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First Move with Julia Chatterley
Hope Dims for Survivors as Death Toll Tops 22,000; Russia to Slash Oil Production as Sanctions Bite; Death Toll Tops 22,000 Five Days on from Disaster; U.S. Announces $85M in Humanitarian Aid for Earthquake Response; Leaked Files Show China's Surveillance of Uyghur Families; FanDuel Lets Fans Bet on the Big Game. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired February 10, 2023 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN HOST, FIRST MOVE: Hello and welcome to the CNN, I'm Rahel Solomon. We begin with the latest Turkey and Syria the death toll
from Monday's devastating earthquake now above 22,000 families and rescuers clinging to hope that survivors can still be found after days buried in the
rubble.
And as the day's drag on humanitarian crisis grows, thousands of families displaced and left with nothing need just about everything. Still, though
there are miraculous stories of survival overnight two teenage sisters pulled from the rubble about 100 hours after the quake. And powerful images
of a family of six including two parents and their four children rescued from their collapsed first floor home after 102 hours.
Their brother and son watching from the sidelines tearful and thankful for their survival the sheer scale of the disaster unimaginable the Turkish
city of Antakya like a ghost town as survivors face a new reality and struggle amid tough conditions. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): 80 hours in and in Antakya any sign of hope will do. Rescuers rush in these
buildings first three floors have collapsed down but left their upper floors up right and - aged eight is inside, possibly alive. By the time
they get her to the ambulance though, it's clear they were too late. Her mother outside, only able to watch her everything vanishes. My little one,
she says don't take her, don't let her get lost.
Antakya's streets are chilling patchwork of what's left standing and what's not left. In its ruins, anxious crowds of rescuers and locals thinking they
heard someone alive, demanding silence so they can listen again. Down here is Ahmed, the Rescuers say alert, responsive a Syrian refugee.
The building next to him barely hanging on at an angle their work desperately wishing it was quicker. Across the city, hell has landed, this
man guarding his neighbor's books with his father in law next to the body of his mother in law. He gestures behind him to where he wants lived.
WALSH (on camera): It's kind of hard to get your head around just how inhabitable a city of this size has become so fast. Literally every street
you walk down has a scene like this and the roads out while they're jammed full of people trying to get away to safety because the building still
could collapse. And the roads and rescuers, people even trying to get their possessions back. And those who've stayed lining every part of the green
spaces we can find with tents to try and stay warm.
WALSH (voice over): The trees, perhaps in just enough space away from buildings that could crumble. A new world for children smiling, neither
oblivious, nor somehow shaken too hard dusk and the smoke of fire settles with the dust to choke the streets. But back where we were an hour earlier,
there has been relief.
Ahmed was saved, pulled out from the hole his family, perhaps still inside. The medics keep asking him, did you hear any signs of life from them? No,
he says. They say he cannot wait for them that he must be treated after 86 hours in tuned the weight of grief even as he is saved.
His friend Jamil was pulled from the rubble. I've been given life again he says I saw death before my eyes. I saw my own grave. Like the same twist of
fate here. There have been noises deep inside the bottom of what was once an apartment blog. First outcomes one-man Sulaiman (ph) age 21. The frantic
work of medics here suggesting he did not make it.
WALSH (on camera): I think if the impossibility of hope here that somebody could emerge for this time alive from the wreckage that's driving this
large crowd of rescuers most intense work done by hand right at the front of the rubble there.
WALSH (voice over): Outcomes a full year old boy named - rescue was said live scene trying even to take off his oxygen mask.
[09:05:00]
WALSH (voice over): His father Tolga (ph) who follow shortly does not seem to move. 89 hours in the rubble that both tore a world apart but found
enough mercy to spare it's youngest.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: And Salma Abdelaziz joins me now live from Istanbul. Salma, of course, we love to hear these stories of survival and rescue just
incredible five days into this quake, but help put this in context for us in terms of, I imagine for every incredible miraculous story of a rescue
being made, there must be many more where it's the recovery.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right. And that's why those stories of survival are really becoming rallying cries in some ways
for many people across Turkey. They're those glimmers of hope those little bits of survival that are really keeping people going, they keep playing
these images on television, of people still being pulled out.
And as you said, this is a rare and beautiful exception when we see it. But overwhelmingly all across that quake zone, people are simply waiting to get
the bodies of their loved ones and prepare to bury them, prepare to lay them to rest. They just want to give them that final dignity of putting
them in the ground.
And they're pleading with authorities really, who are now stretched thin and overwhelmed to retrieve these bodies, again, from under the rubble,
many, many thousands their entire families are wiped out. I just want to give you a number and update here on how the Turkish authorities are
handling the other part of this crisis of course, which is the homeless, right?
Tens of thousands hundreds of thousands in fact, now made homeless whether that is because their homes have collapsed or they're simply too scared to
live with them. Now they're on the streets, Turkish authorities saying they've been able to evacuate just over 75,000 people out of this quake
zone into areas of relative safety.
I say 75,000, it sounds like a big number. But that is only a tiny fraction of the people who need help immediately. We heard just recently from
President Erdogan who has vowed to pay the rent of any victims for a year he said we're going to cover your rent if you need to stay in apartment, we
also have hotels.
The authorities are also setting up tents in these quaint zones. We understand 140,000 tents have been shipped in President Erdogan also making
this remarkable promise to rebuild the entire area in just a year. I think it's hard to fathom that that could take place but very much right now.
He is a President who is facing the anguish and grief of his own people and they are demanding answers. How was there so much loss of life? When you
look at the video of the quake zone, when you look at the images of those buildings completely pancaked, completely collapsed, questions are being
raised.
Were these buildings safe enough to live in? Could life have been saved? President Erdogan trying to address those questions and trying to meet the
demands of hundreds of thousands right now who need help?
SOLOMON: Look, Salma, as you rightly pointed out their questions grow frustration grows, anger grows. Help me understand moving forward.
Obviously, the top priority now is still this recovery mission, still looking for survivors. Help me understand for the buildings that are still
standing, the type of assessments that will be necessary to understand and fully appreciate whether they're even safe enough for people to go back
into.
ABDELAZIZ: Look, for the people who live in those buildings and have abandoned them for now. They are not going to take any authorities word at
this time. They have simply refused to go back inside these houses. They have seen the horror themselves firsthand, and they're too scared to go
back inside they'd rather sleep in the cold with no food, no fuel than risk the possibility of a building collapsing.
There is so much here for the Turkish authorities to sort out. That question you're asking, that's the same question being asked on the ground.
And I do not think we have answers here. Yes, there are multiple operations going on here. Right, you have the operation to pull out survivors.
Remarkably, we are still seeing people being pulled out alive that are ongoing. Then there's the operation to retrieve bodies. Remember, we have
countless bodies under these buildings. That's one operation, then there's the other operation to try to find shelter for hundreds of thousands of
people who have been made homeless in the very bitter winter cold.
And then there's the operation to try to provide the long term support for this humanitarian crisis. There is a great deal going on here and only
entering the fifth day, again of this catastrophe. There are still so many things that need to be sorted out by the Turkish Government. And you really
sense that anger not just in the earthquake zone, but all across Turkey.
SOLOMON: A long road ahead, Salma Abdulaziz, thank you. Now to the war in Ukraine, Russia firing a wave of missiles into Ukraine causing power
outages across the country. And this comes a day after Ukrainian President Zelenskyy met with European leaders seeking more weapons.
[09:10:00]
SOLOMON: Today the Ukrainian government has officially asked Netherlands to send F-16 fighter jets. David McKenzie is live in Kyiv with the latest. So
David, Ukraine now officially making this request what do we know about the response from the Netherlands and what happens next?
To send F-16 fighter jets, David McKenzie is live in Kyiv with the latest. So David Ukraine now officially making this request, what do we know about
the response from the Netherlands and what happens next?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's an interesting response, Rahel. And it's certainly something that President
Zelenskyy has been pushing very hard in recent days with his diplomatic push in the U.K. and Mainland, Europe to try and persuade the allies in
Europe and the U.S. to get fighter jets particularly the F-16, U.S. fighter jets into the theater of war.
What is significant about the Netherlands is that they are decommissioning their F-16 program that maybe opens the door for Ukraine to access those
fighter jets. But the Netherlands and other allies are holding back for now on providing Ukraine with the sophisticated weapon systems.
They say in part because that it's a complex system. The F-16 is not just the plan, you need the support, you need the training to get them in the
air here in Ukraine, but not ruling it out, according to an affiliate of CNN who spoke to the Defense Minister there, he said all of these requests
by Ukraine are taken very seriously.
But it is significant that they're not saying no. And up until now, even with weapons system that seemed inconceivable at the very start of this war
around a year ago. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has been very persuasive and getting allies to give them what they want. But for now, it doesn't
appear it's going to be anytime soon, but the door is still open, Rahel.
SOLOMON: Well, it's an interesting point, David, right, because this is similar thing we heard from some of the Western nations about these modern
tanks these western tanks that they were complex mechanisms, and that they needed a lot of training and yet we've seen what's happened with that.
David, what more can you tells us about these attacks in the City of Zaporizhzhia and the damage there?
MCKENZIE: Well, it's all throughout the country. In fact, if these attacks happened in the east, the south and the west, and even attempts here in the
capital, this wave of missiles probably the most significant attempted attacks of its kind for several weeks from the sea, from the air and land,
according to Ukrainian officials, and specifically the Air Force.
Many of these missiles say the Air Force were in fact down by air defense systems. That's a significant one. They say more than 70 were fired at this
country and more than 60 were, in fact brought down not reaching the target. But there were several strikes on energy infrastructure.
And this has been a pattern, Rahel, of the Russians to target civilian infrastructure. According to the Ukrainians that has done significant
damage. Overall, it's been pretty remarkable that they've managed to keep the power on in large parts of the country. And you ask the question,
what's the impact?
Well, they've had to have planned outages to deal with potential shortfalls, as well as emergency outages in areas where coal and thermal
and hydro plants might have been struck at this stage. The Ukrainians have been successful in limiting the damage today, but it does point to this
strategy to try and cripple the grid of the Russians continuing, Rahel.
SOLOMON: Look, David, I think you make a great point that it is remarkable that Ukraine has been able to withstand this very cold winter in the midst
of these attacks. And I think it really speaks to the sacrifices that Ukrainians are making in the midst of this war. David McKenzie, thank you.
And oil prices meantime jumping, take a look at this Brent crude up about 1.4 percent WTI up about 1.3 percent. This is after Russia said that it
would cut production by 500,000 barrels a day and March. Let's bring in Scott McLean with more on why this is happening? Scott, of course this
comes in the midst of sanctions on Russia. Explain to us what's happening here in the oil market?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so Russia, Rahel, is not doing this because anybody told them to do it. Case in point OPEC plus which Russia is
a part of recently decided to keep their production levels in place and so Russia is essentially doing this unilaterally cutting half a million
barrels per day or about 5 percent of its overall output or its overall production.
This was announced by the Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak who said that, who blamed the Western price cap on Russian crude oil, Russian
diesel and other petrochemical products or Russian hydrocarbon products, for essentially artificially interfering with the normal functioning of the
market.
He also in his words called that a continuation of the destructive energy policy of the West. He said that the production cut here will help to
restore the normal functioning of the market. Otherwise, you could see a decrease in investment in the oil sector in his country.
Of course, because in part in large part because the EU effectively with few exceptions banned Russian crude oil coming in, at least by ship.
Russian oil prices have taken a real dive in normal times before the war.
[09:15:00]
MCLEAN: Russian crude oil Russia Urals crude and Brent crude from the U.K. typically trade in lockstep give or take a few cents but since the war
began they've really started to diverge now. Russian crude oil regularly sells at a discount of more than 30 percent compared to Brent.
And even if this production cut does succeed in pushing the price up, which is obviously the goal here; it still has the price cap to contend with. But
remember, it's not imposed on countries; it's imposed on Western shipping and insurance companies. So even third party countries that maybe don't
care about the war in Ukraine, don't care how much they're paying for Russia now?
Even they will find it very difficult to pay more than $60 per barrel for Russian crude oil, which is what that price cap is actually set out. Of
course, that's the goal here for Europe and for the West to try to choke Russia, off of its funding for the war in Ukraine. And in some ways it
succeeded.
The Russian budget deficit hit $45 billion last year, though, in other ways, maybe it's not so clear, considering the IMF is forecasting that the
Russian economy will grow ever so slightly this year. And of course, as we saw this morning, Rahel, the missiles continued to fly over Ukraine.
SOLOMON: That IMF projection and upgrade from what I had previously expected. Scott McLean, thank you. Chinese President Xi Jinping may not
have known about that spy balloon that was shot down by the U.S. Military over the Atlantic Ocean that according to a U.S. assessment that was
briefed to lawmakers.
Meanwhile, Beijing, the U.S. House resolution condemning the spy balloon a political maneuver. Well Ripley has more now from Taipei.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Fiery new rhetoric from China escalating the suspected spy balloon scandal Beijing
blasting President Joe Biden for criticizing Chinese President Xi Jinping.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Can you think of any other world leader at trade place as Xi Jinping? Not a joke. You think of
any what I can think of on. This man is enormous problems.
RIPLEY (voice over): China says Biden's remarks are highly irresponsible and violate basic diplomatic protocols. Problems complicated by a growing
pile of evidence. Pieces of the downed balloon pulled from the sea off the Carolina coast. Proof, the Pentagon says China's weather balloon claim is
nothing but hot air.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman says I have no knowledge about America's claim that this balloon is part of a fleet. I think it could be
part of the information and public opinion war that the U.S. is waging against China. The international community can see clearly who the world's
largest espionage in surveillance country is.
BRIG. GEN. PAT RYDER, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: I can assure you this was not for civilian purposes. That is, we are 100 percent clear about that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is that?
RIPLEY (voice over): The U.S. linked to the balloon to a vast Chinese Military surveillance program, a growing list of global balloon sightings
and questions. The U.S. believes many balloons are launched from China's Hainan Island where a U.S. spy plane made an emergency landing in 2001.
China took three months to investigate before returning the plane in pieces. Now China is attacking the U.S. for shooting down its balloon and
sending the pieces to an FBI laughs. The spokesman says, the U.S. insists on using force to attack Chinese unmanned civilian airships, which
seriously violates international practice and sets a horrible precedent.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin asked for a phone call with China's Defense Minister. Beijing bluntly declined. Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: And straight ahead more on our top story the desperate efforts of rescue workers amid destruction in Syria and Turkey. We hear from UNICEF
live from the Syrian capital. And in other news, it is one of the biggest events on the American calendar. Whether you are a sports fan, a music
lover or a business looking to cash it we count down to the Super Bowl.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:20:00]
SOLOMON: Welcome back to CNN, we want to take you to these live pictures. This is Southern Turkey. It's an image that's become all too common over
the last five days we are watching heavy equipment. Rescue workers, rubble searching, searching the rubble, searching the damage, searching for
survivors, searching for whomever they can still find.
It's a sight that's become all too common five days after this tragedy rescue there becoming recovery and hope turning into heartbreak five days
after this devastating earthquake in Turkey and Northern Syria we now know that more than 22,000 people have been killed.
The World Food Programme calling for more access especially to Syria saying aid SOPs are being quickly exhausted. UNICEF says that its immediate focus
in Syria is to ensure children and families have access to clean drinking water and sanitation and that separated and unidentified children can be
reunited with their families as soon as possible.
Angela Kearney is the UNICEF Representative in Syria. And she joins us from Damascus. Angeles, thank you for being on the program today.
ANGELA KEARNEY, UNICEF REPRESENTATIVE IN SYRIA: Thank you.
SOLOMON: So you say clean drinking water and sanitation are the biggest priorities right now in Syria. What's the biggest challenge to getting that
aid to the people who need it most?
KEARNEY: I think mostly money. Essentially, we have tracks available to track very quickly clean drinking water. Also on the commercial market,
there's still a lot of bottled water that we can put in. It's actually people who are living in shelters, so in schools or mosques or churches,
and those were not built to have a lot of people in a small space.
Middle of winter, people is there and they really don't have showers. They don't have enough toilets for the number of people there. So as well as
clean drinking water, it's also sanitation needs and many of the pipes, the surge pipes have leaked into the water pipe.
So it's about water quality. It's about chlorine, all of those things together. And so getting that clean drinking water, the needs it right? And
that's just one of the many priorities.
SOLOMON: How we understand because as we know that Syria was already dealing with a cholera outbreak? And please correct me if I'm wrong, but as
I understand it, cholera is easily treatable. But time is of the essence in terms of treating cholera. Help me understand how urgently these materials,
the clean water, the clean sanitation is necessary?
KEARNEY: I mean, very necessary. The only good thing is that in the cold weather, it does reduce the number of cases and of course, we'll have
spraying around the corner. But we actually did manage to vaccinate 90 percent of people that we thought were the big target just a couple of
months ago with one into cholera vaccine.
But right now you just get one dose of diarrhea, not even cholera in those shelters, which are schools and people tightly packed inside mums and dads
and grandparents and children all together. So it's really prevention that is much better than the treatment. So if we can prevent it by, as we say
clean drinking water, but so by disposing of all of that rubbish.
I think that would be the best thing is really prevention and that's what we're working really hard on. And that also involves messages using the
kids to pass on messages to their parents, washing your hand after you've been to the bathroom.
[09:25:00]
KEARNEY: It's simple things like that can really save lives.
SOLOMON: That's really important context and Angela you say the biggest thing right now is money is the issue that the money hasn't been raised yet
or the issue that the money hasn't been raised yet or the issue that the money hasn't come into the country yet. What's the bigger issue in terms of
getting the money to where it's needed?
KEARNEY: Now, we're incredibly grateful and the Syrian people have been amazing to each other. There are convoys on the road now from Damascus to
Aleppo, and Latakia that many, many people are giving. It's just we need to buy things sometimes procure locally; sometimes we have a massive warehouse
in Copenhagen.
I mean, it's just competing with other emergencies around the world as well. There's no delay in getting the money here. It's just that we are
asking the guests of other countries to please help us in this emergency.
SOLOMON: And as we can see, you are in Damascus, so you are within Syria. How about access from outside of Syria? Is that improving in terms of
outside access being able to get into the country?
KEARNEY: I mean, the good news, what yesterday were that there were six trucks able to get them from Turkey and to northwest Syria. And I hope that
road it was blocked with snow and with destruction. And I believe that that really pushing those convoys and faster as well as that aid is coming.
And UNICEF just received a plane load from Dubai, of tents and tarpaulins and mats and blankets. We're just offloading the airport as we speak. So
there is a real sense of urgency. The UNICEF does not do this alone. We do it with other U.N. agencies, we do it with international NGOs, we do it
with anybody.
And so I think it's the joint effort together. And a U.S. fund, U.S.A. had been doing amazing fundraising for us. I think one of the things I'm asking
people is to trust us that we know how to get the aid to the people. We've been here before. We've always been here, we'll stay here. And so the
accountability to make sure that it gets for us, the children and the families. We hope and we believe that we've got the right systems for that.
SOLOMON: Relying on local coordination, relying on the people who know the community's best. How long of a process do you think this will be? This is,
of course, early days; we're only five days into this. But how long do you think this process will be in terms of, you know, and obviously, this was a
tragedy even before this natural disaster? How long do you think this will be?
KEARNEY: It'll be years really, and in terms of the destruction, I mean, there's water tanks down and the most affected areas, there's pipes that
are broken, but also just a simple thing where they needing to use the schools for shelters for people. So people whose apartment blocks were
either crushed to the ground on there were deaths in that area, or otherwise have got cracks and are unsafe or waiting engineers, reports.
There's thousands and thousands of people in these shelters, when then comes time for them to find alternative accommodation and working on that
very quickly. Those schools will need some rehabilitation; we'll need to get exercise books and pencils on there as well as desks and chairs that
need cleanliness.
It'll be absolutely weeks and this emergency phase and then months, the destruction and the urban areas does mean that it's a lot of people and a
very tiny space and a country and the people that were really struggling with poverty here. And now we also have the global economic crisis. So
there's just so many things and added to that it's winter and so it's really cold for people outside so we have to get them into shelters very
quickly.
SOLOMON: So much need. Angela Kearney, thank you for being on the program and thank you for the work that you do.
KEARNEY: Thank you.
SOLOMON: And we will have more CNN, after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:00]
SOLOMON: Welcome back! And we returned to Turkey and Syria and the monumental task of getting aid to survivors. The devastation brought by
Monday's earthquake has caused thousands of families to be displaced.
Turkish President Erdogan says that the Turkish government will pay the rents of citizens for one year if they do not wish to say intense. The
humanitarian crisis growing and concerns remain overreaching Syria. One UN official says people in Turkey and Syria need "More of absolutely
everything".
Offers of assistance from around the world continue to pour in meantime. On Thursday the United States announced $85 million in urgent humanitarian aid
for life saving assistance in the region. Joining me now is Vedant Patel. He is the Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the U.S. State Department.
Vedant, thank you for being on the program today!
VEDANT PATEL, PRINCIPAL DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: Thank you so much for having me.
SOLOMON: $85 million in aid help us understand what does that entail? And how quickly do you think it will reach the people who need it most?
PATEL: First and foremost, let me just take this opportunity to say on behalf of the State Department in the United States. Our thoughts are with
the Turkish and Syrian people right now in what is a very devastating and challenging time.
But since this tragic earthquake on Monday, the United States has pursued a number of lines of effort, including this new $85 million announcement to
ensure that humanitarian aid and important assistance is getting to the people that needed. What it looks like?
We've got search and rescue teams on the ground. We've got disaster assistance and response teams on the ground, paramedics and engineers with
specialized equipment, sniffing canines, food, shelter, water, things like that.
The big key now is doing everything we can and pursuing every line of effort to ensure that we can help find people who might still be stuck in
the rubble, and things of that nature. And so the United States is going to continue to pursue those lines of efforts aggressively.
SOLOMON: What can you tell us about how quickly aid is being allowed into the country? Is access still a problem? Or are you finding that the roads
of transportation are actually open?
PATEL: It is our hope that humanitarian aid can transit and transcend the border between Turkey and Syria as swiftly and as expeditiously as
possible. We just had word yesterday that a UN convoy with important equipment and humanitarian aid was able to successfully cross from Turkey
into Syria that is, of course a positive and welcomed development. And we continue to believe that we need to do everything we can to ensure that aid
can flow freely and as quickly as possible.
SOLOMON: And speaking of aid flowing freely. In terms of sanctions how does that impact if at all humanitarian aid?
PATEL: Well, I think an important thing to remember here in the context of Syria, the United States has been the single largest humanitarian aid
provider to the Syrian people since the Syrian war started nearly $15 billion dollars.
And since Monday, since the devastating earthquake on Monday, U.S. funded humanitarian partners have been operating in Syria and responding to this
earthquake. The White Helmets which is a U.S. supported group a group that we've worked with closely before. UN and NGO partners have been providing
food water and shelter.
[09:35:00]
PATEL: And I think it's an important thing to remember that U.S. sanctions policy is not an obstacle to this. We have been very clear from the get go,
that our sanctions do not target humanitarian aid.
And in fact, over the course of the past many years, we have worked with entities and authorizers and have authorizations in place to ensure that
humanitarian aid and humanitarian access can flow freely while sanctions remain in place to hold the Assad regime accountable.
SOLOMON: Well, until that point, I mean, Vedant from your perspective, what is the biggest obstacle in terms of access? Is it the regime of Al Assad?
Is it the opposition groups? Or is it just the sheer destruction to infrastructure there in terms of physically getting aid into the country?
PATEL: I'm not going to pinpoint at one way or the other there. Of course, this is a tragic incident that just took place on Monday. You and I have
both seen the images of devastation in the region. There are a lot of obstacles.
But that is why the United States jumped into action and is continuing to pursue many lines have efforts to do everything we can to support the
people of Turkey and the people of Syria. President Biden had the opportunity to speak with President Erdogan.
Secretary Blinken had the opportunity to speak with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. We are in close touch with our counterparts and doing everything
we can to ensure that humanitarian aid gets to the people that need it. We're paying very close attention and will continue to pursue many lines of
efforts to ensure that we can do this.
SOLOMON: Vedant Patel, thank you for being on the program. He is the Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the U.S. State Department.
PATEL: Thanks for having me.
SOLOMON: And coming up, a CNN exclusive how leaked Chinese police files are giving answers to Uyghur's Muslims about their missing family members
that's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLOMON: Welcome back! After years without contact, several exiled ethnic Uyghurs are learning what's happened to their families. It's thanks to new
online tool that allows the public to search through a massive trove of hacked documents. The information showing the scope of the surveillance
apparatus that Beijing uses to monitor its Uyghur population in Xinjiang. CNN's Ivan Watson has this exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WARSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The search for missing loved ones.
[09:40:00]
ABDUWELI AYUP, UYGHUR EXILED IN NORWAY: I am putting in my younger sister's ID number.
WATSON: Abduweli Ayup is a human rights activist an ethnic Uyghur from China's Xinjiang region. From exile in Norway he looks for the first time
at a Chinese police file from 2017 on his sister's Sajida (ph).
AYUP: It's really in detail.
WATSON (voice over): He hasn't spoken to her in years.
AYUP: She got arrested September 6. She was sent to an education camp, stayed there, about a month and then sent her to detention center and
sentenced 11 years.
WATSON (voice over): The Chinese police file says that Sajida Ayup up is a two faced or treasonous government official. Police apparently flagged the
high school geography teacher because of ties to her brother, an outspoken critic once jailed by the Chinese government.
AYUP: The government document told me that yes, it is. It is related to you and it is your fault.
WATSON (voice over): Ayup got early access to this new search engine. It's linked to tens of thousands of files that were hacked from police computers
in Xinjiang.
ADRIAN ZENZ, VICTIMS OF COMMUNISM MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: Its 830,000 different people are in these files, and it's clear from the files that
tens of thousands of them are detained.
WATSON (voice over): Adrian Zenz, a researcher with the victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, first released some of the hacked police
files last year. The Chinese government has not denied their authenticity.
But state media has slammed his analysis of the data, calling it disinformation. Beijing denies it committed human rights abuses while
detaining up to 2 million ethnic Uyghurs and other minority groups in reeducation camps in Xinjiang.
A campaign of mass repression, the U.S. government claims amounts to genocide. Zenz launched the search engine, hoping it will provide the
Uyghur Diaspora information about family members back home in Xinjiang.
ZENZ: The black hole is the most terrifying thing and I think that's part of why the Chinese state creates this black hole. It's the most terrifying
thing that can be done that you don't even know the fate of a loved one is or even alive or death.
WATSON (voice over): Mamatjan Juma remembers June 12th, 2006. The last time he saw his family.
MAMATJAN JUMA, UYHUR IN U.S.: I remember that day. I was passing the airport checkpoint and they were waving and I saw them their image is still
in my mind you know the picture that comes to me sometimes. So that's the last time I saw her.
WATSON (voice over): Juma is now a Journalist with Radio Free Asia's Uyghur language service in Washington D.C., which Beijing labels as an anti-China
propaganda organization. Unable to go home for fear of arrest and unwilling to even call his relatives for fear they could then be punished.
JUMA: Let's see. I'm going to search one of my brothers.
WATSON (voice over): So now he can only look at their police files.
WATSON (on camera): Did the files confirm the detention of any of your loved ones?
JUMA: Yes, detention of my three of my brothers, yes. And then I found one of my brother's pictures in that file.
WATSON (voice over): A mug shot of his younger brother, Eysajan, taken in detention.
WATSON (on camera): How does he look?
JUMA: He looked, he lost his soul. It gives you feeling of guilt, you know, because of that, they're tied to you and they're persecuted. It's not
really kind of fun, easy feeling to digest
WATSON (voice over): A photo of Juma and his brothers in happier times.
JUMA: I wish I could go back to this moment. You know, I wish I could go back to this moment.
WATSON (voice over): Today Juma is left piecing together what happened to his family through the Chinese police files. And the level of detail even
on people who are never accused of crimes is chilling.
JUMA: Fingerprints, DNA samples, voice samples, profile pictures, IRS scans that these are the biometric information they collected on my mother when
you look at it so you see this perfect example of a full blown surveillance state.
WATSON (voice over): Half a world away in Adelaide, Australia Marhaba Yakub Salay just found a police file for her 17 year old nephew.
MARHABA YAKUB SALAY, UYGHUR IN AUSTRALIA: That's insane. That's terrible. No, I didn't expect that.
WATSON (voice over): The file states that in 2017 when the boy was only 12 police labeled him category 2 a highly suspicious accomplice of a public
security or terrorism case. And that's not all.
SALAY: Here this is niece.
WATSON (on camera): Your niece has a police file?
[09:45:00]
SALAY: No way.
WATSON (voice over): The file claims that by the age of 15th Marhaba's niece traveled extensively, something her aunt denies.
SALAY: Australia, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Dubai, Egypt and Pakistan no way. Is that mean - they are saying that she has been in this country?
WATSON (voice over): So far neither child has been detained. But Salay worries for their future. Their mother, Myila (ph), her sister has already
been in and out of detention for years accused of financing terrorism, for wiring money to her parents in Australia to help buy a house.
WATSON (on camera): If you could tell them something. What would you like to tell them?
SALAY: I'm so sorry, what's happening to them and I'm so sorry. What's happening to their mother, my sister? I'm sorry, I can't help them. They
deserve so much better than this. They are innocent.
WATSON (voice over): The are more than 800,000 police profiles only provide a partial snapshot of the broader system of surveillance and repression in
Xinjiang. They don't alleviate the survivor's guilt, shared by many relatives living abroad, desperate to learn anything about their loved ones
back in China. Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: And stay with CNN. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLOMON: Welcome back! The Philadelphia Eagles battled the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 57 on Sunday night that's happening in Glendale,
Arizona. Tens of millions of people around the world are expected to watch the American football spectacular and this weekend's matchup set to make
history with two brothers facing off against each other.
This is the first time that has ever happened in a Super Bowl game. So on one hand, you have Kansas City Chiefs Titant Travis Kelce on the other you
have Philadelphia Eagles Center Jason Kelce, they're going to be battling it out on opposite benches.
No big deal though for their proud mother. She says she is rooting for both teams. Kansas City Chiefs Quarterback Patrick Mahomes he's already a winner
even before Sunday's big kickoff. He was named the NFL's most valuable on Thursday night. It is his second MVP title.
Also an emotional Super bowl week for Buffalo Bill Safety Damar Hamlin, Hamlin who you might remember suffered cardiac arrest during the game a
little over a month ago. Well, since then he has made a spectacular recovery. He made a surprise appearance at the NFL honors show where the
entire University of Cincinnati Medical Team that helped him with his recovery was honored.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAMAR HAMLIN, BUFFALO BILLS SAFETY: A special thank you to everyone on this stage for everything they did for me. And thank you everyone around the
country and around the world who prayed for me and hope for me. The journey will continue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: Damar Hamlin there really proves that you can be a winner both on and off the field. And fans around the world already placing bets on who
will win this weekend's Super Bowl helping them tries their luck.
[09:50:00]
SOLOMON: Betting sites like FanDuel where sports aficionados can wager on a wide variety of sporting events. Fans will not stopping there. It's digital
cable and satellite TV network FanDuel TV also up and running 24 hours a day.
FanDuel TV broadcasting live from Super Bowl Radio Row in Arizona all this week to help gear up for the big game. Amy Howe joins me now. She is the
CEO of FanDuel Group. She joins me from Super Bowl Radio Row in Phoenix. Amy thanks for being on the program today.
AMY HOWE, CEO FANDUEL: Thank you so much. It's great to be here.
SOLOMON: Look, it's a huge weekend. I myself, I'm a Philadelphia native, so you already know who I'm rooting for. But it's also a huge weekend for
companies like yourself, help us understand how monumental and critical this weekend is for gaming operators like you?
HOWE: Oh, it's such a huge weekend. So this year is shaping up to be the biggest day that FanDuel will ever have in the history of the company. We
project that will take somewhere close to 17 million bets on the platform that's double what we would have seen last year.
And you know the thing that's so special about the Super bowl is it's our biggest acquisition moment of the entire year, right? We may bring half a
million new customers onto the platform. And a lot of those are recreational users we may not have seen before there'll be more women on
the platform.
And so it gives us an opportunity to really expose them to our industry leading product that the big activity this year is around the player props,
which is fun, right? It gives people an opportunity to really think about the narrative that they want to play out. And our same day parlay offering
is just outstanding. We think somewhere around 40 percent of our bets will likely be a same game multi.
SOLOMON: That growth really incredible. 17 million you say that's double what we saw last year, what the company saw last year. Help me understand
who were your customers were? I mean, how many of these customers are sophisticated gamers? How many of these are recreational? And also what's
the mix between men and women?
HOWE: So listen, in Super Bowl, you're appealing to everybody, right? You're appealing to a very savvy, one of the early adopters, right? We're
four years in after the repeal. In the past there have been folks, who've been betting for many years, but you're also - this is a great opportunity
to bring some new users onto the platform.
You know, historically, you do skew a bit more men kind of 80 to 20. But for Super bowl, we'll see, you know a slightly more balanced mix from a
gender perspective. But we're excited. It's you know, it's an opportunity for us to really expose them to a world class product.
SOLOMON: And part of the idea of bringing in new users, of course, is advertising the importance right of advertising.
HOWE: Yes.
SOLOMON: And this year, you guys have Gronkowski and the Kick of Destiny Campaign, which is sort of a live ad. Help me understand how that's going
to work?
HOWE: Oh, it's been so much fun. Listen, we're America's number one sports book. And so this year, we wanted to make sure we really stepped it up. Rob
Gronkowski has just been fantastic. So it's a "Kick of Destiny" and Rob is going to be kicking a field goal in the third quarter 25 yard field goal.
If he makes it anybody who's bet $5 before the game starts, will have an opportunity to win a share of the $10 million in bonus bet. So it's just
been fantastic. He's been here Radio Row all week. And we're really excited. And as he said, he's going to make this for America.
SOLOMON: And Amy, it's not just who will win the Super bowl, right? I mean, as I understand it, there are hundreds of categories that you can bet on.
Walk me through some of those?
HOWE: Oh, there's hundreds and you know, so example, the Kelce brothers right both scoring a touchdown is one of the big - the more popular player
props right now. You know, Mahomes passing yards.
One of the big bets this year is people guessing the correct score. And you know, the 37, 34 the Philadelphia Eagles winning is prevailing is one of
the big bets I think there's 30,000, bets on the crack score.
And occasionally you can bet on some novelties not in all states, but you can even bet on the coin toss right now the money seems to be flying to the
tails. So hundreds and hundreds of player props to bet on.
SOLOMON: Amy because there are so many categories where people can bet because of the explosive growth of companies like yourself and online
gambling. Critics also warn and critics also worried that that is also fueling online gambling addiction. Help me understand the responsibility of
companies like yours to make sure that people are gaming responsibly?
HOWE: Listen, it is absolutely critical. We're owned by our parent company Flutter Entertainment. And globally, we've been a leader here, right? We
have set targets that by 2026 50 percent of our global customers need to be using one of our responsible gaming tools.
And you know, as we look to some of the more mature markets, we know, I know, as a leader that we have to build this industry, the right way on the
ground up. And so we're investing significant amount of money in tools and actually we're using the Super Bowl as a platform to do that.
You know, we have Rob Gronkowski who have - we have 10,000 trading cards around the city of Phoenix, where you can scan a QR code sends you directly
to our responsible gaming tools. And so we're using this as a platform to make sure that we can educate on how to gamble responsibly?
[09:55:00]
SOLOMON: And how do you protect against? Do you think about these NFL teams think about these NBA teams. I mean, these are massive teams. These are
massive organizations. How do you protect against the potential that someone who has access to let's call it insider information then acts on
that?
HOWE: Well, we have stringent rules around that with the leagues with the teams within our own organizations. You know, this is obviously a highly
regulated industry. And so it's one of the most important things that we have to do is to stay vigilant on that. And we have world class protections
in place to make sure that we can manage that the right way.
SOLOMON: Amy Howe thanks for being on the program today. Good luck this weekend and good luck to my Philadelphia Eagles. They face off on Sunday
night here Eastern.
HOWE: Thank you.
SOLOMON: We will all be watching. Thanks Amy Howe! And that is it for the show. I'm Rahel Solomon. "Connect the World" is coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
