Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

U.S. Intel Community Cannot Link "Havana Syndrome" To Foreign Adversary; TikTok To Set One-Hour Daily Screen Time Limit For Users Under 18; Fierce Fighting For Bakhmut As Ukraine Tries To Defend City; UGA Football Star Now Faces Charges In Crash That Killed Teammate, Staffer; Scientists Sound Alarm As Antarctic Sea Ice Hits Record Low Levels. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired March 01, 2023 - 14:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:34:04]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: Images of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine in Salem, Ohio, where community members are packing boxes of supplies for community-wide crisis relief.

The governor was also back in East Palestine today getting another firsthand look at the site of the massive train derailment that triggered the release of hazardous chemicals last month.

The visit comes as Ohio lawmakers in Washington introduce a bipartisan bill aimed at preventing future train disasters. It includes requiring rail carriers to disclose what they're transporting ahead of time and improves how wheel bearings are monitored.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Lawmakers also announced a hearing with the head of Norfolk Southern. That's the company that owned the trail that crashed last month. The head of that company will appear before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. That's happening next Thursday.

A new U.S. intelligence report says it's unlikely the mysterious illness known as Havana Syndrome is caused by a foreign adversary.

[14:34:59]

Officials familiar with the findings tell CNN they simply don't support the theory that the strange health incidents resulted from some sort of weapon deployed by a hostile government.

GOLODRYGA: CNN's Kylie Atwood is at the State Department with the latest.

Kylie, this is a significant development, given they've been grappling with this mysterious issue and ailments that people have been suffering for years.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. This is after two years of intensive work by the intelligence community looking at the question of who or what caused these mysterious incidents now known as Havana Syndrome.

And what the Intelligence Community assessment finds is that they weren't able to link any of these cases to a foreign adversary.

That is why they are coming to the conclusion that it's unlikely that a foreign adversary was involved in these Havana Syndrome incidents that we have seen affect U.S. diplomats and U.S. spies around the globe, dating back to 2016 when there was that cluster of incidents in Havana, Cuba.

It's important to note that they're also saying there's no credible evidence that a foreign adversary has a weapon or a collection device that would be capable of carrying out these widespread incidents.

That's really important here because there has been kind of the belief that there's been some foreign adversary who has this weapon that is targeting U.S. officials. And the finding now is that that isn't the case.

Now, what we are hearing very definitively from the director of the National Intelligence Community, from the director of the CIA is this finding doesn't undermine the experiences that these diplomats and these spies had.

They really did have real experiences, but it's just a plethora of factors that led to these experiences.

Such as environmental factors or health factors or social factors, such as us reporting on these incidents, that led to these cases being reported and these cases being experienced.

I think it's important to note, though, that some of the folks who were victims of this are a bit frustrated today.

Because they're saying, if it's not a foreign adversary, but I was told by a professional, a medical professional that I have a diagnosed traumatic brain injury, then what did cause this?

It was interesting to hear from U.S. officials who talked about the breadth of their investigation here.

They talked about looking at incidents and looking at what was happening around those incidents, what was happening in the walls, the cars that were passing.

And finding things they didn't expect to find, such as HVAC systems that weren't working, or such as mice that were connected to computers that were creating some discrepancies in the area.

So they did not find, again, that a foreign adversary was linked to this. And they're saying essentially there's not one reason for these incidents.

And of course, there are questions about the future of this investigation with Admiral Haines saying that "this work will and must endure." But we're still waiting for specifics on what that looks like going

forward.

BLACKWELL: Plenty of questions left to answer.

Kylie Atwood, for us there, thanks so much.

TikTok announced it will set a daily screen time limit for users under 18. This is one of the most aggressive moves made yet by the platform.

GOLODRYGA: CNN tech reporter, Brian Fung, is here with the details.

Brian, it appears, every day we're talking about TikTok in some sort of capacity. Tell us about this news from the company?

BRIAN FUNG, CNN TECH REPORTER: Victor and Bianna, I would describe this as more of a soft limit than a hard limit.

Here is how it works. The platform is saying that after 60 minutes of screen time, teenagers using TikTok will be presented with a notification telling them, hey, you've been on for an hour.

This notification can be dismissed by entering in a pass code. It can even be disabled entirely within the settings of the app. So teenagers using the app can opt out of this feature.

Those that do, if they use the app for more than 100 minutes, the app will tell them, hey, you may want to consider setting a daily screen time limit for yourself as a custom feature.

Now, all of this is aimed at trying to establish some friction in the platform, trying to get people to use TikTok by thinking twice sometimes if they're using it for a long time.

The thought is, by making this the default setting, many users will simply go along with it, and maybe that will result in some reductions in screen time and potentially better mental health.

The question is whether or not all of that is actually going to work or do anything. I think the jury is still very much out on that -- Guys?

GOLODRYGA: Appears the jury is out as to how much longer Americans will have access to TikTok, too, I mean, if Congress has its way.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: They're really questioning that.

All right, Brian Fung, thank you.

[14:39:49]

BLACKWELL: In Ukraine right now, there is a fierce battle over the city of Bakhmut. President Zelenskyy says defending it is currently the country's biggest challenge. But so far, there are no plans to retreat. We are live from Ukraine, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: There is fierce fighting happening right now across the city of Bakhmut in southeastern Ukraine. At least 48 children are among the thousands still trapped.

Officials say they're urging everyone to get out, but some people are in areas that are no longer accessible.

GOLODRYGA: Russia's heavy shelling led one Ukrainian official to say they are just breaking this city into molecules.

CNN's Alex Marquardt is in eastern Ukraine.

Alex, what is the current situation in Bakhmut?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Bianna and Victor. Well, it's not looking good for the Ukrainian forces. That city is surrounded on three sides by Russian forces as they continue to attack in and around the city.

[14:45:08]

We just got a battlefield update from the commander of the 28th Brigade, which has been fighting in that city for quite some time.

They say they've been repelling attacks all day long, and particularly on the western side of the city. So it's clear that the Russian forces are trying to encircle it.

This commander saying that it's increasingly difficult to hold the city and that they are paying a very heavy price in doing so.

No decision, he says, has been made yet by the command on whether or not to pull out of the city. That would be seen as a strategic withdrawal to save some of the fighters who have been fighting there so valiantly for quite some time.

The Russian forces have been pressing forward with mainly mercenaries and convicts from Wagner. We understand, from a military spokesman, that it is now the more experienced fighters from Wagner that are making this push.

And they're doing so with every kind of weaponry imaginable. We've seen airstrikes from the Russians, drone strikes, artillery. The fighting is in close quarters, street to street with small arms. It's extremely intense.

According to President Zelenskyy, this is the fiercest fighting in the country so far.

So, Victor and Bianna, what happens next? Well, Ukraine needs to make a decision whether it's worth holding onto the city of Bakhmut.

If Russia were to take it, it would be as a victory because they've been fighting for it for so long. They've suffered enormous losses as have the Ukrainians.

So there's a chance, even if they were to take it -- Ukraine, of course, is still holding its ground -- but it would be seen more as a symbolic victory rather than actually changing the shape of the battlefield -- Guys?

BLACKWELL: Alex Marquardt, for us there in eastern Ukraine, thank you so much.

GOLODRYGA: He's a star UGA football player and a potential topic in the NFL draft. But now he's facing charges in connection to the fatal crash that killed his teammate and team staffer. Details up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:51:38]

GOLODRYGA: New developments in that tragic car crash in January that killed a University of Georgia football player and staff member.

Police say star defensive lineman, Jalen Carter, is now being charged with reckless driving and racing related to that accident that killed his teammate, Devin Willock, and university staffer, Chandler LeCroy, on the night of their championship parade.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Nick Valencia is on this story.

Nick, what do you know?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Bianna, this is a bombshell revelation. And it's almost certain to an impact on Jalen Carter's draft status and beyond.

This crash at Athens that Clark County police are still investigating killed his former teammate, Devin Willock, as well as team staffer, Chandler LeCroy.

And what their investigation found is both Carter and LeCroy was effectively racing one another. Police say they were driving in a manner consistent with racing when they left the downtown Athens about 2:30 in the morning on the night of the crash.

Their investigation found that alcohol, reckless driving and racing were all significant contributing factors to that fatal crash.

And this is what they said in part of their statement they released earlier this morning.

"The evidence demonstrated that both vehicles switched between lanes, drove in the center turn lane, drove in opposite lines of travel, overtook other motorists and drove at high rates of speed in an apparent attempt to outdistance each other."

In fact, the police investigation found that LeCroy, that teen staffer who was driving a team vehicle, her car reached speeds of 104 miles per hour prior to the crash. We did reach out to Jalen Carter, representatives for him, including

his agent and mother. They each declined to comment, but did say that he is at the NFL combine where it will not participate.

But just a short time ago, Jalen Carter did release a statement on his social media that said, in part:

"It is my intention to return to Athens to answer the misdemeanor charges against me and to make certain that the complete and accurate truth is presented. There's no question in my mind that when all of the facts are known, that I will be fully exonerated of any criminal wrongdoing."

At last check, Carter is still not yet in police custody -- Victor, Bianna?

GOLODRYGA: All right, Nick Valencia, thank you.

[14:53:37]

BLACKWELL: The FAA is investigating another close call involving a commercial airliner on a U.S. runway. This one's in Boston. Two planes came within 600 feet of one another. Details, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:58:16]

BLACKWELL: Scientists are out with a new warning after some just- released data shows Arctic sea ice has reached record-low levels for the second year in a row.

GOLODRYGA: CNN chief climate correspondent, Bill Weir, is at the southern tip of Antarctica -- of Argentina, excuse me, with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Bianna, when it comes to layovers, I've gone through a few in my life.

Look at where we are here? The tip of Patagonia. We're near Argentina, right on the Chilean border. A gorgeous neighborhood. We're actually seeing the gentrification of Terra del Fuego. Never thought I would see that in my lifetime.

But we're here in route to Antarctica. This is where you catch a ship around those mountains, which is the Chilean Natural Park in zero five days.

I'm here to hang out with whale scientists. But it was the headlines that were made about Antarctica that has caught so attention these days.

This is a new record set when it comes to sea ice extent at the summer. They peak, summer, about February 21st down here. And that's usually when the sea ice has drawn back the farthest. It grows in the winters, in September, shrinks in the summers.

Last year, it set a record when it got down to around 700,000 square miles. That's a 90 percent drop from a high back in 2014. And now, this new record shattered that.

So it's an alarming trend that shows the vulnerability of the South Pole to a melt that would increase sea level rise from Miami and New Orleans to Shanghai, and upset so many weather patterns, ecological systems.

There's so much to learn. Scientists aren't sure how much is attributable to man-made climate change, how much of it is a longer pattern.

[14:59:52]

Because the South Pole has been yo-yoing, with the sea ice growing and shrinking, even as the North Pole has been melting at an alarming rate.

But now here's another red flag.