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CNN This Morning

Fetterman in Hospital for 'Observation'; 17,000+ Dead as Toll Rises, Time Runs Out to Find Survivors from Earthquake; Biden Say He'll Be Transparent About Any Health Issues; Kim Jong-un's Daughter Takes Center Stage in Military Event; Forensics Expert Found Gunshot Residue on Murdaugh's Coat. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired February 09, 2023 - 06:00   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unreal.

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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: This home is in Sonoma County, California. A couple of woodpeckers apparently stashed all of those acorns there through a hole in the chimney and into the wall from the attic. The pest control team says it hauled eight big garbage bags full of acorns out of that house.

Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans. CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

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DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Every day the heartbreak. And I hate -- we hate to start you off with the heartbreak. But this is at least a good moment. Right?

Hi, guys. Good morning, everyone.

That was a moment a baby was saved after 65 hours under rubble in Turkey. So we're glad to have you but sorry that we have to report on such sad things. We're going to take you live to Turkey in just moments.

Also this morning, Democratic Senator John Fetterman, who suffered a stroke on the campaign trail. Remember? Well, he is in the hospital right now. Details on what happened and his condition at this hour.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Also, it was not flagged as urgent. What a new time line just revealed about what U.S. intelligence knew before that Chinese spy balloon entered U.S. air space. KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Also today, President Biden is headed to

Florida to tout his agenda as Florida Senator Rick Scott is going on offense over his Social Security and Medicare plan. We're going to speak to the Florida senator live in a few moments.

LEMON: We're going to begin with this news that's in overnight. John Fetterman rushed to a hospital. Doctors are making sure that he didn't suffer another stroke after he felt lightheaded.

Fetterman survived a stroke last May while he was on the campaign trail, but he stayed in the race, ended up flipping Pennsylvania's crucial Senate seat for Democrats.

Let's bring in now CNN's congressional correspondent Jessica Dean, live on Capitol Hill. Jessica, what is going on? What's the latest on his condition?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning. Let me catch everyone up to date.

This news coming in before midnight last night, so really developing overnight. We do know that Senator John Fetterman remained in a Washington, D.C., hospital overnight as they checked him out.

The good news is his office is saying that there's no evidence of a new stroke. Let me read you what they put out last night.

They said, "Toward the end of the Senate Democratic retreat" -- which was happening here in D.C., by the way -- "Senator John Fetterman began feeling lightheaded. He left and called his staff, who picked him up and drove him to the George Washington University Hospital. Initial tests did not show evidence of a new stroke, but doctors are running more tests and John is remaining overnight for observation."

And Don, as you mentioned, just to take everyone back to last spring, that's when he was running in the primary in Pennsylvania. He suffered that stroke. He was in the hospital for several days, longer than a week. That's actually when he won the nomination.

He had a defibrillator put in. And it was something that was very noticeable on the trail as he recovered. He would talk about how he would miss words, he would slur words. He had those auditory processing issues.

And we've seen him now up here on the Hill. Of course, I was following the campaign in Pennsylvania then. I've seen him now up on the Hill recently. And he has been coming and going as normal.

But they do still use an iPad sometimes or technology to help him understand.

But again, the bottom line here, guys, is that he will remain in the hospital as they run these continuous tests; that he was feeling lightheaded. But so far, no evidence of a new stroke which, is of course, good news. And everyone wants to keep it that way.

LEMON: Yes. We're going to continue to follow, and Jessica will be reporting. Thank you, Jessica.

COLLINS: And joining us now is Dr. Chris Pernell, a public health physician and a regent at large for the American College of Preventative Medicine. Good morning, Doctor. And thank you so much for being here.

I think the first question is what does this lightheadedness that John Fetterman, Senator Fetterman had reportedly experienced indicate? Is there a greater cause, given his medical past, for concern here, do you think?

DR. CHRIS PERNELL, REGENT AT LARGE, AMERICAN COLLEGE OF PREVENTATIVE MEDICINE: Good morning, Kaitlan.

So it's very important for everyone to understand the prevention methods or steps that we can take to keep people safe and healthy. And that's being able to recognize the signs and the symptoms of a stroke.

Those classically are things like sudden numbness, weakness in a particular part of the body. You may see a drooping. You can have sudden loss of memory or confusion and slurred speech.

Lightheadedness is more of a general or vague symptom. It's not necessarily specific to a stroke. But it makes you want to ask questions. Because one in four persons, excuse me, in people who have had a stroke, at least one in four of them have had a stroke previously.

So you want to make sure he's not having something called a mini stroke or TIA.

There are lots of questions, things that should be answered. It's good to hear that an initial test -- an initial, most likely a CAT scan, that there was not evidence of having another stroke.

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LEMON: Well, let's get the statement in. The statement released, that I want to ask you about, is here. Because usually when someone is lightheaded, right, you don't really send them to a hospital. But because of his medical condition and because he didn't really release the medical records, there is some mystery around it.

The office is saying that initial tests did not show evidence of a new stroke, but doctors are going to run additional tests. So what should they be looking for, Doctor?

PERNELL: So you want to see has there been additional or new injury to the brain. In a stroke we sometimes in the medical field call that a brain attack. In an ischemic stroke, it was the type of stroke that Senator Fetterman had in the past, you have a blockage or a clot in a blood vessel that causes brain cells in the area of the distribution of that vessel to die off.

So in CAT scan, you're wanting to look for are there any brain cells or neurons that have died off? The region of the brain that has been impacted.

There are additional studies that can be performed such as an MRI that will allow you to have a more described in detail view of what may be happening inside of his brain.

LEMON: Yes. All right. It was -- and he was at the State of the Union. I mean, we saw him. You mentioned that he was -- We saw him with Dana, right?

COLLINS: Dana was sitting right there as all the senators were coming in, and she asked him, you know, his thoughts on his first State of the Union address.

But obviously, this is a big issue for concern, I'm sure, for his family and as well.

LEMON: The fact that, Doctor, the fact that he was out at the State of the Union and doing well, does that say anything? I mean, could this just be something that is -- I mean, I get lightheaded sometimes if I stand up too quickly. You know what I mean? But I don't have an underlying condition like that.

PERNELL: Right. So Don, we don't know specifically, like, what caused that lightheadedness. Like you mentioned, you can get lightheaded if you haven't eaten. You can get lightheaded if you have rapid changes in your position.

But you also can get lightheaded if you're having some type of cardiovascular event or a neurological event. And we know that the senator has a history of cardiomyopathy and atrial fibrillation. He's had a past ischemic stroke. So it's something that would cause you to say, "Let's get him to the hospital and let's get evaluated."

But the most important thing for everyone else to understand is to know fast. To know, you see a person with (UNINTELLIGIBLE) face, arm weakness, speech difficulty, it's time to call 911 and get that person evaluated.

LEMON: All right.

COLLINS: All right, Doctor. Thank you so much for that. We'll obviously stay in touch with his office and see what those additional tests show today.

HARLOW: Grim reality is starting to set in as the staggering death toll continues to soar in Turkey and in Syria.

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HARLOW: We are still seeing these remarkable rescues. This is a boy pulled out of a collapsed building in Aleppo, more than two days after that catastrophic earthquake. But time is running out to try to find survivors.

More than 17,000 people are now confirmed dead. Hundreds of thousands are homeless, and it is freezing cold in devastated areas.

Our Nick Paton Walsh is witnessing all of this catastrophe, first-hand in Antakya. And Salma Abdelaziz is live in Istanbul at an aid distribution center.

Nick, let me begin with you first, in terms of what you're seeing again. You've been on the ground for days now, and they're still rescuing people.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. But unfortunately, the rescues, sadly, of those we've seen so far this morning in Antakya, one of the biggest population centers, the rescues are of people that have already perished.

Just now, over there, an 8-year-old girl brought out in a blanket. A rush of excitement that possibly, she might have been found alive but, no, sadly, her mother distraught. And bodies brought out here behind me. Three loaded onto a van just in the last hour here.

The time is running out, may have run out. Desperate moments of possibility for rescuing people, but as we saw when dusk fell near the epicenter of the town of Kahramanmaras, a lot of our hope is dwindling fast.

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WALSH (voice-over): It is hard to imagine how this rubble gave anyone hope. Yet for 50 or so hours after the quake, it almost did. And when it stopped, when the chances of surviving ebbed, the bodies so near the epicenter here kept coming.

The paralysis of grief when these two parents see their 8-year-old daughter's red hair, bloodstained.

Another 4-year-old girl with no parents here to bury her. Another father simply walking behind.

WALSH: There's been constant intense activity, desperately trying to save lives. But we are sadly now into the window where so many of the ambulances that arrive will likely be taking away people who've perished.

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WALSH (voice-over): Up high, hope is strongest. Digging furiously by hand here.

On the other side of the rubble, medics rushed forward. Throwing (ph) fury at how nothing here came soon enough.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: Why did you not look for the ones at the top first? Oh, father.

WALSH (voice-over): The stretchers here -- too late -- return empty.

Another body pulled out of a Syrian refugee in his 40s.

As the excavations gain pace, an audience of agony watches, waits.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: Heaven's garden is where they have gone. My little lamb, her bed has flown. The columns fell on it. She is only 7. How could she move it? She is in heaven.

WALSH (voice-over): A hospital volunteer told us over 300 bodies here are unclaimed, the numbers rising fast, along with tempers. It is chaos, and whether any government could have moved faster was the question dogging the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, when he flew into town briefly.

This stadium suddenly home to possibly thousands. Who knows how long? Many refugees from Syria now perhaps losing their homes for the third time.

That's nearly as many years as some have been alive. They have nothing but the state's generosity to rely on, which for now means 12 people in this tent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: I don't know how long they'll let us stay here. We have no house to go to. Until there's a safe space, we are just waiting for our government. Whatever they give, we will accept.

WALSH (voice-over): For now, the question is what they could think have done to not arrive for so many entombed here, too late.

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WALSH (on camera): Now, there is anger here. The government's initial slow response is something that they've almost accepted on the state level.

But also, too, the man who built this house, why has it collapsed when so many around it are still standing and, frankly, a government culture here that has enriched people so heavily through construction where building regulations clearly are not always met. That will continue to grow as the death toll does in the days ahead. But the devastation here in Antakya absolutely devastating.

HARLOW: I'll never forget the wails of that woman in your piece. Nick Paton Walsh in Antakya, Turkey, thank you very much.

LEMON: Look at the rescue efforts there with Nick Paton Walsh. Also, Salma Abdelaziz is in Istanbul, where a massive effort is underway right now to deliver aid to countless earthquake survivors.

Salma, take us through. What's going on where you are?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm at this bustling distribution center, and this is all about Turks helping Turks. And I want to just show you around here. And it's an absolute hive of activity.

You are looking at hundreds of volunteers here, and they're packing boxes with whatever people need in those earthquake zones. You see baby goods there. They have food. They have sanitation kits. They're packing them as quickly as they can.

And remember, everything you are looking at in these boxes -- this is toothpaste, basic skin care, toilet paper. Remember, those people in that earthquake, though, have absolutely nothing. So they're trying to provide the basics here.

And everything you're looking at has been given by an individual or a business. There's a real sense of solidarity.

And we've spoken to these volunteers, and every single one of them says the same thing: We could not sit at home and just watch people suffering and not do anything about it.

I know it looks like chaos. But it's actually organized chaos. You can see the loudspeakers over there. That's how they're shouting down orders. Letting this man pass through. You want to just follow me a little bit further here.

You'll see that this huge hangar, which is where they stocked the boxes. They load them onto trucks straight at the end of the hangar. And then they go from here, and they drive straight to the South of Turkey to try to help those affected people.

We've seen, I don't know how many trucks. It seemed almost every hour the truck was going out, helping the affected on the front line. Everyone here says, Look, we're so happy that the international community is stepping in. But it's important. It's important for us to step in, too.

LEMON: Wow. Selma, thank you for showing us around. I mean, it's just awful this huge, huge massive effort that's under way in Istanbul. We appreciate you joining us. We'll get back to you.

COLLINS: All right. Two days after delivering his State of the Union address, President Biden is taking his economic message on the road, fresh off that delivery on Tuesday night. Today he's going to be in Florida.

Yesterday it was Wisconsin, where he did something he did not do on Tuesday night: named the Republicans that he accused of wanting to target Social Security and Medicare. Something he had avoided doing.

All of this as the president is laying the groundwork for an expected 2024 run. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDY WOODRUFF, HOST, PBS'S "NEWSHOUR": You'd be 82 the day of the next election, 86 if you're successful and elected and finish that term. Does it give you any concern?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Watch me. That's all I can say. Look, I'm a great respecter of of faith. I'll be completely, thoroughly honest with the American people if I thought there was any health problem, anything that would keep me from being able to do the job.

WOODRUFF: That sounds like you're running.

BIDEN: I haven't made that decision. That's my intention, I think, but I haven't made that decision firmly yet.

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COLLINS: CNN's M.J. Lee is live at the White House with more. M.J., you know, we're expecting him to make that decision. He hasn't made it yet. What's the sense of why not?

M.J. LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kaitlan, every expectation right now is that the president will be making a re- election announcement in the coming weeks.

The people around the president are operating as such. And to that end, we are going to see the president hit the road again for his post-State of the Union tour, heading down to Florida to really focus on the issues of Social Security and Medicare.

And this is going to be a really interesting space to watch. You know, you saw on Tuesday night how, when he accused Republican members of trying to make cuts to those programs, the speech got really rowdy. He was being heckled. He was being called a liar.

And this has emerged, already a key issue in the beginning talks of raising the debt ceiling. You know, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, even though he's not put a specific proposal on the table, the one thing that he has said is that cuts to Social Security and Medicare are off the table.

So White House officials have been saying they do believe that this is an issue that is striking a nerve with Republicans. And they do think this is going to be a winning contrast for them, as they do prepare for that 2024 run.

COLLINS: Yes. It's going to be a fascinating day to see him in Florida, not just where Rick Scott is but Ron DeSantis for President Trump, as well. M.J. Lee, thank you so much.

And ahead, Senator Rick Scott is actually going to join us here on the program as President Biden is heading to his home state. His response to the president calling him out in his State of the Union address.

LEMON: I think he pretty much said, when he goes, "That is my intention." I think that means he's going to run. Don't you think?

COLLINS: It's kind of interesting he hasn't -- though our sense right now is March or April. But the sense had been that he would make the final decision while over the holidays while he was at home with the family. So it is notable they delayed it a little bit.

LEMON: That is my intention but I have not -- he's going to run. I mean, come on.

COLLINS: It would be shocking if he doesn't.

LEMON: It's stressing me out, by the way. Did you see my new stress ball?

I did a --

HARLOW: I need this.

LEMON: I did a speaking engagement in -- the day before yesterday at Farmingdale. Thank you, SUNY - Farmingdale. And this was my -- one of my little gifts.

HARLOW: It's cute.

LEMON: It was like, hey kids, I hope this isn't, like, a tracking device.

HARLOW: A spy squishy.

LEMON: Thank you, students at SUNY - Farmingdale. It was great.

HARLOW: All right. Coming up, a fascinating development in North Korea. Who will be Kim Jong-un's successor? The North Korean dictator just gave the world a strong hint.

LEMON: And a forensic scientist revealing that she discovered -- what she discovered on Alex Murdaugh's clothes and hands from the night that his wife and son were murdered.

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HARLOW: This morning, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un appears to be grooming his young daughter to be his successor. The girl is believed to be Kim's second child. She's about 9 years old.

She was also spotted with him in a military parade of intercontinental ballistic missiles in Pyongyang. You'll remember that.

Our Paula Hancocks joins me now live in Seoul, South Korea, with more.

The big question is, why is he putting her out here, out there multiple times in just a matter of months, right?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. This, we believe, is the fifth time she has been in public. And it's certainly the first time a North Korean leader has taken a daughter or a son to one of these military parades. And also another first is the first time that we have seen so many of these biggest ICBMs on display.

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HANCOCKS (voice-over): Missile after missile rolls through Pyongyang's main square Wednesday night. Its biggest intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong 17, presumed capable of reaching mainland United States. No speech from leader Kim Jong-un this time, but this many ICBMs are a message in themselves.

CHUN IN-BUM, RETIRED SOUTH KOREA LT. GENERAL: They've now gone into a good production line of this very capable threatening missile system.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): And a mock-up of a solid fuel ICBM, which makes it quicker to launch and easier to move.

IN-BUM: It gives them more mobility, flexibility, lethality and so forth.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): Kim Jong-un told the world he wanted a bigger and better nuclear arsenal. And judging from these images, provided by state-run media, that seems to be exactly what he's doing.

Another first: the military parade was a family affair. Kim's wife and daughter were watching the missiles roll by. Believed to be called Ju- Ae, maybe nine or ten years ole old, this is the fifth publish event for Kim's daughter since November, the only one of his children to be shown in public, fueling speculation that he may be grooming her for succession.

CHEONG SEONG-CHANG, DIRECTOR OF CENTER FOR EAST ASIAN COOPERATION (through translator): In order to cease power in North Korea, gaining control of the military and their loyalty is the most important thing. So I think that's why Kim Ju-Ae is mainly accompanying Kim to military-related occasions.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): Kim Jong-un's message has been, We will strengthen the military, and we will be ready for war.

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HANCOCKS (on camera): Now in keeping with the military theme, we also saw Ri Sol Ju, Kim's wife wearing what appeared to be a necklace with an ICBM on it. So a fashion nod to the country's most powerful weapon -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Wow. Paula Hancocks, thank you very much.

LEMON: Up next, appalling video shows at least two Philadelphia high school students spraying a young girl in the face with black paint while shouting racist comments.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're a black girl! You know your roots! It's February!

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COLLINS: All right. Testimony is expected to resume this morning in the double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh. Prosecutors are now focusing on a critical piece of evidence that was found at the home of Murdaugh's mother on the same night that his wife and son were fatally shot.

Let's go to CNN's Randi Kaye, who is live in Walterboro, South Carolina, where this court proceeding, this trial has been under way. Randi, what's the latest evidence? And is it damaging for the defense? What do they say?

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kaitlan.

We're talking about a big blue raincoat that had a lot of gunshot residue on it. Prosecutors seem to be suggesting that Alex Murdaugh used that to wrap up the murder weapons and then dispose of them.

But the defense did a pretty good job of poking holes in that theory. Here's what happened in court.

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MEGAN FLETCHER, GUNSHOT RESIDUE EXPERT: This jacket is the jacket I examined.

KAYE (voice-over): She's talking about the rain jacket that was discovered stashed in an upstairs closet at Alex Murdaugh's mother's home. It was found months after the murders of his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and their son, Paul.

Megan Fletcher, a gunshot residue expert for the state, told the court she found a significant amount of gunshot residue particles on the inside of that jacket.

FLETCHER: I confirmed 38 particles characteristic.

Given that it's on the inside, in order for it to be.