Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

United Airlines Temporarily Grounds 24 Boeing 777 Planes; Generals Warn Myanmar Protestors Will 'Suffer the Loss of Life'; Water Service Still Disrupted for Nearly a Third of Texans; Houston Furniture Store Becomes Shelter During Storm. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired February 22, 2021 - 00:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Boeing is calling for the grounding of all triple-7 planes with a specific engine, like this one, which left a large debris field near Denver. Amazingly, no injuries.

Defiant and determined. Protesters come out in force in Myanmar, despite a dire military warning.

And America's aging infrastructure at risk. What the power crisis in Texas can teach us about what's likely to come nationally.

Hello and welcome, everyone, to CNN NEWSROOM. Appreciate your company. I'm Michael Holmes.

And we begin with new details of the terrifying engine failure of that United Airlines flight from Denver. Boeing wants all triple-7s that use the same engine as that flight grounded.

United Airlines has already done so. It's temporarily taken 24 of their Boeing triple-7's out of service.

Let's take a look again at that dramatic video of the moment that the engine was on fire. Regulators in the U.S. are ramping up inspections of that Pratt and Whitney engine.

The U.S. Transportation Safety Board says initial investigation shows that two fan blades were fractured, and the remaining blade showed damage. The flight landed in Denver with all 241 people on board safe and sound. But here's what happened to the debris.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SOUND OF SOMETHING HARD HITTING THE GROUND)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: That is just incredible. Isn't it? Parts of the plane falling outside a home in Colorado. Incredibly, nobody hurt on the ground.

Meanwhile, the repercussions of this incident are being felt on the other side of the globe. Japan ordering all of its domestic airlines to temporarily stop operating Boeing triple-7's equipped with that same engine.

CNN's Pete Muntean is following the story of the United Airlines incident and has details of the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're getting our first window into what may have played a major role in that dramatic in-flight failure of United Airlines Flight 328.

The National Transportation Safety Board now says one of the fan blades of the right-hand engine of that Boeing triple-7 broke off, damaged another one and other fan blades. In fact, investigators were able to find parts inside the inner containment ring of the engine.

Now begins the process of piecing this all together, and the focal point of the investigation will really be the Pratt and Whitney PW- 4000 engine. But one specific to the Boeing triple-7 200 in this incident.

In fact, the FAA has ordered emergency inspections of the fan blades on the Pratt and Whitney PW-4000, and United Airlines says it's removing all of its Boeing triple-7 200s with the Pratt and Whitney engine from service. That includes 24 airplanes. United Airlines the only operator of that airplane with that specific engine in the United States. Even though the Pratt and Whitney PW-4000 engine, a workhorse in civilian and commercial aviation. More than 2,500 of them in service.

Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Let's go now to Japan, with the transportation ministry ordering all domestic airlines to stop flying those planes with that engine.

CNN's Blake Essig joining me now from Tokyo. Japan was a pretty quick move. What are they saying?

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Mike. You know, Japan was very quick to act. In fact, you know, it could be the first proverbial domino to fall when it comes to other countries following suit and ordering their domestic air carriers to ground, you know, planes. The Boeing triple-7 operating with the Pratt and Whitney PW series engine.

Now, the ministry of transport, you know, did say that there are two air carriers here in Japan that operate that specific aircraft, Japan Airlines and Nippon Airways. Now they operate 19 and 13 of that particular plane, respectively.

Now according to the Ministry of Transport, at this point there is no timeline on how long those suspensions will last, saying that safety -- safety concerns need to be addressed and studied -- Michael.

HOLMES: And like Japan had problems with this particular plane and engine in the past. Right? What happened?

[00:05:07]

ESSIG: Yes, Michael. You know, it's only just about a little over, you know, almost not quite three months ago. Early December, there was a flight, a Japan Airlines flight that also suffered a serious incident regarding the Boeing triple-7 with that Pratt and Whitney PW-4000 and series engine. This plane was flying from Okinawa to Tokyo and had to make an emergency landing in Okinawa. And similar to the incident in Denver over the weekend, the -- Japan airlines flight reported that the left side engine of the plane fell off. They believe it fell off during the flight.

CNN has reached out to Boeing, who had no comment regarding this particular incident.

Again, Michael, it's interesting to see, you know, Japan the first one to make this move as far as grounding this specific aircraft domestically. It will be interesting to see if other countries follow suit.

HOLMES: Indeed. Blake, thank you. Blake Essig there in Tokyo for us. Appreciate it.

Meanwhile, officials in the Netherlands are investigating an incident eerily similar to what happened in Colorado. Several cars and houses were damaged when pieces of metal fell from the engine of a Boeing 747 cargo plane shortly after take-off on Saturday. A different plane than the triple-7.

Obviously, two people on the ground were slightly injured by the falling debris. That plane, diverted to Belgium, was able to land safely. Again, noting that while both Boeing planes had Pratt and Whitney engines. The issue with the fan blades that caused that problem in Colorado was specific to the triple-7. Don't want any confusion there.

Now Myanmar's military leaders are warning protesters that they will, quote, "suffer the loss of life" if they keep up their civil disobedience campaign.

But activists aren't planning to stop. The country's leading pro- democracy group calling for historic demonstrations today. Tens of thousands of people will be marching every day for more than two weeks, and they have already suffered loss of life.

Crowds of people holding a vigil for two protesters who were killed and -- by police this past weekend.

Now, millions of Texans are still without water right now days after that crippling winter storm. They're dealing with broken pipes, flooded homes, and skyrocketing energy bills.

What state leaders are doing to help. We'll have that when we come back. Critics do say that it's likely what Texas leaders didn't do led to

this crisis. How climate threats are forcing the U.S. to prepare for extreme weather, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Bringing you live images now. This is Mandalay in Myanmar, where protests continue against the military's takeover, its coup and removal from power of Aung San Suu Kyi and civilian elected government.

The country's leading pro-democracy group has been calling for historic demonstrations this day. However, the military has issued a fairly dire warning.

Paula Hancocks is covering all of this for us from Seoul. It's been an emotional time for protesters, burying one of their own, and the stark warning from the military. Fill us in.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Michael, yes. I mean, the military has said on their Facebook page that, if -- effectively, if people come out to protest, and as they say, incitement, then they will suffer the loss of life. A direct quote there.

And what they've been saying is we have actually seen the deadliest weekend in Myanmar since the February 1 coup, two people having been killed in Mandalay on Saturday by security forces.

The military say that the protesters have been rioting. They have been inciting violence, and that was why they were forced, they say, to fire back, pointing out they had been using, quote, "prescribed crowd dispersal methods."

Of course, this is a very different answer when you speak to the protesters themselves. And you did reference there the first casualty among the protesters of this civil disobedience movement. A 20-year- old woman called Mya Thwe Thwe Khaing, who was shot back on February 9 and succumbed to her injuries back on Friday.

Now, I just spoke to her sister and also the doctors who have treated her, and they all say that it was not a rubber bullet, as the police have been claiming, saying it was riot equipment they had been using, but it was, in fact, a live bullet that had killed her.

And we saw on Sunday many people coming out onto the streets for this lady's funeral, lining the streets to show their respects. There have been vigils for her.

And some people within these protests have been holding up photos of her. So she's really become a symbol of the -- the pro-democracy movement.

And what we're expecting today, Michael, you've shown some of the images already is what the movement wants to be, an historic day, an historic turnout of people on the streets. But of course, that military warning is very ominous. I mean, it is worrying people. We've heard, for example, from the U.N. special rapporteur, Tom Andrews. He has tweeted that he's deeply concerned with an ominous public warning by the junta that protesters are inciting the people. And then a little later in the tweet saying, unlike 1988, which was when there was a bloody military crackdown on an uprising. Actions are being recorded, and you will be held accountable.

And this is really a consistent message that we're hearing from the U.N., from the, U.S. and from other world leaders, saying the world is watching, and you will be held accountable -- Michael.

HOLMES: You know, the interesting thing -- I mean, have you gotten any sense of what the military aim is? I mean, what it's doing is essentially ensuring that the people will reject them and their political role completely. You can only repress for so long.

What -- what is the end game?

HANCOCKS: It's a good question. And it's not one that we have the answer to. All we know is -- is what the military is saying publicly at this point. They have publicly said that what happened on February 1 was not a coup.

Now of course, it's seen in a very different way by much of the international community, the fact that a democratically-elected government who won a landslide back in November of last year was ousted, the fact that many of the leaders are still in detention, including Aung San Suu Kyi.

But from the military's point of view, they say that they are doing this because they believe there was voter fraud in November of last year. And they say that they will have power for one year, and they will have fresh elections and hand power to the winner.

But of course, for many of those on the streets that we speak to, they say they simply don't believe that. They see this as a coup. They call it a military dictatorship that they are under now. And many of them say that they feel like this is the last battle for their democracy. If they don't win this one, then they won't have democracy -- Michael.

HOLMES: And to that point, when you talk to those involved in the protest movement, where do they see the momentum? What is remarkable is that they are out there in such numbers, even with some of their number having been killed already, how strong that determination to not be pushed aside by the military this time.

HANCOCKS: Well, there's no doubt the momentum is there. And according to the -- the civil disobedience movement, at least with they hope for, is a historic day today where they have more people out on the streets than ever before.

[00:15:07]

The biggest number on the streets we've seen so far was last Wednesday, and that was just one day after that secretive and sudden trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, the ousted leader, where they added another charge against her. And so in reaction to that, he saw many more more people on the

streets. There have now been three deaths that we know of over the past couple of days, and this is why we are expecting many more people to come out onto the streets.

Everyone that I've spoken to who is protesting has, as I've said before, said that they believe this is the last chance they have. They believe it is the last battle to be able to try and secure democracy, to be able to push the military dictatorship out. And there is almost a desperation that they can't sit at home and see what happens. They have to come out onto the streets, knowing that they are putting themselves in danger.

But it is a fight worth fighting for them. And it's from all across sections of life. You have -- It's all a ground roots movement. You have doctors. You have civil servants, many government workers. In fact, involved. People coming from the rural areas, into some of the cities in order to protest.

So there -- there definitely is a sense that the momentum is building. But of course, there is that -- that quite serious worry about what the military response will be, especially after that fairly clear warning saying that those that come out could suffer a loss of life -- Michael.

HOLMES: Certainly, a remarkable level of courage on display on the streets of Myanmar.

Paula Hancocks in Seoul covering it for us. Thanks so much, Paula.

Tens of thousands of Americans still without power because of last week's arctic storm. And in Texas, nearly a third of residents still do not have clean water.

Meanwhile, there is a bipartisan push for accountability. Natasha Chen with the latest from Houston, Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We lost power on Sunday night, and we got it back Wednesday. Things have defrosted enough that we were able to get in and check out stuff, and we had lines that were just gushing water. So now, we've got zero water in the house, just due to having to turn it off until somebody can come out here and start fixing things.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rachel Stevens (ph) was without power and water for days. Now, her family is left to clean up the damage left behind from frozen pipes, conditions found across much of the state.

MAYOR SYLVESTER TURNER (D), HOUSTON, TEXAS: Right now, with so many homes across the city having pipes that burst because of the frigid weather, and major leaks, major water damage. We need a lot of plumbing materials and supplies right now.

CHEN: In the meantime, Texas officials are investigating the massive bills some customers who pay variable rates for their energy are now facing.

DEANDRE UPSHAW, DALLAS, TEXAS, RESIDENT: Well, I'm trying to get, you know, gas and groceries, and make sure that my pipes are exploding. The last thing I'm thinking about is a $7,000 bill from my utility company.

TURNER: All of this was foreseeable. I wrote about it in 2011. And so for these exorbitant costs, it's not the consumers who should assume that cost. They are not --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, who should, then?

TURNER: The bills should go to the state of Texas.

CHEN: Calls for accountability are also coming from the other side of the aisle.

WILL HURD, FORMER U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: This was preventable. This wasn't a problem with any individual fuel source. This was a problem of lack of leadership and a lack of long-term planning.

DOLORES LOZANO, HOUSTON, TEXAS, RESIDENT: We all have a voice, and we all need to use it, accordingly, because there's a lot of people in leadership that are just really just chilling in Cancun.

CHEN: Also this weekend, embattled Texas Senator Ted Cruz, tweeting pictures of himself handing out bottled water to residents. Cruz has been under fire after he was spotted jetting to Cancun with his family, while many Texans suffered through the storm.

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX): Look, when a crisis hits my state, I'm there. I'm going to go on some vacation. I know Mr. Cruz called it a mistake, and he's owned up to that, but I think that was a big mistake.

CHEN (on camera): State leaders are now turning their attention to address those skyrocketing energy bills. The governor today said that the Public Utility Commission called an emergency meeting to issue a moratorium on disconnection of service due to non-payment, as well as to restrict electric providers from sending invoices at this time. Abbott said that would allow time for them to address those huge energy bills.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And joining me now is Shalini Vajjhala. She is the founder of Refocused Partners and advises cities on how best to meet climate threats.

Good to have you with us.

This is such an important topic. We saw -- all of us saw what happened in Texas where infrastructure fails, but you know, it's not just this winter blast in Texas. There's fires and landslides in California. A sewage backflows that happened in D.C. Coastal roads collapsing. I know that you argued that much of American infrastructure, across

the board, is fundamentally unprepared for climate shocks. What does, and what will, that result in?

[00:20:09]

SHALINI VAJJHALA, FOUNDER, REFOCUSED PARTNERS: Hi, Michael. Thanks for having me.

I think with that will result in is a very fragile and brittle system, where we can see increasingly severe failures and more cascading failures across sectors, where power disruption leads to water disruptions, for example.

HOLMES: You tweeted on Sunday, and I just want to quote part of it for people here. Quote, "When I say we are spending poorly, I mean we are hemorrhaging money today, not in some distant future."

Such an important point. Speak, then, to the false economy there is when it comes to the cost of prevention, fixing vulnerabilities. Because the cost of repair is actually far greater than the cost of mitigation and prevention, isn't it?

VAJJHALA: In many cases, yes. And I think we have enormous challenges when it comes to thinking about costs. Because we tend to think about climate change as a future problem, rather than a present one. And investing in resilience, the things that keep you up and running or help you bounce back quickly, are often perceived as successes when something doesn't happen. So it's very, very politically difficult to justify the costs.

But, my team and I, we work with governments at all levels, and we try to flip that question around on its head. And so, if you think about something like a transit system, in high heat, yes, you have future costs when the heat increases, or it becomes more extreme.

But you also have costs today if you run fewer trains and run them more slowly at high heat, or face greater liability costs from derailment.

And so bringing that investment question and the cost question back today is incredibly important to be able to fix the kinds of problems we're seeing in Texas.

HOLMES: Yes, that's so well put. But I mean, is it fair to say that the U.S. -- and not just the U.S., other places as well -- but the U.S. in this discussion seemed to be forever treating symptoms and not causes?

And -- and the list of potential issues, as we've said, covers so much. Power grids, yes, but roads, bridges, dams, sewers, water supply. It's hard to get your head around what seems to be a monumental threat. But what's the risk of head in sand?

VAJJHALA: I think the risk of head in sand is potentially greater than over investing. And one of the reasons that we -- we tend to take this short-termist approach is because many of our government systems for purchasing things drive us toward the solutions that are the least cost up front.

So if you're looking for the investment that's the lowest cost, and that's your definition of the best value, you'll miss all these opportunities to do things across sectors or for the long term that save money down the road and actually help communities be better off. And so I think we have many structural problems from all of this.

HOLMES: That is such an important point. I mean, you are quoted in an excellent "New York Times" article on this issue, but another person in that piece was Professor Jennifer Jacobs, and she said this, quote. She said, "A lot of our infrastructure systems have a tipping point, and that tipping point could be an inch."

In that -- in that context, she was talking about water, I think, and bridges and dams. Are things that precarious as climate changes?

VAJJHALA: I don't think everything is that precarious as climate changes, but some things are. And some big things are. And we're learning as we go as the events -- as the events hit us. Which is an unfortunately reactive position to be in. Because many of these systems take years to design and design well. And that's if you already know what you're building.

And so we're starting on our back foot with a lot of these investments. And one of the big things that we need to do to flip that around is really think hard. What are the replacements that we're looking for if we don't want to just build back what we have, but rather, build what we need next?

HOLMES: And as we said at the outset, you advise cities on meeting climate threats. I mean, what is your most important piece of advice as things stand right now, when it comes to infrastructure, climate change, the threats ahead, and you know, return on investment?

VAJJHALA: I think my most important piece of advice is not to get paralyzed by how awful the situation seems. Almost everything in that "New York Times" article is -- is something that could be a cause for depression.

But I think we can really solve this. If we look at who loses money today, where you're likely to lose more in the future, that can help us find different approaches, for example, looking at heat and transit systems. These are things that we can -- (AUDIO GAP)

HOLMES: Shalini Vajjhala, thank you so much. It's a fascinating and important discussion, and -- and I'm really glad we were able to get you on. Thank you.

VAJJHALA: Thank you.

[00:25:02]

HOLMES: We have to take a quick break. When we come back, despite declining COVID cases, the U.S. death toll is on the verge of another horrible number. Ahead, how the president plans to honor the dead.

Also, nobody said repairing the relationship between the U.S. and China would be easy. We'll talk about the challenges facing President Biden. That's when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: And welcome back, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

I want to go back to our top story now. That terrifying engine failure of the United Airlines flight from Denver. Boeing now wants all triple-7's that use that same engine as that flight grounded. United Airlines has already done so. It's taken 24 of their triple-7's out of service for the moment.

Meanwhile, the repercussions of the incident being felt on the other side of the globe. Japan ordering all of its domestic airlines to temporarily stop operating. The triple-7's equipped with that engine.

And joining me now is CNN safety analyst David Soucie. He is a former FAA safety inspector and author of the book "Malaysia Airlines Flight 370."

Good to see you again, David. I mean, National Transportation Safety Board saying two fan blades were fractured, and the remaining blades had damage to the tips and leading edges. How would something like that happens?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Well, there's a couple of things that can happen on that. What I'd be looking for first is to see if there had been any maintenance done on those fan blades. The fan blades susceptible to any kind of debris that might be on the runway. Chips, rocks, anything like that. They can cause little tiny chips in the fan blades.

So those are very critical and how they're repaired. Even though they're very small, they can make a weak spot in the fan blade. There's a lot of pressure. They're turning at a very high rate of speed. So if there's even just the smallest nick, it can cause a weak spot, a weak point, and initiate a crack in one of those fan blades.

HOLMES: How complicated is maintenance on those blades? I know -- I know you've worked on those plates. It's incredible. I think you said you need special tools, and if you're a 16th of an inch out, you can do damage that would make it break apart. I mean, it seems like it's a tricky maintenance job.

SOUCIE: It's very tricky. It's very particular. And it's easy to -- to underestimate just exactly how particular you have to be. If you think about maybe a chip in a windshield, and how that little tiny chip in that windshield, if it's not treated quickly, it spreads right across the windshield very quickly, and's the sharp edges that create those -- those cracks across there.

[00:0:17] Think of what we call burnished. If you burnish out any of those small chips, and you start filing with it, I had a sort of tools I use that was very specific for that. They're like an oval shape, some very small file, but it's an oval shape. So as you make that correction or fix on the blade, it can actually, even just a bit the wrong radius, you use a round tools instead of an oval tool, for example, it can cause a sharp area that makes it susceptible. Incredibly meticulous work has to be done just right.

HOLMES: That's fascinating. And if it's not done right, then it's obviously, you know, prone to perhaps failure. There's been little hesitation in grounding these planes. I'm curious in your thought of that, because you know, this was just a maintenance issue on that one plane and its blades.

Do you think that the sort of global grounding, if you like, is because of what we saw happen with those Max 8 crashes?

SOUCIE: Well, it's -- There's some good and bad to how the reaction is going on this. You know, I -- for years, I've been disappointed in how quickly or how slow airlines and manufacturers are to ground fleets. Many times, they'll just wait until the FAA comes up with some kind of mandate, or YASA (ph) over in Europe comes out with some kind of mandate that says that you have to do this.

So I've been after the airlines to take their own responsibility and manufacturers to say, Look, we have a problem. We're going to work with it. We've got to fix it, but before we continue to fly the airplanes and possibly put people at risk, even in the smallest amount, let's ground them and let's step back and take a look at it. We've got to get these things fixed before something else happens.

So now at this point, this reaction, in my opinion, is a very, very good reaction. It may be over cautionary. It may be that they're doing too much right away. But can you really do too much with safety? Isn't it better that we do put the safety of the people way ahead of any kind of profits, and let's just shut this down for right now and figure out what's going on with those engines, and let's get them fixed and be sure that they're right?

HOLMES: I think most air travelers out there, myself included, like the words overcaution when it comes to air travel. So yes, good point. David, thank you so much. Good to see you.

SOUCIE: You bet. Thank you. Have a great night. And hope they get this taken care of quickly.

HOLMES: Indeed.

Now, the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, will soon announce his plan to slowly lift England's coronavirus lockdown. He says the biggest priorities are getting kids safely back into school and reuniting people with their loved ones.

This will all be done in phases starting March 8, but only if the ongoing vaccine program continues successfully. There's evidence that the vaccines are reducing hospital admissions and deaths. There's not another surge in hospital admissions, and if new virus variants don't fundamentally change the government's risk assessment.

Now, right now, COVID infections are falling in England, and more than 17 million people across the U.K. have received their first vaccine dose. The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 far and away, of course, the worst in the world is steadily approaching half a million.

The country is expected to reach that disturbing number in the next few days, just over one year after reporting its first death from the virus.

Now the good news is that daily infections and hospital admissions are declining, but experts say the public must still double down on safety measures.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: It's something that is historic. It's nothing like we've ever been through in the last 102 years, since the 1918 influenza pandemic. It really is a terrible situation that we've been through and that we're still going through. And that's the reason why we keep insisting that we continue with the public health measures, because we don't want this to get much worse than it already is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: U.S. President Joe Biden plans to mark that death toll number this week with a candlelight ceremony at the White House.

China thinks its relationship with the U.S. has been damaged immeasurably by the Trump administration. That was the clear message delivered by foreign minister Wang Yi in a major speech just hours ago. He says relations are the worst they've been since the two countries established diplomatic ties, and that President Trump essentially took an axe to the dialog process.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[00:35:03]

WANG YI, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): In the past few years the U.S. had cut off bilateral ties at almost all levels. And that became one of the main reasons of the deteriorating relationship. We are always prepared to start an open and public dialog with the U.S. that is aimed at solving problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now President Joe Biden, of course, is a very different kind of leader. But the disagreements between the U.S. and China are both historic and complex.

So Mr. Biden isn't facing a clear or easy road ahead. We're going to discuss all of this now with Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. Good to see you, Kristie.

Some call for Joe Biden to work with Beijing, restore a bilateral relationship destroyed under Trump. What signals did you take from what you heard?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it was a very interesting speech that we heard earlier today from China's foreign minister. There was a rehash of lines that we had heard before but also some revealing moments. He called for a reset in relations between the U.S. and China. He slammed the Trump administration, calling it the source of the difficulties between these two great world powers.

He also urged U.S. lawmakers to stop smearing China's ruling communist party, as well as stop supporting separatist forces. He also, in his message, underscored the need for both sides to return on the right track in relations, while hoping that the United States respects China's core interests.

Again, all this, we have heard before in recent weeks and months from China. But there's something very interesting that he said in regards to Xinjiang, especially now during time where, in the west, the momentum is building. There are greater calls for access to investigate human rights abuses in Xinjiang. Wang Yi, China's foreign minister, said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WANG (through translator): Xinjiang, Tibet and other areas where ethnic minorities live are even more important examples of human rights progress in China. Over the past 60 years, Xinjiang's economic aggregate has increased by more than 200 times.

The per capita GDP has increased by nearly 40 times, and the average life expectancy has increased from 30 to 72 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: Look, China has been widely condemned for operating these mass complexes in Xinjiang. China calls them vocational training centers. Critics call them concentration camps. And as we heard from Wang Yi, the foreign minister of China, just a few hours ago, he cited the economic development success in Xinjiang as proof of human rights progress in China -- Michael.

HOLMES: I mean, you've covered this all your life, really. I mean, in an historical sense, recent history -- and we heard the minister speak about this. But a lot of it's about nuance. How fraught is the relationship between the two countries?

STOUT: The relationship is very fraught, as you and I have been talking about and watching it almost in real time, you know, bubble up, simmer, reach a boiling point in the last year.

There is unprecedented friction between the U.S. and China on multiple fronts. The trade war, the tech war, the fate of the future of Taiwan, as well as human rights abuses in Hong Kong, Xinjiang, assertions of sovereignty in the South China Sea.

Now, the Biden administration has signaled that it will continue to exert pressure on areas like trade. And also like Xinjiang. The administration has endorsed the Trump administration declaration that China committed genocide in Xinjiang, a declaration that China has absolutely rejected -- Michael.

HOLMES: Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. Good to get your analysis there, Kristie. And we'll talk more in next hour, as well. Thanks for that.

Texas leaders are facing lots of questions about last week's deadly winter storm. But there is no question that ordinary Texans did extraordinary things to help each other through a crisis. Some of their stories after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:40:55]

HOLMES: Welcome back. Texans are known in the world over for the maverick spirit they take self-reliance pretty seriously. So when the state was hit by that ferocious winter storm last week, it's no wonder that many Texans turned to one another to get through the crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whatever affects Texas affect us.

HOLMES (voice-over): A commitment to the community that's no sales gimmick. During the recent winter storm, a Houston furniture store owner known as Mattress Mack turned his show room into a shelter for residents needing a place to warm up and have a hot meal. It's an act of kindness that some will never forget.

BRYAN QUINTANA, IMPACTED BY TEXAS STORM: The coronavirus, I lost my job, my mortgage, and in those pictures, looking at my house, it's terrible. I have to clean it up.

HOLMES: Stories like those of goodness and hospitality have helped melt the ice by brightening the days of Texans enduring hardship caused by the cold temperatures.

Like when delivery driver Chelsea Timmons slid down the icy driveway of the people she was delivering to and couldn't get back out. The home owners got their groceries and invited Chelsea to wait inside, which turned into a five-day stay until the weather cleared, and a new friendship.

Then there's the local distillery that decided to open its taps of water and give away free filtered water to anyone with a jug until boil orders are lifted.

Or the grocery store that lost power and with no way of checking people out, let them leave with their supplies without paying. TIM HENNESSEY, RECEIVED FREE GROCERIES DURING STORM: They're putting

groceries on the belt, and the woman checking them out said, don't bother. We won't have time to bag anything. I thought, well, that's kind of weird. How are you going to ring it up? She kind of said with her arm, go ahead. You can proceed out the store.

HOLMES: These feel-good moments stretched beyond humankind. Volunteers rescued thousands of sea turtles off San Padre Island, who were stunned by the cold, and are keeping them in warm pools until they can be released. A shelter that may not be as cozy as Mattress Mack's show room, but another example of Texas strong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes.

Stick around now for WORLD SPORT. I'll see you again in about 15 minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:45:12]