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U.S. Says Putin Has 70 Percent of Forces for Full Invasion; Eastern Ukraine City Defiant as Threat Looms; New Zealand Makes History at Winter Games; Moroccan Boy Dies after Four-Day Ordeal in a Well; Learning Disparity for India's Children; France Investigating Major Spill of Dead Fish. Aired 2-2:30a ET
Aired February 06, 2022 - 02:00 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, welcome, live from Studio 7 at the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Michael Holmes, appreciate your company.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, a disturbing reality revealed in new satellite images of Belarus. Russian troops massing near the Ukrainian border, the U.S., now saying that the Kremlin is getting closer to what it needs for a full scale invasion.
Plus, the royal bombshell from Queen Elizabeth: Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, will be getting a new title when Prince Charles takes the throne.
And, people around the world, mourning the death of legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar. We look back at the life of the Nightingale of India.
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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 that Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has assembled about 70 percent of the military force he needs to launch a full scale invasion of Ukraine, a threshold that raises the stakes with every additional soldier and weapon.
The latest satellite images, show Russian forces, gathering strength in Belarus, to the north. Some are positioned less than 50 kilometers from Ukraine's northern border. Some U.S. analysts fear that, if Russia were to launch an all out assault, Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, could fall in as little as 48 hours.
France's president, heading to Moscow on Monday, presumably, to reaffirm NATO solidarity as he again, tries to discourage further Russian aggression. CNN's Sam Kiley is, in Eastern Ukraine where residents of one city are as defiant as ever, after facing down the Russians for the past eight years. But we begin our coverage in Moscow, where the Kremlin is complaining,
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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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, close to the border. It is the center of the industrial heartland really, of Ukraine. But these demonstrators behind me are dwindling now.
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KILEY: 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 competition in full swing at the Winter Olympics. As day two gets underway in Beijing, five gold medals are up for grabs after New Zealand nabbed the gold in the women's slope style snowboarding. But political tensions and the COVID-19 pandemic, of course, continue to cast a shadow over these games.
CNN's Andy Scholes, here in Atlanta, with me, with the latest on the competition. First, let's go to Ivan Watson, standing by, live, in Hong Kong.
Ivan, tell us more about Xi Jinping and his diplomatic meetings.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He hosted foreign heads of state at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Absent, delegations from the U.S. Canada, Australia, a number of other countries engaged in a diplomatic boycott of these Winter Olympics.
Instead, Xi Jinping was hosting people like the prime minister of Pakistan, presidents of Egypt, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, among others.
Included were the United Nations secretary general, Antonio Guterres, who had his own one-on-one meeting with Xi Jinping, where he talked about working together with China, to battle the impact of the pandemic, of climate change, of global inequality, discussing Afghanistan and the need for more vaccines for the African continent.
Then, in an excerpt from Antonio Guterres' statement about this meeting, quote, "The secretary-general 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 Xinjiang is the region where the U.S.-led diplomatic boycott
revolved around allegations that Chinese authorities had detained more than 1 million Uyghurs and members of other ethnic Muslim minorities.
And, perhaps, that criticism and China's denial of any human rights abuses whatsoever in that region could have been a reason one of the Olympic athletes lighting the cauldron in Friday's opening ceremony was described as somebody of Uyghur descent from the Xinjiang region, perhaps also China trying to show, inclusivity, in the face of all this criticism.
Criticism that erupted, in an exchange, between the Canadian government, which joined the diplomatic boycott, with Justin Trudeau, the prime minister, asserting the human rights abuses, in Xinjiang, as a reason for it, and, the Chinese embassy in Canada, angrily, rejecting that and accusing the Canadian government of politicizing the Winter Olympics. Michael.
HOLMES: All right, Ivan Watson, appreciate, it thanks for that.
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HOLMES: Queen Elizabeth announcing a major elevation in the royal family as she celebrates her Platinum Jubilee. Britain's 95-year-old monarch calling for the Duchess of Cornwall to be called 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. But that was due to the sensitivities, of course, surrounding the title that was once destined for Charles first wife, Diana.
The queen made the announcement in a message, marking her 70 years on the throne, saying, in part, quote, "And when, in the fullness of time, my son, Charles, becomes king, I know you will give him and his wife, Camilla, the same support that you have given me.
"And, it is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as queen consort, as she continues her own loyal service."
After months and months at home, students in India's capital are heading back to class. Why many of them will not be on the same page as other children their age. That is when we come back.
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HOLMES: Efforts to rescue a little boy trapped in a well in Morocco have come to a heartbreaking end. On Saturday, rescuers managed to dig their way to the spot where 5-year-old Rayan had been stranded for days. But sadly, state media said he did not survive the ordeal. The rescue operation gripped the nation, as Al Goodman reports.
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HOLMES: Morocco's king later reaching out to Rayan's 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: 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 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. They expanded into a pushback against all COVID restrictions.
In the coming days, schools will be reopening for students in Delhi in India after being shut for nearly two years. But during that time, many classes moved online, of course. And that created a learning disparity for millions of children, who simply don't have access to the internet. CNN's Vedika Sud looks at India's digital divide.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) 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.
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: And India has announced two days of national mourning after the death of legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar at age 92. India's prime minister among the grieving, Narendra Modi tweeting, "I'm anguished beyond words. She leaves a void in our nation that cannot be filled." CNN's Ram Ramgopal has 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: French authorities are investigating after a large school of dead fish was discovered floating in the Bay of Biscay. The non-profit group Sea Shepherd first posted photographs of the spill, a Dutch owned trawler apparently responsible.
A fishing industry group says the incident was due to a rupture in the trawler's net but the head of Sea Shepherd France doubts it's an accident.
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LAMYA ESSEMLALI, SEA SHEPHERD FRANCE: The regulation has been incremented (ph) so that we can reduce the nonselective fishing methods because it's very demanding and time consuming and costs money for fishing vessels to go back to port and unload the bycatch and then go back to sea.
So the temptation is big for these vessels at sea without any witness, any control to just throw overboard all the bycatch and stay in the area and keep on fishing.
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HOLMES: The French sea minister called the fish kill shocking.
Now the highest glacier on Mt. Everest is disappearing rapidly due to human caused climate change. And it is a big deal.
A new study found that the mountain is losing decades worth of ice each year. The glacier has thinned out around 80 times faster than it was formed.
Researchers say that the findings not only confirm climate change has reached the highest points on Earth, rapid glacier 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.
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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.
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 serious issue. I'm Michael Holmes, thank you for spending part of your day with me, you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @HolmesCNN. "AFRICAN VOICES: CHANGEMAKERS" coming up.
