to be here. you can t dream of the circumstances and you can t change them. we re hours away from the opening ceremony at the beijing olympics. will global issues over shadow the games? we re live in beijing with the very latest. plus, snow, sleet, freezing rain. an enormous storm is barrelling across the united states. we ll have all of the details from cnn s weather center. we take you inside the late night military raid that ended with the death of the leader of isis but that was not the plan. live from london. this is cnn newsroom with isa soares. welcome to the show, everyone. it is friday, february 4th. we are just a mere three hours away from the beijing olympics opening ceremony marking the official start to the olympic games. the 100 minute event won t be as long or as grand as those in the past but there will be plenty of fireworks and some 3,000 performers despite beijing s best efforts to stop the covid-19 pandemic. many athletes are worried or unsure
boycott. the olympic committee reported 21 new covid cases. now they have 308 since beijing started the closed loop bubble. back here in the u.s. you re looking at a live picture now of the white house all lit up in red, white and blue to cheer team u.s.a. the state department thursday publicly defended the right of u.s. athletes to speak out against human rights abuses in china despite olympic committee rules prohibiting any protests. just a short time ago russian president vladimir putin and the chinese leader xi jinping meeting in person at a time of high tension with the west. cnn s ivan watson joins us live from hong kong this morning. ivan, this will be an olympics like no other. reporter: yeah. you know, i m down here in hong kong, but my colleagues up in beijing, some of whom have covered other olympiads, say the atmosphere is different. for example, in beijing those who were around in 2008 when the city hosted the summer olympics there, they say they re not antic
abuses. russia plotted a false flag attack against ukraine using a fake graphic video as a pretext for invasion. cnn goes behind the raid in syria. the tense moments in the situation room and the deadly blast that killed a top isis leader. for the first time ever, facebook loses daily users. shares plummet. is this the sign of the beginning of a major downturn? good morning to our viewers here in the u.s. and around the world. it is friday, february 4th. and the beijing olympics officially begin with the opening ceremonies. athletes from around the world pouring into china s capital but boycotts and global politics are overshadowing them. the political tension palpable. overnight, india announced it would not attend the opening ceremonies. they re upset because the chinese commander involved in a border dispute between the two countries was picked as a torch bearer. but this is the lead right now. a picture which encapsulates all the challenges facing the united s
global affairs analyst, brianna golodryga, jim sciutto and john avlon. i feel like this is the senior meeting right here of all people. lookive to say, i want to start with that statement. first of all, the extraordinary picture between xi and putin, they get-together a lot. this is the olympic games. they know the whole world is watching this. there they are standing side by side. did xi give putin the right to invade. china and russia, though they share an interest in the initialing the u.s., they re in a competition with the u.s., we re not friends or allies. in fact, they do and still do have things they disagree over and conflict over. but in the last couple of years there s been a meeting of the minds on this. we have seen it in joint military exercises over south korea, japan, sticking their thumb in the eye of the u.s. and u.s. forces and of course all the speculation about putin waiting for the olympics to be over to invade ukraine potentially. but this statement t
fake attack video, and use it for justification for invading ukraine. the question is, did russia really think that would work? it s way too early for this. . good morning. and welcome to way too early. the show that like the nfl could really use a bye week. i m jonathan lemire on this friday, february 4th. we ll start with the news. today, the republican national committee will consider a resolution that would censure congressman liz cheney and representative adam kinzinger, the two republicans sitting on the house select committee investigating january 6th. the measure was advanced by a smaller rnc panel last night. a close ally of former president trump, david bostony, originally submitted the proposal and in it he called for cheney and kinzinner to be excelled and yesterday watered down it a mere censure. the resolution being voted on saying it should not be sabotaged and they support democratic efforts to destroy the former president more than winning back a republ