Dozens Killed in Donetsk Airport Clashes; Four OSCE Observers Held by Pro-Russian Separatists; Concerns Over Low Voter Turnout in Egypt; South Korea Hospital Fire
JIM CLANCY, HOST: Answering his critics, US President Barack Obama saying he will not deploy troops overseas just to avoid looking weak. We'll bring you both sides of the debate ahead. Also, a surprise third day in Egypt's election. We'll examine while polling has been extended when most people already know -- or think they know -- the result.</s>ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is</s>CONNECT THE WORLD.  CLANCY: All right, we're going to begin now with the crisis in Ukraine, clearly on the mind of Mr. Obama as he addressed the West Point graduates there. Mr. Obama said the US is standing with its international partners and institutions in isolating Russia. He says the policy is working. The Ukrainian people are now able to have a say in their future. Well, meantime, the situation in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk much calmer today after some of the worst violence of this crisis. Dozens of people were killed when Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists clashed at the city's airport. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry says four international observers who went missing Monday are being held by a pro-Russian group. Nick Paton Walsh joins us now, live from Donetsk with the latest. Nick, what can you tell us about the developments on the ground there?</s>NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you mentioned the OSCE observers. We now know, according to the OSCE -- the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry they are being held by these pro-Russian separatists. No more details about that. We know they went missing to the east of Donetsk on losing contact with their headquarters at 6:00 on Monday. So, it's obviously taken a while to establish what's going on here. This certainly harkens back to the other OSCE observers taken, now, weeks ago in Slaviansk, held as, quote, "prisoners of war," in the eyes of pro-Russian separatists. They were eventually released after a Russian envoy came from the Kremlin and said, look, we're going to let these guys go. So, potentially, this is a negotiable way out, but it comes at a tenser time here after that large escalation of violence here in the city center of Donetsk near the airport, there, on Monday. It's been quieter since then. We heard a jet buzzing the capital of this region earlier on today, and it was clear the Ukrainian military reminding everyone that its presence was felt. Reports of shooting not far from where I'm standing. But a broader sense, I think, that this is a city on the edge, waiting to see what's next. Waiting to see if this Ukraine military sharpening of their resolve is part of the beginning of a wider campaign, or simply the president's, Petro Poroshenko, saying "I do have the capacity to use my military effectively. So, if you want to talk to me, don't expect nothing but concessions." Jim?</s>CLANCY: As we look at the situation there, there are persistent reports that there are more pro-Russian separatists streaming across Ukraine's borders. Is there any way to confirm that?</s>WALSH: It's hard. We hear reports, it's almost daily, of trucks crossing, the Ukrainian border service talking about some trucks trying to cross, not succeeding. We've seen ourselves, here, an influx -- possibly too strong a word -- but certainly the recent appearance of a lot of Chechen militants on te street here, which let the government of Chechnya, part of the Russian Federation, has very clearly denied having anything to do with them, despite one of them telling me he used to be in Kadyrovcy, that's a part of the police, actually, in Chechnya, and in fact, are Russian citizens. So, a lot of evidence here that potentially the militants are gaining in strength in some ways. But too, they've also had their first sharp blow when the Ukrainian military moved in on the airport there, plus over 30 of their soldiers -- militants there being killed. So, it's very hard to tell quite what strength they're at. The key thing about the separatists, though, is their political messaging. Fractured at times, it's clear they're not speaking with one voice. It's clear they're possibly a little concerned about how Russia hasn't come to their aid. They said today how their request to Vladimir Putin for assistance wasn't written in the correct official form, that's why he hasn't responded to it. Baffling, frankly, given the visceral nature of what Vladimir Putin used to say about assisting people in the Ukraine here. He's very much changed his tack, at least certainly publicly, Jim.</s>CLANCY: Nick Paton Walsh, let's go back a little bit to President Barack Obama's speech. And clearly he's laying out here that the world has to understand that the United States considers Ukraine a priority, but it's not the kind of priority that it's going to risk a confrontation with Russia about. And there's also voices in the wings that are saying the Europeans need to rise up. At a time when they are reducing their military spending, vis-a-vis the United States, they can't expect the United States to jump into Europe and take all the action.</s>WALSH: Well, absolutely. One of the parts of Obama's speech was to suggest that NATO allies should be doing more. I think there's only a couple of them make up the 2 to 3 percent of GDP on defense spending that NATO, at the founding document, its members agreed to have. It's been a weakness for NATO, certainly. Putin's played on the divisions between Europe. You have strong business ties and strong energy needs with Russia, allowing the Germans to, perhaps, be a little softer on their calls for sanctions. But I have to say, in some ways, the US policy has worked. Because we have markedly seen since Obama changed his kind of deadlines for all this, to say that if they interfered with the elections that just past this weekend, sectoral sanctions could have come in. We did, I think, in some ways see Russia back off and call, at least publicly, for no interference and for the results to be accepted. The troops have not crossed the border, and we are hearing NATO saying they are, in fact, withdrawing, like the Kremlin said they were doing a number of weeks ago. So in some arguments, the US policy here has been effective in that there aren't Russian troops again on Ukrainian soil, like they were in Crimea. And we have seen these elections at least pass with the result that most people can think -- at least it means there is a new president in power in Kiev. But what they haven't managed to so is show American strength and resolve in pushing the Russians back. Obviously, Moscow recognizes that Washington is exhausted after a decade of wars. You heard in that speech a Barack Obama still very much sounding like the man who came to power, trying to assuage the Bush era, trying to calm everybody, there's no longer the need to march into war. But perhaps the world has moved on a little bit in some ways. So much of the people who used to look for Washington to save them, for leadership, are now hoping for, perhaps, a tougher response. They're not getting that here in Eastern Europe. That's got some of the more eastern NATO allies concerned. And certainly, I think, people will be looking to see if there's anything more Washington intends to do. Because this situation on the ground, while on paper, you can say it's calming, we've seen the worst violence yet in the capital here on Monday. The separatist militants are moving around with quite a lot of weaponry on their side. And the exchange of heavy weaponry which wasn't even an issue weeks ago is now happening on a daily basis. Jim?</s>CLANCY: All right, keep an eye on all things there on the ground, as always. Nick Paton Walsh, great to have you with us. Thank you for your perspective, too, when we discuss foreign policy vis-a-vis the situation there in Ukraine. Moving on now, polls open for a third day in Egypt's presidential election. Turnout has been such an issue in this contest that even television hosts have taken to the air, criticizing people for not coming out and casting their ballots. CNN visited several polling stations and found them virtually empty. Reza Sayah has more for us from Cairo.</s>REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Why did authorities suddenly extend Egypt's presidential election? Perhaps because voter turnout appeared to be awfully low. We should stress, we weren't able to visit every polling station in Cairo and Egypt, but almost every polling station we visited looked like this one in the Dokki neighborhood of Cairo. No lines, no waiting, no crowds. Oftentimes, security forces, police officers outnumbering voters going in. We're going to walk down the street and show you another polling station nearby, and while we're walking, we're going to show you pictures of some of the few dozen polling stations we either visited or drove by. This is another polling station in the Dokki neighborhood. This one in the Sayeda Zainab neighborhood of Cairo. Here's another one in a nearby neighborhood. This polling station is in the Nasr City area of Cairo. Once again, very quiet, no lines, no waiting. And as we approach this other polling station down the street, once again, you see no lines, no waits, no crowd. And seemingly, more security forces than voters going in. This is why you get the sense that authorities here and supporters of the former army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the heavy favorite in this election, started to get worried about voter turnout, and seemingly tried to do something about it. For example, late Monday night, authorities suddenly declared Tuesday a national holiday. They extended voting hours. Egyptian television hosts started openly criticizing voters for not coming out. We should also point out that in Egypt, there's a law that's rarely enforced that says you can be fined about $70 if you don't come out and vote. Other television hosts suggested that that law would now be enforced. Remember, for Mr. Sisi, a win was not enough. He wanted to win emphatically with a high voter turnout to show the world that this is a legitimate process, a credible process. But at this point, a high voter turnout is far from a certainty. Perhaps a sign that this is a country that remains divided. Reza Sayah, CNN, Cairo.</s>CLANCY: Police in South Korea say an elderly man who is suffering from dementia is now the main suspect in a hospital fire there. It broke out earlier on Wednesday, 21 people lost their lives, mostly from smoke inhalation, the head of the hospital apologizing publicly. Paula Hancocks is in Seoul.</s>PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A man in his early 80s is being questioned by police in connection with Wednesday's deadly fire at a South Korean hospital. The police suspect arson, and they say they have obtained CCTV footage of the floor where the fire started that led them to the man who is a patient at the hospital, suffering from dementia. The victims, many of whom were asleep in bed when the fire broke out after midnight, are also suffering from dementia or suffered strokes and other chronic diseases. The ward affected was filled with patients in their 70s and 80s. Many of them were unable to move from their beds, and officials believe it's likely they died from smoke and toxic gas inhalation. The fire itself was not that big, according to officials, and it was extinguished relatively quickly. Now, South Korea is already reeling from a string of deadly incidents this year. Just last month, a ferry sinking claimed the lives of almost 300 people, 16 are still missing. And just two days ago, there was a fire in a bus terminal just north of Seoul. Eight people were killed in that incident. Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.</s>CLANCY: Live from CNN Center, you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. And coming up next, we're going to take an in-depth look at President Obama's foreign policy speech and how it could affect his legacy on the world stage. What's the global reaction? Stay with us.