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U.S. Shoots Down Suspected Spy Balloon; Northeast U.S. Thaws Out After "Epic" Arctic Blast; New Russian Strikes In Kharkiv And Donetsk Region; New British And E.U. Sanctions On Russia; Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf Dead At 79. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired February 05, 2023 - 04:00   ET

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

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.

Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, recovery efforts are underway after the U.S. military shot down a suspected spy balloon over the Atlantic Ocean. Meanwhile, Beijing is warning it will use necessary means in similar situations.

Later, could this push the U.S. toward a cold war with China or will both sides find a diplomatic solution?

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: After days of suspected spying over the U.S. mainland, a Chinese balloon was abruptly shot out of the sky on Saturday by a U.S. fighter jet. The balloon was so high up when it was destroyed, the sound of the blast took several seconds to reach the ground. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): And the shoot-down ended days of concern and speculation about the balloon's purpose. The Chinese insist it was a civilian research balloon.

The Pentagon says it is confident it was conducting surveillance and on Saturday over the ocean, an F-22 jet fired a single heat-seeking missile to destroy it. The debris landed in water that's about 47 feet deep or 14 meters. Anything recovered will be taken to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia. Former CIA officer Bob Baer offered his take.

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BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: They're provoking us. This was a provocation. They're supporting Russia in Ukraine economically and the spying in the U.S. is an existential threat. They're stealing our technology. They're operating all over the U.S., Silicon Valley as well and we have to push back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: President Biden says he approved the plan to shoot down the Chinese balloon earlier in the week. CNN's Arlette Saenz has details from the White House.

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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Biden told his top military leaders on Wednesday to shoot down the Chinese spy balloon transiting over the U.S. as soon as possible.

The president heard advice from military leaders, who warned that shooting anything down over land, over ground, could pose a risk to American lives. So ultimately the president heeded their advice and waited to have this balloon shot down until it was over the waters on Saturday afternoon.

President Biden was briefed on those final plans Friday evening and ultimately Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin gave that final go-ahead shortly after noon on Saturday. The president was flying on Air Force One from Syracuse, New York, to Maryland and was on the phone with his top officials as this operation was underway.

Here's what he had to tell reporters about the considerations given.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: On Wednesday, when I was briefed on the balloon, I ordered the Pentagon to shoot it down on Wednesday as soon as possible.

They decided -- without doing damage to anyone on the ground. They decided that the best time to do that was, as it got over water, outside -- within our -- within the 12-mile limit.

They successfully took it down. And I want to complement our aviators who did it. And we'll have more to report on this a little later.

Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, what does this say about China?

What's your message to China?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were saying the recommendation from your -- was from your national security --

BIDEN: I told them to shoot it down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On Wednesday?

BIDEN: On Wednesday. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But the recommendation from them --

BIDEN: They said to me, "Let's wait until the safest place to do it."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Republicans were quick to criticize the president for not taking it down sooner. They said it's a sign of weakness. The White House pushed back, saying this was a responsible action for the president to take. He was trying to save American lives. There are lawmakers on both sides of the aisle calling for briefings and hearings in this matter.

[04:05:00]

SAENZ: The so-called Gang of Eight will receive official information from the president next week -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And more reaction is coming in from U.S. lawmakers, with members of the Armed Services Committee weighing in along party lines. Here's House Democrat Adam Smith.

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REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: We're looking for allies and friends across the world as we try to figure out how to deal with the threat that China is increasingly posing.

We don't want to look like we're the "shoot-first-ask-questions-later" approach. So I think the president handled this correctly. He protected the interests of the U.S. We're in a position to gather intelligence from the balloon. I think it was the right decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Republicans disagree. Republican senator Roger Wicker wrote, "Allowing a spy balloon from the Communist Party of China to travel across the entire continental United States before contesting its presence is a disastrous projection of weakness by the White House."

Mike Rogers demands the White House provide answers about why they decided to allow a CCP spy balloon to cross the United States and what damage to our national security occurred.

CNN's Ivan Watson is standing by in Hong Kong with more on the reaction from Beijing.

Ivan, China says the U.S. is overreacting after bringing down that balloon, so take us to the reaction from Beijing.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure. Not only saying the U.S. is overreacting but potentially threatening to shoot down any U.S. balloon that might go over any Chinese airspace. Look at this. "The U.S. used force to attack our civilian unmanned

airship which is an obvious overreaction. We express solemn protest against this move by the U.S. side and reserve the right to use necessary means to deal with similar situations."

The foreign ministry of China has also lodged a protest about the shoot-down of this balloon; though, on Friday, the foreign ministry expressed regret, saying that it was basically a civilian weather balloon that had blown off course and said it was maintaining channels of communication with Washington to figure out how to deal with this.

Now of course, one of the casualties of this balloon scandal is that secretary of state Antony Blinken was supposed to be traveling to Beijing this weekend. That visit was postponed, as Washington has accused China of violating international airspace. We'll have to see where this goes from here.

And hear perhaps what the Pentagon and other security officials in the U.S. say, if and when they're able to gather debris from the balloon, to say more about whether it fits with the Chinese narrative that it was just a weather balloon the size of three buses or, as the U.S. argues, this was some kind of surveillance balloon.

BRUNHUBER: In the meantime, Ivan, we haven't mentioned this, there's a second balloon as well.

What more are we learning about that one?

WATSON: Sure. A second object described as similar to a balloon has been detected over Central and South America. The Costa Rican aviation authorities say they detected something on Thursday and that it then moved out of their airspace and it was, quote, "not a balloon that originated from Costa Rica."

Then Colombia put out a statement saying they detected an object flying at an altitude above 55,000 feet, which is similar to the balloon flying over the United States. They followed it. It did not pose a national security threat and it left Colombian airspace. They're trying to figure out where exactly this came from.

There have been images from Latin America of this object and it looks similar to the giant balloon flying over the U.S. CNN has reached out to Beijing for comment on it. We haven't heard back yet. There's a lot of questions.

If this, too, is a Chinese balloon, why are these things flying around the world over other countries?

The Biden administration is saying at least three similar balloons flew over the U.S. during the Trump administration and once earlier during the Biden administration. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: We'll keep following this story. Ivan Watson in Hong Kong, thanks so much.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: And joining me now to discuss this is John Delury.

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BRUNHUBER: He's a professor of Chinese studies at Yonsei University and author of the true life spy story, "Agents of Subversion: The Fate of John T. Downey and the CIA's Covert War in China."

Thanks for being with us. China is sticking to its story that it's a civilian commercial balloon, firing ahead of the National Weather Service.

What do you make of the response?

JOHN DELURY, YONSEI UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: With the facts we have so far, it's strains belief to buy the Chinese story. As you mentioned, there are other balloons popping up.

The whole question of why China has not been forthcoming with Canada, with the United States, with other governments in the Americas, about what these balloons are doing really casts a lot of doubt on their claim that it's for weather.

Hopefully something will come out of the debris and that would allow the U.S. government to find smoking-gun evidence. I would expect the Chinese government to stick to their story and to insist to the bitter end that this is innocent.

So I think we're going to be stuck with two narratives, which is often a problem in U.S.-China relations.

BRUNHUBER: But how damaging is this to China's reputation, maybe more specifically to president Xi at this, the start of his third term?

DELURY: Well, I think there's no question it's an embarrassment, particularly with the timing that Secretary Blinken was on his way to Beijing. That's not a trip the Americans were dying to have. There was agreement that President Xi and President Biden wanted to make it happen.

So it doesn't look good for Xi. If we zoom out a little bit, he's having a very, very rough start to his third term. He started five more years as the leader over the country. He had the protests in November, he had the COVID policy reversal and a spike in cases and a lot of discontent.

And now he's got this diplomatic fiasco. I think, at a minimum, we can say it's a fiasco and an embarrassment for China.

BRUNHUBER: We heard some not so veiled threats from China.

What response do you expect from them?

Do you expect them to take any action against American assets? DELURY: You know, the other hint in the statement had to do with the companies involved. That could be interesting to see if, you know, China claims they want compensation from the United States based on the company.

I mean, it would be great to get full disclosure on those companies and maybe we can learn more from them. I don't know how much they want to actually divulge about this program.

But I read that part of the statement as a hint to the potential next steps. As far as doing the same thing, of course, I think we would assume that China would, you know, blow up a U.S. spy balloon that was floating over its country, whether it did it over the land or over sea.

So I don't really see that as a new threat. Not really surprising that the U.S. responded this way. I would expect the PRC to do the same.

BRUNHUBER: Let's put this in context then. This isn't the first time a high-profile spying incident had threatened the relationship between the U.S. and China.

So where does this rank, do you think?

DELURY: Well, you know, for students of the relationship, I think the most recent incident that comes to mind, about 20 years ago already now, in 2001 there was a spyplane incident. And now this involved a U.S. Naval surveillance aircraft that was flying along China's coast, was intercepted by Chinese jets, forced down.

One of the Chinese jets crashed. And so there was loss of life in this case. And it had to do with an emergency landing on Hainan Island. There was a whole diplomatic fiasco. But the roles were sort of reversed then. It was a U.S. spy plane. They had to negotiate an apology and a release of the crew and the plane itself.

So I think, if you think about that incident, it underscores how the relationship between the U.S. and China has changed in the 21st century. Now it's Americans who have to deal with China's spying capabilities, technological capabilities.

So that's probably the historical marker I would go back to. There are many more. But you can read my book for the Cold War history of covert relations.

BRUNHUBER: Listen, I really appreciate your insights on this. John Delury, thanks so much.

DELURY: Thanks, Kim.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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BRUNHUBER: The northeastern U.S. is starting to thaw out from the arctic blast that brought record-breaking low wind chills. We'll have details when we come back.

And Pope Francis returns to Rome after meeting internally displaced people in South Sudan. We'll have the very latest on CNN NEWSROOM. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. A quick recap of our top story this hour.

The U.S. is retrieving the remnants of a suspected Chinese spy balloon after shooting it down over the Atlantic Ocean. Have a look here.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): These images from North Carolina show the massive object flying above a commercial plane a few hours before it was hit. On Saturday afternoon, a fighter jet fired a single missile that brought it down.

It drifted across the country for several days, even passing close to several military bases. Earlier, a U.S. lawmaker said the incident underscores the heightened tensions between the U.S. and China.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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REP. MIKE QUIGLEY (D-IL): We're seemingly in sort of a cold war with the Chinese right now and a lot to be worried about, with their military aggression, surveillance like this, everything from TikTok to the, you know, the human rights violations we're all aware of.

[04:20:00]

QUIGLEY: But we need to address these issues, reminding ourselves that these two governments' economies are incredibly intertwined.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now for their part, Chinese officials deny it was a spy balloon and they're condemning the U.S. for using force to bring it down.

The suspected Chinese spy balloon shot down off the Carolinas wasn't the only one in the Western Hemisphere. The Pentagon said a second balloon was flying over Latin America.

The director general of Costa Rica's civil aviation authority confirmed the sightings and told CNN the balloon didn't originate in Costa Rica and has now disappeared. Colombia said the balloon spotted in their airspace was at an altitude

above 55,000 feet and is working with other countries to determine the balloon's origin. The balloon has since left their airspace. Rafael Romo has the story.

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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SR. LATIN AFFAIRS EDITOR: There were reports of sightings of a second balloon in at least two Latin American countries looking a lot like the Chinese surveillance balloon shot down Saturday after flying over the United States.

CNN is aware of at least half a dozen eyewitnesses in Latin America, who have reported seeing it and sharing images on social media. An airborne object similar to the Chinese surveillance balloon seen flying over the United States was spotted over Colombia near Valledupar.

As this video shared with CNN shows, it was around Friday noon local time. Colombian media have also reported sightings of a balloon flying at about 70,000 feet over the South American country's airspace, citing the Colombian military.

We've seen reports a balloon has been spotted over Costa Rica. A lawyer, Esteban Carranza, posted a video of the balloon on Twitter, saying the same type of balloon spotted in the U.S. was visible all day in the Costa Rican sky.

Carranza confirmed to CNN he filmed the white balloon flying overhead above San Jose on Thursday.

CNN geolocated the video to a village, a shopping mall in San Jose. On Friday, the Pentagon confirmed sightings of a balloon over Latin America and said it was another Chinese surveillance balloon.

Civil aviation authorities in Costa Rica confirmed the sightings but not the origin of the flying object. CNN has been unable to confirm whether these objects are indeed Chinese balloons -- Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Let's get the sum of today's other top stories.

The arctic blast that gripped the northeastern U.S. for a few days is beginning to taper off. The wind chill alerts mostly ended as the gusting winds died down. Temperatures are expected to rebound to about 5 to 10 degrees above normal in the coming hours. The coldest place was at the Mt. Washington Observatory in New Hampshire.

They recorded a new U.S. national wind chill record of -108 degrees Fahrenheit. That's almost -80 degrees Celsius. On Saturday, Boston topped a low temperature of -10 degrees Fahrenheit. The mayor declared a state of emergency through today. Here's how some dealt with the brutal cold.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's absolutely bone chilling cold.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Working outside was awful.

QUESTION: How many layers do you have on?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With this I have got a scarf, a hoodie and I've got another thing -- I've got a T-shirt as a base layer. And then underneath all that, I have these electric heating pads.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Parts of New York City hit 5 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday. Gloria Pazmino reports the brutal cold forced many to stay home and off the streets.

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GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Record low temperatures across the region. But here in New York City, right outside of Central Park, people have been doing what they do best here in New York: they have been braving the elements.

All day I've been speaking with tourists and New Yorkers who are unfazed by the cold temperatures. All day, I've been watching my friend here, Jamal (ph), who is running this hot dog cart here. He had a hard time this morning trying to get it set up because his generator had actually frozen. The oil and gas inside of it.

He had a hard time getting it set up. And he told me that business is a little bit slow today.

Right?

Not so good. Not many people out here in these cold temperatures. And just take a look. This bottle of water frozen solid. It has been frozen all day. That should give you an idea of just how cold it is here. But as I said New Yorkers, those who are visiting, for the most part, taking it in stride, out for a jog, walking the dog and just enjoying the weather.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just ran around the park.

PAZMINO: Just ran around the park?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

PAZMINO: 12 degrees?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not bad when the wind is not blowing.

PAZMINO: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It feels good.

PAZMINO: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It feels really refreshing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of people here and they're like, oh, my God, it's like fashionable. And I'm like yes, but it's also function. Like the hat to make sure ears are warm, like her face is warm, her head and the shoes because it's like New York and there's gloves and like all these other stuff, so yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: I also spoke to a man who was visiting New York City from Chicago. He told me this is nothing. He was perfectly comfortable because he was dressed for the elements.

That is one of the most important things; if you are going to go outside in these very cold temperatures, do dress appropriately. Wear you layers. And if you don't need to, it's probably best to stay home -- I'm Gloria Pazmino, in New York, CNN

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Evacuation orders are in effect after a train derailed in Ohio near the Pennsylvania border. It sparked a massive fire and concerns about air quality. The National Transportation Safety Board says around 20 cars were carrying a hazardous material, 10 of which went off the rails.

They say the cars were carrying the chemical vinyl chloride (ph), which has been linked to cancer. Officials say though some of it was released in the environment but they have not detected any harmful levels in the air. The cause of the derailment is still not clear. No one was injured in accident.

Many people watched as U.S. jets shot down that suspected Chinese spy balloon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They just shot it.

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): We'll get more witness accounts in just a few moments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Plus, after the leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion and the investigation into how it happened, were there previously unreported security lapses at the Supreme Court?

We'll have an exclusive report. Please stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

All right, back to our top story and the downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the U.S. East Coast. Salvage efforts are underway off the coast of North Carolina after the U.S. shot down the balloon Saturday.

Chinese defense ministry warning they would use the necessary means to deal with similar situations. The intrusion has further soured relations between Beijing and Washington at a time when they were already badly strained.

Now there's concern it may unravel months of efforts to resolve numerous disputes with China, including Taiwan. Here's what CNN national security expert David Sanger had to say earlier on CNN.

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DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: It shows you how difficult it would be to deescalate a Taiwan crisis if China moved again the way it did last summer, when Nancy Pelosi visited, and the way it undoubtedly will move to choke off part of access to Taiwan waterways if you see the new Speaker of the House go visit, as he has said that he will be doing.

So I think what it tells you is even things that should be diffused pretty quickly, we're having a hard time communicating about it. Imagine in the past couple of days a different scenario, in which China said this was an accident; it should have never gone over there. Let's help you bring this thing down so we can end it peacefully and everybody can understand it.

That's did not happened. That's what should have happened if you had much communication going on between China and the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Several people witnessed the balloon being shot down at Myrtle Beach on Saturday afternoon. Here's what one resident had to say.

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RON LAPMAN, WITNESS: We came here to the parking lot and saw the balloon up ahead -- up high. And then we probably watched it, I don't know, maybe about five minutes and then started seeing some jet trails coming from the west. And one in particular all of a sudden seemed like it was coming fast

and coming straight toward the balloon. And from there, suddenly we saw something take off from the jet and knew it was a missile. And you could see the explosion.

Didn't hear anything but saw the explosion of the balloon. And it seemed like it started falling apart and starting to come down. Now it's just stretching out into the ocean. Hard to see anymore but it's still out there, though.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The jet that took down the balloon was like one of these you see here. It was an F-22 fighter jet from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia and made the hit with an AIM-9X missile.

U.S. officials had to make sure that civilian air traffic stayed safely away from the area. Pete Muntean reports that required taking some steps that haven't been seen in a long time.

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PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: The Federal Aviation Administration has now ended its temporary flight restriction, the restricted airspace that it put in place it says at the request of the Department of Defense, because apparently, of this shoot down of this Chinese spy balloon as it wafted over the coast of the Carolinas.

This huge piece of restricted airspace twice the size of the State of Massachusetts, five times the size of the restricted airspace that's been in place post 9/11 over Washington, D.C.

What was very telling about this one, this went into place about 1:30 pm on the East Coast on Saturday was that this was up to 60,000 feet, which the Pentagon says was the altitude that this balloon was floating at.

That is very critical because the FAA simply wanted to clear out the airspace below and make it so there would not be a hazard to airliners which fly at roughly half the height of this balloon.

The FAA put in place a ground stop as well because of that restricted airspace at three airports along the Carolina coast -- Wilmington in North Carolina, Charleston in South Carolina and Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. Those airports were paralyzed for about an hour as the shootdown took place.

It wasn't long after that all of these restrictions were lifted, although, this would likely go down in history as one of the largest pieces of restricted airspace ever.

[04:35:00]

MUNTEAN: We have never seen something like this put into place and the FAA says, it was all at the request of the Pentagon -- Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: The United States Supreme Court was rocked to its core last year when someone leaked a draft copy of a court opinion overturning the landmark Roe versus Wade decision. Now sources are telling CNN about other previously unreported security lapses by justices and court employees. Ariane de Vogue has the exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT CORRESPONDENT: CNN has learned that, long before the leak of that draft opinion, security protocols, when it came to documents at the Supreme Court, were very lax. That could have led to the leak or, at the very least, it hindered the investigation into the leak.

For example, several of the justices, over the years, sometimes would put sensitive information into personal emails. That information belonged on secure servers.

And the person who told me this wasn't suggesting that it meant a justice had leaked a draft copy of an opinion but, at the very least, it showed that the justices themselves weren't setting a good example to the chambers, to their employees about how to deal with sensitive documents.

Another issue concerned so-called burn bags. These are bags where you put sensitive information that are later burned or shredded. At the Supreme Court, they're taken down to the basement, put into a locked bin and later picked up by a shredding company.

But a source tells me the problem with this is there's no uniform policy in chambers on how to deal with these. At one chamber sometimes they would be stapled closed, sometimes the bags would pile up under the desk but sometimes they'd be left in the hallways for pickup.

The problem is these hallways were nonpublic but this is no way to deal with sensitive information. In her report, the marshal of the Supreme Court laid out a lot of security recommendations here and Chief Justice John Roberts said he's going to launch a review into how documents are handled.

But for this particular leak that so rocked the court and the nation, all this comes too late -- Ariane de Vogue, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Live to Juba, South Sudan, Pope Francis is about to leave, saying goodbye to the country and the continent. This ends the pope's visit to Africa. Earlier the pontiff celebrated mass with the faithful. And we'll have more on the visit in just a few minutes.

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BRUNHUBER: We're getting reports of new Russian strikes in Ukraine today. Ukrainian officials say Russian shelling and missiles hit multiple strikes in the Donetsk region, killing four people and leaving 11 others wounded.

Earlier Ukraine also said a search and rescue operation was underway after strikes on Kharkiv. Two missiles hit the city on Sunday, leaving at least four wounded. Earlier, Ukraine's president warning the grueling war against Russia isn't getting any easier. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Over the 346 days of this war, I have often said the situation at the front is tough and that the situation is getting tougher. Now it is such a time again, the time when the occupier is throwing more and more of its forces at breaking down our defense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, Mr. Zelenskyy thanked British prime minister Rishi Sunak for training Ukrainian tank crews. Some of them are in the U.K. learning the ropes on the Challenger tanks, which Britain plans to send to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Canada said the tanks it promised to Ukraine are already on the way. Canada's defense ministry posted this video of the Leopard tanks being loaded on transport planes.

On Saturday, Portugal became the latest country to pledge Leopards to Ukraine, while France and Italy are now promising a new air defense system to be delivered this spring.

And Ukraine says more than a dozen of its prisoners of war are back home after the latest prisoner exchange with Moscow. The remains of two British aid workers killed in the east of the country were also returned.

Russia's state news agency says more than 60 Russian troops were freed by Ukrainians in a deal mediated by the United Arab Emirates. Ukraine also says Russia is building up its military reserves in the occupied city of Mariupol.

Officials say some 30,000 are deployed there, meaning more attacks in the east is just a matter of time. Fred Pleitgen reports from Dnipro, Russia is turning up the pressure on other areas, too.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: On various fronts in Ukraine, the battlefield appears to be heating up. If you take a look at the south of the country, especially around Kherson, there's massive Russian shelling going on the past couple of days, really the past couple of weeks.

But it has been intensifying. One person was killed in a flurry of attacks in Kherson, mostly artillery used by the Russians. They're not near Ukrainian positions and there's a body of water between them and the Ukrainians but they certainly are shelling that area with a vengeance.

A very different situation in the east of the country with the battle for Bakhmut, which has certainly been the most brutal in the past couple of weeks, getting more intense. The Ukrainians had been losing ground but now they might be stabilizing the situation there.

From what we've seen, Ukrainians are moving some of their most battle- hardened units into that place and that seems to be making a difference on the ground. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said they're not going to be giving up Bakhmut and they're going to be fighting for every inch.

And they're not going to give up any territory without a massive fight. Other places on the eastern front, there's also massive fighting going on. Ukrainians certainly believe this very well could be at least a prelude to that massive Russian offensive, which both the U.S. and the Ukrainians have been expecting.

Ukrainians say they're well entrenched. They said they need more Western weapons to not only hold the line but go on the offensive as well. Certainly that last batch of weapons coming from the United States is welcomed by Kyiv -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Dnipro, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Britain and the European Union are hoping to inflict more economic pain on Russia with new sanctions today. The E.U. is introducing a ban on imports of Russian diesel while the U.K. is slapping a ban on insurance and other services affecting maritime transport of Russia's refined oil products.

For more, Scott McLean is in London.

Take us through the new sanctions.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is essentially a price cap that has been agreed by the U.S., the E.U., the G7 and Australia and it's in addition to the price cap that's been in place.

[04:45:00]

MCLEAN: Since December, Russian crude oil, capping the price there at $60 a barrel. This extends to refined oil products, things like diesel and gasoline, that will be capped at $100 a barrel.

The price takes into account the fact it's been upgraded and refined into a usable product. A Treasury official said -- an American Treasury official says, look, the goal is not to completely tank the Russian economy. The goal is to make the Kremlin have a choice between either propping up its economy or funding its war and it can't do both.

The way that this is going to be enforced is through shipping. So essentially Western ships are not going to be able to carry these Russian oil products if they've been purchased above the caps.

And insurance companies will not be able to provide insurance on the ships. What it does not do is prevent any third party from purchasing the oil, though, given the lessened demand for Russian oil the price is falling.

Brent crude from the U.K. and Russian crude typically trade around the same price, give or take a few cents. But as of late, Russian oil is trading at a discount of more than 30 percent.

Now Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pushed in the last week the E.U. to do more with sanctions. He says the Russians have adapted. In an IMF report recently, it said the Russian economy was forecast to actually grow slightly this year, though, in response the European Commission president said this. Listen.

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URSULA VAN DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: Today Russia is paying a heavy price as our sanctions are eroding its economy, throwing it back by a generation. The price cap on crude oil already costs Russia around 160 million euros a day and we'll keep churning up the pressure further.

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MCLEAN: She was referencing the price cap has been in place since December on Russian crude. This latest price cap today goes even further than that. She also pledged there would be a 10th European sanctions package, this one coming in time for the one-year anniversary, targeting the trade and technology that is behind Russia's war effort, saying that it will have an impact to the tune of some $11 billion.

BRUNHUBER: All right, we'll see. Scott McLean, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

For the fifth straight weekend, thousands of protesters filled the streets across Israel.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): This was the scene in Tel Aviv. Thousands more protested in Jerusalem, Haifa and other cities. Protesters object to the right wing government of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a series of planned judicial changes.

Opposition leaders attended the demonstrations again this weekend, including former prime minister Yair Lapid.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: Dozens of wildfires are burning in Chile and the weather isn't helping. Temperatures are in excess of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or 40 degrees Celsius. And high winds are fanning the flames.

An area the size of Philadelphia, has already been charred and the cost in human lives continues to rise. At least 23 have died and hundreds more have been injured.

One of Pakistan's most controversial leaders has died. After the break, we'll take you to Islamabad for reaction on the death of the former president Pervez Musharraf.

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BRUNHUBER: Former Pakistani president General Pervez Musharraf has died at the age of 79. According to a statement from Pakistan's military, he died after a prolonged illness. He was in Dubai, where he lived several years in self imposed exile.

He led Pakistan at the start of the U.S. invasion in Afghanistan. For more on this, Sophia Saifi join us from Islamabad.

A controversial figure who had a complex relationship with the U.S.

How is he being remembered?

SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN PRODUCER: Kim, controversial relationship, complex relationship with the United States and a very complicated legacy here in Pakistan. Many people here came of age post-9/11. The youth of this country remembers that fateful night in 1999, when Musharraf came to power in a coup here, when soldiers crossed over into the buildings of Islamabad.

He was in power at a time when he really strengthened his relationship with the United States. He was here at the right time. He said in his memoir that he wrote that the U.S. threatened to bomb Pakistan into the Stone Age if Musharraf did not ally himself within the United States.

He controversially allowed drone strikes to take place within the country. He leaves behind a very bloody legacy, yes. Media strengthened during his term and it was that media that went on to criticize his long term in office.

He weakened democracy in Pakistan. There is a legacy of militancy. Yes, he went against the jihadist programs within the country but also had a retaliation within the country and that's something the country is still reeling from still.

Only earlier this week, we had a bloody attack in Peshawar. That's a legacy that still lives on.

Musharraf was praised, he does have admirers for being more liberal, for being moderate. The economy was better during his time. But again, with a pinch of salt that the United States gave Pakistan and Musharraf's government a lot of aid to assist them in their war on terror and in their efforts in Afghanistan.

So a very complicated legacy, something that isn't going to be forgotten very, very soon.

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SAIFI: We have the current prime minister, who has condoled the family. But he is the brother of the former prime minister who was ousted in that coup that took place in 1999.

So we're waiting to see where his funeral will take place, whether it will be in Dubai, whether his body will be allowed to come back to Pakistan. We'll have to wait in the coming hours for the answers to those questions.

BRUNHUBER: We'll come back to you if we get more. Sophia Saifi, we appreciate it.

After a rapturous reception in South Sudan, the pope is leaving Africa. Earlier Sunday, the pontiff celebrated mass with the faithful in the capital, Juba. On Saturday he met with some of South Sudan's millions of internally displaced people.

And as he's done throughout the trip, he called for a rejection of violence and all conflict. A special blessing was given by the pontiff and two other religious leaders traveling with him. He was accompanied by the heads of the Anglican Church and the Church of Scotland, representing the Christian denominations to which most South Sudanese belong.

That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back after a quick break with more news. Please do stay with us.