Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

U.S.: 'Real Costs' for China if Lethal Aid Given to Russia; At Least 3 People Killed in West Bank Violence; Storm System Bringing Tornadoes, Wind Gusts to Central U.S.; U.S. Energy Department Determines Lab Leak Caused COVID Spread; Tensions Mount in Moldova Amid War in Neighboring Ukraine; SpaceX, NASA Launching New Crew to International Space Station; Storm Dumps Massive Amounts on Snow in Southern California; House Republicans Plan to Investigate the Disaster; Video Shows Student Tackle, Beat School Employee; Young Girl Feeds Stray Cats in Her Former Home. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired February 27, 2023 - 00:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Michael Holmes.

[00:00:32]

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome. Coming to you live from Studio Four of the CNN Center in Atlanta. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.

Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, the U.S. warning China it could face real costs if it provides lethal aid to Russia for the war in Ukraine.

Intense fighting around the city of Bakhmut in Ukraine as Russia tries to make new gains.

And more violence in the West Bank just as Israeli and Palestinian officials hold talks in Jordan.

The U.S. is warning there will be real costs for China if that country were to provide Russia with lethal aid to be used in its war in Ukraine. That coming after the CIA director said the U.S. is confident Beijing is considering sending such aid, though intelligence suggests a final decision has not been made.

The U.S. national security adviser weighing in as concerns grow over what China may decide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: Beijing will have to make its own decisions about how it proceeds, whether it provides military assistance. But if it goes down that road, it will come at real cost to China. And I think China's leaders are weighing that as they make their decisions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Meanwhile in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announcing the country's commander of joint forces operation has been dismissed from his post, though it is unclear exactly what is behind that move.

And for the second time in a month, soldiers from a Russian unit known as Regiment 1439 are complaining about their treatment and their commanders. In a new video which CNN cannot independently verify, they posted this message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We asked for the help in dealing with the unlawful and criminal orders of our command. They consist in the fact that we were given to submission to the first Scarlet (ph) brigade of the DPR. The soldiers of the territorial defense were made into assault units in a single day and were sent to assault in the Avdiivka (ph) strongholds to be slaughtered without any support from artillery, communications, snipers, and reconnaissance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: On the front lines in Eastern Ukraine, there is fierce and relentless fighting in and around the city of Bakhmut. That's where Russian forces are now eyeing further advances. CNN's Alex Marquardt has the latest from Dnipro.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

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

Ukrainian forces say that they are standing their ground in the face of intense Russian assaults. Now, this fight for Bakhmut has evolved over time from a longer range fight with artillery, tanks, and mortars, something that is much closer quarters. Urban warfare. The fight going from House to House and street to street.

For now, there is no talk from Ukrainian officials about surrounding the city. But President Zelenskyy's stance on that has softened recently, saying that they will not defend it at any cost if it means that everybody is going to die.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials now publicly warning that China is actively considering sending lethal aid. So, weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine the Biden administration had warned that China about nonlethal aid that was being sent to Russia, now Biden administration officials saying that China is actively considering sending that aid.

But they have not yet made a decision. Here's what the CIA director, Bill Burns, told CBS this weekend.

BILL BURNS, CIA DIRECTOR: We are confident that the Chinese leadership is considering the provision of lethal equipment. We also don't see that a final decision has been made yet. And we don't see evidence of actual shipments of lethal equipment. And that's why I think Secretary Blinken and the president thought it important to make very clear what the consequences of that would be.

MARQUARDT: Burns also talked about the deepening relationship between Russia and Iran. Iran has been supplying Russia with kamikaze drones and ammunition.

Now, according to Director Burns, Russia is poised to start offering Iran help with their missile program and is also considering sending fighter jets to Iran. That relationship between Iran and Russia proceeding at a fast pace, Burns says, in a way that he considers disturbing.

[00:05:09]

Alex Marquardt, CNN, Dnipro, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Saudi Arabia's foreign minister was in Ukraine on Sunday, the first such visit since the countries established diplomatic ties 30 years ago.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, the men formalizing a $400 million aid package for Ukraine from Saudi Arabia. It includes 100 million in humanitarian assistance and 300 million in oil products.

The Kingdom has remained largely neutral during the conflict so far.

Officials of Israel and the Palestinian Authority have held rare discussions where they agreed to work on de-escalating a surge in violence in the region.

After meeting in the Jordanian city of Ecuador on Sunday, both sides affirmed their commitment to all previous agreements, saying they would seek a, quote, "just and lasting peace."

The Israeli officials also said it would halt discussions about new settlement units in the occupied West Bank for four months.

But on the same day those agreements were reached, the West Bank saw another deadly flare-up between Israelis and Palestinians. CNN's Hadas Gold reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Two Israelis and a Palestinian are dead after a day of violence in the West Bank as officials from Israel and the Palestinian Authority met in Jordan in an effort to try to calm the increasing levels of violence and tension here on the ground.

The first event happened in Huwara. This is a town that sits on a busy road that is often used by Israeli settlers to get to other settlements, and it's often a flash point. And from what we understand, it seems as though an attacker or

attackers used a car in some way to ram into the car of two brothers who are 19 and 21 years old before then shooting them at what local officials said was point-blank range. They both died from their wounds.

The attacker or attackers got away. They ran away. And Israeli officials say that there is currently a manhunt to try and find them.

Then, just a few hours later, officials from Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Egypt, and the Americans were all meeting in the Southern Jordanian town of Akaba to have a rare summit -- the sort of summit like this has not happened in more than a decade or so -- to try and calm the situation on the ground, especially ahead of the Muslim and Jewish holidays of Ramadan and Passover that are once again overlapping this year. And there's a lot of fears that these holidays will only exacerbate the situation on the ground.

Now, out of that meeting, there was a joint statement that the Israelis and Palestinians want to work together to potentially re- engage on security cooperation. The Israelis had agreed to essentially stop a settlement for a few months while the Palestinians would commit to not issuing any sort of actions against Israel in the United Nations.

They also agreed to meet once again in March ahead of Ramadan in Egypt. But then, just soon after these joint statements came out that were agreed upon by the officials there from all the different countries, we were getting statements from Israeli officials, seemingly contradicting what had been announce at that summit.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that construction and regulation in the occupied West Bank will continue and that there will be no construction freeze.

Then his minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir -- he's one of the most right-wing members of this new right-wing government -- tweeted out something that essentially said what happens in Jordan stays in Jordan. Essentially pushing back against this agreement that Israel would stop settlements, considered illegal under international law. But Israel does not agree with that assessment. That there would be any sort of stop in settlement activities. I mean, that's so important to many members of this right-wing government.

And then, as night fell, more violence in the West Bank, specifically in the area where the attack took place, seemingly might be called revenge attacks by Israeli settlers. We know that at least one Palestinian man was shot dead. Palestine officials say it was the result of clashes with settlers and Israeli forces.

But clearly, the situation on the ground only worsening, and many people are not necessarily optimistic that whatever the officials came to agree in Jordan will have any sort of immediate effect to help calm the situation here in the region.

Hadas Gold, CNN, Jerusalem. (END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And Palestinians say more than 100 people were wounded in several buildings, including homes were burned during those revenge attacks by Israeli settlers. Israel's prime minister urging the public to remain calm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[00:10:11]

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I ask even when the blood is boiling not to take the law into one's hands. I ask that the IDF and the security forces be allowed to carry out their work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The European Commission president and the British prime minister are set for a key meeting in the coming hours. Ursula von der Leyen will meet with Rishi Sunak in the U.K. for talks on the Northern Ireland protocol.

The protocol is part of the U.K.'s exit agreement with the European Union. It theoretically prevents a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which remains an E.U. member state.

Now, it hasn't been fully been implemented, due to fears it could damage trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. There are also concerns a hard border could lead to increased tensions between republicans and unionists, and perhaps a return to violence.

At least 59 migrants are dead after a shipwreck off the Southeastern coast of Italy. Dozens of bodies have been recovered in the rough waters. Survivors tell CNN they are from Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

About 80 people were rescued from the water as they clung to pieces of the wooden boat.

According to the United Nations, nearly 12,000 migrants have arrived in Italy by sea since the start of the year.

All right. We're going to take a short break here on CNN NEWSROOM. Stick around. Much more news to come after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:15:33]

HOLMES: And, to our viewers just joining us in North America, welcome as we continue CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Michael Holmes.

And powerful storms are battering the central U.S. right now, bringing tornadoes, damaging winds and hail to parts of Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas.

At least one tornado was confirmed in Norman, Oklahoma, where students at the University of Oklahoma were being urged to seek shelter. A warning also issued for downtown Oklahoma City.

The system is so strong a wind gust of 114 miles an hour was reported in Northern Texas in the town of Memphis.

So far, more than 90 storms have been reported across the Southern Plains.

OK, joining me on the phone now is Mark Fox, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma.

What do we know about the situation there? Particularly what level of damage this tornado has caused, Mark?

MARK FOX, METEOROLOGIST, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE (via phone): Well, the tornado happened about 9 p.m. or so, 9:20 Central Time, and it came within about a mile of our office and started to produce a little bit more damage as it moved off to the North and the East.

You've seen some pictures of some homes with roofs torn off and trees uprooted. It's probably going to be a little bit of an ugly scene once the daylight hours come tomorrow morning.

But we know of several homes damaged. And so far -- knock on wood -- that haven't incurred much in the way of injuries, but those reports are still coming in.

HOLMES: How widespread, not just the tornado but the severity of the storms? We're looking at video now. It looks pretty nasty. Just how widespread is it?

FOX (via phone): Well, this ranges from Nebraska and Kansas, all the way into the Dallas-Fort Worth area. So, we're talking a fairly wide swathe about 1,200 miles or so in length.

So, it's -- it's expensive for the damage. Luckily, the tornadoes are very -- a lot smaller than that. But most -- most of the South in the U.S. have gotten a pretty good dose of wind, and it's still going on.

HOLMES: So what's the outlook? Where is the weather headed, and will it stay a major threat, as it moves along?

FOX (via phone): It will stay a major threat into Eastern parts of Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas. But it's going to diminish as it moves to the East.

And the East Coast of the U.S. will get the storm system in the next couple of days, but not expected to pack as much of a punch as it is right now.

HOLMES: Really great to be able to get you, Mark. Thank you. Mark Fox with the National Weather Service. Well, the U.S. Department of Energy has determined the spread of

COVID-19 is most likely the result of a leak from a Chinese laboratory in Wuhan. That's according to an updated classified intelligence report.

However, two sources tell CNN the department only has, quote, "low confidence" in those findings. The lab leak theory is one of several that have been floating around Washington. But there hasn't been a consensus or even an official opinion from the White House on the cause of the pandemic.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand has more on what the findings mean.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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 and very important. Because a low confidence assessment generally means that the information that has been obtained by the intel community is not reliable enough or is too fragmented to make a more definitive judgment. Or there's simply not enough information available to draw more a 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 a result of a lab leak or whether it emerged naturally.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Natasha Bertrand there.

Some Republican lawmakers feel the report is enough to demand accountability from Beijing, but one Democrat says there's nothing earthshattering about the findings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. SETH MOULTON, (D-MA): I'm not entirely surprised. The Chinese have mishandled COVID at every step of the way. They're trying to sweep it under the rug, trying to try a strategy of zero-COVID that utterly failed. And tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of Chinese are dead as a result of the mismanagement of this -- the pandemic by the Chinese Communist Party.

So for it to come out, the whole thing started because of mismanagement, I mean, look, we need to see whether this is true. But, if it is, I don't find this surprising at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: All right. Still to come on the program, instability in Moldova as war rages across the border in Ukraine. We'll have a closer look at why, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: As the war in Ukraine enters its second year, the president of neighboring Moldova has accused Russia of using saboteurs to stoke unrest in her country amid a time of political and economic turmoil.

This as Ukraine's president also warns of Russia's attempts to destabilize Moldova. You see it there in that map in orange. And as tensions run high, thousands turned out recently on the streets of Moldova to take part in anti-government protests.

[00:25:06]

HOLMES: All right. Joining me now is Denis Cenusa. He is the associate expert at the Eastern Europe Studies Center. And it's great to have you on.

Moldova is a tiny country, dealing, though, with an even smaller Russian sort of controlled separatist region in Transnistria. But how significant is Moldova in the broader context of the war in Ukraine next door?

DENIS CENUSA, ASSOCIATE EXPERT, EASTERN EUROPE STUDIES CENTER: Well, Moldova is playing an important role for stabilizing the Western flank of Ukraine.

And we know very well that, in the Transnistria region, as you mentioned, has been representing a threat. It's a potential source of threat because of the deployment of Russian forces in that region.

And at the same time, Moldova is very important, because it is costing Ukrainian refugees. It's one of the countries with the highest rate of Ukrainian refugees per capita.

So from these two points of view, Moldova is definitely an important strategic partner for Ukraine and therefore, Kyiv and Chisinau have very good dialogue, including in preventing the Russian attacks.

HOLMES: Now, with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, he's annulled a 2012 decree in which the Kremlin had guaranteed Moldova's sovereignty.

What is the messaging there? How nervous is Moldova about what Putin might do.

CENUSA: Well, Putin and Russia are unpredictable. So therefore, the uncertainty is very high.

But Moldova has, also, a bilateral treaty with Russia. Not only the decree that you have mentioned dating 2012. So the base of the bilateral treaty is also mentioning that Russia will play a constructive positive role in the settlement of the conflict. But, again, nobody the trusts Russia, because it is not willing to

withdraw its military forces and weapons from the Transnistrian region.

In this regard, Moldova is cautious and it's trying to maintain the stability at home and prevent, of, course the destabilization attempts of Russia.

HOLMES: And to that point, I mean, Russia probably doesn't have the military capacity available at the moment to open up a new front with Moldova. Is it more a case of fomenting unrest and diverting attention; perhaps a type of hybrid warfare? What could Russia do there?

CENUSA: Yes, you're right. Russia doesn't have the supply chains in order to really open a front in Transnistria. But what Russia has been trying to do is to discredit the pro-reformist MPU (ph) forces in Moldova.

And therefore, this -- this -- in this way to basically distract the attention and Moldova's understanding very well that Russia tries to weaponize the poverty and the political that involves in Russian forces. So, these two elements are used by Russia to actually discredited the forces that tried to dismantle the tool box that Russia is using to exercise influence in Moldova.

HOLMES: Yes, and Moldova, one of the poorest countries in Europe. And -- and that being sort of leveraged, in a way, by those who are trying to create that unrest. When it comes to the West and Europe, what are the risks of ignoring Moldova in the voter context of the conflict next door?

CENUSA: Well, the expanding of the instability in the region would be the first consequence of ignoring the situation in Moldova. I believe that Moldova is not ignore it.

Actually, President Sandu has received a lot of support, including from the U.S., for the -- for mitigating the consequences of the energy crisis, as well.

So Moldova is well-positioned from this point of view. And I think that this is what makes Russia anxious and -- and angry. Because, Moldova has allies in the West. And Moldova receives support for all of its needs.

HOLMES: And we mentioned these anti-government protests that have been organized by pro-Russia parties in Moldova. How will this position is the promotion movement in Moldova in terms of support and its ability to create that unrest?

CENUSA: Well, the pro-Russians are not very agile in mobilizing the population. So the support for protest is rather low.

But, in general, the public approval of this partisan will speak about two parties. It's one sure party of the businessman, which is hiding in Israel. And another one -- and another one is run by the ex- president, Igor Dodon. He's not any more the chair of the party, but he's very influential in the party.

[00:30:18]

So these two political parties have been total about 30 percent of public support. And this is more than -- than the party of Maia Sandu. And here's the problem of that. With the coming elections, the local elections and other elections in the next two years we can see an increase in support for Russian forces.

HOLMES: Yes, it's an important -- it's a small but very important piece in the puzzle of the conflict there.

Denis Cenusa, thank you so much. Really appreciate your expertise on this.

CENUSA: Thank you very much.

HOLMES: Now, the ex-husband and former in-laws of the Hong Kong model who was killed last week appeared in court Monday, according to public broadcasters RTHK.

Abby Choi's ex-husband is charged with murder, along with his father and brother. His mother is charged with diverting (ph) the cause of justice. RTHK says all four were denied bail.

Choi was a 28-year-old model and social media influencer who was last seen on Tuesday. Parts of her dismembered body were found at a rental unit on Friday.

Votes are still being counted from Saturday's election in Nigeria. But anger is growing after officials didn't arrive at certain polling locations, which means some would-be voters who waited for hours may have lost their chance to pick the country's next president.

Meanwhile, as some people were still trying to vote on Sunday, officials were trying to calm concerns about technical glitches in the new results-viewing portal used for this election.

The independent electoral commission says the issues were not due to intrusion or sabotage in the system was secure. Delays in showing results led to speculation the final tallies were being manipulated.

When we come back here on the program, a team of astronauts will be taking off to the International Space Station next hour. We'll discuss what it's like to be on that ride with a former astronaut. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:35:51]

HOLMES: A team of astronauts is expected to be on their way to the International Space Station next hour, as SpaceX and NASA continue the effort to keep the orbiting laboratory fully staffed and up-to-date.

The mission includes two NASA astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and an astronaut from the UAE.

What you're looking at there is live pictures coming to us from Cape Canaveral, as everything gets ready for this lift-off in the next hour.

Now, these astronauts and cosmonaut are going to be spending the next six months in space doing scientific research and maintaining the station.

Joining me now from Houston, Texas, Leroy Chiao is a retired NASA astronaut and a regular on these occasions. Always exciting to have another launch, Leroy.

This team is going to spend six months on the space station. What's the mission going to entail?

LEROY CHIAO, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: Yes, it's always exciting to have a launch, and it's especially exciting if you're one of the crew members.

This crew will entail an approximately six-month mission aboard the International Space Station. During that time, they will be doing around 200 or maybe a little bit over 200 scientific investigations. Maintenance work, repair work of anything that goes wrong, and it's going to be especially exciting for three of them, because this is their first flight.

HOLMES: I know. Yes, exactly. I'm going to come back to that, actually, too.

But as someone who's actually done this, give us a sense of what the launch is physically and emotionally for that matter, like. What do you go through in those moments?

CHIAO: Sure, well, it's different every time. The most exciting is probably your first time because you don't know what to expect even though you expect all of these hours in the simulator going through it. Launch day, suddenly, it's for real.

And so you get into the vehicle about, you know, a few hours before launch. And you are kind of going through all the checks, although on the SpaceX -- SpaceX vehicle it's about the same, about two hours, two and a half hours.

And so you've got a lot of time there to kind of wait for things to happen. And basically, you're going through procedures. You're going through what you're going to do.

And then it gets very real when you come down to the last couple of minutes and you realize you're about to launch into space.

So the booster rockets light, and you get off -- lift off the pad. And then your heartbeat is definitely elevated. And you're -- you're along for the ride. Actually, very quick. It only takes around nine minutes or so to get from a launchpad up into lower orbit -- up to an orbital speed of about 17,500 miles an hour. HOLMES: That's amazing. It's always -- it never gets old to hear

about.

Crew Six, as it's called -- and you touched on this -- it includes the first astronaut from the UAE. It also includes the Russian cosmonaut, Andrey Fedyaev, making his first trip to space.

Now, it occurred to me today when I was reading up on the crew, you know, you have the one Ukraine, worsening U.S. Russia relations. But cooperation on the ISS continues. How important is that continued partnership?

CHIAO: It's crucial. Continued cooperation is critical. The space station, the way it was put together, not necessarily by intention, but just the way the pieces fit together -- two control centers, things like that, complementary hardware -- we really need both control centers working in concert for the space station to stay in orbit.

And, so at the working level -- from the flight controllers, flight directors, astronauts, cosmonauts, engineers -- everybody has been very dedicated in pulling in the same direction, no matter what kind of political climate we're in, no matter what world conflicts are happening. We've always pulled together, all sides, and made sure that space station is going to operate the best it can.

HOLMES: Yes, it really has survived through thick and thin. Hasn't it? I mean, this is a SpaceX vehicle, of course. I think it's the sixth crew rotation with SpaceX. How important has private enterprise become to the overall space program?

CHIAO: Well, it's become critical, again, because this is by design, where NASA was directed. And I was part of the White House panel that kind of put together these option paths way back when, in 2008, 2009.

[00:40:09]

NASA was directed to help these commercial companies develop this capability. So, SpaceX has been flying cargo for a number of years and astronauts for a couple of years to and from the ISS. And so we're seeing that continue, hopefully.

Soon, we'll see Boeing start to operate their Starliner spacecraft also. But the idea is to hand over the access to space station with -- using commercial assets rather than NASA-operated, owned assets.

HOLMES: Yes. Yes. And going back to the crew, I was reading that the mission commander, Stephen Bowen, I hear he actually used to be a submarine officer. He's been up three times before.

The first time was back in 2008, and his most recent flight, 2011. That's a long time ago. Does spaceflight ever become routine? He's probably all fired up again. Do you miss it?

CHIAO: You know, it's -- it's something that I would -- I would go again now, but it's something that never gets old, per se. You know, if you're up there especially on a long flight, if you're up there for six months or so, you get used to -- you get used to it, right?

Humans are amazingly adoptable. You get used to that beautiful view of the Earth outside the windows. It's a lot like here on Earth. If you live somewhere really beautiful and you get used to those waterfall sunsets or sunrises, you're still appreciative of it.

But it's lost its newness, if you will. So it's a little unusual, somewhat pristine to step around this long and been wanting to go fly again. But it's not out of the question.

And so, for him, I'm sure he can tell you that he's very excited about making the flight after, you know, what, 12 years or so, 11, 12 years.

HOLMES: Yes, exactly. And again, his first one back in 2008, crazy. Leroy Chiao, always a pleasure to speak with you. Thanks so much.

CHIAO: My pleasure. Great to be with you.

HOLMES: For our international viewers, WORLD SPORT coming your way next. And for viewers here in North America, more CNN NEWSROOM after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRAPHIC: CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster

[00:45:32]

HOLMES: Welcome back. I'm Michael Holmes, not Max Foster.

A quick update on the extreme weather we're tracking in the central U.S. for you. And it has been pretty bad out there.

More than 90 storms reported across Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas, including tornadoes, large hail, and damaging wind gusts.

At least one tornado was confirmed in Norman, Oklahoma, home to the state's largest university, and there are reports of widespread damage, downed power line, and road closures.

Do stick with us here on CNN for the very latest as that system continues to move through the region. We'll bring you the latest.

Now the threat of extreme weather not over yet. On the U.S. West Coast, a winter storm dumping massive amounts of snow and rain in parts of Southern California over the weekend. It led to a rare blizzard warning for the region. And now a second storm system is about to move in.

CNN's Camila Bernal with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The sun is finally out in Southern California, but we're still left with a lot of snow. In this area, 1 to 2 feet of snow. In higher elevation areas, more than 6 feet of snow over the last couple of days. A lot of snow, a lot of rain, and a lot of wind in Southern California.

That is something that people in this area are just not used to.

On Sunday, some of the highways remained closed in the Southern California area, including Interstate 5, which is right behind me. Normally, you would see a lot of traffic. But authorities are still trying to clean up the highway. Not just the highway, but also the on and off-ramps.

So authorities saying it is still not safe for a lot of these drivers, who are essentially stranded on the side of the highway, waiting to get back on the road to get to their final destination.

In the L.A. area, a lot of rain over the last couple of days. There was flooding, downed trees, and many, many left without power. Thousands, in fact, still without power.

Just about 40 miles South of where I am in Castaic, California, the ground essentially crumbling. And RVs ending up in the Santa Clara River because of what happened as a result of this storm.

Many of the residents there extremely concerned. And essentially also stranded, because they could not get on the highway.

Here is someone impacted by all of this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm actually a traveling nurse 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, like, for a couple of days. And also, I'm just kind of afraid we're going to have to evacuate if it gets any worse.

BERNAL: And it's still not over. We're expecting more storms over the next couple of days. Not as intense as what we saw over the last couple of days, but we could still see some rain, some snow and wind in the Southern California area.

So authorities still telling people to be very careful, especially since we are not used to this type of weather in this area.

Camila Bernal, CNN, Lebec, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: The Environmental Protection Agency has approved resuming shipments of contaminated waste out of East Palestine, Ohio, where a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed earlier this month.

It comes as House Republicans plan to investigate the derailment and what they describe as a flawed response by the Biden administration. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Biden is defending his administration's response to a train wreck in East Palestine that left toxic chemicals seeping into water, air, and soil, and saying that administration officials and federal teams are on the ground, helping residents navigate the aftermath of this wreck, especially as concerns grow over long-term health of these residents and for those who are already saying that they feel sick.

Now, federal teams are on the ground going door to door to inform residents of how to access free health assessments, as well as get testing for their drinking wells or drinking water.

But the administration has come under fierce criticism for their response and whether they acted quickly enough after this wreck occurred.

Now Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg responded to that and said that President Biden takes this as a top priority.

PETE BUTTIGIEG, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: The president's 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's something that has been really well-coordinated.

[00:50:08]

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 to hold Norfolk Southern accountable and to make sure that we do more to prevent all derailments.

ALVAREZ: Now, President Biden says that his officials were on the ground two hours after the wreck and that they have been working and are engaged with local and state officials. As far as whether he's going to visit, there are no plans as of yet.

Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: A school in Northern Florida has released video of the moment a student brutally attacked a school employee last week, allegedly over a handheld video game. So far, the school and the employee's husband haven't commented on her condition.

CNN's Isabel Rosales has more on how it all unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The video is very difficult to watch. In it, we see a student that's 6'6", approximately 270 pounds, just brutally attacking his teacher's aide, a para-professional.

According to the arrest records, that student, a 17-year-old, told the school resource deputy the reason he went after her was because he was upset that she allegedly took away his Nintendo Switch game. I'm going to show you this video, but first a warning. It is

disturbing.

This happened on Tuesday in Flagler County. That's just South of St. Augustine, North of Daytona Beach, Matanzas High School.

In it, we see this 17-year-old student running toward that school employee in the black and then knocking her to the ground. According to the arrest records, that's five to six feet he knocked her away.

And then she appears to be motionless, unconscious, as he starts to punch and kick at her repeatedly.

Eventually, onlookers assess the situation and see that this is a big problem and start to pull him away. Those are students and employees of the school pulling him away.

And even as they do that, he is still trying to kick and punch at this school employee, who's later taken to a hospital.

Listen to what the sheriff of Flagler County, Rick Staly, had to say to our affiliate, WFTV (ph) News.

SHERIFF RICK STALY, FLAGLER COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: This could have been a 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.

ROSALES: And this incident really just highlights a growing problem for educators, and that is the rise of threats of violence directed their way, oftentimes by students inside of school grounds.

We have a study by the American Psychological Association conducted during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. It surveyed over 15,000 educators. And it found that one-third of teachers reported being victimized. So these are verbal threats and violence from students.

And it turns out that it's support staff. So things like school resource officers, aides like we've seen in this instance, and bus drivers. They are the most likely to report physical aggression with, in that case, 99 percent of the aggressors actually being students.

The survey also found that up to 34 percent of educators reported interest in either quitting or transferring schools because of the school climate or school safety issues.

Now, in this case, this teen was arrested. He faces a serious felony, aggravated battery with bodily harm. He has since been turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice.

Isabel Rosales, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Arizona and federal authorities are reporting a major drug bust that took three years to pull off. They seized more than 4.5 million fentanyl pills and 3,100 pounds of methamphetamine, along with large amounts of heroin and cocaine. The street value, an estimated $13 million.

At least 150 people have been charged in the investigation so far.

Now, the United States warning China that if it provides Russia with lethal aid to use in Ukraine, it would, quote, "come at real cost to Beijing."

The U.S. national security adviser told CNN that Washington has laid out the stakes during diplomatic talks with Chinese officials, and he said their leaders are likely taking that into account as they make their decision.

Russia's invasion has affected millions of Ukrainians, of course, forcing many to flee the country and displacing others within its borders.

But pets and animals have also been left homeless. One Ukrainian girl doing her best to make sure they don't go hungry.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES (voice-over): In the wreckage of this bombed-out apartment block in Borodyanka, there are signs of the lives once lived here. Exposed rooms where families once gathered before Russian bombs reduced their homes to rubble.

Most of the people have long since gone, but 11-year-old Veronika says she regularly returns to her former neighborhood.

VERONIKA KRASEVYCH, FEEDS STRAY CATS NEAR FORMER HOME (through translator): Our apartment was over there on the ninth floor.

HOLMES (voice-over): Veronika says she can still see the shell of her former home, but that's not why she comes back.

KRASEVYCH (through translator): I used to come here to search for my cat. I wanted to feed it, and I saw all the other cats here. I felt sorry for them, and now I come here regularly to feed them.

HOLMES (voice-over): The strays purr a welcome as she doles out food in what used to be a playground. Veronika says she did eventually find her cat, but the time outside had changed him, and he now prefers the wild life.

So instead of one pet, she takes care of him and many other cats in the area who, like humans, have learned to adapt to life during war.

Veronika's mother came with her on this feeding session. Looking up at her old flat, she chokes back emotion, thinking how much has changed in just a year.

With a pat on the head, they say goodbye to one of the regulars. Veronika says she'd like to take the cats with her, but for now, this arrangement, survivors helping survivors, will have to do. (END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right. I'm Michael Holmes. Thanks for spending part of your day with me. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram, @HolmesCNN. More CNN NEWSROOM with my colleague, Laila Harrak, coming up right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)