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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Set To Visit Washington; House Committee To Release Six Years Of Donald Trump's Taxes; Team Argentina Returns Home To Wild Victory Parade; U.K. Braces For Multiple Strikes Over Holiday Season; Tour of Recaptured Snake Island; End of China's Zero-COVID Policy Leads to Major Outbreak. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired December 21, 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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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, I'm John Vause.
Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, Mr. Zelenskyy goes to Washington and once he arrives, the U.S. is expected to grant Ukraine's request for the most advanced air defense system in the world.
Donald Trump's no good, very bad, terrible week just got worse with the congressional committee voting to make public his tax returns.
And please do not try this at home, two men jumping from a bridge as the open top bus carrying Argentina's World Cup champions pass by. Part of a frenzy welcome home in Buenos Aires.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.
VAUSE: In recent weeks, Ukraine's president has made a point of traveling to liberated Ukrainian territory. On Tuesday, he made a surprise visit to the frontline city of Bakhmut, which has been at the epicenter of one of the biggest battles of the war so far, explosions could be heard at a distance as he met with Ukrainian troops.
A month ago, just days after Ukrainian forces retook the city of Kherson, Zelenskyy was there attending a flag raising ceremony.
And CNN is reporting the Ukrainian president is now on his first international trip since the war began. He's expected to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House later on Wednesday.
One U.S. official telling CNN this visit is about a lot more than symbolism and displays of defiance.
With Zelenskyy in Washington, the U.S. president is expected to announce another huge military aid package for Ukraine worth almost $2 billion.
And for the first time, military assistance to Ukraine from the U.S. will include Patriot defense missiles, the most advanced air defense system in the world.
And during their visit to Bakhmut, President Zelenskyy seemed to hint about his trip to D.C. while also making it known what he will be asking for once he arrives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It is a complicated situation, the enemy increases the number of its troops. Our boys are braver and we need more sophisticated weapons. We will pass on gratitude from our boys to the U.S. Congress and the U.S. president for their support. But it is not enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: President Zelenskyy is also expected to address a joint meeting of Congress, which will be timely in terms of maintaining support for Ukraine, given the lower house will soon be under Republican control.
CNN's Phil Mattingly is at the White House with more.
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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): For more than 300 days, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has not left the country of Ukraine. Over the course of that period of time, obviously, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a grinding war that continues to this moment.
However, on Wednesday, he will depart. Depart and has already departed for Washington D.C. in what will be a historic and quite symbolic moment, a meeting face-to-face with President Biden, the U.S. serving as the number one ally and certainly number one when it comes to scale of defense assistance up to this point during that war.
And in that meeting, which will be extensive, largely behind the scenes consultations between the presidents and their top two teams, President Biden will also make a significant announcement of his own, $1.8 billion in new security assistance that's on top of more than 20 billion the U.S. has already directed towards Ukraine since the start of the war.
And inside that $1.8 billion, the most significant weapons system the U.S. has been willing to provide Ukraine up to this point, Patriot missile defense systems, which President Zelenskyy has repeatedly over the course of the last several months asked for, talked about, personally pleaded with President Biden in phone calls I'm told for those weapons systems, particularly in the wake of the last several weeks of Russia ramping up its attacks on civilian infrastructure.
Now, President Biden is willing to say yes, and will start the process of sending those towards Ukraine, the expansion of the security systems, the face-to-face meeting, the first visit for President Zelenskyy out of his country since the invasion began all underscoring a relationship that President Biden has said explicitly and unequivocally over and over again, will continue "as long as it takes".
[00:05:05]
That relationship will also carry over onto Capitol Hill where Zelenskyy is expected to deliver a primetime address to a joint session of Congress. At the very moment, lawmakers are considering another $45 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine, critical bipartisanship behind those votes up to that point, despite some Republicans raising concerns, something President Zelenskyy will certainly be trying to ensure continues at a moment where the U.S. has made clear that support is not changing or going anywhere anytime soon.
Phil Mattingly, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: With us 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 just quickly, talk to the security surrounding this visit by Zelenskyy to Washington, especially in the early parts of the planning here, how much secrecy, how much security is part of this visit?
LEIGHTON: Well, I think the secrecy here John was ironclad, the visit of somebody like President Zelenskyy is always going to be accompanied by a lot of security.
But in this particular case, since he was a, you know, he says he is a head of state of a warring nation, and the security has to be absolutely airtight.
And to get him from Kyiv to Bakhmut, and then from back Bakhmut to the United States, one way or the other, that required a lot of coordination (AUDIO GAP) as well as his Ukrainian counterparts. And I'm sure that they work through every single last detail of how to do this.
VAUSE: It seems the outgoing Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi confirmed Zelenskyy's visit and planning him to address the U.S. Congress, here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): To have him out complete total hero in the Congress of the United States, fighting for democracy, leading people who are fighting for democracy, to bring honor to the Congress of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: We also know the White House will grant Ukraine's request for Patriot missile defense systems.
Putin, the Russian leader has made it clear that he would consider that an escalation. But speak to this, the announcement -- making this announcement with Zelenskyy in the capitol addressing Congress seems to be the ultimate one thing you salute to the Russian president, is that the message Washington wants to send here?
LEIGHTON: Well, I think what they're doing is they're telling the Russian president, that no matter what he says, when it comes to threats against the U.S., against NATO and against Ukraine, that the U.S., Ukraine and NATO will be standing together.
So, the idea here, you know, if you, you know, you can see it in one way being a provocation. On the other hand, it is really standing up to somebody who is at least making threats, he may or may not be able to fulfill those threats. But it's very clear that President Putin is running out of options at this particular point. So this could provoke him, this move of the Patriots is something that is very necessary to defend the Ukrainian.
VAUSE: And along with the Patriot defense system, CNN is reporting the U.S. is expected to send Ukraine precision bomb kits that will turn existing unguided munitions or dumb bombs into precision guided smart bombs, known as Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs, according to multiple U.S. officials.
So, how effective are those kits in doing what they claim to do? Will there be a noticeable impact in the world like when we saw the javelins being used by the Ukrainians to hit Ukrainian -- Russian tanks, there was a real difference there. Will we see the same thing here?
LEIGHTON: We could, in fact, the JDAMs, the technology that is associated with the JDAMs is something that the U.S. Air Force has used for quite some time now for several decades, highly effective, it increases the precision of these munitions by magnitude of over a hundred depending on the precise munition.
But it really does make a big big difference. And the more accurate Ukrainian artillery and Ukrainian air to ground missiles are, the better off the Ukrainians will be because there'll be able to spend their munitions on precise targets, on specific targets. And they won't have to worry about wasting those munitions on targets that that aren't as valuable.
VAUSE: And the trip to the U.S. by Zelenskyy seems to be a reflection of Ukraine's up ahead right now on the battlefield. And when we talk about the amount of territory, which Ukrainians have actually taken back in recent weeks, according to The Washington Post, four weeks into the war, the first four weeks, that's when Russian controlled territory in Ukraine peaked, at 51,000 square miles. By November 17th, it was down to 40,000 square miles, and falling.
So, at this point, it's not really complicated. If you look at those numbers, the Russians are losing here. LEIGHTON: They've lost well over 50 percent of their territory in total according to The New York Times, and that is a territory that they gained since February.
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So, what the Russians are going through right now is a basically a very bad phase in this war. And what that means for them is that they cannot occupy and hold the territory for the duration of this conflict.
And if that's the case, they ultimately at the very least can't win. And they may very well lose because of that.
VAUSE: Col. Cedric Leighton, thank you sir, good to see you.
LEIGHTON: Good to see you too, John. Thanks so much.
VAUSE: Take care.
A lot more on Ukraine later this hour including an exclusive report from Snake Island which became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance during the early days of Russia's invasion.
But control this small X shaped island is crucial for Ukraine's access to the Black Sea and international shipping routes.
CNN's Will Ripley and his team, the first international reporters to travel there since June, when Ukrainian forces managed to retake the island from Russia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The soldiers told us we need to follow in their footsteps exactly and we need to be very careful where we step. This whole island is littered with land mines, unexploded ordnance. Basically a powder keg.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: A story you'll see only here on CNN in about 20 minutes from now.
Donald Trump's lawyers fought all the way to the Supreme Court to grant the release of his tax returns. And when they lost that legal battle last month, it seems it's only a matter of time before they'll be public.
On Tuesday, the Democrat controlled House Ways and Means Committee voted to release six years of Trump's tax records from 2015 to 2020.
The committee has found the IRS, the Internal Revenue Service failed to follow its own procedures and did not audit Trump during his first two years as president.
We have more now from CNN's Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju.
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MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Now, it's been years since House Democrats after they came to power in 2019 demanded Donald Trump's tax return went through a court fight that Donald Trump took all the way to the Supreme Court to try to shield those tax returns from becoming public. He lost that fight.
Ultimately, those returns turned over to Democrats just a matter of weeks ago. But in a party line vote, the House Democrats in their final days in power, the Ways and Means Committee voted to release those tax returns from six years -- six recent years, as well as not just his individual returns, but his business returns as well. That vote 24 to 16 along party lines to release both report from the committee investigating this as well as all of those returns.
Now, first, on the report, there were two that were released late on Tuesday night, one of which is a committee's investigation that found that the mandatory presidential audit system or that the IRS employs for all sitting presidents, they say that it was dormant during the Trump years. They say that is an essential program because they need to ensure that the president is not compromised in any way in signing legislation into law. But they said he was not essentially in use until April of 2019. That is when Richard Neal, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, a Democrat started to inquire about Donald Trump's tax returns.
They say at that point, that's when the IRS audit program kicked into gear and they said it never was completed over the six years of returns that they ultimately obtained.
Now, there's a separate report by the Joint Committee on Taxation analyzing those returns, it raises some questions about some of the deductions that Donald Trump took, suggested that perhaps more investigation might be warranted. It did not make a judgment one way or the other but it got into the numbers of his deductions, his losses in the income that he reported, but we expect a lot more including all details of those tax returns in the days ahead.
Right now, the committee is trying to redact some of the sensitive security information, some of the confidential information like social security numbers and the like.
Once that is done, they will be released and it will come out before Democrats are no longer in power in the House. January 3rd is when Republicans take over.
Republicans attacking Democrats for misusing their power and releasing Donald Trump's returns. Donald Trump spokesperson also attacking committee Democrats but nevertheless, they are moving forward and also moving forward on legislation to mandate how presidents are audited under the -- by the IRS. That is something Nancy Pelosi in her final days of speaker plans to bring to the floor.
Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Joining us now from Los Angeles, Michael Genovese, president of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University. Good to have you with us, Michael.
So, here's the democratic Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee on what the release of Trump's tax returns is not. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD NEAL, CHAIRMAN, U.S. HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE: I want to say this, after a long process, that this was not about being punitive, it was not about being malicious.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: OK, so apparently it's in the public interest, according to Democrats for evaluating the audit process of the IRS because they did not audit Trump in the first two years in office. Really? Is that -- is that for real? Is that -- are we going to buy that?
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MICHAEL GENOVESE, PRESIDENT OF THE GLOBAL POLICY INSTITUTE, LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY: Yes. I think there could be very good legislative reasons to do this. And you mentioned the Audit Act. But there's also a partisan dimension involved. I think I don't think we need to fool around about that.
Democrats are going to lose control of the House in a few weeks, then this whole effort will be for nothing, that will stop. And so, you've got to get it all now and they're just getting it under the wire.
VAUSE: Yes, and Republicans on that committee voted unanimously against the release of Trump's tax returns. And here's one reason why, listen to this.
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KEVIN BRADY, U.S. HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE: So, regrettably, the deed is done. Over our objections and opposition Democrats in the Ways and Means Committee have unleashed a dangerous new political weapon that overturns decades of privacy protections for average taxpayers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Again, are we going to buy that? Trump is no average taxpayer. He was president. He wants to be president again. To your point, why can't Democrats just come out and make that argument?
GENOVESE: Well, you know, I think that for the Democrats, you've got to go back to tradition and just simply stress that since Richard Nixon, all presidents except for period, Gerald Ford, and then Donald Trump have released tax information. This started in 1968 by George Romney, the father of Mitt Romney, who
was running for president in 68, released all of his taxes for a dozen years, and the public began to expect now they demand to see and there are some very good public policy reasons for demanding that and the Democrats had been stressing that is the president or was the president susceptible to pressure from people who we dealt with debt to, to foreign interest.
And so, there's a very good public policy reason for doing this.
VAUSE: It does beg the question in the case of Donald Trump, a question which has been asked repeatedly, what, since 2015 2016, what does he have to hide? What could be in those records that are so damning?
GENOVESE: Well, John, I don't know what's in the records. But I do know that Donald Trump has been fighting like crazy to prevent us from seeing what's in there.
And so, that's -- to me, that's such a red flag that saying, if you don't want me to see it, there's probably is something in it that I want to see.
I think, you know, Donald Trump is obsessed with protecting his brand. And his brand may be damaged if he's not as rich as he has been claiming. If he owes more money than he's been claiming, if he doesn't give to charities, there's all kinds of reasons why Donald Trump might be embarrassed and his brand might be damaged.
VAUSE: Well, the other big headline from the Trump World, Trump's former White House Ethics lawyer, apparently told Cassidy Hutchinson to give misleading testimony to the January 6 committee, that's according to CNN is reporting.
Hutchinson is a former Trump White House aide who showed a lot of backbone earlier this year to testify before the January 6 committee, specifically about Trump's state of mind on January 6th. Listen now to Democrat Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA): Example, one lawyer told the witness, the witness could in certain circumstances tell the committee that she didn't recall facts when she actually did recall them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So in other words, the White House then ethics lawyer -- ethics lawyer told the White House aid it was OK to lie. That says a lot about the former administration. So, what are the implications from this?
GENOVESE: You know, this is a world class bombshell, witness tampering, obstruction of justice, CNN's reporting has been terrific on this. You know, it reads like a bad mafia movie, "The Godfather" part three,
not one or two. This is what thugs do. You know, you pressure witnesses, don't answer the questions. You don't have to talk about that. I'm looking your answer here in there.
This is just outrageous. It is -- the delicious irony here is that the former White House Ethics lawyer is doing this.
I mean, only in the Trump administration when you see something that's just that blatant and that bold, but you know, it's part of that whole cesspool that was going on in the Trump White House.
VAUSE: Yes, Michael, it's a good point to make. We'll leave it there. Thank you so much for your time. Good to see.
GENOVESE: Thank you, John.
VAUSE: Frustration is rising among migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border as a Trump era COVID border policy remains in place.
On Tuesday, the Biden administration asked the Supreme Court to end Title 42 which allows border agents to expel migrants without any legal recourse under a public health concern.
The White House is also asking the court to reject an emergency legal bid by Republican led states to keep that policy in place which was set to end in the coming hours.
But the White House says it needs a time to wind down Title 42 and so he's asking for a delay until next Tuesday.
Still to come here on CNN, why one U.K. official is warning the public to try and avoid risky activity. Good advice as thousands of healthcare workers strike all at the same time.
Also, parade pandemonium. Millions turn out at Argentina to greet the World Cup champs but sometimes people just don't know when to stop.
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VAUSE: Four million people welcomed home Argentina's World Cup champs with a victory parade, frenzy in Buenos Aires on Tuesday.
The government declared Tuesday a national holiday, possibly because it seems the most won't go to work anyway.
The capital was brought to a standstill as Lionel Messi and his teammates traveled through the city in an open air bus.
But those celebrations were cut short when two men jumped from an overpass bridge as the bus passed underneath, one made it onto the bus, the other did not bouncing off the back of the bus and then onto the street. No word on his condition. This scheduled eight hour bus ride was then cut short because of
security concerns. Messi and his teammates taken away on helicopters flying over the parade route instead. People just don't know when to stop.
More now from Stefano Pozzebon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST (on camera): In the end, Lionel Messi and his teammates of the national football team of Argentina were not able to complete the day parade as they were planning to do on an open bus cruising through the streets of Buenos Aires with the World Cup trophy. That is because simply because there were too many people onto the streets and after spending more than three hours to do, just a sheer 25 kilometers from the International Airport.
The team decided to jump on helicopters and instead did a flyover over the ocean of people that gathered in around the Buenos Aires Obelisk to celebrate the victory in the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
Now, late on Tuesday, the party here in Buenos Aires is still going and it's perhaps a sign of how much should this victory is felt in a nation that really breathes through football but is also finding some elation, some relief and some pride at a deeper travel economy is in dire straits.
But for the past three days, this country really put on a party like no other before.
For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Buenos Aires.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Ambulance workers in England and Wales are set to go on strike in the coming hours, with NHS officials warning that it could disrupt patient's safety.
Workers across multiple sectors in the U.K. have been staging mass walkouts, demanding better pay and conditions.
CNN's Nada Bashir reports the strikes are especially testy in an already vulnerable healthcare system.
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NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER (voice over): In the midst of the festive season, Britain is at breaking point, nurses, paramedics, postal transport and Border Force workers have had enough and are going on strike as workers face rising inflation and stagnating wages, bringing the U.K. to a grinding halt just as Christmas approaches.
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Here outside St. Mary's Hospital in London, these nurses have joined tens of thousands of other protesters up and down the country to demand better pay to keep up with the cost of living.
EMILY HITCHEN, NURSE: We've seen so many nurses leave the profession due to being overworked, understaffed and we're just not appreciated.
I think that a pay increase and we're just asking to match inflation. We're not asking for anything extra will help us to retain staff and to get more staff into the profession, which will help us to care for the patients that we have at the moment.
But with so many essential services walking out at the same time, the British government is struggling to keep services running with one junior health minister advising the public to avoid risky activity on strike days.
WILL QUINCE, BRITISH MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND SECONDARY CARE: There will be disruption to service. And it is important that we people are planning any risky activity, I would strongly encourage them not to -- not to do so because there will be disruption on the day.
BASHIR: The government has even resorted to drafting in the army to mitigate a walkout by paramedics and border force workers.
HITCHEN: We see such an increase of patients especially in London. Our patients are calling ambulances to make their own way to hospital. And I think that that demand on the service is not sustainable.
BASHIR: But with rail strikes becoming more frequent, support from the British public is waning. According to a recent poll by Savanta, less than 50 percent of those surveyed said they were in favor of strike action by railway, aviation and postal workers during the festive season.
But nurses fared slightly better, with nearly 56 percent of people saying they support their strike even during the holidays.
But Britain's winter of discontent has come at a time when the country is facing a severe cost of living crisis. With inflation nearing an eye watering 11 percent, working families are struggling to cope with rising food and energy costs, making the cold even more unbearable.
And for those hoping that the New Year will bring in new resolutions, there could be disappointment ahead with nurses and railway workers threatening to kick off 2023 with further walkouts if the government fails to come to the negotiating table, meaning more chaos and more uncertainty for Britain.
Nada Bashir, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Another dark chapter is set to begin in Afghanistan with yet another despicable edict from the Taliban. The Islamic extremists have suspended university education for all women effective immediately.
Human Rights Watch says it's shameful. The U.N. Secretary General says he's deeply alarmed, calling it another broken promise by the Taliban, that's a surprise. U.S. also strongly condemned the move.
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NED PRICE, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: The Taliban have permanently symptoms Afghan women to a darker and more barren future without opportunity. No country can thrive when half of its population is arbitrarily held back.
Education is an internationally recognized human right and it is essential to Afghanistan's economic growth and its stability.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Before seizing power last year, the Taliban promised a more moderate inclusive government, but ever since they've gone backwards, looking more like the hardline rulers from the 1990s.
They closed secondary schools for girls back in March, women can no longer work in most sectors, they have to cover their faces in public and a whole lot more than that.
Well, German court has found a 97-year-old woman guilty on Nazi war crimes, Irmgard Furchner, a former concentration camp secretary was convicted of assisting in the murder of more than 10,000 people. She's a teenager at the time she began work at the Stutthof camp in Nazi occupied Poland and was tried in juvenile court.
Furchner received a two-year suspended sentence and apologized. They believe she could be the last person in Germany tried for crimes during the Holocaust.
Still ahead on CNN, a visit to Snake Island where Ukrainian troops made a defiant stand against the Russian Navy, that was in the early days of the war and became a symbol of resistance.
An exclusive report on what's happening there right now. That's in a moment.
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VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
[00:31:45]
Ukraine's island has always held a special place in the country's folklore. Now more than ever.
When the war began, a handful of Ukrainian troops on the small Black Sea outpost made a defiant stand against the Russian navy, in a moment that captured the world's attention.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) (BEEP)
GRAPHIC: Russian warship, go "F" yourself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The defense of Snake Island rallied a nation in the early months of the war. Besides being a morale boost, when it was retaken in the months that followed, it had a strategic purpose, as well.
The outpost is crucial for controlling cargo routes from the port sea of Odessa. Securing the island enabled Ukraine to restart grain exports through the Black Sea.
In this exclusive report, CNN's Will Ripley is the first TV correspondent to visit Snake Island since it was retaken by Ukrainian forces.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the saying goes, whoever controls Snake Island controls the Black Sea. The safest way to get there: the Ukrainian military's inflatable speedboat, with seating for six. It's small enough to stay out of sight.
RIPLEY: We are really getting tossed around out here. But we need to take a small boat, because we need to stay out of the sights of Russian reconnaissance aircraft.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Safer than a helicopter, no protection from the Black Sea's big waves. Bitter cold and whipping winds, not to mention the mines. By the end of our stomach-churning journey, Snake Island's craggy cliffs are a welcome sight.
Up close, a pier in pieces previews the destruction we're about to see. We enter Snake Island by climbing up a pile of half-sunken, slippery sea blocks.
We're the first journalists allowed here since Ukraine recaptured Snake Island five months ago. Russia blanketed the island with booby traps before bailing out.
RIPLEY: The soldiers told us we need to follow in their footsteps exactly, and we need to be very careful where we step. This whole island is littered with land mines, unexploded ordinance. Basically, a powder keg.
RIPLEY (voice-over): A powder keg with plenty of cats wandering through the wreckage of ten brutal months of war. Not a snake in sight.
On February 24th, the first day of Russia's full-scale invasion. Russia's Black Sea flagship, the Moskva, aimed its arsenal at Snake Island, demanding dozens of Ukrainian defenders surrender or die.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: I am a Russian military ship. I propose that you lay down your weapons immediately or you will be bombed.
RIPLEY (voice-over): What happened next is how legends are made.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) (BLEEP)
GRAPHIC: Russian warship, go "F" yourself.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Five words, seen at the time as a final act of defiance. Everyone on Snake Island presumed dead. Russian bombs raining down. The island's radio went silent.
Those five words telling the Russian warship where to go, instantly iconic, inspiring T-shirts, postage stamps, pop songs.
Ukraine later learned Snake Island's defenders were alive, prisoners of war, some released in a POW swap earlier this year. Others remained in Russian captivity.
[00:35:02]
RIPLEY: Is it intimidating to look out and see a giant Russian warship and know that you guys are a small group here?
"If anybody tells you it's not intimidating, he's a liar," says Fortuna, a volunteer soldier. "It was chaos. The garrison here was small. Russia captured the island quickly. Taking the island back took a long time."
On Snake Island, we find a graveyard of Russian weapons, the result of relentless Ukrainian attacks, for several months, earlier this year.
RIPLEY: This is one of Russia's most expensive anti-aircraft weapons systems. As you can see, not much use anymore.
RIPLEY (voice-over): In April, Ukraine says its missiles sank the Moskva. Where did it go? The bottom of the Black Sea. A humiliated Kremlin says their flagship caught fire, sinking in stormy weather. In May, a Ukrainian drone strike on Snake Island turned this helicopter into a fireball.
RIPLEY: This is what's left of that Russian helicopter, pulverized along with its crew of about eight people.
RIPLEY (voice-over): A twisted relic of Russia's ill-fated plan to transform this remote Black Sea outpost into a permanent aircraft carrier.
RIPLEY: What's it like to live out here?
RIPLEY (voice-over): "We need to be on guard 24/7," Fortuna says. "So we never get bored."
We notice his Russian accent. It turns out Fortuna was born in Russia. He moved to Ukraine and got married before the war. Now, part of a Russian volunteer corps, protecting Snake Island for Ukraine.
RIPLEY: How do you feel about Russia now?
RIPLEY (voice-over): "For us, they're enemies, no matter what. Most of the Russian volunteer corps lived in Ukraine before the invasion," he says. "We were living life. We had families, good jobs. And here comes Russia attacking us. If some other country attacked us, we would fight, too."
Life on Snake Island means almost total isolation. Soldiers tell me the simple act of switching on a cell phone brings Russian rockets within 40 minutes. They say Russia attacked the island just last month.
RIPLEY: We are now out of time. We've been on the island just about an hour. And it's important that we get off before the waves get too big and before the Russians know we're here.
RIPLEY (voice-over): The Ukrainians say Russia blew up Snake Island's historic lighthouse and museum, on the site of an ancient Greek temple.
Evil spirits are rumored to roam these 46 acres of rock and sand, bearing witness to centuries of bloodshed.
Ukraine is not the first nation to control Snake Island, but vows it will be the last.
Will Ripley, CNN, on Snake Island, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: When we come back here on CNN, as China faces a major surge in COVID infections, the reality is the world may never know how many will die because of Beijing's sudden decision to end zero-COVID.
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VAUSE: There is no doubt that right now, China is facing a major COVID outbreak, now that the government has eased it zero-COVID tolerance policy. But what is not known is the real extent of this outbreak. How many, how serious, what sort of pressure the hospital system is under right now.
CNN's Selina Wang reports from Beijing.
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SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): China has only reported a few COVID deaths since abandoning its zero-COVID policy, but what we see on the ground tells a different story.
WANG: There is a long line of cars that snakes across this entire area, of cars waiting to get into that cremation area, I'm in the parking lot right now, and it's completely full of cars. I am speaking here. because there are many, many security guards patrolling this entire area.
And I spoke to a man earlier who said that his close friend passed away from a fever that the hospital didn't say why. He said he's been waiting here for hours, and he still has no idea if his friend's body can even get cremated today.
WANG (voice-over): And it's not just in Beijing. Social media shows crematoriums and funeral homes around the country overwhelmed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WANG (voice-over): In this funeral home in Jinan (ph), the man is saying it's going insane. Here, it is packed with cars.
And vans carrying bodies stretch all the way into the distance in front of this crematorium in Shijiazhuang (ph). And families wait and stand in their mourning clothes at this Wuhan funeral home, with no idea how long they have to wait before their beloved ones can be cremated.
A new study by Hong Kong researchers estimates nearly 1 million people in China can die from COVID if the country doesn't take necessary public health measures like increase vaccinations.
Long lines like these are forming across the country outside of hospitals. In Hangzhou, people wait for hours outside in the cold rain.
Crowds form outside of hospitals in Wuhan, ground zero of the original outbreak.
WANG: This is a COVID-designated hospital in Beijing. There's been a steady stream of elderly patients in wheelchairs being led into this hospital.
I spoke to a man who's been waiting outside for his elderly family member, who he said is very sick with a high fever from COVID. But he says this hospital is running out of beds space.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WANG (voice-over): "Are you busy?" I asked a COVID worker outside this hospital.
"Yes, extremely busy," he tells me. "We even work into the evenings."
"Did a lot of people die here?" I ask.
"Yes, every day," he says.
"Is it all because of COVID?"
"Yes," he says. "People with underlying conditions."
The country's COVID strategy has suddenly swung from one extreme to another. This is what China's metropolis, Dongxing (ph), looked like a month
ago during a mass COVID lockdown. A ghost city.
But now, not only has Dongxing (ph) lifted its lockdown, the government announced on primetime television that people who have COVID, as long as they are only mildly sick or asymptomatic, well, they can return to work.
But people are still scared to go out. Restaurants and shopping malls in the city barely have any customers. Subways across major cities are eerily empty.
But none of this is stopping Chinese state media from hailing the country's COVID strategy as victory after victory. As the Chinese people feel they are suddenly left to fend for themselves.
Selina Wang, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: I'm John Vause. I'll be back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. But first, WORLD SPORT start after the break. See you back here in 17 minutes.
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(WORLD SPORT)
