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CARL AZUZ: Happy Valentine's Day.
We love that you're taking 10 for today's show.
And we hope everything is going well with you.
I'm Carl Azuz.
A lot of eyes worldwide are fixed on what's
happening in China and Ukraine.
And we're covering new events from both places today.
As far as things go with Eastern Europe,
Russian military forces around Ukraine
could invade the country by the end of this week.
That's the word from the White House.
The United States is the biggest contributor to NATO,
an alliance of North American and European countries.
And they don't want Russia to try to take over Ukraine, which
is on Russia's Western border.
Russia doesn't want Ukraine to become a member of NATO.
It would consider that a threat too close to home.
During disagreements over this issue and others,
Russia has built up a huge military force around Ukraine.
And NATO has threatened to heavily
penalize Russia's economy if it tries to invade Ukraine.
On Saturday, US President Joe Biden
discussed this in a phone call with Russian
President Vladimir Putin.
On Sunday, President Biden discussed it in a phone call
with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
American officials say the hope and the priority
is to resolve the problem diplomatically so that Russia
does not invade Ukraine.
But even though Russia has repeatedly
said it's not planning to, it blames
Western countries and their media
for spreading false information about that.
It also says NATO has failed to address Russia's
main security concerns.
So what action the country is planning to take
is anyone's guess.
Over the weekend, the US moved some
of its troops out of Ukraine.
America does not plan to involve them
directly in a war with Russia.
And the US evacuated most of its embassy staff as well.
Ukrainian President Zelensky has said
he doesn't think a Russian attack is
going to happen any time soon.
But if and when it does, the timing of all things
could depend on the weather.
- Across much of Ukraine, it's been a mild winter.
Still, plenty of snow but much of it turning to slush.
The sea of Azov, less icy the normal
for the beginning of February.
According to the latest data, temperatures
are running between 1 and 3 degrees Celsius higher
than the 30-year average.
And that just might make a difference to
any Russian military offensive.
JOE BIDEN: He's going to move in and occupy the whole country,
particularly from the north from Belarus.
He's going to have to wait a little bit
until the ground's frozen.
- The view in Washington is that a Russian offensive
needs frozen ground, given Ukraine's landscape.
MARK MILLEY: Prominent terrain includes flat open plains.
And there are abundance of rivers and lakes.
And there's a high water table.
And when that high water table freezes,
it makes it for optimal conditions
for cross-country tracked and wheeled vehicle maneuver.
- It's not so much that modern tanks get
bogged down in wet conditions, but the support they need
can do.
JD WILLIAMS: More importantly than the track vehicles
themselves is what they need to sustain themselves, which
is fuel and ammunition, which are very heavy
and are generally carried by wheeled vehicles that
need good roads.
- Even the Russians admit that in some areas,
wet conditions can be a factor.
VLADIMIR CHIZHOV: If you studied geography of the area,
actually the southern part of Belarus close
to the Ukrainian border is a very swampy area, which
is hardly fitting for a certain active engagement of tanks
and other heavy weaponry.
- It's not just the conditions on the ground.
It's the skies as well.
Clear skies are important for reconnaissance
and intelligence gathering and for landing assault troops.
JD WILLIAMS: Cloudy weather, rain, snow, all of that
would inhibit the reconnaissance measures that you
would use to find the targets.
And if you can't find the targets precisely,
then the effect that your fires are going to be diminished.
- But in the initial phase of any conflict,
some experts say that Russia would
likely opt for weapons that can operate in any weather.
Long range artillery, ballistic missiles,
they would seek to take out Ukrainian command and control,
not front line forces.
Satellite imagery indicates that such weapons
have been brought forward to positions
near the Ukrainian border.
CARL AZUZ: 10-second trivia.
What was featured for the first time at the 1900 Summer
Olympics-- a marathon, women's event,
cycling, or an Asian host city?
Four years after the first modern Olympics in 1896,
women were allowed to compete for the first time.
122 years later, female competitors are
still making Olympic history.
Norway's Marte Olsbu Roeiseland became
the first woman to win four biathlon
medals at a single Olympics.
US snowboarder Chloe Kim became the first woman to win back
to back golds in the half pipe.
US skater Erin Jackson became the first Black American woman
to win an Olympic speed skating medal.
It was gold.
And at age 35, snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis
became the oldest American woman to win gold.
And she won two.
But a number of other women and men
who qualified and made it to Beijing
have been unable to compete or even train.
China's strict COVID containment laws
have kept them in isolation.
SELINA WANG: From Olympic dream to quarantine,
the nightmare scenario.
Athletes who test positive, like Norwegian Olympian Jarl Magnus
Riiber, whisked out of the Olympic Village in an ambulance
into this dystopian reality.
Workers in hazmat suits carry his Olympic luggage
into the isolation facility.
The overwhelming smell of disinfectant.
They go through paperwork, take his vitals,
feeling healthy, but making it out in time to compete,
he tells me, is a slim possibility.
The gold medalist in the Nordic combined skiing event
trapped in this room for more than a week
running back and forth, over and over
again, just to stay in shape.
His happiest day here, getting his bike delivered.
The confinement ruining years of preparation.
JARL MAGNUS RIIBER: I hope for a miracle.
Yeah, it destroys a lot because you have tuned your shape
so much into this event.
SELINA WANG: But for it to end, athletes
have to deliver two negative PCR tests with at least
24 hours in between.
Then after that, seven more days of isolation at the Olympic
Village.
For some athletes, it's already too late.
American ice skating star Vincent Zhou telling fans he's
out of the games because of COVID,
even though he's taken every precaution possible.
In a heart-wrenching video, he shares what
he would tell his younger self.
VINCENT ZHOU: Just the pain of it all is--
it's pretty insane.
SELINA WANG: More than 400 Olympic personnel
have tested positive for COVID.
And athletes tell me that isolation hotels like that one
are getting full, but they couldn't
feel more isolated or anxious knowing
that their Olympic dreams could end in there.
American bobsledder Josh Williamson stuck in California
after testing positive.
JOSH WILLIAMSON: I had kind of done everything I can.
And that's one of those things where it's a hard pill
to swallow when it's something that
might be out of your control.
SELINA WANG: Swedish curler Sofia
Mabergs documents her roller coaster week for CNN.
SOFIA MABERGS: I can finally start packing my stuff again.
I'm like all emotional right now.
SELINA WANG: After agonizing days of positive tests,
she finally recovered, making her way to the games.
SOFIA MABERGS: Get the Olympic experience started.
SELINA WANG: For these Olympics, even
the little things, like embracing friends,
is a victory.
SOFIA MABERGS: Free to hug my friends and best teammates
ever.
SELINA WANG: Selina Wang, CNN, Beijing.
CARL AZUZ: 52 World Records in 52
weeks, that was the goal that David
Rush set for himself last year.
He's a dude who's made a career out of breaking World Records
and using the publicity to promote STEM education.
So let's get educated on some of his feats.
Putting on t-shirts, setting up chess board with one hand,
catching grapes in mouth while juggling,
balancing toilet rolls on head, catching ping pong balls
and shaving foam, whatever this is,
fastest time for wrapping a person in cling wrap,
it benefits David that Guinness publishes
a wide array of records.
The company told NPR News, it's officially
recognized 43 of his 52 attempts with the others under review.
But Guinness says, it wants him to break 53 this year.
That's a lot to juggle, especially with some still
up in the air.
But if your job is making records by breaking records,
I guess setting records is where you be-guinness.
And no one who does this weekly is doing so weekly.
Recording record records requires
record setting strength.
I'm Carl Azuz for CNN 10.
Today's shoutout takes this to Harlowton, Montana,
where we're happy to see the students
of Harlowton High School.
Thank you for engineering your request on our YouTube channel.
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