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Questions Swirl After Multiple Reports of Tom Brady Retiring from NFL; Bomb Cyclone Brings Heavy Snow, Hurricane-Force Wind Gusts, Power Outages Amid Coastal Flooding; Ukrainian Leader Urges Biden, Other World Leaders to Tone Down Rhetoric on Threat of War with Russia. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired January 29, 2022 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Your next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN (voice-over): Questions swirl after multiple reports of Tom Brady retiring from the NFL.

TOM BRADY, NFL QUARTERBACK: My wife is my biggest supporter. It pains her to see me get hit out there.

BROWN: Meantime, millions along the east coast being pummeled by snow, ice, and winds approaching hurricane intensity.

Power outages and coastal flooding making travel impossible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we don't put these travel bans in effect lightly but it is dangerous. It would be extremely Dangerous for anyone to get on the highway.

BROWN: Also tonight, how a Russian invasion of Ukraine would disrupt the world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There would be a significant impact on the global economy. There would be a significant impact in the energy sphere.

(HONKING)

BROWN: Anti-vaccine truckers roll into Ottawa.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've had bloody well enough.

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Close to 90 percent of truckers in this country are vaccinated.

BROWN: And finally, Russians forced to change tack after Irish fishermen vow to disrupt naval war games.

PATRICK MURPHY, CEO, IRISH SOUTH & WEST FISH PRODUCER'S ORGANIZATION: And just a simple little conversation. The power of words is a lot better than the power of the gun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM on this Saturday.

The big question tonight, could the goat really be gone? There are multiple conflicting reports tonight about whether legendary quarterback, Tom Brady, is retiring.

ESPAN broke the bombshell news earlier today, reporting that Brady decided to leave professional football after 22 seasons and a record seven Super Bowl championships.

But now Brady's agent is sending out a slightly different message, though not denying, writing, "I understand the advance speculation about Tom's future. Without getting into the accuracy or inaccuracy of what's being reported, Tom will be the only person to express his plans with complete accuracy."

Earlier this week, after a season-ending loss to the Rams, Brady spoke on his podcast about wanting to spend more time with his family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRADY (voice-over): The biggest difference now that I'm older is I have kids now too. You know, and I care about them a lot as well. They've been my biggest supporters. My wife is my biggest supporter.

You know, it pains her to see me get hit out there. You know, she deserves what she needs from me as a husband, and my kids deserve what they need from me as a dad.

I would say I'm proud and satisfied of everything we've accomplished this year. So I know when I give it my all that's something to be proud of.

And I've literally given everything I had this year, last year, the year before that, year before that. Like I don't leave anything half- assed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Dan Shaughnessy is here with me now. He is a long-time sports columnist for the "Boston Globe."

Hi, Dan.

DAN SHAUGHNESSY, SPORTS COLUMNIST, "THE BOSTON GLOBE": Hey, Pamela.

BROWN: What a busy day for you. What's your reaction when you first saw the reports? Is he really done? What should we make of all of this?

SHAUGHNESSY: Well, there's been a slow bleed on this all during the week. A lot of reporters, football reporters. And you know, Tom's sending out a lot of signals on his own camp. It

sounds like this is where it's headed.

And then, yes, ESPN, Adam Schefter's a very reliable reporter. Generally dead on any Patriots stuff over the years.

When people saw that everybody just jumped on it, went with it de facto that Tom was retiring.

The timing of it seemed curious at that time. It still does. I believe it to be true, but we don't know that.

And as you stated, you know, being the reporter that you are, these denials are just about timing. They're not about hey, he's going to play next year.

We're not hearing any of that. And I don't think he is.

BROWN: Right. And you're pointing out the timing would be unusual because he would likely not make an announcement like this before the Super Bowl. Right?

Is that what you mean?

SHAUGHNESSY: Well, I mean, tomorrow's the conference championship game. He doesn't want to take the thunder away from that.

He want to have the spotlight on himself when he does this. He wants to do it on his own terms.

Even in Boston where more people care about him than anywhere, we've got this amazing, you know, thunderstorm today of snow. And people are really watching TV all day to see if they can get their cars freed.

And then to see this news on Tom come out in the middle of the afternoon was kind of shocking for the region. And all the TV stations were equipped because they were all on the air when it happened.

It's a clunky way for this kind of news to come out. And I don't think it's the way Tom wanted it to come out. He wanted to get out in front of it.

They want to control their own story and do it at a later date but probably during the week.

BROWN: That means, if it is true, he gets this twice, right? All love and affection that is just pouring out for him with this news breaking today.

He meant so much to so many people, especially, he, though, to the city of Boston. Tell us about that, if you would.

SHAUGHNESSY: Well, again, we didn't have the kind of a championship drought.

[20:05:01] I know you're a sports person yourself. You have a lot of familiarity with the old great Boston Celtics and what they had going.

Last championship they won in Boston was 1986. Then we had a drought 16 years.

And 2002, Tom Brady and the Patriots broke that drought. And we had the high renaissance of sports here New England. And 12 championships in a period of like 12, 14 years.

All four teams won championships. And it was kickstarted by Brady and the Patriots.

He went to nine Super Bowls here. He won six of them. He is the greatest of all time. He goes to familiar P.A. Good for him. He won another one last year.

And he's at the top of his game, still playing great at the age of 44. But it appears enough's enough. And there's nothing left to prove.

I'd be happy for him if he did retire. But it's it a big story in Boston, obviously.

BROWN: By the way, I'm impressed you did your research before coming on. The Boston Celtics connection.

So let's talk about that last ring that Brady got without Bill Belichick. How does that affect his legacy in Boston and outside of it?

SHAUGHNESSY: It's been interesting the last two seasons because there's camps of Brady and camps of Belichick.

And there's been some hate watching of Brady early on, like we want to see him lose, he's not here anymore, he left us.

But overall, his reputation is very, very pristine here. Folks love him. And he's done better than the Patriots have done since he left.

So he kind of won the battle of legacies over Bill Belichick during that time. And he's won that battle as well. More fans with him than with Belichick in this thing.

People still following Tampa Bay right through last weekend, hoping they'd get to another Super Bowl.

It never trailed off for Tom here in New England. And folks are anxious to find out what the next step is if in fact he is retiring.

BROWN: No doubt, with the storm going on, they're all inside watching the news, trying to soak all this up, what is going on here with Tom Brady?

Dan Shaughnessy, thank you for helping us understand this a little bit better. We shall see how this plays out.

And more of Dan's work can be seen in his book, "Wish It Lasted Forever: A Deep Dive into the 1980s Celtics Led by Larry Bird."

For more on Tom Brady's legacy, we turn to legendary Brady fan boy, the one, the only, CNN anchor, John Berman.

With his Brady jersey on. Number 12.

I mean, John, first of all, how are you doing right now?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: You know, I was going to apologize. I didn't shave. But it's been a hard day for me.

I've had a lot to deal with. So I didn't shave. I'm doing the best I can.

I mean, I was surprised. I was surprised because the last game he played he came back from 27-3 to tie it. He looked so good. I kind of thought he would keep going forever maybe.

And then when I saw the news today, it kind of hit me hard.

BROWN: But then it's sort of like this emotional roller coaster, right? Because you see the news and then there are these conflicting reports where his dad's telling media no, he hasn't made his decision.

What do you think's going on here?

BERMAN: It kind of fields like he's done. It kind of feels like the news got out there before he wanted it to. And now he's just trying to tamp it down a little bit so he can get the timing right for himself.

But if you listen to what he said after the Tampa Bay loss, it really sounds like he was laying the groundwork to walk away for his family.

He's been playing -- I've been married for 20 years. You know, Tom Brady, I remember watching Tom Brady play playoff games with my wife before she was my wife. We were like dating.

And this was -- it's been a long time. It's been like generations.

BROWN: And his family has had to put up with a lot. You know, kudos to Gisele and to his kids because to be as good as he has been for over 22 seasons, you have to have this maniacal concentration on what you're doing and hard work.

Everybody keeps talking about he's the hardest-working player there's and all the time he put into that.

For football nerds like yourself, of course, will debate Brady's standing among the greats for years to come.

But go ahead and give us your argument for why Brady is the greatest of all time, now that it looks like he may have played his last game.

BERMAN: This is like not a hard -- this is not a hard argument to make. Right? To have seven Super Bowl rings. To have been to 10. Six with the Patriots. It just doesn't happen in football. It doesn't happen in football at

all. It's really -- it's crazy to think he played as long as he did as well as he did. And to play as well as he did even at 44 years old.

The guy was the 199th pick in the draft. He went in the sixth round. That means that five teams -- I mean, sorry, that every team passed on him five times. Every team passed on this guy five times.

And then what did he do about it? He went to play 22 years, won seven Super Bowls.

And it just doesn't happen. I suppose in hockey, you have Wayne Gretzky who won more. Bill Russell, with the Celtics, won 11 championships. That's a lot, too.

[20:10:01]

Football, football's tough. I mean, they hit you in football. To be able to play 22 years is remarkable.

BROWN: Yes. It really is remarkable.

And you talked about that podcast. He's like my wife hates it every time I'm hit. And I can't imagine what that's been like for her all these years.

But we will wait and see. We'll see how this plays out. OK?

In the meantime, you know, Bradyland, aka Boston, also getting hit with a blizzard along with many parts of the northeast.

You're in New York right now. How are you holding up so far and what are you hearing from your family in Massachusetts?

BERMAN: I kept on getting texts from my father, who cleared his driveway twice today, and said he's still alive, he's doing OK.

My sister I'm not so sure about. She's a little more in the eye of it.

We got about a foot here. And that's how I managed to get through the Brady news, is I was clearing the driveway just to blow off some steam when things were getting tough.

Look at that map.

Oh, wait, I just got a text right here. This is -- oh, it's not from my father. It's from Andy Scholes consoling me.

I thought I was getting texts from my father.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: Andy Scholes making sure I'm OK, which is equally as nice.

BROWN: You know, John, we're all worried about you. We wanted to have a wellness check. We wanted to see you live in the flesh. So you showed up for us. Thank you for that. We really do mean it.

BERMAN: Thanks for checking in.

BROWN: I'm glad you're doing OK. Hang in there.

BERMAN: OK. Thank you.

BROWN: So let's tell you more about the so-called bomb cyclone that's exploding along the east coast. Nine million people are under a blizzard warning right now from New York to New England.

The powerful nor'easter is unleashing wind gusts of more than 70 miles an hour in some areas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(WAVES CRASHING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Those are ocean waves crashing against a hotel in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Strong winds have pushed high seas into coastal neighborhoods.

The Boston area and parts of Maine could see up to two feet of snow.

Across the state, more than 100,000 homes and businesses are without power. And more outages are expected overnight.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is in Boston.

I'm surprised you're still standing. You have been out there for so many hours, Polo.

So what's it been like for you? What's going on?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, but at least, Pam, I'm now able to show my face. I mean, the wind was just whipping us around. So you basically had to keep covered most of today, Pamela.

But it seems those winds, they're still kicking up. But you that snowfall is certainly not as intense as what we saw earlier. In fact, that snowfall is expected to basically taper off come 11:00 tonight.

But it's official. The National Weather Service saying what we saw today particularly in parts of Massachusetts, parts of Rhode Island, it was a blizzard.

There are certain criteria that has to be met. We have to see sustained winds 35 miles an hour for an extended period of time. Extremely low visibility for an extended period of time. And of course, the snowfall.

And now it seems, based on the amounts coming in, that that's what we saw here today. And it can officially be called a blizzard. As for Boston, those official snow totals showing we got very close to

what was forecast, nearly two feet of snow.

But now we'll come to cleanup. Governor Charlie Baker announcing today, for the most part, people were heeding those warnings, staying indoors.

But we're not out of the woods yet. Now we'll come to cleanup tomorrow.

Even though it may not be snowing, those frigid temperatures are going to remain with single-digit wind chills tomorrow. It's going to make digging out of this mess a challenge.

But the city did all they could to stay a step ahead, deploying 00 pieces of equipment onto the streets.

The state of Massachusetts also deploying thousands of pieces of equipment to make sure those highways are drivable.

But again, for the most part, we saw it firsthand, most people stayed indoors.

And I have to say, Pamela, once that Tom Brady news broke, there was a significant decrease in foot traffic and vehicle traffic. People likely inside watching what's going down.

BROWN: Totally. And what a day for that news to break, a day when there was a snowstorm in Boston.

Polo Sandoval, thank you so much.

And we want to share some of the best images we have seen throughout this day. Rain, sleet, or snow is not just an empty slogan for this dedicated postal carrier in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

He made his deliveries in weather so miserable the governor has ordered vehicles to stay off the roads until at least midnight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(HOWLING WINDS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Those howling winds pushed high tide into the coastal roads of Marshfield, Massachusetts. And now the concern is any remaining flood waters will soon turn to ice adding to the treacherous conditions.

It is the same story in Nantucket. This is Easy Street. But things were decidedly difficult when ocean waters poured through the streets this afternoon.

Alert tonight. I spoke to a man who recorded some truly incredible videos of Nantucket as the cyclone bomb rolled through.

[20:15:01]

Here's what he had to say in the videos that captured the storm's ferocity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: What have you seen as you ventured out?

JASON GRAZIADEI, EDITOR, "THE NANTUCKET CURRENT": Yes. It's been a wild day on the yield Island, 30 miles out. A lot of flooding along the waterfront. A big storm surge came in in the morning. We've had about six to eight inches of snow.

Really -- wind gusts of 70, 80 miles per hour. It's been knocking down trees, knocking out power. They anticipated that was going to be a major storm and I think that's been true so far.

BROWN: When you when out in these conditions what was that like for? Were you worried about your safety?

GRAZIADEI: Well, we tried to keep safe, keep back from the edge of the bluff at the edge of the island when we went out there to shoot some video, make sure you're standing back.

And the wind was very, very intense. Trying to stay away from some of the larger trees. We saw some of the ones that came down today.

But, no, I didn't feel like I was in too much danger. But played it safe when we needed to.

BROWN: Have you ever experienced a storm like this form? You'd mentioned to me during the commercial break you've lived there about 16 years, right? Had you ever experiences anything like this?

GRAZIADEI: Yes, we've had winter storms in the past. Most recently Juno, the storm Juno comes to mind where we had probably even more significant flooding than we had today.

So these do happen. It's seemingly more frequent now where we get these really intense winter storms that do cause a lot of damage.

So you know, right now, we've got probably 3,000 or 4,000 households on the island without power. And the town has opened up an emergency warming shelter to help out those folks if they need it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So that was Jason Graziadei, an editor at "The Nantucket Current" and a senior writer for "In" Magazine.

Coming up next, on this Saturday night, a senior defense official says there are signs Russia is moving supplies of blood to its border with Ukraine. We look at how a Russian invasion would disrupt the world.

Also ahead, breaking news out of North Korea. And confirmation that they have fired another projectile. So how is South Korea responding? CNN's Will Ripley joins me live.

And President Biden's blueprint for beefing up cybersecurity in America's vulnerable water system.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:21:42]

BROWN: With the possible Russian invasion of Ukraine looming, Britain's prime minister just announced what could become the strongest European response yet.

Boris Johnson says he is considering offering a major military deployment to bolster NATO forces in eastern Europe. And he has ordered British armed forces to be ready by next week.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials say it is believed the Russians are moving blood supplies to the border, indicating they want to be ready to treat casualties should there be fighting.

But Ukraine says that's untrue. And it's been disagreeing with the U.S. over how to respond to Russia.

Ukraine's president is trying to tone down the threat because, even though no battles have begun, the tension is hurting the Ukrainian economy. And the fear is that it will destabilize Ukraine from within.

So the country is now promoting tourism with a "keep calm and visit Ukraine" campaign.

I want to bring in Tatiana Kulakevich, a research fellow at the Institute o Russia at the University of South Florida. She is also an assistant professor at the School of Interdisciplinary of Global Studies.

Good to see you.

Help us understand what's going on here. What do you think is behind this mixed message from Ukraine and the U.S.?

TATIANA KULAKEVICH, RESEARCH FELLOW, THE INSTITUTE OF RUSSIA, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA & ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, THE SCHOOL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY OF GLOBAL STUDIES: Hello. Nice to -- thank you for having me today.

I believe that this United States-Ukraine disagreement on the conflict on the border right now, today and yesterday, is a little bit exaggerated because both parties actually also are saying the situation is dangerous but not inevitable.

Those were the exact words of Defense Minister Lloyd Austin of the United States.

And other indicators of the agreement between the two parties are that everyone, including Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin of Russia, United States, United Kingdom, and other countries in the European Union, are ready to continue their talks.

Even though right now we haven't seen any progress.

The latest message from the foreign minister of Russia, Sergei Lavrov, was that, while the primary concerns are non-starters, the second order issues might be addressed and the talks will continue.

And it is understandable that the United States might be cautious and warning Ukraine to be on the highest possible alert.

Because it will be Ukraine who will be responding on the ground if anything -- if the invasion happens.

BROWN: Right. You have these world leaders scrambling for a diplomatic off-ramp that's so far been elusive, as you sort of noted.

What can still be done at this point to prevent a conflict in your view?

KULAKEVICH: Well, right now -- has a firm stand on the primary request of Russia, on the open-door policy to stop Ukraine to join NATO in the future and for the NATO expansion. So this will be non-go.

[20:25:07]

So now what's possible is a second order issues, like, for example, renewal of agreements and new agreements on the intermediate distance missiles, transparency in the trainings, military trainings, and possibly moving the NATO forces from the -- farther from the border, from NATO, and non-NATO countries, for Russia. So this is possible.

And another thing might be the Nord Stream II, the gas pipeline, which it is a key also in this specific situation.

And it might even explain why Putin might feel impunity, because it is completed. And in case of emergency, he would be able to complete his promises on gas deliveries bypassing Ukraine.

And this should be removed from the conversations. And that might also be helpful for non-war.

BROWN: Big picture here, how would a Russian invasion disrupt the world? Would we see a new era of uncertainty? Supply chain disruptions?

What would it do to the global economy?

KULAKEVICH: Well, I would say that the full-blown invasion by Russia is very unlikely.

Because Putin faces grave consequences both internationally and domestically.

Domestically, he is demonstrating force right now with the threat. But if it is a bloodshed, then people don't like bloodshed. It might not help him.

And internationally, his economy is not as strong as the economy of the United States and Europe. Specifically it is 14 times less, smaller than the economy of the United States.

So while NATO will be able to rebuild and send more and more military equipment to Ukraine, Russia will not be able to restore its lost weapons.

Yes, economically, it will be devastating and no gas will be going through Ukraine.

And here this is a state of emergency where Europe might be actually asking Nord Stream II gas supplies and that's what Putin may be actually hoping for.

BROWN: All right, Tatsiana Kulakevich, thank you so much.

KULAKEVICH: No problem. Thank you for having me.

BROWN: Goodbye to the goat? As questions swirl over whether Tom Brady has truly done what the NFL, legendary broadcaster, Bob Costa, shares his thoughts on Brady's legacy. Up next.

[20:30:31]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Back to our breaking news tonight. Confusion over Tom Brady's possible retirement. Is this really it for the greatest quarterback of all time? Earlier this evening, I spoke with Bob Costas about Brady's potential retirement and his legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB COSTAS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: He's able to step aside while still playing at an extraordinarily high level at an advanced age. And the word satisfaction also came into play. He had all that he accomplished in New England. And if he had stepped aside at that point, it would have been more than enough to ensure his place in history right at the top of the pyramid.

Then he goes and wins another Super Bowl with the Bucs. And he plays at an extremely high level this year change a player to and he's in the conference championship game tomorrow. So, leaving at that level, very, very few athletes, even among the greatest of the great get to go out on their own terms that way.

And if you talk about kind of an American sports Mount Rushmore of the last quarter century or 30 years, Michael Jordan goes on there. Perhaps, you'd make a case for LeBron or Kobe, who were mentioned a moment ago. But I think Michael Jordan is the guy who goes on there. Tiger Woods, at his best, goes on there. Certainly Brady does.

And if you want to include the Olympics from an American perspective, maybe the fourth face on that Mount Rushmore, since you're only allowed four, would be somebody like Michael Phelps. But there's no question that Brady is somewhere in there.

And also part of it, Pam, is this, mere statistics, they're important, they indicate excellence. But there's something more than that, especially when you talk about the general public, people beyond those who follow it closely imparts every moment of every game. And that is, how much fun were they to watch? How beautiful were they to watch?

For all that Muhammad Ali did and it was very important beyond his boxing excellence, he was also so distinctively beautiful to watch. Now, think about that regarding Michael Jordan, or Tom Brady, even though he's covered up in a -- in a football uniform, or Tiger Woods, just distinctively graceful in the way they played their respective sports.

BROWN: I think that's such a smart point. By the way, on your Mount Rushmore point, I think I'd put Simone Biles in there. Got to get a woman on there as well.

COSTAS: Yes. I'm good with it. I'm good with it, Pam.

BROWN: OK, good. As long as we're in agreement, that's awesome. What's also important to point out here is he was a beautiful player on the field, as you just laid out so eloquently, but also, anyone who played with Tom always raves about him. What made him such a great leader?

[20:35:09]

COSTAS: Well, he had those qualities, that it factor. I heard Charlie Weis, the offensive coordinator under Bill Belichick for some of those championship teams earlier today saying that when Drew Bledsoe got hurt, and Bledsoe was the starting quarterback in the early 2000s, he gets hurt, Brady steps in sixth round draft choice, no real NFL resume to that point. And even in that moment, he wasn't the least bit nervous are taken aback by it, he stepped right up, this is where I belong. And he took them right to the Super Bowl, and they won the Super Bowl. He just had that quality of confidence.

But when you hear some of the audio of him in big games, and NFL films is very good at that, the way he encourages teammates, the way he relates to teammates and, you know, an NFL roster is made up of guys from varying backgrounds, you don't hear anybody say anything except their own version of this guy's great, love to play with him, love to put my myself on the line for him, love to go to battle with him because that's the essence of football. You know, he had -- he had all those ineffable qualities in addition to the objective excellence that you can measure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: It's Bob Costas for you.

All right, numerous NFL insiders have reported his retirement, but Brady himself has not yet confirmed them. So, of course, this is going to be something we're keeping an eye on very closely.

Meantime, we're following breaking news out of North Korea and confirmation that another projectile has been fired from there. What it was, where it went, from CNN's Will Ripley in the region. We're going to check in with him up next.

Also a programming heads up for you. Join Sarah Sidner as she rides along to find out why driving while black in America can be deadly serious. This new CNN special report "Traffic Stop" begins tomorrow at 9:00 p.m.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:40:37]

BROWN: More now in our breaking news this hour. North Korea has again fired a projectile into waters off the Korean peninsula. This is according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff. CNN's Will Ripley joins me with more.

So, Will, this is the seventh launch just this month from North Korea, it's presumed to be a ballistic missile. Why is North Korea ramping up its missile testing right now? And how is its neighbor to the South responding?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are just days away from the Beijing Olympics. So it's not just South Korea but also China that has to be watching this very closely. This is now and we can say this the busiest January on record for North Korean missile launches.

And this missile launch is the largest in terms of altitude that we have seen since 2017, Pam, this was an intermediate range ballistic missile. This is according to the information analyzed by experts who are looking at what the Japanese government is saying. They're saying that this altitude reached in -- this missile reached an altitude of 2,000 kilometers or more than 1,200 miles.

We haven't seen anything like that since November of 2017. And it is coming just before Beijing hosts this major international sporting event raising a lot of questions about North Korea's motivation here. They've been showcasing a wide range of weapons this month ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, purportedly hypersonic missiles, could they do something during the Olympics? And is this a message to the Biden administration that North Korea wants to engage. This is the big question, Pam.

BROWN: Yes, in the middle of this, I want to ask you about this interview Friday on NPR, China's ambassador warned that if the U.S. encourages continued independence for Taiwan, it could spark military conflict with China. And you're now getting reaction from Taiwanese officials, right?

RIPLEY: Yes. This is the most explicit language that we've heard in quite some time from Chinese diplomats about what could happen if they feel that the United States continues down this road of deepening its relationship and having these kinds of official level interactions with Taiwan.

Listen to what the Chinese ambassador to the U.S. Qin Gang told NPR.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QIN GANG, CHINA'S AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES: If, you know, the Taiwanese authorities emboldened by the United States, you know, keep going down the road for independence, it most likely involve China, the United States, the two big countries, in the military conflict.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: This warning comes after a rare and highly symbolic encounter between U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Taiwan's Vice President William Lai on Thursday in Honduras at the inauguration of their new president. Then on Friday, Taiwan's Vice President held a 30-minute virtual meeting with Nancy Pelosi, the U.S. Speaker of the House where they talked about a wide range of hot button issues including human rights in China and Pelosi's apparent support of Taiwan participating in international governing bodies such as the World Health Organization, which Beijing deeply opposes, because they don't view this self-governing islands leadership as legitimate.

They still claim this island as they have ever since the end of their civil war, even though the Communist Party has never actually controlled this island. Now, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council just in the last few hours, has put out a response. They're calling out China for what they say is trying to rationalize its provocative actions regarding Taiwan. They say China's military threats are causing tension in Taiwan.

Tonight, Pamela, is vowing to only deepen its ties with the United States. Of course, they're counting on their friendships, if albeit not formal diplomatic relations because China's made sure that most countries don't formally recognize the silence government, but they have a lot of friends, big democracies with big armies and they're counting on that support to keep this island's government in place, Pamela.

[20:45:11]

BROWN: OK. Well, Ripley, our senior international correspondent. By the way, congrats on your promotion, Will. Well deserved. Thanks so much.

RIPLEY: Thank you. Thanks. Good to see you.

BROWN: Well, the White House is out with a plan to protect the U.S. water systems from cyber-attacks. So, how will is the threat? I'm going to ask an expert who worked for the NSA, up next.

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[20:50:58]

BROWN: The Biden administration is taking steps to find a threat that could affect all Americans. So, you're going to want to listen to this segment. The White House has announced plans to protect water systems from cyber-attacks that will give some facilities resources and Intel to beef up their cyber-security defenses.

The move comes just a year after hackers breached a water treatment facility in Florida and briefly changed the plant's chemical setting to a potentially dangerous level. Glenn Gerstell was General Counsel at the National Security Agency, and former chairman of the board and of the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority. He is now a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Hi, Glenn.

You are clearly the perfect person to talk to about this, given all of your experience. First off, help us understand what it is about our water systems that make them such a liability, and just how exposed are they to these sorts of attacks?

GLENN GERSTELL, FORMER GENERAL COUNSEL, NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY: Unfortunately, they are indeed exposed. It's a bit of a good news, bad news story. Let's just start with the background for a second, which is that we're seeing cyber criminals, the bad guys, both criminals as well as countries like Russia, North Korea, Iran, that use cyber, sort of, tighten the cyber noose a little bit. They've moved from just attacking information systems, things like computer systems, the store credit cards, Social Security numbers, billing information, health records, etc. Information Systems.

Now, moving to systems that control things, systems that have operating technology, where they control the valves in a petrochemical plant, or perhaps the gates in a hydroelectric -- hydroelectric dam, and potentially, also the valves and controls in a water supply system.

So, the bad news is, of course, that we all depend upon pure drinking water. And that's something that's absolutely critical, and we don't want any vulnerabilities in that area. On the other hand, there are over 52,000 utilities in the -- in the country, so it'd be hard to really do anything at true scale. So that's a bit of a good news story, but we don't want anything to happen.

And, of course, all it would take, especially if we saw a Russian attack here that was trying to sow concern and discord is all it would take would be a successful attack on any one water facility. And that would put the fear in all of us. And then if it were undertaken by the Kremlin, they would probably be achieving their goal in that regard.

BROWN: Yes, they did.

GERSTELL: Unfortunately, many water systems are vulnerable, because they're just not up to date, because the water utilities don't have the money the way big banks do to have really great cyber defenses.

BROWN: So, let's then talk about the proposed solution here. You laid all of that out, President Biden's plan will try to convince the more than 150,000 water providers to boost their cyber defenses and share more information about cyber threats with the government. Do you think this goes far enough to secure such a massive vulnerability?

GERSTELL: Unfortunately, it doesn't. And part of that isn't the fault of the Biden administration. It's the fault of the way we've set things up here in this country to deal with cyber. The EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates the quality of water around the country doesn't have any authority whatsoever to tell any utility, how to fix it, cyber vulnerabilities. That's just a deficiency in our law that we see. And we see that in many sectors as well.

And the second factor, which I alluded to before, is the fact that most people feel that waters -- they get water for free, right? It's available, why do we have to pay for it? So the result is there's terrible pressure on water utilities all around the country to keep their bills really low. That means they don't have enough funds to invest in sophisticated cyber defenses, as well as higher the kind of talent that big Wall Street companies banks, financial institutions are able to have. So you put the two of those factors together, and we have a really serious vulnerability.

BROWN: Yes, we do. Glenn Gerstell, thank you for helping us understand that vulnerability a little bit better. We are appreciate it.

GERSTELL: Thank you.

BROWN: And when we come back, a huge welcome to the newest member of the CNN family. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[20:55:52]

BROWN: Our colleague, Andrew Kaczynski, senior editor for CNNs "Kfile" and his wife Rachel, a reporter at The Wall Street Journal, walked through the darkest night any parents could ever imagine when their 9- month-old daughter Francesca died in their arms on Christmas Eve 2020, after a heroic battle with brain cancer. It would have been really easy to give up after a loss like that, but that is not Andrew and Rachel.

Instead, through their charity Team Beans, they have raised awareness and more than $1.8 million for childhood cancer research. And tonight, I have the privilege now to report that Andrew and Rachel have welcomed a new light into the world. Meet beautiful Talia Davida Kaczynski born this Thursday. Her beautiful name comes from the Hebrew name of her big sister Beans.

Our love to all of you. You can donate to Team Beans at teambeansmarathon.com. Wow she is so beautiful and looks so much like her big sister in this -- in this photo as well. We're so happy for you Rachel and Andrew.

Well, I'm Pamela Brown, and I'll see you again tomorrow night starting at 6:00 Eastern.