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Ukraine's Ousted President Lashes Out; Russian Warship Docked 90 Miles from U.S.; Dangerous Cold Blasts Midwest, Northeast; 911 Tapes of New Jersey Bridge Scandal Released; American Economy Losing Steam; A Sneak Peek at the Oscars
Aired February 28, 2014 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All the good stuff because no one was even trying to throw it away, which is a good thing, right?
INDRA PETERSONS, METEOROLOGIST: Exactly what the flag symbolizes.
BOLDUAN: That is it for us and Michaela Pereira is going to be pulling double duty. A long weekend -- fun weekend ahead. We'll see you on Monday, Michaela. Have a great time.
Time for the -- time for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks a lot. Have a great weekend. NEWSROOM starts now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM high alert.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We strongly recommend that they heed the warnings of the experts.
COSTELLO: Evacuations ordered in California. Flash floods, disastrous mudslides. Six inches of rain in just hours.
Also, former Ukrainian president breaking his silence as his country erupts. Armed Russian forces seizing control of the airport. Fighter jets in position fears of a Cold War.
CHUCK HAGEL, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I'm closely watching Russia's military exercises along the Ukrainian border.
COSTELLO: The U.S. military telling CNN our warning time is cut to zero.
Plus now hiring. A new report out at a possible pilot shortage. New questions of safety this morning. And --
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT: Mr. President, are you ready to move?
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Absolutely. Let's do this thing. Let's move. COSTELLO: Obama and Biden running in office. West Wing, South Portico, "Chariots of Fire" anyone?
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: That was funny. Good morning, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Carol Costello. We start with serious news, though.
Ukraine ousted president in exile and on the attack. Just minutes ago Viktor Yanukovych railed against the interim government that succeeded him and the radicals in Western powers that he says toppled him.
And those Cold War things play out against an ominous backdrop. Men with assault rifles sweep into two airports in Crimea in southern Ukraine.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Moscow. He joins us live with more.
Hi, Fred.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Yes, and the big question right now is who those gunmen are who went into those two airports. Some believe they might Russian force, some believe they might be Russian special forces. Certainly so far the Russian government has not confirmed any of that. All they are saying is that there are forces in that region and they do have a lot of bases in that part of the Ukraine are on alert.
They say their anti-terror forces are on alert as well, however, they have not said who those gunmen might be. Right now the latest that we're getting is that at one of the airports in that region the gunmen are outside, they're controlling the scene but they are not interrupting airport operations. So we're going to continue to monitor that.
At the same time, as you said, there is that press conference going on by the ousted president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych. And he said that he still sees himself as the real leader of that country and he vowed to continue to fight.
Let's listen to some of what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VIKTOR YANUKOVYCH, OUSTED UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (Through Translator): Now is the time for me to say to you that I intend to continue the fight for the future of Ukraine against those who would fear and with terror are attempting to replace the power and I decided to make a public statement about this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: So he also said that he vows to come back to the Ukraine, however he didn't say when he plans on doing that. He said only that he would do that when the security situation permits him. He also did not say whether or not he wants to participate in any future elections or how much leverage he actually still has in that country.
The press conference is ongoing. We'll continue to monitor it. A lot of interesting stuff has already come out especially him, of course, blaming Western nations for allegedly starting the uprising against him, as you said -- Carol.
COSTELLO: OK. There are arrest warrants out for this man. He is in Ukraine, right, about 700 miles from Russia so why isn't he being placed under arrest?
PLEITGEN: Well, he's in Russia right now, that's the interesting thing, is that he actually fled to Russia, to a town in Russia, which is right on the Ukrainian border. It's very close to Ukraine. He described the odyssey that it took him to get there. He fled first to eastern Ukraine then to southern Ukraine, and then he said the only reason why he's still alive today because he said he came under fire during that time was because an officer he said helped him in some way cross the border.
He didn't elaborate on what that actually means. But you're absolutely right. There's an international arrest warrant now for Viktor Yanukovych at the same time he says he still sees himself as the legitimate president.
What I've seen in the past couple of days in the east and in the south of Ukraine where allegedly his support is the greatest because there's a lot of Russians there is that they dropped him as well. A lot of people say that he's a traitor, he's a coward and while they don't like what's happening in Kiev right now, in Ukraine, they certainly don't support Yanukovych anymore -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Frederik Pleitgen, reporting live from Moscow this morning.
Russian forces are on the doorstep in Ukraine and for America Russian forces are in the neighborhood. Just 90 miles from the southernmost tip of United States, a Russian warship has docked in Havana, Cuba, rekindling memories of the Cold War. And not just because of that vintage convertible you see there in the foreground.
Let's get the latest from Cuba's capital and CNN's Patrick Oppmann.
Good morning, Patrick.
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol. Now Viktor Leonov, you know, as you'd expect, has weapon systems aboard, there's something much more intriguing and is highly sophisticated equipment that can pick up intelligence, intercept communications.
You know, this is a spy ship as it's been called, certainly the Cuban and Russian government not trying to keep its stay here in Cuba a secret. It's actually a cruise ship terminal that area of Havana is probably the most popular area within Havana for tourists, it's an area crawling with international visitors. Yesterday when we were filming, we're on the shop, we didn't have any problems filming around the ship. We were able to film there all day long, which is -- which isn't always the case here. And we saw a lot of Russian sailors actually getting off, restocking, getting supplies which seemed to include a lot of Cuban beer and rum.
They are mixing with Cubans who are talking. This isn't a secret by any stretch of the imagination so if Russia is trying to send American authorities a message they are not doing it with any subtlety at all, Carol. They want people to know that this ship is here right off the coast of the United States.
COSTELLO: Patrick Oppmann, many thanks.
Heavy rain threatening flash floods and mudslides in California across drought stricken communities. Officials are urging residents to evacuate as in right now. In the meantime, people across the Midwest and northeast are dealing with dangerous single-digit wind chills.
Indra Petersons has more for you.
PETERSONS: Carol, look, these miserable winters are continuing. Once again today all that cold hair is spread all the way to the northeast. We're highs today, we're below freezing, a good 25 below average by the afternoon. And yet another snowstorm still expected on the way.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETERSONS (voice-over): The cold that won't let up just got even colder. Across the Midwest this was the scene, temperatures tumbling with wind chills to 30 below. In Green Bay, Wisconsin a new record, 49 days below zero.
And in Minnesota yesterday the cold turned deadly with frigid temperatures claiming the life of a 6-year-old girl who was found in the entrance of her apartment building wearing a hat, coat, and mittens.
CAPT. JAMES MARCOTTE, BEMIDJI, MINNESOTA POLICE: We're developing a timeline as to when the child was last seen and as to how long the child was exposed to the elements.
PETERSONS: In Detroit schools are closed today as the National Weather Service says wind chills are expected to be 20 degrees below zero. Forecasters says Detroit has been particularly hard hit this season with the Motor City getting more than 79 inches of snow and more than a dozen days of below zero temperatures.
And in New York City this morning temperatures are already below zero with wind chill and they are expected to be a good 20 below average by the afternoon. And all of this cold it's not going anywhere fast. It's here well into next week.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PETERSONS: And Carol, this huge storm is making headlines in the west. The biggest rain storm they've seen in three years that will actually bring more misery even to the northeast. This system is going to track its way across the country and bring the potential for some heavy snow Sunday night in though Monday. Now who gets the bull's eye of heavy snow? Different weather models right now are putting the heaviest lines. Notice the dark purple in different places.
One model saying New York City could get about six inches, another model saying maybe D.C. gets the heaviest snow. That's what we're going to have to monitor. Still a big question mark. What's not a question mark? This cold air, this misery, is expected to last another reinforcing burst of cold air still expected to bring us below normal in through next week -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Indra Petersons, thanks so much.
Officials still don't know exactly how a radiation leak that contaminated 13 workers in New Mexico started or just how bad it is. That's according to CNN affiliate KRQE. The radioactive leak at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant started two weeks ago in southeastern New Mexico. That plant stores low-level nuclear waste deep below the ground. But the 13 people who got sick work above the ground. Residents fear no one is telling them what's really going on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT ORTIZ, CARLSBAD, NEW MEXICO RESIDENT: I don't think the people really know what's going on. WIPP has always been very secretive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: More workers are being tested. More than 180 workers are still on the job. Officials say the radiation detected so far is one- tenth of what someone would get from a chest X-Ray.
Today we'll hear for the first time those 911 tapes from a political scandal that just will not go away for the New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Just a short time ago those tapes which were recorded during that massive traffic tie-up on the George Washington Bridge were released by emergency officials in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
CNN is going through the recordings right now. Investigative correspondent Chris Frates joins us from Washington. He's one of the guys going through those records.
Tell us more, Chris.
CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. So we have more than 20 hours of 911 tapes during that week where the bridge were -- the bridge lanes were closed. Remember Fort Lee was hardest hit by those lane closures, two of the three lanes from Fort Lee on to -- on to that bridge was closed. And that really made EMS officials very concerned. At the time the EMS coordinator there wrote a letter. He said trips that should have taken a few minutes took more than three times that long. So these tapes are a real-time window into the havoc that this traffic jam was causing. If you remember there was a story of a 91-year-old woman who had a heart attack. The paramedics were caught in some of that gridlock. Now her daughter later said she didn't think the gridlock had anything to do with her mother's death but we may get a window in what that 911 call sounded like.
And CNN has reviewed the accident records on the bridge during that time and we found that there were about 61 accidents on or near the bridge and that's about average for the week. But when we talked to people involved in those accidents they all blamed the gridlock on the bridge for those accidents. So we'll get a window into folks calling emergency services on those accidents, what were they saying in real- time -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. We'll let you get to it.
Chris Frates reporting live from Washington.
Twitter was aflutter last night with dazzling images like this one of a meteor shower lighting up the night sky. There were reports of a meteor shower from the Carolinas to Pennsylvania. Most of the sightings appear to be in Virginia, Maryland and Washington with more sightings as far west as Kentucky and Ohio. Isn't that beautiful? The American Meteor Society posted this on its Twitter feed, quote, "A fireball alert. Wow, watch out below."
(LAUGHTER)
A little over the top. Beautiful pictures, though.
GDP numbers out moments ago and the news ain't pretty.
Alison Kosik is here live. Good morning, Alison.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Looking like a -- the last quarter of last year GDP, that's economic growth in the U.S., took a tick down. I'm going to have all the details for you coming up after this.
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COSTELLO: Checking our top stories at 15 minutes past the hour.
Underground explosions rocked downtown Columbus, Ohio, overnight. Crazy, right? Thankfully, no one was hurt. Manhole covers were blown off damaging nearby buildings as flames and black smoke poured into the streets.
Local electric company said the blasts were caused by an equipment fire, power outages in the area are expected to be stored by next hour.
A Mississippi man is back from the dead, a coroner pronounced 78-year- old Walter Williams dead, zipped him up to a body bag and sent him to a funeral home. A few hours later, Walter was kicking to get out of that bag. The coroner says Williams' pacemaker may have stopped working and then started up again.
Williams was taken to a hospital. His family calling Williams' return to life a gift from God.
An ugly, ugly end to a thrilling college basketball game. A New Mexico state player throws the ball at a Utah valley player and, boy, did that start a fight. At the same time Utah Valley fans stormed the court to celebrate their team's upset win. Some of the fans got involved in a fight. No report of serious injuries but disturbing needless to say.
This just in to CNN. The American economy is losing steam. In a report that was just released, the government says the gross domestic product, the GDP, was whittled down to 2.4 percent in the last quarter.
Alison Kosik is following that story for us from New York.
Tell us more, Alison.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Carol, you know, it was expected that this number was going to come in lousy and doesn't mean this is good news, though. One analyst says with economic growth in the fourth quarter being revised from 3.2 percent, that annual rate to a 2.4 percent pace is just not a good sign for 2014. You can pin this weak number on Americans spending less than initially thought, on big ticket items like automobiles, appliances and electronics.
Also, businesses spent less than first thought on restocking their shelves. Exports fell. And so did government spending.
Now, if you look at what's been happening with GDP over the past several months you'll see it is sharply lower from the 4.1 percent in the third quarter, so don't be surprised if the loss of momentum spills over into the first quarter of this year, January, February and March because we got this unusually cold winter happening and that cold weather is having an effect on retail sales, home building sales, hiring and industrial production.
And, Carol, all of those numbers, all that data, all that stuff gets factored into the big GDP numbers. So, you know, the fourth quarter of GDP still has to be revised one more time to get the final number but already the trend for that October through December period, the three months of last year, not looking good, Carol.
COSTELLO: We just can't get out of the hole, right?
KOSIK: I know.
COSTELLO: Alison Kosik, thanks so much.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM: Academy Awards just two days away. Just ahead, a sneak peek at the biggest night in show biz.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The red carpet is out and the gleaming gold statues are ready.
The Academy Awards are Sunday night and the competition is tight.
Entertainment correspondent Nischelle Turner with a preview of Hollywood's biggest night.
Hi, Nischelle.
NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Actually, Carol, I'm in Los Angeles.
COSTELLO: I should have known.
TURNER: I'm at a soggy red carpet. I know, exactly. I feel like I should be singing rain drops are falling on my head, because it's really kind of ominous looking and this is something that the Academy producers definitely don't want to see a lot of rain and soggy red carpet.
But, you know, it is two days away from the 86th Academy Award, and sometimes when you're sitting at home and getting ready to watch and trying to pick your favorites, you wonder, who is up against who? Who is in what category? It can get a little bit overwhelming.
So, what I wanted to do was lay everything out for you and get you ready for this Sunday's show.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jennifer, straight ahead.
TURNER (voice-over): The 86th Academy Award is set to be Hollywood's biggest party. As Ellen DeGeneres as the ring leader, expect nominees like Meryl Streep and Matthew McConaughey to get their groove on with the talk show queen.
Hollywood heavyweights like Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt are up for some of the night's biggest awards, insuring there will be no shortage of star power.
1970s con artist are pitted against astronauts for the most trophy. "Gravity" and "American Hustle" lead the fact with 10 nominations apiece.
Facing off against "12 Years a Slave," "Philomena", "Captain Phillips," "Dallas Buyer's Club", "Her", "Nebraska" and "The Wolf of Wall Street", in one of the tightest best picture races in Oscar history.
Golden Globe winner Cate Blanchett is a best actress contender, going head to head with the likes of Sandra Bullock, Amy Adams, Judy Dench, and with a record 18th nomination, Meryl Streep.
First time nominee Matthew McConaughey lands in the best actor category against Christian Bale, Bruce Dern, Leonardo DiCaprio and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
But this year could be all about the music.
Idina Menzel, Pharrell, U2 and Karen O were set to perform the best original song nominee, making the Oscars one of the biggest concerts of the year.
With hot performances and a host like Ellen, it may not be the winners that get everybody talking.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TURNER: Now, Carol, I'm not sure if you can hear we just got this like deluge of rain that started coming down here. There is, of course, a tent over the top of me, but I have to tell you if this is what it's like on Sunday, this will not be a welcomed sight.
And I think that I can add one more song to that concert, and that is definitely rain drops keep following on my head --
COSTELLO: Well, they need the rain in California but it's a good thing it's raining. And people will just have to be creative in covering up the beautiful --
TURNER: Not this much this fast, though.
COSTELLO: Well, that's a true story.
TURNER: Not this much this fast. But you're right.
COSTELLO: OK, let's make a bet. Who do you think is going to win best picture?
TURNER: Oh, OK. Well I do believe that it's a very tight race between "American Hustle" and "12 Years a Slave", but at the end of the day I think "12 Years a Slave" is going to win. I will say this, though, one caveat. Those two pictures could split the vote and if they split the vote we could see a movie like "Gravity" come and swoop in, and win best picture.
So, that's my little wrinkle.
COSTELLO: OK. So, I think it's going to be "American Hustle". So I bet you 20 bucks. I'll be there to collect my 20 bucks on Monday.
TURNER: Listen, this is on record. This is on television.
COSTELLO: Bring it on!
TURNER: I want my cash, Carol. I want my cash.
COSTELLO: Nischelle Turner, many thanks. Still to come on the NEWSROOM -- thousands of classified papers from Bill Clinton's presidency will be released today and they could reveal some big secrets.
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