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Death Toll Climbs Past 4,300 In Turkey And Syria, Rescue Efforts Underway; U.S. Military Retrieves Debris From Suspected Chinese Spy Balloon; Intense Battle For Bakhmut Ongoing In Eastern Ukraine; Blinken Trip to China Postponed Amid Balloon Dispute. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired February 07, 2023 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[00:00:29]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone, I'm John Vause.
Coming up this hour on CNN NEWSROOM, help is coming. The global effort to find survivors and care for the wounded and homeless as Turkey and Syria both struggle in the wake of Monday's powerful quake.
Troop call-up. Ukrainian intelligence believes Russia is set to mobilize half a million troops within months.
And the balloon incursion, the Biden administration under fire from Republicans demanding why it took so long to shoot down what was almost certainly a spy balloon sent by China.
At this hour, the search for survivors goes on, the death toll keeps rising rapidly in both Turkey and Syria after the region was rocked by the biggest earthquake in almost a century.
Officials have confirmed more than 4,300 dead in both countries. The World Health Organization is warning that number could increase by eight fold.
Aftershocks from Monday 7.8 earthquake continue to rattle the region bringing down already damaged buildings. Early estimates from the Turkish Government put the number of destroyed buildings at almost 7,000. Adding misery to desperation, winter weather hampering rescue efforts and survivors now are left on the streets in the cold rain and snow.
Witnesses in northwest Syria describe the scene as terrifying. The U.N. says nearly 12 years of civil war have left more than four million people there dependent on humanitarian assistance. Still, rescue workers push ahead pulling survivors from the rubble.
Devastation from the quake spreads across both Turkey and Syria hundreds of miles from the epicenter and amid all that destruction and death there are moments of hope like we just saw of survivors are pulled from an eighth mountains of debris. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh has been covering this story from Istanbul and
a warning, her reporting contains some graphic images.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Flattened in seconds, moments later, two aftershocks.
A Turkish T.V. crew reporting live during the makings of an apocalyptic scene. The reporter grabbing a young girl as the rubble and smoke settles around them. Rescue efforts beginning immediately.
In Southern Turkey a young man trapped desperation in his eyes, then in the pre-Dawn darkness a moment of joy. Hauled from the wreckage.
This was a residential building full of families asleep in their homes when the massive earthquake struck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I was sleeping when my wife suddenly woke me up. The quake was very severe. Very scary. It took almost two minutes until the shaking stopped.
KARADSHEH: As the hours go by, more rescues, hospitals also begin to overflow, reported deaths going up by the hundreds each hour, millions impacted.
In Syria, a father cries over his baby's limp body. Many children among the killed and injured. It's unclear just how many are still trapped and how many have lost their lives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There are 12 families and no one managed to get out. They are all inside here.
KARADSHEH: The White Helmets have done this before, heroes of the Syrian civil war now pulling people out from under a very different disaster.
So many in rebel held northern Syria had very little yesterday. Many had already lost everything displaced and reeling from years of war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's a disaster. All the floors crumbled into ruins. We need a month maybe even three months to recover our dead.
KARADSHEH: A winter storm hitting the region only exacerbating the dire situation and slowing rescue efforts.
In Turkey too foreign help will be needed. World leaders already pledging and deploying rescue teams. The search and rescue will stretch on for days, hope remaining as long as possible.
Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Istanbul.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is live this hour in Istanbul, Turkey. So, what's the latest?
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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER (on camera): Absolutely, John, I mean, we're really about 24 hours now since that massive earthquake or one of the biggest in a century to hit this region rattled. Of course, part of Turkey, Syria being felt as far as Lebanon and Egypt.
And after that earthquake, there was some 60 different aftershocks, John, one of the strongest of them was a 7.8 magnitude coming just a couple hours after that 7.8 magnitude earthquake, you can imagine how terrifying that is for families just that constant rattling and shaking of this earthquake.
And now very much search and recovery operations are underway in that affected region. But storms, winter storms are proving to be a challenge for rescue workers who are struggling under these very freezing conditions, struggling to get resources to those affected areas.
We do have that confirmed death toll right now from Turkish authorities, nearly 3,000 people killed and some 15,000 people injured. But there are fears that there are thousands of people trapped under the rubble of their homes.
And this is going to be a very lengthy and complex operation. Yes, Turkey is very much expected a huge quake. This is a country that sits on a fault line that has experienced massive earthquakes in the past.
But this particular region of Turkey around Gaziantep in the southern region, is in many ways home to some of the most vulnerable in this country refugees from Syria, Kurdish refugees as well, people living essentially in homes that might not be stable structures that might not be strong.
So, real serious fears and concerns about that death toll going up. You mentioned that estimate that it could go up eight fold.
President Erdogan, of course, has declared a state of emergency, has called for international help that has been responded to dozens of country now -- dozens of countries rather, now planning to send aid to Turkey as soon as possible, including equipment to help again with those search and recovery operations.
But for many people across this country who are looking for their loved ones, this is an absolutely terrifying wait. Families are calling into authorities with nothing more than an address to try to find out the fate of the missing.
So, that will be the first priority, of course for Turkish authorities is to find out where those missing people are, respond to those families. Now, south of the border to Syria, of course, perhaps an even more dire situation there. This is a country of course affected by more than a decade of war in northwest Syria, which is the most affected by this earthquake is one of the hardest hit in the civil conflict, a place that is home to some four million displaced people, families that had already depended on humanitarian aid before this earthquake, now need of even more help.
And you have to imagine that again over a decade of war. That means the infrastructure of this part of the country has been largely damaged or destroyed, particularly critical infrastructure.
So hospitals, clinics, schools, those were targeted throughout the course of the conflict. We've already seen images of hospitals absolutely overwhelmed, struggling to get the medical supplies they need.
And then the other thing to remember here, John, is that this is not going to be an even response. The civil conflict is playing out right now, in the aftermath of the earthquake, you have multiple authorities on the ground, the Syrian government, of course, controlling some parts of the north of the country responding and helping their other parts under rebel control by Turkish backed groups, some by U.S. backed rebel groups, each of these, of course, operating in different spheres with different resources. So it's very difficult to get clear information.
And then it's that question of access here in Turkey, of course, President Erdogan receiving all that aid, receiving all that help from the international community, it will be very difficult for the international community to access parts of Syria and then you have to remember in government controlled areas, this is a highly sanctioned regime by the West who will be very difficult to get help there as well, an absolute catastrophe for an area that was already disastrous struck, John.
VAUSE: Salma Abdelaziz there reporting live from Istanbul. Thank you.
The United Nations has responded to a level four alarm issued by the Turkish government, a plea for international assistance. Specialist U.N. disaster response teams are ready to deploy to the region. While emergency medical teams from the World Health Organization have also been activated.
Secretary General Antonio Guterres says U.N. teams are already in the disaster zone providing assistance. But the need is so great, devastation so widespread. Coordinated help from the international community will be crucial.
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ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECURITY-GENERAL: I extend my condolences to the families of the victims. The United Nations is mobilizing to support the emergency response. And so let's work together in solidarity to assist all those hit by this disaster, many of whom were already in dire needs of humanitarian aid.
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VAUSE: Planes with aid from Iraq and Iran later in Damascus, Syria. Syria state agency says each plane was carrying around 70 tons of food blankets and medical supplies.
Japan is sending it to disaster relief rescue team to the quake affected areas as well.
Meantime, in a joint press conference, Australia and New Zealand also promised to provide humanitarian assistance to both Turkey and Syria.
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ANTHONY ALBANESE, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: These multiple earthquakes that have hit the region having a devastating impact and today I can announce that the Australian government will provide an initial $10 million in humanitarian assistance to those affected.
CHRIS HIPKINS, NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER: The New Zealand will also be contributing to the international efforts. We have the Minister of Foreign Affairs in New Zealand will release details of the $1.5 million that we'll also be contributing. We should be releasing that very shortly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Muzaffer Baca is vice president of the International Blue Crescent Relief and Development Foundation, now coordinating their disaster response from the city of Gaziantep, about 30 kilometers from the epicenter of the quake.
Sir, thank you for your time. In terms of a disaster, two powerful earthquakes ongoing powerful aftershocks in an area which is not built to withstand earthquakes, there's hundreds of thousands now left homeless, it's winter, it's pouring rain, falling snow, it is hard to imagine how a disaster could get any worse.
So, how difficult is it right now for your workers to deliver the assistance so many need at the moment right and right away?
MUZAFFER BACA, VICE PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL BLUE CRESCENT (on camera): As you know, by the first day Turkish government and the Turkish NGOs are there in the field, we issued international assistance calls. And because it's not a good opportunity to cover all of them, despite the local capacity of the Turkish NGOs and the Turkish municipal authorities and the Turkish state. We are grateful for the international response because we should -- they appear yesterday but tomorrow we have visitors from United States, from Canada, from Japan, from the Germany, they are coming to their feet to assist us, to process, to cover the needs of the affected people.
First of all, we need to shelter those people by industries because the weather conditions are heavily bad. And in (INAUDIBLE) Kahramanmaras is the epicenter of the earthquake, snow is continuing heavily and the rain (INAUDIBLE) continuous.
The first priority we need to give to the -- feeding and sheltering those people and protecting them against the cold weather.
In this case, all of the NGOs and the international community reassigned to the field, which will be good to be in cooperation with the Turkish state and the Turkish NGOs who are already in the field. Yes, international block lesson (PH). And we are doing programs in cooperation with the office in order to avoid complications on the disaster response in the field.
VAUSE: On your website, you have a list of stuff which you need, stuff which says crucial at the moment, I just want to read it. Tens of thousands of tents, tens of thousands of heaters for those tents, tens of thousands of blankets, thermal clothes, ready to eat meals for at least 5,000 people, first aid kits, this has to be a preliminary list of what is needed at the moment. This is obviously what the -- in the aftermath in the immediate aftermath of the quake.
How many people do you know at this point are actually in need? How many people are without shelter? How many are sleeping, you know, out on the streets with the snow in the rain?
BACA: Out estimation is that it is more than 200,000 people in displaced for the moment, especially in hot day (PH) in Kahramanmaras, which are the worst affected cities. You can see people in the -- just screaming without any shelter.
In addition, of course, the families are not going too far from the collapse buildings because the rescue operations continue. And then they are vehemently in -- they are in the streets, they are waiting for their beloved to be rescued, which it will be a miracle after four or five hours because living opportunities for those people that are the under the ways it's almost impossible.
My estimation is about 200,000 people in displaced for at the moment. Of course the Turkish government tries to accommodate them in the schools and the mosque, but it's not enough.
So, a lot of neighboring provinces, they are allocating their embassies but we need to move them to those provinces facilities.
And in addition, the benches (PH) like us which have community centers broken, those who are in need of sheltering. But the reality is very bad here. And it's very very extremely very bad because those people that the space that estimated that there are more than 200,000.
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VAUSE: The death toll right now -- the official death toll in Syria and Turkey is around 4,300 people. In Turkey it's close to 3,000.
How many people died? Essentially, because buildings were not built to a standard to withstand earthquakes, given that Turkey is in an earthquake zone?
BACA: Unfortunately, that's the reality of Turkey. Despite the building codes and all of these things, the contractors and of course, the local authorities are not obeying to this building codes.
For example, from the collapse building, almost 60 percent of them they are newly built buildings after the earthquake caught in pause in 2020 Turkey, that means there is no control, that means (INAUDIBLE) and because of this disobedience for the building cause people are dying.
Now, listen, this is not the state this crime of the local authorities and the contractors in order to get more money. They destroyed the nation as you see now.
VAUSE: Mr. Muzaffer, we will leave it there. Sir, thank you very much for your time and we wish you the very best as you go about your assistance to the pe -- so many people there who have been affected by this earthquake. Thank you, sir.
BACA: Thank you very much.
VAUSE: And we will take a short break here on CNN. When we come back, as battles rage in eastern Ukraine. A senior official says that upcoming Russian offensive will be unsuccessful, more of his interview with CNN in just a moment.
Also, the U.S. recovers the wreckage of a shutdown Chinese balloon. What the debris could tell us about Beijing's surveillance methods.
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VAUSE: Welcome back, U.S. lawmakers will learn new critical details this week about a suspected Chinese spy balloon, which traveled across the United States for days before being shut down over the weekend.
A source says the first intelligence briefing could happen as early as Tuesday with a group of eight high ranking lawmakers from both parties. After that, the rest of Congress will receive additional briefings on Thursday.
This comes as the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard retrieved the balloons debris to potentially learn more about China's surveillance capabilities. Beijing denies balloon was used for spying has condemned Washington for shooting it down. President Biden was asked if the incident has weakened U.S.-China relations, here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, we made it clear to China what we're going to do. They understand our position, we're not going to back off, we did the right thing. And there's not a question of weakening or strengthening, it's just the reality.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Live now to Hong Kong, CNN's Kristie Lu Stout. So, the Coast Guard, the Navy, they've been out there to recover this debris. What's the latest word from Beijing?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): China insists it was a civilian vessel that somehow blew off course but we heard from the U.S. State Department overnight saying that that explanation rings hollow and that it was used for spy craft. [00:20:02]
We also heard from the White House saying that the debris revealed that the Chinese balloon had a propeller. It also had an aerial rudder which gave it limited maneuverability.
When the U.S. shot down the Chinese balloon with the U.S. fighter jet. China condemned that, you know, saying it was an overreaction. We also heard earlier from China, saying that it reserves the right to deal with a similar situation but didn't elaborate exactly what that meant.
But I want to share with you a very revealing statement that came out on Monday from the vice foreign minister who basically blamed the U.S. handling of the Chinese balloon for further fracturing the U.S.-China relationship. Let's bring up the statement for you. This is according to Xie Feng, the Chinese Vice Foreign Minister who said "What the United States has done severely impacted and undermined the efforts and progress made by the two sides to stabilize China-U.S. relations since the two countries leaders met in Bali, Indonesia".
The Chinese balloon caused a political uproar. It also caused you a Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel his planned February visit to Beijing. According to the White House, the balloon was not used for meteorological purposes. And also according to the White House, and this was very interesting to hear this overnight. They also said that the U.S. approach to relations with China will remain calm.
I'm going to show you this statement from the U.S. White House press secretary that came in overnight. She said "It's up to China to figure out what kind of relationship they want". Kind of putting the ball in Beijing's court as to how things will proceed from here.
The White House says that Blinken will reschedule his visit to Beijing, but only when the time is right, back to you.
VAUSE: Kristie, thank you. Kristie Lu Stout live for us there in Hong Kong. Appreciate it.
Almost a year into Russia's war in Ukraine and a top Ukrainian official says Moscow is planning another call up of troops in the months ahead. Russia denies the claim.
So, the deputy head of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence says Russia is expected to mobilize up to half a million additional troops to carry out operations in the east and south.
Already we've seen fierce fighting on the front lines in the East. In the town of Soledar and the Donetsk region and in the city of Bakhmut where intense battles are ongoing.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): In the Donetsk region, and in other areas, special attention is paid to Bakhmut, toward defense to the occupiers attempts to encircle the city and break defense lines there. We are reacting. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Ukrainian general says the landscape around the battle city of Bakhmut provides natural defenses that make it an unwinnable fortress. This as the head of the Russia flag to Wagner mercenaries issues a challenge to Ukraine's president. More on that from CNN's Fred Pleitgen.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin taking to the skies, flying a combat aircraft, challenging Ukraine's president to a dogfight.
I landed, we bombed Bakhmut he says. Tomorrow, I'm boarding a MiG-29, if you desire, we'll meet in the sky.
Ukraine acknowledges the Russians have made some gains around Bakhmut but insists they're suffering catastrophic losses, the head of Ukraine's National Security Council tells me.
The lack of shells that is a significant disadvantage, he says, but in our favor, we are killing them at a ratio of seven times to one. Unfortunately, our men and women are dying there as well.
Ukraine's entire eastern front has been heating up, the Russians deploying tens of thousands of troops mobilized late last year for what is expected to be a massive spring offense.
Even so, Ukraine's Security Council chief says his country is ready.
We're concerned he says but I would stress that we are preparing together with our partners, good preparations are being made now. So, if the Russian offensive begins, it will be unsuccessful.
But to turn the tide of this war, the Ukrainian say they need more long range weapons to hit Russian supply line and combat aircraft to win control of the skies. They're confident of getting both eventually.
It's only a matter of time until we get F-16, he says, they will definitely come. Unfortunately, in the meantime, we're losing our people while fighting for our independence.
The Russians say they foiled a drone attack deep inside Russian territory only about 140 miles from Moscow. The Ukrainians have promised not to use Western weapons to hit Russian territory but Danilov says Ukraine will use its own.
Regarding Russian territory, nobody prohibits us to destroy targets with weapons produced in Ukraine, he says. Do we have such weapons? Yes, we do.
But the Ukrainians it's a race against time to secure and develop weapons that will hold off what they call Russia's revenge.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN. Kyiv, Ukraine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Still ahead here, international assistance for Turkey and Syria is stepping up after Monday's earthquake coverage continues after quick break.
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[00:27:33]
VAUSE: The official death toll in both Turkey and Syria from Monday's quake is now approaching 4,400. Tens of thousands of others are wounded.
Winter weather is making it slow for emergency crews to reach hard hit regions and aftershocks continue to rattle the region as well as nerves. The U.S. Geological Survey has recorded at least 100 measuring 4.0 or greater. Turkey's president has declared a week of national mourning.
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RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRESIDENT (through translator): We do not know how far the number of deaths and injure will rise as debris removal works continue many buildings in the quake zone. Our hope is that we will recover from this disaster with the least loss of life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The death toll in Syria alone is close to 1,500. Most destruction has been in the northwestern region, which borders Turkey and it's controlled by antigovernment forces.
Syria's Volunteer Rescue group The White Helmets have declared that region a disaster zone are scrambling to free those trapped beneath the ruble.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in southern Turkey and his report contains some disturbing images.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Not everyone woke up today. Dozens of children pulled from under the rubble in this rebel held Syrian town. Their lifeless bodies lining the corridors of the overwhelmed hospital.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Most of those casualties are children and women. And there is a lot -- a lot under the rubles and we guess we receive more and more every hour.
WALSH: The destruction new no borders, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake and over a hundred powerful aftershocks flattened buildings in Turkey and Syria. In Kahramanmaras, Marash near the epicenter in Turkey, people woke up
to the site of their worlds demolished, wondering if their neighbors are still alive under the rubble.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): As soon as the shaking slowed down, we threw ourselves outside. By the dawn we started looking for our relatives. We have losses and there are several people we still can't reach. At the moment, two voices are coming from the rubble.
WALSH: Aftershocks caught rescuers and journalist by surprise, some almost as powerful as the first earthquake. Reducing the crumbling buildings into dust, sending survivors running for their lives again.
[00:30:17]
DR. CATHERINE SMALLWOOD, WHO EUROPE'S SENIOR EMERGENCY OFFICER: Now is the time to really be able to prevent those -- some of those further deaths. Some people, unfortunately, won't -- won't be saved.
WALSH: In near freezing temperatures, the snowstorms are hampering what would already be tough rescue efforts.
Where the destruction is worse, the bodies will be pulled out slowly, each one laden with hope for a miracle that slips away with each icy hour.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Southern Turkey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Governments around the world are promising and sending aid to Turkey and Syria. Search-and-rescue teams have been mobilized from Europe to Asia, the U.K. sending 76 specialists.
Well, Austria will deploy 84 soldiers from its disaster relief unit. Taiwan deploying a team of 40 rescuers, along with three search-and- rescue dogs. India and Germany also have promised assistance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARENDRA MODI, INDIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): India extends her condolences from its 1.4 billion population to the victims of the Turkey earthquake. India is ready to provide all possible help to them.
OLAF SCHOLZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): We suffer with them. It is really very sad. It's a catastrophe that is really very, very big. That's why we have offered, together with everyone else, to help with all our means.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Live now to CNN's Eleni Giokos, who is in Dubai for us this hour. So let's get into this international response, because there's been a lot of it in a very quick, very short period of time. Are they able to synchronize all of this assistance with -- with the local authorities? It goes to where it's needed most.
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly, and that's such a good question. Because we saw through Nick Paton Walsh's reporting that every minute, every hour is absolutely critical in the aftermath of that 7.8 magnitude earthquake.
And the 100 aftershocks, of course, creating huge vulnerabilities on already susceptible buildings to further collapse. And the fear is the death toll will rise.
So yes, we've seen a plethora of nations stepping up and pledging. Now John, there's a gap between the pledge and the actual deployment and in synchronizing with the local authorities, as well. To dispatch teams where it's needed most.
And when you're sitting with the time-critical situation, of course, you're also worried about what that could mean in the long run.
I want to take you through some of the countries that have stepped up. The United States is saying that they're working very closely with Turkish authorities. They haven't specified the kind of assistance they're sending. But they say they are currently working with Turkish authorities.
The E.U. activating its emergency crisis mechanism. And also activating its satellite mapping services, which will help first- responders. We've already ascertained that the weather situation -- cold temperatures, rain -- exacerbating the issue and causing logistical problems.
The UAE and Qatar are going to be sending field hospitals to the ground. Again, we're talking about a delay in terms of timing. But teams, from what we hear, are working as quickly as possible to get deployed into Turkey.
Spain, Iraq, Pakistan, neighboring Greece also sending teams. We've heard of actual first responders going on the ground and then, importantly, those rescue dogs. Equipment will be critical and vital in putting people out of the rubble.
Now if we had to look at what the international community is saying, the big fear is, John, that there's going to be a further loss of life. Injured people, sitting almost at 16,000. We're talking about trauma cases heading to hospitals that are already stretched in terms of capacity.
So the assistance needs to be rapid. It needs to be urgent, and it needs to be done as quickly as possible.
VAUSE: And that's essentially the situation in Turkey, which is a fairly well-resourced, wealthy country, especially compared to Syria. So what's happening there?
GIOKOS: Yes. Northwestern Syria absolutely devastated. Eleven years of a civil war further impacting the humanitarian crisis that is playing out. CNN spoke to some eyewitnesses, and they described the situation as
terrifying, saying entire families found dead.
And survivors, John, sleeping on the streets in freezing-cold temperatures. And then, again, you're focused on the first responders trying to save people from the rubble. And then the secondary response that is required in terms of housing, in terms of heating and food and water.
The U.N. says that it's working closely with authorities in Syria to try and get people on the ground. But most of these areas, which are rebel-controlled, already very difficult to access.
Some of the stories that we are hearing about, very little capacity in Syria in terms of hospitalization, in terms of assistance. The White Helmets that have been working in Syria for the past 11 years, pleading with global authorities to step in.
We know that Britain says they are working closely with the U.N. specifically to focus on the Syrian portion of this catastrophe. A lot of aid heading into Turkey. Hopefully some of that will be disseminated into the Northwestern parts of Syria, as well.
VAUSE: Eleni Giokos there in Dubai. We appreciate the live report, thank you.
A number of historic sites have been damaged by this major earthquake. A Syrian government agency says the 13th-Century Aleppo Citadel was minor and moderately damaged because of the quake.
Ancient mosques, castles, and a crusader-era fortress were also hit.
Aleppo area, rich with archaeological sites but many have been decimated now, first by the civil war and now by natural disaster.
Still to come here on CNN, partisan sniping and diplomacy on hold. More on the downed balloon that's become just the latest reason for unhappiness between Beijing and Washington, as well as Republicans and Democrats.
But, first meet the 102-year-old woman doing her part for the war effort in Ukraine.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned world leaders that, as bad as the war in Ukraine is, they could be stumbling into something even worse. He spoke to the U.N. General Assembly Monday, urged leaders to prevent the conflict from spiraling out of control.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: The invasion of Ukraine is inflicting untold suffering on Ukrainian people, with profound global implications. The prospects for peace keep diminishing. The chances of further escalation and bloodshed keep growing. I fear the world is not sleep-walking into a wider war. I fear it's doing so with its eyes wide open.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Almost one year into Vladimir Putin's war of choice. And clearly, the Russian president underestimated the Ukrainian people and their determination to defend their country. People like 102-year-old great-grandmothers who is helping Ukrainian snipers hide so they can fight another day. Sam Kiley has her remarkable story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAM KILEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At 102, Liubov's survival is extraordinary, not least because she's endured three famines over her century and all of them blamed on the Kremlin.
LIUBOV YAROSH, HOLODOMOR SURVIVOR (through translator): We eat linden leaves and nettles. We used to grind these wild plants into flour, bake with it, and eat it.
KILEY (voice-over): At 13, she saw her older brother and sister perish in Ukraine's worst mass starvation, Holodomor.
[00:40:07]
YAROSH (through translator): My legs were swollen. My arms were swollen. I was so sick. I thought that I was going to die.
KILEY (voice-over): In the early 1930s, on Joseph Stalin's orders, Ukraine's farmers were stripped of every grain they produced to feed Moscow's industrialization.
YAROSH (through translator): Tiny children were dying of hunger. They were taken to a truck. They dug a big hole and threw them all in.
KILEY (voice-over): Ukraine is now 11 months into the latest Russian invasion. Three of her grandchildren are soldiers fighting Russian troops, because Russia's president doesn't believe that Ukraine exists.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It should be noted that Ukraine actually never had stable traditions of real statehood, Putin claimed. Russia's assault on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, failed last year. Many Ukrainians believe they're fighting off another attempt at genocide.
MYKHAILO KOSTIV, HEAD OF INFORMATION, HOLODOMOR-GENOCIDE MUSEUM: The leaders and organizers of the genocide sit in the same offices, in the same place. At the center of these events is Moscow, and the object of destruction is Ukraine as a nation.
KILEY (voice-over): Ukraine's government says thousands of citizens have been forced into Russian territory, and 14,000 children are missing. KILEY: How many millions of people died in the many famines brought
upon by Russia in this country over the last century is a matter of debate among historians. And human rights lawyers will debate whether or not what is happening today can be defined as a genocide.
But there's no question that, over the last hundred years, the relationship between Moscow and Ukraine has been bleak.
YAROSH (through translator): We need to exterminate them so that not a single one is left. Only then can there be any peace.
KILEY (voice-over): To help the war effort, she ties burlap into netting to make sniper camouflage. But it may be her laughter that has kept her going so many years.
Sam Kiley, CNN, Kordekiv (ph).
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Five Palestinians were killed Monday morning during an Israeli military raid in the West Bank city of Jericho. Hamas says they were members of the militant group, describing them as resistance fighters.
The Israeli Defense Forces say that they were targeting a Hamas terrorist squad which had tried to attack a restaurant at an Israeli settlement last week. Here's more now from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We know that the proper response to terrorism is to strike at it and to deepen our roots in the soil of our homeland.
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VAUSE: Palestinian protesters in Jericho responded to the raid, setting tires on fire, blocking the road leading into the area.
Beijing continues to insist that spy balloon was nothing of the kind. It was just simply a civilian research vessel when it was shot down by a U.S. fighter jet.
Chinese officials say they reserve the right to use the same force in the future, despite having already done the exact same thing in the past.
CNN's Selina Wang reports.
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SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): China is angry that the U.S. shot down its balloon. But it wasn't long ago when China aired this documentary about its air force downing another country's spy balloon.
The commander orders the pilot to shoot it down. The missile hits the balloon. It explodes. Then falls.
Once again, the documentary says China's air force has crushed the enemy in a heroic move. Yet, fast forward to today, and ironically, Beijing is accusing America's decision to shoot down China's balloon as a violation of international practice. Beijing claims it's just a weather balloon gone astray.
WAN: The U.S. is confident that what they shot down is, in fact, a spy balloon, disclosing that the balloon carries surveillance equipment not normally associated with civilian research; with collection pod equipment and solar panels.
This balloon was also flying over sensitive areas in the U.S. Could you help us understand how this could be a civilian research weather balloon?
WANG (voice-over): In response, she repeated it was a civilian balloon and accused the U.S. for hyping up the incident, calling the U.S. irresponsible.
She also confirms to me for the first time that the second balloon spotted over Latin America belongs to China, too, claiming it's also a civilian airship that mistakenly drifted into the region.
But the U.S. says these balloons are part of a fleet of Chinese spy balloons spotted around the world in recent years. Both the U.S. and China used more sophisticated satellites to spy on each other.
But balloons have some advantages, as Chinese state media has pointed out in recent years. This military expert explains how balloons can linger longer over a target and take higher-resolution photos compared to satellites, adding that China has achieved breakthroughs in surveillance balloon development.
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In this 2019 state media video, a researcher points to a computer screen, showing the trajectory of an unmanned airship flying around the world.
He says, "Look, here is the United States."
Meanwhile, on China's heavily-censored social media, nationalists are excitedly watching the drama unfold and mocking the U.S.'s reaction.
And this viral video from Chinese social media jokes that the balloon was just a giant lantern China sent over to the U.S. to celebrate the end of the Lunar New Year.
These lighthearted animations, a contrast to the U.S.-China relationship that's spiraling towards a darker future.
Selina Wang, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: With us now is Patrick Cronin. He's the Asia-Pacific security chair at the Hudson Institute and an expert on U.S. national security goals in the Indo-Pacific region.
Patrick, thank you for being with us.
PATRICK CRONIN, ASIA-PACIFIC SECURITY CHAIR, HUDSON INSTITUTE: Thank you. My pleasure.
VAUSE: So part of the diplomatic fall-out from all of this was a decision by the U.S. secretary of state to postpone what was meant to be a fence-mending visit to Beijing. So here's the explanation why that decision was made.
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NED PRICE, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: The discovery of this high-altitude surveillance balloon in the days that preceded the secretary's visit, of course, undermined the point of that visit. We would not have been able to conduct the important business that Secretary Blinken was looking forward to doing on the ground in Beijing in that context.
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VAUSE: So the State Department here is making the point Blinken's trip is postponed. It is not canceled. Is that a reflection of how the incident is being seen by the White House? Yes, it's a problem. It needs to be dealt with. But once it is dealt with, it's back to business as usual, just as before?
CRONIN: Well, yes, but also politically, it's untenable for the Biden ministration to send the secretary of state to Beijing when they've been sending a spy balloon across the entire United States.
So, that was a political nonstarter. So they were going to have to cancel this meeting. The timing was atrocious now. They're going to need to find a way to get back to rescheduling it, but they're not starting off very well.
The incoming Chinese ambassadors just demanded that we compensate the Chinese government for the cost of blowing up the balloon. That's not going to happen.
And we're still calling it a weather balloon when we know for sure this is a surveillance balloon for military purposes.
VAUSE: Yes, and the fallout politically, at home, has ramped up, as well. The House Republicans are planning to investigate the balloon response from the Biden White House. Listen to this.
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SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): What began as a spy balloon has become a trial balloon, testing President Biden's strength and resolve, and unfortunately, the president failed that test. REP. MIKE TURNER (R-OH): Clearly, the president taking it down over
the Atlantic is sort of like the quarterback -- it's sort of, like, tackling the quarterback after the game is over.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): I think this entire episode telegraphed weakness to Xi and the Chinese government.
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VAUSE: I guess was it the right call to wait and shoot down the balloon whilst it was over water, and it could cause no harm. The fallout from the debris, that is.
And what could this balloon have seen from, you know, this altitude that could not be seen from a spy satellite, anyway?
CRONIN: Well, ideally, we would've taken this balloon down when it was approaching the territory in our territorial waters off Alaska. What we're finding out from the commander of the North American Command today is that we have not been able to see, and have not been looking for, balloons.
And so this entire fleet of surveillance balloons that China's been ramping up over the last decade, has largely been missed. That may certainly be a proper issue for investigation and discussion, both with Congress and within the Pentagon.
I think taking it down safely, not waiting for it to go over water, off the coast of South Carolina, so I think that probably was the correct call at that point.
And then finally, the investigations are going to be about not just what the reaction of shooting it down and when we are going to shoot it down, but really whether we're properly set up for air missile defenses to set up and look for balloons, not just high-speed missiles. To look for drones. To look for the kind of direct trajectories and approaches that an adversary might want to take for intelligence.
But also for, possibly, delivering military arms. Maybe electronic jamming or unleashing drones.
In 2018, indeed, there was a hypersonic test on a PLA surveillance drone so they could be using these to deliver weapons in the future. Not that they're going to do this, but this -- these could be part of the military operational plans that the PLA is working up.
VAUSE: Well, you mentioned the commander of NORAD. Well, apparently, he was saying that there was an intelligence-gathering aspect, as well, to this, with regard to why the balloon wasn't shot down before Saturday.
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Here's General Glen VanHerck, commander of NORAD.
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GEN. LEN VANHERCK, COMMANDER, U.S. NORTHERN COMMAND AND NORAD (via phone): A potential opportunity for us at to collect intel, where we have gaps on prior balloons. it gave us the opportunity to assess what they were actually doing, what kind of capabilities existed on the balloon, what transmission capabilities existed. And I think you'll see in the future that that timeframe was well within its value to collect.
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VAUSE: So specifically, specifically, what sort of information would have been gathered by having the balloon in the air that they otherwise could not have gotten?
CRONIN: Well, balloons have been used for surveillance for more than a couple hundred years. But now they're equipped with new technologies.
So the kind of signals intelligence and imagery intelligence that might be picked up with hardware, getting from the bottom of one of these balloons, loitering for long times, tracking special strategic sort of sites that might not be ready for them, might not be expecting the overhead satellite that we know is coming around to take pictures. It could pick up things that you're not picking up in space.
They're also trying to gather intelligence about our defense and our detection, and a reaction. And what we do, when we see a foreign object that we're not quite sure what it is.
It's not a missile. It's not a satellite. What is it? All of that is intelligence that could be useful for military operations. I mean, it may be on the margins, but trying to collect big data, they collect all of this data and they try to put it into their military operational plans.
VAUSE: Yes. So the mystery balloons and what they're using them for, I guess, is the question here.
Patrick, thank you so much for your insight and your analysis. We appreciate it.
CRONIN: Thank you.
VAUSE: France is bracing for another day of major disruptions caused by widespread industrial action. Many workers are expected to skip work on Tuesday in protest over government plans to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.
Millions took part in two days of strikes last month. Public transportation is likely to a mess in the coming hours, and once again, many schools will close.
French lawmakers have been debating the contested pension reform bill. A fourth round of strikes and protest marches are still planned for Saturday. Still to come on CNN, heaping misery onto despair. Winter weather
complicating the search for survivors from the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. We'll have the forecast in a moment.
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VAUSE: Live images now from Southern Turkey, as difficult rescue efforts continue. This is the scene there right now. You can see the damaged building right in front of there. And the other recumbent buildings nearby.
This is one of the regions that is, you know, South of the -- the worst of the power -- the most powerful earthquake, this 7.8 quake.
And across the Southern region of Turkey, and the Northwest region of Syria, there are similar scenes right now. It's just coming up to 9 a.m. in the morning, local time.
And what we're hearing from officials now is that the death toll is closing in on 4,400. And tens of thousands of others have been injured.
One international aid group says as many as 200,000 people in Turkey have been left homeless. And at this hour, the search continues for survivors, trapped amid the rubble of collapsed buildings. Rain, old and ongoing aftershocks have hampered rescue efforts.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We took cover in the doorways, but the intensity was too high. As soon as the shaking slowed down, we throw ourselves outside. By the dawn, we started looking for our relatives. We have losses, and there are several people we still can't reach. At the moment, two voices are coming from the rubble. Search- and-rescue teams are working. We are in immense pain.
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VAUSE: It's a dire situation in Northwest Syria, which is still reeling from nearly 12 years of civil war. The U.N. believes that more than four million people in that region were already dependent on humanitarian assistance.
The 7.8-magnitude quake, believed to be the strongest to hit Turkey since 1939.
Let's go to CNN meteorologist Britley Ritz with more. I guess right now is that the immediate forecast, what's coming in the next couple of days. Is there more snow? What's happening with the rain?
BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, absolutely. John, the rain and the snow is starting to wind down, which is great.
Now behind the front, behind this area of low pressure that's pretty dominant at the moment, it gets really cold. In fact, we're coming into the coldest part of the year for Syria and Turkey, where temperatures at this point in time, in Aleppo, at two degrees. So we're near freezing this morning.
Unfortunately, the colder weather is going to continue in the upcoming days, so there's that area of low pressure. Still quite a bit of moisture with it, but as the skies start to clear, that's when it becomes a problem, because all of that warmer air escapes right back up into the atmosphere, and we cool it right back down. Especially through the overnight hours, which we're experiencing this morning.
There is leftover rain and snow, of course, for the colder areas. You see how scattered it gets here in the upcoming days, the next 48 hours. We clear out the skies. And that's why we're about to get much colder.
So temperatures, you'll watch the blue set in here, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. All that cold air sets in with the Northerly winds. So it gets frigid. Again, we're coming into the colder parts of the year here.
Look at Aleppo, dropping below zero Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
And this, of course, as we are trying to clean up and as people cannot get back into their homes. Many are left homeless. So just remember, if you can, bundle up. That's the biggest thing, especially as we drop below freezing in the coming days.
High temperatures, expect them to be around eight degrees in Aleppo all the way through the next 72 to -- 72 hours, rather.
Of course, that 7.8 magnitude, that's the epicenter where you're seeing that red dot that occurred February 6, roughly 4:17 in the morning.
But there was a series of aftershocks that continued on, and that's going to be the problem here in the upcoming day, especially, you know, here in the upcoming hours. We're still very scared about this whole issue, so then we have to just keep that in mind, as many -- If you do have a home left over, if you try to get back in it, it's just very dangerous and very scary.
And that's why many are left homeless and wanting to stay out and about, John.
VAUSE: It is terrifying right now for so many people across that region.
RITZ: Yes.
VAUSE: But Britley, thank you for the update.
And if you want information on how to help earthquake survivors, go to CNN.com/impact, and there, you will find a list of organizations working on rescue and relief efforts. Again, that's CNN.com/impact. Your help is needed. Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Back with more
news, shortly. See you soon.
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