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President Biden Send U.S. Troops to Ukraine; Vladimir Putin Meets His Chinese Ally; More Calling for Boris Johnson to Resign; USS Harry S. Truman on Standby; Beijing Winter Olympics Starts Amid COVID Threat; New Zealand To Start Phased Reopening; Austria To Mandate Vaccines For All Adults; U.S. Winter Storm Wreaks Havoc For Travelers; Brian Flores Suing The NFL For Racial Discrimination; CNN President Jeff Zucker Resigns. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired February 03, 2022 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead here on CNN Newsroom, President Biden deploys thousands of U.S. troops to Eastern Europe as Russia continues to build its military arsenal on the Ukraine border.
The first Olympic events have kicked off out ahead of the opening ceremony, Beijing is trying to keep focus on the games, but COVID and politics are getting in the way.
Plus, several European countries are easing COVID restrictions and learning to live with the virus. We'll ask a doctor about these new changes.
UNKNOWN: Live from CNN center, this is CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church.
CHURCH: Good to have you with us. Well, with Russia showing no signs of deescalating tensions along Ukraine's border, the U.S. is pushing forward with measures to deter and defend as European allies scramble to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
U.S. President Joe Biden formally approved the deployment of 3,000 American troops to bolster three NATO allies, Germany, Romania and Poland. In an exclusive statement to CNN, the Kremlin said it was worried by the move, and once again accused the U.S. of escalating tensions in Europe. Mr. Biden says his decision should not have come as a surprise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Totally consistent with what I told Putin in the beginning. As long as he's acting aggressively, we're going to make sure we reassure our NATO allies in Eastern Europe that we're there and Article V is a sacred obligation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH (on camera): Meantime, there's new evidence of Russia continuing its military buildup along Ukraine's border. Satellite images now show further expansion at multiple locations in Belarus, Crimea, and western Russia.
And in the coming hours French President Emmanuel Macron will hold phone call with Vladimir Putin after speaking with the U.S. president on Wednesday. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held his own call with the Russian leader. Mr. Johnson stressed that any further incursion into Ukraine would be a tragic miscalculation.
And CNN's Nathan Hodge is tracking developments, he joins us now from Moscow. Good to see you, Nathan. So, the Kremlin is worried about U.S. plans to move these 3,000 U.S. troops to Europe. Despite amassing more troops of its own of Ukraine's border, what all is Russia saying now?
NATHAN HODGE, CNN PRODUCER: Well, Rosemary, overnight, the Kremlin spokesperson told CNN that this move by the U.S. by the Biden administration is continuing to pump up tensions in Europe. And added that this is further evidence of why Russia is worried, why it has its own security concerns, and this echoes what Russian President Vladimir Putin said just a couple of days ago, following a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, where he basically said that the U.S. and NATO had ignored Russia's security concerns.
And he went back, chapter and verse, and state -- restated a number of his long-standing grievances. But raise the main three points which were he wants to see NATO's footprint, its infrastructure rolled back to 1997 levels. He wants to see NATO's strike systems removed, and he opposes NATO's open-door policy.
And those positions are very, very far apart from the U.S. and from its NATO allies. We're still waiting for a formal response to Russia's security -- to U.S. and NATO letters basically replying to Russia security concerns. But it's been very clear from what Putin has said, that he believes that NATO is and the U.S. are essentially ignoring Russia's security concerns.
Now this all comes ahead of a very crucial moment for Putin, as he prepares to go to Beijing tomorrow where he is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. It's a very important moment at the world stage, not only does Putin have the world's attention, but he is showing, by going out to China, that he is going to be standing shoulder to shoulder with his friend Xi Jinping. There's going to be a raft of announcements that are going to be coming from this joint Chinese/Russian meeting.
And it's going to be a moment, basically where all of the eyes in the world are going to be on China, and center stage along with President Xi, is going to be Russian President Vladimir Putin. And we'll wait to see tomorrow what he has to say. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Yes, we certainly shall. Nathan Hodge, many thanks joining us live from Moscow.
I'm joined now by CNN military analyst, Colonel Cedric Leighton. He joins me from Washington. Thank you, sir, for being with us.
[03:05:04]
CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It's my pleasure, Rosemary. Always good to be with you.
CHURCH: So, as tensions rise the Pentagon will now deploy 3,000 U.S. troops to Poland, Romania and Germany. Another 8,500 are still on heightened alert for deployment in the midst of this crisis with Russia over Ukraine. The Kremlin says, this is why it's worried, because the U.S. is continuing to pump up tension in Europe. So, will this deter or provoke President Putin, do you think?
LEIGHTON: Well, I think that's an interesting question, and I think President Putin will try to use any excuse he can to appear to be provoked, and that's -- that's going to be a very interesting dynamic because, you know, whether you're sending 3,000 troops or the other 8,500 troops that is nowhere near the total number of troops compared to what the Russians have arrayed around Ukraine.
You know, we believe that there is somewhere between 120 to 160, and possibly even 175,000 troops that the Russians have arrayed around Ukraine. And then you have to count the separatist forces, plus the Belarusian forces that's way more than anything that should be provoking President Putin from our side would ever be.
So, that said, that I think is, you know, an interesting dynamic but I think that, you know, from Putin's point of view or just the way he'll spin it, it will definitely appear to be a provocation and it could be used to his advantage in that case.
CHURCH: Yes, because the Pentagon says President Putin keeps adding forces at Ukraine's borders with no signs of de-escalating. What do you see is happening militarily given Russia insists it has no intention of invading Ukraine, despite more than 100,000 troops sitting there at the border?
LEIGHTON: Yes, that's -- that's what's really interesting about this, Rosemary. I think what you're seeing here is the ability of Russians to get our attention, first of all. Now what -- what's interesting is, where all those forces are arrayed, you know, based on what we know from press reporting, and what I'm, you know, pretty sure the intelligence reports are, we have Russian forces spanning the map all the way from western Belarus right on the Polish border, all the way around Ukraine in basically kind of three quarters of an arcade type formation.
And then, on the western side you even have a relatively small Russian contingent out of (Inaudible) a breakaway part of Moldova. So, in essence, what they're doing is they're surrounding Ukraine on all sides in one way or the other. And now, that looks good on a map, and you know, we all talk about what's on the map. What we also have to think about, though, is what is happening outside of those military deployments.
And that would be, basically, part of hybrid warfare, the asymmetric type warfare, and by that, I mean, cyber warfare, information operations, targeted special operations activities of various types. All of these activities are going on in one form or another, either in a preparatory phase, or in actual execution.
Especially from the cyber side, there have been increased cyber activities against the Ukrainian critical infrastructure that have been going on and may very increase the volume for the past 40 days. And that is perhaps more of what he is planning to do in full life, but of course, we are, you know, he's trying to distract us with the troop deployments which could turn into real movements.
But there are also other things that we have to be concerned about, and that, I think, is where there's going to be a challenge for Ukrainian forces to deal with that. It's going to be tough because we don't know exactly which battlefield, or which battlefields he's going to be playing at.
CHURCH: Right, and Colonel, we now know that President Putin and China's President Xi Jinping will have a one-on-one meeting Friday after China said Russia's demands are reasonable and should be taken seriously. How significant is this in the midst of rising tensions, and what message China and Russia are trying to send the west do you think?
LEIGHTON: Well, it's very clear that China and Russia have established what amounts to a very solid alliance both geopolitically and military over the past few years. Russian and Chinese forces conduct joint maneuvers on a fairly frequent basis. There is intelligence sharing between the two countries.
There is technical sharing, for example, the Chinese company Huawei advertises entire Russian engineers for the 5G deployments not only in Russia, but in other parts of the former Soviet Union.
[03:10:06]
So, there is a lot of commonality, both from an economic standpoint, and from a military standpoint. The meeting with President Xi and President Putin in Beijing on Friday is going to be a very important watershed event, I think for this crisis.
Because, the Russians are getting support from the Chinese for this effort, and the fact that that is happening in a very direct way basically gives Putin a greenlight to do at least some of what he wants to do, vis-a-vis, Ukraine. And that in essence is takeover that government, decapitate in a -- from in a, hopefully figurative sense, the Ukrainian government and install his own more sympathetic regime in Kyiv, it could be the ultimate goal that Putin is looking for.
And if China supports that, then it's going to be much harder for the west to the NATO countries to go against that. It's certainly going to be difficult for the Ukrainians to work against that as well.
CHURCH: Yes. We'll see what happens there. Colonel Cedric Leighton, always a pleasure to talk with you, many thanks.
LEIGHTON: You bet, Rosemary. Any time.
CHURCH: Competitions at the Beijing Winter Olympics have begun. Curling, alpine skiing, and women's ice hockey were the first to kick off ahead of Friday's opening ceremony. This comes as more than 50 Olympic personnel tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday. Bringing the total number of Olympic related cases to nearly 300.
Since the Olympic closed loop system which restricts movement in Beijing began in January, nearly 600,000 COVID tests have been conducted.
And CNN's Steven Jiang joins me now from Beijing with the very latest. Good to see you, Steven. I want to pick out first from what my guest was discussing, geopolitics at play at the Olympics with China's President Xi meeting face-to-face with his Russian counterpart Friday. Their partnership against the west on full display for the world. What is the latest on this, and of course, the Winter Games?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Well, like it not, Rosemary, Putin is likely going to be the focus, or at least a focus of the games on Friday when he is here, even though he's expected to be here for less than 24 hours, flying in Friday morning, having lunch with Xi, and then a bilateral meeting before the two men go to attend the opening ceremony, and then he flies out.
So it's definitely a whirlwind trip, but it is obviously happening at a crucial time when the U.S. is trying to exert maximum pressure, and also ostracize Russia on this issue. So, Putin is definitely going to very much likely receive reassurances from Xi on Chinese support on this issue.
You heard the colonel mentioned the political support China has already expressed, but I think most importantly for Putin is probably to further bolster economic ties with China. And during his visit he is expected to sign several major investment and trade deals with China, covering a wide range of sectors, not only with energy but also in infrastructure and agriculture.
That's probably why before his trip Putin actually has written an article for Chinese state media really highlighting the rapid growth of trade ties between the two countries last year. Trade volume exceeding $140 billion U.S. dollars, that's a growth of almost a third from the previous year.
Now, this of course is also important because this is going to reduce, or even minimize the impact of the crippling sanctions that the U.S. has pledge to impose on Russia in the event of an invasion against Ukraine. But the two men are also increasingly really seeing eye-to- eye on dealing with the common adversary, the U.S., because they're both resentful, and even hostile towards the idea of the U.S. forming alliances in their respective regions to encircle them.
For China, of course, there is also this added benefit of this crisis in Ukraine that could distract the U.S. from focusing and dealing with the rising China in Asia, especially when it comes to Taiwan.
But one burning question, though, we are probably not going to get a clear answer from Mr. Putin during his visit is whether or not Russia will hold off military actions during the Beijing Winter Games. Rosemary, remember, the last two Russia major offensives in a foreign country actually both took place during the Olympics in 2008 against Georgia, during the Beijing Summer Games, then of course again in 2014, annexing Crimea during the Sochi Games. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Yes. That is a critical point. Steven Jiang, joining us live from Beijing, many thanks.
Olympic athletes from Ukraine and Russia might be having a hard time focusing on the games with the political turmoil back home.
CNN's Selina Wang sat down with a Ukrainian bobsledder trying to shut out the noise.
[03:15:05]
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Olympic Games are meant to unify, build bridges between groups and conflict, but as tensions between Ukraine and Russia mount, not all Olympic athletes can embrace that message. Ukraine sports minister said its athletes should stay away from their Russian rivals at the Winter Olympics, and that Ukrainian athletes have been briefed on how to behave in case of provocations.
Lydia Gunko, Ukraine's first bobsledder at the Winter Olympics, is prepared to follow that guidance.
LYDIA GUNKO, UKRAINIAN BOBSLEDDER (through translator): We are clearly not friends with the Russian athletes, we have to train and perform with them, but because their country wants to violate our integrity, we cannot have easy contact with them.
WANG: Satellite photos and intelligence reports show Russia has amassed about 120,000 troops near the border of Ukraine.
GUNKO (through translator): You tried to distance yourself from all of this during competitions and training. Of course, in real life, you can't isolate yourself because many friends and acquaintances have suffered from Russia's actions.
WANG: Gunko has family in Ukraine and Russia.
Are you relatives on both sides, are they going to be watching and cheering you on?
GUNKO (through translator): Of course, we are one family and we must support each other.
ANATOL LIEVEN, SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, QUINCY INSTITUTE FOR RESPONSIBLE STATECRAFT: Many Russians have relatives in Ukraine. And being, you know, forced to draw apart in this way, and you know, engage in frankly, rather stupid symbolic behavior. WANG: But embracing a Russian rival has already gotten a Ukrainian
athlete in trouble. At the Tokyo Summer Olympics last year, a Ukrainian high jumper, a bronze and junior army sergeant was photographed with the Russian gold medalist. Ukraine's deputy defense minister called the embrace careless behavior, and even suggested it was a way for Russian intelligence to infiltrate the Ukrainian military.
Gunko has been training and self-isolating as much as possible ahead of the games, held under the strictest COVID countermeasures in the world, even her bobsled had to get COVID tested when it arrived in China.
GUNKO (through translator): We have to agree to their terms, but it's a bit crazy.
WANG: But Gunko says it's all worth it.
GUNKO (through translator): It is an honor for me, this is extremely important for our country and for the development of the sport in Ukraine.
WANG: As Gunko makes our way into Beijing, she plans to block out all of the distractions, something she says she applies to bobsledding and life.
Selina Wang, CNN, Beijing.
CHURCH: Well, the U.S. military says it's carried out a successful counter-terrorism raid in northwest Syria. The Pentagon statement did not identify the target of the operation or other details but did say there were no U.S. casualties. The U.S. has conducted numerous operations targeting Al-Qaeda and affiliates in Syria.
Well still ahead, reports of another gathering during lockdown, and more demands for his resignation. Could this be a last call for Boris Johnson?
[03:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH (on camera): Every day seems to bring new trouble for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. At least three more members of his own conservative party have submitted letters, seeking a no confidence vote which could force his resignation.
On Wednesday, Mr. Johnson refuse to deny reports about yet another gathering in November of 2020 while the country was in lockdown. Scottish National Party leader Ian Blackford says police are investigating, and the Labour Party leader had this caution.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEIR STARMER, LEADER, BRITISH LABOUR PARTY: Lots of words, lots of bluster, no answers. Word of warning, word of warning, prime minister, that's not going to
work with the police.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH (on camera): CNN's Scott McLean joins us now live from London with more on all of this. Good to see you, Scott. So, will the Tories have enough support in the end to force Boris Johnson out?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, here's what we know so far, Rosemary. Look, six conservative M.P.s at least have submitted letters of no confidence for Boris Johnson. There may well be many more than that but the process is secret, so we don't know for sure. It would take 54 though to trigger a vote of no confidence, and even then, the prime minister could survive if he could convince a simple majority of his own conservative M.P.s to back him.
Yesterday, as you said, three more letters were submitted, and I just want to give you a sampling of what these M.P.s are saying about why they no longer have confidence in the prime minister.
So, Anthony Mangnall, a conservative M.P. from northwest England wrote, that standards in public life matter. At this time, I can no longer support the P.M. His actions and mistruths are overshadowing the extraordinary work of so many excellent ministers and colleagues.
Another M.P. Tobias Ellwood told Sky News that I believe it's time for the prime minister to take a grip of this, he himself should call the vote of confidence, rather than waiting for the inevitable 54 letters to be eventually submitted. It's time to resolve this completely, so the party can get back to governing.
And one more, Gary Streeter wrote in a statement, I cannot reconcile the pain and sacrifice that the vast majority of the British public during lockdown with the attitude and activities of those working in Downing Street.
However, Rosemary, until there are 54 letters, the status quo essentially remains. Boris Johnson, you might argue would have been better served if this confidence vote have had happened already, when we knew less about the parties that are alleged to have taken place at Downing Street during lockdowns or during times of heavy restrictions. That's because the rules state that you could only have one confidence vote every 12 months.
Now you have this sort of drip, drip of information, you have this partially completed civil service report. You now have this police investigation into eight of the 12 allegations of social gatherings taken place in Downing Street.
The drip, drip, this sort of slow release that might ultimately prove damaging to the prime minister, may also sort of dampened the enthusiasm for a confidence vote down the road especially since there are so many other things going on. The prime minister just returns from Ukraine. He just spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he's also announced a whole variety of different government programs, perhaps in a way to distract from his greater problems.
And there are plenty of M.P.s who would surely like to take his job, but at least at the moment it doesn't seem like there is an obvious successor to Boris Johnson, nor does it seem that there is very coordinated effort behind the scenes to actually boot him from office. Rosemary?
CHURCH: All right. We'll watch to see where this goes. Scott McLean joining us live from London. Many thanks.
Well dozens of people are feared dead following reports of a horrific massacre in the Democratic Republic of Congo. International aid workers say people armed with machetes and guns attacked a camp for displaced persons in Ituri province near Uganda and South Sudan.
The charity group that runs the camp says it doesn't have an exact death count from Tuesday's attack, but fears up to 59 were killed. The camp houses some 24,000 people who have been displaced by violence in the region.
Amid the crisis between Russia and Ukraine, the U.S. and NATO is sending a clear message with a show of force at sea. The details ahead.
Plus, longer restaurant hours are just one of the perks coming in Finland as parts of Europe get ready to roll back COVID restrictions. That and more just ahead.
[03:25:04]
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CHURCH (on camera): The U.S. has announced another troop deployment to bolster NATO's eastern flank, as satellite images show Russia is adding more forces to its massive buildup along the Ukraine border. The U.S. will send several thousand troops to Poland and Romania, calling it an unmistakable message to Russia that it will defend its NATO allies.
A Kremlin spokesman accuses the U.S. of pumping up tension in Europe, and exclusively tells CNN the deployments prove that Russia has an obvious reason to worry.
Meanwhile, new satellite images appear to show Russia is expanding its own military presence in Belarus, Crimea, and western Russia. And in the coming day, the French president is due to speak once again with the Russian president about the crisis.
Well, a powerful symbol of U.S. and NATO resolve is at the ready in the Adriatic. The admiral leading the USS Harry S. Truman Aircraft Carrier won't say what will happen when drills in Friday, but its presence in the region is sending a clear message.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports from on board the carrier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice
over): The U.S. and its allies in a United Show of force, facing aggression from Russia. The USS Harry S. Truman is in Europe refining cooperation with NATO allies to make sure the alliance can operate more coherently says naval flight officer Jeannette Lazzaro.
JEANNETTE LAZZARO, U.S. NAVY: So, we just go out there to integrate two different NATO partners. Anybody we are working with we work to kind of smooth the communication processes.
PLEITGEN: As Russia continues to amass troops near the border with Ukraine, the U.S. says it will help further strengthen the NATO alliance. This is the first time since the Cold War that a full carrier strike group has been placed under NATO command, with ships from various NATO countries flanking the Truman.
The U.S. kept the Harry S. Truman into longer than planned (Inaudible) as the standoff in Russia intensifies, to reassure American's allies that the U.S. is fully committed to (Inaudible) defense.
Russia has pulled together more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine, the U.S. believes, and Moscow could order an attack at any time. While, President Biden has said he would not send U.S. forces to the Ukraine, the Harry S. Truman can effectively fortify NATO's eastern flank. Despite Russia's massive naval presence in the Black Sea, the carriers F-18 jets can quickly reach the area close to Ukraine.
[03:30:04]
But Truman's commander says, years of integration with allies are now paying off.
CURT RENSHAW, REAR ADMIRAL, U.S. NAVY CARRIER STRIKE GROUP COMMANDER: We are committed to our alliances, our partnerships, were able to operate, plug and play anywhere in the world. And from an adversary point of view, we are agnostic, if we have a strong partnership then that stronger than any individual adversary could ever be.
PLEITGEN: The U.S. says Russia would pay a high price for any further invasion of Ukraine and the Pentagon has just announced, it would deploy additional U.S. troops to Germany, Poland, and to Romania.
JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: The current situation demands that we reinforce the deterrent and defensive posture on NATO's eastern flank. President Biden has been clear that the United States will respond to the growing threat to Europe's security and stability.
PLEITGEN: But the U.S. and its allies say they hope diplomacy will prevail, as one of America's strongest deterrent forces remains on guard.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, aboard the USS Harry S. Truman, in the Adriatic Sea.
(END VIDEOTAPE) CHURCH: New Zealand's borders will soon be reopened, after been
mostly closed for the past two years. Officials say vaccinated citizens and visa holders will be able to travel from Australia to New Zealand without managed quarantine beginning February 27th.
Two weeks later, New Zealanders and those with visas and the rest of the world will be allowed to return. And in October, all visitors will be able to enter the country. New Zealand's Prime Minister explains why officials chose a phased reopening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: Overall, opening back up and has managed way balances inflows of travelers so people could reunites and fill out work shortages, also ensuring our healthcare system can manage an increase in cases. After all, our strategy with Omicron is to slow the spread, and our borders are a part of that strategy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Travelers entering New Zealand will still be required to take a COVID test and self-isolate for 10 days.
Well, several European countries are lifting many of their COVID restrictions, embracing the (inaudible) reality of living with the virus. Norway, Finland, and Switzerland plan to roll back some of their rules in the coming days, while France is now allowing sports and cultural venues to operate at maximum capacity, both indoors and outdoors, as long as masks are worn.
And CNN's Jim Bittermann joins us now live from Paris. Good to see you, Jim. So what is this easing of COVID restrictions going to look like across the continent?
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, we kind of got a glimpse last night, Rosemary, when the health minister appeared on television, a very unusual appearance because he wasn't wearing a mask. That's the first time since the pandemic began that we have seen that. And a true indication that he at least believes the worst of the pandemic is behind us.
He actually said that to the television audience last night. He also said that one out of every two Frenchman have been infected with the coronavirus, and that along with the vaccination rate, led him to say that France has achieved the medical herd immunity.
So basically giving the French some comforting news, at the same time, they are lifting some of the restrictions here, like for example the mandate on employers to work from home. Meaning that, they don't have to not require to have as many employees as possible working from home, but they're encouraged to, just because of the fact that the pandemic is still with us, Rosemary.
CHURCH: All right, Jim Bittermann, many thanks, joining us there live from Paris. I appreciate it. Well Dr. Scott Miscovich is president and CEO of Premier Medical
Group, USA, and a national consultant for COVID-19 testing. And he joins us now from Hawaii, thank you doctor for all that you do and for talking with us.
SCOTT MISCOVICH, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF PREMIER MEDICAL GROUP USA: Thank you, Rosemary, for having me.
CHURCH: So, several European countries are now easing some COVID restrictions, but Denmark has lifted all its COVID measures. What is your reaction to their decision to do that at this time? And to other nations taking this more gradual approach.
MISCOVICH: Wow, Rosemary, I was just shaking my head listening to Jim in the recent report, when they were saying that the French health minister came out and you know, didn't wear a mask and was making comments that this is behind us, and they are going to be opening up venues. That our indoor venues, to all sports.
And it just sends the wrong message. I mean, how many times does the world have to do this? We go through at least our fourth major peak, and you know, were just over the top, and were over the top at a point where think about it, look at those countries, they are just starting to bury the dead from this, because the death rates will trail the peaks.
[03:35:08]
And so we're still doing that and we're already saying the pandemic is gone, that herd immunity is here. Wrong answer right now, too early, we need to be cautious with the public. Sure, if like New Zealand is doing gradually making changes, gradual changes makes sense. But what the public say overnight, oh, everything is OK, drop all the restrictions. It's just a setup for people dropping their guard, and we've seen that again and again throughout the world. So I can't disagree more.
CHURCH: Yeah. It seems to be a reaction to COVID weary people, doesn't it? To the population in the public. And doctor, Austria is planning to become the first European nation to make COVID vaccinations mandatory for all adults. That will likely happen Friday. Is that with all nations will eventually need to consider doing?
MISCOVICH: You know, I think that if you look to a medical professional, we would totally agree with that. But, as you are seeing, leaders across the world are making political decisions. That's been one of the challenges we've see, that the decisions are being made for economies, and for reelections, or you know because one party is pushing them to the other.
But the medical sense does say, everyone should be vaccinated, the data is so crystal clear right now. That the vaccinations have saved so many lives. We have vaccinated 10 billion people across our -- 10 billion doses had been given and it's very safe.
And so do I believe that eventually the whole population will be vaccinated? I do believe. But I think there are so many political issues that will have to be overcome, just like here in the United States, we lost in the courts. It's a challenge so.
CHURCH: Yeah. Politics has just been just so much a part of this pandemic, hasn't it? No more so than here in the United States. And former U.S. CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden, and other health experts here say they're more optimistic now than at any point during the pandemic, as the omicron tsunami recedes. Do you share their enthusiasm for what's happening here in the U.S., I sense you don't?
MISCOVICH: Well I do know we are going to get through this as a country, and as a world. So, I will just talk honestly, and I do believe that there will be, you know, a resolve for all countries of the world, as you keep pushing their vaccination rates up.
Look at the United States. I mean, that's such a comment for us, we have one of the worst vaccination rates of modern countries, we have the highest hospitalization rate with Omicron. We are having death rates that are soaring in certain areas, and our booster rates are some of the worst in some of the modern countries.
So for anybody in the U.S. right now to be declaring victory, I think they're missing the point, get back to the basics, find a way to get boosters in arms. And find a way for people to accept that they are going to be responsible for ending this pandemic. So I'm very concerned I can't (inaudible) about that comment.
CHURCH: And on that point, I mean here in the U.S., 50 million people still haven't received their first shot. So how do you convince those people, and what will happen to them when we stop wearing masks and social distancing, and begin living with COVID?
How vulnerable will those unvaccinated individuals be, as the rest of us move on to get the next round of booster shots in the months and years ahead.
MISCOVICH: Well, extraordinarily vulnerable, and you know, one of the things that we're looking at right now is what will be the next variant. And, will that new variant allow those who have been infected, to have some degree of immunity still present.
And that still up in the air at this point. So besides these people probably hoping that, you know, because they've had the infections, because so many people who have already been infected have some form of immunity, but they're relying on that and, it doesn't work all the way.
So bottom line is, I think as we're seeing, the death rates in those that are unvaccinated are extraordinarily high versus the vaccinated. You know, 97 times the risk of death if you're not vaccinated with some of the new data. So it's a very sad time for those people, as we are seeing so many Americans right now that are being buried and will be buried in the next six weeks.
CHURCH: Yeah. It's just devastating, and to have access to those vaccines but decide not to take them. It's just extraordinary. Dr. Scott Miscovich, thank you so much for joining us, I appreciate it.
[03:40:10]
MISCOVICH: Thank you, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Well, much of the U.S. is facing yet another powerful winter storm and its making travel a nightmare once again, that story just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: A massive winter storm is playing havoc with road, air, and rail travel across the U.S., these are images from Missouri where police responded to more than 200 crashes Wednesday, at least 12 people were injured.
And airlines have canceled more than 3,700 flights across the country for Thursday so far, that's on top of more than 2,000 flight cancelations Wednesday. Several Amtrak routes are also canceled.
Millions of people are under winter weather alerts, and it's not moving out just yet.
Well, for more on that, Pedram Javaheri joins us now from CNN's Weather Center. Pedram, what are you seeing?
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST (on camera): Rosemary, you know, just talking about those disruptions, looking at these latest numbers, the airports, it's remarkable. You noted the amount of cancellations in place. But when you look at places like Dallas has left field, into Dallas Fort Worth airport between 40 and 80 percent of these flights across that particular airport had been cancelled.
You work your way to Memphis, major disruptions in place. Cincinnati, almost 70 percent of its flights have been halted going into Thursday. Same story setting up across places such as Cleveland, where disruptions have been in place, and preemptively pushing up close to 4,000 cancellations in the very early morning hours.
And look at the international and domestic disruptions as a result of this storms from Wednesday into this early Thursday morning, you'll notice over 11,000 flights have been either canceled or delayed as you cross the world and into the United States, of course, as a result of this particular set up.
And the final boundary significant one lined up and placed here, spanning over 2,200 miles, stretches from portions of Texas all the way into areas of New England. And again, when you see a perspective like this with 100 million Americans underneath winter weather alerts, you can certainly bet that this is going to be one of the more disruptive weather events of the season.
In fact, officials saying if you have got any items you've ordered online across this region, you should expect disruptions, it means several days before these items are delivered to you. And we know certainly trees are going to come down as a result of the heavy amounts of snow, the strong amount of winds that are in place and significant amount of ice that is expected to accumulate spanning that particular 2,000 miles stretch of land.
See the areas indicate in blue near Memphis? Near areas just north of Nashville into Louisville, those regions can see as much as half an inch or more of ice secretion, over the next 24 to 36 hours. And those are precisely the areas we expect the most significant impacts, for not only travel going to be difficult.
The weather service in some of these regions, Rosemary is saying, if you've got travel plans, we strongly discourage them. If you have to be on the roadways, pack a flashlight, pack some food, pack some water, and extra clothing. Because you may be stuck on the roads for many, many hours, maybe enough to say 12 hours or more as a results of how extreme the weather conditions are in this region, Rosie.
[03:45:14]
CHURCH: All right, Pedram, thanks so much for keeping a close eye on all of that. Just incredible, isn't it?
Well, the Miami Dolphins former head coach is explaining what's behind his racial discrimination lawsuit against the National Football League and three teams. Brian Flores says, he's not looking for fluff policies, he wants to see real change, 70 percent of the league's players are black, but Flores says the majority of people making decisions are white. Here is what he told CNN's Don Lemon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN FLORES, FORMER MIAMI DOLPHINS HEAD COACH: I'm doing it because, I think about my two boys and my daughter. There just simply isn't enough representation of people who look like them, in head coaching roles, in general manager roles, and executive president roles in the National Football League. And I want them to be able to look at those roles -- I want them to be able to look and believe that they can get into a role like that, and that's simply not the case right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Flores's suit against the Miami Dolphins, claims the owner offered him money to lose games to get a higher draft pick, and to violate league tampering rules. Dolphins' owner, Stephen Ross responded to the lawsuit saying, quote, "His allegations are false, malicious and defamatory. I welcomed the league's investigation and I'm eager to defend my personal integrity, and the integrity and values of the entire Miami Dolphins organization from these baseless, unfair, and disparaging claims."
Well, we have major news to report about our own network. CNN president Jeff Zucker is resigning, effective immediately. Zucker says he was wrong for not disclosing a consensual relationship with a close colleague, his announcement comes less than two months after he fired CNN anchor, Chris Cuomo for improperly advising his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on sexual misconduct allegations. CNN executive, Allison Gollust says she regrets not disclosing her relationship with Zucker, she is remaining at the network.
Well, China's P.R. campaigns are shifting into high gear, ahead of the Winter Olympics in Beijing. Still to come, how foreign social media influencers, including some in the U.S., prop up China's image online. Back in just a moment.
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CHURCH: Well the eyes of the world will be on Beijing tomorrow, when the city holds the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. But as China plays host to the athletes at home, it's using the games to paint a rosy picture of itself abroad.
As David Culver reports, some foreign social media, influencers are doing China's bidding.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is the side of the Beijing Winter Games that China wants you to see, as told by a Russian YouTuber. He's just one of many foreign influencers granted access to China's Olympic venues ahead of the games, and posting videos that shower praised on the host country.
[03:50:04]
As the Olympics kickoff, get ready to see a surge in China related post on your social media feeds. CNN found some of it is even expected to come from inside the U.S., paid for by China.
VIPP JASWAL CEO, VIPPI MEDIA INC: What we are doing is we are acting in the advisory capacity, promoting wellness, engagement, a little bit of excitement and support for the Olympics and Team USA.
CULVER: In a U.S. Department of Justice filing from December, Vipp Jaswal's New York based company disclosed that it plans to develop a marketing initiative to create awareness of the Olympics and Paralympics event. The list of clients, China's consulate general in New York, the Chinese government paying $300,000 to target audiences outside of China. And that's just to Jaswal's company. He will use platforms like Instagram, Twitch, and TikTok, all of which are blocked inside China.
JASWAL: They don't need to audition for anyone's approval, they just need to presents their side of the story that is not heard through politicians or the press.
CULVER: Jaswal says the roughly nine or so influencers he's recruiting will not focus on politics but rather the Olympic spirit. They will join a steady stream of post made by foreigners telling the so-called real China's story. But on these profiles you'll struggled to find any criticism of China's human rights record, instead, it's the positive spin.
A lot of these western influencers will come to iconic spots like this one, the Forbidden City, which is beautiful, and they'll show the best of China. That work in turn gets promoted by state media.
Take down Russian YouTuber for example, he tells CNN he was invited to see the venues, and has not being paid by China, nor told what to say. But the state run China Radio International picked up his story, then dozens of other state media outlets began reposting the article, amplifying his praise of China.
It's part of China's wider strategy to promote positive foreign voices. In fact, a report in China's official "(Inaudible) Daily," suggested foreign influencers who are friendly to China be used to help bolster the official narrative. It also characterized foreign athletes and their coaches as a rich mine to tap into.
That same strategy extended into controversial topics, like Xinjiang. It's where the U.S. alleges China is committing genocide against its Uyghur Muslim minorities, claims that China strongly denies. But scroll through the post of these foreign influencers.
UNKNOWN: There is no proof of genocide.
CULVER: And you'll see they echoed the official narrative, painting a rosy picture, and denied any wrongdoings. Those videos then shared widely by Chinese state media and embassies around the world. Promoting China abroad is not without risk. Jaswal says he's faced personal attacks and death threats for doing business with China.
JASWAL: I'm an American citizen, I'm a patriot, my mindset going in was I was promoting an event that belongs to the world.
CULVER: But the world is fractured, and even during a global sporting event that is supposed to unify, China's social media blitz may do little to sway mines.
We did reach out for comment to several of the influencers, those who got back to us maintain that they are not paid by China. Which in some cases may be true, but they have time to see the benefit of their work being amplified to a population of more than 1.4 billion people.
David Culver, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And earlier, I spoke with sports writer and editor, Andrew Shields about the stress athletes inside the Beijing bubble are under, from COVID tests to possibly missing the event they traveled so far to compete in, how does that affect them? Well, here is part of that conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREW SHIELDS, SPORTS WRITER AND EDITOR: These are the second games to take place under the shadow of COVID. In Tokyo the athletes were subjected to a very clear regime, under what were called playbooks. They were issued to all the participants in the games to define the way in which they had to behave, and perform, and the restrictions on their training for example, where they could move to. What we are seeing in these games is the playbooks really plus one.
The athletes are under immense pressure here, we've seen some very high profile casualties. Lorita Cramer (ph), the Austrian's ski jumper (inaudible), one is particularly decides -- (inaudible) Taylor, the U.S. Boxing medalist, who is going to be the flag bearer for the U.S. Team. She's had to sit out. And Brittany Bo (ph) is taking over that. Nikiti (Inaudible), the (inaudible) silver skater medalist, we're going to see casualties across all sports.
And for athletes who are traveling from around the world many come from high COVID countries into this closed loop in which they'll be living and training and competing.
[03:55:10]
There will be more cases. We've interestingly today, learned that the observer program, which is where future host cities get to see how a games is organized and operates, it's been a feature of every Olympic games, and it's very important for knowledge transfer. That has been canceled. It just shows that the precautions are going to be extremely strict. For athletes and officials, this will create a very tense atmosphere in which they're competing and performing in officiating.
CHURCH (voice over): Yeah, can't imagine the stress for some of these athletes, so what will likely be the events to watch out for during these games? What are you looking for?
SHIELDS: Well, I think living in the U.K. where winter sport has a relatively low profile, we get unbelievably excited about the sports like snowboard cross, for example. Which are pure excitement, extremely unpredictable, and uncertain.
And in many ways these are the sports that have invigorated and reinvigorating the Winter Games. The International Olympic Committee has been desperate to engage with the youth, which is why we've seen in the summer games sports like skateboarding, speed climbing, and in Paris were going to see breaking enter the games.
The winter games have had these already and snowboard cross and the other snow sports have that in build excitement that really captures the attention.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH (on camera): And finally at this hour, the heartwarming tale of a handwritten tale. One that was crafted by a young boy and quickly became a surprise hit in his home town of Boise, Idaho. Eight year Dillon Helbig wrote and illustrated his first book then snuck the 81 page story on to a bookshelf at his local library without telling anyone. When the library staff discovered it they decided to include it in their collection.
Now, dozens of people have joined the waitlist to read it, the book is called "The Adventurers Of Dillon Helbig's Christmas," and it tells a story of an exploding Christmas tree star that magically transports Dillon back in time to the year 1621. The libraries manager says publishers are now interested in the book,
the young author says he has already planned a sequel titled "The Jacket Eating Closet," based on actual events. Well done.
Thank you so much for your company, I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "CNN Newsroom" continues now with Isa Soares.
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