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Turkey and Syria Hit by Earthquake; Ibrahim Haskologlu is Interviewed about the Earthquake in Turkey and Syria; Navy Works to Recover Chinese Spy Balloon; Evacuations After Trail Derailment in Ohio; Sexual Harassment Claim Against Santos. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired February 06, 2023 - 09:00   ET

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

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JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Lord, what a shocking moment there from Turkey.

Good morning to you this Monday. I'm Jim Sciutto.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Erica Hill.

The death toll continues to rise after this catastrophic 7.8 magnitude earthquake which struck near the border of Turkey and Syria. More than 1,800 people are now reported dead, but there are concerns that that number could ultimately reach into the tens of thousands.

At this hour, desperate rescue operations underway. Crews searching for survivors who may be trapped under piles of rubble. Here you see, this is the moment that a child, you see in the arms there of that rescue worker, a child was pulled from debris. This was in northwest Syria, a region which, of course, already heavily impacted after years of a bloody civil war.

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ISMAIL ALABDULLAH, VOLUNTEER, WHITE HELMETS: In each city, in each village, across northwest Syria, there are people under rubble.

The number of trapped people under the rubble, it's countless up to now. We don't have exact number.

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HILL: Countless. Multiple powerful aftershocks have also been reported across the region throughout the morning. We are live in Turkey with the very latest.

SCIUTTO: Also this morning, for the first time now China has admitted that the balloon spotted over Latin America, this of course another one, in addition to the one that went over the U.S., belongs to China, but insists once again it was being used for flight tests and seriously deviated off its intended course due to weather.

Here in the U.S., a senior administration official tells CNN the Chinese spy balloon, the one shot down off the coast of South Carolina this weekend, was not the first to come this way. In fact, three others flew across the continent, or parts of it, during the Trump administration. However, those were only discovered, those flight paths, after Joe Biden took office.

CNN is off the coast in South Carolina where U.S. teams are now looking for remnants of that balloon and collecting them. You see some pictures there of what they brought back.

First, however, to that story of this morning. Frantic rescue operations right now in Turkey and Syria, desperate ones, to try to save lives.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh, she is in Istanbul, Turkey.

Lord, the devastation so clear. What do we know about the latest on the ground?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely devastating situation, Jim. The Turkish president describes this as the biggest disaster his country has faced in about a century. A disaster like no other. This country, or Syria, in terms of a natural disaster has faced in decades and decades since that 1939 devastating earthquake here in Turkey.

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake striking at about 4:00 in the morning, right in the middle of the night, as people are indoors, in their homes sleeping. Scenes of utter devastation we are seeing coming from Turkey, as well as Syria.

The epicenter of this earthquake was a province in southern Turkey, but the actual earthquake zone stretches across at least ten provinces in the southern part of this country and across the border into Syria, a country that in no way is equipped or capable dealing with this sort of natural disaster. As you know very well, this is a country where the infrastructure and services have been decimated by more than a decade of war.

And we are getting reports of the devastation there. More than 800 people killed in both rebel-held areas in northwestern Syria, these are some of the most vulnerable parts of the country, and then as well in the government-controlled areas.

A lot of concern about the kind of support, assistance they are going to need. Aid has been very slow to come to this part of Syria in the past few months. We've heard from aid agencies that have been appealing to the international community to do more to support and help the many, the hundreds of thousands who have been displaced so many times in northwestern Syria, in dire need of assistance and aid.

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And now they find themselves in this situation. And here as well in Turkey, absolute disaster.

We have heard the government requesting international support. This is a country that is very capable, very experienced in dealing with natural disasters. Its deployed its military. Its deployed search and rescue teams from across the country, but they triggered a level four emergency, as they called it, requesting international assistance. And we are hearing several countries have offered assistance. The Turkish president saying more than 45 countries, NATO and the EU, are standing ready and starting to provide support and aid to Turkey right now.

Jim. Erica.

HILL: Yes. And by some - just even the pictures coming out, we know that those needs are extensive.

Jomana Karadsheh, in Istanbul for us this morning, thank you.

Chad Myers is standing by at the CNN Weather Center.

So, Chad, the magnitude of this earthquake and then the magnitude of these aftershocks, help us understand what's happening here in the region.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, 7.8 is the number. That is the magnitude. We don't use Richter scale anymore. So, if you see that on a tweet, the person is probably not as accurate as someone who calls it a magnitude earthquake.

But when you get a 7.8, we don't talk about really the epicenter. It's almost an epi line because an entire part of the country ruptures. A large expanse of the land ruptures or can even slide against each other. And this is called a slip strike, which means one land was here, one of the plates here, another plate was here and they go in opposite directions, or one goes in one direction.

Here are the aftershocks pretty much in a line. Now, this was the initial quake and the initial shaking, 190 kilometers across, more than 100 miles of ripping of the land. That fault moved more than 100 miles in that direction. Not at one time. It may have only moved a couple of meters, a couple of yards, but for the longest time we're not talking about the focus or the epicenter, all along that line that I showed you in red, that's where it shook. That's where the land moved. Right between the Anatolian Plate and the Arabian Plate. And you would expect it because it's right there. That's the line and the area I drew a little bit ago right along those two plate boundaries.

There has been a 7.5 earthquake aftershock after that, but really not even along this fault. A little bit farther to the north, about 60 miles or so. So, we'll have to see what that does. We know that that has already caused damage as well in a separate shake.

Guys, back to you.

SCIUTTO: More - yes, more than 20 years ago there was just a devastating earthquake in Turkey as well.

MYERS: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Many thousands killed then.

Chad Myers, good to have you there. We'll continue to monitor.

Joining us now live from Istanbul is Ibrahim Haskologlu. He's an international journalist from Turkey.

And Ibrahim, it's good to have you here.

I understand this story is personal for you as well. Your family from Malatya, in the central part of the country. You're trying to get there yourself. Have you heard anything from them about what they're seeing there?

IBRAHIM HASKOLOGLU, INTERNATIONAL JOURNALIST: Thanks so much for having me, Jim and Erica.

Yes, as you say that, my -- Malatya is my hometown and now we wake up to hell this morning. I was (INAUDIBLE) Malatya and the city I grew up was destroyed after earthquake. I -- it looks like a Chernobyl. Its earthquake is the biggest destruction in history of Turkey. And this is -- the 3,000-year-old Gaziantep Castle has been destroyed. Perhaps it explains the situations.

I hate -- I have to say that still many people in the destroyed buildings. They are still trying to find (ph) someone, somehow, to try to get out from the destroyed buildings.

Actually, in -- now in Turkey, people -- everyone, everyone, people are - is now in shocked and in panic. And even my Twitter DM (ph) messages, I'm looking every time and people sending me messages in the destroyed buildings. They are sending the videos.

SCIUTTO: Oh.

HASKOLOGLU: We need this. They are saying that we need help. Please, send -- send help.

SCIUTTO: Oh, Lord.

HASKOLOGLU: Send the ambulance. And they are saying that there are others. But we cannot help. These buildings may be more than 3,000 buildings that's destroyed in Turkey.

HILL: Wow.

HASKOLOGLU: And it's huge numbers and we are expecting that it's getting - getting go up.

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HILL: The number of buildings and the videos you're receiving -

HASKOLOGLU: Yes. Yes. HILL: There has been a lot of talk about the 1999 earthquake and the discussion about building codes in Turkey after that. Are you concerned that not enough change in the years since that earthquake and that that's part of what we're seeing today?

HASKOLOGLU: Yes. Actually, in Turkey, people has criticized the government why we are facing the same situation in Turkey. We have - we are in the earthquake area and our buildings are so weak. Why we are living these situations over and all time.

And let me fix it. Some of sources say that maybe this situation, maybe it's more than 1999 Istanbul earthquake. We are expecting big numbers, big death tolls, and I have to tell -- say it, and Turkey is a huge - this -- I'm sorry, this earthquake happening huge area and the government still cannot touch village. We don't know how many village destroyed after this earthquake. We will see the numbers, maybe tomorrow, maybe after. It's not clear yet. This number is not clear yet.

HILL: Yes.

HASKOLOGLU: And for this reason, Turkey called it international help for the -- all of countries and United States (INAUDIBLE) Ukraine start sending the help.

HILL: As I -- yes, as we just - as we just heard from Jomana, a level four, calling for help globally.

HASKOLOGLU: Yes. Yes.

HILL: As you mentioned, these just horrific and heartbreaking videos of people you say in the rubble sending you videos, needing to be rescued. We will continue to stay on this. Still, so much more to learn as officials are able to get into different areas of the country, as you pointed out.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HILL: Ibrahim Haskologlu, appreciate you joining us. Thank you.

Well, today, China admitting another balloon, the one spotted flying over the skies of Latin America, does belong to them. Chinese officials say that balloon was being used for flight tests. The Pentagon, however, claims it is another surveillance balloon.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Yes, the Pentagon not buying Chinese explanations. Just two days ago, you'll probably remember, a U.S. military fighter jet, an F-22, with a single missile, shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon six miles off the coast of North Carolina. The Navy is now searching for what remains of that balloon on the surface and below the waves.

CNN's Dianne Gallagher joins us live from a boat near that search.

Dianne, I know they're keeping you at a distance. I'm curious what you're able to see where you are and what exactly and how much are U.S. Navy divers hoping to find.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so, Jim, about half an hour ago the captain of our boat, the Linda Ann (ph), we're on a shrimp boat here off the coast of Myrtle Beach, was essentially told by the Coast Guard, this is as close as we can get. And I can't move very much because the cell signal for me to connect with you is a little dodgy. So, I'm going to just do very limited motions to let you know behind me you may be able to see very much in the distance there are some Coast Guard vessels that have set up a perimeter. We're roughly three miles off the coast of the Myrtle Beach shoreline in South Carolina at the moment. That perimeter is set up. Within that perimeter, that's where the recovery efforts are taking place.

According to a U.S. senior military official, we're talking about 47 feet of water, which is a lot more shallow than they had anticipated when they shot down that suspected Chinese spy balloon. We're told that they're going to use Navy divers, as well as unmanned vessels, to try and bring the structure up. They'll put it on a salvage vessel. They'll take that then back to the Quantico area so intelligence officials can examine what they bring up.

I can tell you that also last night, in the north Myrtle Beach area, we saw what seemed to be items that were being brought up, but CNN was not able to independently confirm. We did reach out to the U.S. Navy to see if, in fact, that's what those U.S. Navy officials were bringing up, but they would not confirm it for us.

I can tell you out here our captain says that this area right now at this time of day is usually very busy. We're the only vessel out here aside from that perimeter. The Coast Guard said this is as close as we can get.

HILL: Dianne Gallagher, appreciate it. Thank you.

SCIUTTO: With me now to discuss what happens next, retired Army Major General Spider Marks, and Zolan Kanno-Youngs, he's White House correspondent for "The New York Times." He was traveling with President Biden this weekend.

General Marks, if I could begin with you.

Concerns now about the possibility of retaliation and escalation whenever you have a superpower firing at another super power.

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I just want to play briefly an incident that occurred a number of years ago when I was on a Chinese surveillance - or U.S. surveillance flight around China in 2015 when the Chinese navy warped us away. These flights continue every day. Have a quick listen here.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the Chinese navy. This is the Chinese navy. Please go away quickly.

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SCIUTTO: They were warning away a U.S. PA Poseidon surveillance jet I was on at the time. As you know, General Marks, these are regular events. The PA Poseidon, that's a crewed flight. It's round there. The Global Hawk, that's an unmanned ariel vehicle, around China. China made a not to veiled threat reserving the rights to take action against U.S. surveillance flights.

I wonder what you rate the risk of Chinese retaliation at this point.

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Pretty low, Jim. Every one of those American flights that you described, and what the United States intelligence community and our services do as a matter of routine, is in international air space. I mean that's available for -- it's ungoverned -- I mean it's the governed commons. Everybody can go there. Everybody can do what they want.

So, when the Chinese send these kinds of warnings, and you were a part of that on that PA Poseidon, also wear in mind, back in the early 2000s, the Chinese shot down the predecessor to the PA, the P3.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

MARKS: And it had to make an emergency landing on (INAUDIBLE) island. That, again, was an incursion, an aggressive act on the part of the Chinese.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

MARKS: So, for the United States to be concerned about retaliation, I think that's a - frankly, the entire incident, for the most part, without being flipped, is a little bit of a nothing burger. This was an opportunity for the United States to declare our priority when they first detected the balloon to China, say, hey, guys, you've got a balloon coming our way. We're going to do something with it. We're going to make an assumption that if this thing enters into the ADIS, (ph), it's not because you wanted it to, but we're going to take it down and we're going to kind of deconstruct what took place, we're going to figure out what you guys were doing. What do you think about that? I think that was the course that should have been taken.

SCIUTTO: So, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, you were traveling with the president this weekend. I imagine you were asking a lot of questions about the decision-making process going into it.

What was the level of U.S. concern about the national security risk from this surveillance balloon? Did they take this down because of that risk, or did they take it down in part because of concerns about political fallout here in the U.S.?

ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think most of the concern had to do with whether or not shooting this spy balloon down earlier in the week could cause harm to anyone on the ground, at least based off of, you know, the statements that we got from numerous U.S. officials. When President Biden came off Air Force One, I did ask him to

elaborate on some of the recommendations and advice he got from his own national security officials. And he put a -- he emphasized when asked about - about the timing of - of the downing of the balloon, he emphasized really that they were focused on the safety of those on the ground.

That being said, that runs up against, we're seeing some political criticism from Republicans and it comes ahead of the State of the Union that we know the White House wanted to focus on his economic agenda. So, it's safe to assume that there are some that -- around the president that are annoyed of the shadow this now casts around an address that they still want to focus on a slate of legislative achievements and the economy.

SCIUTTO: General Marks, you mentioned the 2001 incident within the U.S. EP-3 collided with a Chinese jet, that then brought it down. You know, there's a lot of analysis at the time that China was making a show of strength there, right, saying, you know, we're going to come up close and challenge those surveillance flights. But I suppose there are the escalations you want and the ones you don't want or can't control.

What kind of communications are -- do you expect are going between the U.S. and Chinese militaries now to avoid an escalation?

MARKS: Jim, that's the - that's the great question. And it starts with -- I don't want to venture into policy. I'm not a policy guy.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

MARKS: But when you look at the secretary of state's decision not to go to Beijing, I view this differently. I think he probably should have gone to Beijing to keep those lines of communications open. That's exactly what you have to - have to have in circumstances like this. You cannot shut down when the narrative is this is ratcheting up. We can't allow that to happen.

And, look, I would say that when you - when you look at this balloon technology, look, I've launched balloons with different sensors on the bottom of them when I've been in different places around the globe. It's an effective collection platform. So, for the United States to look at this and say, oh, it's a balloon, it's no big deal, it is a big deal and let's address it. Balloons give you loiter. They give you layering.

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You've got satellites. You can have a balloon. You can have aircraft, et cetera. So, all of that, as an intelligence guy, makes sense to me. But in this case, I have to look at this more as a policy decision, driven by policy than driven by intelligence collection concerns.

SCIUTTO: Yes, we've certainly seen the politics injected, as Zolan was saying there.

Major General Spider Marks, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, thanks so much to both of you.

MARKS: Jim, thank you.

SCIUTTO: Of course, we will continue to bring the latest we're learning from Syria and Turkey today after that devastating earthquake and aftershocks. Rescuers desperately searching for survivors still trapped in the debris. Those aftershocks are still coming.

Coming up next, though, Ohio officials are telling one community to get out right now. A derailed train that has burned for days could, they fear, explode, sending shrapnel as far as a mile away. We're going to have the latest coming up.

HILL: And on a bit lighter note, coming up later, a star-studded tribute to hip hop. Viola Davis and the newly minted EGOT and you can hand Queen Be another crown. What a night at the Grammy's. We've got a recap.

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HILL: Residents of a small town in Ohio are being urged to leave their homes after a train carrying dangerous chemicals derailed and burst into flames and now there is concern that it could possibly explode. The fire itself has now been burning for several days. This is in East Palestine, Ohio.

SCIUTTO: Officials fear there could be an explosion that could shoot pieces of that train, in the form of shrapnel, as far as a mile away. There are also concerns about air quality, chemicals seeping into the water supply. A lot to be concerned about.

CNN's Gabe Cohen, he is following this story for us.

Gabe, what do we know about the hazardous materials that were on this train and are people listening to the warnings?

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jim, Erica, that's our understanding that people are starting to listen to these because the sheriff's office has said if they don't listen to those evacuation orders, they're going to be held accountable. They're going to be arrested.

Now, to those chemicals. Officials say there has been a drastic temperature change in one of the railcars, one specific one that is carrying a chemical called vinyl chloride. It's used to make PVC pipes, some plastics, products like that. And officials think that because it has been heating up, there could potentially be a catastrophic tanker failure and an explosion that could send deadly shrapnel flying up to a mile in any direction.

So, right now, crews are on the ground trying to figure out how to release those chemicals before they potentially blow. As you said, they've been evacuating everyone who lives within a mile of that derailment. And they're enforcing that radius this morning. Even the police department has evacuated their communications center for safety reasons and the county sheriff says there are likely toxic chemicals that are pouring out of this train. So people who don't leave are putting themselves in danger and they say they will potentially arrest people, especially if they have children in the house.

Jim. Erica.

HILL: Wow.

Gabe, appreciate it.

A lot to think about there. Evacuating the communication center. That really gives you a sense of this.

Gabe, thanks.

SCIUTTO: Well, this morning, a former prospective staffer is accusing Republican Congressman George Santos now of sexual harassment. Derek Myers says that Santos made an unwanted sexual advance towards him during a private encounter inside Santos' congressional office. Myers says that when he refused, he was later denied a job there.

HILL: Well, now he says he's filed a police report over that incident, as well as a House ethics complaint, which CNN has reviewed.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has the latest update for us now.

So, Sunlen, the Ethics Committee, have we heard anything from the committee itself about a possible investigation here?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, a spokeswoman for the ranking Democrat of the House Ethics Committee, they confirmed that this complaint has indeed been officially received, but there's no word yet on launching a formal investigation.

Now, this allegation, as you said, comes from a man named Derek Myers. And in the complaint he says that late last month, on January 25th, he was alone with the congressman in his office. He says it was then that Santos grabbed his leg, reached for his groin area. Myers said then he pushed his hand away and he left the office.

Now, at the time, notably, Myers was not an official employee with the office. He says he was there in a volunteer capacity. He says he was waiting for some formal paperwork to go through for his official formal job with the office. But five days after that incident -- and this is Myers' claim -- he says that he was called back by the office and they were asking him questions about his resume, questions about his time as being a former reporter. And then he says a few days after that conversation that his official job offer was rescinded by the congressman's office.

Now, notably, Santos, his office and his lawyer have not responded to repeated questions by CNN about this specific allegation. But, Erica and Jim, as you know, this is just one in a very long line of allegations about his background, about his resume, his finances that are, of course, hitting the new congressman.

SCIUTTO: No question.

Sunlen Serfaty, thanks so much for covering.

SUNLEN: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Still ahead, we are live near a NATO training base where Germany's Leopard tanks are in action. This as Ukraine prepares to get the critical armor on to the front lines and soon. It's a big step.

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