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U.S. Says No Breakthrough in "Frank and Forthright" talks with Russia Over Ukraine Border Crisis; Different responses to COVID; Historic European Sleep Patterns; "Bilingual" Dogs. Aired 4-4:10a ET

Aired January 11, 2022 - 04:00:00   ET

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


CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hi, I`m Carl Azuz. Welcome back to CNN 10.

For more than seven hours on Monday, a U.S. government official and a Russian government official held a meeting. Its main focus was on recent

events in the nation of Ukraine.

For almost eight years now, there`s been an armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine. Russia supports the forces there that are fighting for

independence from the Ukrainian government. The U.S. supports the Ukrainian government, which wants a lasting ceasefire in the conflict and for Russia

to stay out of it.

A big reason why Ukraine is important to both America and Russia is its geography. The nation is uniquely positioned between East and West. The

U.S. and its allies in Europe want to limit Russia`s influence in Europe. Russia wants to limit the influence of America and Europe in the country on

its Western border. So, there are international tensions here, in addition to the civil conflict taking place inside Ukraine.

Russia has gathered more than a hundred thousand troops near the border and America and its allies are concerned that Russia is preparing to invade.

Russia says its troops are inside Russian territory for military exercises only, not to invade Ukraine.

In December, the Biden administration quietly authorized $200 million worth of additional security assistance to Ukraine. That includes weapons,

military and defensive equipment, and American officials say more of that could be on the way.

There are several meetings between the U.S. and Russia scheduled this week. They`re aimed at bringing down tensions in the region, but both countries

said Monday`s event did not result in any breakthroughs.

We mentioned yesterday how there been major differences in how different places have responded to coronavirus. In Austria, for instance, people over

age 12 can`t go to the movies, stay at a hotel or get a haircut unless they prove they`ve been fully vaccinated or that they recently recovered from

COVID. In Mexico, there are few to no restrictions on travel or activities. Visitors don`t even need to test negative for COVID to get into the

country.

Mexico`s government`s been criticized for not doing enough to stop the viruses spread. Austria and other European nations have seen massive

protests in criticism of the restrictions they`ve put in place, and some people get stuck even after following the rules.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In zero COVID Hong Kong, pandemic protocols have paralyzed this once busy travel hub. The

arrival process that used to take minutes now drags on for hours. Mandatory testing at the airport, waiting hours for the results. The lucky ones test

negative and spend up to 21 days in self-paid hotel quarantine.

Darryl Chan is not one of the lucky ones.

DARRYL CHAN, TESTED POSITIVE FOR OMICRON IN HONG KONG: I had both of my jabs. I`ve been boosted. I didn`t think -- didn`t ever think I would be a -

- actually test positive on arrival.

RIPLEY: Thirteen hours after landing in Hong Kong, Chan was in an ambulance. His luggage left at the airport. He tested positive for the

omicron variant, even without symptoms his minimum hospital stay is nearly a month.

Do you worry about your mental health as days turn into weeks?

CHAN: Yeah, absolutely, because I`ve never been in a situation like this before.

DR. ELISABETH WONG, HONG KONG PSYCHIATRIST: In general, there`s a sense of isolation, anxiety, and in some severe cases even post-traumatic stress.

RIPLEY: Hong Kong psychiatrist Dr. Elisabeth Wong says longer quarantines can be more traumatic.

WONG: And then we have a lot of changes between 7 days, 14 days, and 21 days. That`s when people reported a lot of stress with the longer period of

quarantine.

RIPLEY: Darryl`s day begins with a wakeup jingle.

ANNOUNCER: Attention, please.

RIPLEY: He takes his own vitals. Calls and messages with friends and family help pass the time.

CHAN: Social media`s really helped actually. Definitely makes you feel less alone.

RIPLEY: One of his greatest struggles ---sharing a room and a bathroom, with two strangers.

CHAN: But I think what has definitely impacted me the most so far is the feeling of just not having the freedom, controlled wakeup and bedtimes, not

being able to control what you can eat.

RIPLEY: Hospital meals often consist of mystery meat. The bigger mystery, Chan`s release date. He`s supposed to start a new job, a new life in Hong

Kong.

What`s the worst part of this?

CHAN: I think the worst part is not knowing when I`ll be able to get out.

RIPLEY: For now, all he can do is wait. From his hospital bed, freedom feels like a lifetime away.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: A relatively recent theory about sleep is the subject of our next report today. In his research, a historian at Virginia Tech University came

across a European legal document dating back to 1697. It referred to something called a first sleep.

Looking deeper, he eventually discovered more than 2,000 references over previous centuries to what he determined was biphasic or two-phase sleep

when people slept for a while woke up to eat, pray, talk or take medicine, and then went back to sleep again.

Mentions of first and second sleep reportedly appear in diaries, medical texts literary works and prayer books. And the historian theorized that

people in the Western world who have trouble sleeping through the night now may be experiencing a sort of echo, a hearkening back to how their European

ancestors slept in two phases.

The theory is controversial. There are manuscripts hundreds of years older than medieval or renaissance texts that refer to sleeping through the

night. Scholars who`ve studied historical references to sleep in other parts of the world say they haven`t seen anything about sleeping in two

phases and some sleep experts say modern people shouldn`t force themselves to try biphasic sleep, especially if it reduces the total time they spend

sleeping.

However, the findings are food for thought. They`re helping historians and modern sleep experts alike better understand how people have gotten shut

eye in the past.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:

Which of these languages is the oldest? Greek, Farsi or Persian, Chinese or Arabic

Written evidence indicates that Greek which dates back to around 1400 BC is the oldest spoken language on this list.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: The experiment, analyze the brains of 18 different dogs as they listen to words in different languages. The goal, to determine whether

man`s best friend can become bilingual. The outcome -- well, the study did find that the dog`s brain activity was much stronger when they heard

nonsense words instead of actual speech in any language. But it also indicated there`s a lot they can learn.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR (voice-over): When Kun-Kun, the border collie, and his owner moved from Mexico to Hungary,

both were immersed in a new language.

LAURA V. CUAYA, ETHOLOGY DEPARTMENT, EOTVOS LORAND UNIVERSITY: Here people are really friendly with the dogs. So, they are talking all the time to

Kun-Kun. But I was wondering if he can detect this different language.

KINKADE: So Kun-Kun`s owner set out to find an answer. She and a team of researchers in Budapest designed an experiment with 18 dogs to see if they

can differentiate language.

With their owners present and the ability to leave the scanner at any point, each of the dog`s brains were analyzed with MRI scanning as they

heard either Hungarian, Spanish, or scrambled speech.

Two of the pups were familiar with Spanish. The other 16 were used to hearing Hungarian.

ATTILA ANDICS, NEUROSCIENTIST, EOTVOS LORAND UNIVERSITY: What we see from these results is that they do pay attention, they do pick up on these

auditory irregularities that characterize a certain language.

KINKADE: Scans show different parts of the dogs` brains were activated when a familiar language was spoken, versus a non-familiar one, as well as

when nonsense was spoken, versus authentic speech.

The researchers also found that the older the dog, the better its brain was able to distinguish between languages.

CUAYA: It`s a fact how dogs are social beings. So, they are all the time picking up information about the social world. For the dogs, humans, we are

an important source of information.

KINKADE: Kun-Kun, who was one of the study participants, already knew as much.

CUAYA: (SPEAKING SPANISH)

GRAPHIC: Kun-Kun, do you speak Spanish?

(DOG BARKS)

CUAYA: (SPEAKING SPANISH)

GRAPHIC: Are you sure?

(DOG BARKS)

CUAYA: (SPEAKING HUNGARIAN)

GRAPHIC: Kun-Kun, do you speak Hungarian?

KINKADE: So, while Fidos may not be exactly bilingual --

CUAYA: (SPEAKING SPANISH)

KINKADE: -- they may be hearing much more than you think.

CUAYA: (SPEAKING SPANISH)

KINKADE: Lynda Kinkade, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Of course, it all makes sense, when you consider German shepherds, Chinese cresteds, Portuguese water dogs, Irish wolfhounds, English cocker

spaniels, French bulldogs, Italian greyhounds, Bernese mountain dogs, Dutch shepherds, and Hungarian vizslas. All you really got to do is throw `em a

bone up.

I`m Carl Azuz. Today`s shout-out goes out to Great Bridge High School. Thank you for watching from Chesapeake, Virginia. Also, thank you for your

comments on our YouTube Channel.

Have a great day. Look forward to seeing you all tomorrow.

END