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Russia and Belarus Staging Joint Military Drills; Figure Skating Medals Delayed After Positive Drug Test; U.K. PM Signals Early End to all COVID Measures in England; Key Test for Modi as India's Most Populous States Votes. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired February 10, 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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[01:00:50]
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to all of you joining us from around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber live at the CNN Center in Atlanta.
Just ahead here on CNN Newsroom. Ratcheting up the tension, Russia and Belarus kick off large scale military drills as diplomats scrambled to de-escalate the standoff over Ukraine. Yet another twist in Britain's partygates scandal, how Boris Johnson is playing damage control. And the world of nuclear fusion, what it is, why it couldn't be the ticket to combating climate change?
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: Ten days of joint military exercises are getting underway in Belarus featuring an estimated 30,000 Russian troops. The drills are adding to the fear that Russia could eventually move into Ukraine. But the Kremlin says the larger than usual exercises are a response to unprecedented threats from NATO. Russia's top general is on hand, but President Vladimir Putin will not attend.
Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts to ease tensions will shift to British leaders in the coming hours. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will meet with NATO Secretary General and Poland's president and the top U.K. and Russian diplomats will meet in Moscow.
U.S. officials insist Russia is showing no sign of de-escalating the crisis. A source tells CNN Moscow added 2000 combat forces to border areas near Ukraine in the past 24 hours.
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JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: He has upwards of 100,000 certainly 100,000 plus troops. And he continues to add even over the last 24 to 48 hours. So, every day it gives himself new capabilities, new options. And as we've said he could actually do something any day now.
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BRUNHUBER: CNN has correspondents across Europe curving the stand of. Alex Marquardt is on the front lines with Ukrainian forces battling Russia backed separatists. But first Nic Robertson has more on the military drills in Belarus.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, Russian officials are saying they've had to ramp up their military exercises in Belarus beyond. This is what they're saying beyond what they originally planned because they're saying there is an unprecedented threat from NATO. And the foreign ministry here in Moscow, they're saying the way to deescalate tensions around Ukraine is for the west NATO to stop supplying Ukraine with ammunition to pull out the military advisors and trainers who are there in the country to end any joint military exercises, NATO military exercises with Ukrainian forces and as well to pull out those many hundreds of tons of ammunition and anti-tank weapons that NATO nations have already sent to support the Ukrainian forces.
On the diplomatic track, the Kremlin here is saying that it's seeing some positive and some things less positive in what President Macron had in his discussions with President Zelensky in Ukraine. On Tuesday. The Kremlin is saying that the positive parts are that there seems to be an acceptance to follow the Minsk talks for trying to deescalate tensions with the pro-Russian separatists in the east of Ukraine. And the less positive part they're saying that the Ukrainian leadership is not doing their part as they're supposed to under that Minsk agreement. Of course, the view from the United States and other NATO nations is that it is Russia who's not doing the most part of what it's supposed to do under Minsk talks. And the Ukrainians are doing mostly what's expected of them. Nic Robison, CNN, Moscow.
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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Flying low over the Ukrainian countryside, this Soviet era military plane heads toward the border with Russia. We traveled here with senior Ukrainian officials and military leaders to get a sense of the mood and preparations where Russian troops are the closest near Ukraine's eastern Donbass region. This is Avdiivka, where many of these Ukrainian troops who are mostly young men have been fighting Russian back forces on this cold and desolate front.
[01:05:06]
They're eager to show us how they've been living and fighting here, and a conflict involving Russia that has been largely forgotten, but which has taken over 14,000 lives in the past eight years, according to the United Nations. Ivan has been here the whole time. Like the other soldiers here, he says they're confident they could face a new Russian invasion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course, we ready for some bad situation and we basically wait here. MARQUARDT (on camera): Do you think that will happen? This bad situation?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not -- I don't know. Because I don't know what in the heads of the guys in that territory.
MARQUARDT: But for you, the war has already started.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): We're taken to the farthest point forward where sandbags and tires are piled high, then --
(On camera): So, there was just a burst of what sounded like automatic gunfire. We are just 70 meters. We are told from the fighters on the other side of the frontline.
(Voice-over): We're rushed away, our escorts keen for us to see what happens, but not too closely.
(On camera): Hearing this gunfire and being so close to this front line, you can't help but think that even if diplomacy succeeds in preventing Russia from invading Ukraine, yet again, this fighting which has been raging since the last time Russia invaded Ukraine will almost certainly continue.
(Voice-over): NATO leaders say that ending the fighting already happening here is a critical part of preventing further Russian aggression. With NATO so far, refusing to send troops to Ukraine to fight, Ukraine insists it needs more help.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But the important issue, what they need is additional weapons assistance from the West, from our Western allies, financial assistance. That's what we need to make sure that we will defend, not only peace in this country but peace in Europe.
MARQUARDT: To punctuate their point, more gunfire rings out. Alex Marquardt, CNN in eastern Ukraine.
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BRUNHUBER: Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Mark Hertling is a CNN Military Analyst, and he joins us from Florida. Thanks so much for being here with us. Let's start with the Russian joint military exercises in Belarus near Ukraine's border. Many fear it could be cover for an invasion. What do you think it signals?
LT. GENERAL MARK HERTLING, (Ret.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I truthfully, Kim, I think it's an exercise. I think it's continued bluster by Mr. Putin. He wants to move his forces around a little bit. He wants to show that he has capability. We already know that based on the quantity of forces he has there. But I think right now is truthfully just an exercise. And the Belarusian forces are not that good. Truthfully, from my time in Europe, we evaluated them. They are not a strong force. So, I think it'll be interesting, an interesting, combined exercise between the Russians and the Belarus. BRUNHUBER: OK, bluster, but how dangerous could that be given Ukraine will also be conducting drills simultaneously? Does this sort of escalate the chance of conflict?
HERTLING: Well, there's always a continuous effort by forces in Europe. I know that, having been in Ukraine multiple time on various exercises with different both NATO allied and partner forces at their training area in Yavoriv, that this is something that's continuous.
Now, I think, truthfully, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense required these exercises to be undertaken right now to counter the implications of what was gone in -- going on in Belarus. But this is something that's I think, relatively normal, there is some back and forth between the two sides. There's some movement of forces around and what we have to be concerned about is the capability of Ukraine's military to move in the most decisive directions, depending on if there is any kind of ground force attack by Russia into their country.
BRUNHUBER: So, the chess match continues, in the meantime, recently, just announced here in the U.S. of in the U.S. government's plans to evacuate its citizens, should Russia attack the Ukraine, but the caveat here is that they would do so from Poland, not from Ukraine. So, no mass evacuations, like we saw in Afghanistan, explained the thinking there?
HERTLING: Yeah, I'm kind of confused by that myself, Kim. I've actually commanded forces that have prepared for noncombatant evacuation operations, what's called a kneel op. And you don't do that from another country because you're, in fact, protecting American citizens who are looking to go to the embassy in the country that you're doing the NEO with. So, that embassy is in Kyiv, certainly the forces are in Poland right now that have been designated and even though John Kirby, the Pentagon Press Secretary said today, that that would be taking place primarily in Poland, you know, truthfully, I'm going to question that, because as a commander, you don't conduct a NEO from another country and wait for refugees to come to you. You go into that country to get them out.
[01:10:24]
BRUNHUBER: Another issue that Kirby was on the hot seat for, I guess, recently was the Biden ministrations decision so far not to allow journalists to embed with the U.S. forces deploying the Eastern Europe. I mean, this seems to be a significant break with tradition. Why not allow them?
HERTLING: Yeah, you know, I saw him with Wolf Blitzer tonight. And he explained it. And truthfully, I've always been in commander in different combat operations. I've always been one that's wanted media with me, that's one of the end that for transparency. But truthfully, I can understand why John is making this decision right now. Because we are still in the diplomatic stage of this operation. And if you truthfully have reporters in asking soldiers, what's your mission here, and they're going to get the hula-hula combat approach, when you really want to portray a diplomatic and an informational approach. It could really be counterproductive to what the United States and the NATO forces are doing.
I believe that -- and John would say that when combat starts, you certainly are going to have embedded reporters with the forces. But right now, I think, because it is so tenuous, and because so many things are important in terms of the spoken word, that's why I think they're prohibiting reporters from going in with the combat forces.
BRUNHUBER: Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, thank you so much. I really appreciate your insights here.
HERTLING: It's a pleasure, Kim, thank you.
BRUNHUBER: Team USA has a big reasons to celebrate as another day of competition is underway at the Beijing Winter Olympics. In the past hour, Nathan Chen claimed gold in men's figure skating hanging on to the lead after setting a world record with a short program earlier this week. And it was a huge day for another American athletes. Snowboarder Chloe Kim successfully defended her gold medal win in the women's halfpipe, event she dominated four years ago in Pyeongchang.
Meanwhile, a potential scandal is playing out on the ice in Beijing as questions swirl over why a medal ceremony for the figure skating team event has been delayed. So, let's get the latest on all of this, our Ivan Watson joins us from Hong Kong. But first let's bring in World Sports, Don Riddell here in Atlanta. Don, so as I said, some huge wins for Team USA. Let's start with the latest Nathan Chen.
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah, it took us, what , five or six days for the Americans to start winning gold but they've taken three in the last 24 hours and two of them have come as you say in the last hour or two. Nathan Chen, phenomenal performance in the figure skating, exercising his demons from the Pyeongchang games in 2018 when he stumbled and had to settle for bronze medal. This time as you say he was brilliant earlier in the week dominating the short program. And he did more than enough in the free skate landing five quads to take the gold medal Absolutely fantastic performance by Nathan Chen, a lot of people really, really pleased for him dancing to a medley of tracks by Elton John.
Let's talk about Chloe Kim as well, 21 years of age, she was one of the stars of the previous games winning gold in the women's halfpipe when she was just 17 years of age. She has been speaking this week about how that really was a difficult achievement for her because it completely changed her life at such a young age. She even said she threw the gold medal in the trashcan. Fortunately, she retrieved it before the pins were cleared out. But that's how she felt. That's how she felt the gold medal just changed her life and put so much pressure on her. But she's managed to kind of come through that, she went to college at Princeton, got herself back in shape for the competition here. And she absolutely dominated this event again in the first round. She had a landing a couple of 1080 scoring 94 points, nobody could touch that. And so, with that Chloe Kim is a two-time Olympic champion at the age of 21.
Another phenomenal achievement by the American team, in the snowball cross Lindsey Jacobellis. And this is a wonderful story because she had a chance at the Torino Olympics way back in 2006. She was basically going to win the gold medal. She went for a trick right as she was crossing the finish line, which he really didn't have to do. And she blew it, that was the end of that. And so many games have come and gone since then, without winning any medals of any color at the Olympics. Many must have thought her chance had gone but look at this, now finally she is an Olympic champion and she's been talking about what that means.
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LINDSEY JACOBELLIS, SNOWBOARD CROSS GOLD MEDALIST: I definitely have put 2006 obviously, in the past and have done a lot of soul searching to realize that that moment does define me as an athlete, as an individual. What I've accomplished in this sport and how I've shaped this sport, is, you know, huge and instrumental and how this sport moves forward. I'm really happy that I've been now shaping the sport for women over the last two decades.
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RIDDELL: Congratulations to Lindsey and all the gold medalists. Kim, to be honest, it's nice to be talking about the sport and these achievements because these Olympics have become about so much more than just the sport, right?
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, absolutely Don, exactly. And that's where we're going to go with Ivan Watson in Hong Kong. Ivan, so back to the story about the delay in Monday's team figure skating competition. So has this the murky picture of what's gone on here become any clearer?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Unfortunately, no. I mean, the Russian figure skating team won on Monday, they were supposed to collect their metals in a ceremony on Tuesday. And that ceremony has been postponed. And the explanations from the IOC spokesperson, for two days straight have sounded a little bit like this. Take a listen.
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MARK ADAMS, SPOKESPERSON, INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE: I'm not going to comment on all sorts of speculation that I have also seen overnight, and that speculation will continue. As I said, as you said, I had a -- we had a situation arrive yesterday, at short notice has legal implications. And I'm not and I hope you would appreciate I'm not from the podium of a press conference going to comment on a legal case because it wouldn't be appropriate. On the wider issue, you said a potential doping case and I think that's complete speculation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: So, we don't know why this Olympic medal ceremony has been postponed. In the meantime, there have been reports coming out. For example, a number of sources had told CNN Sports Analyst Christine Brennan, that an athlete tested positive for a prohibited substance and that athlete is a minor. Furthermore, the Russian newspaper RBC sports has saying, it has reported that one of the six members of the Russian Olympic Committee team tested positive for a sample taken back in December for trimetazidine, which is a prohibited substance.
Going one step further, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson issued this statement, which was a little bleak, but it came to the defense of the star Russian figure skater, the 15-year-old named Kamila Valieva, where she talks about what a miracle this young athlete was, and then goes on to talk about evil forces that are trying to hurt good forces right now and talking about unwarranted attack on Russian athletes in past Olympics. So, kind of reading between the lines, something is going on here and postponing the medal ceremony. And there seem to be hints that it could be involving the young star on the Russian Olympic team.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the U.S. Olympic team has said, "We don't have all the details but in situations like this, it's about more than gold. It's about the integrity of fair sports, and accountability."
Now just go back, going back to Monday, the Russian Olympic Committee, which of course it's not the Russian team, because of past doping scandals it's having to their athletes are having to perform under the Russian Olympic Committee banner. They got first place in the team figure skating, followed by the U.S. in second place, and then Japan and Canada. Lots of questions if there is going to be a disqualification about what would happen to that metal lineup. Back to you.
BRUNHUBER: All right, obviously, we'll continue following that story. Ivan Watson and Don Riddell, thank you both.
The British Prime Minister announced his plans to lift COVID measures as police ramped up the investigation into Downing Street's alleged lockdown party. We'll have the details on both.
Plus, India's Prime Minister faces what some called a midterm referendum on his rule as the country's most populous state heads the polls, live report from Uttar Pradesh just ahead, stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: There's been a new twist in Britain's so-called partygate scandal. London's Metropolitan Police salable questioning dozens of people suspected of attending parties at Downing Street while the rest of the country was under strict lockdown. Now, this comes the same day as the British Prime Minister announced plans to end all remaining COVID restrictions a month early CNN's Bianca Nobilo picks up the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris Johnson will be hoping that by indicating a return to pre-COVID normality, you might stave off more letters of no confidence in him being sent and perhaps give his conservative party a boost in the polls. Speaking in the House of Commons Wednesday, Johnson said that the government intends to end the remaining COVID restrictions a full month earlier than intended so at the end of February instead of the 24th of March. That will include the requirement to isolate if you test positive for COVID-19, replacing it instead with guidance urging people to stay at home if they test positive.
Meanwhile, partygate rumbles on. A photo published by The Daily Mirror shows the Prime Minister, two members of his staff tinsel and alcohol on the 15th of December 2020. Number 10 has said this was a virtual quiz. When the photo was taken London was under tier two restrictions, which bans social mixing between households indoors. The Met has said that they will look again at that event. And this comes as the Met has also announced that they will be interviewing over 50 people suspected to have attended the alleged parties in Downing Street and Whitehall as part of its investigation. Bianca Nobilo, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Canadian authorities are searching for ways to end a two week on the creation of its Capitol, truckers protesting COVID vaccines and restrictions are vowing to remain on the streets of Ottawa until all mandates are lifted. Police have begun confiscating fuel and issuing traffic tickets, there are blockades to border crossings, the U.S. is working with Canada to divert traffic from a bridge that links Port Huron, Michigan to Sarnia across the border. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told lawmakers the blockades are already having an economic impact.
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JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: The reality is Mr. Speaker right now people in Windsor are suffering and losing their jobs because they can't get auto parts across the Ambassador Bridge. People in Alberta are seeing shorts to shelves empty because they can't get deliveries across the coops border crossing and this conservative party that supports these blockades won't even stand up and say enough is enough, it's time to go home.
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BRUNHUBER: The Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor is one of the busiest border crossings in North America with about 8000 trucks crossing a day. It's been blocked for traffic going into Canada since Monday nights.
And this just into CNN, at least 120 people have been arrested outside New Zealand's Parliament while processing vaccine mandates in that country. Police say they couldn't be charged with trespassing or obstruction. They also say to officers were assaulted during the arrests. The demonstrations in Wellington were inspired by those in Canada, a police superintendent says the scale of the occupation is unprecedented for New Zealand.
[01:25:13] India's ruling party has faced criticism for his handling of the COVID pandemic. Still, Prime Minister Narendra Modi feels confident, BJP will come out on top in the state's state elections. At this hour voting is underway in the country's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh in an election seen as a key test for Modi in his party. CNN's Vedika Sud joins us now with the latest.
So, Vedika, the ruling party won their pretty handily in the last few elections. So, could things change this time around in what's essentially the country's biggest political prize?
VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER: That's an interesting question you asked, Kim. I'm standing outside a public school where voting is underway in the most populous state in India, Uttar Pradesh, if taken as an independent country, it would be the eighth most populated country in the world.
Now, why is this such a significant election being a state election and not a part of a national election, which is during two years from now? Kim, Uttar Pradesh, is known for its divisive politics. It has been home to a lot of communal riots in the last couple of decades. Its incumbent Chief Minister is a saffron robe, a monk turned politician Yogi Adityanath, and he's known for his divisive politics and anti-Muslim comments as recent as just asked before this election in Uttar Pradesh commence, he actually went on record on a video on his Twitter handle where he said, beware voters, you have to vote wisely if you don't, then Uttar Pradesh might turn into Kashmir or West Bengal or Kerala. What's really to be understood here by our viewers is that the three states and the Union Territory that he mentioned is where there is a high population of Muslims.
We went to temple town, Khajuraho, which is central to BJP's Hindu nationalist agenda, we tried to find out from the ground especially after the second wave that hit India in 2021. What people really want, do they want good governance, are they going to vote based on religion? Here's what our team found out.
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SUD (voice-over): A lifeless bodies tear to the banks of the river Saryo and Noida, a holy city in India's northern State of Uttar Pradesh. It's one of the 217 body social worker, Ritesh Mishra, says he cremated in four months during the peak of the second wave of the COVID epidemic in 2021 when the Delta variants wept India, someone claimed, others abandoned.
Many families either to put to perform the final rites of COVID-19 victims or just too scared of contracting the virus. Last year mass funeral is in the state indicated there were more COVID-19 deaths in Uttar Pradesh than numbers released by the state government.
I asked him which political party he'll be voting for in the upcoming state election. Mishra supports the ruling dispensation.
RITESH MISHRA, SOCIAL WORKER (through translation): I'm compelled to vote for the BJP. They're constructing the rand temple in Ayodhya. That was their main agenda.
SUD: Uttar Pradesh is currently governed by Yogi Adityanath, a firebrand monk and trusted aide of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Also, the champion of the BJP Hindu Nationalist Agenda.
In 2019, a verdict by India Supreme Court vindicated Modi and his body stands on a decade's long legal battles. A holy site in Ayodhya considered to be the birthplace of the revered Hindu deity Ram was handed over to the Hindus and most wants to their before being demolished by a Hindu mob in the early 1990s. As millions watch Modi said the ceremonial cornerstone for a temple in the midst of the pandemic. Right-wing supporters like Pawan Kumar Das Shastri see this happening elsewhere.
PAWAN KUMAR DAS SHASTRI, SEER (through translation): Our next mission is constructing grand temples for our gods and other holy cities.
SUD: In the state capitol luck now and emotional Harshit Shrivastava wipes away his tears. He talks to us about his father who died of COVID 19 in April last year. Despite all efforts, Shrivastava failed to find a hospital that would take his father in. The family were staunch supporters of BJP, but not anymore.
HARSHIT SHRIVASTAVA, FATHER DIED OF COVID-19 (through translation): In the name of religion, this government is taking advantage of the poor and uneducated.
SUD: Yogi and his lieutenants have repeatedly rejected allegations of polarizing communities or mishandling the pandemic.
DR. DINESH SHARMA, DEPUTY CHIEF MINISTER, UTTAR PRADESH (through translation): BJP's full agenda was, is and will always be development.
SUD: How do voters here look at the government's performance, do they value development or the assertion of religious identity?
[01:29:49]
The answer might determine what happens in the 2024 national elections.
Given that 80 seat of 500 plus in the lower house of parliament where elected representatives are, (INAUDIBLE) are from Uttar Pradesh, this is a semifinal in many ways ahead of the 2024 national elections. And very crucial for any aspirations that the prime minister may have ahead in the next two years, Kim.
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BRUNHUBER: So much at stake as you rightly say. Vedika Sud, thank you so much.
SUD (on camera): Absolutely. While, some Indians head to the polls, others have been taking to the streets over the right to wear hijabs. New protests broke out in cities across India Wednesday, as more schools and colleges in the southern state of Karnataka move to enforce a ban on the head scarves used by many Muslim women. The country's ruling party has been accused of discrimination against Muslims which India's prime minister denies but some protesters aren't convinced.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A strong message to go from our side that we are not ready to tolerate any kind of action against the hijab in any part of the country.
We are seeing that attacks against Islam and Muslims have decreased in the country. The entire country is moving towards the ideology of a Hindu nation. And that is why we Muslims are being threatened, so that we adopt the Hindu traditions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Now have a look at this, this video shows how tense the situation is has become. A lone Muslim girl being heckled by angry young men on her way to school. The state's high court is considering petitions against the ban.
Nuclear engineers say they've achieved an important milestone in the quest safe, clean and sustainable energy. We'll explain why nuclear fusion is now closer to reality than ever.
Plus, while the Olympic experience has been worth its weight in gold, for some others are feeling the backlash from viewers over their performance.
A look at why American born athletes competing for China are under the microscope after the break.
Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, you're looking at waterspout off the coast of Cuba as it made its way towards land on Wednesday. It hit the town of Guanabo with its tornado strength winds ripping up trees and power lines.
Residents say it's one of the strongest they've seen. One even saying, they were shaking with fear after the storm had passed. Cleanup from the waterspout is now underway.
[01:34:55]
BRUNHUBER: The dream of nuclear fusion as a clean and sustainable energy source has taken a giant step toward reality. Scientists say a facility in England has successfully generated fusion power for five seconds.
The output was more than double what similar experiments produced 25 years ago. Nuclear fusion generates tremendous heat by fusing two or more hydrogen atoms together. The same process as the sun, basically. It's the reverse of current nuclear power, which uses fission to split atoms apart.
But fission can be used to make warheads, and also creates radioactive waste which can be hazardous in the event of an accident like we've seen at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima.
Scientists say fusion can't be weaponized, isn't prone to catastrophic failure, and emits only helium as a byproduct, making it ideal in addressing climate change. The head of the project says the latest experiment shows the technology is possible.
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JOE MILNES, HEAD, JOINT EUROPEAN TORUS: To give the 59 megajoules some context, that's the amount of power that about 35,000 homes would use for the period that we operated. It was only a short period, it was five seconds, but that was enough to prove that we could sustain a fusion reaction in a stable way. So yes, it's about the power of 35,000 homes would use during that time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Let's talk more about this with Steven Cowley. He's the director of Princeton University's Plasma Physics Laboratory. Thank you so much for being here with us.
Now of course, science is incremental and then the media are often too quick to use the term "breakthrough". So given those caveats, give us a sense of how important this achievement is.
STEVEN COWLEY, DIRECTOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PLASMA PHYSICS LABORATORY: Well, I hate to use the word breakthrough. I think in this case it's more of a landmark, which I think is the word that we'll use -- by the team.
It's a demonstration that we can really sustain fusion output for a substantial length of time in this 50 experiments. We've made large fusion outputs before, but never for more than a second. This was five seconds, as long as we could possibly do in that machine, and breaks the world record.
And so, it's a real step forward, really bodes well for the future.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, it's a step forward, but it has been a long journey, right, on this road? I mean scientists were able to produce I think 21 megajoules in 1997. So now they've been able to produce just under triple that, has taken 25 years to get there, and then 59 megajoules, that's not a lot of energy, right according to one calculation I saw. it would -- you'd use that to boil about 60 kettles of water.
So why has it been so relatively hard to achieve compared to fission?
COWLEY: Well, really because in order to make fusion happen you have to make an extraordinary temperature, the temperature inside the device is about 200 million degrees centigrade which is just a phenomenal temperature. And to actually hold the fuel at that temperature, so it doesn't touch the walls and it's held off the walls with magnetic fields, is really a triumph of modern science.
And you know, back in the 90s, and we could do it sort of, but since then we have kind of understood what it was we didn't quite get right in the 90s. And this is the last road of the machine that was conceived of in the 1970s. It's a long time coming.
(CROSSTALK)
BRUNHUBER: So what is it going to take then, to scale up when you can do it for longer, to make it, you know, actually practicable, more money, a bigger machine? Are there still gaps in our knowledge?
COWLEY: So, bigger really helps here, because what you've got to do is you've got to put on magnetic insulation, to stop the heat leaking out of this 200 million-degree fuel to the walls.
And so, if you make it bigger, it takes longer for the heat to get from the middle to the outside. It's just as simple as that.
And so the next machine that's being made, which is two times the size of jet, the machine that set the record today. Actually, it set the record in December, but was announced today. The next machine is a machine called ether (ph), twice the size, and it will actually get to produce about the same power output as a typical power station.
So here is the million dollar question, right? I mean the ongoing joke with fusion is that it's, you know, it's always 50 years away. So, how long do you think it will take to be actually used, do you think?
[01:39:56]
COWLEY: Well see, the National Academies of Sciences here in the United States has a plan that they released this year saying, we should be planning on producing some electricity, basically by the end of the 2030s, around 2040. And that would be the first electricity produced from fusion.
And by the second half of the century, maybe making the sort of global impacts. It's sort of the perfect way to make energy fusion, except for one thing, it's really hard to do. It's really hard to heat fuel up to 200 million degrees, and get it done. And what we saw in this announcement, that we can sustain that.
And so I'm pretty confident that the National Academy of Sciences has got it right, that's about the right time scale.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Well, difficult to do, but revolutionary should they be able to do it. Really appreciate your insights on this landmark, as you say. Steven Cowley thanks so much.
COWLEY: You're very welcome.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one, left off. Starlight 47.
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BRUNHUBER: Dozens of SpaceX satellites launch on this rocket just last week are already plunging back to earth. That's largely due to bad luck and poor timing. The company says they were launched right into a geomagnetic solar storm, and they couldn't get into orbit. As many as 40 satellites are expected to re-enter that atmosphere or have already done so. But SpaceX says they shouldn't pose a danger to other satellites or anyone on the ground.
Coming up, snow sports effected by shrinking seasons. We'll learn how this man wants to protect our winters.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, the winter games are happening in Beijing. There's concern from environmental scientists that the snow season is becoming so short that winter sports are on thin ice.
Today's "Call to Earth", we speak to legendary snowboarder Jeremy Jones about his efforts to protect our winters from climate change.
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JEREMY JONES, FORMER SNOWBOARDER: The mountains, to me, are a great teacher. They challenge me. They make me feel alive. They ground me. But they also take me through this like really special place.
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JONES: Globally there is 100 million people that really identify with the outdoors. It's a huge part of their life. And if you're in the outdoors consistently, you don't need to be convinced that climate change is real.
Protect Our Winters is an organization I started in 2007 with the goal to unite the winter sports community to have a unified voice on climate change.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks for helping me with (INAUDIBLE) today.
JONES: Anne Nolin (ph) is one of several incredible scientists we work with.
ANNE NOLIN, UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA: This might be a really good area to dig a snow pick. I became aware of Protect Our Winters when they came and talked to me. They wanted to know more about the science of snow and climate.
JONES: How are deep -- are you going to go to the bottom?
NOLIN: Usually, we'll see.
JONES: Well, take a minute. NOLIN: Yes, it does.
My research focuses on snow and glaciers and how they melt and become a water supply for people in forests. And lately I've been looking at the effects of wildfire on snow packs.
So this really high burn severity occurred as a result of the Caldor fire, and it was a huge fire that exploded over this landscape. We don't usually expect that kind of fire to hit here, so the black carbon that we see here in the snow pack came from these burnt trees all around us.
And the burnt woody debris, the burnt forest, the burnt needles. These black trees will continue to deposit that stuff on the snow for another ten years.
JONES: And when that -- when this nice pristine white surface gets that black, burnt debris on it, then that speeds up melting, right?
NOLIN: Yes, it melts in weeks earlier than it would otherwise. Across the west, around the world, we see declining glaciers, we see declining snow packs, at all latitudes we see a lot more warm winters than we did, you know, 30 years ago. There's always cause for hope.
Nature is resilient. And things grow back, forest thinning can actually increase forest health by allowing forests to use the water more effectively.
If you open up a forest to some extent, you can increase the snow accumulating on the ground, because it is not being caught in the canopy.
JONES: I've been able to call myself a professional snowboarder for almost 30 years. I'm well aware of my carbon footprint and try to reduce it every year. But some of the bigger things would be changing my diet to a plant based diet. Most recently solar panels on my house, really reducing the amount of air travel that I do.
But to get the CO2 reduction you need, we need large-scale systemic change.
NOLIN: It's something that we can address, and we have to address it head on. What people can do is, you know, think about what you can do in your daily lives. But more importantly, think about how you can band together with other likeminded citizens to advocate for climate change solutions like Protect Our Winters.
JONES: The work I'm doing is for these future generations so that I can, hopefully, look at my kids, and my grandkids and say, you know what? I have this opportunity, I did everything I could with it to get us on the right path, so not only can you slide on snow, but you have a healthy planet.
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BRUNHUBER: You can let us know what you're doing to answer the call with the #CallToEarth.
We'll be right back.
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BRUNHUBER: Fans temporarily crashed China's leading social media site on Tuesday, after skier Eileen Gu won gold, she's one of multiple athletes in a unique situation. Born in the U.S. but competing for China where not all have received a warm reception.
CNN's Selina Wang reports.
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SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Winning gold for your country is every Olympian's dream. But when it's not the country you are born and raised in, it is not so straightforward.
American-born free skier Eileen Gu became an instant hit in China, after choosing to compete for them in the winter Olympics. Her love of Chinese culture, fluency in Mandarin, and amazing athleticism launched her to become the unofficial face of China's Olympic ambitions and nicknamed The Snow Princess.
The 18 year old is well known as a model for Louis Vuitton and Tiffany. A talented pianist, and after graduating early from high school, with a 15.80 on the SAT, will go to college at Stanford in a few months.
When she won gold in the big air final, it literally broke the Internet, crashing China's leading social media site, Weibo, as fans rushed to share their excitement.
"She is so great", he said, "Eileen is very, very good. Such a steady performance, and she challenged a jump that she's never done before. She is so great."
China doesn't allow dual nationality, and it is unclear if Gu has given up her American citizenship. It's a question she continues to sidestep here in
EILEEN GU, WINTER OLYMPICS ATHLETE: I'm American when I'm in the U.S., and I'm Chinese when I'm in China.
WANG: 19-year old figure skater Zhu Yi has given up her American citizenship, but her reception in China has been a totally different experience, after Yi fell twice during her skating routine, the abuse was relentless on social media, as some questioned why she had been chosen to represent China over an athlete born in the country.
Yi was born and raised in California to a Chinese immigrant family, and has changed her name from Beverly Zhu to Zhu Yi. But she has faced criticism for not speaking fluent Chinese like Gu. (on camera): The decision to compete for China as an American born athlete has drawn some harsh words in the U.S., most specifically over China's human rights record.
Gu insists she wants to be a role model, an inspiration to young girls, but so far has dodged any questions about Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai who disappeared for several weeks, after accusing a powerful Chinese official of sexual assault last year, sparking international concern.
She later denied making the allegations. Peng met with Olympic officials over the weekend and was in the audience for Gu's winning moment, even mentioning Gu by name in an interview with French outlet LeTip (ph) -- calling for our Chinese champion.
Selina Wang, CNN -- Beijing.
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BRUNHUBER: Canada's first gold medal winner at the Beijing Winter Games says his passion for snowboarding helped him overcome cancer.
Snowboard's slopedown champion, Max Parrot was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2018. He tells CNN's Coy Wire that he hopes his win shows the world anything is possible.
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MAX PARROT, WINTER OLYMPICS ATHLETE: that smile is still on my face right now. When I think about it. It felt completely amazing, completely unreal at the same time. I just, you know, on a cloud, it's hard to realize such a thing to be holding this.
You know, it's pretty crazy but at the same time I'm so proud, you know, that the run I did out there is like one of the best runs I've ever done in my entire career.
I was definitely nervous at the bottom before the score came in and then I had to wait all the way to the and to see if my score was going to hold on to the top. So I was really nervous for that the whole time because I wasn't the first to drop, but yes, I mean I'm super hyped about it.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Who are you thinking about as you were standing on that podium?
PARROT: I'm -- honestly, I think I was mostly looking at that nine year old boy, which was me, when I was younger and I started snowboarding, you know, for fun. It was just my passion. And, you know, that day on the podium, had fun on the course, and I just enjoyed my passion again.
But I was also thinking about me, you know, just three years ago, just exactly that day I was at the hospital, laying on the bed, and I just -- I mean it's just crazy to see that three years later I'm standing on the Olympic podium with a gold medal. WIRE: If someone had told you when you are on that hospital bed,
you're going to be an Olympic champion, what would you have thought?
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PARROT: I mean it was hard at that moment to really look a lot of times further. I was mostly, you know, just thinking about making it to tomorrow, every day -- you know, going through chemotherapy treatment is the hardest thing I've ever been through. So looking like too much ahead was just too much of a big task for me.
Perhaps, you know, thinking about snowboarding, which is my passion, dreaming about snowboarding again motivated me a lot like crazy. And I think it really motivated me and helped me get through the treatment in the end.
WIRE: When you heard those words, that you had cancer, what was that like?
PARROT: It was a big shock for me, considering my passion. I was like, what? I'm going to have to end my season? I'm going to have to put my snowboard in the closet.
And you know, it's kind of -- some people kind of laugh about it, and I kind of laugh about it today, you know, that's the first thing I thought. You know, then I even told the doctor, like can we postpone the treatment for a couple of months. But I was a little bit like, you know, I didn't really know what cancer was, I think.
And then the doctor told me, well, we can postpone treatments if you want, but just so you know, the more you wait the less chances you have.
And if you don't treat cancer, you die. When she told me, I was like it kind of shocked me, I was like, ok, I'll put the snowboard away for a couple of months. There are better things to take care of.
WIRE: What message do you have for people about the human mind, about the human spirit, after all you've been through?
PARROT: You know, I think, in the end, anything is possible. I think that's the truth, what happened this week with his gold medal three years later, I think you really just got to focus on your goal, try to be as positive as you can.
And you know, it's not about, you know, like to reach a goal in one day, you know? It's about making a little bit closer every day, and at some point you will reach it one day or another, and it's about never ever giving up.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, you can see them there Chinese soldiers showing off their Olympic spirit, and building snowmen in the shape of the game's mascot. These members of the Chinese People's Liberation Army are stationed
far from the games in Beijing, but said they made these snowmen to express their support for the winter Olympics and the athletes.
I'm Kim Brunhuber, thank you so much for watching.
Rosemary Church will be here in just a moment with more CNN NEWSROOM.
Please do stay with us.
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