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CNN International: Kremlin: Sending Tanks is a "Direct Involvement" in War; Memphis Police to Release Video of Violent Traffic Stop; Will Donald Trump Return to Facebook; Workers Return to Rural Villages for Lunar New Year; Families Celebrate as China Lifts COVID Restrictions. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired January 26, 2023 - 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: He says the majority of missiles were intercepted though and shot down. The Russian attacks comes less than 24 hours after the United States and Germany announce plans to send dozens of sophisticated tanks to the battlefield. CNN's Sam Kiley joins us live from a district in Kyiv. And this is being seen as a revenge attack by many in Ukraine.

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max, I don't think it is, to be honest, I think the idea that the Russians would revenge themselves or avenge themselves against the deployment of tanks is somewhat misguided. The reality is that these are targets of opportunity that the Russians have been trying to use now for months going after the energy facilities here, the civilian energy facilities.

I'm standing close to where a man in his 50s was killed by the descending debris of a missile that was shot down, clearly targeting a significant energy facility here. And this has been the pattern across the whole country. And pretty frequently, almost you'll recall Max, almost on a weekly basis, you get these attacks.

Now, the deployment of the promised tanks from a NATO which number close to around 100 falls far short of what the Ukrainians have asked for, which is 3 to 400. But they are modern tanks, replacing tanks that the Ukrainians have lost in there fighting against the Russians.

And the Russian sorry, the Ukrainian Defense Minister yesterday told Christiane Amanpour that he thought that these tanks would be put to use as an iron fist, in his words, to try and smash through a Russian defensive line somewhere long, the very long, frontline that stretches right across this country from north to south in the east, predominantly.

But the there is no sign yet that those tanks are going to be deployed we understand that the challenge of two tanks in United Kingdom might be among the first to arrive, then the Leopard tanks.

And then it could be months before the Ukrainian see the 30 American Abrams tanks, but they are very excited indeed about getting these tanks because it not only did they help in the battle, but it also symbolically allows the Ukrainians in NATO to get on board much more closely in terms of continued supply of these near strategic weapons.

So tanks aren't strategic weapons, but longer range artillery is longer range rockets. And above all, fighter bomber jets are very strategic. And they're the top of the list really, of what the Ukrainians are continuing to ask for, Max.

FOSTER: Yes, so what is the next stage typically, as Zelenskyy after he's been offered something we'll move on to the next thing he's looking for? Is that what he's looking for those fighter jets?

KILEY: Yes, absolutely. They make no bones about it; their priority is to secure the air. In other words, to prevent the sorts of missile attacks so you can see that some of the debris still being cleared up behind me to prevent these waves of not only Iranian made primitive drones, the Shahed drones.

But these cruise missiles, they have been given the air defenses that helped to bring down. They shot all 20 that were fired here, Kyiv town, Max. But of course they need replenishment of these anti- missile, missile systems and they need more of them. So that's the top of their list.

Then they're saying they need more artillery, they need more tanks, of course, they want more drones, they want that modern weaponry that will give them the qualitative edge over the quantitative edge that the Russians have at the moment. The Russians, as you know, Max is sending these waves a human waves of infantry, particularly from the Wagner group employing prisoners, arguably almost pressganged prisoners into rushing at uranium, a Ukrainian positions getting blown down in dozens.

Some of them are getting through and that making very incremental, very small amounts of progress at enormous cost. And what the Ukrainians wants to be able to do is punch through those areas and rid the country entirely of Russians. And it seems to be that now that you've seen this unity among NATO partners over the tank issue.

There's a growing sense that it is right, ultimately, for all the Ukrainians to actually defeat the Russians here rather than hold them back. I think that may be a significant shift in the kind of behind closed doors attitude of a lot of NATO countries, because there has been a concern that Russia shouldn't in the words of Emmanuel Macron, the French President be humiliated.

That was a sort of statement he was making at the beginning of this war. Now, I think there's a growing sense in the NATO partners that Russia should be beaten effectively out of Ukrainian territory and then dealt with on different terms, once that has occurred, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Sam in Kyiv thank you. Russia's reaction to the announcement of the tanks from the West was pretty swift. The Kremlin saying tank deliveries from the West count as direct involvement in Russia's war on Ukraine. And now the Kremlin spokesperson says Ukraine's President has long ceased to be an opponent for Vladimir Putin.

[08:05:00]

FOSTER: Salma is now going to translate, Salma?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Max even before this announcement about tanks being deployed to Ukraine as European allies in the United States were mulling it over Russia was already finger wagging particularly at Berlin, pointing out that this would make the conflict deeper prolong the conflict.

Now that the announcement has been made, you've heard multiple threats really coming from the Kremlin. One official saying they would consider these deployments, these tank shipments to be legitimate targets. Now that's nothing new Russia throughout this conflict has said any weapons shipments to Ukraine will be targeted or will attempt to be targeted by Russia's forces.

And now yet another statement saying that the West has crossed the red line that it is now deeply involved that its direct involvement cannot be denied again, statements coming from the Kremlin but I think what's important to note here, Max is that the reaction from the United States the West, the alliance is very different this time.

They have absolutely made a conscious decision after this period to step up, ramp up the type of weapons that Ukraine is seeing the tanks. That would have been unimaginable when the conflict started, that Western allies would provide tanks to Ukraine. But clearly Moscow now seems like much less of a threat to these capitals.

They see President Putin in the West as a severely weakened by this conflict. He's losing tens of thousands of soldiers on the ground. As you heard from my colleague, Sam Kiley, there he's running out of those resources. On the other hand, Ukraine, it seems like it has an endless supply of support from its Western allies.

FOSTER: OK, Salma, thank you for that. Now, nine Palestinians, including an elderly woman were killed during an Israeli raid at a refugee camp in the West Bank City of Jenin. That's according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Israeli security forces described it as a counterterrorism operation targeting militants who attacked Israeli soldiers and civilians. It marks the deadliest day in the West Bank in more than a year.

Extremely cold weather sweeping across much of East Asia this during the busy Lunar New Year travel season in many places temperatures have fallen to record lows. Japanese officials say at least four people have died working to clear snow in the frozen conditions there. CNN's Marc Stewart joins us now with more from Hong Kong and the detail really is these massive snarl ups on the roads and the rail.

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Road, rail and also the airwaves as well Max. In fact, Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways, they've had to cancel a lot of flights particularly domestic flights in Japan. In fact, I just got an update from our producer in Tokyo. She is telling me that flights for the most part have resumed.

However, flights in the Northern part of Japan may deal with the weather still. Others also concerned as a heavy snowstorm is expected to hit sometime tomorrow in Japan, particularly along the Sea of Japan Coast. That could impact flights as well as the Shinkansen, which of course is the bullet train that so many people in Japan depend on to get from point A to point B.

Also problems to report in Korea, specifically a Jeju Island which is a big tourist hotspot, especially during the holidays. Flights to and from there have finally started to resume, but there were definitely some issues there from all of this weather. Again, heavy snow strong winds impacting many parts of Asia.

Finally, I want to take you to China where we are reporting that the City of Mohe which is often referred to as China's North Pole, it recorded its coldest day ever and to put that in context. This comes after China saw its worst heatwave in 50 years so certainly some extreme conditions there. As far as here in Hong Kong things are mild, a bit cloudy, but everything here seems to be an OK, Max.

FOSTER: --you see that at least Marc, thank you very much indeed. Authorities in Memphis, Tennessee are preparing for the country really for the impending release of graphic video of a traffic stop that turns deadly. It comes nearly three weeks after police pulled over 29- year-old Tyre Nichols, a black man.

The arrest was violent and Nichols died three days later in the hospital. Five officers who were also black were fired following an internal investigation and could face potential criminal charges. And the Memphis Police Chief caused the incident a feeling of basic humanity towards another individual. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CERELYN DAVIS, MEMPHIS POLICE CHIEF: This incident was heinous, reckless, and inhumane and in the vein of transparency. When the video is released in the coming days, you will see this for yourselves. I expect our citizens to exercise their First Amendment right protest to demand action and results.

[08:10:00]

DAVIS: But we need to ensure our community is safe in this process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: A preliminary autopsy commissioned by Nichols family attorneys show Nichols suffered extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating. Still to come, Will Donald Trump ditches his truth social media platform? Now that he's allowed back on his mainstream accounts. We'll discuss and have a look after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Welcome back! Will Donald Trump return to mainstream social media? Facebook's parent company Meta said it will restore the Former President's accounts two years after he was banned in the wake of the January 6 Capital attack. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK CLEGG, META GLOBAL AFFAIRS PRESIDENT: We're confirming that if he wants to he can, in the coming weeks he can use Facebook and in Instagram again. I mean, of course, there are guardrails, there are rules, and he's got to play by the rules. And we're announcing some additional ones today to encourage him to just stick to the rules.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Now, this decision follows Twitter's decision to lift the ban on Donald Trump back in November, but he hasn't actually posted since. He is posting on truth social, which is his own social media platform. He has an exclusive deal with them as well. Let's speak to CNN's Donie O'Sullivan in New York for this, because this is what people are saying, right? That he's not going to return to mainstream media because he's got this deal with his own platform, which might not even survive if he wasn't on it.

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly Max, look, he has from our understanding a deal with truth social, which is that the social media platform that he is now affiliated with, where he has to post there first, and then he could post on other platforms, six hours later, which, as you know, from using social media, that's not really a sustainable approach if you want to have engagement on the likes of Facebook and Twitter.

But I think broadly, the expectation here is that at some point, he might be able to wiggle out at that, particularly as we go into the 2024 election cycle. He's going to probably want to be engaged in the news through his use of Twitter and also importantly, using those really valuable targeted ads on Facebook.

FOSTER: Facebook have given the most set of restrictions though, right? He has to operate within go by past history. He's got to break those pretty quickly. So another ban would come if he did that?

O'SULLIVAN: Yes, well, they say, you know, look at this decision was announced actually by Former Deputy Prime Minister of the U.K., Nick Clegg from your neck of the words, who lost his election in 2017 and is now a President at Facebook.

[08:15:00]

O'SULLIVAN: He announced his decision and they said that you know in making us they sort of took the mood of the country. It's quite a subjective wishy. You know, what their factor that they're looking at here and they say they don't believe that putting Trump back on the platform will cause imminent harm or danger, which is the same, which is the reason they kicked him off the platform in the first place.

Now, they said they will have some rules in place that he can post about certain things. And if he does something, they might kick them off for a short period and let him back on. But it's going to get really messy. I mean, nine minutes after he, after Facebook announced this yesterday evening, here on the East Coast in the U.S. 9 minutes after that Trump was posting on his own platform, more lies and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.

FOSTER: If he does run again, in the same sort of way, he's going to need Facebook, isn't he? Because Facebook was absolutely central to how he won in the past that way, he managed to target particular groups and get them on side and sell them the sorts of stories that they wanted to hear. So it almost feels inevitable that he would go back onto Facebook.

O'SULLIVAN: Yes, in the 2020 campaign cycle, the Trump campaign spent hundreds of millions of dollars on Facebook ads. And look, I think even Democrats would say that the Trump campaign is the best at using at this targeting technology but in 2016, and 2020. I look, I mean, I think that the broader conversation here is, of course, it comes down to the conversation about the power of Silicon Valley and big technology platforms.

Look, well, many people, many Democrats here - and Republicans too in the moment after January 6, when there is panic here in the U.S. in 2021. They agreed with that decision that he should have been de- platform and silenced on Facebook and also on Twitter. But as time has gone on, people are saying, well, you know, is it really right that a platform should have that power?

So look, interestingly, even the ACLU, the civil liberties group here in the U.S., who has taken many case and issue against Trump, and say that this was the right call because they believe that people should be able to hear from Trump and hold them accountable the good, the bad and the ugly.

FOSTER: OK, Donie O'Sullivan, fascinating development, thank you for joining us.

O'SULLIVAN: Thanks, Max.

FOSTER: The Lunar New Year is upon us. We'll show you why it's extra special for those in China this year, thanks to new COVID policies actually. We'll take you there after the break.

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FOSTER: Chinese officials say the country's latest wave of COVID cases may be over but health experts are warning of a surge in cases in rural areas as millions of people travel home for the Lunar New Year holiday. CNN's Selena Wang and her team visited a village in Southern China with government minders, watching them every step of the way.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This is how people celebrate the Lunar New Year in Dali Village. Cheers --.

WANG (voice over): This year celebration is particularly special. The adults around this table all work in factories in the cities. This is the only time when many of them can see their children. The man next to me says we got to go wherever we can make money and China's Zero COVID policy over the last three years has made it all even harder.

[08:20:00]

WANG (voice over): He says the policy prevented them from going home but now that the country's open they can all be together. We came to this place in China Southern Guizhou Province to see how the part of rural China is celebrating the Lunar New Year without pandemic restrictions. We visited villagers home. Sanja (ph) greets us with a treat and alcohol, both meats from rice from the paddy fields nearby. Drinking is a big part of celebrating here.

WANG (on camera): About 1000 people live in this village and for hundreds of years they've lived in these traditional wooden houses and you can hear the chickens crowing and there are these ducks as well, that they raised for food.

WANG (voice over): In many ways this place is like a time capsule. Its physical isolation has preserved their way of life for centuries. They're China's don't ethnic minority. They have their own language, tradition and culture, but they can't escape the economic realities of modernity.

Normally, this village is full of the elderly and young kids with most of the working age adults gone, working in faraway factories sending money home. This couple works in a factory 500 miles away in Guangdong Province, making circuit boards. He tells me he hasn't seen his kids for a year. Last time he left his son couldn't even walk.

He says it's emotional to see them grow so much. For the first time in three years, millions of Chinese migrant families are finally able to reunite without the fear of COVID markdowns. Almost everyone I speak to on camera says no one around them has gotten COVID. Like this elderly woman who makes traditional crafts. She says she has not been wearing a mask and points to her shoulder saying she had the vaccine shots.

But we run into another group of young people who say otherwise. The man in the brown jacket with his back turned is a doctor at a hospital in a nearby city. He says almost all of the villagers have been infected. I asked him if they just don't realize they have COVID. In response he says they've never been tested, but clearly they had COVID symptoms.

WANG (on camera): So we've got the three government minders following us.

WANG (voice over): It's common for local officials to keep a close eye on Foreign Journalists in their jurisdictions. But they were especially persistent in this village following our every move. So we drive out of the village to visit a public hospital in a neighboring county about two hours away, hoping these government minders won't follow us. So people will feel more comfortable speaking freely. We walk inside the fever clinic.

WANG (on camera): It's almost entirely empty. WANG (voice over): In the main hospital area. There are more people but it's not packed. It's a stark contrast to the images of overflowing hospitals in major cities across China from weeks before. I asked the nurse on another floor of the hospital if it was packed with patients a few weeks ago. She says it's always packed in busy here.

We try to ask why it looks empty here. But another doctor interrupts ending our interview. We find one woman a patient's family member who is willing to speak to us. She says everyone around her has already gotten COVID and recovered. Soon after we've realized we're being followed apparently by a whole different crew.

WANG (on camera): There are at least two, three government minders. They're still following us all the way here. It's very obvious.

WANG (voice over): They follow us to hospital after hospital preventing anyone from speaking to us. I try confronting them. I asked them why they're following us everywhere. And he ignores me.

WANG (on camera): He's walking away.--

WANG (voice over): So I tried this official she refuses to even acknowledge my question. And what happens next talk during my interview with this girl shocks us.

WANG (on camera): OK, so just interviewing the girl and then the mind literally took her away from us.

WANG (voice over): Demand pushes the girl and her family away than leader leaves them alone. But her interviews in the marketplace are over. China's CDC says the COVID peak across the country has passed. But in rural areas like this, experts say there's likely far more silent suffering.

People who died at home because they couldn't afford to go to the hospital or were unable to get there on time back in the village were greeted by the sounds of squealing pigs getting ready to be slaughtered. It's a Lunar New Year tradition. Decades ago for most countryside families, this was the only time of the year when they could afford to eat meat.

WANG (on camera): A whole family of relatives is all getting together for the Lunar New Year, enjoying freshly killed pig meat.

[08:25:00]

WANG (voice over): Sanja shows me the fabric she made herself. So when just a thin strip of this cloth takes her more than a day. Whether it's in the village or in faraway factories they're hard working people. They'll do whatever it takes to give their kids a better life, even if it means long bouts of separation from them, making reunions like these all the more meaningful. Selina Wang, Dali village, Guizhou China.

(END VIDEOTAPE) FOSTER: Now scientists say the inner core of our planet could be shifting into reverse. So to speak, the core is a massive rotating ball of iron and nickel. But researchers in China say this rotation has almost stopped in recent years and may switch direction. They believe that's something that happens every several decades but some independent scientists say whatever is happening and no calamity is in the making so feel reassured.

A Japanese Telescope has captured something strange in the skies over Hawaii. If you look closely, you can see what appears to be a spinning blue spiral. A number of experts have weighed in saying it's actually the product of a SpaceX launch. It can happen when part of the satellite dumps fuel or generates a trail of exhausts whilst it's still rotating. A similar - have been spotted after other SpaceX launches as well.

Now later, another small asteroid is expected to have a close encounter with Earth. NASA says it's about the size of a box truck. This the asteroid is expected to zoom over the Southern tip of South America only 2200 miles above the planet's surface.

Not to worry though, NASA says it's harmless with no risk of it impacting Earth and even if it did, it would turn into a fireball and disintegrate. Thanks for joining me here on CNN "Newsroom". I will see you tomorrow. I'm Max Foster in London, "World Sport" with Amanda is next.

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