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Parliament Meets to Elect New Chancellor; Biden and Putin Hold Two-Hour Video Call; Coronavirus Pandemic: Omicron Variant and Rise in COVID-19 Cases. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired December 08, 2021 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead here on "CNN Newsroom," the end of an era, Angela Merkel stepping down as Germany's chancellor after 16 years in office, and Parliament is convening right now to vote on her replacement.

U.S. President Joe Biden confronts Russian President Vladimir Putin on amassing troops at the Ukraine border. We will bring you all the details from this tense virtual meeting.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. Germany's Parliament is meeting this hour to launch a new political era as Angela Merkel ends her 16- year run as the country's first female chancellor.

Social Democrat and incoming chancellor, Olaf Scholz, will lead a three-party coalition with the progressive Greens and the liberal free Democrats. It took two months of negotiations to form this alliance after September's election. And the challenges are immediate, including a surge in COVID-19 cases and Russian troop movements at the Ukrainian border.

For more on this, we're going to turn to CNN's Fred Pleitgen in Berlin. So, Fred, of course, the end of an era here with Angela Merkel and we're looking at these live pictures now. Talk to us about the process because, of course, we know who the chancellor will be, don't we?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, we certainly know who the chancellor will be, but the chancellor officially is less to get voted in by Parliament. And as we have the live pictures right now, actually what's happening at this moment, as you rightly put it to, Rosemary, is the end of an era.

Right now, Angela Merkel is actually getting a standing ovation in the plenary of German Parliament. She's actually only allowed to stand on the balcony, a top of the planetary, because she is no longer officially a member of Parliament. That's why she's not allowed on the Parliament floor. However, she is getting a standing ovation from the members of Parliament.

And essentially, what is going to happen next is there is going to be a session of Parliament. In that session, Olaf Scholz will get voted or should get voted into office by the majority of the MPs who are in Parliament. Of course, what happened in Germany before that is that there were long negotiations about a new coalition. Three parties decided to form a coalition. They have the majority in Parliament. They, if nothing goes wrong for Olaf Scholz, will vote him into Parliament, and then he will be sworn in as the new German chancellor.

I think you're absolutely right to point out, Rosemary, that, of course, there are massive challenges right now in German politics. First and foremost, that being the coronavirus pandemic with Germany right now really still seeing devastating numbers.

One of the interesting things that's been happening over the past couple of days is that Olaf Scholz, who is also the finance minister in Angela Merkel's cabinet, he came together with Angela Merkel and they basically talked about new tougher rules in the coronavirus pandemic to try and come to terms with things.

It's just to make sure also that even at a time where you had an outgoing and incoming government, to make sure that things were still going and that there still was a decision-making going on in German Parliament.

And the second thing is, of course, really important, is that situation right now in east of Ukraine and the west of Russia. And there, it is very important to point out that the new incoming chancellor, Olaf Scholz, he is actually a big fan of Joe Biden, a big transatlantic politician.

One of the things that he said in the runoff up to coming in as chancellor is that he values Joe Biden, he values the internationalism of Joe Biden, President Joe Biden, and the way that President Biden -- especially in the situation now where you have that standoff with Russia, has really spoken to allies a lot about the way forward and also, of course, taking their concerns into consideration.

[03:04:58]

PLEITGEN: So, right now, that new incoming government under Olaf Scholz is certainly one that is obviously social democratic, at the same time going to be very tough on the pandemic, but also very much in favor of very good relations with the United States as well, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yes, it is interesting because he is even considering a mandate on vaccinations there in Germany. It will be interesting to see how that plays out. Of course, Olaf Scholz is being called a clone of Angela Merkel, and he is proud of that. So, how different will he be? Will this be just a continuation of what we've seen from Merkel, do you think?

PLEITGEN: Yeah. I'm not sure why many people call him a clone. But certainly, as far as his policies are concerned or some of the things that he has said in the campaign, I think that the foundation of really his popularity during the election campaign was the fact that he put out there that the policies would not be that different from what you've seen from Angela Merkel. He was, of course, in the cabinet as the finance minister.

And really what you have seen in German politics, especially over the past 16 years that Angela Merkel has been in office, is really the two big parties in German politics, the social Democrats and the Christian Democrats, really moving a lot closer to one another as far as their policies and their politics are concerned. And so, that's why he managed to bridge the gap and instantly portrayed himself as someone who exudes continuity.

Now, of course, the government, though, is a very different one. You have, for instance, the Green Party in government which means that they're obviously going to be striving for a lot more of an ecological agenda than maybe you've seen before.

One of the interesting things also about the Green Party is that we have a female foreign minister for the first time. Annalena Baerbock is set to take office. She is also very much a transatlantic politician and someone who is also quite tough on Russia as well. That's quite interesting caveat as far as the cabinet is concerned. The liberal Democrats also in this government now as well, they obviously are more for sort of a free market approach to the economy.

So, certainly, this is going to be a coalition, Rosemary, that on the one hand has essentially promised to not be that different from what Angela Merkel has done in the past, but also one where there is a lot of built-in conflict almost to begin with because, for instance, the liberal Democrats and the Greens certainly haven't gotten along very well with one another in the past.

It's going to be very interesting to see how this chancellor, Olaf Scholz, iron these things out. He is someone who also really weighs very carefully each word that he utters. Actually, he doesn't talk very much at all. Certainly, someone who is very sought out and really in the past couple of years has really seemed very close to Angela Merkel as far as policies are concerned, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yeah. The world is watching closely. Fred Pleitgen, many thanks for joining us live from Berlin. Appreciate it.

The White House says President Joe Biden was direct with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their two-hour virtual summit as he warned of strong economic penalties if Russia invades Ukraine.

The U.S. says it does not believe Mr. Putin has made a decision on whether or not to invade, but Mr. Biden laid out the consequences if he does. For its part, the Kremlin says Russia should not shoulder the responsibility, saying NATO is making -- quote -- "dangerous attempts to conquer Ukrainian territory and is building up its military potential at our borders." Well, the talks were driven by the threat of what you see here, tens of thousands of Russian troops gathering at the border with Ukraine.

Joining us now with more is CNN's Scott McLean standing by in London. Good to see you, Scott. So, talk to us about the main points that came out of this high-stakes virtual call and reaction around the world to what was said.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Rosemary. Yeah, there were undoubtedly some -- I should stress -- some positive signs that came out of this. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told the media yesterday that, look, the U.S. and its allies are willing to engage in a dialogue with Russia over its issues and its concerns in the region as long as there is de-escalation of the situation along the border that comes with that.

There were also some generally positive overtones in the Russian readout of the call. One kremlin aide even said that they were jokes and compliments exchanged between the two world leaders. Now, Russia, for its part, says that, look, it is concerned about its own national security in the region, and it says that, look, these are simply Russian troops on Russian soil defending Russian borders, there is nothing that Ukraine needs to be concerned about.

[03:09:55]

MCLEAN: If you asked U.S. officials on the other hand, they're not actually sure whether Russia is actually trying to retake part of the old Soviet Union or whether this is just Russia trying to, you know, get leverage in potential negotiations with the U.S. and with Europe over what is actually wants.

Russia has been accused in the past of sort of making, you know, ginning up these crises and then offering to solve them under its own terms. And so, it is possible that that is a little bit of what is happening here.

But Russia wants two things in general. Number one, it wants some legal assurance that Ukraine is not going to join NATO and it also wants NATO countries to stop sending Ukraine military advance, the military equipment.

Here's the problem, Rosemary, with where things stand right now. Number one, there's no real signs at this point that Russia plans to relocate any of those tens of thousands of troops that the U.S. estimates are on the border right now.

There is also really no sign that the U.S. is likely to stop sending military equipment to Ukraine unless there is no longer a threat from Russia, which probably wouldn't be the case even if those Russian troops did actually relocate.

The U.S. has also made it clear that look, it's not up to Russia to decide which countries get into NATO and which ones don't. That is up to NATO countries and the Ukrainians. As you mentioned, the U.S. says that it's not clear that Vladimir Putin has made up his mind on an invasion. Yet, one way or another, the Ukrainians say that if there were to be an invasion, this would be a bloody massacre.

The U.S. is not committing in any way in any discussion to actually send U.S. troops to the region nor is Ukraine actually asking for them. Instead, the U.S. says that it along with its NATO allies in Europe and elsewhere will step up economic sanctions against the country, it will move troops to the eastern flank of NATO countries in Romania, Poland, places like that. Of course, it will send even more military equipment that it's already sending.

And one last thing, Rosemary, Brian and Putin sort of gave their staff some homework to do, to go away, figure out how they can move these conversations forward in a productive way. They might start with getting diplomatic relations back on track after a recent series of sort of tit for tat restrictions, retaliations, and expulsions of diplomats in each country. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Yeah. We're watching to see what the next move here is. Scott McLean, many thanks for bringing us up-to-date on that.

Susan Glasser is a CNN global affairs analyst and a staff writer at "The New Yorker." She joins me now from Washington, D.C. Great to have you with us.

SUSAN GLASSER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST, STAFF WRTIER FOR THE NEW YORKER: Thank you so much for having me.

CHURCH: So, the White House says President Biden was direct in his video call with President Putin, warning the Russian leader of harsh economic sanctions and sending military equipment to NATO allies. If he invades Ukraine, how likely is it that this will be sufficient to de-escalate tensions along Ukraine's border and avoid conflict?

GLASSER: Well, look, one thing that is important to remember is that this is truly a manufactured crisis. It wasn't that Ukraine was about to join NATO or something as President Putin has been suggesting in recent weeks, even as he's been engaging in enormous military buildup. The U.S. Intelligence says it is something like 175,000 troops, Russian troops are headed towards or already at the Ukraine border.

So, you know, it could be de-escalated instantly in the sense that there is no actual precipitating event. It is unlike even when Putin invaded Ukraine in 2014, which was in response to a revolution that throughout the pro-Russian leader of Ukraine at the time.

So, right now, it seems to be purely a powerplay by Vladimir Putin, a move to gain more attention and put himself back in the center of geopolitical events to get on President Biden's radar.

It is not clear to me because the United States and European allies have threatened sanctions again and again and again that they are an enormous deterrent to Vladimir Putin. But I imagine that privately, there was an effort by the American president to spell out in great detail what the consequences would be.

CHURCH: And you mentioned 2014. President Biden told President Putin that -- and I'm quoting him -- "things we did not do in 2014, we are prepared to do now," referring to when Putin's innovation and annexation of Crimea took place, and U.S. actually backed down, didn't it? So, what do you think Mr. Biden means by that use, we're prepared to do what we didn't do then?

GLASSER: You know, that is a striking comment. One thing to remember is that the Obama ministration -- President Obama refused his advisers, who really begged him in the final year of his presidency, to send military assistance, including lethal weapons to Ukraine.

[03:15:00]

GLASSER: He refused to do so. Then the Trump administration did enact that policy. Biden has continued to send lethal military assistance, $400 million approximately a year to the Ukrainians. There could be additional weaponry that is sent to Ukraine. That would be something that Obama did not do. There could be the cut off for the end of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany. That's already been a sore point.

There is new testimony coming out from Biden officials today in Washington that suggest that perhaps privately the diplomatic dealings with Germany have come to an agreement between the U.S. and Germany that were Russia to take military action in Ukraine that the Germans might finally put an end to that Nord Stream project. So, that would be a significant economic blow and strategic blow to the Russians.

CHURCH: And President Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said the U.S. does not believe that Putin has made the decision on whether to invade Ukraine. Is that your sense? And could this massing of Russian troops at the border have been a way to get attention and disengagement with the U.S. president? Do you think an invasion here is inevitable?

GLASSER: Well, look, I think that Vladimir Putin is very consistent with what I've observed over the last two decades that Putin has been in power. He likes to keep his options open as long as possible. So, it's certainly not necessarily a predetermined outcome that these troops will be used for some kind of military conflict.

However, I saw this when I covered the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, watching an invasion force pileup in Kuwait. When you get 175,000 troops somewhere, it takes on a logic and an argument of its own. This is a much bigger buildup than the military buildup, for example, that Putin engaged in Ukraine before his first meeting with Vladimir -- with Joe Biden earlier this year.

CHURCH: And before this video call, Putin had wanted commitments that NATO wouldn't expand east and would not place weapon systems in Ukraine. But Biden wouldn't accept those red lines although he is willing to continue discussions if he sees a de-escalation at the border. How is Putin likely to respond to all that? GLASSER: I mean, again, Putin seems to be playing in the moment for

maximal advantage. He manufactured this crisis. I can't say this enough. NATO wasn't about to offer membership to Ukraine. If you listen to Russian propaganda, if you listen to President Putin right now, you would think that this is a crisis over Ukraine's impending membership in NATO. That just simply was not the case.

You know, when you have a bully next door who sends 175,000 troops to your border and then demands that you negotiate for them to go away, that is essentially the situation that Ukraine is dealing with right now, an enormous bullying situation by a stronger and more powerful neighbor next door.

The United States has limited option because Ukraine is not a member of NATO. Ukraine is thousands of miles away, in fact, from the United States. And so, it is really -- it is a vexing problem that suggests what really a bad actor and a troublesome actor Putin has been on the world stage.

CHURCH: Susan Glasser, thank you so much for analysis. Appreciate it.

GLASSER: Thank you.

CHURCH: Still ahead, punished for doing the right thing. Why officials in Southern Africa say Omicron travel bans targeting the region are not just unfair, they're doing actual harm.

Plus, COVID cases are skyrocketing in South Korea. What officials are doing to try to stem the rising tide.

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[03:20:00]

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CHURCH: We are learning new details about the threat posed by the Omicron coronavirus variant. Early data suggests it is more transmissible than the Delta variant. But so far, cases have been less severe. But experts warn those findings are preliminary and it will likely take several weeks to get more concrete answers.

Meanwhile, a new study out of South Africa shows Omicron may be able to partially dodge protection from Pfizer's two-dose vaccine. Scientists found that fully vaccinated people who had also recovered from the virus are likely to be well protected. They say the same is likely true for people who receive a booster shot.

Researchers also noted that this was a quick study done in a lab with samples from just 12 people and it doesn't reflect actual infection with the virus.

Well, the World Health Organization's Europe chief is warning against vaccine mandates, saying they should be a last resort in dealing with the Omicron variant. Meantime, France recorded one of its highest daily case counts with just over 59,000 new infections Tuesday. Uganda has become the first country in East Africa to detect the Omicron variant. In South Africa, the COVID positivity rate dropped slightly Tuesday, but the country's overall death toll in this pandemic crossed 90,000.

CNN is covering the story from all angles. Melissa Bell is live from Paris and Larry Madowo is in Johannesburg. Welcome to you both. Melissa, I want to start with you. I want to get the reasoning behind WHO Europe saying vaccine mandates are absolute last resort. What is being said about that?

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: This is the tendency that we're seeing. Of course, Austria was the first country to go this way. But other countries have begun either obliging parts of their population such as health care workers or older parts of the population to get vaccinated or are concerning, as in the case of Germany, the possibility of perhaps going down the route of making vaccines mandatory.

Of course, this is dangerous in a part of the world, Rosemary, where there has historically been a great deal of vaccine hesitancy, where some parts of the population are still opposed, where in parts of Europe there are populist parties, far-right parties, that are feeding off this vaccine hesitancy and general distrust to government. So, the World Health Organization is really urging governments to go as cautiously as they can about this.

I think what we've seen over the last couple of weeks, the last few weeks, are in countries like Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and of course Austria for the last three consecutive weekends, are protests that are violent at times and very much we expect likely to continue.So, the idea is governments should consider this as a last resort.

What we are seeing in the last few days is governments looking at other ways that they can encourage people to go ahead and get vaccinated. The strengthening of vaccine passes, for instance, that allow you to get into places, making it harder for people to go about their daily lives if they are not vaccinated, and of course the extension of vaccinations to younger parts of the population as in here in France where below 12 will now be able to get vaccinated.

All this to try and get these very steep Delta variant rises back under control without having to go so far as to oblige those who don't want to get vaccinated to do so.

CHURCH: And Larry Madowo, you're there in Johannesburg, where we reported COVID positivity rate has dropped just slightly Tuesday. Can very much be looked into that? I mean, what does that reveal to us, anything?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Rosemary, yes, the positivity rate in South Africa dropped to 24.9 percent, but that is only a slight drop. On Monday, 26.4 percent. That still means that about a quarter of all the tests being done here in South Africa are turning out positive.

[03:25:02]

MADOWO: It has to be understood in context, two weeks ago, the positivity rate in South Africa was 2.3 percent. So, there's been 1,000 percent increase in just a fourth night. That tells you that COVID-19 is still surging throughout this country and it is largely driven by the Omicron variant, which has been found in most provinces.

This province of Gauteng, which includes the city of Johannesburg, is the epicenter of it. Seventy percent of those positive cases are getting found right here.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has been traveling this past week in West Africa. He's back in the country today and is expected to have a meeting with his National Coronavirus Command Council. One of the issues they will be considering is that of a hard lockdown. Is it time to put South Africa back into complete shutdown to try and limit the spread of this diseases? Because, so far, two-thirds of the population still not convinced that they need to get vaccinated even though South Africa has enough vaccines.

So, vaccine mandates at a national level are under consideration here. A lot of private companies are already setting in place vaccine mandates, large banks, insurance companies, telephone companies. Even some universities here are requiring staff and students to make sure that by early next year, they are vaccinated or they will have to do a test regularly. In the case of some companies, they will be fired if they don't get vaccinated.

CHURCH: All right. Many thanks, Larry Madowo there, Melissa Bell for bringing us up-to-date on the situation. We appreciate it.

Well, daily COVID cases have hit a new record high in South Korea with more than 7,000 new infections on Tuesday. Cases have been rising steadily since last month when the government began easing pandemic restrictions. But with hospitals now under stress, the government reimposed stricter rules on Monday. Officials also plan to improve at- home COVID treatments to help ease some of the burden on hospitals.

Australia is joining the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Games, calling out China for human rights abuses. The latest from Olympic officials just ahead.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Right now, Germany's Parliament is meeting to vote on a new chancellor. Angela Merkel is leaving office after 16 years. She was the country's first female chancellor and second only to Helmut Kohl for the length of time she served. Just a short time ago, she received a lengthy ovation at the start of the session. Social Democrat Olaf Scholz is the incoming chancellor. He signed an agreement Tuesday to lead an alliance with the Green and the free Democrats parties.

[03:30:00] Scholz has said vaccine mandates will be considered.

Matthew Karnitschnig is Chief European Correspondent for "Politico" and he joins us now from Berlin. Good to have you with us.

MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG, CHIEF EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT, POLITICO (on camera): Good morning.

CHURCH: So after 16 years at the helm as Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel bows out, handing the reins of power to her replacement, Olaf Scholz. How will the country cope without her and what is her legacy after so many ups and downs throughout her leadership?

KARNITSCHNIG: Well, I think the country will end up coping because they have no other choice and a lot of people voted for Olaf Scholz because they thought that he would be the next best thing. If they couldn't have Merkel as we've heard still is very popular in Germany they could have Olaf Scholz, who has been her vice chancellor for a while.

Even though he comes from a different party, his personality is very close to Merkel's. He is a very calm person, he is not known for his charisma but he is somebody I think that a lot of people trust with running the country, with running Europe's biggest economy.

So I think that we are going to see the kind of continuity that Germans really have been looking for here especially given how turbulent the world around them has become. And I think in terms of Angela Merkel's legacy, we saw some of the highlights there. I think overall it's going to be that she held Germany together, that she held Europe together in these tough times.

At the same time she doesn't have the kind of big headline achievement that many of her predecessors had. If you look at Helmut Kohl, you know, he brought the two Germanys together, German reunification was obviously a milestone in German history. In European history. Merkel doesn't have an achievement I think like that, that people will look back towards.

CHURCH: And of course, under Merkel, Germany initially did very well didn't it? Fighting the COVID pandemic, but like so many other nations people became wary of restrictions. And some pushed back, refusing to get vaccinated. Now Scholz is seriously considering vaccine mandates. How is that likely to play do you think?

KARNITSCHNIG: Well I think for the roughly 30 percent of Germans who are not vaccinated it's not going to play very well. If they actually go down that road. So far they've decided to just mandate that certain groups get the vaccine in certain professions.

But there is this hard-core anti-vax movement in Germany as there is in other parts of Europe. And that's not going to change probably and it just highlights the kind of unexpected challenges I think, you know, Scholz is going to be facing.

Because just a couple of weeks ago he and his new coalition -- they weren't even really talking about COVID anymore. They thought that they had more or less moved on from the pandemic and now it dominates everything and will, I think, for the coming months.

CHURCH: And it has to be said, Merkel was often the lone defender of liberal democracy up against the world strongman, Vladimir Putin, Former President Donald Trump, but she mostly held her ground didn't she? How will Scholz likely perform on the world stage do you think?

KARNITSCHNIG: Well, I think he has the advantage that he has somebody on the White House who is more or less on the same page as he is when it comes to multilateralism and liberal democracy. So he's' not going to -- maybe face the same kind of direct pressures that Angela Merkel did with Trump who is also constantly attacking Germany at the time.

People will remember that Trump wanted Germany to pay more for its defense and generally kind of step up and do more. So, I think that Scholz won't have all of those pressures. But as we've seen in the Ukraine, you know, this is a very volatile region still.

And with Russia amassing troops on the Ukrainian border, you know, Germany is going to be a very difficult position here when it comes to the security situation in Europe.

Because it has very important ties to Russia through this Nord Stream pipeline for example. But also to China, the great tensions between the U.S. and China at the moment, of course. And China is Germany's biggest trading partner.

So they're going to have to try and find a way to stay a good ally to the United States while also maintaining the trading relations with countries like China and even Russia to a degree.

CHURCH: Matthew Karnitschnig, thank you so much for talking with us. I appreciate it.

KARNITSCHNIG: Thank you.

CHURCH: Like most countries the right to vote is granted only to citizens in Germany. But that means as many of 10 million non- nationalize immigrant adults living in Germany and paying taxes have no say in the political process, but there are efforts to change that.

[03:35:08]

In September, CNN's Salma Abdelaziz met with three politicians fighting for greater representation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HIBBA TUN-NOOR KAUSER, LOCAL POLITICIAN: Very unique what we have hair in Offenbach.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER (voice over): Local politician, Hibba Tun-Noor Kauser wants to show me the diversity on her streets.

HIBBA TUN-NOOR KAUSER: We have a lot of different people from different nations with different skin colors living here.

ABDELAZIZ: This is Offenbach where almost 64 percent the population have an immigrant background. But until March of this year, minorities made up just 10 percent of the local parliament, she says.

HIBBA TUN-NOOR KAUSER: So the government looks all was whites and male. And that is a huge, huge problem. Because the government is supposed to reflect the population.

ABDELAZIZ: About one in three people in Offenbach cannot vote because they do not hold German citizenship.

HIBBA TUN-NOOR KAUSER: Every decision that is happening over our heads. So over the heads of the people who cannot vote. It's over the head of the marginalize group.

ABDELAZIZ: More than a quarter of the German population has foreign roots. But the advocacy group MIGLUM estimates one in seven German resident's as many as 10 million people without citizenship are disenfranchised. And lack of voting power means lack of representation says Berlin official Sawsan Chebli.

SAWSAN CHEBLI, BERLIN OFFICIAL: So just imagine the future of Germany will be so diverse and this has to be seen in our reality and the political arena. It's not right now but it's getting better.

ABDELAZIZ: Chebli wants the voting rights awarded to E.U. citizens, in Germany, to be extended to other foreign nationals, and the citizenship process simplified.

UNKNOWN: If I lived here for so many years, worked and pay taxes in Berlin then when it comes election, I'm not allowed to vote this makes no sense to me. It has to be changed. It is discriminatory.

ABDELAZIZ: Taraq Alaows, a Syrian refugee and activists ran for political office as soon as his immigration status allowed.

TARAQ ALAOWS, SYRIAN REFUGEE (through translator): When I looked at the makeup of the German parliament there was no one who represented refugees like me. So I want to be the voice I was missing in politics.

ABDELAZIZ: Many welcomed Alaows campaign. But a right-wing minority targeted him with daily hate mail and death threats, he says.

ALAOWS (through translator): I had to withdraw, but for me as a refugee in a society whether it's systemic racism I have no option but to continue my political activism. I just have to change my direction.

ABDELAZIZ: And without participation and representation activists say many immigrants are excluded from Germany's democracy.

Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, Offenbach.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Australia is the latest country to join a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Beijing Olympics. Prime Minister Scott Morrison made the announcement on Tuesday following the U.S. inciting China's human rights abuses as the driving factor. The Chinese embassy in Australia has wasted no time in responding to the announcement criticizing the move and placing all blame for strained relation on Australia.

CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins me with the latest from Hong Kong. And Kristie, of course, the U.S. was standing alone for a short time there with its diplomatic boycott, now, of course, we see Australia doing the same. What is the latest on this?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well China's ministry of foreign affairs in its daily briefing today has just weighed in on Australia's announcement and what we heard from the spokesperson is that China is accusing Australia of quote, "Blindly following some countries without limit," unquote.

It was earlier today on Wednesday when the Australian Prime Minister announced a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympic games. But a day or so after the United States formerly made its announcement.

And according to the Australian Prime Minister, this decision was made due to difficulties and reopening to diplomatic channels with China to address human rights concerns in Xinjiang to address China's punitive trade action against Australian goods, and Australian companies.

We also learned that Australia's Olympic Committee is saying that this diplomatic boycott will not impact the estimated 40 Australian athletes set to compete in the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympic Games. Now to take place in just less than two months' time.

We also heard from China's embassy in Australia they wish the Australian athletes good luck and quote, "an excellent performance" in the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympic Games. But hey also issued this statement, let's bring it up for you about their feelings about the relationship between Australia and China right now.

Writing this, quote, "The blame for the current predicament of China- Australia relation lies squarely on the Australian side. China once again urges the Australian side to take practical measures to create favorable conditions for improving bilateral relations," unquote.

[03:40:06]

It was earlier this week when the United States announced it's diplomatic boycott and China responded with some really tough words. Saying that the United States who quote, "Pay the price and that countermeasures will be taken."

We heard from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, a very interesting response to the question about whether or not China was worried about a domino effect. But after the U.S. announcement whether other countries would follow suit. And the (Inaudible) spokesman on Tuesday basically shrugged his shoulder. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ZHAO LIJIAN, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY (through

translator): As we stated on various occasions it is the athletes instead of politicians clambering for boycott have a selfish political games that should be in the spotlight. In fact no one would care whether these people come are not. And it has no impact whatsoever on the Olympics to be successfully held by Beijing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: So that was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday saying nobody would care about additional diplomatic boycotts, even though earlier this week on Monday, the words United States Olympic boycott was being censored on social media in China.

A number of other countries are reportedly considering a diplomatic boycott including Canada, the U.K., Netherlands, we know that New Zealand has made the announcement that they will not be sending official to the Beijing Olympic Winter Games. But this is not for political reason, they cited the COVID-19 pandemic, back to you.

CHURCH: All right. Kristie Lu Stout, many thanks, joining us live from Hong Kong.

And Olympic legends are also speaking their mind about the diplomatic boycott. Mike Eruzione led the U.S. Hockey team to Olympic gold in the 1980 Winter Olympic, but the U.S. then pulled out of Summer Olympics in Moscow that year. He says athletes needed politically neutral zone to compete.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE ERUZIONE, 1980 U.S. HOCKEY TEAM: The diplomats has nothing to do this whatsoever. It's all about the athletes and their opportunity to represent our country. There is no greater feeling that putting USA jersey on. It's not like the Super Bowl or Stanley Cup. It comes every couple of years and the Olympic Games, every four years for each sport. And when you trained that hard that long. Just you know, we want that opportunity to compete and set the politics aside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Of course, this is a diplomatic boycott the athletes will still be going to the Olympics.

So still ahead, could one of the men who killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi be in French custody. Saudi Arabia says no, but French police say maybe. We're live in Paris.

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CHURCH: Sometime today, we could learn whether a Saudi man in French custody is connected to the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Saudi authorities say he is not and insist this is a case of mistaken identity.

[03:45:03] But French police have yet to reveal whether they have identified the

suspect. If his identity is confirmed, he would face arrest and a preliminary hearing the first steps towards possible extradition to Turkey. Authorities there say Khashoggi was dismembered by a Saudi hit squad after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul three years ago.

And CNN's Cyril Vanier is following this story for us, he joins us live from Paris. Good to see you, Cyril. So why are French police so sure they have the right man in custody here? And the Saudis are convinced they don't.

CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, I suppose the official status, Rosemary is that they are checking whether they have the right man in custody. What the French police have confirmed to CNN is that they have a 33-year-old Saudi man, who they arrested before he boarded a flight to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia yesterday morning, fairly early French time.

They have not confirmed his name, however the French media have reported a name that name matches the name that is on sanctions-list by the U.S., the U.K., France, other European countries. The person believed to be on the -- a member of the hit squad that assassinated Jamal Khashoggi late back in 2018.

And the French have just told CNN, Rosemary, the French police, that the name for the man they have in custody is the name of the man who was wanted by Turkish authorities and who was wanted by Interpol. So now we know that the age of the man and his status is being wanted by Turkey and Interpol matches the name that we have on those sanctions list.

That's where we are so far, the Saudi side still saying it may be they believe it is a case of mistaken identity. They've added that, you know, they have carried a justice in this case because the people who are involved according to them in the murder of Khashoggi have seen justice in Saudi Arabia.

But that Rosemary is very, very questionable. The U.N. has said that that was a trial -- that Saudi trial was a parody of justice and so there are still really, I think a lot of people in the world who would like to see justice for Jamal Khashoggi. Rosemary.

CHURCH: Absolutely, Cyril Vanier, joining us live from Paris, many thanks.

And a landmark move, lawmakers in Chile have voted to legalize same sex marriage. Both Houses of Congress approved the bill on Tuesday sending it to the president's desk to be signed into law. Chile has legally recognize same-sex civil unions since 2015, but will now provide equal rights to those couples including the right to adopt.

And still to come, lift off. A Japanese fashion tycoon has just become the latest billionaire to travel into space. Why it's only the beginning of his space exploration. We'll take a look at that.

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UNKNOWN: And a lift off. Lift off of the Soyuz MS-20 with two Japanese spaceflight participant, Russian cosmonaut. Now beginning their journey to the International Space Station.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: There it is. Right now Japanese fashion tycoon, Yusaku Maezawa is on his way to the International Space Station. He blasted off just a short time ago, traveling with a videographer and Russian cosmonaut. The entrepreneur joins a growing list of billionaires exploring space tourism.

[03:50:05]

And CNN's Blake Essig joins me now from Tokyo. Great to see you, Blake and of course, you and I were on air together last hour when Maezawa blasted off and it was very successful indeed wasn't it.

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Yes, you know I'm so glad that it was. I was watching it right there with you seeing the smile on his face as he was heading up towards space was really assuring and also really exciting. Obviously as we have talked about last hour space tourism is a thing maybe not for you and I, at this point but it is a thing if you've got enough money for it to be a thing.

And he now joins people like Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson as another billionaire who is now been to space. Again, just about an hour ago Japanese fashion tycoon, Yusaku Maezawa took off from the Cosmos Dome in Kazakhstan, on board a Russian spacecraft headed for the International Space Station with a big old smile on his face.

And according to NASA, the trip to International Space Station will take about five more hours and after docking, Maezawa is going to have to wait another two hours before hatches between the orbiting laboratory and spaceship will open. Allowing those on board to join other astronauts on the space station.

Now the 46-year-old won't be going alone as you have mentioned, Rosemary, he will be accompanied by a Russian cosmonaut and a film producer who the billionaire was taken to document the journey and shared on YouTube with his hundreds of thousands of subscribers. And Maezawa says that the purpose for this trip is to share the experience of going to space as a commoner and give the perspective that is different from an experience astronaut.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YUSAKU MAEZAWA, JAPANESE ENTREPENUER (through translator): I never thought I would be able to go to space. But I have always had a love for stars and celestial bodies. I cannot express how happy I feel for this opportunity. And it feels like my dream has finally come true. I hope to be able to send a message that if you keep chasing your dreams one day you will accomplish them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ESSIG: For the past several months the eccentric billionaire has been preparing for this 12-day mission in documenting the experience along the way. We have seen him trying on the spacesuit, attempting to learn Russian and training in near zero gravity. And this whole experience, this trip to space for Maezawa will not be his last that's because he's already booked out an entire SpaceX rocket set to fly around the moon as early as 2023.

And he plans to take eight random people along for the ride early this year. Maezawa made headlines when he began accepting applications from every day ordinary people from all over the world to join him on that SpaceX flight with the billionaire footing the bill.

As we've talked about last hour, Rosemary, unfortunately it's too late to apply the application period, ended months ago. And so the naming of the eight people that would join him still hasn't been done but will eventually have those people that will join him on that 2023 flight.

CHURCH: Yeah. What an experience of a lifetime. That's a great opportunity for those people. Blake Essig, thank you so much joining us live from Tokyo. I appreciate it.

Well, in the fight against climate change countries around the world are focusing on cutting carbon emissions to help reach a net zero future. One British start-up is taking to the skies with a goal of becoming earth's thermometry in space.

Lynda Kinkade has more.

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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): At the recent COP 26 Summit, some 23 countries made new commitments to phase out coal power. But who is going to hold them accountable. A U.K. start-up has one idea. Satellite Vu's newest technologies uses high resolution thermal and infrared imaging to monitor carbon footprints from space.

The company hasn't been hired to create this technology. But they completed their latest funding around raising about 20 million dollars. They even raised over 1 million dollars from the U.K. space agency.

Their plan is to launch seven satellites with this machinery that will track temperatures day and night and offer near real-time data of greenhouse gas emissions by buildings, companies and even countries.

UNKNOWN: There's been this real push to drive everyone towards the net zero future environment. And part of that is going to be increasing the energy efficiency of our buildings and reducing the amount of energy that we use within those. And our satellite are going to be able capture and measure the amount of thermal energy that's emitted from any structure on earth at multiple times, day or night.

KINKADE: Their first satellite in the series is launching next year. Ahead of the launch the company is using a light aircraft to test flight their technology. They are looking into industrial facilities identifying areas with plastic pollution and spotting places that are still burning coal.

UNKNOWN: So if a coal fired power station is using coal we will be able to measure the thermal output from that and report on it on a global scale. So no one can hide from the ability if they will use fossil fuels and burned carbon in that kind of environment.

[03:55:14]

KINKADE: The data can even flag buildings with people in need in the midst of winter who aren't using enough heat and energy, potentially identifying pockets of fuel poverty. Still the company says their main goal is to do away with the manual process of accessing buildings to determine emissions which can be costly and use the data to help companies invest in energy efficiency methods.

As the climate system changes several companies and space agencies like Satellite Vu are focusing their resources on climate technologies with the hope to slow the march of global warming.

Lynda Kinkade, CNN.

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CHURCH: An invention in Australia is being develop to outlive us and record our mistakes. The earth's black box is a 10 meter long steel monolith and self-power data storage device. Powered by solar and thermal energy, the box will record every report, tweet and headline on new climate findings and conversations. Creator say it is designed to be an indestructible record of how humankind created the climate crisis. And how we succeeded or failed to address that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM CURTIS, CLEMENGER BBDO: We've been installing a lot of inaction and the point of the earth black box, it has multitude of uses. I think the first one just like an airplane black box or flight recorder, if the worse is to happen and you know, as the civilization, we do crash as a result of climate change this indestructible box will be there and will record every detail of that every inaction and action that we've taken towards that.

The second reason is to hold our ladies to account so making sure they know that every decision or in the city of that they make is being recorded. And in the third, hopefully is to inspire action.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The box will be completed in 2022 on the remote West Coast of Tasmania. Once activated, its library of climate data will be available to view online.

And thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church, have yourself a wonderful day. "CNN Newsroom" continues now with Max Foster.

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