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Man Who Disarmed Monterey Park Gunman Honored; Pakistani Police: Mosque Blast Kills 17, Injures 83; Kherson City Council: Three Dead After Russian Shelling in Ukraine; U.S. and Russian Diplomats Meet with African Leaders; Power Cuts Impacting Millions in South Africa. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired January 30, 2023 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster. If you're just joining us, let me bring you to date with our top stories this hour.

The attorney for Tyre Nichols' family is calling on Congress to approve legislation to address police brutality in America. Nichols will be laid to rest on Wednesday.

More than 13 million people are under winter weather alerts across the central and northeastern United States, parts of the country could see temperatures below zero.

NOBILO: The man who disarmed the Monterey Park shooting suspect at a second dance studio in Alhambra, California has been awarded a medal of courage by the local police department. Brandon Tsay was given a certificate of Congressional recognition on Sunday. The shootings just over a week ago, left 11 dead as they were celebrating the Lunar New Year at a dance studio in Monterey Park. Tsay later wrestled the gun away from the suspect at a second dance studio likely preventing another tragedy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRANDON TSAY, DISARMED MONTEREY PARK SUSPECT: I want everyone to take the time to grieve, to mourn, to recover. But after I want us, the people of this nation, to take action.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: This surveillance footage shows Tsay confronting the gunman. For his heroism Tsay has now been invited to Joe Biden's State of the Union address in Washington next week as a guest of the U.S. president.

FOSTER: Now breaking news just into CNN. At least 17 people are dead, 83 others injured in an explosion inside a mosque in Pakistan.

NOBILO: Police say that the blast took place in the northwestern city of Peshawar in the middle of afternoon prayers. The mosque is situated inside the police lines of the city and is mostly attended by law enforcement officials.

Russia's deputy foreign minister says it's now pointless to talk with Ukraine after the U.S. decided to send tanks to the battlefield. Those comments reported by Russian state media come just days after President Joe Biden announced the U.S. would supply Ukraine with 31 Abrams tanks.

FOSTER: Meanwhile, the fighting rages on. The mayor says at least one person is dead after a missile struck a residential building in Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Three other people were injured in the strike. Officials say residents were evacuated. And to the south, the Wagner Group is claiming to have taken another village in the city of Bakhmut. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the situation in the area is very tough and Bakhmut is under constant Russian attacks.

CNN's Clare Sebastian is following developments and joins us now live from London.

[04:35:00]

Clare, what else did we glean from this interview on Russian state media about how the Russians are seeing the U.S. and Europe's involvement with the war in Ukraine and any likely response from them?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so what we see is this continued rhetoric from Russia that any negotiations are to happen with the U.S., that they see this as essentially a proxy war that the West and particularly U.S. are fighting in Ukraine. The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov saying that he believes it's pointless to talk to Ukraine, given the fact that the West and particularly the U.S. -- which he calls their puppet masters -- are supplying these tanks and other weapons to Ukraine.

This is something that we see a lot from Russia, not just the rhetoric around this being a war not with Ukraine, but with the rest of NATO, but with these efforts with words like puppet master to deny Ukraine's sovereignty. What we don't see yet are any specific threats around sort of retaliation for these weapons, but certainly they are expressing their displeasure about this.

NOBILO: We're also hearing about more missile attack in the country.

SEBASTIAN: Yes, I think that Kharkiv, the second largest city -- I don't want to say it's had a respite but we haven't heard many reports from there of violence in recent weeks and months. I think this shows that everything is on the table. Kharkiv being hit by an S-300 missile that they're usually reserved for air defense now being repurposed by Russia over the past few months for offensive purposes.

Then you have Kherson also on Sunday down in the south, some 500 plus kilometers away being shelled to the point where three civilians were killed in that city, also on Sunday. And then, of course, in the middle of that you still have that very intense fighting, that flash point around Bakhmut and then further south in Vuhledar in eastern Ukraine where Russia continues to push for that key strategic goal of taking the Donbas. NOBILO: Clare Sebastian, thank you.

FOSTER: The U.S. ambassador to the UN has been traveling across the African continent as part of the Biden administration's push to strengthen relations with that region. While Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has been doing the same as both countries try to court the support of African countries. CNN's Larry Madowo spoke with Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield in Nairobi about that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Russian foreign minister has also been in Africa on a charm offensive. Is this to counter what the Russians are trying to do here in Africa?

LINDA THOMAS GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: I would argue the opposite. They're probably trying to counter what we are doing. We have been on this continent since the beginning. We are the largest contributor to humanitarian assistance across this continent.

MADOWO: African nations have -- may have chosen to abstain whenever there is a vote to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine at the U.N. Do you understand why many African nations choose to sit on the fence in this conflict?

GREENFIELD: I've heard their explanations for why they want to do it, they have said to me they want to be neutral. My message is to those who have made the decision to abstain is that we have a responsibility in the U.N. system to protect the U.N. Charter and Russia's brutal attack on Ukraine goes against that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: The ambassador also said she hopes African leaders will be strong in their condemnation of Russia when it comes to Ukraine. Vladimir Putin is hosting an Africa summit in St. Petersburg in July.

NOBILO: Still ahead, power cuts in South Africa are crippling businesses especially poultry farmers. We'll have a live report from Johannesburg coming up next.

FOSTER: And later and also in Australia tennis champion Novak Djokovic achieves what he calls the biggest victory of his life.

[04:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: An update now on breaking news that we're following out of Pakistan. A deadly blast at a mosque in the north of the country. For more let's go live to Sophia Saifi live in Islamabad. Sophia, we're learning more details about heavy casualties in this blast in Peshawar. What more do you know from the authorities?

SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN PRODUCER: We know that there are about 17 people who have died. More than 70 people have been injured in this blast that took place in a mosque in the police lines area of Peshawar which is in the northwest of the country. It happened during afternoon prayers, and this is an area -- this a mosque which is usually visited by law enforcement officials.

We have been told by a hospital official that there is a state of emergency at hospitals in that area in the city of Peshawar and that hospitals are asking for blood donations. Because there is a fear according to law enforcement officials that we've spoken to that this number is going to increase. There have been reports of the entire wall of the mosque falling in. And you have to understand that when people are praying at the mosque, they're all lined up side by side so we're not sure yet.

We haven't confirmed what has caused this blast. But Peshawar is no stranger to such attacks, which over the past couple of years had decreased but since the fall of Kabul there's been an increase in terrorist attacks, militant attacks in the north of Pakistan, especially and only just a couple of weeks ago there was an attempted suicide attack in the capital itself. So, there's already been a high alert with regards to security across the country.

There was a high level delegation that was expected to come into Islamabad this morning. The president of the United Arab Emirates was supposed to come to Pakistan, to come to Islamabad today. Which is why there was a special holiday in order for security to be on high alert. And now we're just getting this information from Peshawar, it's an ongoing story so we're waiting to get more information as we get it.

NOBILO: Sophia Saifi live in Islamabad, thank you. We'll check in with you again shortly.

FOSTER: Thousands are protesting in South Africa last week demanding realistic action against the prolonged energy crisis. For months now the country has been facing rolling blackouts which have crippled the economy and paralyzed major cities. For let's go to CNN's David McKenzie who joins us live from Johannesburg. Actually the problem goes back years, doesn't it?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It goes back to at least 2007, Max. But in the last few months you really have seen the disastrous effect of the lack of planning and general chaos and corruption at the energy utility Eskom here in South Africa.

It has a massive impact on the economy and just ordinary South Africans and have to say some of these images may be disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCKENZIE (voiceover): Tens of thousands of dead birds suffocated when the power failed and surges blew the backup systems. It's the awful impact of a country in crisis.

MCKENZIE: So when you saw thousands of chickens die like this, what was it like for you? HERMAN DU PREEZ, OWNER, FRANGIPANI FARMS: Glass of cold water in your face. It was so, so bad. I never thought it would happen to me.

[04:45:00]

MCKENZIE (voiceover): Herman Du Preez has struggled for months with up to 10 hours of rolling blackouts a day. He can't hide his anger at the government.

DU PREEZ: I'm not asking them to do me a favor. Really, I don't. I will do my job. I will produce food. I'll wake up early, work on Sundays to produce food for South Africa. I like what I'm doing. Just do your job. You have one thing to do. Just do it. Just give us power. Please.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): But power is in short supply. The farm that Du Preez and his father built from scratch now runs at a loss during the worst blackouts. He says diesel costs could sink them.

MCKENZIE: The President himself has admitted that corruption, sabotage, a lack of skills has caused this issue. Why should this government then be trusted to fix it?

VINCETN MAGWENYA, PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESPERSON: Well, David, as you know, this problem predates President Ramaphosa's time in government.

MCKENZIE (voiceover): Even the President now acknowledges that decades of mismanagement and breathtaking corruption, crippled state owned power, utility Eskom. A lack of maintenance, a deep skills deficit and regulatory red tape have all helped cause this crisis.

MCKENZIE: I'm going to repeat the same question, which is why should South Africans trust the government that caused this problem to fix this problem?

MAGWENYA: We accept those mistakes. I've said it, and the President has said it numerous times, that there were massive and regrettable policy mistakes that led us to where we are now. However, now we're focusing on the solution and the opportunities that are being presented by this crisis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Forward to energy security, forward.

CROWD CHANTS: Forward!

MCKENZIE (voiceover): Not everyone is buying it. The official opposition is calling for mass action.

MCKENZIE: You can sense the growing frustration in South Africa already. This crisis isn't just inconvenient for people. It can kill the dreams of a better future.

MCKENZIE (voiceover): A better future is what Thando Makhubu and his family strive for.

MCKENZIE: Are you proud of your son? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I am. But we used to fight a lot.

MCKENZIE (voiceover): Thando turned a small government COVID grant into the Soweto Creamery. It's a huge hit here, thanks to the whole Makhubu family. But when the power goes out, their profits evaporate.

THANDO MAKHUBU, SOWETO CREAMERY: So now I'm about to turn on the generator.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): Their plans to expand put on hold.

MCKENZIE: What do you want the government to do?

MAKHUBU: I want the government to be brutally honest with us. If they are able to fix it, please fix it. If they can't, they must let us know. And it makes us feel that we are not really in a democracy because it's meant to be for the people, by the people, but it's not as if for them, by them, you know.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): At the very least, Thando and all South Africans just desperately want the lights to be turned back on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCKENZIE (on camera): You really can feel the frustration of Thando and Herman and millions of South Africans, Max, who just feel they are not being met with the support just to in some cases get themselves out of poverty or feed the nation and this has broader implications. You mentioned, protest, well more protests have been planned for later in February and in March. It threatens the stability of this country and it could take years to fix the problem -- Max.

FOSTER: Yes, it's a big problem. Thank you, David McKenzie in Johannesburg.

Now just ahead, Massive celebrations in Philadelphia as the Eagles are headed to the Super Bowl. More on Sunday's big win in the NFC championship plus the nail-biter between the Chiefs and Bengals in the AFC.

[04:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: Tennis great Novak Djokovic is back on top of the world rankings. It comes after the Serbian claimed his tenth Australian Open title and his 22nd grand slam which ties the record with Rafael Nadal. Djokovic was emotional after Sunday's final match while speaking to the crowd.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NOVAK DJOKOVIC, 2023 AUSTRALIAN OPEN MEN'S SINGLES CHAMPION: I have to say that this has been one of the most challenging tournaments I've ever played in my life considering the circumstances, not playing last year, coming back this year and -- I want to thank all the people that made me feel welcome, made me feel comfortable to be in Melbourne, to be in Australia.

I tried to pinch myself and really live through these moments and it's a long journey. I know this is also a long talk from my side, but bear with me, guys. I just have to say this because only the team and family knows what we've been through in the last four, five weeks and this probably is the I would say biggest victory in my life considering the circumstances.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: He's allowed to give a long speech. The victory comes a year after Djokovic was deported from Australia over his COVID vaccination status making him unable to compete in the open a year ago.

Now the teams are now set for Super Bowl LVII after Sunday's conference title games in the NFL. The Kansas City Chiefs are heading to their third Super Bowl in the past four seasons after winning a nail-biter over the Cincinnati Bengals, 23-20 for the AFC championship. A late field goal with seconds to go sealed the victory.

NOBILO: Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes spoke to reporters after the game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK MAHOMES, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS QUARTERBACK: Whenever you thought you're the underdog, when you're playing at Arrowhead Stadium, it gets guys ready to go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What in particular did they say?

MAHOMES: Yes, I mean Burrow had -- they beat us last time. They're talking about we got to play them. There was a lot of stuff. I mean, the mayor came at me, man. I mean, I understand he's the mayor of Cincinnati so he has to think about something. But I mean it's something you just got to play the football game and then let your play do the talking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: And the Philadelphia Eagles are going to their first Super Bowl since 2018 after easily beating the San Francisco 49ers, 31-7 in the NFC championship. The Eagles did most of their damage on the ground with 148 rushing yards and 4 rushing touchdowns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JALEN HURTS, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES QUARTERBACK: Man, we put a lot of work in there, there's opportunity, you know, put a lot of work in there, there's opportunity to be here and, you know, it's a moment we want to enjoy as a team. Reflecting on everything that we've been able to overcome to have this opportunity in front of us, you know, we want to take advantage of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP) FOSTER: Eagles fans wasted no time celebrating. Look at that flooding

the streets after the game. The city announced street closures and vehicle restrictions in the city center because of the celebrations.

NOBILO: These were the scenes in Kansas City after the Chiefs' win. An interesting side note, the Super Bowl will pit Chiefs head coach against -- Andy Reid against his former team. He spent 14 seasons with the Eagles becoming their all-time coach with the most wins.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY REID, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS HEAD COACH: I had a great time there, so 14 year, long time, huh? And I'm happy for them. I'm happy for the city. They're passionate, they love football. I can't wait till Kansas City and Philly Clash, it's going to be awesome, man. What a great Super Bowl it will be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: It is going to be huge. Thank you for joining us here.

NOBILO: Yes, that must be a strange feeling for him.

FOSTER: Yes. From CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Max Foster.

NOBILO: I'm Bianca Nobilo. "EARLY START" is up next right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)