Plane Explodes on Takeoff; Zika Virus Fears; New Fighting in Syria Could End Peace Talks
ERROL BARNETT, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: -- landscape. And nightmare in the sky. An explosion rips through a passenger plane just minutes after takeoff. What happened afterwards, coming up. A big welcome to those of you watching from all around the world. I'm Errol Barnett.</s>ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: And I'm Rosemary Church. Thanks for joining us. This is CNN Newsroom.</s>BARNETT: We begin this hour with new Zika virus fears, after someone in Texas contracted it through sexual activity. This is the first sexually transmitted case of this outbreak. And only the third case ever known.</s>CHURCH: Health official say the Texas patient had sex with someone who recently returned from Venezuela, infected by a mosquito. Now this is troubling news for health officials.</s>CHRISTOPHER PERKINS, DALLAS COUNTY HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES DIRECTOR: Zika can be spread primarily by mosquitoes, associated with travel to tropical regions, where the virus is endemic in those mosquitos, such as, Latin America, the Caribbean. However, in Dallas County we have received confirmation that it's spread otherwise through sexual activity.</s>BARNETT: Take a look at this, cases of the Zika virus has been identified in nearly 30 countries and territories worldwide. According to U.S. Centers the Disease Control and Prevention, a health alert was issued after the first Brazilian Zika case was confirmed in May of last year. And since then, outbreaks have spread through much of the Americas with Puerto Rico reporting its first confirmed case in December.</s>CHURCH: Now it worth pointing out that Zika virus is not new. It was first identified nearly 70 years ago in an African forest.</s>BARNETT: David McKenzie goes to the place where the virus got its name to find out why no one thought it was a threat.</s>DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Armed with traps, scientists push into the Zika forest in Uganda. They've discovered around 70 types of mosquito here, some carrying deadly viruses. So, this is a very precarious climb up this tower. They need to get higher to try to get the different species of mosquitos. We're in an ecological hot zone, where zoonotic diseases thrive. So, it's got a light to attract the mosquitos. And carbon dioxide coming off the dry ice. And we should get some overnight.</s>JULIUS LUTWAMA, UGANDA VIRUS RESEARCH INSTITUTE: Yes.</s>MCKENZIE: And they do. Mosquitos that could be carrying yellow fever, dengue, and yes, the Zika virus. The forest gave the virus its name. Back in 1947, scientists discovered Zika by accident while studying yellow fever. The rested research station is still here. But Zika infected mostly monkeys and human symptoms were mild. It fell off the map.</s>LUTWAMA: So, instead of getting yellow fever...</s>MCKENZIE: Yes.</s>LUTWAMA: ... actually they came across another virus.</s>MCKENZIE: A potential key mutation and an increasingly connected world, sparked an outbreak, half a world away.</s>LUTWAMA: With modern transport, which is very efficient, very fast, one person can be here today, gets bitten by a mosquito and starts getting sick after he has traveled thousands of miles.</s>MCKENZIE: Now, scientists are playing catch-up, looking closely at the Zika-carrying aedes aegypti mosquito.</s>LUTWAMA: So, we do have we keep them under lock and key.</s>MCKENZIE: But in these labs they've been mostly using the high-tech equipment to diagnose patients. They lock the funding to track emerging virus threats in the forest where Zika was identified.</s>LUTWAMA: For sure, we don't know completely what is in this forest. We have not done enough. We can't say we know anything. Every other year, we come across new viruses.</s>MCKENZIE: They say not nearly enough is being done to research viruses before they spark a global health emergency. David McKenzie, CNN, Zika Forest, Uganda.</s>CHURCH: And you can log on to cnn.com for more on the Zika outbreak, including the five things you need to know. And if you still have questions, you can tweet them to us, with the hash tag Zika questions.</s>BARNETT: Now, to the other big story we're following. The peace talks in Geneva could collapse under the weight of a new offensive in Northwestern Syria.</s>CHURCH: The opposition delegation canceled a meeting Tuesday with the U.N. Envoy. Delegates condemned what they called a massive acceleration of Russian and regime military aggression on Aleppo and Homs.</s>BARNETT: Now according to recent satellite photographs an airstrip in remote parts of northern Syria is being refurbishes and extended. Kurdish officials in the area say it's for the use of the U.S. military. However, the defense department won't comment on the record. But officials do acknowledge the U.S. is looking for ways to make its military options in Syria more efficient. Clarissa Ward went in search of that airfield and joins us now from Irbil, Iraq with more. Clarissa, air strikes supporting Iraqi Kurdish and Syrian armed forces are really the biggest asset the U.S. provides to the fight on the ground. So, what is the strategy then with this new airfield?</s>CLARISSA WARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Errol, as the U.S. ratchets up its presence on the ground in Syria, with at least 50 U.S. Special Forces personnel in country, they're obviously looking for ways to improve logistical support to have bases nearer to the front lines, from which they can launch operations, potentially. And we got to see a little bit of that for ourselves. This place doesn't exist, according to the U.S. Defense Department. But behind that berm of freshly dug earth, a small agricultural airstrip is being turned into something very different. A military airfield just 100 miles from ISIS positions. Satellite photos show the work that has been done here in recent months. So, you can see behind me, they're working to extend the runways so that larger planes could land here. And the advantage of this site is that it's well secured, inside Kurdish territory. So, it could be used to supply U.S. Special Forces deployed here in Syria. He's coming now. We were escorted away from the airfield as soon as we were spotted. We're told it was a military zone. It's another example of the U.S.'s growing military footprint in this remote corner of Northern Syria. And its deepening relationship with Syrian Kurdish fighters known as the YPG. In an abandoned apartment building closer to the front line, we were given access to the YPG's joint operations room. It is a modest setup. This 21-year-old Daham Hazzaki (ph) and his colleagues talk to their men on the battlefield. Using newly provided tablets, they pass on enemy locations to a coalition command center from where air strikes can be launched.</s>WARD: Right now, this is the front line of Hazakah, he says. Our comrades there have seen the movements of two enemy fighters until we sent this message along with their coordinates to the general command room. When there are heavy clashes, the operations room moves to the front lines. Immediately after the strikes, Hazzaki (ph) and his men rush in to make sure that the right targets have been hit. Who taught you how to use this?</s>WARD: He tells us a group of foreigners and Americans trained his commanders, who, in turn, trained him and his comrades. In the skies and on the ground in Syria, the U.S. is deepening its commitment to the battle against ISIS. And it's not just the U.S., Errol. Less than 50 miles from that airstrip, we are hearing reports that the Russians are also beefing up their military presence. Certainly, this part of Northern Syria is getting very crowded. Errol?</s>BARNETT: A very important place, indeed. Clarissa Ward, live for us in Erbil, Iraq. Eight minutes past 11 a.m. there. Clarissa, thanks.</s>CHURCH: To Europe now, and thousands of migrants are stuck at Greece's border waiting to cross into Macedonia.</s>BARNETT: But several factors are keeping them there. CNN's Arwa Damon has details.</s>ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A few of the buses have just started moving out here. But you can see, the crowd around them. These refugees and migrants incredibly frustrated and angry because they have had to wait here for a few days. Due to a number of factors that are really out of anyone's control. There was a ferry streak in Greece that is one of the main reasons why this backlog did end up being created. But there's also a taxi strike that is happening across the border in Macedonia that has caused the Macedonian authorities to clamp down on the numbers that they are allowing through. When the buses arrive to the transit area, that is located between the Greece and Macedonia borders, they first have to verify that they are Iraqi, Afghan or Syrian. The sifting of nationalities as they measure that was put into place a few months ago, in an attempt to control actually who is going to be transiting through these various different European countries. Now, those that are allowed to cross receive a stamp like this one, that basically says, according to his/her statement, his/her destination is Germany.