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RNC Chair Says, Requiring Loyalty Pledge for GOP Debate a No- Brainer; At Least One Person Killed as Aftershock Hits Eastern Turkey; EPA Taking Closer Oversight of East Palestine, Ohio Crash Site. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired February 27, 2023 - 10:30   ET

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

MARGARET TALEV, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: -- makes it impossible for a different Republican rival to say that Trump is not suited to be president again because he tried to block Joe Biden's election and then gave oxygen to January 6th.

[10:30:12]

In reality, that space in the middle as there's a lot of would-be Republican rivals who have continued to say they would support any nominee, any Republican nominee, so it may, in practice, only affect couple of people. But for the party, which is having this reckoning of whether, it is time to move beyond Donald Trump, the problem is how can you move beyond when you won't say the thing out loud that you are concerned about, because you can't, because then you can't get on the stage.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Move beyond him and definitively dismiss the lie about the 2020 election.

Laura, McDaniel also said the Republicans, quote, can't be so vicious and vitriolic with each other. She didn't say that, I imagine, about some of the attacks on Democrats, but what is she and the RNC doing to back that up given the prominence of voices still in the party of Trump or, say, Marjorie Taylor Greene?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. We have not seen any indication whether it is from the RNC chairwoman or other Republican leaders that they're going to take any type of firm line when it comes to consequences for GOP candidates who really attack each other in very vitriolic and nasty ways. We saw that last time around, that was how President Trump was able to basically beat back the rest of the competition, and it is likely expected that that is what is going to happen again.

Right now, when a lot of these candidates, as Margaret said, are asked about Trump, they say that they don't want to talk about him or they say that they still agree with him and we are happy that he was president. That's what Senator Tim Scott said recently. And, again, they don't differentiate from him on any policy, even to say that they disagree with the fact that, recently, he called for the suspension of the Constitution.

SCIUTTO: Understood. Well, speaking of the competition, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is doing everything but announcing his run for 2024, out with a new book, out with a new video paid for by his campaign committee. Let's have a brief clip of that and I want to get your reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): We are the nation's fastest growing state. We rank number one in education freedom. We are number one in economic freedom. Florida also ranks number one in public higher education. This is a record we can all be proud of.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Definitely, the left hates Governor DeSantis because he is a winner. That's what the guy does, he wins.

DESANTIS: Decline is a choice, success is attainable and freedom is worth fighting for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: That looks a lot like a video for a presidential campaign, Margaret Talev.

TALEV: Did the music give you a clue also? This is the part of the -- silly part of the campaign season where everyone has the conversation that says, does this mean that Ron DeSantis is going to run? And the answer is, yes, obviously. Why would you do any of these things if you were not intending to run? The question is, what is the rollout, what's the timing of that announcement, how do you stage it? And we can see some clues from the ramp up event around the book release and around his decision at this point not to participate in CPAC because he does not have to. He is going to get his own coverage and differentiate himself from the pack.

SCIUTTO: Laura, Donald Trump clearly not comfortable with a Ron DeSantis candidacy. He's already trying out a bunch of nicknames for him and attacking him, saying that he is responsible for DeSantis' success. How does that potential rivalry play out in any Republican primary? I mean, are other Republicans, do they see opportunity perhaps that DeSantis and Trump consumer each other?

BARRON-LOPEZ: Potentially. But I think that a lot of the Republican strategists I have talked to think that the more the candidates that jump in, the more that that benefits the former president, Trump, in particular with DeSantis, I mean, he is the biggest threat to the former president.

And the former president does have some avenues to try to differentiate himself from DeSantis, particularly on something that we are hearing a lot of from President Biden right now, which is Medicare and social security. Trump did this last time around, pointing that a lot of these Republicans supported potential cuts to entitlement, and DeSantis was one of them, and that is something that I think we could see the different little policy differences that the former president tries to point out particularly with DeSantis.

SCIUTTO: Indeed. Laura Barron-Lopez, and Margaret Talev, good to have you both on.

Coming up, the EPA is giving the green light for contaminated soil and water from the East Palestine crash to be shipped out of that town after the toxic train wreck. The very latest coming up.

[10:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Another deadly aftershock has hit Turkey as the country and the region struggle to recover from the devastating massive earthquake now three weeks ago. At least one more person died in today's 5.2 magnitude aftershock, one of nearly 10,000 shocks that have rattled the area since the February 6th quake.

CNN's Nada Bashir joins us live now. Nada, it is just heartache upon heartache for these people here.

[10:40:02]

What more do we know about this aftershock as well as the ongoing recovery efforts?

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: It really is, Jim. And for those in Southeast Turkey who have already been displaced by the initial earthquake, hundreds of thousands of them, you can imagine the trauma, the fear, the apprehension that they feel each and every day as we continue to see these aftershocks. And this comes just a week after a more powerful aftershock that we felt last Monday, 6.3 in magnitude.

But this is the amount of aftershocks that this country would expect to see in about four months. So, you can imagine that this is a hugely difficult time for those living in Southeast Turkey. And according to the authorities, at least 69 people have been reported injured, 29 buildings in Malatya, in Southeast Turkey, now collapsed as a result of this latest aftershock.

And we've been visiting some of the areas hardest hit by that initial earthquake and the subsequent aftershocks, including Antakya and Iskenderun in the Hatay Province, was among the hardest hit by the initial earthquake.

And the destruction in these cities is inconceivable. It is hard to put into words. I mean, Antakya feels like a ghost town now and many, many have nothing left in their city. They are all living in these camp cities that have sprung up across Southeast Turkey. At least 900,000 people living in tents at the moment, and that number is expected to grow. Many of the families that we spoke to were still living on the street, unsure of when they would be given a tent or any other form of temporary accommodation.

This is a huge challenge for the Turkish government. They say they plan to rebuild the affected areas within one year. We've already learned that construction work has begun in parts of Gaziantep and more apartments, around 30,000, are expected to be built in the coming months. But there has been criticism over this decision by some, including the Union of Engineers and Architects here in Turkey. They say it is simply too hasty, there needs to be further geological investigations, further preparations to ensure that these areas are safe. And the fact that we are still seeing these powerful aftershocks is only underscoring that concern. But, of course, with elections looming, there is a significant amount of pressure on President Erdogan to provide a long-term solution.

SCIUTTO: Yes. And what will the building standards be for these new buildings? That's always a question. Nada Bashir, thanks so much.

Well, the EPA is starting shipments to again today to bring contaminated waste out of East Palestine, Ohio, after the toxic train derailment there. Until Friday, Norfolk Southern, who is solely responsible for cleaning up the area, but the EPA stopped shipments so it could review the company's plans after officials in Texas and Michigan both complained. They got no warning that wastes from the accident was headed their way.

CNN Senior National Correspondent Miguel Marquez joins me now. Of course, the situation has the attention of lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Both parties there, Democrats looking into the railroad, others looking into the government's response. Where does this go? Is there any actual progress being made on what went wrong here exactly?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think a lot of progress is being made on that. Certainly, the NTSB that is looking into this accident, the National Transportation Safety Board is looking specifically at the axle, that wheel bearing and how long that it had been on the tracks, was there a fault in it or was it just wear that caused that to happen, and then the system of indicators for when you have a car that is overheating or a wheel axle that is overheating like that.

It started in a single car that was carrying plastic pellets. That started the fire. The other cars that had the toxic material in it were nearby. They started to overheat. And then you just had this complete sort of, you know, one thing after the other and just spiral into a worse and worse situation. And then they had the fire where they wanted to vent one of those cars releasing lots of this material over a wide area and it just continued to create concern.

The toxic material that's in Texas and Michigan now will be dealt with there. Going forward, toxic material will now be shipped to two different facilities in Ohio. Everybody is aware there are concerns. All of this sort of points to sort of the outsized concern that the situation in East Palestine is creating.

People are not glowing there. They're not toxic. It's not terrible to be there. I was there for a week. But it will take months, if not, years for them to drill wells around the area of the greatest toxicity and figure out if that water and if those toxins are moving and flowing under the ground so that they can sort of keep track of it. But it is going to be a long time incoming, but on the House side, on the Senate side, they are looking into completely different sides of this. So, the toxic train derailment to the toxic politics of our day.

[10:45:03]

Jim?

SCIUTTO: Yes, indeed, so familiar. Miguel Marquez, thanks so much for covering it.

MARQUEZ: You got it.

SCIUTTO: Well, the FDA has now authorized the first at-home test that can detect both the flu and COVID-19. The test uses a single nasal swab, gives you a result within about 30 minutes. It has a 90 percent accuracy rate for a positive flu result, 88 percent for positive COVID results. You don't need a prescription to get this test.

Last week, the CDC said that flu activity this season peaked earlier than usual during late November, early December. And even though the intensity of the pandemic has slowed, the U.S. still had more than 236,000 new COVID cases just last week, that's flu cases as well.

Still ahead, American medics taking to the frontlines in Ukraine to help those wounded during the war. They are taking great risks themselves. A story from the frontlines, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:00]

SCIUTTO: A wave of Russian attacks are hitting Eastern Ukraine as we speak. Ukraine's military says it has repelled 81 attacks in just the last 24 hour as Russia attempts an offensive in the region. At least two people were injured by shelling in Donetsk.

And in the city of Bakhmut, the fighting has become especially fierce and relentless. Officials there say 25 settlements came under fire in just the last day. Bakhmut now becoming a field of urban combat, you see some of the results there. This video shared on social media shows the extent of the destruction left behind.

Well, there in Bakhmut, there are some American medics on the frontlines doing what they can to help the wounded, a great risk to themselves.

CNN Senior Correspondent Sam Kiley rode along with volunteers supporting a field hospital in Ukraine. We do want to warn you, some of the images in the story could be disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Almost walking, this wounded Ukrainian soldier has an obvious injury. Arriving at a casualty evacuation point for the battle of Bakhmut, American medics look for hidden trauma.

CHRIS WRIGHT, VOLUNTEER MEDIC, ROAD TO RELIEF: Tell him I'm going to roll him and I'm going to check his back, one, two, three. And when you get a chance, give his legs a feel for me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can we get his back, shrapnel wound out here as well. It looks minor.

WRIGHT: You want to go ahead and drop some (INAUDIBLE) for me.

KILEY: Chris is from Houston, Texas. He's three kilometers, less than two miles, from Russian troops.

WRIGHT: Take his blood pressure for me.

KILEY: And he's only 22. Last year, he took time out from his job to volunteer for Road to Relief. The charity relies on donations to fund and equip frontline ambulances and these teams are unpaid.

ADAM MEYSING, AMBULANCE DRIVER: There're credit cards in my mom and a little bit of prior savings. So, as long as you have enough to scrape by and just buy like the basic goods, things tend to be okay.

KILEY: Hospital and medical staff are regularly targeted by Russia. This location is hidden in trees near Ukrainian artillery, this firing overhead on Russians just up the road.

WRIGHT: So, it's just -- yes, we need more medics, more trucks, it's just that the amount of injured is super high.

Does he have any allergies?

KILEY: Chris is saying privately that one of the reasons there is such a need for foreign volunteers to work as medics is that so many of the Ukrainians have been killed.

The team relies on a former software designer for translation.

Is there anything about this that you can't handle?

ANNA KOVALCHUK, TRANSLATOR: All those deaths, of course, they are incredibly hard, I don't know, hard to take. Somehow you feel guilty about that.

KILEY: It's a 20-minute run for the ambulance to a field hospital.

WRIGHT: Would you push this slowly for me please?

A mine roughly like, what was it, 20 minutes ago or 30 minutes ago now? Yes, a mine 30 minutes ago.

You've got be careful, please.

KILEY: He's delivered to another secret clinic. Here the wounded pour in. A soldier has lost a leg, in his abandoned uniform, the piece of shrapnel that took it. Medics here say it's relatively quiet. Some days, there are hundreds of patients.

WRIGHT: He doesn't remember losing -- if he lost consciousness or not but pupils were equal and reactive, same size.

KILEY: Blood-soaked stretchers dry in the sun outside and sunset can be busy for medics, soldiers trapped by fighting can be rescued as the light fades.

Back at the evacuation point, no wounded, five dead soldiers lie in body bags. They're so fresh from the battlefield, they're unknown. Their I.D.s are checked and they're photographed. Their suffering is over. Their families don't yet know that theirs is about to begin.

Sam Kiley, CNN, near Bakhmut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: One small vision of the toll of war there. Thanks so much to Sam Kiley for that reporting.

And just into CNN, video of a tornado that touched down in Champaign, Illinois, goodness gracious, this morning, one of the many that caused destruction across the Midwest.

[10:55:00]

Just ahead, we're going to have a look at where that storm system is headed next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: We want to take a moment now to congratulate the men's swim and dive team from Howard University. They are the only all-black college swim team in the country and they have just won their first conference championship in 34 years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 1.5 percent of African-Americans represented in college swimming. There could be a lot more representation in college swimming. And so with us, making a statement what we did this weekend, I felt like we could get more.

[11:00:04]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We firmly believe if you can see it, then you can achieve it. And these young men worked --