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U.S. Winter Storm; U.N. Security Council Wants Explanation from Russia; Some European Nations Announce Easing of COVID-19 Measures; Israel Health Ministry Expands Eligibility for Fourth Dose; Warming Climate Can Fuel More Intense Storms; Russia Moves Navy Drills after Irish fishermen Protest; North Korea Conducts Seventh Missile Test This Month. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired January 30, 2022 - 05:00   ET

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

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.

Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, it's time to clear out the snow for millions of Americans, hit by the bomb cyclone in the Northeast. We're live at the CNN Weather Center with the latest.

Another NATO member says it will offer to move more troops to Eastern Europe in response to Russia's military buildup around Ukraine. We'll have details plus live reports from Moscow and Kyiv.

And North Korea conducts a kind of missile test not seen in years. We'll explain what it was and where it went in a live report from Taipei.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: We begin with the historic winter storm pummeling the northeastern U.S. this weekend, unleashing blinding snow and fierce winds across much of the region.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Crews had already started digging out on Saturday but officials say lingering snow and freezing conditions could slow those efforts. More than 2 feet of snow fell on parts of Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island, shattering records in some areas.

Many officials are urging residents to hunker down and stay off the roads, though some people were still out and about. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It absolutely is dangerous, because people out on

the roads, they can't see, they could lose visibility, they could swerve off the road and get stuck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just dropped my sister off literally around the corner. I came to look at the water. It's all frozen over. So I had a look and I got stuck.

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): And it's not just the snow people need to worry about. Strong winds are also making for dangerous conditions. CNN's Alison Kosik reports from Long Island, New York.

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ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: A storm to remember on New York's Long Island, not just because of the snow totals but because of the winds. Gusts of up to 60 miles per hour became an issue throughout this storm as it moved snow onto the roadways, making it not only hard to see for drivers but hard to plow because the snow just kept being pushed onto the roadways.

New York governor Kathy Hochul said the epicenter of the storm was Long Island. In fact, it was declared that a blizzard moved through here on Long Island with 35-mile-per-hour winds and visibility of less than one-quarter of a mile.

All of that going on for at least three hours. This was a storm that also impacted transportation: major airports in New Jersey and New York, I'm talking about LaGuardia, JFK and Newark, said that major airlines canceled a majority of their flights.

As for snow accumulations, we're hearing that the estimates are anywhere from 18 inches on the western portion of Long Island to more than 2 feet, possibly, on the eastern end of Long Island.

The next big worry: the next couple of days, temperatures are expected to plunge, causing freezing snow and ice on the roadways and officials are urging people to take it slow and take it very careful as they get out and drive their cars -- Alison Kosik, CNN, Long Island, New York.

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BRUNHUBER: And do stay tuned. Later in the hour, we'll look at what bomb cyclones are with an atmospheric researcher. So stay tuned for that.

The U.N. Security Council is set to meet Monday to discuss the looming threat of a possible Russian invasion into Ukraine. Diplomats are hoping Russia will explain why it has amassed the biggest military buildup since the Cold War.

The U.K. will also press for answers, when British prime minister Boris Johnson speaks this week with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The U.K. on Saturday announced it's considering offering a major military deployment to NATO in Eastern Europe.

Now Saturday did produce one modest diplomatic success. The Russian navy announced it would relocate planned naval exercises in the North Atlantic after Irish fisherman complained the warships and munitions would disrupt their fishing. CNN's Melissa Bell is standing by in Kyiv and Nic Robertson joins us now from Moscow.

So Nic, what's the latest?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Everyone waiting for President Putin to decide how he's going to respond to those letters that arrived Wednesday, this past week, from the United States and from NATO.

And it's still, essentially, anyone's guess. The weekend is typically quiet on the political diplomatic front here. It seems to be an interesting change of posture from the Russian government.

The defense minister deciding, along with his diplomats, that it was a gesture of goodwill not to have their naval training exercises just about 120-150 miles from the Irish coast, which is in Ireland's exclusive economic zone, which is where some of their fishermen go fishing.

And this is what brought not only the fisherman out to complain but their defense minister as well, who complained to the Russian ambassador. So all of this has brought something of a diplomatic step back for the Russians, which doesn't characterize any of their other engagements at the moment.

And it certainly is too far-flung a part of Russia's massive naval global exercises that are underway right now to really interpret it as anything other than a gesture of goodwill to the Irish and potentially to the European Union.

But on the diplomatic front, you know, the expectation here, yes, there's likely to be a phone call from Boris Johnson, the British prime minister, to Vladimir Putin. I don't think anyone expects that to change much of anything. They've talked to each other before without huge impact.

So he's told his foreign secretary and defense secretary both to engage with Moscow, potentially travel to Moscow for conversations. So diplomacy still underway. The direction of President Putin, still anyone's guess, still.

BRUNHUBER: Absolutely. Let's pivot then to Melissa.

There's a lot of focus on the schism there between the U.S. and Ukraine on certain issues, causing a lot of friction between the two countries. MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And that's continued

over the course of the last few days, not only between the pronouncements on Friday of the American administration, both in the shape of the American president, explaining those 8,500 troops will be heading toward NATO's eastern flank in the near future, but also, the chief of the general staff, General Milley, who explained that it was the largest concentration of troops that we'd seen since the Cold War, explaining that Russia now had the ability to invade Ukraine as a whole.

And on the other, Zelensky explaining that he wanted those words of doom to stop and be toned down, because it simply didn't reflect the Ukrainian assessment.

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BELL: And he's afraid of the danger of further unnerving people here in Ukraine and damaging its economy.

That continued yesterday, Kim, when we saw the deputy Ukrainian defense minister pushing back against those reports that blood supplies and other medical supplies had been being brought toward the Ukrainian border by Russian forces, saying that that was disinformation. It was designed to sow fear and discourse.

So you really have Ukrainian officials pushing back, more and more vocally, more and more openly on that narrative, partly because they know that it damages the country but also, of course, because they view it in a completely different light.

They view it in the light of people who have been dealing with a war that has simmered, sometimes ratcheting up in tensions, sometimes falling quiet again, for much of the last eight years.

Now we continue to see again, that talk of buildup, not only from the United States but as Nic was just saying, from the United Kingdom now as well, with the prime minister saying that the United Kingdom will be sending extra troops, extra resources as well to the eastern flank of NATO countries.

And yet, those diplomatic hopes still continuing. Emmanuel Macron hoping that the Normandy format talks will bring some sort of resolution. So both tracks continue.

But essentially, a fairly dangerous time, where it would take only a spark on the front line, really, to ratchet things up beyond anyone's control, even as we await Vladimir Putin's official response, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, that's the worry. Melissa Bell, thanks so much.

Melissa Bell in Kyiv and Nic Robertson in Moscow, thank you both very much.

One U.S. lawmaker says Ukraine's defenses are much stronger than they were several years ago, thanks in part to congressional support for NATO. John Garamendi is on the House Armed Services Committee and he tells CNN Congress has tools at its disposal, ready to help allies.

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REP. JOHN GARAMENDI (D-CA), MEMBER, ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: This is really not new. However, for the last six years, we have had what we call the European Defense Initiative, somewhere between $3 billion and $5 billion a year, to shore up NATO's defenses on the eastern part of Europe.

That's training, that's preparation, that is bringing those countries' military up to, up to readiness. In addition to that, there are other things that we can do. And one of these is in the hands of Congress.

There's a bill that Senator Menendez, in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has put forth. And it is a very strong rebuke to Russia, if they are to do any kind of an invasion or cyber ops or try to topple the Ukrainian government.

Then the sanctions that are in that bill would automatically go into place. And those sanctions are heavy duty.

Putin, all of his assets, wherever they are around the world, frozen; Russian banks, frozen; access to the international currency market, gone.

Frankly, the Senate and the House need to get on with it and pass that legislation to strengthen President Biden's hand and also to strengthen the hand and to strengthen the will of Ukraine and to give Putin some very serious kickback, should he try anything.

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BRUNHUBER: Coming up, Austria says it will soon ease COVID-19 restrictions for the unvaccinated, even as infections there remain high.

And serious cases are on the rise in Israel but one COVID expert says the country has passed its Omicron peak. We'll have the latest from Jerusalem, straight ahead. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Reports suggest U.S. football star Tom Brady is set to retire but the legendary quarterback hasn't released a statement himself and people close to him insist a final decision hasn't been told to them.

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BRUNHUBER: COVID-19 deaths are still high in the United States. The virus killed an average of around 2,200 Americans per day last week, according to Johns Hopkins University.

It's a stark reminder that even the milder Omicron variant is still a very real threat to the unvaccinated Americans. But deaths are a lagging indicator and we're seeing some encouraging signs. New infections are starting to decline and that may be a signal that the worst is behind us.

Nationwide, the U.S. is now averaging about 640,000 new cases of COVID per day, that's according to Johns Hopkins. While it's a big number, it's a significant drop over the past two weeks.

Now to other COVID news making headlines around the world. Austria is joining a list of several European nations that have announced the easing of coronavirus restrictions, even though infections there are still high. Denmark will lift all COVID measures starting Tuesday.

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BRUNHUBER: The country has high levels of immunity due to high vaccination rates and previous infections.

Meanwhile, many countries in Eastern Europe are being hardhit by the spread of Omicron. Romania, Poland and Hungary are among the nations reporting record high daily infections last week.

And in Israel, the number of serious COVID cases has reached 1,000 for the first time in nearly a year. Even so, one coronavirus expert claims the country has passed the peak of its Omicron wave.

Joining us now are Hadas Gold in Jerusalem and Scott McLean in London.

Scott, we're seeing a continuation of a trend we've been seeing in some European countries; cases still high, rising in some cases but restrictions falling.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'll illustrate. Cases are going this way, restrictions are coming back down. In some cases, very suddenly, in some cases, they're coming down more gradually.

Austria is one of those examples, where they have taken a very cautious approach. And they still are. The chancellor announced over the weekend that restrictions would be eased.

So the curfew, for instance, on bars and restaurants would be eased, the number of people allowed at gatherings would be eased. They're even going easier on the unvaccinated.

And remember, Austria has not been kind to those who have held out on getting the vaccine. Since November, there have been stay-at-home orders for the unvaccinated, with very few exceptions, allowing them to go out. That is ending on Monday.

And even though the vaccine mandate will start being enforced in Austria, the only country in Europe so far to have one, the Austrians are going to let the unvaccinated go to restaurants and bars in about two weeks, provided that they can show a negative test negative. This may seem weird only because case counts in Austria are hitting

record highs. But officials there think they can see that the end is near. So they're letting restrictions down, knowing that they have some confidence that hospitals are not going to be overwhelmed.

We are also seeing record high case counts in other countries, places like Sweden, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Czech Republic and Turkey.

In Turkey, this is not a big issue at all. The health minister seemed quite confident when he tweeted the other day, saying that the virus is not as strong as it used to be. The alarming period of the epidemic is now over. The world's agenda is returning to normal.

And that is certainly true in Denmark, where things are or will be back to normal come Tuesday, when virtually all restrictions, save for a bit of testing for new arrivals in the country, will be eliminated in Denmark.

Similar story here in the U.K., where you don't really see any restrictions, save for some localized mask mandates that are remaining in place. Not everyone in this country ready just yet to go back to 2019.

But a little bit of caution here, Kim, and that's that some countries, you know, while Western countries can kind of let the virus run wild, knowing that they have high levels of protection from the vaccine, not every country that's true for.

I'm thinking of places like Russia, Ukraine, Romania; they are all seeing huge spikes in cases but all have vaccination rates less than 50 percent.

BRUNHUBER: Interesting.

And in Israel, they have a very high vaccination rate, Hadas, but there you have a leading top health expert there in Israel, making this bold claim, despite the fact that cases are so high there, that the country has likely passed its Omicron peak.

HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there's a combination of sort of bad news but also good news from this government expert. He's one of the top COVID advisers to the government, Professor Eran Segal, saying that Israel has now passed the peak of the Omicron wave.

He said that peak was last week. There was a day last week, more than 76,000 positive cases but that's not including the tens of thousands of home tests. Actually, the likely number is much higher.

But he's saying that is the peak of the Omicron wave and now infections will start going down. He estimates that, at the end of this wave, one in two Israelis, about 50 percent of the population, will have been infected with Omicron.

But the serious cases, the hospitalized cases are rising. Israel has now passed more than 1,000 people who are hospitalized in serious condition. It is approaching the record that was set almost exactly a year ago, when 1,175 people were hospitalized in serious condition.

So those numbers are expected to rise, even though the infection rates are going down, because the people who are being hospitalized now were likely infected a week ago, two weeks ago.

The prime minister, Naftali Bennett is warning in remarks, before the cabinet meeting this morning, saying that now is not the time to celebrate, even though the numbers may be going down, and warning about the strain on the hospital system right now, because of those serious cases.

Israel is also pushing ahead with the fourth vaccine dose, expanding the eligibility. Now anybody over the age of 18, who has an underlying health condition, anybody who cares for somebody with an underlying health condition and anybody who has a job that puts them at a greater risk of exposure is now eligible for the vaccine.

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GOLD: And you can pretty much self-define whether you think you're eligible for it, meaning millions of Israelis can now get the vaccine.

The Israeli health ministry saying that they are making this recommendation based off of data that they saw from people who have already received the fourth dose, saying that their protection against infection went up two times and they had a threefold increase in protection against serious disease -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Scott McLean in London, Hadas Gold in Jerusalem, thank you both.

It was a noisy day in the Canadian capital on Saturday.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Crowds packed Parliament Hill in Ottawa to protest cross-border vaccine requirements for truck drivers, along with all COVID-related mandates. Police were on alert after reports of violent rhetoric. But things remained largely peaceful. About 90 percent of Canada's truckers are already vaccinated.

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BRUNHUBER: We've been following a bomb cyclone hitting parts of the U.S. this weekend.

But what exactly is a bomb cyclone?

We'll explain after the break. Stay with us.

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(MUSIC PLAYING) BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

We've been following a powerful storm pummeling the northwestern U.S. this weekend. Over 15 million people are under wind chill alerts. Flooding and heavy snow have officials urging residents to stay off the roads as cleanup crews get to work. Right now, the bomb cyclone is traveling north toward Canada.

But what exactly is a bomb cyclone?

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Meteorologist Jennifer Gray explains.

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JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Bombogenesis definitely sounds like a scary term. And bomb cyclone is a low pressure system that has undergone bombogenesis. In fact, storms that undergo this weather phenomenon can be rather destructive, causing a lot of damage.

But in the meteorological sense, bombogenesis simply means a storm that drops 24 millibars within 24 hours. So you basically have a storm that is rapidly intensifying.

In this part of the world, we see these storms rapidly intensifying because you have the cold air from the north, combining with warmer air coming in from the Gulf stream. We see these in mid-latitudes and in the winter time, many times we refer to these storms as nor'easters, that can bring a lot of wind, snow and rain to the northeast.

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BRUNHUBER: Kevin Trenberth is a distinguished scholar at the National Center of Atmospheric Research in Boulder and an Honorary Academic in the Department of Physics at Auckland University and joins me now from Auckland.

So is it unusual to see bomb cyclones this time of year, let alone so many in the past couple of months?

KEVIN TRENBERTH, NATIONAL CENTER OF ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH: Not at all. The term was created back in, I think, the 1970s at MIT. And I was a student at MIT then, as it turns out. So these storms has been happening to one extent or another for many years.

But there does tend to be a pattern where things get set up and the storm track persists. And so a number of storms can follow similar storm tracks in a particular period. And that's evidently what's been happening now.

BRUNHUBER: Interesting.

So is it just our perception then that they seem to be happening more often?

And is there something maybe different in the places that we're seeing them, then?

TRENBERTH: Well, the places and the overall regime is affected by things like the La Nina phenomenon, cool temperatures out in the tropical Pacific, which helps to influence the wave patterns of -- the atmospheric wave patterns across the United States.

But one of the factors is that the ocean is certainly warmer now than it has ever been in the past. And the temperatures off the East Coast were 2-4 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. Part of that is due to global warming.

And we've just had some work that came out, showing that the oceans over the past year were the warmest ever on record. And so those warm oceans create a strong contrast with the cold land.

And it's going to get cold over the land in winter, because there's not much sunshine there. So that contrast is one of the things that feeds these storms.

And then this particular storm had an ideal track. It was wonderful to see from a meteorological standpoint, from a weather guy standpoint, as the storm went right along the Gulf Stream, picking up moisture, benefiting from the warmth of the Gulf Stream and accelerating its growth.

So those are some of the factors that come into play, that the Gulf Stream plus the fact that the oceans are warmer than normal in any case.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, wonderful to see from a weatherman's perspective; not so wonderful to be in, I'm sure. It sounds as though, if climate change is a factor, it seems like these might come along more often, as climate change exacerbates this phenomenon.

TRENBERTH: Well, the cold season is getting a bit shorter at both ends. So that's a part of the global warming. But as long as it's cold over the land -- and it's going get cold in winter, there will still be a winter, that's for sure -- but it's a little bit warmer than it used to be -- then the atmosphere can hold more moisture.

The rate is about 4 percent per degree Fahrenheit. And so typically, the atmosphere is holding 10 percent to 20 percent more moisture than it used to. And that means you can get bigger snows, especially in the middle of winter. Bigger snows can occur. And I think we've seen an example of that at the moment.

BRUNHUBER: That's something that many people don't understand. They think, you know, global warming, that means that we shouldn't be seeing so much snow. But as you just explained, that's one of the phenomena that we see. So

when we're talking about climate change and these extreme storms, you know, people have told us that we have to become more prepared for these things.

So how should we prepare if these become more common?

How will we have to sort of adapt?

TRENBERTH: Well, it's the extremes in the overall -- what we call the water cycle or the hydrological cycle, that are getting more extreme. So it's also the droughts, which leads -- which exacerbates all of the heat waves and wildfires at one end -- and we've seen a lot of that out in the West, in Colorado and the West Coast. Just recently in Colorado, you had a wildfire in the middle of winter.

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TRENBERTH: And at the other end, you can get much heavier rains. And we've seen that in many places around the world. So that gives you a risk of flooding.

Now whether the flooding occurs or not depends upon how much preparation there has been, what the drainage systems are like and the infrastructure.

And so this sort of tells us that we can become more resilient, as long as we know what to expect. And, as I say, these increases in the extremes are what goes along with the global climate change, humans.

BRUNHUBER: We'll have to leave it there. Thank you so much for your expertise, Kevin Trenberth, really appreciate it.

TRENBERTH: Well, go out and enjoy the snow.

BRUNHUBER: Not easy in Atlanta but, for many of our viewers, they'll have to do that. Thanks again.

TRENBERTH: You're welcome.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, the snow may have stopped falling, except in northern Maine and the Canadian Maritimes. But conditions are still dangerous. Wind chills are plunging to 20 degrees below zero in some places.

And officials are encouraging people to stay home as crews work to dig out and clean up. It is truly one for the record books. Let's look at how it got here.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The wind is starting to pick up. So a lot of the roads are still very snow covered and slippery. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no question we're going to lose control for a period of time. There's no way that plows can operate when they can't see in front of their face. It's really almost a minor hurricane with snow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you're in your homes, just stay there. The conditions outside really are about as bad as they could be. If you need assistance, if you have an emergency, call 9-1-1, we'll get there. But at this point, just stay in your houses until this gets over and we get it cleaned up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're ready for what could be a really rough storm.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just definitely going to stay inside, make sure I've got our shovels out, you know, just stocking up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You get the plows ready, the snowblowers ready and then you just pray it stops snowing as soon as possible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our concern, as we continue to plow, is, with these temperatures getting so low, that you're going to see the snow and the ice just lock in place, just freeze in place. And we're going to see some dangerous condition not just through the rest of this afternoon but even into tomorrow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's great. I mean, it's a good chance to get some peace and quiet in the city. Kind of close your eyes and pretend you're out in nature. A nice change of pace.

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BRUNHUBER: All right, still to come, a modern-day David versus Goliath. We'll explain how a group of Irish fishermen stood up to the Russian navy and won.

Plus, North Korea's leaders up the ante in a series of back-to-back missile tests. Kim Jong-un makes a new move that experts say he hasn't done in years. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: The U.N. Security Council is set to meet Monday to address the looming threat of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin insists there's no plan to invade, so the Security Council wants Russia to explain why it has amassed the biggest military buildup since the Cold War.

The U.S. and NATO allies have been sending weapons, ammunition and other equipment to Ukraine to beef up the country's defenses. U.S. President Joe Biden says he'll soon deploy up to 8,500 American troops to reinforce NATO operations in Eastern Europe.

As NATO struggles to get Russia to change course near Ukraine, a group of fisherman may have succeeded near Ireland. CNN's Donie O'Sullivan reports on how war games by the Russian navy were pushed further out to sea.

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DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN TECH CORRESPONDENT: Here in Castletownbere, a fishing village at the southern tip of Ireland, fisherman have been making international headlines all week for standing up to Russia.

They learned that the Russian navy would be conducting military drills, operations, in the sea about 150 miles off the coast of Ireland here later this week. The fishermen were concerned about that, because they said it would disrupt their livelihoods, it would disrupt the fish stock.

And the fisherman told the Russian ambassador here in Ireland that they planned on going about their business, that they planned on continuing fishing, even through these drills.

The Russian ambassador suggested that that would be unwise, even dangerous for the fisherman to do that. But a change in tone tonight from the Russian embassy.

Here's a statement that they put out, saying in response to requests from the Irish government, as well as from the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organization, that is the fishermen, the Russian ministry of defense has made a decision as a gesture of goodwill to relocate the exercise by the Russian navy planned for this week outside the Irish exclusive economic zone with the aim not to hinder fishing activities by the Irish vessels in the traditional fishing areas.

What that means, essentially, is that these Russian boats will be doing these exercises further away from the Irish coast. We were here, speaking with fisherman all day. And we were here when that news broke late on Saturday evening, here in Ireland. And here was the reaction from one of the fisherman.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shocked, really. We didn't think that little old us in the Irish South and West would have an impact on international diplomacy and make an impact like that.

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O'SULLIVAN: And so, as you can hear there, a real win for David in this David versus Goliath story. Obviously, also, the Russian embassy pointing out that the Irish government had approached them about moving their boats further offshore -- Donie O'Sullivan, CNN, Castletownbere, Ireland.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: With the threat of war looming, Ukraine probably isn't

front of mind for winter getaways. But the tourism board has launched a "Keep calm and visit Ukraine" campaign. It's borrowing a page from Britain's famous World War II slogan, "Keep calm and carry on."

Ukraine says there's no reason to panic. The situation on the border remains under control and the country is open and safe for tourists.

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BRUNHUBER: The website also offers Ukraine as a friendly country with unforgettable landscapes and delicious dishes and offers tips for dealing with the risks posed by COVID.

North Korea isn't showing any intention of slowing down its weapons program. On Saturday, it launched its seventh missile test this month. It landed in the waters east of the Korean Peninsula.

But this time the test apparently involved a type of weapon that had been on the back burner for years. For more on this, Will Ripley joins us from Taipei.

Will, take us through why this latest launch is raising eyebrows and fears.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Because the type of weapon that North Korea is testing is now the most dangerous in terms of distance that we've seen in five years. It's an intermediate range ballistic missile, that traveled to an altitude of 2,000 kilometers. That's more than 1,200 miles.

And this kind of missile could potentially carry a conventional or nuclear warhead. Now earlier this month, they tested what could be an even more powerful weapon, a hypersonic weapon -- or what they claim is, anyway.

That's the type of weapon that can travel at ballistic missile speeds, more than 10 times the speed of sound but with a glide weapon, allowing it to make an unexpected turn and nearly impossible to shoot down.

This is the first time that North Korea has tested an intermediate ballistic missile since 2017. And that's the same year that they tested three long-range ballistic missiles, also known as intercontinental ballistic missiles, because they can literally travel across continents.

The intercontinental ballistic missiles that North Korea last tested in July of 2017 could hit any target in the mainland United States theoretically and much of the world, as a matter of fact. And they would travel at much higher altitude. You're talking about 5,500 kilometers up, 3,400 miles.

They go into space before they go down and hit their target. That's how they move so quickly. And what is concerning to many, including the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, they're demonstrating their capabilities, starting with short-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, now intermediate range ballistic missiles.

And in 2017, what followed that was a long-range launch. North Korea has been signaling in recent weeks that that self-imposed moratorium is likely ending. And South Korean president Moon Jae-in says that he fears that they're walking away completely from suspending those tests.

And he is very concerned that this is not only going to escalate tension in the region but it could actually provoke someone like the United States to take an action, you know, or do something that would create a major global incident if this were somehow to go wrong because, when you're launching an intercontinental ballistic missile, they have only seconds to figure out whether this is a test or some sort of act of provocation.

From the North Korean perspective, they're just looking to send a message. The timing of this likely deliberate, days before the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Games. They want everyone talking about North Korea at a time they're not participating in the games, citing U.S. hostility as one of the factors.

But they might, Kim, be preparing to insert themselves into the Olympic narrative. We have to see what they decide to launch, if anything, in the coming days and weeks ahead.

BRUNHUBER: As if we needed any more to worry about in terms of geopolitics these days. Will Ripley, thanks so much.

Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, the Australian Open men's final, where Rafael Nadal hopes to make history, but Daniil Medvedev is standing in the way. We'll have a live update. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, they're having a furious battle at the men's final of the Australian Open tennis tournament. Smash superstar Rafa Nadal is hoping to make history but the reigning U.S. Open champion, Daniil Medvedev, is not making it easy for him.

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BRUNHUBER: Before we go, we want to introduce you to robot room service. Have a look at this.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): A Beijing hotel is using the automated assistants to cut back on human contact and keep COVID in check ahead of the Winter Olympic Games. When a guest enters a pin number on the screen, a compartment opens, revealing the food inside. And no tipping required.

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BRUNHUBER: All right. I'm Kim Brunhuber, thanks so much for watching. For viewers in North America, "NEW DAY" is next. For rest of the world, it's "MARKETPLACE ASIA."