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CNN International: FBI Arrests Man for Alleged Explosives in Suitcase; Winter Storms Moving East Across Southwestern States; White House Approves Potential $619 Million Arms Sale to Taiwan; Defense Set to Deliver Closing Arguments in Alex Murdaugh Trial; Growing Anger Over Crash in Greece that Killed 46 People. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired March 02, 2023 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Max Foster in London. Bianca off for the rest of the week. But just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have an individual who tried to get a bag on a plane and may have tried to just put the bag in the plane without actually traveling.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anything explosive or flammable in the luggage can be extremely dangerous in the cargo hold and could bring down the plane.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN meteorologist are monitoring a robust severe weather outbreak is possible across the Deep South today that could include strong tornadoes, damaging winds and large hail which are all on the docket.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone who thought they were close to him, everyone who thought they knew who he was, he has fooled them all for his own storm when would mean consequences for Maggie and Paul.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.

FOSTER: It is Thursday, March 2, 9:00 a.m. here in London, 4:00 a.m. in Pennsylvania where a man is now in federal custody after he allegedly tried to bring explosives on a flight to Florida. He's expected to make his first court appearance later today. Authorities say the 40-year-old Mark Muffley was arrested at his home on Monday night after his luggage triggered an alarm at a security checkpoint earlier in the day. According to court documents Muffley was seen leaving the airport after he had been paged by security. A section of the airport was temporarily evacuated as a precaution. More now from CNN's Evan Perez. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: According to the FBI, he checked the bag and in the routine screening that was happening by the TSA, they found explosives in this checked bag. According to the FBI this is what they found. They found powder that was in a plastic wrap, they found fuses, the powder appears to be from commercial grade fireworks, and so the question is, you know, what was he doing with this. The airport tried to page him while he was still at the airport. He left and he was later arrested later that evening on Monday by the FBI.

Now the court documents that were released today by the U.S. attorney in Philadelphia don't mention any indication of extremism or his ties to terrorist groups or anything like that. This is something obviously the FBI was focused on over the last couple of days. Nothing like that appears to have emerged in that investigation. This is a very serious thing obviously. If you read the court documents, the FBI says that this powder that was included in this compound was susceptible to ignite from heat and friction and pose a significant risk to the aircraft and passengers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: A Spirit airlines plane headed from Dulles to Orlando was diverted to Jacksonville, Florida after a crew spotted a battery on fire in an overhead bin. A passenger says it apparently came from a battery pack that was charging a cellphone. Although the cabin quickly filled with smoke. The crew put out the fire in-flight and firefighters assessed the situation once the plane landed. Federal authorities are investigating.

And severe turbulence forced a Lufthansa flight headed from Texas to Germany to be diverted to Dulles Airport in Virginia. The airline says seven people were injured on Wednesday when the flight encountered clear air turbulence which can occur without any warning. A passenger who shot this video says it felt like a roller coaster. There were two sudden drops, plates and glass were flying across the cabin and people were screaming. The injured passengers were treated on board and taken to hospitals once the plane landed.

Now a pretty rough week for the U.S. as severe weather looms across the country. More than 40 storms have been reported in the U.S. southeast in just the last few hours. And more than 1 million people in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee are under tornado watches right now.

Parts of the West -- the West Coast are trying to thaw out from a massive snowstorm meanwhile. That's moving east.

[04:05:00]

Areas in California have seen more than 100 inches of snow in the last week prompting the governor to declare a state of emergency in 13 counties including San Bernardino County.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF DAN MUNSEY, SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: That people have food, shelter, water and heat and they're in a structure is in good condition, they going to need to weather this storm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well many people have been trapped in their homes for days and the worst part is that snow -- more snow is now on the way. Some are appealing for help online.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These are the trails we've created just to get out of the house down to the street. And it seems like every time we've shoveled, it comes right back.

MICHELLE CALKINS, SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY RESIDENT: We're not a city. We are unincorporated and we need help. People are trapped in their homes. They cannot get medicine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: There's so much snow that you can see it from space. These are pictures from NASA showing a satellite view before and after the snowfall. Incredible.

CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam has more on the storms developing across the U.S.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Max, it's off to the races but unfortunately, it's for all the wrong reasons. We have already doubled over two times our average number of tornadoes we would see to date. 218 tornadoes since the start of the year and we continue to add to that number. On the overnight as a strong line of storms moves across the Tennessee River Valley. But it's really later today that we're more concerned with a more robust severe weather outbreak across eastern Texas, portions of Louisiana and southern Arkansas.

We have a level 4 or 5 from the Storm Prediction Center. This is direct wording from the SPC, tornadoes some of which could be strong, widespread damaging winds and large hail possible within these regions. So, let's break it down for you. Focus on the chances of tornadoes.

You see that hatched area we've kind of indicated? Well that's the greatest probability of a strong tornado. But right here where that shading of red is located, if I was to draw a dot near let's say Texarkana or just east of Dallas, there is a 15 percent likelihood of a tornado occurring within a 25 mile radius of that dot.

Now talking about severe wind potential, this is the greatest area of severe wind, we could see winds in excess of a category 1 Atlantic hurricane, that is just incredible. Expect a very tumultuous day across the Deep South. And on top of the severe weather threat, there is a flash flood threat as well. In fact, 1 to 3 inches of rain, locally higher amounts, maybe up to a halve a foot. That's why the National Weather Service has hoisted flash flood watches.

This is the system, it's gathering energy from the Gulf of Mexico, but look what it does in the future. It moves to the northeast and it dumps a belt of snow across the Great Lakes all the way to northern New England. We could see over half a foot of snow for Chicago, my hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan. And look at that upstate New York into let's say New Hampshire as well as Maine, you could see over a foot of snow.

Speaking of multiple feet of snow, look what's happening out West. This is Yosemite National Park. Those are homes that have been completely buried. Palisades -- that's one of the ski resorts near Lake Tahoe -- has received over 7 feet of snow in the past three days.

Well guess what, there's already winter storm watches across the region for additional snow that's going to enter into the equation by the weekend. This is the current storm moving across the great basin and the four corners region could produce another half a foot to a foot of snow across the northern portions of Arizona and New Mexico. That departs and then our next storm system again starts to enter the West Coast by the end of Friday and into the day on Saturday. Max, just a very, very busy and active weather pattern to say the least. Back to you.

FOSTER: Certainly true. Thank you to Derek.

Now rail workers cleaning the site of last month's toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio say they are getting sick. A union letter details they're concerned saying many Norfolk Southern workers are experiencing migraines and nausea. Meanwhile, Ohio's governor toured the cleanup operation on Wednesday. He says tens of thousands of truckloads of waste will have to be removed from the area. State officials say nearly 2 million gallons of liquid waste and 700 tons of solid waste have already been moved.

America's top diplomat is in New Delhi right now for a meeting of foreign ministers from G-20 countries. Antony Blinken was greeted by his Indian counterparts there. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is also attending. The war in Ukraine expected to dominate the agenda along with tensions between the U.S. and China. India's Prime Minister in his opening speech called on nations to rise above their differences.

Meanwhile China and Belarus are expressing deep concerns over the prolonged conflict in Ukraine as President Alexander Lukashenko visits Beijing. The two countries are strengthening their ties with President Xi describing his friendship with Lukashenko as unbreakable. Both leaders called for, quote, the soonest possible peace deal in relation to the war in Ukraine.

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This all comes as U.S.-made firepower could soon be heading to Taiwan. The White House has approved a potential sale of more than $600 million worth of new weapons for the island. They would include hundreds of missiles for F-16 fighter jets which is likely to inflame the already high tensions between the U.S. and China. More on all of this is Clare Sebastian here in London, but first we'll go to Kristie who's in Hong Kong. Any response yet, Kristie, to that weaponry deal?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, Yes, we do have a response, Max. And as expected China firmly opposes the deal. On Wednesday, the Biden administration said that it approved a potential $619 million weapons deal for Taiwan, this would include hundreds of missiles for F-16 fighter jets. Principal contractors include Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, to American companies that had previously been sanctioned by China for previous arms deals with Taiwan.

And this afternoon we heard from the Ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson who slammed the deal while adding this -- let's bring it up for you, quote:

Stop arm sales to Taiwan and military context with the United States and stop creating tensions across the Taiwan Straits. China will continue taking firm and forceful measures to safe guard its sovereignty and security interests.

Unquote. Now Taiwan's defense ministry welcomed its purchase. It issued its own statement earlier in the day quickly adding this, quote:

The provision of defensive weapons to our country is the basis for preserving regional peace.

Unquote. Now, some key context here, this is not the largest U.S. arm sale to Taiwan. That happened in September of last year in a deal totaling over $1.1 billion U.S. the last U.S. arms deal to Taiwan took place in December of last year. But this latest one will certainly deepen the already diplomatic rift between the U.S. and China -- Max.

FOSTER: Kristie thank you. Clare, in terms of this really warm language between the leaders of China and Belarus, what do you make of that and how it plays into international tension?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think we're seeing a step up certainly from Russia and its allies to intensify this relationship with China certainly as we see more pressure coming from the West in terms of its aid for Ukraine. More pressure from U.S. over its concerns that China might be providing military aid or consider providing military aid to Russia.

So, Lukashenko is in China right now at the G-20 summit in India. Lavrov's first bilateral was with the Chinese foreign minister -- that's the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He called Russia and China a stabilizing factor in the whole system of international relations in the world and promised to intensify their cooperation based on the summit of February 4, 2022, which was of course the summit between Putin and Xi where they declared that this was a low limits partnership. He also took aim at the West saying that the West has turned the G-20 into a farce -- this is according to TASS. Blaming Russia for the failures in the economy.

So, I think, you know, there's two key things really here, the big picture is that the fault line in the world created by this war in Ukraine is only deepening. We are seeing that in the G-20. The G-20 finance ministry for example could not agree unanimously on a statement a few days ago condemning the war in Ukraine. China and obviously Russia abstained from that. And the second part is this relationship with China, the U.S. I think will step up the pressure on China potentially over its plans that they think are in place to deliver weapons to Russia even though -- and this is not a good sign -- Secretary Blinken does not plan to meet either with his Chinese or Russian counterparts at the G-20.

FOSTER: OK, Clare and Kristie, thank you both.

The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee has signed off on a bill that would give President Biden the power to ban the popular video host and site TikTok in the U.S. The legislation would allow the executive branch to impose penalties on Chinese-owned companies that are knowingly sharing data with Beijing. It was approved despite objections from some lawmakers and civil liberties advocates who argue the proposal threatens online speech. The measure still needs to receive a vote in the House and on the Senate floor as well.

Meanwhile TikTok is introducing a new policy aimed at preventing teens from endlessly scrolling. Every user under 18 will soon have their accounts by default having a one-hour daily screen time limit. Once reached teens will have to enter a passcode if they want to keep swiping. The idea is having to actively choose to keep using the app will result in better well-being for the users. The default limits can also be turned off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five, four, three, two, one. And it's full power and liftoff.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Right now, a four person crew is on its way to the International Space Station after firing nighttime launch into a clear Florida sky a few hours ago. Two Americans, one Russian and one UAE astronaut are inside capsule called "Endeavor." It's big sigh of relief for NASA and SpaceX after Monday's launch -- the attempted launch was scrubbed. The crew is scheduled to dock at the International Space Station in less than 24 hours.

[04:15:03]

Now still to come, going through crushed train cars as the death toll climbs. We'll have a live report on the head-on collision in Greece.

And a star college football player turns himself in to face charges of alleged street racing after his teammate and a team employee were killed in the crash.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We couldn't bring you any eyewitnesses because they were murdered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: As the Alex Murdaugh trial begins to wrap up, why prosecutors say a disgraced South Carolina attorney is the only one who could have killed his wife and son.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: One of the projected top picks in the NFL draft next month just turned himself into police to face charges over a deadly car crash. University of Georgia defensive standout Jalen Carter surrendered late on Wednesday. He's facing charges of reckless driving and racing in connection with a crash that killed his teammate Devin Willock and a team employee Chandler LeCroy.

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Police say Carter was driving another car that officials say was racing the vehicle that crashed. Authorities believe alcohol played a part in the crash which came just hours after the Georgia Bulldogs celebrated their second consecutive national championship. Now Carter shared this statement on his social media writing:

There is no question in my mind that when all of the facts are known, that I will be fully exonerated of any criminal wrongdoing.

Now to the latest in the Alex Murdaugh trial, his defense team will present its closing arguments in the coming hours in an attempt to convince the jury that he didn't kill his wife and son. As Randi Kaye reports, the prosecution made its case Wednesday after the jury toured the crime scene.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CREIGHTON WATERS, LEAD PROSECUTOR: On June 7, 2021, at the Moselle property in Carlton County, Maggie Murdaugh and Paul Murdaugh were brutally and maliciously murdered at the kennels by Alex Murdaugh.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Just before closing arguments, the jury visited those kennels, the crime scene, up close for the first time.

Video of the scene not the jurors was allowed to be recorded by the media. The jury saw this small feed room where Paul Murdaugh was killed.

WATERS: He takes that shot, front shot to the chest and it didn't kill him. Alex started it. As Alex is putting down that shotgun to pick up the blackout and is startled by Paul, that's why the angle is like that and catches Paul like that and goes up into the ceiling as you've heard the testimony from Kinsey. He blows -- he blows his brains out.

KAYE (voice over): Paul fell to the concrete after the second fatal shot, his brain hitting the pavement. As the jury could see at the scene, all of that was within sight of where Maggie Murdaugh's body was found on the grass near the shed. The pool reporter measured the two shootings were just about 12 steps apart. Listen, as the prosecutor recreates the alleged events, including the use of the second gun, the blackout rifle.

WATERS: Because Maggie sees what happens and she comes running over there, running to her baby, probably the last thing on her mind thinking that it was him who had done this while he's gotten picked up the blackout and opens fire. Then she takes those two shots and it crumples her over.

KAYE (voice over): In his closing, the prosecutor zeroed in on how Murdaugh lied to investigators about being at the kennels with his family around the time of the murders. The video later found on Paul's cell phone was recorded at 8:44 p.m., minutes before prosecutors say they were killed. Alex Murdaugh can be heard talking in the background, though for 20 months, he denied being there.

WATERS: Why in the world would an innocent reasonable father and husband lie about that and lie about it so early? Because he didn't know that was there.

KAYE (voice over): Prosecutor Creighton Waters reminded the jury today that the State's ballistic expert determined it was a family weapon, a 300-blackout rifle that killed Maggie. He based that on the fact that shell casings found near Maggie's body matched casing scattered all over Murdaugh's hunting property. In other words, the gun had been used there many times before.

WATERS: A family blackout killed Maggie. It was present just a couple of months prior to the murders and it's gone now. A family weapon, the defendant cannot account for killed Maggie.

KAYE (voice over): The prosecutor left the jury with this --

WATERS: We couldn't bring you any eyewitnesses because they were murdered, but common sense and human nature can speak on behalf of Maggie and Paul. When you look at this in its totality, common sense and human nature can speak for them and they deserve a voice.

KAYE: The defense will get its chance at a closing argument tomorrow and following that, the state will have a chance at a reply closing argument. Following that, the jury will get the case and deliberations will begin.

Randi Kaye, CNN, Walterboro, South Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Police here in the U.K. say they found human remains near an area where an aristocrat and her partner were arrested. A baby's body found in a wooded area close to where Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were taken into custody earlier this week. They went missing in early January and were believed to be traveling with a newborn. But the couple was spotted Monday in Brighton in southern England. London's Metropolitan Police is leading the inquiry saying the couple have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.

[04:25:00]

The Greek Prime Minister says tragic human error is the main cause of Tuesday's head-on train crash that has now left at least 46 people dead. Dozens of passengers are hurt and crews are still sifting through the wreckage searching for any signs of life.

Meanwhile, the Greek transportation minister has resigned. A train station manager has been arrested. And the Greek government has declared three days of national mourning. CNN's Eleni Giokos is covering the collision for us. You been watching the local media and demonstrations flaring up because there are clearly long-standing issues with the rail system which many people are blaming for this.

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And it was well-known. I think that's what hurts the most for Greeks watching this tragedy playing out. That it was well-known that the Greek railway system was archaic, it needed to be modernized, there weren't safety systems in place. Clearly when you have two trains traveling towards each other for over 15 kilometers at high speeds, no one picked that up.

I just heard from the Greek fire department on local media, 46 people now have lost their lives. A herculean task and were seeing some of those right now playing out just outside of Larissa where they are trying to work through the melted metal in those first two carriages. And we said this, a fire broke out reaching temperatures of over 1,300 degrees Celsius. They say that they've pulled out seven more people, seven more bodies that were badly burnt. DNA testing is basically the only way they say to be able to identify the people that lost their lives.

Greece, Max, is in mourning today. I think in shock. There's a somber mood. I've spoken to a few people there. It's so tragic because this is also very important week, it was carnival weekend, it was Ash Monday, people had moved around the country to visit family. Mostly university students are some of the victims. I want to show you some of the front pages on Greek media and some of the headlines have really struck me. One of them was like, "This is not a mistake, it is a crime." The other headline, "The dead is waiting." "Why?" Just one question, why?

And one that really got me, because my mother says this all the time, "Call me when you get there." And of course, those calls for so many people just didn't come through.

The transport minister resigning yesterday. Also basically admitting to the fact that they had tried to upgrade, the efforts weren't sufficient. The station manager being arrested and charged as well. Investigation and a commission of inquiry has been put together as well. But Greeks have the question why and how.

FOSTER: The station manager blaming a technical fault. And obviously other people are saying it was human error. Ultimately the system just didn't work, right, and that's the issue that these demonstrators have with the government.

GIOKOS: Absolutely. Look, the demonstrations are basically, you know, people coming out and saying that this shouldn't have happened. It's not about it's not happening again. And they went up to Hellenic trains because they blame that company, but it's not only Hellenic trains that needs to be investigated, but also the state-owned enterprises that run the system, right. There's a value chain that occurs here. So, say the station manager made the mistake. Why wasn't there any other, you know, default safety mechanisms that would have kicked in at some point.

And the Greek media is saying and some of the passengers are saying, you can check on your phone to see how far the food coming, you know, when you order food online but you don't know where the trains are going, like there's no system or electronic system that came into effect. I think these are the questions that people are asking and this is why people are in shock and clearly experiencing so much anger along with pain.

FOSTER: Yes, it's such a difficult time for everyone involved. Eleni, thank you so much for joining us.

A U.S. passenger jet had a close call on the runway again. Still ahead the man who could lead the top aviation agency is pushed to explain what he would do about that.

And also ahead, a major drug maker has announced it is cutting the price of a common form of insulin in the U.S.

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