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Russian State TV Claims Western Media is Provoking War; Sen. Lindsey Graham Praises One of Biden's Potential Nominees; Protests Against COVID-19 Mandates Continue in Ottawa; Spotify Takes New Steps to Battle COVID Misinformation. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired January 31, 2022 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

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SOARES: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Isa Soares. If you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with our top stories this hour.

North Korea has confirmed it test fired one of its most powerful intermediate ballistic range missiles. The Hwasong-12 was last tested in 2017 and has the ability to strike the U.S. island territory of Guam. The Biden administration says they are open to diplomatic talks with Pyongyang.

And in just a few hours, the U.S. and Russia will face-off at the United Nations Security Council to discuss Russia's military buildup at the border with Ukraine. The U.S. ambassador to U.N. says they are prepared for any response Russia may have. Of course, we'll have much more on both the stories at the top of the hour in "EARLY START."

Well, as tension between Russia and Ukraine ratchet ever higher, Moscow is stepping up its propaganda war and paying particular attention to a conservative U.S. media star. CNN's diplomatic editor Nic Robertson explains.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): On Russian state TV, Western media are getting ridiculed. Like it or not, they think independent journalists are propagandists for the U.S. government, creating a provocation for war.

VLADIMIR SOLOVYOV, TV HOST CH 1: You have no idea what's happening in our mind. You have no idea about our history. You have no idea what Russia is about. You have no idea what Ukraine is about. About our mutual history. Why we have a problem.

[04:35:00]

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Vladimir Solovyov hosts his own show, proudly pushes the Kremlin's views and Fox anchor Tucker Carlson.

SOLOVYOV: He's a live guy. He's a funny guy. Has his own point of view. He hates Biden. He likes Trump. So what?

ROBERTSON (voice-over): No irony that in Russia, unlike America, criticizing the president is off limits and never more so than now. In the past year, independent media here have been almost completely crushed.

EKATERINA KOTRIKADZE, ANCHOR, TV RAIN: It's a feeling of tense. And it's all the time. You can never be -- you can never be sure that tomorrow you will be -- you will be all right. You can never be sure that tomorrow your TV station will still be alive.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Ekaterina Kotrikadze is an anchor at TV Rain, one of Russia's last independent stations. It is designated a foreign agent, Kafkaesque Kremlin law that can snuff it out. She is all too familiar with state TV's manipulations. How they use Western media and play Carlson against his broadcast colleagues.

KOTRIKADZE: They just like that there is a person who says, are we going to fight Russia because of this corrupted Eastern European country that we even cannot find on the map? So as soon as he says something that is not in this, you know, direction that they need, he's not going to be a friend anymore.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): In Russia's propaganda war, truth doesn't matter. What counts is stopping a war they are convinced America is fomenting.

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: So, at this point, NATO exists primarily to torment Vladimir Putin.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): At home facing accusations of being a pro- Putin stooge, Carlson has defended some of his pro-Russia comments and said he is not a Russian agent. So, will he lose his war-stopping value in Russia?

SOLOVYOV: Come on, sir. This poor guy from Fox News? Well, I like that you think -- Russian spy, colonel of Russian bruisers.

ROBERTSON: It's not the way any respectable journalist would want to be portrayed. But once inside the Kremlin spin cycle here, there's no knowing how the machine will spit you out.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Moscow.

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SOARES: Fascinating piece there from Nic Robertson.

Well, one U.S. national security expert says Russian's disinformation campaigns go hand in hand with another weapon in the Kremlin's arsenal, cyber-attacks.

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GLENN GERSTELL, FORMER GENERAL COUNSEL, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY: Both are concerted and coordinated and reinforcing. They each reinforce the other and it's part of an integrated campaign that Vladimir Putin can be engaged in.

So far, we have not seen any destructive attacks against U.S. infrastructure. What we have seen in other parts, pages from their playbook is the disinformation. We saw that in the 2016 elections here where Russia mounted a disinformation campaign against our democracy. And we've -- we know they are capable of far more, including ransomware attacks and attacks that can destroy our economy. What we haven't yet seen is actual physical damage. I hope we don't see that, but they certainly have the capability of doing that as they've shown elsewhere.

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SOARES: Well, of course, we'll have much more on this story, including the latest developments from today's U.N. National Security Council meeting ahead on CNN.

Now I want to take you to the Middle East where the United Arab Emirates says it destroyed a Hootie ballistic missile launch site in Yemen. The UAE released this video which they claim shows the damage. They say the launch site was destroyed after their forces intercepted and destroyed another ballistic missile targeting the UAE. The Houthis have since claimed responsibility for the attack. And this comes after a series of attacks initiated by the Iran-backed Houthis against the UAE this month.

Bipartisan bonding, a judge President Biden is considering as the next Supreme Court justice is receiving high praise from a high-ranking Republican. A look at this potential nominee next.

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SOARES: Republican Senator Lindsey Graham is praising one of U.S. President Joe Biden's picks to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. On Sunday Graham called U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs, quote, a highly gifted jurist and said he could not think of a better person for the job. Suzanne Malveaux has more on the selection process from Washington.

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SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Democrats would love to see bipartisan support of whomever President Biden picks as his Supreme Court nominee, but quite frankly, they say they don't need it. They are confident that they have the support, the 48 Democrats, the two independents that caucus with them to make up a simple majority to push this through for the president.

We heard from the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee Dick Durbin over the weekend saying that they are ready to go as soon as the pick is known. That they have the paperwork, the staff, the records. They'll hold hearings in March, April, and move this along very quickly. Having said that, they would love to see some Republicans join them,

those who have previously approved of Obama's nominees, those being Senator Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and, yes, Senator Lindsey Graham.

Senator Graham, Republican making news over the weekend because of his departure from some of his colleagues, Republican colleagues like Senator Roger Wicker, who have made the rather offensive suggestion here that any of these candidates would be beneficiaries of affirmative action policy. The not so veiled implication or suggestion here that these black female candidates would not be qualified for the Supreme Court position.

Well, Lindsey Graham saying that, in fact, he supports U.S. District Judge Michelle Childs. She is also of his home state, South Carolina. And he says that she is imminently qualified.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I can't think of a better person for President Biden to consider for the Supreme Court than Michelle Childs. She has wide support in our state. She is considered to be a fair-minded, highly gifted jurist. She's one of the most decent people I've ever met. It would be good for the court to have somebody who is not at Harvard or Yale.

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MALVEAUX: House Majority Whip James Clyburn who is also the highest ranking African American in Congress also backs Childs. He is also from South Carolina. He has made it very clear to Biden, saved Biden's campaign, essentially, that he wanted a black female nominee for this particular position, and that Childs is the person that he is backing, who he is rooting for. He makes the case she is a diverse within this diverse group, that she is from the South, that she doesn't have an Ivy League background.

But we don't want to get ahead of ourselves here. There are still a number of nominees that the president is considering on the short list, purportedly U.S. Appeals Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, California Supreme Court Judge Leondra Kruger, and U.S. District Judge Lesli Abrams Gardener. This will all play out in the months ahead.

Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, at the U.S. Capitol.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Looking forward to that nomination.

Now, former Miss USA Cheslie Kryst has died in an apparent suicide. Police say the 30-year-old jumped from a New York high-rise on Sunday. Now, Kryst was an attorney who sought to help reform America's justice system. She won the Miss USA crown in 2019. In a statement, her family said she inspired others around the world with her beauty as well as her strength. If you or someone you know, of course, is struggling with suicidal thoughts, National Suicide Prevention and Lifeline can help. The number is 1-800-273-8255. Police say they found around 100 bags of the fentanyl in the bedroom

of a 30-year-old who died from a suspected overdose earlier this month. The fatal exposure is thought to have occurred at the boy's school in Hartford, Connecticut. 40 bags of the highly addictive opioid were removed from the school. Police say they're confident in the fentanyl found in the teen's bedroom was the same substance that caused his overdose. They are still investigating how he got the drug.

And still to come on the show, what Spotify is doing to prevent COVID misinformation after several artists exited the platform over the Joe Rogan controversy. We'll explain.

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SOARES: Canadian police say they are trying to help people leave downtown Ottawa, but they suspect the protests against COVID-19 mandates to continue through the week. Criminal investigations are underway in connection with desecration of several structures including the National War Memorial. Paula Newton has the story for you.

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, this started out as a truckers protest, right. It was called "the freedom convoy," and they started from all parts around Canada. They wanted to gather here in the capital of Ottawa, to protest a vaccine mandate that was put in not just by Canada, but by the Biden administration. That went into effect earlier this month.

Our But this has turned into so much more. It's really touched a nerve with a significant minority in Canada who say enough is enough. They are against vaccine mandates, against mask mandates, they are against public health measures. And so, they grouped here in Ottawa. And the question now is when are they going to leave.

Now, police say they would like this protest to end. There are still wall-to-wall rigs and vehicles in the downtown core. Few protesters, I would say, but still a significant number.

At issue now is how to get them out of the city or convince them to leave. And they continue to say they are going to stay here until their demands are met. No sign of that. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau remains at a disclosed location for the safety of him and his family. He lives about a mile from where this protest was occurring.

Having said that as well, Ottawa police continue to investigate some incidents. One that was especially serious where people, you know, really showing disrespect to the nation's war memorial, and there were some other disruptions. Right now, Ottawa police say the priority is to get everyone out of the city safely. Protesters, though, they're saying, look, they're staying put until their demands are met.

(END VIDEOTAPE) SOARES: Thanks very much, Paula Newton there.

Now, Spotify says it will now add a content advisory to all pod casts that mention COVID-19. The move comes after several artists said they will leave the platform as it continues to host Joe Rogan who has spread misleading claims about the virus. CNN's Natasha Chen puts it all into perspective for you.

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NATASHA CHEN, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Spotify C.E.O. Daniel Eck wrote a public letter on the platform's website on Sunday explaining Spotify's rules and how he says they'll do more to combat COVID-19 misinformation.

Eck says, quote, it is important to me that we don't take on the position of being content censor while also making sure that there are rules in place and consequences for those who violate them.

He says Spotify is working to add a content advisory to any podcast episode that includes discussion about COVID-19. It will direct listeners to a COVID-19 hub that provides data-driven facts and up to date information from trusted sources in the public health community.

In an effort to be more transparent, Spotify also published its long- standing platform rules. The part of the rules addressing false or deceptive medical information says content cannot cause offline harm or pose a direct threat to public health. Some examples Spotify gave include saying that COVID-19 is a hoax or suggesting that vaccines are designed to kill people.

Notably, the controversial podcast by Joe Rogan that has spread misinformation is still available exclusively on the streaming platform. His podcast is the one cited by 250 doctors, nurses and scientists in an open letter to Spotify earlier this month calling for a stronger enforceable policy on misinformation. Then within the last week, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Nils Lofgren all said they would remove their music from Spotify. Brene Brown said she would pause on releasing new episodes of her podcast.

[04:55:00]

And Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, who have a deal with Spotify to produce and host podcast, released a statement through their foundation spokesperson that said they urge Spotify to meet the moment and had been talking to Spotify about this issue as early as April of last year.

Spotify shares are down 7.7 percent over the past week. Back to you.

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SOARES: Thanks very much, Natasha Chen. Of course, we'll stay on top of that story for you.

Now, if Elon Musk offered you $5,000 to delete your Twitter account would you, do it? Well, it seems a 90-year-old from Florida wouldn't. Jack Sweeney rejected Musk's offer to delete the Twitter account tracking the billionaire's private jet. The account, ElonJet has more than 200,000 followers and uses a bot to monitor Musk's flights. The college freshman develop the bot himself and also tracks Bill Gates as well as Bezos. Good on him.

Now, this week's winter storm in the U.S. didn't stop one Rhode Island couple from tying the knot. Have a look at this.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I now present you Mr. and Mrs. Sally and Adam Irujo.

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SOARES: Congratulations to them. The happy couple said they had their wedding date set for more than a year. So, despite the warnings of a historic blizzard, they said their I dos Saturday outside the Providence Public Library surrounded by family as well as friends.

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SALLY IRUJO, NEWLYWED: It feels amazing to have all these people you love around us here to share this day with us. And celebrate and have a snowball fight hopefully once I get some gloves on these fingers.

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SOARES: Congrats. Sally, at least you didn't have to put the champagne on ice there. You've got the right temperature. And for the record, Providence got about half a meter or nearly 2 feet of snow.

And that does it for me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Isa Soares in London. And of course, our coverage of the U.N. Security Council meeting on Ukraine tensions continue on "EARLY START" in the next minutes with Laura Jarrett. You know how to reach out for me. Thanks very much for watching. I shall see you tomorrow. Have a wonderful day. Bye-bye.

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