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Ohio to Open Health Clinic for Residents Impacted by Toxic Train Wreck; New Film Follows Young Ukrainians Forced to Flee Russia's War; Catholic Bishop Shot, Killed at Los Angeles Home. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired February 20, 2023 - 10:30   ET

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

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[10:30:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Tomorrow, the Ohio Department of Health is opening up a clinic in East Palestine, Ohio, where some residents have reported feeling sick after that toxic train derailment. And this weekend, the railway CEO spoke out for the first time, saying he stands by the decision for a controlled burn that then released some of those chemicals.

CNN's Jason Carroll, he is in East Palestine this morning. Jason, so how serious are the symptoms that local residents are reporting there?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is depending upon who you talk to, Jim. And this is what some folks are going to be finding out here tomorrow here at this church here. This is going to be the site of the clinic. We've seen some people loading some things inside the doors here. If people here do say that they are experiencing some sort of symptoms, they can come here and be examined by experts. Ohio's governor says this is all being done out of an abundance of caution.

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CARROLL: Two weeks after the Norfolk Southern train derailment and the controlled release of chemicals by the company that followed, the residents in the East Palestine, Ohio, are increasingly worried about what is in their air, water and soil.

HEATHER MCTEER TONEY, ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND: When we think about the chemicals that we know that have been released, they are known carcinogens. Vinyl chloride is a carcinogens. We have to look at the impacts to our vulnerable citizens.

STATE SEN. DOUG MASTRIANO (R-PA): I'm Senator Doug Mastriano. I'm south of East Palestine, Ohio, ground zero.

CARROLL: Public health concerns now shared in the neighboring state of Pennsylvania.

MASTRIANO: Look at these chemicals. Look at these colors. The chemical, and it has kind of a butane smell to it.

CARROLL: The governor of Ohio says air quality tests in more than 500 homes showed no detection of contaminants. Officials also say public water is safe while private well water users should stick with bottled water for now.

Despite those guarantees, the toxic chemical spill is still causing uproar and criticism directed at Norfolk Southern.

SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D-OH): Everything that has happened here, all of the cleanup, all the drilling, all the testing, the hotel stays, all of that is on Norfolk Southern. They caused it. There's no question they caused it with this derailment.

CARROLL: In addition to the thousands of fish found dead after the derailment, CNN has learned that two horses are being treated for smoke inhalation after the controlled burn, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

Standing by their decision, Norfolk Southern's CEO says that the burn was the right thing to do.

ALAN SHAW, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NORFOLK SOUTHERN: I think we did what we needed to do in order to prevent an uncontrolled explosion.

CARROLL: The federal government has deployed medical experts to help assess health concerns. People in this community have been reporting problems, such as rashes and nausea. The CDC also confirmed it will send a team to assess the public health needs.

But that is not stopping what some are calling the Biden administration's slow response to the disaster. On Saturday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg responded with a letter to Norfolk Southern's CEO writing, major derailments in the past have been followed by calls for reform and by vigorous resistance by your industry to increase safety measures.

[10:35:02]

This must change.

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CARROLL (on camera): And, Jim, residents here can start making appointments over the phone today to come out here to the church tomorrow if they feel that that is needed. So, what is on the ground here is clearly this very large disconnect between folks here on the ground who do not trust what the government is saying about the air and the water, and the government saying that the water and the air is safe. Jim?

SCIUTTO: A lot of skepticism there. Jason Carroll, thanks so much.

Well, as President Biden made his unprecedented trip to an active war zone today, we do want to zero in on some of the people who will be watching his visit closely and also for next steps in the war. Tens of thousands of young Ukrainian refugees who have had their lives torn apart by this, the filmmaker who has been documenting their lives over the course of the past year will join me in moments.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My dad, he told us not want to come back until all of it was over.

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SCIUTTO: Russia's invasion forced 8 million Ukrainians flee their homes, the largest refugee crisis since World War II. Many of those refugees are children torn away from their lives and their families, experiencing incredible trauma and loss. A new documentary focuses on teenagers trying to make a new life in Poland, which neighbors, Ukraine, and here is a sneak peek.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was one second. I was awake because rockets were crashing in airport. And it was only one second which changed my life.

My classmates asked me about how it was when war was beginning. I begin to explain how I got to Poland, how I feel when the rocket was crashing. I go in car and I see it. The city was on fire. In one moment, everything can change and everything can end.

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SCIUTTO: True words. Joining me now is Nathaniel Lezra. He's the director of Don't Leave Me Behind, stories of young Ukrainian survival, it premiers tomorrow night on MTV. Nathaniel, good to have you on this morning.

NATHANIEL LEZRA, DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER: Thanks for having me.

SCIUTTO: Watching -- I was there as the war started, and watching these people flee the country by the million, it evoked images from World War II. And so many of them, as you document children to year end, I wonder, how are they doing?

LEZRA: They are -- it is complicated. They are doing well in some regards. They're more resilient than ever. I think that this war has, if anything, bolstered their sense of national community, national identity, that they are Ukrainians, they're not going anywhere.

SCIUTTO: Many of them are separated from their fathers, because, of course, the war-aged men, which is defined quite broadly in Ukraine, have to stay behind, do their part in the fight. What is that separation like from their fathers? How is that impacting them? LEZRA: It is really, really difficult. I mean, this is one of the central points of focus of the film. We are looking at kids who not only have witnessed extraordinary violence in combat, the destruction of their cities, the loss of people in their lives, but it's the separation of their families. They have not communicated with their fathers often for months on end, extraordinarily traumatizing.

SCIUTTO: And I imagine a lot of them lost their fathers, sadly.

LEZRA: Yes. The scale of casualties has been extraordinary. It's been one of the great, biggest elements of this war, is just the scale of loss on the frontline. And a lot of their fathers are there. It is whether the confirmed loss of life or just the lack of communication, in general. I mean, once you are on the frontline, you are in a place where communication is monitored, so there is no capacity to have a call, have any sort of any connection whatsoever without giving away your position.

SCIUTTO: Having covered a lot of wars myself, it always strikes me that we focus, understandably, on the immediate casualties of the war, but then often forget in the wake of it about the sort of ripples of those casualties, the PTSD, the trauma to families and so on. I wonder how those neighboring countries are dealing with it, because we saw such an outpouring of welcome and hospitality to these refugees. A year later, do they still get the same support, the same welcome?

LEZRA: It is tricky. I think that there is not a coherent system in place. I think that is one of the big things that I want to do with this film, is to lay roadmap for systems and countries to reevaluate their response to refugee influxes like this. I don't think there's a -- certainly not a unilateral position that these countries have as to how they handle these refugees. I don't think that there anything completely comprehensive about it. They are doing their best.

SCIUTTO: Yes, they are doing their best. One thing that comes across is that a lot of these kids remarkably maintain a lot of hope, right, in the midst of this.

[10:45:00]

How do they maintain that hope? And do they see, are they seeing, hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel here?

LEZRA: Sure. You know, the film tells the story of two young, extraordinarily resilient, powerful young women. We focus on a number of people, but two in particular. And they process their trauma differently. They see that hope, that light at the end of the tunnel in different ways.

One of them, Sasha, she volunteers, she gets involved with refugee support activities. She expresses her own emotional processing through things like dance and hosting dance classes for young Ukrainian refugee kids. Another of our subjects, she is a writer. She helps other people express their feelings and emotions through other creative outlets.

So, I think that we see a few different ways. Everybody processes war, trauma and combat differently.

SCIUTTO: Understood. Some of them have a tough decision about when to go home, and many of the refugees have returned home since the start of the war, particularly in the western part of the country, even some going back to the capital, Kyiv. I wonder -- and oftentimes it is the adults, not the children. But do you see children, are you seeing families struggling with that decision right now?

LEZRA: Yes. I mean, this is a major part of the film as well. It's this question of now that we have been ripped from our homes, our fathers are separated from our families, what's next?

The point of hope that I think the film presents that I think a lot of people are feeling is this -- it goes back to this idea of national unity and community on a global level for Ukrainians. This war has ripped them from their homes. Their cities are often, in many cases, destroyed or severely damaged. They're splintered across the world. But there has never a bigger sense of we are Ukrainians, this is who we are, we are not going to be silenced and splintered, so we will go home. The question is just when.

A recurring theme that we encounter (INAUDIBLE) kids saying things like, I want to take my new education that I am learning in this new country and I want to take it home with me, right? So, I think that there is a feeling of let's use this as an opportunity to grow, return home and build what needs rebuilding.

SCIUTTO: Yes. And then what will they return home to. Nathaniel Lezra, thanks so much for doing this film.

LEZRA: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

SCIUTTO: Also new this morning, King Charles met with Ukrainian military recruits training in Southwest England. Britain recently promised to train Ukrainian pilots on NATO-standard jets. That is a key. The country has played a major rule as one of Ukraine's largest weapon suppliers. Earlier this month, the Ukrainian president, Zelenskyy, made a surprise trip himself to the U.K., meeting with King Charles, urging lawmakers to send those fighter jets. But like the U.S., Britain has so far not abided by that request.

Still ahead, a Catholic bishop shot to death inside his Los Angeles home. What police are saying this morning about the investigation.

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SCIUTTO: The Catholic community in Los Angeles is shaking up and in mourning today after a bishop was shot to death in his home. Auxiliary Bishop David O'Connell is found dead on Saturday. Now, parishioners are wondering who could have killed the man described as a peacemaker who served that community for some 45 years.

CNN's Camila Bernal joins us now from Los Angeles. And, Cacmila, I wonder, what do we know so far? Do police have a suspect at all? CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They don't, Jim. And this is a murder investigation. The L.A. Sheriff's Department is saying that they're working diligently to try to find the person responsible.

Of course, the news of his death leaving many Catholics here in Los Angeles in shocked and heartbroken, they're honoring him and remembering him as someone who served this community for a long time and who helped many, many families in this area.

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BERNAL (voice over): A murder investigation shocking the Los Angeles Catholic community now mourning the loss of Bishop David O'Connell.

RAMONA TORRES, PARISHIONER: It is just heartbreaking to see what happened to him. I am brokenhearted. I have been crying for the last few days knowing that he is no longer here to share all of his inspiration and his prayers and everything with us.

BERNAL: The search for the killer is ongoing. Homicide detectives with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Office working to get a clear picture of what happened. Deputies responding to an emergency call at the bishop's home on Saturday around 1:00 in the afternoon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was learned that the person was found deceased in the room, bleeding with what we believe is an apparent gunshot wound to his upper torso.

BERNAL: The Los Angeles archbishop, Jose Gomez, saying in a statement that he is in shock and deeply disturbed and saddened, the archbishop describing O'Connell as a man of deep prayer, someone who served the Los Angeles community for 45 years.

GABRIELA GIL, PARISHIONER: He always was praying. And even one time at the parking lot when he was going to celebrate my son's confirmation, and he was walking around the parking lot, prayed his rosary. So, to me, that was -- it's everything.

BERNAL: O'Connell, who was originally from Ireland, is also being remembered as a peacemaker with a heart for the poor and the immigrant community.

GIL: I am very hurt by his passing because he is one of the most lovable persons I have ever met.

[10:55:01]

BERNAL: The archbishop now asking for prayers for the bishop, his family and for law enforcement as they continue the investigation.

TORRES: Now I know that he is in the presence of God praying for all of us, for peace. We need peace.

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BERNAL (on camera): And there was a prayer service yesterday. He was also honored during Sunday mass. The archbishop asking people to continue to pray for the bishop and for the investigation, because the bottom line is that there are a lot of pieces of the puzzle missing here, the most important being who did this. Jim?

SCIUTTO: No question. We'll wait more news. Camila Bernal, thanks so much.

And thanks so much to all of you for joining us today. I'm Jim Sciutto.

At This Hour starts right after a quick break.

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