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Survivors Pulled From Rubble As Death Toll Tops 15,000; Zelenskyy Tipped To Visit Brussels This Week For EU Leaders' Summit; North Korea Showcases Nuclear Attack Capability In Largest Ever ICBM Parade. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired February 09, 2023 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up here on CNN Newsroom, the window for miracles is closing in Turkey and Syria's quake zone. A search for life will soon become recovery of the death.
Ukraine's wartime president meeting in person with leaders in Europe. Zelenskyy saying thanks for the battle tanks nowhere of the fighter jets and North Korea is showing the world their ICBM, while leader Kim Jong-un shows off his daughter, a live report on the regime's massive military parade.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: In the past 24 hours, the death toll in Turkey and Syria after Monday's earthquake has almost doubled. Now more than 15,000 and it's expected to continue to rise. In northern Syria, residential buildings are now reduced to mountains of rubble. Officials in Damascus say close to 300,000 people have been forced from their homes, but that's only the part of the country which is under government control.
Buildings are still crumbling as far south as the outer suburbs of the capital, and with overnight temperatures plunging, mosques are now being used as shelters for the homeless.
Amid the desire of the grief, though, there are moments of joy. 62 hours after the region was rattled by a 7.8 magnitude quake, two sisters were pulled to safety from under debris in southern Turkey.
The UN reports the quake damaged road leading to the only humanitarian corridor from Turkey into Syria has reopened.
Spokesperson at the crossing says they've received the bodies of about 300 Syrians from Turkey being sent back to Syria for burial. There has been no sign of aid, no sign of any assistance.
Meantime, Twitter is once again working after it was shut down for almost a day by the government because of critical tweets. Mean tweets. More than a dozen people were detained over those mean tweets. The shutdown impacted rescue workers and aid groups which used Twitter to coordinate relief efforts.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan traveled to the disaster zone Wednesday defending his government's response to this disaster, admitting some initial shortcomings. He now says the situation is under control.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRESIDENT (through translator): As of now, a total of 21,200 personnel of the military, Gendarmerie and police are on duty in hate. Despite this, some dishonest people campaigning in Hatay are making false statements saying there's no one in Hatay. We will not let dishonest people speak ill of our soldiers to Gendarmerie and Police.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: This is the scene right now. There in Diyarbakir in Turkey two minutes past nine the local time we can see the search for survivors continues. It is painstakingly slow in many places, leaving families to agonize as they wait for word on loved ones who may be trapped under the rubble. We bought out the CNN's Jomana Karadsheh reporting in from southern Turkey.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): A five- year-old emerges from underneath the rubble in Turkey's hard Hatay, one of the youngest of thousands of lives saved. For too many, it was too late. In the town of Kirkhan, they mourned one of the many who've not made it out alive. With the death toll rising by the hour, this is a race against time. How many are buried under the wreckage of this massive quake zone, no one really knows. Estimates in the tens of thousands.
Here in Adana, search and rescue crews worked tirelessly around the clock, digging through what used to be a 14 story residential building where families lay asleep when the monstrous earthquake hit.
Survivors have gathered at the site of the rescue mission, their shelter and hot meals. In the bitter cold, they huddle around these fires, everyone with a story of the horror they've survived. The shock, the trauma, the pain visible on every face.
Parents doing what they can to try and make their little ones forget. Many here are anxiously awaiting news of their loved ones and friends buried under what's left of their homes.
KARADSHEH (on camera): They're asking us to get down. We believe this is because they're scanning the building, the wreckage. This is a very careful and delicate operation that's going on to try and see if they can locate any survivors, because so far, they haven't been able to.
KARADSHEH (voiceover): No survivors yet. Only lifeless body is pulled. It's been three days. Why can't they get my son out? This father wales (ph). As night falls, the rest of the family wait desperately for any news of 25-year-old Cert (ph). They've been out here for three long nights.
[01:05:05]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's so, so, so bad. Because all night, we are thinking my family, my relatives, my cousin's dad he is crying so much. He is crying so much. He is wondering where is his son.
KARADSHEH (on camera): Your cousin's dad. We saw him earlier. He was crying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we all cry. That's why I don't know what to say. We should pray to God.
KARADSHEH (voiceover): And that is all they and countless others can do right now. Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Adana, Turkey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: To Amman, Jordan now and Kieren Barnes, the Syria country director for Mercy Corps. Kieren, thank you for taking the time to speak with us. Just additionally, how much worse is the weather making things right now for the search and recovery in Syria?
KIEREN BARNES, SYRIA COUNTRY DIRECTOR, MERCY CORPS: Thanks, John. Yes, it's making it extremely difficult, particularly with the communication lines. I think for us here in Jordan and for those inside Syria, it impacts on things like the internet. So being able to talk to our teams, gather information and assessing what the needs are and how we can respond, that's been one of the biggest challenges.
But of course, for people themselves on the ground, when they've lost their homes, nowhere to sleep, it's keeping them warm, keeping them safe. So, people have been using their cars, mosques, anywhere they can find to get shelter.
VAUSE: If you look where the damage in Syria, where the most damaged areas are, they sort of being diagram and overlaps where most of the fighting occurred during the civil war for more than a decade. Those cities were pretty much devastated by the civil war. You had a 7.8 magic earthquake on top of that. What's left?
BARNES: Yes, it's extremely tragic. This is a part of Syria that there's been no investment for the last 12 years. There's no -- the infrastructure is extremely fragile. So you can imagine the kind of destruction that the earthquake on Monday has had. Houses have been flattened, apartments have collapsed.
There are 4 million people who are in need in northwest Syria right now, many of them living in camps and temporary shelters for multiple years. We work in 98 camps providing water because there is no water network. So we deliver that water directly to those people. So it's already a dire situation and now we find that there are more people coming to those camps to find help.
VAUSE: There's the politics of the whole region in the sense that you have government controlled areas of Syria, you have rebel controlled areas of Syria. You're working in the rebel controlled areas, I understand. So, do you have to negotiate with the Assad government because they want a hold of the aid in Damascus and distribute themselves? Clearly that's not tangible. So how do you work around this?
BARNES: So we work with communities. That's our priority as a humanitarian organization. We avoid getting into the politics of this and we have to negotiate with those on the ground to access people. And that's our main priority and that's where we come in as an organization, ensuring that we're bringing those critical, immediate supplies to those communities. And that's what we need now, is we don't need the politics playing, the game playing that's going on.
What we do need is for the international community to focus on those border crossings, staying open and operational, the supplies coming in, and then organizations like Mercy Corps and others, we have teams on the ground who can respond. So that's really the priority for us in scaling that up, really, in the coming days and weeks, because now, past this first phase of trying to save lives, we're heading into that humanitarian phase where we need to provide people with the basics shelter, food, water, those kind of things.
VAUSE: Yes. Past that 72 hours point, you have the sweet spot for finding people alive. Clearly, there is hope that people are still found alive beneath the rubble, but it becomes increasingly unlikely as time goes on. So, you have a situation where you need a certain amount of supplies coming into the country for the people who have survived. You have border crossings, which I think one, the main humanitarian corridor between Turkey and Syria has now reopened. The road is now passable.
How crucial is that? How much of, you know, how much of relief does that bring to you? How much of a bottleneck is there elsewhere around the country in bringing supplies in?
BARNES: Yes, I mean, it's a huge relief that it's open, and we definitely need to see movement there urgently. The good thing is, or the positive thing for organizations such as ours, is we had prepositioned stock on the ground anyway in response to the conflict that's been going on. We had 17,000, sorry, 1,700 kits already in a warehouse that we could instantly distribute, and we've been using those.
We've also managed to procure 800 hygiene kits in the last couple of days, 150 shelter kits, and we're able to use them with the communities who need them.
What will be concerning is over the next few days and weeks is that supply chain, and we need to make sure it's restocked so that we can go back to the vendors and keep procuring what we need. So we need to see that moving pretty quickly.
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VAUSE In terms of need, compared to what you've got, the preposition supplies, how long will those supplies last? BARNES: To be honest, it's hard to tell at this point because it's
assessing the information. I mean, northwest Syria is this isolated pocket, so getting information out is tough. Our teams, to be honest, of owning the last couple of days, managed to get vehicles to travel around and start to work it out.
So, it will take time to get the owner overall scale. We're procuring what we can, but actually the other element is we need the financial resources. It's not just the people on the ground and it's not just the equipment and the vendors. We actually need the international community to step in financially, specifically for northwest Syria to make sure that it's not forgotten in this crisis.
VAUSE: The best thing anybody could do right now is give money. Kieren.
BARNES: Yes, absolutely. That's the most efficient way for us to respond. If we can get the money, we can then procure locally and get it out. That's the fastest way to get help to people.
VAUSE: Yes, send money. Kieren, thank you. Thank you and good luck with everything you do to stay safe. We appreciate your time.
BARNES: Thanks.
VAUSE: If you would like information on how to help earthquakes survivors, please go to CNN.com/impact. You'll find a list of organizations working on rescue and relief efforts. CNN.com/impact.
In a few hours, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to attend an EU summit in Brussels in person. Let's stop on his surprise diplomatic tour of European capitals following visits to London and Paris, just his second international trip since the war began almost a year ago.
In Paris on Wednesday, Zelenskyy met with the French President, Emmanuel Macron, as well as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Both leaders promised military aid for Ukraine will continue for as long as it is needed. President Zelenskyy says their support will make a huge difference in the world.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): France and Germany have the potential to be game changers, and that is how I see our talks today. This is obvious. The sooner we get heavy long range weapons and our pilots get modern planes, the earlier our pilots can get modern planes. Olaf the more powerful will our tank coalition, and I'm thankful to you for starting this path. The quicker this Russian aggression ends, we can return Europe to a certain peace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The UK will become the first country to train Ukrainian pilots on NATO standard fighter jets. While there's no decision yet on actually delivering Western aircraft to Ukraine, this training is seen as a likely first step. CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Ukrainian towns getting decimated by Russian firepower every day. This is Marinka in the east of the country, almost completely reduced to rubble. Around Bakhmut, combat at close quarters as Ukrainian troops tried to prevent Russian fighters of the Wagner private military company from encircling the city.
Wagner boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin so confident in his own private air force he took to the skies and challenged Ukraine's president to a dog fight. Tomorrow I'm boarding a MiG-29, he said. If you desire we'll meet in the sky. But Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Europe, visiting the UK's parliament, pleading for Western combat jets.
ZELENSKYY: In Britain, the king is an air force pilot. And in Ukraine today, every air force pilot is a king.
PLEITGEN: Despite being much smaller and older than Moscow's air force, the Ukrainians are still very much in the fight in the skies. But they're losing planes and having trouble maintaining their Soviet fleet. Even a small number of Western fighters would make a big difference, says Ukraine's air force spokesman.
We can start with a few squadrons, he says, each with 12 jets. If we have one to two or more squadrons, it would be the first step for our pilots to transition. They can be in formation and perform combat missions on different directions.
The U.S. has given the Ukrainians some air launched anti-radiation missiles called ARM. But Kyiv says those two would work much better if launched from Western jets.
The ARM missiles aren't as efficient as if they were used from American or other allied aircraft, the spokesman says. Their functionality is restricted. The range is shorter, making the efficiency lower.
Ukrainian officials say they want U.S. made F-16. So far, President Biden has ruled out giving Kyiv combat aircraft. But the U.K. says it will soon start training Ukrainian pilots. And Ukrainian officials tell CNN they're confident they'll get jets, just like eventually they got the main battle tanks they requested.
We'd like to help as soon as possible, like yesterday, he says. And our partners say it will come tomorrow. And the space between yesterday and tomorrow is very important to us.
[01:15:03]
And Ukraine's civilians remained in the crosshairs of Russia's cannons, missiles and jets, while Kyiv hopes for more Western support to start beating them back. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: During his State of the Union address Tuesday, president Joe Biden committed the U.S. to stand with Ukraine as long as it takes. He later added during an interview with PBS, if it Putin had already lost the war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Look, there's no way that Putin is going to be able to quote, he's already lost Ukraine. The idea that he's ever going to be able to occupy -- well, here's what he thought. He thought that if he invaded Ukraine, first of all, they get a welcome by every Russian speaker. They'd say come on in. Secondly, he thought what would happen is that NATO would collapse. NATO would not do anything. They'd be afraid to act. Then he thought, Anyway, go down the line. None of that's happening.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Dutch investigators have concluded that Vladimir Putin most likely provided the missile which brought down Malaysia Airlines flight MH-17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014. All of this comes from intercepted phone calls, which indicate the Russian president personally signed off on delivery of the weapon to pro-Russian separatists. But they say the evidence is not strong enough to bring any new prosecutions, even if President Putin did not have immunity as a head of state. Moscow repeatedly denies any responsibility for the attack, which killed all 298 people on board.
Still to come, missiles on parade. North Korea rolls out what's being called an unprecedented number of ICBMs thought to be capable of hitting the US.
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VAUSE: North Korea has put its advanced ICBM missiles on display. Nearly a dozen rolled through Pyongyang, part of a massive military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the army. Kim Jong-un recently called for the exponential increase in the country's nuclear arsenal. CNN's Paula Hancocks covering this life for us in Seoul. Yes, I guess there's number of ICBMs or intercontinental ballistic missiles, it's rare. So, what should we read into that?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, the sheer number of these ICBMs on display here is significant. Not so long ago, there was a military parade when we saw one of these missiles, and it was significant because it showed what Kim Jong-un was trying to achieve. That was only a few years ago. It also shows now that he has achieved that. He has testified it, we believe, and he's also got it into mass production.
So there were eleven of these massive ICBMs, the intercontinental ballistic missile, which North Korea claims can hit mainland United States, and many experts believe they are probably right. So, it also shows, as I was speaking to one expert, that they wouldn't have put all of their ICBMs on display. So clearly they have some in reserve as well. It just shows the capability of what they have at this point. And Kim Jong-un had said that he wanted an exponential increase in the production of his nuclear arsenal, and that is clearly happening.
[01:20:07]
Now one other takeaway from this parade, and still we're looking at images. There hasn't been any footage released by North Korean television as yet, but the fact that there appears to be a mock up, so a model of a solid fuel ICBM. Now, this is significant rather than a liquid fuel, because it means it can be assembled far quicker and it can be moved around. It is transportable. And in that way, it means it's far more difficult to track and to see from the air by the U.S. or by South Korea.
So this was a significant parade, not just in showing the amount of production that is clearly going on within North Korea at this point, but also showing exactly what they intend to be able to do. And it is in keeping with what we heard from Kim Jong-un back in 2021 when he gave his five-year military weapons modernization plan. He is going through this methodically and making sure that he has ticked each box.
And also the other takeaway was the fact that the family was at the military parade. This is unusual. We've not seen this before. So Kim Jong-un was there, his wife was there, and also the girl believed to be his daughter Ju-ae, who's assessed to be maybe nine or 10 years old. And she is spoken of very fondly, as you might imagine, in state media, being referred to as the beloved girl, but also at one point being referred to as respected.
And according to some experts, that shows that the almost deification, but the respect that should be shown to this young girl is starting already. And of course, it is highlighting plenty of speculation as to whether or not she is being groomed to be the heir at such a young age.
But the very fact that she is front and center, that she is visible at a military parade, the first time we have seen any North Korean leader's child at this kind of military parade is significant and sending a message. John.
VAUSE: Take your daughter to work day, I guess. Paula Hancocks there live for us in Seoul. Thank you.
Well, Kim Jong-un's daughter recently made her fourth appearance in state media at these military parades, following her father round as he carried out inspections. Also, at the banquet that she attended. She was wearing sensible shoes, straight black skirt, crisp white blouse, sparking speculation that she is being groomed as a dictator of North Korea. Here's Will Ripley.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): At this lavish banquet for the North Korean Army's 75th Anniversary, supreme Leader Kim Jong-un with his wife and a girl around nine years old, a girl some say could be the chosen one, the one being groomed as the next North Korean leader.
By showing some quality time with his daughter, it looked like he wanted to showcase his family as a good and stable one, he says, and to show himself as a leader for normal people, her life is anything but normal.
Her name is Kim Ju-ae. At elementary school age, she already outranks a room full of senior military officers. North Korean state media describing her as Kim's respected daughter, getting a standing ovation.
DENNIS RODMAN, FORMER NBA PLAYER: Call him my friend. He's my friend.
RIPLEY: We first learned her name from Dennis Rodman. The one time buddy of the basketball loving Kim claimed he even got to hold the pint sized princess in 2013 when she was a baby.
A few months ago, Kim's daughter made her big state media reveal for an ICBM test at Pyongyang's airport, inspecting her father's prized arsenal and arsenal she could someday command.
A source with deep knowledge of the North Korean leadership threw cold water on the notion this was a successor reveal, telling CNN it's too early to make any assumptions or speak about any possible successor. For sure, it's a clear signal Chairman Kim is sending to the world. A firm commitment to protecting his family and future generations with the nuclear program.
If chosen, she'd be the first female and fourth generation of Kim family leadership. Like her father, grandfather, and great grandfather, the family formula fear, control and a carefully crafted PR campaign, propaganda praising the future leader's power and prowess. The successor can be a boy or girl, youngest or oldest, doesn't matter. The only mission carry on the Kim family's fortune and power.
For a while, Kim's younger sister, Kim Yo Jong was viewed as Kim's possible eventual successor. She's known for her fiery speeches. She once famously directed the country's armed forces to blow up a joint liaison office near the border.
Now the eyes of the world are on Kim's daughter. Experts analyzing every picture, every article, for clues about the possible next North Korean leader. All of it likely before her 10th birthday. Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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VAUSE: Still ahead on CNN, extreme winter weather and brutal conditions compounding misery for earthquake survivors in Turkey and Syria. Also, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is now asking in person for western fighter jets. The latest on the Ukrainian president's tour of European capitals.
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VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN Newsroom. Many in Turkey and Syria are still waiting for help to arrive as the death toll from Monday's powerful earthquake closes it on 16,000. More than a dozen countries are sending aid to Syria, but distribution is complicated.
The Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad wants all aid sent to Damascus, but that would likely delay assistance reaching rebel held areas.
Meanwhile, at least 70 countries have offered relief to Turkey. Still, language (ph) growing there over the government's response to the disaster. On Wednesday, Turkey's president visited some of the hardest hit areas. He conceded there have been problems, but said it's not possible to be prepared for a disaster like this one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERDOGAN (through translator): On the first day we experienced some issues, but then on the second day and today, the situation has been taken under control. In some areas, first we had problems in the airports, we had troubles on the roads, but we are more comfortable today. We will be more comfortable tomorrow. Then later, I believe we will be more comfortable. There are some minor problems with fuel and so forth, but we are handling them step by step.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Live now to Istanbul, Turkey, CNN's Salma Abdelaziz. You know, you will never be completely prepared for a 7.8 magnitude earthquake, but you can better prepared.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's one argument, of course, and that's the argument that many people across Turkey are making. There is actually a tax that all Turks have to pay to prepare for any potential earthquakes. That's why you hear so much anger and grief in that earthquake zone.
But I want to take you further south to Syria, where, as you heard there, the crisis is just magnified. This is a country that's been in conflict for nearly 12 years now. That means anyone under the age of 12 has essentially been born into war. Now some of those children are traumatized by yet another catastrophe. I want to show you a few stories of survival in this very bleak and difficult time.
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ABDELAZIZ (voiceover): This is no way to come into the world. Birth during an earthquake. Thrust into a war zone. Orphaned and alone. This newborn girl was found alive, her umbilical cord still attached to her dead mother's body buried under the rubble of their home. [01:29:50]
This video shows the moments after rescuers pulled her out of the ruins.
"We found the parents' bodies lying next to each other. Then we heard a faint sound," he says. "We dug, we cleared the dust and found the baby, still tied by her umbilical cord. So we cut it off and sent her to hospital."
ABDELAZIZ: The rest of Baby John Doe's immediate family lies in the back of this pickup truck-- all dead, before they even knew she was alive.
And entire generation of Syrians has been born into war. Now those traumatized children face yet another catastrophe.
Diplomatic efforts are under way to open a humanitarian corridor but already there are concerns access is being politicized. The Damascus government heavily sanctioned by the West insists it should be the sole coordinator.
BASSAM SABBAGH, SYRIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: So if it's happened to your country or to this country, it will be the same without the control of the government, without permission of the government, without approval from the government this is a violation. Very simple.
ABDELAZIZ: But few in rebel-held areas, places bombarded for years by President Bashar al-Assad believe the government that once leveled their neighborhoods would care to save them now. And the clock is ticking to find any survivors under hundreds of collapsed buildings.
Like Mariam (ph). This social media video shows her more than 36 hours after the quake, soothing her little brother, Ilef (ph). "Please," she says to the rescue workers, "Please, help us. I'll do anything if you could just help us."
The siblings are eventually extracted. And eventually brought safely to their terrified parents.
In another rare moment of triumph, an entire family is retrieved by emergency responders. Just watch the crowd's reaction as they bring them out one by one. Dad -- daughter -- son.
In Syria, just surviving is a victory.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ABDELAZIZ: What's been described as a crisis within a crisis, within a crisis, John. This patchwork of different authorities and groups on the ground, everyone has to coordinate with them. These aid groups and other organizations and countries. You have sanctions that are hampering, of course, the government areas.
We do have an update on the one and only route from Turkey into rebel- held Syria, the Bab Al-Hawa crossing. Officials say that is now functional and we could see aid begin to trickle in as early as today, John.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Salma thank you. Salma Abdelaziz in Istanbul. We appreciate the update and the reporting.
Well, temperatures in the quake zone will stay below freezing at night. For more on that let's go to CNN meteorologist Britley Ritz for the very latest.
It's getting colder and colder and it's going to stay that way for a while, huh?
BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Unfortunately, through the weekend and into the upcoming work week. And this isn't the coldest it's about to get as that cold air sinks down over Turkey and Syria.
You'll see the blue dots, as well as the yellow and orange -- those indicate the aftershocks. And within that area, some of the coldest air of the season where we are still below zero.
So we're right about freezing for some of these locations, then we get down into Syria, slowly moving above freezing as we get through the morning hours and into the afternoon as the sun starts to shine between a few of these clouds.
I'm showing you water vapor. This is satellite. You'll the purples and occasionally the oranges indicating deeper moisture. But notice, as that northerly wind filters in, the air dries out. So with that all the heat escapes into the atmosphere through the overnight hours and early morning. It's why we're so much always colder.
And then of course, we factor in the wind and it feels much colder. There's the colder air sinking down through Tuesday. You'll see the pinks popping and the darker blues across central Turkey. That's where we can expect some of the coldest air.
When we factor in that northerly wind -- 5, 10, 15 kilometers per hour, then of course, it feels much colder, And that's what really matters. And in some cases across central Turkey it will feel like 20 below. In the morning 5 to about 8 degrees below zero.
But again, the wind chills play a big role in that, so that's what's key. Throughout the afternoon, while we make it above zero, we're still staying below normal.
[01:34:52]
RITZ: Places like Gaziantep as well as Aleppo, always topping out around 9 to 10 degrees through the rest of this week and into the upcoming weekend. Look at this, we stay, just below average in Gaziantep over the next 5 to 7 days.
Thankfully, we do bring back some sunshine. It helps, but it still rather cold. Now, here's a few things to put into perspective. December 2022 is actually the warmest on record for Turkey. January of 2023 was about 2.4 degrees Celsius above normal. And this January for Turkey, was the fourth warmest on record. But in contrast, we're now experiencing that colder air and this is
typically the time of year that that happens, where we have that cold spell across February and where temperatures they will stay below freezing mark, John?
VAUSE: Britley, thank you. Britley Ritz there with the very latest. Thank you.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to attend an E.U. summit in Brussels, in person on Wednesday. A day earlier he visited London and Paris. In the French capital, Zelenskyy met with the French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz where he urged allies to provide Ukraine with long-range, weapons and modern planes.
CNN's Jim Bittermann following developments for us from Paris.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The three leaders gathered for a statement ahead of tonight's working dinner, which is long on generalities and short on specifics, but basically, important generalities because they said, for example, President Zelenskyy said that Germany and France for their parts, could be game changers.
For his part, President Macron said it is important, crucial that, in fact that Ukraine win the war against Russia.
And on his side, Chancellor Scholz of Germany said that Germany was definitely on the side of Ukraine and that they wanted to send a strong signal to the Russians that Europe is not divided as the Russians have been suggesting.
That signal will be reinforced tomorrow when President Zelenskyy goes to Brussels to talk to an extraordinary summit of the European leaders that's been called, and basically will reinforce the message that he's been saying all along that there is urgency about his need for humanitarian support but more importantly, weapons support, that the Europeans can provide.
Jim Bittermann, CNN -- Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: President Zelenskyy also met with Britain's new monarch, King Charles III who had a message of support.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, Your Majesty.
(INAUDIBLE)
ZELENSKYY: Thanks so much. It is a great honor to be here. Thank you for finding time for me.
KING CHARLES III, BRITISH MONARCH: We will be worried about you, thinking about your country this (INAUDIBLE).
ZELENSKYY: Thanks so much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Zelenskyy will not return to Ukraine empty-handed. The U.K. announced a new package of military assistance to coincide with his visit.
CNN's Scott McLean reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Volodymyr Zelenskyy's touchdown in the United Kingdom marked just the second time the Ukrainian president has been on foreign soil in almost a year of full scale war.
Greeted by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Zelenskyy is hoping to turn these hugs and handshakes into military hardware. And had had plenty of time to make his case on the long drive to Downing Street.
RISHI SUNAK, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We have had a (INAUDIBLE) already. We have a lot to discuss over the course of this day.
MCLEAN: With Ukrainian troops already training on the tanks Britain is sending to the frontline, Sunak is now pledging to train an additional 20,000 Ukrainian troops in the U.K. He also pledged to accelerate weapons shipments, new sanctions on Russia, and longer range weapons.
Speaking to lawmakers Zelenskyy said the new equipment would put victory within reach.
ZELENSKYY: It will allow us to make the evil -- evil completely retreat for our country by destroying its headway (ph) deep in the occupied territories.
MCLEAN: But he didn't hold back in his calls for more, presenting a Ukrainian Air Force helmet to the House Speaker with the inscription, "We have freedom, give us wings to protect it".
ZELENSKYY: I appeal to you and the world with simple and yet most important words. Combat aircraft for Ukraine -- wings for freedom.
MCLEAN: The prime minister says the U.K. will train Ukrainian pilots to fly for this jet but isn't sending the actual planes, at least not yet.
But after the pair met with Ukrainian troops training in the U.K., Sunak said nothing is off the table.
SUNAK: The first step in being able to provide advanced aircraft is to have soldiers or aviators that are capable of using them. [01:39:51]
MCLEAN: Russia's embassy was quick to vow a response, but either unaware or indifferent, a smiling Zelenskyy is leaving Britain without fighter jets but with plenty of optimism they'll soon be on their way.
Scott McLean, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Forget surfing the web, try chatting with the Web.
Still ahead, the battle of the search engines heats ups as Microsoft and Bing go AI and Google badly stumbles.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: The U.S. House is set to vote Wednesday on a resolution condemning -- I should say Thursday, no Wednesday, no Thursday -- condemning China's use of a spy balloon as a violation of U.S. sovereignty. The balloon was shot down Saturday and now NATO has acknowledged an increase in Chinese surveillance globally.
Yet despite all this, President Joe Biden says U.S. relations have not taken a hit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have relations now between the U.S. and China taken a big hit?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No.
No.
Can you think of any other world leader would trade places with Xi Jinping? Not a joke. Can you think of any who would? I can't think of one. This man has enormous problems.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Live now to Hong Kong, CNN's Kristie Lu Stout, where it is Thursday, in the afternoon. Gets a little confusing on the overnight shifts, you know. You get a little dizzy some days.
A bit like Chinese-U.S. relations at the moment.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It all blurs. Yes.
VAUSE: Yes. It always does. Over to you.
STOUT: Hey John. You know, it's interesting you played that clip just now, the interview with the U.S. President Joe Biden because you know, in that Newshour interview piece, you basically heard the U.S. president downplaying the geopolitical fallout from the Chinese balloon incident, saying that the shooting down of the Chinese balloon did not make U.S.-China relations worse.
But when you talk to China analysts, they absolutely disagree. They say that the situation is very bad right now.
I want to show you an analysis from CSIS Freeman chair on China, Mrs. Jude Blanchett, who told CNN this, quote, "The relationship I think is just heading to a very, very dark place, if the two sides don't find some way to put a floor underneath," unquote.
Look, U.S.-China ties are damaged and there is very little window of opportunity in the near turn to put a floor under the relationship, to be able to have a reset.
Analysts point out that the National People's Congress, which is the annual legislative event that's due to kick off just weeks away in early March. And on top of that you have the U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy who is reportedly planning a trip to Taiwan which will certainly provoke the ire of China.
China insists that this balloon was a civilian vessel that blew off course. The United States of course calls it a spy craft, also adding according to intelligence officials, that's part of a wider Chinese military surveillance operation that spans multiple continents.
[01:44:56]
STOUT: We also learned from the Pentagon, saying that they have 100 percent certainty that this balloon was not a civilian weather balloon.
And ever since this balloon slipped into American airspace last week, it's caused a political uproar. It prompted the U.S. Secretary of State, to cancel his planned visit to Beijing.
China initially did express regret but when it was shot down by the U.S. fighter jet, China hardened its rhetoric, called it an overreaction, and said it was a violation of international practices.
And I also want to share to you this latest response that we have from the ministry of foreign affairs where the military spokeswoman on Wednesday said this. Quote, "We will handle China-U.S. relations in accordance with the great principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, win-win cooperation proposed by President Xi Jinping at the same time, we will fully defend China's sovereignty, security and development interests.
And John, we are awaiting reaction from Beijing, the ministry of foreign affairs, to have their planned briefing in a couple of hours from now. Also we put in a request for comment with the ministry of defense.
Back to you.
VAUSE: We'll see what they had to say on Thursday. Kristie, thank you.
STOUT: Yes. VAUSE: Kristie Lu Stout for us in Hong Kong. Thank you.
STOUT: Take care.
VAUSE: The battle of the search engines heating up. On Tuesday, Microsoft announced that an updated version of its Bing search engine which can answer verbal questions. It's also going to chat with you to answer follow-up questions, write summaries, and customize content based on your searches.
Google meantime had a pretty rough start with its new chatbot called "Bard", which didn't actually get all the facts right in a test that Google posted on Twitter. Yes, it was a promotional video.
And there's a newcomer on the scene. The Chinese search engine Baidu is working on its own chatbot and to take on both of these two U.S. giants.
To San Francisco now and Josh Constine, venture partner at the venture capital fund, SignalFire. Thanks for being with us.
JOSH CONSTINE, SIGNALFIRE: Thanks so much for having me.
VAUSE: Ok. So this stuff (INAUDIBLE) of the new AI powered Bing search engine for the most part is being well received. From the "Wall Street Journal", I tried Microsoft's new AI-Powered Bing, Search will never be the same again."
From the tech site Engadget, "Microsoft's new Bing and edge hands on, surprisingly well-integrated AI.
Over at "The Economist", they are already asking this. "Is Google's 20-year search dominance about to end?"
So in context, how big of a deal is this? How much of a leap forward is it? And why is it so hard to accept that it's actually coming from Bing?
CONSTINE: I mean Bing has been the butt of jokes in the tech world for a decade now for just being a much inferior search engine. That's why Google has had 93 percent of the global search market.
But with this sudden advancement thanks to its huge investment in AI a few years ago, it's suddenly able to potentially leapfrog Google, which could be a sea change for how we search.
In particular, basically what Microsoft has released is a new version of its Bing search engine that lets you either get annotated AI suggestions of the answer, a better summary of what you would get if you click through all those search results. And it also has a chatbot which you can direct ask for answers to your biggest questions very similar to ChatGPT.
And the reason this all happened so quickly is because Microsoft invested a billion dollars in OpenAI back in 2019, they're the makers of the sensational ChatGPT system that came out in November, and really blew up the AI world, suddenly everybody is talking about it.
And now Microsoft actually making a $10 billion dollar further investment into OpenAI, and it seems like one of the big parts of that partnership, was it getting the first crack at putting ChatGPT into its search engine.
VAUSE: So chatting with the Web as opposed to searching the web, I mean the old-fashioned way of doing it.
Now Google has promised a similar AI search engine which would be ready in a few weeks. But they've had a few hiccups along the way. That includes $100 billion dollar hiccup after Bard, as it's called I think, came back with the wrong answer.
And Alphabet, the parent company saw about 7 percent (INAUDIBLE) about $100 billion dollars of the value of the company. That's kind of a big hiccup.
CONSTINE: Absolutely, Google rushed out this release of Bard, because it was scared that Microsoft was going to get all the attention with its big Bing watch (ph) this week.
But by rushing it out, it just wasn't ready yet. And so when Google's Bared was asked about the new discoveries of the James Webb telescope, it gave the wrong answer and that really spooked investors.
You know, this is a massive change in the way we search, because Google relies on showing you a giant list of search results of Web sites but then getting to stick in a bunch of its ads at the top. And if we move to an answer based search system where it just tells you what you get from all those search results, it's a lot harder to insert those ads.
And so both Google could lose the fight to own search. But even if it does own search, this new conversational model could be a lot less lucrative.
VAUSE: And sorting facts from fiction, news or fake news, that's a challenge for Bing's AI only to at some point because Microsoft is warning you that Bing will sometimes misrepresent the information it finds.
[01:49:51]
VAUSE: And you may see responses that sounds convincing, but are incomplete, inaccurate, inappropriate. Use your own judgment, and double check the facts before making decisions or taking actions based on Bing's responses.
You know, there's one certainty in life and that is asking people to use their common sense and to double check their facts. Is this a recipe for disaster?
CONSTINE: Yes. You know, the average person's Internet literacy, critical reading skills, and ability to spot scams aren't that good either. So while we may feel a little bit uneasy, handing that over to AI, the
same way we have with self-driving cars, they may still be on average better at this than humans. And that's why, especially given these results from these AIs are given so authoritatively, it doesn't tell you well maybe this is the answer but I'm not sure or you better go double check on this part of it.
It just tells, this is the answer. And I can fool people into thinking they don't need to do any more critical reading of their own.
VAUSE: Josh, it's good to have you with us. Thank you so much.
CONSTINE: Thank you so much for having me.
VAUSE: Disney is said to cut $5.5 billion dollars in expenses and streamline operations in the coming years. Seven thousand jobs will go, about 3 percent of Disney's entire global staff. All of Disney media content will be held under one umbrella dubbed Disney Entertainment.
New CEO Bob Iger also announced they'll try to make the company's streaming service profitable by next year, after losing a large number of subscribers last year.
Still to come, the U.S. president may be testing the waters on whether to run again for the White House. We'll have more on his visit to the key battleground states, which is what it was, after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: A bus driver in Canada is facing two counts of first-degree murder as well as other charges after allegedly driving his bus into a daycare center. Two children were killed, six others were hurt.
The incident happened Wednesday morning, in a suburb of Montreal. Just as children typically arrive with their parents. Officials say the 51 year old driver is a local transit employee. Police have not yet determined a motive and the investigation continues.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed condolences to the families of the victims.
Coming off a high to the State of the Union, the U.S. president took a swing through key swing states visiting Wisconsin and brought his push for bipartisanship.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Last night I reported on the state of the union. It is strong. And it's strong because of you. Because the soul of the nation is strong. The backbone of this nation is strong. The people of this nation are strong. And I've said so many times, often told the Democrats and Republicans. We can actually work together.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: Joe Biden quickly (ph) had a spirited debate on Tuesday with Republicans who heckled him when said some of them want to cut Social Security as well as Medicare, which is true.
On Wednesday, he called those cuts their dream but said his veto pen will make a nightmare. President Biden's visit to Wisconsin could be considered a test run for a likely reelection campaign.
CNN's Jeff Zeleny spoke to voters in this key battleground state.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NATASHA LOOS, VOTER: With any presidency, it's never all good, and it's never all bad.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Natasha Loos voted for President Biden, and has applauded many of his achievements. But with another campaign looming, she admits, she's eager for a fresh start.
LOOS: It's always seeming like we're trying to do a lesser of, you know, two evils and it would be -- in my opinion it would be lovely if we could have somebody who's not in their 70s and 80s running for president.
I love that.
ZELENY: When we first met Loos, at a Wisconsin toy shop two years ago, she was grateful that Biden had turned the page.
[01:54:58]
LOOS: Just the tone down of the rhetoric, the not having to be glued to the TV or social media to find out what the latest is going on, has been very refreshing.
ZELENY: At the halfway mark of his first term, respect for the president runs deeper than a desire for him to run again even among his admirers.
Would you like to see him run again?
LUVERDA MARTIN, WISCONSIN VOTER: I'm on the fence. I'm not sure. I'm concerned about his age, not his ebullience or his competence. But certainly his age.
ZELENY: Luverda Martin commends Biden for his commitment to diversity, restoring stability, and forgiving student loan debt. But waivers on the prospect of a second term.
MARTIN: You can tell the job has worn him down a little bit, which is where my concern is with him running again. But he's still there. That spark, that fire, that honest gentleman -- he is still there.
ZELIZER: Inside his Milwaukee brewery, Tim Eichinger (ph) said inflation and high interest rates have taken a toll. But he doesn't blame Biden and hopes he runs again.
TIM EICHINGER, WISCONSIN VOTER: If I was him, I'd say hell, yes I'm going to do this again, you know. I've been doing this for a long time, I finally have got my chance, things are moving forward.
ZELENY: As the president came to Wisconsin to sell his state of the union message, Jonathan Clark worked a few miles away at custom printing shop. He still remembers Biden's words from the last campaign.
BIDEN: Look, I view myself as a bridge, not as anything else. There's an entire generation of leaders you saw stand behind me.
ZELENY: Back when Clark viewed him as the right man for the job. While he praised Biden's infrastructure law and other points of success, he said 2024 should be a new moment.
ZELENY: He's likely to run for reelection, do you think he should?
JONATHAN CLARK, WISCONSIN VOTER: No. I think when he ran for office last time, it was talked about being a one term thing, and I know he didn't commit to that. But I think a lot of people that support the party, we're hoping that would be the case.
ZELENY: There is deep admiration for president, Biden among his supporters that comes alive in one conversation after another.
But there also are questions. Some pointed and some private about whether he is the right man for the moment, two years from now.
Of course, all of that is unknowable as the president sets of to sell his State of the Union message. Traveling to Wisconsin on Wednesday and on to Florida on Thursday, making the case that his agenda is right for the country and that he's the right man for the job in 2024.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN -- Madison, Wisconsin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thank you watching. I'm John Vause.
CNN NEWSROOM continues with Rosemary Church, my friend and colleague, after a short break.
See you back here tomorrow.
[01:57:30]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
