[clock ticking]
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CARL AZUZ: International diplomacy isn't just
a course in higher education.
It's part of our first topic today.
I'm Carl Azuz.
An estimated 70,000 Russian troops
have been gathered along their country's western border
with Ukraine.
This is a divided nation.
Some Ukrainians want their country to be more involved
with the European Union.
Others want closer alignment with Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
believes a coup may be in the works,
that a Ukrainian businessman who's an ally of Russia
may try to take over Ukraine, and that the Russian troops
stand ready at the border to help.
That businessman and the nation of Russia
have repeatedly denied that.
But Russia does support forces in Ukraine
that are fighting for independence
from their government.
And Russia did annex, or take over,
a Ukrainian Peninsula in 2014, after people there
voted to become part of Russia.
Other countries said the vote wasn't fair
and that the Russian takeover was illegal.
The United States was one of those countries.
Its Obama administration imposed sanctions, or penalties,
on Russia for this.
But critics said those penalties were too weak.
US President Joe Biden said they'd be stronger this time
if Russia invades Ukraine.
But his administration says it won't send American troops
into a possible conflict.
Why might Russia want to invade Ukraine anyway?
Well, it's concerned that other European countries,
with the support of the United States,
could be moving weapons and defense equipment
closer to Russia's border.
It does not want that happening in Ukraine.
A Russian-Ukrainian alliance could help prevent that.
US President Biden and Russian President
Vladimir Putin spoke about all this on a call this week.
The diplomacy is delicate.
KAITLAN COLLINS: A high-stakes call amid fears
of a Russian invasion.
JOE BIDEN: Hello.
INTERPRETER: [speaking russian]
JOE BIDEN: Good to see you again.
KAITLAN COLLINS: With tensions simmering on the border
of Ukraine, President Biden spoke
to Russian President Vladimir Putin for 2 hours and 1 minute.
JAKE SULLIVAN: The call covered a range of issues,
but the main topic was Ukraine.
KAITLAN COLLINS: The call posing a critical test for Biden
as he tries to avoid a major European security crisis
if Russia invades Ukraine.
- So did President Biden get clarity from him
on whether or not that is his intention?
JAKE SULLIVAN: We still do not believe that President
Putin has made a decision.
What President Biden did today was lay out very clearly
the consequences if he chooses to move.
KAITLAN COLLINS: Biden warning Putin
about strong economic consequences and quote,
"other measures."
But it remains to be seen if the combative Russian leader backs
down.
JAKE SULLIVAN: There was no finger wagging.
But the president was crystal clear.
KAITLAN COLLINS: Putin had his own demands,
including blocking Ukraine from joining the military alliance
known as NATO.
JAKE SULLIVAN: He made no such commitments or concessions.
KAITLAN COLLINS: Sullivan adding that the US is prepared to act
in ways it didn't after Russia illegally annexed Crimea when
President Obama was in office.
JAKE SULLIVAN: I will look you in the eye
and tell you, as President Biden looked President
Putin in the eye and told him today,
that things we did not do in 2014,
we are prepared to do now.
KAITLAN COLLINS: Tensions between the United States
and Russia have only gotten worse in the months
since Biden and Putin sat down for talks in Geneva.
At that meeting in June, six months ago, Biden
predicted he would know soon if he had
made real progress with Putin.
JOE BIDEN: What is gonna happen next is we're
gonna be able to look back--
look ahead in three to six months
and say, did the things we agree to sit down
and try to work out-- did it work?
KAITLAN COLLINS: Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.
CARL AZUZ: 10-second trivia.
The gray long-tailed goral is native to what
country, Ukraine, China, Australia, or South Africa?
[beeping]
This antelope-like mammal is also known as the Chinese goral
for its native habitat.
Until today, I was more familiar with another native species
of China--
this one, the giant panda, which, as of this year,
is no longer on China's endangered species list.
According to the Chinese government,
giant pandas have joined Asian elephants, Siberian tigers,
and crested ibises in seeing their numbers
increase in the 21st century.
The species is still considered vulnerable.
There are fewer than 2,000 of them in the wild.
But in protecting more habitats, China
hopes the giant panda populations
will thrive in the years ahead.
- It is China's most beloved species,
the iconic face of this nation.
Treasured globally, once endangered and near extinction,
now the giant panda is on path to populate
China's majestic mountains for generations to come.
Welcome to Panda Valley, as it's called.
For years, these cuddly-looking creatures
have lazily roamed here in Central
China's Sichuan province.
Despite decades of encroaching human development, in 2021,
as part of an effort to increase biodiversity across China,
five new national parks were unveiled,
half of the 10 pilot areas under review
for national park status.
Among the first batch created, the Giant Panda National Park.
It's become a panda sanctuary, thanks in part
to what happens here, at the Chengdu research
base of giant panda breeding.
When we visited, this one was getting ready for its close-up.
Giant pandas are known as flagship species, meaning,
ecologically, they're not as important as they
are culturally here in China.
But by protecting the giant panda,
you're protecting the ecosystems for potentially millions
of other species.
I met some of the rangers tasked with protecting that ecosystem
and was surprised by how big tech
has revolutionized their jobs.
Looking to protect pandas?
Well, there's an app for that.
They are using the Digital Panda System, developed
by Chinese tech giant Huawei, with the Sichuan
Forest and Grassland Administration,
along with other partners.
Spanning all of Sichuan province,
this system uses more than 600 cameras, along with drones
and satellites, to detect wildfires
in hard-to-reach areas, with data
stored in the Huawei cloud.
ZHAO JIAN: [speaking chinese]
INTERPRETER: In those locations, there is often no power supply.
So we provide microwave transmission network solutions
and solar power solutions to support this kind of system
in the wild.
- Technology like this has also been used to track and monitor
the other residents of the forest, like the black bear,
golden pheasant, Tibetan macaque, and long-tailed goral,
helping to protect the biodiversity that sustains
all life, including us humans.
AHIMSA CAMPOS-ARCEIZ: Biodiversity provides what
we call ecosystem services.
These are goods and services that we don't pay for,
but we need.
Nature provides this clean water we can drink.
But if we need to produce this water,
it's much more expensive.
And when we lose biodiversity, we are
kind of breaking this function.
With technology, we have much better information,
and we can be better informed.
- This is just the latest of the longstanding conservation
efforts that have helped revive the once-dwindling
giant panda population.
Over the past 20 years, the number of wild giant pandas
in China has jumped nearly 80%, from about 1,000
to roughly 1,800, removing it from the endangered
species list in 2021.
This conservation success story is thanks to the work of people
like Hou Rong, nicknamed Panda Mom.
She's worked with pandas for almost three decades.
HOU RONG: [speaking chinese]
INTERPRETER: Through protecting giant pandas,
we want more people to pay attention
to biodiversity protection.
The giant panda is definitely not
the only species we care about.
We hope to extend our conservation
efforts to other species.
- Here in Chengdu, it's not only the giant pandas,
but also, you've got these guys, red pandas,
a bit more approachable, but equally as cute and cuddly.
Sadly, red pandas are still endangered.
But the hope is with new technologies designed
to protect these newly minted national parks, there will be
more safe spaces for a range of species,
from the lesser known to the most famous,
to lounge freely for centuries.
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CARL AZUZ: In general, skydiving doesn't sound like something
you need to add speed to.
But don't tell that to these two.
They're the world record holders in speed skydiving, when you
don't just jump out of a plane, you angle your body
and prevent it from wobbling in order
to fall as fast as possible, like more than 300 miles
per hour possible, when normal skydiving only drops
you at 120 miles per hour.
It's reportedly the fastest nonmotorized sport on
the Earth-- no, off the Earth.
And they need no atmosphere, my dear, if the speeds they post
and the posts they share show, believe it or not,
they're walking on air. It's a scare.
It's a thrill.
It takes a dangerous drive to head down headfirst
on a headstrong dive, to put their airheads together
as they dare to shoot down toward the ground
before they parachute.
Well, that'll get our heads out of the clouds.
We are headed to the United Kingdom before we jump today.
Shout out to Lakenheath High School in Lakenheath.
I'm Carl Azuz.
And tomorrow is Friday.
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