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Emmanuel Macron Meeting with Vladimir Putin; Peng Shuai Met with IOC President; Canadian Cancer Survivor Wins Gold Medal; U.S. Records 900,000 COVID Deaths; Australia Welcomes Fully Vaccinated Travelers; China Continues with Zero Tolerance Policy. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired February 07, 2022 - 03:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United State and all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom. And I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, the French president heads to Russia on a critical diplomatic mission. His goal, averting a Russian invasion into Ukraine and restoring peace on the border.

A city in China is implementing lockdown measures for nearly three and a half million people after COVID cases spiked in the region. We'll bring you a live report on the latest restrictions.

Plus, Queen Elizabeth celebrates a major milestone. How she is commemorating her platinum jubilee and her plans for the future of the monarchy.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN center, this is CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: And thanks for joining us. Well, the latest diplomatic push to ease tensions between Russia and Ukraine will begin to play out in Moscow in the next hour. That's when French President Emmanuel Macron is set to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Later, U.S. President Joe Biden will hold talks with the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House. Multiple U.S. officials say Russia has mustered about 70 percent of the troops and equipment it needs for a full-scale invasion. New satellite images show Russian deployments in Belarus. They show Russian camps hundreds of kilometers away from planned joint exercises and close to the Ukrainian border.

Meanwhile, the eighth U.S. shipment of military aid arrived in Ukraine on Sunday, but Ukraine is downplaying the threat. The foreign minister urged people not to believe in what he called apocalyptic predictions.

Well, CNN correspondents are tracking the developments. Melissa Bell is in Kyiv, but first let's turn to Nic Robertson who joins us live from Moscow. So, Nic, as these diplomatic efforts move into overdrive, the French

president is poised to meet with President Putin in Moscow next hour in an effort to find an off-ramp. What is achievable during these talks?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Not a lot. The officer, President Macron say that the Kremlin describes him as a quality inter-locutor. But they also say that there is so much, sort of heavy diplomatic lifting to be done here that is unlikely to be done in a day in a single meeting.

Now President Macron has had three phone calls quite recently with President Putin. One of them was quite lengthy, for a couple of hours. It does seem that there is some traction in their conversation. President Macron has spoken over the past few days with President Biden twice, the second time yesterday. He's spoken with the Polish president, Duda, with Boris Johnson, the British prime minister, he's spoken with the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau.

He's spoken with the NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg. He promises to have, you know, to keep his allies in Europe and NATO informed and up to date. And that's been the thrust of a lot of those conversations about the importance of unity.

But what he's trying to achieve here today with President Putin will be to try to get him to de-escalate the tensions around Ukraine. Now, the satellite evidence seems to point to the fact that President Putin isn't inclined to do that, and potentially even moving forces into what's considered a more threatening position. But that will be one of President Macron's aims.

He obviously wants to try to de-escalate the situation, but it doesn't appear as if there is very much that he can put on the table to attempt President Putin to do that. Because what President Putin wants in terms of NATO, he's been told that that's a no-go.

President Putin for his part will be looking to put pressure on President Macron to use his voice, President Macron, the French voice inside the Normandy for talks on the Minsk agreement to get Ukrainian officials in Kyiv, the capital, to talk to the pro-Russian separatist in the east of the country in Donbas. That will be a heavy lift, too. So, it's a very, very long path he's embarking on. And it appears the time potentially is quite short because of the maneuver of Russian forces around Ukraine at the moment.

CHURCH: Yes, the world is holding its breath right now. We'll wait to see what comes of this.

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And, Melissa, the French president also heading to Ukraine Tuesday, but Kyiv is desperately playing down this threat. What is the latest on all of this?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This is something Ukrainian officials have been on pins to explain on and off the record these last few weeks, not only signaling a different assessment with the United States, but a difference of approach and understanding and context that of course is better appreciated here. They believe that the threats from Russia is something they've grown used to. That troop movement across the border have been long-standing and haven't changed an awful lot since the spring of last year, apart from those latest movements in Belarus.

And I think that's really what's got everyone worried these last few days, specifically over the weekend, Rosemary. It is the troop movements that we've seen both on social media. A video showing substantial equipment being moved towards those southern towns in Belarus.

Now, there are joint military exercises that are underway in the country and it will continue. A second phase is due to begin later this week. The United States and NATO believe that some 30,000 Russian troops could be on their way to the country overall, but it is those last two days of troop movements -- movements very far to the south that have particularly worried, not just Washington, but the rest of the world, watching the troop movements that have taken both troops and weaponry very far south. Sometimes as close as 15 kilometers just north of the Ukrainian border.

And of course, that is a concern because the latest American intelligence assessment, Rosemary, suggests that they fear that given the position that of weaponry and those men, that there could be a multi-pronged attack and that Kyiv could be taken very quickly with, of course, substantial human cost.

So that is what everyone is watching and that window of opportunity as Nic was just saying is narrowing even as Macron prepares to meet with both leaders, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Melissa Bell and Nic Robertson, many thanks to you both. I appreciate it.

Day three of the Winter Olympics is now underway in Beijing. There are several more gold medals up for grabs on Monday, with medal events in ski jumping, biathlon and speed skating still to come.

Meanwhile, we are learning how details about a meeting between the IOC president and Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai. She made headlines last year, you'd recall after accusing a top Chinese official of sexual assault, then disappearing from public view.

CNN's Coy Wire is standing by near one of today's Olympic venues with the latest on all the action. But first let's go to our Steven Jiang who is live in Beijing and joins us now. So, Steven, what more are you learning about these efforts to establish the well-being of Peng Shuai?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Rosemary, the long-anticipated dinner between Thomas Bach and Peng Shuai didn't really reveal anything new. Bach invited Peng to visit him in Lausanne, Switzerland where the IOC is based. And Peng apparently said she would do so once the pandemic is over. The IOC later revealed the sexual allegations were not discussed

during their dinner with a spokesman saying it was not up to the sporting organization to decide whether or not there should be an investigation into the allegations or whether or not Peng Shuai was speaking under duress.

That's why what's more interesting was that rare interview she actually gave on Sunday to a French sports publication. During that interview she again denied ever making sexual assault allegations against former Chinese Vice Premiere Zhang Gaoli. But she does seem to acknowledge their years long affair, saying her personal life, her love life problems should not be mixed with sports and politics.

She also seemed to confirm she did write the original explosive account, saying she deleted the post herself after it attracted worldwide attention. She also confirmed that she actually personally wrote back to the head of the Women's Tennis Association which, of course, has suspended all tournaments in China because of concerns over her safety, insisting that she's being safe, well and free during this time and that she never disappeared.

Now, we actually spoke to one of the French interviewers who met Peng Shuai, and he told us she appeared a lot more relaxed when talking about tennis, but looked cautious and choosing her words very carefully and keeping her answers very short when responding to questions about the sexual allegations.

Now, there were Chinese officials in the room, but there's no overt effort to censor her on location, and also the French reporters were able to ask questions off the script.

But Rosemary, one thing is for sure. Like, this dinner, this interview, it's unlikely to stop or even make the international storm that her original post created subside during these games or even longer term. Rosemary?

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CHURCH: Absolutely. Thanks for that. And, Coy, what's the latest action from the Winter Olympics, and what have been the main highlights so far?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: There have been ski jumping, the high- flying human torpedoes, the always riveting curling as well, Rosemary. But just moments ago in Beijing, one of the greatest alpine skiers of all time, team USA star skier Mikaela Shiffrin came in with hopes of medaling in all five alpine events. But, Rosemary, in her Beijing debut the defending giant slalom Olympic champ missed the fifth gate just seconds into her run. And she didn't even finish the race. She said she won't ever forget this. And that heart break never goes away.

She also said, though, that's what drives her to keep working. The next opportunity for her to medal will be in the slalom in a couple of days which she won in 2014 in Sochi.

And in figure skating, the legend of a 15-year-old sensation is continuing to grow. Here in Beijing, Kamila Valieva of the Russian Olympic Committee had already become the first woman to score more than 90 for a short program in the Olympic competition. And now she's become the first woman to ever land a quad jump in an Olympic game. She won the free skate by more than 30 points, propelling the ROC to goad in the figure skating team event. She already set world records, and now she's setting Olympic records as well.

Finally, Rosemary, O Canada, winning its first gold at these games just a bit ago. We were there to see the men's snowboard slopestyle event where Max Parrot upgraded his silver medal performance from Pyongyang to gold here in China.

The 27-year-old is a cancer survivor, diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in December of 2018 and completed 12 chemotherapy treatments before returning to competition in 2019. His brilliant second run score of 90.96 was enough to hold off the field.

His teammate Mark McMorris joined him on the podium winning his third straight Olympic bronze in this event for Canada. Rosemary, a big moment for China. Seventeen-year-old Yiming Su ended up taking the silver. It's the host nation's second medal at these Beijing games. He had that place rocking. We'll see if they can continue to pursue their medal count from the last Olympic Games which was 90. They're off to a good start.

CHURCH: So exciting, and Coy Wire, I know you love your job. What a great location there. And Steven Jiang, many thanks to you as well. I appreciate it to both of you.

We will have much more Olympic coverage live from Beijing coming up in a special edition of World Sport that starts in about 30 minutes from now. And there is much more ahead as well. China orders a snap lockdown in one city after mass testing reveals more COVID cases. We will have a live report from Hong Kong on the COVID situation across the region.

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CHURCH (on camera): We are following the latest developments on the COVID-19 pandemic from around the world. In Russia, where cases have been hitting record highs, Moscow is now relaxing self-isolation measures. Beginning today, those who test positive but remain asymptomatic will only be required to isolate for seven days.

In the coming hours, Chile will be rolling out its second booster dose to people ages 55 and up. Chile has found extraordinary success with vaccine uptake. About 90 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., a bipartisan group of lawmakers will hold a moment of silence later today for the more than 900,000 Americans who have died from the coronavirus.

For more on this, I am joined now by Dr. Scott Miscovich, president and CEO of Premier Medical Group USA, and also a U.S. consultant for COVID-19 testing. Thank you, doctor, for talking with us.

SCOTT MISCOVICH, U.S. NATIONAL CONSULTANT FOR COVID-19 TESTING: Sure, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, it has to be said, that number, I mean, it is truly shocking. Nine hundred thousand Americans dead from COVID-19 since the start of this pandemic? And while cases are trending down in many parts of the country with hospitalizations, deaths are still averaging more than 2,000 a day, and yet a recent Monmouth poll shows 70 percent of Americans think it's time to accept COVID is here to stay and get on with our lives. What would you say to those people?

MISCOVICH: Well, Rosemary, we're going to pass a million and we're going to pass a million, you know, within the next couple months. That's for sure. What I would say to them is it's in your hands. It's in everyone's hands right now to make a big difference by being vaccinated and now being boosted.

And I do believe these people need to look at the fact that we are still really in the middle of this pandemic. We have just gone over the crest of the pandemic. Look at how rapid Omicron has spread. And for people to let their guard down, you and I talked about this before. I blame it on political leaders for, you know, saying the wrong things and not being truthful, and the truth right now should be told to the people. Keep your guard up. Get your booster. Get your vaccination. Save those masks because we just went over the crest. Most of us do believe we are going to see the end, but we also know we will see some more variants. So, communication, trust in government, that's the big key.

CHURCH: yes. Important advice there. And former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb says governors want clearer guidance on when mitigation efforts should be rolled back in various states to give people some hope. So, what would be a useful set of metrics to use for this, do you think?

MISCOVICH: Well, some of the things we've always looked at is a number called the percent positivity. And percent positivity is definitely coming down now. But in general, it's probably still on average across the country 15 or 20 percent.

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We want that number to start getting below 5 percent. That means 5 percent or less of every test taken in the country is positive compared to times when we are at 30 or 40.

Now, there's another metric that we look at, and that's the total number of people who are testing positive per 100,000. The standard epidemiology number is below 10 with the arrow going downward. There is some push right now to say with so many people having been infected, and with some percentage of our country as you stated already being boosted, you know, 65 to 67 percent, depending on which study, those are the numbers and those are the statistics we look at.

So, I'm very disappointed in leadership that always turns to hospitalizations and says that's our key. No, we need to look at how much the disease is spreading and the angle and the decline.

CHURCH: Right. And, doctor, as you mentioned earlier, about 64 percent of the U.S. population has received two COVID shots so far. About 20 percent still haven't received their first shot. Can those unvaccinated folks ever be convinced, do you think, or do we need to just accept that an 80 percent vaccination rate in this country might probably be the best we can do, even as other nations have been able to edge closer to the 100 percent rate?

MISCOVICH: Rosemary, you and I have been talking about this for 16 to 18 months, and since the vaccines have been brought on, and we know that studies have basically said that 15 percent, plus or minus, depending on where the state is, will never get vaccinated. So, I don't believe we're going to cross over that line. And you know, it's coming true with a plus/minus 2 or 3 percent in some of those studies.

We've also talked about the fact that, you know, Austria, that's one of the ways you'll get everybody vaccinated. But as your prior piece showed, look what's going on up in Canada right now where there's protests. And I don't think the United States has the tolerance or the political will or our court system will allow there to be force vaccinations.

So, you know what, that is what's going to happen. And what does that mean? It means that there still will be pockets of outbreak, and it still means that those people will be susceptible as other variants come through. So, I don't -- I think 20 percent is probably about where we're going to get to.

CHURCH: Unbelievable. Politics has made it very difficult, of course, in this country particularly. Dr. Scott Miscovich, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it.

MISCOVICH: Thank you. Any time, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And there are new developments across the Asia-Pacific region where Australia is now moving to welcome back visitors. Starting February 21st, fully vaccinated travelers from around the world will be allowed into the country. The prime minister announced the plans a few hours ago outside parliament.

Meanwhile, it's a different story in China where about three and a half million people are now under a strict lockdown in the country's southwest. That move coming after officials in Baise detected dozens of preliminary positive COVID cases during mass testing on Sunday.

So, let's turn to CNN's Ivan Watson who joins us live now from Hong Kong. Good to see you, Ivan. So, after two years of this pandemic, Australia will welcome vaccinated international travelers into the country later this month. What is the latest on all of this?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are seeing signs that Asia, which has locked down its borders more than other regions of the world, I would argue, countries are starting to open up more and more. Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison told his country's tourism industry to get ready because the doors will open in two weeks' time. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MORRISON, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: It's almost two years since we took the decision to close the borders to Australia. National security community cabinet has decided today that Australia will reopen our borders to all remaining visa holders on the 21st of February of this year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON (on camera): Now, just months ago, Rosemary, Australia's borders were still strictly controlled that tens of thousands of Australian citizens were reportedly stranded outside the country, unable to come back because of the expensive mandatory hotel quarantine that they would have to undergo. Morrison is now saying that anybody with a visa can come in, provided they meet one very important condition. You have to be fully vaccinated.

And he cited the case of the tennis star Novak Djokovic whose visa was ripped up, effectively, by the Australian government as an example of how seriously the Australian government takes this important condition.

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There is also another country in the region that is doing this. It is Thailand, which has seen its tourism industry crash since 2019 when it had about 40 million tourists, visitors, and then in 2021 when it only had a couple hundred-thousand visitors, it is now creating its own kind of system that's going into effect last week where if you're fully vaccinated, you can apply to come in.

You don't have to quarantine, but you do have to take two tests after arrival at a government-approved hotel, COVID tests, and then you can come and visit. Of course, hoping that its tourism industry which is a huge contributor to its national economy can be revived. Back to you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And, Ivan, China is locking down more than three million people in one city. What is going on there?

WATSON: Yes. Well, you have Thailand and Australia opening up. China has indicated that it is going to maintain its zero-tolerance approach to COVID, which is very strict lockdowns in any community where COVID tests are -- COVID cases are detected. So, with the southern city of Baise is the latest to have a couple dozen confirmed cases and on Monday the city locking down strictly.

Everything has to be closed. You're not allowed to leave your house except to perhaps get groceries or mandatory COVID test. Nearby cities cutting off bus access to this city.

And a chief epidemiologist at China's Center for Disease Control tells the state-owned Global Times paper that China is going to stick to this. That it is the best approach that the national government has to dealing with the pandemic, which I might add, was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan more than two years ago. Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Ivan Watson joining us live from Hong Kong. Many thanks.

And coming up here on CNN, the U.S. ramps up support for Ukraine amid fears of a Russian invasion. Perspective from a top national security expert after the break.

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CHURCH: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom. U.S. officials say Russia has 70 percent of the troops and equipment in place for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. New satellite images show Russian deployments in Belarus for joint exercises, some of the Russian camps are close to the Ukrainian border.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron is set to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the next hour in the latest effort to diffuse the tensions. And U.S. President Joe Biden will hold talks later with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz who has indicated he is willing to send troops to Lithuania to bolster NATO's defenses.

And earlier, I spoke with CNN political and national security analyst, David Sanger. I asked him to weigh in on the likelihood that Russian President Vladimir Putin will take a diplomatic path out of the crisis. Here is part of our conversation.

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DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL & NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Ukraine isn't going to be admitted in NATO any time soon. In fact, I think you could probably say, probably not any time in the next 10, maybe 20 years, which would be Putin's political lifetime, and certainly President Biden's.

So, you could imagine a space for that if that's what Putin really wants. But it may not be all that he wants. He of course, has talked about ending all of the eastward expansion of NATO. He has talked about getting American troops out of the former Soviet bloc states that have already joined NATO. He's talking about forcing the removal of all American nuclear weapons from Europe.

And if that's really what he wants, then I think it would be a hard no. If it's just about getting -- making sure that Ukraine stays out of NATO, I would imagine there is some room there.

CHURCH: We'll see what happens there. And of course, Germany has been unwilling to this point to send Ukraine weapons, a matter of concern for NATO allies. What might that signal, and what do you expect President Biden will say to the new German chancellor when they meet in the coming hours, given Germany relies so heavily on Russia's natural gas?

SANGER: Well, we heard one of the messages earlier today from Jake Sullivan, the president's national security adviser, who basically said if there is an invasion one way or another, the Nord Stream 2 project, the pipeline that would route around Ukraine and go directly from Russia to Germany, will be killed off. It would probably help the new chancellor if he said those words himself.

There is a sense among the other European allies that Germany is the most wobbly on the question of what sanctions they would put in place, And many of them are missing Angela Merkel, the former chancellor who, of course, was usually the one to rally most of Europe. And that's why Macron is sort of stepping into that, to that role.

But I think it's going to be really difficult right now to hold the allies fully together if the Russians do just a partial invasion, a cyberattack, stage a military coup. If the conditions that would hold Germany and others into the midst of NATO on the sanctions would probably have to be a full-scale invasion.

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CHURCH: And many thanks to CNN political and national security analyst, David Sanger, talking to me earlier.

Coming up here on CNN, Britain's Queen Elizabeth used her platinum jubilee to elevate the status of a woman once at the center of a royal scandal. We will find out how it's playing with the British people after the break.

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The platinum jubilee for Britain's Queen Elizabeth is being overshadowed by a surprise announcement. The queen gave her blessing for Prince Charles' wife Camilla, to one day be called queen consort.

She was originally expected to take the title of princess consort due to sensitivities surrounding Charles's first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. The unexpected announcement came as Queen Elizabeth marked the historic milestone of 70 years on the British throne.

And for more on all of this, we want to bring in CNN royal correspondent, Max Foster, who joins us live from London. Great to see you, Max. So, How has the Queen's surprise announcement being received?

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a big talking point as you can imagine. Camilla still quite a divisive figure, but I think she's certainly been warmed to the heart of the British public. And I think this is one of the reasons the Queen made this gesture. She feels that, you know, Camilla has served the public and done a little public service in recent years. There was a reward for that, but it was also a big sure support for the future monarchy that Charles is trying to create.

And certainly, the Queen throwing her support behind Camilla, would, I think, you know, endear the idea to more members of the public just because the queen is so revered. We haven't really seen the Queen at all over the weekend, simply because she is marking the beginning of her reign, but also the end of her father's reign, always spends it privately.

But now we're going to start seeing celebrations take place, and today, there will be a 42-gun salute just by Buckingham Palace here to mark the queen's accession to the throne, another one in Central London as well. So, the celebrations will start from now, it's been muted up until now, culminating, Rosemary, in a big party really here, a four-day holiday weekend in June all based around the palace here.

CHURCH: Just amazing, isn't it? Seventy years on the throne. Incredible. Max Foster joining us live from London. Thank you.

Well, most passports are bland and boring, but Belgium is changing it up in a flashy way. In fact, starting today, Belgians can personalize their passports with images of comic strip heroes.

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Officials say it's an effort to combat counterfeiters, as well as celebrate the nation's comic strip history. Most of the images on the new passport are taken from classic comic strips, like the Smurfs and Tintin or Tantan, as they call it. Explorers on the moon which was first published in 1954.

And thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. World Sport with Patrick Snell is up next. You're watching CNN. Enjoy it.

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