Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Stories Of Survival In Quake-Hit Turkey; Video Shows Russian Strike That Killed U.S. Aid Worker; Scottish First Minister Sturgeon: Time Is Right To Step Down; India Income Tax Authorities Search BBC Offices; Aired 1-2a ET
Aired February 16, 2023 - 1:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[1:00:00]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Hello again. Ahead this hour on CNN NEWSROOM, survival under the rubble 10 days after a powerful earthquake left parts of Turkey and Syria devastated.
CNN exclusive images of the Russian strike that killed an American aid worker in Ukraine.
And was it an audit or harassment? BBC offices in New Delhi searched by investigators from the taxation department. Press groups worry, it could be state-sponsored payback.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: Ten days on since a catastrophic earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, killing more than 41,000 people. And amid the heartbreak and death, there is still reason to hope. Wednesday saw a number of unlikely rescues, including 13-year-old Mustafa [ph] for 228 hours. He was trapped under piles of debris and rubble in Antakya in Turkey.
And not long after that, a woman and two children also have saved in Antakya, according to Turkish state media. The first question she asked rescuers, "What day is it?" All three rushed to hospital by a helicopter.
Many of these recent survival stories are raising questions about how long people have managed to live so long under the rubble. One man trapped for more than 180 hours, wrapped himself in a rug to keep warm while waiting in the dark and he explained the drastic action he was forced to take to stay alive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUSEYIN BERBER, RESCUED AFTER 187 HOURS (through translator): Now, I've got diabetes, you see. So more important than food. There was some medication on the cabinet and a bottle of water. They all fell down next to me. I swallowed some medication with the water, the bottle was empty. So what to do? Now, this is a bit embarrassing. I urinated in it kept it for a while. It became nice and cool. And then I would drink it. That's the way I managed to survive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Personnel carrying out damage assessments have examined nearly 400,000 buildings in Turkey so far. They say more than 50,000 will be demolished as quickly as possible, because they're at risk of collapsing.
CNN's Sara Sidner has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SIDNER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Rescue teams from around the world attack the piles of crushed buildings, sometimes with brute force. And other times as carefully as possible. It's a delicate balance trying to save any possible life underneath, or at the very least, keep bodies intact.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to take thousands of rescuers here, not just the United States, but it's going to take a collaborative effort of all the rescue teams here.
SIDNER: People are actually just hoping to find anybody even if they're dead so that they can bury them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's very important too.
SIDNER: The teams do this as bereaved families look on watching their every move.
I swear I have lost my days and nights, he says, in tears. Our sorrow is great. While he waits, he prays for the four members of his extended family to emerge and remembers the terror of waking up to the sway of his own building. Her building was bending like this, but unlike this one, his building did not break apart.
Yes. Los Angeles County civil engineers are on the site with USAID to help the Turkish government sort out which buildings have light damage, major damage, or which need to be demolished.
KAITLIN HANNON, LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL ENGINEER: I think it would be OK to live here.
SIDNER: You would?
HANNON: Yes. I think, you know, from this viewpoint, the main concern is actually the building next to it falling on top of it.
SIDNER: We are there when the owner of an apartment building approaches asking whether it's safe for her to live here again. And Engineer Hannon [ph] goes with her inside.
While the homeowner decided she was too afraid to stay in her building, despite Hannon saying it was assessed as being safe, others Hannon has met are relieved to hear an assessment like that.
HANNON: A lot of them that we've gone in are actually doing well. And once we tell those people that they'll start crying, give us hugs, and it's heartbreaking. But to be able to tell someone your house is safe and it kept you safe during this, you know, it's something we can help with, something small we can do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over 6,000 structures we put eyes on just to assess at a very quick glance.
SIDNER: The findings of civil engineers are then put into a grid created by Los Angeles County Fire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we can see where rescue is needed.
SIDNER: It's a guide for the Turkish government to see the status of thousands of buildings affected by the quake.
[1:05:06]
Still, nine days on miraculous rescues are rare, but happening.
In Adiyaman, a man is left speechless in grief while he awaits any signs of life. Five of his family members are buried in this rubble.
A few hours later, an 18-year-old is pulled alive from this pile of death. Once again, spurring hope in those waiting for more people to be pulled to safety.
Even in the disaster zone, children find a way to soothe themselves despite the grief that continues to weigh heavy on everyone here.
Sara Sidner, CNN, Adiyaman, Turkey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: With Russia's much anticipated offensive now underway, Ukrainian, British, and U.S. officials believe it's going nowhere fast. They tell CNN, Russian forces will be unlikely to seize and hold significant amounts of territory in eastern Ukraine.
A Ukrainian diplomat put it this way. The Russians have enough firepower to take one or two small cities but that's it.
On Wednesday, at least three people were reported killed, nearly a dozen wounded by Russian airstrike on apartment buildings in the Donetsk region. Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, says the most difficult fighting right now is for the small city of Bakhmut.
For weeks, Ukrainian Russian forces have gone toe-to-toe, and Zelenskyy says the city is now a national symbol of defiance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): It is not easy for soldiers in the east, but you understand they say Fortress Bakhmut for a reason. There is such a phrase in our society. Our fortress is alive, by which I mean living people such a living wall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: NATO defense chiefs meeting this week in Brussels have agreed to increase ammunition production. Right now, Ukraine's military is firing artillery rounds faster than NATO allies can make them.
There was also agreement on speeding up training on advanced weapons systems for Ukrainian soldiers. Here's more now from the NATO Secretary General.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: This is now becoming a grinding war or attrition and the war of attrition is a war over logistics. And therefore, this is so crucial for our ability to ensure that Ukraine wins, is able to retake territory, and launch offensives that ensures that it's able to win the war and to prevail as a sovereign independent nation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, despite the intense fighting, President Zelenskyy has once again invited the U.S. President Joe Biden to visit Ukraine. He heads to Poland next week to mark the first anniversary of the war. Here's more now from the Ukrainian president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENSKYY (through translator): President Biden and I meet occasionally, you know that we have invited the president. I think he will be happy to visit Ukraine if he has the opportunity. That would be an important signal to support our nation.
Nevertheless, today, there are various means of communication with the President of the United States. We are grateful to them for their great help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, last month, a U.S. official said it's highly unlikely that the U.S. president would stop over in Ukraine during that trip.
CNN has obtained shocking exclusive footage of the Russian strike in Bakhmut that killed American aid worker, Pete Reed, earlier this month. Reed, a former U.S. Marine was in eastern Ukraine as a part of a volunteer medical team helping civilians.
CNN's Matthew Chance shows us what happened. And a warning here, the video is graphical. It is graphic and it's difficult to watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): These are the final seconds before volunteer medics in Ukraine, including American, Pete Reed, seen here exiting the white van, come under vicious attack. The images obtained exclusively by CNN show the explosion ripping through the scene, leaving Reed among the dead.
But incredibly, you can also hear the screams of survivors, survivors like Erko, a volunteer from Estonia witnessing all of this from just feet away.
ERKO LAIDINEN, VOLUNTEER MEDIC: Yes, the last one second that I remember before the blast or when the blast happened, I saw the big ball of flame and it was like instantly. My thoughts were the darkest that can be.
CHANCE: Volunteer medics working in Bakhmut are no strangers to the extreme violence ravaging this city. Fierce fighting for control, making it one of Ukraine's deadliest frontlines. Soldiers dubbing it a meat grinder.
But the part of town where the medics were answering their emergency call on February the 2nd seemed relatively calm.
[1:10:09]
CHANCE: So -- but when you arrived at the scene where you'd had these reports of casualties, and you saw the casualties there, was there any fighting going on? Was there any artillery shells coming in close by that you would have -- would have made you aware that this was a particularly dangerous spot?
LAIDINEN: No, no. It was a -- it was actually awfully quiet there. We didn't get no warning because usually you can hear when the rounds come in, you can hear the whistling noise that determines that there is some mortar or artillery shell coming in. There was nothing like this.
CHANCE: And he catches the exact moment on his own cell phone.
A frame by frame analysis shows what military experts tell CNN is an anti-tank missile striking the vehicle, a weapon that requires line- of-sight targeting to be this accurate.
Minutes later, the medic's dashcam records a second strike. Slow motion revealing, it's yet another anti-tank missile.
LAIDINEN: It was observed and aimed directly and to be sure that it's going to be perfect hit, they waited until the complete stop and after that, they instantly fired.
CHANCE: So do you think that you were deliberately targeted by the other side?
LAIDINEN: Yes. I think that there is not much of a debate about it. They shot two different vehicles. They tried to hit another one also. So they were ready. They were prepared.
CHANCE: Russia has repeatedly denied deliberately targeting civilians. But over this gruesome video of the aftermath, the Russian private military company, Wagner, says the volunteer medics were foreign mercenaries, hit by what it calls an accurate strike.
Even for humanitarian volunteers in this Bakhmut meat grinder, protection, it seems, is scarce.
Matthew Chance, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Scotland's longest serving First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has announced she's stepping down. Sturgeon has been a longtime champion of Scottish independence and dedicated opponent of Brexit. After eight years the job, she says, she'll stay on until a replacement is named. More details now from CNN's Bianca Nobilo in London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BIANCE NOBILO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The quiet of parliamentary recess was shattered by the shock announcement that the Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, was resigning.
NICOLA STURGEON, SCOTTISH FIRST MINISTER: Today, I am announcing my intention to step down as First Minister and leader of my party. I have asked the national secretary of the SNP to begin the process of electing a new party leader and I will remain in office until my successor is elected.
NOBILO: Sturgeon is the longest serving First Minister of Scotland and the first and only female to hold the top job. A mainstay of frontline politics, she's developed a reputation as a charismatic, if combative, politician and a formidable foil to Britain's Conservative Party.
Above all, she became a leading advocate for Scottish independence. The country had voted to remain in the United Kingdom by 55 percent to 45 percent back in 2014, but Nicola Sturgeon argued circumstances had changed, namely Britain leaving the European Union when the majority of Scots wanted to remain.
After exhausting most political and legal routes to pursue a second referendum, Sturgeon acknowledged that she felt she'd become too divisive of figure to govern effectively.
STURGEON: Essentially, I've been trying to answer two questions, is carrying on right for me? And more importantly, is me carrying on right for the country, for my party, and for the independent cause I have devoted my life to?
NOBILO: The First Minister also said that she wanted to spend more time on Nicola Sturgeon, the person away from the political fray, which she said had become more brutal of late.
Indeed, Sturgeon had been dealing with controversies over party finances and gender identity policy. Her party and support for independence had suffered from flat lackluster polls, and she was tested during the COVID-19 pandemic and scandals surrounding her former mentor and predecessor, Alex Salmond. The departure of such a towering figure in Scottish politics will have far reaching implications, not just for Scotland and the battle for independence, but also for the government in Westminster and the party's electoral fortunes.
Bianca Nobilo, CNN, London
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: With us now live from Los Angeles is CNN European affairs commentator, Dominic Thomas. Good to see you, Dominic.
[1:15:09]
DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Thanks for having me on, John
VAUSE: OK. So did she jump? Was she pushed? Did she jump before she was pushed? Notably, just a month ago, she told the BBC she had plenty in the tank, nowhere close to stepping down, and now she's exhausted.
THOMAS: Yes, John. I think that the fact that this was had an element of surprise, the fact that there's no successor in the wings, and that the transition to new leadership is unlikely to be a smooth run, I think points to the fact that there's probably a lot more to the story that we current -- than we currently know.
And that therefore, there remains some uncertainty as to what the ultimate catalyst was that drove Nicola Sturgeon and out of office or to making the decision to leave the office she's occupied all the way back to -- since 2014.
VAUSE: You know, there's a lot of people out there who were surprised, as you say, this was quite a stunning announcement by Sturgeon to quit. Over at Politico, though, they started coming a mile away. The headline, "Nicola Sturgeon is the author of her own demise."
Similar sentiment to it, The Atlantic. This is part of the report. "Although the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, which we'll talk about a moment, alone did not bring Sturgeon down. The controversy is the most prominent and most concrete example of what did her political dominance in Scotland led her to disregard her critics and ignore obvious problems until they escalated into scandals."
I guess it -- was it -- was it hubris? Was it arrogance? Was it just poor political judgment? A combination of all that put together. And talk to me about what happened with this gender reform bill that she was trying to push through.
THOMAS: Yes. Well, all of those elements, I think, are a part of that, John. I mean, you know, she's been at the helm since 2014. You know, a lot of political disruption in the U.K. more generally, she's worked now with five Conservative Party prime ministers.
And, of course, we know that the political landscape is increasingly polarized and divisive. And the -- and the public office is not exactly the most undesirable of activities. So when it comes to the bill that you just mentioned, which I think intersects with the bigger debate around culture wars, I think this was a clear example as to when the consultation and the advice that she was getting was to stay away from this particular bill that essentially has -- was attempting to transform the law, so that the process of self-identification around gender lines would move away from a medical diagnosis towards a self-choice.
And the way in which this unfolded is that a -- an individual was on trial for committing rape, and went through the process of then declaring themselves to be transgender, and were temporarily held then in a women's prison. And this, of course, triggered a furor around this question and things that she was warned about.
So on top of the other controversial issues in which she was embroiled, this for many was simply one step too far, and an indication of her own inability to take advice from those around her and the warnings, and therefore, contributed in some ways to the change of her ability to gather leadership from within the SNP and, therefore, of course, greater concern as they move towards an election, John.
VAUSE: Well, there are obligations here, obviously, for the five and a half million people who live in Scotland, most notably, what happens to the independence movie -- movement, rather? But does this resignation actually reverberate beyond that, beyond the borders of Scotland?
THOMAS: I think that there are a few ways in which it does. I mean, I think first of all, the fact that no Conservative Party leader will ever allow a second referendum has, of course, pulled the rug from under that particular movement. And that has implications, I think, for the momentum for similar movements around Europe, I think, most notably of the case in Spain, around Catalan and so on.
But I think that the most significant impact here for which the seismic kind of aftershock will be felt moving forward is that she leaves the Scottish National Party rudderless with a general in the U.K. -- election in the U.K. looming.
Now, of course, the Conservative Party leadership are thrilled to have seen off this formidable opponent that the problem is that the flip side of that coin is that they weaken Scottish National Party, has the potential to further bolster the electoral chances of the Labour Party, and that's something that will be of great concern to the conservatives in the U.K., as they decide when to have this general election, and also a great concern for the Scottish National Party that paradoxically did very well under the leadership of Sturgeon, going all the way back to 2015 and will possibly be indelibly weakened by her unanticipated resignation, John.
[1:20:06]
VAUSE: The ins and outs of Scottish politics. Dominic, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it. Dominic Thomas there in Los Angeles. THOMAS: Thank you.
VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN, they don't call it Doomsday Glacier for nothing, its danger of collapsing into the sea. A new say warns it could happen much sooner than originally thought. We'll tell you why in a moment.
Also, Indian tax authorities searching the offices of a media giant in Mumbai and New Delhi. Critics call it a vendetta. We're live in the Indian Capitol in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: For a second straight day, thousands have protested in Colombia, angry over the social and economic reforms proposed by President Gustavo Petro.
The demonstrations were organized by the right wing democratic center party. That was similar in size to marches held on Tuesday by those in favor of the reforms. Petro is Colombia's first leftist president who is pushing broad changes to healthcare, education, as well as pensions. Opponents say those reforms will damage the economy.
Journalists and rights groups are condemning searches by tax authorities on BBC offices in India. They come nearly a month after the network aired a documentary critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Press Club of India calls the raids a vendetta. But a governor advisor says, the BBC has not provided convincing responses to previous tax notices.
Live now to New Delhi, CNN's Vedika Sud. OK. So, how do we know what's going on here? Is this truly an audit gone bad, I guess? Or is it really about the documentary?
VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER: That's an interesting question you asked, John. Well, for the government, they're saying, and this is what they said on record, that this is a survey, it's not a raid. So there's nothing really for the BBC to hide. Let the process go on. And let's see what comes of it. That's what the Indian Government is saying.
But the timing of this, John, is obviously the reason for this debate here in India and abroad. International channels have been covering it and so has local media. The point is this. This survey, as the government puts it, comes just weeks after a BBC documentary that was critical of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. And you do have advocates of press freedom here in India and abroad, questioning why this survey is happening just weeks later.
Now, I speak to local journalists here in India who have been under pressure for their reporting on facts, figures, and things related to the government. Here's what they had to say about the fragile press freedoms situation here in the country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUD (voice over): India's government does not like what some journalists are saying about it.
[1:25:04]
Last month, a BBC documentary critical of Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, was banned across the country. On Tuesday, agents from the Indian Tax Department enter the BBC's offices in New Delhi and Mumbai.
Employees weren't allowed to leave or to enter by agents who said they were carrying out a survey.
Outside the BBC office in New Delhi, the local press back watches on as the ruling political party issues a new challenge to the media outlet. It considers hostile.
Journalist, Siddique Kappan, doesn't have the might of an international news organization behind him. Instead, he says his reporting of a politically charged rape case under more than two years in prison without a trial.
Kappan was charged under an anti-terror law, he says, is being wielded by the government to silence dissent.
As long as you support the government, published their press release in newspapers, you're a good journalist. If you raise your voice against the government, if you highlight the failures, draconian laws will be slapped against you, Kappan tells me.
He says supporters of the Modi government have threatened him online.
Kappan is out on bail, but he says he still doesn't feel free. He's been holed up in this tiny two-room apartment with his family often too worried to go outside.
India's media landscape is massive. According to Reporters Without Borders, there are over 100,000 newspapers across the country and over 350 TV news channels. But despite its size and diversity, the media industry in India is sounding increasingly similar.
SIDDHARTH VARADARAJAN, FOUNDING EDITOR, THE WIRE: If you look at television channels, look at the big papers, you -- what you get is a very sanitized version of what's happening, and in many cases, the activist spousal of the government's agenda.
The Wire is an independent news organization. Its founder says the Indian press has been in crisis since the Modi government came to power in 2014.
VARADARAJAN: India's democracy is on, you know, frankly, is on life support.
SUD: The Indian government hinted at irregularities being the reason for raids at BBC's offices. But for critics, the world's largest democracy has little tolerance for voices of dissent.
(END VIDEOTAPE) SUD: Two sources with knowledge have told CNN that the service to learn at both the offices of the BBC, John, both in New Delhi and Mumbai, there's been no official statement or word from the income tax authority yet. We're waiting for that, John.
VAUSE: Vedika Sud there in New Delhi. We appreciate the update. Thank you.
Antarctica's Doomsday Glacier could collapse in just a few years, and now scientists have a better idea why. On top of the glaciers melting itself, there's new studies which show an ice shelf supporting the glaciers and preventing it from crashing into the sea, is also melting rapidly and may give way.
Warm ocean water has expanded deep cracks in the ice, making it weaker and more vulnerable to shattering. Scientists collected this new information by drilling a hole nearly 2,000 feet deep into the ice, allowing them to access areas that have been impossible to reach before.
This white glacier is roughly the size of the U.S. state of Florida. It's called the Doomsday Glacier because scientists say a full collapse would be a disaster, raising global sea levels by more than three meters or about 10 feet.
The World Health Organization is sending experts and medical supplies to help Equatorial Guinea to find its first ever outbreak of the Marburg virus. The small Central African nation has so far reported nine deaths and people with symptoms consistent with the virus, while 16 suspected cases have been admitted to health facilities.
The virus is similar to Ebola and currently there are no approved vaccines or treatments. But the WHO can meet a group of experts on Tuesday to evaluate what options they have.
Still ahead on Ukraine's border with Belarus, growing tensions amid fears that Russian ally may soon join the war in Ukraine. For now, those troops on both sides are using flags to taunt each other.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:31:32]
VAUSE: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the situation in the eastern city of Bakhmut is the most difficult of all areas in Ukraine. He said Ukrainian troops are holding on, standing firm to defend the country but it's not easy, as heavy fighting continues to rage.
Elsewhere in the Donetsk Region, Ukrainian authorities say at least three people were killed, 11 wounded in a Russian attack in the town of Pokrovsk. One official says four multi story buildings and a school were damaged.
The war in Ukraine is grinding on as NATO defense ministers meet this week in Brussels, where they've agreed to increase ammunition production.
Right now, Ukraine's military is firing artillery rounds faster the NATO allies can make them. There's also agreement on speeding up training on advanced weapons for Ukrainian soldiers.
Meantime concerns are growing that Belarus, Russia's only major European ally and Ukraine's northern neighbor may join in Russia's counteroffensive. Belarus was used as one of the launch pads for the Russian invasion in the early days of the war. Two countries have been stepping up joint military drills in recent months.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen had rare access to the Belarusian side of the border with Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As Russian forces ramp up their assault on eastern Ukraine, Kyiv believes the Kremlin's massive spring offensive may already be well underway. And Russian President Vladimir Putin could again use Belarus as a launching pad for attacks.
On a visit organized by the Belarusian government, we saw the Ukrainians aren't taking any chances.
The Belarusians say from their side, this border crossing is open. But you can see over there, that's Ukrainian territory, and over there, that crossing is definitely shot. There's several levels of barbed wire and also earth (ph) mounts to make sure no one can get through.
Russia launched its main thrust towards Kyiv through Belarus almost a year ago, penetrating all the way to the gates of Ukraine's capital before its forces were decimated and retreated.
Today, the situation at the Belarusian-Ukrainian border remains tense. Although this crossing is usually calm, even here some trolling.
The Ukrainians fly the white-red-white flag of the Belarusian opposition on their side of the border one of the many provocations the Belarusians say and they beefed up their own forces here.
ANTON BYCHKOVSKIY, BELARUS STATE BORDER COMMITTEE (through translator): Mainly border guard units have been expanded. If before it was two people, now it's three or five. The armament and equipment were also updated.
PLEITGEN: Belarus says all the measures they're taking here are purely defensive but Minsk recently conducted a large-scale air force drills with the Russian military and the U.S. believe Russia is amassing aircraft on Ukraine's border.
Putin recently hinting he's even considering placing nukes into Belarus.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I consider it possible to continue the implementation as the president of Belarus's proposals on training the crews of combat aircraft of the army of dollars, which have been converted for the possible use of air launched ammunition with a special war head.
[01:34:50]
PLEITGEN: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko acknowledging he needs Putin.
ALEXANDER LUKASHENK0, BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Let's be honest. Are we capable alone without Russia to defend our sovereignty and independence? We are not.
PLEITGEN: In the town here, the Belarusian Ukrainian border, the war next door weighs heavily.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It makes me cry, of course. It is scary. You are afraid for the people there and of course, you want to influence the situation somehow. But I am an ordinary person.
PLEITGEN: Others fully in Putin's corner. I asked this man if he thinks Belarus should support Russia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are one nation with Russia. We absolutely should help them.
PLEITGEN: For now, all is quiet at the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, a nervous calm folks here hope will hold somehow.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN -- at the Belarus-Ukraine border.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: A network of camps in Russia where thousands of Ukrainian children have allegedly been held since the start of the war has been revealed in a new report funded by the U.S. State Department. It claims Russia has taken great efforts to not only relocate but also re-educate those children. In some cases, training them for military service.
The report was produced by the Conflict Observatory at the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, with support from the State Department. It found more than 6,000 children from infants to teenagers had been in Russian custody at some point during the nearly year-long war.
43 facilities were identified within the network stretching across Russia and even into Russian occupied Crimea. At least 32 of those facilities have apparently engaged in what the report calls systemic reeducation efforts that exposed children to Russia-centric academic and cultural education, and in two cases, military education.
Russia though has dismissed the report as absurd. It is a long, desperate and heartbreaking journey for Ukrainian mothers trying to get their children back from Russia.
CNN's David McKenzie has the story of one woman willing to travel to Russian occupied territory to be reunited with her daughter. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Weeks ago, we first met Tetyana Vlaiko (ph) in Kyiv in a shelter for displaced families. All of the mothers here separated from their children by the trauma of war.
TETYANA VLAIKO, UKRAINIAN MOTHER: Emotions overwhelmed me when Lilia (ph) left. When I realized what was happening, it terrified me. All I wanted was the best for my child at the time.
MCKENZIE: Her 11-year old daughter, Lilia, stuck in a Russian camp in occupied Crimea. All the lessons are in Russian. At first glance, the retreat seemed like any other summer camp.
But the loyalty expected from Ukrainian children is crystal clear. Part of what a new Yale University study calls a systematic reeducation effort.
But Tetyana and Lilia's story begins a year ago. Their hometown of Kherson fell quickly to advancing Russian troops. Within days, the occupiers began a campaign to ratify the population, often coercing thousands of parents like Tetyana to send their kids to the camps.
But when Ukrainian forces took back Kherson in November, Tetyana's daughter was on the wrong side of the frontline.
MYKOLA KULEBA, SAVE UKRAINE: We provide rescue mission for children who were abducted, and now in Russian Federation and in Crimea.
MCKENZIE: Mykola Kuleba, the founder of Save Ukraine, declined to say exactly how they negotiate their entry into enemy territory, just that the mothers can't do it on their own.
KULEBA: It's impossible to communicate with any Russians because you can ask these mothers. They don't want to give children back.
MCKENZIE: But Tetyana was ready to take the risk.
VLAIKO: I'm worried, of course. You cannot even imagine my emotions inside. It's fear and terror. It's emotional that I could see her soon and this is a big deal for me.
MCKENZIE: 11 mothers and one father putting on a brave face, but theirs is a perilous route. From Ukraine by road to Poland into Russian ally Belarus, through the Russian Federation, to occupied Crimea.
VLAIKO: We were counting every kilometer on approach. I could feel it with every cell in my body. I was very emotional when we were closer and closer.
MCKENZIE: Save Ukraine spent many months planning this moment.
Reuniting families shattered by war. Returning children who just wanted to go home to Ukraine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Once I entered, to me it was an outburst of emotions. Once we embraced, it was like a great weight lifted.
MCKENZIE: In the end, they gave up the children willingly. But Save Ukraine says that hundreds, perhaps thousands, remain.
"Our two countries are at war," says Tetyana, "but there are good people everywhere."
David McKenzie, CNN -- Kyiv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:39:55]
VAUSE: The Russian embassy in Washington told CNN the following. "Russia accepted children who had been forced to flee with their families from the shelling and atrocities of the armed forces of Ukraine. We do our best to keep minors in families. And in case of absence or death of parents and relatives, to transfer orphans under guardianship. We ensure the protection of their lives and well-being."
More than a week after Turkey and Syria were hit by a powerful earthquake, somehow survivors are still being found under the rubble and pulled to safety, defying predictions that time had passed for survival.
Officials say 13-year-old Mustafa survive 228 hours under the debris. The death toll though now has passed 41,000.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is reportedly in Turkey at the moment showing solidarity and to convey his condolences. He's scheduled to meet with Turkish officials and visit the quake zone.
All this as humanitarian aid slowly arriving in Turkey and Syria. The challenge now is getting that aid to survivors across the region where roads, rail and airports have been badly damaged.
CNN's Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports from a Turkish airfield turned into a distribution hub for supplies.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I've made my way to an airstrip here, a Turkish military airstrip, where so many of the donations from all over the world -- this is where they arrive. And then helicopters and planes and other vehicles come and take these supplies and try and get them to places where people really need them.
We talked about more than 41,000 people have tragically died. But they're also (AUDIO GAP) a lot of people who are survivors who have been injured and are in need of some of these supplies.
In fact, we went to the largest trauma center in this area -- a trauma center that was not damaged by the quake. And they've been taking care of patients, thousands of patients -- 5,000 over the last several days.
We want to give you a look at what it takes to run a trauma center in the middle of an earthquake zone.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Operating room.
DR. GUPTA: Time is the great equalizer in hospitals all across Turkey. And there isn't enough of it here in Adana City at the Teaching and Research Hospital.
The patients come in with fractures -- what sort of injuries?
DR. SULEYMAN CETINKUNAR, ADANA CITY TEACHING AND RESEARCH HOSPITAL: Patients consist of limb loss, tissue crushes, tissue lost, and brain trauma.
DR. GUPTA: Dr. Suleyman Cetinkunar (ph) is chief of staff here. Within minutes, his trauma team is paged again. Another helicopter is arriving.
We're now walking with the chief of staff of the hospital to the helipad. He tells me that they've had some 5,000 patients that have come here over the last seven days. The orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons have been operating for seven days straight basically.
This is the largest trauma hospital in the quake zone.
The doctors move fast. The goal, to care for this 26-year-old woman. Her kidneys are failing from something known as crush syndrome. Too many toxins were released into her blood after her limb was finally freed. She will need emergent kidney dialysis.
Over and over again, patients from the quake zone finally, thankfully making it here for help.
And one with the most remarkable story I've heard. This beautiful family of five felt the earth shake, and then watched the unthinkable happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our block of flats is seven stories high.
DR. GUPTA: They could do nothing but watch as eight-month-old baby Berget (ph) was somehow hurtled from the window, five stories to the ground.
And then, look what happened to their building. Just flattened. Somehow, Lilay (ph) survived after being trapped herself for almost 14 hours. And she began to dig and scrape through the rubble for any sign, any sign at all that her baby girl was still alive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And at that point, the fifth day, we thought we would be seeing her lifeless body.
DR. GUPTA: But then, something astonishing happened. Someone showed them this post on Twitter. At first they weren't sure. But this baby girl looked very much like her daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You see, we had no idea she had been saved.
DR. GUPTA: In the chaos, a good Samaritan had rescued the girl and she was flown here. Broken and n battered, left leg shattered, skull fractured, a small collection of blood on her brain. But yes, very much alive.
Just such a miraculous story. You think about that eight-month-old girl. I mean she was thrown out the window, but had she not been thrown out the window, she would've likely been crushed. We saw just how that building was so pancaked.
[01:44:58]
DR. GUPTA: People don't like to use the word miracle very often, but that was pretty miraculous, I think you'd have to agree.
This is an area, Turkish airstrip, where so many of the donations that are coming in from all over the world -- this is where they arrive. Then there's planes and helicopters and other vehicles that take these supplies and get them to the people who need them the most.
Keep in mind, there are a lot of people that are still out there. They survived but they may be injured, and they're in tremendous need. And that's what these supplies are going to help serve.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: For information on how to help the earthquake victims, please go to CNN.com/impact. There you will find a list of organizations working on rescue and relief efforts.
White House officials are considering if the U.S. President should speak publicly on the three mysterious objects shot down in recent days. President Biden has yet to comment on last weekend's decision to shoot them down. U.S. Intelligence now believes it's possible the Chinese balloon really did drift off course, and was not deliberately sent into U.S. airspace. They're still assessing what happened, as well as which parts of the balloon's missions were ordered by Beijing.
If this was truly an accident, it may help lower temperature between Washington and Beijing, and may allow the U.S. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken to reschedule a visit to China which was postponed after the balloon controversy several weeks ago.
Still ahead, may the best women win. Nikki Haley hits the U.S. presidential campaign trail in her home state of South Carolina. Her vision for a Republican future, in a moment.
Also the FAA's acting chief in the hot seat. After the break, why he told Congress there's no way to guarantee another system crash won't happen.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Republican Nikki Haley is hitting the campaign trail a day after officially declaring her bid for the White House. The former Republican governor of South Carolina says it's time to move past the stale ideas and faded names of the past, elect a new generation of leadership. The 51-year-old daughter of Indian immigrants says she wants America to be strong and proud, not weak and woke.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIKKI HALEY, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: America is not past our prime. It's just that our politicians are past theirs.
In the America I see, the permanent politician will finally retire. We'll have term limits for Congress and mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Haley served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Donald Trump. Her support for him has gone back and forth over the past few years. The former president says Haley should follow her heart. He wishes her luck.
[01:49:55]
VAUSE: The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board investigating yet another near collision between two planes on a runway. It's the third close call in less than a month.
The NTSB says a United Airlines 777 and a smaller cargo plane nearly crashed into one another on a runway in Hawaii January 23rd. This comes as the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is facing some tough questions on Capitol Hill about its own safety issues.
CNN's Gabe Cohen has details now from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A series of system meltdowns and near disasters.
BILLY NOLAN, ACTING ADMINISTRATOR, FAA: We cannot and must not become complacent.
COHEN: Landing the FAA's acting administrator Billy Nolan, in front of a Senate committee just hours after announcing a sweeping safety review for the agency.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have our backup redundant system. Why couldn't we just go to that system?
NOLAND: Thank you, madam chair, for the question.
COHEN: One focus, the NOTAM (ph) system that failed last month, triggering the first national ground stop since 9/11. The cause? A contractor accidentally deleting files during system maintenance.
NOLAN: They no longer have access to either FAA facilities or the NOTAM system. COHEN: The FAA says it's moving to a more modernized system by 2025,
and for now it's putting safeguards to prevent a repeat.
NOLAND: We're about halfway through it in terms of our modernization of the NOTAM system.
SENATOR TED CRUZ (R-TX): Is there redundancy being built into it? Or can a single screw up ground air traffic nationwide?
NOLAN: We do have redundancy there. Could I sit here today and tell you there will never be another issue on the NOTAM system? No sir, I cannot. What I can say is that we are making every effort to modernize and look at our procedures.
COHEN: But now, aviation safety is under the microscope after two near collisions at JFK and Austin, and a United 777 diving toward the ocean after takeoff from Hawaii. For reasons the FAA and United are keeping confidential.
Administrator Nolan offering little on the incidents themselves.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm asking if you have any answer today about why this occurred.
NOLAN: No, ma'am. That investigation is still ongoing.
COHEN: And now, the FAA is planning an extensive safety review of the agency, including a summit with industry partners next month to game plan solutions and then dig through flight data to find out if more of these incidents are happening.
NOLAND: Can I say to the American public that we are safe? The answer is that we are. If the question is, can we be better? The answer is absolutely. And that's the piece we're working on.
COHEN: And now we're learning about yet another incursion, the third in recent weeks. This one, on January 23rd in Honolulu. The FAA says a United 777 crossed a runway despite being told to wait by air traffic control as a cargo plane was landing on that same runway.
The FAA says the two aircraft were a little more than 1,000 feet apart and now the NTSB is investigating.
Gabe Cohen, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Auto maker Nissan has issued a massive recall for more than 400,000 vehicles in the U.S. because of an issue with steering. The recall applies to cars, SUVs, vans, trucks made between 2008 and 2011. Nissan says the brand badge on the steering wheel poses a safety hazard, and can break apart or fly off during a crash.
At least four injuries have been reported related to this issue so far. That's according to U.S. traffic safety officials. Twitter may have a new CEO by the end of the year. The current owner and chief executive, that will be Elon Musk, has been on the job for less than four months. But he says the time is coming for a change.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELON MUSK, CEO, TWITTER: I think I need to stabilize the organization, and just make sure it's in a financially healthy place, and that the product roadmap is clearly laid out.
So, I don't know. I'm guessing probably towards the end of this year would be the timing to find someone else to run the company because I think it should be in a stable position around, you know, the end of this year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Millions of Twitter users voted in favor of Musk standing down in an online poll in December. He says he plans to run Twitter's software and serve a team after he resigns as CEO.
Still ahead, remembering Raquel Welch -- the actress, the pin-up, the bombshell who died on Wednesday.
[01:54:18]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Actress Raquel Welch who rose to fame in the movie "The Fantastic Voyage" and became a sex symbol in the 1960s and beyond, has died. Her career spanned more than five decades with more than 70 film and television credits. But it was role in the adventure movie "1 Million Years B.C." as well as images of her in a fur bikini that turned her into an international sex symbol.
She won a Golden Globe for her performance in the 1973 film version of "The Three Musketeers". Will always be known for her 1958 movie "Houseboat" with Cary Grant. She was 82.
There is a new record in the world of speed dating. More than 1,300 people showed up in Brussels on Valentine's Day to chat the night away, help set up a new record in the process.
The holiday usually meant to celebrate couples also gave single people a night to look forward to as well. Over the course of the night, attendees were able to meet with around 16 people. Speed dating at its finest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELISABETH ELLEBOUDT, SPEED DATING PARTICIPANT: I do think that in a two minutes, four tonight in general, you get a good idea of the person, the first impression is usually the good one.
JILL DE GRAAF, SPEED DATING PARTICIPANT: It's like judging as well but also all of the couples -- I'm single, and I know all my friends who are a couple. They're all gone. They're all doing something and it can be a pretty sad day for singles but this is taking it back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Taking it back. Organizers say they broke the 2019 record of 964 participants. That was in Dublin.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
CNN NEWSROOM continues in a moment with my colleague and friend, Rosemary Church.
Hope to see you right back here tomorrow.
[01:57:30]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
