Russia's Massive Military Base Puts U.S. On Alert; Now: France Votes in Presidential Elections
PAUL: Well, good morning to you. Twenty-six minutes past of the hour. So glad to have you onboard with us. I'm Christi Paul.</s>BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good morning to you.</s>PAUL: You know, at this hour, folks in France voting for their next president. Take a look the pictures we're getting in here. Close to 30 percent of French voters have already cast their ballot. And this is a crowded field. We're talking about 11 candidates to choose from. But there are five major contenders and only the top two after today's voting ends will face-off on May 7th for the final round of voting. This election is of particular interest to the U.S. because two of the candidates are on opposite side of the spectrum.</s>BLACKWELL: Far right national front leader Marine Le Pen is anti- immigration and pro-Russia, and far left wildcard Jean-Luc Melenchon proposes withdrawing from NATO. And Emmanuel Macron is promising to boost the economy and improve security. It's going to be a bitter fight, one that might have far reaching global repercussions. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiling his plans to dominate the Arctic with a visit to a new massive military base there. CNN correspondent Brian Todd reports on Putin's future and intention for the region and what that means for the U.S.</s>BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On a frozen wind-swept expanse in the Arctic, Vladimir Putin military ambition is on grand display. Painted like a Russian flag, it's called Trefoil for its three-cornered structure, a sprawling new military base that can house 150 troops and warplanes.</s>MICHAEK KOFMAN, RUSSIAN MILITARY ANALYST, CNA: This is a lot about the projection of the Russia status, right? Russia status is a great power, first and foremost. Second, the fact that Russia is an Arctic power.</s>TODD: Sweeping in on a massive military transport, the Russian president recently visited the base. Putin made a show of traversing a glacier and hammering at the ice. Russian troops will be living under the harshest of conditions: 18- month deployments where the temperatures can dip well below zero.</s>KOFMAN: This is a base set up and perhaps the most inhospitable, if not the most inhospitable places on Earth. They're so cool short of living on another planet with no oxygen, this is one of the most dangerous and hazardous areas to operate.</s>TODD: But Russians forces pride themselves in able to operate in the most bitter cold conditions, even training with reindeer. Much of the base is top secret but the Russian military does boast a virtual tour of some parts of the interior. This is part of Putin's plan to dominate the Arctic. The oil and gas reserves he has his eye on in the arctic are massive and experts say worth possibly ten of trillions of dollars, expected to be become more accessible if global warming continues.</s>KOFMAN: And they believe in the future there will be a contest for powers who gets access to them. There'll be a lot of economic and commercial competition. And the Russian view is this is a very difficult area to operate. It's going to take a long time for them to establish themselves there, so they want to get theirs first.</s>TODD: Putin is aggressively navigating the region, even having a Russian flag planted on the Arctic Ocean floor. Russian has more arctic military bases than the U.S. and dozens more ice breaking ships perhaps as many as 40.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And how many ice breakers do we have available?</s>GEN. LORI ROBINSON, COMMANDER, U.S. NORTHERN COMMAND: I believe it's one.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One and a half.</s>ROBINSON: OK, 1.5.</s>TODD: Russia's race ahead of the U.S. in cornering the Arctic, analysts say, is a sobering illustration of Putin's broader ambitions.</s>HEATHER CONLEY, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & INTL. STUDIES: For Vladimir Putin, the Arctic is a prestige project. It demonstrates Russian history and its greatness. Russia can conquer anything. It can plant a flag on the North Pole. It can build overcome nature.</s>TODD (voice-over): The Trump administration is being pressured by members of Congress and outside analysts to close that gap with Vladimir Putin and beef up America's presence in the Arctic. Will they? We pressed officials here at the White House, at the Pentagon, Northern Command and the Coast Guard for any specific plans to place more resources in the Arctic. We've gotten no response. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.</s>BLACKWELL: All right. As we have been reporting, people in France are voting for their next president. Let's go to CNN's Melissa Bell who is live outside of polling station in Paris. And we are getting some numbers in showing relatively strong turnout today.</s>MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The only official figure we have so far is the midday turnout rate and it is very slightly above what it was in 2012. And that is a good sign. There have been a big question whether there's very many undecided voters of which there are historically high numbers at this particular stage or in the run-up the last few days, whether they might just decide to stay at home and bewildered by the vast array of political choice that is offer here today. In fact, that appears not to be the case and everyone we have spoken to outside this polling station, the 18th district of Paris this morning, have spoken of their determination to come and mark their vote. France is really at a crossroads. You have 11 candidates but you can pretty well put them in two categories. There are those, and that include the populace like Marine Le Pen, but also many on the left who want a huge change with all that has gone before. They want to retreat within France's border. They want a certain dose of economic protectionism and really a huge that rupture with all that went before, and those on the country who represent more continuity, who would not bring into question of the European Union and that would essentially see France continue along the political lines that it has. So, this is really a test of what we have been following for many months now, that populist wave that has swept across the United Kingdom, that has swept across the United States, whether it ends here in this first round of voting today in France or whether it continues.</s>BLACKWELL: Melissa Bell for us in Paris -- Melissa, thank you.</s>PAUL: And this is an important election worldwide. A lot of people are watching it. Three of the candidates opposed Western sanctions against Russia. Two would extract France from NATO military command. One would increase European defense cooperation to lessen dependence what he is says is an unreliable United States. So, we have the former French ambassador to the U.S. with us next to talk about what all of this means for the United States. Stay close.