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The Global Brief with Bianca Nobilo

One Hundred Days Of Ukraine War; Monkeypox Reality Check; Jubilee Celebrations. Aired 5-5:30p ET

Aired June 03, 2022 - 17:00:00   ET

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

[17:00:40]

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome. I'm Bianca Nobilo in London. And this is THE GLOBAL BRIEF.

Ukraine is attempting to hold out against overwhelming firepower in the eastern part of the country.

Then, the silent spread of monkeypox. We'll do a reality check of what's known so far about the current global outbreak.

And the royal family goes forward with jubilee celebrations despite the Queen pulling out. CNN's one and only Max Foster will give us a full royal

report ahead.

From a fierce assault expected to last a few days to a grinding months-long war of attrition, Russia's offensive in Ukraine reach the 100-day mark on

Friday and despite thousands of lives lost, millions of people displaced and parts of the country in ruins. Ukraine is more determined than ever to

reclaim its sovereignty from Russia. It says it can win this war if it received enough heavy weapons from the West, insisting the future of

Europe's freedom depends on that.

Russia has repeatedly threatened strike decision-makers in Kyiv. But Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not hiding in a bunker. He

visited wounded soldiers in the hospital on Friday thanking them and the doctors who are saving their lives.

President Zelenskyy also recorded a dramatic video message on the streets of the capital.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The leaders of parliamentary factions are here. The president chief of staff is here.

The prime minister of Ukraine, Shmyhal, is here. Podolyak is here. The president is here.

Our team is much bigger. The armed forces of Ukraine are here. Most importantly, our people, of the people of our country, are here.

We have been defending Ukraine from 100 days. Victory shall be ours. Glory to Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Kyiv may not be coming under attack right now as the front lines have shifted east, that the war still taking a toll on every family, even

the most resilient.

One woman says she feels frozen inside and it does not let herself internalize all the loss and destruction because she would fall to pieces.

Residents say they're just coping as best as they can.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We are very strong. Stronger than we thought. The economy of Ukraine keeps working, which means it's more

powerful than we thought despite the depreciation. Finally, we will certainly win. I'm 100 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): People got used to the war, but no one has the feeling that the war somewhere far away. It is happening here.

People get used to things. It was tough emotionally during the first month or month and a half. Afterwards, people started getting used to it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The war is not over. It is still going on. It is still going on in the lives of each of, us because we can

see here and analyze what's happening. My friends are somewhere on the front lines are at the training range, and I'm worried about them. The war

certainly not over, but I wanted to be over as soon as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: CNN's Matthew Chance is also in Kyiv on this 100th day of the conflict. As he walks the streets he explains the devastation that this war

has brought.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you are joining me here in the heart of the Ukrainian capital. You could see

hundred days after the start of this war with Russia and life seems to have returned to some degree of normality.

That's right, isn't it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.

CHANCE: It has gotten a bit better. Right.

People are here at lunchtime. They are in this lovely cafe. They're ordering their lunches and they're having coffees out on the street just

like it was before February the 24th when the Russians attacked.

But, of course, behind all of this, you've got to remember the massive price that Ukraine has paid. Twenty percent of the country's territory has

now been occupied by Russian forces. That's according to the Ukrainian president. There have been countless casualties, deaths. There's no exact

figure.

But when you talk about soldiers and civilians on both sides, the estimates run into tens of thousands of people who have been killed, who have lost

their lives and then there are millions more who have been uprooted, 12 million internally displaced people as a result of the fighting. Ukrainian

officials that we've spoken to said 5 million people have actually left the country, many of them to Russia.

[17:05:05]

Ukrainian officials accused Russia of forcibly evacuating hundreds of thousands of people from Ukrainian territory into the territory of the

Russian Federation. And despite all this calm here, you can see elsewhere in Ukraine the military situation is very dire indeed. There are fierce

fighting taking place. There is fierce fighting taking place in the east of the country in Donbas where there is a battle still underway for control of

the city of Severodonetsk which is now 80 percent under Russian control.

And, of course, there is a counter offensive underway as well with Ukrainian forces trying to take back territory that has already been

conquered by Russian forces into the south of Donbas as well. So, a lot of dynamism, a lot of ebb and flow between the two sides still.

And even 100 days after this conflict began there is no sign of it coming to an end, because both sides, both the Russians and Ukrainians appear to

be digging in for very long fight.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Matthew Chance there for us.

On the battlefield, Russian forces appear to have made a little headway in the past 24 hours. Ukrainian officials say their offensive nonsense in the

southern region of Kherson is making progress and attempts by the Russians to recover lost ground have failed.

But in the east, the Ukrainian military says that Russian units are being reinforced for a new assault on Sloviansk. Moscow's forces are trying to

break Ukrainian resistance along the border of two breakaway regions, Luhansk and Donetsk, and British intelligence says it's likely the Russians

will control all of Luhansk within two weeks.

I want to bring in CNN military analyst, Mark Hertling. He's a former commanding general of the U.S. Army Europe and the Seventh Army.

Great to speak to you, sir.

MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good to see you, Bianca.

NOBILO: On the 100th day of this war, as someone with so much experience on the battlefield, what has surprised or horrified you the most?

HERTLING: Let me count the ways. Many things from the very start of the war, there's been all sorts of criminal activity on part of the Russian

forces. They have committed war crimes in abundance, so many times.

From a tactical operational and strategic perspective, the thing that surprised me was first of all, that Mr. Putin decided to attack in the

first place. Then, as many of us believe, have worked with Ukrainian forces have achieved the counterattacks against the Russian forces, which leads us

to phase three, right now. There's some calling this a stalemate, some calling it a stalled operation in the Donbas.

What I would suggest that we are going to see a slugfest between artillery on both sides, not just the Russian artillery which is somewhat inaccurate,

and not poorly laid, but a lot of it, landing on Ukrainian cities, and killing and injuring Ukrainian citizens. And on the other side, Ukrainian

artillery, especially some of the new equipment they have, being more precise in terms of targeting counter fire artillery from their positions

along the defensive line in the Donbas.

If you look at other areas, the Ukrainians have been exceedingly good in the north, around Kharkiv, pushing the Russians back. We start to see

territorial forces, and even resistance forces, civilians resistance in places like Kherson. But my focus continues to be in Donbas, especially the

northern area where we seeing the fighting around Severodonetsk, and attempts by Russians to continue to expand that zone, to conduct

envelopment operations and the force the crossing of the Donetsk river.

NOBILO: Do you think it will be possible for the Ukrainian Army to push back in the Donbas and reclaim territory? Obviously, right now, the Russian

army is closing in Severodonetsk. It's pretty much surrounded and Russian controls is 1/5 of Ukrainian territory. Is it possible for Ukraine to

regain that ground, and how might they do that?

HERTLING: I believe it is, Bianca. I think what we are seeing now, as we watch closely. And, of course, I am no longer a commander that gets

intelligence information from staff. I don't get reports from the frontlines.

But there are things that I am seeing. First of all, the Russian artillery is being extremely effective because they have a lot of it. But Ukrainian

artillery is answering encounter fire, it's being very precise in terms of targeting of key artillery nodes of the Russians, but also the logistic

nodes.

[17:10:05]

The other thing I am seeing, it's tough to kind of gleam this from Internet videos and things like that, but when the Russians move forward their

artillery line, with their tanks and the BMPs, they are getting beat by the Ukrainian forces. The same way they did and north of Kyiv, several weeks

ago.

What we are seeing is the inability of the Russian forces to maneuver, what we call in the military, combined arms format, armor, infantry, artillery.

Yes, they are striking hard with the artillery, and sending armor. But those armors are not being masked. They are small packets. It seems like

they're afraid to move quickly. And they are moving in forces of two or three or four vehicles, not in large masses. The Ukrainian forces are able

to pick those off.

So, we are seeing a continued defensive position, a trench line, if you will, sort of like World War I, truthfully. When the Russians do attack, to

attack, Ukraine's army is countering those attacks, and pushing them back. So, I am watching this closely in the northern salient, around

Severodonetsk.

I am seeing, not just a lot of Russian artillery pounding the city, causing casualties. But it appears, even though they are fatigued, where hundred

days into this, both sides are extremely fatigued. But the Ukrainian forces still have the will to protect their homeland on their side. Russian morale

seems to continue to be dropping.

NOBILO: General Hertling, it's always great to hear from you on the program. Thanks so much for joining us. And we'll touch base with you soon.

HERTLING: Thank you, Bianca. It's good to see you.

NOBILO: Russia has launched cargo rockets into the International Space Station dedicated to the two breakaway republics in the Donbas region. The

Donbas rocket is dedicated to the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. It is delivering scientific equipment and fuel, water,

and other supplies to the ISS.

The launch coincided with the 100 a day of what Russia calls its special military operation in Ukraine. The government recognized the breakaway

republic as independent on February the 22nd.

And Chinese foreign minister, Wang Li (ph), has wrapped up his tour in the South Pacific. He met with the prime minister of Papua New Guinea, and the

two leaders agree to deepen their economic and political ties. Wang has been on the marathon diplomatic tour across the south Pacific, and while he

failed to strike a new security pact with ten island nations, it's prompted western government to scramble secure investments in the region.

CNN's Ivan Watson looks at the growing competition between China and the West, in the South Pacific.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To many outsiders, island nations in the South Pacific are a tropical paradise.

Exotic and remote. And yet the focus of intense diplomatic activity from China.

Part of a Chinese push for influence that's turning the Blue Pacific continent into a zone of geopolitical competition between China and its

Western rivals.

China's foreign minister has been leading a delegation on a whirlwind 10- day tour across the South Pacific. Meeting face to face or virtually with officials from at least 11 different Pacific Island nations. Most of these

countries entire populations are dwarfed by even a small Chinese city.

WANG YI, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): Don't be too anxious, don't be too nervous, because the common development of the

prosperity of China and all other developing countries would only mean greater harmony, greater justice and greater prosperity of the whole world.

WATSON: The last time great powers competed in the South Pacific was World War II where the U.S. and its allies fought a grinding, island hopping

military campaign against Japan.

Since the war, many Pacific Island still have close ties to the U.S. and its Western allies. But in March, that status quo shaken with the leak of a

secret security agreement between China and the Solomon Islands signed the following month.

It allows the Solomon's government to call for help from Chinese police and armed forces. In May, the release of another proposed document. The Chinese

Pacific Island countries common development vision, a sweeping vision slammed by the president of the Federated States of Micronesia.

In this letter, he accuses China of offering attractive economic assistance as part of a bid to take control of security, communications infrastructure

and fisheries in the islands.

[17:15:01]

Just days after being sworn into her new job, Australia's foreign minister rushed to shore up Western support for the region.

PENNY WONG, AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: And Australia will be a partner that doesn't come with strings attached, nor imposing unsustainable

financial burdens. We're a partner that won't erode Pacific priorities or Pacific institutions.

WATSON: During his visit, China's foreign minister refused to take questions from independent journalists.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No questions will be asked at this press conference.

WATSON: Prompting a boycott from reporters in the Solomon Islands, like Dorothy Wickham.

DOROTHY WICKHAM, SOLOMON ISLANDS JOURNALIST: We want our government to remember that we were a democratic society. I mean, there in parliament for

the democratically, by the people. And if they would go to war on signing agreements with foreign powers, then at least our people should be

informed.

WATSON: Meanwhile, the prime minister of Fiji has a warning.

FRANK BAINIMARAMA, FIJIAN PRIME MINISTER: Geopolitical point scoring means less than little to anyone whose community is slipping beneath the rising

seas, whose job has been lost to a pandemic.

WATSON: On Monday, Chinese diplomats backtracked, offering a softened vision of Chinese influence in the Pacific, expect more visits from high-

level delegations in the months ahead, as foreign governments scramble to secure influence in the South Pacific.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Of course, we meant Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi.

Now, still ahead on the program, horrifying disease leading to worries around the world. How greater risk is monkeypox going to be, really? And

what can we do to stop the spread? I will speak to a leading expert in the disease, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: An update on the spread of monkeypox.

[17:20:01]

Global health experts now say that there have been at 700 cases worldwide, most of them in Europe, and at least 20 of them in the United States. Even

though they say that the public health risk remains low, there's still a lot of scientists that say they don't know much about how the virus behaves

outside countries that are endemic. So, they're urging doctors to test patients who the suspect may have it.

Anne Rimoin is a professor in the department of epidemiology at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and she joins me now from San Diego.

Anne, it's lovely to speak to you again. We spoke two weeks ago. What have you and the scientific community learned about these cases of monkeypox

since then?

PROFESSOR ANNE RIMOIN, DEPARTMENT OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, UCLA FIELDING SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Well, you know, what's really important to understand is

that monkeypox is -- this monkeypox set of cases or clusters are all seem to appear to be related to the West African clade, which is associated with

Nigeria, for example. All of the cases to date appear to be related to that.

But it does appear that there could be multiple introductions of this virus and that's very important to understand, because that means it could've

been going on for a longer period of time than we imagined. As that may be the case, we really do need to understand how much community transmission

is occurring.

NOBILO: And is there still confidence, in yourself, in the scientific community that this is still spread by prolonged exposure, either rubbing

up against the rash, sharing bedding, or towels or sustained droplets of someone sneezing when they have the rash? Are you confident that it's not

easier to transmit than that?

RIMOIN: Well, you know, we always are learning about viruses when they come into a new population and are circulating in a different context. But

I would say is as we understand monkeypox, this is not a completely new virus. This is a virus that has been -- there's been a fair amount of study

on for the past several decades, the routes of transmission that are most common are very close contact with an individual or with an animal, or with

an object, contaminated object that had maybe has been contaminated with monkeypox.

So, of course, we do believe the droplets spread is important. The range of droplets, maybe something that we are not exactly sure with how far these

respiratory droplets may go.

But, of course, you ask an important question. How confident are we? Well, the data that we have based on the conditions that we've studied them and

really suggest that the droplet and very close personal contact our main forms of transmission. But we will be doing a lot more study of this virus

to truly understand all of the potential for spread.

NOBILO: And, Anne, can people spread monkeypox without symptoms?

RIMOIN: That's another unknown question. From the data that we have from the outbreaks that have occurred in West Africa and Central Africa and DRC,

it appears that people are truly infectious when they start to show symptoms. Remember, the symptoms start with fever, headache, chills, flu-

like symptoms and then progress to a rash. And people are expected to be infectious throughout the entirety of the time that they do have lesions

until those lesions fall off.

NOBILO: Anne, when you say droplet exposure can be a means of transmission, how long are you talking? Because, obviously, compared to

COVID, where you only need to be in the presence of somebody for a matter of seconds that is very close to you, what level of exposure is required in

order to contract monkeypox by droplets?

RIMOIN: Well, for more we know about monkeypox, it really appears that you need to be fairly close proximity to somebody who has monkeypox, because

these droplets don't go very far. I don't think that at this point, we have any indication that this virus would be commonly transmitted through an

aerosol route.

NOBILO: Well, that's encouraging. Just one final question to you, and. What is your biggest question to your mind that you want to solve about

monkeypox in this coming weeks and this particular outbreak?

RIMOIN: Well, I think it's important to remember that there are many things we don't know. We don't know how long it's been circulating. We

don't know how much community transmission there is.

We really -- it's likely turned into a new series and we don't know when episode we've landed on. So, there is a lot of work that needs to be done

to truly understand all of the introductions, how long it's been spreading, where it's been spreading, and that will help us really understand what

exactly we need to do to be able to control it.

NOBILO: Anne Rimoin, thank you so much. Always lovely to speak to you. I wish it was other circumstances other than a disease that can give you a

rash that resembles chickenpox, but it's a pleasure. Thank you so much.

[17:25:01]

RIMOIN: It's my pleasure.

NOBILO: Now, members of the British royal family have celebrated Queen Elizabeth in a special service at Thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral in

Central London. But the queen herself was absent after experiencing some discomfort following the platinum jubilee opening on Thursday. And now,

Buckingham palace says that she will not attend the Epsom Derby on Saturday.

CNN's Max Foster has the royal update.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The bells toll for the queen, as guests arrive at St. Paul's Cathedral in London for the

thanksgiving service, including former PMs, the mayor of London and ministers.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson also in attendance, receiving boos from the crowd.

But perhaps the most notorious guests were Prince Harry and Meghan. Welcomed with cheers in what was their first public appearance as a couple

at a royal event in two years, since a very public break from royal life.

The duke and duchess of Cambridge make their way to the cathedral next, closely followed by the duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles, who was

there to represent the queen in this celebration after the monarch felt discomfort after Thursday's events.

As the queen watched from Windsor Castle, Charles took her seat. One that he's ordained to one day take himself as king.

But even in her absence, the queen's public service, her life, and even her love for horseracing were at the heart of this event.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your majesty, we are sorry that you're not here with us this morning. But we are so glad that you are still in the saddle.

FOSTER: A touching service enchanted by the cathedral and royal and military choirs and prayers.

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Keep on doing --

FOSTER: And even a reading from the prime minister himself. The ceremony wasn't without its hiccups, including a last-minute change of archbishop

after the archbishop of Canterbury contracted COVID-19.

It was a beautiful and cheerful ceremony honoring the longest serving monarch of Great Britain and in the first royal event in St. Paul's

cathedral without the queen in 70 years.

Max Foster, CNN, St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: That was THE GLOBAL BRIEF. Have a lovely weekend and thank you so much for watching.

END