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CNN International: Israeli Force: Six Rockets Fired From Gaza Toward Israel; Murdaugh's Former Law Partner Testifies In Murder Trial; Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Reels In Major Donations; Dole Shuts Down Production After Cyberattack; S. Korean FM: U.S. "Extended Deterrence" Is Key To Security; Urgent Need For More Tents As Death Toll Passes 49,000; Nearly 900,000 Living In Tents And Containers In Turkey; American Airlines Flight Diverted Due To Unruly Passenger; FDA Could Require New Labeling On Plant-Based Milk; Webb Telescope Spots Massive Galaxies From Early Universe. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired February 23, 2023 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Now, on top of that, and further eight Palestinians were killed. It seems several of them at least were civilians. And as you say, these numbers were injured.

We're talking about more than 100 injured according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. More than 100 injured due to live ammunition and almost 500 in total injured, including those who were injured from inhalation, from teargas and also from shrapnel. So this was obviously a very, you know, a bloody raid.

And then subsequently, we had six rockets fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel. Israel retaliating with airstrikes, which it says were targeting both a weapons storage from Hamas and also a weapons manufacturing site. Now you've read in the introduction the condemnation of the concern from the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process.

We've also seen condemnation from the Saudis, Jordanians, Egyptians and the Emiratis. And the United States State Department also putting out a statement saying that it's extremely concerned by the levels of violence in Israel and the West Bank. Now, we've reached out to the IDF to get some more details as to just how so many people came to be injured.

This, of course, did happen in the old city of Nablus. It was during the day, as we said, around 10:00 a.m. it started. Many people were shopping in the open market there in the old city. But we're trying to get further details as to just how it came to be that so many people were injured as a result of the Israeli security forces raid yesterday. Max?

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Elliott, back with you with any updates in Jerusalem. Thank you.

Still to come up, Alex Murdaugh's former partner, law partner takes the stand in the double murder trial. We'll have the details of his testimony next. Also ahead, what to do about North Korea as it continues to threaten global peace and security? CNN speaks exclusively with South Korea's top diplomat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PARK JIN, SOUTH KOREAN MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: We have to create an environment where North Korea has no choice but to come back to the negotiation table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:35:37]

FOSTER: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster. If you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with our top stories this hour. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg heads to East Palestine, Ohio today to survey the aftermath of the toxic train derailment. His visit comes as the NTSB is set to release its preliminary report on how the disaster happened.

And The New York Times reports that the special counsel investigating the January 6 riot is demanding Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner appear before a grand jury.

Now, sources familiar with the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial say he's debating whether or not he'll take the stand himself in his own defense. And if he does, it could be as soon as later today. This comes after testimony from one of Murdaugh's former law partners on Wednesday.

CNN's Randi Kaye has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was his demeanor?

MARK BALL, MURDAUGH'S FORMER LAW PARTNER: He was devastated. I mean, he was crying. He was, I mean, just beside himself.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Alex Murdaugh's longtime friend and fellow law partner, Mark Ball, testifying for the defense and revealing how Murdaugh appeared to him soon after the murders. He also helped shore up the defense's theme that the crime scene investigation was sloppy.

He described what he saw in the feed room where Paul Murdaugh was killed after he says investigators had finished processing that scene.

BALL: Looking around down the -- around the floor and all that, just -- there was a piece of Paul's skull about size of a baseball laying there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did that upset you? BALL: It did, very much. I mean, it just really infuriated me. It's kind of like walking across the grave and just -- it's one of those things you just don't do.

KAYE (voice-over): Still, this defense witness also offered testimony that could help the prosecution. During cross examination, Ball identified Alex Murdaugh's voice on the recording taken at the dog kennels around the time of the murders.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any doubt in your mind that Alex Murdaugh, Maggie and Paul were on that kennel video at 08:44 p.m. on June 7th, 2021?

BALL: None.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No doubt in your mind?

BALL: No doubt.

KAYE (voice-over): He also told the jury that Murdaugh had repeatedly told him he wasn't at the kennels earlier in the night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now you know that's not true from seeing the kennel video, right?

BALL: I do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That wasn't the only time he told you that, is it?

BALL: No. At least three times.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At least three times.

KAYE (voice-over): Ball also revealed that Murdaugh had a couple of different versions about how he allegedly checked his family after he said he found them dead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In his conversations with you, did he ever change his story about who he checked first at the scene, supposedly?

BALL: At the first time I remember, he checked Maggie first and then went to Paul. And then I heard him say at one point that it was Paul and then it was Maggie.

KAYE (voice-over): This cell phone forensics expert also testified for the defense. He analyzed the state's data and timeline from the night of the murders. One key finding from him, Maggie Murdaugh's phone didn't appear to be motion activated around the time the state has suggested Alex Murdaugh may have tossed it from his moving car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell us how much motion would be required for the screen to come on on a phone?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very little.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the times that Alex Murdaugh's car is passing, the screen never came on. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's correct. Database indicated it was off.

KAYE (voice-over): Randi Kaye, CNN, Walterboro, South Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Florida's governor has yet to declare himself a Republican presidential candidate, but major donors are already throwing money at his highly anticipated campaign. Records show Ron DeSantis has raked in nearly $5 million just this month alone. That's on top of the more than $70 million he has left over from last year's reelection effort in Florida.

Republican Strategist Scott Jennings says Trump could be in trouble.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: He should definitely be worried. I mean, if you look at the numbers, DeSantis and Trump, in a lot of the polling, have very similar fave numbers, favorability ratings, which are quite high. But DeSantis has virtually no unfavorability number, while Trump's unfaves are high.

And Trump is probably the most defined politician in America. I mean, you know, he could raise a lot of money. But is seeing a TV commercial about Donald Trump going to make you like him or dislike him more than you already do? Probably not. DeSantis, I think, has room to grow, and he's going to have the war chest to do that.

[04:40:02]

So right now, I would be quite worried if I were Trump. You know, his best hope, honestly, may be that this field gets so large and people don't have the, you know, good sense to get out of the way. That is -- that will work in Trump's favor. But DeSantis has the capacity to be a juggernaut, not just on the fundraising side, but I'm telling you, his net faves in the party are really high right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Now, if you're having trouble finding some Dole foods products in your grocery store, there's a good reason for that. The company was hit with a ransomware cyberattack earlier this month and temporarily shut down production plants in North America. The previously unreported hack led some customers to complain about Dole salad shortages in the supermarkets. Dole said it notified law enforcement and is cooperating with their investigation.

Now, in a victory for American workers, the U.S. National Labor Relations Board has ruled companies can no longer silence laid off workers in exchange for severance pay. The board says broadly written confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses in certain instances violate workers' rights.

The ruling reverses a decision made by the Trump era members of the board. And while it could be appealed, it's effective immediately. Still ahead, Turkey reveals new relief plans and cracks down on unsafe housing in the wake of the deadly earthquake. A live report from Turkey when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: South Korea is taking a hard line towards its northern neighbor amid a flurry of missile launches and nuclear threats from Pyongyang. In an exclusive interview with CNN, South Korea's foreign minister says the only way to counter the threats is the South's defense alliance with the U.S.

CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us live from Seoul. Paula, what did he mean by that?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max, he's effectively saying that what North Korea is doing at the moment is completely wrong. And he's setting South Korea very firmly in the camp of the United States, as we have known, but saying that they will get even closer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[04:45:10]

HANCOCKS (voice-over): An ICBM launch, a military parade, and a threat to use the Pacific Ocean as a firing range, a busy month so far for North Korea.

JIN: North Korea may want to be recognized as a defacto nuclear state, but my government will not accept a nuclear North Korea.

HANCOCKS (on-camera): Do you think Kim Jong-un would ever give up his nuclear weapons?

JIN: He may not voluntarily renounce nuclear weapons, but the important thing is that we have to create an environment where North Korea has no choice but to come back to the negotiation table.

HANCOCKS (on-camera): Are there any back channels open at the moment?

JIN: Not at the moment, no.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): U.S.-South Korea military drills have intensified in recent months, angering Pyongyang. A growing call for South Korea to have its own nuclear program is neither realistic nor viable, according to Park, preferring to rely on the 70-year-old alliance and U.S. extended deterrence.

JIN: We are now currently discussing with the United States on how we can strengthen the extended deterrence, that is, under what circumstances and in what way the U.S. nuclear umbrella can be activated in times of crisis.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): Park believes Pyongyang is learning from the war in Ukraine, taking advantage of the world looking elsewhere. JIN: Russia is now indicating to use their tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine, and North Korea is also threatening to use the tactical nuclear weapons.

HANCOCKS (on-camera): Does the relationship between Russia and North Korea concern you?

JIN: Yes, it is our concern that Russia and North Korea are cooperating in various ways, and we have to prepare ourselves against any kind of further provocation by North Korea based on that relationship.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): The White House announced in December they believe North Korea has delivered rockets and missiles to Russian mercenary group Wagner. As for Taiwan and China's threats to take control of the island by force, if necessary --

JIN: We are opposed to unilateral change of status quo by force. So in that sense, we will make sure that if something happens on the Taiwan Strait, we have to maintain peace and stability on the Korean peninsula because you don't have a direct impact on our country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS: Now, the foreign minister also said that the U.N. Security Council cannot be silent. He wants to see a more unified response when it comes to North Korean transgressions. But, of course, that's very difficult at the moment with Russia and China refusing to side at all with the United States when it comes to condemning anything that Pyongyang is doing. Max?

FOSTER: OK, Paula in Seoul, thank you for bringing us that.

Now, more than two weeks since the massive earthquake, and there's an urgent need for more tents and temporary housing for people in Turkey and Syria. Nearly 900,000 people in Turkey are living right now in camps like this one after losing their homes in the quake. On Wednesday, the death toll passed 49,000 across both Turkey and Syria.

CNN's Nada Bashir joins us from the Turkish port city, where she's been reporting all night from these camps. I mean, it was amazing. They got these camps up and running, but they're not a long-term solution, obviously.

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely not. Certainly not a long-term solution. And this is still an ongoing process. We are still beginning to see these camps being set up, these camps being built. You can see we're in Iskenderun now in the province of Hatay, which was among the hardest hit by that initial earthquake.

You can see behind me the sheer scale of this camp. This has grown overnight. We were here yesterday, and there certainly weren't as many tensions. So this is going to be a process for the next couple of weeks and months. But as you have, there are already 900,000 people living in tents, and we've already heard that warning from the United Nations. This is going to get worse. There is going to be even more need. And while some of these families have tents, we've been speaking to some of them. The majority of them in this camp are from Syria originally. They tell us that they've been sleeping on the street for the last two and a half weeks. They still haven't had a tent.

In fact, this one family here, I was speaking to them just a little while ago, they're originally from the Syrian city of Aleppo. Now, they've been in Turkey for 10 years. Their house was completely destroyed in the earthquake. Others, friends of theirs, they say that their house wasn't destroyed, but after the aftershock on Monday, they're too afraid to return because of the damage.

And that is the warning from the government. Do not return to buildings that have sustained damage. A fear that they could also collapse in any further aftershocks. But you can see they've built this tent themselves. This is a makeshift tent. This isn't one provided by the authorities or provided by an aid group. They've fashioned this together themselves.

[04:50:04]

There's another one just over here. You can see they've just piled some mattresses, some blankets together, and that's all they have at the moment. Now, the government has said that they are working on this. They conceded that more needs to be done.

They say that they've never been through a catastrophe of this scale. They still need to work on that. They are learning a lot because there's thousands of people left homeless, thousands of families have lost loved ones, who've been through so much. Have absolutely nothing left.

That is no solace for them. And they need that support. And now, more than two weeks on, they are still, many of them, like these families here, sleeping on the street in the cold. Max?

FOSTER: OK, Nada, thank you for showing us that.

Now an American Airlines flight is diverted after reports of the passenger tried to breach the cockpit is next. What we're learning about the woman who caused that security scare.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: An American Airlines flight from Florida to Washington was diverted to Raleigh, North Carolina on Wednesday because of an unruly passengers. Here -- passenger. Here's radio traffic from airport police.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Subject is currently loose in the cabin, loose in the cabin. And he has tried to breach the cockpit. He's being somewhat restrained by the flight crew and other passengers. As soon as that lands, we need to get in the plane and restrain this guy. [04:55:15]

FOSTER: CNN has learned the passenger was actually a woman having a panic attack. She was detained and charged with a misdemeanor. The FAA is investigating the incident. It said in a tweet it's been working on a rule to require that new planes have a second physical barrier to protect the flight deck.

Consumers in the U.S. can expect some new labeling on plant-based milk. The Food and Drug Administration has issued a draft guidance calling for an explanation of how such products compare to dairy milk. For example, they could be required to say that plant-based milk contains less vitamin D, calcium or protein than dairy milk.

Japanese officials are investigating this mysterial metal sphere that washed up on a beach this week. So far, they haven't been able to figure out what it is or where it came from. But a bomb squad was able to determine that the ball is hollow and doesn't pose a threat.

Astronomers have made an unexpected discovery using the James Webb Space Telescope. It's potted six massive galaxies that existed between 500 million and 700 million years after the Big Bang that created the universe. The discovery upends existing theories about the origin of galaxies.

The current theory suggests that galaxies began as small clouds of stars and dust that grew over time. But these galaxies are so colossal that scientists are being forced to rethink how galaxies were formed and evolved in the very first place. Extraordinary.

Thanks for joining me here on CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster in London. Early Start with Christine is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:00:00]