Ukraine and launch a military attack on taiwan. Ukrainian forces in the besieged city of mariupol appear to be making their final stand, rejecting russias demands to lay down their weapons and surrender or die. Russian forces have surrounded the port city for more than a month. The ukrainian troops are now confined to small pockets of resistance. The city itself is in ruins after weeks of heavy fighting. Many residents have fled. But still an estimated 100 remain trapped without running water, heat, electricity. On sunday, ukraines foreign minister said the situation in mariupol could further derail already stalled negotiations with russia. The situation in mariupol is both dire militarily and heartbreaking. The city doesnt exist anymore. The remainings of the Ukrainian Army and large group of civilians are basically encircled by the Russian Forces. They continue their struggle. No high level talks are taking place. After bucha, it became particularly difficult to continue talking with the russians. But as my president mentioned, mariupol may be a red line. And ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the devastation in mariupol could soon play out in Eastern Ukraine as Russian Troops prepare for a major offensive in the donbas region. Reporter Russian Troops are preparing for an offensive operation in the east of our country. It will begin in the near future. They want to literally finish off and destroy donbas, destroy everything that once gave glory to this industrial region. Just as the Russian Troops are destroying mariupol, they want to wipe out other cities and communities in the donetsk and luhansk regions. And there is more evidence that the high cost in human toll of this war. Near kyiv, they have recovered 41 bodies so far while searching the rubble of destroyed apartment buildings. Meantime, russia intense fight its assault on ukraines second largest city and warning, the next video is graphic. Northeastern city of kharkiv came under heavy shelling on sunday. The Regional Government says at least five people were killed. 20 were hurt in the attacks. Also warning that the men who remain, quote works be filtered out. Cnn cannot independently verify that claim. We have more details now from cnns matt rivers. Reporter a russian ultimatum to mariupols defenders. Surrender by 1 00 p. M. Sunday. The ukrainians did not listen. Our defenders continue to hold the defense, said an adviser to mariupols mayor in response. No, city still has not fallen. There is still our military forces, our soldiers. So they will fight until the end. And as for now, they still are in mariupol. Reporter a main pocket of resistance here centered at the azizov steel plant. Its still unclear how many fighters remain in the city, still difficult to gather information. A lack of Internet Service makes reliably contacting people still hard. Still, what is coming out of the city shows it is almost completely occupied by Russian Troops, keen to show their handing out rations to starving civilians. But the human rights commissioner says such handouts are mere propaganda, amounting to no more than a loaf of bread and a bottle of water a day. It is the russian military, remember, that has caused such suffering. Its weeks long bombardment of mariupol cutting off its population from food, water, and medical supplies. President zelenskyy says the situation in mariupol remains as severe as possible, just inhuman. This is what the Russian Federation did, deliberately did and deliberately continues to destroy cities. Russia is deliberately trying to destroy everyone who is there in mariupol. An estimated 100,000 people remain in and around mariupol and need to be evacuated, but they remain trapped. On sunday, not one humanitarian corridor was open, meaning getting large numbers of people out remained impossible. Russias military goals are clear. Dominate mariupol and move on. Mariupol has to fall before they can move those forces back out to the rest of Eastern Ukraine. And those Russian Forces getting freed up to prove does what . If they free up those forces, theyll be able to more aggressively conquer kharkiv, for example, where is where theyre already launching killings every single day and move more of those forces toward od odesa. But for now, mariupol still has not fallen. Destruction from previous battles litter the citys landscape. And as ukraines remaining forces decline to surrender on monday, russia with a chilling response. Its Defense Ministry saying in part, quote, in case of further resistance, all of them will be eliminated. Matt rivers, cnn, lviv, ukraine. And president zelenskyy tells cnn that ukraine is not willing to seek territory in the eastern end of the country to end the war. He says Ukrainian Forces are ready to fight in the donbas region in a battle that is likely to influence the entire course of the war. They sat down with jake tapper for an exclusive interview. And they talked about washingtons efforts to support and whether more help is needed from the white house. Do you want President Biden to come here . Yes. Are there any plans for him to come . I think he will. You think he will . I think he will. And i think he its his decision, of course, and about the safety situation, it depends. But i think, i think he is the leader of the United States. And thats why he show come here to see. President biden just agreed to another 800 million in military aid for ukraine, bringing the total american contribution to 2. 5 billion. Are you satisfied with that . Do you need more . Of course we need more. But i am happy that he is helping us now. I feel that right now we are having a cleaner dialogue. Its been a dialogue thats had some twists and turns, and not just talk. Its been very, very difficult, because there arent many countries that have really helped us. The assistance from the United States led by President Biden, and they are doing it again today, but there will never be enough. Enough isnt possible. There is a fullscale war ongoing today. So we still need a lot more than what we have today. Unfortunately, we do not have technical advantages over our enemy. Just not on the same level there. But our people are stronger. Thats our main advantage, and we know our mission, our objective, what were fighting for. Were defending our country. All these families and the kids that we discussed before, we know what we stand for. And from where we get our strength. But for bidens confirmed 800 million in support, whats most important is speed. That sense of urgency is also being echoed in washington where u. S. Officials have warned that ukraine could exhaust very quickly that 800 million package of weapons and ammunition once this new russian offensive gains. Cnns alex saenz has more reporting from the white house. Reporter the first shipments of that new more heavyduty military assistance for ukraine started arriving in the region over the weekend. But there is already concern that more equipment may be needed soon. A u. S. Official said there is growing concerns about the ammunition inventory of the ukrainians as its expected that heavy Ground Combat will be picking up in the coming days in Eastern Ukraine. Now this new round of 800 million worth of Security Assistance includes 18 howitzers and 40,000 artillery rounds. But a source said that those could be expended and used in just a matter of days. Now the pentagon has been working, trying to address how to arm the ukrainians faster. Defense secretary lloyd austin, as well as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general mark milley have held daily calls with our counterparts in the region, urging them to ship more supplies and equipment into ukrainian. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy told our colleague jake tapper that he is appreciative of this new military assistance, but said that much more is needed and will be needed in the coming weeks. Now at the same time, russia has been protesting the u. S. Sending this type of equipment into ukraine, sending a diplomatic note to the state Department Warning of, quote, unpredictable consequences if they keep arming the ukrainians. But for the time being, the u. S. Does not appear to be deterred in any way from providing this type of weaponry to ukraine. And theyre adapting the kinds of weapons that they are sending, sending more sophisticated and heavyduty equipment and weaponry into ukrainian, even after some Administration Officials had earlier been hesitant to do so, worrying that it could pose a greater risk of escalation. But its clear that the u. S. Is listening to the demands of the ukrainians in trying to fulfill their needs as quickly as possible, acknowledging that more may be on the way as well. Art arlette saenz, cnn, the white house. For more cnn military analysts retired air force colonel fredrick layton. Thank you for being with us, as always. The austrian chancellor met last week with Vladimir Putin, this assessment of whats happening inside Vladimir Putins brain, here is nbc news. Listen to this. I think he is now in his own war logic, you know. He thinks the war is necessary for security guarantees for the Russian Federation. He doesnt trust the international community. He blames the ukrainians for genocides in the donbas region. I think he believes he is winning the war. That really is some kind of logic, but in a way does it confirm reports for a few weeks here that maybe the russian president is making rational decisions based on wrong or misleading information, or is he just delusional . Well, i think he maybe a combination of both, john, actually. In essence, he is delusional in the sense that he is not getting the right kind of information and his logical compass is basically off here. But what hes looking at i think is a set degree of assets, and these facts are very different from whats actually happening on the ground. So he is being told what conforms to his world view. His world view makes it seem as if he is doing the right thing. And everything that he is doing in ukraine is confirmed by the biases that he has inherent in the operation that he is conducting. So it does seem somewhat logical to what the austrian chancellor was saying in that president putin is looking at this as though he is on a mission, in terms of a Divine Mission to conduct an operation, a military operation that will safeguard russia and protect it from enemies. And he sees the ukrainians as mortal enemies. Yeah, its truly astounding. But right now there seems to be a shift here in how this war is playing out. Explain what were see right now across ukrainian in terms of the increased number of russian strikes. They seem to be much more on the longrange attacks, longrange missile attacks, air strikes, that kind of thing. Yes, to the longrange missile attacks and the air strikes are symptomatic of a force that doesnt want to get into close combat. What youre looking at here when you see strikes in really all parts of the country, youre looking at a situation where the russians are reaching out with their capabilities, their longrange capabilities, but theyre not engaging as rapidly and as thoroughly as they did when they tried to go after kyiv at the beginning of this operation, as they call it, really the invasion. And as a result of that, youre seeing kind of a its not surgical, but it is definitely a remotecontrolled war that is happening here instead of the closein combat that we expect them to engage in at some point in the not too distant future. Well, on that, there is general agreement that the russian offensive in the east is just a matter of time. Where there doesnt seem to be a lot of agreement is on the timing of that, when. How do you see this . Do you see it in terms of days or in terms of weeks . Well, it depends how quickly the russians can replenish the military forces that they had difficulty with around kyiv. Those forces, there have been various reports that they have been moved east. So theyre probably going through belgorod and the donbas and possibly toward kharkiv. As a result of that, what youre looking at i think john, the possibility that it could start within days. But theyve been delayed in two areas. One is kyiv, which ive mentioned. The other is mariupol. And the fact that the ukrainians are putting up this really tremendous effort against them in both places, i think that has delayed their efforts. So the realistic assessment of this i think is that within anywhere from five days to about ten days, we will see a major operation being conducted by the russians. But it will take them somewhat longer to get everything together logistically and in fact get the new commander ready to go as well. So there are going to be those issues that will be i think critical to the russians moving forward at this point. You mentioned mariupol. And there are about 2500 a ukrainian fighters left there, holed up mostly in a steel and iron plant and they defied that russian ultimatum. Last week there was a raising of the possibility of using chemical weapons to clear the plant on the russian side. Just putting the morality to one side, is this the type of scenario where you could see russians using chemical weapons, deploying chemical weapons, simply because its easier . I think thats going to be part of it. Because, john, we have to remember that the ukrainians have inflicted heavy losses on the russians, and the russians as a result have Personnel Shortages. They had them anyways. But now these Personnel Shortages are being exacerbated by the ukrainian performance, military performance. So it is definitely possible that the russians would seek to use chemical weapons in a limited area, especially around the steel plant in mariupol. And if that happens, that of course could open a whole pandoras box of other possibilities in terms of how the west responds to it, how the ukrainians respond to it, and what the russians feel emboldened to do next. We have heard from some members of nato from leaders of nato countries who said that that is a red line that would prompt some kind of direct response. I guess well see what happens. Colonel cedric leighton, thank you as always. Its a pleasure. You bet, john. Thank you. The city of philadelphia bringing back the mask mandate, driven by a rise in cases and guess what . Not everyone is happy. Well have details ahead. Youre watching cnn. Back in a moment. Finay. Our honeymoon. It took awhile, but at least we got a great deal on our hotel with kayak. I was afraid we wouldnt go. With our divorce and. Great divorce guys. Yeah. Search 100s of travel sites at once. Kayak. Search one and done. [singing] oven roasted cooold cuts cooold cuts u. S. Health officials are closely monitoring an uptick of new covid19 cases. The white house Covid Response coordinator says its being driven primarily by ba. 2. That is the highly contagious subvariant of omicron. Just over half of all states, the one theres in orange and red on the map, have reported a rise in cases this past week. But overall, hospitalizations remain low and cases are still a fraction of what they were at the height of the omicron surge. Health Officials Say covid vaccines are helping keep americans safe. The good news is our vaccines are holding up really well against ba. 2, against all of the omicron variants. Especially if youve been boosted. The key is you have to have the initial two shots and have to have the booster. Thats really whats protecting people at this moment. The city of philadelphia is being sued over its plan to bring back its mask mandate. In Court Documents filed on saturday, a group of Business Owners and residents claim the mandate is illegal. They say it goes against the states constitution and guidelines established by the centers for Disease Control and prevention. Philadelphia would be the first major u. S. City to reinstate the mandate, assuming it takes effect as planned on monday. The citys Public Health commissioner says cases have jumped in recent weeks and believes masks will help limit transmission while allowing people to go about their daily lives. China says its economy grew 4. 8 in the First Quarter of this year, beating market expectations, but the countrys Economic Outlook has worsened since march as china struggles to contain its biggest covid outbreak in two years. Cnns steven jiang is following the numbers in beijing. When you look at official chinese figures and numbers, you really have to take them with a grain of salt, especially during difficult or sensitive time. We are of course now in the middle of the most challenging and precarious time, both economically, but also politically since the covid pandemic began two years ago. So thats why even though the official or state media takeaway or headline from the announcements earlier is that the 4. 8 gdp growth for the First Quarter, you really have to dive a bit deeper. First of all, their gdp growth target for the entire year is 5. 5, around 5. 5 . So this figure is shy of that. And then of course the growth target for the year was set before the current wave of covid infections and lockdown in shanghai. So the direct impact of those increasingly draconian lockdown measures in chinas biggest city and its financial and business hub is really not going to be reflected until later this year. And already we are seeing, as you mentioned, some downward trend is starting in march, especially in the Service Sector and Consumer Spending front. And those are important areas the government has been counting on to drive its economic engine and to really transform its economy from export and the manufacturing dependent to be driven by Consumer Spending and Service Sectors. And that of course is not a good sign. Indeed, very ominous. And then of course when you consider the shanghai lockdown, which really has no end in sight. Because just yesterday, the government again recorded over 20,000 new local cases in that city. That of course is in a country that continues to stick to a zero covid policy. So this is going to impact not just the national economy, but also the global trade, giving the importance of change highs port and airport. Thats why a lot of economy and political experts are really increasingly worried despite the government here putting on a very brave face publicly, saying that they are able to withstand this current wave of covid infections. But many people think the worst is really yet to come. Michael . All right. Ominous. Steven, thanks. Steven jiang in beijing for us. South korea lifts most of its covid19 restrictions starting today. Curfews for businesses, caps on private gatherings and rallies, and restrictions on religious activities have ended after more than two years. Indoor and outdoor mask wearing will remain mandatory, however. But Officials Say other restriction also be lifted if cases continue to decrease and medical system capacities remain stable. Still to come here on the program, many estonians are using workarounds to watch russian state Media Channels broadcasting kremlin propaganda. How thats affecting their view of the war, when we come back. O. I just couldnt find my way out of it. The lows of bipolar depressionn can take you to a dark place. Latuda could m make a real difference in your symptoms. Latuda was proven to signinificantly reduce bipolar depression symptoms and in clinical studies, had no substantial impact on weight. This is where i want to be. Call your doctor about sudden behavior changes or suicidal thoughts. Antidepressants can increase these in children and young adults. Elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. Report fever, confusion, stiff or uncontrollable muscle movements, which may be life threatening or permanent. These arent all the serious side effects. Now im back where i belong. Ask your doctor if latuda is right for you. Pay as little as zero dollars for your first prescription. Welcome back. Im Michael Holmes coming to you live from atlanta. Im john vause live in lviv, ukraine, just gone 30 minutes past the hour. We are following breaking news on russias war here. The ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy now warning a russian offensive in the east could begin, quote, in the near future. To the south, in the besieged city of mariupol, Ukrainian Forces have rejected russias demands to surrender, despite moscows threat to eliminate resistance. The unrelenting result has levelled the port city, which has been surrounded by Russian Troops since march 1. And now according to an adviser of the mayor of mariupol, Russian Forces say the city will be closed for entry and exit on monday. Those who wish to move about the city must be issued a pass. The fight to contain russian propaganda has been especially hard with countries on the border with russia. Estonia once part of the soviet union. Many of them are going out of their way to ensure they still have access to russian state media, despite the obvious and blatant misinformation. Cnns scott mclean has our report. Reporter in eastern estonia, the vast birch forests and open plains dotted with industry and concrete apartment blocks can feel a lot like russia. Most people are ethnically russian. Many signs are in russian, and russia itself is just across the border. In the Estonian Border town of narwa, more than 86 of the population speaks russian. Even on this side of the river, russian speakers make up substantial chunk of the estonian population. Many of the lasting legacies of the soviet area. Many older people dont speak estonia well. And in the absence of a lot of Russian Media in estonia, russian state media has been left to fill the void, giving people a steady dose of kremlin propaganda. That is until the start of the war in ukraine, when stonia blocked many russian news outlets and tv channels, a decision that came with plenty of controversy. Why im not agreed . Because i think a great democracy dont counter any propaganda. Many people here is buying some systems to become the russian channels. Its not the way. Restrict is not the way. Reporter antennas are suddenly a popular item at electronic stores. Russian speakers could easily pick up russian speaking channels. Others watch online through vpns. They have an even better setup across the river from russia. Basically, this is a lineup of the channels people usually get in russian households. They have this tv hooked up to a satellite dish, another to an antenna, picking up russian channels. I can only watch 10, 15 seconds because the levels of aggression and paranoia and lie, blatant lies. Its crazy. A lot of people here are still very connected to russia. Do you think that they believe everything that the kremlin is saying about the war in ukraine . Translator i dont just think. I know there are a lot of people who think russian state media ask the truth. For sure, its a lot of false news and lies. An only a minority in narva dont believe russian propaganda. Some of those true believers are reluctantly tuning in to etv . It was launched in 2015 to give russianspeaking estonians access to reliable news about their own country and the world. We dont have propaganda. We can make news about corrupted ministers or president s in our country or politics. Many russian journalists cant do it. Reporter on friday, etv reported on the sinking of the moskva, giving both ukraines claim that its missiles sank the ship and the more benign russian version that it sank after a fire. Since the channels launch, etv s ratings have made gains. But gaining trust is much tougher. Many of our viewers are ready to blame us, are ready to judge us because they dont believe us. But we are ready to speak with them. I dont want to judge them. I am ready to wait. I am ready to give those people a time to make them believe me. Reporter scott mclean, cnn, narva, estonia. Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer seems to have a full grasp on what is unfolding on the ground in ukraine, but has his own, quote, war logic. Have a listen. When you heard our cia director talk publicly about the concerns that when putin is cornered, he might do Something Like use a Tactical Nuclear weapon, the person you sat down with, do you think thats a person who might use a Nuclear Weapon . Its a tough question. I think he knows that he has this weapon, and he knows the threat of this weapon. So i dont know if he really use it. But he knows that he threaten the world with these weapons. Does he believe hes winning the war or losing the war . No, i think he believes he is winning the war. Inner nehammer met with russian president last week, the first european leader to do so since the war began. He said that at the end of their meeting, mr. Putin warned him in german, quote, it is better the war ends earlier rather than later. Joining me now is andre zagorad, the former defense minister of ukraine. Its god see you, sir. President zelenskyy said this weekend, quote, russia is deliberately trying to destroy everyone who is there in mariupol. What do you know about the situation, the latest there . The situation is of course extremely tense. The city besieged for over months and a half. And there are fierce fight theres. Ukrainian army still holds parts of mariupol. And there is a lot of civilians which is still trapped in the city without any means for existence. So its a real tragedy what is happening there. It really looks given just the sheer weight of numbers, it looks like it will fall sooner or later. You may disagree. What would it mean for that city to go under russian control, given its strategic position . Well, first of all, i wouldnt be certain, because if there is any chance for Ukrainian Army to unblock it, we will. And of course if it falls, then we will regain it when we regain the rest of the country. But of course for the city like that to get to the russian control would be just a continuation of the tragedy, which we see right now. We all know what russia is doing when they get in any town or village. Yeah, weve been looking as youve been speaking, looking at images from the city. It has just been decimatedpy the russians there has been a suggestion Vladimir Putin will want to make some sort of, i dont know, significant announcement or move by may 9th, which is victory day in russia, and a significant date for mr. Putin. Do you think he will try to make some sort of decisive move or declare some sort of victory . I would separate what is actually going to happen and what he is going the say on 9th of may. Even if he fails completely, he will still be announcing some kind of victory. The information based in ratio is completely isolated from the rest of the world. So he would be just making it up. But of course he will try to do something to gain something, to be reporting from. Are you satisfied with the level of western help . Heavy weaponry is being sent by the u. S. Is it enough for the battle that is to come . No, it isnt enough. Yes, we are grateful for all countries, particularly of course the United States as the largest supporter by numbers. But currently what were egg is that of course the challenge is much greater. The key thing is we can actually win. And we see that russians are failing, and we see the command and control making horrible mistakes. We see we are fighting much more effective and much more efficiently. But to get to the tipping point, we need more equipment, and then we can actually turn into it the counteroffensive. And were absolutely certain. And if we have enough equipment, and thats what we are asking our partners, then will be able to start gaining our territories back and start winning this war. Theyre already losing. They already cannot get midwest of their operational objectives. All of them they cannot achieve. Yeah . Sorry, it is clear that russia is theyve withdrawn and regrouped and theyre rearming in the east. And the feeling is theyre going to make a big push from the donbas out. Is ukraine in a position then, weaponry and manpower wise to take advantage of that regrouping thats going on and take the initiative with those new weapons while russia or before russia effectively regroups . Yes, we can. We have very much of a force. We have a very experienced force. So we have no problems with actually personnel. But we do need some additional equipment. And in the case if it comes, absolutely. Absolutely we can. Im curious. Do you expect Russia Military tactics to change in this next phase of the war . That is going to be more artillery war, more long distance, more firepower. So and actually, the previous stage was also had a lot of artillery, and a lot of firepower in the longrange component as well. It wasnt just individual equipments like javelin, for example. In this stage, we expect pretty must have much all of that be will be on the longrange. Thats why were looking at the equipment like tanks, like artillery, like self propelled artillery, like systems and so on. These should be the prime component of their upcoming phase. The former defense minister of ukraine, i really appreciate your time. Thank you so much. Yep. It is a presence that is not going unnoticed. Coming up, the concerns over chinese warships being spotted around contested islands near japan and taiwan. Youre watching cnn newsroom. Well be right back. At xfinity, we live and work in the same neighborhood as you. Were always working to keep you connected to what you love. And now, were working to bring you the next generation of wifi. Its ultrafast. Faster than a gig. Supersonic wifi. Only from xfinity. It can power hundreds of devices with three times the bandwidth. So your growing wifi needs will be met. Supersonic wifi only from us. Xfinity. So many people are overweight now, and asking themselves, why cant i lose weight . For most, the reason is insulin resistance, and they dont even know they have it. Conventional starvation diets dont address insulin resistance. Thats why they dont work. Now theres release from golo. It naturally helps reverse insulin resistance, stops sugar cravings, and releases stubborn fat all while controlling stress and emotional eating. At last, a diet pill that actually works. Go to golo. Com to get yours. There is growing concern in japan about the increased appearance of chinese ships around a chain of contested islands. Now all of this amid of course heightened tensions between china and taiwan and fears beijing could be inspired by russias war on ukraine to launch its own attack. As the political rhetoric heats up, japanese fishermen are worried about their way of life. Blake essig reports. Reporter for the past 25 years kin joe has made a living fishing the waters around japanese islands. Known as the senkakus in japan and the diayu in china. When he started kinjo says he never saw chinese ships but in the last few years translator you can see it in the video. The bow of one of their ships was pointed straight at us and they were chasing us. Reporter dangerous encounters specifically around the contested Senkaku Islands that kinjo says are guaranteed. Translator i dont know for sure but i also saw what looked like cannons. Looking back, they definitely could have shot at us if theyd wanted to. I felt that fear. Reporter in response to cnn Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs says its carrying out Law Enforcement duties in its territory. But its not just the chinese coast guard trolling these contested waters. Japanese and senior u. S. Defense Officials Say chinese warships are routinely patrolling japanese territorial waters and the waters near taiwan. And according to one of the men in charge of defending japan that increased activity isnt limited to the sea. From where im walking on the shores of japans yonoguni island, the east coast of taiwan is only 110 kilometers away. Its so close that on a clear day you can actually see it. Its this stretch of water thats been viewed as a potential battleground if china invades taiwan. Its that close proximity that has japanese officials claiming taiwans peace and stability is directly connected to japans. The Security Threat amplified by the Ongoing Nuclear threat posed by north korea and a growing fear that china may try to take control of land the japanese government claims is inherently theirs. Translator japans territorial sovereignty extends to the nanse islands, and im afraid that may be infringed in the future. Reporter its for those reasons that general yoshihida yoshida says defending the nanse islands is a top priority. The nanse islands consist of these 198 islands. Since 2016 in a clear departure from japans postworld war ii pacifism japans selfdefense force has increased its foot print, Building Bases on these islands. Ishigaki is next. How confident are you in japans ability to defend itself . Translator we are enhaning our capabilities but our competitors are also enhancing their capabilities at an extremely fast pace. It would be very difficult to maintain our deterrence and response capabilities unless we further increase our military capacity. Reporter back on yonigune, the russian invasion of ukraine is sparking fears that china could be emboldened to act off japans shores. Translator the people are terrified of the situation happening. I think that the senkaku issue and the taiwan contingency are similar to the ukrainian issue. I have a strong sense of crisis, that this island will eventually cease to be japan. Reporter but in the face of geopolitical concerns well out of his control kinjo and his crew do what they know. They prepare for another day at sea. Blake essig, cnn, yonogune, japan. South korea and the u. S. Will conduct military exercises for the next nine days. Seouls joint chiefs of staff announced the plan on sunday. The Defense Command post training will use computer simulation without actual military forces training in person. The joint chiefs said the decision to go virtual was based on conditions such as covid19 and maintenance of the combined defense posture. Still to come here on the program, a plea for peace during an easter of war. Pope francis citing the violence in ukraine as he delivers his easter message. The details from rome, coming up. I booked our hotel on kayak. Its flexible if we need to cancel. Cancel. I havent left the house in years. Nothing will stop me from vacation. No canceling. laughs flexible cancellation. Kayak. Search one and done. It was a sad easter for many people in south africa. A church there you see it there, this is near durbin. Left standing after heavy flooding washed away many houses in the township. Survivors of the floods at least were able to come here to pray and seek solace. After losing their homes and loved ones in recent storms. A the flooding has killed 400 people. More than 40,000 are homeless. Search dogs sniffing muddy debris to find the missing. As some try to salvage whats left of their holmes. Many are without power and water. More rain is expected in the week ahead. At the vatican, pope francis calling for peace during what he describes as an easter of war. The pontiff praying for a new dawn of hope in ukraine. As he dlifed the easter blessing in front of tens of thousands of people gathered in st. Peters square. Cnn senior vatican analyst with the details. Reporter Easter Sunday typically a joyous time for catholics had a shadow ast over it year by the war in ukraine. Pope francis referred to the war as cruel and senseless calling this an easter of war. He expressed compassion for the victim of the conflict including refugees and internally displaced persons. And also children who have been orphaned by the conflict. The pontiff acknowledged ukraine has been dragged into this war but didnt mention russia by name. That in keeping with his policy from the beginning of trying to keep some channel of communication with the russians open. In addition the pope named a number of other hot spots including israel palestinian conflict. Which flared up in recent days. Syria, yemen and myanmar. Situations in africa and latin america. Ukraine had a special prize of place. This was the first time the pope has been able to celebrate easter in front of a large crowd. Since the covid pandemic began. For cnn, this is john allen. In rome. Thanks for spending part of your day with me. Im Michael Holmes. Follow me on twitter and instagram. Stick around, our breaking News Coverage continues after a quick break. Hello, welcome to our viewers in the United States. And all around the world. Im john vause live in lviv, ukraine. Day 54 of the war of choice. Ukrainian forces reject a russian ultimatum to surrender in mariupol. What appears to be a defiant last stand. Im Michael Holmes at World Headquarters in atlanta. China says its economy grew better than expected in the first three months of the year. But challenges remain as the country deals with widespread covid out breaks and strict lock downs