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Russian and Chinese Besties Meets in Beijing; ISIS Leader Killed Himself in Syria; Top Aides Left Downing Street; Virus Will Stay Longer; Europe Lift Restrictions Amid High COVID Cases; Vladimir Putin Meeting Xi Jinping Ahead Of Olympics, Amid Ukraine Tensions; Ukraine Welcomes Erdogan's Offer Of Mediation; U.S Imposes Visa Restrictions On Belarusians; New 21 COVID Cases In Beijing Winter Olympics; Winter Storm To Cause More Air Travel Nightmares; Tech Stocks Under Pressure; Plant-Based Chilean Food Company Going Global. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired February 04, 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)
KIM BRUNHUBER CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Welcome to all of you watching around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.
Ahead on CNN Newsroom, Beijing in the spotlight for sports and politics. Chinese President Xi welcomes Russia's Vladimir Putin right as the Winter Olympics begin. We are live in Hong Kong and Moscow.
Plus, we're learning more on the U.S. raid that resulted in the death of an ISIS leader in Syria and how it didn't go entirely to plan. We'll have details in a live report in Abu Dhabi.
And four of Boris Johnson's top aides quit. Adding to the prime minister's long list of lows and amid his partygate scandal. We're live in London with the latest.
UNKNOWN: Live from CNN center, this is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: The opening ceremony for the Beijing Winter Olympics is just a few hours away. Thousands of athletes and just over 20 world leaders are on hand including Russian President Vladimir Putin. He is meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss trade, energy, and the tensions on Russia's border with Ukraine.
Putin's visit comes as the U.S. is accusing Russia of planning a false flag operation to justify an invasion of Ukraine. Russia's ambassador to the European Union denies the claims. Here is what the Pentagon spokesman had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: As part of this fake attack, we believe that Russia would produce a graphic propaganda video. Which would include corpses and actors that would be depicting mourners. And images of destroyed locations, as well as military equipment at the hands of Ukraine and the west.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER (on camera): So, keeping sports and politics separate at the Beijing games could prove difficult. Reporters ask International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach about China's treatment of Uyghur Muslims. He says he is not commenting on political issues.
All right. CNN's Nathan Hodge is standing by live in Moscow. But we begin with our senior international correspondent Ivan Watson in Hong Kong. So, Ivan what are we expecting from this meeting between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first and foremost, a show of friendship across the 4,000-kilometer border between Russia and China. In the statements leading up to the summit, both leaders have referred to each other as friends. They've met dozens of times after a pause in face-to-face meetings due to the pandemic.
They are getting together, and of course, hours before the launch of the Winter Olympics the economic ties between Russia and China have been deepening record bilateral trade last year. The military ties have been deepening as well. And of course, Russia currently in a face-off with the U.S. and its NATO allies threatened with the possibility of economic sanctions, and China, the world's second largest economy certainly viewed as a potential plan B.
They have put some joint statements their foreign ministers running up to this. They talk about their strategic kind of relationship. And they have called against a politicization of the Winter Olympics. That's clearly a nod to the fact that the U.S. and a number of its western allies are conducting a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics.
There is a new addition to that boycott for separate reason, though, and that is India, which has just announced a diplomatic boycott. Its government furious that a Chinese army officer who participated in a deadly border clash in 2020 in the Himalayas in which more than 20 -- in at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed was one of the Olympic torch bearers. Take a listen to this government spokesperson in New Delhi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARINDAM BAGCHI, SPOKESPERSON, INDIAN MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS: It is indeed regrettable that the Chinese side has chosen but to politicize an event like the Olympics. I wish to inform that our (Inaudible) affairs of the embassy of India in Beijing will not be attending the opening or the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WATSON (on camera): So, India, its public broadcaster will not be showing the opening and closing ceremonies to Indian audiences coming from Beijing.
[03:05:02]
India is not exactly a big player when it comes to the Winter Olympics. It only has one athlete, I believe, going to the games. But it does show that despite the Russian and Chinese presidents appeals for no politics, politics seem to be everywhere around these Olympics.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. And Nathan, I want to go back to what Ivan started with and that's the Xi/Putin meeting. China and Russia have apparently coordinated their position on Ukraine. That's according to the Chinese. How significant is that for Moscow?
NATHAN HODGE, CNN PRODUCER: Kim, this is, it's an important sort of move for Putin and Xi to show and stand shoulder to shoulder in what's been a deepening relationship between the two countries. And certainly, you know, the Kremlin will see it as an enormous bonus and a big pumping up of Putin stature that he is able to go there, sort of the guest of honor at the games, and as well hold talks with Xi in advance of the opening ceremonies.
Certainly, the two countries have deep economic ties, but also in recent years they have been increasing their military cooperation holding joint exercises in recent years. So, certainly, this is a show by the two leaders that they're standing shoulder to shoulder. Putin has described Xi as a close friend.
So, this is all against the background of the continuing crisis and standoff between Russia and the west over Ukraine in which Putin has claimed -- complained again very publicly this week in his most fulsome remarks since the beginning of the year that the west, the U.S. and NATO have ignored Russia's security concerns over -- over the potential expansion of NATO to Ukraine over NATO's presence in Eastern Europe.
His main demands, he says, have been ignored. That's the stationing, for instance, of it's a -- it's a long laundry list of grievances. Everything going back to the scrapping of ABM Treaty in the early 2000's, stationing of missile defense assets. But the bigger issue of course for him is whether the open-door policy that NATO has and the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO.
He said that that is for him a red line. So, this is a chance for him to be on the world stage and get the world's attention. He has yet to respond, however, to NATO and U.S. response to Russian security concerns. So, the ball is still very much is in Putin's court. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: Yes. And then Nathan, before I let you go, the big story here in the U.S. in terms of Ukraine the U.S. accusations of that elaborate false flag operation that would fake an attack as a pretext for a Russia invasion. What's been the response in Moscow?
HODGE: Well, Kim, the Russian ambassador to the E.U. told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that this was -- that Russia is not in the business of doing this. Of course, it's been pointed out many times before, as well as by Ned Price that Russia does have a long-standing pattern of disinformation.
But again, I think that we have seen strong Russian push back over this. And as well, I think, you know, there is going to be continued scrutiny over how Russia responds in the coming days. We'll see if they have more to say about this.
But again, there's been a very, sort of loud information war over this. And I think this against -- against the backdrop of the Olympics shows that politics, the geopolitics and the sport are going to be closely intertwined in the coming days, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, exactly. That's echoing Ivan there. Nathan Hodge in Moscow, Ivan Watson in Hong Kong. Thank you both. I really appreciate it.
The leader of ISIS is dead. And the White House warns that whoever replaces him will meet the same fate. New details are emerging on the U.S. operation. A White House official says the intelligence gathering on Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi ramped up in recent months. The plans for the raid took shape in December. Now authorities say the ISIS later blew himself up and his family as U.S. special forces closed in. There were civilian casualties.
Arwa Damon shows us the aftermath of the raid, and I just want to warn you her piece includes images that you may find disturbing.
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A small body carry down the dark stairs. The rescue workers and thick whispers. Wait, wait, wait, one warrants. It stuck. They gently coax a tiny child's corpse out from under a large slab of concrete. It is a little girl. Another small body, a boy is carefully wrapped in a blanket.
This is what is left behind after U.S. special forces conducted an overnight raid in Syria. Later, the White House announced that they had quote, "removed the leader of ISIS. Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al- Qurashi.
[03:10:03]
But the reality of what happened is uglier than that simple statement. And the fog of war is filled with questions. The owner of the building says that two families lived here.
"One man, his wife, and three children. And his sister lived upstairs with her daughter." Abu Qutayba (Ph) says. "Seven bodies were found here."
President Biden says it was Al-Qurashi who detonated a bomb, killing himself and his family. But where there more people in the house that night? We don't know yet but in all, at least 13 people were dead in the raid's aftermath including six children. Eyewitnesses described helicopter gunships hovering overhead for
hours. Warnings to evacuate the house and surrender. Intense gunfire. Hearing multiple explosions.
"Like flashes occurred and then the helicopter struck with machine guns," this man remembers. "One of the strikes was here and the rest were striking the targeted house."
Did the U.S. forces fire on other buildings? Footage from the scene and the surrounding areas show damage to multiple other buildings as well. This child's body, green sox on tiny feet was ripped in half.
Taking out ISIS's leader may be a win for America. It may put a temporary damper on ISIS's abilities. But ISIS will rise again and the war on terror will leave more innocents in its wake.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Istanbul.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER (on camera): All right. Let's cross to Abu Dhabi and CNN's Jomana Karadsheh. Jomana, that piece ends on an ominous note with the words ISIS will rise again. I mean, that we know obviously killing a leader doesn't mean the end of the organization. But the U.S. is really playing up the significance of this killing as catastrophic blow to ISIS. So, is it? I mean, what effect might this have on ISIS going forward?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Kim, as you mentioned, I mean, time and time again we report on these major counter-terrorism operations every few years where the leader of a terrorist organization is killed. But as you mentioned, that doesn't mean the end of this groups. They do have this remarkable ability to cope with this to appoint a new leader and to continue doing what they're doing.
But at the same time, this most definitely is a significant blow for ISIS coming at a time when we are seeing them attempting to regroup, to emerge again. You've seen an uptick in attacks in Iraq. You also have that really brazen complex attack that involved hundreds of ISIS members targeting that prison in northeastern Syria in the city of Hasakah. It went on for days. Quite a major attack.
And we heard President Biden saying that this man, Hajji Abdullah, as he is known that ISIS leader was directly responsible for that attack. You know, for most people, they probably haven't heard the name of al- Qurashi Hajji Abdullah as he was known yesterday up until yesterday.
But you know, for those who have followed ISIS, they have followed this group from its foundation years ago they know that he was one of the key figures in the group. You know, we heard President Biden saying that he had this really dark history, a legacy of genocide. The genocide of the Yazidis.
You know, one organization, Kim, that I have covered extensively over the past few years, CIJA, an NGO that has been collected evidence of ISIS's crimes in Iraq and in Syria. They described this man as one of the key architects of the slavery of Yazidi women and children. He was also personally responsible, they say, for the rape of Yazidi women and the enslavement of women. But they also say that they had collected enough evidence they believe to accuse him of genocide, extermination, slavery, and rape.
And you know, we heard from one Yazidi organization saying that they really had hoped that this man would have been brought to justice to face justice in a court of law for all these crimes for what the Yazidi people went through. But they do understand in operations like this that sometimes that is not possible.
BRUNHUBER: Interesting. Thanks for that reporting. Jomana Karadsheh in Abu Dhabi. I appreciate it.
It was another dismal day for Boris Johnson with four of the prime minister's top aides abruptly quitting on the same day. We'll have a live report from London just ahead.
Plus, we'll take a look at why some European countries are easing restrictions while their neighbors report record case numbers. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER (on camera): Embattled British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered one of his most embarrassing political setbacks to date with four top aides abruptly resigning from Downing Street on Thursday. Perhaps the biggest blow was the departure of policy chief and longtime senior aide Munira Mirza. She resigned over the prime minister appearing to blame opposition leader Keir Starmer for not prosecuting an infamous pedophile more than a decade ago. Johnson's off topic and misleading broadside outraged members on both sides.
CNN's Scott McLean is live in London live for us. Boy, so, Scott, this slew of resignations and unprecedented blow for Johnson. Take us through the story.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kim. Yes, you're absolutely right. So, Wednesday you had three members of Boris Johnson's party submitting letters of no confidence. Yesterday you had four members of Johnson's staff, four members of his inner circle resigning all on the same day.
Now just this morning the government is framing this as a sort of expected departure as part of a reshuffle especially in the wake of the partygate scandal. All of these allegations of improper social gatherings during lockdowns. But certainly, the image of four top aides resigning on the same day doesn't do a whole lot to dispel this public image of chaos within Downing Street.
So, his chief of staff is gone. His structure of communications is gone. As is his principal private secretary, a man the British press who refers to as party Marty because he had sent out this invitation to Downing Street staff to have a garden party and advising that they should bring their own booze.
The biggest blow for Johnson, though, is undoubtedly his policy chief. A woman named Munira Mirza. She had worked with him for 14 years including at the time when he was the mayor of London. This is a woman whom Johnson named as one of the most influential women in his life in an interview awhile back.
And as you mentioned, she resigned over these false comments that Boris Johnson had made about the opposition leader Keir Starmer and this allegation that he had personally failed to prosecute one of Britain's most infamous pedophiles. That claim is not true. Keir Starmer was in charged, was England's top prosecutor at that time but a review found that he was not involved with the decision-making in that case. The prime minister yesterday tried to clarify some of this. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I'm talking not about the leader of the opposition's personal record when he was -- when he was DPP. And I totally understand that he had not anything to do personally with those decisions. I was making a point about the -- his responsibility for the organization as a whole.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCLEAN (on camera): Now you heard a clarification there. What you did not hear was an apology. And that was not good enough for Mirza who wrote that this was an inappropriate and partisan reference to a horrendous case of child sex abuse. You tried to clarify your position but despite my urging you did not apologize for the misleading impression that you gave.
[03:20:05]
Now after the news of this resignation broke, the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, was asked about this. And specifically asked whether he agreed that Johnson should apologize. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RISHI SUNAK, BRITISH CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER: With regard to their comments, you know, being honest, I wouldn't have said it. And I'm glad that the prime minister clarified what he meant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCLEAN (on camera): So, that comment what seems pretty tame but the British press is framing this as a swipe at Johnson. Sort of a rebuke of the prime minister from his own chancellor. Rishi Sunak is also a man, though, that is widely rumored to be interested in becoming prime minister himself, leading the conservative party if Johnson were to be forced out.
If there is good for -- good news for Boris Johnson at this -- at this stage of the game, Kim, it's that his party won a, by election just yesterday, though, to clarify not much comfort that the party can take in that considering the two main opposition parties didn't feel the candidates.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Important clarification there. Scott McLean in London, thanks so much.
Well, there is some disappointing numbers for the World Health Organization. More than 100 countries including the U.S. will likely fall short of the agency's 70 percent COVID vaccination targets by mid-2022. That's according to our world in data.
And while the importance of vaccinations can't be overstated there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to ending the COVID pandemic. Here is what a WHO official told CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARGARET HARRIS, WHO SPOKESWOMAN: What we are saying is that every country will chart their way out of this in their own way. But we are asking countries to really look at your epidemiology, what's your vaccination rate, what's your hospital status.
We have huge numbers of cases. But we are in a very much better place than we were before because we also have vaccinations. We also have treatments. We've got many more tools that mean we can beat this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER (on camera): The U.S. is already looking ahead to return to normalcy. The FDA told the U.S. House subcommittee that COVID drugs and vaccines will remain available for a transition period if the emergency declaration ends. But new numbers showed the pandemic isn't over yet.
A new report reveals more than 200,000 residents and staffs at long term care facilities have died from COVID since the start of the pandemic. The Kaiser Family Foundation allows -- analysis ads that this makes up at least 23 percent of all COVID-related deaths in the U.S.
And that's not. A long COVID advocacy group estimates long-haulers who lost a total of $88.8 billion in income.
CNN's Nick Watt has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: It's OK.
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Three-year-old Justin still too young for a vaccine. But among the lucky ones pulled through.
UNKNOWN: Can you sit up?
WATT: Most places Omicron is now on the ebb. But Alabama the only state where case counts are climbing. Alabama also has the lowest percentage of fully vaccinated people in this country.
Meantime, about half of Americans now eligible for a booster haven't gotten one. So, 84 million people got vaccinated. But for whatever reason, not boosted.
ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I don't have an easy explanation for that. That's one of the reasons why we keep trying to put the data.
WATT: Like the benefits of the booster insignificantly reducing your chance of death. Israeli researchers now claim a fourth Pfizer dose was instrumental in preventing hospitals from being overwhelmed during their Omicron surge. It's a preprints study.
Here, hospitalizations highlighted by the White House as the key metric they'll watch while weighing when to lift restrictions like mask mandates.
ASHISH JHA, DEAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: What I expect and I hope that we'll see from the CDC is clear guidance about what to do in the upcoming months. Again, I'm hoping this is going to be the last surge that we're going to have to deal with. We don't know.
WATT: Super Bowl next Sunday, L.A.'s mayor among officials urging fans to mask up. But a tweeted snap shows his naked face at the game last weekend. How do you explain that?
MAYOR ERIC GARCETTI (D), LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: When people ask for a photograph, I hold my breath and I put it here and people can see that. There's a zero percent chance of infection from that.
WATT: I see. By the way, this is Bellevue, Washington. A gas station clerk argues with the customer who refuses to wear a mask. They tumble outside. She pulls a gun.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT (on camera): So just back to the Super Bowl for a second, the officials here in Los Angeles are going to be handing out free N95 masks to fans. They hope those fans will wear the mask in the stand apart from the brief moments when they're eating and drinking.
[03:25:02]
But I'm confused because according to the mayor, you can also take off your mask if you're getting a selfie taken with the celebrity just as long as you hold your breath.
Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
BRUNHUBER: The U.S. army isn't taking any chances with COVID. They will begin discharging members who refuse to get vaccinated unless they have an approved exemption or pending requests. Army officials say unvaccinated soldiers pose a risk to the force and jeopardize readiness. As of January 26, 96 percent of active-duty soldiers and 79 percent of reservists are fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, cases are surging in Brazil. As the country reports a new daily record of nearly 300,000 new cases Thursday. And in some regions, ICUs are at 80 percent capacity. And South Korea is extending its social distancing measures by two weeks amid the Omicron surge. The current measures limit private gatherings to six people and restaurants must close by 9 p.m.
Well, it's a bit of a mixed picture in Europe as some countries ease restrictions. Others like Germany are reporting new daily highs in cases.
So, for more on all that I'm joined now by CNN's Jim Bittermann. So, Jim, before we get to Germany, let's start where you are in France where we're hearing some encouraging words from top officials about the situation there.
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Very much so, Kim. In fact, we saw the other night on television the health minister not wearing a mask. That's the first time we've seen that in some time. Not wearing a mask and basically saying that France has gone through the worst of the fifth wave of COVID. Here's what he told the French public.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OLIVIER VERAN, FRENCH HEALTH MINISTER (through translator): My message tonight is that the worst is behind us. We've done the work first of all, because we lived the COVID way for two years. Even if we have other waves, we have every reason to think that this would be the less dangerous variant. So, the worst is behind us. And we've done the hardest in this wave.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BITTERMANN: And the other positive note news, Kim, for the French basically a drug called Paxlovid which is a Pfizer drug, it's an anti- viral drug is now being distributed in pharmacies across the country and it's now available for doctors to prescribe. It's a drug that can treat COVID once it's been diagnosed but before the symptoms become too serious and it can stop the symptoms from becoming overwhelming. It can stop hospitalizations and deaths if taken at the right moment. So, it has to be prescribed though by doctors.
Now as you mentioned, other countries are not facing such positive news. Germany, for example, the case counts goes up every single day, it was almost a quarter of a million overnight. So, no lifting of restrictions there in sight. And in Austria the vaccine mandate which was debated for a long time in the parliament there has finally been passed. It's not going to be enforced until the middle of March. But still when it is enforced Austrians will face heavy fines if they do not get vaccinated. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: Yes, such a different picture across the continent. Jim Bittermann, thank you so much. Well, you are watching CNN Newsroom. Still ahead, the U.S. accuses
Russia of planning a false flag operation as a pretext to invade Ukraine. We'll look at how the Kremlin is responding.
Plus, the countdown is on to the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony just hours away. We'll look at what we can expect from the big event after the break. Stay with us.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): And welcome back to all of you watching us here in United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber, this is "CNN Newsroom."
Russian President Vladimir Putin is in Beijing at this hour. He's meeting with this Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to discuss the tensions between Russian and Ukraine, then the pair will attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.
Meanwhile, U.S. officials say Moscow is preparing a graphic propaganda video of a fake attack by Ukraine on Russian territory or Russian speaking people in Ukraine. Russia's ambassadors to the European Union denies the claims, but U.S. officials say the video would include corpses and scenes of destruction. And Russia is already recruiting actors to play mourners.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JULIANNE SMITH, U.S. PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO NATO: We are seeing just another piece of the typical Russian playbook. Essentially, Russians frequently turned to these types of tactics where we can call them a false flag. Where they fabricate some sort of reason. And that serves as a pretext for them to go in and take action.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: French President, Emmanuel Macron, is planning to visit Moscow and Kyiv next week in an effort to ease tensions. He spoke by phone with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts on Thursday. Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was in Kyiv on Thursday offering to mediate between Moscow and Kyiv.
Let's bring in Alexander Korolev, he's a senior lecturer in politics and international relations at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. Thanks so much for being here with us.
So, according to China, during a meeting between both countries foreign ministers in Beijing, China and Russia, apparently coordinated their positions on Ukraine. How significant is that?
ALEXANDER KOROLEV, SENIOR LECTURER/POLITICS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES: Well, it pretty much significant because, in case of sanctions against Russia, China will be supporting Russia. At least, it will continue business as usual. And, we do see this as an increasing level of coordination between China and Russia.
So, it is not an official alliance, but obviously they are coordinating their efforts in their joint attempt to see U.S. power checked. So, I think this is one of the indications of that.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah. It's not on a continuum, right? I mean, it doesn't seem as though, you know, as Russia and China's relations with the West are deteriorating their relationship with each other. It's becoming tighter. I mean obviously, as you say, they both want to undercut the West and the U.S. power specifically. The enemy of my enemy, is my friend, right?
But that was true during the cold war as well. And their relationship seems to have become closer since then. Some say the closest they've ever been. So, why specifically are these two countries being drawn together now?
KOROLEV: Well, I think that the major driving force behind China- Russia alignment is the fact that both of them have a better relations between United States. So it's kind of the simultaneous deterioration of U.S.-China and U.S.-Russia relations is the manufacture that brings them together.
But at the same time, I think western sanctions against Russia also contributed to the (inaudible) mark between China and Russia. And some important energy deals were recently signed between the two countries. Also, military cooperation has been enhanced.
And China also simplified trade regulations for non-energy products from Russia. So, while the U.S. is the major driving force of the relationship with the U.S., at the same time, there are obviously some economic incentives that drives these two countries together.
BRUNHUBER: But economically, so I get how, you know, Russia would gain, if China can find ways to circumvent sanctions. But isn't China worried that pivoting towards Russia could hurt its standing and trade with the U.S., and Europe?
KOROLEV: Well, there might be this kind of worry, but the problem is that China's relations with the U.S. have deteriorated, dramatically, recently. So, we had a trade war between the United States and China. And the structure of economics cooperation between China and Russia is different from the kind of train China has with either Europe or the United States.
[03:35:18]
So, China cooperate with Russia mostly in energy sector, and military industrial complex. So, the closer links with Russia, they don't really challenge China's trade relations with Europe, or with the United States. So, I don't see that these two have significantly correlated.
BRUNHUBER: But then from the flipside, if Russia becomes more dependent on China, with that, therefore give China much more clout in its dealings with Russia? KOROLEV: Yes, and no. Again, we need to look at the systemic level,
at the structure of the international system. And currently, as mentioned earlier, as long as China's relations with the United States, and Russia's relations with the United States, are pretty bad, actually, far from ideal, this incentive was much stronger for China to treat Russia well, basically.
Because China does need Russia. Russia is a permanent member of U.N. Security Council. And then they used joined multiple times, and China does need Russia's energy, and Russia's military technology. So, yeah, it is a sort of mutual interdependence, I would say, rather than simply Russia's dependence on China.
BRUNHUBER: We will have to leave it there. But thank you so much for your analysis, Alexander Korolev, I really appreciate it.
The United States is imposing visa restrictions on a number of Belarusian nationals. The U.S, says are actively trying to silence dissidents outside of Belarus. The U.S. State Department, specifically mentioned a failed attempt last year to forcibly repatriate a Belarusian Olympic sprinter during the Tokyo Summer Games. The new visa restrictions were imposed under the Biden administration, so- called, Khashoggi ban, which seeks to counter repression of political dissidents who are outside of their own countries.
While we are now less than four hours away from the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the 100 minute event won't be as long, or as grand, as those in the past. But there will be plenty of fireworks and some 3,000 performers.
Meanwhile, China is reporting new COVID-19 cases tied to the Olympics just before the official start to the games. The Beijing Olympic Committee reported 21 new infections, among games related personal, as of Thursday. Since the closed loop system began on January 23rd, more than 300 cases have been identified.
Marco Balich has a lot of experience, when it comes to opening ceremonies, having been the creative director and producer for many of these events in the past. Well, this year, he's the creative director of the flag handover ceremony from China to Italy, which will take place during the closing ceremony. Now, earlier I asked him what he is expecting from this year's opening ceremony. Here he is.
MARCO BALICH, CREATIVE DIRECTOR, OLYMPIC CEREMONIES PRODUCER: I think we expect a different version of China. In a way, (inaudible), he's a great director is going to perform. He said, a more romantic show. So we are very eager to know what romantic means in Chinese terms, but for sure, it is going to be a very beautiful show because (Inaudible) is a great director, and he has sense of beauty that is outstanding in my personal opinion.
BRUNHUBER: But it will be smaller and thematically the director says it will reflect the state of the world. I mean, how do you do that without, you know, bumping everybody out?
BALICH: Well, of course, you know, we have in this the (inaudible) of where -- the creation of a show of this skill is a teamwork. So (inaudible) prestige design and musician, music composite, they have to gather together. So COVID is impacting that for sure.
So you have to do a smaller show. But still the opening ceremony of the Olympics remain the biggest show in the world for three reasons, the biggest audience in the world, the biggest sort of impact in terms of spread around the planet of messages. And, of course, budget, is the most expensive show in the world.
So, we have great expectation for this show. But for sure, we are curious to see a very, you know, a different version of China from 2008 where they show a very muscular and big show. So we are very curious to see if they are going to perform a romantic version of China which, you know, it could sound, you know, different in your eyes.
BRUNHUBER: In the last minute we have left, I mean, you talk about the scale involved in these. I mean, you have been involved in planning events like these. So, take me behind the scenes of what it's like creatively, how long and complex can it be to put something like this together.
[03:40:05]
BALICH: Well, it is two-year process in fact. It could be comparable to a major feature film. Studios, Hollywood Studios, in six months to create the idea. Six months to create a budget team and six months to prototype, and the last six months of harsh training and the rehearsals.
So, this COVID I think has affected that, because the digital sort of exchange, you know, all those computer. Sort of driven section of creativity are really effecting, I think the way that -- because creativity needs live exchanges. And there is no question about that.
I mean, no answers are made through a rapid exchange, which kind of do between two computers. So, I think, that the difficulty that (inaudible) and Tokyo people went through the process was how you create a harmonic narrative without having, you know, working elbow to elbow around the table.
BRUNHUBER: that was creative director and Olympic ceremony's producer, Marco Balich, joining us from Milan.
Millions of Americans, have to hang on for at least one more day before a massive winter storm moves out. But before it does, it is set to cause another round of air travel nightmares. We'll have that story ahead.
Plus, high flying tech stocks suddenly brought back to earth with Facebook's parent company leading the way down. We'll take a closer look at what's behind the sell-off. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, look there's snow and ice as far as the eye can see. Well, this is what it's like for millions of Americans outside their homes right now as a massive winter storm stretches from Texas to New England and beyond.
So far, it's caused at least three deaths, knocked out power for some 300,000 homes and businesses. Most of 3,000 flights scheduled for Friday have already been canceled. Forecasters expect the storm to linger at least until Friday night.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A major winter storm is slamming much of the U.S. one hundred million people under winter weather alerts across 25 states facing the risk of snow, ice, dangerous cold flooding and even possible tornadoes.
GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): Stay off the roadways, if possible. As rain, snow and ice continue through this evening and then through Friday morning.
LAVANDERA: Snow is moving from the Rockies through the Central U.S., Midwest, and expected to hit the northeast tomorrow, as snow and rain. Crippling ice storms with the potential to bring down trees and power lines are threatening Texas and Arkansas through Kentucky and Ohio.
[03:45:03]
GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): We are dealing with one of the most significant icing events that we've had in the state of Texas in at least several decades.
LAVANDERA: Authorities are warning drivers about getting stranded, after interstate closures like this one yesterday in Missouri.
UNKNOWN: If you must travel, please be prepared, have food, water, blankets.
LAVANDERA: According to flight aware, there have been more than 5,000 flight cancellations so far today, the worst day in at least a year. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport was forced to close for several hours with a ground stop. And about 300,000 customers are without power, nearly half of them in hard-hit Tennessee.
And tens of thousands here in Texas, a state still on edge, after last year's ice storm power grid catastrophe that killed nearly 250 people. Officials here say the only outages today are due to lines down, not supply.
ABBOTT: The power grid is performing very well at this time.
There is plenty of power available at this time.
LAVANDERA: But emergency shelters are set up, just in case.
ABBOTT: Tonight, the temperatures are really going to drop. LAVANDERA: Snowplow drivers are working 12 hour shifts, asking the
public for help.
UNKNOWN: Stay clear of us when we're plowing, we're trying to clear the streets.
LAVANDERA: Freezing temperatures are expected to last into the weekend here in Texas. State officials say they expect a peak demand for electrical power not to hit until Friday morning. But despite that, State officials still say they expect the electrical grid here in Texas to hold up.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: All right, for more on this let's bring in meteorologist, Karen McGinnis. Karen, so many people still digging out. Many of them in the dark. What's the latest?
KAREN MCGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST (on camera): Yes, and not just that. Already we have about 2,700 flights canceled across the United States today in anticipation of the messy weather. I want to show you some video of this massive storm system and some of the impacts that have been felt because of it.
We take you first, just to the west of the Fort Worth area. This is near Dallas Texas. Well, just to the west, a gentleman by the name of Michael Lance, he took out a drone and showed us this beautiful imagery of what it looks like from the air. Yes, from the air. It looks nice. Two to five inches of snowfall. A little bit of ice and that's where it becomes problematic.
For drivers, travelers, very treacherous driving conditions. Just like they saw near St. Louis. I want to show you what happened there as well. Well, on Interstate 70, near St. Louis, there were three multi large vehicles.
The tractor trailers that crashed, a very slick road conditions there. Several vehicles, one in fact, was wedged underneath one of those tractor trailers. One person was reportedly seriously injured. The interstate was closed for hours. And that was just one of many trials of accidents and multi vehicle smash ups across the Middle Western United States.
I want to show you what happened out of Memphis Tennessee. That's in the western portion of the state. In Memphis, it was ice. A big problem there. The ice covered the trees and the trees fell. This on a red vehicle. We don't have any reports of any injuries there.
Just as you know just how powerful even a slight glazing of ice and the damage that can be done from that. Not just on vehicles but also for homes and across roadways making things extremely treacherous.
So, what happens next? (Inaudible) systems is going to make its way towards the east. Now there is a real dividing line between where that cold air and icy conditions are located. And where the warm sector of the system is. We didn't even talk about the severe weather that occurred across the Deep South. And that just to south of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
As a result of that sever weather, a tornado was spawn and at least one person reportedly killed. Now they'll send cruise out and take a look at the damage and make some assessments from there.
And New York City, what is going to happen here? Yes. It does look like some ice and snow in the forecast. But, it looks like it's going to be very brief. The same for Boston. Now Boston always seems to suffer worse. The road conditions maybe a little treacherous, but does it look like you're going to see a foot of snowfall?
We save that across northern Indiana. Northern Indiana really got socked over the last several days. And more than 1 million people under winter weather advisories and watches, winter storm warnings, also some icy conditions. What happens in the forecast by Sunday it begins to clear out. Temperatures begin to moderate. Kim, back to you.
BRUNHUBER: All right, that's the good news. We'll be watching this throughout the weekend. Karen McGinnis, thanks so much.
Well, investors will be closely watching tech stocks today after Thursday's massive sell-off. Some of the biggest names in industry took huge losses. Giants like PayPal, and Spotify, have erase more than half their peak valuations over the past year. Those days plunge was led by Meta, Facebook's parent company.
[03:50:03]
It closed down more than 26 percent after reporting a rear drop in profits in to clients and active users. Well that shaved off nearly $240 billion in market value. The biggest single-day loss ever for a U.S. company.
CNN chief business correspondent, Christine Romans says many different issues are coming together here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: It is a big miss by Meta and really, since Facebook became Meta, what, in mid-October it's really struggled to find its footing or gain some traction here. User growth is stalled or shrinking. That is one headline. Apple's new privacy options make it harder to target ad campaigns. That's another headline. Competition from TikTok, it is so much bigger and just swamps what it's trying to do with real. That's another headline. So one after another.
We've also got this big, big, investment into virtual reality and artificial intelligence. And all of these things that could pay off way out on the future. But it's almost as if Mark Zuckerberg is in the Metaverse right now. And these earnings show you that investors are still in the real world and looking at these numbers and seeing the return of investment way for off.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: And it was a really tough days for CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, the value of his stake in the company dropped by more than $30 billion.
All right, let's have a look at U.S. futures. Now as the markets look like they're rebounding. They've been rising after positive after hour's earnings from reports from Amazon's Snap and Pinterest. As you can see they're all green. The DOW, NASDAQ and S&P 500 futures are all up.
All in alternative to meet companies of regional success in Chile. Coming up on "CNN Newsroom," how hit copes -- how it hopes to go global with backing of one of the world's richest man. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: We'll have a look at the highest glacier on the world's tallest mountain is losing decade's worth of ice every year. Now, we're talking of course about Mount Everest. Experts are blaming climate change. Saying that ice that took around 2,000 years to form, melted in about 25 years. They warn this could worsen climate impact and calls more frequent avalanches and the drying up of water sources.
And scientists say that farming practices in the consumption of meat are also factors in global warming. Beef cattle, for instance, produce lots of methane gas which endangers are climate. But now, a Chilean company has found an alternative, healthier way to replace meat.
CNN's Rafael Romo, has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR (voice over): So what do we have here?
MATIAS MUCHNICK, CEO NOT COMPANY: So here, we have the not burger.
ROMO: Matias Muchnick likes to talk as much about what his company's products are, as what they are not.
So there is nothing but plants in both of these?
MUCHNICK: Exactly.
ROMO: In fact, he has created a whole company around the word, not, as in not milk, not ice cream, and not mayo. It is a whole line of plant-based food products that are intended to be a substitute for those made from animals.
MUCHNICK: When you look at the food system, it has become the common denominator to every major environmental ill known to humankind.
ROMO: Perhaps, the most daring one is the not burger, which is intended to replace the ones made from beef.
What kind of market share have you been able to reach?
[03:55:02]
MUCHNICK: So, at this point in time, only one year, a little bit, you know, over a year that we launched the not burger. We have more than 7 percent of the total market share of burgers, and that includes animal burgers.
ROMO: That's in Chile, the South American country where Muchnick launched his company in 2016. Not quite six years later, Not Company now sells its products in four Latin American countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Columbia and Mexico. It has also branched out to Canada and the United States.
MUCHNICK: We started off with Mayo, in Chile. Where basically we got 7 percent of market share in only seven months of sales. And that's what's really kind of got the attention of the investment world.
ROMO: Investors like Jeff Bezos are behind a $370 million push that may allow Not Company to expand to Europe and Asia. But not everybody is happy with NOTCO's success. The young company has been sued by dairy producers in Chile.
MUCHNICK: They're really afraid of this change of consumer behavior, of consumer, you know, preference as well.
ROMO: NOTCO is not the first one to produce plant-based food, aimed at replacing animal product. American brands like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have been around for about a decade, and Swedish Oatly was formed in the 90s. But NOTCO is filling a void in Latin America where plant-based alternatives were rare until recently.
Does it taste like beef?
MUCHNICK: Well, you tell me.
ROMO: As for the products themselves --
ROMO: It tastes very close like a real burger. What is different for burger is that the texture is very even.
It is like the real thing, but not quite the real thing.
What do you say to those who don't like what you are doing? Who say that this is not real food, this is fake food, it is going to go nowhere. What is your answer to that?
MUCHNICK: Well, I think my first answer would say, let's look at the numbers, right? It's (inaudible) that it has grown in double digits since 15 years.
ROMO: Muchnick himself, who claims he doesn't eat animal products, admits that plant-based alternatives are a work in progress. His technicians are always trying to improve, in terms of nutrition, taste and texture.
Rafael Romo, CNN --
Mind if I take another bite with you?
Santiago, Chile.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Well, that wraps this hour of "CNN Newsroom." I'm Kim Brunhuber, and we continue at the top of the hour with Isa Soares. Please do stay with us.
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