Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

CNN International: Putin Refers To The Ongoing Conflict As "War"; Zelenskyy Back In Kyiv After Wartime Visit To U.S.; 200+ Million Across U.S. Under Wind Chill Alerts. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired December 23, 2022 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: Chinese workers across the country reportedly head to Beijing to try to help battle China's surging 19 wave. The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Kyiv once again. After that whirlwind trip to the United States, he went right back to work posting this video online telling Ukrainians that his office is working for victory.

Meanwhile, in the south, Ukrainian officials say Russians have stepped up shelling across the Dnipro River liberated parts of Kherson with more than 60 strikes on Wednesday alone. They say one person was killed in action, and two others were injured. Throughout the conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin has called this invasion a special Military operation. But on Thursday, he used the word war for the first time publicly. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (translated by translator): Our goal is not to spin the flywheel of Military conflict. But on the contrary to end this war, we have been and will continue to strive for this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Senior International Correspondent, Will Ripley joins me from Kyiv. He's effectively breaking his own law, isn't he by calling it a war?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The word war has been banned in Russia for 10 months, the entire time that Russia has waged war on Ukraine and, you know, brutally bond its civilian infrastructure on a regular basis, as along with regular shelling along the front lines, as you just mentioned. And yet they could never call it war in state media.

People were forbidden from saying war at the Kremlin, it was always this special Military operation. That is the Kremlin speak that has permeated the Russian airwaves. And so for President Putin to use the word war, there are a couple of possibilities here. One, it was just a slip of the tongue, and he didn't mean to say it. The other possibility is that if he is actually now calling this publicly a war, he may be setting the stage for further militarization of Russian society.

Because keep in mind, if he declares a war, he can declare martial law, he can pour even more resources into the Military, which he has already vowed to give everything that they need. He's called for modernization of the mobilization process. He's called for stepped up training of the hundreds of hundreds of thousands of conscripts in Russia. There are Russian forces that have been conducting joint Military exercises up on Ukraine's northern border in Belarus.

And so if indeed, Putin is now saying war deliberately, this could be potentially very problematic in terms of Russia's mindset. It was also Vladimir Putin talking about Ukraine as just one potential front line.

And of course, the Kremlin and the Russian Defense Ministry coming out in the foreign ministry as well, you know, in after President Zelenskyy's visit to the United States a triumph that was, you know, many commentators in the U.S. called it, they said basically, that the West, the West and Ukraine was setting the stage for a prolonged conflict with Russia, and Ukraine might just be one of those front lines.

Now, here in Kyiv, President Zelenskyy, he, as you saw posted that social media video. He also made an appearance at a conference of ambassador's here in central Kyiv. We were not allowed access to the president. Obviously, everybody would love to be the first to get the interview with him to get his thoughts on how the U.S. trip went. Although, from what he's been posting and saying publicly, he thought it went very well.

He came back with billions of dollars in pledges for additional aid. He came back with Patriot missile defense system, something that of course, we've been reporting, and have been widely expected. It was seen as Oren Lieberman at the Pentagon that first broke that. So he's ending the year with the wind at his back, he's got momentum on his side. But it's going to be a very long winter here, even here in the capital, Kyiv, there is very limited electrical supply.

There's also been disruptions to the water, we were given letters at our hotel, that the water supply was so scarce, people were asked to really conserve water and to not, you know, not do hotel laundry, hotel laundry was suspended.

And so look, this is a situation if you're talking about you know, even now, you know, hotels that with their generators, and with all of their resources still can't deliver like they could, that is - imagine what it's just like for everyday folks who are actually living in this city and they don't have all of those amenities available to them.

It's incredibly tough times. And that's in the capital city, Kyiv. You go to places like Bakhmut as we showed our viewers yesterday, the only place where people can even get heat and Wi Fi and hot cup of coffee are in underground shelters because the Russian shelling has been so relentless, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Will, thank you. Now a once in a generation winter storm battering into the U.S. ahead of the Christmas holiday weekend. More than 200 million people are under wind chill alerts. That's more than half the U.S. population. Just look at these blinding conditions, blinding in North Dakota. Now the storm will unleash more snow and blizzard conditions throughout the day, particularly in the Midwest according to the National Weather Service. Across the country hundreds of thousands are without power.

[08:05:00]

The frigid weather is making roads treacherous and air travel even more chaotic. Several governors have declared States of emergency and President Biden is urging people to be very careful.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATED OF AMERICA: Its not like a snow day you know when you're a kid. This is serious stuff. Please take this storm extremely seriously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, CNN's Lucy Kafanov is in Denver, Colorado where the weather plans by 37 degrees in just one hour. The biggest one hour drop on record in that city. What was it like going through that, Lucy?

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was painful, Max. I mean, we had to be out here on the streets reporting ignoring the advice of authorities who were urging people to not get outside if they can find a place to shelter, to have warm shelter. I mean, Colorado is obviously known for being able to handle its winters. We're known for our ski resorts. It's a mountain State but the swiftness with which this arctic blast barreled through on late Wednesday and early Thursday which was just remarkable.

We're talking about a 75 degree temperature swing from a high of 50 degrees Fahrenheit when I was reporting on Wednesday to a low of negative 24 degrees below zero. That is incredibly painful. Those numbers, Max, don't do justice to how it actually feels to the human body standing outside because we had snow yesterday, we had strong winds and the wind chill making it feel like a lot colder.

I mean you have to layer up you cannot be standing in one place. And so authorities were also urging people to be mindful of the possibility of frostbite. Now of course there are those who can get inside are doing so. Colorado and Denver in particular has a large homeless population. We're also dealing like many other States across the nation, with an influx of migrants coming in from Central and South America. More than 1300 migrants arriving to Denver in the past month alone.

And so officials in the city and aide groups have been scrambling to find shelter for everyone to keep them out of the streets. The Denver Coliseum, this massive structure was converted into a 24 hour emergency warming shelter. The demand was so strong, Max, that they had to open numerous other, at least two other warming shelters to keep people safe. Colorado activating its National Guard to help with the cold weather preparations. And so this was painful.

And the windchill does remain cold. You know where we are not out of the clear until about 11 am local time. There is some good news positive news on the horizon for Colorado. The temperatures are expected to climb back up. We are expecting to potentially get into 50 degree Fahrenheit weather by Christmas. But of course that is not the sort of silver lining that's on the horizon for other parts of the country as this storm continues to move east, Max.

FOSTER: Lucy, good luck. Thank you very much indeed for joining us from Denver. Now the extreme winter weather is crippling travel as you can imagine. Flight cancellations growing by the minute. Last count airlines scrubbed more than 3000 flights in the U.S. We'll take a look at the travel chaos in just a few minutes. We also have this story just into CNN about a shooting in Paris. Three people are dead and four injured after gunman opened fire on the 10th over at Montmartre.

That's according to the mayor. France's interior ministry says the alleged shooter has been arrested has been arrested. There's no word yet about motive. We'll keep you updated on new information. Turning now though to China. Hundreds of healthcare workers from across the country are said to be traveling to the Capitol Beijing to help treat COVID patients. That report from a Chinese newspaper was later removed from the website.

An unprecedented COVID-19 Wave is ripping through the country after China dramatically reversed its zero COVID strategy. Beijing has dismissed concerns that it's not being transparent about the severity of the crisis. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout has more.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN HONG KONG CORRESPONDENT: Concern is growing about the scale of COVID-19 infection in China. Official figures are unreliable, especially now as less testing is taking place across the country as it unwinds from its tough zero COVID policy. And after China has narrowed its definition of COVID related deaths to only patients who died of respiratory failure directly caused by the virus.

Of this month China's reported only eight COVID-19 deaths. A remarkably low number given the mounting evidence of a surge in cases and deaths.

Now in Beijing, our colleagues have filmed evidence of a crowded crematorium. Its parking lot is completely packed, smoke constantly bellowed from the furnaces. And yellow body bags are seen piled up inside metal containers. Hospitals there in the city are also under pressure. Health professionals across China are traveling to Beijing to help out. Cold and fever meds are running out and people are desperate.

[08:10:00]

And one resident tells CNN this quote, "In the past five days I had many symptoms but couldn't buy any medication to treat sore throat, coughing or fever. None of the medicines are available" unquote. Now the U.S. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken is now calling on all countries including China to share information about the COVID 19 outbreak.

In a press conference. He cited a number of concerns including the possibility of a new variant emerging. Saying this quote, "Anytime the virus is spreading or is moving around, there is the possibility that a new variant develops, that variant spreads even further, and it comes in hits us or other countries around the world."

Secretary Blinken also spoke to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to discuss several issues including the importance of transparency. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says China has always shared relevant information with the international community and will continue to cooperate. Kristie Lu stout CNN, Hong Kong.

FOSTER: South Korea is calling it a serious provocation says North Korea launched two short range ballistic missiles on Friday. They landed in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. This marks the 36th Day this year that North Korea has launched at least one missile. U.S. and South Korea experts are warning Kim Jong-un could be preparing for its first nuclear test in more than five years.

To U.S. politics now. The January 6. committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol released its final report late on Thursday. It's more than 800 pages long and based on more than 1000 witness interviews. It makes the case that former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election led to the violence that day.

Saying none of the events on January 6 would have happened without him. It goes on to recommend that the former president be barred from holding public office ever again. Let's bring in Paula Reid, CNN Senior Legal Affairs Correspondent. And we've had a response, haven't we from Mr. Trump?

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT That's right. The former president has responded dismissing this entire investigation as a quote, "witch hunt". Of course, that's one of his favorite responses to these political investigations into various potential crimes that he has conducted since allegedly, are conducted since even before he was running for office.

Beginning with special counsel Robert Muller's investigation into meddling in the 2016 election. But this report, I mean, this is really a comprehensive summary of everything that this committee has uncovered over the past year and a half. And in addition to that recommendation that you just mentioned, that Trump never be able to hold office again.

You know, they really lay out exactly how they believe the former president and his allies tried to interfere with the 2020 election results. And they take a few steps back. They don't just focus on what happened on January 6, and the violence in the Capitol. They begin all the way back with the election and really dig in on the efforts by the former president and his associates to try to push these claims of baseless claims of voter fraud rally the former president's supporters, and they argue that that is what prompted the violence on January 6. In fact, they come to this conclusion saying that the evidence has led to an overriding and straightforward conclusion. The central cause of January 6 was one-man, former President Trump, who among others followed. Now the former president's lawyers, I speak to them often, they argue that the former president was just getting bad advice that he cannot be held responsible for a truly held belief that there was election fraud.

But the committee has really tried to lay out its case playing clips from witness interviews, and presenting other evidence to show that he was told on multiple occasions that this was not true and even had some doubts himself about some of the things that he was being told. Now going forward, all of this evidence will go to special counsel Jack Smith, who is investigating this for possible criminal charges.

We also expected the committee will be releasing additional transcripts of witness interviews that it has conducted. Now those were conducted behind closed doors, but journalists, defense attorneys and prosecutors will be going to be poring over those for the next several weeks. So potentially more news to come.

FOSTER: OK, we'll be watching. Paula, thank you. Still ahead, this crazy winter weather could not have come at a worse time really. Thousands of people are stranded at U.S. airports as they try to make it home for the Christmas holidays and international travel update when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:15:00]

FOSTER: Now about the international travel being affected by the extreme weather we're seeing in the U.S. Where thousands of flights have been canceled on Friday and Thursday. Some 10,000 were delayed. These are the sort of scenes you're seeing at places like Detroit airport, very low visibility, the flights just can't take off. That results in long queues. Of course, this is Denver airport. A typical scene really as people tried to get away for their holidays.

How many flights canceled? Well, look at the numbers, 3100 in the U.S.. And that's just today, the number keeps going up all the time. CNN Aviation Correspondent, Pete Muntean is actually cargos biggest airport, O'Hare International. He's been following all of the disruption very closely for us. It's very difficult for the airlines to do anything else than cancel flights is there, under these conditions?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: They're facing a lot of challenges, Max. 5700 flights canceled worldwide. Here in the U.S. we're talking about 3200 flights canceled so far today. That's really dwarfs what we saw here just yesterday. 2600 flights canceled yesterday. The big issue here is that the storm is hitting some major hubs for connecting airports. And that is what is so important for international viewers who may be coming here to the U.S. or trying to get out of town. Here in Chicago O'Hare, it's the busiest hub for United Airlines one of the busiest for American Airlines, making connections especially difficult. They've been working behind the scenes at United Airlines at its network operation center to try and reroute passengers to other hubs to make their connections. This just reinforces that when you try and fly, you should try and book nonstop, if you can

The cancellations just keep climbing here in the U.S. as the storm moves to the east now. LaGuardia is getting hit pretty bad, Seattle as well. Detroit where 42 percent of all flights have been canceled. That's Delta's big gateway from the East Coast, into Asia and beyond. The numbers keep going up also in places like Boston on the East Coast. This will be a pretty big mess of a day.

And what the big problem is for passengers is now the passenger volume is back up close to pre Pandemic levels, there simply aren't all that many seats travel experts say for them to fight for if they get rebooked on to a different flight. I want you to listen now to Scott Keyes of Scott's cheap flights. He says this is going to be a really big challenge for passengers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT KEYES, SCOTT'S CHEAP FLIGHTS: To hear about how travel volume is still down 5 percent or 10 percent. But what many folks might not have realized is that the number of flights in the sky is actually down more like 15 percent or 20 percent. So the planes that are actually flying are more full today than they were pre Pandemic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: The big challenge here, Max, for airlines is not necessarily the snow they are used to that you're at Chicago O'Hare. It is more the biting cold that is associated with this storm. Here in Chicago, the forecast high temperature today is one degree Fahrenheit. That is so intense and that's not factoring into Windchill and it makes it especially hard for ground crews to work airline say to try and load bags.

Marshal planes out of the gate, move the jetway that's going to be the really big tough part here. And the FAA, the Federal Aviation Administration here in the United States says now it's all a ground game about how fast airports can clean off planes from snow and ice. It's going to be a very difficult day today will be a bigger mess than it was yesterday, Max.

[08:20:00]

FOSTER: You've got this combination as well haven't you where travelers are more determined to travel than usual because they want to get somewhere for the holiday? Are they heeding the advice to try to, you know, delay their visits or are they still turning up at the airport?

MUNTEAN: Yes, sadly, a lot of that ability to do that has come and gone. But we did talk to a lot of passengers who bumped up their trips. You know, airlines issued these travel waivers, including more airports in their route system, in some cases than ones that were not included allowing passengers to essentially rebook their flights ahead of time with no change fees, no increase in fare.

A lot of passengers we talked to, did. In fact do that they tried to get out ahead of the storm. Now, the times get really desperate for passengers, as they just try and figure out how they're going to get around this today. There's not as much slack in the system when it comes to the Pandemic. The workers are back, but we're still not seeing as many airplanes that airlines had before the Pandemic, fewer seats, that's going to be the big problem today.

FOSTER: OK, Pete Muntean, good luck to everyone there. Thank you. Busy day for him as well. Travel chaos is also hitting Europe, where more strikes are planned. Delays are expected at airports as passport control staff begin to walk out expected to last until the new year here in London and the UK. The government is bringing in trained Military personnel to act as fill ins. This is a number of - There are also you know rail strikes planned for this season, and other major walkout set to start tomorrow on Christmas Eve.

And in France, rail operator SNCF warns that a four day strike will cause delays on its railway starting today. Coming up, saving energy in Paris. how these amateur athletes take turning out the lights to new heights?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: It's not just Superman, who can leap tall buildings in a single bound. Parkour athletes in Paris climb walls and jump over staircases to keep businesses from wasting energy. The goal is to save electricity across the city of lights during an unprecedented energy crisis. Saskia Van Dorn reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SASKIA VAN DORN, CNN FRENCH CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Once a month, Kevin Ha and his friends take small steps to save energy in France through the unusual sport of Parkour. By day, you'll find them jumping, running, climbing and somersaulting over obstacles across Paris. So that by night using the wall run technique, they turn off outdoor lights that have been left on.

KEVIN HA, PARKOUR ATHLETE: singles lights turned on all the night is such an absurdity in a world with limited resources. So the best way to save energy is actually to consume less.

VAN DORN (voice-over): The lights off movement started about two years ago went viral and has been spreading beyond Paris to cities including Marseille, Rennes, Dijon and Tours. The group can get through 60 lights a night. They say they're just enforcing a long forgotten law that stores should turn off window displays between 1 am and 6 am or face a fine of up to $1,600.

[08:25:00] HA: But the real question is what we can leave for the next Generations, we can just send a larger message and tell them to be careful. We need everyone to take part of the movement in order to have a real impact.

VAN DORN (voice-over): Their actions have also caught the public's imagination, because of Europe's energy crisis, with the French government, asking households and businesses to make real changes this winter.

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (translated by translator): Don't be afraid of the times we live in. They are tough. I don't know what will happen in the next few weeks. So we have to be prepared for anything. But we are a strong nation and we are here. But it is in this moment that the most daring win.

VAN DORN (voice-over): Across Europe, Christmas lights will be dimmed this year to send a message of energy conservation and solidarity with the people already feeling the pinch of high utility bills and inflation.

VAN DORN (on camera): What people think of Christmas lights in Paris, they picture, but this year in a bid to save electricity, the lights wrapped around 400 trees will be switched off two hours early.

DAN LERT, DEPUTY MAYOR OF PARIS (translated by translator): Our goal is to reduce energy consumption by 10 percent this winter, and we're going to take several measures to achieve that. We're going to lower the temperature in our schools, our municipal facilities, our gymnasiums and our colleges by one degree. We will also lower the temperature in our municipal swimming pools.

VAN DORN (voice-over): Despite these energy saving measures, the threat of blackouts loom as does the prospect that even the City of Light may have to go dark. Saskia Van Dorn, CNN Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Thanks for joining me here on CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster in London. Bianca is back next week. I'll be back the week after. World sport with Patrick Snell is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)