June 27, 2013 -- Updated 1258 GMT (2058 HKT)
CNN's John Defterios and Amir Daftari describe what it's like in the
transit zone of Moscow's airport, where NSA leaker Edward Snowden has
been reportedly holed up for days. FULL STORY
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OBAMA: U.S. WON'T BE 'SCRAMBLING JETS'
June 26, 2013 -- Updated 2100 GMT (0500 HKT)
CNN's John Defterios and his crew
have been inside the transit zone of Sheremetyevo International Airport
for more than 24 hours. Like Edward Snowden, he cannot step foot on
Russian soil without special visa clearance. Pictured here on June 26,
Defterios surveys part of his new land: Terminals D, E and F.
HIDE CAPTION
Inside Moscow Airport's 'no man's land'
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- CNN's John Defterios and Amir Daftari have spent hours in the transit zone of Moscow's airport
- Edward Snowden is reportedly in the airport, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin
- Moscow's view is that Snowden has not cleared passport control, therefore not in Russia
- It's a global game of cat and mouse -- and CNN ends up in its own version of the game
Editor's note: John Defterios is CNN's Emerging Markets Editor . Watch his show, Global Exchange, Sunday to Thursday 1900 UAE and follow him on Twitter. Amir Daftari is a CNN senior producer.
(CNN) -- By the time we depart Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport, we will have spent 36 hours on the ground. Like Edward Snowden,
whose exact location here in the transit lounge remains a mystery, we
cannot step foot on Russian soil without special visa clearance.
We arrived early Tuesday
morning on a mission -- to find the former U.S. surveillance specialist
in the transit zone. As it turns out, this airport has an expansive area
for transiting passengers and we now know nearly every corner of it.
Putin: Snowden in airport 'transit area'
Snowden and those who are reportedly handling him are here, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ecuador: We didn't help Snowden
Passengers on Snowden's flight react
Map: Transit zone between terminal D, E and F
"He is a transit
passenger in the transit zone and is still there now," Putin said
Tuesday. "The sooner he selects his final destination point, the better
both for us and for himself."
That statement came after
we'd already landed on the ground in Sheremetyevo. It piqued global
interest in the story. Putin broke his silence on Snowden, after leaving
initial diplomacy to his seasoned Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Legally, Moscow has taken the view that Snowden has not cleared passport control, therefore is not on Russian soil.
Along with our
Berlin-based camerawoman Claudia Otto, we scoped out the lay of our new
land: Terminals D, E and F. First order of business, the infamous
Capsule Hotel in Terminal E.
Contrary to its
appearance on the outside, the Capsule does not reflect futuristic,
space age technology on the inside. The rooms are the scale of large
walk-in closets in the U.S. but with much poorer insulation.
The kind receptionist at
the front desk has heard of Edward Snowden but without hesitation
insists he or anyone assisting him has not stepped foot in the Capsule.
We check in and use the hotel as our airport production base.
After a few hours on the
ground we produce a mini video report on Snowden's movements, the
locations he could be at the airport and why Lavrov says insinuations by
Washington of harbouring Snowden are not acceptable.
Once the story is filed,
we conduct a live report from Terminal E with nothing more than a
hand-held camera, a laptop, a microphone and a fist full of phones to
liaise with our operations in Atlanta, New York and London.
Putin then moves into
action while on a bi-lateral visit in Finland. Global interest reaches a
crescendo. The next thing we know, CNN is the only international
broadcaster inside the transit zone and we begin conducting two-three
live shots an hour.
We do this from the
center of the terminal. Around us, passengers come and go to places such
as Almaty, Amsterdam, Split, Tallinn and Vienna.
We, of course, take particular interest in Aeroflot flight number 150, which is bound for Havana. A day earlier, that same flight carried journalists
-- including our Phil Black -- hoping to travel with Snowden, possibly
on his way to Quito, Ecuador. Again, no Edward Snowden, but we take
stills and video shots just in case.
This global game of "cat
and mouse" appears to have entered a new phase. The Russian President
compares the situation to trying to shave a piglet. A lot of noise,
Putin noted, but very little hair to be had.
By this point we are
showing up on the radar of airport security, and so our very own game of
cat and mouse ensues as we try to continue doing live reports while
being tracked by burly Russian guards.
Outside the airport
walls, international diplomacy is also getting fractious. Secretary of
State John Kerry, traveling in India, asks Russia for reciprocity.
Washington handed over seven Russians, Kerry points out, when asked to
by Moscow. This administration wants Snowden in return.
The two former Cold War
adversaries cooperated on the Boston Marathon bombings investigation,
but when it comes to Edward Snowden and his treasure trove of leaked
documents, it does not appear Russia is prepared to do so.
We finish our last live
report at 0400 Moscow time Wednesday, 21 hours after arrival. Edward
Snowden is very likely still here, spirited away in a room designed to
keep him out of sight but certainly not out of mind.
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