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DOE Assesses With Low Confidence That COVID-19 Likely Resulted From China Lab Leak; EPA Halts Hazardous Waste Shipments From East Palestine; Russia's War On Ukraine; Wild Weather; Media Organizations Ask Congress For Access To January 6 Footage; Elections Plagued By Logistics Issues, Says Observation Group. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired February 26, 2023 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:26]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And this just in. An updated classified intel report saying that the U.S. Department of Energy has assess that the source of the COVID-19 pandemic likely came from a China lab leak. But there is one major caveat. Sources at the Department of Energy tell CNN that the report has, quote, "low confidence".

CNN's Natasha Bertrand has been reporting on all of this and she's joining us right now on the phone.

Natasha, I mean various U.S. intel agencies have been split on this issue for years now. And this is from the Department of Energy, low confidence -- what does all this mean?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes Fred. So this is essentially another data point. The intel essentialycommunity has been examining this really closely for the last two years, ever since President Biden tasked them with investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic shortly after he first got into office.

And back in 2021 the intel agencies, roughly 18 of them -- they could not come to a definitive conclusion about where this virus actually originated and that is still the case.

So what we're now seeing is that the Department of Energy has collected some new intelligence, according to our sources, that has led them to come to a conclusion that the lab leak theory is plausible and that it likely did come from a lab.

Now, of course, that major caveat noted that that assessment is low confidence is very important because low confidence assessment generally means that the information that has been obtained by the intel community is not reliable enough or too fragmented to make a more definitive judgment or there's simply not enough information available to draw a more robust conclusion about the origins of this pandemic. But bottom line here is that this really adds to the divide in the U.S. government over whether the pandemic began in China in 2019 as the result of a lab leak or whether it emerged naturally.

There are, along with the Department of Energy, other agencies that also believe that this could have emerged from a lab, including the FBI, which has medium confidence in that theory.

However, the major intel agencies, for example like the CIA, they still do not know definitively where this pandemic originated.

And so there's still a lot of work to be done, we're told, before they can come to any kind of real analytic conclusion about this. And we should note there are many people inside the U.S. government that don't believe that we may ever know for sure where this virus came from, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And then Natasha, why make this public now? Why not wait until there is a more definitive conclusion?

BERTRAND: Yes Fred, the intel community essentially has been regularly updating Congress when it obtains information that they believe is significant enough to brief to lawmakers. And this was part of that.

As part of their ongoing investigation into COVID origins, again that President Biden tasked them with doing, they have been collecting more intel, more analysis.

And essentially what we're told is that they had enough to update at this point. Then this D.O.E., Department of Energy update, came as part of a broader report that the entire intelligence community sent to Congress recently.

So this is part of that kind of regular updating process; when they next have more information to update, they will do so. But again, this is all just kind of very incremental at this point and no definitive conclusions as of yet about the pandemic's origin.

WHITFIELD: All right. Got it. Natasha Bertrand, thanks so much for that.

All right. Now to East Palestine, Ohio, where backlash is growing after that toxic train derailment and pressure is mounting on government officials to do more. The EPA now temporarily stopping the transfer of millions of gallons of contaminated waste to Michigan and Texas as the agency reviews disposal plans.

Federal teams now on the ground in East Palestine checking in on residents door to door, passing out flyers with information on getting health assessments and clean water.

But for many in the town that simply is not good enough. Residents are worried about their health and their homes. Many are questioning how this even happened after an initial report NTSB report said the derailment was 100 percent preventable. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is at the White House for us. So Priscilla,

administration officials are trying to defend its response. But what's being said now?

[14:04:49]

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, they say they're on the ground and they're trying to help residents navigate the aftermath of this train wreck that, remember, led to toxic chemicals seeping into the water, air and soil and has caused a lot of concerns about what that might mean for long-term health of these residents as well as, and a sheet (ph) of complaints already among residents who say they're sick.

So as you mentioned, federal teams are on the ground. They're going door to door to residents to try to give them information and flyers about how to access free health assessments, as well as how they can get their water tested being from a drinking well or the (INAUDIBLE) their drinking water.

And a White House official tells us that they want to reach hundreds of residents in this process as those concerns continue to linger and as the administration looks into what happened in this instance.

Now, of course, as you mentioned, the administration is coming under increasing criticism primarily over whether they got there soon enough.

And Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg responded to that, saying that this is really a priority for President Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE BUTTIGIEG, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: The president has taken a personal interest in this situation from early on. And I wanted to make sure he knew about what I saw on the ground. Both in terms of the administration response and that is something that has been really well coordinated.

Where our department comes in really is transportation policy, making sure that in this moment with so much focus on what happened with this derailment, that we are acting both to hold Norfolk Southern accountable and to make sure that we do more to prevent all derailments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now, this is also gaining criticism from members of Biden's own party, including Representative Dingell from Michigan who said she had hoped the EPA had been there sooner. Now President Biden defended the administration's actions on Friday saying that the administration was there within two hours of the wreck and that officials will continue to be on the ground.

But as far as whether he's going to visit, there are no plans as of yet, Fred. WHITFIELD: All right. Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much.

All right. So bottom line, people who live in East Palestine, they simply want more answers.

Joining us right now is D.J. Yokley. He is a resident of East Palestine. So good to see you, D.J. So what's the situation where you are? How are you feeling?

D.J. YOKLEY, EAST PALESTINE RESIDENT: Yes. So the situation increases to get better every day, regardless of what you're hearing through the media.

But you know, from the feeling -- it's I feel optimistic. I feel very optimistic about what's transpiring through our local government, through our state government through Norfolk Southern. They've been here practically the entire time asking us what we need, what we want, what we value and trying to accomplish that on a daily basis.

WHITFIELD: So you have confidence that everyone who has the power to do something is?

YOKLEY: Yes and no. The biggest thing right now is they're playing political football with us, right. We're trying to simply move the chains anyway we possibly can. That's from a community standpoint.

We're trying to figure out what it looks like to win this game, what the end game looks like. Everybody seems to be utilizing us, you know, either like last night on SNL for a butt of je joke or to make sure that they can kind of raise up their political prowess through our unfortunate situation.

WHITFIELD: So when, you know, you say you have some confidence in things, I'm just wondering, has your door been knocked on, you know, as these flyers have been going out, guidance being given about health, information about water? Are you physically feeling ok?

YOKLEY: Yes. So my door hasn't been knocked on yet, but I've had the great fortune of being able to be in some of these meetings with Alan Shaw of Norfolk Southern, with Governor DeWine, with our representative from Congress Bill Johnson, with the EPA.

You know, I've been fortunate, and that's kind of what I'm trying to do, is make sure that people keep the faith here. It's just as important for us as a community to keep the faith because when the bright lights dim, we're going to be standing here and we're going to have to rally around each other and the people that are in power, which is obviously our government and the people at Norfolk Southern.

WHITFIELD: What are your neighbors saying about how they're feeling today, three weeks after the fact? Are they sharing the same kind of optimism?

YOKLEY: I think it's starting to turn a little bit. I think they're starting to look a little bit of, ok how do we do this. And answers are starting to slowly starting to leak out a little, you know, day by day which is helping because when this first started, nobody could give us answers, which obviously if you're not getting answers, you start to speculate a little bit.

You see it on social media. You know, information is starting to be, on a widescale, being trickled down to us which we can make conscious decisions for not only now but our futures.

WHITFIELD: And what kind of information are you talking about?

[14:09:52]

YOKLEY: So just general information about what was on the train; what was, you know, what soil testing is being had; what blood work needs to be done by your doctor and things of that nature.

People are rightfully scared. This is the biggest -- I would say biggest problem on our derailment of our trains and transportation in the last 35 years.

So there's no blueprint to look from. There's no book to read from that's going to tell you what to do in this situation, you know. But (INAUDIBLE) they've told us that this is a marathon and we hold the ticker tape at the end of this race.

So we're just looking to, again -- every town U.S.A. is East Palestine and we're looking to create the greatest comeback story in American history and we're grateful to be to able to hold the pen.

WHITFIELD: So while you are in your home, there are a lot of your neighbors who are saying they cannot return to their home because of either, you know, the smells, respiratory issues, you know skin rashes; maybe it's the well water, maybe it's something in the air -- lots of uncertainties. And it's also costing a lot of people a lot of money.

You know, not everyone can afford to relocate temporarily or even long-term. Are you hearing anything about any potential openings for financial assistance?

YOKLEY: Not at this point. I mean everything is kind of very vague from the financial standpoint. I know that they've committed -- I believe over $7 million is the number that they've said over the last three weeks in Norfolk Southern. I'm out of my business right now. My business is less than a half mile from the tracks, from the derailment, you know.

But the reality is they've looked to us, the team of Norfolk Southern, and they've said they're going to make our community right. They're going to make our businesses right, our residents right.

WHITFIELD: How long do you think you have to wait?

(CROSSTALK)

YOKLEY: That's a good question. I mean time is -- time is relevant at this point, right. They've committed to the long term for us. You know, Governor DeWine said that he's also committed to us in the long term to be here -- two, four, six years from now. But there's a lot of people that wonder if their businesses will last two, four and six years.

There's a concern. But again, the town is rallying around each other. And I think we're all on the same page for the first time in three weeks.

WHITFIELD: All right, D.J. Yokley, thanks so much for your time. And I mean you really are exuding optimism, you know, in such adversity that you're facing. And I'm sure a lot of your neighbors appreciate where you're coming from in terms of your optimism. And I do hope and everyone hopes that things turn around quickly for you.

YOKLEY: Leaders have to lead, right?

WHITFIELD: That's right.

All right. Thanks so much, D.J.

All right. Turning now to the war in Ukraine. The CIA director says the U.S. is confident China is considering providing lethal aid to Russia in its war in Ukraine. William Burns said his agency doesn't think a final decision has been made yet, but China aid could include providing Russia with drones and ammunition.

And as the war grinds into its second year now, there's no letting up in the fighting. Ukrainian officials say there was extensive Russian shelling along the front lines in the last 24 hours including the area around Bakhmut in the east.

Alex Marquardt is in Dnipro, Ukraine. Alex, What can you tell us about what's happening this weekend there?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fredricka. Well, some of the fiercest fighting with some of the heaviest casualties on both sides is taking place around the city of Bakhmut.

Russian forces, primarily from the Wagner mercenary group do appear to be making gains. The claim that they have taken several villages north of the city of Bakhmut in an attempt to encircle it.

Ukrainian forces say that they're standing their ground in the face of intense Russian assault. Now Fred, over the course of the past few months, this fight has evolved from a longer range battle with artillery, tanks, and mortars to a much closer fight, urban warfare in the city with fighting street to street, building to building.

Now, there is no talk yet of surrendering the city on the Ukrainian side. But President Zelenskyy has softened his stance on that saying that he will not fight to keep it at any cost if it means everybody is going to die.

Meanwhile Fred, as this second year of the war starts, there is no indication that President Putin is softening his stance that he plans on changing course or that he plans to pull back or sit down for any kind of negotiations.

The CIA director, Bill Burns, talked about president Putin's mindset earlier today on CBS News. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM BURNS, CIA DIRECTOR: I think Putin is right now entirely too confident of his ability to wear down Ukraine, to grind away, and that's what he's giving every evidence that he's determined to do right now.

[14:14:49]

BURNS: At some point he's going to have to face up to increasing costs as well. In coffins coming home to some of the poorest parts of Russia. There's a cumulative economic damage to Russia as well. Huge reputational damage, it's not exactly been a great advertisement for Russian arm sales.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

BURNS: So this is going to build over time. But right now, the honest answer I think is that Putin is quite determined.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: And in terms of the economic cost on Russia, the European Union has just announced its tenth round of sanctions against Russia which President Zelenskyy has called very powerful, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Alex, the CIA director also talked about China and mentioned that Russia and China appear to be working closer together as well as now Iran being part of the picture. What more can you report on from your vantage point?

MARQUARDT: Yes. Both China and Iran potentially deepening their ties with Russia when it comes to its fight in Ukraine. The U.S. now warning publicly that China is actively considering sending lethal aid, so weapons to Russia in order to be used in Ukraine.

The CIA director says that no decision has been made yet by Chinese leadership, that they have not seen any shipments yet. But the Biden administration openly warning China that there would be consequences if they decided to go down that road. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations saying that that would be a red line because it would be a significant boost for Russia in this fight.

Meanwhile, Iran appears to be poised to be getting help with their missile program from Russia according to Bill Burns. That it's something that they've long sought. And Russia is also apparently considering sending fighter jets to Iran.

So that relationship between Iran and Russia -- and Iran has been sending Kamikaze drones and ammunition here to the Russians in Ukraine. That relationship deepening in a fast and disturbing way, Director Burns said, Fred. WHITFIELD: All right. Alex Marquardt, thanks so much in Dnipro.

Let's talk more about all this. Let me bring in retired U.S. Army Major Mike Lyons. Major, so good to see you.

So the CIA director saying, you know, Putin is pursuing military aid from China and possibly even Iran. What's your point of view here?

MAJOR MIKE LYONS, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Well, he needs two things. He needs ammunition. 152 mm shells coming from China would go a long way with Russia as they want to fight an artillery war right now. There's a stalemate along that front and he needs a lot more ammunition.

The second thing he needs is more people if he wants to go on this offensive. There's a natural boundary between the forces right now and it exists with the Dnipro River there.

You saw the Chinese, for example, hand over one of their proposals of trying to make peace, basically Russia has everything to the east of that Dnipro River.

So I wouldn't be surprised if the Chinese end up doing those two things, drones and ammunition. That would really escalate the opportunity for Russia to go on the offensive.

WHITFIELD: So with that it sounds like you're describing a Russia that's in trouble, a weakening Russia as it pertains to its arsenal.

LYONS: Yes, I think so. I think that time is still not on the Ukrainian military side. However, if they can break through in different areas, I think the strategy that Ukraine has to do is attack the Russian military now as Russia tries to take towns like Bakhmut and as Ukraine tries to defend them, they can't take the high casualties there with their military.

They have to go after the Russian army, I think in places to the south to gain more leverage over potentially Crimea and locations that exist there. But there's no question that the Russian military is still in trouble.

WHITFIELD: Ok. Just ahead of the weekend, one-year mark, you know, for this Russian invasion in Ukraine and the U.S. commits another $2 billion in military aid. While it doesn't include F-16 fighter jets, the president did comment on that saying not now.

Is that an opening for the White House Department of Defense seriously considering whether F-16s will ever be something provided to Ukraine?

LYONS: We have this rolling strategic deterrence on the fly, frankly. And if they come at a later date, they won't make any impact now. It takes anywhere from 9 to 12 months to train pilots on that. It's just not that simple to bring them there.

But you have a war of attrition and a stalemate that's taking place on both sides. In this part of the conflict, usually one country attacks the other side's country's ability to wage war. Right now Ukraine doesn't have that. They can't attack into Russia. They can't attack into drone platforms that leave Russian soil and attack them.

Meanwhile, Russia can. They're sitting inside Ukraine, occupying Ukraine territory. So that's why they still have the advantage as long as they could get that military equipment.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much, Major Mike Lyons, appreciate it.

All right. Coming up, residents in Oklahoma are bracing for possible hurricane-force winds as more than 20 million people are under severe storm threats across the Midwest and south.

[14:19:53]

WHITFIELD: And later, a shocking incident in Florida where a high school student is accused of violently beating a school employee after he said she took his Nintendo Switch away.

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W1: Right now millions of Americans are on alert as a major storm is set to bring damaging hurricane-force winds to the central U.S. It's all part of the same system that brought wild weather to southern California. The effects of that storm still lingering today in northern Los Angeles County where Interstate 5 remains closed after heavy snow buried portions of the highway, more than six feet fell in some areas.

[14:24:53

WHITFIELD: About 50 miles south significant rain caused this embankment to erode and collapse right there sending three RVs falling into the Santa Clara River below.

And a similar scene just north of Los Angeles County where the wintery conditions caused this hillside right there to crumble. Now, that storm is all heading east.

And we've got CNN's Britley Ritz standing by with a look at the latest conditions, and CNN's Camila Bernal is live in Lebec, California.

So Camila, to you first, where the snow has stopped but it left, you know, quite a mess. What's going on?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's still -- yes, it's still a problem, Fred because authorities said they were going to open the highway at 11:00 local time. That is still not the case.

So many people that were stranded essentially on the side of the highway, they were waiting at 11:00 a.m., and they are still here because it is still too dangerous to be out on the road, specifically here on the I-5 near the Grapevine.

So obviously you would be seeing traffic right behind me. Instead what you're seeing is the beautiful scenery, beautiful mountains in this area. We've got 1-2 feet of snow. And then some of the higher elevation areas reaching almost 7 feet of snow.

That's a lot of snow for southern California. A lot of people in this area just not used to this type of snow. And then a lot of rain, also in the L.A. area. So there was flooding, a lot of trees that fell over. Thousands left without power. Still today in California, about 75,000 people are without power.

So all of the effects of this storm are still lingering. People are still having to deal with all of this. And as I mentioned, a lot of drivers that are still stranded and still very frustrated.

Here is one of those drivers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARISSA JOHNSON, RV OWNER: I'm actually traveling from Bakersfield. And I can't get to work right now because of the snow. The 5 is closed going towards Bakersfield. So I haven't been able to get back and forth to work for a couple days. And also I'm kind of afraid we're going to have to evacuate if it gets any worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And you mentioned earlier in the show that water in (INAUDIBLE) California, that's about 40 miles south of where I am. The ground just essentially crumbling. And you're seeing those RVs essentially just falling into the water. Those are the kinds of things that are left behind after this storm.

And then we are expecting more in the coming days. So authorities just telling people be prepared, be ready. Even though we're not used to all of this, we still have a couple more days of possibly more rain and more snow in the higher elevation areas, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Oh no. That is terrible.

All right. Thank you so much, Camila.

So Britley, they're not out of the woods yet, ok. And then meantime, millions of Americans in other places are now bracing for, at the very least, severe wind gusts.

BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, Fredricka. We're watching that next system already roll into northern California. Eventually that's going to slide on down into southern California where Camila is.

And this is just a big problem when it comes down to getting a lot of rain in a short amount of time. You wind up with the ground crumbling, and you wind up with quite a bit of snow and travel concerns all across the higher elevations.

The first system now pushing further east causing the threat for thunderstorms, already seeing a few of them firing up here across the central plains, but eventually bringing in the threat for severe weather. We still have a few hours yet until that really gets started. We have

warm, moist air, plus the lift from the front itself bringing in the area highlighted in red. Tulsa, just north of Wichita Falls, that includes Oklahoma City where we are expecting significant damaging winds here in the upcoming hours and overnight hours.

A few strong tornadoes, that's EF-2 or stronger, where winds are gusting over 100 miles per hour at times with those systems.

We bring in the hashed area all the way up into parts of Missouri through the overnight hours and early tomorrow morning. Areas highlighted in red again where we're expecting not only the tornado threat but winds gusting over 75 miles per hour.

And again some areas talking about over 100 miles per hour if the system really starts to develop.

And you're noticing it here on future radar, 6:00 tonight seeing these storm initiate. And then watch them start to bought out. That's the wind that we're watching develop through the midnight hours. That's 10:00, midnight, 2:00 in the morning. Now, it's starting to push in through Missouri and up through the Ohio Valley.

Still holding on to that severe threat tomorrow, through parts of the Ohio Valley in the Midwest, just not as great as it once was like it is through the overnight hours today.

Now, we're watching that and of course, bringing in the flooding threat. Not only dealing with the flooding and the severe weather, but severe storms -- yes, strong winds, but the whole system itself causing many concerns with winds gusting over 40 to 50 miles per hour even when it's all over.

WHITFIELD: Oh boy. It's going to be a tough week.

All right. Britley Ritz, Camila Bernal, thanks so much.

Up next Inside the court battle now playing out over tens of thousands of hours of security footage from the Capitol riot that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy just gave to partisan television host Tucker Carlson.

[14:29:57]

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[14:34:11]

WHITFIELD: Welcome back.

A group of media companies, including CNN, have sent a letter to congressional leadership demanding a trove of security footage from the January 6th Capitol riot. The media companies want access to the same footage that new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy recently handed over to Fox News host Tucker Carlson. The Republican speaker gave the conservative TV host about 44,000 hours of police footage from the insurrection. Norm Eisen is a CNN legal analyst and served as a former judiciary

counsel in President Trump's first impeachment trial.

Good to see you, Norm. So, if one outlet gets it, will they all?

NORM EISEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Fred, Kevin McCarthy has said, quote, this is the property of the American people. Well, if it is the property of all of us, you can't be handing our property over to one media outlet and one person at that outlet, 44,000 hours of it, very valuable, and leave the others out.

[14:35:15]

I think it implicates the First Amendment and they should be shared, this footage should be shared with everyone. We'll see if it goes to court and, if so, what happens?

WHITFIELD: And I was going to say, would it just be McCarthy's good will, or would he be compelled to share the information since he already allocated it or is allocating it to one outlet?

EISEN: Fred, it's clear that this is contrary to the spirit of the first amendment of freedom of the press. All media outlets should be free to review this material, but having a constitutional issue and getting a court case on file, so far nothing has been filed. And then winning, those are two different things.

So, it's the right thing to do. We just don't know if it will go to court and if the media outlets would win if it did.

WHITFIELD: So, until a case has been filed, you see this primarily as an issue of ethics?

EISEN: Of ethics and of law. You shouldn't have to sue the speaker of the House in order to him follow the Constitution. It's a legal issue, an ethical issue. I think what he's doing is wrong, and I think he does face some legal exposure.

WHITFIELD: Democrats who served on the house select committee who investigated the capitol insurrection have expressed very deep concern, similar to yours, about the security implications of McCarthy's decision. What are the parameters of your concerns as pertains to the security?

EISEN: We're just a little over two years past a violent assault on the United States Capitol. Why on Earth would you want to provide unedited 44,000 hours of this footage that shows the weak points in Capitol security? It shows where cameras are located. That's why Minority Leader Jeffries and majority leader in the Senate Chuck Schumer have both expressed extreme security concern. That's a question with whoever gets a hold of this.

It's just such a foolish and improper thing that Kevin McCarthy has done apparently to curry favor with Tucker Carlson who has been very critical of him at times. WHITFIELD: All right. Shifting gears now, let's talk about documents

that are found in lots of places, including at Mar-a-Lago. It turns out prosecutors have interviewed a Trump aide who copied classified materials onto a laptop and thumb drive, reportedly not knowing they were actually classified.

So, what is your reaction to this development and how it could potentially impact the investigation because now we're talking about reportedly copying classified information?

EISEN: This is not a close question of law. There already is an active criminal investigation of Donald Trump. There's already been a probable cause finding that crimes were committed and a search warrant executed at Mar-a-Lago. And the reason they had to do that was because of the danger of Donald Trump taking these documents with him and refusing to turn them back over despite being asked again and again.

And the thought -- you know, when I was ambassador I had our nation's highest security clearance, supervised hundreds of people who worked with classified documents all the time. The thought that these documents would be copied by somebody who doesn't have the proper security clearance -- some documents would be copied -- and put on a laptop, that magnifies the danger. Once it's on a laptop, it can be copied again and again, it can be hacked. Laptops can be lost or misplaced or accessed. It's a tremendous security threat to our country, and I believe an unlawful one.

WHITFIELD: All right. Norm Eisen, we'll leave it there for now. To be continued.

EISEN: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, absolutely horrendous, that's what a Florida sheriff is calling an incident where a 270-pound high school student allegedly violently beat a school employee. The latest on what happened and the charges he's now facing, next.

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[14:43:44]

WHITFIELD: A Florida high school student is facing felony charges accused of violently attacking a school employee, police say, over a Nintendo Switch. CNN affiliate WESH reports that the 17-year-old is a student with special needs.

CNN's Isabel Rosales joining me now with more details on this.

So, very frightening attack and caught on video.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it's not easy to watch. It shows is a student, 17 years old, 6'6", about 270 pounds brutally attacking this teacher's aide. The teen said to the school resource deputy that the reason he went after her was that he was upset that she took away his Nintendo Switch game.

So, we're going to show you this video. But, first, a warning, it is disturbing.

This happened on Tuesday in Flagler County north of Daytona Beach at Matanzas High School. You see that teacher's aide right there in the block and that's the moment he shoves her to the ground and starts just kicking her and punching her over and over again, more than 15 times.

Then you start to see that other employees, even students whose faces are blurred realize the severity of what's going on and come in to try to help. Here they're actually going to drag him away, but you can see in this video even as they're dragging him away, he's still kicking at this teacher's aide.

[14:45:07]

That employee, that school employee was taken to the hospital. As you can see right there, motionless, seemingly unconscious.

Here is what the sheriff of Flagler County had to say to our affiliate, WESH.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF RICK STALY, FLAGLER COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: This could have been homicide. When you push people down like that, they hit their head, you never know the outcome. Fortunately, other students and other faculty members, administrators came and intervened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: Now, this incident really highlights a growing problem for educators and that is the threat and the violence that they are facing oftentimes from students in school. In fact, there is a study by the American Psychological Association conducted during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it surveyed over 15,000 educators. So, these are teachers, administrators, psychologists, social workers and other school staff members. And what it found was one-third of teachers reported being victimized, so this is verbal and violence threats from students.

Support staff, so school resource officers, aides like the one we're seeing in this video and bus drivers, they're the most likely to report physical aggression with 99 percent of the aggressors actually being students in that case. The survey found 29 to 34 percent of educators showed interest in quitting or transferring schools because of the school climate because of these safety issues.

So, this really highlights a much bigger problem. In this case the student is facing felony aggravated battery with bodily harm. He's since been turned over to the department of juvenile justice.

WHITFIELD: That video is beyond disturbing, definitely hard to watch.

Thank you so much. Keep us posted, Isabel. Appreciate it.

Up next, the largest democracy in Africa is facing serious issues the days after polls closed in a massive presidential election. Details of this logistical nightmare in a live report from Nigeria, next.

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[14:51:49]

WHITFIELD: Welcome back.

All right. Voting ended hours ago and Nigerians are still waiting for results in a crucial election. The presidency and seats in the National Assembly are up for grabs in Africa's largest democracy. Some voters say they couldn't cast a ballot because their polling station never opened.

Now, officials blamed failed technology and logistics for the delays. CNN's Larry Madowo joined me live now from Lagos, Nigeria.

So, Larry, what were all of the issues and how soon might there be results?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, let me take the last one first. We don't know when the results will be announced because they have to announce the results from the 36 states in Nigeria and the federal territory. They only announced one and they're convening tomorrow in about l2 hours or so. So this might take a couple of days until we know who the next president of Nigeria will be.

Their big task will be dealing with insecurity. That's the top of voters' minds according to one survey. Corruption is another one and the economy. A third of Nigerians are unemployed.

Why am I here? You see a lot of security back here, because this is one of the collection centers, which is where they're counting and putting the votes together from Lagos state. Lagos is the commercial capital of Nigeria. That's where the largest number of voters at 7.1 million. And so, it's a highly contested part of the country and that back there is where they're putting that together, waiting to announce.

The reason why there's so much security here probably is because there's people who didn't get to go and we'll speak to some of them that are agitated because they feel disenfranchised by polling station that just didn't open. They were there yesterday on election day. They're told them back today to vote and didn't happen.

Listen to some of them.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nothing works in this country. There's no security. There's no good hospitals. There's not a good road. Nothing works. The educational system is in shambles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I must fight for my daughter's place. I must fight for her. She must have a better life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are tired, me I'm tired. I'm tired of seeing this crap!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: You can see the frustration in those young people's voices because they thought this was a real chance to reboot a deeply broken Nigeria. And young people registered in record numbers to vote in this election. For the first time, there was no -- former military leader or incumbent running for office and many of them were excited by young third force, a 61-year-old Peter Obi who might have the real chance for Nigeria to really get ahead. But they didn't have that chance, Fred, and they're disappointed.

WHITFIELD: That is disappointment indeed. Larry, thank you so much. Keep us posted.

All right. Coming up, the Biden administration is defending its response to the toxic train derailment in Ohio as officials on the ground continue to work to clean up hazardous waste. What they're saying about what happens, next.

But, first, this week's "Off the Beaten Path".

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to beautiful Rock City Gardens on top of Lookout Mountain, just about five miles from downtown Chattanooga. Rock City is about a 12-acre botanical garden and there's about a three quarter of a mile trail that meanders through the rocks, over and under, in between.

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Different rock formations like fat man squeeze, and swinging long bridge, enjoying our high falls, 90-foot water fall. And kind of midway point of the trail, you'll be out here at lover's leap where you can see seven states on a clear day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Located at the base of Lookout Mountain, this is a reflection of the arboretum center. It's a really unique location because of all the different habitats that you can walk through. We also have an area for rescued animals where you can see the native species of animals and we have about ten miles of hiking trails.

The only exception we make to motorized vehicles are the electric swing cars from adventure sports innovations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They swing when they go around the turn.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They offer tours here on the trails.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Push it once to going forward.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People who might have mobility issues can access every part of our problem using the swing cars, and really just enjoying this beautiful environment that we have.

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