Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Surge of Violence, Threats at U.S. Campuses; Black Colleges, Universities Targeted in Bomb Threats; Parts of the U.S. Prep for Brutal Winter Storms; Putin Speaks Publicly About Ongoing Crisis Over Ukraine; Pfizer-BioNTech Asks FDA to Clear Vaccine for Kids Under 5. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired February 02, 2022 - 04:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[04:00:00]

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and right around the world. I'm Isa Soares in London and just ahead right here on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were all just sitting in our class and then all of a sudden, we just heard a gunshot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Officers arrived and discovered two students had been shot on the sidewalk outside of the school.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was very violent and it was very disturbing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Students across America are seeing a rise in threats on their campuses including historically black colleges just as black history month begins.

Plus, Vladimir Putin accuses United States and NATO as using Ukraine as a pawn. We are live in Moscow and Kyiv this hour.

And with just two days left before the Beijing Olympics kick off, the FBI is urging American athletes to leave their personal phones at home.

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Isa Soares.

SOARES: Welcome to the show, everyone. It is Wednesday, February 2nd. America's colleges are on alert after several threats of violence right across the country. And that includes at least a dozen historically black colleges that received bomb threats on the first day of black history month.

In Minnesota one student is dead and another critically injured after shooting at the South Education Center. Authorities arrested two suspects Tuesday evening and here's what happened earlier. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF JAY HENTHORNE, RICHFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT: Officers arrived and discovered two students had been shot on the sidewalk outside of the school. Officers quickly determined that the suspects had fled the scene immediately after the shooting took place. Unfortunately, one of the students succumb to his injuries. The other student remains in critical condition at this time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: The center offers special education and alternative learning programs. About 200 students attend from pre-K through the age of 21.

In another incident, two officers were shot to death on the campus of Bridgewater College in Virginia. They had responded to emergency calls about a suspicious man on campus. After a brief interaction, the man shot them and ran away. One student described hearing the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were all just sitting in our class and then all of a sudden, we just heard a gunshot. We thought maybe someone ran into something, and then all of a sudden, we heard another two and everyone just dropped to the floor. We all just dropped and waited in the building, barricaded ourselves and just waited it out until everyone got here to help us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: A Virginia residents David Yarber shot this video you are seeing there, showing officers arresting the 27-year-old suspect. Alexander Wyatt Campbell is now facing murder charges.

In-person classes will resume at UCLA today after authorities arrested a man tied to an 800-page manifesto. He was taken into custody after Colorado authorities were notified about the man's presence likely at UCLA. CNN's Joe Johns has more on the threats to historically black colleges.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELENA RUSSO, MARYLAND STATE POLICE SPOKESPERSON: Investigators believe that numerous threats throughout the area and throughout the nation were coming in targeting several historically black colleges and universities.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The nation's historically black colleges and universities are on alert. From Louisiana to Georgia, to Maryland, to Delaware, at least 18 HBCUs have had class disruptions in the past two days due to bomb threats. No explosives have been found.

AMINTA H. BREAUX, PRESIDENT, BOWIE STATE UNIVERSITY: It's most unsettling for the students to have to address this. So, the emotional and mental health and well-being of our students is of concern.

JOHNS (voice-over): The barrage of threats on the campus disruption they caused garnering national attention, including from the White House.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We are working in close coordination with our law enforcement authorities and ensuring that the leaders of these institutions and the students know that we are watching closely and that we are standing with them as they face these threats.

JOHNS (voice-over): State and local law enforcement approaching the problem on a case-by-case basis. Spelman College in Atlanta telling CNN city police will increase their patrols around campus.

This wave of bomb threats, the latest in a string that began in early January.

[04:05:00]

The FBI announcing investigations are ongoing with other law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Lawmakers also taking the threat seriously with the House Intelligence Committee chairman, Adam Schiff, and Counterterrorism Subcommittee Chairman Congressman Andre Carson releasing a joint statement saying, we will remain focused on ensuring that our appropriate resources are utilized to combat the scourge of white supremacist violence and terrorism.

The motive is not clear, but on the first day of black history month, some of these administrators want to send a clear message of their own.

BREAUX: We're here. We've been here for 150 years providing education, outstanding, excellent education to our students, and that's our mission. So, no, we will not be deterred.

JOHNS: The guidance from authorities so far has been short and sweet. The FBI advising that while this investigation goes on the best thing the public can do is if they see anything or hear anything, to speak up to law enforcement.

Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Thank you, Joe. The president of Howard University in Washington in Washington putting the threat into historical context for his students. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WAYNE FREDERICK, PRESIDENT, HOWARD UNIVERSITY: Well, I think we have a lot to learn from what has happened before us. Our civil rights leaders in this country endured things of this nature and even worse, and what they exemplified was courage. I think that's one of the things I'm going to ask these young people to be mindful of. To think about tonight that the reason they came here is exactly to combat what is motivating this person to do this, and I think if they unite around their courage, we will certainly get through this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: While the U.S. Education Secretary Miquel Cardona called the threats disturbing and said his team will work with students, faculty and alumnae to make sure campuses are safe places for students to learn.

The former head coach of the Miami Dolphins is suing the National Football League and three NFL teams. Brian Flores accuses the New York Giants of racial discrimination. Claiming they interviewed him for a job only to satisfy a quota. Flores also claims the Denver Broncos subjected him to a, quote, sham interview in 2019 and he accuses the Dolphins owner of trying to pay him to lose games so the team could get a higher draft pick. The league and all three teams deny any wrongdoing. About 70 percent of NFL players are black but only one of the 32 teams has a black head coach.

Whoopie Goldberg has been suspended for two weeks from co-hosting "The View" after falsely declaring the Holocaust was, quote, not about race and that it involved two white groups of people. The remarks immediately drew widespread outrage after she made them during discussion on the show Monday, about a book depicting the horrors of the Holocaust. Goldberg apologized to her audience on Tuesday before getting suspended.

The winter weather hits just really keep coming in the U.S. where more than 90 million people under winter weather storm alerts, I should say, for the second storm system to hit in a week. Now multiple states, as you can see on your screen, have already declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard. Nearly 3,000 flights have already been canceled across today and tomorrow ahead of the storms.

The governor of Texas says the state is working right around the clock to prepare for the weather saying, quote, every state agency is in close communication and coordination to provide resources and valuable information to keep Texans safe during the winter weather conditions.

The Texas governor no doubt wants to avoid another power grid failure like last February, if you remember, where state-mandated power out stages resulted in 200 deaths, most due to hypothermia.

Let's get more on this, meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins me now in Atlanta with the very latest. Good morning to you, Pedram. How brutal are we expecting the storm to be here?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, Isa, I think the impacts could be more significant than what we saw last weekend with the blizzard. I know blizzards certainly get a lot of attention especially around portions of the Northeast where the population density is the highest in the country. But this frontal boundary as impressive as it gets and the impacts could be very specific. Not only because of the snow but the amount of ice that could accumulate across portions of parts of at least 21 states spreading into an area of 90 million Americans. And you take a look at this, over 2,000 miles stretch of land that is underneath these winter weather alerts.

Even an ice storm warning in place where the National Weather Service says travel is going to be near impossible in the regions. If you have to be on the roads, you better pack a flashlight. You better bring extra food and extra water. There's almost certainly you're going to be trapped in the roadways in these areas where ice could gather.

But I want to show you the forecast model, show you the breakdown hour by hour.

[04:10:00]

Once we get to Wednesday night around say 8 to 9 p.m., that's when we begin to see the ice really accumulate here with freezing rain coming down around between northern areas of Texas, eastern areas of Oklahoma, including around Tulsa and then work your way into portions of Arkansas and stretch it into say southern Indiana. That's the area of concern. That's the initial onset of ice.

On the northern fringe of this, heavy snow here at times on the order of a couple of inches per hour and continuing throughout the overnight hours of Wednesday into Thursday really going to make it a blockbuster snow then across some of these regions. So, Springfield, St. Louis on to say areas around Chicago and points of the east, 5, 8, maybe 12 plus inches of snowfall possible in these regions. And eventually all of the energy arrives in and around the Northeast and we do expect heavy snow even into interior areas of the Northeast.

But notice on the southern fringe of this, significant amounts of rainfall. As much as 4 maybe 5 inches possible, including areas of eastern Tennessee, northern Alabama. This being the case, flood alerts have been prompted across this region for significant flooding as a result of the moisture in place there. But, again, the system on the move and an incredible amount of ice here could accumulate. And when you see that in forecast models, Isa, bring as much as a quarter of an inch to a half an inch widespread. Some areas three-quarters of an inch, even one inch of ice secretion. This comes in on roadways, on power lines, you're going to see widespread to extreme power outages. And in fact, the forecast models do bring that top of the chart amount of power outages with the extreme category into portions of Illinois, portions of Indiana and Ohio as well. So, this is going to be a dangerous go over the next 24 to 36 hours across this region of the U.S.

SOARES: Stay safe, everyone. Be very careful. Pedram, appreciate it. Thanks very much.

For the first time ever America's national debt has surpassed 30, 3-0, trillion dollars, a sobering and staggering milestone. That's up $7 trillion since the end of 2019. Borrowing escalated during the pandemic as the government tried to cushion the economic blow, of course, from the crisis and keep every day Americans afloat. This new milestone comes as the Federal Reserve gets ready to hike interest rates which will make financing that huge debt even more difficult.

Meanwhile, millions of Americans who are just fine about quitting jobs. The U.S. Labor Department says the record number did so last year and for a wide range of reasons. Some left the labor market to care for children or elderly relatives during the pandemic. Others they job hopped for better pay or benefits. And many older Americans got out of the workforce because they could afford to or due to age discrimination.

Home Depot says it has a plan to get more workers back on board through these job offers. The home improvement chain says the new hiring process is part of its plan to bring on more than 100,000 new workers before spring. Home depot said Tuesday that applicants could even receive an offer within one day of applying.

And business is booming for Google and its parent company Alphabet. They announced Tuesday that quarterly profits rose once again fueled by strong ad sales. Google already an online advertising giant has been escalating sales growing fast in recent quarter as people spend more time online, of course, and businesses spend more to reach the masses.

Now we are now hearing directly from Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time in weeks as the crisis of Ukraine shows no signs of easing. After holding talks with Hungary's Prime Minister in Moscow, Mr. Putin held a news conference where he said the U.S. and NATO have ignored Russia's key concerns. He also accused the U.S. of using Ukraine as a tool and trying to draw Russians into armed conflict. Mr. Putin's remarks came the same day as a phone call between top Russian and as well as U.S. diplomats. Russia's foreign minister gave no indication Moscow plans to de-escalate but agreed to speak again with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Here's how the White House weighed in on Mr. Putin's comments. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PSAKI: I mean, this is -- you know, Secretary Blinken has used some of these analogies in the past. When the fox is screaming from the top of the hen house that he's scared of the chickens, which is essentially what they're doing, that fear isn't reported as a statement of fact. And as you watch President Putin screaming about the fear of Ukraine on the Ukrainians, that should not be reported as a statement of fact. We know who the fox is in this case.

We have seen the buildup of troops at the border. We have seen them move troops to Belarus on another border. And our role in the United States is to work with other countries around the world to keep that door to diplomacy open because certainly all of our presence is to de- escalate and to prevent an invasion from happening, but that is up to president Putin to make that decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:15:00]

Well, in Kyiv Ukraine's president and the British Prime Minister -- as you can see there -- sat down for talks with each leader warning of the consequences of a potential Russian invasion. Boris Johnson portrayed Russia's escalation as a threat to all of NATO as well as Europe. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: It's a fact Ukraine and that matters deeply to us, but this is about something even bigger, I'm afraid. It's about the whole European security architecture. Because being no doubt about what I think President Putin is trying to achieve here. I think that he is trying by holding a gun, as it were, to the head of Ukraine by intimidating Ukraine to get us to change the way we look at something that was absolutely fantastic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Well, let's get more on this story. CNN correspondents are tracking all the angles. Nathan Hodge is in Moscow for us this morning. And Melissa Bell is following developments from Kyiv. And Nathan, let me start with you. These, of course, were the first significant comments that we heard from President Putin after several weeks now, and he didn't hold back. What was your assessment, analysis of his comments?

NATHAN HODGE, CNN PRODUCER: You know, Isa, I think it's important to be very clear about what Putin's press conference was and what it was not. What it was, was a rehash of a lot of long-standing grievances that he's had against the West, against NATO and the U.S. for many years and he's been very public about.

That's for instance the scrapping of arms control treaties by the U.S. and the stationing of missile defenses assets in Eastern Europe. The expansion eastward of the NATO alliance to include former members of the Warsaw pact in the Baltics. And as well what he described in yesterday's press conference today about -- yesterday about the U.S. and NATO essentially ignoring Russia's security concerns. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It's already clear that the fundamental Russian concerns were ignored. We have not seen adequate consideration for our three key demands regarding NATO expansion. The renunciation of the deployment, strike weapons near the Russian borders and return of the bloc's military infrastructure in Europe to the state of 1997 when the Russia/NATO founding act was signed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HODGE: Now what Putin's appearance was not, it was not a formal response to the letters that the U.S. and NATO sent about a week ago in response to Russia's security demands. Now we've been waiting for days now to see if we can get some kind of hint about how the Kremlin, how Putin himself will formally respond to these demands.

While he did lay out again these grievances, the Kremlin's press spokesperson yesterday said that Putin would essentially be responding to these demands and to these letters in his own time, that the Kremlin was continuing to study them. Of course, Putin's foreign minister has made clear that Washington and Moscow remain very far apart even though there was a phone conversation and we are all waiting to see as the ball is in Putin's court -- Isa.

SOARES: After all of these diplomatic discussions and meetings, seems like the needle hasn't really moved much. Nathan do stay with us. Melissa, let me go to you. Because while President Putin was lashing out -- as Nathan laid out there -- the Ukrainian president is, as we've noted, is building alliances as well as bolstering his army.

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. What Vladimir Putin's press conference allowed us to hear was directly from the Russian president's mouth is what everyone had wanted. And the fact that he should have been so uncompromising on the question of whether his demands had been met really shows that that window of opportunity for discussion, for compromise between the United States and NATO on one hand and Russia on the other is narrowing.

Now even as he was holding that press conference the Ukrainian president, as you mentioned, speaking to his British counterpart. Now, the tone struck by London in these last few weeks has been very similar to the one struck by Washington. An alarming intelligence assessment and words of warning any threat directed and Vladimir Putin. And it is that sort of steed up on one hand, aggressive tone adopted towards Russia but also, a steadfast supported Ukraine that really allowed the Ukrainian president to strike himself. A much more confident and uncompromising tone than perhaps he would have done several years ago. Have a listen, Isa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Our country has changed. Our society has changed. Our army has changed. There will be no occupation of any territory or city in Ukraine. Unfortunately, there will be a bloody tragedy if the invasion of our country starts and therefore, I'm being very open. This is not going to be a war of Ukraine and Russia, this is going to be a European war, a full-fledged war. This

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:20:00]

BELL: Now, in the wake of those two press conferences, the French foreign minister who really represents another school of thought within NATO spoke out on French media saying, look, perhaps the architecture is there, the infrastructure is there for Russia to invade. Be very careful. For the time being, Vladimir Putin has not indicated his willingness to invade Ukraine. Now, he will be in Kyiv next week with the German foreign minister. Again, another school of thought, one very much directed towards looking for compromise and any room for dialogue that there might still be -- Isa.

SOARES: Yes, keeping the doors open to dialogue and diplomacy. Melissa Bell for us there in Kyiv and Nathan Hodge in Moscow. Thank you to you both.

I had this hour right here on CNN NEWSROOM, the U.S. is now one step closer to the first COVID vaccine for children under 5. We'll tell you what happens next before the vaccine is approved.

Plus saying good-bye to the goat. The man many call the greatest of all time, decided to end his NFL career. We'll have reaction from right around the league. That is next. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: U.S. President Joe Biden is wasting no time kicking off the process of courting key Senators who will play a role in confirming his future Supreme Court nominee.

[04:25:00]

Mr. Biden met with both the Democrat and Republican at the White House on Tuesday, a sign that he'll be looking for input at both sides of the aisle on who he should nominate to succeed Justice Stephen Breyer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Constitution says advice and consent. And it's I'm serious when I say it, that I want the advice of the Senate as well as the consent we can arrive on who the nominee should be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Mr. Biden said he expects to name his nominee by the end of the month and he's pledged to nominate the first black woman to the nation's highest court.

President Biden will relaunch the Cancer Moon Shot Initiative later today. The project aimed at curing cancer is one that Mr. Biden previously oversaw in the final year of the Obama administration. He also launched the Biden cancer initiative after leaving office in 2017. Then left the organization after announcing his White House bid. The cause is of course especially personal for Biden whose son Beau died of brain cancer.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration advisers are expected to meet in about two weeks or so to review the first COVID vaccine for children younger than 5. CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Pfizer has initiated an application to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration to get authorizations to give in the U.S. COVID-19 vaccines to children ages 6 months to 5 years. Let's take a look at the details.

Pfizer says if the vaccine for children this young is authorized, it would be given in two shots. It will be 21 days apart and then the third shot at least eight weeks later. The dosage will be much lower for these little children, 3 micrograms, not 30 like for adolescents and adults.

Now their FDA application at this point is only for two shots. They don't have the third shot data quite yet. They say the data on that third shot is expected in the coming months.

Now this application comes at a time that polling data shows that many parents of children this young aren't very enthusiastic about giving a COVID-19 vaccine to their children. Let's take a look at what the Kaiser Family Foundation found. Last month Kaiser polled 162 parents of children this age, only 3 in 10 of them said they would get their child vaccinated right away.

So, if the COVID-19 vaccine is authorized for children this age, it looks like the FDA and Pfizer and the CDC will have a fair amount of work in front of them convincing parents to vaccinate their children.

Now we don't have a timeline on when the shot might be available for the youngest children, but we do know that the FDA has gathered its vaccine advisers for a February 15th meeting. Now if they give it a thumbs up the shots could be available for little children later this month.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Thanks, Elizabeth Cohen, for that reporting there.

For parents concerned about the COVID-19 vaccine for little children, the U.S. Surgeon General says there is no need to worry. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. VIVEK MURTHY, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: Yes, if the FDA issues the authorization, if the CDC recommends it, I will tell you that absolutely my 4-year-old will be getting that shot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Meanwhile, the Kaiser Family Foundation services about half of U.S. parents say they worried about their child becoming seriously ill with COVID and more than 1/4 -- as you can see there -- parents reported their child had to quarantine at home since returning to school in January.

Canada is trying to clear two blockades thousands of miles apart. Truckers are protesting COVID vaccines and mask mandates saying they won't move until the restrictions are lifted. The blockade, seen here, is at a major commercial route which could add, of course, to the supply chain issues. Two people were arrested in Ottawa where the so- called freedom convoy has been parked since Saturday. The premiere of Alberta say members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were assaulted on Tuesday.

You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. Just ahead, Tom Brady makes it official. The man many consider the greatest of all time says good-bye to the NFL. We'll have more.

Plus, the Olympic torch has been lit signaling an official countdown to the winter games. But the FBI is warning athletes the winter games could come with cybersecurity risks. We'll explain next.