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Tanks For Ukraine At The Heart Of E.U. F.M. Meeting; Lavrov Meets With South African Foreign Minister; Police Search For Motive After Monterey Park Shooting. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired January 23, 2023 - 10:00:00   ET

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

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[10:00:26]

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ACNHOR: Pressure is growing on Germany as allies start to lash out criticizing its reluctance to send tanks to Ukraine.

A California community is left reeling after a gunman open spire inside a dance studio. We are live in Monterey Park.

And as China rings in the Lunar New Year, the government reports thousands more COVID-related deaths. We have a live report.

I'm Eleni Giokos. Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD. A furious war saw has some strong words for Berlin and what looks like an action plan to try

to end the holdup in sending modern battle tanks to Ukraine after telling Germany it's wasting time. Poland is indicating it plans to send German-

made Leopard 2 tanks to the battlefield. If it can build what it calls a small coalition of countries willing to do the same.

Berlin remains hesitant to supply the tanks from its own arsenal, and has not given explicit consent for other countries to export them. The news

comes as E.U. foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels today to discuss their support for Ukraine. Well, CNN's Fred Pleitgen is standing by live in

the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Fred Germany has alluded to the fact that it won't stop other countries from sending those Leopard 2 tanks, but it also

won't sign off on countries doing so. Could Poland's plan to build this coalition shift Germany stance?

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I highly doubt that it would shift to Germany stance. And the question is really whether or not

the poles are actually going to be able to put together a coalition like that that would essentially send main battle tanks to Ukraine without the

consent of the country that manufacture those main battle tanks. That usually isn't the way things work when you look at the way that arms are

provided to countries that are manufactured in other countries.

Nevertheless, the Germans also saying that they're working to get out of this impasse. It was quite interesting I was messaging with a senior member

inside the German government a little earlier. And they're saying they want a broader coalition in all of this. They want more consensus and they want

more close international cooperation, especially with the United States.

Now, essentially what that means is that the Germans still want the U.S. to send American-made Abrams main battle tanks to Ukraine if the Germans are

going to sign off on the Leopard 2 being sent to Ukraine and possibly sending leper to themselves. Now Eleni we know that the U.S. has said they

are not going to be sending those Abram tanks, they don't believe that they're suited for the battlefields here in Ukraine, because they take a

lot of fuel.

They're also very difficult to maintain because they have a turbine engine, which is obviously a lot more complicated than the diesel engine that the

Leopards would use. However, they seem to be trying to work out an impasse with Berlin to try and make it happen somehow in the not-too-distant

future. Nevertheless, as you said, the poled absolutely ripping into the Germans throughout the better part of the day.

There were some quotes from the Polish Prime Minister where he said that Poland would not allow Ukraine to bleed to death essentially, while the

Germans are still holding things up. I want to listen to part of Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish Prime Minister had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATEUSZ MORAWIECKI, PRIME MINISTER OF POLAND (through translator): We will apply for such consent. But this is a secondary topic. Even if we did not

get this consent in the end as part of a small coalition. If the Germans were not in this coalition, we will still hand over our tanks together with

others to Ukraine. The condition for us at the moment is to build at least such a small coalition of states.

And on this issue, together with Mr. President Duda. Mr. Deputy Prime Minister Blaszczak, we're contacting our partners in Western Europe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: So, there you have the Polish Prime Minister. Now the Germans have been saying that they are actually giving a lot of modern weapons to

the Ukrainians. In fact, they have actually given a lot more modern weapons by far than Poland has, especially if you look at some of the modern air

defense weapons that have been given to the Ukrainians, also, some of the best weapons to counter drones also came from Germany.

Infantry fighting vehicles, something that they're doing together with the United States. Howitzers and other modern weapons as well. So, the Germans

certainly saying they are doing their part. But of course, those main battle tanks are what the Ukrainian say they need now and what they need a

lot of. We've had some really interesting talks over the past couple of days, Eleni.

[10:05:02]

Speaking to senior officials here in Ukraine and they're saying that they first of all needed to simply stay in the fight. They're having a lot of

problems getting spare parts for the Soviet era tanks that they have, even outside on the outside markets. And also, ammunition is starting to become

difficult as well. The Ukrainians that we've been speaking to say they need around 300 to 400 modern Western battle tanks.

And they say, they believe that they could use those to beat about two to 3000 Soviet era tanks. So, they believe it could have a big impact. And

they believe they seriously need this to stay in the fight, but also to win back the territory that they've lost to the Russian Federation, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yes. I think Ukraine has absolutely been very vocal on what this delay means. Of course, we'll be watching the story closely. Fred Pleitgen,

thank you so much. And in fact, in the next hour of CONNECT THE WORLD, I'll talk to Estonia's foreign minister who is putting the call out to other

nations to follow his country's lead and commit one percent of their gross domestic product to Ukraine's defense.

That interview coming up in the next hour.

So, Russia's Foreign Minister says his country's so-called special military operation was discussed today. When he met his South-African counterparts

in Pretoria, Sergei Lavrov's visit to South Africa is sparking criticism. South Africa has not condemned Russia's war in Ukraine, and has officially

taken a neutral stance. This visit comes days after South Africa announced it will host joint maritime military drills with Russia and China in

February.

The foundation of late South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu calls the planned exercises disgraceful. We've got CNN's David McKenzie joining us

from Johannesburg. David, good to see you. Look, this visit underscores the strength of political and economic relations between these two countries.

Why is South Africa taking this stance?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a very good point, Eleni, that these are long-standing relationships between South

Africa and the Russians. And prior to that, the Soviet Union and the foreign minister of South Africa calling the meetings "wonderful." Sergey

Lavrov was here at the invitation of the South Africans. And well, as you say, South Africa says that they keep a neutral stance on this conflict.

And the official line is that they want negotiations between the two sides at the U.N. or a similar multilateral institution to solve this conflict.

There is deep criticism, both from opposition leaders here from the Tutu Foundation, as you mentioned, and others that by just having Sergey Lavrov

here and having these substantive talks, South Africa is in the words of one critic siding with the Russians.

But repeatedly, the South African leadership says they can talk to whoever they want, and they shouldn't be pressured in not having the stance and not

specifically criticizing the Russians. You had the Russian Foreign Minister repeating exaggerated and one might say completely unfounded claims that

the Russians are not targeting civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. And just this platform for Sergey Lavrov does make an impact on the what the

President Biden and others wants to be a united front criticizing Russia. So, it is important, this meeting.

GIOKOS: David, look, these military drills between China, Russia and South Africa taking place off the coast of Durban, late February. And D.C.

countries have built strong ties within the BRICS alliance, which has been going on for many years. It is also amplifying this message of the United,

you know, structure between China, Russia and South Africa. And it's an interesting message that it's sending to the west.

MCKENZIE: It is an interesting message. But I think, you know, the one thing that struck me was that the foreign minister of South Africa Naledi

Pandor pointed out that South Africa has held military drills in recent months with the Americans and even the French as well. So, this is not

really the case of South Africa militarily aligning solely with Russia but it is the optics of this, of having these naval drills in the coming weeks

is something that will be criticized and has been criticized.

But I think the response of the prime minister here in South Africa sums up the posture of this government and several other governments in Africa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NALEDI PANDOR, SOUTH AFRICAN FOREIGN MINISTER: That one of the things we as Africans need to resist is this impulse of wanting to direct the double

standard form of international conduct toward us that what I do is OK for me but you cannot do it because you are developing country or you are

Africa. That is an abuse of international practice. All countries conduct military exercises with friends worldwide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:10:15]

MCKENZIE: And so, the call is for negotiation. It's unclear, Eleni, whether South Africa has any leverage over the parties to actually kickstart

negotiations which look absolutely nowhere near close to resuming between Ukraine and Russia. Eleni?

GIOKOS: All right. David McKenzie in Johannesburg. Thank you so much. Good to see you.

All right. Investigators are searching for a motive in one of California's deadliest ever mass shootings. 10 people were killed, 10 others injured

when a gunman opened fire inside a dance studio in Monterey Park Saturday night during Lunar New Year celebrations. Authorities say the shooter then

went to a second dance hall in a nearby city but was disarmed by bystanders before he fled. Kyung Lah has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. JUDY CHU (D-CA); What I want to do here is to say to the community feel safe. You are no longer in danger.

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Monterey Park shooting suspect is dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound following

a police standoff Sunday. Law enforcement track a white cargo van that fit the description of a vehicle of interest from the shooting. Four hours,

SWAT officers tried to get the occupant of the vehicle to surrender until what officers believe was a gunshot heard from inside the vehicle.

SHERIFF ROBERT G. LUNA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY: Homicide detectives are working around the clock gathering additional information and working on

determining the motive behind this extremely tragic event.

LAH: Law enforcement sources tell CNN the suspects may have sought medical treatment shortly before the standoff.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is unbelievable. This is terrible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To see this happen in this place is shattering.

LAH: The 72-year-old alleged shooter opened fire at a dance studio where the city's large Asian-American community was celebrating the Lunar New

Year Saturday night.

UNIDENTIFIED FEFMALE: Additional units requested, multiple victims, gunshot wound.

LAH: The gunman then left the scene and targeted another neighboring dance studio with a semi-automatic weapon before it was wrestled away from him.

LUNA: The suspects went to the Alhambra location after he conducted the shooting, and he was disarmed by two community members who I consider to be

heroes because they saved lives.

LAH: The alleged shooter is Asian-American and believed to have acted alone. He was a regular patron of the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, even

meeting his ex-wife there according to three people who knew him.

HENRY LO, MONTEREY PARK, CALIFORNIA MAYOR: I have confidence that we will we will get over this crisis because we must and we will -- we will only do

so if we do it together as a community. 10 people were pronounced dead at the scene, making this mass shooting the deadliest since the Uvalde

Elementary School shooting last May. The sheriff described many of the victims as likely being in their 50s, 60s or older.

This tragedy marks the 33rd mass shooting so far this year, according to the gun violence, archive.

LUNA: Gun violence needs to stop. And I hope that this tragedy doesn't just go on a long list of many others that we don't even talk about until the

next one comes up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: I want to go to Monterey Park. Now. We got Josh Campbell following all the developments there for us. Just hearing that number 33 mass

shootings so far this year, this so tragic. But people were able to disarm him when he went to the second location. What more do we know?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We know that that could have been another tragedy. But for the quick action and brave action of two

people inside that location who actually confronted and disarm the shooter, taking his gun away. The shooter then fled and the gun was left behind. And

that was a key piece of evidence that police needed to make that identification.

Of course, some 30 miles away is where authorities eventually located that white van. We've seen these images of that police standoff that was

underway where you had these tactical SWAT officers approaching that van. They eventually after the standoff went on for several hours, they decided

to make entry into that vehicle smashing through the passenger side. They found the suspect inside deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

And then finally, we're learning new details about the actual type of weaponry that he allegedly used in this attack behind me here in Monterey

Park. This was a semi-automatic assault pistol, police say which is actually illegal here in the state of California. There's a question about

how we got it. We know that this was an older man, yet 72 years old, so it's possible that he obtained that weapon prior to the assault weapons ban

taking place here in the state of California.

But a lot of questions still remaining about how we got that weaponry also obviously the big question about motive.

[10:15:06]

We may never know the answer to that. The suspect is now deceased. Something set him off. But that is certainly under investigation by

investigators who are working right now to interview people who may have known him and to try to get to the bottom of why did he come here to this

club on Saturday evening and conduct this mass attack, Eleni.

GIOKOS: All right. Josh Campbell, thank you so much for that update.

And still ahead, massive protests against Israel's new governments and the key ally Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just fired from his cabinet.

That's what's coming up. Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GIOKOS: The European Union is taking new steps to punish Iran for its crackdown on protesters, but those steps fall short of what many had

wanted. The E.U. is set to target dozens of Iranian officials with new travel bans and acid freezes. But the E.U. will stop short of designating

Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. E.U. rules say that the first step in a terror designation must come from the courts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEP BORRELL, E.U. HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: In Iran, we are going to discuss new personal sanctions according with the legal

framework on human rights. But as a terrorist organization for the Revolutionary Guard, I repeat, it has to be first and condemnation for the court in one member state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Well, CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is tracking the story for us. E.U. imposing this new package of sanctions. We've now ascertained the IRGC

isn't part of this. I want you to take me through the legal aspects of what is required. It sounds like it needs to go to court first. But then the

question becomes, how much willingness is there by the E.U. to make such a blanket sanction specifically against the IRGC?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look Eleni, just a bit of background of course, this is the fourth round of sanctions that has

been announced now by the E.U. You've also got the U.K. announcing coordinated sanctions targeting members of the regime, members of the

judiciary who have been involved in the violent crackdown on the protests in these ongoing sham trials.

And these fast-tracked death sentences are what human rights organizations have said is the regime weaponizing the death penalty to crush dissent in

the country. But look, as you mentioned, this falls short of what Iranian activists around the world have been campaigning for for quite some time

now. And also, European politicians last week passing that non-binding resolution calling on the block to designate the IRGC as a terrorist

organization.

[10:20:09]

And also, to impose sanctions on the country's top leadership, the Supreme Leader and President Raisi. And this is not just because of the violent

crackdown on the protester, Eleni. But also because of Iran's involvement in the war in Ukraine by supporting Russia and supplying arms to Russia in

Ukraine as well. But, you know, we heard the reaction coming from the regime, pretty much that preemptive sort of reactions, threatening

reciprocal action, saying that they're going to respond, that they have the power and capability to do so.

And they've even been floating this idea over the past couple of days, that they could block the E.U.'s access to the Strait of Hormuz as well. So

today we heard from the E.U. foreign policy chief Josep Borrell saying, look, it's not as simple as the E.U. deciding to designate the IRGC a

terrorist organization. This needs to come as a decision from a court from one of the member states for them to take action.

But those who know the situation really well, Iran observers will tell you this is no surprise. This is the E.U.'s position or has been for quite some

time. They're trying to tread very carefully. Their position all along has been keeping these channels of dialogue open with the regime. Yes, they're

coming under a lot of pressure to take more action against the regime. But they are still holding on to this idea that the only way that they can deal

with the regime and to contain the threat of the Islamic Republic is through diplomacy and keeping those channels open.

And really this reluctance to put that nail in the coffin of the nuclear deal negotiations that by all accounts is dead at this point. And of

course, this is coming at a time, Eleni, this refusal and this reluctance to take harsher action at a time where you're seeing this clear shift in

European public opinion over the past few months.

GIOKOS: Yes. Sounds like a balancing act. Jomana Karadsheh, thank you so much for that insight.

Well, the investigation into U.S. President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents is escalating. The FBI found the latest batch over the

weekend at Mr. Biden's home in Wilmington, Delaware. This is the fourth time classified documents have been found at the President's private

address since November. His lawyer says the six items found were from -- were from Biden's time in the Senate and as vice president.

I want to bring in CNN's senior crime and justice reporter Katelyn Polantz. More documents discovered, Katelyn. More questions and also more questions

on how this happened.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Right. I mean, this is an escalation indeed this weekend, Eleni, in this ongoing criminal

investigation, the FBI now has scoured the Delaware home of the sitting U.S. president. This is a situation we have not seen before in this

country. And they found even more classified records than President Biden's own staff had found this winter when they look.

So, six more items and surrounding materials from both Joe Biden's tenure as a senator as well as his vice presidency which ended in 2017. These

items are in addition to classified records that were being kept in his garage in Delaware after the vice presidency and in an office he kept in

Washington, all of which had been given back to the government in the past few months. The White House now is repeatedly emphasizing how cooperative

Joe Biden has been toward investigators in this situation.

This search on Friday, it was voluntary, it was not under a court order. And a spokesperson from the White House was saying this weekend that the

President and his lawyers offered up unprecedented access to every room of Biden's personal home so that documents will go back into the hands of the

federal government. Now, that situation means that Biden's legal risk going forward may be minimal because of the level of cooperation he's giving.

And it certainly is different than the much more standoffish approach from former President Donald Trump toward federal investigators wanting to

secure records he had in Florida, at his beach club. But this situation is certainly prompting political criticism of Biden across Washington from

Democrats as well as Republicans. A lot of concern from lawmakers over how national security records are handled and kept.

And Eleni, of course, the criminal investigation in this that the Justice Department is conducting with a special counsel appointed to look into this

specifically. That is continuing as well.

GIOKOS: Katelyn Polantz, thank you so much.

Well, the U.S. and Israel have launched their largest bilateral military exercise ever. The live fire operation includes 100 U.S. aircraft with

fighters, bombers and refueling aircraft flying alongside 42 Israeli planes.

[10:25:07]

Meanwhile, Israel's government is dealing with growing protests in Tel Aviv and beyond. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reluctantly complied

with the High Court ruling, sacking Aryeh Deri, a key ally from all ministerial posts. CNN's Hadas Gold has that part of the story from

Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Benjamin Netanyahu isn't even one month into his new term as Israeli prime minister and he

will already have an empty minister's chair at his next cabinet meeting. Forced to fire Aryeh Deri after a bombshell Supreme Court ruling last week

said Deri could not serve as Minister because of his previous criminal convictions and his declaration to the court last year that he would not

return to public office.

Putting off the dismissal for days. Netanyahu ultimately told Deri he was doing so with a heavy heart and would find a legal way to get him back into

government. Needing to carefully maintain the alliance with Deri whose 11 parliamentary seats Netanyahu needs to stay in power.

Deri's dismissal amplifying and already heated debate in Israel over Netanyahu has proposed judicial reforms that would give the parliament

power to overturn Supreme Court decisions. Prompting more than 100,000 people to flood the streets once again in protest on Saturday, the third week in a row, tens of thousands have come

out to decry what they see as the destruction of Israel's independent judiciary, claiming these reforms will help Netanyahu get out of his own

ongoing corruption trial. A charge Netanyahu denies.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): We will complete the reform legislation in a way that will fix what needs fixing to

fully protect individual rights and will restore the public's trust in the justice system which needs this reform so much.

GOLD: But the protesters are gaining momentum and numbers as opposition leaders including former Prime Minister Yair Lapid join them in the

streets.

YAIR LAPID, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): What you see here today is a demonstration in support of the country. This is a

demonstration for the country. People who love the country have come here today to defend its democracy, to defend its courts to defend the idea of

coexistence and of common good. There are people here who love Israel, who came to demonstrate for a democratic Jewish state according to the values

of the Declaration of Independence, and we will not give up until we win.

GOLD: With hopes, these protests turn into an ongoing public pressure campaign Netanyahu who won't be able to ignore. Hadas Gold, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: Well, coming up. China says too many people have already gotten COVID for infections to rebound after the busy Lunar New Year travel

season. is the worst really over?

Plus, we're live in Pakistan which is in the midst of a massive power outage. Next, what the government is doing to restore power.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:30:50]

GIOKOS: Welcome back, I'm Eleni Jackass in Dubai and you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels are

debating sending another aid package to Ukraine and Germany is under intense pressure to send or approve the transfer of Leopard 2 battle tanks

to Kyiv. Poland says it's ready to send its German-made Leopards with or without Germany's permission if a small coalition of other countries do the

same.

Germany's Foreign Minister, hence Chancellor Olaf Scholz may approve a transfer though he's bold to add such a move so far. Today, the Kremlin

warned that Ukraine "will pay if Germany sends tanks to Ukraine."

China says there were more than 12,000 COVID-related deaths in the week leading up to Sunday's Lunar New Year. It comes during a time when China's

transport system is packed. On Saturday alone, there were more than 26 million passenger trips according to state media. China's chief

epidemiologist is trying to ease fears of a new COVID surge saying 80 percent of the people in the country have already been infected in this

current wave.

He says that makes the possibility of a big wave of COVID cases in the coming months small. Let's bring in Marc Stewart who is live for us in Hong

Kong. The numbers are staggering if we think about 80 percent of the Chinese population already being infected. China, though reporting 12,000

deaths. There's so many questions around these figures. But could you give me a sense of how people have been impacted what you've been hearing? What

does it mean for resources on the ground?

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRERSPONDENT: Right, Eleni. That is a staggering number. All of those numbers are staggering. In fact, I was trying to do

the math, if we look at a population of 1.4 billion, if about 80 percent has had or has COVID, that's more than 800 million cases. Now, every data

point, every remark we get from the government has to be met with some skepticism because as we have seen, the reality on the ground doesn't

always reflect what's --what we're hearing from the central government as far as -- as far as the data.

But for this moment, during this Lunar New Year holiday, people seem to be on the move. They are going to big cities such as Shenzhen, Shanghai,

Beijing, Guangzhou. And in those big cities, as far as resources, an important point that you brought up, there seems to be medical treatment

and personnel there to take care of people. The question is, when they leave these big metropolitan areas and go into more remote areas, will they

get the same kind of care they need?

If indeed, so many people are sick with COVID or have been dealing with COVID. Also, along the resource question, pharmaceuticals, are people able

to get drugs? About 10 days ago, we did some reporting. And we found out that in many parts of China, there are some struggles. People are looking

to legitimate sources such as E-commerce sites, many drug makers, pharmaceutical makers said they are ramping up production.

But there's also still a black-market element to all of this as well. So, these next two weeks, which we'll wrap up the 40 days of this Lunar holiday

will conclude and then, Eleni, will perhaps have a better idea of where China stands based off of some of the images that we as journalists will

see on the ground.

GIOKOS: Yes. And 26 million people traveling, finally being able to see their loved ones after zero-COVID policy. The numbers of course, will be

quite telling after. Thank you so very much, Marc. Good to see you.

Well, Pakistan's Energy Minister says electricity is being partially restored in several regions in the country. Just hours ago, about 220

million people roughly Pakistan's entire population were left without power when the national grid suffered a major break down. CNN producer Sophia

Saifi is joining us now from Pakistan's capital Islamabad. It is unbelievable to think just what this means, a complete blackout.

[10:35:03]

A big effort now to get power back on. Power restored in some areas. I want you to tell me what's going on in big cities like Lahore Islamabad and

Karachi, which is very concerning if you think about what that means for places like hospitals and other emergency centers.

SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN PRODUCER: Eleni, I mean, if you think about it, Karachi, for example, is the port city. It is the financial center of the country

and the restoration of power in that city has been very limited. I mean, here in the capital, there was pitch black darkness from the building that

I'm standing a job. Only in the past hour have we seen some lights come back up from where we're standing. So, has been gradually restored over

here.

We have been told that trains have been stopped -- into cities trains have been stopped in the -- intercity trains have been stopped in Lahore, for

example. We know that telecoms are down we've been told by the Pakistan telecommunications authority that because the majority of the

telecommunications companies in this country have been running on backup power for more than 12 hours, the power went at 7:30 in the morning, when

most people woke up in this dead of winter to power being out.

We've also been told that people are not planning or not planning on sending their kids to school because the kids, there isn't any heating.

There isn't any light. There's a lot of confusion about when the power will be restored completely across the country because some of the power that's

been restored has been fluctuating. The voltage issues with the people that have been getting power back in their homes, people are running their

generators.

There's already been a fuel crisis in this country. There's a gas shortage in Pakistan, there's a water shortage in the country. Pakistan is running

on dwindling reserves at the moment. And this is just the tip of the iceberg on the many crises that have been hitting Pakistan in the past

couple of months. Eleni?

GIOKOS: Sophia Saifi, thank you. Well, for millions of tourists, Machu Picchu was a dream destination. Unfortunately, everything has changed. Now,

it's a traveler's nightmare. We'll tell you why after this.

And injury. What injury, Novak Djokovic continues to delight his fans with his winning streak.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GIOKOS: What do you Amazon, Microsoft and have in common? A shrinking workforce. The Swedish music streaming business announced today a six

percent cut in the number of employees. The CEO said it was difficult but necessary. Major tech companies who benefited from the COVID boom which

kept millions of workers at home are tightening their belts. 50,000 tech jobs were lost in the last three months.

[10:40:09]

Anti-government protests in Peru are causing travel chaos from airports to hiking trails. Hundreds of stranded tourists had to be evacuated from Machu

Picchu after access to the world famous site was suspended. CNN's Rafael Romo reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): : Peru's biggest tourist attraction Machu Picchu, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, Peru

announced Saturday it's closing the fame site indefinitely, including the Inca trail that leads up to it.

Anti-government protests have choked transportation to and from the ancient citadel. Rail operators say they've had to suspend services because several

tracks have been blocked or damaged by protests that have spread throughout the country.

In the past month, dozens of people have been killed and violent clashes. The fiery protests erupting after the ousting of former President Pedro

Castillo in December. Demonstrators are demanding new elections and calling for the resignation of current Peruvian President Dina Boluarte.

The civil unrest has stranded tourists before. Last month authorities evacuated hundreds of people after similar transit issues at Machu Picchu.

Officials say this time around, some tourists have left by foot but the trick is at least six to seven hours long.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMO: Machu Picchu usually draws more than a million tourists a year but it's now off limits. Peru's national treasure overshadowed by its spiraling

political crisis. Rafael Romo, CNN.

GIOKOS: Football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo made his Saudi Pro League debut on Sunday. He didn't score any goals but his new team Al-Nassr got a

one no home victory and that's thanks to a header by Brazilian forward Anderson Talisca. Al-Nassr's win puts them back at the top of the Saudi Pro

League standings. Ronaldo was named team captain before the match.

Well, it seems that nothing can keep Novak Djokovic back, not even a hamstring injury. His performance in the fourth round of the Australian

Open was very strong and looked almost effortless. The tennis star ignored the pain and booked his place in the quarterfinals. Amanda Davies now joins

me to give me some insight. The big question. Will Djokovic get his 10th men's title at the Australian Open? What's the word?

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: I've got to say, Eleni, it would take a brave person to bet against it at this moment in time. Team Korea doing the

on-court assessment with Novak said you'll struggle to see a better ever performance from him. As you mentioned the nine-time champion, he did admit

he is on "a lot of anti-inflammatories" for that hamstring injury on his left leg which he's still heavily strapping.

But he said for the first time at this tournament he was playing without pain. He was on and off court in less than two hours against an Australian

home favorite Alex De Minaur losing just five games that along the way. And yes, certainly looking very much you're on track. And we've got latest from

Melbourne coming up in just a couple of minutes on World Sport.

GIOKOS: Yes. I mean, I'm just looking at some of these images. He'd -- incredible performance. He's just amazing. All right. Amanda Davies, you're

up next with sports after the short break. Stay with CNN.

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