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Trump Makes Pitch at CPAC to be GOP Nominee; Ukraine Says It is Holding Bakhmut as Russian Assault Intensified; Another Norfolk Southern Freight Train Derails in Ohio. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired March 05, 2023 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

LAILA HARRAK, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining from the United States and all around the world. I'm Laila Harrak.

A familiar face at the political act conference in Maryland, former U.S. President Trump makes his pitch to be the Republican nominee for the White House again.

Bakhmut could be on the verge of falling to Russian troops but Ukrainian forces say they're holding on in the fight to keep the city.

And just over a month since the toxic train derailment in East Palestine Ohio, another Norfolk Southern freight train derails in the state

An adoring crowd greeted former U.S. President Donald Trump Saturday at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland, Trump spoke for nearly two hours promising retribution against Democrats and establishment Republicans. An unscientific straw poll of CPAC attendees found that 62 percent want him to be the next Republican presidential nominee compared to 20 percent who want Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Well, CNN U.S. National Correspondent Kristen Holmes is there to at the conference and has this report.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Former President Trump talking to a very enthusiastic crowd here at CPAC. He pitched himself for another trip to the Oval Office. He talked about how he wanted to obliterate the deep state. He took on the establishment, particularly Republicans. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: We're not going back to people that want to destroy our great social security system, even some in our party, I wonder who that might be, that want to raise the minimum age of social security to 70, 75 or even 80 in some cases and that are out to cut Medicare to a level that it will no longer be recognizable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, that was a thinly veiled jab at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who, while he was in Congress, suggesting changes to those social security and Medicare programs. This is something Trump has gone after him a number of times over.

Now, the Florida governor has not entered the 2024 presidential race but he is seen as Trump's most formidable opponent should he decide to run for president. But it was interesting as we walked around during this event for the last several days, this used to be the premier event for conservatives, instead it's seems now like the Trump show. Almost all of the speakers were Trump-centric, they were supporters, they're people who wanted to see him in office in 2024 and it showcased really the deep divide within the Republican Party, particularly as we noted so many of these potential 2024 hopefuls decided to skip the event this years, and it really set up what is expected to be a very ugly Republican primary.

Kristen Holmes, National Harbor, Maryland.

HARRAK: Joining me now, Alice Stewart is a CNN political commentator, Republican strategist and former communications director for Ted Cruz. So good to have you with us Alice. Mr. Donald Trump speaking at CPAC, addressing a very supportive crowd, what stood out to you from his speech?

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Clearly, this was his crowd. This is inside baseball red meat message for the people in the crowd there. And, look, they were going to be on a side really no matter what he said. I was really surprised that the message that he gave in terms of he's really taking the fight to not just the Democrats and President Biden but also what he calls the fake news media, and RINOs, Republicans in name only, and naming certain Republicans by name in terms of people that he feels as though are not loyal to the party, which, in turn, means loyal to him. And also throwing a lot of red meat in there to the crowd in terms of going after woke policies of the Democrats and really going above and beyond and saying the Democratic policies are tantamount to socialism and communist policies.

But that's what the crowd wanted to hear and, clearly, they were really responsive to what he had to say.

[03:05:01]

And it was obviously evidence in the straw poll that they had at this event where he received more than 60 percent of the vote of the crowd here and Ron DeSantis far behind with about 20 percent of the vote.

But keep in mind, CPAC turned from what it used to be in years past when I worked on several presidential campaigns, CPAC was the place for Republicans and conservatives to go and give their message to this crowd, and talk about Republican policies and talk about how we can unite together to take on the Democrats. CPAC has turned into TPAC, the Trump Political Action Committee.

And these people are more about the dividing the Republican Party in terms of who are rational mainstream Republicans and who are Trump Republicans. And it's really unfortunate because what we have done instead of bringing the party together ahead of a major presidential election, this is really laying the ground for dividing the party amongst itself as opposed to taking the message to Democrats.

HARRAK: Alice, let's talk about the straw poll. Donald Trump, as you mentioned, running for president again and he dominated this event's annual straw poll, winning by 62 percent of the vote, Ron DeSantis, a distant second at 20 percent support. Does that mean Trump is the strongest candidate to run for president? And what does it mean for Ron DeSantis as an alternative for Trump?

STEWART: Well, he was certainly the strongest candidate in the room today, Laila, and probably in the last four day. Remember, Ron DeSantis did not go to CPAC. He chose not to speak there. He was certainly invited but he chose not to speak there, as well as some other high named Republicans such as Mike Pence and Tim Scott.

Others have recognized CPAC as more of a place really that is loyal to Donald Trump, and their time is best served elsewhere. Many of them went down to the state of Florida to speak with the group called Club for Growth, which is an anti-tax group, and they see that as more of the place to go to move their message forward.

And what we're seeing is while a lot of people at this event over last few days are strong Trump supporters as evidenced by the straw poll, many in the Republican Party are realizing that it's time to turn the page. We're looking at the fact that with Donald Trump in the White House, we lost the House and the Senate. Of course, we regained the House but we lost the house and Senate and the White House due to his leadership, in large part because of his election denying and conspiracy theories.

HARRAK: But as we've seen now at CPAC, Mr. Trump can still account on a very vocal supportive base. Is the GOP -- does it have to brace itself for a long, acrimonious primary battle?

STEWART: We should. And, look, I think primaries are important, a robust primary where the candidates together and debate the issues, it's healthy for the party but also for democracy. And this is also a good way to test the policies of these different candidates but also check the retail politics skills, how can they go to these early states and connect with the people. So, I think strong a robust primary is good for the Republican Party, because that way we have best candidate to go against whoever the Democrats put forth.

HARRAK: Alice Stewart, thank you so much for joining us.

STEWART: Thanks, Laila.

HARRAK: Well, now to the criminal investigation into Donald Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. Sources tell CNN the former president is seeking to block testimony from Mike Pence on matters covered by executive privilege.

CNN Politics Reporter Jeremy Herb has the story.

JEREMY HERB, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: The new court filing from Trump's legal team is the latest road block for Special Counsel Jack Smith as he tries to compel testimony from Pence and others around Trump in the January 6 investigation. New filing is under seal so we don't have specifics on the arguments that Trump's team is making. But sources tell CNN Trump is asking a federal court to block Pence from speaking to the special counsel about certain matters related to January 6th on grounds of executive privilege.

Pence himself is also fighting Smith's subpoena. He said that he plans to try to block the subpoena by arguing he's shielded by the Constitution's speech and debate clause, which protects the legislative branch from certain law enforcement actions. Pence argues that he is covered because he was acting as president of the Senate when he presided over the January 6th congressional certification of the 2020 election.

Pence, of course, was at the center of Trump's efforts to overturn the election as the former president and his allies pressured the vice president to block Joe Biden's win when Congress certified the election on January 6th.

[03:10:01]

The subpoena to Pence is one key sign that the special counsel's investigation into both January 6th and the Mar-a-Lago classified documents is accelerating, the fight over Pence's testimony is now expected to play out in court. But Iit's not yet clear how long the process will take. Any rulings could be appealed possibly all the way up to the Supreme Court. That means the special counsel will now have to weigh how important Pence's testimony with his desire to complete the January 6th investigation as the 2024 election gets closer and closer.

Jeremy Herb, CNN, New York.

HARRAK: Ukraine says it is still holding the line in Bakhmut despite Russia trying to make a final push to encircle the city.

This video was posted on this video was posted on Saturday showing Ukrainian troops exchanging fire with Russians on the streets. However, Ukraine's military says it's still holding on to the city center while the fighting is happening in the outskirts.

Well, the leader of Russia's Wagner mercenaries claimed his forces are close to surrounding Bakhmut. The city is largely in ruins after months of brutal fighting. And one Ukrainian soldier says the only thing certain right now is the uncertainty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know what's coming tomorrow or even this evening. The situation is changing every minute. There might be shelling even now. No one knows what will happen tomorrow. We will see.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRAK: All right. For more now, Salma Abdelaziz joins us from London. Salma, the month's long battle for Bakhmut is possibly entering a decisive phase?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Laila. There are serious fears and concern that Moscow's troops might be able to say claim that city very soon. But as of right now, Ukrainian forces holding the line of resistance, Ukrainian troops say they've been able in the last 24 hours to stabilize that frontline. They say Russian forces, of course, remain on the outskirts of the city on the other side of a body of water, a river that divides them and Bakhmut itself, the city itself is still under Ukrainian control.

But one Ukrainian commander says every hour in that city is like hell. Ukrainian forces say they've been able to repel dozens of attacks just in the last 24, 48 hours by Moscow's troops in those Wagner mercenaries, of course, attacks by artillery, heavy shelling, multiple rocket launches literally everything Moscow's troops can get their hands on being lobbed at this battle.

It would very much be a victory for President Putin, who has claimed very few wins in the last few months. In fact, in the period of last year, the second half of last year, what we saw Ukrainian forces able to claim back serious amounts of territory from President Putin's forces. So, you can imagine the Kremlin is absolutely desperate for a win, particularly when it's given so much resources, depleted so much manpower over the course the last few months to take this one city.

But this would be largely a symbolic victory, Laila, for Russia. There's very little strategic value in the city of Bakhmut itself. It does begin to give them more of a bridge, more of that territory in the Donbas region. It's wedged between these two separatist areas, these two areas that are controlled by Russian-backed separatists, Luhansk and Donetsk. So, it does expand that territory of Russian control if Moscow is able to claim it.

And for President Zelenskyy, it is also very symbolic. He's vowed never to back down, never to let a drop of Ukrainian blood go in vain, to gain back every single inch of territory for his countrymen. So, what you're going to see happening in the next few days, Laila, is an absolutely ferocious battle for what very much now is the city at the heart of this conflict.

HARRAK: Salma Abdelaziz reporting for you from London, thank you so much, Salma.

Just ahead, weeks after the accident in East Palestine, Norfolk Southern has another derailed train in Ohio on its hands. We'll have details.

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[03:15:00]

HARRAK: One month after a toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, there's been another Norfolk Southern train derailment in the state. Well, it happened Saturday in Springfield. According to Norfolk Southern, there were no injuries reported and no hazardous materials involved. One witness described what he saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAWN HEATON, WITNESS: I was watching it and people were just sitting there and you could kind of see it off the cracks kicking up gravel and stuff. But then once the cars started coming off going sideways and collapsing on each other, it was just time to go. And that's when I take off and you just kind of see everybody going backwards down the road and getting out of there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRAK: Well, the road near the scene of the accident was closed. Company teams are heading to the site to begin the clean-up operation. Police are on the scene assisting. Local emergency management officials asked residents within 1,000 feet of the derailment to shelter in place out of an abundance of caution.

Well, more than a month after the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, officials are still trying to restore confidence and calm fears among local residents, even as the clean-up of the train's toxic cargo continues. Polo Sandoval, has the story.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Over a month since the derailment disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, and the frustrations have not faded for many residents, on Saturday, however, authorities offering an opportunity for those residents to visit the town's water treatment plant. They hope to answer any questions and concerns that they may have.

The state, however, they continue to insist that all sampling of municipal water wells have shown no contaminates that are associated to last month's derailment. Over the coming days, a lot of the focus will also include farmers, as Ohio's Department of Agricultural will meet with area farmers.

[03:20:05]

At this point, they say there's no reason to believe that any of the crops that may be planted or harvested in East Palestine are unsafe. But, nonetheless, Norfolk Southern, the company involved in this derailment, or at least being held responsible, they are being asked to develop a soil sampling plan for not just residential areas but also agricultural as well.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health has released the results of an assessment survey, health assessment survey, saying that residents completed an after chemical exposure survey that basically laid out any unusual symptoms that they were reporting or experiencing. They include headaches, anxiety, coughing, irritation, also burning of the skin. All of this information will be used by local, state and federal officials to determine how the derailment may have had any kind of health effects on some of the residents there. Meanwhile, though, the clean-up, that is far from over. In fact, in the last few days, the process of replacing all of that damaged track begun. It's a process that will entail removing the damaged track and then replacing the contaminated soil underneath before laying down some fresh track, a process that could, according to officials, last until the end of April.

Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

HARRAK: The station master at the center of Greece's deadly train crash is expected in court today. There is now a makeshift memorial outside the courthouse in Larissa, where he will face charges connected to Tuesday's collision. Authorities say at first he blamed the disaster on a technical fault but later admitted to making a mistake. 57 people died when the passenger train collided head-on with a freight train.

CNN's Eleni Giokos joins us now live from Athens, Greece. Eleni, what more have you learned?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, the station master will be appearing before prosecutors today to give his version of what transpired. And this is a significant step, because, initially, he said he made a mistake and he had sort of admitted to what was going on. But we're going to hear details about what we heard and the recording when he spoke to the train driver saying, you should pass the red lights and also ordering the switch key operator to not turn the key and change track. That is going to be absolutely vital in understanding what happened.

In meantime, being in Athens, you get the sense that everyone is traumatized. There's a peculiar energy when you walk in the streets and you speak to people. And I guess it's pretty much evidence in some of the newspaper headlines here. I just want to show you a couple. This is from eKathimerini. This is just a black page with candles, this being quite a few vigils around the country. Every single church is holding memorial service. There's another headline, which is quite striking. It says guilty and fatal and showing the people that perhaps are responsible for this, including the transport minister that resigned, prime minister, the station master and a few other people that are leading some of these state-owned enterprises.

There will be protest action, peaceful protests that are also organized across the country. They will be occurring in around an hour's time. People here feel that there was a lack of maintenance, that they hadn't been focused on a very well known fact that Greece's railway system urgently needed upgrading and modernizing. Greece's railway safety track record, according to the E.U., had the worst in the index across the European Union. So, it basically shows that this was something that had been discussed.

Another vital point to this is the pain and the anger that has ensued in the aftermath. Most of the people, most of the passengers on this train were young university students. There was only one survivor from the first carriage, which we know 57 people dead, 15 people in hospital and 7 currently in critical condition. This is a story that is going to plague the country for many months.

HARRAK: Eleni Giokos reporting live from Athens, Greece, thank you so much, Eleni.

We turn our focus now to Israel, where protesters packed the streets for the ninth straight week to condemn the policies of the country's far-right government. Police say at least 150,000 people demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Saturday. Tens of thousands more protested in other cities across the country. Most were marching against the prime minister's plan to weaken the independence of the judiciary. Some were also there to condemn recent attacks against Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

The U.S. pledges more security assistance to Ukraine.

[03:25:02]

Ahead, we'll take a look what the latest package included and how it could help the country against Russia.

Plus, political dissent becomes even more dangerous in Russia. We look into President Putin's history of crackdowns on opponents, which is only getting harsher.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRAK: American Author Marianne Williamson has announced that she will once again run for president in 2024. The Democrat launched her campaign on Saturday, setting up a primary challenge to President Joe Biden, who is widely expected to seek re-election. Williamson told supporters that she's running to fight social and economic injustices, which she says are caused by corporate money in politics. Williamson preached a similar message during her previous campaign in 2020.

The Biden administration is pledging another $400 million in security assistance Ukraine as that country tries to fight off a Russian push to take the city of Bakhmut.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has more on what the package will include.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: The Pentagon has announced new security assistance for Ukraine, valuing up to $400 million. This marks the 33rd drawdown of U.S. inventories for Ukraine and it consists of more ammunition as well as support equipment. In a statement, Pentagon said that this will have artillery rounds, demolition munitions, equipment for obstacle-clearing and vehicle repair equipment, all of this as part of that concerted effort by the Biden administration to continue to provide support to Ukraine as it enters the second year of war with Russia.

[03:30:08]

President Biden making this a top priority and meeting with German Chancellor Scholz this week to discuss Ukraine and coordination, Scholz, President Biden said, has shown strong and steady leadership and he thanked him for that. Now, Scholz is also a crisis leader in Europe and has been a critical partner to the United States and the two leaders meeting to discuss what assistance will look like moving forward for Ukraine, all of this against the backdrop of intelligence that suggests that is China may provide lethal aid or at least is considering lethal aid to Russia, as well as concerns about a Russian offensive in the coming weeks or months, President Biden and the Pentagon here announcing more assistance to the country and this one valuing up to $400 million.

Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Wilmington.

HARRAK: Well, to talk about the bilateral meeting, we're now joined by Ulrike Franke from London, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Ulrike, good to have you with us. A somewhat quiet bilateral visit?

ULRIKE FRANKE, SENIOR POLICY FELLOW, EUROPEAN COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Yes, absolutely. It was a very quiet visit. German Chancellor Scholz basically didn't bring anyone with him, no entourage, no press, nor anyone, there was no big press conference, state dinner, anything like it. So, it was very much sold as a working visit and opportunity for the both for the heads of state and government to discuss the urgent topics that are on the agenda at the moment.

HARRAK: Now, Chancellor Scholz has made it clear repeatedly that he works with the United States in lockstep when it comes to Ukraine. He has reiterated that again during this bilateral meeting. And we've seen that with the Leopard tanks when Germany insisted on coordinating with Washington not supplying tanks to Ukraine unless the U.S. agreed to supply Ukraine with tanks as well. Has that put a strain on bilateral relations?

FRANKE: That's a very good question. It's definitely something that's being discussed a lot in Berlin, I don't know so much about D.C. I mean, this whole saga around the Leopard 2 tanks that Germany didn't want to deliver at the beginning and then decided to deliver once U.S. decided to deliver Abrams, there has been a lot of kind of uncertainty and speculation about it.

To this day, it's not entirely sure whether Scholz really asked President Biden to deliver the Abrams and he gave in. That's what Jack Sullivan on the U.S. side said, but the German government said, no, it wasn't, we didn't put pressure on the U.S., this was a decision that we took together.

So, it's not entirely clear how this came about but the message that, I mean, both really want to send, Scholz and Biden, is a message of unity in the transatlantic relation, a unity also among the European and American partners. And so I don't think that they are going to discuss or that they were discussing this issue in particular, like that's yesterday's news, now we're moving forward. But it is true that this was a bit of an odd episode.

HARRAK: I'm asking that because, I mean, what does it mean, you know, this position that Germany has taken, you know, kind of seeking cover from the United States when it makes these decisions regarding military aid to Ukraine, what does it mean for Europe's strategic autonomy, the idea that the continent should become less reliant on American security so that the U.S. can shift its resources to the Indo-Pacific, for example, and Europe can finally defend itself?

FRANKE: Yes. I think that's a very fair question and one I've asked myself. I would agree that the fact that Chancellor Scholz seems to be looking so much to the U.S. more than to any other partner, including those in Europe, does show that all these ideas about European sovereignty, European strategic autonomy, these whole buzzwords that we have been discussing for a few years now, that, at this point, they're not really -- they haven't really materialized yet.

It is true that the U.S. is the most important actor when it comes to the western alliance's support for Ukraine. And to be honest I would have liked Germany and also France and other Europeans to step up and take more of a lead. I mean, all of these countries are supporting Ukraine and they're also working together, but Scholz in particular has been looking a lot to D.C. more than to, say, London. London also announced that they were sending tanks before the U.S. did but that didn't seem to have an impact.

So, it just shows how central the U.S. is in the western alliance in that we still need the U.S. president in particular to kind of take the lead and make everyone follow that lead.

HARRAK: And are the U.S. and Germany on the same page when it comes to China?

FRANKE: Broadly speaking, yes. On the details, there are questions. So, I think in the U.S., it has now been really the decided that China is the main competitor, possibly even kind of future opponent, hopefully not enemy, but we'll see how this develops.

[03:35:12]

And in Europe and in Germany, particular, the position is likely more -- well, the Europeans would say nuanced. There are important trade relationships to China. The Europeans don't want to kind of provoke a confrontational cold war where it isn't needed. So, I think when it comes to details, there are differences. And I think, by the way, this is one of the topics that Scholz and Biden have definitely discussed, the role of China in Ukraine but also more broadly.

And I think, yes, the transatlantic alliance is trying to find a common position on China. Broadly speaking, yes, they're on the same page but when it comes to details, be it sanctions on technology, be it trade relationships, be it all kinds of ways to work together, there are differences.

Last sentence, the Europeans also really want China on board for anything related to fighting climate change, that that's also one of the reasons why Europeans, Germans, really want to keep China engaged in international discussions.

HARRAK: Ulrike Franke in London, thank you so much for joining us. FRANKE: My pleasure.

HARRAK: Well, the war in Ukraine taking political brutality inside Russia to a whole new level, not that the Kremlin's crackdown on dissent has ever been anything less than harsh. But as Matthew Chance reports, the suppression of political opposition is now surging.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It takes a certain type of bravery to stand up to the Kremlin. Across the country, police using arrests and beatings to crush dissent against the Ukrainian war. Some anti-war protesters even drafted into the army in a cruel punishment for pacifism.

Political opposition always a risky business in Putin's Russia is now essential outlawed with prominent opposition leaders like Ilia Yashin recently sentenced to eight and a half years in jail for criticizing the conflict. This will all end soon, he shouted in defiance, but there's little real reason for optimism.

This was Vladimir Kara-Murza, another leading opposition figure in Moscow back in 2015 after surviving a suspected poisoning at the hands of Kremlin agents. He was allegedly poisoned again in 2017 and survived that too, only to be imprisoned last April on charges ranging from disobeying the police to treason. The price of silence Kara-Murza wrote from jail was simply unacceptable.

But the price of speaking out against Putin's Russia is extraordinarily high too. Case in point, the former president of Georgia, a country lost the brief war with Russia in 2008.

MIKHEIL SAAKASHVILI, FORMER GEORGIAN PRESIDENT: My small nation will never give up freedom, will never a square mile.

CHANCE: Two years ago, Mikheil Saakashvili was imprisoned in Georgia in what his supporters say were trumped up charges. Now, this one-time Putin foe is at death's door, allegedly poisoned too and accusing Moscow of orchestrating his plight. The Kremlin rejects the allegation. But his family are adamant.

EDUARD SAAKASHVILI, SON OF FORMER GEORGIAN PRESIDENT: To put somebody in disdain after just a year of imprisonment, that was unexpected.

CHANCE: But for years, Kremlin critics have been ruthlessly silenced like, Anna Politkovslaya, Russia's most prominent investigative journalist, until she was gunned down in her Moscow apartment building in 2006. Or Alexander Litivenenko, a former Russian FSB agent, poisoned in London in the same year with a radioactive isotope. In 2018, a former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter were poisoned in Britain using a potent nerve agent. They survived.

Few years before, Russia's leading opposition figure, Boris Nemstov, was shot dead within sight of the Kremlin. Of course, the Kremlin denies any connection to any crime, but exiled, jailed poisoned or killed is how so many of Putin's critics seem to end.

Matthew Chance, CNN, London.

[03:40:00]

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRAK: China's National People Congress is gathered for its annual session and the policies approved here will likely be felt far beyond China. A live report from Beijing, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRAK: China's national legislature is now in session for the first time since Xi Jinping secured his third term as head of the Communist Party last October. For the U.S. and other countries, the event offers a glimpse into Beijing's policies and goals for the coming year. The National People's Congress is largely a formality with delegates signing off on policy decisions that have already been finalized by top leaders. China has a premier who is expected to step down after ten years in the post delivered an opening address on the state of country and Beijing's continued hard line towards Taiwan. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LI KEQIANG, OUTGOING CHINESE PREMIER: We should persist in implementing our party's overall policy on the new era on resolving the Taiwan question, firmly adhere to the One China principle and the 1992 consensus and firmly take resolute steps to oppose Taiwan independence and promote reunification.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRAK: China is also planning major boost to its defense spending this year. CNN Beijing Bureau Chief Steven Jiang is tracking all this for us. What more can you tell us, Steven?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Yes. The military spending increased, Laila, very much related to Taiwan, as you just heard the outgoing premier, Li Keqiang, mentioning the self-governing democracy that Beijing has never controlled but also never renounced the use of force to, quote/unquote, reunite it with the mainland because they do claim sovereignty over the island.

Now, when you look at the increase for military spending, 7.2 percent for 2023, slightly higher than last year's 7.1 percent, but it does marks this trend of continuous growth several years in a row.

[03:45:10]

And when you take China's economy into consideration, that translates into $224 billion, really dwarfing those of China's neighbors, many of whom are having territorial, even other kinds of disputes with Beijing, and not to mention rising geopolitical tensions between the United States and China as well. Now, recently, we have seen the U.S., for example, expand its access to military bases in the Philippines and also teaming up with the U.K. and Australia to develop nuclear powered submarines for the Australians. So, there's quite a bit of regional arms race going on. So, that's why this Chinese military spending increase is concerning for many people.

But the biggest concerning issue for the legislators here this year is probably the economic recovery after the government's abrupt exit from its zero COVID policy. Remember, that policy really wreaking havoc on this economy for much of last year. Now, after that initial, very chaotic, even deadly exit from this policy in December, we have seen the economy here post a very strong rebound in manufacturing, in construction, in services.

But the question right now is how sustainable is this rebound. That's why the government's growth target for this year, the GDP growth target, around 5 percent, according to the premier. So, that's relatively modest figure by Chinese standard, probably a reflection of the government's realization that they still face a lot of strong headwinds domestically and internationally here at home. Of course, unprecedented downturn in the real estate sector and still very high youth and employment internationally, as you know, the war in Ukraine, rising interests everywhere, not to mention the U.S. crackdown on technology transfer to China. Laila?

HARRAK: Steven Jiang reporting live from Beijing, thank you so very much.

A FedEx may want to send a thank you package to his guardian angel. We'll show you the driver's close call captured on security camera.

Also ahead, feathers flew when Megan Brown's birds got away from her causing a foul at a sports game. The double birdie is ahead, and no, we didn't mix up our competitions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:50:00]

HARRAK: One FedEx driver in Kentucky is lucky to be alive right now. Just watch what happened along his route on Friday.

Tony Antal tells CNN it's now settling in how close he came to getting seriously hurt or worse when a tree toppled after hours of rough weather. Well, Antal was still scanning packages on the porch when he said something felt off, and he heard a creaking sound and then saw a shadow out of the corner of his eye. That's when he started running. After the tree crashed on to the porch, Tony was unharmed but he still called the home's owner to make sure she knew what happened.

Meanwhile in Southern California, some residents in the mountains are still buried under several feet of snow after a severe winter storm lashed the region last week. And many are getting more and more frustrated as they're running out of food, medicine and gas, as roads remain closed. CNN's Camila Bernal has the story.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are seeing progress today. We've seen a lot of crews, firefighters, officials from the county going into the mountain with heavy equipment to try to clean the roads. We know members of the National Guard are there as well. That is their priority, trying to clear the roads so that residents can come in and out of the mountain. As of now, officials are saying that this entire process will likely take about five more days.

And that's where a lot of frustration is coming from. There are people that have been stuck in the mountain already for days and they're being told to prepare for even more time at home without being able to access a lot of basic necessities. I spoke to one woman who was able to come down from the mountain. She came down, she says, in order to buy supplies, to buy food, because there's so much snow on her roof that she's afraid it will collapse. The problem is she's not allowed back into her home, and officials are telling her, you're going to have to wait about five days to get back in. She was extremely frustrated, even in tears as she was explaining her situation. Here's what she told me.

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ILIANA VARGAS, STRANDED RESIDENT: Basically, what we're trying to do is save our home. That's all we want to do. We want to get home. They should let us up there.

We actually bought a lot of groceries yesterday. Even a restaurant asked us for stuff. We have tons of food that had to go to waste we had nowhere to store it.

They need food. Some ladies need diaper. Some people need medicine. Some people cannot get their insulin on time, the pharmacies are closed. I mean, it's crazy up there. And then they're not letting us go up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And officials apologizing for how long this process is taking but they even said, look, we're also dealing with walls of snow. It has not been easy and they're doing everything they can to help the people that truly need it. They're bringing in food, even using helicopters and just trying to get to the needs of the people that are stuck up in the mountain. But again, they're asking for patience. They're saying that this is going to take awhile.

Camila Bernal, CNN, San Bernardino, California.

HARRAK: Now, usually, if someone gives an umpire the bird, it's not a thing of beauty. But as we hear from Jeanne Moos, one women's softball game was interrupted when two colorful parrots decided to get a closer look at the action.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): They took the field causing a flap.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are multiple parrots on the field.

MOOS: Two, to be exact, delighting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just gorgeous birds.

MOOS: And freaking out the women's softball players at the University of Central Florida's field, causing an umpire to duck.

[03:55:07]

Rain delay, yes, but parrot delay?

CHAD STEARS, UMPIRE: That's absolutely a first.

MOOS: Chad Stears was the home plate umpire when one of the parrots made a home on his shoulder.

STEARS: I felt the wind from the wings and a gasp from the crowd

MOOS: Let's go to the replay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One just landed on the umpire.

MOOS: Chad was so unfazed he pretended to put on his mask as if to resume the game with the parrot on him. When he tried to touch the bird, the parrot retreated to the other shoulder. Who are these mystery birds?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tiki is the one who eventually got tired and decided to land on the umpire.

MOOS: Megan Brown owns Tiki and Lelu. She was letting them fly free behind the stadium. They always come back. During our interview, the parrots dislodged her glasses, attacked the lens and pecked it and perched or Megan's head. She says she's a little surprised Tiki didn't nip the umpire when he touched him at the feisty age of eight months.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's normally kind of a (BLEEP).

MOOS: But Chad loved Tiki.

STEARS: It was just a great moment.

MOOS: After about half a minute, one of the grounds crew lured the bird to him and escorted Tiki out. The umpire's co-workers teased him.

STEARS: This is sitting on my desk

MOOS: Who cares about calling balls and strikes when you're the target of a bird strike?

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HARRAK: And that wraps up this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Laila Harrak.

Kim Brunhuber picks up our coverage after a quick break. Do stay with us.

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