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U.S. Says Putin Has 70 Percent of Forces for Full Invasion; Eastern Ukraine City Defiant as Threat Looms; Queen Elizabeth Announces Charles' Wife Will Be Queen Camilla; Xi Holds More Diplomatic Meetings with World Leaders; How China Has Changed since 2008 Games; New Zealand Makes History at Winter Games; Moroccan Boy Dies after Four-Day Ordeal in a Well; Learning Disparity for India's Children. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired February 06, 2022 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world, I'm Michael Holmes, I appreciate your company.
Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, new satellite images show Russia's military buildup along Ukraine's borders. What the U.S. says it is now capable of.
A surprising and sincere wish from Queen Elizabeth, looking to the future of the monarchy.
And a wake up call for all of us. New evidence that the highest ice on Earth may be gone in just decades.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Michael Holmes.
HOLMES: U.S. officials now believe Russian president Vladimir Putin has assembled about 70 percent of the military force he needs to launch a full scale invasion of Ukraine. This is a threshold that raises the stakes with every additional soldier and weapon.
The latest satellite images show Russian forces gathering in strength in Belarus. Some are positioned less than 50 kilometers from Ukraine's northern border.
In neighboring Poland, senior U.S. military members arrived on Saturday as NATO looks to reinforce its eastern flank. This comes as the head of NATO is due to meet with the Polish president.
Diplomacy is still on the table, however. France's president heads to Moscow on Monday to try to nudge the Kremlin to de-escalate.
And European Council president Charles Michel says he spoke with Ukrainian President Zelensky to reaffirm the E.U.'s strong solidarity with Ukraine. We begin our coverage in Moscow. The Kremlin is complaining that the West is ruining the Beijing Olympics with so much negative focus on Ukraine. Here is CNN's Nic Robertson.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The foreign ministry spokeswoman has described it as a very unsightly picture. That is, she says, the West putting all attention and focus, on what is happening in Ukraine, putting pressure on Russia and all of that, she said, detracting while the Olympics are going on in Beijing.
So more criticism, coming from officials here in Russia and meanwhile President Macron's getting ready for his meeting on Monday with President Putin, where the pair of them will talk about ways to de- escalate and bring about a reduction in current tensions.
The French president, speaking on Saturday, with both Boris Johnson the British prime minister and the NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg. And interestingly both the leaders recommending and advising President Macron of France to maintain the unity of NATO, to maintain that strength of message when talking with President Putin, that NATO is all aligned.
That is very much the same message that Macron got in his phone call, a couple of days ago with President Biden and the day before that, with the prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau.
Why do they say this?
Partly because part of President Macron's agenda, not only to bring about some peace talks between the Ukrainian authorities and the pro Russian separatists in the Eastern Ukraine and also to get President Putin to de-escalate tensions, reduce the presence of troops around the Ukraine but he also wants to carve out a stronger foreign policy and defense voice for the European Union within NATO.
And, obviously, concerns among some that would break the picture of unity of NATO that's being presented to President Putin. But President Macron's saying not expecting huge breakthroughs on Monday. But the Kremlin have described President Macron as a good interlocutor -- Nic Robertson, CNN, Moscow.
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HOLMES: In Eastern Ukraine, residents of the city of Kharkiv say they were scared when the Russians seized Crimea eight years ago. But they say they are not frightened anymore. Now they are defiant. CNN's Sam Kiley is there.
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SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a city of 1.5 million people; at least three quarters of them are native Russian speakers. It is only around 30 miles from the Russian border. Now the end of the last month, President Zelensky here said that he
fears that Kharkiv could be high on the target list, when it came to a Russian invasion. Not only because is it a Russian speaking town but it is quite close to the front line.
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KILEY: It's close to the border. It is the center of the industrial heartland really, of Ukraine.
But these demonstrators behind me are dwindling now. But they came out today, in a show of unity, with the slogans here being, "East and West," that is, East and West Ukraine, united. Of course, the east of the country or some of the east of the country was illegally captured by force, by the Russian-backed separatists.
And, indeed, Russian troops annexed Crimea, due south, effectively, of the capital city. So they are deeply concerned that they are trying to demonstrate to fellow Ukrainians, that Kharkiv is, in no way, going to be a rollover to any potential Russian invasion.
There have been people hear from the far-right and the gay community. Normally, people who are loggerheads in this town, openly, in this state of friction but, here, they are trying to say, they are all coming together, particularly, as Russian speakers, to reject what they say, are the Russian threats and aggression.
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HOLMES: Sam Kiley reporting there.
Now Queen Elizabeth has just made history while celebrating her Platinum Jubilee year by announcing a major elevation in the royal family.
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ELIZABETH II, QUEEN OF ENGLAND: There. Somebody else can finish it off, do the rest of it.
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HOLMES (voice-over): The queen there cutting a cake, marking her 70 years on the throne, at a special reception in Sandringham on Saturday. She used the milestone to say it is her wish that the Duchess of Cornwall will be known as Queen Camilla when Prince Charles becomes king.
When the couple married in 2005, they announced that she would be known as princess consort, despite having a right to the title of queen. That was due to the sensitivity surrounding the title which was once destined for Charles' first wife, Diana.
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HOLMES: Joining me now from Washington's is royals expert Sally Bedell Smith. She is the author of both "Elizabeth the Queen" and "Prince Charles." So a great voice to have on this.
There was perhaps a hint of how the queen felt about Camilla with the new year, an announcement that she would be a member of the Order of the Garter, which is the highest order of chivalry.
Still, how significant is this announcement?
SALLY BEDELL SMITH, ROYALS EXPERT: It's hugely significant, not least because of the timing that the queen would issue this announcement on the eve of her extraordinary milestone of 70 years on the throne.
And, I think, she is a very commonsensical, wise thing for her to do. I mean, it's kind of masterful that she would have chosen this moment. I don't think anyone was expecting it. And as you say, by giving Camilla the garter, just a month ago, it showed, that really, she appreciates the service that she has done, Camilla has done to honor --
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HOLMES: And back in the fold, too, isn't it?
Because that says a lot about Queen Camilla, it says a lot about her role, her position in the family and how it has evolved since Princess Diana's death, right?
SMITH: Absolutely. There were years where she was persona non grata. When she became Charles' wife in 2005, his advisors, I understand, why they did it. But they wanted to mitigate any kind of dissatisfaction over his marrying her, because, the memory of Diana was, still, very fresh.
They said, all right, it is our intention that Camilla will be the princess consort. Well, that was a nonstarter, really. I think they did it just to kind of smooth the waters. But they created a kind of ambiguity about what her position, really, would be under the law, under tradition. She was always going to be queen.
But they inserted this element of doubt. And the queen, very sensibly, said it is my sincere wish that she be Queen Camilla.
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HOLMES: And she basically said, I hope everyone treats her nicely. So she is getting in ahead, as well.
The announcement means that Prince Charles' age isn't an issue for the queen as well, when it comes to succession. There were suggestions around that the role of king might skip Charles and go to William, when the queen passes, partly for age but partly because Camilla.
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HOLMES: Well, that's out the window now, too.
SMITH: Yes, that is gone. Now the queen is in very fine fettle and talked about the fullness of time. The other message that she sent, very strongly in this statement was that she was going to continue working, as she always has, that she was going to continue to carry out her duties.
And in other words, no notion of abdicating. I think it was equally important that she emphasized that. The Camilla piece of it was the surprise and, I think, a happy surprise because it sets things out for Charles and Camilla. And it removes an element of uncertainty, that I think would have accompanied his succession and could have caused people to say, well, shouldn't she be the princess consort?
And why should she be Queen Camilla?
Now we know why she should be Queen Camilla. Not only is it what she deserves but it is what the queen, really, wants her to be.
HOLMES: I have to leave it there, Sally Bedell Smith, thank you so much.
SMITH: My pleasure.
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HOLMES: Still to come here on the, program we will take a look at the dramatic ways that China has changed since the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. This year's games are in full swing, meanwhile, as the second day of competition kicks off with a historic win, we will have the details and more after the break.
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HOLMES: Competition is in full swing at the Winter Olympics as day 2 is underway in Beijing. But political tensions and the COVID-19 pandemic continue to cast a shadow over the games.
The Chinese President Xi Jinping met with more world leaders on Saturday. This was one day after putting on a show of unity with the Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Meanwhile, China reporting 10 new COVID cases among Olympic personnel on Saturday, despite the game strict COVID protocols. For more, let's bring in CNN's Ivan Watson, live in Hong Kong.
Tell us more about the diplomatic meetings of Xi Jinping and a banquet with friendly faces.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Xi Jinping and his wife welcomed presidents who have come to the Olympic host city, meetings with the presidents of Egypt and Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan among others.
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WATSON: Hosting them at this lavish dinner with this really remarkable table in the middle with 3D models in it. And among the dignitaries there was the U.N. secretary general Antonio Guterres, who put out a statement after his own one-on-one meeting with Xi Jinping, thanking him for the hospitality and talking about the need to work with China on a host of issues that have challenged the globe, such as the pandemic and climate change, such as income inequality and calling for bringing more vaccines to the African continent, for example.
There was a line that stuck out to me here because, in his statement, the secretary general said, quote, "also expressed his expectation that the contacts between the office of the high commissioner for human rights and the Chinese authorities will allow for a credible visit of the high commissioner to China, including Xinjiang."
And of course, allegations of gross human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region were part of the pretext for a U.S.-led diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics. China vigorously denying accusations that it has rounded up 1 million or more ethnic Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region.
And there has been discussion about a U.N. delegation being able to go visit there. And as the U.N. secretary-general pointed out, a credible visit, in his words, to that region. The Xinjiang issue is the subject of a fresh flap between the Canadian government and the Chinese embassy in Canada, not liking the fact that Xinjiang and human rights abuses were raised.
China is perhaps making its own statement by, in the opening ceremony, having a Uyghur athlete from Xinjiang helping light the Olympic cauldron in a show of unity in those opening ceremonies -- Michael.
Yes, Ivan, thanks. Ivan Watson there in Hong Kong for us.
Now China has changed dramatically since it last hosted the Olympics in the summer of 2008. Those games were seen by many as a sort of coming out party, evidence that China had made it as a full fledged world power.
Then U.S. president George W. Bush attended, even taking in an event with China's foreign minister, setting aside their differences to celebrate sport. Now the political environment today is much different, of course. Several nations have joined a diplomatic boycott of this years games to protest alleged human rights abuses.
This op-ed from "The Atlantic," says that, "In the past 14 years, China has gained power, wealth and ambition, all sure to be on display in the coming weeks. But with that has come rising nationalism and intolerance.
"This China wishes to dictate the terms of its relations with other nations to ensure its interests predominate. That is precisely how it is managing the Winter Games."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: Joining me now is the author of that op-ed, Michael Schuman. He is also a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub.
Thanks so much for being with us. As you write in "The Atlantic," it is striking that, looking at the 2008 games and the 2022 version, you see two different games and two different countries politically and socially.
Opening the doors to the world in 2008, soft power, some people call it; closing doors in 2022.
How stark the difference?
MICHAEL SCHUMAN, SENIOR FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL'S GLOBAL CHINA HUB: Well, it is unfortunate. But this Olympics, I think, is pointing to a much darker future than what we saw in 2008. I mean, 2008 was, I think, a more hopeful period, that China was going to be a rising power.
And as a rising power, it was going to become a global leader with a positive role in the world, that the U.S. and China were going to be partners in this global order and that the world was heading to a period of very peaceful integration and then greater prosperity.
Unfortunately, now, I think we are seeing the Olympics herald a very different future, a future of greater superpower competition, greater conflict and a situation where, I think, you also have lost opportunities.
I am afraid that we are going to look back on these Olympics as a lost opportunity, a time when maybe all parties could have put aside these differences and shown that they can still get together on things.
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SCHUMAN: But if you cannot come together on things as simple as a sporting event, how can you deal with things like climate change, trade and nuclear weapons?
Yes.
HOLMES: Is there an easy way to explain the challenge of direction, the reduced trust, less willingness to be open?
When Deng Xiaoping began China's reforms, a phrase he used often was "reform and opening."
Has reform and opening become close up and crack down?
SCHUMAN: Of course, the Chinese leadership still talks very much about reform and opening up. When you look at their policies, you see something very different. You don't see the kind of economic integration that you saw in the past. You are talking self sufficiency. You are seeing a greater wariness around foreign influence and culture and media. The great firewall gets higher and higher. I think part of this is
very much a political shift in China. The government of Xi Jinping has different priorities. They want to strengthen what they see as a superior socialist system.
And I think part of it is that this government has different global ambitions. They want to have a bigger role in the world and they want to determine what that role is and prioritize their interests.
That has been playing out in the Olympics with what Ivan was talking about in terms of how they are presenting the Uyghur situation, how they changed the name of Taiwan in the opening ceremonies. These are all signs of how China sees it is using the Olympics to show how its interests should be dominant.
HOLMES: Right.
What are the risks for Xi Jinping?
In particular, in striving to make China more self sustaining, its own internal supply chain and on and on?
You write that that could shrink his country's role in the global economy.
What then the risks are there for him and China in that regard?
SCHUMAN: Well, there are risks. China hit on that winning formula, reforming and opening up is what made the country the second largest economy in the world and a great power. Now you see that the government is not completely ditching reform and opening up but pivoting into something more insular and more defensive and more wariness about integrating with the world.
So in certain ways they are reversing the policies that have been basically proven to work. So you are potentially looking at a economy that is more isolated, that therefore may become less innovative and less productive, more state controlled.
HOLMES: Right.
SCHUMAN: And this is not positive for China's economic direction or global direction as a great power.
HOLMES: And quickly, before we let you go, it is striking that a China that was sensitive to human rights criticisms and so in back in 2008 is now on the front foot, really. They are securing their global clout, if you like, not really caring what the West and others might say.
Do you think that this is an attitude that is here to stay?
SCHUMAN: I definitely think it is an attitude that is here to stay. You are looking at a leadership that becomes more and more convinced in the superiority of their own global political and social system. And they increasingly want to promote that system as a superior model for the world rather than American style democracy.
And I think, as part of that, you are going to see this greater resistance to criticism of their human rights record.
HOLMES: Fascinating analysis. Michael Schuman, we really appreciate the time. Thanks so much.
SCHUMAN: Thank you.
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HOLMES: Now in Beijing the games go on, mostly as usual. Five gold medals are still up for grabs on Sunday after officials postponed the men's downhill skiing because of high winds.
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HOLMES: India has announced two days of national mourning after the death of legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar at age 92. India's prime minister paid tribute, tweeting, "I am anguished beyond words. She leaves a void in our nation that cannot be filled."
CNN's Ram Ramgopal with more.
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RAM RAMGOPAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She was known as the Nightingale of India. Lata Mangeshkar had a voice like no other.
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RAMGOPAL (voice-over): Often heard but not seen in films, she was the most popular playback singer in Bollywood history, reigning over the country's film industry for 70 years.
Her talent also carried over to Hollywood. Her legendary voice can be heard in movies like "Life of Pi," "Lion" and "The 100 Foot Journey." She has sung thousands of songs for hundreds of movies in dozens of Indian languages.
At one point, she was the most recorded artist in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records. She told Indian station NDTV there was nothing she loved more than to sing.
LATA MANGESHKAR, LEGENDARY INDIAN SINGER (through translator): My voice is a gift of nature. Daily practice and discipline is a must. My only desire is to go on singing.
RAMGOPAL (voice-over): Born in 1929, she was the oldest of five children and their father was well known Indian entertainer and classical singer Deenanath Mangeshkar. At just 5 years of age, Lata Mangeshkar began singing in her father's musicals, recording her first song at the age of 13.
After his sudden death, she turned to acting in order to help support her family. Her unique singing style and unusually high-pitched voice transformed Indian playback singing in the 1940s.
Hit after hit, she became one of Bollywood's most sought-after playback singers, with India's most successful stars lip synching to her songs.
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RAMGOPAL (voice-over): She won award after award, including India's highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna, and Indian music's lifetime achievement award. Lata Mangeshkar, melody queen, a musical icon in India and around the world, known for charming millions through song for decades.
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HOLMES: Welcome back, I'm Michael Holmes. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.
In Morocco, efforts to rescue a boy trapped in a well have come to a heartbreaking end. On Saturday, rescuers managed to dig their way to the spot where 5-year-old had Rayan been stranded for days. But state media said, sadly, he did not survive. As Al Goodman reports, Morocco's king, later, reached out to the family.
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AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was a tragic accident that claimed the life of a child, said Morocco's king, Mohamed VI in a statement, according to Morocco's royal palace. The king called the parents of the boy, 5 year old Rayan, to offer condolences.
The king's call came after rescuers reached the boy on Saturday evening. He had been in the well since Tuesday afternoon local time until Saturday evening local time, more than four days.
On Friday, rescuers said he was alive. And on Thursday his father told local TV in Morocco that rescuers had gotten food and water to his son and he was hoping that he would be pulled out alive.
The rescue operation was certainly not easy, according to authorities; the well was narrow, just about a 1.5 feet wide, 55 centimeters in diameter. So they decided to dig down a parallel hole about 130 feet or 30 meters down and then try to get over horizontally. They encountered numerous obstacles, they said, including some
landslides, some boulders. But on Saturday, earlier, there was an air of optimism in the afternoon that they were getting very, very close. There were high hopes for an operation that would've turned out differently than this one did -- Al Goodman, CNN, Madrid.
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HOLMES: For the sixth day in a row, South Korea is reporting a daily record in new COVID cases. Officials, recording nearly 39,000 new infections, on Saturday. This, coming after South Korea extended social distancing measures, by two weeks, on Friday.
And, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he had tested positive for COVID. On Saturday, Mr. Erdogan tweeted that he and his wife, had contracted the Omicron variant and were experiencing mild symptoms.
During an interview last year, he said he had received his third vaccination in June.
In the coming days, schools will be reopening, for students, in Delhi, India, after being shut for nearly two years. During that time, many classes moved online, creating a learning disparity for millions of children, who, simply, didn't have access to the internet. CNN's Vedika Sud, looking at India's digital divide.
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VEDIKA SUD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With several states in India experiencing a third wave of COVID-19, millions of children haven't gone back to school some, for over 600 days.
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SUD: They've been adapting to remote learning from their homes. And then, there are millions of others who have been forced to cut short their education, due to inaccessibility to digital devices and financial setbacks, caused by the pandemic. Tenirol Ansura (ph) is one of them.
SUD (voice-over): Fourteen-year-old Avankaka (ph) has not been inside a classroom for over 600 days. Millions, like her, are still adjusting to remote learning.
AVANKAKA (PH), REMOTE LEARNING STUDENT: Ma'am, can you explain Python again?
SUD (voice-over): Avankaka (ph) is fortunate to have unhindered access to a laptop and a internet connection for online classes. Just 50 kilometers away, in just the small, seven by nine foot room, Tenirol Ansura (ph) lives with her parents and younger brother.
She does not have access to a laptop or internet. Her mother sorts waste for a living. She earns less than $70 per month and cannot afford a smartphone. MURSHIDA BIBI, ANSURA'S MOTHER (through translator): The pandemic has
been brutal. My daughter was studying, she was trying to learn. I was hoping to enroll my son into school.
SUD (voice-over): With the help of an NGO, Ansura first walked into a government school in 2019. Her formal learning had just started, when the pandemic forced schools to shut down.
I asked what she liked learning in school.
The 10-year-old said she has forgotten most of it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).
The only exposure to learning that Ansura gets is when a member of the NGOs sits with her, in this public space, by the road. She is one of many who, desperately, wait for these informal sessions.
SUD: According to UNICEF, only one in four children in India has access to digital devices and internet connectivity.
SUD (voice-over): A March 2021 report by the agency says, school closures have affected a staggering, 247 million children, in elementary and secondary schools. In its economic survey published last month, the Indian government said, the dropout rate caused by the pandemic, is yet to be ascertained. Experts say the learning loss for this generation could be irreparable, especially for the marginalized.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So the dropout rate in India was 17 (ph) percent pre-pandemic and we estimate, that it will go even higher. Because, along with lack of digital devices and access on education, the income loss that the parents are suffering, is also, impacting children.
SUD (voice-over): Ansura hopes to be a teacher someday. But with the digital divide, deepening and already stark socioeconomic crisis, her right to an education has been interrupted. The chances of catching up on the last years look bleak.
SUD: According to UNICEF, 80 percent of children between the ages of 14 to 18 years, reported lower levels of learning than when physically at school. Imagine the learning loss, for those who can't afford even a smartphone to stay connected with school -- Vedika Sud, CNN, New Delhi.
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HOLMES: Protests against COVID restriction spread to cities across Canada on Saturday.
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HOLMES (voice-over): These trucks blocked a major intersection in Toronto for a few hours, in line with what we've seen in Quebec City as well.
In the capital, Ottawa, where noisy demonstrations have shut down the parliament area for a week, some protesters showed up on horseback. The protests were started by truck drivers opposed to a federal mandate requiring those crossing the border into Canada to be vaccinated. But they then expanded into a general pushback against all COVID restrictions.
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HOLMES: But there is another side to the protest and the so-called freedom convoy. Ottawa police are conducting around 50 criminal investigations related to the protesters, including for possible hate crimes.
Local businesses say that they are losing customers and money and, as Paula Newton reports, many residents are at their wits' end.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The sound is deafening. Yet protesters are demanding to be heard.
All day long and at all hours of the night, those with the so-called freedom convoy say they're staying put until vaccine mandates are dropped, the masks come off and life returns to the way it was.
JAMES MACDONALD, PROTESTER: This whole event has gone beyond just vaccines and it is now about the entire ordeal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're asking for our freedom. That's all we want.
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NEWTON (voice-over): So they've been free, free to park big rigs right next to the Prime Minister's Office, free to set up camp in front of the country's National Parliament.
NEWTON (on camera): As angry and frustrated as these protesters are, residents say they feel like hostages and they want police to do more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I understand the police force does not want to directly intervene for fear of violence but it feels like we've been left alone a little bit.
NEWTON (voice-over): So desperate was this woman, she appealed directly to the protesters.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The downtown residents, children, elderly are suffering.
NEWTON (voice-over): They heard her but they're not listening.
It seems to anyone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is nothing but disruptive. They are using, they're claiming their freedom while I can't even like hear anything, I can't even hear myself. NEWTON (voice-over): Ottawa Police say they have learned much in the past week, especially after reports of assaults, intimidation and allegations of hate speech and symbols.
CHIEF PETER SLOLY, OTTAWA POLICE SERVICE: Our goal is to end the demonstration.
NEWTON (voice-over): To try and do that, they have called in more reinforcements moving to what they call a surge and contain strategy but the Police Chief warns --
SLOLY: This remains as it was from the beginning, an increasingly volatile and increasingly dangerous demonstration.
NEWTON (voice-over): And it is spreading like a contagion itself. Right across the country, a handful of protests now including a border blockade between Alberta and Montana.
And now Canada's largest city, Toronto, closing a large section in front of the provincial legislature this weekend as truckers descend and more worrying, closing off the adjacent hospital row where exhausted healthcare workers carry on battling COVID.
CHIEF JAMES RAMER, TORONTO POLICE: Anyone who attempts to disrupt hospital access and routes of emergency operations, including ambulance, fire or police will be subject to strict enforcement.
NEWTON (voice-over): And yet both police and political leaders are warning this now resembles an occupation with no quick or easy end -- Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.
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HOLMES: If you are tired of having a Q-tip up your nostril while testing for COVID, Vienna has a unique alternative, a gargle PCR test. The Austrian capital came out with it in 2020 and now it is part of the Everybody Gargles Initiative.
It is simple and, obviously, convenient. Residents register online, stop at a drugstore, pick up a test kit and then gargle away. They can drop off their samples at a supermarket or gas station and get the results via email in 24 hours.
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MICHAEL HAVEL, CEO, LIFEBRAIN (through translator): It is extremely accessible. You don't need a medical professional like you do for a nasal swab. Gargling is so safe and you can detect, even with very small amounts of it.
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HOLMES: Sounds like a good idea. The Lifebrain laboratory in Austria analyzes the gargle tests and says, it can do 800,000 of them per day.
Climate change has reached the highest points of Earth. A new study reveals the impact of climate change, on some of the world's most remote glaciers. I speak with the leader of a record breaking expedition, behind that study, next.
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HOLMES: Disturbing news now, the highest glacier on Mt. Everest is disappearing rapidly due to human caused climate change. A new study found the mountain is losing decades worth of ice every year and that the glacier has thinned out around 80 times faster than it formed.
Researchers say the findings not only confirm climate change has reached the highest points on Earth but that rapid glacial melt at such altitudes could bring worsening climate disasters, including more frequent avalanches and the drying up of water sources for more than 1.5 billion people.
My next guest led the record-breaking expedition to Everest, which conducted the survey.
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HOLMES: Joining me now from Brooklin, Maine, is Paul Mayewski. He's a director and professor at Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine.
Professor, it's interesting; the headline at cnn.com about this was striking, saying, "Ice that took 2,000 years to form on Mt. Everest has melted in around 25."
I mean, that is mind-blowing.
How shocking is it?
PAUL MAYEWSKI, CLIMATE CHANGE INSTITUTE, UNIVERSITY OF MAINE: It was pretty shocking to us. As you go higher and higher up in the mountain, it obviously gets colder and colder. And we assumed that that glacier would be much better preserved than that.
And quite apart from what it says about the speed of climate change impact, what will be the real world impact of losing that ice?
What does that do?
MAYEWSKI: Well, we know very little about what goes above 5,000 meters. This site, it's just above 8,000 meters. So it is important to add that information. Glaciers throughout the world and mountains, as we know, are decreasing in size. We thought it was particularly in the lower elevations.
As it turns out, it is in the upper elevations as well. And these glaciers provide water for hydro power, for agriculture, for human and ecosystem consumption. They are what we call water towers. And they impact millions and millions of people.
Depending on how you look at it, it could be as much as 10 percent to 15 percent of Earth's population, obviously not just from this little glacier but from all of these glaciers. So the more we know about these high elevation sites and how long they will be around is very important.
HOLMES: Yes, such a staggering number of people impacted. over a billion, I think. Glacier melting has been widely studied. As you say, though, not so much at these altitudes.
Why is it significant that it happens and what is happening so high up matters?
MAYEWSKI: What is particularly interesting about this is how a change from snow surface to glacier surface, which is a darker surface, has such a dramatic and fast impact. If you have a white surface, it reflects a lot of incoming radiation. If you have a dark surface, it reflects much more. It allows a bit of melting, even at that elevation. And it increases sublimation dramatically.
Sublimation is the transition from solid to gas. And as a consequence, it is the same thing that is happening in the Arctic. As you lose Arctic Sea ice, it is magnified by the fact that you lose that white surface. And all of a sudden, you have an ocean that is exposed and also gives off heat and also absorbs heat.
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HOLMES: So it is a chain reaction, isn't it, of impacts. I was interested, too, the expedition that led to these findings in itself was an extraordinary challenge. I think it set three Guinness world records.
How tough was it and why?
MAYEWSKI: It was a very impressive expedition. It was supported by National Geographic Society and Rolex. We had 35 researchers in the fields and many local people helping us, 15 Sherpas, to get all of the equipment up. People worked all the way from the lower Khumbu Valley right up to 8,400 meters. And this ice core was a world record.
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MAYEWSKI: And the automatic weather stations that were put in were the two highest in the world. All these things give us more information that we've never had before.
HOLMES: It is a stunning achievement and the information found is so vital.
I guess the question is, can it be turned around or is it too late for these glaciers? MAYEWSKI: It is unlikely that it will be turned around. Obviously, warming is increasing and it did not take very much warming for this transition to occur. This happens to be enough to go from that, to lose the snow and suddenly have that darker surface.
So it is unlikely it will be turned around in the long run. That does not mean that there not might be a year or two here and there when there is some snow cover and the glacier is better protected.
But in general, this particular glacier, which is the last that people go over before they go up to the summit of Mt. Everest, will probably be gone in the next 2 to 3 decades.
HOLMES: That is utterly depressing but important for people to know the impacts are going to be huge. Professor Paul Mayewski, thank you so much. Really appreciate the work you do.
MAYEWSKI: My pleasure, thank you.
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HOLMES: A powerful storm is battering the island of Madagascar. The tropical cyclone Batsirai made landfall on Saturday with winds the equivalent of a category three hurricane that has since weakened considerably but residents are reporting strong winds, power blackouts and destroyed homes.
And experts say torrential rain could lead to widespread life- threatening flooding. It is forecast to move into the Mozambique Channel and regain strength.
All right. And talk about a bird's-eye view, a mischievous parrot in New Zealand snatched a family's GoPro camera and took it for a ride. Look at this.
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HOLMES (voice-over): The bird captured stunning aerial views of the hiking trail at the Fjordland National Park, flying in a straight line over trees and lush greenery before landing on the ground. And as for the camera, the family followed the sound of squawking to recover their GoPro. And that's why we get to see the pictures.
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HOLMES: We will be right back.
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HOLMES: We want to give you a quick recap of one of our top stories. Britain's Queen Elizabeth says it is her wish that Prince Charles' wife be known as Queen Camilla when he becomes king. She would've been expected to consult with her direct heirs, Charles
and William, before making such a major announcement about a title and that suggested both princes agreed and felt that the public was ready to accept the Duchess of Cornwall as queen when the time comes.
This announcement comes as the 95-year-old monarch celebrates a historic 70 years on the throne. CNN's Max Foster has more on the queen's Platinum Jubilee.
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MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): During her reign, Queen Elizabeth has celebrated three landmark jubilees: Silver in 1977, Golden in 2002 and her Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
This year, having already surpassed the record-breaking reign of Queen Victoria, Elizabeth becomes the first British monarch to mark a Platinum Jubilee. That's an unprecedented seven decades of service.
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FOSTER (voice-over): During her historic reign, she has appointed 14 prime ministers and met 12 U.S. presidents.
QUEEN ELIZABETH: I have been privileged to witness some of that history.
FOSTER (voice-over): She has been a beacon of continuity through an unprecedented period of change, not least the media revolution.
Her greatest achievement, perhaps, has been her ability to remain relevant and popular. Approaching her 96th birthday, for almost everyone living, she is the only British monarch they have ever known.
With no path to retire, a series of celebrations will take place throughout the year, culminating in a four-day public holiday weekend in June, when the public can join the jubilee-themed festivities.
Expect blockbuster pomp and pageantry, street parties and parades, a concert with some of the world's biggest stars slated to attend.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's going to be some surprises that leave really, the palace is aware that this as much as everybody as it has been a long time coming. No one has really been able to party for quite a long time. So hopefully there will be a big party. COVID-19 will be behind us and people can celebrate outdoors and indoors in the way they like.
FOSTER (voice-over): After one of the most tumultuous years in modern royal history, the queen will be hoping to put the focus back on the future of the monarchy. The family have been engulfed by a series of rifts and scandals. But the institution still appears to project strength through its unwavering and revered figurehead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The significant thing that we do have remember, that when she came to the throne in 1952, it was really not a very enlightened time in terms of working women. A lot of people thought that a woman was not up to the job, despite the fact that Queen Victoria and all the queens before her had been great queens on the throne.
She proved them all wrong and really has proved over and over again that a woman can do the job of a constitutional monarch just as well as, if not better, than a man.
FOSTER (voice-over): For the first time this year, Elizabeth will be without Prince Philip at a major royal celebration, the man who was by her side personally and professionally throughout her reign.
Prince Charles will step into play a major role as will Camilla, William and Kate. They are the future and will be front and center alongside the queen. Perhaps we will also be looking ahead to the next jubilee, when the queen surpasses France's Louis XIV to become the longest serving reigning monarch in world history -- Max Foster, CNN.
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HOLMES: I am Michael Holmes, thanks for spending part of your day with me. Don't go anywhere, though, I will be back with more CNN NEWSROOM after a break.
