us together. cheers. cheers. chin, chin. [ speaking foreign language ] hello and welcome to our viewers here, in the united states, and all around the world. i'm michael holmes. thanks for your company. coming up here on cnn "newsroom." massacre, in myanmar. security forces kill more than 100 unarmed civilians, on one bloody saturday. one of the top covid advisers in the trump white house now says the majority of pandemic deaths in the u.s. could have been prevented. plus, 14 tugboats do all they can to with assist from the tide. but one of the biggest cargo

ships in the world is still blocking the suez canal. welcome, everyone. the world is looking on myanmar, with horror, the day after security forces reportedly killed 114-unarmed civilians. it is, by far, the bloodiest day of military violence, since the coup last month. aid groups fear, the real-death toll is, probably, much higher. this all happened, on the day that myanmar's top general promised to, quote, protect civilians, and uphold democracy. but instead, according to local-news reports, security forces killed people, in 44 towns across the country. and they didn't just target protestors. several children are among the dead. one victim, a 13-year-old girl, reportedly, gunned down in her own home.

now, myanmar's u.n. envoy calls it a massacre, and is begging for real-international action. the defense chiefs of the u.s., uk, canada, and several other nations, releasing a rare-joint statement, condemning myanmar's military. here's one example of how brutal the violence is. a warning, for you, it is graphic. now, what you saw there is a man on a motorcycle, was shot twice by security forces. he was then put in the back of a truck. two other people, on that bike, did get away. we don't know if the wounded man is alive or dead. chr kristie lu stout joining me now, from hong kong. the bloodiest day in an alread alread already-bloody military crackdown. what's been happening today? what is the latest? >> yeah, there is a chorus of condemnation, after yesterday. a horrific day of terror in

myanmar. the bloodiest day, since the coup, on february the 1st. the bloodiest day, since the beginning of protests. according to myanmar, now, this is an independent-media group inside the country. at least 114 people have been killed on saturday, including children. there are reports of a 13-year-old girl being killed in her home in myanmar. a 5-year-old boy, being killed in mandelay. we have also seen deeply-disturbing footage of a 1-year-old baby, who was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet. the international condemnation is growing. we have heard, from the u.s. secretary of state, antony blinken, who said he is deeply horrified by the events on saturday. we heard from the u.n. secretary general, antonio guterres, who said that he is deeply shocked. the foreign secretary of the uk has also weighed in, calling it, quote, a new low. but in a very rare move, the defense chiefs of the united states and 11 other countries have come together, to issue a joint statement, condemning the

violence caused by the myanmar military. let's bring up the statement for you. and in it, it says, as chiefs of defense, we condemn the use of lethal force against unarmed people by the myanmar armed forces and associated security services. a professional military follows international standards for conduct, and is responsible for protecting, not harming, the people it serves. we urge the myanmar-armed forces to seize violence and work to restore respect and credibility, with the people of myanmar that it has lost through its actions. unquote. now, i should mention that, among the 12 nations signed onto that statement, india is, noticeably, absent. in recent days, we know that the u.s. and europe. they have issued new sanctions against myanmar, its military rulers, as well as military-owned conglomerates but the military has its friends, including russia. on saturday, armed-forces day, russia's deputy-defense minister attended the military parade. we heard from the myanmar military chief calling russia, quote, a true friend. china has refrained from issuing criticism of the coup.

as you know, of course, both, russia and china have permanent saetds on the u.n. security council. michael. >> yeah. yeah. yeah. hence, unlikely for that to do much good. i'm -- i'm curious. myanmar has armed ethnic factions. what do we know about the potential for them to get involved? and -- and how is this changing the dynamic of the crackdown and the -- and the protest movement, itself? >> you know, up to now, the protest movement has been relatively peaceful. but now, we are seeing a new-armed resistance rising with the involvement of these armed-faction groups. reuters reported, on saturday, that the national union, one of these armed factions in myanmar, targeted a military outpost near the border with thailand. the military responded with air strikes, and we just learned, from an aid group inside the country, that three people are dead as a result of these air strikes. this represents a very dangerous, new front in this ongoing crisis. the protest movement is evolving. it's involving armed students, as well as these armed factions.

guerilla tactics are at play. as well as petrol bombs or molotov cocktails and critically, they are staging attacks on the police and the military, as the crackdown gets more violent. the resistance is getting more violent, as well. michael. >> real determination, among those protestors. chr kristie lu stout in hong kong, thanks so much. and joining me now is tom andrews. u.n. special rapporteur on myanmar. good to see you, sir. i want to refer to a tweet that you put out on saturday and you said this. quote, the military celebrated armed-forces day by committing mass murder against the people it should be defending. the civil-disobedience movement is responding with powerful weapons of peace. it's past time for the world to respond in kind with and for the people of myanmar. it has been a horrific day for the people of myanmar.

what do you mean by respond? time for the world to respond. how? >> well, michael, first of all, there are things, within the capability of this world, this international community, that it has not taken. so let's start with the u.n. security council. u.n. security council was designed, specifically, for these kinds of crises. the security council should be meeting. it should be debating what's going on. action should be put before it, and votes should be taken. up or down, votes should be taken. the community of nations that care desperately about the people of myanmar that are under siege right now, can also work together to coordinate things like sanctions. there -- there's dozens of sanctions regimes that are out there right now. we need to coordinate them into one coherent, powerful whole. and an emergency summit of these countries could gather together, establish this coordination, and provide a unified front against

this military junta. also, accountability mechanisms could be put into place. the international-criminal court could begin investigations. and -- and begin pursuing charges against those responsible. so, there are a number of things that can be done, that should be done, that are not being done. >> yeah, the -- the u.s. embassy in myanmar, i mean, joined the european union and the united kingdom. you know, in condemning the killings as murders as well. but, you know, it is clear, though, that -- that such declarations of even the sanctions that have been levied, so far, just aren't having an impact. and you mentioned the u.n. security council. you know, as toothless as ever if china and russia continue to stand by the generals, right? >> well, that's right. but the fact is, is that we don't know where china and russia would come down if an actual vote was put before the security council. everyone's assuming that they would veto it. that they'd be -- be against it. but i think it's important that the security council have the opportunity to put that in front of itself.

to have a full, open, honest debate. and then, let countries decide where they stand, when it comes to this brutality. and vote up or down. then, we can move forward for those countries that are willing to -- to work together, outside of the security council. and if the security council is not willing to work, as a security council, then there can be a coordinated effort of those countries that are willing to stand behind the people of myanmar. >> yeah. you -- you mention national criminal court. one would imagine there is -- there is a weight of video evidence that's being accumulated as this all unfolds. i did want to ask you, though, about the protestors. i mean, their determination to continue is remarkable given the deaths, given the detentions. and -- and in the face of warnings as we saw this week from the military, pretty much, literally, saying we're going to kill you. what does that say about the determination and -- and the character of those people? >> it is truly, truly awe inspiring, michael.

just nothing short of incredible. they are tenacious, they are creative. they are using everything that they can come up with, peacefully, to confront this -- this nightmare. they are not going back. listen, they have had a taste of what it is like to be -- to have freedom. to be able to express themselves. to not be censored. the young people, that are leading this -- this movement were told by their parents and grandparents just how horrible it is to live under a brutal-military regime. they don't want to go there. so, they're in this for the long haul. they're not going to stop, until they -- until they prevail. and they deserve the international community to be standing with them. >> yeah. certainly, remarkable courage, in the face of -- of what they are facing. tom andrews, appreciate you. appreciate your work. thank you. >> my pleasure, michael, thank you for having me. there is growing anger in the u.s. state of georgia, over sweeping, new election laws. protestors gathered in downtown atlanta, saturday, to vent their

outrage over the republican-backed measure. activists say it targets african-american voters, among other things, the measure signed thursday imposes stricter-identification requirements. and gives state officials more power over local-election officials. u.s. president joe biden has called the law an atrocity. and says the justice department is looking at it. now, georgia's governor, though, is defending the law. he says, it ensures election integrity. but a coalition of civil-rights groups has already taken action. cnn's natasha chen, with more on the outcry against the measure. >> reporter: about 150 people gathered outside atlanta city hall here, on saturday. to protest this georgia voter bill and also to stand with georgia representative park cannon. she was arrested, when she was knocking on the door of the governor's office, to try and witness him signing this bill. and, of course, he did that,

behind closed doors. he was depicted signing the bill, standing next to white men. also, in the room, was a painting that, seemingly, shows a plantation. i talked to one voter, who said that she first didn't think much of it. but upon a closer look, she found that that was the very plantation where her family had worked. such an emotional moment for some of these people. minority groups. taking a look at this moment. and feeling that this directly impacts them. i, also, spoke with someone who was at the capitol when park cannon was arrested. here's how she described that moment. >> she was not disruptive. so to have that incident happen right in front of me and for it to end with her being taken away. it was horrific to watch, as a black woman. to watch her taken into the elevator and to watch the doors close. it was triggering. it was frightening. i felt her pain. i felt her terror. >> i spoke to another voter here, who described her experience voting in the georgia primary, back in june of 2020.

she said she waited for hours, in line, past dinnertime. to the point where a local-pizza company had delivered some food and soda so that they could still eat, and wait in line to vote. she says, of course, the way that the law was written and passed. now, that would be illegal. natasha chen, cnn, atlanta. now, virginia police are investigating an officer-involved shooting of a black man, late, on friday night. authorities have not identified the officer, who fired the shot that killed 25-year-old donovan lynch. now, there are conflicting reports that lynch may have been unarmed, at the time. but the chief of police disputes that. >> i seen some of the community concerns about mr. donovan being -- or mr. lynch being unarmed. what i can tell you is that there was a firearm recovered in the vicinity of where this incident occurred.

we would like to be more forthcoming but unfortunately, we do not have body-cam footage of this incident. the officer was wearing a body cam. but for unknown reasons at this point in time, it was not activated. >> now, the officer involved has been placed on administrative assignment during this investigation. police say the incident was one of three separate shootings in virginia beach on friday night. the gunfire killing two people, injuring eight others. and now, we turn to the ongoing battle against the coronavirus. here, in the united states, more than 50 million people are now fully vaccinated. that's, according to the cdc. but despite this good news, there are worrying signs around the world. plus, a member of the covid-response team, under donald trump, now says hundreds of thousands of lives could have been saved. simply, with more-effective

messaging, which she failed to effect. cnn's evan mcmorris-santoro reports. >> reporter: more than a year into the pandemic, a former-trump administration official revealed in a blockbuster interview with cnn's dr. sanjay gupta, airing sunday night, that she believes many of the deaths in the united states could have been prevented through different policy decisions. >> look at it this way. the first time we have an excuse, there were about 100,000 deaths that came from that original surge. all of the rest of them, in my mind, could have been mitigated or decreased, substantially. >> reporter: look back at the past year comes on the heels of some relatively good news. the total number of vaccine doses administered in the u.s., on friday, reached a new-daily record, according to the white house. and more vaccine doses are coming. next week, johnson & johnson, expected to deliver at least 11 million doses of its single-shot vaccine, across the country. more supply means more americans will have access.

an al analysis by cnn finds only two states have yet to say when they will make doses available to everyone eligible under fda guidance. the other 48 have already made or are planning to make the vaccine available to everyone older than the age of 16, in a matter of weeks. but experts say this is not the time for americans to let their guards down. especially, as warmer weather and spring holidays, like passover and easter, may lead to larger gatherings. and the more contagious virus variants are still spreading. more than 100 cases of covid-19 in nebraska were traced to a child-care facility. many, with the variant first identified in the uk. >> we are having 2.5 million vaccinations per day. that is fantastic but i also think that restrictions are being lifted so quickly, including mask mandates. and people are getting very tired. and at the same time, we also have these more contagious variants that are circulating but we can help people to manage their risk and then try to reduce that risk as much as possible. and that means encouraging

vaccination. continuing to wear masks, and ideally, messaging that masks and vaccinations are our way out of this pandemic. >> reporter: it's a very different story, outside the u.s. brazil is struggling to get doses of the vaccine. and reported its highest single-day death toll from covid-19, on friday. the president of france admitting the european union reacted less quickly than the u.s. when it came to the initial-vaccine rollout. while it sorts out its vaccine problems, the eu is struggling to reopen. in france, increasing cases in schools leading to new-classroom closures. and germany, imposing new quarantine and testing rules on visitors from france. a country it now labels a high-risk covid-19 area. evan mcmorris-santoro, cnn, new york. now, that massive cargo ship has been stuck in the suez canal for five days now, and there is new speculation about what might

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gridlock is growing thanks to that colossal cargo ship still blocking the suez canal. the operation to free the ever given is daunting, to say the least. it has taken heavy tugboats, diggers, to remove massive amounts of mud. so far, 706,000 cubic feet of sand, and 9,000 tons of ballast water are being cleared out. ben wedeman with the latest, from cairo, for us. >> reporter: efforts continue to dislodge the massive containership blocking one of the world's most-important waterways. but the ship has only budged, slightly. almost as long as the empire state building is tall, the "ever given" got stuck tuesday, navigating through a sandstorm and 40-knot winds.

>> initially, it was thought the high winds were the cause for the grounding of the ever given. now, we have heard from the chairman of the soouez canal authority that, perhaps, human and technical error are, also, to blame. there may have been a technical or human error. there are many mistakes but we cannot definitely say what the reason is. >> reporter: dredging continues as it attempts to free the carrier, during high tide weren't successful enough to refloat the ship. with around 12% of global-trade volume, typically, passing through the suez canal. countries around the world are pitching in. a dutch salvage company brought in to help is sending a crane and two tugboats, heavier than these, hoping to free the ship before its precarious position gets worse. >> you have to start worrying about the vessel rolling. you have to worry about the vessel cracking. the -- the nightmare scenario of

all time is -- is the vessel breaks apart. and that would be not weeks or days of salvage but months. >> reporter: meanwhile, traffic remains at a standstill in a waterway, that normally handles the equivalent of $10 billion, a day, in cargo. more than 320 ships are backed up, in either direction. their only alternative is to divert around the southern tip of africa, adding about a week to the journey. >> this is going to be costing extra fuel, an extra 3,500 miles. so we are going to see it hit the pocketbook here, real soon. >> reporter: the backlog will also be costly for vessels waiting in place. about a dozen are carrying livestock, at risk of dying if the situation is not resolved within a few days. japanese-shipping company, who owned the "ever given," told cnn they are bracing for lawsuits. but insist, their priority,

right now, is refloating the ship, as soon as possible. executives even bowed in apology, friday. but with costs skyrocketing for the global-shipping industry, saying sorry might not be enough. ben wedeman, cnn, cairo. now, the crisis at the u.s.-mexico border is only getting worse. that's what officials are telling us. and these images support that view. right now, thousands, upon thousands, of migrants, many of them children, are stuck in a precarious limbo. at latest count, the u.s. government has custody of more than 18,000 children. and according to government records cnn obtained, the biden administration could need more than 34,000-more beds to keep up with the influx. meanwhile, politicians are down at the border. weighing in as politicians do. senator ted cruz is one of the latest-republican lawmakers to

tweet video from inside a south-texas facility. it appears to show children, crowded in a room, wrapped in blankets. one democratic representative says cruz and others are busy playing politics. >> these group of republican senators that came down yesterday. where were they during the trump administration, when children were being ripped from mothers' arms and caged? and families were being divided? did they, all of a sudden, have a softened heart to come down here to look at it? >> president wybiden, meanwhile fa fa face increased pressure. on the left, images the media has been allowed to see. but, the images on the right appear to show a different reality. cnn's rosa flores with more from the border. >> reporter: this is what the biden administration has not allowed america to see. to tell this story, we were

escorted by texas-state troopers. lines of migrants, on texas trails, along the rio grande. nancy is pregnant and cried, describing her painful journey from honduras. ronnie says his family fled honduras, due to devastation from two-recent hurricanes. and under this bridge? even more lines of miegrants. their silhouettes beyond the trees, a sign america's immigration system is overwhelmed. during his first formal press conference, president biden said. >> i will commit to transparency. >> reporter: and while one news camera was allowed inside an hhs facility for unaccompanied-migrant children this week, it was a sanitized version of reality. far removed from the bottleneck of this border-processing facility. u.s. customs and borr protection, releasing their own video, this week. cnn's repeated requests for

access to immigration-processing facilities have been denied. the day we captured this video, texas state troopers were our guides. >> as soon as they make landfall, that's considered the u.s. side for us. >> reporter: sent here by governor greg abbott, earlier this month, to thwart smugglers. >> it's a way to -- to suffocate and put a lot of pressure on the cartel. >> reporter: victor is the top cop in charge of what abbott calls operation lone star. >> as border patrol gets tied up with processing migrants that come across, they will leave miles, at times, open on the river. >> reporter: that's where texas steps in. by water, air, and by ground, to fill the gaps of security on the rio grande. according to state troopers, if you look closely in between those trees, you will see a camp. some sort of staging area on the mexican side. i am on the u.s. side, and this is one of the hot spots they described. an area, a trail, that is used

by migrants, and you can clearly see the path. the landscape is peppered with evidence that it is used by migrants. we see clothes, documents, masks. all, leading to these dirt trails, with arrows pointing migrants to the immigration-processing center under the bridge. nancy says, feeling hungry for two was the worst part of the journey. while most of the migrants i met said they made the trek to the u.s. because they were poor. this little girl was rich. in faith. ending our conversation by saying, thanks, and god bless you. >> and that was rosa flores reporting from mission, texas. all right. going to take a quick break. when we come back, a lost decade for development. we'll look into the financial impact of covid-19, and why a united nations report says it is

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and welcome back to our viewers here in the united states, and all around the world. i'm michael holmes. you are watching cnn "newsroom." in brazil, the coronavirus seems to be spiralling ever-further out of control. for the second day in a row and only the third time since the beginning of the pandemic, brazil reporting more than 3,000 people lost their lives. this is just on saturday, alone. with more than 310,000 deaths, altogether, brazil has the

second-highest coronavirus-death toll in the world, after the united states, of course. meanwhile, a venezuelan on decisio opposition leader has tested positive for covid-19. he describes symptoms as mild and says he is currently isolating. venezuela has had more than 150,000 cases in total and has seen a sharp uptick in infections and deaths, this past month. now, covid-19 has more than just a medical impact, of course. it has a financial one, as well. a recent united nations report says it could lead to a lost decade for development. it's calling for more long-term financing to developing countries to fix growing inequalities, and come back stronger. >> joining me now is megan greene. global economist and senior fellow at harvard kennedy school. good to see you, again, megan. we -- we know, well, the health impacts of this pandemic. but you and others, including

the united nations, have been -- have been writing about the risks of a decade of lost development. particularly, for developing nations. what does that look like? >> well, so for a lot of these developing countries, they have been racking up debt for the past decade. and so now, all of a sudden, they have all these extra expenditures they have to pay for health cost. they have to support the most vulnerable. and at the same time, investors are getting scared that they'll ever be able to repay their debts. and the creditors they borrowed from are much more diverse than they have in the past. so to come up with a solution to have a debt write-down of any sorts involves getting a whole bunch of different actors in the same room and agreeing to the terms of that write down. and in the meantime, these countries are seeing -- growth crater and desperately need the money. so the result of that could be a lost decade. we saw it in the 1980s with latin america. we saw it in the 2010s with europe. where you have this crisis that took a really long time to resolve. and even once they had kind of

addressed the main issues, it took another decade to get back to where they would have been, if they hadn't had the crisis. and i think there is a real risk that we're going to see that in emerging markets in low-income countries. >> yeah. just piling on for those countries. the u.n. deputy secretary general said, and i will just quote -- said a diverging world is a catastrophe for all of us. it is bother morally right and in everyone's economic self-interest to help developing countries overcome this crisis. what -- what, to you, are the most likely, lasting economic scars from this pandemic? not just for those developing nations but richer countries, too, in what is an interconnected world. >> yeah. so, you point out we live in a globalized world. and if what we have is the last decade in emerging markets, that is going to have blow-back for richer countries. not only are emerging markets pruged right into our global-supply chain. so they can't reopen factories, for example.

that will have effects or u.s. companies and other western companies. but, also, emerging markets provide a huge amount of global demand. it's about 75% of global demand and global consumption. and so, if emerging markets don't get back on their feet, they're not generating the demand for us, richer countries, to sell our products and services into. and so, that, essentially, just dampens global growth and affects us all. >> okay. so, you know, these -- these disparities, inequities, are pretty stark. but the thing is, they're not new. they are just exacerbated, right? what -- what -- what needs to be done to lessen the impact? >> so, as i mentioned, a lot of emerging markets have been racking up a lot of debt over the past couple of decades. but now, it's happened, you know, it's been really accelerated. and -- but that's not new. it's just an exacerbation of what we already had. i will say, that inequality, within countries, has increased a lot, for decades since the 1980s.

but inequality, between countries, has actually fallen quite a lot. as, you know, poorer countries were moving up the value chain. we were lifting millions above the poverty line. and unfortunately, this crisis has pushed millions back under the poverty line. to address that, we need lending for a lot of these countries. and if investors are going to put their money on the line, it's going to have to come, either, from other countries or from multilateral institutions like -- like the imf. >> fascinating stuff. and -- and -- and -- and worrying stuff, as well. megan, always good to see you. megan greene, thanks. >> thanks for having me. vaccines are helping the u.s. turn the corner of this pandemic. but shots only work, if they get into arms. ant anti-vax groups are promoting frightening theories online. one mother got pulled in to

learn how she ultimately got out. >> i was like, oh, my gosh. we are not vaccinating our kid. there is no way. the vaccine goes into our child, she will just die. that's all there is to it. >> you thought, if your daughter took the vaccine, she might die? >> that she would die. not might. just like would. >> reporter: until recently, 30-year-old heather simpson was somewhat of an influencer in the anti-vax space. now, she's changed her tune although her husband has not. >> you are going to get the covid shot when you can get it? >> right. >> and are you? >> probably not. i had covid so i have antibodies. >> reporter: the cdc recommends all adults get the vaccine even if they have had covid-19. when you went online, you became part of the anti-vax community. tell me how found it, how you got into it. >> when charlotte was, like, 15, 16 months old, i decided to make post thinking i was so brave about my anti-vaccine views and

vaccine hesitancy. and it got shared, like, 600 times. and i was like, holy crud. and then, after that, i just got this following of people. >> you got the validation from the likes. >> yeah. yeah. the validation. i'm not an idiot. a lot of people believe this. >> and then, you got pulled in. >> yes. i feel like, a lot of the anti-vax moms all found each other, all, at once. i was getting, like, a friend request per minute. >> reporter: with the rollout of covid-19 vaccines, the stakes of online misinformation about vaccines are even higher. renee, an expert at stanford, explains how negative but not representative stories about vaccines go viral, online. >> when i was a new mom, i joined a couple of groups on facebook for new moms where people are saying, i have a friend, and she vaccinated and then this -- this terrible thing happened and itself this concept of like the friend of a friend narrative. the power of the personal story is what social media really brings home for all of us. we may live in a world of facts and statistics in the aggregate. but in terms of what we

personally feel, it's what comes to us from our communities, people who are like us, that's what people are sharing. that is the kind of content that spreads. >> v is for vaccine that protects you from getting sick. >> reporter: heather says her views on vaccines and on medicine began to change, when she needed surgery. >> i posted about it and my friends were like, this is the lazy way out. you need to be eating this food, and taking this and doing this to heal yourself. getting surgery is lazy. >> so, was it overnight you went from -- >> no, it took months. and i -- and i had friends that really poured into me. and listened to my fears. and talked me through it. and it really helped to know that they were scared, even though they're pro-vax. they are scared giving their kids shot uses because that's just normal, parental anxiety. >> you said your intent by posting this was to inspire some parent to stop from getting their child vaccinated. do you think you did that? >> yeah, i know i did. i have had people tell me

they're not vaccinating because of my posts. >> how does that make you feel now? >> really bad. i'm sure it's not just those few. like, the amount of people i reached. because my main way of posting was fear based. and emotional base and i can't take it back. >> reporter: are you afraid you might have harmed some children? >> i mean, i don't -- i -- i would hope not. i'm also hoping that if they still follow me, they're going to see that i changed. and maybe, i could reverse the damage. i know that's a long shot but -- >> have you sought to contact any of them to say, hey, wait, i was wrong? >> i don't even know who they are, anymore. i shut that facebook down. and i started a new one, and i -- all i could hope is that they will, somehow, see me changing my mind. but, yeah, it is hard to live with. donie o'sullivan reporting for us. quick break now. when we come back, pro-democracy

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welcome back. dozens of people unaccounted for in mozambique. this is according to multiple sources contacted by cnn. rights groups say, thousands have fled the northern town since wednesday, when it was stormed from three directions, by attackers believed to be affiliated with the terror group, isis. witnesses report seeing bodies in the streets, and heavy fighting continuing into saturday. security forces have been trying to evacuate civilians, and foreign workers in the area. one person describing the scene as complete chaos. now, a cnn-exclusive investigation has found shocking

and disturbing examples of torture by police in belarus. witnesses and victims tell of a violent effort to keep, in power, the man known as europe's last dictator. president alexander lukashenko. the president has faced seven months of massive protests against an election, that most observers say was rigged. cnn's nick paton walsh with this report, which we warn you, features some graphic content. >> reporter: somewhere through the icy sludge here, is the path to freedom. across the border, and out of what's been called europe's last dictatorship, belarus. some walk,they can. one man, we'll call him sergei, had no choice but to swim it. nearly-three miles. here, he stands, on sheet ice. free but in anguish at having to flee. after just crossing out of belarus, into the safety of ukraine.

he films himself in flippers and a wet suit to leave evidence of what he tried, in case he doesn't make it. i will try to crawl there, he says, and hope i won't freeze. i'm never -- by the stars, the feeling is indescribable. i have been going 90 minutes and have a mile left. being detained before for protesting and on a wanted list, he had to flee imminent arrest and can't turn back, now. it's testament to how bad things have got in belarus that people feel compelled to make this dark, perilous journey. to freedom, the likes of which europe hasn't really seen since the soviet union. belarus, caught between russia and the european union, has been ruled for decades but autocratic president, alexander lukashenko. he declared in elections the u.s. said were fraudulent. huge protests followed and he moved swiftly to crush them. he and russian president,

vladimir putin, are two peas in a pod when it comes to shutting down dissent. so, putin swiftly helped his partner with $1.5 billion. another, unspecified aid. months of systematic repression and torture followed. documented by human-rights groups. cnn has obtained from defected police officers, videos exposing abuse leaked from the police's own archives. here, the white suv is full of activists fleeing a protest crackdown. riot police pounce. one fires a gun. th startling. some kicked, where they lie. another, has had his face rubbed into the ground. most lie incredibly still. they are, then, detained. in custody, cnn was told, mistreatment ranges from extreme cold and cramped cells, to being

beaten severely. and sexual assault. andre endured, on another day, perhaps the worst abuse in the he refused to unlock his phone so they cut open his pants and raped him with a baton. he asked for the password again. i refused. then he did what he did. it's touched nearly every family in belarus. custody is often brutal, detainees from an october protest, some bleeding, one with seven teeth smashed in, some ravaged by tear gas. you can also see a teenage boy

motionless on the floor. witnesses told cnn he'd likely had an epileptic fit but the police ignored him. he was released later. police are still tracking down protesters. one we'll call anya. you can see her running here from riot police. the stun grenade hit her leg badly. >> i got a phone call from the police asking where i had been. if they take me, i can say good-bye to my limbs because no one will look after me. >> slowly and quietly swamped a

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a qantas airlines mystery. passengers boarding in brisbane had no idea where they were going though the carrier hinted it was perfect for those who love food and wine. turns out to be the city of orange. the trips meant to boost tourism in places hit by coronavirus travel restrictions. sounds like fun. i'm michael holmes. appreciate your company. follow me on twitter and instagram. for our international viewers, "living golf" up next.

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hello and welcome to our news in the united states. i'm michael holmes. rallying for voting rights, the fight for democracy playing out at georgia's state capitol. and it's the log jam being felt around the world. how the clogged-up