Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Russian and Chinese Presidents Tout Strategic Partnership to Counter West; Diplomatic Boycott of Beijing Olympics; Brazilians Outraged over Murder of Congolese Refugee. Aired 12-12:15a ET
Aired February 05, 2022 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[00:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Michael Holmes.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): And welcome to CNN NEWSROOM, everyone.
Our top story: France's president will spearhead the latest diplomatic efforts to defuse tensions over Ukraine when he heads to Moscow on Monday. Emmanuel Macron expected to try to get Moscow to offer some sign of de-escalation along Ukraine's borders.
And he'll seek to revive negotiations between Kyiv and Russian-backed separatists in Eastern Ukraine.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, its currently in Beijing for the start of the Winter Olympics. He and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, met before Friday's opening ceremony, pledging mutual support on numerous fronts, including their opposition to NATO expansion.
It is the first time in two years that President Xi has met another world leader in person. Here's how President Putin described the state of the relations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): As for our bilateral relations, they are developing linearly with a spirit of friendship and strategic partnership and have reached an unprecedented level.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: It wasn't just complimentary words; the two countries have entered into new economic partnerships, too. They presumably could help offset the impact of U.S. and E.U. sanctions, should Russia invade Ukraine. CNN's Nic Robertson with more from Moscow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: President Putin's trip to Beijing and meeting with President Xi of China proving to be a huge boost for President Putin's position.
He got reinforcement on his central message, that NATO should stop moving eastward and the United States is the country that is causing all the disruption in Eastern Europe at the moment.
He got buy-in from President Xi on that and both of them issuing a joint statement, talking about a deeper strategic coordination, that in that there would be a message for the world, not just on the security front but the economic front as well.
President Putin getting some big economic deals signed, one of them on oil. But also talks between the two leaders of future cooperation on high tech, on green tech.
Of course, Russia needs a lot of support there but there's an important piece of messaging for President Putin that he can do business with China. It may not cover all the deficit that he might have if there were every sanctions as promised by the United States and European nations if Russia invades Ukraine.
But signaling there that he does have another economic partner who can make up some of that potential shortfall. Meanwhile, back home, the United States, getting huge criticism for saying that Russia was planning a false flag operation involving actors, involving blood, that would then be used to precipitate an incursion, a Russian incursion into Ukraine.
The foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, calling that delusional, saying that there have been more and more of these things that clearly people didn't believe them. And heavy trolling as well for the State Department spokesman, Ned Price, on Russian TV, where a reporter asked him a question for more details about these allegations of a false flag operation.
Ned Price, not giving those details. And here, the Russian media playing that up, that this is just another empty claim by the United States -- Nic Robertson, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Turning our attention now to the Winter Games, where competition is in full swing, following Friday's opening ceremony in Beijing.
The big event was filled with fireworks, light shows and very colorful costumes. Some 3,000 performers taking part, most of them teenagers. The ceremony ended with two young Chinese Olympians, lighting the cauldron inside the stadium, one of them a member of China's Uyghur population.
Her inclusion especially noteworthy and uncontroversial, since China's alleged genocide of the Muslim minority group sparked a diplomatic boycott by several Western nations --
[00:05:00]
HOLMES: -- including the United States, Britain and Canada. Let's bring in CNN's Will Ripley, live for us in Taipei.
Always politics afoot at the Olympics at these days and perhaps most visible is using a member of the Uyghur minority as a torchbearer. Tell us about the opening ceremony.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, to see a cross country skier from Xinjiang, placing the Olympic flame in that giant snowflake. On the surface, a simple, beautiful moment.
But underneath, a not-so-subtle dig, a message to President Biden and the U.S., to all the West, that, despite their accusations of genocide against the largely Muslim minority in Xinjiang, which China denies, saying they're only fighting terrorism, they're not backing down.
By putting a Uyghur athlete front and center, they are saying that China should not be lectured on human rights or any other issue.
The same was true, by the way, when the Taiwanese athletes came out. They compete in the Olympics under the agreed upon name of Chinese Taipei, which is how it was announced to the whole world.
But inside China, they said China Taipei, implying that the self- governing island is part of the mainland, even though the Communist leaders of Mainland China have never controlled this island since the end of China's civil war.
So you see all this pomp and pageantry on the surface but there's a lot of political messaging just right underneath -- Michael.
HOLMES: Yes, absolutely.
And in general terms, how different did this opening ceremony feel, compared to pre-COVID-19?
And how will that impact the games overall?
RIPLEY: Well, we're still on the verge an ask which of course (ph) was made famous during the opening ceremonies in 2008, which were dubbed by many as probably the most lavish and impressive opening ceremonies ever.
I mean, it was extraordinary. They had 15,000 performers in 2008, just 3,000 performers this time around. You're talking about a shorter ceremony. It was four-plus hours in 2008 and about two hours this year, half of that.
So smaller, more modest but still relying heavily on technology, still relying heavily on spectacle and also, sending a different kind of message. 2008 was kind of China's showcase to the world of how far it's come.
Now they feel in China that they have established themselves and this was about sending a confident and politically charged message, you know, in light of all of the things happening around the world, from the pandemic to the tensions here in the Asia Pacific between the U.S., China and over the island of Taiwan. HOLMES: Absolutely. Will Ripley, appreciate it. Good to see you.
Thanks for that.
Now the Pentagon is revealing what it has learned from its investigation into the deadly ISIS-K attack on the Kabul airport last August. Officials say it was carried out by a single suicide bomber, not a complex operation; also involving gunmen, as was originally believed.
At least 170 Afghan civilians and 13 U.S. service members were killed. It happened as the U.S. and other countries conducted a chaotic evacuation effort, after the Taliban took over. The Pentagon says it is highly likely the attacker used an alternate route to the airport, to avoid a Taliban checkpoint.
Outrage in Brazil over the brutal murder of a Congolese refugee in Rio de Janeiro, many calling it a hate crime, sparking protests, a social media campaign and calls for justice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (voice-over): Police in Brazil are investigating the death of a young Congolese immigrant, after he was killed while working in Rio de Janeiro. Police say 23-year-old Moise Kabagambe was beaten to death on January 24, at a beach bar where he was a bartender.
His mother says he was killed when he demanded his boss pay him overdue wages. His friends and family are outraged.
CHADRAC KEMBILU, MOISE KABAGAMBE'S FRIEND (through translator): We are afraid of Rio de Janeiro. We didn't know that Rio de Janeiro was like this. A cowardly act that was carried out against our brother, Moise, I'm really sorry and sad.
HOLMES (voice-over): That anger has since spilled into the streets. Demonstrators chanted and held a banner, reading, "Fire to the racists." Many say his death is part of a larger issue of racial discrimination in Brazil.
MARIA LAURA CANINEU, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH (through translator): This case must be analyzed in the very serious context of violence against the Black population in Brazil, whose chance of being a victim of homicide is almost three times higher compared to non-Blacks.
What we are asking is that the investigation into this case scrutinizes the possible discrimination against the victim, against Moise, about his race and his origin.
HOLMES (voice-over): Kabagambe's murder has also ignited a social media campaign, calling for justice. Police say they have arrested three men in connection with the incident, which was caught on a security camera.
It shows Kabagambe being attacked by a group of men, who beat him repeatedly with a club and a baseball bat, according to police. The beach kiosk since has been shut down. [00:10:00]
HOLMES (voice-over): His mother said he came to Brazil in 2011, fleeing the armed conflict in his native Democratic Republic of Congo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Rescue workers in Morocco are racing against time to save a 5 year old boy, trapped in an underground well. The well is only about 50 centimeters wide and more than 30 meters deep.
Bulldozers digging near the well nearly reached that death before sunrise on Friday. Rescuers now must move horizontally to reach the boy. His mom says Rayan fell in Tuesday while playing in the area. One local resident says emergency crews have to be fast but careful.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The most complicated matter is the landslide. But the machines are operating and the teams are working hard, with no food or sleep.
HOLMES (voice-over): Rescuers have lowered in food, water and oxygen and a camera to monitor the boy's condition. Medical personnel on standby at the scene.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now just weeks after a deadly tropical storm hit Madagascar, the island is bracing for another dangerous cyclone. Tropical cyclone Batsirai is currently the equivalent of a category 4 hurricane. It's going to make landfall on the East Coast of the country in just a few hours. And it's expected to bring significant winds and flooding along with storm surge, along the coast.
Downing Street says British prime minister Boris Johnson has not lost control of his staff after the departure of a fifth close aide in two days. Mr. Johnson lost one of his special advisers on Friday, a day after four others called it quits.
The staff exodus, following a damning report over the so-called Partygate scandal. The report found Downing Street held multiple parties while the rest of the U.K. was under strict COVID lockdowns, mandated by the government. A growing number of Conservative lawmakers are now pushing for a no confidence vote against Mr. Johnson.
A stunning break between former U.S. vice president Mike Pence and his former boss, Donald Trump. Pence pushing back against Trump's false claims, that he had the power to change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: And I heard this week that President Trump said I had the right to overturn the election. But President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election. The presidency belongs to the American people and the American people alone.
And frankly, there is no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president. Under the Constitution, I had no right to change the outcome of our election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Former president Trump issued a statement in response, a short time ago, doubling down on his false claims.
Well, thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Holmes CNN. Stay tuned for "MARKETPLACE AFRICA." I'll see you a little bit later.
