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Biden Claims Total Unanimity With European Leaders; Pentagon: Up To 8,500 U.S. Troops On Heightened Alert; NATO Sending More Ships And Jets To Eastern Europe. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired January 25, 2022 - 02:00:00   ET

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

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[02:00:26]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM and I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead. NATO and the U.S. put forces on high alert as Russia's troop buildup on the Ukrainian border shows no sign of slowing down.

Mutiny in Burkina Faso as the military seizes power and a coup and dissolves the government.

Plus, the party gates at number 10 swung open a lot apparently. Now we're learning about a birthday bash for Boris Johnson while the U.K. was in lockdown in 2020.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. So we begin this hour with diplomatic efforts and military moves as fears grow that Russia could be on the verge of invading Ukraine. U.S. President Joe Biden says he and his European allies are on the same page after holding urgent talks with the group discussing "preparations to impose massive consequences if Moscow takes military action."

The U.S. has also announced that as many as 8500 American troops are now on heightened alert for possible deployment to Eastern Europe.

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JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: In the event of NATO's activation of the NRF or a deteriorating security environment, the United States would be in a position to rapidly deploy additional Brigade Combat Teams, logistics, medical aviation, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, transportation and additional capabilities into Europe.

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CHURCH: The Pentagon says Russia is showing no signs of deescalating and is actually sending more forces to its western frontier. Meantime, NATO was bolstering its military presence in Eastern Europe sending fighter jets and ships to the region and placing troops on standby.

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JENS STOLTERNBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: We are considering to further enhance our presence in eastern part of the alliance. This could include the deployment of additional NATO battle groups. These deployments are proportionate and in line with our international commitments. And they reinforce European security for all of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Russia has accused the west of hysteria in its response to its build up near Ukraine's border while Ukraine's leader is trying to calm nerves inside his country.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The authorities of working to the full deescalation of the situation and then of moving towards a peaceful settlement. We know everything. We are ready for everything. We believe in the best. We do everything for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And CNN is covering this story from every angle with reporters on the ground in Ukraine and Moscow. Let's start with CNNs Clarissa Ward in Kiev.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ukraine was very upset last week that they thought President Biden wasn't taking this threat seriously enough when he sort of accidentally said that potentially a minor incursion wouldn't bring about the same sort of swift and robust response that a full on invasion would. But now Ukrainian officials are concerned and upset for a different reason.

They're very upset about the fact that the U.S. has decided to withdraw families of yet embassy personnel and also allow for any non- essential embassy personnel to also leave Ukraine because of the mounting threat. They believe that that's contributing to an atmosphere of panic. We have heard from the President, we have heard from the Prime Minister, we have heard from the foreign minister, really trying to assure other countries that there's no need to follow suit, that this is essentially an overly cautious reaction.

And in fact, we even heard from one, the National Security Director and defense counsel, he said today we see no reason to make allegations of a full scale invasion against our country. This cannot even be done physically. So basically saying that it's not even possible for Russia to fully invade Ukraine. The question becomes really is it at this stage that Ukrainian officials believe firmly that the U.S. is overplaying the threat now?

Or is it sort of the rule verse that Ukraine is trying to underplay the threat somewhat because they're concerned about the effect that it's having on people here that it might lead to panic, that it might increase anxiety, that it might deter foreign investment. And difficult to know from here and Kyiv where exactly the truth lies.

[02:05:20]

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, Russian officials really seem to be picking up on these growing tensions between Ukrainian authorities in the United States about the diplomatic drawdown. Maria Zakharova, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman saying on her telegram channel, comparing and contrasting what a defense counsel official in Ukraine has said that they see no evidence essentially of an eminent full scale Russian invasion.

Comparing and contrasting that with a Pentagon spokesman who said he sees no evidence of a Russian deescalation. The spokeswoman goes on to say that the United States is intending to undermine the morale of the Ukrainians here and going on, essentially to taunt U.S. politicians saying they don't care for their mothers. Do they -- can you really expect them to care for the mothers in Ukraine?

So Russia trying to exploit that growing tension, if you will that that exists. And at the same time as well, the Kremlin spokesman blaming the -- blaming the United States, blaming NATO for what he calls informational, hysteria, false information about a lot of what is happening in Ukraine. But also pointing to the Ukrainian government has been responsible for growing tensions along the Line of Control between the pro-Russian-backed separatists in the east of Ukraine in Donbass and the Ukrainian forces.

You see Ukrainian forces there who are building up their military hardware and threatening the Donbass area. So, the Kremlin pointing to that as a growing point of tension, Ukrainian forces, they essentially say to blame for the rising tensions. Nic Robertson, CNN, Moscow.

CHURCH: Joining me now is Michael Bociurkiw. A global affairs analyst and a former spokesperson for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Thank you so much for being with us.

MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Good to be with you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So last week, President Biden was threatening Russia with severe unprecedented economic sanctions if it invades Ukraine. Now 8500 U.S. troops are on alert to be deployed in Eastern Europe. What suddenly changed? And what Vladimir Putin likely or how would he likely view this do you think?

BOCIURKIW: Well, clearly, President Biden has been, I think, really scared by the reaction of what he said. So he felt that he had to, perhaps put his pivot to Asia Pacific on hold and focus more on what's going on in Europe, a lot of division in Europe right now. Macron just saying he's going to have talks with Putin and Zelensky kind of go it alone. But I think Putin may view this buildup of troops with interest, but I don't think he will be very deterred by it.

You know, if the U.S. really wanted to make a big difference right now, what was really needed is air support for the Ukrainians. That's where they're -- the weakest. And I'm talking about AWACS planes that can really deal with their blind spot in terms of providing them with clear intelligence. It's something that they have been begging for for a long, long time. The other thing I should say, Nic Robertson alluded to this is that there's very interesting and very concerning developments going on in the occupied territories and Donbass with the Russian-backed rebels or thugs, or whatever you want to call them.

Claiming on Russian state television this morning that they're preparing to be attacked. So what they're doing is the they're prepositioning, more weaponry, multi-rocket launch systems, snipers, that sort of thing. And I think that's kind of where the action is going to be. Putin may decide that he needs to defend them, defend people, he's giving Russian passports to and move into that area.

CHURCH: You mentioned the lack of unity and all of the divisions in Europe, of course, they're bending over backwards to prove the opposite President Biden meeting with European allies via video link Monday. All agreeing that they were united, and that any further aggression by Russia against Ukraine will have severe costs. So, will this show of unity or this apparent show of unity, you don't think there is any of that, along with economic sanctions, weapons support to Ukraine, troops on alert on standby in Eastern Europe, will that be sufficient to deter Russia's president from invading?

You mentioned the air support. That's not going to happen at this juncture certainly.

BOCIURKIW: No, it isn't going to happen. I think any allusion we had of European unity was crumbled during the pandemic. I wrote a whole book about diplomas in the pandemic. And you know, if the Europeans couldn't get their act together during a life-threatening incident, like that pandemic. I don't know they're going to get their act together on this.

[02:10:01]

BOCIURKIW: And look, you have real economic interests of play now. France for example wanting its dairy products back on Russian storage shelves, the Germans wanting Russian gas through that Nord Stream pipeline. So, a lot of conflicting different interests here at work. And as for the Ukrainians, I feel they in many ways, have felt they've been thrown under the bus. And I think they're aligning more closely.

For example, with Poland, the Baltic states, so you could see that bloc acting more unilaterally as time goes on.

CHURCH: Yes. Ukraine not happy with the U.S. and the U.K. pulling out non essential embassy personnel. I want to just refer to the New York Times op-ed written by former top Russian expert with the National Security Council Fiona Hill. She wrote this. Right now all signs indicate that Mr. Putin will lock the U.S. into an endless tactical game, take more chunks out of Ukraine and exploit all the frictions and fractures in NATO and the European Union.

She also said, this needs to go to the U.N. Is that what needs to happen? And what would be the consequences if that were the case?

BOCIURKIW: Well, I agree with everything Fiona Hill said except that it needs to go to the U.N. Of course, it should go to the U.N. Security Council. But we know what's going to happen there. China and Russia will veto stuff there. So no, I think what really needs to happen is for the, you know, international community to really get its act together. And look, Ukraine is under hybrid attack right now as we speak.

Over the past few days, false bomb threats have been called into Ukrainian schools, to subway stations. And also there was a big cyber attack last week. The one area where it would be very, very painful for Putin and his inner circle is if countries like the United Kingdom suddenly banned Russian oligarchs from buying and owning property, sports teams, freezing their bank accounts, I think then the oligarchs would go back to Putin and say, this is intolerable.

Something has to be done back off. But I can't -- I can't say the West is in a very strong position right now. And Ukrainians have good reason to be fearful and concerned.

CHURCH: Yes. We're watching all the twists and turns of this as tensions rise. Michael Bociurkiw, thank you so much for your perspective. Appreciate it.

BOCIURKIW: My pleasure.

CHURCH: Well, South Korea's military reports North Korea fire two cruise missiles Tuesday morning. Intelligence authorities in the U.S. and Seoul analyzing the launch. This would be North Korea's fifth missile test of the year. State media says Pyongyang is bolstering its defense against the U.S. The North is barred by international law from developing ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons.

Well, Taiwan says China sent 13 warplanes into the islands air defense zone on Monday, including fighter jets and two nuclear capable bombers. The day before nearly 40 Chinese war planes flew by the same zone. The incursions come after the US and Japanese navies put on a show of force in the Philippine Sea on Saturday. The U.S. says it was a training exercise to preserve and protect security in the region.

Well, the U.S. military helped the United Arab Emirates counter a missile attack launched by Houthi militants in Yemen. On Monday, the attack was the second in a week aimed at the UAE. The Houthis say they were targeting Dubai and Abu Dhabi, including a military base where a wing of the U.S. Air Force is stationed. The UAE says it has destroyed the missile launcher used in that attack.

But it marks a significant escalation in a year's long battle between the Houthis and a Saudi-led coalition that includes the UAE.

More parties more problems for the British Prime Minister is now accused of attending not one but two parties celebrating his own birthday at Downing Street. When the country was enduring its first COVID lockdown. His office denies breaking any rules. But these new allegations come just days before the results of an official investigation into the pandemic gatherings. That could end up toppling his premiership.

And CNN's Scott McLean is following this for us live from London. He joins us now. Good to see you, Scott. Of course, the big question that everyone's asking is will the Prime Minister be able to survive this? What's being said about that?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, look, it is difficult to imagine a British Prime Minister being booted from office because of a birthday party. But that is the bizarre and very real scenario that is facing Boris Johnson right now. And that's because of this new reporting from ITV that two social gatherings were held on June 19th of 2020, Boris Johnson's birthday at a time when indoor social gatherings were still banned and outdoor ones could be limited to only six people.

So the first event took place in the Cabinet Office attended by up to 30 people according to ITV and happy birthday was sung.

[02:15:08]

MCLEAN: The second one was a group of family, a smaller group of family that gathered inside Boris Johnson's Downing Street apartment. Now Downing Street acknowledges that both of these events took place. But they denied that any rules were broken. On the first one, they say that this was simply a group of colleagues who had gathered after a meeting to wish the Prime Minister a happy birthday and that he was there for less than 10 minutes.

On the second one, they say that well, it was outdoors, not indoors. Now, Downing Street's response here is familiar because when Boris Johnson was accused very recently of another party at Downing Street in the garden in May of 2020. His response was that he didn't believe that it was a party. He believe that it was a work event, even though the invitation that was sent out ask people to bring their own booze.

In this latest accusation, the real question here is when does a work event become a social gathering? And for most people, it's probably when you're singing happy birthday. And remember, because of the rules of the time, a lot of people were canceling a lot of things in their lives. Back in March, a seven-year-old girl wrote to the prime minister, a handwritten note that said that it was very likely that her parents would have to cancel her birthday but she was okay with it because I just want everyone to be OK, she wrote.

The Prime Minister tweeted his own handwritten response where he said he was sorry to hear about her birthday party, but that what we all have gotten to do our bit to protect the NHS and to save lives. Now, of course, as you mentioned, Rosemary, there is an investigation into all of these potential breaches of COVD-19 protocols at Downing Street and all of the allegations of parties.

But yesterday, the Prime Minister before this story broke asked whether or not there would be any more damaging allegations or damaging information that would come out ahead of this reports released which is expected this week. Here's that exchange.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said a big week for you. Sue Gray report (INAUDIBLE) can you guarantee that no more embarrassing allegations about alleged breaches of lockdown within Downing Street will come out before that report is published?

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: What I can guarantee is that this government is focused 100 percent on dealing with the big problems that we have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: So no answer there. But surely many of Boris Johnson's colleagues are expecting an explanation from him. As you mentioned, there is the real -- very real potential of a confidence vote or a no confidence vote. If enough M.P.s decide that one is warranted. It's of course becoming a challenge to keep tabs on all of these parties. But Rosemary, look, the public they are keeping score.

A brand new poll, just released yesterday shows that seven out of 10 Brits believe that the government has been dishonest and almost the same proportion of Conservative Party voters, Boris Johnson's own party believe that the Prime Minister himself has not been honest.

CHURCH: Yes. The pressure is building. Scott McLean joining us live from London. Many thanks, appreciate it.

And I want to bring in CNN European Affairs commentator, Dominic Thomas. He joins us live from Los Angeles. Thanks for joining us.

DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: A pleasure, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So Dominic, in the midst of the country's first COVID lockdown in 2020, the Prime Minister attended two birthday parties, but Downing Street denies any rules were breached. How likely is it that people will buy that after a series of alleged parties when other Brits weren't allowed to gather. Many suffering as a consequence. How does Johnson survive this?

THOMAS: Yes. Well, it's hard to see exactly what the -- what the way out of this is going to be. I think that, you know, one thing to bear in mind is that he's not up for general election. He essentially serves at the pleasure of Conservative Party M.P.s. It is up to them to decide whether or not to remove him or whether or not to try to remove him by having a vote of no confidence.

And I think that they have to balance that out. Bearing in mind that if he was replaced, it would be the fourth Conservative Party M.P. in just over a decade, that the British people are tired of all the elections after Brexit and watching the meaningful votes and general elections and so on. And the big question would be, who ultimately would replace him. And given that the next general election is not until 2024, whether this replacement would in fact be able to unify the party, mitigate the damage that's been done by Boris Johnson.

And also ultimately lead them all the way through to that next general election, and obtain the kind of majority that Boris Johnson was able to obtain. And the other aspect of this, I suppose, of course, is that somehow paradoxically, for Conservative Party M.P.s, if the pressure from their own constituents is not so great, you could also argue that a weaker Boris Johnson makes it a little easier for them to convince him of their legislative agenda as a condition for him to remain in power.

[02:20:06]

THOMAS: But it's all going to depend ultimately on the ways in which the Gray report plays out in the public square.

CHURCH: Yes. And, of course, as you mentioned, that those findings will be made public of that official investigation in just a few days. But it's not an independent inquiry. So what all is achieved exactly and expected to be revealed from this report? And how --

(CROSSTALK)

THOMAS: Right. And I think that the -- ultimately what they do produce is just simply, you know, findings and a kind of advisory and capacity. I think that the challenge that the Gray inquiry has before them is that it's a somewhat unusual situation, to the extent that this has already played out in the public square, nobody in Britain believes that these parties were legitimate.

And they all understand that there were many of them. And that the likelihood is if there's smoke, there's fire that there weren't many others. So as the British people were observing either the social gathering rules, or were violating the rules and being punished for violating those rules, the Prime Minister and his cabinet and his entourage, we're not respecting those. So the big question with the Gray report is the extent to which it either provides an opportunity for those that want Boris Johnson removed to write the letters calling for a vote of no confidence with the hope that that plays out.

Or that the Gray report, in fact, does come up with findings that essentially leave M.P.s cornered visa vie their constituents and forces them ultimately down the road of removing Boris Johnson. If it falls short of that, and I think you can see right now, the Boris Johnson kind of cabinet apparatus sort of playing this out, is waiting to survive another day to see how this ultimately ends up playing out over the next few days. And so there's a lot of unexpected still on the horizon here.

CHURCH: And if Boris Johnson is removed, I mean, who is his likely successor? THOMAS: Yes. Well, I think it's interesting because there's just been so much discussion about sort of, you know, the obvious people, his -- the sort of the leading people in his Cabinet today that have, you know, various approaches agendas as the argument as to whether one of the representatives would help sort of really finish off the Brexit plan, whether others would be more open to the sort of the broader, you know, backbench desires.

And so, individuals like the foreign secretary list trusts, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and so on emerges kind of obvious figures. But I'm not even sure if there's anybody around right now that ultimately is that eager to take over in the way that Boris Johnson was, for example, from Theresa May and ultimately push over the line, the kind of the Brexit deal. And I think that that's the sort of the irony of it all, at this particular moment is, you know, the fact that the system is so unusual, the fact that it plays out with two more years to go before the general election.

And the fact that the Boris Johnson cabinet is essentially surrounded by a particular group of individuals who are also eager to hold on power, and who may not find positions for themselves in a subsequent cabinet so that as much as the opposition in the U.K. is currently divided, there are many factions within the Conservative Party itself and there is some degree of uncertainty as to what the post Johnson leadership profile would ultimately look like.

CHURCH: Yes. And those leaks men meantime keep coming, don't they? Dominic Thomas joining us live from Los Angeles. Many thanks.

THOMAS: Thank you.

CHURCH: Burkina Faso's army detains the president and overthrows the government but many actually welcome to the coup. Why people fill the streets to celebrate, just to hear.

And an investigation is underway on the stampede at the stadium in Cameroon's capital at a championship football match.

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[02:26:09]

CHURCH: At least eight people have been killed during a stampede at an Africa Cup of Nations match in Cameroon. State media report the crash happened as fans tried to get into the stadium in Yaounde to watch a match between Cameroon and Comoros. At least 50 people were injured. The Federation -- the Confederation of African football which organizes the Cup of Nations is investigating and the Confederations general secretary is planning to visit the victims. A full report in about 30 minutes on World Sport.

Well, the military has seized power in Burkina Faso dissolving the government and detaining the president in a military coup. Army leaders tell CNN they are holding Roch Kabore in an undisclosed safe place after he signed his resignation. CNN Stephanie Busari has our report. STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN DIGITAL SUPERVISING EDITOR, AFRICA: Around a dozen soldiers appeared on Burkina Faso state TV to say that they were now in charge of this tiny West-African nation. They announced that the government had been dissolved, they announced a curfew and land and air borders were closed. It's not clear where President Roch Kabore is. Although he did post tweets from his verified Twitter account earlier.

It's not clear if he was the one posting those tweets. But the military are saying it is time for him to go that he has not adequately handled the jihadist violence, which is linked to Islamic State and al Qaeda and that has ravaged this tiny country. They say their colleagues, they -- and their colleagues are the ones that have borne the brunt of these -- of this terrorism. And it must be said that the military takeover is popular on the streets of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.

Soon after the military announcement was made residents and citizens took to the streets to cheer the military and honk their horns in support of the decision. This decision has been criticized by the West African regional bloc ECOWAS which call this a very grave act. Stephanie Busari, CNN, Lagos.

CHURCH: Coming up. More COVID cases are being linked to the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics, putting China's zero COVID policy to the test.

And a shattered question about inflation gets an unusually candid response from the U.S. president. We'll have the details.

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[02:30:00]

CHURCH: So, let's get you up-to-date on the COVID headlines from around the world. The World Health Organization is warning that it's dangerous to assume the Omicron variant heralds the end of the COVID- 19 pandemic and it's asking nations to stay vigilant. Although the situation is improving, the W.H.O. chief says, global conditions are ideal for more variants to emerge. The organization's Europe director offered a more optimistic message. Take a listen.

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DR. HANS HENRI KLUGE, W.H.O. REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR EUROPE: There is absolutely light at the end of the tunnel. Important, the pandemic is not over but there are three things coming together in European region. The first one, is that once that Omicron wave will subside, there will be a large capital of immunity. Be it, thank to the vaccine or due to infection. The second is that winter seasonality will have a boss. And the third one is that we know the Omicron variant is milder in the boosted individual. Which means that for so weeks or months there will be tranquility and the governments and the people can prepare to get out of the acute phase.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: In Asia, South Korea reported a record high number of daily COVID cases Monday. The same day the government said Omicron has become the dominant variant in the country. And Hong Kong has extended a lockdown of a housing block at the center of an outbreak there.

Where with the Beijing Winter Olympics and the Lunar New Year coming up next week, China is scrambling to contain growing COVID outbreaks. And in the coming hours, the International Olympic Committee president is expected to attend events in Beijing within the closed loop system. And CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins me now live from Hong Kong with more on all of this. Good to see you, Kristie. So, what is the latest on the outbreak both inside and outside the Olympic closed loop system?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, COVID-19 cases are rising both inside and outside the Beijing Olympic bubble. In fact, a few hours ago, we heard from the Beijing Olympic Committee, they reported 15 new cases of COVID-19 among personnel. But added that 12 of those cases were detected at the border before they entered the bubble. Earlier today, we also heard from Beijing local health authorities, they reported five new locally transmitted cases of COVID-19. Five. This is just a handful of cases but we're talking about zero-COVID China here.

So, that means, mass testing is underway. Two million people in the Beijing district of Fengtai are being tested for COVID-19 right now. Snap lockdowns are underway. About 13 buildings in that district have been sealed off, that means residents there are not allowed to leave their homes for 21 days.

And Beijing authorities also announced its peculiar order. They ordered all residents in the city if they had purchased flu, fever, or cold medicine the last two weeks, to undergo mandatory COVID-19 test. Presumably they're trying to prevent people from masking their COVID- 19 symptoms if they have them. And, if you don't agree to this order, you would be punished. That means that you would be barred from traveling. You'd be barred from going to places or visiting restaurants that would require you to use this Beijing City health up.

There has been a very angry reaction to this directive, that we've been monitoring online on Chinese social media. I'll give you some examples for you. One angry netizen on Weibo wrote this, will bring it up for you, "I haven't been out for several months, but I bought Chinese medicine online and now my health app is not working." Again, we want to underscore this health, you need to use it in Beijing in order to gain access to public places like supermarkets or restaurants.

[02:35:00]

Let's bring up another netizen quote, another person on Weibo writes this, "I brought medicine five days ago --" pardon me, "-- 15 days ago, now my health up is not working. My flight is tomorrow, I can't go anywhere." And Rosemary, this test order over again just cold medicine, just underscores, you know, the level of surveillance and control in zero-COVID China these days. Back to you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: It is. It's just extraordinary. Kristie Lu Stout joining us from Hong Kong. Many thanks.

Stout: You're welcome.

CHURCH: Well, worries about the possible invasion of Ukraine and the U.S. federal reserve's plans to raise interest rate are keeping investors cautious. There are sharp declines across the Asian markets this hour, as you can see. It was a frenzy come back on Wall Street, Monday after stocks spent most of the day in the red at one point. The Dow was down more than 1,000 points. All three industries ended the day in positive territory.

Well, rising inflation is one of the challenges President Biden is dealing with right now as journalists were being ushered out of a meeting with the presidents' council on efforts to lower prices. Fox News reporter Peter Doocy shouted a question, a hot mic captured the president's response. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS REPORTER: Will you take questions on inflation then?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, all.

DOOCY: Do you think inflation is a political liability in the midterms?

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: That's a great asset, more inflation. What a stupid son of a bitch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Well, the Source says President Biden has called Doocy to apologize. It's not uncommon for powerful politicians to use harsh language, of course. Donald Trump made a point of insulting them without hesitation or apology.

Well, coming up. More scandal for the catholic church. The former pope admits he attended a meeting about a priest accused of sexual abuse.

Plus, experts say the recent volcanic eruption near Tonga was stronger than an atomic bomb. The latest on the destructive explosion when we return.

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An unusual January wildfire is threatening thousands of homes and buildings South of San Francisco. Authorities say the Colorado fire near Big Sur has burned nearly 300 hectares, and is about 40 percent contained. Hundreds of people are still under evacuation orders, and part of California's famous Pacific Coast Highway is closed. No word yet on what started the fire but the national weather service says it's been fueled by strong winds and low humidity. We are learning more about the volcanic eruption near Tonga that triggered a tsunami and sent plumes of ash more than a dozen kilometers in the air.

[02:40:00]

NASA scientists say the eruption was equal to between four and 18 megatons of TNT. That's hundreds of times more energy than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in Japan in World War II. Well, the eruption destroyed kilometers of land that was created in the last big volcanic event in the area in 2015.

Former Pope Benedict XVI has made a public confession, changing his story about meeting a priest accused of sexual abuse. Notes from the meeting were released last week as part of an independent investigation. Benedict first said he had no recollection of attending. But now his assistant says Benedict was there and blames a clerical error. CNN's Delia Gallagher reports from Rome.

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Pope Benedict said on Monday that he was present at a 1980 meeting in Munich when he was archbishop which discussed the situation of a priest who was subsequently convicted for sexual abuse. And that the reason that his earlier statement to the German law firm investigating the situation had said that he was not present at that meeting was due to an error in the editing of his statement. He apologized for the mistake and he said that it was not due to bad faith.

Pope also said that at that meeting, what was discussed, was allowing this priest to come to Munich for psychological therapy. That there was no discussion of putting him back into active ministry. He says that he will give a fuller account of that situation of how the error occurred and indeed respond to the other three accusations of mishandling of sexual abuse while an archbishop. In a longer report, he asked for understanding while he reads through the nearly 1,900 pages of this German report.

This report was commissioned by the Archdiocese of Munich to look at 75 years of sexual abuse in Munich. It found not only that Benedict had mishandled four cases of sexual abuse, but also the current Archbishop of Munich Cardinal Marx had mishandled two cases of sexual abuse. Cardinal Marx is an advisor to Pope Francis, as well as a sitting archbishop. He says that he will be responding to the findings of this investigation on Thursday. Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome.

CHURCH: One month after liftoff, a special telescope has reached its final destination in space. More than 1.6 million kilometers away. Unlike the Hubble Telescope that orbits the earth, the James Webb Space Telescope will be orbiting the sun. NASA says, the telescope will peer into the atmosphere of exoplanets and basically bring us closer to uncovering the mysteries of the universe. The telescope has unfolded a sun shield, the size of a tennis court, which will help protect its massive gold mirror from the sun's blistering rays. Just extraordinary, isn't it?

Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. World Sport is up next. Then I'll be back with more news from all around the world in about 15 minutes. You're watching CNN. Do stick around.

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[02:45:00]

(WORLD SPORTS)