Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Joe Biden Promises To End Nord Stream 2 If Russia Invades; Emmanuel Macron Meets With Vladimir Putin In Moscow Before Visit To Kyiv; Freestyle Skier Eileen Gu Wins Her First Gold For China; Protests Spreading Across Canada Over COVID Mandates; Chile Offering Second Booster Does To Ages 55 Plus; Ukrainian Forces Hold Drills in Chernobyl Exclusion Zone; New Spinal Implant Helps Paralyzed People Walk Again. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired February 08, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:00:55]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour, the U.S. president declares Nord Stream 2 a nonstarter, pertaining (PH) to controversial gas pipeline from Russia to Germany was not going to happen if Putin orders an invasion of Ukraine, with a hesitant Germany kind of sort of on board?

Freedom from truth, freedom from civility, freedom from reality. Canada's so-called Freedom Convoy. The truckers protest over all pandemic restrictions galvanizes far right groups worldwide.

And his spinal cord was completely severed years ago. His legs could not move, they had no feeling. But now, he can walk again, thanks to a new implanted device, which is bringing hope to millions left paralyzed.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.

VAUSE: Great to have you with us. We begin with the military standoff on Ukraine's -- Russia's border with Ukraine and the natural gas pipeline hundreds of kilometers away that could be the key to preventing a Russian invasion.

If Nord Stream 2 ever received final approval from regulators in Berlin, dilute -- it will deliver natural gas direct from Russia to Germany, part of a system of a dozen pipelines crucial to meet Europe's energy demands.

But U.S. President Joe Biden has warned the multibillion dollar project will never happen if his words -- if Putin orders a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

For the new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is walking a fine line on his first official visit to Washington refusing to match the tough talk from Biden. And he's saying Germany is united with its allies and will take the same steps. And the French President Emmanuel Macron now in the midst of some old school shuttle diplomacy. Monday, he was in Moscow where he talked at length to Vladimir Putin. He later praised Emmanuel Macron's proposal, saying they may lay the foundations for future further diplomacy.

In the coming hours, Macron touches down in Kyiv and meet with Ukraine's President Zelensky.

In a moment, we will hear from CNN's Frederik Pleitgen in Berlin with a lot more on the German Chancellor's meeting with the U.S. president but first, CNN's International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson is in Moscow with details about what could be if not a breakthrough that may be a hint of a possible breakthrough in ending these high stakes standoff through negotiations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, at the end of that more than five hours long meeting, both Macron and Putin agreeing that there was an opportunity to continue the discussions forward. Although Putin also made it sound conditional.

Putin described the meeting as business like, interesting, useful. Macron described it as lively. Putin heavily critical of NATO, saying that they were the aggressors, not Russia. Macron didn't appear to push back on that assertion.

Putin also heavily critical of the authorities in Ukraine, saying that the government there weren't living up to the terms of the Minsk agreement when it is widely believed it is Russia that's failing in the Minsk agreement, not the authorities in Kyiv.

But that was Putin's point, to put pressure on President Macron for his visit to President Zelensky Tuesday, saying that what happens next depends on how Macron gets on on that visit.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): A number of his proposals and ideas about which it is too early to speak, I consider quite possible in order to lay a foundation for our further steps. Let's see how the meetings for the president will go in Kyiv. After his trip to Ukraine, we will call each other again and exchange views on this matter.

ROBERTSON: Now, Macron's view on that was that there were a series of proposals that were discussed that there was some convergence on those series of proposals. But he was of the view despite the heavy criticisms of NATO and of the Ukrainian authorities by Putin, Macron's view was that it was better to keep talking. That's where their joint responsibility lay.

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): Our duty is to work together in order to come up with solutions. I think that I can say that both of us are convinced that there is no reasonable and durable sustainable solution, which does not pass through diplomacy.

[00:05:14] It is up to us jointly to agree, to concrete specific measures to stabilize the situation and to de-escalate.

ROBERTSON: Putin also said that he would soon be responding to the letters from the United States and NATO to Russia's original proposals, and he said it discussed much of what he'd be writing to them with President Macron.

For now, it seems there is a chance for a diplomatic track, but absolutely no indication that President Putin is anywhere close to pulling his troops back from around Ukraine, which was a fundamental of President Macron's visit to get him to de-escalate tensions, no traction there, it seems.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: An important but also somewhat of a tough visit for Olaf Scholz to Washington, D.C. for the first time in his capacity as the German Chancellor going to the White House to meet President Biden and then also later going on CNN for an exclusive interview with our own Jake Tapper.

Now, the Germans all along have said that as far as the crisis around Ukraine is concerned with the Russians, of course, moving massive troops near Ukraine that Germany was absolutely on the same page as its allies.

However, there are some allies who believe that so far, Germany hasn't been doing enough. Now, one of the key topics is the Nord Stream 2 pipeline with the U.S. saying that pipeline will not go forward if Russia further invades Ukraine. Here's what President Biden had to say.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If Russia invades, that means tanks and troops crossing the border of Ukraine, again, then there will be -- there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it.

PLEITGEN: Now, Olaf Scholz, the German Chancellor so far has not been willing to go as far as President Biden went there, the German simply saying that all options would be on the table if there was a further invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

However, Olaf Scholz also saying he wants to keep some ambiguity in all of the discussions and of course, also, keep diplomacy in play as well. But he also said that if there was that further invasion, that there would be a united front that Germany would be part of.

OLAF SCHOLZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR: We are doing much more as one step. We are -- and all the steps we will take, we will do together. As the president said, we are preparing for that. And you can understand and you can be absolutely sure that Germany will be together with all its allies, and especially the United States, that we take the same steps.

PLEITGEN: One of the things that Olaf Scholz did point out several times as he said that Germany has been a strong partner not just within NATO, but also for the Ukrainians as well. Being the largest single financial donor to Ukraine over the past couple of years. And the Germans also saying that that would continue as well.

Meanwhile, President Biden once again, sounding the alarm bell saying that he believes that Vladimir Putin could be ready to invade Ukraine at any point in time. He also said that he believes that American citizens who are currently in Ukraine should leave.

Frederik Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: David Sanger is a Political and National Security Analyst for CNN. He is also White House and National Security Correspondent with the New York Times. He's joining us this hour from Washington. Good to see you, David.

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Great to be with you, John.

VAUSE: OK, we just heard from the U.S. President, and he was talking about, you know, Nord Stream 2 will be canceled if there is an invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Innovation in a traditional sense, he talked about tanks rolling across the border. Why did he phrase it that way? What's been the sort of implications of that?

SANGER: It was really interesting. It jumped out at me too. He said, tanks and troops, which is, you know, the way the Soviet Union went into Hungary in 56, in Czechoslovakia in 68. And that may be what this is all about in a few weeks.

But there are other possibilities that we've been writing about that are filling his intelligence reports each day. There's a possibility of a coup they try to stage just to get President Zelensky and his government out, and a friendly government in.

We've all been discussing for weeks now the possibility of a crippling cyber-attack that turned off the power and the communications, perhaps as a prelude to that traditional attack, but perhaps as a standalone to try to show that they could take control of the country, destabilize it, change the government, without sending in troops.

VAUSE: In terms of what is known at this point, if there is any kind of, you know, escalation by Russia, what are the chances it will be tanks rolling across the border and sending in troops in uniform into Kyiv?

[00:10:12]

SANGER: Well, certainly the briefings that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Director of National Intelligence, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, gave to Congress on last Thursday, which we wrote about this past weekend, all focused on an increasing likelihood that it would be a full-scale invasion and that the troops now in Belarus would sweep down into Kyiv, which isn't all that far away, maybe two hours or so.

But I think there is another possibility in which we see Putin do what he's done before, try a sort of more asymmetrical attack, try to divide the NATO allies by having them say, well, you know, we will risk our economies to sanction them for killing vast numbers of people, but not necessarily for a crippling cyber-attack, and hope that it divides NATO.

And so, you know, Putin has the advantage here that only he decides what the nature of the attack is going to be and what the timing will be.

VAUSE: Well, the U.S. president was warning Monday that it would not just be Moscow feeling the pain from financial sanctions for any invasion of Ukraine by Russia, this is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I think he has to realize that it would be a gigantic mistake for him to move on Ukraine. The impact on Europe and the rest of the world would be devastating, and he would pay a heavy price.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The late Senator John McCain, famously called Russia nothing more than a gas station with nukes. It's a good line but it's not entirely true. Russia is sort of the Walmart of commodities, if you like among nations. Sanctions could see shortages in a range of things from nickel to fertilizer, increase energy costs will drive up inflation and food prices. So, how much pain will there be for the rest of the world in this worst-case scenario?

SANGER: Well, it depends on two things. One, how united the West would be in imposing those sanctions, including cutting off the shipments of gas to Western Europe. And that depends, of course, on whether President Biden can make a convincing case to Germany and other countries that he can replace that gas with LNG that shipped in and so forth.

I think the second question is, who relieves the pressure on Russia? If that's what the visit to China was all about, if the Chinese work to relieve at least some of that trade pressure, that would undercut the sanctions a fair bit.

You know, and when you read that 5,000-word document turned out about the sort of nature of a quasi-alliance between Russia and China was made to create the doubt in President Biden's mind that the sanctions would be fully effective.

The answer is we simply don't know. Because how fully the sanctions go on, probably depends on what kind of invasion he does, if any. And the next question is, who then works to undercut them? And how effective are they? VAUSE: Yes, there's so many unknowns out there and the unknown unknowns and the unknown unknowns. Sir David, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it.

SANGER: Always great to be with you.

VAUSE: Day four of the Winter Games was a good one for China's Snow Princess, who's also known as freestyle skier Eileen Gu. The 18-year- old won gold in Tuesday's big air competition. U.S. born but to a Chinese mother, Gu turned down Team USA and it's representing the People's Republic of China. She's becoming a local sensation appearing on magazine covers and in promotional videos for the games.

CNN's Beijing Bureau Chief Steven Jiang live for us again this hour, as always. Steven, one gold medal down for Gu. If all goes as planned, what, she should take home two more but hey, no pressure.

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF (on camera): That's right, especially considering the reaction she has received so far. Within seconds after winning, Eileen Gu became a top trending topic on Weibo, the Chinese social media platform. Actually, temporarily crushing at servers because too many people were trying to click her name.

Now, the Beijing authorities, obviously, her mom coming from Beijing sent her a message of congratulations almost immediately, saying how her victory is bound to inspire the capitalist residents to work harder to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Now, that's the kind of language you've had never heard or probably never will hear from Eileen Gu because that's what really sets her apart. She's not part of the state sponsored sports system here. She's a refreshingly appealing celebrity because her unique background, as you mentioned, she's a mix of racial background. Grew up both in the U.S. and in China, fully bilingual and bicultural.

[00:15:01]

So, she's been really able to humanize her sports by telling her own story of dreams and ambitions, talent and hard work and work and play from both American and Chinese perspectives with ease and grace. That's why she has quickly gained such a loyal and fast-growing fan base not to mention all the endorsement deals and the sponsorships worth millions of dollars.

Now, obviously, a lot of people were cheering her on on the stands today. One of them was actually Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai who of course gained global attention when she accused a former Chinese leader of sexual assault in a now deleted social media post last November.

She actually gave a rare interview on Sunday to French sports publication during which she again denied ever making such allegations calling the whole thing a big misunderstanding, but a lot of people around the world seem unconvinced. And one of them is Steve Simon, the head of the tennis -- Women's Tennis Association, which obviously has suspended all tournaments here because of concerns over Peng's safety. Steve Simon said in a latest statement that that interview she gave

does not alleviate any of WTA's concerns about her and they continue to call for an independent investigation into her initial claims, John.

VAUSE: Steven, thank you. Yes, odd one there. Steven Jiang there live for us in Beijing. Appreciate it.

Still to come, anxiety and frustration across Canada as thousands of trucker's protest COVID-19 mandates. Some residents feel like they're being held hostage by the demonstrators.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Hundreds of truck drivers and their big rigs continue to bring the Canadian capitol to a standstill. This protest over all pandemic restrictions is now into its second week. And for far-right wing groups worldwide from anti-vaxxers to QAnon, this act of defiance is becoming a beacon of resistance to all things government.

Here is CNN's Paula Newton reporting in with the very latest from Ottawa.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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.

NEWTON: 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.

As angry and frustrated as these protesters are, residents say they feel like hostages and they want police to do more.

[00:20:08]

JACK KRENTZ, RESIDENT: We understand the police force do not want directly intervene in fear (PH) of violence. But it feels like we've been robbed from home a little bit.

NEWTON: So desperate was this woman, she appealed directly to the protesters.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Downtown, residence, children, elderly are suffering.

NEWTON: They heard her but they're not listening.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).

NEWTON: It seems to anyone.

ADAM, RESIDENT: They just do nothing but like they're disruptive. Like, they're using -- they're claiming their freedom. Well, I can't even like hear anything, I can't even hear myself.

NEWTON: 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: 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: 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 health care workers carry on battling COVID.

CHIEF JAMES RAMER, TORONTO POLICE SERVICE: Anyone who attempts to disrupt hospital access and routes of emergency operations, including ambulance, fire or police will be subject to strict enforcement.

NEWTON: And yet both police and political leaders are warning this now resembles an occupation. With no quick or easy end.

Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Joining us now Kurt Braddock, he is an assistant professor at American University School of Communication. Thank you for being with us.

KURT BRADDOCK, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF COMMUNICATION, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: John, thank you for having me.

VAUSE: OK, so we just heard this report from Paula Newton, she talks about the trucker protests, which is now spreading across Canada. But to add to that, it seems to be spreading around the world as well.

Politico reporting, it is quickly escalated into a global movement incorporating a loose set of anti-establishment causes, coordinated on social media and encrypted messaging groups. There are also multiple reports of similar protests being organized in

New Zealand, the U.K., Austria, almost every member state of the E.U. There have been mass demonstrations before against lockdowns, as well as mass mandates and you know, anti-vaccine mandates, that kind of stuff. They never went viral like this. So, why this protest and why now?

BRADDOCK: I think because relative to other kinds of protests and other kinds of movements within the larger -- the larger antiestablishment movement, there hasn't been as much visibility or as much success as this convoys had.

I think the fact that the convoy has had -- has set up shop in Ottawa and has now been there for 10 or 11 days without being cleared out. I think that shows many individuals, not just in Canada, not just in the United States, but elsewhere, that they now have a model for how to have some success with the kind of protests they want to enable, and they want to -- they want to enact in different countries.

So, I think the fact that they've been relatively successful, it gives them a model for how to act moving forward.

VAUSE: And a lot of it is publicity, a lot of the money to sort of fund this protest, if you like, it's flowing north from the United States into Canada. The right-wing media seems to love this stuff.

Remember, you got a guy named Glenn Beck, he has -- does a show now on Facebook. Here he is talking about this protest on his show just over a week ago, here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLENN BECK, RADIO HOST: This is massive, massive. BJ Dichter is on the phone, he's a spokesperson from the Canadian trucker Freedom Convoy. B.J., how are you, sir?

B.J. DICHTER, CANADIAN TRUCKER, FREEDOM CONVOY: Good to talk to you my friend. How are you?

BECK: Well, good. I wish you guys didn't have to do this but I'm glad you are standing up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Glad you are standing up. You know, for a right-wing commentator, is this purely about, you know, driving audience numbers? Is it lust for viewers and listeners?

BRADDOCK: I think it has something to do with it. I also think that it is being latched on to not just by these commentators. But also, we're seeing some politicians latch onto it as well as being a way of pushing back against what they've seen as overreach by the U.S. government.

And that would explain why some of this money is moving forward and why some of the support is moving North. We've seen some support from the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene and the likes of people who are allied to her that are showing support for this convoy.

[00:25:04]

BRADDOCK: And I think that it shows that they -- that they believe that this can be a successful movement in the North and could be replicated elsewhere. It gives some visibility to some things they've been talking about for some time. So, it doesn't surprise me that they're very excited about what's going on in Ottawa right now.

VAUSE: Canada's Prime Minister spoke in fairly blunt terms about the long pandemic and the restrictions, which came with it, here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: This pandemic has sucked for all Canadians. But Canadians know, the way to get through it is to continue listening to science, continuing to lean on each other, continuing to be there for each other.

Everyone's tired of COVID. But these protests -- these protests are not the way to get through it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: It seems that it's a lot more driving these protests than just pandemic fatigue.

BRADDOCK: I would agree. And I think in the last several days, especially, we're seeing a number of different kind of right-wing ideologies coming forward. And it's gone beyond just issues related to vaccine mandates.

There's been some chatter in some telegram channels and elsewhere, where we're starting to see some anti-Semitic propaganda up here there. We're starting to see some far-right propaganda pop up elsewhere, from those in support of what is supposed to be an anti- vaccine or anti-vaccine mandate protest. So, it's gone beyond what it was originally advertised as. And it's gotten much more dangerous.

Just yesterday, we saw that a couple of individuals taped the door shut and tried to set fire to a building for reasons that haven't quiet come out yet. But I think that goes quite beyond what we think of as normal protests related to vaccine mandates.

VAUSE: Yes, there's been a lot of issues like that and it seems to be getting higher and intensity as this goes on. We'll see where it goes.

OK, Braddock, thanks so much for being with us.

BRADDOCK: Thank you very much for having me.

VAUSE: Health officials in Chile have authorized a second COVID booster for anyone 55 and older. Chile already has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world almost 90 percent. That includes children, ages three and up have been eligible for vaccination since last November. More now from CNN's Rafael Romo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): There's a play area and trays with candy. Children also have the option of coloring pictures. They're all here for the same reason, getting their first or second COVID-19 shot.

5-year-old Kris Stovas (PH) seems a little nervous at first, but looks self-assured a moment later, while getting his shot at a public gym turned vaccination center in Santiago Chile's capital.

It didn't hurt he says after getting what is actually his second dose of the Sinovac vaccine according to his mother.

We are all vaccinated at home, he was the only one who wasn't and it's something we definitely should do, she says. This is for the good of the children and for everybody else's as well.

In late November, Chile surpassed Israel as the country with the world's highest percentage of population to have been given a booster shot according to Our World in Data.

Now, it's health authorities want to replicate that success in the country's younger population.

Chile began vaccinating children aged six to 11 in mid-September, the country of 19 million had already been vaccinated minors between the ages of 12 and 17 since June. In early December, Chilean health authorities moved forward with an effort to vaccinate younger children between the ages of three and five about 700,000 nationwide.

It's a safe and effective vaccine, President Sebastian Pinera said when he launched the campaign to get the younger children vaccinated. The shot is optional. Chile is using the Chinese made Sinovac vaccine for this age group on inoculation that was found to have an efficacy rate of just 50.4 percent in clinical trials in Brazil in January last year.

DR. PAULA DAZA, FORMER CHILEAN VICE MINISTER OF HEALTH: I recommend the parents to vaccinate the children.

ROMO: Former Chilean Vice Minister of Health Paola dasa, who was in charge of our country's strategy for most of the pandemic says, those vaccines remain an important tool to fight COVID-19.

Was it a mistake for Chile to rely so much on vaccines like Sinovac that proved not to be as effective?

DAZA: Sinovac is a very, very good vaccine. It's very it has it -- and when you have the two vaccinate, it has 65 percent effective, but it's over 80 percent especially for people, hospitalization and death.

[00:30:12]

ROMO: Parents like Consuela Rojas, who says she lost two relatives to COVID-19, agree.

"I believe empathy and taking care of yourself is paramount," she says. "We started with the elderly, and now we have to take care of our children. The key word here is empathy, which means we have to take care of ourselves and each other."

Her daughter, Antonia, can barely say the world "coronavirus."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: El coronavirus.

ROMO: But was very eager to get the shot.

It's the same kind of eagerness the country's health ministry wants the citizens to help offer a second boot for those 55 and older.

On January 10, Chile became the first Latin American country to offer a second booster shot to immunocompromised adults.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Santiago, Chile.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: When we come back, practicing urban combat in a nuclear wasteland. Training forces show they're getting ready in Chernobyl, if Russia decides to invade. CNN has a firsthand look at these military exercises. That's after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: At a joint news conference on Monday, the U.S. President and German chancellor insisted there's no daylight between them on where they stand in Russia and Ukraine.

But it seems the future of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany remains a gray area. Europe is heavily reliant on Russian gas, and Chancellor Scholz has not publicly committed to scrapping the pipeline, if Russia invades Ukraine. But there's no such hesitation from U.S. President Joe Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If Russia invades, that means tanks or troops crossing the -- the border in Ukraine, again. Then there will be -- there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: It seems the French president is finding common ground with Russia's Vladimir Putin. They met for five hours in Moscow on Monday. The Russian president described the talks as substantive. He did not rule out further diplomacy after Macron meets with Ukraine's leadership in the coming hours.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): As far as we are concerned, we will do everything to find compromises that suit everyone. Some of Macron's ideas and proposals, about which I think It's probably too early to speak, I think will form a basis for our further joint steps.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Amid this flurry of diplomacy, preparations for war continue. Russian troops continue to be deployed to the region, and Ukrainian forces are training for a possible war in an unexpected location, Chernobyl.

This abandoned area is now the site of drills, more than three decades after the world's worst nuclear disaster. CNN's Melissa Bell has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Through the forests of northern Ukraine, it appears. The Chernobyl nuclear reactor, a monument to humanity's ability to unleash uncontrollable forces.

Suddenly, the apparent calm left behind by the 1986 Soviet-era accident is broken. Ukrainian forces run drills in what remains a radiation exclusion zone, free of any inhabitants.

They're practicing urban combat. Of course, this is also an information and propaganda war.

Everyone waits for Russian President Vladimir Putin to decide. Even as Ukraine questions an earlier U.S. assessment of just how imminent a potential invasion is.

OLEKSIY REZNIKOV, UKRAINIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: So they have the same facts, but a different perception or different estimation.

BELL: The difference is on the question of intention. You don't believe they intend to invade?

REZNIKOV: I hope that, in Kremlin, they didn't make those decisions, still.

BELL (voice-over): But Chernobyl is only ten miles from the border with Belarus, where Russia has been holding joint military exercises. These just some of the 30,000 Russian combat troops that NATO has warned are on their way. Welcomed with bread, and salt, and open arms.

(on camera): To the east of Chernobyl lies this neutral zone between Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus. It's known as the Three Sisters Crossing in memory of a time when the three countries were all Soviet republics.

But more than 30 years on from the collapse of the Soviet Union, Belarus is a staunch ally of Russia, while Ukraine fears an invasion. (voice-over): Barely visible through the freezing mist, across the

border in Belarus, a Soviet-era monument to the sister nations.

And, at the Three Sisters Cafe on the Ukrainian side, there is more nostalgia for that past than there is worry about war. Masha, a 64- year-old great-grandmother, works here to supplement her state pension, worth the equivalent of just $77 a month, she says.

MASHA, WORKS AT THREE SISTERS CAFE (through translator): Would Putin go to war against civilians? He won't do that. I have brothers and sisters living in Russia, in Belarus. I would dissolve a parliament in Kyiv, kick them out of parliament. Every last one of them. They should give the people proper pensions, so that people won't be beggars.

BELL: The nearby village of St. Kievka (ph) is only a three-hour drive from Kyiv, but feels much further.

This man won't tell us his name for fear of being labeled a separatist. He, too, misses the unity of the past and certainly doesn't appreciate visits to Kyiv from the likes of the British prime minister.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Boris, the uncombed, comes here only whipping the tensions up. Only a fool would start a war.

BELL: Nobody will come out a winner, he says. Nobody.

Melissa Bell, CNN, St. Kievka (ph), Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, a monumental breakthrough, blending medicine and technology. A new spinal implant is helping paralyzed patients walk, just a day or so after surgery.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:40:46]

VAUSE: A medical breakthrough is offering hope for millions left paralyzed by spinal damage. A small electronic device which stimulates spinal nerves appears to be a game-changer.

For the first time ever, a man left paralyzed from the spinal cord was severed, has walked again within days of receiving the implant. CNN's Elizabeth Cohen has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No one ever thought Michael Roccati would be able to do this. Or this. In 2017, Roccati was paralyzed after a motorcycle accident.

MICHAEL ROCCATI, PATIENT: I tried to move the legs, tried to change my position, and they said it was impossible to do. I fixed in my mind that it was just a situation. So I put it in my mind, in my behavior, to try to solve this problem. And I never stopped.

COHEN: Now, he can walk about a mile without assistance, thanks to this device. It sounds electrical impulses to his spine. He can control it through his computer.

Scientists have been researching electrical stimulation, as a treatment for paralysis for three decades. In 2014, I visited the University of Louisville, where I saw patients using similar technology. They were able to wiggle their toes and move their niece.

(on camera): There you go. Oh my gosh.

(voice-over): And even stand up. And with months of assistance and rehab, some of them even began walking.

The newest stimulator, this one from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, can reach more of the spinal cord and allow people to regain movement on the same day that they receive the spinal implant.

JOCELYNE BLOCH, STUDY CO-AUTHOR AND SURGEON: This technology is so precise that immediately after the surgery, the patient can walk, and stand.

COHEN: Within a week, three patients, men between the ages of 29 and 41, including Michael (ph), were able to walk like this. Their cases, detailed in a study published Monday, in the journal "Nature Medicine."

With hours, and hours of rehabilitation for five months, the patients were walking, riding bikes, and even boxing.

The research is still early. They've tried it out only three patients. They plan to tested it out on 50 to 100 more, to make sure it's safe, and to see if it works better in some people than in others.

They hope that, if the device performs well in these tests, that it will be widely used in the next three to four years. But these initial steps are still monumental.

ROCCATI: Walking is (UNINTELLIGIBLE) It's just a problem in normal life. It is shoring with that. It is working anywhere that I want. At this moment.

COHEN: Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: It's a great story.

Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. WORLD SPORT starts after the break with Patrick Snell.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:00]