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First NATO Battle Tanks Arrive in Ukraine; Biden Decries Beijing's Peace Proposal; Turkiye-Syria Earthquake Death Toll Surpasses 50,000; Murdaugh Admits Lying, Denies Killing; Ohio Train Derailment; On-Screen Oops. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired February 25, 2023 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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LAILA HARRAK, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world. I'm Laila Harrak.
Ukraine marks one year of war in solemn remembrance.
How could the conflict end?
We talk to a war historian.
Plus the death toll in Turkiye and Syria just keeps rising. And as the people grieve, they also face the massive task of rebuilding.
And voting gets underway in Nigeria. It's the biggest democratic exercise in Africa, as Nigerians get ready to pick a new president.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Laila Harrak.
HARRAK: As Russia's war in Ukraine enters its second year, the arrival of heavy battle tanks from NATO allies could open a new and possibly decisive chapter in the conflict. Dozens of these advanced weapons are due in Ukraine in the coming weeks as tank crews complete their training.
But NATO fighter jets are not on the immediate horizon for Ukraine. U.S. President Joe Biden delivered a hard no on Friday, saying the Pentagon doesn't believe F-16 fighters are a good fit right now.
Mr. Biden also gave a thumbs down on Friday to a Chinese proposal to end the conflict. He said it would only benefit Moscow.
Meanwhile, sources tell CNN that U.S. intelligence suggests Beijing is leaning toward sending drones and small arms and munitions to Russia, despite warnings from the U.S. to stay out of the conflict.
Ukraine's president has been front and center since the war began, repeatedly calling on allies to send more weapons and rallying his country to stay strong. And that was especially true on Friday as he held a somber ceremony in Kyiv to mark the war's anniversary. CNN's Melissa Bell has our report.
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MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Still in power and still in Kyiv.
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: (Speaking foreign language).
BELL (voice-over): One year after the start of a Russian invasion that intended to force him out within days, President Zelenskyy stood proudly on Friday outside St. Sophia's, thanking those responsible.
ZELENSKYY (through translator): It is you who will decide whether we are all going to exist, whether Ukraine is going to exist. Every day, every hour, it is you, Ukrainian soldiers, which will decide it.
BELL (voice-over): A stark contrast to his nightly messages that, for a year now, have kept hope afloat.
"Victory can be achieved this year," he said repeatedly on Friday, a message aimed at Ukraine and beyond.
The Ukrainian flag unfurled and acts of solidarity around the world, its most famous landmarks lit up in the colors that have become symbols of Ukrainian resilience and freedom, yellow and blue on display from Paris to Sydney and painted outside the Russian embassy in London.
For the world's diplomats, the one-year mark offered pause for thought.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: One year and one week ago, on February 17th, 2022, I warned this council that Russia was planning to invade Ukraine. Due to fierce resistance by Ukraine's defenders, President Putin failed in his primary objective to conquer Ukraine.
BELL (voice-over): After President Biden's visit to Kyiv earlier this week, the United States announcing a new $2 billion defense package to Ukraine and what it described as some of its most significant sanctions against Russia so far. Allies followed suit, Sweden pledging Leopard 2 tanks; Poland's already delivered.
JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: Some worry our support to Ukraine risks triggering escalation. But there are no risk-free options. And the biggest risk of all is if President Putin wins.
BELL (voice-over): Diplomacy for a while drowning out the fighting, the shelling and the sirens, as Europe said it would be giving cautious consideration to China's 12-point proposal for a peaceful resolution, a resolution that, in line with Moscow's euphemisms, nowhere mentions war.
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BELL (voice-over): And yet in Ukraine, it was the price of war that was being paid again; another day, another funeral, another grieving family and a message, too, that this must end.
ZELENSKYY (through translator): I'm confident that we'll have this victory. I hope that this will happen this year.
BELL (voice-over): Melissa Bell, CNN, Kyiv.
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HARRAK: U.S. President Joe Biden is dismissing a Chinese proposal to end the war, saying it only benefits Russia. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz has a report live from London.
What more can you tell us about how this plan and effort by Beijing to mediate has been received in Ukraine?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So this is a 12-point policy paper, if you will, that was released by Beijing yesterday. It outlines essentially China's attempt to position itself as a neutral mediator.
It says that Beijing wants to see talks, negotiations, peace talks restarted between the two sides. But then it goes on to criticize this very thinly veiled criticism of the West's support of Ukraine, saying that unilateral -- Beijing's word -- sanctions should be lifted.
Of course, a reference to Western sanctions against Russia. And it says a Cold War mentality should be abandoned.
This is exactly why the United States and its allies are calling out this policy paper, this so-called proposal and saying simply, behind closed doors, China is doing the exact opposite in that Beijing is actually considering sending materiel support to Russia, sending small ammunition and drones to resupply Moscow's very depleted arsenal.
That would be a major step up in China's support, which has so far only provided non-lethal aid through Chinese companies.
President Biden almost greeted this so-called proposal, again, peace proposal, with a laugh. Take a listen.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Putin's supporting it.
So how could it be any good?
I'm not being facetious. I'm being deadly earnest. I've seen nothing in the plan that would indicate that there is something that would be beneficial to anyone other than Russia if the Chinese plan were followed. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ABDELAZIZ: Now throughout this conflict, we've seen again Beijing trying to play this fine balance, play this fine line, trying to position itself again as a mediating force potentially but still continuing to strengthen relations with Moscow, while President Biden, in the last few days, ahead of the anniversary, was heading to Kyiv to mark his support for President Zelenskyy in his fight against Russia.
We were seeing China send its top diplomat to Moscow to meet with President Putin, who was hailing a new milestone in the relationship between China and Russia.
And yes, of course, if Beijing -- and again, this is still under consideration, according to U.S. sources -- if Beijing does provide that lethal aid to Ukraine -- to Russia, rather -- on the ground, that won't make a huge difference on the battlefield.
But what it does do is it steps up this rivalry with yet another superpower, when the United States and its allies are already locked in a standoff with Moscow -- Laila.
HARRAK: In a new development, we understand the leader of Belarus will make a state visit to China?
ABDELAZIZ: This is extremely significant and yet another indication of these warming relations between Russia and China. Belarus is seen in many ways by Western countries as a satellite state, as a satellite base for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. So to see Alexander Lukashenko, the leader of Belarus invited to China, that shows how the relationship is getting closer.
HARRAK: Salma, thank you so much.
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HARRAK: Joining me now, Hein Goemans is a war historian at the University of Rochester in New York.
Professor, a very warm welcome. You study war and how wars end.
As Ukraine marks this grim anniversary of Russia's full-scale war, what were you most struck by?
And did you imagine it could go on for as long as it has?
HEIN GOEMANS, WAR HISTORIAN, UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER: There's several things that were quite striking but let me begin that I already predicted in early March last year that this war would go on for a long time; years, indeed. This is the first anniversary but probably not the last anniversary of ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
HARRAK: Based on your field of study, war termination, how wars end, how do you see this war evolving?
And, crucially, what will it take to bring this war to an end? GOEMANS: Well, if you permit me, I'll take a step back.
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GOEMANS: To give an overview of how I think about these issues, so very few wars end in total, utter defeat of one side or the other, not the First World War. And this war is not going to end in the defeat of the Russians in Moscow, nor is it going to end in utter defeat of Ukrainian forces in Kyiv.
So it must end in some form of negotiated settlement.
The question you have to ask yourself, then, is what does war do that makes what was a disagreement turn into agreement?
And the answer is very straightforward and simple: war provides information. You learn things on the battlefield that you cannot learn in any other way.
And we're still in the midst of this process of both sides trying to learn how strong the other is and how committed they are to fight for the long run. So Putin is trying to target the civilian population. The strategy has been used in many other wars; always fails.
Putin is trying to target the support for the Ukrainians in the West. If that fails, of course, fighting becomes too difficult for the Ukrainians. He's trying to suss out how the support is, more or less, to find out how the war is going to end.
There are a couple of problems in this case which all say loud and clear that this war will go on for a long time. One, no deal is credible that the Russians can offer.
The irony of this case is that any deal that leaves in Russia of some control of some territory in Ukraine will only be accepted by Ukraine if Ukraine gets guarantees for its future security.
And the only group of countries that can do that is NATO, of course. That's the very reason why Putin supposedly went to war, for Ukraine being supported or joining NATO. So that's one reason.
Putin cannot credibly promise to stick by any demands or any settlement he makes now. He didn't do it in 2014; he won't do it now.
Second, there is the problem and there is a bit of a debate over this, whether Putin can actually domestically survive a loss in the war because, if he can't, then he can anticipate that, if he loses, he will be punished for his poor performance.
He will be jailed, exiled or most likely fall from a window in the third story of the Kremlin. He will get killed. I can assume that's most likely. He can anticipate this, as leaders have done through history.
He can anticipate that, if he signs an agreement that is not worth the cost that the Russians have suffered, that he will be removed from office and subsequently killed. So he's not going to sign any agreement like that. He's going to fight in what we call a gamble for resurrection. He has nothing to lose. He cannot die more than once.
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HARRAK: Professor, it's a daunting prospect to think that this war will drag on, specifically, of course, for Ukrainians, who are suffering so dearly.
But what does this mean from a global perspective in a few words?
What are the chances that this war could spread beyond Ukraine in the next couple of months or years?
GOEMANS: Well, this ties into the point I raised earlier in a nice way, right?
I mean, if Putin thinks that he cannot get what he needs, he may go for Moldova, to say like, OK, not only did we "liberate" the four provinces of Ukraine, we also "liberated" the Russian population in Moldova and try to sell that at a victory back home. He might try to do that.
HARRAK: Professor Hein Goemans, thank you so much for joining us.
GOEMANS: You're most welcome.
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HARRAK: Turkiye has begun rebuilding homes after this month's catastrophic earthquake. Why some engineers say the government hasn't done its due diligence.
And Nigerians are heading to the polls now in the largest democratic exercise on the African continent. Our Stephanie Busari is live in Lagos, as Nigeria picks a new president. More in just a moment.
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HARRAK: It's been nearly three weeks since that powerful earthquake hit Turkiye and Syria and the death toll keeps rising.
On Friday, the number of lives lost passed 50,000 across both countries. At least 6,000 of the victims were in northern Syria. The vast majority, some 44,000, were in Turkiye. Nada Bashir joins us now.
In the wake of this catastrophic earthquake, Turkiye now faces the daunting reconstruction effort.
Has this massive effort to rebuild started? NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Laila, it is a huge challenge for the Turkish government. They've already pledged to rebuild the affected areas within a year. And we are beginning to see some of that construction already taking place.
Now according to authorities in two key districts in the province of Gaziantep, in the southeast of Turkiye, which was among the hardest hit by that earthquake just a little over two weeks ago, we're already seeing the excavation process begin for the rebuilding of more than 800 homes.
Now this has drawn some criticism. We've heard criticism and warnings from the Turkish union of engineers and architects. They say this is simply too soon.
There hasn't been enough time for investigations and preparations to take place to ensure that building works in these areas will be safe, that they won't face further risks from any earthquakes in the future. There still needs to be more geological investigation done to ensure that these areas are safe.
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BASHIR: We've seen some criticism on social media as well, many saying that this is simply too soon, when the country is still seeing aftershocks in the wake of that significant earthquake.
In fact, the country has recorded more than 8,000 aftershocks since that earthquake nearly three weeks ago; the vast majority, of course, are lower in magnitude than that powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake we saw on Monday.
But of course, as you can imagine, for those that have been through that earthquake, been through that significant aftershock, there is still a huge amount of concern, fear and apprehension. And there are real worries.
The authorities say these are the amount of aftershocks they would expect to see in four months in Turkiye typically. So you can imagine the concern there.
But of course, the government in Turkiye is facing mounting pressure to provide long-term solutions to those who have been displaced, the thousands and thousands of people who have lost their homes, who have lost loved ones and have been deeply impacted by this earthquake.
While the government has pledged to rebuild the impacted areas within a year, this is going to be a significant challenge. The area impacted is vast, to say the least. And when you take a look at some of the cities impacted, where we have been filming and traveling, it is difficult to explain in words how significant that devastation has been.
Currently there are more than 900,000 people living in tents and those are soon going to be transformed into containers, so more permanent structures for families to live in. But for those who have lost their homes, this isn't enough. They do want those long-term solutions, new homes.
And the government has pledged to start rebuilding around 30,000 apartments in March. But this is going to take months, if not years, for the government to fully rebuild this area -- Laila.
HARRAK: Nada Bashir, reporting live from Turkiye.
For information on how to help the earthquake victims, go to cnn.com/impact. You'll find a list of organizations working on rescue and relief efforts.
Voting in Nigeria's presidential and parliamentary elections is now underway. Security has been tight, with armed guards keeping a close eye on preparations.
The elections take place at a turbulent time for Nigeria. There's an armed conflict in the northeast, surging crime and shortages of fuel and electricity across the country. There's also a manhunt underway after a senate candidate from Nigeria's opposition Labor Party was shot dead earlier this week.
CNN's senior Africa editor Stephanie Busari is live for you in Lagos.
Hi, Stephanie. So much riding on this election.
What is turnout like?
STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN SENIOR AFRICA EDITOR: So voting is now underway, Laila, behind me, as you can see. It was slightly delayed, maybe about 30 minutes in this polling unit and others, we're hearing, across the country.
So turnout is slow to kind of pick up. But here there's a sizeable crowd gathered. It's orderly. They formed themselves into queues. Elderly have been asked to go to the front.
It's very orderly, calm and, as you say, very tight military presence across the country to make sure that this election goes without incident or violence, which we have seen in the past.
Now I talked to the first person in this polling unit who voted, an elderly lady in her 70s. She told me that she's voting for a new dawn and new hope in Nigeria. She wants the killings to stop.
You mentioned the insurgency in your introduction there and the kidnappings. She wants kidnappings to stop. Young people are leaving this country in droves. And she wants to see a better Nigeria, even though she may not be around for much longer herself to see it.
But she's voting for change of hands and for a better Nigeria, she told me, Laila.
HARRAK: Stephanie Busari reporting from Lagos. Thank you so much.
The U.S. first lady is in Kenya today as part of a trip to strengthen American ties with Africa. Jill Biden was greeted by the Kenyan first lady when she arrived in Nairobi on Friday.
She said the trip is meant to draw attention to pressing matters, including food insecurity and women's empowerment. She also addressed those issues when she visited Namibia on the first leg of her Africa trip. There she met with officials and toured an NGO, who focuses on reducing hunger and helping women and children succeed.
A court in Colombia just held its first trial in the metaverse. All of the participants, including the judge, were represented by avatars. The judge says she favored the metaverse trial versus a more common video link, saying, with Zoom trials, people often turn off their cameras and say they're having connection issues.
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HARRAK: She says in the metaverse trial, the parties can share a space without having to physically see each other. Detractors, however, say it requires expensive equipment, which could put justice out of reach for some.
A new discovery in space is being called the Forbidden Planet. It's 280 light years from Earth. The planet is very large. It's a gas giant like Jupiter and it's orbiting a relatively tiny star. NASA is hoping to get a better look at it with the James Webb space telescope.
Exciting stuff.
We'll take a quick break. For viewers in North America, I'll have more CNN NEWSROOM. For the rest of the world, "Decoded" is up next.
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HARRAK: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and Canada. I'm Laila Harrak and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Defiance was the prevailing theme as Ukraine marked the first anniversary of its war with Russia. President Zelenskyy said he had no doubt Ukraine will prevail in the conflict, while Russia faced new sanctions from the U.S. and the E.U.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's military got a boost from its allies, receiving the first batch of Leopard tanks from Poland. Sweden and Germany are now promising more of those tanks as well.
U.S. President Joe Biden is being pressed again on whether or not America will send fighter jets to Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says F-16 warplanes are urgently needed to defend against Russian missile and drone strikes. Our Jeremy Diamond at the White House with the very latest.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden on Friday marking the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine by sitting down with the coalition of countries that have really held together the support for Ukraine as well as the crippling sanctions response aimed directly at Russia.
The president holding a virtual meeting with the leaders of the G7 countries as well as the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Along with that first anniversary, President Biden pledging continued support for Ukraine for "as long as it takes" and also announcing a series of new actions from his administration, $2 billion of additional security assistance for Ukraine.
That includes munitions for those HIMARS rocket launchers as well as additional artillery shells, drones, counterdrone activity. But one thing that it didn't include was those F-16 fighter jets that the Ukrainian president has been asking for.
In fact, Zelenskyy asked Biden for those just days ago during their meeting in the Ukrainian capital. But President Biden on Friday, in a new interview, he says that he's ruling out providing those F-16s for now.
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QUESTION: President Zelenskyy continues to say what he really needs are F-16s.
Will you send F-16s?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look, we're sending him what our seasoned military thinks he needs now. He needs tanks, he needs artillery, he needs air defense, including another HIMARS. But there are things he needs now --
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QUESTION: You don't think he needs F-16s now?
BIDEN: No, he doesn't need F-16s now.
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DIAMOND: The Biden administration on Friday also unveiling what they're calling one of the most significant sanctions actions to date, targeting more than 200 individuals and entities.
And with a specific focus on Russia's efforts to evade those Western sanctions, targeting companies, including some in China, that have been helping to backfill Russia's defense production and keep its war machine churning there.
President Biden on Friday also weighing in for the first time on this new proposed Chinese peace plan. And President Biden doesn't seem to think a whole lot of it, saying that, if Putin is applauding it, how could it be any good?
The president saying that the very notion of China negotiating peace in Ukraine simply isn't rational -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: Around the world, thousands of people have rallied to show their solidarity with Ukraine.
In Warsaw, demonstrators marched toward the parliament building to encourage the government's ongoing support for the country.
Meanwhile, in Berlin, protesters gathered in front of the Brandenburg Gate, which was lit up in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. Along with demonstrators were Ukrainian refugees, who honored their country men back home.
And in Georgia, Ukrainians also organized rallies, along with the Georgian opposition and Russians who fled repression in their country. Many called for the war to end and some expressed confidence that Ukraine would win.
London is marking the war's anniversary by renaming one of its streets. The move became official on Friday, when the sign for Kyiv Road was posted in central London. As it happens, the street is just a short distance from the Russian embassy.
The English Premier League is showing support for Ukraine as well by displaying this message at stadiums this weekend. Team captains are wearing armbands in blue and yellow, Ukraine's national colors.
He admits to being a serial liar.
[03:35:00]
HARRAK: He admits to have been at the scene just minutes before his wife and son were brutally slaughtered. But he insists he is not a killer. Accused double murderer Alex Murdaugh was back on the witness in South Carolina Friday, facing a second round of tough questioning. Our Randi Kaye was there and has the details.
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ALEX MURDAUGH, ALLEGED MURDER DEFENDANT: I have lied well over a decade.
RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL 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 aware to that.
KAYE (voice-over): 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 (voice-over): Murdaugh told the jury he drove his golf cart to meet his wife, Maggie and son, Paul in 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 (voice-over): Murdaugh estimated it is about a two-minute drive on the golf cart from the kennel to the main house, which would put him there at 8:49 PM, 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 (voice-over): 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: Did you 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 (voice-over): 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 (voice-over): Meanwhile, Murdaugh's attempt to show he had been trying to cooperate with investigators backfired.
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 (voice-over): 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.
KAYE: 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)
HARRAK: President Biden defends his response to a train derailment. Ahead, why he doesn't plan to visit the site of the accident, even as he faces growing pressure from Republicans.
Plus, powerful winds, falling snow and a blizzard warning for southern California. The strange weather system that could impact 6 million people. That's next on CNN.
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HARRAK: U.S. President Joe Biden says he doesn't have any plans at the moment to visit the small Ohio town where a train derailment caused a toxic chemical spill.
The White House on Friday defended the president's response to the disaster, saying federal officials are at the scene, trying to determine the cause of the derailment. CNN's Miguel Marquez has more on the investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The National Transportation Safety Board says that this was a 100 percent preventable disaster and they are trying to figure out how to prevent any more of these sorts of accidents from happening again.
To that end, they're doing a few different things. One, they're going to hold what they call a very rare field hearing here in East Palestine at some point in the not too distant future to dig in to a lot of the information that they've already gathered here.
They're also looking at the wheel bearings set on this train and that car that failed in this situation to try to figure out if there was either a fault with the wheel bearing or it had just been on the tracks for too long and should have been replaced previously.
They're also looking at the detectors that are meant to detect these hot cars and whether or not either the technology or the process can be employed differently. The concern is that it did show -- those detectors did show that the temperature was rising in that car through two detectors.
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MARQUEZ: And on that third, only on that third, when it rose to 253 degrees Fahrenheit above ambient temperature, did it send out an alarm to the conductor, warning them of the fire. That's when the conductor stopped the train but by then it was too late.
People here in town cautiously optimistic that maybe there is something better -- good on the backside of this. The mayor of East Palestine, who met with the Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, this week, he's been very critical of the Biden administration all along and its response to this disaster.
But after that meeting, he said that he believes that the town will get beyond this and will emerge even stronger. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: In Florida, a suspected gunman has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder after being accused of killing three people, including a journalist; 19-year-old Keith Moses has so far been charged in connection with the fatal shooting of a 38-year-old woman on Wednesday.
He's also expected to be charged in another shooting that occurred later that day, including the murder of a TV reporter and a 9-year-old girl.
Brutal weather is hammering many parts of the U.S. Fierce winter storms have knocked out power in several states across the Midwest. More than 600,000 customers are without power in Michigan and the electric company says it's unlikely things will be back online before Sunday.
And several counties in Wyoming went into a search and rescue mode after more than three feet of snow -- that's more than a meter -- fell in the southern part of the state, leaving some motorists trapped in their cars.
And parts of California, used to sunshine and mild temperatures, are instead watching snow fall and floodwaters rise. Camila Bernal has more on the rough winter weather hitting many parts of the United States.
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CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Coast-to-coast storms across the country, impacting more than 15 million people, from New England where winter weather alerts are finally easing, to the West coast where storm conditions are now ramping up again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've never seen it like this in California.
BERNAL (voice-over): Snarling transit and stranding travelers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Semis were starting to roll backwards going up the grapevine, going up through the mountain. It's not safe to drive.
BERNAL (voice-over): More than 1,100 flights have been canceled, with thousands more delays on Friday. And nearly 1 million customers are suffering power outages nationwide, primarily in Michigan and other parts of the Midwest, where freezing rain and ice have knocked out power lines and damaged trees.
Minnesota is now facing the twin hazards of snow and ice; Minneapolis under a snow emergency, buried under more than 13 inches of snow in the last several days.
In southern California, extremely rare blizzard warnings, including the first-ever blizzard warning for the San Bernardino County mountains, coming on top of flooding, mudslides, power outages and high winds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was crazy. There were like full branches falling down on the roof.
BERNAL (voice-over): Residents in northern California stunned by snowfall and sightings of snow on top of sand at local beaches.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just want to be ready for, again, kind of worst-case scenarios.
BERNAL (voice-over): The gusts in some parts of southern California are expected to reach up to 75 miles per hour.
And for Californians looking for a bright spot in the middle of back- to-back storms, a bald eagle, sheltering its eggs from the snowstorms in Big Bear, is streaming to thousands of viewers, waiting two eggs to hatch.
And some residents from Washington, D.C., to Jacksonville, Florida, are watching winter around the country while basking in the sun -- Camila Bernal, CNN, Lebec, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: Still ahead, you could call it an on-screen oops. Jeanne Moos will have the story of the drama that got a little too real.
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[03:50:00]
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HARRAK: CNN's sister network, HBO, is taking some ribbing for a mistake fans of a hit show spotted in a recent episode. Some are comparing it to the time a coffee cup was left in a scene from "Game of Thrones." CNN's Jeanne Moos reports on this latest blooper.
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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.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You see the film --
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- 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 advice 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 --
(LAUGHTER)
[03:55:00]
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 flop.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at that! Look at that cup!
MOOS (voice-over): Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: CNN reached out to our sister network, HBO, for comment. But we haven't heard back.
That wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Laila Harrak. Kim Brunhuber picks up our coverage. See you tomorrow. Stay with us.
