Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Biden Ruling Out Sending F-16 Jets To Ukraine For Now; U.S. Army Veteran Killed Fighting In Ukraine; Alex Murdaugh Denies Killing Wife And Son, Admits To Lying To Police; GOP Lawmakers Slam Biden's Surprise Trip To Ukraine; Rare South California Winter Storm Brings Blizzard And Flood Warnings; CNN Speaks To Foreign Volunteers Fighting In Ukraine. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired February 25, 2023 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:01:15]
JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.
Ukraine is now entering the second year of its brutal fight against Russia. Last February the world watched in horror as Russian troops rolled across the border and into Ukrainian cities. Many, especially those in Russia, thought the invasion would be swift and that Ukraine would fall quickly. But Ukraine had other plans. They have surprised the world with its strength and determination.
That defiance, though, has come at a heavy price for the country and its people. The U.N. estimates that at least 8,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed since the war began. And many observers wondered just how long Kyiv can continue to hold on in the face of so much Russian aggression.
Days after his historic visit to Ukraine, President Joe Biden spoke with ABC News about how he sees the war progressing at this point and what he thinks about the idea of a negotiated settlement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. We're not going to dictate to them what the end result is.
DAVID MUIR, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: When you talk them negotiating, does that mean they get to keep Crimea and parts of the east?
BIDEN: That means that they decide that. They, the Ukrainians, decide that. But I can picture a circumstance where there is a transition to that. It's not all at one time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been urging the United States to send F-16 fighter jets to help Ukraine battle Russian forces. But President Biden is pushing back against that idea. At least for now. White House correspondent Priscilla Alvarez joins me now with more.
Priscilla, the Biden administration is saying yes to more sanctions. No to the fighter jets for now. What more can you tell us?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's exactly right, Jim. He is saying that for now they're holding off on those F- 16 fighter jets while also saying, as he has over the course of the week, that the United States will stand by and support Ukraine. But Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has been asking for those advanced American fighter jets as part of their fight against Russia. And when asked about that, President Biden said it's just not on the table yet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: We're sending him what our seasoned military thinks he needs now. He needs tanks, he needs artillery, he needs air defense including another HIMAR. Those are things he needs now that we're sending to put him in a position to be able to make gains this spring and this summer going into fall.
MUIR: You don't think he needs F-16s now?
BIDEN: No, he doesn't need F-16s now. There is no basis upon which there is a rationale according to our military now to provide F-16s.
MUIR: But you're not ruling it out.
BIDEN: I am ruling it out for now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALVAREZ: Now President Biden is under increasing pressure to provide advanced weaponry to Ukraine which is bracing for a potential offensive by Russia in the coming weeks or months. But this has been a controversial ask over concerns that it will escalate the conflict.
Now of course, President Biden did say over the course of the week again that the United States will provide support and that they will continue to provide assistance, including, Jim, $2 billion in their newest package.
ACOSTA: All right. Priscilla Alvarez, at the White House for us. Thanks so much.
The State Department is confirming that a U.S. Army veteran has been killed fighting in Ukraine. CNN affiliate WSAW says 28-year-old Andrew Peters of Marshfield, Wisconsin, enlisted in the International Legion of the Defense of Ukraine. That's a military unit set up by President Zelenskyy to allow foreign citizens to join the resistance against Russia.
And joining me now to talk about this and the fight in Ukraine, Malcolm Nance. He's a former Navy senior chief petty officer, a counterterrorism expert, and executive director of the Terrori Asymmetric Project. He recently returned from fighting in Ukraine. [19:05:05]
Malcolm, great to see you, great to talk with you. I guess your thoughts on this latest American to lose his life in this battle for Ukraine. You fought alongside Americans like this man. What can you tell us?
MALCOLM NANCE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TERROR ASYMMETRIC PROJECT: Well, this is not the first person that we've lost in the International Legion. Since March of last year, I believe we've lost somewhere close in first battalion and third battalion about 25 expatriate fighters who are Westerners who joined the International Legion. So, you know, my heart goes out to his family.
I know exactly how it feels. First battalion has taken a lot of casualties since the Kharkiv offensive. My battalion, the third battalion, has taken five just since November. So, you know, but we are here to protect the Ukrainian people. We understand what the risks are. Most people who are in these battalions are now very seasoned veterans. They've been there, you know, some as long as 10 months. So we understand those risks and we're willing to make those sacrifices when necessary.
ACOSTA: Absolutely. And I know you've done that as well. Why are so many Americans and citizens from other countries going to Ukraine to take on the Russians? And what did you see, I guess, on the ground there that I guess confirmed your decision to go?
NANCE: As you know, I was a contributor to a major news network last year when I went in January to do an analysis of Russian order of battle and the routes of invasion. And I spent, you know, over a month in Ukraine. I met with the senior battle commanders, who are now the task commanders in Ukraine. I met many people there. I found an amazing country, you know, that defied everything that we thought we knew about Eastern Europe.
It turns out that I knew people in Ukraine who were graduates of school that I've been to, the Defense Language Institute, who were in the Ukrainian army. And then when the -- you know, we knew the invasion was coming. We knew it was imminent. And when it came, the ferocity of the Russian attacks on civilians was just too much.
I mean, I understood that this was the eastern wall of democracy. That Russia was not attacking Ukraine over Nazis or Zelenskyy. It was about not having democracy on the Russian doorstep, and that he was trying to take over also 25 percent of the world's grain. 25 percent of all flour in the world, produced in this world, comes from Ukraine. It was a war of extinction. The Russians said that. It was going to eliminate the Ukrainian language, their intellectual class, their government class.
You know, as a person like myself, I spent decades in the armed forces and in the intelligence community. And I thought, you know, I'm not going to be able to look myself in the mirror doing reporting on this. And so I went and I joined the International Legion and, you know, put my money where my mouth was. ACOSTA: Absolutely. And I have to ask you this. How badly did Vladimir
Putin underestimate the Ukrainian will to fight? And I know you've had some tough words for people on the far right here in the U.S. who seem to be, I mean, for all intents and purposes, Putin sympathizers, which, I mean, I know you have been in this business for a long time. You just would never thought you would see that kind of day come in this country where people on the far right, on the conservative end of the spectrum, you know, take the side of the Russians.
NANCE: Yes. This is really amazing. You know, I started in the intelligence world as an old cold warrior back in the, you know, the early 1980s. And you know, we understood how the world was. It was a bipolar world with the Soviet Union and their intelligence apparatus, the KGB, as the bad guys and the United States and NATO as the good guys.
Well, Vladimir Putin is an ex-KGB officer. I've been to his office in Dresden when I was writing about Putin and his attacks on democracy. And, you know, he understood what the stakes were himself. He was reestablishing Russia as an empire. And the way that he was going to do that was to start eliminating democracies one by one.
And when I went to Ukraine, one of the things that I learned very, very early on. And I reported on air about that. And to the defiance of a lot of journalists who were in Ukraine at that time, that they have completely underestimated the heart of Ukrainian fighters. I swear to God. If we could bottle this stuff, we could defeat any army in the world. That's because the Ukrainian men and women in the armed forces who I served alongside of, the International Legion is a battalion of the Ukrainian army.
And we understood. It wasn't about the hatred of the man in front of them, as the old saying goes.
[19:10:01]
It was about the love that they felt for their wives, their children, their grandparents and every Ukrainian citizen behind them who relied on them to win. And I had said very early on. I know what we call Z Day, Z Day minus eight. I went on air and I said this city of Kyiv won't be taken. It just won't be. And this army can't be defeated.
And, you know, I knew within a week of the invasion that the Russian army was going to be destroyed. And you know, when I went there and I participated in two major offensives, you know, and we went through Kharkiv province, for example, and liberated 300 more villages and six cities, and it was heart-warming to me as an American city, to come out, an African-American with my fellow French, British, Colombian brothers and sisters, to have these little old ladies come out and say, thank you for liberating us. It was like France in 1944.
ACOSTA: Wow. Incredible. Well, hats off to you for your bravery, Malcolm. Great talking to you. And give our best to all of your fellow soldiers over there when you get the chance to talk to them. We appreciate what they do as well and the bravery that they're displaying every day. Malcolm Nance, thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it.
NANCE: Ukraine.
ACOSTA: Thank you.
Now to the aftermath of that toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. More than 100,000 gallons of liquid waste and a significant amount of solid waste remain stored there now three weeks after the accident. The EPA has now halted all hazardous waste shipments from East Palestine after officials in Texas and Michigan said they were not given a heads-up that contaminated materials were being sent to their states.
This comes on the heels of an initial report into the cause of the derailment. The head of the NTSB says the incident was 100 percent preventable.
Coming up, blockbuster days of testimony in the Alex Murdaugh murder trial as the disgraced lawyer took the stand in his own defense. Will the risky move pay off?
And why Senator Mitt Romney is calling Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green's latest comments, quote, "insanity."
And later on, snow at the Hollywood sign? Let's hope not. Oh my, is that what -- is that real? A powerful winter storm is hitting normally sunny Southern California. Snowy Southern California, I guess is the case.
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:16:28]
ACOSTA: Accused double murder defendant Alex Murdaugh admits to being a serial liar. He also admits to being addicted to pain pills for roughly two decades. Testifying in his own defense this week, Murdaugh admitted he was at the crime scene just minutes before his wife and son were brutally murdered. But he insists he did not kill them.
The disgraced former attorney was back on the witness stand Friday facing a second round of tough questions by prosecutors. And CNN's Randi Kaye was there and has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX MURDAUGH, ACCUSED OF MURDERING WIFE AND SON: I have lied well over a decade.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lies. That's what lead prosecutor Creighton Waters was trying to expose with Alex Murdaugh on the stand.
MURDAUGH: I told a lie about being down there and I got myself wed to that.
KAYE: For hours, Waters tried to box Murdaugh into a corner using cell phone data and timeline evidence from the night of the murders.
MURDAUGH: I'm still not absolutely certain exactly how they ended up at the kennel.
KAYE: Murdaugh told the jury he drove his golf cart to meet his wife Maggie and son Paul at the kennels. He says that was just before Paul Murdaugh recorded this kennel video. Murdaugh can be heard talking in the background.
MURDAUGH: It certainly could have been 8:47 before I left out of there.
KAYE: Murdaugh estimated it's about a two-minute drive on the golf cart from the kennel to the main house, which would put him there at 8:49 p.m., the very same time prosecutors say Maggie and Paul's phones ceased all activity suggesting they were dead.
Once back at the house --
CREIGHTON WATERS, PROSECUTOR: You lay down on the couch.
MURDAUGH: That's correct.
KAYE: Keep in mind, Murdaugh's phone showed no activity from 8:09 to 9:02. He says he left it at the main house when he went down to the kennels.
WATERS: You would agree with me that from 9:02 to 9:06, your phone finally comes to life and starts showing a lot of steps, and that's far more steps in a shorter time period than any time prior as you've seen from the testimony in this case. So what were you so busy doing?
MURDAUGH: That's --
WATERS: Going to the bathroom?
MURDAUGH: No, I don't think that I went to bathroom.
WATERS: Get on a treadmill?
MURDAUGH: No, I did not get on the treadmill.
WATERS: Jog in place?
MURDAUGH: No, I didn't job in place. And what I wasn't doing is doing anything as I believe you've implied that I was cleaning off or washing off or washing off guns, putting guns in a raincoat, and I can promise you that I wasn't doing any of that.
KAYE: Along with all the steps Murdaugh took, data presented in court shows he made a flurry of phone calls.
WATERS: Finally having your phone in your hand, moving around and making all these phone calls to manufacture an alibi. Is that not true?
MURDAUGH: That's absolutely incorrect.
KAYE: Meanwhile, Murdaugh's attempt to show he had been trying to cooperate with investigators backfired.
MURDAUGH: Other than lying to them about going to the kennel, I was cooperative in every aspect of this investigation.
WATERS: Very cooperative, except for maybe the most important fact of all that you were at the murder scene with the victims just minutes before they died.
KAYE: The prosecutor did his best to prove to the jury no one other than Alex Murdaugh could have killed his wife and son.
WATERS: What you're telling this jury is that it's a random vigilante that just happened to know that Paul and Maggie were both at Moselle on June 7th, that knew that they would be at the kennels alone on June 7th, and knew that you would not be there, but only between the times of 8:49 and 9:02.
MURDAUGH: You got a lot of factors in there, Mr. Waters, all of which I do not agree with, but some of which I do.
[19:20:07]
KAYE (on-camera): And getting back to all those steps that Alex Murdaugh was taking around that key timeframe, he was also making a flurry of phone calls. The state says he was doing so to try and establish an alibi.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Walterboro, South Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Alex Murdaugh spent two days on the witness stand testifying for nearly six hours yesterday. Mostly under cross-examination.
Trial attorney Misty Marris joins us to help break it all down.
Misty, when you look at the timeline that prosecutors repeatedly bring up, 8:45 p.m. there's cell phone video that places Murdaugh at the scene of the murders. The dog kennels. And four minutes later, 8:49, his son's and wife's cell phones are locked, suggesting that it is around the time they were killed. A short timeframe for someone to come and commit this double murder. What are your thoughts? You say time of death is key to the prosecution's case here?
MISTY MARRIS, TRIAL ATTORNEY: Yes, absolutely. The time of death is critical because of course this is the critical time period. And if the jury adopts the prosecution's theory on time of death, that Maggie and Paul were killed at 8:49, then Murdaugh is convicted because realistically there is no feasible explanation other than him committing the crimes. Based on the timeline which prosecutors pinned down on the cross-
examination and Alex Murdaugh had to cop to since he has now conceded that he was there at 8:44 and 45 seconds on that video. But look. If the jury does not adopt the prosecution's timeline, this is where the defense is going to go in their closing arguments. They're going to say the prosecution's time of death is based on the lack of cell phone activity.
And in addition to the medical examiner and coroner's testimony, both of whom said that they cannot give the exact time of death. They can only give a range of time. And so the defense is going to say, well, look, the prosecutor has not proved that beyond a reasonable doubt. So there is a reasonable possibility that this crime happened between 9:00 and 10:00 based on the medical data.
Nobody can tell you what was going on with those cell phones at the time. And jury, if you believe that this crime could have been committed, especially after 9:06 where everyone agrees Murdaugh was no longer at the scene, then you cannot convict. So that's where the defense is going to go. Now with this really, really bad timeline for Murdaugh, it all comes down to time of death.
ACOSTA: And Misty, it was pretty stunning when Murdaugh decided to testify in this case. A lot of people didn't believe it. Obviously it's not something you see every day in a murder trial. How do you think he has fared thus far? Do you think he's helped his cause? Or do you think he's made the prosecution's case even easier?
MARRIS: Yes, I actually think that he -- you know, he did a good job on direct examination. Direct examination is the easy part, right? That's the soft balls. That's you giving your narrative and something that you practiced with your attorney. But I do not think he helped himself on cross and again this time of death, that's going to be the critical component. And he didn't need to testify to establish that.
That was going to be based on the evidence that was already on the record. And in his cross-examination, he was evasive. He had selective memory. He seemed to remember very clearly facts and circumstances that matched his narrative and matched something that inert to his benefit. But when asked other questions about that night, he didn't remember, he didn't recall. It simply is not credible.
He's not a credible witness. And all of the financial stuff we know, this guy lies all the time. But that one critical lie, I was not at the kennels, which he told to law enforcement, friends, family, maintained in a calculated way for the -- until he was on the stand, that is going to be to his detriment because you're asking the jury to believe that he's honest in every other way except for that one thing. And I just don't think that's a sell.
ACOSTA: Right. All right. Misty Marris, thank you very much for your time. We appreciate it. We'll be watching.
MARRIS: Thank you.
ACOSTA: Thanks. Coming up, it was an historic day for President Biden with his trip to
Kyiv. Next, why he's being criticized for some -- by some for where he didn't go. Ohio.
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:28:40]
ACOSTA: A sitting U.S. president sneaks into an active war zone to emphasize America's commitment to Ukraine. It was an unprecedented journey with plenty of risk but plenty of recrimination as well from Republican partisans who slammed President Biden for making the trip.
Joining us now to talk about this and other items in the political world tonight, Molly Jong-Fast, special correspondent for "Vanity Fair," and CNN political commentator, Alice Stewart, also a Republican strategist.
Alice, what did you think of that? I mean, obviously, you know, at some point, the president probably ought to go to Ohio, to East Palestine. That goes without saying. And I suspect, despite whatever might be said right now, that he'll go. But why do you think some are going after him for going to Ukraine during a war to show support for the Ukrainians? They're fighting the Russians after all.
ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Exactly.
ACOSTA: Yes.
STEWART: Look, most Republicans, virtually all Republicans support the idea of supporting Ukraine. This is support for democracy. This is a support for global security. So it's really important to do that. And given the fact that the president was over in the region, it made sense for him to go. Not just to Ukraine but also I think it was a good move to go to Poland, and express support for them for all of the humanitarian efforts they're doing.
And if Putin manages to take Ukraine, then Poland is next. So it was important to show that support. It's the timing of this.
[19:30:01]
It looks bad when you have a domestic problem here back at the home front in Palestine, and the President didn't go. He had two weeks to go. This happened more than three weeks ago, he had two weeks to go and show his support.
And look, Joe Biden, President Biden is one of the most empathetic Presidents we've ever had and his ability to connect and show sympathy and support for people is renowned. So he could have really done a lot for himself, and also the administration and going to hands on the ground and show support for the people in the region, in addition to the Federal support.
ACOSTA: What do you think, Molly?
MOLLY JONG-FAST, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, "VANITY FAIR": I agree. I mean, I think that pretty much everyone agrees, look, this is -- you know, these environmental catastrophes are how we you can make a case for why there needs to be safety regulation for trains. And this is something that Democrats deeply believe in, right is the regulation of these things.
So in fact, I think they really missed in -- they really -- I think they really missed a moment here. And these people are hurting, and just like the Flint water crisis, all of these environmental catastrophes need to be addressed right away.
But I think that it's -- you know, I think Democrats are okay, saying, you know, we had a President who spent almost all his time talking about taking away regulation. And, you know, it's events like this that remind us why we have this government regulation in the first place.
ACOSTA: Right. I mean, they were Obama era regulations that were undone by Trump. And now, you know, just because you take a trip to East Palestine, on the part of former President Trump doesn't make that record go away that they were cutting a lot of that red tape.
Alice, let me ask you this. You know, one of the things that President Trump was trying to do was, essentially turn East Palestine into a campaign stop. Do you think that was the right move for him to go in there? Because it did sort of -- it did bring up this past that, yes, I mean, they had these regulations that were in place, and they did away with.
STEWART: Look, it was clear, based on the optics of former President Trump's visit there, that was a campaign stop. He was giving out MAGA hats. Granted, to his credit, he also gave water and cleaning supplies, which is very valuable, but this was a campaign stop and it is unfortunate that here he is putting MAGA hats on people. It appears as though he is using them as props in order for him to show their support.
Look, I think there is a time and place for --
ACOSTA: Too much like the paper towels in Puerto Rico?
STEWART: Exactly like the paper towels in Puerto Rico. And look, the more people can do to help the people in that region and neighboring States that are feeling the impact from this, the better. But just the timing of that seemed very circumspect.
ACOSTA: Molly, let's talk about Marjorie Taylor Greene. You know, she unveiled this proposal, I don't know, that might make it sound too formal. She tweeted about how the country needs a national divorce and she did this on Presidents' Day, no less saying this: "We need a National Divorce. We need to separate by Red States and Blue States, shrink the Federal government."
Molly, I mean, you know, obviously, there are lots of questions here about the logic of all of this. You have blue cities in Red States and red cities in Blue States and so on.
What is going on there? And I know there are folks who say you shouldn't even talk about Marjorie Taylor Greene. Don't take her seriously. But isn't it about time to take some of this kind of rhetoric seriously?
JONG-FAST: Well, and she's also really been elevated by Kevin McCarthy.
Look, if she were still not on any Committees and in a sort of penalty box, it would be one thing, but there are a lot of Republicans who are more than happy to elevate her and talk about her, and I was at a congressional dinner where she was.
I mean, so clearly, she is on this sort of comeback trail or trying to remake herself. But this is like really a sort of far-right talking point, right? I mean, this harkens back and you know, it harkens back to the Civil War. It's this idea that you know, we are not one country and it's functionally impossible. It's completely silly.
It doesn't -- you know, there are no Blue States and Red States, there's a mixture everywhere. And the other thing is, it would be like Brexit but a hundred times worse.
You know, it would be just -- financially, it would just completely destroy the country. I mean, there's no feasible way to do it. It's really just a call for, you know, a very kind of -- for aggression towards each other, which is really, really not what we need elected officials to be doing ever.
ACOSTA: Now, Alice, Senator Mitt Romney, he called this insanity. The Republican Governor of Utah tweeted this: "This rhetoric is destructive, and wrong, and honestly evil."
Alice say, I know that there are folks who say don't pay attention to Marjorie Taylor Greene, but this is dangerous, is it not?
STEWART: It's extremely dangerous and Molly mentions the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln knows a thing about Civil War and led us through that and he says on this idea or this notion, he says the very suggestion of secession is in essence, anarchy, and that's what this is.
[19:35:09]
STEWART: This is extremely destructive. It's very irresponsible.
But look, Marjorie Taylor Greene does not represent the voice of the Republican Party. She is very far-right of the party and her -- these comments are certainly unnecessary, but they're not reflective of the party. And the reason she does this is just for this, Jim. She wants people to go on television and to talk about her so she can use these clips and raise money.
ACOSTA: Yes.
STEWART: And unless I'm getting a cut of that money, I just do not talk about it.
ACOSTA: But Molly, I mean, that that brings us back to what was going on during the Trump years where it was, people would say, oh, let's not talk about the tweets. Let's not talk about the stuff that -- but if you don't say something, silence is acquiescence.
I mean, she may not speak for the whole Republican Party, but I mean, she did kind of help Kevin McCarthy become Speaker, so there is that.
JONG-FAST: Yes, I mean, whipped votes for Kevin McCarthy.
I would also say the larger problem here is that small dollar donors love her. Right? She's very good at raising money. So she may not speak for the Republican Party, but she certainly speaks for a percentage of the base that's giving her money.
And that in itself is actually, I think, going to be a larger problem for Republicans. Right? You have this base that is sort of out of their control now, and I think that that is really -- it's not just a problem for Republicans, it is a problem for all of us.
ACOSTA: Yes. I think it's a pretty good country the way it is, I mean, we have our problems here in there, but --
STEWART: No need for divorce.
ACOSTA: It is a pretty great place. Yes, let's keep it in one piece.
And by the way, she's from Georgia, which went for Biden, but anyway, we'll talk about that another time.
All right. Molly Jong-Fast, Alice Stewart, thanks so much.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:44:48]
ACOSTA: The University of Idaho says it plans to demolish the house where four of its students were brutally stabbed to death in November. Officials say, they'll also create a Memorial Garden on campus for the victims and establish scholarships in their names. Items left inside the home helped authorities catch the suspect, Bryan Kohberger. He faces four counts of murder in that case.
Right now, Southern California is experiencing what could be its biggest snow event in decades. It is piling up across much of Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties. Some areas could see as much as eight feet before this rare winter blizzard moves east.
[VIDEO CLIP PLAYS]
ACOSTA: Where it isn't snowing, heavy rain is creating major problems as Venture where a driver trapped by rising floodwaters had to be hoisted to safety by a helicopter rescue crew, and check out this wintry scene, this is a live look at the Angeles National Forest right now.
CNN's Camila Bernal joins us now from three hours away in Lebec, California.
Camila, forgive me, I don't know my California geography as well as I should. I guess, you're getting a better sense of it, too because it almost looks like you're snowed in there.
It's wild to see this part of California get this much snow.
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is wild. And you're right, we looked it up, three hours with the road closures. So usually it's a little bit closer. The problem is, so many of the roads here in Southern California are closed because it is snowing, as you can see right now. But we've also had a lot of rain and all of that turning into ice.
We have seen some crews here in the I-5, we are near the Grapevine, and there have been some crews, but really they can't make enough progress to open the road. The entire day, I-5 has been closed. This is a major highway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, and yet, everyone around me asking me, "When are they going to open it?" Because no one knows. And authorities are already saying, look, we can't do anything about this weather.
People in Southern California are just not used to this type of snow. I mean, if I just take a few steps, you'll see how deep the snow is. You talked about eight feet, that is in the high elevation areas, seven or eight feet of snow. In the lower elevation areas, maybe three, four feet. Scientists saying that this could be historic, something that we have not seen in Southern California ever when it comes to a single event of snowfall. So it is just unbelievable in terms of what we can see over the next couple of days.
Now, in LA, further south and a little bit east, it has been a mess because of the rain. A lot of flooding, cars that had been stranded, and again, it's a similar scenario because people from Los Angeles are not used to the water. So no one is used to all this rain. They don't know what to do with it.
Authorities saying look, be careful and stay home if you can, because again, this could be a historic storm for this area -- Jim.
ACOSTA: And Camila, I mean, I don't know if the control room can pull this off, but that video of the Hollywood sign with the snowflakes, is that -- if we have that readily available, great; if not, Camila, is this for real? Am I seeing real life here? Is this real life? Are those -- are those real snowflakes?
BERNAL: You are.
ACOSTA: Okay.
BERNAL: Yes, they absolutely are. We talked to a scientist or we listened to one of the scientists earlier on this week and he said it is absolutely possible you were going to see some of those snowflakes in the Hollywood sign. It's very rare, but it happened and you know that's what is surprising everybody -- Jim.
ACOSTA: All right, Camila Bernal, thank you very much.
You have to see it to believe it and stay safe out there.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:49:00]
ACOSTA: The war in Ukraine has inspired thousands of people from around the world to join the country's resistance against Russia. They are risking their own lives on the frontlines in Ukraine and CNN's Alex Marquardt spoke with an American who's joined the battle against Russian aggression and has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): On the road as the sun comes up with American fighter, Jason Mann at the wheel driving into the devastated frontline town of Vuhledar, traveling in and out through a muddy field means being exposed, a direct line-of-sight from Russian artillery and tanks.
JASON MANN AKA DOC, INTERNATIONAL LEGION: This is not an early morning war, I think.
MARQUARDT (voice over): First light means hopefully avoiding the endless Russian shelling raining down, including terrifying thermobaric missiles. Everyone aware that a shell could land at any moment.
MARQUARDT (on camera): Even as Russian forces struggle to take any real ground here, they are inflicting a massive amount of damage on this town which is largely made up of the Soviet-era apartment blocks. You can see this one blackened by the fighting, over here, a massive crater from a Russian missile.
Ukrainian Forces do have the higher ground here.
[19:50:08]
MARQUARDT: They are able to use these buildings to defend this town, but it is getting absolutely pummeled.
MARQUARDT (voice over): Only a handful of hardy civilians left, their home now eerie, apocalyptic ruins.
MANN: There is a reason I don't like being on this side.
MARQUARDT (voice over): For months, Mann and his unit of foreign troops, called the Phalanx Group have fought alongside Ukraine's 72nd Brigade, keeping the Russians at bay.
MANN: This is redefining the global order as we speak. This is democracy versus autocracy. Do we want to let autocracy control more people's lives in the future or prevent it from doing that ever again? Strictly speaking.
MARQUARDT: And that's what's in your head when you head out there.
MANN: Absolutely, it is the only reason I'm here.
MARQUARDT (voice over): Waves of Russian forces advance in open fields. They've had enormous losses, but they keep coming and keep bombing.
This strategic corner of Ukraine is where the southern and eastern fronts meet, making it a major priority for Russia's push deeper into Donbas.
Mann arrived in Ukraine at the very beginning of the war. He is a former US Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, who went on to Columbia University and worked at Google as a software engineer.
In the village house where the unit lives a few miles from the front, Mann tells us, he is now here for as long as it takes.
MANN: Ukraine as a very committed to having their country back. That is -- and that includes Crimea to most of them. As long as morale is high, I'm happy.
MARQUARDT (voice over): And it is he says, as the war enters its second year. New recruits have also just arrived from Canada and the UK.
The fight is so urgent, Team Leader, Turtle from New Zealand only has a couple of days to get them ready.
TURTLE, INTERNATIONAL LEGION: There is such a lot of emotion within these fights, mainly because from a lot of what I've seen is they don't want to be there either. You know, I never thought that I would ever experience war in this sort of way, in this sort of capacity because we are just finding war and I don't know like, it's like fighting in a time warp.
MARQUARDT (voice over): Turtle has to head to a funeral for a Ukrainian teammate just killed by Russian mortar fire. There are so many losses and such little time to grieve.
TURTLE: So it is hard for us, guys, from foreign militaries, because you know, ever since like Iraq and Afghanistan, we weren't losing dudes this this in the passing time, it is always good to be in a room with your friends, but is sad sometimes when the next day you've got to go and do something, sometimes even saying, hey, so...
MARQUARDT (voice over): Both Turtle and Mann are very matter of fact that they could lose their lives fighting for a country that isn't theirs. One year into this war, neither is second guessing himself.
MANN: And everyone gets that choice. For me, it was more of a serendipitous, like one of those moments in your life that you don't really have a choice actually.
MARQUARDT (on camera): No regrets.
MANN: No regrets. Yes.
MARQUARDT (on camera): Jason Mann who also goes by "Doc" with his unit told us it is the resilience and ingenuity of Ukrainians of the past year that makes it hard not to believe in the Ukrainians at this point going forward.
Now, they are expecting some kind of action from the Russians around the anniversary of the invasion. They don't know what's coming. They are bracing for it knowing how important Vuhledar is for the Russians and their push into Donbas.
Alex Marquardt, CNN in Dnipro, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: For more of CNN's Ukraine reporting, be sure to join Clarissa Ward tomorrow night. The CNN Special Report, "The Will to Win: Ukraine at War" airs tomorrow night at 8:00 Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:58:20]
ACOSTA: Did you manage the catch the mistake in the most recent episode of "The Last of Us"? CNN's Jeanne Moos did.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Two of its star crossed stars crossing a snow covered bridge, a stark beautiful scene from the HBO hit series "The Last of Us" but fans couldn't wait to be the first of us to spot a flop because you see a flop.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You see the film? The whole film crew right here.
MOOS (voice over): They couldn't resist zooming in on the apparent crew members, not just one, but two groups. Did someone get their signals crossed?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got any on the best way west?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, go east.
MOOS (voice over): Fans jokingly tried to fit the crew members into the show's plot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These people here are zombies filming.
MOOS (voice over): Another admirer tweeted at one of the creators' "Brilliant episode. Something you might want to fix." He then added Starbucks cups to highlight where the film crews were located. The cups being a reference to that famous "Game of Thrones" oopsie. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They left a coffee cup in the --
MOOS (voice over): Viewers had a field day drawing circles and arrows pointing out that gaffe, a mundane paper cup in a period more suited to goblets and horns. Though the show quibbled that it wasn't actually Starbucks and joked the latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake. Daenerys had ordered an herbal tea.
All we can say is --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Damn.
MOOS (voice over): Those are some eagle-eyed fans.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The whole film crew right here.
MOOS (voice over): Whose cup runneth over when they find a flub Jeanne.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at the cup. Look at the cup.
MOOS (voice over): Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: I figured it was just the zombies. What can you say?
Thanks for joining me this evening. I'm Jim Acosta.
I'll see you again tomorrow night. Starting at four o'clock Eastern. Stay with us.
"Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union" is up next.
Thanks for watching.
