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65 Plus Million On Alerts As Powerful, Coast-To-Coast Storm Hits; Biden Meets With Leaders Of NATO's Eastern Flank; Transportation Secy. Buttigieg To Visit East Palestine Tomorrow; Republicans Split Over Future Aid For Ukraine. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired February 22, 2023 - 15:00   ET

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

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Top of a new hour on CNN NEWSROOM. Good to be with you. I'm Victor Blackwell.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: And I'm Bianna Golodryga.

More than 65 million Americans are currently under winter alerts as a powerful multi-day storm blows across the U.S.

The brutal conditions there pummeling Flagstaff, Arizona, just one of dozens of states coast-to-coast that we'll see snow, ice and freezing temperatures in the coming days. With the Upper Midwest expected to bear the brunt of the storm.

BLACKWELL: Near whiteout conditions, it's just a mess across the roadways across the country, big portions of the country at least. This is in Utah where stranded cars lined the interstate, crews are working to clear the snow this morning. And in the air, severe weather has forced airlines to cancel nearly 1,500 flights so far today.

Let's bring in CNN's Adrienne Broaddus live outside Minneapolis.

So the last time we saw you, the wind was at your back.

GOLODRYGA: It's got worse.

BLACKWELL: It looks like it's now hitting the side of your face and the snow is still coming down. What are you seeing and what are you feeling?

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know what? I feel great. Thank you for asking.

BLACKWELL: (Inaudible) ...

BROADDUS: It's snowing. The snow is starting to pick up and I'm dressed in layer, so I'm not that cold, at least not right now. But I do want to share some really important information with our friends and our viewers.

Authorities with the Minnesota State Patrol say from 7:30 am to 11:30 am this morning, there were more than 100 crashes, at least 10 of them resulted in injuries. One was serious, shutting down a major highway here in the Twin Cities for at least two hours. Last checked that highway had not reopened. And the National Weather Service is predicting that travel will likely be impossible tonight and tomorrow as conditions are expected to worsen. We're talking about snow falling and those wind gusts.

In some parts of the State, Victor and Brianna, up to 45 miles per hour. That's all happening at the same time. So that's why you're seeing the blizzard warning because it will reduce visibility. Behind me, I'm starting to notice what I like to call a fresh blanket of snow earlier when we arrived at this location. People were moving in and out somewhat easily, but now you can see the snow is beginning to stick but the plows are here and they're working. There's more than 800 across the state of Minnesota, snowplows that is. Victor? Bianna?

GOLODRYGA: Adrienne Broaddus keeping that spirit high, feeling okay even in the snow there, take care though. Seriously, be careful.

Well, the National Weather Service is warning of historic snowfall.

CNN Meteorologist Jennifer Gray is tracking the conditions for us. So Jennifer which areas we'll be seeing the worst of the storm?

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Well really right where Adrienne is. We're talking about huge impacts across portions of the Midwest. South Dakota included in that as well. This could end up being one of the top five snowiest, storms on record for Minneapolis, so that's going to be an area to watch.

But barely anywhere on the country does not have a warning. We have watches and warning stretching coast-to-coast, winter storm warnings, ice warnings, high wind warnings, we could see winds gusting 60 miles to 80 miles per hour, especially across the southwest and especially in those higher elevation.

So we are going to have huge impacts from the storm especially areas shaded in red and then purple across the Sierra so you can bet a lot of those passes will be closed for periods of time. Around Minneapolis we could see some major headaches with hazardous travel, blinding conditions due to that blizzard warning once that starts to set up.

So we are going to have very heavy snow throughout the rest of the afternoon evening before this starts to wrap up tomorrow. So here's the radar and you can see the snow starting to move back in to Minneapolis after a brief break. This pink and purple, that's the ice, so that's an area we really need to watch as well, because we are going to see some huge headaches from that.

Also a tornado watch in effect for portions of Missouri and Illinois. So we have to watch out for the tornado potential as well. So as this moves on, guys, it should be improving by the time we get to say this time tomorrow. But this evening and tonight is definitely going to be dangerous across these areas.

BLACKWELL: All right. Jennifer Gray watching it for us. Thank you very much, Jen.

President Biden is heading back to Washington after an historic three day trip to Ukraine and Poland. This morning he met with the leaders of the Bucharest Nine in Warsaw. That's the group of NATO countries closest to Russia's border.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. The President praised the leaders for their continued support of Ukraine ahead of the one year anniversary of Russia's invasion and affirmed his unwavering support to Ukraine and to NATO.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Commitment of the United States and NATO, I've said it to you many times, I'll say it again, it's absolutely clear Article 5 is a sacred commitment United States has made.

[15:05:09]

We will defend literally every inch of NATO, every inch of NATO.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Also today, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with top Chinese diplomat in Moscow, later attended a concert where he thanked his courageous soldiers fighting in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials tell CNN that Russia conducted an intercontinental ballistic missile tests around the time that President Biden was in Kyiv. They say the test which appears to have failed involve a Sarmat missile, capable of delivering multiple nuclear warheads.

BLACKWELL: CNN's National Security Reporter, Natasha Bertrand is with us now.

Looked like that Putin was trying to embarrass President Biden ended up maybe embarrassing himself. What are you learning?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Could be, Victor. So what we are learning is that U.S. officials do believe that Russia attempted to carry out this intercontinental ballistic missile test on Saturday, about two days before President Biden, of course, entered Kyiv on that secret trip and that they believe that that test did ultimately fail.

And the reason they believe that is because of course, President Putin did give his State of the Nation Address to the Russian people on Tuesday and he made no mention of this test. Now, the last time that Russia carried out a test like this just about a year ago, about April of 2022, a few months after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Putin boasted of this and he did discuss the successful test of the missile at that time. Of course, it was a missile that President Putin said would make anyone who wanted to threaten Russia think twice about doing so. Well now, not so boastful, the U.S. saying that is a major clue that President Putin did not actually mention this test.

But we should note that he did or the Russian government did reach out to the United States beforehand to notify them that this test was going to take place in order to de-conflict. And this is interesting, because it suggests that the U.S. and Russian governments were communicating through multiple different channels.

Last week, of course, we learned from the National Security Adviser that the U.S. government also notified the Russians that President Biden was going to be in Kyiv beforehand. So clearly, these channels for de-confliction purposes are still open despite, of course, the deteriorating relationship, of course, between the U.S. and Russia right now, guys.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Natasha Bertrand, thank you.

Well, let's discuss this with CNN National Security Analyst and former Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Beth Sanner, and former spokesman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Michael Bociurkiw. He was also a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. Welcome both of you.

Beth, let me start with you. So we have this failed ICBM test prior to the President's visit to Kyiv, then we have President Putin yesterday announcing that he was going to suspend Russia's participation in the New START treaty. What does that suggest to you? Does that tell you that this is a more belligerent, more dangerous Putin or does this suggest to you that he just has a weaker hand at this point?

BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: No. I think he's definitely trying to bluster and to show and to be threatening. There aren't very many tools in his toolkit and these are two that he has used over time. Arms control, it's kind of a Russian play, even a Soviet play and testing a weapon.

But I think in - ultimately, while it is very worrisome in terms of long-term implications of the New START treaty and the ability to renegotiate that treaty before it expires in 2026, that's really important. But the implication, that on day-to-day implication is actually fairly minor.

BLACKWELL: Michael, President Biden reaffirmed the U.S.' commitment to Article 5 of the NATO Charter, the collective defense attack on one is an attack on all. Do you think that a potential intentional attack on a NATO country from Putin is off the table?

We talk about the accidental, what could happen, unintentionally. But you think this expansion beyond Ukraine now considering the challenges he's having, that's off the table?

MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, SENIOR FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Yes. Good to be with you. Well, I think with Mr. Putin painted in a corner as he is right now, he will reach for his - has a potential to reach for some very scary tactics. And I think the more likely scenario is that we could have another stray Russian missile as they've gone through Moldovan airspace, some missile fragments have landed in Poland. Ukrainians claim a missile transited Romanian airspace.

So I think it's possible that a missile could either transit, NATO country airspace or actually land there, and that's when Article 5 I think will be really tested. My prediction would be as they'll try and walk the back - walk back the severity of something like that.

[15:09:59]

And quickly on the nuclear front, I think Mr. Putin is continuing his con job of trying to blackmail the west with his nuclear weapons, with things like the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plants. So the West has to grow the spine, Western leaders have to grow the spine to stand up to Mr. Putin in this position.

GOLODRYGA: Well, that - it appears that EU countries have failed to reach an agreement on a new set of sanctions that they would have introduced against Russia to coincide with the anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine. And this comes after - despite an unprecedented number of sanctions leveled against Russia, its economy has been rather resilient and clearly perform better than most had expected.

I'm curious now with this new element of China, potentially now contemplating helping Russia with lethal aid, how closely are they watching the fallout from these sanctions and saying maybe it won't be so bad if we have to endure them as well?

SANNER: I think that the EU (inaudible) ...

BOCIURKIW: Well, (inaudible) ...

GOLODRYGA: I'm sorry. Sorry, let's Beth answer that and then Michael you can join in.

SANNER: Yes. Sorry about that. The EU rejection is probably temporary. I mean, this is something that happens regularly that you might have Hungary or one of the countries disagree, so it doesn't mean that these won't go through. Sometimes it takes multiple rounds for them to approve new sanctions. So it's not about them taking sanctions away, but I think a hiccup in applied new sanctions.

China knows, however, that it's going to be a lot more difficult for the U.S. and the European Union and the world to apply sanctions against them, because their economy is actually really, really important to us. And so - and it will be much, much harder and they know that. And they're also building their economy and the resilience of their economy, isolating certain companies, et cetera, to avoid the implications of sanctions.

So they're hardening their economy to protect themselves, should it come to an invasion of Taiwan and the implications of the U.S. and others putting sanctions on them. So I do think that they are thinking about that, but they also see themselves as a very different test case than Russia.

BLACKWELL: Michael, you want to weigh in on that?

BOCIURKIW: Sure. I agree with what our colleagues said, a hundred percent. A couple of things here, I mean one thing that the Chinese and the Russians were doing during COVID, when all of us were in lockdown, were got more meeting very enthusiastically and the Chinese helping to - helping the Russians to inoculate their economy against sanctions. That's number one.

Number two is I think the Chinese are a bit - a little bit unsettled, if we can use that word at the speed and the depth of which Western sanctions took hold once their full scale invasion happened. And just quickly as - when it comes to the EU, their unity on Ukraine is very impressive. They're - what they're saying is very impressive. But I don't know how strong that will last as we go further into the invasion.

For example, during the COVID pandemic, the EU couldn't even agree on trade and travel restrictions, things like that. So it shows that there are cracks in that unity and this is something Mr. Putin, I think, realizes.

BLACKWELL: Michael, let me ask you about some domestic politics. You're in Wooster there in Ohio, 80 miles west of East Palestine. Of course, the sight of that toxic trail derailment. We've heard from ...

BOCIURKIW: Right.

BLACKWELL: ... Nikki Haley, former U.S. Ambassador says that the President should be there instead of going to Europe. What are you hearing anecdotally there? I read something you told our producers about the reaction to the trip?

BOCIURKIW: Sure. Yes. Well, I think there's - it's very Republican area where I am, by the way, but I think that a lot of folks here are actually supportive of U.S. assistance to Ukraine. However, I don't think that they expect Ukraine to be handed a blank check. And for sure, they don't want to see U.S. boots on the ground.

So - and as far as the rumbling going on in the Republican Party, where they do have a fairly slim majority, is I think this is more small group of people, but they could tilt things in a way that isn't favorable to Ukraine. Just quickly, having said all of that, I have to say I was absolutely touched yesterday, last night, when ordinary Ohioans came up to me and said, what more can we do for Ukraine? How can we help? Where can we donate? Can we take any more families?

And so the kind of compassion that one finds here is very, very impressive, politics aside.

BLACKWELL: Yes, context and perspective are certainly important. Thank you for bringing that to us. And we'll get more into the politics with our political panel that's coming up. Michael Bociurkiw, Beth Sanner, thank you both.

GOLODRYGA: Thank you.

Well, there is a growing divide within in the GOP over just how much military and financial aid the U.S. should be sending to Ukraine. The new CNN reporting on this ahead.

[15:15:06] BLACKWELL: And Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, set to visit East Palestine tomorrow as people there affected by that train derailment are growing frustrated with the administration's response. We will take you there live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:19:25]

GOLODRYGA: Well, the NTSB just confirmed that it will issue its initial report on the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio tomorrow. Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, also has plans to visit the town.

BLACKWELL: EPA Administrator, Michael Regan tells CNN his agency is now handing - handling oversight of the cleanup effort, but that Norfolk Southern will be footing the entire bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL REGAN, EPA ADMINISTRATOR: Yesterday's announcement will ensure that Norfolk Southern pays for the mess that they've created. And so we are encouraging everyone, seek medical attention, ensure that the state and local health agencies understand those experiences.

[15:20:03]

Because as we force Norfolk Southern to take full accountability for what they've done, Norfolk Southern will pay for everything. And anything that we do, Norfolk Southern will reimburse us. They are the ones that caused this mess. They are the ones that are going to clean up and fix this mess.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: CNN Senior National Correspondent, Miguel Marquez, is in East Palestine. What's the situation there today?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the cleanup continues and it's getting more intense, both politically and the cleanup itself. I want to show you sort of just what's happening on the ground here really quick.

This is one of the streams that flows right through the town of East Palestine. We're right 50 yards from sort of market street, the main street through town. You can see those of those buoys, those like sponges or filters, they sit on top of the water, they had them all the way up to the stream, this is a stream that is contaminated and then that picks up any sort of contaminants that may be flowing down.

They have replaced these things a dozen, maybe two dozen times since we've been here early this morning. That water that you're looking at that's being forced into the stream, it's being brought out of the stream and then forced back in to put those chemicals through these very big devices here. All those bags on that side, you can see, those are all old filters that they've already pulled out. It's - it is slow going and dirty work here. But now the federal government through the EPA says that they are going to force Norfolk Southern to not only clean up the mess, but pay for it and also even take part in any sort of public meetings as well because they had canceled on one earlier in all of this and that has caused great concern for residents here.

It's that sense of the derailment, which was bad enough, and then this controlled burn that sent this toxic plume up which really raised a lot of doubts and concern across a very wide area into Pennsylvania which is right next door as well. And then the realization that there were other chemicals on board that nobody knew about until after that controlled burn.

It makes it very difficult for people to believe anything that they hear from Norfolk Southern or from the EPA. So that EPA now coming in here in a very big way trying to take charge of the situation and hold Norfolk Southern's feet to the fire and make sure that they clean up the entire mess. Back to you guys.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Miguel Marquez, thank you so much.

And be sure to tune in to CNN tonight as residents of East Palestine and Ohio's Governor join Jake Tapper for a CNN live special, Toxic Train Disaster Ohio Residents Speak Out. It airs at 9 pm tonight.

BLACKWELL: Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, has not even officially announced a White House run but several of the wealthiest and most prolific Republican donors are already giving him major financial support. What this means for the 2024 race ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:27:36]

BLACKWELL: As Putin's war enters its second year soon, a new CNN reporting reveals a growing split among Republicans over us support for Ukraine with more GOP hardliners vowing to block future aid. The Divide could complicate efforts to avoid a debt crisis and factor into the 2024 Republican primary fight.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. CNN's Lauren Fox has been speaking with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

So Lauren, what are you hearing?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well, it's a small but very vocal group of isolationist Republicans who believe that the U.S. has just simply given too much money already to Ukraine and that they do not want to give additional funding to that country in subsequent months.

But here's where things get very complicated, in the House of Representatives, it is up to Kevin McCarthy to decide what to bring to the floor of the House for a vote. And with so much pressure to cut spending in the upcoming months as part of this debt ceiling negotiation, one of the big questions is whether or not Kevin McCarthy, who does support funding Ukraine, whether or not he's going to be willing to cross some of those hardliners.

There are enough votes in the House between Republicans and Democrats to continue giving money to Ukraine. But the question is what will Kevin McCarthy be willing to put on the floor. And this is really a dramatic split screen with Mitch McConnell over in the U.S. Senate who has made this really a personal mission of sorts to - in - continue to talk to his conference about why this money is so important.

He went on Fox News last week and talked about the fact that, yes, there is some public polling that is showing support for Ukraine aid is starting to slip, but he said he thinks that's really unfortunate. And he's going to make it a personal mission to continue reminding Americans why this money is so important. So it is a small number of Republicans. But those number of Republicans can still make a huge difference when you're talking about a House Republican majority that is so narrow, Bianna and Victor?

BLACKWELL: Lauren Fox, you have framed this conversation perfectly. Thank you for that.

Let's discuss now with former Democratic congressman from New York, Mondaire Jones, and Republican Political Strategist, Alice Stewart.

Alice, let me start with you. So as Lauren said, small vocal minority against continuing the funding. McCarthy has said he supports Ukraine, but no blank check, no rubber stamp. To make that real, he's going to have to say no to something that the President wants for Ukraine, right?

[15:30:00]

How does he navigate this period and how much influence will that vocal minority have?