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CNN International: Biden Publicly Addresses Unidentified Flying Objects; Sen. John Fetterman in Hospital for Clinical Depression; MSU Professor Recounts Horror as Gunman Opened Fire; Munich Security Conference Gets Underway in Coming Hours; Ukrainian Officials: Renewed Russian Offensive Has Begun. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired February 17, 2023 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and around the world. I'm Bianca Nobilo.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Max Foster joining you live from London. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Make no mistake, if any object presents a threat to the safety and security of the American people, I will take it down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To see that I couldn't stop it, it was the worst thing. They became like my family. They were like my kids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will go through this process with the citizens of East Palestine for as long as it takes.

TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: I just played this hole. Just trying to get better and I happened to actually hit some good shots finally and made a couple putts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.

FOSTER: It's Friday, February 17th, 9:00 a.m. here in London, 4:00 a.m. in Washington, D.C., where U.S. President Biden is finally speaking publicly about those unidentified objects shot out of the sky by the military. He says nothing suggests these objects are related to China's spy balloon program or that they were surveillance objects from any other country.

NOBILO: It's important to note the U.S. has not been able to recover any of the debris from these three objects because of the remote locations and severe weather. CNN's Phil Mattingly reports from the White House. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, for nearly a week President Biden has said nothing about what was an unprecedented three days, three U.S. fighters shooting down three separate unidentified objects. It raised a lot of concerns, certainly raise a lot of alarm. And lawmakers on both sides of the aisle had called on President Biden to explain what exactly was happening, what his administration was doing about these objects that seem to have no explanation, no clear origin, no real sense of what they were supposed to be.

That changed on Thursday. President Biden speaking for the first time on the issue detailing how those three unidentified objects were very different from the Chinese spy balloon that had been shot down prior, are likely not some new phenomena but something that had been happening over time and just picked up by U.S. radars that had been expanded in their aperture since that Chinese balloon. And also that there were a significant number of steps that U.S. officials are now taking to try to address these objects going forward including this, as the president said.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Make no mistake, if any object presents a threat to the safety and security of the American people, I will take it down. I'll be sharing with Congress these classified policy parameters when they are completed and they will remain classified so we don't give our roadmap to our enemies to try to evade our defenses.

MATTINGLY: Now there are the classified parameters in terms of when U.S. fighters will be called to shoot down objects. There are also a series of steps, then National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is leading a team on to better understand how to grapple with these issues going forward. Public, private, state owned, this is clearly something that officials are in the midst of trying to get their heads around at this moment.

They are also trying to have a better understanding of what the relationship is with China going forward. This is the most important geopolitical relationship, no question about that, the critical bilateral relationship for President Biden. He says he is going to speak with President Xi Jinping soon. One exactly that is, advisers say they don't have a date yet. Communications have certainly been stunted. There's certainly been a lot of back and forth, but Biden has attempted to walk a pretty careful line on this making clear that the U.S. will act if it feels like its sovereignty is impeded. But trying not to send a tense relationship already into an even worse spot. And making it clear that most important thing for U.S. officials at this point, is maintaining lines of communication.

Phil Mattingly, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: U.S. President Joe Biden is getting a clean bill of health from his physician. He had a routine exam Thursday at Walter Reed Medical Center Doctor Kevin O'Connor says President Biden remains a healthy vigorous 80-year-old male who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.

FOSTER: An NBC news poll show only 28 percent of respondents think Mr. Biden has the necessary mental and physical abilities to be president. 54 percent disagree and those numbers have gotten worse since last year.

NOBILO: U.S. Senator John Fetterman is being treated for clinical depression. The Pennsylvania Democrat checked himself into a Washington area hospital on Thursday. And Fetterman says that he's experienced depression off and on for years but it's recently become worse.

[04:05:00]

CNN congressional correspondent Jessica Dean has this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Senator John Fetterman the newest Democratic Senator from Pennsylvania has checked himself into Walter Reed Medical Center for treatment for clinical depression. You will remember that Fetterman suffered a stroke in May when he was running for the nomination for that Senate seat that kept him in the hospital for over nine days. And he had a long recovery while he was also on the campaign trail.

He then checked himself into the hospital recently just in the last several days when he started feeling lightheaded, but good news there is that they saw no new signs of a new stroke.

But again, we had seen him here on Capitol Hill, he had been here voting and attending meetings and hearings, but getting this notification earlier today, we also heard from his wife who commended him for getting help and talking about this and also asking for privacy at this time, while they focus on their kids and making sure that her husband gets the treatment he needs.

It's worth noting as well, this is not something mental health that is typically discussed by sitting Senators so he's really breaking precedent by talking about this out in the open and he is receiving a lot of praise from Senators on both sides of the aisle, both Republicans and Democrats, for doing so. A lot of well wishes that he just get the treatment that he needs to get better, feel stronger and come back here to Capitol Hill as soon as he's ready.

Jessica Dean, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: The family of Bruce Willis says he is suffering from frontotemporal dementia or FTD. His family announce the news in a statement on Thursday. The Mayo Clinic says FTD is an umbrella term for brain disorders in the areas associated with personality, behavior and language. Currently there's no cure and no treatments that slow the progression of that disease.

NOBILO: Last spring when his family said that he would take a break from acting because of aphasia that affected his cognitive abilities. The family hopes media attention from this announcement will lead to more awareness and research into FTD.

Five former Memphis, Tennessee police officers are set to be arraigned in the coming hours for their involvement in the death of Tyre Nichols last month. They are each facing seven charges, including second- degree murder and aggravated assault.

FOSTER: Nichols a 29-year-old Black man was repeatedly punched and kicked during a traffic stop on January 7. He died three days later.

A Shreveport, Louisiana police officer is facing charges negligent homicide in the shooting death of Alonso Bagley, an Unarmed Black man. Bagley was killed two weeks ago after police went to his apartment on a domestic disturbance call. State police released the body cam footage on Thursday.

NOBILO: It shows the officer, Alexander Tyler fatally shooting Bagley after a brief chase. A state police investigator says the video shows that Bagley's hands were up in a split send after the shot was fired. Tyler's next court date set for April 3.

And police say that two handguns found on the Michigan State University shooter were purchased legally but were not registered. Anthony McRae killed three people on campus Monday before then killing himself.

FOSTER: Police say he had notes in his backpack with a list of other targets including a church, a fast-food restaurant and a warehouse where he used to work. The state Attorney General says McRae was previously charged with carrying a concealed weapon but pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor allowing him to buy more guns.

NOBILO: The Chinese consulate Chicago says two of the five wounded students are from China, their families have been offered assistance in traveling to the United States. CNN's Miguel Marquez spoke with a professor of the class where McRae first open fire.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARCO DIAZ-MUNOZ, ASST. PROFESSOR, MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: To see that I couldn't stop it. It was the worst thing that I could not -- it's like they became like my family, they were like my kids. I have a daughter their age. So, to me, it was like, you know, seeing my daughter or anybody that age being killed under my watch -- on my watch. So that was just horrendous. I don't know how to explain to you the guilt, the horror, the guilt, the pain, that I felt and I still feel. It's just right now it's more like I'm telling you a movie.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Why do people need to hear what you experienced on Monday night?

DIAZ-MUNOZ: Because it's very different to hear in the news statistics, three more kids died, or 12 more died, than to see what I saw. I think if those Senators or lawmakers saw what I saw, not just hear statistics, they will be shamed into action.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Ariel Anderson and Alexandria Bahner were killed in that classroom. Brian Fraser was shot and killed at the student union.

[04:10:00]

NOBILO: As Russia's brutal war in Ukraine nears the one year mark, senior diplomats from around the world are heading to Munich to discuss the ongoing crisis. The Russians however were not invited.

FOSTER: Also, ahead the Ukrainian military is using ammunition so fast it's depleting stockpiles and now U.S. defense contractors are far enough the furnaces to fill the void.

NOBILO: And just ahead, millions getting snow, freezing drizzle and strong winds from Chicago to Michigan and across New England. Details on that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Union strikes have grounded planes at seven airports across Germany. The country's prime carrier Lufthansa has ceased all flight operations in Frankfurt and Munich. Germany's Airport Association, ADV, says close to 300,000 passengers are impacted in total.

NOBILO: Other airports include in Bremen, Hamburg, Hanover and Stuttgart. Authorities are telling people that are scheduled to fly in the coming hours not on go to the airport.

FOSTER: In the southeastern United States, there have been more than 60 storm reports in the past two days bringing tornadoes, wind and hail.

[04:15:00]

Three tornadoes were reported in Mississippi where at least one mobile home was flipped over and two others were damaged. The National Weather Service says another twister hit northern Arkansas.

NOBILO: More than 20 million people are under winter weather alerts from the Midwestern U.S. and across New England. Chicago has seen about 2 inches of snow -- that's about five centimeters. The city could see more snow, freezing rain and strong went gusts in the coming hours. Winter weather alerts continue for the New England states until Friday evening with up to 10 inches or 25 centimeters of snow expected in northern Maine.

FOSTER: We are just a couple hours away from the start of the Munich Security Conference where Russia's one year old war in Ukraine will dominate the agenda of course. No Russian officials were invited this year. NOBILO: But the U.S. is sending a large delegation led by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. It was one year ago that the same body warned Vladimir Putin that invading Ukraine would be a grave mistake.

FOSTER: But he did it anyway and now his forces appear locked in a bitter conflict that they might not be able to win. Let's begin our coverage with CNN's Nic Robertson in Munich. Just explain what the process is there and who the deciders are that are arriving apart from Kamala Harris.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, the process here is some big sort of formal engagements and discussions and speeches -- and Kamala Harris will be giving one of those speeches. There are a lot of side panels and smaller conversations and discussions.

So, while you have a lot of focus on Ukraine and the war there, you can expect smaller panels to talk more broadly about global security, about the influence of AI technology in the war in Ukraine and broader implications there.

You can expect to hear discussions on the margins about how to hold to account those responsible for war crimes in Ukraine.

Kamala Harris' message will be one of transatlantic unity, once of having stood up in support of Ukraine. She's expected to meet with the French President Emmanuel Macron, the German chancellor who will be here as well -- Olaf Scholz. The British Prime Minister expected to be here. She's also expected to meet with the Prime Ministers of both Sweden and Finland, both of whom still waiting to get full NATO -- a session ready for sign off by Turkey in particular on that account.

So, this would be a discussion that really envelopes that unity around supporting Ukraine. But we're also expecting President Zelenskyy to be giving a speech at the opening session here by video link as he has done many, many times in the past. And undoubtedly we can expect to hear him call for more support, more stronger support particularly ammunition, particularly tanks, expect that to be a part of the broader discussion here as well. But he is undoubtedly going to reissue his calls for the ongoing support, the reclaiming all of Ukraine's sovereign territory from Russia and very likely his appeal for fighter jets as well.

FOSTER: OK, Nic in Munich, thank you.

An Ukraine's military says it believes Russia has begun a new offensive in eastern Ukraine but Russia forces are reportedly suffering heavy casualties without making significant gains on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, we've just received word that Russians shelling in Ukraine's southern Kherson region killed at least three people and wounded seven in a series of recent attacks. Ukraine's president tells the BBC is country won't be satisfied until all of its territory is taken back from Moscow. NOBILO: CNN's Clare Sebastian is covering this for us this morning.

Clare, we've heard from Ukraine officials and Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary-General of NATO, that Russia's renewed offensive has begun. What shape is it taking and what locations and strategy do they seem to be focused on?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean look, it's hard to sort of pinpoint a new offensive right now, we're seeing certainly an uptick in violence in the east. Ukrainian forces have been warning that Russia is bringing in more troops. We've seen violence -- we've seen deadly violence of civilians in the last day in Bakhmut, five civilians were killed there on Thursday. And we just heard more in Kherson, three killed, seven injured.

That by the way, is the city that Ukraine took back from Russia in November and that Russia has repeatedly been attacking pretty much constantly ever since. So you can see that the violence is going on there.

But meanwhile, we are getting questions both from within and outside the warzone about how Russia will be able to mount some kind of offensive, whether it has enough supplies and really the capability to do this. There was a video showing Wagner artillery men demanding more ammunition from the Russian ministry of defense. And Ukrainians have also said that Russia is essentially running out of munitions in the east.

[04:20:00]

A senior U.S. official also calling -- saying if this is the start of a new offensive, it's -- and I quote -- very pathetic. So, there are questions around this, but it seems like the will is there on the Russian side to ramp this up.

NOBILO: Let's talk about that race to replenish, whether it is manpower or ammunition resources in general. Who is better placed, what does Russia have in place in order t be generating the ammunition, the conscripting people into the army, versus Ukraine which obviously has the backing of many countries but they are removed from this war?

SEBASTIAN: Yes, well Ukraine is relying on its allies outside the country. And obviously a year into the war, that is being tested not only by moral and political issues, but also logistical. As we know, Jens Stoltenberg is now openly saying, there are production issues. Ukraine is burning through so much ammunition, that NATO allies are struggling to produce it fast enough and of course maintain their own stockpiles.

Russia has its own domestic industry for things like that. They have faced issues certainly with the higher tech end of weapons because restrictions on technology, microchips and the likes because of sanctions. Obviously, we know that they have been sourcing from elsewhere as well. Iran, there were reports of North Korea has been supplying ammunition. But obviously they are also burning through ammunition at a very high rate and I think that we're seeing signs that that is now impacting on the battlefield.

NOBILO: Clare Sebastian, thank you so much.

The U.S. says that it's starting to take the long view into its military supply to Ukraine -- as Clare was just discussing. Officials say that it's time to look beyond what Ukraine needs right now such as Abrams tanks -- which the U.S. has promised to deliver -- and to look into what Ukraine will need in the long run to deter any possible future aggression by Moscow. Meanwhile, as Clare said, the ongoing war is already draining NATO's ammunition stockpiles and as Oren Liebermann reports, U.S. defense factories are preparing to ramp up their production.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the steel furnaces of Scranton, Pennsylvania, the weapons of war are in high demand. One ton metal rods heated and forged, into about 11,000 high explosive artillery shells a month. CNN got a rare look inside the Scranton Army ammunition plant, one of only a few in the country that make this crucial round.

Here, especially made steel is heated to 2,000 degrees, slowly shaped step by scorching step, into its final product.

LIEBERMANN: To this point, it's only taken a few hours to heat the steal and then to turn into what looks like what artillery shell, to press it into that familiar shape. But it's still days of testing and inspecting, to make sure that this can be turned into a 155 millimeter artillery shell that can be fired on the battlefield.

LIEBERMANN (voice-over): The process doesn't end here, the empty shells are shipped to other plant for explosives, fuses, 5,000 miles from the frontlines in mother Russia, the enemy here is father time.

Ukraine can burn through the plant's monthly production in half a week, locked in a grinding war of attrition with Putin's army and Russian mercenaries.

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: The current rate of Ukraine's ammunition expenditure is many times higher than our current rate of production.

LIEBERMANN (voice-over): One year in, the war has turned into a vicious math problem. How to make enough ammo for Ukraine, the United States, and allies. The Pentagon is already planning on new ammo plants in Texas and Canada, part of a race to increase the capacity of the defense industrial base. Doug Bush is the Army's head of acquisitions.

DOUG BUSH, U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE ARMY FOR ACQUISITION: Right now, we are meeting demand. Of course, I would want it to be faster. Everyone does. But there is a time factor, a year in 18 months is often what you're looking at.

LIEBERMANN (voice-over): Bush says this is the greatest ramp up in military production possibly going back to the Korean War.

BUSH: Early on, we realized we had to really put our foot all the way to the floor

LIEBERMANN (voice-over): The goal within two years is to produce five times more artillery rounds each month, up to 70,000, twice as many Javelin anti-tank missiles, up to 4,000 a month, 30 percent more rounds for the HIMARS rocket launchers, about 850 a month. The precision weapon Ukraine has used to target Russian command posts and ammo depots, and 60 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles each month. The U.S. isn't at war with Russia, but that matters little to weapons manufacturers whose products are part of the fight.

SETH JONES, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY PROGRAM DIRECTOR, CSIS: Our defense industrial base is still largely geared towards a peace time environment, and not towards a wartime or at least a quasi-wartime environment that we're now in.

LIEBERMANN: To get a sense of just how much the Army is investing in this within the last couple of weeks the Army has announced $1.5 billion in procurement of new 155 millimeter artillery rounds. They're trying to produce this crucial ammunition faster and then trying to produce more of it.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, at the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[04:25:02]

FOSTER: Still ahead, possible criminal charges hang over former President Trump in a case involving alleged election interference in Georgia and now we're getting our first look into what the grand jury is thinking.

NOBILO: Plus, new video of the minutes before that train derailment in eastern Ohio. What it shows and the anger and uncertainty that residents are feeling.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Bianca Nobilo.

FOSTER: I'm Max Foster. If you are just joining us, let me bring you up to date on the latest stories.

U.S. President Joe Biden says he doesn't believe the three unidentified objects recently shot down over North America are related to China's spy balloon program. But he vowed to shoot down any object that poses a threat to the country.

Meantime President Biden's doctor says that he is physically healthy and fit for duty. But the White House won't say if the 80-year-old commander-in-chief took a cognitive test as part of his yearly physical. And U.S. Senator John Fetterman is receiving inpatient treatment for

clinical depression. The newly elected Democrat suffered a massive stroke last year whilst campaigning. Fetterman says he has experienced depression on and off for years but it recently became worse.

NOBILO: Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich will not appear before the grand jury investigating alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. Gingrich has been resisting a request to testify and an appeals court now says that the issue is moot because the grand jury has finished its work.

Meanwhile, a court in Atlanta has released part of the jury's highly anticipated report. As Sara Murray reports, the jurors believe that some of their witnesses have been less than honest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Some witnesses may have lied to a special grand jury in Georgia, the panel says, recommending the district attorney consider indictments.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is basically.