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Extreme Weather in Central United States; Russia Advancing Further in Bakhmut; EPA to Ship Toxic Waste in Ohio Facilities; The GOP Divided; Migrant Shipwreck Kills 59 Off the Coast of Italy. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired February 27, 2023 - 02:00   ET

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

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching "CNN Newsroom" and I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead, powerful storms sweeping across parts of the U.S. with reports of multiple tornadoes, large hail, and damaging wind. We will speak to a professional storm chaser.

And the U.S. is warning China it could face real cost if it provides lethal aid to Russia for the war on Ukraine.

Plus, the ex-husband and in-laws are being charged with murder in the gruesome killing of Hong Kong model and influencer Abby Choi. We will have a live report with the very latest.

Good to have you with us. And we begin this hour with a dangerous storm system battering the central U.S. right now, bringing tornadoes, damaging winds, and hail to parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. At least two tornadoes have been confirmed so far in Oklahoma. There are reports of widespread damage, downed power lines, and debris blocking roads in the city of Norman, home to Oklahoma's largest university.

Tens of thousands of people statewide are without power. The system is so strong a wind gust of 114 miles per hour is reported in northern Texas in the town of Memphis. More than 100 storms have now been reported across the Southern Plains. And more than 65 million people are under high wind alerts.

On the phone now, Zachary Hall, a professional storm chaser who has been following the storms across Oklahoma since Sunday afternoon. Zachary, hope you can hear me. Thank you so much for joining us. So, what have you been seeing in the last few hours?

ZACHARY HALL, PROFESSIONAL STORM CHASER (via telephone): Thank you for having me. Yeah, it's been pretty crazy. We've been on the roads since about noon today. We have currently tracked severe weather from the Texas panhandle back through the state of Oklahoma and we've made it back to western Arkansas. Now, we are on another tornado warning, it's like never ending today.

CHURCH: So, what happens in these instances? Are you chasing these tornadoes?

HALL: Yes. We do our best to track the severe weather. We have the ability to use social media outlets like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. We work with our local national weather service outlets to provide warning information, you know, what we're seeing out in the field. And while it is entertainment value in its own personal community (ph) purposes, it's also used to help warn the public of incoming severe weather.

CHURCH: Yeah, and that is the important part of this of course as we have our viewers tuning in to get more information on this. And you would have chased many tornadoes in the past. What is unusual about this situation? Anything, and the timing of this, those powerful storms and multiple tornadoes and hail coming at this time?

HALL: Yeah, you know, Oklahoma as far as I know, it does not have a tornado since February of 2011, so, we are talking over 10 years. So, that in its own self is pretty rare. February can have its moments for severe weather, but not like this usually. This is a pretty rare historic event, especially from the widespread nature of multiple states.

CHURCH: And are you able to explain what's behind this particular weather system, why we are seeing this at this time?

HALL: Well, it starts, first of all, the upper levels associated with this system, it's a very strong upper-level storm system. It's so strong that the features here on the ground level where we live, it can overcome those things. The fact that we are in February and it's not super-hot, you know, might be seen in the spring, and it can almost override those things to create the havoc that we've experienced today.

It's a rare event, something that we may only see five 1o 10 years or so. That's why, you know, like I reference earlier, Oklahoma hasn't seen a tornado in over 10 years in the month of February, speaking of these systems don't come around often.

CHURCH: Right. And talk to us about just how prepared many of the people in the path of these storms and of course these tornadoes, that they're so unpredictable it's difficult to know if they're coming your way.

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But talk to us about how prepared these people are to deal with this sort of extreme weather.

HALL: Well, I can't speak for everyone. I am a resident of the southern U.S. I live in Arkansas. But I can tell you that our national weather service outlets do a wonderful job of prepping (ph) the public of things like this. And once that information is transmitted to the public, it's your job as a citizen to take that information and digest and prepare accordingly. But I would like to think that people do a pretty good job when it comes to preparing for stuff like this. CHURCH: Right. So important and, of course, you know, we talk about

the unpredictability particularly of tornadoes. It's a terrifying thought to think of being in the path of the strength of that sort of storm system. Zachary Hall, thank you so much for joining us and do take care out there.

Well, the threat of extreme weather is not over yet. On the U.S. West Coast, a winter storm dumped 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 into the area in the hours ahead. CNN's Camila Bernal has more.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The sun is finally out in southern California, but we are still left with a lot of snow. In this area, one to two feet of snow. In higher elevation areas, more than six 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 Five 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 RV's 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.

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UNKNOWN: I'm actually traveling from Bakersfield, and I can't get to work right now because of the snow. The five is closed going towards Bakersfield. So, I haven't been able to get back in the road 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.

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BERNAL: And it's still not over. We are 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. CHURCH: On the front lines in eastern Ukraine, fierce and relentless

fighting is raging in and around the city of Bakhmut. That's where Russian forces are now eyeing further advances as they edged towards the center of the city from three sides. This video posted on social media shows some of the damage left by the ongoing battle.

It's unclear how many Ukrainian forces are still inside the city. But officials say troops are launching counterattacks to try to preserve their access to Bakhmut from the west.

The United States is warning China that if it provides Russia with lethal aid to use in Ukraine, it would, quote, "come at real cost to Beijing." This after Washington said it was confident China is considering sending drones and ammunition to Moscow.

So, CNN's Clare Sebastian is following developments for us. She joins us now live from London. Clare, U.S officials say that China is considering sending these weapons and ammunition to Russia. It's not decided yet and China denies, but what more are you learning about this?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, so the U.S. has warned of consequences, Rosemary. We don't exactly know what those consequences are but they have, according to Jake Sullivan, the National Security Adviser, been communicated very clearly and specifically including in that detailed conversation that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had with China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, in Munich just over a week ago.

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The U.S. is releasing this intelligence talking publicly about this, China's intent as you say, not of any concrete evidence, or of any decision having been taken or any action having been taken because they want to deter China, and they are keeping the pressure up on this. Take a listen to the CIA director Bill Burns talking about this on Sunday.

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WILLIAM BURNS, CIA DIRECTOR: Well, 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 have thought it important to make very clear what the consequences of that would be.

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SEBASTIAN: So, again, we don't know what those consequences would be. Jake Sullivan has described China's position as awkward in all this. They are continuing to sort of maintain a level of neutrality, abstaining for example from a U.N. vote last week calling for an end to the war in Ukraine.

But also presenting their own peace plan, really trying to make a virtue of that neutrality suggesting that they could mediate talks between Russia and Ukraine while at the same time refusing to call this an invasion. The U.S. is clearly hoping that this deterrent will work. That's the threat to potentially against national ostracization will have more of an effect, for example, in China than it did on Iran, which was already isolated internationally and continues to provide Russia with drones because China, you know, its economy just opening up after COVID and potentially has a lot to lose so they continue to keep the pressure up diplomatically and by talking publicly about this, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Our thanks to Clare Sebastian joining us live from London. 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 is according to an updated classified intelligence report. But two sources tell CNN the department only has low confidence in the 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. A former U.S. Ambassador to China says, no matter what the reason, Chinese authorities should have sounded the alarm sooner.

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GARY LOCKE, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO CHINA: Whether it came from a lab or came from animals, is that the Chinese were very, very slow in alerting the world to it. It only came out from bits and pieces from scientists and doctors within China, and by then it was too late.

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CHURCH: Meanwhile, one U.S. House Democrat says, there is nothing earth shattering about the energy department's findings.

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REP. SETH MOULTON (D-MA): But I'm not entirely surprised. The Chinese have mishandled COVID at every step of the way by trying to sweep it under the rug, 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 pandemic by the Chinese Communist Party.

So, for it to come out, that 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 it surprising at all.

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CHURCH: But some Republican lawmakers feel the report is enough to demand accountability from Beijing. Michael McCaul, the Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee says, quote, "It is critical the administration also begin to work immediately with our partners and allies around the world to both hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable, and to put in place updated international regulations to ensure something like this cannot happen again. The U.S. 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 described as a flawed response by the Biden administration. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has more.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHTIE HOUSE REPORTER: 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 safe.

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 your drinking wells or drinking water.

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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.

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PETE BUTTIEGIEG, U.S. TRASPORTATION 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's something that has been really well coordinated.

Our department comes in really as 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 we do more to prevent all derailments.

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

CHURCH: And I want to bring in Ron Brownstein. He is CNN senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic." And Ron joins me live from Los Angeles. Good to see. Good to have you with us.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Thanks for having me, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, what are the political ramifications of the Biden administration's handling of the Ohio train derailment with some Republicans calling the response fluid.

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah. Look, I mean, when you're president, you know, everything that happens on your watch lands on your desk. And the people there are hurting and scared and worried. And almost inevitably, the administration is going to face questions about whether it acted quickly or comprehensively enough.

Bu the broader Republican argument that Biden is downplaying this because he's not interested in a blue-collar rural community that is deep in Trump country. I think Donald Trump won over 70 percent of that county. I think that is a much harder case to make. Biden has made clear, I think. If you're looking at pure politics, he puts no higher priority on anything than improving the Democratic position among white working -- among working class voters of all races.

And this kind of ginned up outrage that he went to Ukraine instead of Ohio really seems to be off point. I mean, there -- as I say, there's a legitimate issue about whether the response have been was fast and comprehensive enough. But the idea that this is being downplayed or given less priority because it's a Republican-leaning community seems to be a much harder case to make.

CHURCH: And Ron, on the issue of Ukraine, President Biden has been very clear about his support for Ukraine and its president, as Russia continues to wage war on that nation. But many Republicans disagree with that continued support. How politically divisive could this issue prove to be? Especially as we count down to the 2024 presidential election?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, the first place, Rosemary, you see this play out is in the Republican presidential primary itself. I think at the moment, the way this issue is evolving, it's evolving in a way that is going to put more pressure inside the Republican coalition that necessarily put pressure on Biden.

I think the Biden administration feels very comfortable that among voters, that they realistically have chance of winning in the first place. That there is still broad support for maintaining a robust U.S. commitment to Ukraine and to standing up to Putin. I think what's happening in the first instance is going to be this division between Mitch McConnell, Nikki Haley, Mike Pence on the one hand who are treating this as almost, you know, a kind of extension of a Reagan view that we have to stand up to Russia.

And then the forces on the other side like Marjorie Taylor Greene, many of the Fox hosts, and even Ron DeSantis has been pulled in this direction in his comments, that are being kind of pulled toward that Trump position of skepticism, of too much engagement with Ukraine. And then, look, the polling shows that among Republican voters, this kind of feedback loop is already operating where you see more leaders in the party questioning it and therefore more voters in the party saying in polls, they're not sure they should be doing this, and that becomes the justification for more leaders to pull away.

So, there is going to be, I think, a battle royal in the Republican Party first before they decide whether it's going to be confrontation with Biden. Probably, by the way, the contrast will be the House will move in a more skeptical position. I think the Senate Republicans will stay more supportive.

CHURCH: And meantime, Ron, former Vice President Mike Pence and other notable GOP names skipping this week's Conservative Political Action Conference. What does that signal to you and what is expected to come out of this year's CPAC nation (ph)?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I mean, you know, the person who runs the conference is under -- facing serious accusations from another Republican volunteer, in Georgia. And so, it provides a reason to stay away.

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I mean, CPAC, you know, has become less of a reflection of any mainstream conservative thought than I think of the -- furthest vanguard in the right. And certainly, it's been a very pro Trump organization during these years. It will be interesting to see how much interest there is in Ron DeSantis there. But I think that for these candidates, you know, it's not, again, it's no longer a barometer, kind of the broad spectrum of Republicans will be voting in the primary.

And it's easier to skip it than it might have been in the past. What's intriguing is this is part of the broader pattern that we are seeing of Republican, potential Republican '24 candidates, really being in no rush, Rosemary, to get into this race. It almost feels as if all of these -- the potential candidates are not looking to spend one more day than they have to as an officially declared candidate in the crosshairs of Donald Trump.

CHURCH: Yeah. We're watching and waiting, aren't we? Ron Brownstein, thank you so much for joining us. Always enjoy your analysis. Appreciate it. Still to come, tragedy at sea as migrants try to find a better life. We will go live to Italy where dozens have perished so close to shore.

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CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. Officials say 59 migrants are dead after a wooden ship broke apart off the southeastern coast of Italy. It is a heartbreaking tragedy. Some of the victims, children. And many of the migrants are fleeing poverty, violence and war. But they fell victim to human traffickers. Our Barbie Nadeau joins us now live from Rome. So, Barbie, what more are you learning about this tragic story?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, I think it's really important to note that this is one of many ships. Because it crashed on shore that we know about it, so many of these migrant vessels go down in the Mediterranean without anybody even knowing about them.

What happened in this particular case, so, it's an unusual type of migration accident. A shipwreck. Because a lot of the boats generally come from the North African Coast, from Libya. This left Turkey, we understand, about four days ago. And it was carrying migrants from Afghanistan, from Iran, from Pakistan.

We're generally seeing a lot of the migrants are coming and refugees that are coming come from African nations. It broke apart about 12 miles offshore. It hit rocks. A lot of the people didn't know how to swim. A lot of bodies washed up on the shore along with the remnants of the boat. And we heard from the regional head of Calabria. Let's hear what he had to say about the tragedy.

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ROBERTO OCCHIUTO, CALABRIA REGION PRESIDENT (through translation): It is a day of grief for Calabria. This is a struggle that falls into a general indifference. Calabria is a region that welcomes people. Last year, we welcomed 18,000 migrants. But we can't be abandoned by Europe. This type of tragedy should have been avoided the day before and not lived how we are living it today and how we will live it tomorrow.

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NADEAU: And you know, Rosemary, this is also a big test for the government of Giorgia Meloni, the far-right leaning government that just came into power in October on an anti-immigration stance. Now, she's made several comments talking about the tragedy of just blaming the human traffickers about this.

But a lot of people are going to wonder if there -- you know, she has closed down most of the NGO rescue ships for example. There can be -- face fines and sequester right now if they go out and rescue migrants. A lot of people are questioning if this tragedy could have been averted if had there been someone out there to help save these migrants. Rosemary?

CHURCH: It is so shocking that so close to shore and no one was there to help them. Barbie Nadeau, joining us live from Rome. Many thanks.

And you're watching "CNN Newsroom." After the break, we will tell you about the arrests and murder charges in the gruesome killing of Hong Kong model and influencer, Abby Choi. A live report, straight ahead.

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CHURCH: The ex-husband of Hong Kong model Abby Choi appeared in court Monday in connection with her death along with members of his family. That's according to public broadcaster RTHK. Three of them have been charged with murder.

And Beijing bureau chief Steven Jiang joins us now live with the details. So, Steve, what more are you learning about this shocking story?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, Rosemary. Shocking and very gruesome story because Abby Choi was not only killed but also dismembered on Sunday. investigators found a skull, several ribs and hair, believed to be -- believed to be her remains in a large stainless steel soup pot. And that's after they found some other parts of her body Friday in a rental unit in a northern suburb of Hong Kong where they found some body parts but also a meat slicer and electric saw as well as some clothing.

And as of now, some parts for about including the torso remain missing which is why at one point the police there are deployed, more than 100 personnel including divers in search of her remains. But what we do know right now as you mentioned is her ex-husband Alex Kwong, as well as his older brother and father had been charged with murder while the ex-husband's mother has been charged with obstruction of justice.

Now the ex-husband was actually arrested on Saturday at a ferry pier in one of Hong Kong's Islands while he was trying to flee according to the authorities. Now, despite a lot of these gruesome details, the biggest question remains a mystery. That is why. There has been some speculation in local media but the authorities have not confirmed anything. What we do know as you mentioned is Abby Choi was a model of -- quite a bit of international exposure being photographed at fashion shows and with luxury brands from London to Paris to Shanghai.

And she was also very actually active on social media with more than 100,000 followers on Instagram. But all of this of course, came to a screeching halt when she was reported missing last Wednesday before the gruesome discoveries just a few days later in a city of more than seven million residents. But for the most part consider it to be very safe for people of all ages, including young women.

That's why a lot of people there and indeed across China are still trying to process the news. What's happening now of course as Abby Choi left behind two children with the ex-husband who is now awaiting trial of her very gruesome murder. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Just simply horrifying. Steven Jiang joining us live from Beijing. Many thanks.

And still to come. Nigeria's election was on Saturday, but some voters are furious that they weren't able to cast their ballot. We will have a live report from Lagos.

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CHURCH: Votes are still being counted from Saturday's election in Nigeria. But anger is growing after officials didn't arrive at some polling locations. That means, some would-be voters who waited for hours may have lost their chance to pick the country's next president. Some voters went to a polling place to protest even as others were able to vote on Sunday, the day after the election.

And for more on this story, we want to go to CNN's Stephanie Busari. She joins us live from Lagos. So, Stephanie, what is the latest on the fallout from these elections. And of course, anger from some voters unable to cast ballots?

STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN SENIOR AFRICA EDITOR: Good morning, Rosemary. Results are slowly trickling in. And we've had one state counted so far. And later this morning, the Electoral Commissioner group known as INEC here will be having a meeting to announce more results. But there is some controversy amid that. As you say there's a lot of anger. Many people are questioning the integrity of the voting because the INEC had announced that they had a flagship technology that would cut out electoral fraud, where results will be transmitted in real time to avoid any issues of manipulation or rigging.

However, they've now coming out to say that that technology has had glitches and results were not actually able to be uploaded in real time. Now, INEC has also come under a lot of criticism from observers that we've spoken to about the way that the election itself has been conducted. As you mentioned in your introduction, many polling units did not vote. The picture that's emerging is of widespread delay polling units where people -- election officials just did not turn up.

And many vote -- voters, thousands of voters that picture that number is unclear how many did not vote. I spoke to one candidate this morning. He told me that in his constituency, there's at least 30 polling units that did not get to vote on Saturday. Now, as you can imagine, that has led to a lot of anger. Many people, particularly young people who voted many of them for the first time are saying that their votes are being stolen.

And that is an accusation that they are leveling at INEC and other parties here in Lagos where they accuse people of disrupting their votes. We went along to one polling unit on Saturday, which was attacked by people who try to snatch the ballots, who beat voters up. And, you know, Lagos is a stronghold of the APC ruling party candidate and we've reached out to them, put some comments on that to find out what their reaction is to these accusations that across this state many Nigerians were not able to cast their votes because they were disrupted by people who were intent on snatching their ballots.

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CHURCH: So frustrating for those people who won't get an opportunity to vote for their next president. Stephanie Busari joining us live from Lagos. Many thanks.

U.S. First Lady Jill Biden was in Kenya on Sunday wrapping up a trip to the region as she tried to raise awareness about a severe drought in the Horn of Africa. And she told reporters she heard from people whose livestock were dying due to the drought and whose children were malnourished. Biden pushed for other countries to step up their aid to the region, saying the U.S. was providing 70 percent of the budget.

She also acknowledged the strains on available aid due to the war in Ukraine and the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

And thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. For our international viewers, World Sport is coming up next. And for our viewers in North America, I will be back with more news in just a moment. Do stay with us.

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