Tide of Migrants Pours into Germany and Austria
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Rosemary Church, this is CNN NEWSROOM. Fear and desperation is giving way to safety and hope for thousands of migrants. More than 12,000 people have made their way to Germany. Thousands more are in Austria, waiting to make that final leg of their long, dangerous journey into Germany. Relief workers in Austria are providing them with food, clothing and encouragement. Those inside Germany are also receiving warm greetings and support. The leaders of both Germany and Austria are warning that all this support is simply unsustainable. They say the level of aid will be pulled back. CNN's Fred Pleitgen joins us now from Vienna, Austria with more. So Fred, talk to us about the situation with the migrants and the refugees. And also, we're hearing from Australian and German leaders that this isn't sustainable and yet we see so many volunteers, so many people from those countries who want to help these refugees and migrants.</s>FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You're absolutely right Rosemary. There has certainly been an outpouring of support. And you know, we really saw some great scenes here at the Vienna West train station yesterday and also this morning. You know, this place here at Vienna West was really a focal point of the effort to help these refugees get from Hungary to Germany, where most of them want to go. Many of them crossed the Hungarian border into Austria into a little town called Nicosia and then all of them are brought here to Vienna West. And actually, what you see behind is one of those special trains that the Austrian Railway company has put into service to help transport these people, then on to Munich. And yesterday was really one of the main days for people pouring here. This place was absolutely packed. There were an immense amount of people trying to help. Let's have a look at how that day unfolded.</s>PLEITGEN: Hundreds of refugees are still pouring here into the railway station in Vienna. Many of them with their children and all of them of course, looking to complete that very difficult journey that they have undertaken. Now what the authorities here have done is they've designated this platform here for trains, for the refugees. What we're seeing here also is an outpouring of support from the Austrian population. As many people bringing food, bringing water and just helping these people along. We've spoken to some of the refugees. And they've told us about the difficult journey that they've had to make it to here.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via translator): From Hungary, we went through a torture. We walked a 110 kilometers with the children. They didn't allow us to take cars or trains. The government fooled us, but the people are very nice. We arrived here safely and we are comfortable here and we like the people and the government of Austria.</s>PLEITGEN: One of the things that's extremely important to speed up the process and just make everything work more efficient is, that they have a lot of people here who speak the local languages of the refugees. You have people who speak Farsi, Dari, a lot of people who speak Arabic. Because for the refugees also, it's important for them to know the process. It's important for them to know what will come next. What will happen when they get to Munich? How do they get on the trains best? That is something that is very, very key to making this whole process work. Now, one of the things that we have to keep in mind is that things are going very well here at the Vienna train station, but Europe is still facing a major challenge in dealing with the tens of thousands of people who have already come here. I spoke earlier with the spokesperson for the UNHCR, Melissa Fleming. And she says that Europe needs to find a common approach to make all of this work.</s>MELISSA FLEMING, SPOKESPERSON FOR UNHCR: UNHCR has suggested for example, big reception registration centers in Greece and Italy and then Hungary, run by the E.U., supported by UNHCR, where people could go there and register. And if they are refugees, they could be distributed and relocated to all different countries in Europe.</s>PLEITGEN: Now of course as these thousands of people come here to Europe, the material aid that they get from the folks here in Austria, in Germany, that's something that's important for them: the food, the water, the toys for the children. But in many ways, what we find, what's even more important to a lot of these people is to be received here with a smile and to be welcomed and shown that they have a chance to integrate here in Europe and possibly start a new life.</s>PLEITGEN: And of course, Rosemary, this situation is very difficult both for Germany and for Austria and both of those countries have said, that's it's not going to be sustainable in the long run. They're obviously calling for other European countries to take in more refugees as well. They are thinking of calling for an emergency E.U. Summit to try and get some sort of way to get other countries to take in more migrants as a way of distributing them to other countries as well. Now, the Austrians have also said that in light of the fact that they were actually able to move so many of the refugees through Austria this weekend, they are going to be stopping these emergency measures. Which means that, for instance, the emergency trains are going to stop running, simply because, they say, that at this point, the situation is starting to get under control for them. But of course, they do know that the flow of people is not going to stop coming. That this is not going to be the problem that's going to go away, Rosemary.</s>CHURCH: Indeed. We're certainly seeing that all the heavy lifting being done by Austria and Germany. Frederick Pleitgen reporting there live from Vienna, Austria. Many thanks to you. And for many of these migrants, Germany is their final destination. The country has a robust economy, a strong democracy and a history of taking in those in need. In fact, a new poll shows the majority of Germans are willing to donate money, clothing and time to the migrants. And senior international correspondent, Atika Shubert, has been in Munich where the migrants are being processed and she joins me live. And Atika, we're seeing a similar situation there in Germany and even more so where so many volunteers, so many people from the German population, want to help and volunteer their time. It is extraordinary. But at the same time, we hear from the German leadership, that this is not sustainable.</s>ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what the German leadership has made clear is that this is very much a temporary solution so far. In fact, we just learned that we do expect to hear from German Chancellor, Angela Merkle, in about an hour and a half. There will be a press conference. We'll stay on top of that for you. In the meantime, this is Munich station and right now, it's quiet, but up until late last night, we still saw hundreds of people coming in off of every train, refugees from Syria, but also Afghanistan and any number of countries. And the process is, they register inside the station. Then, they line up here, they get medical checks. And often, they're either bused or taken by train to temporary shelters. And you're absolutely right. We've seen 150 volunteers here, we've seen crowds of people coming in to applaud the refugees when they get off the trains. Give them sweets, snacks. Children also coming to give toys to other children who are coming off the train. So, it has been a very welcoming atmosphere. Having said that however, there is tension here still in Germany. I have to point out that very early this morning in the small town of Rothenberg, on Necar (ph), there was an arson attack on a refugee shelter. It damaged about 50 of these container homes and none of them are usable now. There were about 80 refugees living in that shelter. And these kinds of arson attacks do happen on an almost daily basis here. So while much of the German public is here in support of the refugees, you do see these flashpoints. And there is concern by German politicians that you will start to see those tensions rise the more refugees come in.</s>CHURCH: Yes, that is certainly a big concern. Atika Shubert joining us there from Munich, Germany. Many thanks to you. And apologies for some audio issues we had there. But a substantial percentage of the refugees now flooding Europe are from Syria, the country has lost millions of its citizens since the uprising against the Assad regime began more than four years ago. Back in 2011, Syria's population was estimated to be 22.4 million people. Well, since then, at least 7.6 million have been internally displaced, meaning they have fled their homes but stayed in the country. Another four million have fled Syria altogether, most going to neighboring countries, including Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan. More than 250,000 Syrians have been killed in the continuing war and that leaves about 10.6 million Syrians, roughly half the population, remaining where they were four years ago. While refugees continue to stream out of Syria, the Kremlin is allegedly moving military hardware in. U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry called Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov over the weekend. Washington is expressing concern about reports Moscow is moving military infrastructure into the war-torn country to support its ally, the al-Assad regime. Kerry's message to his Russian counterpart: if this is true, it will only make the misery worse. Well, for more, let's bring in senior international correspondent, Matthew Chance, he joins us now, live from Moscow. So Matthew, explain to us, what we know about what is possibly happening here.</s>MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, first of all the reports that we're referring to are unconfirmed. They've been denied by the Kremlin. Vladimir Putin, speaking on Friday, the Russian president saying it's premature to speak of any kind of Russian engagement that militarily -- in Syria, against Islamic State. Nevertheless, social media has been, you know, full of reports of Russia stepping up its military presence there. Those reports, giving more credibility - more credibility, by the fact that John Kerry, the U.S. secretary of state, articulated them and voiced his concern to his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on Friday, talking about, as you mentioned, how if they're true, these reports could lead to all sorts of complications, including escalating the conflict, the greater loss of innocent life and increased refugee flows which is obviously very pertinent to the situation at the moment. But also, a concern expressed by John Kerry, that if the Russians are there and if they do bolster the Syrian army, that could lead to an unwanted confronted between the anti-ISIS coalitions over there, of course, led by the United States and Turkey, who are carrying out airstrikes on IS positions. And so that's a big concern as well. That that would not be able to continue or at least it would complicate that process. And so, if it's true and again, we haven't had any confirmation yet that it is, it could be an important development in the Syrian civil war. It would obviously be something that would be dangerous for reasons I just mentioned. But it could also be decisive as well, because if the Russians do intervene on the side of the Syrian army, which is at the moment, somewhat on the back foot when it comes to its military progress. That could shift the military balance. It could bolster the regime of Bashar al-Assad, and it may even turn the tide against the rebels.</s>CHURCH: All right. Matthew Chance keeping a very close eye on that story from Moscow. Many thanks to you. And in an exclusive interview with our Becky Anderson, Turkey's president weighed in on the situation in Syria. He says there has never been international resolve to deal with the so-called tyrant ruling of Syria.</s>RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, PRESIDENT OF TURKEY: This is of course a result of being a mere spectator to all the developments in Syria and all the developments in Iraq. And intervention in Syria was not wanted since the beginning. Syria is led by a tyrant and this tyrant has always been protected. What we have to do to move him out of there was never thought about. I always talked about this with our friends. They are things Russia should do. They are things Iran should do. They are all countries that are supporting them. Daesh's biggest supporter right now is the regime. And those who make an effort to keep this regime standing are the ones who carry this responsibility. Why do they feel themselves in debt to Assad? We are facing a Syria that is destroyed, burned and its own people wiped out. They are still trying to support such a Syrian president who supports a separatist, terror organization. I've talked to them about this. I've told them, this cannot go on. I told them, come withdraw your support, remove your hand and you'll (ph) fall in 24 hours.</s>CHURCH: And Turkey believes the establishment of a terror-free zone within Syria is still one of the most viable ways of fighting ISIS and President al-Assad. Well, it looks like the Iran nuclear deal has enough pass in the U.S. conquest but the decision was not an easy one for some Democrats. Coming up here on CNN, an emotional moment from one politician. Plus, former vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, is serving up her opinion about the 2016 presidential race and she's got her eye on a cabinet position in one Republican's potential administration. And a Kentucky woman jailed for refusing to approve same-sex marriage licenses, is appealing the charge against her. That story next.