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Biden, Putin Deliver Dueling Speeches On Ukraine; Biden Accuses Russia Of "Crimes Against Humanity"; Biden: "Ukraine Will Never Be A Victory For Russia"; Biden To Meet With Eastern Flank NATO Allies In Hours Ahead; China's Top Diplomatic Meeting With Lavrov In Moscow; More Than 65 Million Americans Under Winter Weather Alerts; Dow Drops Nearly 700 Points Over Retail Concerns; EPA Chief, Gov. Visit Residents Near Toxic Train Wreck; EPA Orders Norfolk Southern To Pay For Entire Cleanup. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired February 22, 2023 - 04:00   ET

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

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MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: A warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Max Foster in London. Bianca off for the rest of the week.

But just ahead on CNN Newsroom.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia. Never. He thought we would roll over. He was wrong.

BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A historic coast to coast snowstorm takes hold of the upper Midwest with dangerous snowfall and travel conditions, as well as the threat for severe weather across the southern part of the country.

CAROLYN BROWN, EAST PALESTINE RESIDENT: I don't even walk in my grass because I don't know what's in it.

JOSH SHAPIRO, PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR: Norfolk Southern's corporate greed, incompetence, and lack of care for our residents is absolutely unacceptable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from London, this is CNN Newsroom with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.

FOSTER: It is Wednesday, February the 22nd, 09:00 a.m. here in London, 10:00 a m in Warsaw, Poland, where U.S. President Joe Biden will wrap up his final day meeting with NATO Secretary General and leaders of the group known as the Bucharest Nine. On Tuesday, the U.S. President and his Russian counterpart delivered jeweling and fiery speeches just as the war in Ukraine is about to enter a second year. Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin spoke just hours apart, but offered a very different perspective on the war. Whilst Putin tried to blame the west, Mr. Biden made clear it's Putin who's responsible for the conflict.

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BIDEN: President Putin chose this war. Every day the war continues is his choice. He could end the war with a word. It's simple. If Russia stopped invading Ukraine, it would end the war. If Ukraine stopped defending itself against Russia would be the end of Ukraine.

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FOSTER: Mr. Biden went on to condemn the extraordinary brutality from Russians forces and mercenaries and accused them of committing crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

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BIDEN: They've targeted civilians with death and destruction, used rape as a weapon of war, stolen Ukrainian children, bombed train stations, maternity hospital, schools, and orphanages. No one, no one can turn away their eyes from the atrocities Russia's committing against the Ukrainian people. It's abhorrent.

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FOSTER: Mr. Biden also declared, Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia. He repeatedly called out Vladimir Putin by name. And just as he did a day earlier in Kyiv, he again vowed unwavering support for Ukraine.

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BIDEN: One year ago, the world was bracing for the fall of Kyiv. Well, I just come from a visit to Kyiv, and I can report Kyiv stands strong. Kyiv stands proud. It stands tall. And most important, it stands free.

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FOSTER: Meanwhile, China's top diplomat is in Moscow today for talks about the war in Ukraine with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Their meeting comes as the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to Moscow in the coming months to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

All this as Russia decided to suspend its participation in a nuclear arms control treaty with Washington. That announcement came during Putin's speech in Moscow, though hours later, Russia's foreign ministry said that decision is reversible.

Meanwhile, two U.S. officials told CNN that Russia carried out a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile that appears to have failed around the time that Mr. Biden was in Ukraine on Monday.

Our CNN correspondents tracking all of these developments for us. Kevin Liptak is standing by in Warsaw, CNN's Kristie Lu Stout is in Hong Kong, and Clare Sebastian is here with me in London. Let's first go to Kevin. Another very busy, significant day in Europe for Mr. Biden.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. And the President will be meeting in a couple of hours with the leaders from the Bucharest Nine, that isa group of NATO allies along the eastern flank. President Biden certain to reinforce his message from yesterday that the U.S. remains committed to this alliance, which he described as the most consequential alliance in American history.

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And, of course, NATO has been really reinvigorated by this crisis in Ukraine. But the other aim for President Biden in this meeting and over the course of his entire momentous three-day trip in Europe this week, is stealing his allies for what is to come in Ukraine.

And according to U.S. officials, this is an uncertain moment, certainly a more complex phase that we are entering. As Russia prepares for an offensive and as Ukraine looks to regain territory that it has lost over the past year, President Biden really looking to warn his allies and to brace his allies for what will be, in his words, some dark days ahead.

And so as he returns to Washington, that is really the question that remains looming over this entire conflict, is how does it end? And you didn't necessarily hear President Biden describe any type of endgame in his remarks yesterday, he didn't really offer any new perspective on that front.

Certainly, when you heard President Putin speech yesterday, you didn't necessarily hear a man who is backing down in any way. If those two speeches had anything in common, it was that this conflict will continue for an uncertain amount of time, and that is what President Biden will be leaving behind in Europe when he departs later today, Max.

FOSTER: Kevin, thank you. Kristie, they were discussing nothing less than the new world order or alternative visions of the world order. And now we see the Chinese president, a story suggesting that he's going to go to Moscow to meet with the Russian president, which plays into this much bigger, very profound conversation.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And at the moment, this critical meeting is underway with China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, has been meeting with Sergey Lavrov, the Foreign Minister of Russia in Moscow. And we received a photograph earlier, was shared by the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, who posted it on telegram showing the two leaders smiling and shaking hands.

We were monitoring in the last hour opening remarks, and there was a bit of a repeat of previous talking points from China with Wang Yi sitting across from Lavrov, saying that he expressed his opposition to the Cold War mentality. Now, the Kremlin has said it does not rule out the possibility of Wang Yi meeting with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president.

We also heard from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier saying that this visit and this meeting is an opportunity for both sides to exchange views about the relationship and also about international hotspot issues, which would, of course, include the war in Ukraine.

Now, earlier on Tuesday, Wang Yi met with the head of Russia's Security Council. There he expressed opposition to the Cold War mentality. A desire to strengthen cooperation between China and Russia. Ukraine was also discussed, but details were not revealed.

And this meeting is being watched and monitored very closely by Western nations, in particular the United States. Just a few days ago, the U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken warned Wang Yi of consequences if China proceeds giving material support to Russia, its ongoing war in Ukraine.

China has fired back repeatedly and is now accusing the U.S. of sabotage. We have these comments from the Global Times, a state-run tabloid in which he said this, quote, "The U.S. has been wearing thick tinted glasses to view China-Russia friendly ties from the very beginning. "The suspicions, provocation and sabotage in Washington for China-Russia ties have never stopped, and now they have reached a peak because of the conflict," unquote.

Now, Max, underscoring this no limits partnership is that meeting that you just mentioned. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Chinese leader Xi Jinping is planning to visit Moscow for a summit with Vladimir Putin. The date for that, according to this report, in April or in May. Back to you.

FOSTER: OK, Kristie. Let's talk a bit more about this, Clare. It's just the optics, isn't it, of the two presidents meeting on Russian soil at such a sensitive time and for that news to come out now. It is in the Wall Street Journal, but it's been repeated, hasn't it, and cited by Russian state media.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think, it's not confirmed yet. We don't know. But that certainly would give a very strong signal of where China stands on this. They have deflected, not explicitly denied, but deflected any claims they might be planning any material support for Russia militarily. But this relationship has been very material to Russia over the past year.

China has proved a critical economic partner, really helped Russia to withstand the pressure of sanctions by providing an invaluable market for its displaced oil that used to go to Europe and gas as well. They're planning an expansion of a pipeline between Russia and China. It's really important and it underscores.

And we've heard comments this morning from Lavrov as well that they want to continue their close cooperation, but they're in favor of what he called a more democratic and fair system of international relations. And this isn't just about China or Russia.

They are looking to show the world that they want a sphere of influence that rivals that of the sort of Western transatlantic alliance that we see coalescing around Ukraine. He said most of the countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America, are interested in this sort of more democratic, he said, fairer system of international relations.

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They don't accept attempts to force them into the confrontational agenda and attempts to contain those states, he said, who display independence and focus on international interests. So he, who, by the way, has visited multiple African countries even in the last month, the Middle East as well, is trying to build this influence in an alternative sphere in the world, in sort of -- in contrast to the transatlantic alliance.

FOSTER: OK, Clare, thank you. Also, Kevin, and to Kristie on that.

Meanwhile, South Korea's military says it believes North Korea is capable of firing an intercontinental ballistic missile further than ever before. And it's preparing to prove that with an upcoming test. The goal is to put pressure on the U.S.

This new warning comes just days after North Korea carried out the third known test of its long range Hwasong-15 ICBM in less than a year.

From coast to coast, 65 million Americans are under winter weather alerts. A powerful winter storm is threatening to bring blizzard like conditions to parts of the upper Midwest and the High Plains. More than 165,000 power outages have already been reported in California alone, and more than 500,000 -- 500 rather, flights for today have already been canceled.

Let's bring in CNN Meteorologist Britley Ritz. Because Britley, Minneapolis could see up to 25 inches of snow, is that correct?

RITZ: Absolutely, in many locations. Already, feet of snow in parts of California and Minneapolis could potentially hit top five snowiest on a record if they hit roughly around 24 inches of snow, which is the forecast. 65 million under some sort of winter weather alert, including blizzard warnings.

2 million plus under blizzard warnings, where we have 35 mile per hour wind gusts for a three hours time, knocking down visibility down to a quarter of a mile. If you're not under the blizzard warning, white out conditions are still very much possible.

Snowfall from California all the way up into the Great Lakes in the Ohio Valley as of this morning. This is round two, round three expected later this evening. So a few more inches this morning and then we can expect additional heavier snowfall from Minneapolis later tonight.

You'll see that heavy snow rolling in around 8:00, 9:00. And then you notice the pink, ice storm warnings are in effect. Nearly an inch of ice in some of these locations can cripple the city just north of Chicago. Detroit can be one of these locations where we have roughly about a half an inch of ice, if not a quarter of an inch of ice. Regardless, widespread power outages and tree limbs will likely come down with this.

The whole area of low pressure then travels further east across the Great Lakes and into New England here in the next two days. Snowfall totals, this is on top of what we've already picked up. Purple showing you the 8 inches plus expected through Friday, and then again the pinks showing you 12 inches to 18 inches more expected again through the rest of this week.

On top of the heavy snowfall, then we're talking about flooding through the Ohio Valley back into parts of the Southern Plains. Areas highlighted in orange, that's 4 inches plus of rain over the next few days. And also, the threat for severe weather, we're rarely warm, humid, plus we have the lift from the cold front, all the right conditions to bring in damaging winds. That's our biggest concern.

Then, of course, large hail is also a possibility. That's more isolated and a brief tornado can't be ruled out, especially for areas highlighted in yellow from St. Louis back into eastern Oklahoma. It's hot. We mentioned the temperatures being contributing to the severe weather threat.

135 plus, record highs are possible through Friday for areas highlighted in yellow and orange. That includes the Carolinas back through Florida and Texas, where temperatures are expected to be pushing close to 90 degrees in places like Orlando. Max?

FOSTER: Britley, thank you so much.

RITZ: Yes.

FOSTER: We're also keeping a close eye on U.S. stock futures as Wall Street opens to rebound from steep losses on Tuesday. Let's take a look at where the markets stand right now. It's not a huge amount of help because they're flying up and down currently, but they're up marginally at the moment.

Looking ahead to the open later, the Dow lost nearly 700 points on Tuesday. The S&P 500 was down 2 percent and the Nasdaq dropped 2.5 percent. Warnings from Walmart and Home Depot have investors worried that a U.S. recession is still possible. Both retailers lowered their outlook for the year ahead. Home Depot missed its revenue expectations for the first time since the pandemic.

CNN's Marc Stewart is following developments for us from Tokyo. A really rough day for traders. You're in Tokyo, and the pitch is pretty grim across Asia as well. How do you interpret all of these, Marc?

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hi there, Max. It's been a rough few days for traders all across Asia. But here in Tokyo, Japan's benchmark Index, the Nikkei, saw a bit of a slump today, and one possible explanation is the fact that the bank of Japan maybe making a potential policy change that made people uneasy.

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In addition, just broadly speaking, over the last few days, we've seen declines across markets in Japan as well as in China and Hong Kong. The issue there may be the fact that Chinese tech companies announce that they are going to spend more money. They are going to invest and possibly expand.

On the surface, that's sounds like a good thing. But when money is changing hands, it also can make investors a little bit cautious. And that may be with that play there, Max.

FOSTER: In terms of the U.S. futures, is this all to do with inflation and interest rates and fresh fears there?

STEWART: Well, when you have two big companies, as you mentioned, Home Depot, Walmart say that they are a bit uncertain about the future, that can really impact investors. They want things to celebrate, but they also look for things to worry about. And when you hear a less than stellar outlook from those companies, that can have an impact.

In addition, in the month ahead, we're going to hear from big companies like Best Buy, Target, Gap, Macy's, what those companies say when they release their earnings about the future, that's going to help determine the roadmap.

Also, Max, it's worth mentioning today we're going to get minutes from the Fed's last meeting, and that is significant because the U.S. Federal Reserve is the organization that determines the direction of interest rates. And based off of their comments, their conversations, investors will make decisions, if it's something perhaps than less than stellar, at least.

FOSTER: Let's see what happens. Marc Stewart live from Tokyo. Thank you very much indeed.

We're getting a close look into the Georgia grand jury investigation of former U.S. President Donald Trump in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The jury worked for seven months and heard testimony from 75 witnesses, including some of Trump's closest allies during his time in office.

Foreperson Emily Kohrs says the panel recommended multiple indictments to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, which she hinted could include the, quote, big name everyone's interested in.

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EMILY KOHRS, FOREPERSON, GEORGIA SPECIAL GRAND JURY IN TRUMP PROBE: We definitely heard a lot about former President Trump, and we definitely discussed him a lot in the room. And I'll say that when this list comes out, you wouldn't -- there are no major plot twists waiting for you. Especially if they've been following the investigation, I can't see it being a shocker.

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FOSTER: But the foreperson may be getting ahead of herself. CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig spoke with Anderson Cooper about why she maybe revealing too much about the investigation.

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ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: This is a very serious prospect here. We're talking about indicting any person. You're talking about potentially taking away that person's liberty. We're talking about potentially a former president, for the first time in this nation's history. She does not seem to be taking that very seriously.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Right. There's no reason for her to be out talking.

HONIG: No.

COOPER: I mean, there's -- right. OK.

HONIG: It's a prosecutor's nightmare. She --

COOPER: OK.

HONIG: Mark my words. Donald Trump's team is going to make a motion, if there's an indictment, to dismiss that indictment based on grand jury impropriety. She's not supposed to be talking about anything, really, but she's really not supposed to be talking about the deliberations.

She's talking about what specific witnesses they saw, what the grand jury thought of them. She says some of them we found credible, some of them we found funny. I don't know why that's relevant, but she's been saying, we found this guy funny or interesting. I think she's potentially crossing a line here. It's going to be a real problem for prosecutors.

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FOSTER: Well, the U.S. President, meanwhile, tells the rail company in charge of the train that derailed in Ohio to clean up its mess. We'll have the details on that view.

Plus, an American family's case against Google reaches the Supreme Court. They say the tech company is responsible for radicalizing terrorists like the ones that kill their daughter. But will their arguments stand up in court?

And later, liberated Ukrainians are on edge as they brace for a new military offensive and worry Russia could target their town, next.

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FOSTER: U.S. Department of Transportation is launching a probe into the rise of flight cancelations and delays since the pandemic. The agency's own inspector general will lead the investigation to determine the DOT's role in those cancelations.

They'll also be checking to see if short staffing and bad weather were actually credible reasons for the delays. And it's all an effort to inform Congress and the American people of what the real issues are, according to the inspector general.

The U.S. President is demanding the rail company operating the train that derailed in Ohio to clean up its mess. Joe Biden spoke to the EPA chief and state officials whilst in Poland. This comes as the National Transportation Safety Board gets ready to issue its initial investigative findings on Thursday.

CNN's Miguel Marquez has the latest from Palestine, Ohio.

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MICHAEL REGAN, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ADMINISTRATOR: Thank you for inviting us into your home.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nearly three weeks after the derailment, people in East Palestine, Ohio still concerned.

BROWN: We need to feel safe --

REGAN: Yes.

BROWN: -- in our home. I mean, I don't even walk in my grass because I don't know what's in it.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): Officials say the air and water deem safe so far, but not everyone is convinced.

BROWN: So it's safe to drink the water?

GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R), OHIO: Water is safe.

BROWN: I can't even brush my teeth with it.

DEWINE: No.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): East Palestine resident Carolyn Brown hosted the EPA Administrator Michael Regan and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine in her kitchen, both assuring her, her municipal tap water is safe.

REGAN: We believe the science here. So we don't feel like we're getting your guinea pig, but we don't mind proving to you that we believe the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cheers to Carolyn.

DEWINE: Cheers to you.

BROWN: Thanks. MARQUEZ (voice-over): They say the village tap water testing will continue for years, and anyone with a private well should have it tested as well.

SHAPIRO: Norfolk Southern's corporate greed, incompetence, and lack of care for our residents is absolutely unacceptable to me.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): The governor of neighboring Pennsylvania announced his state made a criminal referral to investigate Norfolk Southern's handling of the derailment. This, as the EPA announced it is ordering Norfolk Southern to complete all of the cleanup or the agency will immediately take over and seek to compel the company to pay triple the cost.

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REGAN: I expect within the next 48 hours, Norfolk Southern will begin working with the agency on the contents of the work plan. They have to put together a workplan that's going to be very prescriptive.

ALAN SHAW, CEO, NORFOLK SOUTHERN: We're going to be here tomorrow. We're going to be here a year from now and we're going to be here five years from now.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): And the CEO of the railroad says it is already committed to doing what's right.

SHAW: We're going to invest in this community and we're going to do it in the right way and we're going to do it the right time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Residents be pointed in this direction.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): At a church across town, a new medical clinic opening up to help people concerned about getting sick from the chemicals spilled in the derailment and controlled burn.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to help get people on the right track and navigate them through this healthcare system.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): But there is much more to be done.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are moving as fast as we physically can. Of course, time is of the essence.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): While trains are running through the town again, the soil underneath the open tracks still contaminated.

ANNE VOGEL, DIRECTOR, OHIO EPA: We know the soil is contaminated under there. They know it's contaminated. They know it's contaminated with, we have done that testing. There is a long-term remediation plan that includes getting that soil out from under those tracks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're at zeros.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): For now, it's all about building trust and getting people the help and answers they need. DEWINE: We've got to continue to follow the science or continue to listen to the experts who understand this.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): But the toxicity, the cleanup and the distrust is also political.

TRENT CONAWAY, MAYOR OF EAST PALESTINE, OHIO: That was the biggest slap in the face.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): The mayor of East Palestine on Fox News criticizing President Joe Biden for going to Ukraine instead of coming here.

CONAWAY: He can send every agency he wants to, but I found that out this morning in one of the briefings that he was in the Ukraine giving millions of dollars away to people over there and not to us, and I'm furious.

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MARQUEZ: So we are in the town of East Palestine, about a mile and a half from the development site, 2 kilometers or so. And this is what's happening throughout the town. This is the confluence of two creeks in town, both of them are contaminated. They have massive hoses pulling the water out of one side, cleaning it up and then reinjecting it into the creek system here.

And this is going to go on for quite some time. The mayor here also trying to lower the heat on some of the politics here, saying that if President Biden wanted to visit this area, he was happy to have him here. Back to you.

FOSTER: Now, coming up, Poland's President speaks out on Joe Biden's surprise visit to Ukraine and what it signaled to Russia and the rest of the world. Plus, CNN is on the ground in Ukraine as liberated civilians brace for Russia to once again target their towns.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is all about smashing up the villages and towns ahead of what the Ukrainians fear is going to be a major Russian push in this part of the country.

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