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CNN International: Ukraine Renews Call For Fighter Jets, More Weapons; Blinken Back In U.S. After Talks With Netanyahu, Abbas; Tiny Missing Radioactive Capsule Found In Australia; A Million Gather For Pope's First Mass In Kinshasa; Pope Calls Out Those Who Exploit Africa's Natural Resources; Today: Funeral For Nichols As Family Demands Justice; What's Driving The Mass Walkouts In The U.K.?; U.K. Navy Investigates Nuclear Submarine Fixed With Glue; Inside The Rebel Forces Fighting Myanmar's Military Junta. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired February 01, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

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[08:00:16]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster in London. Just ahead, Ukraine warns that Russia is planning a large-scale escalation of the conflict whilst doubling down on its plea for more aid. A real-life needle in a haystack. A radioactive capsule, the size of a penny is found in a search area, the length of Great Britain.

And two years on, fighting in Myanmar takes a devastating toll. CNN obtains rare and exclusive footage that gives us a sense of what the battle looks like.

The worst may yet be to come. That's the warning from a top Ukrainian security official. Oleksiy Danilov tells Sky News that Russia is preparing what it called a maximum escalation of the war, and it could happen in the next few weeks. Ukraine points to recent changes in Russian activity at sea and in the air.

Meanwhile, hours after Ukraine's President pledged new reforms, anticorruption searches were launched across Ukraine. A probe one official says cost high level customs agency officials their jobs.

Let's bring in Scott McLean live from London. What intelligence is this escalation rumor based on?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so they say that this is based on, at least in part, activity in the Black Sea in relation to the behavior of Russian missile carriers that are -- where their activity is changing. They're also saying that they're seeing more aviation activity that they suggest is in coordination with the Russian Navy as well, all in preparation for this spring offensive that the Ukrainians have been warning about now for some time.

Though now they're putting a timeline on it, saying that the defining months of the war will happen in the next two or three months. So they're not ruling out anything happening in the next two or three weeks as well.

I also want to update you, Max, on those corruption investigations, those raids that we're hearing about. The majority leader in the Ukrainian parliament has just announced that there were raids on properties including the property of a former Ukrainian interior minister. This is in connection with the helicopter crash that took place last month, killing 14 people, including the current Interior minister, and the contracts for the helicopters that were signed back in 2018. That minister, though, of course, denies any wrongdoing.

FOSTER: OK. Scott, thank you.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is back in the U.S. from his visit to the Middle East. He said the U.S. remains committed to two state solutions for Israel and the Palestinian and peace talks. Now, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN that he's looking at a different approach.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I think there's a formula for peace, but my view is because of the fact that the continuum, the persistent Palestinian refusal, which goes back a century to recognize a Jewish state, a nation state, for the Jewish people in any boundary, that persistent refusal persists.

If we wait for them, we're not going to have peace. If we make peace with Saudi Arabia, it depends on the Saudi leadership and bring effectively the Arab-Israeli conflict to an end, I think we'll circle back to the Palestinians and get a workable peace with the Palestinians. I think that's possible and I think that's the way to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: CNN's Nic Robertson is in Jerusalem, joins me now. This is very sensitive language, isn't it? But how do you read the disconnect if there is one between the U.S. and Israel following this trip?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: There does seem to be one on that point, because when Secretary Blinken arrived here, he had that joint press conference with Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Prime Minister spoke about finding a workable solution by expanding the circle of peace.

As he told Jake, there are implications to make peace with the big regional powers. And the name one, of course, Saudi Arabia built on the Abraham Accords. But Secretary Blinken said that cannot be a substitute for improving Israeli-Palestinian ties. So the diplomatic language being used there is you cannot seek peace with the big Arab neighbors in the region, although you've already done it with some of them, the UAE, Qatar, others.

You cannot make that -- the way that you deescalate the situation with the Palestinians. And I think that's very well read and clearly read on the Palestinian side as well. So that is daylight between the U.S. position and the Prime Minister Netanyahu's position. And it also is far from clear if Saudi Arabia is ready yet to put its faith in a deal with Israel that coming as perhaps the most important Islamic country in the world, they would see themselves in that capacity.

[08:05:02]

That would be putting a lot of faith in an Israeli Prime Minister to deliver on what they want. And it's not clear at all that they have that faith in Prime Minister Netanyahu, particularly, as he has a very right-wing government.

FOSTER: OK, Nic Robertson, thank you.

Police in northern Pakistan have arrested several people in connection with Monday's deadly bombing at a mosque there. And more than 100 people were killed when a suicide bomber stormed the mosque, which is located within a police compound. Police expect to make more arrests as well.

Peshawar is near the Afghan border and a frequent target of the Pakistani Taliban called the TTP. The group, however, denies responsibility.

Now, it's being compared to finding a needle in a haystack. But imagine if that needle were highly radioactive. While search crews scanning a remote highway in Australia, actually managed to find this tiny radioactive capsule after it was missing for six days. It's the size of a small coin and appears to have fallen off the back of a transport truck.

Crews looking for it combed an area roughly the length of the U.K.

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STEPHEN DAWSON, WESTERN AUSTRALIA EMERGENCY SERVICES MINISTER: When you consider the scope of the research area, and locating this object was a monumental challenge. The search groups have quite literally found the needle in the haystack.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: CNN Correspondent Marc Stewart joins us live from Hong Kong. Great news and extraordinary effort as well in this search.

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Max. The story is just so intriguing for some reason. Let me give you some context. This is a Hong Kong coin. It's very similar in size to a U.S. dime. It is that small. I want to make sure you can see it here at the skyline.

But basically, this capsule that was found is used for mining. Here's the history. The capsule was discovered about six days, six days after it went missing, likely falling off a truck. Now, eventually, it was found off the side of a road by crews who are using special radiation detection equipment.

It was not found too far from the Rio Tinto mine, suggesting it fell off the truck soon as it left. But the potential search area for this was enormous, vast. You mentioned the size of the U.K. I believe, we are talking about distance here longer than the California coastline. A perimeter was set up. And so now the goal is to transport this capsule in a lead container to the Health Department, to a facility they have in Perth.

But this was very concerning because human exposure could cause skin burns, radiation sickness, even a risk of cancer in some cases. And just 24 hours ago, authorities felt that the chance of finding it was very slim. Now, Max, they have to determine how this happened in the first place, how it fell off that truck, likely.

FOSTER: OK, Marc Stewart, fascinating. Thank you.

Pope Francis is calling for peace during his first trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Here you see the Pope in an open Pope mobile earlier in Kinshasa, where more than a million people gathered for mass. In his address, he urged Christians in the conflict ruined the country to put down their arms.

On Tuesday, during another rousing speech, the Pope called out those who exploit Congo's rich natural resources. Let's go to Larry Madowo, who joins us from Nairobi, Kenya. This is an area, as you can see, where he carries huge weight.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He has a lot of weight here because the Democratic Republic of Congo has Africa's largest Catholic population, about 45 million people. And the Pope is right, it's suffered a lot of conflict. And the Pope has called out this poison of greed that has kept this country in this cycle of poverty and war.

And he's there calling out the foreigners that explore the resources, of the natural resources of the DRC that leads to this conflict, but also the local leaders. And he's not been afraid to speak to them directly. He's been speaking in front of President Felix Tshisekedi, many members of his Cabinet, the diplomatic corps, the civil society.

And the Pope has not missed his words when he did his opening address, when he arrived in Kinshasa yesterday or in his sermon today. I want to play a bit of that for you now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS (through translation): And may it be a good time for all of you in this country who call yourselves Christians but engage in violence. The Lord is telling you, lay down your arms, embrace mercy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: And be messengers of peace, the Pope told him. Because the Pope should have gone to the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, but he could not because Goma in that region has suffered so much conflict. And right now, government forces are fighting the M23 rebels. It's just not safe for the Pope to go there.

But he's meeting with the refugees right now from that eastern part of the DRC. And again, the same message, I think, that the Pope is spreading to everyone there that they have to look at the situation and find a better way and amulet the message of Christ of peace. Max?

[08:10:08]

FOSTER: OK, Larry, thank you for joining us there from Nairobi.

Now, in just a few hours, Tyre Nichols will be laid to rest. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will attend the funeral service today in Memphis, Tennessee. The 29-year-old black man who died after he was horrifically beaten by police earlier this month. A renowned civil rights leader, Reverend Al Sharpton, will deliver a eulogy and the family members of other black people who died at the hands of police are expected to attend.

Senior Crime and Justice Correspondent Shimon Prokupecz joins me from New York. And of course, the message from all of these families is that something has to change here, but what are they calling for?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Right. And a lot of what we're going to hear today is justice for Tyre. What they're calling for really is better training, more transparency, a change of culture and policing overall. It's interesting to listen to many of the family members speak and, of course, those associated with Tyre Nichols, they talk about -- it's different. Usually it's about police procedure, usually it's about training, usually there's some other issue because of a mistake, a tactical mistake.

In this case, it's very different, Max. You know, we're not seeing that tactical mistake by a police officer or a police officer thinking someone is armed and is not and then winds up killing the person. This is very different and -- because of its brutality, because of the beating that Tyre suffered.

And so what we're hearing a lot from the families is that they want a change in culture of policing. And that is what a lot of today will be about. That is what we will be hearing, certainly from the lawyer who -- for the family, who Ben Crump, who will be speaking, and other officials and family members.

You know, and all of this is happening as the investigation is still very much ongoing. The five officers haven't been charged with the second-degree murder here, but there are still several other officers that are under investigation. And we could see more officers lose their jobs, certainly, and more video. We still have more video to come.

The police telling us last night that they're going to be releasing more video at some point once they're done with their investigation. And there are a lot of questions also about whether or not the police -- the officers on scene here tried to cover this up and trying to establish an initial narrative, painting themselves as the victims, claiming that Tyre attacked them, claiming that Tyree try to grab their guns.

None of that, from what we've seen in the body camera footage, shows that. So it contradicts the body camera footage certainly contradicts the initial reports that police filed on this. So, Max, a lot to come, but today is certainly going to be filled with a lot of motion and calls for justice and calls for reform.

FOSTER: We'll be following it all here on CNN. Shimon, thank you very much indeed for joining us in New York.

Now, still to come, it is the biggest strike day in the U.K. in a decade. Many schools are closed, travel and other public services severely disrupted. We'll discuss what's driving thousands of workers in the U.K. just to walk out.

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[08:15:30]

FOSTER: Look at these live pictures in central London. Nearly half a million workers out on strike in one day, demanding better pay. Let's have a look at what's driving the walkouts. As we say, it is the biggest strike day in many years. All sorts of people are striking. Civil servants, rail workers, teachers, university staff, border force staff as well. Many more as well. They are coordinating these strikes today.

Let's bring in CNN's Nada Bashir, who's in Central London. It's effectively another day of working from home, isn't it, for many people here in the U.K., because you can't go to work if your kids can't go to school or, you know, there's a problem with the borders, you can't travel. This is having a huge impact.

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Yes, absolutely, Max. The disruption is significant. And that is exactly the point. We're at this march just outside 10 Downing Street, organized, coordinated by the National Education Union, the teachers union and then several other unions which are walking out on strike to demand better pay.

And this is part of a long-standing battle between the trade unions and the government. They've failed to reach any sort of resolution when it comes to the negotiations that have been ongoing for weeks now. And this is the result. Today is set to be the biggest strike action that Britain has seen in more than a decade.

Seven unions taking part in this strike today and we are expecting further industrial action over the coming days and indeed over the next month until they are able to reach some sort of resolution.

FOSTER: Where's the compromise here? Because I noticed the Prime Minister was speaking at lunchtime, pointing out that a lot of these groups have already had pay rises and it's completely unaffordable for all of these groups to get a big pay rise around inflation, which is at about 10 percent. So where is the compromise?

BASHIR: Look, Max, the message we're hearing from the unions now, this isn't about an overnight pay rise. This is an issue that people working in the public sectors, teachers, transport workers, civil servants have been facing for years now. And they are all demanding that pay rise to combat the rising cost of living, the cost-of-living prices is only worsening.

And also, of course, to match those inflation rates that are at an eyewatering level here in the United Kingdom. We heard from Rishi Sunak speaking during Prime Minister's questions just a little while ago, and he said that this is wrong. He is -- he has condemned the strikes, he says that the priority today should be the students.

But actually, we've heard, we've seen students taking part in these demonstrations in solidarity with those education workers. Take a listen to what one student had to say just a little earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAY, STUDENT: It's as simple as staffs. Working conditions are our learning conditions. So, you know, when our staff is overworked, underpaid, stressed out, have no time off, it ruins the quality of the quality of our education.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: Now, there have been efforts, of course, for the last few weeks by the unions to reach some sort of negotiation, some sort of settlement with the government. But we heard yesterday from the General Secretary of the National Education Union.

He told the BBC, Britain's public broadcaster, that, in fact, there has been no offer from the government, that any suggestion that they have reached some sort of middle ground is folly, that this isn't the case. And, in fact, negotiations appear to be heading backwards. Max?

FOSTER: In terms of why we're not seeing nurses out on strike today, some suggestion they didn't want to coordinate with everyone else because they have more goodwill than the other groups, arguably, and they're worried about their brand being affected by these other strikes. There is a battle for the goodwill of the public here, isn't there? Because if you cause too much disruption, there could be a backlash.

BASHIR: There certainly is. And we are expecting those nurses, as well as ambulance workers and even potentially National Health Service consultants, to take part in their own strike action next week and later on in the month. But it is important to note that, of course, they haven't chosen to participate in today's strike action or further strikes this week, and they are attempting to at least put some distance between themselves and this particular coordinated march.

And that is, of course, because there is a big debate around whether or not crucial workers, keyworkers like those working in healthcare, should be permitted to take part in these strikes, given the urgency of the care they provide.

[08:20:05]

And we've heard from the NHS, they say, that those requiring urgent help will still be helped within the NHS. However, those who aren't seeking life threatening issues, they will then have to face disruptions and delays. But, of course, they are attempting to place a distance with themselves.

But the goodwill, I have to say, doesn't appear to be shifting. We have seen many people, thousands, taking part in these demonstrations. Lots of students as well. It's important to note.

FOSTER: OK, Nada, thank you very much indeed. We'll monitor the disruption.

Coming up, two years after a military takeover in Myanmar, everyday people are taking up arms against the military junta. And we'll have exclusive video of their efforts.

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FOSTER: The U.K. Royal Navy has ordered an investigation into an incident involving a nuclear submarine that was reportedly repaired with glue. According to the Ministry of Defense, one of the bolts of the Vanguard Trident submarine fell off during a planned inspection, showing that the bolt was previously fixed with glue and not replaced. Officials reassured that bolts falling off a submarine have no effect on the safety of its nuclear reactor, thankfully.

Today marks two years since the military seized power in Myanmar, ousting democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. What followed was a massive crackdown. Several leading prodemocracy activists were executed and some journalists were arrested. Now Myanmar is being rocked by violence as rebel groups take on the military.

Ivan Watson has a rare and exclusive report on their fight.

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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Racing into battle. Images shared exclusively with CNN filmed by combat medics in Myanmar. They extract a rebel fighter wounded in a clash last October with government forces. Scenes from a vicious conflict raging across the heart of Southeast Asia. A war that is rarely seen by the outside world.

TOM ANDREWS, U.N. SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR, MYANMAR HUMAN RIGHTS: It has been forgotten.

WATSON (voice-over): The United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar is trying to focus international attention on the crisis.

ANDREWS: It has been two years of the military at war with its own people. We've seen 1.1 million people displaced. We've seen more than 28,000 homes destroyed. Thousands of people have been killed.

WATSON (voice-over): Before the war, this group of medics included a high school student, a lab technician, and a hospital nurse.

(on-camera): Why are you guys doing this? Why are you risking your lives right now?

"ROSALIN", COMBAT MEDIC (through translation): If we don't fight, then we know we won't get democracy. And that is what we want.

WATSON (voice-over): On February 1, 2021, Myanmar's top army general announced a military coup, imposing martial law and throwing members of the elected government in jail. A deadly crackdown crushed anti- coup protests, forcing the opposition underground and into the jungle.

Armed rebel groups calling themselves People's Defense Forces, sprouted up across the country, allying themselves with armed ethnic militias that have battled the military for decades.

[08:25:02]

No foreign country publicly offers them support. So these fighters arm themselves using ammunition produced in a jungle workshop. Homemade round stored in a refrigerator.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is for air drop.

WATSON (voice-over): He shows drone bombs, mortar rounds and something he calls rifle grenades tested nearby. Compared these makeshift weapons to the military, boasting an arsenal that includes tanks and warplanes. One of the military's deadliest airstrikes on record involved what was promoted as a local golf tournament last October.

The competition and subsequent concert organized by an ethnic opposition group called the Kachin Independence Organization. Survivors say a famous local singer named Ora Lee was about to perform his second song of the night when an airstrike demolished the building, throwing this local businessman, who doesn't want to be identified for his safety, up into the air.

People who had been happily greeting each other, clapping and drinking wine were now corpses, he says. They were in pieces. It was horrific. Kachin officials say the attack killed the singer and at least 67 other people.

In response to a CNN request, Major General Zaw Min Tun claimed responsibility for the attack, in this letter published in the state newspaper. He called it a necessary military operation targeting a den where enemies and terrorists were hiding. Adding, throughout history until now, the military has never attacked civilians.

ANDREWS: That statement is absurd. It's ridiculous. There is clear evidence. We have video of airstrikes on villages.

WATSON (voice-over): Evidence that points to a growing number of civilian casualties from a conflict with no end in sight.

ANDREWS: If it remains in the shadows of international tension, then we are providing a death sentence to untold numbers of people.

WATSON (voice-over): With no help on the horizon, the next generation has little choice but to prepare for a life at war.

Ivan Watson, CNN.

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FOSTER: I'm Max Foster in London. World Support is up next. Amanda will have the very latest on the breaking news we've been getting in the last few minutes, that the legendary quarterback Tom Brady says he's retiring for good.

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