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Navalny's Mother Says She's Seen Son's Body; Kherson Faces Grinding Struggle Ahead of War's Anniversary; Next Round of Negotiations to Begin in Paris for Hostage Release and Ceasefire; Odysseus Lander is Standing 'Upright' and Sending Data from Moon; Soldier's Wife: 'Don't Know What Tomorrow May Bring'; China to Send 2 Giant Pandas to San Diego Zoo. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired February 23, 2024 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Ahead here on CNN.
[00:00:42]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to be announcing the sanctions against Putin, who was responsible for his death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The White House set to announce hundreds of new sanctions on Moscow for the sudden death of outspoken Putin critic Alexei Navalny, as well as for the war in Ukraine.
And up to two years of war, an exhausted, demoralized Ukraine is on the defensive and searching for hope.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL NELSON, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: This feat is a giant leap forward for all of humanity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Also a giant step towards the commercialization of space as the first privately owned, low-cost lunar lander touches down on the Moon.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.
VAUSE: On the eve of the second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a week after Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny died, the White House is set to announce hundreds of crushing new sanctions on Moscow.
During a meeting with Navalny's widow and daughter in California, U.S. President Joe Biden said a raft of new sanctions, the biggest since the war began, would directly target Vladimir Putin.
Later, President Biden praised the bravery of the Navalny family. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: He was a man of incredible courage. And it's amazing how his wife and daughter are -- are emulating that.
We're going to be announcing the sanctions against Putin, who was responsible for his death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Alexei Navalny's mother has been allowed to see the body of her dead son. That happened Thursday. But she says officials will only hand over his body for burial once she agrees to a low-key, closed funeral.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LYUDMILA NAVALNAYA, ALEXEI NAVALNY'S MOTHER (through translator): I don't want any special conditions. I just want everything to be done according to the law. I demand that my son's body be returned to me immediately.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: One of the conditions, according to Navalny's team, is a special plane to transport the body to Moscow.
More details now from CNN's senior international correspondent, Fred Pleitgen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is actually quite remarkable, and all this, of course, comes from the director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, Ivan Zhdanov.
There were really three main restrictions that we could see. You mentioned one of them, and that is that special plane that's supposed to bring the body to Moscow.
Well, one of the conditions on that is that Alexei Navalny's mother is not allowed to announce when the body is to arrive before it has arrived. So obviously, they're trying to keep all that under wraps, allegedly so that people won't show up at the airport.
Another thing that we also discerned is that, at the whole time on the ground until the funeral, a member of the investigative committee, an employee of Russia's investigative committee, has to be with the family of Alexei Navalny. So obviously, trying to keep the family under wraps, as well.
Also, allegedly, the body is supposed to be kept either in the Moscow or Vladimir region, and the Anti-Corruption Foundation believes that's because the Russian authorities fear that people could try and storm the morgue.
Again, the Russian authorities themselves haven't commented on this.
And other two things that were hearing, as well, is that apparently, the cemetery of choice of Alexei Navalny's mother has been denied to her. Apparently, some arrangement has been made there, and they have not yet agreed on a farewell hall either.
Obviously, the Anti-Corruption Foundation is saying that Alexei Navalny's mother has been forced to agree to all this under threat.
And we did hear some of that from her earlier today, when she said that she really wanted all the people who are obviously devastated and who feel that the death of Alexei Navalny is a personal loss for them, to be able to say goodbye to Alexei Navalny and to be able to see his body. That has been denied to her.
She also said that the authorities threatened her and said time is not on her side saying, quote, "The corpse is beginning to rot."
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Joining us now is Steve Hall, CNN national security analyst. He's also a former CIA chief of Russia operations.
Good to have you back, Steve. Good to see you.
STEVE HALL, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Great to be here.
VAUSE: OK, so at a G-20 meeting in Rio, the British foreign secretary, David Cameron, directly accused the Russian foreign minister of murdering Alexei Navalny. Other countries stood up and did, as well.
All the time, Sergei Lavrov was said to have simply sort of turned away. He looked at his phone. It didn't make -- didn't make eye contact, apparently.
And later, went on to say this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[00:05:00]
SERGEI LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): This hysteria about Navalny's death has convincingly shown this, that the United States position themselves as a prosecutor, a judge, and an executioner, all in one. I do not even want to comment in detail. These people have no right to meddle into our internal affairs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Yes, meddling in internal affairs. That would be bad.
The U.K. has also hit Moscow with sanctions. The U.S. will on Friday. So, apart from calling out directly, you know, to the foreign minister and putting sanctions on Moscow, what else can be done to try and hold Putin accountable here?
HALL: Well, first of all, good on David Cameron for calling him out. That's exactly the right thing to ask. And of course it's the standard Russian, you know, sort of schoolchild, you know, I know you are, but what am I? You just turn around and accuse somebody else of what you've actually done.
And the -- you know, respecting internal affairs is always, always, always a good one, especially when you think about Ukraine.
What can be done besides sanctions? Sanctions, I think, are important. They're not quite as emotionally satisfying as, you know, when you see bombs exploding, you know, on television or something.
But the Kremlin itself is very critical of sanctions and, you know, has said that they're illegal and, you know, all that sort of thing. And so I think it shows that they -- they do bite, but it takes a longer time for it to happen.
The important thing that, really, the United States at least needs to do is we need to get back on the bandwagon of providing Ukraine with what it needs to fight back against Russia. That is the greatest single threat to Russia and to Putin's regime right now, is how things turn out in Ukraine. So that's what really needs to be done if we're serious about -- about trying to contain Vladimir Putin.
VAUSE: Well, Navalny's mother says that she signed her son's death certificate, which says apparently, her son died of natural causes.
She was also very publicly critical of Russian officials who took her to the morgue in the middle of night. They kept her there. They questioned her. They pressured her, apparently. She had no legal representation. She also said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NAVALNAYA (through translator): According to the law, they should have given me Alexei's body right away, but they haven't done it yet. Instead, they blackmailed me and set conditions for where, when, and how Alexei should be buried. It is illegal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Apparently, the Kremlin said they want a low-key funeral, a closed funeral for Navalny. So just precisely what are they worried about?
Hall: Well, what they're worried about is making -- is having Navalny made into, you know, a martyr. This is -- this is really what the Kremlin is fearing right now.
It's a very critical moment, because not even the Kremlin can predict exactly what's going to happen when Navalny is, you know, flown eventually back to Moscow or the Moscow region. And then a funeral is held. Of course, we saw with Prigozhin, who actually led a mutiny against
Putin, his family and supporters were convinced or forced into having a much more private funeral for the same reason, because that's -- that's what Putin fears.
Except with Navalny, I think it's even more serious. There is serious concern inside the Kremlin that there will be, you know, their worst nightmare, which is thousands upon thousands, tens of thousands in the streets. You know, some sort of -- they fear the idea that perhaps Navalny supporters would break into the morgue and, you know, somehow take his body or some sort. All of these things are nightmarish scenarios.
And for that reason, they're really, really keeping -- trying to keep tight wraps on this to avoid the martyr effect of Navalny.
VAUSE: Wouldn't one good way to avoid the martyr effect would be not to have killed him in the first place? Especially a month before reelection?
HALL: Yes. I mean, yes, that's always -- that's always sort of the back-and-forth. I mean, if you imagine yourself a dictator, you know, what do you do? Leave them where they can be very, very effective, even when they're in jail? Or do you kill them and risk turning them into martyrs?
I think the timing here is important. I think Vladimir Putin felt safe in taking the risk of offing Navalny at this particular juncture, and so he took that risk. But now he's got to mitigate against him, you know, again, turning into an organizing force for opposition inside of Russia right now.
VAUSE: Well, Vladimir Putin was asked during an interview on state television about the U.S. election coming in November, and who he preferred in the White House.
Keep in mind at a fundraiser on Wednesday night, Joe Biden described Putin as a "crazy S.O.B." who essentially could start a nuclear war.
Here's the choice between Trump or Biden for Vladimir Putin. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): You asked me who we prefer as the future president of the United States. I said that we will work with any president, but I believe that for us, for Russia, Biden is more preferable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: I mean, he said that before, but seriously, come on.
HALL: Yes, no, this is -- this is actually not -- not a bad move for Putin. And here's why. OK, so first, you know, obviously, commonsensically, if you're
Vladimir Putin and you get to choose who's the next president, are you going to choose the guy who says, yes, let Russia do whatever the hell it wants in Europe. We're not necessarily going to honor our NATO responsibilities to protect our allies?
[00:10:02]
Or are you going to pick the guy who continues to want to try to fund Ukraine, and that's, of course, Biden?
So he, of course, prefers Donald Trump, but he also understands American politics, because he's a former KGB guy and he knows he has to watch these things. So all he's got to do is offer up to Trump's supporters, Hey, I support Biden, so that when, inevitably, in the United States, Donald Trump is accused of being very close to Russia, his campaign will be able to say, What are you talking about? Vladimir Putin is the guy who says he prefers Biden over me. So of course I'm not closely associated, don't like Putin at all.
Putin understands how this works, and he's providing assistance to the Trump campaign in the United States.
VAUSE: And Trump is already actually saying this on the campaign trail as we speak. It was almost instantaneous, the turnaround. Yes.
So Steve, yes. Good point to finish on. Steve Hall there, good to see you, sir. Thank you.
HALL: Great to be here.
VAUSE: Ukraine heads into a third year of war with Russia, on the defensive with low morale within the ranks, ammunition in short supply, and growing doubts over U.S. commitment.
At the same time, Russian forces are celebrating their biggest battlefield win in nine months: taking the Eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka. Ukrainian troops were forced to retreat last weekend, blaming in part a lack of U.S. military assistance.
The U.S. funding for Ukraine stalled in Congress, other countries appear to be trying to make up the difference. Denmark is aiming to deliver F-16 jets this coming summer. Britain has promised more anti- tank missiles. And France will host an international gathering Monday, specifically to address military aid for Ukraine.
Ukrainians, though, say they still control territory seized last year, despite ongoing Russian attacks. In particular, a key bridgehead South of the Dnipro River, where a Russian training ground was targeted by Ukrainian forces on Thursday.
Over the past two years, the ebb and flow of this war has been most keenly felt in Kherson, the first Ukrainian city to fall to Russian forces within days of the invasion, occupied for months and then liberated. But liberation from Russia did not mean an end to the threat from
Russian forces. They remain close by and dug in, launching almost daily attacks.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports now from Kherson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's night when it's loudest. Kherson has seen every stage of the war's two years: invasion, occupation, and liberation.
Yet, day is when the damage is clearest.
WALSH: All the Russians may be now on the other side of the river, but you can see the force of the explosions that hit here just by these tree branches thrown up here on top of a roof.
And it feels kind of like a remote occupation through Russian drone strikes, artillery attacks, as well. So many of the buildings around here devastated.
WALSH (voice-over): But Russian positions are visible across the water. And on this side, freshly dug trenches show how worried Ukraine is, still.
Across the river, Ukraine sent troops months ago, their hopes of a lightning dash to Crimea stuck in this rubble. And this week, Russia raised their flag over the tiny Ukrainian foothold of Krynky. Kyiv denied they'd taken it and said drone footage showed the Russians fleeing.
Yet just meters from the raw (ph) are thousands of daily silent stories of survival in a city Russia cannot own, only crush with seemingly inexhaustible shelling.
At 4 a.m., we're awoken by three shells. They landed 100 meters away.
WALSH: They're saying that they were first hit in November and that blew out the glass in this flat here. They moved to their mother's apartment over there, and that basically saved their lives last night, because the shrapnel from the mortar landed here, went all the way up into the flat where they used to live.
WALSH (voice-over): In basement churches, the prayers are for basics.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: To stay warm, to find bread, to have food. It's a hard path. But we keep walking it.
WALSH (voice-over): Spilling out into the light, part of 1,000 people still in this district of the city, when before the war, there were 30 times that.
Sophia (ph) has outlasted her six siblings and gets food for her adult daughter.
SOPHIA (PH), KHERSON RESIDENT: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: I want to get on time to another food distribution. Yesterday they gave chocolates and a hot meal. Today who knows?
There were roses here, everywhere. So many roses.
[00:15:05]
WALSH (voice-over): As Putin's war enters its third year, there seems no end to a million tiny unseen agonies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
SOPHIA (ph): (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: Welcome! My eyes hurt. But my deepest desire -- I don't want anything, anything, but the bright sun!
WALSH (voice-over): The old radio brings bad news of Russia assaulting Krynky.
SOPHIA (ph): (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: Those bastards, they jumped on us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: They already took Krynky.
SOPHIA (ph): (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: No, they didn't! I just heard that they didn't. It's hard, there was a fight there today.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: We will not push them back.
SOPHIA (ph): (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: Why? They will push them back. Why not?
WALSH (voice-over): The war in every home. The normal, the boring. Still targets today and tomorrow.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kherson, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Negotiators from the U.S., Egypt, Qatar, and Israel are expected to gather in Paris in the coming hours for talks of a Gaza ceasefire and release of Israeli hostages.
Right now, the clock is ticking down to an Israeli ground offensive on Rafah if hostages are not released by March 10.
During the last round of talks, the Israelis were present, but not engaged. But now, as CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports, the Israelis plan to take a more active role in negotiations for hostages, as well as that ceasefire.
Here's more now from Jeremy Diamond, reporting in from Tel Aviv.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, after it seemed that Israel and Hamas were at an impasse, negotiations over a potential deal to see a temporary ceasefire and the release of hostages, they appear to be very much back on track.
Israeli media reporting that Israel does intend to send a delegation on Friday to talks in Paris.
We already knew that CIA director Bill Burns, Qatari and Egyptian intelligence officials, as well, were set to meet on Friday in Paris to move those negotiations forward.
And we're also getting signs of optimism, signs of progress from key members of Israel's war cabinet. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday saying that Israel is expanding the authority of its negotiators, allowing them to return to the negotiating table, not just in listen only mode, which is how it appears to have happened during the last round, but to actually actively engage in these negotiations, to actually try and influence the course of those talks, and to try and strike a deal.
Benny Gantz, another member of the war cabinet, former member of the opposition, he also indicated that there are, quote, "initial signs" that indicate the possibility of progress in these negotiations.
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum, which represents many of these hostage families, for their part, welcoming this decision by the war cabinet to send negotiators to Paris to push these talks forward.
And certainly, this will be a critical moment. We know that every time the CIA director has headed out for these negotiations, it's typically at an inflection point.
But one thing that we do know is that time is certainly running out. The holy Muslim holiday of Ramadan is just over two weeks away. And Israeli officials have indicated that that is their deadline for deciding whether or not there will be a deal; whether or not a deal can be struck with Hamas; or whether Israel will instead choose to move forward with a major military offensive in Gaza's Southernmost city of Rafah.
One and a half million people are currently living in that city. And there's no question that Israel is under enormous pressure not to carry out that operation under the current conditions, including from their American counterparts. So these talks will be critical not only to determining the fate of
hostages but also for the people of Gaza, to see if they can get a humanitarian pause as conditions there grow increasingly dire.
And of course, for those one-and-a-half million living in Rafah.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: At the International Court of Justice, Jordan's foreign minister says Israel has been allowed to act in complete disregard of international law.
This is the fourth day of hearings after the United Nations General Assembly asked the court for a non-binding ruling on Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Jordan's representative says the aggression in Gaza must end.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AYMAN SAFADI, JORDANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: No country must be allowed to be above the law. Israel is acting and has been allowed to act in complete disregard of international law. That cannot continue.
The occupation is unlawful. It is inhumane. It must end. Yet, Israel has been systematically consolidating the occupation and is blatantly denying Palestinians' right to self-determination.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[00:20:08]
VAUSE: Jordan is one of Israel's Arab allies. Israel is not participating in the hearings.
When we come back here, a spacecraft touching down on the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years. Why now, and why did they do it on the cheap? A lot of milestones to talk about.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:22:29]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN ALTEMUS, CEO, INTUITIVE MACHINES: What an outstanding effort. I know this was a nail-biter, but we are on the -- on the surface, and we are transmitting. And welcome to the Moon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Houston, Odysseus has found his new home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: A standing ovation there as Odysseus lander, known as Odie, touches down on the Moon, the first time in 51 years for an American spacecraft.
Odysseus is upright and has been sending back data. There was some touch and go there with the signal between the mission control and the lander. But we're now waiting the first images.
More now from CNN space and defense correspondent Kristin Fisher.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: Intuitive Machines has just made history as the first private company to successfully land a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. Its Odysseus lunar lander is standing upright, according to the company, and is successfully transmitting data.
FISHER (voice-over): Although we're still waiting for those first few pictures.
Now, this was really a tense final few moments for this mission. Just a few hours before landing, Intuitive Machines announced that there was an issue with Odysseus's navigation system. It wasn't working.
But in a spectacular example of a public-private partnership, it just so happened that one of Odysseus's, or Intuitive Machines' paying customers, NASA, had an experimental piece of equipment that did the exact same thing as this broken piece of navigation software.
And so engineers on Earth -- on Earth were able to patch up a fix and allow Odysseus to safely navigate that treacherous terrain on the South Pole of the Moon, dodging craters and boulders to find a safe space to land.
And so that is what happened. It took a little bit longer than the company thought to communicate with the spacecraft, but it is sending back data now.
FISHER: And this is now the first time that any American spacecraft has landed on the surface of the Moon --
FISHER (voice-over): -- since the end of the Apollo program, back in 1972. So it's a win for NASA --
FISHER: -- as a sponsor of this mission. But certainly, a win for this Texas-based company, Intuitive Machines. They were able to do, for about $100 million, what NASA was able to do with the apollo program with a much larger budget.
So some big cheers from that mission control room when the landing happened, and now we get to see what Odysseus can do on the surface of the Moon for the next week or so.
[00:25:10]
Kristin Fisher, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: Leroy Chiao is a former NASA astronaut. He flew on four
missions and served as commander of the International Space Station.
And as always, it's great to have you with us on days like this.
LEROY CHIAO, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: Great to be with you.
VAUSE: OK. So this landing not only marks the first time a commercial vehicle has soft landed on the Moon, because you know, the others have crashed into the Moon. Also the first time a U.S. spacecraft has touched down since this moment here. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENE CERNAN, NASA ASTRONAUT: I'd like to just say what I believe history will record: That America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: OK, so that was Apollo 17, astronaut Eugene Cernan and it was December 1972.
So the question here isn't so much that -- you know, why did it take so long to go back to the Moon? But essentially, up until now, the U.S., in terms of a NASA program, has had no real interest in going back to the Moon, right?
CHIAO: Well, that's true. You know, we won the so-called space race. We beat the Soviets to the Moon. We landed, you know, the 12 astronauts and were able to set foot on the Moon. And we kind of declared victory. And there was really no political reason to spend the money to keep going or to go back in the intervening years.
It's a little bit surprising, but when you think about it, you know, all decisions basically come down to politics in the end. And so then if you think if from that perspective, then it makes sense.
VAUSE: Yes, and Odysseus is now sitting on the South Pole, and that's quite unusual in and of itself. So more on that. Here's NASA administration Bill Nelson explaining why.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NELSON: We want to go to the South Pole, however hazardous it is to see if there is water in abundance, because if there's water, there's rocket fuel, hydrogen and oxygen. And we could have a gas station on the South Pole of the Moon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Which then begs the question, what happens after that? Could it serve as a waystation to move onto Mars? Maybe even beyond? How far down the road are we looking at all these possibilities of a Moon colony and, you know, transmitting off to Mars, that kind of stuff? CHIAO: Well, sure. And to me, it makes a lot of sense to go to the
Moon before you go to Mars. Or go back to the Moon, I should say, because we haven't been there in, like you said, over 50 years certainly would not with humans.
And, you know, it's -- we have to re-learn how to land humans on the Moon. We need to test out building a habitat on another planetary body and, you know, test our rovers, our spacesuits are habitats, train crews. You don't necessarily want your first astronauts on Mars to have never operated in that kind of reduced atmosphere, reduced gravity environment before.
And the reason you do it all on the Moon, the Moon is only about three or four days away. If you have a problem, you can get your crew back quickly. Mars on the other hand, even at closest approach when the planets are lined up, it takes around six months, one way. So if you have a problem, like Apollo 13 did going out bound, you're going to be over a year before you get your crew back.
So you want to make sure everything's going to work before you go ahead and do that trans-Mars injection burn.
VAUSE: Yes. When you're talking about transiting back-and-forth from earth to the Moon, Moon for the earth, it's now a lot more possible when you think about the cost of this mission, which was, you know, done by private enterprise, just over $100 million.
CIAO: That's true. That's a drop in the bucket compared to other spacecraft that had been built by the more customary, traditional route using big aerospace companies and, you know, the -- the traditional contracting methods between the government and these large companies.
And so really, 100 well and some-odd million dollars sounds -- it is a lot of money for you and me, but as far as building a spacecraft, it's really inexpensive.
VAUSE: We heard a short time ago here on CNN from the captain of The Enterprise, James T. Kirk, William Shatner. He had a few interesting comments about what should be happening with this mission, as far as what should be happening here on Earth. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM SHATNER, ACTOR: The Moon is a perfect place to land and build. But beyond that, where are we going? What are we doing?
You can't transport tens of thousands of millions of people to Mars. We're -- we're here. This is the place that needs to be corrected.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It's an old argument, but you know, it's an irrelevant one at this point. Fix the problems on Earth first before worrying about getting out to Mars. Because Mars doesn't sound like a very nice place to live. CHIAO: Well, I agree with that. You know, there are people that say, hey, we've got to figure out how to colonize Mars, because we're going to need to go there someday. And of course, I'm in the camp of -- and I agree that, hey, it's easier to fix the problems we've got here before we try to figure out how to colonize.
Now, you know, of course SpaceX and Elon Musk, very big on colonizing Mars. And I applaud that because, you know, it's -- you can tell the technological story and how you're going to do it. But the devil's in the details, and it would be really awesome to get humans to Mars and even get a small colony going. That would really be something, exploration-wise.
But -- but yes, I don't -- I'm definitely not one of the subscribers to, Hey, we're going to ruin our planet, so we need to go find another place to live.
VAUSE: I think Elon Musk will be great on Mars.
Leroy Chiao, thank you very much for being with us.
CHIAO: Yes, he very much wants to go. He says he started SpaceX, you know, not that many years ago, frankly, for all that it's accomplished. And for the express purpose of colonizing Mars. And he himself wants to be a colonist.
VAUSE: Godspeed, Elon. Godspeed.
Leroy, talk to you soon. Thank you.
CHIAO: Thanks. Thank you.
VAUSE: Still ahead here on CNN, how two years of war have left Ukrainians exhausted and demoralized from the frontlines to the home front. All made worse by a shortage of almost everything, especially new recruits to relieve those in the thick of battle.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: welcome back to viewers all around the world. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Across Ukraine, there is exhaustion, from the soldiers on the frontlines to their families they're defending back home. After two years of war, many spouses want their partners home, but a shortage of new recruits makes that increasingly difficult.
Here's CNN's Isa Soares.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANASTASIA (ph), HUSBAND ON FRONTLINES: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: I'm sorry that the phone is ringing, but I don't have the sound off on my husband. It's always on. ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For 37-year-old, Anastasia (ph), it's the rare moment of comfort: a notification from her husband, who's fighting on the frontlines in Ukraine.
ANASTASIA (ph): (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: The first thing is that there is relief and immediately, phew! A notification came from him.
SOARES (voice-over): It's been two years of this stress. Anxious days waiting to hear he's OK.
ANASTASIA (ph): (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: We have an agreement. He has to text me in the morning. He can say good morning, send me a smiley face, whatever. If he doesn't get in touch by eleven o'clock, I start calling all the phones, looking for him.
You understand that the text message may be the last one. The call may be the last.
SOARES (voice-over): Fifty-year-old Vitaly volunteered on the first of March 2022, right after Russia invaded.
Since then, it's been a grueling slow, for him and his fellow soldiers.
[00:35:06]
ANASTASIA (ph): (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: They are not only physically suffering; they are suffering mentally, because they do not see the light at the end of the tunnel. And since the mobilization failed, of course, there can be no demobilization, because there is no one to replace them, and the guys need to be replaced.
SOARES: For the past six months, she's been one of dozens of women calling on the government to demobilize their exhausted relatives who have been on the front line since day one.
ANASTASIA (ph): (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
SOARES: We don't just protest; we make appeals. We have already sent more than a thousand letters to all the higher authorities that can influence this.
SOARES (voice-over): She's frustrated it's taken so long for the government to start thinking of ways to relieve troops. But a new draft bill may offer some respite.
And President Zelenskyy is weighing up whether to announce a further mobilization, possibly of hundreds of thousands of new soldiers.
ANASTASIA (ph): (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) GRAPHIC: Our most important contribution was that this topic was raised, and people started talking about it. Is there any progress so far? Well, we see that the bill has already been introduced by the government. Unfortunately, it is very sad for us, because it provides for thirty-six months of service.
SOARES (voice-over): It's all part of Ukraine's plans to try and make mobilization more appealing.
If passed, it would allow soldiers to exit the military after three years of continuous service.
But another year for Anastasia (ph) and her family is a long time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: He only came to us twice on holiday. And the third time will be in the spring. On the one hand, it's not long. But for me, it is long.
SOARES (voice-over): Isa Soares, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Haiti's permanent representative to the Organization of American States has resigned after he was indicted in the former president's assassination.
Leon Charles is accused of murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy against the internal security of the state. He was the chief of the Haitian national police in July 2021, when more than two dozen armed men swarm the president's compound, killing former president Jovenel Moise.
Charles says he -- the accusations are politically motivated.
A fire in Eastern Spain has killed four people and injured 14 others. Flames erupted Thursday morning in an apartment building in Valencia.
Firefighters had difficulty entering the building and trying to contain the flames. At last word, they are working to cool the exterior of the structure.
We'll take a short break. When we come back, panda diplomacy apparently alive and well. A pair of giant pandas soon heading to an American zoo, thanks to China. Details are next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:40:05]
VAUSE: For the first time in 20 years, two giant pandas on loan from China could be headed to the United States. The San Diego Zoo is their likely destination. But just when they arrive is still unclear.
As CNN's Marc Stewart reports from Beijing, this is a big step in what's known as panda diplomacy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: If anyone understands the political power of the panda, it's Chinese President Xi Jinping, who calls the animals envoys of friendship.
STEWART (voice-over): According to officials, two pandas are expected to come to the San Diego Zoo, expressing optimism it would happen in the not-so-distant future. This would be the first time we'd see new pandas, essentially on loan to the United States, for the first time in two decades.
Yet, we've seen pandas on loan across Europe, including Germany and the Netherlands, over the past decade. And in 2022, Qatar in the Middle East.
Many pandas loaned to the United States, including those at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., have returned to China in recent years. State media in China reports the zoo in D.C. is in talks to see pandas once again.
This idea of this panda pathway came up in November, when Xi Jinping visited San Francisco. He brought up the notion during a dinner with some of the most influential business leaders.
STEWART: For the record, there are fewer than 2,000 pandas in the wild. That's according to the World Wildlife Fund.
Marc Stewart, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Shaquille O'Neal, not any a basketball legend, but a very generous man, as well, it seems. He gave one fan the shirt off his back and his supersized shoes, as well.
A sixteen-year-old from Kansas City desperately needed a size 23 shoe. Jor'el Bolden's family had been struggling to find him a pair which actually fit, saying companies don't make his size and he'd need a custom pair, which costs $1,500. That's a lot of money for a pair of shoes.
That's when his mother starting a GoFundMe campaign. When the retired NBA superstar heard about Jor'el, he sent the teen 20 pairs of shoes, new clothes and a lot of other items from his closet. Here's Jor'el's reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOR'EL BOLDEN, RECEIVED GIFT FROM SHAQUILLE O'NEAL: Thank you for taking the time and the money that you have earned to give it to me when I needed it. So I would like to thank you for all the things that will come from it, and what have.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: How big is a size 23? Guess which one is Shaq O'Neal's and which one is a woman's sneaker? Yes, the one on the left.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. WORLD SPORT is up next. See you next week. Have a good weekend.
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[00:45:32]
(WORLD SPORT)
