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Doctor Describes 'Overwhelming Experience' in Gaza; Families of Israeli Hostages File ICC Case Against Hamas; Exports of Crude Oil to India Help Russia Fund War; Shanghai Market Reopens, Record Tourism Spending Reported; Explorer Follows Original Path of Human Migration; Oppenheimer is Big Winner at BAFTAS. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired February 19, 2024 - 00:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.

[00:00:35]

Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, Israel warns it will expand military operations in Rafah if its hostages are not returned by the start of Ramadan in about three weeks.

Supporters of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny are calling on the government to immediately release his body.

And one man walking around the world, retracing historic paths of human migration. We'll catch up with Paul Salopek, ten years into his incredible journey.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Michael Holmes.

HOLMES: And we begin with a warning out of Israel where war cabinet minister Benny Gantz says Israeli forces will expand military operations in the Southern Gaza City of Rafah if Hamas does not return the remaining hostages by Ramadan. The holy Muslim month is expected to fall on the second week of March.

His words coming after Israel's prime minister said the release of hostages can be achieved through tough negotiations and, quote, "strong military action."

Meanwhile, video obtained by CNN shows some of that action, people digging through rubble in central Gaza, where a spokesperson for al- Aqsa Martyrs Hospital says at least 18 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Sunday.

Palestinian health officials say many of those killed and wounded were children. CNN cannot independently verify the number of casualties.

To the South near Khan Yunis, the WHO in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry say Israeli forces have put the NASA medical complex, quote, "completely out of service."

A ministry spokesperson says only about two dozen medical staff remained but aren't able to handle critical cases. CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment.

Joining me now is Dr. Irfan Galaria, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon who was a volunteer position in Gaza and saw Israel's bombardment there firsthand.

Doctor, you wrote an incredibly powerful piece in "The Los Angeles Times" about your experience. I just want to read a line from it. You said, "What I witnessed during ten days in Gaza was not war. It was annihilation."

What -- what struck you most about conditions there?

DR. IRFAN GALARIA, PLASTIC AND RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGEON: Thank you, Michael. Thank you for having me on your show.

You know, what I still find very hard to comprehend was just how quickly my reality changed once they crossed into the Rafah border. You know, as soon as the gate shut behind me and I'd officially entered Gaza, I could feel immediately like I was trapped in a nightmare.

The sounds, the smells were overwhelming. I heard drones that were buzzing, and the smells of, if you can imagine, one million people living in close proximity with poor sanitation, was just overwhelming and awful.

And there were tents everywhere, everywhere you looked. Wherever there was space on this site and sidewalks, you know, roundabouts and intersections in the middle of intersections and open fields. It was really an overwhelming, you know, experience to take that all in at once.

HOLMES: And you've worked in other war zones. When it comes to the medical side of it, were the conditions you saw in the hospitals, the surgeries you found yourself having to do the worst you've seen?

GALARIA: Absolutely. You know, I was mentally prepared for what I was going to see, especially because of my past experiences.

But what I saw there was really shocking, really due to a confluence of issues that made it very complicated.

One was just simply the complexity of the injuries. The majority of them were blast injuries, which caused significant damages to significant injuries. Second, is that the hospital systems, the physicians, they were just drowning in the sheer volume of the number of cases that they have at to deal with.

And the capacity of the healthcare system to take care of them was incredibly flimsy. The healthcare infrastructure was just collapsing, so it made it very difficult to address all these challenges.

HOLMES: Is there a case, a moment and individual, someone with a name who -- who sticks with you, won't leave you?

[00:05:06]

GALARIA: Yes. You know, I'd like to actually take this opportunity to share the story of hope. There was a physician, Dr. Amin (ph). He was a plastic surgeon who I worked very closely with, and he was the only plastic surgeon in the European Gaza hospital. He personally was responsible for carrying for over 300 of the almost 1,000 of patients that were in the hospital.

He also happened to be the last physician to leave the al-Shifa Hospital. He refused to abandon his patients. So he was very inspirational to me and to the other people of Gaza.

And what makes his story especially inspirational is that he had, he had, and he still has the ability to leave Gaza, because he has dual citizenship, but he chooses to stay to help his people.

HOLMES: When you when you think about it, nearly 30,000 dead, most of them women and children, tens of thousands more wounded. You treated some of them. Most of the population displaced with no homes to return to.

Do you feel that, since you've been there, do you feel that Gazans have just become numbers in the minds of those outside the Strips [SIC] -- of the Strip, not individual, you know, mothers, fathers, kids, and so on.

GALARIA: Yes, I do think so. I think just sometimes when the numbers become that large, it becomes hard to fathom. And to be frank, I feel here, especially in America, that there seems to be efforts to suppress some of their stories and some of their experiences.

You know, these people are fathers, their mothers, their brothers, their sisters, their sons and daughters.

And they were people just like anyone else. The kids there had the same hopes and dreams that our kids have here. And the mothers there love their children just as much as the mothers here love their children.

And that's one thing I hope that your viewers can appreciate, is that -- and recognize that these are just human beings. These are individuals that deserve dignity and respect, just like anyone else.

HOLMES: Very, very well put. Dr. Irfan Galaria. Thank you so much for your time and for the work that you do.

GALARIA: No problem. Thank you so much. I appreciate this.

HOLMES: The Israeli government has now formalized its opposition to, quote, "international dictates regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians," unquote.

That came in a unanimous cabinet vote on Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reading the formal statement. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): Here's the statement. Israel outright rejects international dictates regarding the permanent accord with the Palestinians. Such an accord will be reached only through direct negotiations between the parties without preconditions. Israel will continue to oppose the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: In the coming hours, the International Court of Justice will hold hearings on the legal consequences of Israel's policies and practices in the Palestinian territories.

While it comes as war rages in Gaza, the case arrives more than a year after the U.N. General Assembly voted to ask the court for a non- binding opinion on the long-running dispute.

It also comes just days after the families of hostages held by Hamas traveled to the Hague to file a legal complaint against the militant group.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond traveled with them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(CHANTS)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cries of Israeli hostage families rise over yet another city. This time, it's the Hague, the Dutch city synonymous with international justice, where they've come to demand Hamas's leaders be charged with war crimes.

DIAMOND: After 131 days of their loved ones being held captive, the hostage families have resorted to this, coming in front of the International Criminal Court to demand justice, but they know this isn't the final stop in their pursuit of justice.

OFIR BIBAS LEVY, SISTER OF HOSTAGE YARDEN BIBAS: It's another -- another step in our fight to bring the families back home. And another step in our fight against Hamas.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Today, that step begins at Israel's international airport, where about 100 hostage family members arrived for yet another early morning flight to yet another country. Another day fighting for their loved ones' release.

They arrive carrying signs and wearing shirts and hoodies bearing the faces of brothers and uncles, daughters, and sisters, all captives in Gaza.

SHANI YERUSHAIMI, SISTER OF HOSTAGE EDEN YERUSHAIMI: So was calling (ph) to me, "They caught me."

DIAMOND (voice-over): Those were Eden Yerushaimi's last words to her sister, Shani, before the phone line went dead on October 7. Since then, Shani has been fighting for her sister.

YERUSHAIMI: So we are optimistic, but you know, it's been more than four months when we worried about them. We all fear that the world will forget about them.

DIAMOND (voice-over): But aboard this flight at least they know they are not fighting alone.

YERUSHAIMI: It's not to say about I'm happy. I'm glad that we are not alone in this, that Eden is not the only kidnapped.

ODED MOSES, SON OF HOSTAGE GADI MOSES: The shared (ph) concerns gather us together. And we meet a lot. And we talk a lot, but no amount of camaraderie can assuage a mother's pain.

HAGIT CHEN, MOTHER OF HOSTAGE ITAY CHEN: A hundred and seventy-one days and nights. You know, we cannot breathe. We cannot breathe anymore.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Nor dim the dreams of being reunited with her son, Itay, a 20-year-old Israeli soldier who is also a U.S. citizen.

CHEN: I dream about Itay a lot. In my dreams, you know, he's in the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) van, waving to me, smiling because always he has a big smile on his face. And then you're saying, I'm OK. Why are you worried so much? I'm OK.

DIAMOND (voice-over): But during the trip, it becomes clear that the negotiations that could free the hostages are at an impasse. Frustrations with the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu growing.

CHEN: Till Itay is home, it's not enough. Obviously, they're not doing enough if Itay is not home after so many days.

MOSES: The negotiations is like a net of lies. OK, that's what the negotiations are like. Everybody are lying or laying part of the negotiations.

No one really can know what happened. But it's not a top priority, as I see it.

DIAMOND (voice-over): In the meantime, the weight is agonizing.

LEVY: I'm trying to be optimistic, but the longer the days go, it's getting harder and harder.

DIAMOND (voice-over): The Bibas family still holding out hope that Shiri and her two red-headed boys are alive, despite Hamas claiming they were killed in an Israeli airstrike.

LEVY: And for Shiri and the boys, we -- we act as if Hamas had never happened. We believe and we -- we have faith that they are still alive, and we are still demanding them back.

DIAMOND (voice-over): For the hostage families. There is power in those demands, and raising their voices together.

CHEN: We have more hope that things will change. We hope to change things for us, for Itay.

DIAMOND: You feel the --

CHEN: The crowd were -- the energy, the vibes.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the Hague, Netherlands.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Russia is inviting Hamas and all Palestinian groups to meet in Moscow next week. The Palestinian Authority prime minister made that announcement Sunday at the Munich Security Conference.

This coming as the Palestinian Authority seeks unity with Hamas, but only if there is an understanding over key issues like resistance.

Supporters of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny are calling on the government to immediately release his body. A Russian human rights group says nearly 30,000 people have signed a petition calling on authorities to hand over his body to his family without state inspection.

Authorities say Navalny died Friday in a Russian prison after losing consciousness. The exact location of his body remains unclear.

And as the world mourns his death, Navalny's wife, Yulia, shared this heart-wrenching photo of them together with the caption, "I love you."

She'll be attending a meeting of the European Union's Foreign Council in the coming hours. The E.U.'s top diplomat says ministers will send a strong message of support to, quote, "freedom fighters in Russia and honor the memory of Alexei Navalny," unquote.

Officials inside Russia are keeping a tight rein on public displays of mourning for the opposition leader. But as CNN's Matthew Chance now reports, many courageous Russians are defying the crackdown.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's been thousands of people across Russia that have been turning out to pay their respects --

CHANCE (voice-over): -- to Alexei Navalny, that prominent opposition leader, who was pronounced dead on Friday at a penal colony in Russia's far North.

Thousands of people, despite the fact, remember that it's essentially against the law in this country to protest or to show dissent in this way. And that's reflected in the amount of people that were detained by the authorities. Hundreds of people, as many as 400, according to one rights monitoring group, detained just for simply sort of laying flowers or carrying flowers or sort of offering sympathy for this late prominent opposition leader. And that gives you a real indication of just how intolerant the

Russian state has become to any kind of dissent whatsoever. There have been these sort of quite violent arrests.

[00:15:03]

You can see some of the images there of police dragging people through the snow away from these makeshift memorials that have been set up across towns and villages, across Russia.

There's also demands now, increasingly, to know where Alexei Navalny's body is, because it's not clear. Alexei Navalny's mother, Ludmilla, has traveled to the far North penal colony or a town close by to it, where she was hoping to recover the body of her son so the family could bury him.

But the morgue was closed. She was told the body wasn't there. And only subsequently have the Russian authorities said, look, we're not going to give the body back to the family until we've done a postmortem. And that's prompted, obviously, is a lot of suspicion about the motives for that.

Alexei Navalny's supporters saying, look, I mean, this is about the Kremlin hiding the body and hiding the real reason, the real cause that he suddenly dropped dead late last week.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Matthew Chance there.

People around the world expressing their outrage over the activist's unexplained death. Feminist Russian opposition group Pussy Riot held a protest outside the Russian embassy in Berlin on Sunday.

Wearing pink head gear and carrying banners, they chanted slogans against President Vladimir Putin, calling him a killer.

The scenes were similar in the center of Berlin, where hundreds of demonstrators paid tribute to Navalny and blamed the Russian president for his death there, too.

And in London, a temporary shrine outside the Russian embassy has been growing by the hour. Supporters have left hundreds of bouquets and condolence messages for Navalny and his family.

When we come back, we'll have an in-depth report on the crude oil sales helping Russia keep its war effort in Ukraine afloat. When we come back.

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HOLMES: The U.S. says it struck an unmanned underwater vessel deployed by Houthi rebels for the first time during a series of strikes on Saturday in the Red Sea.

Three anti-ship cruise missiles and an unmanned surface -- unmanned surface craft were also hit after U.S. officials determined they were an imminent threat.

It's the first time the Houthis have used an underwater vessel in their attacks on commercial shipping. They've been targeting international shipping lanes since Israel invaded Gaza following the October 7th Hamas attacks.

And now to the war we're following in Ukraine. The Russian flag now flying over several parts of Avdiivka, the small town in Eastern Ukraine where intense battles raged for months.

Those flags raised just hours after Ukrainian forces withdrew. Kyiv says it withdrew its soldiers from the town to save troops from being fully surrounded.

[00:20:03]

Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to U.S. President Joe Biden and says he discussed the support needed for his country's troops in order to succeed on the battlefield.

Ukraine's army is waiting anxiously for critical weaponry and other aid from the U.S. as it faces pressure along several points in the Eastern front lines.

And while Ukraine is running out of money and armor to fight its -- fight back against aggression, Russia has never had so much money. And it's in large part due to crude oil shipments making their way to India.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh with more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Blue, tranquil, a world away from Ukraine's frontlines.

We headed out to where Russia may be filling its war chest to a record high. Crude oil tankers sometimes engaged in opaque, secretive transfers. These two under sanctions, busting suspicions in the past.

The big one from Russia's Black Sea coast, transferring crude to the smaller one, which also came from Russia.

WALSH: Yes, hey, you get a feeling of how hard it is to keep track of all of this. Just transfers occurring out here in the blue expanse. Massive trade billions of dollars of oil, some of which ends up helping the Kremlin fund its war.

WALSH (voice-over): Tens of millions of billions of barrels of crude likely transferred like this last year. And where it ends up often unclear, which is the point.

AMI DANIEL, CEO, WINDWARD: That's probably above 60 million barrels that are being transferred in the middle of the ocean, purposefully. So you really needed to have a reason, because it's much easier not to do that. WALSH (voice-over): These two have a messy past, said the shipping monitor that led us to them.

DAVID TANNENBAUM, POLE STAR GLOBAL: The larger tanker that you guys saw is actually owned by a large company that bought a lot of these tankers when Russian sanctions came out, right? And so they've been heavily associated with what we call the dark fleet, which is these tankers that are servicing Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and other sort of sanctions concerns.

So the smaller one actually has an interesting history itself. It was once owned by a sanctioned person.

WALSH (voice-over): Russia is richer than ever before. Last year's budget was $320 billion, about a third of which spent on its invasion of Ukraine.

Sanctions were meant to dent oil paying for war. But instead, India has stepped in and is now buying 13 times more Russian crude oil than before the war, worth $37 billion last year, says one estimate, exclusively given to CNN.

India buying Russian crude isn't sanctioned but is buying so much, Russia might need to dodge some sanctions to ship it all. We asked an artificial intelligence firm, Winwood, to analyze all global shipping last year for direct shipments between Russia and India. And they found a huge 588.

A separate analysis by Pole Star Global for CNN revealed over 200 other ships that left Russia last year and did a ship-to-ship transfer off the Greek coast to another boat that then went on to India.

TANNENBAUM: Ship-to-ship transfers are done legally, but they're also used as an illicit tactic to evade sanctions, to sort of try and confuse the authorities as to where this oil is coming from and who's buying it at the end of the day.

WALSH (voice-over): India says these shipments fuel its economy without raising global prices by competing with the West for Middle Eastern oil.

But there's a complication for the West here, as India refines the oil and sells those products on.

The biggest buyer of products from Russian crude last year, according to exclusive new data obtained by CNN, the United States, over $1 billion worth from India. Way more, if you add to what U.S. allies, also imposing sanctions on Russia, also import.

ISAAC LEVI, CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON ENERGY AND CLEAN AIR: So we've seen an increase in 2023 of 44 percent of oil products that are being made from Russian crude oil flowing into those countries that impose sanctions on Russia, such as the U.S., the U.K., and E.U.

WALSH (voice-over): But Russia's even on the make from the refining. This Indian port and refinery, Vadinar, sent an estimated $50 million of refined products to the U.S. last year. And guess who owns nearly half of it? Rosneft, the Russian state oil giant, enriching the Kremlin.

Putin earning money on the crude, probably the shipping, but also the refining and the resale.

DANIEL: Really, you're talking about something which is amazingly lucrative, and therefore, the temptation to do that as a person or as a company is absolutely huge for the traders.

[00:25:06]

And they could just make 10, 20, 30, 40 million within four or five months. I'm not sure there's any other opportunity in the world to do that. And if there is, please let me know what.

WALSH (voice-over): An opaque chain of billions risking Moscow, having unlimited funds for its wars.

Nick Paton, Walsh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Up next on the program, China boasts record-high travel revenue, and the Shanghai stock market resumes trading after the lunar new year holiday. We'll go live to Beijing with the details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange is back in business following a ten-day break for the lunar new year holiday. Despite reopening to modest gains, new government figures boast record domestic tourism revenues, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

Let's get right to CNN's Marc Stewart, who's with us in Beijing.

Mark, good to see you. Yes. Holiday travel seems to have been boosting the Chinese economy, but other numbers, what do they really say?

MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Michael. Good to see you, as well.

Look, on the surface, these numbers do appear to be strong. Travel is up, spending up by nearly 50 percent according to these government figures.

But there's also some need for caution. This holiday, this lunar new year holiday, was eight days. Typically, it's only seven days. And we've been looking at the data. We've been crunching the numbers. And it truly reveals that spending was actually well below, still below pre-pandemic levels.

Now, this doesn't mean that people weren't spending money over the lunar new year holiday. In fact, a lot of people actually went to see movies.

But there are some key differences in some very crucial areas. For example, the price of pork, which is a big staple of the Chinese consumer and a reflection of how the consumer is thinking, pork prices were still week.

And the property sector, which has been struggling, continued on this downward spiral over this holiday period.

You know, the numbers may say one thing, but the one thing they cannot tell: exactly what the Chinese consumer is thinking. And there is still a lot of hesitation, still a lot of trepidation.

So Michael, the state of the Chinese economy, the world's second largest economy, it's still very much lackluster despite this government, this data that's being pushed by the Chinese government.

HOLMES: All right, let's touch down on the markets. China's stock market, we're seeing some big losses before the holiday. What's going on now?

[00:30:08]

STEWART: Well, the markets have been seeing a bit of a boost. One reason may be because of this data. Traders do like what they are seeing. They want some kind of positive data, even though there's a skeptical eye to all of this.

So that is perhaps giving the markets an upward boost today. But it may just be short-lived, because as we have talked about before, there's still a lot of things that are giving investors pause into the Chinese economy, including the housing sector, the property sector.

I heard from one analyst today who would like to see some measures from China to try to stabilize the housing sector, perhaps invest in infrastructure.

So let's not take this one day, these gains that we see one day is perhaps a sign of the future. There's still a lot of skepticism, Michael.

HOLMES: All right. Appreciate the update there, Marc. Thanks for that. Marc Stewart there in Beijing for us.

Quick break here on the program. When we come back, one man taking a trip around the world, mostly on foot. We're going to speak to the explorer about the extraordinary sights he's seen along the way. We'll be right back with that.

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[00:33:24]

HOLMES: Now, for the past nine years, writer and "National Geographic" explorer Paul Salopek has been taking a walk around the world, a really long walk. His extraordinary journey following the pathways about ancestors, the

first humans who migrated out of Africa during the Stone Age. He started in Ethiopia, and he'll finish at the tip of South America.

Get this: So far, he's gone 23,000 kilometers. He's got another 12,000 to go, and on his historically inspired trip. Salopek is observing the state of the world right now, walking with farmers, historians, teachers, naturalists, and cultural guides.

We spoke to him last year, and I'm delighted to say he's joining us now, Paul Salopek.

Great to see you. You're -- you're pausing at the moment to renew your China visa, and because the subzero temperatures who can blame you. But you've already walked across China, the equivalent of the distance from Mexico City to Alaska, which is amazing.

I know it's difficult to do, because it's such a big country, a lot of aspects. But when you look at the China part of the journey, what stands out? What are your impressions?

PAUL SALOPEK, EXPLORER, "NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC": Yes, huge. It's by far the largest country section that I walked across so far. It -- you know, a couple of things.

One is, as we discussed earlier, it's an immensely variated landscape, from tropical forest to snow-capped mountains, but it's also been a journey through times.

I look back over my shoulder almost 7,000 kilometers of China. It's -- some days you're in the middle ages in terms of ancient roads, walking silk roads.

[00:35:08]

Other days you're in this extremely modern, you know, two generations- old landscape of manufactured concrete glass under the geography of nowhere, if you will, that could be anywhere in the world. So this combination of ancient and new is pretty extraordinary.

HOLMES: Yes, we talked about this last time you were on. But for those who didn't meet you back then, you're a multiple Pulitzer Prize winner. And you do describe this as slow journalism. Briefly explain what you mean by that.

SALOPEK: It's basically slowing down the method of doing journalism, getting off the merry-go-round of 24/7 news. Swimming against the tide of speed to kind of find meaning as much as information.

I think we're flooded with information. We're swimming in an ocean of facts and factoids. We're having trouble putting them together into deeper meanings, into something called knowledge. Maybe if we're lucky, wisdom.

So slow journalism is an attempt to do that. I'm doing it through my body moving at five kilometers. HOLMES: Yes. And on the out of -- Out of Eden website, people should

check it out, with National Geographic, because there's some amazing video. We've been looking at some of it here.

You have what you call walking partners as you go: local people who join you for part of the journey. What insight has that given you? I imagine it's provided a lot of texture to the journey.

SALOPEK: It's done even more than that, Michael. It's utterly transformed the project.

Because when I started way back in 2013, walking out of Africa, it was kind of one man's journey, right? But now, it's become this collective storytelling project, where the people who walk with me -- and I almost always walk with local people to see through their eyes, their home landscape, home culture, language traditions, et cetera. Their voices get added to the project. They write stories. They shoot video. They take pictures.

So now it's very much not a solo song anymore. It's a medley. And I think it's made the project much richer, much deeper.

HOLMES: Yes. Yes, I wanted to ask you this last time, but we ran out of time. I know that climate change is part of your passion. What -- what have you noticed when it comes to the impact of that on this journey?

SALOPEK: You know, whoever I meet, whether it's a yak shepherd in Afghanistan or an urban planner in Pakistan, there are three things that people talk about when you get to know them as you walk into their life, right?

One is who they love or, you know, who they wished love them. I hate the boss. And the weather. The weather is always there, and it's -- it's inescapable as a global conversation. Everything from melting glaciers in the Himalayas to crops not growing like they used to in Northeastern China, because the weather is warming up, up there.

So a huge global conversation; it's inescapable.

HOLMES: Yes. You are, as we said, following the pathways of the first humans who migrated out of Africa during the Stone Age. Is there an overriding -- I don't know -- lesson or observation from the journey in that particular context? What -- what have you taken so far?

SALOPEK: I think yes. What I tell my readers is I'm trying to put myself into this Stone Age or Pleistocene mindset by staying on this global trail, by not flying to go back to the United States. It's been -- last time I was in the United states was December of 2012.

And the idea is get into the psychology of the ancient people who basically gave us the world.

Think about this, Michael. They were geniuses. Imagine being dropped into a brand-new environment, you know, subtropical with nothing but your bare hands? Women, men, and children, and they -- and they made it.

They delivered these landscapes to us. They innovated. And we're still carrying the Stone Age mind around.

I think what -- what the walk has taught me about how to be that way is by slowing down, it's taught me patience and the rewards of waiting, believe it or not. I think these are resources that are vanishing in today's world.

HOLMES: So well put. I've loved following your journey. I mean, we're out of time. I said that to you last time. We're out of time. There's never enough.

We will check in with you again on your journey. Paul Salopek, Out of Eden Walk. People should look it up. It's just an extraordinary journey.

Good to see, my friend. We'll talk again.

SALOPEK: Likewise, Michael. See you down the trail.

HOLMES: Indeed.

Just a remarkable thing to do. Twelve years, he's been doing this.

All right. Well, "Oppenheimer" was the big winner at the 77th British Academy Film Awards, or BAFTAs, as they're no know, in London on Sunday. The biopic about the man who helped usher in the nuclear age got 13 nominations, won seven awards.

[00:40:09]

CNN's Max Foster was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): London rolling out the red carpet.

FOSTER: Welcome to the BAFTAs, the biggest night of the year for the British movie industry.

PHOEBE DYNEVOR, NOMINEE, EE RISING STAR: So much talent comes out. So to be here, it's exciting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm having the best time. Kind of absolutely mental, but also just in the best way.

FOSTER (voice-over): The British Academy Film Awards are where cinema royalty meets U.K. royalty. But some glamour was missing this year, as the Princess of Wales continues to recover from surgery.

Prince William attended alone, signaling that Kate is at least well enough for him to return to public duties.

The night a celebration of British culture. Seeing Sophie Ellis-Bextor perform her 2001 single "Murder on the

Dance Floor," currently experiencing a social media explosion after its appearance in "Saltburn."

SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR, SINGER: Other songs have had a resurgence like many decades after they're released. Never in a million years thought I would be able to experience that.

FOSTER (voice-over): The ceremony also paid tribute to those impacted by the war in Ukraine, as "20 Days in Mariupol" took home the prize for Best Documentary.

MSTYSLAV CHERNOV, DIRECTOR, "20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL": Thank you for and powering our voice. Let's just keep fighting.

FOSTER (voice-over): But alongside the impassioned political statements, the ceremony found some lighter moments.

HUGH GRANT, ACTOR: Oopmaloompa dumbedy-dong. Most of these films were frankly too long.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a national emergency.

FOSTER (voice-over): Despite taking some heat for its three-hour runtime, "Oppenheimer" cleaned up, bringing home seven BAFTAs in total.

CILLIAN MURPHY, ACTOR, "OPPENHEIMER": I want to thank my fellow nominees and my "Oppenhomies." That was a -- that was a grind.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The BAFTA goes to --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Poor Thing."

FOSTER (voice-over): An imaginative feminist take on "Frankenstein."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good evening.

FOSTER (voice-over): "Poor Things" also took home five awards, including Leading Actress.

EMMA STONE, ACTRESS: Thank you for the line, "I must go punch that baby."

FOSTER (voice-over): And did a BAFTAs first, the award for the Best Film Not in the English Language, Best British Film, "The Zone of Interests."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that the BAFTAs celebrate smaller films, in a way, which I think is really amazing. I think it's really important that younger filmmakers are appreciated and that -- it's diverse filmmakers.

FOSTER: So what does this tell us about who might win at the Oscars? Well, not very much, it seems, because only two of the winners of Best Movie here, or the BAFTAs, have gone on to win at the Oscars, as well. That's over the last ten years. So it's all still to play for.

Max Foster, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Thanks for watching. I'm Michael Holmes. WORLD SPORT is next. I'll see you in about 15 minutes.

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