ellis is the cofounder and CEO of Relativity Space. Ellis believes his team has found a way to make science fiction a reality by using 3-D printers to build what they think will be cheaper and more reliable rockets.
In fact, things are getting very real. Their 3-D printed rocket, Turin One (ph), is currently at the launch site at the Kennedy Space Center. Getting ready for the company's first test launch, which it says could come in a matter of weeks.
One of the advantages of 3-D printing a rocket.
ELLIS: Yes. And the advantage is really around automation and (INAUDIBLE) reduction. Really, the 3-D printing that we're doing is the holy grail for automation, right.
KOSIK: Printing rockets means Relativity can build them much faster. Ellis says his team can currently print a rocket in about five months, with plans to cut that time even further.
Being able to buy a rocket in 60 days, 30 days -- is that pace really necessary?
[01:54:52]
ELLIS: It is. Because it's about the rate of improvement. So, I think every 60 days, we can build a better version, and a better version.
CHAD ANDERSON, SPACE CAPITAL: Mass manufacturing actually pumping them out on a 60-day sort of cadence. We're using them, checking them, relaunching them -- that's very, very difficult.
CRANE: Chad Anderson invests in space companies. He says what's Relativity is doing is ambitious, but not impossible.
ANDERSON: Going from prototype to a regular launch is very, very difficult.
It's really great to see so much innovation and people trying new things now. CRANE: Relativity says these 3-D-printed rockets are about a quarter
the costs of the ones currently flying, but there are risks to flying something so new and different.
Have people been suspicious about this new approach?
ELLIS: You know, we've sold more rockets than any other company in history before launch, so I think people are quite confident in the test data we showed them today.
CRANE: But the proof is in the pudding, and you guys haven't flown yet?
ELLIS; It's in the putting. It hasn't flown yet, but all the momentum is there, and you're definitely right. We've got to show them what we've got. We've gotten over the hump where a 3-D printing a rocket is now inevitable, truly inevitable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one.
CRANE: The next step-- an actual launch.
Rachel Crane, CNN -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: From the vastness of Australia's northern territory to the remote reaches of the planets atmosphere, NASA teaming up with an Australian Space Port to launch missions that can only be studied from the southern hemisphere.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one, go. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Pretty excited, aren't they? NASA launching the first of three rocket missions from Australia's (INAUDIBLE) space center on Sunday night. It is the first time NASA has conducted a rocket launch from a commercial facility outside the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL JONES, it's historic for Australia. So I don't want that to pass without -- you know, feelings of that for us, we're going right back into it. You know the Fourth of July is the next launch, and so, we need to dust ourselves off, try to die off and then get back into it. (INAUDIBLE) It's just as important.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: With the U.S. Space Agency as first customer, the Australian Space Center hopes to build on the success, and ramp up to more than 100 lunches a year with various clients.
Australian tracking stations assisted NASA during Apollo 11 mission to the moon back in 1969.
Beautiful part of the country, too.
Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram, @Holmes CNN.
Do stick around. More news in just a moment.
[01:57:36]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
