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Connect the World
EU Commission Chief warns of Growing Food Crisis; Examining the Decade-Long Dispute Over Taiwan; Russia Halts Gas Exports to Finland; Official: 200 Bodies Found in Ruins of Mariupol High-Rise; Migrants Turned Away at Borders as Lifting of Title 42 Delayed; Droughts are Intensifying across the U.S. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired May 24, 2022 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN, London. This is "Connect the World" with Becky Anderson.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Well, this hour world leaders gathering in Davos to discuss the state of global economy. Russia's brutal
invasion of Ukraine and the threat the war is having on food security and they are all interconnected.
I'm Becky Anderson. Hello and welcome back to "Connect the World". From rising bread prices in Lebanon to empty shelves in Somalia. Russia's war on
Ukraine is having an impact on food around the world and it could get worse.
Some of the planet's most powerful leaders are hearing about a food crisis that is hitting the vulnerable the hardest and they are hearing about that
at the World Economic Forum in Davos in Switzerland.
Russia is accused of destroying ransacking Ukrainian wheat and blocking exports. The Head of the World Food Programme told our Julia Chatterley
that 325 million people around the world are now facing starvation. He says Ukraine once the breadbasket of the world is becoming the world's
breadline. European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen accused Russia of using hunger as a weapon, take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: We are witnessing how Russia is weaponizing its energy supplies? And indeed, this is having
global repercussions. Unfortunately, we are seeing the same pattern emerging in food security. Ukraine is one of the world's most fertile
countries. And even its flag symbolizes the most common Ukrainian landscape a yellow field of grain under blue sky. Now, those fields of grain have
been scorched.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, CNN's Richard Quest has been a fixture at Davos covering the summit for us for years joining us now live. And you and I talked at
this time yesterday and you anticipated this would be a very different Davos with a very different atmosphere and boys that playing out at this
point, Richard?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN EDITOR AT LARGE: Yes, and I think the way you've just put it sums it up perfectly, Becky, because it's almost extraordinary to
believe there's always been issues of food security in certain countries.
But now, the developed world is going to have food poverty as a result of higher inflation. And people are making really tough choices on what they
can afford to feed their families. The developing world is going to be absolutely clobbered by this food security issue.
You will see hunger, you will see famine, and you will see deaths. And that's what people are talking about here. And it all goes back to the war
in Ukraine which is why when I spoke to Ursula Von Der Leyen, after she gave that speech. She was continually pointing out Europe is, is together
the unit - the unity that has existed so far remains despite disagreements over oil and gas sanctions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEYEN: The European population stands very strongly behind Ukraine, and is outraged about this brutal invasion. And you should not oversee, or forget
the fact that we have this huge investment package next generation you recovery from the pandemic.
This is why Europe is standing strong. And many people in Europe also see this opportunity that getting rid of fossil fuels from Russia is a big
chance to invest heavily in renewable so our European Green Deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Now Becky, to make the point, just how difficult everything is. You've got the food insecurity, which is absolutely crucial. You've got the
war, you've got China. But you've also got the Fed raising interest rates, which are feeding in.
And now if you look at the market today, you can see that the market is very heavily down another day of massive losses. These can't be seen in
isolation, a tapestry of global events is being created that is now feeding upon itself. And in some cases it will be recession in other cases it could
be worse, but the overall architecture is one of grave seriousness.
ANDERSON: Those are the gathered at the top of the hill are employed to a certain extent to help the rest of us sort this out and to provide some
sort of solutions or certainly roadmaps out of this.
QUEST: Yes.
ANDERSON: Is it clear at this point whether they are equipped to do so at this point?
[11:05:00]
QUEST: No, it's not. Absolutely not they are - they'll be the first to admit that dealing with things they've never dealt with before. Never
thought they'd have to deal with the consensus. The Davos consensus on values and principles has just gone straight out of the window in the last
12 months.
The one thing I will say, because I was talking to someone from Deloitte this afternoon, just walking in, and he was saying, it's not all gloom.
We've got social entrepreneurs, we've got people doing this, that the other, we've got people buying and investing in new ideas.
And he's right there is the prospect of so much future optimism. But it can't be - you have to worry about it being swept away in this maelstrom of
misery that we have all around us at the moment. It won't last forever. Of course it won't, but the damage will be done.
ANDERSON: I'm just being reminded of I think it was the - is it the central banker in the UK who talks about being a hopeless physician--
QUEST: And a billionaire.
ANDERSON: That's right. Talked about being in a helpless position with inflation running as high as it is at present and you know it is slightly
disconcerting when you hear the central bankers using terms like that. Good. Alright, look, we'll check back in with you interesting time. Thank
you.
QUEST: Thank you.
ANDERSON: New satellite photos show Russian ships loading what's believed to be stolen grain last week in Crimea, those are just the latest Russian
actions exposed by satellite companies. They are seeing through the fog of war and proving to be critical eyes over Ukraine, CNN's Alex Marquardt has
the story and a warning that some of the images you are about to see are graphic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): These new satellite images show what appeared to be the ramping up of theft
by Russia of Ukrainian grain being poured into the open hold of a Russian ship. This was in the Crimean port of Sebastopol on May 19th.
Then two days later, a second ship docks and it too is filled. Now both Russian ships are sailing away. This weekend, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
accused Russia of fueling a food crisis and of gradually stealing Ukraine's food supplies and trying to sell them.
An earlier image from Maxar Technologies shows one of those same Russian ships in a port of their close ally Syria, the Ukrainian grain waiting to
be unloaded onto trucks. These extraordinary revealing images are so close and so clear that they look like they could be taken by drone or
helicopter.
STEPHEN WOODS, MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES LTD: You can actually see the grain pouring into the open hole of the ship.
MARQUARDT (voice over): Stephen Wood and his team at Maxar spotted the ships in this much wider image of Crimea.
WOODS: This is 400 miles up in space to be able to see that kind of level of detail, the ships the cab of the truck, pretty phenomenal stuff.
MARQUARDT (voice over): Maxar and other commercial satellite companies have played a critical role in what we know about Russia's war in Ukraine with
satellite imagery that is unprecedented both in quality and how it's being used.
WOODS: Before this was only available in the halls of CIA or the U.S. government or friendly foreign governments to now we're showing it on CNN.
MARQUARDT (on camera): We're keeping a very close eye on that column of Russian vehicles that convoy we've been talking about for several days.
MARQUARDT (voice over): They alerted the world to the famous 40 mile long Russian convoy outside Kyiv the rows of hundreds of mass graves near
Mariupol potential war crimes in Bucha and the aftermath of the Russian bombing of the Mariupol Theater.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The satellite is in the final stages of getting ready to be shipped very soon.
MARQUARDT (voice over): We were given a rare tour of Maxar Satellite Factory in Palo Alto, California by CEO Daniel Jablonsky, joint projects
with NASA and others construction underway on six new Maxar Satellites which will allow them to scan a single spot on earth 15 times a day.
For decades, Maxar has provided all kinds of images to both private clients and to the U.S. government, their biggest customer.
MARQUARDT (voice over): How much does the U.S. government tell you where to look?
DANIEL JABLONSKY, CEO MAXAR TECHNOLOGY: They tell us where to point the satellites and take the imagery and then that's what we feed into them as a
service, the same way we would do for Google Maps, for example.
MARQUARDT (on camera): Will the intelligence community for example, say we know that there is a war crime that has been committed there all these mass
graves, for example, train your satellites there, and then push out those images to the press?
JABLONSKY: They actually - they might ask us to make those collections, but they don't - they do not influence or ask us to necessarily put out what
we're putting out to the public.
MARQUARDT (voice over): Maxar is now giving imagery to the Ukrainian government. Part of the U.S. aid for Ukraine in a fight the U.S. and others
now say that has resulted in Russian war crimes.
MARQUARDT (on camera): To what extent are your images going to be critical in these war crimes investigations?
WOODS: For example, the bodies that were found on the street and Bucha we had imagery correlating at the exact same time where these bodies were down
to the place the time in the moment. It's having that kind of fidelity of data that we now have that makes that possible.
[11:10:00]
WOODS: And I ultimately think it will play an important part.
MARQUARDT (voice over): Each one of those cargo ships that we showed you in those new satellite images can carry 30,000 tons of grain. Russia, of
course, denies that they're stealing it, but what they aren't taking.
They are targeting or blocking from getting out of Ukraine, devastating for Ukraine, and the world which gets so much of its food from Ukraine, at
least now, thanks to the satellite companies like Maxar, we can see it all happening. Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: In Tokyo, Ukraine was among the big topics - two big topics at the Quad Summit that brought together the leaders of the U.S., Japan, India
and Australia. And Joe Biden making the biggest waves with his pre-summit warning that the U.S. would respond with military action if China attacked
Taiwan now the White House later walked back that comment saying its policy of strategic ambiguity as it is known towards Taiwan has not changed.
But China is still angry the Foreign Ministry Spokesperson today saying the U.S. has broken its promise to abide by the One China Principle and warning
will pay an unbearable price if it continues on the wrong path. Selina Wang has more details and examines how the decades long dispute over Taiwan is
playing into larger geopolitical tensions have a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): China is infuriated by Biden's comments on Monday that the U.S. would respond militarily if China invaded
Taiwan. Now even though the White House downplayed the statements, it's unclear if Beijing is actually convinced that the U.S. has not changed its
policy on Taiwan.
From Beijing's point of view, Biden is just meddling even further into what it sees as an internal affair. It is impossible to overstate just how
important Taiwan is to the ruling Communist Party and its legitimacy.
WANG (voice over): It's a vibrant democracy living under the threat of an autocratic superpower. Taiwan is just over 100 miles away from mainland
China south east coast. This self-ruled island of more than 23 million is seen by China as a breakaway province that must be reunified with the
mainland even by force if necessary.
The war in Ukraine has heightened fears over the fate of Taiwan and renewed scrutiny on America's role in a potential conflict. The island became part
of the Chinese Empire in the 17th century. It fell under Japan's rule for 50 years until the end of World War II that was governed by - nationalist
party.
When the nationalists lost a brutal civil war and fled to Taiwan multi-dose Communist Party took over the mainland in 1949. Both Taipei and Beijing
claimed to be the only legitimate ruler of the entire Chinese territory.
For decades, the U.S. and most countries recognize Taipei as the sole government of China. But in 1979, the U.S. switched diplomatic relations
from Taipei to Beijing. Officially, the U.S. and most countries acknowledged there was only one China.
Yes, unofficial ties between Washington and Taipei have been tightening. Multiple American delegations have visited in recent years to show support
for Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen a Leader Beijing sees as dangerously pro independent. And the U.S. continues to sell weapons to the island, all
of that infuriates China.
In response, last year, Beijing flew a record number of warplanes into airspace near Taiwan. For decades, the U.S. has been purposefully vague
about whether it would defend the island should the Chinese attack?
But as China's military might grows, more are calling for the Biden Administration to end the so called strategic ambiguity. And what happens
to Taiwan will have ripple effects around the world.
It's the global leader in semiconductors Taiwan's chips power everything from smart phones to cars. While Beijing has rejected comparisons between
Taiwan and Ukraine, experts agree China is closely analyzing the crippling sanctions against Russia. They say there was the potential for an even more
destructive conflict that could pit the world's largest militaries and economies against each other.
WANG (on camera): Beijing may become more cautious in light of Russia's struggling invasion and the strong Western response. But on the other hand,
Beijing could accelerate its plans and conclude that any attempt to take Taiwan by force will only get harder. The longer they wait. Selina Wang,
CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Will Ripley is connecting us this hour from Tokyo. Will you've covered Joe Biden's Asia tour? It's been - it's been interesting and not
without event. What's your assessment of what he sought to achieve on this trip? And did he succeed?
[11:15:00]
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know it's a good question, Becky, because I'm - coming into Asia, perception that President Biden was trying
to show China that the United States is capable of handling multiple hotspots at once.
Ukraine was dominating the conversations here in Tokyo, but really also high on the agenda was the issue of Taiwan. And when President Biden said
in a news conference very clearly, for at least the third time that the United States would come to Taiwan's defense militarily.
It seems to be perhaps a deliberate signal to the Chinese President Xi Jinping that there is a shift in the American strategy of strategic
ambiguity, keeping Beijing guessing over what the United States would do if China were to make a move on Taiwan. But then we had this interaction
today, where after the White House staff walked back President Biden's remarks, he also the President walked them back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President is the policy of strategic ambiguity towards Taiwan dead, explain?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MAE: Can you explain?
BIDEN: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President where do you - Taiwan and China --?
BIDEN: Our policy has not changed at all. I think that when I made my statement yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIPLEY: So is this part of some deliberate strategy? Was it just a gaffe from a president who has made the exact same gaffe before including during
a CNN town hall back in October when he told Anderson Cooper, that the United States would come to Taiwan's defense?
We know that the United States provides billions of dollars in weapons as well as training to Taiwan, and has promised to help the island, you know,
defend it in the event that China would try to take away its self-governing democratic system that is Selina's piece just explained for you. China
doesn't recognize and they haven't recognized for more than 70 years, even though the communist rulers in Beijing have never once controlled the self-
governing island of Taiwan.
But here in Tokyo, Becky, certainly the security situation continues to feel very tense. And in fact, there was an incident when Chinese and
Russian fighters loose to Japan that is something that Taiwan encounters on a regular basis when China sends its own air force into Taiwan's self-
declared air defense identification zone.
Japan's Prime Minister saying that this you know, deliberate attempt to intimidate the host country during the Quad Summit by China and Russia
sending fighters close to Japan is just a signal that the security environment in this part of the world and this region continues to be
perhaps the most tense has been in many years.
ANDERSON: This strategic ambiguity, which is policy of the U.S. of course, and Biden says U.S. policy hasn't changed despite what he's said earlier in
this trip. I wonder whether you can explain whether it still makes sense to have strategic ambiguity with Taiwan post Ukraine and everything we've seen
going on there, or have we not, perhaps move beyond this issue at this point.
RIPLEY: Well, this is where - this is why yesterday when President Biden made those comments, Becky, it for a lot of us observers, it seemed to make
sense. It seemed that the Commander in Chief was saying very clearly that strategic ambiguity is coming to an end the fact that he said at least
three times.
The Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, ostensibly and publicly spoken out calling for the United States to end the policy of strategic
ambiguity, saying that it is time for the United States to be clearer in what it would do if Beijing were to try to use its massive military to
retake the island of Taiwan Japan has publicly signaled that they would step in to defend Taiwan, given that their outlying islands are less than
100 miles from Taiwan.
And they're - yet the United States with this mixed messaging still kind of leaves the issue muddled and leaves it to kind of an open question. But
there are a lot of people in this region, Becky who think it's time for countries that would be willing to come to Taiwan's defense to go on the
record and say that they would, especially given the fact that U.S. intelligence indicates that Beijing is trying to grow its military to such
an extent that with or without U.S. intervention they could feel confident that they could take Taiwan militarily.
That was in a U.S. intelligence assessment just within a matter of weeks ago, Becky, and certainly in Taiwan, they're upping you know, their defense
budget every year. They're upping their reservists training, but they know that without the support of countries like the United States, they wouldn't
stand much of a chance militarily if it was time to make a move.
ANDERSON: Yes, it's fascinating. Thank you really important to get your analysis and insight. Will, thank you! Well, Putin's war creating an energy
crisis in Europe. Finland, the latest casualty we speak to the head of state sorry, the Head of the State Owned Gas Company up next. And amid the
shelling in Ukraine people live with a terrifying question where will the next bomb fall? Ahead we're going to take a look at the psychological
impact of this war.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back, I'm Becky Anderson. Well, war rages in Ukraine an economic battle continues elsewhere in Europe. Russia halted gas exports to
Finland on Saturday citing a "Payments dispute" that is according to Finnish state owned energy firm gas Gasum.
Russia is demanding payment in rubles something which Gasum has said publicly it will not agree to. Finland is now cut off a scenario that would
spell disaster for many European countries.
However, while a lot of imported gas in Finland is from Russia, gas only accounts for about 3 percent of Finland's overall energy use. Indeed Gasum
CEO, Mika Wiljanen said the company and I quote "Will be able to supply all its existing customers with gas in the coming months".
And Mika joins me now from Helsinki. Thank you, sir. Firstly, Russia has cited nonpayment as the reason for cutting off supply. Is this entirely
down to your refusal to pay in rubles?
MIKA WILJANEN, CEO, GASUM: Yes, it's partly that then also the partly that we had several disputes concerning our supply agreement and that totality
led to into the situation that they cut the gas on Saturday morning at seven o'clock.
ANDERSON: And you are though convinced that this will not have a hugely negative impact on finished consumers, correct?
WILJANEN: That is correct. We have been working quite fiercely on this and develop our plan on how can we, how we supply our customers during the
summer period. And on Saturday when they cut the gas, gas was flowing through the Baltic connector from the south. And our customers were able to
use gas, that's normally.
ANDERSON: Do you believe that this is to do with Finland applying to join NATO?
WILJANEN: That could be but it is probably their totality assessment. But also they would also they claim that it's because of the bait payment
structure. That's the official reasoning for cutting the gas.
ANDERSON: How concerned are you? You say that you are planning to make up the shortfall through other sources. And I wonder if you can give us a
breakdown of that. But the bigger picture here is that this is an aggressive action isn't it by the Russians?
WILJANEN: It is.
ANDERSON: On the Finnish piece?
WILJANEN: It is - it is. It is and it creates a large amount of unnecessary hassle that we need to do to make sure that our industries and consumers
and car drivers and truck drivers can use their vehicles. And that creates an extra challenge, certainly.
[11:25:00]
ANDERSON: How are you - to make up these shortfall, sorry?
WILJANEN: Yes, we have been working quite some time for the shortfalls. We are transporting it through the Baltic connector, which is connecting
Estonia and Finland.
And we are bringing from several sources, we are bringing from the - storage, which is in Latvia. We're also importing through their - that are
floating LNG terminal which is in Lithuania.
And the third option we have is the newly opened pipeline between Poland and Lithuania, which is called GIPL. And we are sourcing from various
international sources the gas and bringing it through those pipelines.
ANDERSON: Does the turning off the gas pipes to Finland by Moscow suggest to you that this is a threat, and this is a bigger message to wider Europe,
they will do this.
WILJANEN: Probably they wanted to show like they did in Poland and Bulgaria earlier that they will stick to their threads and they will pull the
threads through. And this by cutting it off from Finland is prior to the other European countries, which maybe their timeline is different than
ours. So it's probably is a bit of a show that they will pull through their threat.
ANDERSON: Is it realistic to suggest that in anything like the short to medium term, that Europe can wean itself off Russian gas. You're in the
business, we've been having this conversation now, you know, for what, six, eight weeks, and there is certainly still no agreement by Europe.
In fact, I'd go so far as to say it is causing a rift no agreement on what to do about Russian gas, possibly more agreement about what to do about
Russian oil, but certainly no agreement about Russian gas. What's your assessment in the short to medium term?
WILJANEN: It is certainly very, very challenging to replace and in that short period of time, as if gas is so integrated in the industry and in the
central Europe's countries society.
So you know, short term, I think it's very, very challenging for many of the big European markets to actually suspend that gas.
ANDERSON: Right. Who are the international players that you would expect to benefit from the disappearance, as it were, or through the weaning off of
Russian gas by European countries that is set to gain to benefit to plug that hole?
WILJANEN: Well, certainly the big, big gas suppliers, for example, in Norway, are likely to benefit by increasing, increasing slightly the
production and transporting it to Europe also the big LNG suppliers that can actually supply on a large scale into Europe.
But the challenge, of course in Europe is that we need to build the import facilities to the network. And that will unfortunately take a little bit
time.
ANDERSON: As a Finn, sitting where you are take your CEO hat off, which is I'm sure you've had many sleepless nights of late just trying to ensure
that you can continue operations in the company that you aren't responsible for.
But take that hat off for a moment.
And as a Finn, sort of I don't use this metaphor loosely staring down the barrel of a, you know of a Moscow garden as it were, you know, how are you
feeling at present?
I mean, we're nearly three months, nearly at the end of a three month conflict on your doorstep as it were you share a border with Russia. How
are you feeling at present?
WILJANEN: Well, currently, we feel quite secured. But obviously, it has raised a lot of thoughts in our heads. And especially to keep in mind that
for example, my mother still remembers the Second World War.
And for those who it's close to their memory, it's even more challenging. We feel quite safe; of course we start clearly seeing the long term
unreliability to Russia.
[11:30:00]
WILJANEN: And that means that of course we make actions accordingly to secure our long term safety as well. So in a way, there is very little
guarantees, there is very little we can believe.
So we need to take that into our own hands and, and do the necessary actions as we are doing as a country together, which we're in.
ANDERSON: Sir, we appreciate your time. Thank you very much indeed for joining us an important interview. Coming up, a group of foreign former
Special Forces are now helping Ukraine fight Russia; we're going to hear from one of them. And what is an exclusive report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: As the fighting rages in Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is urging the wall to keep pressure on Russia. Speaking at the World Economic
Forum in Davos on Monday he called on other countries to increase oil embargoes and economic sanctions.
Now, putting that kind of pressure on Moscow could also make a prisoner exchange, --. Zelenskyy says that Kyiv is ready for a prisoner swap as soon
as possible.
Meantime, on the ground heavy shelling continues around the Donbas region. The local military there says the Russians have launched an offensive in
recent days attempting breakthroughs in several locations.
At least one civilian has died. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux joining us now live from Lviv in western Ukraine and get us up to speed if you will, just with
the latest on the ground, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, I want to focus on Mariupol that is now completely in Russian hands. Ukrainian officials now saying
that they believe more than 20,000 residents of that city have died since the beginning of the war, many of them hastily buried in the courtyards
there.
And one Ukrainian official and adviser to the mayor now saying a gruesome discovery has been made. 200 bodies that were found under debris of a high
rise, a building that officials saying and I'm quoting here, the bodies were found in a basement underneath the wrecked building in an advanced
state of decomposition. The city has turned into a continuous cemetery.
Now that same official goes on to say that the burial process and to actually claim the bodies has become complicated because of Russian
officials and their requirements of the Ukrainians that if you would want to claim a body that you would literally have to remove it from the debris,
bring it to the morgue.
[11:35:00]
MALVEAUX: And then at that point agree to make a video, a video statement that it was the Ukrainian military that killed your loved one instead of
the Russians, Becky.
ANDERSON: Suzanne, Ukraine's First Lady has announced that she is launching a national psychological support program. We have talked since the outset
of this crisis about the sort of shock to mental health that this war will have. And I know that you've been looking into this angle what have you
found?
MALVEAUX: Well, Becky, you're absolutely right. I mean, we have now seen that the worst come to fruition here the level of trauma that Ukrainian
says the First Lady had spoken to it.
Talking about families that have been torn apart, parents who've lost their children, children who have become orphans, and really many people ravaged
by the assault of war rape, the unknown, the uncertain, some who've been fleeing their homes other desperately trying to get back.
We have been following the American group, the Center for mind body medicine. They're partnering now with Ukrainian professionals on the ground
to try to help really teach basic tools techniques to the Ukrainians to deal with the trauma just to begin that process of healing. And Becky, I
want to warn our viewers that some of this video may be disturbing to watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice over): In the cities of Bucha and Irpin, the streets are quiet, the sun shines brightly. The Russian forces that committed gruesome
crimes just weeks ago are gone. As part of a therapy exercise with their family, eight year old Sophia - is asked to draw what it was like for her
during the fighting.
DR. JIM GORDON, PHYCHIATRIST, CENTER FOR MIND-BODY MEDICINE: Tell me what the picture is of.
UNKNOWN MALE: The Russian warrior kills, is killing the child.
MALVEAUX (voice over): American psychiatrist Dr. Jim Gordon is in Ukraine working with local partners to develop an urgent program to address the
overwhelming trauma here.
DR. GORDON: Most important thing for us is to say to people, there is a possibility of change. This isn't necessarily permanent. There is hope.
ANGELINA KASYANOVA, IRPIN RESIDENT: Hidden from tanks, from bombs everything.
MALVEAUX (voice over): For 19 year old Angelina Kasyanova, her worst nightmare was realized, bombarded here in Irpin after already fleeing her
childhood home in the east when Russia attacked in 2014.
KASYANOVA: The war or was me for eight years, with my family we sleep in this room.
MALVEAUX (voice over): Angelina and her family sheltered in the basement with their neighbors for more than a week.
KASYANOVA: I was asleep here when was bombed.
MALVEAUX (voice over): Outside dead bodies were found in the streets.
KASYANOVA: It's very hard when you understand that you may be can last your home, again and you're afraid that you can die.
MALVEAUX (voice over): Now Gordon teaches her techniques to help cope using deep breathing and movement.
DR. GORDON: The shaking and dancing allows people those trauma frozen bodies to melt a little bit. Just shake.
MALVEAUX (voice over): Angelina who now counsels children who've lost her parents will join a workshop Gordon is offering on how to fight trauma
during what is expected to be a long conflict.
DR. GORDON: Really nice to see them.
MALVEAUX (voice over): The Okada family is on the move and facing multiple crises living in a shelter with four children in western Ukraine's Lviv
since fleeing their home in the east. A missile attack at their neighborhood train station traumatized the children.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They ran home and hid themselves under the beds.
MALVEAUX (voice over): Gordon asked them to draw and their pictures are dark.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a grave.
MALVEAUX (voice over): For a 13 year old Nastya.
DR. GORDON: She draws herself collapsed on the ground in a state of total terror with a railway station blowing up.
MALVEAUX (voice over): Nastya's mother reveals she cannot express her own emotions. She has to be strong for her children. Her daughter is
overwhelmed with grief.
NASTYA OKATA, FLED FROM PAVLOHRAD: The pain fades a little but still, I want to go home.
MALVEAUX (on camera): And do time do you think you will?
OKATA: Yes.
MALVEAUX (voice over): Her family's future she imagines a little brighter, a first step to healing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: And Gordon will be working with many professionals, Ukrainian professionals including Dr. Roman - who's very well known here. They will
be partnering with Catholic University in Ukraine.
They're holding an emergency two days session online on June 6 and seventh to try to begin the process to teach those techniques to educators,
ministers, youth leaders to pass it on to their own families and their communities to begin the process just begin the process of trying to heal,
Becky.
[11:40:00]
ANDERSON: Yes, Suzanne, an important story. Thank you very much indeed, for your reporting. Well, Ukraine's appeal for international aid has included a
call for help on the battlefield.
Now Ukrainian troops are getting that help from foreign volunteers. Some have arrived with years of combat experience, which includes former elite
Special Forces from United States.
CNN's Sam Kiley speaks with one of them in this exclusive report from Irpin near the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): How did you know where to go?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We didn't. We just knew the enemy was this way. Hop to these backyards and clear through here.
KILEY (voice over): It's not as straightforward as it sounds. Veterans have years of counterinsurgency warfare. This small team of American and British
fighters is under Ukrainian command.
And they now look at war down the other end of the barrel, and have asked us to conceal their identities for their own security. This is a war that
has a moral clarity for these volunteers in Ukraine's international Legion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, people keep saying, are you doing it for democracy. And it's really not, you know, it's really comes down to good
versus evil. I never figured out why they were killing women and children. And it wasn't by accident. It was murder.
I mean, we found many people just at the end of the street that were bound together, and shot down on this side of the road.
KILEY (voice over): Many in Kevin's Team X Special Forces operators have had millions spent on their training in the West in countries that won't
send troops to war with Russia. Among the first into Irpin, they took over this house behind enemy lines.
He says the team killed dozens of Russians in the park below. He says that the fighting and the shelling and the Russian killing of civilians were
relentless.
As Kevin's team advanced, he says they got trapped in this health span for several days. It was steadily torn apart by Russian artillery.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the house of hell, this was four really miserable days of really little sleep really heavy artillery really heavy
infantry presents from the Russians.
KILEY (voice over): Kevin's small team is funded largely by donations to the Ukrainian Legion. It operates mostly behind Russian lines. And they
were stunned at first at being on the receiving end of airstrikes and heavy artillery.
But they're applying the lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan to Russia, and believe that they're having an effect on the enemy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's definitely a psychological aspect to it. We do know that the Russians were talking about hey; they're up like we can't
figure out where they're at. We don't know what's happening. We're being artillery.
It's so heavy that we put this chair here so we could jump out this window if we had to in a hurry.
KILEY (voice over): Deeper into the spa, he comes across evidence that Russia plays dirty, even in local defeat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So a lot of the Russians came back through some of these places and remind them will probably be traps. And you can see this cable
goes back into the ground where it's been intentionally buried, and then it's tied off here.
KILEY (voice over): So far, this group has not lost a soldier.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely a nightmare.
KILEY (voice over): But that time may come. It's a risk he says he's prepared to take because for the West's former warriors in the war on
terror, Ukraine has given them something back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One way or the other, they've either been lost or they've lost everything. So this has given them another chance. You know,
they come back here. And it's like they've put their life back together.
KILEY (voice over): Sam Kiley, CNN Irpin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: We are taking a very short break, back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:45:00]
ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're with "Connect the World". I'm Becky Anderson. It is quarter to five here in the UK broadcasting to you today
from London.
Tens of thousands of migrants are on the U.S. Mexican border waiting to enter the country, despite a judge's ruling which keeps what's known as
Title 42 in place. Now this COVID related policy allows authorities to turn migrants away from the U.S.
But officials say it likely won't slow down those border crossings. CNN's Matt Rivers met with some asylum seekers on the Mexican side of the border.
Here's his report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Are you nervous that the authorities are not going to allow you to enter the country?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just very much so, more than the nerves is the uncertainty of not knowing how long we will have to be here. Especially for
a baby, he's only a year and a half full. So Jess is difficult.
KILEY (on camera): Well, thank you so much for your time. So his story there very similar to other stories that we have heard in this shelter the
shelters called - The Good Shepherd shelter, and it is completely full at the moment.
The majority of migrants here right now are actually Haitian. But as you just heard from our interview, there he is Venezuelan. There are people
from Honduras here and this shelter, which can hold 80 people, is now completely full.
And we can show you some of that I want to enter into one of the dormitories here and just bear with us because it is a little dark as we
transition from sunlight to darkness here.
There are no lights in here, but you can see just how completely full this dormitory is. It is just bunk bed next to bunk bed next to bunk bed. There
are dozens of people that are living in this facility, most of whom are spread out through the facility, they've asked us to respect people's
privacy here.
So that's why you're seeing empty beds. But there are people who are sharing bunk beds here. Now remember, Ciudad Juarez is one of the most
dangerous cities in Mexico.
And as a result, people that come into the shelter can actually leave unless they have a good reason to do so, one of those legitimate reasons
would have been to apply for asylum at the border.
And many people were hoping here that with the expiration of Title 42 that they could have gone to the border to do that more easily. Of course, that
didn't happen with the federal judge in Louisiana, continuing to allow that policy to be in place.
And that's been very disappointing for people here, many of which many of whom would have gone to the border to try and apply for asylum.
And we spoke to the director of this facility earlier today who told us that things can't continue like this. He's building another facility just
across the street that he says can house more than double of what he can hold right now.
And yet when that is finished in two months' time, he says he already knows that there won't be enough people, enough room rather to handle all of the
people that he says is still going to be in this area.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: That was Matt Rivers in Ciudad Juarez in Mexico. And one other note, the U.S. Department of Justice is trying to appeal the federal
judge's decision blocking the Biden Administration from lifting Title 42.
Coming up, from California to Kolkata, the world is reeling from the effects of our warming planet. We're live from the CNN weather center up
after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:50:00]
ANDERSON: Well, this hour, you've been with us for the full two hours. We've gone from Ukraine to Finland to Davos looking at the many knock on
effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Well, as Europe scrambles to find alternatives to Russian oil and gas, U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry is warning against using Ukraine as a lever to
double down on fossil fuels. He urged world leaders to speed up the transition to clean energy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KERRY, U.S. SPECIAL CLIMATE ENVOY: I am absolutely convinced we will get to a low carbon, no carbon economy on this planet. I cannot tell you
I'm convinced that we will get there in time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, that will remain to be seen. Meanwhile, our planet is already exhibiting the effects of this crisis. CNN Meteorologist Chad Myers
joining us now from Atlanta. This isn't a new story.
But it is a news story that we must return to again and again and again to remind ourselves our viewers, those of us who want to inhabit this planet
that we are staring down the barrel, it is precious, what is going on?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and it's even more precious to me than others that are you know, that our grandparents and their only have a few
more years. And I'm a parent of a 17 year old son that is going to have to live through this.
You know, we're just not looking 20 years down the road from when they put me away; it's going to be 17 years plus another 60 for him that he's going
to have to deal with, so climate change.
The reason what we're talking about is because there have been so many events, heat waves, dust storms, flash flooding, the flash flooding that we
had in Europe over the last summer, and then obviously sea level rise with the waters warming. So let's get to it.
India had the hottest march on record, Northwest and central India had the hottest April on record. And the UK Met Office said that this should happen
every 314 years.
But with climate change, it will happen every three years now. A 100 times more likelihood that we see numbers like this, sometimes over 50 degrees C
in the shade; because of climate change is part of the warming of the atmosphere.
We know there's going to be more droughts, we know that there'll be more heat waves and those are going to be coming more and more often. Something
else is going on here too, sand storms.
Now once you get a sandstorm going, the dust and the sand just kind of lands in a different place. The next storm, the next wind event moves it
along again. So this is just one after another kind of that self-fulfilling prophecy that just doesn't get better.
It just actually just still gets worse every time the wind blows something here about a 15 year drought in this region. We can show you two different
colors. You can see the sand blowing around.
Here's a yellow representation of the sand. But here's what it looked like on the ground in Baghdad. The air was filled with dust and sand. Many
people had to go to the hospital.
Back out here in the American Southwest, a 20 year drought has stricken the area. Many plants are completely dead out there. And hundreds of thousands
to millions of hectares are going to burn this year, a lot of ground out here.
It's already started. Fire season is already going. We haven't had rain. Good rain in 15 to 20 years and we hope for more maybe some this summer,
but you never know Becky.
ANDERSON: Chad, it's always a pleasure having you on. However sort of apocalyptic your vision is, but we got to keep going on this. When we've
got to remind people that there is a solution there really is.
[11:55:00]
ANDERSON: Thank you and to those of you who are watching in the Middle East, particularly those in the Gulf who may be about to or already
experiencing dust storms to be careful, those sandstorms can be dangerous as well as bad for your health of course.
We don't hear this too often. But an exciting day for London commuters for tonight's parting shots. We are taking you aboard the newly open Elizabeth
line right here in London costing a whopping $25 billion.
The line stretches 100 kilometers and stopped up 41 stations in the excitement many passengers wore masks depicting members of the royal
family. Well after her Majesty Queen Elizabeth surprise appearance at last week's opening ceremony of her eponymous line; it is now officially open to
the public.
While this is a soft opening with 12 trains running per hour the full scheduled up to 24 trains per hour is expected to come no later than May of
2023. Thank you for joining us that was "Connect the World". CNN continues after this short break. Good night.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:00]
END
