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At This Hour

Blinken Visits Ukraine, Warns Of "Difficult Days" Ahead; Russia Calls On West To Stop Supplying Weapons To Ukraine; Kentucky Hits Highest Positivity Rate Since Start Of Pandemic; Biden Admin To Distribute 400 Million Free N95 Masks; Boris Johnson Refuses To Resign During Parliament Grilling; Airlines Cancel, Change Flights Over 5G Rollout Concerns; Fashion Icon, Former Vogue Editor Andre Leon Talley Dies At 73. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired January 19, 2022 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Secretary Blinken also coming here in a show of symbolic support, stressing again, that there will be crushing U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia, if it does decide to indicate some kind of invasion or incursion. And the Ukrainians are publicly welcome that. But, you know, behind the scenes, there's a lot of frustration. There are a lot more sanctions upfront. There's not more military aid coming in from the U.S. to Ukraine, so it can battle and resist what they regard as an impending Russian threat. Kate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: All right, Matthew, thank you for that.

Let's go to CNN, Fred Pleitgen now who's live in Moscow with more on what the Russians are saying this morning. Fred?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kate. Well the Russians, obviously, have a very different view of that. They also say that they believe the situation down there in that part of Europe is extremely dangerous at the moment. However, they also say that their forces are on their territory as they put it.

And I was able to speak to the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister today and ask him how big the Russians believe the threat of war is right now. And here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEY RYABKOV, RUSSIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER: We do not want and will not take any action of aggressive character. We will not attack, strike, invades, quote, unquote, whatever Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: I also asked him why the Russians are taking this hard line all of a sudden, and he said that the Russians right now feel that Ukraine is somehow already being integrated into NATO structures, as he put it. And he said, that's a big concern for Russia's security.

The Russians, of course, saying they want a written guarantees from the United States that Russia -- that Ukraine sorry, will never become a member state of NATO. The U.S. already saying that's a non-starter.

One of the other interesting things that I picked up from the Deputy Foreign Minister today is he said, alternatively, the Russians might also settle for the U.S. giving a legally binding response saying they would never vote for Ukraine or other countries to get into NATO. Of course, very difficult to see the U.S. agreeing to that. But going to be very interesting talks happening in Geneva with Secretary of State Blinken and Sergey Lavrov on Friday.

BOLDUAN: Yes, very interesting. Thank you both very much.

For more on this, let me bring in Ian Bremmer, he's the President of the Eurasia Group and GZERO Media. Ian, it's great to have you. Let's start with the stakes.

IAN BREMMER, PRESIDENT, EURASIA GROUP AND GZERO MEDIA: Sure.

BOLDUAN: Because I was interested to see you say yesterday that this is the first, first major foreign policy crisis of the Biden administration. When you have the Afghanistan mass and continued provocations, you know, coming from North Korea, why does this current crisis with Russia and Ukraine set itself apart?

BREMMER: Well, one, we're not still really talking about Afghanistan in the United States right now. If this blows up with Russia, we're going to be talking about it through the Biden administration and beyond. So it does have much more significant global consequences for relations between major powers.

And in that regard, as much as Afghanistan was very significant, and, of course, is devastating to the people that are actually living there and the people that served, it's a very different order crisis than what we were looking at presently with Russians.

BOLDUAN: I think that's really interesting. Your assessment right now, is that there's a lower likelihood of a full scale invasion of Ukraine. Yet I'm seeing, you know, we hear all what's coming out of Ukrainian officials. And I see reporting from Ukrainian military that Russia has moved a type of missile to the border that's capable of targeting -- capable of hitting targets, including the capital city of Kiev. I mean, you still think that Putin does not intend to invade at this moment?

BREMMER: Well, two points. Putin clearly has ordered that he has the option. And that option is both aligned with coercive diplomacy, maximum pressure, and then seeing what happens, and it's also aligned with an invasion. So I don't think you can determine that Putin has made a decision to attack on the basis of the fact that he wants the capabilities there.

Secondly, diplomacy is ongoing. And not only does President Biden want a climb down, he would much prefer this to end without escalation and hostilities with the Russians. But Putin has also sent such signals. Couple things I would mention, Putin said there wasn't going to be further diplomacy on this, won't be further high level meetings until after was a direct written response by the Americans to their demands.

They haven't gotten that response yet. They will, but they haven't yet. And yet, we see the Secretary of State is meeting with the Foreign Minister of Russia on Friday in Geneva.

Number two, you'll remember back in Geneva when President Biden first sat down and met for a couple of hours with President Putin, Biden drove that agenda. And his top issue at that point, his red line was that the Russians had to put an end to the criminal syndicates that were attacking U.S. critical infrastructure by cyber, it was right after the Colonial Pipeline attack.

The Russians responded on that. They absolutely did put an end to a lot of those attacks. The Americans appreciated it. And furthermore, last Friday, which was same day the Russians engaged in attack, cyberattacks against Ukraine, they also announced that they had shut down the organization Revo (ph), which was behind those attacks on the Colonial Pipeline, and they arrested 14 people.

[11:35:15]

Now, I'm not saying that means that diplomacy is going to yield a breakthrough, but it is very clear. That's not a coincidence. That's the Kremlin sending a message directly to the United States, that the issue that was your top priority we've responded to. We've now told you what our top priority is, are you going to respond to it?

There is absolutely a conversation that is going to be going on on Friday between the top foreign policy officials of both countries that hopefully will set up a conversation between the two presidents to address whether or not diplomacy can continue.

BOLDUAN: So fascinating. Well, I hope you can join me again on Friday to discuss whatever comes out. It's good to see you, and thanks so much.

BREMMER: (INAUDIBLE).

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, the U.S. sets a new record for COVID hospitalizations. Up next, we're going to take you inside one Kentucky hospital that's right now overwhelmed with unvaccinated patients in their E.R.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:40:58]

BOLDUAN: Let's focus in on the pandemic now. The U.S. has set a new record with more than 158,000 Americans hospitalized with COVID. The Omicron variant is pushing Kentucky to the brink as well once again. The Commonwealth now seeing the highest positivity rates since the start of the pandemic. Nearly one in three people there are testing positive for COVID. CNN's Miguel Marquez is live in Kentucky. He joins us right now. Miguel, you went back to one of the hospitals that you visited in September. What did you see this time?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this was St. Claire Healthcare in Morehead, Kentucky. It's a regional hospital that serves 11 rural counties in North Eastern Kentucky. And it's bad. It's as bad as it was in September. Some days are worse than others. And they are not sure where they are on this current wave. And even if they get through it, they're not sure if there is another wave coming.

Healthcare workers are flat out. Tired of it all. It's difficult not only to manage the number of coronavirus cases, but everything else that everyone has been suffering that they have to deal with on a day- to-day basis. They are battling not only the virus but false information as well. And also trying to balance work and life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHELAN BAILEY, CRITICAL CARE NURSE: With the increased number of COVID patients that we see at times, it decreases any kind of capacity that we have. We had difficulty transferring patients to other facilities that are experiencing the same things. So I worry about, you know, my children. I've got several kids at home.

And if they were injured and the other hospitals that we typically transfer to don't have capacity, that could lead to a very bad outcome. So even people that are not experiencing COVID symptoms, you worry about the ability for health care systems to provide them the appropriate level of care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: So when we're here in September, that was during the Delta wave and the highest number of cases they saw on any given week in Kentucky during that time was over 30,000. The past week, the numbers are over 72,000 cases of those attesting for the coronavirus. And it goes without saying, if you are vaccinated, it makes a huge difference. Most of the deaths and hospitalizations and cases are all among the unvaccinated. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Miguel, your perspective on this is so critical. Thank you. I really appreciate it.

Joining me now is Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama Birmingham for more on all this. So, Doctor, that is the view in Kentucky. Nationally, there are now over 158,000 people hospitalized with COVID, a new high.

And the CDC, just to kind of what Miguel was talking about, put out some interesting analysis digging into hospital numbers, looking at data from November and saw that hospitalization rates among unvaccinated people were 13 times higher than fully vaccinated people. What story does that tell? What should that mean for everyone?

DR. JEANNE MARRAZZO, PROFESSOR OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, UNIV. OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM: Yes, Kate. I think it returns us to the fundamental observation that even though the vaccines that we have available probably aren't fantastic at preventing you from getting infected with Omicron. We've just seen some new data out of Israel recently that even a fourth booster dose is probably not going to protect you. It still protects you significantly against severe disease and hospitalization.

And honestly, to get on top of the situation with our hospitals, critical shortages of staff who are getting infected, still overwhelming patients coming to the emergency department for symptoms and getting tested. We really need to rely on immunization, especially before we get to a new variant which I very much hope we don't.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. And the Biden administration as part of this just announced is going to be distributing 400 million N95 masks to the public for free. I mean masks are key. What impact, though, do you think this -- do you see this having at this point in the pandemic?

[11:45:02]

MARRAZZO: Well I think it's a good thing. I wish it had happened earlier. I think it sends the message to people in general that masks are one of the fundamental tools to help us get out of this. It also sends the message that a better mask i.e. a less permeable mask, a denser mask is better than a cloth mask, right? That's going to let things through.

So the message to me is, if you can wear a very strong mask, then you should. If it's comfortable enough and you can keep it on, it's absolutely going to be essential and it will protect you. But remember, we don't want perfect to be the enemy of the good, right? The best mask you wear is the one that you wear. So really want people to use these masks and to the extent that they can use the N95, it really should help us.

BOLDUAN: Great point. The American Academy of Pediatrics is now reporting that nearly 1 million cases of COVID infections have happened in kids just last week. And kids and COVID has been one of the more complicated aspects of the pandemic, Doctor. I mean, by and large, their -- they fare better. But when you see numbers like this, what does it mean for -- I don't know, what does it mean in Alabama?

MARRAZZO: It's really worrisome. Alabama is one of several states now, I think, in the double digits that have shattered records for pediatric hospitalization. So we've got around 100 kids hospitalized.

And earlier, we were seeing many of these cases diagnosed. They were hospitalized for other reasons. And their COVID tests were positive. We're now seeing more kids who are getting hospitalized specifically with COVID-related illness and that's typically related to pneumonia. It can require intubation.

If you look at the cases of COVID in young kids, 10 percent of all cases, over 9 million cases that have happened in kids, were added in the last week. So what this is telling us is that Omicron is really ravaging kids for a number of reasons. First of all, vaccination and the kids that can get it the five to 12 year olds, the rates are really low. And then, of course, we don't have a vaccine for younger kids.

So this is really turning out to be one of the bigger, I would say, unanticipated challenges of this particular surge.

BOLDUAN: Yes, and something that really needs to be focused in on now. It's good to see your, Doctor, thank you very much.

Coming up for us, airlines are canceling flights over safety concerns related to the 5G rollout. The latest impact on air travel next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:51:55]

BOLDUAN: Developing this morning, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is refusing to resign during a fiery session of parliament. He faces a growing revolt though over accusations that he repeatedly broke his own administration's COVID rules by staffers holding parties at Downing Street during the height of pandemic lockdowns. Johnson issuing a new apology to Parliament, though.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I thank people very much for everything they have done. I recognize the enormous sacrifice that people have made. I apologize for misjudgements that may be made in No 10 by me and anybody else. But please can I ask him to wait for the inquiry to conclude.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Some members of Johnson's Conservative Party though are rejecting his excuses at this point. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID DAVIS, CONSERVATIVE MEMBER OF U.K. PARLIAMENT: I'll remind him of a quotation altogether too familiar to him of Leo Amery, to Neville Chamberlain. You're sat there too long for the good you have done. In the name of God, go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Geez. It is worth noting the Prime Minister announced today an end to COVID restrictions in the U.K. that takes effect next Thursday. Also developing this morning, several international airlines are canceling flights to the U.S. over safety concerns with the rollout of new 5G mobile technology.

CNN's Pete Muntean live in Washington with the very latest. It changes by the hour it seems, Pete. What's happening with this now?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: It's so true, Kate. You know, the saga is not over just yet after AT&T and Verizon agreed to delay this rollout but only near certain airports. Now airlines say they simply do not have enough information about that so they are moving forward with canceling some flights.

Look at the latest statement here from Delta Airlines. It says, "While this is a positive development toward preventing widespread disruptions to flight operations, some flight restrictions may still remain." We have seen some international carriers flying into the United States, shedding some of their routes and this list keeps growing, British Airways, Lufthansa, ANA, Air India, Emirates, Japan Airlines all suspending at least some routes coming into the United States.

What is it issue here are very sensitive instruments on board, airliners, on cargo planes, on helicopters. They are called radar altimeters, and they send a radio beam from the plane to the ground. It gets bounced back to the plane. And that gives a hyper accurate reading of exactly how high it is above the ground. But the problem is that runs on a similar radio -- part of the radio spectrum to these 5G towers.

And pilots say that could cause critical interference when they are low to the ground in low visibility when they say they really need this the most. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPTAIN DENNIS TAJER, ALLIED PILOTS ASSOCIATION: The bottom line is, is the FAA said this affects 17 systems on my airplane if things go wrong. It's bombarding my airplane with signal interference that is unsafe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: AT&T and Verizon are behind this 5G push. Begs mentioning that AT&T own CNN's parent company and in a statement it says that this is really on the FAA. It had two years to fix this, so a lot of finger pointing here, Kate. We're only seeing just the start of it.

[11:55:07]

BOLDUAN: Yes. Just the start of it. It's good to see you. Thank you very much, Pete, for the latest there.

Before we go, we also do want to know the passing of an icon. Andre Leon Talley has died after battling an unknown illness. At 6 foot 6 and with a booming voice, Talley was a legend in the fashion industry known for his attention grabbing outfits, his larger than life personality and so much more.

Among his accomplishments, Talley served as a longtime creative director at Vogue and later as the editor at large for the influential magazine making him the rare black editor in a field led by few minorities. Andre Leon Talley was 73 years old.

Thank you so much for being here with us this hour. I'm Kate Bolduan. "Inside Politics" with John King begins after a break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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