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Ukraine Vows To Defend Bakhmut As Russia Tries To Encircle It; Wagner Fighters Mount Group's Flag On Bakhmut Monument; Evacuation Efforts Ongoing For Civilians Still In Bakhmut; Yemen Receives First Cargo Ship in Years Amid Push for Peace. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired March 07, 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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LAILA HARRAK, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello to our viewers joining us all around the world. I'm Laila Harrak, and this is "CNN Newsroom". Ahead this hour, running for their lives, we will take you inside an evacuation from the city at the center of Russia's war on Ukraine. Lost in translation, four Americans in Mexico assaulted and kidnapped at gunpoint, and one official says the whole thing is a giant misunderstanding. And, why researchers say a popular low carb diet could double your risk of heart failure?
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with Laila Harrak.
HARRAK: We begin this hour in Ukraine where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is ordering the reinforcement of positions in the battered city of Bakhmut. Well, this as Russian forces press on with their efforts to encircle it. Ukraine is vowing to continue defending the city on the eastern front lines, with Mr. Zelenskyy saying no part of Ukraine can be abandoned. Well, the fierce battle for Bakhmut raging for months, has now turned into urban combat with Ukrainian troops fighting on the streets. Russian forces have been making gradual gains. New video shows fighters with a Wagner mercenary group taking down a Ukrainian flag and planting their own flag on top of a tank monument in the eastern part of Bakhmut.
Still, a Ukrainian presidential adviser says the defense of the city has achieved its goals, and is seen as a great strategic success for Ukrainian forces, a sentiment shared by one military spokesman.
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MYKYTA SHANDYBA, PRESS OFFICER, UKRAINIAN 10TH ASSAULT BRIGADE (TRANSLATED): The enemy has been trying to encircle the city. But, from what we can see, it fails. Ukraine holds the defense, our heroically defend the city, and we hope that we will keep defending it for longer.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRAK: Well, the fierce fighting in Bakhmut has complicated evacuation efforts, with few civilians making it out of the war zone each day. CNN's Alex Marquardt takes a look at one successful mission.
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Racing into the war zone, a white knuckle drive towards the middle of Bakhmut. This is the last successful emergency evacuation mission by the Bakhmut police. We need to go faster, an officer says. The Russians can clearly see us. This team, called the "White Angels, grabbed civilians who have been trapped, throwing belongings in the back, there is a cat, someone else with a guitar. The fighting raging nearby. The residents told to hurry up and get in and sit anywhere they can.
As they hold on tight, the rescue mission speeds away from the smoldering city. Ahead, there is smoke from a Russian strike. Getting dropped off safely, Leonid (ph) tells the officer that everything is blown up in Bakhmut, even inside his apartment. They've survived months of brutally intense assaults. Russia has made gains trying to encircle Bakhmut and surrounding it on three sides, as Ukraine desperately tries to fend them off.
Today, we met Bakhmut's Deputy Mayor at a city nearby, at a makeshift aid center for Bakhmut evacuees. He tells us, it's very hard to persuade the more than 4,000 civilians left there to leave. They say they have nowhere to go and have no money. It's very hard to survive there, he says. It's not life. It's survival. Drinking water is a big problem. Walking to the well is dangerous, he says. Shells landing on your head all the time. All he now feels, he tells us, is fear and sadness.
Everyone here knows how hard it will be for Ukraine to hold on to Bakhmut. Sveta's (ph) elderly mother with disabilities, didn't want to leave, but Sveta managed to convince her. I don't know if my house is still standing, she tells us, very painful thinking about those still in Bakhmut, her eyes well up. I just want them all to survive, she says. That's my only wish. Alex Marquardt, CNN, in eastern Ukraine.
HARRAK: The Iranian government says it's trying to figure out what has sickened more than 5,000 schoolchildren over the past few months, mostly girls, the head of a parliamentary committee calls them poisonings, and says investigators are looking into possible motives. But, Iran's interior ministry reports no sign of dangerous poison in any of the hospitalized students. One official claims more than 90 percent of the students' symptoms were caused by anxiety.
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Iran's Supreme leader says, if it's proven that the students were poisoned, the perpetrators should be severely punished.
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AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI, IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER (TRANSLATED): 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.
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HARRAK: Well, the U.S. State Department is calling for an international fact-finding mission to determine if these suspected poisonings are related to women and girls participating in protests.
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NED PRICE, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: These reports of continued poisoning of school girls across Iran, they are unconscionable. These poisonings need to be stopped immediately. Women and girls in Iran and women and girls everywhere for that matter have a universal human rights and as a universal right to education.
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HARRAK: Well, a group of U.S. Senators is demanding a UN investigation into secret Iranian torture centers exposed by CNN. Members of the Foreign Relations Committee tweeted, "The discovery of these secret jails is the latest example of the cruelty of the Iranian regime. The international community needs to hold Tehran accountable for torturing its own citizens." CNN revealed last month that Iran was using more than three dozen black sites to brutalize anti-government protesters, survivors and attorneys described electrocutions, beatings, broken limbs, and sexual violence.
And, the Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency says things are moving in the right direction with regard to Iran's nuclear program. Rafael Grossi met with Iranian leaders in Tehran over the weekend. His visit was prompted by the discovery that Iran was close to weapons grade enrichment at one of its nuclear sites. Grossi says it may have been an unintended peak, but there hasn't been any accumulation of enriched uranium.
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RAFAEL GROSSI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, INTL. ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY: We were in a sort of an impasse. So, now, what we decided is that we are going to be looking into other things and that we are going to try to clarify this. With the final outcome, some colleagues of yours will say, well, how do you know this? Well, of course, I don't know. The important thing is that we have picked up where we left it, and this is positive in the sense that I am going to be able to continue with this probe. And, until now, I have been stopped. So, of course, we hope for a clarification or a resolution.
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HARRAK: While the U.S. State Department welcomed Grossi's visit, it is calling on Iran to take prompt and concrete action toward commitments related to its nuclear program.
The FBI is seeking the public's help in finding four Americans who were assaulted and kidnapped in northeastern Mexico. They had traveled to the city of Matamoros on Friday, just across the border from Brownsville, Texas. The FBI says unidentified gunmen fired on the group traveling in a white minivan. They loaded them into a truck and took them away. Mexico's President discussed why the Americans were there.
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ANDRES LOPEZ OBRADOR, MEXICAN PRESIDENT (TRANSLATED): They are people from the United States who, according to the information we have, crossed the border to buy medicines in Mexico, and there was a confrontation between groups and they were detained.
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HARRAK: Well, more now on the kidnappings from CNN's Josh Campbell.
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Special agents from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation are working with authorities in Mexico to locate four Americans who were kidnapped after traveling Friday from Texas into Mexico. The FBI says that a group opened fire on these Americans, eventually taking the captive. Now, a U.S. official familiar with the investigation tells me this appears to be a case of mistaken identity that law enforcement believes that a group of cartel members mistook these Americans for Haitian drug smugglers.
As far as why the Americans were there, a source tells me that officials believe they were there to obtain some type of medical procedure. Of course, it's not uncommon for Americans and Canadians to travel to Mexico, for example, for lower cost prescription drugs, for lower priced medical procedures. That source told me that official found inside the vehicle receipts indicating that there was some type of medical procedure that was planned.
Now, I want to show you this video. I'll warn our viewers that this is graphic which you will - are about to see. A source says that this was the aftermath of that incident where you see gunmen taking a group of people, putting them in the back of this white truck.
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CNN cannot independently confirm that those individuals being loaded into the vehicle are indeed the Americans. But, again, a source says that this is believed to be related to that incident. As far as where this goes next, the Mexican government says that all agencies within the federal government as well as state authorities are working with their U.S. partners in order to try to locate these Americans. The FBI has announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to the location of these Americans, as well as the identification of their captors. Josh Campbell, CNN, Los Angeles.
HARRAK: Well, now to Beijing where the Chinese Foreign Minister is accusing the U.S. of trying to create an Asia-Pacific version of NATO to gang up on China, and he says that could lead to a Ukraine-style conflict in the region. His remarks came just before a big political event. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout is following this live from Hong Kong for you. Kristie, it is one of the China's biggest political events of the year, and China's Foreign Minister took to the stage. KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Laila, on the sidelines of the National People's Congress, we heard from China's relatively new Foreign Minister Qin Gang, and amid these deepening tensions between China and the U.S., he did not mince his words. He said that the entire balloon incident was completely avoidable. He also accused the United States of trying to plot and create an Asia-Pacific version of NATO that would risk a Ukraine-style crisis erupting in the Asia- Pacific region. And, he also issued this warning to the United States. Take a listen.
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QIN GANG, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER (TRANSLATED): If the United States does not hit the brake but continue to speed down the wrong path, no amount of guardrails can prevent derailing, and there will surely be conflict and confrontation.
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LU STOUT: Now, on the war in Ukraine, he said peace talks should begin as soon as possible. He added that China did not supply weapons to either side. And, in regards to Taiwan, he said do not underestimate China, and that this is a matter for the Chinese people, and that they are still working towards a peaceful reunification, and further underscoring this deepening rift between China, the U.S. and its allies.
Very interesting comments, Monday, from the Chinese leader Xi Jinping. He discussed this to a group of Chinese entrepreneurs at a business meeting. He directly accused the U.S. and its allies of trying to contain China. These are his comments, Xi Jinping saying this, "The U.S.-led western countries have implemented all round containment and envelopment, and suppression against us, which has brought unprecedented severe challenges to China's development." Very notable remarks here from Chinese President Xi Jinping.
This diplomatic rift between China and the United States is deepening over multiple issues. You have the war in Ukraine. You've had the fate and future of Taiwan, the balloon incident and on top of that, access to technology, like semiconductors and artificial intelligence. Just a couple of days ago, at the beginning of the National People's Congress, we heard from the outgoing Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who called on China to double down on self-reliance in the tech sector. Back to you.
HARRAK: Looking ahead, Kristie, what's next at the National People's Congress?
LU STOUT: Some pretty big stuff is going to be up ahead in this annual legislative rubber stamp meeting in China. In fact, we are expecting the biggest government shake-up in a decade. Outgoing Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, a number of other reform-minded policy makers, they are retiring. They're on their way out. So, that paves the way for more loyalists, those who are loyal to Xi Jinping, to pack the party elite. This also allows the Chinese president and leader Xi Jinping to further consolidate his power so much so he will, and he is expected to take the unprecedented third term as President of China. Laila.
HARRAK: Kristie Lu Stout reporting from Hong Kong. Thank you so very much, Kristie.
Well,--
LU STOUT: Thank you.
HARRAK: --meanwhile, the U.S. State Department says it's not aware of any confirmed plans for Taiwan's President to visit the United States. The Financial Times reported on Monday that Tsai Ing-wen will meet with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California rather than Taiwan. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan last August led to huge Chinese military drills around the island.
Turkey's opposition bloc has nominated a candidate to run against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the coming election. 75-year-old Kemal Kilicdaroglu is the leader of the Republican People's Party, and if he wins, it would signal the end of Erdogan's 20-year grip on power. Here is what he said shortly after the announcement.
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KEMAL KILICDAROGLU, OPPOSITION CANDIDATE (TRANSLATED): Our table is the table of peace and brotherhood.
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Our biggest goal is to carry Turkey to fruitful, peaceful and joyful days. With the permission of Allah, we will succeed together.
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HARRAK: CNN's Nada Bashir has more from Istanbul.
NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, after weeks of deliberation and even discord within the alliance, Turkey's opposition bloc has nominated Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of Turkey secular Republican People's Party, as its official candidate to rival incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the country's upcoming presidential elections. And, the decision comes after intense consultations in Ankara on Monday where there is six opposition parties, formerly known as the "Nation Alliance", with the party seemingly struggling to come to a unanimous agreement until the very last moment.
Now, while President Erdogan's ruling "AK Party" has in the past capitalized on the apparent disunity of the opposition alliance, this year's election could prove decisive, and high on the agenda for the opposition is, of course, criticism of the government's response to the devastating earthquake in February which killed more than 46,000 people in Turkey, and left hundreds of thousands homeless. Members of the opposition have been vocal in their criticism of the government's preparedness and response, while some have highlighted apparent failings in the country's construction standards.
From the outset, President Erdogan has been clear that his government is aiming to rebuild the affected areas within one year. But, experts have also launched criticism against the President's plan. Turkey's Union of Engineers and Architects warning that such plans are simply too hasty, with further geological investigations needed to ensure that the rebuild operation is actually safe. But, while the earthquake response may be the focal point of this year's electoral debate, there is also the question of Turkey's deepening economic crisis, which has already pushed much of the country into financial ruin. And, while Erdogan may be able to bank on presenting himself as a beacon of stability, growing discontent in the country may provide an opening for the opposition after more than two decades out of power. Nada Bashir, CNN, Istanbul.
HARRAK: Unions and opposition parties say they're hoping to bring France to a halt with new nationwide strikes set to begin several hours from now. Workers are furious over the government's pension reform plans which would raise the retirement age by two years to 64 for most people. This is said to be the sixth round of demonstrations this year. Huge disruptions to public transportation are expected, and in Paris, the main education union says around 120 schools will be closed.
Coming up, yet another devastating horror for Rohingya Muslims, thousands now homeless after a fire breaks out in a refugee camp in Bangladesh.
Plus, a bitter feud boiling over as the founder of a notorious Russian mercenary group takes aim at Moscow's top brass.
And, later, U.S. aviation safety in question after hits and near collisions at major airports, most recently, two planes in Boston clipped wings on the tarmac.
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HARRAK: Afghan women were barred from attending universities on Monday, as the new academic year began. Some of them protested their exclusion by reading their books on a sidewalk in Kabul. They were literally out in the cold. While male students resumed classes indoors, it follows a decision by the Taliban in late December to ban women from higher education. The move has received heavy international condemnation.
And, the UN Secretary General has tweeted he is heartbroken after a fire ripped through a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh. Some 12,000 people are now homeless. Many of them were already struggling to survive after fleeing their homes in Myanmar. CNN's Christina Macfarlane reports.
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A massive fire ripped through a refugee camp in Bangladesh, those residents flee, escaping, if lucky, with any belongings. Local firefighters and volunteers used what little they have to try and put it out. One mother says she couldn't save anything.
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KULSUMA KHATUN, ROHINGYA WOMAN (TRANSLATED): Chickens, houses and clothes, have been burned. I couldn't take anything out of the house. I just took shelter to save my children.
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MACFARLANE: Another man said he was saved by crossing barbed wire fences. After two hours, the fire is brought under control. Through the smoke, a man wipes his tears.
This is Cox's Bazar, home to around a million Rohingya Muslims, most of whom fled neighboring Myanmar during the brutal military crackdown, which the United Nations has called "genocide", a claim which Myanmar denies. It's one of the world's largest refugee camps where people live in overcrowded and squalid conditions. Now, some 12,000 people are left homeless, and crucial facilities like health centers and water facilities have been destroyed. Many were already struggling to survive after the UN slashed food aid from $12 to $10 per person this month due to a massive funding gap.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (TRANSLATED): Earlier, our rations were not enough. Now, they have been reduced further.
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MACFARLANE: To make matters worse, the area is exceptionally vulnerable to climate change.
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REGINA DE LA PORTILLA, COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, UNHCR BANGLADESH: They're living in an area that is very prone to natural disasters, exacerbated by the climate crisis. So, what we are seeing is a very dry season with way hot weather that can lead to fires.
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MACFARLANE: It was just two years ago that at least 15 refugees died and more than 10,000 families were displaced in another fire at the camp. Aid agencies say they're working to provide food and temporary shelter to those who lost their homes. As authorities evaluate the damage and continue to investigate the cause of the fire, the fire, yet, another blow to a community already so devastated. Christina Macfarlane, CNN.
HARRAK: For more, we're now joined by Tom Andrews. He is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Myanmar. Thank you, sir, so much for coming on the program. Thousands of Rohingya now homeless again. For the victims of this fire, life was already dire. What is the situation for them right now? TOM ANDREWS, U.N. SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON MYANMAR: Well, it's just unbelievable. For the 12,000 who - many of whom lost everything, they lost their shelters, life is getting even more desperate. But, even before this fire, life was increasingly difficult for them and their families, hunger, violence, just very, very difficult conditions, day in and day out in these camps. So, this fire, the loss for so many, 12,000, of even basic shelter has made life even more impossible.
HARRAK: A desperate situation that you depict there. Are aid organizations able to get resources to victims of this fire? Who is looking out for them?
ANDREWS: Well, there are many who are trying to get direct assistance to those who are facing the immediate shortfall in basic shelter. But, there are nearly a million people in these camps, and they were just informed just last week that they were going to be facing a significant cuts in food rations. So, those who already were facing a very hard time feeding their families because of the increased price of food, suddenly faced last week a 17 percent cut in food rations, and have now been told that unless member states of the United Nations can fill in this huge gap in this food rationing program, they're going to be facing an even greater cut next month.
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So, up to a one third cut in food rations for not just those who have lost their homes, but for nearly a million people throughout these camps.
HARRAK: I mean, these numbers are staggering, a million. I mean, that's a large Metropolis. Remind us of what drove the Rohingya to Bangladesh.
ANDREWS: They were driven by genocide. They were the victims of genocidal attacks in 2016 and 2017 by the Myanmar military. The very leaders who controlled and directed that genocide, then had a coup - committed a coup two years ago, and are now holding an entire nation a hostage. There are 600,000 Rohingya remaining in Myanmar right now, most in Rakhine state. 130,000 of them are literally in internment camps, and the situation for those in villages are desperate, including basic failure to have any of their fundamental rights, human rights respected, including the right to - for movement. Their villages are basically surrounded by military they can move nowhere. It's a horrific situation.
HARRAK: It is indeed a very horrific situation. Yet, the plight of the Rohingya, treated as undesirables in their home country of Myanmar, described as the most persecuted people in the world, yet, the international community continues to fail them so spectacularly. Why is there no attention for this crisis?
ANDREWS: That's a very, very good question, Laila, and I'm so happy that you're putting the light of public attention on this crisis. I think that's one of the biggest obstacles right here, is that they're basically ignored. Their very existence is denied by those in Myanmar for so long. And, right now, many around the world don't recognize their existence. And, as a result of this, basic investments, basic food, nutrition, the things that are keeping children functioning and alive in these camps, is dwindling because the international community is just cutting back in basic food support. 40 percent of Rohingya children right now in the camps of Bangladesh have stunted growth. 51 percent are in the anemic. 45 percent of all people in these camps have inadequate diets, and that was even before the cuts to the food programs.
So, it's just - it's an incredible situation. It's unconscionable that the world, member states of the United Nations that - they're quick to get up and give speeches in support of the Rohingya or have proclamations or resolutions in support of the Rohingya, but the Rohingya can't eat political rhetoric or resolutions. They need food and basic sustenance, and that, is in short, short supply for those desperate Rohingya people, both in Myanmar and now living in these camps in Bangladesh.
HARRAK: Tom Andrews, thank you so much for joining us.
ANDREWS: Laila, thank you.
HARRAK: Firefighters in Southern India are working to control toxic fumes from a waste plant there. It started last week on the outskirts of Kochi. The authorities say it's under control, but methane gas fumes have enveloped the area. Several firefighters have fainted or needed medical attention. Residents are being advised to stay indoors or wear N95 masks if they have to go outside.
The recent arrival of a container ship in Yemen is raising hopes in the country where a lasting peace deal remains far out of reach. But, right now, any sign of progress is being welcomed in what the UN has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
A commercial cargo ship docks in Yemen's Hodeidah port, the first time in several years a vessel carrying more than just humanitarian essentials has been allowed to unload there. It's the sign that fragile piece brokered by the UN last year between Houthi rebels and the Yemeni Government is still largely holding, though neither side renewed the agreement when it expired in October.
The Yemeni government says the move is meant to build trust and strengthen negotiations between the two sides who have been fighting a civil war since late 2014. Hodeidah and much of the Northwest including the capital Sanaa is controlled by the Houthis, who are backed by Iran. But, the government controls most of the rest of the country, and is supported by Saudi-led forces who enforce a naval blockade off Yemen's waters.
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Under a U.N. vetting program to ensure weapons don't enter the port, only ships containing food, fuel and cooking oil have previously been allowed.
The hope is the additional goods flowing into Yemen will help to ease the humanitarian and economic crisis gripping the country. The U.N. says two thirds of the population needs help and protection. And is appealing for nearly $4.5 billion of aid, despite some of the recent gains made.
ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: Civilian flights resumed from Sanaa. Vital supplies arrive through the port of Hudaydah. But the economy is in enormous difficulties, basic services risk collapse and humanitarian needs continue to soar while excess is constrained and funding perennially falls short.
HARRAK: It is a shortfall on so many levels. Food and fuel prices have surged, inflation is high. They're dual currency notes and exchange rates, all of which make it harder for Yemenis to buy anything at an affordable price.
These Yemenis cut trees to earn a little money.
ABDULSALAM DABWAN, YEMENI BAKER: Citizens are forced to cut down trees in order to provide a living for their children. Trees are cut down and sold to bakeries.
HARRAK: UNICEF estimates that more than 2 million children have dropped out of school. An increase of nearly half a million since the war began. Some for safety reasons. Others because they are needed to help make ends meet. Like this boy interviewed after school began last year.
MIDIAN ADNANA AOUDI, FORMER STUDENT: I feel sad because I dropped out of school. My friends go to school and I don't. I had to drop out to help my parents and support my family.
HARRAK: A desperate future for a country at a crossroad. A lasting peace could be the only hope for Yemen civilians weary of fighting their own battles just to survive.
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HARRAK: Still ahead, Ukraine digs in, vowing to keep defending the battered city of Bakhmut amid relentless Russian attacks. All this as new intelligence reveals the staggering human cost of Moscow's fight.
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HARRAK: Welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm Layla Harrak. And you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
More on our top story now this hour, the brutal fight for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut and the heavy toll it's taking on both sides.
A NATO official tells CNN the alliance estimates that for every Ukrainian soldier killed in Bakhmut, Russian forces have lost it least 5. Fighting around the city has raged now for months, inflicting staggering losses on the Ukrainian side as well.
Still, Kyiv has defended its decision to keep fighting, saying it buys more time to replenish their own troops and wear down Russian forces.
Meanwhile, the head of the mercenary group spearheading Russia's assault on Bakhmut, Yevgeny Prigozhin is waging a different sort of war on Moscow's top brass. The Wagner PMC founder is now openly feuding with Russian military leadership, and casting himself and his mercenaries as the key to Russia's fight.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more from Moscow.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Russian troops, allegedly advancing in close quarter combat. Moscow's defense ministry released this video of what it says are airborne units assaulting Ukrainian positions. And Russia's defense minister is keen to show he's taking the reins of what the Kremlin still calls its special military operation.
Sergei Shorgu (ph), choppering to the front lines, his ministry says, and handing out medals to soldiers there.
"Good luck, success and come home alive, his sparse words to the troops. But progress remains slow for the Russian army, except in Bakhmut where the defense ministers arch nemesis, Yevgeny Prigozhin of the Wagner Private Military Company is leading the charge.
Prigozhin advertising for new recruits.
YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN, WAGNER GROUP: Fellows, Bakhmut is behind me. Join the strongest private army in the world. Take the sight of justice.
PLEITGEN: Despite what the U.S. and Ukraine say is a massive attrition rate among Wagner mercenaries, Prigozhin claims he is the one handing Vladimir Putin victories and he warns Russia could lose the war if he doesn't get the ammo and the fighters he wants.
PRIGOZHIN: If Wagner Group retrieves from Bakhmut now, the whole front will collapse. Today, Wagner Group is the cement that holds it together. We're pulling in the whole Ukrainian army, grinding them up and destroying them, not letting them focus on other parts of the front lines.
PLEITGEN: And while progression was busy this week and trolling Ukrainian women by sending them champagne from a defunct winery near Bakhmut, he also made clear Wagner is here to stay whether the Russian defense ministry likes it or not.
PRIGOZHIN: After Wagner Group takes Bakhmut, we will continue to defend our country and the Wagner Group does not care what some other departments want.
PLEITGEN: While some believe the infighting could become a problem for Vladimir Putin, Andrei Kolesnikov of the Carnegie Endowment tells me, Russia's leader is fully in command of the situation.
ANDREI KOLESNIKOV, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT: I'm sure that he's controlled totally by Kremlin. It is a law (INAUDIBLE) to criticize official bodies, official governors, official leadership of ministry of defense. But Putin lacks this small fight of plans. He simply observes the situation.
PLEITGEN: And Yevgeny Prigozhin of Wagner says he does believe that the Ukrainian forces inside Bakhmut are going to hold out up and continue to offer stiff resistance.
Meanwhile, an adviser to Ukraine's presidency says he actually believes that the Ukrainians holding out in Bakhmut was a big success for Ukraine. He believes that it bought the Ukrainians time to replenish their own forces and train them for a possible counter offensive but that it also strategically weakened Russia's forces us well.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.
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HARRAK: Well, joining me now to discuss these latest developments, retired Australian Army Major General Mick Ryan. He is also an author and former commander at the Australian Defense College.
Sir, thank you so much for joining us.
Russian troops have been trying to capture Bakhmut now for months. In terms of cost-benefit analysis, what is Moscow's calculation in wanting to capture Bakhmut and what kind of leverage would that give Russia?
MAJ. GEN. MICK RYAN, AUSTRALIAN ARMY: Well, hi Laila. I mean there is very little strategic gain for Russia in this battle. There's some political prestige as we can see by now. But there is very little that they'll gain by capturing, essentially, a pile of rubble.
It's not a town that can support a military force and it really doesn't set a (INAUDIBLE) any major logistic --
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HARRAK: Now, for both the Ukrainians and the Russians, as you just pointed out, this is taking a symbolic importance and it seems to be outweighing its strategic significance.
What are the war aims here? I mean, is it who can fight the longest?
RYAN: Well, there is both political and military implements on both sides. And it appears in this case, the political imperatives are outweighing military imperatives.
The Ukrainians clearly feel there's more to gain by staying and fighting than withdrawing. At some point they're going to have to make a calculation about preserving that force and getting it out of there because they will have done all they can do. But they'll need that force for the offensives to come later.
HARRAK: Do the Ukrainians have what they need to hold off the Russians there?
RYAN: Well the Russians appear to be throwing everything out at them. And one of the reasons the Ukrainians may be saying is it's observing Russian forces that might be better used elsewhere where the Ukrainians intend to conduct offensives.
So this is probably a daily calculation but the chief of staff of the Ukraine armed forces is making with stuff and talking to the president. And that will change day to day, I think.
HARRAK: Do you think Bakhmut is going the way of Mariupol in terms of loss of life, the wanton destruction and the inevitable loss to Russia?
RYAN: Well, Mariupol is one model. It's one way this battle could go. Remember in 2022, the Ukrainians never gave it up forthright until the end.
In Severodonetsk in the east maybe a different model they stayed there almost to the last but managed to extract their force. Either way, the Ukrainians have exacted a very, very large toll on the Russians. And they might need some kind of operational pause at the end of this so operational pause at the end of this like they did after Severodonetsk.
HARRAK: What do you think we're going to see over the next couple of months? And you know we keep talking about an impending Russian spring offensive. But could it be already underway?
RYAN: Well I think the Russians spring offensive started probably back in January. It's been going slowly. It's a broad front approach, lots of pinprick attacks probably across five or six main locations where they hope to get some success.
They're not being very successful so far and at some point they'll culminate. There are things -- the Ukrainians have been absorbing the blow. And waiting for the right time to launch their own offensives which I expect we'll see in the coming months.
HARRAK: Mick Ryan, thank you so much for joining us.
RYAN: Thank you.
Coming up actor Matthew McConaughey and his wife were on a flight last week that dropped thousands of feet in seconds. It's just one of several scary moments in the air recently.
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HARRAK: Just a few hours ago, Japan's space agency aborted the launch of its new rocket moments after liftoff. Scientists sent a self- destruct signal to the H3 rocket when they determined there was no possibility of achieving the mission. State broadcaster, MHK (ph) , reports that the second engine had
failed to ignite. The rocket was supposed to carry a government satellite into orbit and take supplies to the International Space Station.
From two planes clipping wings on the tarmac to a cabin filling with smoke after a bird strike. These are just two incidents on a growing list of alarming aviation occurrences in recent weeks.
CNN's Tom Foreman looks into what's going on.
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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An engine bursting into flames, smoke filling the cabin and an emergency landing. It was all alarming passengers on this Southwest flight from Cuba to Florida which the airlines says had to turn back after hitting birds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just feel the explosion, a lot of smoke.
JANET ABBOTT, PASSENGER: People were screaming. Not knowing what to do. Kept trying to breathing and filling up with more smoke, it's very acidy.
FOREMAN: In Boston, a trifecta of trouble -- federal authorities say a man attempted to open an exit door on a United jet coming from Los Angeles and allegedly tried to stab a flight attendant with a broken spoon before being tackled by other passengers.
On the ground two departing passenger planes collided as one of them was pushed back from its gate and all of that is just a week after a near collision there between two other jets. One a private Lear jet taking off, the other a commercial jet landing.
Aviation analysts say airports are struggling with this rash of hits and near collisions.
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: They developed a lot of equipment, runway alerting systems. And they have a lot of advisory programs. But despite all of the efforts, runway incursions are increasing.
The statistics are headed the wrong way and it's the most dangerous thing in aviation today.
FOREMAN: And still, more trouble. Last week a Lufthansa plane carrying among others actor Matthew McConaughey and his wife Camilla, ran into severe turbulence. She posted, "I was told the plane dropped almost 4,000 feet. Seven people went to the hospital.
A different passenger told Erin for "OUT FRONT" --
JAZZ KANTIPUDI, PASSENGER: Suddenly, they're just like this big drop. And, everything just flew everywhere. And it was a huge mess. And I saw the attendant on my right basically hit the ceiling and was completely horizontal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- medical emergency, landing runway 6.
FOREMAN: And in yet another case of violent turbulence, a private jet over New England was hit so hard, one of the three passengers, a woman from Maryland died.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the information I have about the emergency is possible laceration requesting medical assistance on the runway.
FOREMAN: The National Transportation Safety Board says moments before the turbulence, that plane also experienced a problem with it trim control.
JENNIFER HOMENTY, CHAIRMAN, NTSB: They were in the process of diagnosing that when they received a momentary in-flight upset.
And, so this is something we are investigating.
FOREMAN: Some of these incidents may just be coincidences, some may point to deeper problems. But they all underscore how the airline industry is still stumbling along a bit, as it tries to bounce back from some trying years.
Tom Foreman, CNN -- Washington.
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HARRAK: Well the National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating a February 16th incident at a Florida airport. The agency says, an American Airline flight was forced to abort an initial landing because an Air Canada flight was taking off from the same runway.
Still ahead, a new study shows a popular diet may be good for your waist line but bad for your heart. We'll have the details when CNN NEWSROOM continues.
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HARRAK: Those trendy keto-like diets may be good for your waist line but not so good for your heart. That's according to a new study.
CNN's senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen reports.
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ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Keto diets have been all the rage for years. And researchers in Canada decided to put it to the test. They wanted to know if eating such high levels of fat could affect your heart.
Here's what they found. Those on Keto or Keto-like diets, nearly 10 percent of them had a cardiac events such as blocked arteries or heart attacks or strokes. And only 4.3 percent of folks who are on a standard diet have those events. Now for both they were very small numbers but, as you can see, one group is larger than the other.
Now, the authors point out that some people went on the Keto -- where the Keto diet and didn't have heart problems. They say people respond to this diet differently. Back to you.
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HARRAK: Dr. Iulia Iatan of the Healthy Heart Program Prevention Clinic is the lead author of the study. She joins me now from New Orleans. So good to have you with us Doctor.
First of all, this tell us why did you decide to study the effects of this controversial diet?
DR. IULIA IATAN, HEALTHY HEART PREVENTION CLINIC: Yes, nice to meet you Laila. So, we decided to study this diet here at the Healthy Heart Prevention Clinic at the University of British Columbia with the lead author Liam Bruna (ph) lead author Liham Brunam (ph) because we would see our patient in our cardiovascular prevention clinic, patients who would come with very, very high levels of cholesterol -- asked if following this diet.
So this diet in low carbohydrates and high fats -- so we receive these very high cholesterol levels in the patient so we decided to investigate and see is there's relationship with heart disease, actually, a risk of heart disease.
HARRAK: Ok. Well talk to us through some of your findings.
IATAN: Yes, so what we did in our study specifically we looked at what we call a low carbon high fat diet meaning that we look at patients who restricted their carbohydrate intake to less than 25 percent of the total daily calories that they would eat.
And then, also, they would have more than 45 percent of their total daily calories made of fat. So less than 25 percent of costs I'm only at .5 percent of fat which is actually quite different than the genocide. (INAUDIBLE) is less than 10 percent of carbohydrates.
And so what we think is that we took these value bank. But it's a large database of patients from the U.K. for British patients. And we look for patience more than 45 percent of fat who have completed a survey in the last 24 hour where they would report following this low carb, high fat. Their diet And we compare. We're patient on a normal standard diet.
And what's interesting? GSG we found that compared to sort of patients n the normal standard diet. Those that we're when having their than (INAUDIBLE). the commercial numbers were actually. There was association with a high level of cholesterol. And they also had twice more events -- cardiac events and 2 times higher risk of cardiac events, such as heart attacks, or even strokes or blockages in their arteries.
So, really, in a nutshell, our study will show that the low carb high fat diet can actually be associated with a high level of cholesterol and high risk of heart disease.
HARRAK: This extraordinary, I think, you know, because especially thinking about the popularity of these types of diets. I mean some people really swear by them. And feel that it's really helping them in for instance, managing their weight.
It's very rigid, it is very restrictive. But from what I gather from what you're telling us right now, what you found, would you tell people to abandon these types of diets?
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IATAN: No. I wouldn't tell people to necessarily abandon them, I would just say to really make sure what kind of diet you are following. Because Keto (INAUDIBLE) really restrict diet, carbohydrates to less than 10 percent, low carb high fat diet can be less than 25 percent. It really depends when to restrict the carbohydrates with how you replace the other nutrients.
If you replace it with fat or what we recommend is plant based alternatives. So that would be very helpful, and very healthy, such as the Mediterranean diet. You know, if the participants want to go, or the individuals want to go to the low carb high fat diet, they can do so but it would be best to have their cholesterol levels monitored with the health care professional. And really just follow closely.
Also, it's important to mention that each individual responds differently to each type of diet. So you know, some patients, depending on how long you're on the diet, if you lose weight or not, if you have a genetic cholesterol, high cholesterol, it really depends on each patient.
HARRAK: Absolutely. Dr. Iulia Iatan of the Healthy Heart Program Prevention Clinic. Thank you so much for joining us. Greatly appreciate it.
IATAN: Thank you. It was my pleasure.
HARRAK: Barbie is celebrating International Women's Day this Wednesday by releasing a series of dolls honoring pioneers in science, technology, engineering and math. Also known as STEM.
One of those pioneers is Dr. Maggie Aderin Pocock: A British space scientists and educator. She hosted the UK TV show, "The Sky At Night".
She worked with the James Webb telescope and says she loves smashing stereotypes.
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MAGGIE ADERIN POCOCK: When I was growing up, the barbies didn't look anything like me. So, to have one that is actually me was just so exciting.
My daughter and I were dancing rather because just the fought of. One of my missions in life, was to try and encourage girls into STEM, science, technology, engineering and math. I want to do this because these subjects are just too important to be left to the guys.
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HARRAK: Our barbie dolls counterpart wears a dress resembling the night sky, comes with their own telescope and has purple streaks in her hair.
Toymaker Mattel said that these one-of-a-kind dolls are not for sale. And they will be gifted to the women who inspired them.
That wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Laila Harrak.
Rosemary Church picks up our coverage after a quick break. Do stay with us.
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