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CNN International: Russia Makes Gradual Gains in Battle for Bakhmut; Khamenei: Poisoning Schoolgirls is an "Unforgivable Crime"; Erdogan to Face Polls Amid Anger over Earthquake Response; Afghans Facing Deadly Winter, Blockades to International Aid; Chris Rock Talks "Selective Outrage" Oscars Slap in Netflix Special. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired March 06, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

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MAX FOSTER, CNNI HOST: Hello, welcome to CNN "Newsroom", I'm Max Foster in London. Just ahead Russian forces appear to be on the cusp of taking control of the Ukrainian city Bakhmut. A closer look at what's happening on the ground there. Also, furious parents in Iran demand answers from the government over the suspected poisoning of school girls across the country in recent months.

Our Chief International Investigator Correspondent with us with the latest developments and to an alarming scene in the air. Smoke fills the cabin of the Southwest plane after collides with birds more on that coming up.

While the intense battle for the small town of Bakhmut in Eastern Ukraine rages on as the evacuation residents there slows to a trickle. Analysts tell CNN that Russian troops continue to make gradual gains as they attempt to encircle the area. As you can see, Russian forces now have the city surrounded on three sides. And one Russian Reporter claims that some Ukrainian troops have begun withdrawing from the battered city, but for now the fighting continues.

A City Officials tell CNN the Ukrainian Military has put in a temporary grid to replace the key supply line, the Russians destroyed last week. Melissa Bell joins us in Kyiv with the latest. Its difficult getting the information, but the Russians, the Ukrainians rather still appear to have a supply route in from the west.

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, they're very much sending the message that they intend to put up a fight for Bakhmut even beyond what they've done already with President Zelenskyy meeting with his Senior Defense Officials including military leaders who have been leading that fight in Bakhmut this morning.

And vowing not only to hold on, but actually just send more men in that is very much their message despite as several days when it seemed that their retreat was just a question of time and that it wouldn't take very long. That was certainly what was happening towards the end of last week.

But they're keeping according to one military commander of at least one of the major highways in and out and therefore their ability to resupply their troops and the important signal that they're sending. I mean, we've just been hearing from the American Defense Secretary Austin Lloyd, who's been speaking from Amman, Jordan to this, Max and saying that it would not be any significant strategic sign of a full back for the Ukrainians should they retreat west.

This would not be a sign that the tide had turned in favor of Russian troops after the last many months of Ukrainian gains on the field rather than losses. This would be a symbolic defeat, he explained, but to the Ukrainians as you can see by the amount of men and resources that they've put into this, the amount of Ukrainian blood that's been spilled already.

It is an important symbolic hold for them how much longer they can do so of course, no one can tell but they are determined for the time being to stay even as the plight of the civilians of course, continues to worsen. You're talking about more than 4000 civilians at the moment trapped in there.

They're only managing, Max to get 5 to 10 hours a day, because of the severity of the ferocity of the fighting. They have no water, no electricity, it's pretty chilly and they're living on Woodward reserves. They've managed to stockpile since before the last major shipment of humanitarian aid, aid got in and that was about three weeks ago, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Melissa, thanks for joining us from Kyiv. Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Minister got a firsthand look at the rebuilding of Mariupol. Russia captured the city last year and has been restoring its infrastructure. Defense Ministry says Sergei Shoigu was there inspecting all the progress. Our Scott McLean joins us live from London with that. We saw these images these are images the Russians want the world to see.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, certainly, Max and look, it is pretty rare. Russian Military Officials certainly the top of Russian Military Officials, like the Ministry of Defense have visited Russian held territory inside of Ukraine pretty sparingly since the outset of the war. So this was a rare visit for sure.

It's not entirely clear when exactly this visit took place, or if Sergei Shoigu the Minister may actually still be inside of Ukrainian territory, Russian Ukrainian territory, but you can see in the video that he's visiting there in Mariupol, a medical facility a newly rebuilt medical facility there inside of Mariupol.

You also see him arrived by helicopter at the airport. Mariupol was once really the epicenter of the fighting in this war the Russians. I took it after really painstaking battles for months and months. It has since become a hub for the Russian Military. Though there's no danger there's not.

There is still plenty of danger there. The Ukrainians have claimed to successfully hit Russian Military positions in the town ammunition depots, things like that. There was also a second video released this one you see here where Shoigu is presenting metals to a small group of Russian soldiers. And in the video, you can hear him say that these medals are richly deserved, that he hopes that these troops will continue to serve loyally, and he hopes that they will come back alive. Now, this Max, as you mentioned, is perhaps a chance for the Russians to show off the rebuilding of Mariupol.

Perhaps also a chance for Shoigu to show himself to the Russian people considering that he's taken plenty of criticism for his handling of the war. And one of his chief critics has actually been the Head of the Wagner private military company. Yevgeny Prigozhin who actually just a few weeks ago accused Shoigu of high treason for failing to equip Wagner with enough ammunition to get the job done on the front lines.

FOSTER: OK, Scott, thank you. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei says if it is proven that school girls were poisoned across Iran in recent months, it would be an unforgivable crime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI, IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER: If there truly is vandalism, and there are individuals or groups behind this matter, this is a great and unforgivable crime. This is a crime against the most innocent part of society meaning children, and it's causing fear and insecurity in the minds of society and concerns families. These are not small matters these must be seriously pursued.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Last week, videos of female students being carried into ambulances after they were allegedly poisoned flooded social media and local media carried a report suggesting nearly 900 students have been poisoned since November. Now parents are demanding answers as the public outrage intensifies.

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FOSTER: Let's bring in Nima who's been uncovering the story for us and all the reporting you've done and the local journalists as well is really starting to have an impact because it's just raising awareness of this scandal.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Well, absolutely. Finally, I mean, to have a comment from Iran's Supreme Leader himself, is so far has not been something that parents have been able to get. We also had Iran's Interior Minister over the weekend saying that suspicious samples, as he called them have now been sent to be tested at laboratories.

But that is against the backdrop of a continuing spike in suspected attacks that the weekend is the beginning of Iran school week. And at the moment, many local media and much of what we're seeing backs this up believe that the spikes in these suspected attacks are unprecedented, and I want you to listen to a local doctor that we were able to speak to when we asked him to tell us what he believed was behind this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm inside Iran, my phone is being monitored. I can't share any more with you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELBAGIR: So you're hearing from Iran's Supreme Leader you're hearing from the Interior Ministry. But then at the same time, what parents and doctors and teachers who are speaking to us tell us doesn't actually marry up with this. They're being told not to speak to journalists, they're being told not to tell parents what's happening.

Teaching Assistants and teaching sources are telling us that the CCTV inside schools, which is normally accessible to teachers, has been completely handed over to regime operatives. So there is this duality, and you understand why we see images like the ones we've been showing our audience of have parents shouting and upset and standing around school gates, demanding answers, Max.

FOSTER: What about reaction outside around?

ELBAGIR: Well, there has been a huge global outcry not just over this. We also saw this morning, the Head of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Chairman Bob Menendez now that the SFRC essentially leads on foreign policy for the U.S. Calling on the U.N. and we have his tweet there, calling on the U.N. to investigate the findings of our investigation into the Iran regime's use of torture black sites.

So there does feel like there is this international drumbeat against the backdrop of international concern over what exactly is happening inside Iran. We're calling it suspected poisonings. The parents are calling it suspected poisoning. But frankly, nobody really knows what it is these guys are being exposed to? What we do know though is some of them are as young as seven, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Nima thank you very much indeed. Turkey's President Erdogan could soon find out who his opponent will be in the upcoming election, the country's opposition alliance is set to announce its candidate anytime now.

Amid rising anger over the government's response to the earthquakes that is now exactly one month since that powerful quake, which brought death and utter devastation? Hundreds of thousands of people are still living in tents. Nada Bashir joins us live from Istanbul; this is going to be the defining issue, isn't it in the election now?

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: It really is, and President Erdogan has a significant challenge ahead. There has been backlash against the government over its response to the earthquake and also Turkey's preparedness for an earthquake of this scale. We've seen that sort of backlash coming from the opposition questions as to whether the government responded quickly enough where their aid got to the areas in need quickly enough for now. Of course, questions around the rebuild and the aftermath of the earthquake. We're talking about more than 1.9 million people across Turkey now living in temporary accommodation as a result of this earthquake, hundreds of thousands of people still living in tent cities across the country.

And this is set to be the future for many of them for the coming months for the coming years even and there is no long term solution on the cards. Now President Erdogan and his government have pledged to rebuild the affected areas within one year, but that has also drawn some criticism and backlash.

I mean, first of all, just looking at the scale of the devastation, it's hard to picture how to imagine how this could be accomplished in one year. But we're also hearing criticism from the union of engineers and architects who say it's simply too hasty. It's not safe enough yet we're still seeing aftershocks and there needs to be further geological investigation.

But of course, there is also the question of the opposition, whether it is powerful enough, whether it is unified enough to pose a significant challenge to President Erdogan at this stage now as he mentioned there, we are still waiting to hear the announcement from an opposition alliance over it selected candidate who will be standing head to head against President Erdogan.

Now at this stage although we are seeing backlash against Erdogan's government while we are still seeing criticism, particularly as the country continues to face a deepening economic crisis. There are real questions around whether this opposition alliance can be unified enough whether or not they can garner enough support in order to be seen as a stable and viable opposition to take on a leader who has been in control of Turkey now for more than two decades.

[08:10:00]

BASHIR: There is a real sense of frustration a sense of anger among some in Turkey over the government's response to the earthquake, particularly, of course, in the aftermath where there are many now still living in these tent cities. But of course, in a situation where the country is facing such instability where there are still concerns around the safety of buildings and other parts of the country.

Here in Istanbul, there is real concern over a potential earthquake in this city. Some are leaning more towards the stable hand of President Erdogan whereas others feel it is time for change. For now, we are just waiting to hear of that new candidate who will potentially lead the opposition Alliance into the next election, which according to President Erdogan and all indicators will be in mid-May, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Nada thank you. The FBI asking the public for information after four U.S. citizens was kidnapped in Mexico. That happened on Friday in the town of Matamoros, in Tamaulipas state and FBI press release says the four Americans had just driven into town in a white minivan with North Carolina plates when unidentified gunman fired on them. On men then took them away in another vehicle. The U.S. State Department had previously listed the state as a level 4 do not travel area. Still to come, a big scare in the skies leads to an emergency landing will tell you what happened to a Southwest Airlines plane after it collided with birds.

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FOSTER: How dangerous are bird strikes to planes? We've got a glimpse of what can happen in an incident on Sunday. Take a look at this. The cellphone video taken on board a Southwest Airlines flight from Havana to Florida you can see there the cabin filling with smoke and can hear the passengers crying out wondering what was going on.

Instance like this are more common, though than you might think. Over 15,000 bird strikes in the U.S. in 2021 alone, we're told and that doesn't of course count all the others around the world. You can get to CNN's Carlos Suarez, who's in Miami covering this latest incident. I mean, we keep hearing about these cases, but sometimes it can turn pretty nasty. Thankfully, no one was hurt in this incident.

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's exactly right, Max. Of course, everyone thinks back to that 2009 incident, the miracle on the Hudson where, because of a bird strike an airplane there had to make an emergency landing on the Hudson River.

Now in this most recent example, as you guys had said, coming out to me. We're talking about a Southwest Airlines flight that had taken off from Havana's International Airport and was making its way to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

[08:15:00]

SUAREZ: When according to the airline, the aircraft, the 737 hit a number of birds one of those birds hit the plane's engine the other hit the nose of that aircraft you're taking a look at a video, cellphone video from inside of the cabin showing all of that smoke after it appears that that one engine that was hit by that bird caught fire.

Now we're told that that airplane was able to make an emergency landing safely at Havana's International Airport, and that by the time that the aircraft a touchdown, there were a fire crews on scene ready to put out that fire. Now the passengers they were all able to get off that plane using those emergency suits were told everyone was OK.

No one was hurt and all of this. Now Max, according to a Cuban a state run media, they're the engine that was hit by that bird did suffer some sort of engine failure. However, Southwest Airlines has said it was still investigating the incident, Max.

FOSTER: In terms of the commonality of these things, is it an issue that the larger the flock and where they get to in the engine is the problem? I mean, how do we differentiate between, you know, a normal strike and one that actually causes damage? SUAREZ: Well, that is something that the Federal Aviation Administration here in the U.S. has spent a great deal of time and effort as well as money, trying to figure out exactly the kind of threat that these flocks of geese or birds pose to an aircraft. Since about 2009, the FAA has spent nearly $30 million in what they call.

Essentially mitigation plan efforts across U.S. airports to do a number of things from the installation of avian radar systems to reporting systems for pilots, as well as even using pyrotechnics as well as electronic noise generators, and even lights now, that's what's important to note here is those are some of the efforts that take place here in the U.S.

It's unclear what kind of systems the Cuban government may have had in place in Havana. But as you mentioned, the size of these birds are really determined the kind of damage that we normally see with these types of incidents.

FOSTER: OK, Carlos Suarez in Miami thank you. I still had the harsh winter in Afghanistan couple of poverty and politics that humanitarian crisis there. We'll have you some details on that when we come back.

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FOSTER: Millions of people in Afghanistan are in during a brutal and deadly winter extreme poverty and hunger have been made worse by some of the Taliban's policies as well in the international response. CNN's Anna Coren reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Fresh snow blankets the hilltops of Ghor province in central Afghanistan, creating the illusion of a winter wonderland.

[08:20:00]

COREN (voice over): But for those who live here there is no wonder let alone glimmer of hope. Simply staying alive is a daily struggle. For this family, their young son lost that battle. Now they huddled around his hillside grave, offering prayers to six-year-old Wahid who just days ago froze to death.

I miss my brother and that is why I came to visit him at the graveyard she says. He here moved his family to the township of Feroz Koh in Ghor looking for work as a laborer. But with an economic and humanitarian crisis, gripping Taliban controlled Afghanistan; he wasn't able to make ends meet.

I had nothing to burn to keep the house warm, he explains. I checked on the children during the night and their bodies were numb. I realized my son had died of frostbite. This is a photo of him last year he says and this is his dead body.

And unprecedentedly brutal winter has claimed countless Afghan lives this year, but so too has extreme poverty. This has been exacerbated by the repercussions of the Taliban government's dystopian gender policies and the response by the international community. Almost a year ago, the Taliban banned female secondary students from attending school that has morphed into a nationwide ban on all female education.

But it was the Taliban decision in December banning women from working for Non-Governmental Organizations that forced humanitarian aid groups to abruptly halt or suspend operations.

JAN EGELAND, SECRETARY GENERAL, NORWEGIAN RUFUGEE COUNCIL: There are 28 million Afghans in desperate need at the moment. 28 million and we're not even reaching a fraction of those.

COREN (voice over): The Norwegian Refugee Council says they normally help 700,000 Afghans each year, but their operation has been drastically pared back. Its Secretary General recently traveled to Kabul pleading with the Taliban to allow female aid workers to return to work.

EGELAND: It's at its worst hour. It's never been as bad as it is now.

COREN (voice over): 35-year-old Sephora wipes away her tears as she grieves for her husband who perished from the cold also in Ghor province, father and breadwinner for their eight children, the youngest, just two. Now she's wondering how to keep her family alive.

I have no education she says my children need food. What should I do? Three of her children are girls, including a 12-year-old - who knows all too well what happens to poor young Afghan girls who reached puberty?

I'm worried that if we don't have food, my brothers were forced to sell or marry me under pressure she says. I don't want to get married. I'm a kid. I don't want a husband. U.S. charity too young to Wed says it's been able to provide emergency aid for the family and many others. But Founder Stephanie Sinclair says the avalanche of need is overwhelming and they're unable to help everyone.

STEPHANIE SINCLAIR, FOUNDER OF TOO YOUNG TO WED: To me it's unconscionable that the international community is not paying more attention to what's happening to women and girls in Afghanistan. It is simply just inexcusable that we're not doing everything in our power to try to change the course of what's happening there. We have to do better

COREN (voice over): And with the U.N. predicting two thirds of the population will require humanitarian aid this year. Afghan children like - can only hope the world is listening. Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Comedian Chris Rock made a little bit of history this weekend he performed live on Netflix the first time the stream has ever broadcast a program live all over the globe. He also made several jokes about the instance at last year's Oscars where rock was slapped in the face but Actor Will Smith after insulting Smith's wife. CNN's Stephanie Elam has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS ROCK, COMEDIAN & ACTOR: I will try to do a show tonight without offending anybody, OK. I'm trying my best you never know who might get triggered.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Chris Rock on stage and hitting back and Will Smith nearly a year after the infamous Oscar slaps.

ROCK: People say they always say words hurt. That's what they say got to watch it to say because words hurt. You know anybody that says words hurt has never been punched in the face. Will Smith practices selective outrage.

ELAM (voice over): Rock suggesting Smith's response to his Oscars joke about wife Jada Pinkett Smith's hairstyle was more about their relationship than him.

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ROCK: His wife was - her son's friend. She heard him way more to hear me.

ELAM (voice over): Rock covered a wide range of topics, including addiction, abortion and racism, but left some of his sharpest lines for Smith.

ROCK: You all know what happened to me getting smacked by Suge Smith. I love Will Smith my whole life I loved it my whole life I root for this --. OK, and now I watch emancipation just to see him get what.

ELAM (voice over): We're referring to Smith role as an enslaved man in the period drama emancipation. Smith, who has apologized publicly, has said he worries this lab could impact emancipation success.

WILL SMITH, ACTOR: My behavior was unacceptable.

ELAM (voice over): Rock not holding back ends the special with this final blow.

ROCK: How come you do not bet I got parents? You know what my parents taught me don't fight in front of white people.

ELAM (voice over): Stephanie Elam, CNN, Hollywood.

FOSTER: Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been invited to the coronation of King Charles in May. But a spokesperson for Prince Harry refused to confirm whether the couple will actually attend Charles and his wife Camilla will be crowned on May the 6th amid days of celebration and fanfare.

Prince Harry's been on tour promoting his new book but has remained silent about whether his family will attend the coronation. The famous Toblerone chocolate bar is getting a makeover the image of the Swiss Matterhorn mountain peak will no longer appear on the Toblerone packaging.

That's because the company has moved some of its manufacturing out of Switzerland and is no longer allowed to use certain Swiss imagery in its marketing. Also the chocolate bars will now say established in Switzerland rather than of Switzerland. Thanks for joining me here on CNN "Newsroom", I'm Max Foster in London. "World Sport" with Amanda up next!

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