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U.S. Secretary Of State To Meet With Ukraine's President; Tonga Declares State Of Emergency Following Tsunami; Japan To Impose Stricter Restrictions As Cases Rise; British Prime Minister Denies Knowing Party Breached COVID-19 Rules. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired January 19, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, I'm Lynda Kinkade.

Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, fear of an imminent attack, the U.S. warns Russia could invade Ukraine at any moment.

Also, government officials call it an unprecedented disaster. Toxic ash is slowing relief efforts following the massive volcanic eruption in Tonga.

And several international airlines are canceling their flights to the U.S. over concerns about tech issues that could threaten flight safety.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Lynda Kinkade.

KINKADE: We begin with tensions building in Eastern Europe where the White House says Russia could launch an attack on Ukraine at any point. Ukrainian intelligence assessment shared exclusively with CNN says Moscow has deployed more than 127,000 troops in the region, including in Belarus.

This video purports to show equipment in Russia's far East headed West. Russia's Foreign Minister says other countries have no business telling it what to do with its troops.

The Germany's top diplomat had a different assessment during her visit to Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNALENA BAERBOCK, GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): Over the past few weeks more than 100,000 Russian troops equipment and tanks have been deployed in the Ukraine for no reason. It's hard not to see that as a threat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on his way to Kyiv for talks with Ukraine's president. On Friday, he'll be in Switzerland to meet with his Russian counterpart.

More now from CNN Senior International Correspondent Matthew Chance.

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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the actual video complete with soundtrack put out by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. Being fired to the beat, javelin anti- tank missiles supplied by the U.S. as part of its growing military support is these kinds of weapons Ukraine hopes will help stop another Russian invasion, and it wants more. Cue a flurry of diplomatic fist bumps and grand promises of U.S. support.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Blinken visits Kyiv. But earlier this week, a congressional delegation was here.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): I think Vladimir Putin has made the biggest mistake of his career.

CHANCE: Vowing more tough action in Washington against Russian aggression.

BLUMENTHAL: We will impose crippling economic sanctions. But more important, we will give the people of Ukraine the arms, lethal arms they need to defend their lives and livelihoods.

CHANCE: It's unclear if what Ukrainian officials call this strong show of bipartisan support will deter Russia or provoke it. It certainly doesn't look deterred.

These are the latest images of Russia's live fire military exercises near its border, where the latest Ukrainian Defense Intelligence assessment obtained exclusively by CNN, says Russia has almost completed its military build-up.

The assessment says, there are now more than 127,000 Russian troops poised to invade, including Russian infantry units seen here practicing urban warfare, the kind that may play a major role if any potentially messy incursion into Ukraine if ever ordered.

Sources in rebel controlled Eastern areas of the country tells CNN training has also been ramped up there. With a significant increase of rebel fighters and heavy weaponry on the frontlines.

The new Ukrainian intelligence assessment says Russia supports more than 35,000 rebels and has about 3,000 of its own military based in rebel territory. Moscow denies having any forces there and continues to insist it has no plans either to invade.

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SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): We do not threaten anyone, but we hear threats against us. I hope all of this only reflects emotions within the camp of Western countries. We will be guided by concrete steps and deeds. CHANCE: But those deeds and steps seem to point to escalation. These are new images showing troops from Russia and its ally Belarus preparing for joint exercises near Ukraine's Northern border. It may be just a distraction.

But as Russia continues to mass forces, Ukrainian intelligence says it now sees this region as a full- fledged Russian theatre of operation. In other words, another dangerous potential front line.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Kyiv.

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KINKADE: John Herbst was the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine from 2003 to 2006. He's also the director of the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center. He joins me now from Fairfax, Virginia. Good to have you with us, Ambassador.

JOHN HERBST, FORMER AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE (on camera): My pleasure.

KINKADE: So, multiple sources tell CNN that the U.S. is considering options, including providing more weapons to Ukraine, in order to resist a Russian occupation, should it come to that. What does that tell you about how pessimistic the United States is after a week of diplomatic talks?

HERBST: Well, it's clear that Moscow is threatening a much larger invasion of Ukraine. And so, the administration has said that if they do that, there'll be major sanctions, there'll be weapons to Ukraine and there'll be a change in NATO's force posture. This crisis has been going on now since the end of October.

KINKADE: So, we heard from the U.S. Press Secretary today, Jen Psaki, who warned it would seem to be an imminent attack. I just want to play some of that sound for our viewers.

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JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: So, let's be clear. Our view is this is an extremely dangerous situation. We're now at a stage where Russia could at any point want an attack in Ukraine.

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KINKADE: Ambassador, does that suggest to you that diplomacy is failing?

HERBST: Oh, no. I think that Putin is actually concerned about attacking, because he does not want those punishing sanctions. He's trying to see if he could intimidate the United States, NATO, the E.U. or Ukraine into making concessions. But that failed last week. And we'll see if he tries it again with Lavrov and Blinken on Friday.

KINKADE: Right now, Russia has been withdrawing diplomats and their families from the Ukraine, literally asking them to get on a bus for the 18-hour drive back to Russia. What does that signal? HERBST: Well, this is all part of Putin's effort to intimidate the West. This suggested military action is going to happen very soon. But to actually conduct that up, that operation, is dangerous to him, so he has to think twice before doing it.

KINKADE: As you mentioned, Antony Blinken is set to meet other Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday. Given that there has already been a week of diplomatic talks and no major breakthroughs, what should the strategy be for the U.S. this Friday? What could yield results?

HERBST: I think determination is the most important thing. As long as Moscow understands that the United States, the E.U., will respond together with strong sanctions and additional military support from the United States to Ukraine and strengthening of NATO, I think Mr. Putin has to think twice about actually launching those troops.

KINKADE: U.S. President Biden and NATO have indicated they won't go into battle for Ukraine, they won't put troops on the ground. Just how far do you think they will go? What support could they offer apart from more weapons?

HERBST: Well, more weapons to Ukraine, big sanctions on Moscow and strengthening NATO's force posture in the Baltic states, Poland and Romania, which all demonstrates that Moscow's geopolitical position will deteriorate if they invade Ukraine with this large force.

KINKADE: So, what could Russia face in terms of sanctions? Like, what would be the biggest deterrent?

HERBST: Well, I think the biggest likely sanction would be for bidding activity on Russian secondary debt market. But there's also talk about sanctioning major Russian banks. And if they sanction two or three Russian banks, that will also have an enormous impact. They don't just want that.

KINKADE: What's the -- so, what is the feeling right now in Ukraine, towards Russia, towards Vladimir Putin compared to all these years ago, during the annexation of Crimea, how have things changed?

HERBST: It's pretty simple, Mr. Putin was the most popular politician in Ukraine when I arrived there in 2003, so 18, 19 years ago. But as a result of his aggression against Ukraine, he's a deeply unpopular figure. And as a result of his aggression against Ukraine, people in Ukraine have very negative feelings about Russia which is historically unusual.

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KINKADE: All right, we'll leave it there for now. Great to get your perspective former ambassador to Ukraine, John Herbst. Thanks so much.

Well, Tonga's government says they are facing an unprecedented disaster following Saturday's massive volcanic eruption and tsunami. Harrowing new video has emerged as some communications with the outside world slowly get back online. You can see the tsunami waves tearing through the island as people try

to escape the floodwaters. The death toll rose to three on Tuesday. Evacuation efforts are underway, but no centers are open on Tonga's main island.

The Tongan government says tsunami waves reached 15 meters high destroying nearly all the homes and businesses in some places.

Well, clean up and recovery efforts are ongoing that many lost everything.

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JONATHAN VEITCH, RESIDENT COORDINATOR, UNITED NATIONS: You will have seen perhaps on satellite images, it seems that thousands -- all houses were destroyed on Mango island. And we have to count exactly how many that is and and exactly what the population is that has been displaced and evacuated. And only two houses remain on Fonoifua island. And and there is also extensive damage recorded on Nomuka island.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, CNN's Phil Black joins me now from Melbourne. Good to have you with us, Phil. So, we have been seeing some images now of surveillance flights and also satellite images. Just how widespread is the damage?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, it's significant clearly and we're still getting here, trying to determine and get a picture of it really, Lynda. Everything points to the next few days being pretty challenging.

But one of the big difficulties is still the absence of reliable communication. Pretty much the entire chain of islands went dark at one moment, both in terms of domestic and international communications, the only underground cable connecting Tonga to the rest of the world was damaged in the explosion or the aftermath of the explosion.

Mobile phone services were gone, they had been restored to some degree on the main island. A patchy 2G service has been cobbled together using a satellite dish. And satellite phones were told to struggling because of all the dust in the atmosphere.

One of the acute needs in the next few days clearly is going to be water. We're told that water reserves on the -- on the islands there have been contaminated both with seawater from the tsunami, and also dust from the volcano as well.

New Zealand Navy ships are on their way with reserves of water and desalination equipment. And that also presents another challenge, a COVID related challenge. I think going forward for Tonga, there is no doubt that the nation is going to want all the resources the outside world could provide. But it's not necessarily and probably unlikely to want the people delivering them to come ashore and stay. The World Health Organization makes the point that Tonga has some of

the toughest anti-COVID rules in the world, three weeks quarantine for anyone arriving there, the islands are COVID free. And you would expect that they would want to keep them that way while they are dealing with this new crisis, Lynda.

KINKADE: And yes, obviously, that will be a big challenge trying to keep any COVID cases to a bare minimum as aid arrives into the country.

In terms of casualties, Phil, what are you learning as a result of this volcanic eruption and the tsunami that followed?

BLACK: Well, as you touched on three confirmed deaths, two Tongans and a British citizen. Beyond that it is very difficult to get a sense of precisely the human cost of this in terms of death and care -- and death and injury.

There are 36 inhabited islands in Tonga, and from some of them, we seem to have heard nothing so far. And for many of them, we haven't any real accurate impact of just how great the impact has been.

So, I think it is regrettably too soon to say that that figure three deaths is going to be the final figure. But the expectation I think from aid groups on the ground is that it is likely to rise in the coming days.

KINKADE: All right, Phil Black, good to get that update from you from Melbourne, Australia. Thanks very much.

And we are going to stay on this story. I'd like to bring in Sainiana Rokovucago. She's the Pacific Head of Programs at the International Federation of Red Crescent and Red Cross Society. She joins us now from Fiji.

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KINKADE: Thanks so much for joining us. You have teams I understand in Tonga right now, urgently delivering water to those in need. Is that the number one priority right now?

SAINIANA ROKOVUCAGO, HEAD OF PROGRAMS, IFRC PACIFIC: That's right, Lynda. After the disaster on Saturday, we were expecting that there was going to be an impact on the water supply, the water source considering the volcanic ash fall, and also the tsunami, which did bring in seawater into onto the island. And we were anticipating that and we didn't get any communication from Saturday.

And today, for the first time, that we get -- we get to speak to the Secretary General of the Tonga Red Cross Society will confirm that water is the number one issue in the island and the team has been mobilized to the island to deliver fresh water.

KINKADE: That is good to hear. And Sainiana, obviously, it's not just water, many people need shelter. What can you tell us about the number of people receiving help right now through your aid organization? ROKOVUCAGO: Lynda, in the weekend, we were anticipating, assisting we had on the island with our counterparts, we had relief supplies for up to 1,200 households. And that included, you know, basic hygiene items. We had tarpaulins, we had shelter, kids need to commute, did the community need to repair their homes and clean their homes.

So, we had 1,000 head supplies for 1,200 households on the island. And in our coordination, we were working towards getting about to -- up to 3,300 more households. So, we will coordinate from our -- from our end with the Australian Red Cross and the New Zealand Red Cross. And we did get confirmation from today that that's enough, sufficient the 1,200 household items that they have. And they're after the initial assessment, they're beginning to distribute that to the island to the community.

KINKADE: And Sainiana, it's obviously not just the toxic ash from the volcano. But people on this Pacific Island are also dealing with the devastation caused by the tsunami that followed. How challenging is it trying to reach people in need right now, especially given communications and the issues?

ROKOVUCAGO: Our counterparts have confirmed that they've been able to begin their response with, they've been out to the communities for assessment, for distribution, we had a team that's gone out to Mango, to Fonoifua and to Nomuka, they're part of another team that's actually doing that.

And apart from water, like you said, we're also going to assist where they're also going to be distributing shelter items, you know, so the communities can just repair their homes and clear any dirt that's brought in by the tidal wave.

And we're also on standby to provide -- to provide any other assistance needed from the -- from the community, but it's been confirmed by our counterparts that those are the two main priorities.

KINKADE: And what are the added challenges you're having to deal with given that this disaster has happened in the midst of a global pandemic? As you tried to get aid into the country and into the most devastated island? How do you deal with issues of cases and infections as a result of COVID-19 rising in the community?

ROKOVUCAGO: You know, Tonga has done well to be able to contain COVID and there hasn't been any community transmission. And our team has always adhered to those protocols around wearing masks. You know, keeping the physical distance when not in operation. And now that we're seeing that we need to -- need to send items to the island and the strict regulations around quarantine having to have relief supplies quarantine, personnel quarantine, and these are -- these are the, you know, the protocols that we need to adhere to and we've considered in providing assistance back to the island.

KINKADE: All right, Sainiana Rokovucago, good to have you on the program and we appreciate your time and all the work your team are doing. Thanks very much.

ROKOVUCAGO: Thank you, Lynda.

Well, still to come, why the World Health Organization says no one is out of the woods yet with the coronavirus pandemic although the worst of the latest wave may be over.

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KINKADE: Plus, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says no one told him a party at 10 Downing Street was against lockdown rules.

Why this new I didn't know defense may not work, we'll have that story next.

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KINKADE: Welcome back. Well, to Europe now with the Omicron variant is fueling a record rising COVID cases. Italy reported its highest record of daily COVID infection since the start of the pandemic in the past day. A similar situation in France, which also reported a record daily high of more than 464,000 new COVID cases.

But even as cases climb, a new study published by the French Council of Economic Analysis shows the Health Pass used in Europe has saved lives.

Since its adoption at the end of last year, it's prevented nearly 4,000 deaths in France, and more than 1,000 in both Germany and Italy.

The World Health Organization chief says everyone must remain vigilant amid this latest surge.

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DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, DIRECTOR GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Omicron continues to sweep the world. In some countries, cases seem to have peaked, which gives hope that the worst of this latest wave is done with but no countries out of the woods yet.

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KINKADE: While Japan will expand its COVID safety measures amid record infection numbers. The Prime Minister is set to announce stricter restrictions in 13 regions including Tokyo starting this Friday.

CNN's Blake Essig joins me now from Tokyo with the latest and Blake, what does a quasi-state of emergency entail? What sort of restrictions will be rolled out?

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Oh, yes, you know, Lynda when it comes to quasi-state of emergency, Japan really across the board is used to it, spent several months through all of 2021 under either a full or quasi-state of emergency in the six wave of infection, which started to take shape just a few days into January and because of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant across the country, as you mentioned later today, Japan's Prime Minister is expected to prove quasi-state of emergency order for 13 prefectures which would last until mid-February.

So, under a quasi-state of emergency order, local governors would be able to request the bars and restaurants, limit their operating hours and can ask them to stop serving alcohol. If a business doesn't comply, fines could be imposed. People are also asked not to cross prefectural borders.

Now, here's a look at the map showing the prefectures across the country that would be impacted by the stricter measures that includes three prefectures, where a quasi-state of emergency order is already in place.

Yesterday, Japan's case count top 30,000 for the first time ever, that's an increase of more than 415 percent compared to the same day last week.

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ESSIG: This previous record was more than 25,000 cases reported last August, just about two weeks after the Tokyo 2020 closing ceremony.

Speaking of the Olympics, the Winter Games in Beijing set to start in about two weeks and the Chinese government is taking drastic measures to try and prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Relatively speaking, the case count is extremely low compared to other countries, only 87 new cases were reported yesterday, but because of the country's zero COVID strategy, if even one case is reported, it means mass testing and lockdowns.

Currently, more than 20 million people across the country are confined to their homes, that includes several neighborhoods in Beijing which was supposed to be a COVID free area ahead of the Olympics.

And for athletes competing, they're going to be extremely limited in what they're allowed to do. Olympic officials talked about a closed loop bubble which actually started today, it limits athlete's movements in will offer organizers a level of control never seen before at an Olympic game under this closed loop bubble. Athletes must essentially stay in place from the time they arrive until the time that they depart.

And finally, in Hong Kong, after 11 hamsters at a local pet shop tested positive -- preliminary positive, excuse me, for COVID, the government is ordering the killing of more than 2,000 small animals, that includes hamsters, rabbits, chinchillas, and guinea pigs.

While health officials have said that the risk of transmission from animals to humans is low, because it is possible, they're asking people who purchased hamsters after December 22nd to hand them over.

As a result of the government's plan, a more than 18,000 people have signed a petition to stop the killing of those small animals, Lynda.

KINKADE: Yes, very sad story for any pet lover out there. Blake Essig for us in Tokyo. Thanks so much. Well, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's latest response to the

growing controversy around lockdown defying parties. He says he didn't know he was breaking the rules.

On Tuesday, Mr. Johnson said no one told him a gathering held in the garden of 10 Downing Street in May of 2020 was a potential breach of COVID-19 restrictions.

But remember, he's the prime minister and he imposed the social distancing rules. Take a listen to this address he gave it his country about it just days before that party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: You must obey the rules on social distancing and to enforce those rules, we will increase the fines for the small minority who break them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, CNN's Salma Abdelaziz has more from London on the controversy.

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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): More denials, and more I'm sorry from Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The latest coming after one of his former top aides accused the Prime Minister of lying to Parliament.

Cummings says that an event in question on May 20th 2020, a garden event at 10 Downing Street, that the Prime Minister not only knew it was a party, but he actually willfully ignored advice from his officials to cancel the event that his officials told him that it would violate COVID rules, but Johnson brushed aside those concerns and went ahead anyways.

Cummings going so far as to say that he would testify under oath to this but Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he didn't know, take a listen.

JOHNSON: Categorically that nobody told me and nobody said that this was something that was against the rules. It was a breach of the COVID rules, that we were doing something that wasn't a work event because frankly, I don't think I can't imagine why on earth it would have gone ahead or why it would have been allowed to go ahead.

ABDELAZIZ: Now, this is important because while the government is accused of a string of allegations of partying events taking place from the first lockdown in the summer of 2020 to the spring of 2021. So far, the Prime Minister has only admitted to being in attendance at one such event, the May 20th event.

And this one is crucial because it became known to the public after an e-mail leaked showing one of Johnson's top officials inviting nearly a hundred Downing Street staff to this event and telling them to bring their own booze, exclamation point.

Look, the bottom line here is that Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government is being accused of partying it up in Downing Street while the country was in lockdown of violating, woefully, brazenly violating COVID rules repeatedly with garden parties and Christmas parties and wine time Fridays.

The list of accusations goes on and on, all of this now under investigation by a senior civil servant. We expect that result in the coming days.

But reputationally, the damage here is done.

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A small handful of conservative lawmakers, members of Boris Johnson's own party, now calling for him to resign.

Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Still to come, some international airlines are suspending flights to the United States over concerns about the rollout of the 5G mobile network. We'll have those details ahead.

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KINKADE: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Good to have you with us.

Well, some international airlines are canceling flights to the U.S. over concerns about the potential 5G interference with critical airplane technology. Emirates, Air India, Air Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines have all announced service cuts at certain airports.

That follows urgent warnings from top U.S. airline executives about the impact of flights because of the 5G rollout. Brian Todd reports.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Part of the much- anticipated rollout of the latest generation wireless technology, delayed again. AT&T, parent company of Warner Media and CNN, and Verizon, both announcing that near some airports, they'll temporarily delay activating 5G on their cell towers.

Elsewhere, the rollout was to continue Wednesday as planned. Both telecom giants frustrated with the FAA and the airline industry for the delay.

PETER GOELZ, FORMER NTSB MANAGING DIRECTOR: I think they were forced to do it. The outcry from the stakeholders that are directly involved in rolling out the 5G, the pilots, the flight attendants, they're all speaking out aggressively. TODD: And several international airlines say they'll cancel some

flights into the U.S. starting Wednesday because of the uncertainty. 5G, which has already started to roll out in some places in the U.S., provides faster data and cell service to phones than the existing 4G technology.

The problem? The airlines say the signals from 5G transmitter towers that are near airports operate on a frequency that's too close to the frequency of an instrument that's critical for the safety of passenger and cargo planes. The radar altimeter.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: This is used when an aircraft gets closer to the ground on approach. It's absolutely mandatory that one of these things be operating well. As a matter of fact, more than one of them, in a very low-visibility approach. It gives very precise information on the relative distance between the aircraft and the ground.

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TODD: The airlines, concerned that signals from 5G towers near airports will interfere with radar altimeter's readings in the cockpit.

(on camera): If a radar altimeter fails in low visibility, what happens?

GOELZ: If a radar altimeter fails in low visibility, you better do a go-around, right away, or you're in trouble.

TODD (voice-over): Airline CEOs are also concerned about the ripple effects, how the safety concerns could disrupt airlines' schedules, which have already been thrown into chaos.

SCOTT KIRBY, CEO, UNITED AIRLINES: If we don't solve this, if we go back to decades-old procedures and technology for flying airplanes, cancel thousands of flights per day and hundreds of thousands of customers, it will be a catastrophic failure.

TODD: Both AT&T and Verizon insist the technology is safe. One potential workaround? An idea put forth by some airlines for buffer zones near airports, where the power from 5G towers near airports would be turned off or down while planes approach.

O'BRIEN: Before zones, directed antennas, lower power transmission, all those things make good sense. We have 40 countries that have adopted this, and it seems to work fine. So there are ways to do this.

TODD (on camera): But there is some debate over whether those buffer zones could work here in the U.S., because there are many more airports here than in most countries, and much more air traffic.

Meanwhile, President Biden has issued a statement, thanking AT&T and Verizon for delaying their launch of 5G near airports and saying his team is engaging nonstop with the airlines, with the wireless carriers and with the aviation equipment manufacturers to figure out a solution.

Brian Todd, CNN, Reagan National Airport.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: The European Parliament has elected its youngest president ever and the first woman to hold the post in two decades. Malta's Roberta Metsola was sworn in on her 43rd birthday, with NEP singing "Happy Birthday."

But her election is controversial, because she opposes abortion, which is legal to some degree in every E.U. country, except her native Malta.

Metsola was immediately questioned over her stance and indicated she would not rock the boat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTA METSOLA, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: This European Parliament, on all sexual and reproductive health and rights, it has been unambiguous. It has repeatedly called for these rights to be better protected.

This is the position of this house, and I can confirm and commit to all of you that that is the position I will push forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, the block's previous president, Italian David Sassoli, died suddenly last week following a serious immune system complication.

Still ahead, who betrayed Anne Frank to the Nazis? It's a question that has lingered for decades, but now a group of cold-case investigators believe they may have solved the mystery.

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KINKADE: Well, researchers believe they may have uncovered who betrayed Anne Frank's family and revealed their hiding place to the Nazis. It's the result of a six-year investigation into a mystery that has puzzled historians for nearly 80 years.

CNN's Paula Newton reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Her story lived on long after its writing, an enduring reminder of the horrors of the Holocaust. The diary of Anne Frank ends abruptly, presumably before Nazis found her and her family in 1944.

For decades, a question lingered: how were they discovered after nearly two years in hiding? Now, there may be an answer. A betrayal potentially uncovered in what had long been a cold case. PETER VAN TWISK, INVESTIGATION TEAM MEMBER: Only one scenario fits the

classic motive, knowledge and opportunity.

NEWTON: A team of historians, criminologists, and data specialists identified who they believe is the most likely suspect: a Jewish notary named Arnold van den Bergh.

VAN TWISK: We went through kilometers of archival material. And the big advantage of artificial intelligence is that it can point out connections that it's very difficult for a human being.

NEWTON: It comes after the discovery of a crucial piece of evidence. An unsigned note given to Anne Frank's father, all documented in a new book, "The Betrayal of Anne Frank."

ROSEMARY SULLIVAN, AUTHOR, "THE BETRAYAL OF ANNE FRANK": We have circumstantial evidence, but it indicates that an anonymous note that was given to Otto Frank after he returned from the Auschwitz camp, having lost his entire family, the anonymous note identified Van Den Bergh as the person who had given over addresses of Jews in hiding.

The researchers say that if Arnold Van Der Bergh was the culprit, he likely surrendered the information to save himself and his family.

RONALD LEOPOLD, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ANNE FRANK HOUSE: I think what this new theory is bringing us is not just information about what has happened here on the fourth of August, 1944, but very much also about the -- the behavior of people, the choices they have made, decisions they have taken during a very difficult period of time.

NEWTON: Some experts have cast doubt on the allegations, questioning the centrality of the anonymous note given to Frank's father. Who betrayed Anne Frankly perhaps still in question as her tragic story of loss and suffering endures.

Paula Newton, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, the NBA's Golden State Warriors are distancing themselves from a part owner's derogatory comments against China's Uyghur minority, saying he does not speak for the franchise.

Chamath Palihapitiya, a limited investor, recently told the "All-In" podcast that no one cares about the Uyghurs and America should focus on fixing itself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHAMATH PALIHAPITIYA, VENTURE CAPITALIST: Nobody cares about what's happening to the Uyghurs, OK? You bring it up because you really care.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?

PALIHAPITIYA: And I think it's nice that you care.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you mean nobody cares?

PALIHAPITIYA: The rest of us don't care.

I'm telling you a very hard, ugly truth, OK? Of all the things that I care about, yes, it is below my line.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, the billionaire added that he cares about climate change and the crippling U.S. healthcare system but argued that sustaining human rights globally is a luxury belief.

After his remarks sparked outrage, he tweeted, "In re-listening to this week's podcast, I recognize that I come across as lacking empathy. To be clear, my belief is that human rights matter, whether in China, the United States or elsewhere. Full stop."

Well, that does it for this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Stay with us. WORLD SPORT starts just after the break. And I'll be back at the top of the hour with much more news.

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