Thousands of Migrants Arrive in Germany
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Deborah Feyerick in for Poppy Harlow.</s>ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.</s>FEYERICK: And we begin this hour with breaking news, and indications that Russia may be increasing its support to the Syrian government. Secretary of state John Kerry called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov today to discuss reports of a possible military buildup. Kerry made clear that if the reports are accurate, it could further escalate the conflict. Here's what CNN global affairs correspondent Elise Labott had to say to our Martin Savidge the last hour.</s>ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Secretary Kerry has been working with Russian foreign minister Lavrov trying to get a political solution in Syria. It's been a long slog. You've seen some recent activity in the last few months indicating they may be trying to get something going. So if the Russians are increasing their military presence in Syria, it would certainly complicate that.</s>MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And that's the concern then, that you know, somehow we're going to step away from a negotiated settlement here and that it's more that the Syrian regime, with the help of the Russian is going to go forward with the military option.</s>LABOTT: Well, it could be a couple of things. It could be that the Russians are going to escalate airstrikes against ISIS. You know, because ISIS is also going against the regime. But the real concern is that the Russians are increasing their activity on behalf of President Assad, against the opposition, and you know, or they may be taking steps to secure, you know, their own position if the Assad government collapses. It's been very wobbly lately. The opposition has gotten some real gains on the battlefield in recent months, but you know, it is a concern.</s>FEYERICK: So if this is true, what can the U.S. really do about this? Joining me now to discuss is CNN's global affairs analyst Kimberly Dozier and former CIA operative Bob Baer. The Syrian conflict is already an incredibly complex situation. The U.S. has been concerned about Russian involvement for a long time. If president Putin does expand military support for Bashar al-Assad, what does this mean specifically for the U.S., for the United States?</s>KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I think it means that the Syrian government is on much more precarious ground than we knew. Bashar al-Assad had given recent speeches to his people where he said we're not able to take back some of the territory we've lost because we simply can't muster the military support. Therefore, this might be a signal of why he is accepting military help from Russia. Russia may have listened to this and said we can't see the Assad regime fall. The Obama administration doesn't want the Assad regime to fall quickly, because then there will be this chaotic fight between the free Syrian army that's not quite ready to take over, and very powerful groups like al-Nusra and ISIS battling it out.</s>FEYERICK: So, interesting. So you see this as sort of an admission that Bashar al-Assad is weaker than he has admitted. But what is the end game? If you've got the Russians going in to help the Syrians. You've also got the Iranians who are there as a partner as well. Does this mean ISIS is getting much stronger, Bob? Or does this mean simply that the Russians have a very different end game in sight?</s>BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I think there's a bit of a panic in Moscow as well as Damascus. The Islamic state is moving -- what I call an offensive along the Turkish border. It's moving in the regime-held areas. The Syrian regime doesn't have the troops to hold them back. And Russia will not let Bashar al-Assad collapse and neither will Iran, and they will commit troops. The Russians do not understand our position. They don't understand why we let the Islamic state take Syria, for instance. And they believe that the United States should join them to prop up this regime. Not that they particularly like Bashar al-Assad, but the situation, frankly, is very dire in Syria and getting worse.</s>FEYERICK: So, Kimberly, is there a possible then that - possibility that we're going to see an increased presence of Russian ground forces who are committing to fight these opposition forces?</s>DOZIER: Well, Russia, normally sends its special operations teams in to advise local forces and they're already pretty committed in Ukraine. So I don't think you're going to see large numbers, but there have already been reports from my colleague Michael Weis of "the Daily Beast" of eyewitnesses seeing Russian officers meeting with Syrian officers. I think what you are seeing, though, is possibly Russia trying to strengthen Assad's hand for future negotiations. There have been behind the scenes, discussions between Russia, gthe U.S. Saudi Arabia, et cetera, about finding some face you're seeing is Russia trying to strengthen Assad's hand for future negotiations. There have been discussions about finding some face-saving way out for the Assad regime that keeps some part of the regime intact. And the Russian president recently announced that Assad was open to negotiations with a quote-unquote "healthy opposition," whatever that means. So I think we're seeing a lot of maneuvering to strengthen his hand.</s>FEYERICK: All right. Well, we have so much more to talk about. But Bob Baer, Kimberly Dozier, we are going to thank you right now. We're going to come back a little bit later and we're going to switch to another related crisis. More than 7,000 migrants expected to arrive today in Germany after days of being stuck in Budapest, Hungary, without enough food, water, sanitation, or shelter. Many hope that their arrival in Western Europe will end their long and desperate escape from war, terrorism, and crushing poverty back in their home countries. They have traveled so far, and yet they still have a long way to go. This humanitarian crisis far from over. The United States estimates 2,000 new migrants arrive in Hungary each and every day. A tsunami of humanity not seen in Europe in decades. This is the largest wave of migrants in Budapest. They thought they were going to be getting on trains to carry them to the Austrian border, when they discovered the trains were going elsewhere, the migrants got off to make the journey on foot. A cold rain there hitting Hungary likely to greet them as they walk the final steps into Austria. CNN's senior international correspondent Fredrick Pleitgen is there. Fredrick, you have been sending unbelievable images from where you are, and the faces of these people. Are they getting the kind of help, the kind of assurances that they're going to go someplace safe?</s>FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think at this point of time, they do feel they have those assurances. But you are absolutely right. There are still are refugees pouring into this place. This is a very small town called nickel store. It is on the border between Hungary and Austria. And Deb, I just want to show you the scene here as of right here because night has fallen here in Austria right now. It is very, very cold here. It's been raining for the better part of a day. And as you can see, the people here are really trying to get comfortable, trying to stay warm in any way they can. Many of them have small children with them. I have to say the local population here in Nickel store has done an amazing job. They heard that the Hungarians had put these people on buses at 5:00 a.m. this morning, and they really unleashed an unbelievable aid donation drive. You can see over there they've set up a makeshift city where people could get water, people can get food, people can get medical attention, people can get clothing, and that is something that is very, very important. But I'll tell you one thing, Deborah, the most important thing, I think, to the refugees who come here to Austria who make it here, is that when they come here, they get greeted by the population here with a smile, and the people here mingle with them. They introduce them to their families, and it really shows them that they've arrived here in Western Europe, and can then put on their journey and try to move forward. Again, this is the first railway station in Austria, and for many of them, the journey is going to continue, first of all, to the Austria capital of Vienna, and many of them will want to go to Germany after that, Deborah.</s>FEYERICK: We saw them leaving with just the clothes on their back. The fact that people are reaching out and donating belongings. So at least they're not cold. Because it's got to be so scary for them. Where do they go from where you are? What's the future for them?</s>PLEITGEN: Yes. You know, that's a very good question. For many of them, the immediate future will be trying to make their way further into Western Europe. Right now, people have been waiting on trains. And if we look over there, we can see back there, there's people all across that railway platform. They are waiting for some of the special trains that the Austrian railway has put in place. All these trains are free for the refugees. There's also some other trains. Their first stop is going to be Vienna and Austria. There in Vienna, they can either apply for asylum here in Austria and be brought to temporary shelters, or they can continue to try to make their way to Munich, Germany, and apply for asylum there. I was in Munich a couple of days ago. There's a similar center there, so people will have shelter, they will have a roof over their heads. What happens then is they start their asylum processes and the Germans or the Austrians then assign them to certain shelters for as long as that asylum process takes. And at some point, they'll be able to get apartments of their own. It's a process that takes quite a while, Deborah, but at least they know that right now they're inside a system that is working, and that they do -- or that they can look forward to at some point really integrating into the societies that they've now come into and possibly starting a new life here in Europe. But it is still very painful. You know, we were talking before to a man who was from Damascus and Syria, and then when we asked him whether or not he thought he would ever see his city again, he just sort of choked up and broke into tears. So I think for many of the people after this long and tough journey, for many of them, it's also sinking in that they might never see their homeland again. That's something that's very painful to them.</s>FEYERICK: So much fear of the unknown and such a courageous journey that they're making for a better life. Fred Pleitgen, thanks so much. And a possible major lead in the search for escaped drug lord El Chapo. Could his son's tweet lead to his capture?