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Ukraine Report Confirms It Was Behind Explosions In Crimea; Wounded Ukrainian Soldiers Refuse To Give Up; Serbian, Kosovo Leaders To Hold Talks With E.U.; China Experiencing Worst Heat Wave In 60 Years; U.K. Inflation Rises To 10.1 Percent In July, Highest In 40 Years. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired August 18, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

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[00:00:58]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Wherever you are around the world, hello and welcome. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

In the hour ahead, they did it. An internal government report obtained by CNN confirmed for the first time, Ukrainian forces carried out recent attacks on Russian military sites in occupied Crimea.

The cost of living soars in the U.K., the only major Western economy with inflation now in double digits.

And fleeing China, how Xi Jinping's iron grip is driving a record number of Chinese asylum seekers to leave their homeland in search of freedom.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.

VAUSE: Along awaited Ukrainian counter-offensive in the south could begin in a matter of days and what appears to be a precursor to that. In recent days, a series of explosions have wrought Russian military sites in occupied Crimea. There's been no official confirmation from Kyiv but plenty of hints from officials that Ukraine was behind the attacks. And now CNN has obtained a Ukrainian government report acknowledging for the first time Ukrainian forces carried out those devastating explosions.

The first attack came a week ago, leading to bumper to bumper traffic out of Crimea and heading back to Russia. But Russian officials say this was no exodus from Crimea, claiming tighter security on the main bridge to Russia was causing delays.

With Ukraine's Independence Day coming next week -- next Wednesday. The government's suggesting Russian forces in the South will soon be fiercely challenge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDRII YUSOV, UKRAINE DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): Ukraine will liberate all of its territories that have been occupied by the enemy.

In the near future, there'll be fierce events all along the front. We aren't going to mention any specific dates. There is a lot of talk about Independence Day, and that's a factor that should be considered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: In eastern Ukraine, the military acknowledges Russian forces have made modest gains in the Donetsk region and to the north, at least seven people killed in a Russian strike late Wednesday on a three storey apartment building in Kharkiv.

Joining me now from Washington retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and CNN Military Analyst Cedric Leighton. Colonel, good to see you.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good to see you too, John.

VAUSE: OK, so not only is Ukraine behind those blasts in Russian occupied Crimea, but they're also warning the population there to avoid areas around Russian military bases. Here's Ukraine's president, listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I am asking now all our people in Crimea in other areas, in the south of the country, in the occupied areas of Donbas and Kharkiv region to be very careful. Please do not go near the military facilities of the Russian army and all those places where they store ammunition and equipment where they keep their headquarters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So, it wasn't a long range missile or something like that. It was in fact Ukrainian special forces in Crimea carrying out those attacks on the military bases. Is this looking for a precursor of what -- of that long awaited for counter offensive, so the softening up process before it begins in earnest (PH)?

LEIGHTON: It certainly could be, John. And you know, one of the key elements in counter offensive of this type is to actually use special operations forces for this kind of sabotage, these kinds of actions.

So, the whole idea is to disrupt the Russian forces to make sure that they are always looking and unsure of what's coming next. So they could be going after all kinds of Russian installations. The attack last week on the Russian airfield in Crimea was one aspect of this with the loss of we believe seven aircraft, at least a minimum of seven Russian aircraft.

That is a major -- you know, major development and some of the other attacks that the Ukrainians apparently undertook also have the purpose of disrupting the normal flow of Russian forces and also the logistical tail that the Russians need in order to sustain their forces. [00:05:14]

VAUSE: And Ukraine's defense minister in an interview with the Washington Post said "We're using a strategy to ruin their stocks, to ruin their depots, to ruin their headquarters, command quarters. It's our answer to their meat grinder tactics."

And so far, it's a strategy which has been highly effective, but is it effective enough to make up for the lack of tens of thousands of trained and well equipped troops which we needed, you know, to really mount a successful counter offensive?

LEIGHTON: Well, that's a big question as so it really depends on how quickly the Ukrainians can implement their tactics and the overall strategy that they're looking at.

You know, they're clearly telegraphing that they're going to mount a major offensive. The key here, though, is not only to be able to mount that offensive, but to be able to sustain that offensive.

And if they can do that, John, then they are able to potentially turn the tide in this whole, you know, with this whole Russian invasion of their country.

But it's going to be a matter of time, a matter of the clock, basically, the Russians have a lot of stockpiles that they can potentially use. They also know that this is coming, so they may very well try to camouflage or hide most of their equipment, or at least some of their equipment.

So, it is something that they're going to have to work in real time. And they're going to have to be very careful. The Ukrainians are of you know, how they execute this particular operation, it is possible for them to turn the tide, but it's not a guarantee.

VAUSE: Yes, we've also had reports that there's increased shelling around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and causing a growing louder for a demilitarized zone around that plant. There's also demands for access to the plant by U.N. nuclear inspectors listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENS STOLTENBERG, SECRETARY GENERAL, NATO: The seizure of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant by Russian forces poses a serious threat to the safety and the security of this facility.

It is urgent to allow the inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency and to ensure the withdrawal of old Russian forces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: That's the Secretary General of NATO, speaking in very blunt terms with a very direct message to the Russian. So, this crisis gets significantly worse if there was perhaps an imminent threat of a core meltdown. Would that be enough for NATO forces to go in there and secure the plant?

LEIGHTON: Well, in terms of actual danger, and the need to really confront that danger, I think the answer is yes. But the political aspect of this is going to be such that I'm not sure that NATO can act quickly enough under its normal processes to actually provide that kind of security.

The other thing to keep in mind, if NATO gets involved, there is a danger then that the war could immediately escalate.

So, this is a very dangerous ground. And we have to be very careful here when we look at this because, you know, some kind of third party should clearly take over the Zaporizhzhia plant, but the ability to do so and the Russian willingness to let them in, those are all very questionable at this point in time, and I don't see that happening in the immediate future. Although it should, by all accounts happen, and it would be the right and humane thing to do.

VAUSE: Yes, a shooting war around an active nuclear power plant is never a good idea.

Colonel, good to see you. Thank you for being with us.

LEIGHTON: You bet, John, good to see you.

VAUSE: Take care.

Since the very beginning of the Russian invasion, there's been no shortage of Ukrainian men and women eager to fight to defend their country.

But now, almost six months on, and many of those who signed up to fight have come home. Some without limbs or eyesight. Many have been badly disfigured. Almost all of the wounded are likely to be suffering from trauma.

The real cost of war could often be counted in the number of shattered lives. And Ukraine has already paid daily.

Here's CNN, David McKenzie.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A coffee and a cigarette, that's all Andrey (PH) asks for. After field surgeons amputated both of his legs.

OK, you're a fighter, you'll be OK, they told him. I tried to stay positive, and that helps me to survive.

A veteran of Ukraine's war, just nine days into this conflict. Andrey was clearing cluster munitions when they exploded. It left him bowed, but not broken.

It's hard. But this is my task to stay upright, he says, and I'm doing it. Maybe I'll even return to duty. At a rehabilitation center in Vinnytsia, the soldiers often choose

camo prosthetics. The artisans have been doing this for nine decades, putting soldiers back together. And the prosthetics, the physical rehabilitation isn't enough.

[00:10:07]

How is the attitude or the hope for a patient important in this process?

VOLODYMYR DANILYUK, ORTHOPEDIST, VINNYTSIA REHABILITATION CENTER (through translator): It's 50-50. 50 percent depends on our doctors and 50 percent depends on the soldier and his mental health. If he doesn't want it, doctors can't help him.

MCKENZIE: How do you feel about this war now? It's been many months.

I'm very sorry for the younger men who are dying in this war, says Andrey. For permanent soldiers who've been going to the front since 2014, I understand. But for the younger guys, I feel sorry for them.

Russia's invasion sent 23-year-old said he far from home to the north eastern front. He felt proud to defend his homeland.

Our orders were to push the enemy from the front line, he says. We were too close to the enemy.

Russians attacked their position with overwhelming force with tanks and mortars.

Yes, I'm very angry, says Sergey (PH). But first of all, I'm angry because they attacked Ukraine. And I'm angry about my leg.

Of course, it's much better when you have your own legs, says Andrey. But now I understand that the wheelchair and the prosthetics are part of my body.

It's physically very, very hard. It's very hard.

David McKenzie, CNN, Vinnytsia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: At least three people are dead after a powerful explosion at a mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan. More than two dozen others were injured, including five children according to a humanitarian healthcare group.

The Taliban have condemned Wednesday's blast, which happened during evening prayers and two days after Afghanistan marked the first anniversary of the takeover.

The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo is set to hold talks with the E.U. in the coming hours. This feud over license plate is threatening to escalate into a much wider conflict.

On Wednesday, the two leaders met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who called for calm. He also said NATO troops in Kosovo can step up their patrols to make sure all ethnic communities are safe.

Kosovo is a former Serbian province that declared independence 14 years ago, but ethnic Serbs who make a small percentage of the population don't recognize that and they're refusing to use Kosovo's license plates and other documents, which Kosovo wants to make mandatory September 1st.

CNN's Scott McLean has details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, on the surface, this escalation and tensions between Serbia and Kosovo is about license plates and entry permits, but really, it's about ethnicity and the claim that ethnic Serbs in Kosovo are being discriminated against.

Last summer there were blockades at two border crossings over plans by Kosovo to require Serb registered cars to change their license plates.

And just a few weeks ago, the protests the blockades, they were back after a similar new law very briefly came into effect.

To get the protesters to move the blockade and defuse the tension, Kosovo agreed to delay the implementation of the new law, though that only kick the can down the road, it didn't actually solve the problem.

Hence the crisis talks in Brussels with NATO and on Thursday with the E.U. to try to reach some kind of an agreement, both sides criticized the other but both also insist they have come for peace.

ALEKSANDAR VUCIC, SERBIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We will have difficult talks tomorrow because we do not agree on anything. But Serbia's position is to uphold international law, the U.N. Charter and the Brussels agreement.

We have our own history, which is not an easy or simple one. But we want to strengthen further cooperation and relations with KFOR and NATO. And we want to avoid any kind of possibility of conflict escalation.

MCLEAN: Now, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the 3,700 NATO peacekeeping troops in Kosovo were prepared to intervene in a proportionate way if necessary to keep the peace.

Now, NATO and E.U. have plenty of influence on both countries because they have something to offer. Serbia wants to join the E.U. And Kosovo wants to join NATO, though neither is very likely to happen unless they can iron out their differences.

Scott McLean, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Dramatic new images showed firefighters in eastern Spain running to escape an intense blaze, two firefighters were injured. They were working to try and save a number of nearby homes.

[00:15:07]

Wildfire began Monday has led to hundreds of evacuations and dozens of injuries, including 11 passengers on a commuter train that was caught up in the fire.

Authorities say passengers panicked when the train stopped and left the carriage. That's when they sustained burns. At least three passengers were seriously hurt.

China's worst heat wave in more than 60 years is showing no signs of letting up. The extreme heat has prompted red alert to 138 cities and counties across multiple provinces.

Let's get all the details now, CNN's Kristie Lu Stout live in Hong Kong. And you know, this is actually having a huge effect across the country. And now, China is trying to alleviate this in a way that only China can.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Yes, in multiple ways. And we'll get to that.

Look, you know, China and its officials across the country, they are scrambling to find ways to mitigate the impact of this prolonged and intense heat wave. You have the situation in Chongqing city where authorities there have announced that factory production will be suspended for a week.

Meanwhile, in Chengdu the metro system is running on a power saving mode. There are social media images going viral, showing people taking the metro in the dark.

And in the province of Hubei, authorities there have resorted to the practice of cloud seeding which involves shooting this pellets of silver iodide into the clouds in a desperate attempt to make rain, a process that China has embraced and use since the 1940s. And of course, during the 2008 Olympic games.

So, for over two months now, China has been battling this extreme heat wave, it has issued a red alert notice to over 138 cities and counties across the country that has the highest level alert. Also indicates expected temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius or 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

And on Wednesday, Chinese authorities said that this chord heat wave is the strongest on record since 1961.

I want to bring up the statement for you. This came out on Wednesday from China's National Climate Center, which they said this heat wave this time is prolonged. It's wide in scope, it's strong in extremity. Taking all signs together, the heat wave in China will continue and its intensity will increase.

And China has also warned that it is vulnerable. In fact, its temperatures in China are rising faster than the global rate. This is according to China's own authorities. I'm going to bring up this statement for you, which came out earlier

this month. This from Yuan Jiashuang, who is the vice director of China's National Climate Center, who says in the future, the increase in regional average temperatures in China will be significantly higher than the world.

So look, China's vulnerable. China right now is feeling the effects of climate change. John, a reminder, China quite recently, just a couple of weeks ago made that decision to cut climate talks with the United States in protest for that controversial visit to Taiwan by the U.S. House speaker.

Back to you, John.

BAIER: (INAUDIBLE). Kristie, thank you. Thanks for being with us. Kristie Lu Stout live in Hong Kong.

Well, the cost of living is soaring in the U.K., the cost of living is soaring across much of the world. We'll talk about the cause of price spikes and what's being done to try and bring inflation under control.

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[00:20:26]

VAUSE: The latest economic data from the U.K. shows inflation surging to just over 10 percent. The only major Western economy in double digits, the annual rate was higher than most economists had expected. The outlook is far worse to come.

CNN's Anna Stewart has details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER (on camera): It's the highest inflation since 1982. And it's the highest inflation of the G7 nations.

The U.K.'s cost of living crisis is getting worse, with inflation numbers for July coming in at 10.1 percent, exceeding estimates.

Increased energy prices continue to play a large role here. In the last 12 months, gas prices are up over 95 percent, electricity over 50 percent and fuel for transportation like petrol not far behind.

And now, increased input prices like energy are pushing up products in other categories, particularly food. Overall food and nonalcoholic drink prices are up around 13 percent from a year ago, with key staples hit hard.

Just look at the price increases for a pint of milk in the U.K., up 40 percent from last July, or a bag of flour up 30 percent. This will hit the poorest households the hardest, given energy and food usually take up a greater proportion of the overall spending.

And that is why the Institute for Fiscal Studies said this week that the poorest quintile of the U.K. could expect an 18 percent inflation rate come October. While the wealthiest quintile would experience it at 11 percent.

The Bank of England expects overall consumer inflation to top 13 percent in October before coming down. But this latest reading for July overshot their expectations and there are concerns it will need to take an even more aggressive approach with interest rates, despite raising them six times already since December.

Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Ryan Patel is a senior fellow with the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. He is with us from Ahmedabad in India where the annual wholesale inflation rate is just shy of 14 percent. Good to see you.

RYAN PATEL, SENIOR FELLOW WITH THE DRUCKER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, CLAREMONT GRADUATE UNIVERSITY: Good to see you, John.

VAUSE: OK, so the U.K. gold medalist, highest inflation rate in the G7 which is actually worse than Italy, France, Germany, although theirs was pretty high as well, and for why it is happening? Well, it's all because of Vladimir Putin. Here's the British finance minister to blame someone else.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NADHIM ZAHAWI, BRITISH FINANCE MINISTER: This is a difficult time, there are no easy options. We see Putin deliberately use energy as a tool to get back at us for the help we're putting into Ukraine. And that is obviously impacting families because of energy costs that are impacting families because of the cost of food.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: OK, we get it, Russia's war in Ukraine is without doubt a major factor. But it can't be the only factor, right?

PATEL: Yes, I mean, obviously, that's the eat (PH), you know, you're talking about gold medalist, the energy prices and gas prices are the ones that are highest numbers that did to it.

But if you think about the transportation costs, you know, with their index that came out 15.1 percent in the last four months at annual increase, that's more than the exports are increasing that's around the world where the imports are coming in. That's a big deal.

But I think when you look at electricity prices, you know, it also puts pressure on the U.K. economy on what they need to do. It's tax cuts, or if it's freezing, heater bills.

I mean, this is an infrastructure issue, too, that needs to be solved. And so part of this problem, obviously, coming from the Ukraine war, that's why you see the higher numbers, but the numbers were already increasing anyway. VAUSE: There are some countries though that would kill for a 10 percent inflation rate. Turkey, where it's close to 80 percent driven by working economic theories of President Erdogan, which has proved just how right John Maynard Keynes really was. Moldova, 33.6 percent, of Estonia almost 23 percent.

I mean, this this list goes on, it's all in the high -- low 20s rather. Inflation is like kudzu, you know, once it gets ahold, it just grows like wildfire. And the only way to deal with it is to kill it, you got to kill it all and all at once. But the trick is not killing everything around it.

So, when inflation reaches those highs, you know 20 percent plus, does the cure often become worse than the disease?

PATEL: Yes, I mean, you've got to stick to a plan. I mean, like you mentioned, you know, for the major economies having inflation is in double digits is unheard of, for many other third world countries and in between, they deal with inflation year over year, it's something that -- it's the norm.

I'm not saying that's the norm for the -- for the rest of the world. But when major economies were not used to dealing with this double digit inflation, it does -- it's not a flip of a switch, you really got to stick to a plan, you got to be aggressive.

[00:25:02]

And also, mind -- you know, you've got to be very nimble in your decision making. So, if you overly be aggressive on one quarter, you got to course correct. But you got to be actually seeing all the data unfortunately, John, that's the trick behind this, is that to really -- to really understand where the core costs are coming from, is it food -- is it food? Is it transportation? Is it from rent? You've got to really have the remedies to actually do it.

So, it's not one of those, you just sit back and relax. And, you know, you're saying you're aggressive, you actually have to be really micro -- you got to create a micro strategy behind it.

VAUSE: It's more than just raising interest rates. So, with that in mind, the minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve in their meeting last month were released. The main takeaway, though, is this, participants agreed that there was little evidence to date that inflation pressures were subsiding. They judged that inflation would likely stay uncomfortably high for some time.

And when we're talking inflation, it means, you know, price increases, obviously, which is one of the reasons for protests in Argentina, they turned out they were running low prices, lower inflation.

You know, inflation has been so long -- so low for so long. We seem to (INAUDIBLE) about it. But now, it looks like we've got to suffer a lot of economic pain globally for a while yet. So, how bad will this get and for how long? PATEL: So, here's a -- here's a couple of numbers that we should all pay attention to, right? When you think about inflation, as you mentioned, when it goes up, things are more expensive.

But when you look at for example, the U.K., the average pay did increase and majority around the world too in other major economies, the average pay did increase. So, the U.K. is 4.7 percent. But real wages fell by 4.1 percent, which is the largest decline since 2001.

So, what does that mean? That means you may be making a little bit more money, but inflation is going almost twice as much providing that gap. And when that gap continues to increase, John, that's where the household gets hurt, the consumers can't afford things, the price index, the consumer prices come -- you know, the confidence comes down.

And we're starting to see that back to your point to Argentina, when we see that spread in these other countries have become a lot larger, it's hard to recover and that provides a lot of you know, not just distrust but more importantly hardship into the lower middle incomes in many of these countries.

VAUSE: Yes, once it takes hold, it's so hard to get it out but I guess we'll see what -- if they can get it right this time, not like they did in the 70s.

Ryan Patel, thanks so much for being with us. Good to see you.

PATEL: Good to see you, John.

VAUSE: You can never go home again. And the number of Chinese asylum seekers has surged since Xi Jinping took power. In a moment, we'll follow one man's journey as he explains why he fled his homeland.

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VAUSE: Welcome back everyone. I'm John Vause, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

[00:30:06]

Since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, the number of Chinese nationals seeking asylum abroad has increased by nearly eight times. In 2012, more than 15,000 Chinese were seeking asylum. By 2021, the most recent data, the number jumped to more than 118,000.

Xi is the country's most powerful and authoritarian leader in decades, and repression in China has only grown his pandemic -- during the pandemic, rather, under his zero-COVID policy. It's driving fear and frustration, and more and more Chinese are yearning for a freer life.

Some are now risking everything to chase that dream. CNN's Selina Wang spoke to one man who fled his home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This wall separates Wang Qun from his American dream. He's prepared to risk everything to climb over, illegally crossing over into the U.S. from Mexico.

But unlike most of the thousands of illegal crossings a day on the Southern border, he's not fleeing poverty or violence South of the wall. His journey started on the other side of the world. We've been following him for months during his perilous escape out of China by plane, boat, bus, motorcycle and on foot.

WANG QUN, ASYLUM SEEKER: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: It's worth it no matter how much I suffer.

S. WANG (voice-over): He ran a bubble tea shop back in China. When COVID hit, business tanked from constant lockdowns. He left his son and daughter behind with his parents, hoping to bring them to America one day.

Q. WANG: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: I couldn't make ends meet, and I have two kids to raise. I have to get out.

S. WANG (voice-over): China's unrelenting zero-COVID policy, growing authoritarianism under Xi Jinping, and stifling nationalistic education taught in his children's schools pushed Wang over the edge.

Q. WANG: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: In the past seven or eight years, everything is going backwards. And Xi Jinping is going to get his third term. I see no hope. He's just another version of Mao Zedong. There's no difference.

S. WANG (voice-over): At a key political meeting this fall, Xi Jinping is set to secure an unprecedented third term as supreme leader of the Communist Party. He's the strongman atop a surveillance state, one that during the pandemic can control and track the movements of virtually all 1.4 billion people.

Since the start of the pandemic, China has kept its border sealed, a policy the government says is needed to fight COVID-19. And earlier this year, forbade its citizens from going overseas for nonessential reasons. With China turning increasingly inward, Wang became desperate to get out, and he was set on one destination: America.

Q. WANG: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: My impression of America is that it's a free, democratic, open, and vibrant country. You can accumulate wealth through your own hard work.

S. WANG (voice-over): Through online chat groups, he discovered a network of people in China planning to illegally emigrate to America through Quito, Ecuador. He applied for a language school in Quito and made it out of China in April, with the school's admission letter as proof.

He started documenting his whole journey. From Ecuador, he rode buses over 1,000 miles to Colombia, then took a book to Panama, sharing the ride with other desperate but hopeful migrants.

On the other side, a five-day hike through Panama's rainforest, an endless walk through mud, rivers and mountains, a journey that Wang said almost broke him from exhaustion.

A brief respite at a refugee camp, then seven days of buses from Panama to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, then Guatemala.

From there, a boat to Mexico's border, where police detained him for five days. When he was released, he paid an illegal smuggler thousands of dollars to get to Mexico City. Dozens of people squeezed into the back of a truck, then packed into a van more than 104 degrees Fahrenheit inside.

In Mexico City, Wang rode a motorcycle 1,600 miles to the U.S. border, where we met up with him, determined to make it to the other side.

Q. WANG: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: The rest of my life will mainly be in the U.S., so it's a home for me.

S. WANG (voice-over): He's just one of droves of Chinese trying to flee the country. According to the U.N. refugee agency, the number of Chinese nationals seeking asylum has been steadily increased until it reached a record in 2021. And most of them, 70 percent, were trying to get to America.

On China's Internet, searches for "emigration" started skyrocketing in March, as many struggled to get basic necessities and food during lockdowns across the country. Discussion forums with detailed tips on how to leave China have gone viral on social media. Immigration lawyers say inquiries from Chinese wanting to leave have surged since the pandemic.

[00:35:13]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The volume in inquiries is up many hundreds of times over what it previously was.

S. WANG (voice-over): But for others like Q. WANG, he says their only path into America is the illegal way. He ultimately made it to the other side, walked hours in the American desert over mountains. His sneakers fell apart.

More than a month later, we met Q. WANG in Los Angeles. In this new world, he's found the familiar, temporarily settling into a community of Chinese immigrants. He's even made a friend who crossed into America the same way he did.

While he waits for a hearing on his immigration case, he's getting a driver's license, training to be a masseuse, and studying English every day.

Q. WANG: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: In America, I can see the sunshine. I can see the sea. I can do whatever I want. I can work hard for any job I like.

S. WANG (voice-over): But he's also anxious. In the best case, it will be years before he sees his family again.

Q. WANG: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: My favorite food is my mom's cooking, and I may never taste her cooking again.

S. WANG: How do you feel when you think about your children?

Q. WANG: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: My heart hurts.

S. WANG (voice-over): He's applying for political asylum, but if his application is rejected, he says he might ask his kids when they're older to take the same dangerous path to America that he did.

S. WANG: Have you told your family where you are?

Q. WANG: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: My parents don't know yet, but my son knows. I told him that there's no way out for me in China. So I came to America to make a fortune for you, and fight for a bright future for you.

S. WANG (voice-over): That future is uncertain, but with China in his past, he has hope of living out his American dream.

S. WANG: We reached out to the Chinese government to comment on our story. In response, Beijing defended the country's COVID policies and called China a land full of vitality and hope.

Stories like Wang's, they are a smear on Beijing's narrative that China is getting stronger and more prosperous, while America is in decline.

Now, Wang's journey to America, it may be rare and extreme. But we have spoken to others that are taking a similar path, including one man who illegally escaped China by walking across the border into Vietnam. From there, he flew to Ecuador and is now taking that same long path that Wang did to the U.S.-Mexico border.

In China right now, there are, of course, still people who support the government's zero-COVID policy that has kept the reported death numbers low. But more and more are also feeling hopeless about the future of their country, a place where they see freedoms and opportunities disappearing.

Selina Wang, CNN, Beijing. (END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Still to come here, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is facing widespread condemnation for comments he made about the Holocaust. Now he's trying to walk them back. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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VAUSE: The U.S. State Department says it's studying the case of a Saudi woman sentenced to 34 years in prison for tweeting about women's rights.

Court documents show activist Salma al-Shehab was sentenced on Monday. The 33-year-old is also banned from leaving the country for another 34 years.

A human rights organization is urging the Saudi government to release al-Shehab and demand it protect freedom of speech.

Now the president of the Palestinian Authority has sparked international outrage during a joint news conference with the German chancellor in Berlin. Mahmoud Abbas was asked if he would apologize for a terror attack targeting Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics ahead of the 50th anniversary.

Abbas fired back that Israel had committed 50 Holocausts against Palestinians. After widespread condemnation, aides to Abbas tried to walk back the comment, saying his words were meant to condemn Israeli military action.

CNN's Hadas Gold has more.

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HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, this is far from the first time the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, has made or written statements about the Holocaust that have drawn condemnation.

In the past, he's said things before like Jews brought the Holocaust upon themselves.

But he made these comments in Germany, standing alongside the German chancellor. Of course, Germany is so sensitive about its role in the Holocaust and about its relationship with Israel that it sort of brought this whole situation to a new level.

Now, what happened was Abbas was asked whether he will apologize to Israel and Germany ahead of the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Munich Olympic attacks, where Palestinian militants killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches and a West German police officer.

But instead, this is what he had to say in response. MAHMOUD ABBAS, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PRESIDENT (through translator):

From 1947 to the present day, Israel has committed 50 massacres in Palestinian villages and cities, in Deir Yassin, Tantura, Kafr Qasem, and many others. Fifty massacres, 50 Holocausts, and until today, and every day, there are casualties killed by the Israeli military. Our request is to say enough. Come towards peace.

GOLD: Now according to reporters who were at the press conference, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, grimaced when Abbas said the word "Holocaust" but made no remarks in response.

But he did tweet a few hours later, saying, "I am disgusted by the outrageous remarks made by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. For us Germans, in particularly, any relativization of the singularity of the Holocaust is intolerable and unacceptable. I condemn any attempts to deny the crimes of the Holocaust."

Abbas's statements also drew some harsh criticism from Israeli leaders. The Israeli prime minister, Yair Lapid, issuing his own statement in a tweet, calling the statements "a moral disgrace," and also a monstrous lie saying, "Six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, including one and a half million Jewish children." History, he says, will never forgive him, referring to Abbas.

Now, earlier on Wednesday, Abbas's office issued a clarification statement, saying that they President Abbas reaffirms that the Holocaust is the most heinous crime that has occurred in modern human history, and trying to clarify that what President Abbas meant is when he's talking about massacres committed against the Palestinian people. He wants people to recognize that these massacres were committed against the Palestinian people and that he says they continue until this day.

Hadas Gold, CNN, Jerusalem.

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VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. WORLD SPORT is up next. And I'll be back at the top of the hour. Hope to see you then.

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