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Police Reveal New Details about Michigan Gunman; Some MSU Students Endure 2nd Mass Shooting in 15 Months; Special Counsel Alleges Crime to Compel Trump Lawyer Testimony; Senators to Receive China Briefing after 4th Object Shot Down. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired February 15, 2023 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's winter, still, up there, for sure. Spring down here.
[06:00:09]
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR/CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Wild. OK, two storms. A one-two punch. Chad Myers, thank you so much. Keep watching it for us.
And thanks for joining me. I'm Christine Romans. CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People were hesitant on whether we should open the barricade that we set up in the room.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Open it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God. Stop!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cops would not say "Ayo."
(SHOUTING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) down!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They said don't!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They said don't open the door.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: That's what was happening as it was all going on, and it was horrific. Some people have lived through it once. Others more than once. Sadly, we're going to talk to some of those people. But --
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It's just unbelievable --
LEMON: -- that's where we begin (ph).
COLLINS: To think, is it the cop or is it someone that I should be worried about? Is it a threat?
LEMON: Yes, yes.
So, good morning, everyone. Poppy is on assignment. Lots of questions, right? What would you do in that situation during a mass shooting? Dozens of Michigan State students were barricaded in their classroom when there was a knock on the door. Was it the police or the killer?
Yet again, in other news, President Biden -- or not in other news. President Biden demanding action on guns to stop the bloodshed. Why did the gunman have a pistol if he'd already been arrested for a felony gun charge?
COLLINS: It's a great question. We'll look into it further in the show.
Also this morning, the race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination is about to get a jump-start, with Nikki Haley entering the ring, with her official announcement. That is expected to happen just hours from now.
A big question this morning is How many more Republicans are going to challenge Donald Trump for that nomination? And could a crowded primary field actually help him?
LEMON: It's a lot of people up on that screen. Oh, my gosh.
OK, plus, a major escalation in the legal battle over classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. The Justice Department now says there's evidence of a crime, and it is trying to force Trump's attorney to testify. We're going to get to all of that.
But we're going to begin at Michigan State, where there are two big questions this morning after the mass shooting Monday on campus. What was the shooter's motive? And should he have had a gun at all, given his prior felony firearms charge?
So we've seen this before. Right? Another mass shooting, another call for action from the president. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's one thing we do know to be true. We have to do something to stop gun violence ripping apart our communities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And the Michigan State community ripped apart right now. We now know the names of the victims: 20-year-old Brian Fraser, 19-year-old Arielle Anderson and 20-year-old Alexandria Verner.
Hundreds of people gathered at vigils across the state last night to mourn them and to pray for the injured, who are still fighting for their lives. I want to get to Adrienne Broaddus now. And this story is personal to her. She's an alum of Michigan. She's in East Lansing right now with more.
Good morning, Adrienne. So what do we -- what new details do we know about? Police, are they sharing the motive of the gunman? What's going on?
ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, good morning to you.
Police don't know what the motive is. However, they say they discovered a note in the shooter's pocket targeting not one but two schools in New Jersey. And as people cope with what happened here on campus at Michigan State University, also known as MSU, they're really trying to understand what led to all of this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROADDUS (voice-over): How many more? That's the message that reads on a rock at Michigan State University that has turned into a memorial for victims of Monday night's shooting.
STELLA GOVITZ, FRESHMAN, MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: I don't know if, like, you ever truly heal from it. But I think that we just have to support each other as much as possible.
BROADDUS (voice-over): some parents reuniting with students Tuesday as the campus begins to heal and loved ones mourn the loss of Arielle Anderson, Alexandria Verner and Brian Fraser.
(MUSIC)
BROADDUS (voice-over): A vigil was held in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, for Fraser Monday night. He was a sophomore at MSU and president of the Michigan Beta chapter of Phi Delta Theta.
Anderson, a junior at MSU, was also from Grosse Pointe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It touched our community not once but not twice.
BROADDUS (voice-over): Verner, also a junior and a star athlete at her high school.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was special. And that's what we honor.
KELLY HORNE, ASSISTANT PRINCIPLE AND VARSITY BASKETBALL COAH: We're struggling. We're all struggling here at the high school because of what an incredible person that Al was.
BROADDUS (voice-over): Anne Riddle (ph) has now lived through two school shootings. Her father says one at MSU and one at Oxford High School in 2021.
MATT RIDDLE, DAUGHTER SURVIVED MSU AND OXFORD HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTINGS: This can't possibly happen again. There's just no way. It's mathematically unlikely, right? Like, you know, I'm an engineer, and I think it's -- there's no way.
And then you say, Well, it did. So what does that mean? Well, what it means is that we're failing people like my daughter. We're failing students.
BROADDUS (voice-over): This as new video shows the dramatic moments students were hiding in a classroom.
(SHOUTING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) get down! Get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) down!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They said go (ph)!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They said don't open the door!
BROADDUS (voice-over): Reacting to a knock while on the phone with police.
The shooter's motive is still unclear. According to police, they are now investigating a two-page note found in the gunman's backpack, saying he's going to, quote, "finish off Lansing" and that there are, quote, "20 of him" who will carry out other shootings, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
Law enforcement now investigating a local residence where the gunman's father says he lived with him. The shooter purchased two handguns in Michigan in 2021. A law enforcement source tells CNN --
CHRIS ROZMAN, INTERIM DEPUTY CHIEF, MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY POLICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY: We do have at least one weapon.
BROADDUS (voice-over): Despite the tough circumstances, there's one greeting among U.S. Spartans that still unites them.
BROADDUS: Go green!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go white!
BROADDUS: You guys smiled instantly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Horrible and disgusting and tragic as that was, like, we are all in it together.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROADDUS: And those are four words that connect people. Not only here on campus, but I can be walking down the streets of Chicago or anywhere, quite frankly, and if someone is wearing an MSU shirt or cap, you shout out, "Go green." If they are a Spartan, they will respond with that "Go white."
And it's been comforting, especially as they learn more details about this 43-year-old shooter. Investigators not only told us about that note I shared with you, but his father told CNN his son changed over the last two years following the death of his mother; saying he became isolated, bitter, and angry.
And as folks stop by the Spartan statue, which is here at the center of campus, the statue has always been a symbol of strength. That's something folks here need now more than ever, Don and Kaitlan.
LEMON: Yes. And you mentioned those words. The other word everyone is wondering, Adrienne, is why. Why? And hopefully, they'll get to the bottom of it. Thank you very much. Adrienne Broaddus.
COLLINS: Look at this picture that we have from the Michigan State campus in the hours after the shooting. You can see that young man there who's highlighted on the right side of your screen. He's wearing an "Oxford Strong" sweatshirt.
Oxford, that's in reference to Oxford High School, which is near Detroit, where as many of you know, a gunman killed four students and wounded seven other people just 15 months ago.
That student says he got the T-shirt at a fund-raiser but underscores the gut-wrenching reality that Adrienne was just referencing there, that some of these people, some of these students have now survived not one but two mass shootings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): For me, the most haunting picture of last night was watching the cameras pan through the crowds and seeing a young person wearing an "Oxford Strong" sweatshirt. The sweatshirts that were handed out after those kids lived through a school shooting 15 months ago. And we have children in Michigan who are living through their second school shooting in under a year and a half.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Joining us now is one of those students, a student who's been traumatized by the mass shootings both at Michigan State and at her high school, Oxford High School, Ava Ferguson.
Ava, I'm so glad you're here with us this morning. You're so young. You're my brother's -- my little brother's age. He's a freshman in college, as well. And I know you had been -- this was -- Oxford High School was your high school. You've only been on this campus for a matter of weeks, and now another shooting has happened. What was going through your mind?
AVA FERGUSON, MSU STUDENT: I was flabbergasted, to say the least. You know, after Oxford, they said that this wasn't going to happen again, that we were going to be safe going back to school. And that's just not the case.
The other night I was in shock. I didn't think it was real, honestly.
LEMON: Did you know any of the victims?
FERGUSON: At Oxford, I did know Madison a little bit, but at MSU I -- know Madison, but at MSU I did not know any of them. LEMON: Did you get an alert from -- was it -- Were there similarities
to how you were alerted? Did you get anything from the school? Was there a mass alert or anything that went out?
FERGUSON: There was an e-mail that went out to a lot of the students who had signed up for the Safe MSU app.
COLLINS: Ava, what is it like to be -- to be on campus, to have to call your parents again to talk about what your -- what those messages that you're getting from officials, what you're seeing on social media and hearing from your friends about all the cop cars that were on campus?
FERGUSON: It was like traumatizing all over again. I'm still a little, like, shaken up by it. At the time, we didn't know any information. I didn't know where the shooter was. I thought I was in, like, imminent danger. And yes. It was just horrifying.
[06:10:12]
LEMON: Are you going to see someone?
FERGUSON: Pardon?
LEMON: Are you going to see someone like a counsellor, or talk to someone?
FERGUSON: Yes. After Oxford, I was going to a therapist for a while. And then I stopped. But right now, I actually am seeing a therapist.
LEMON: You are. So listen, this is what the text message from the school said. The protocol, I think is to run, hide, and fight. What do you think of that guidance? Because there were people in a classroom and someone was knocking on the door. They didn't know if it was the police or not.
But what do you think of the guidance that you're -- you got and getting from these -- in these situations?
FERGUSON: I think that those are very -- like -- what's the word? Understandable, good things that you should be doing. It's really important to not shut down and to save yourself. And to fight for everyone around you and not let someone like that get what they want, essentially.
COLLINS: I just want to talk about how amazing you are and what you've been through. Because not only did you have the shooting at your high school, and you just experienced this one at Michigan State, you're also a cancer survivor. And you'd only been at campus a few weeks.
This is supposed to be one of the most exciting times in your life, that you're going to college. You have this big moment. You've accomplished that. Do you feel like the system has failed you, given that now this has happened to you twice?
FERGUSON: A hundred percent. There should have been laws made years ago when Sandy Hook happened, and it never did. And I feel like now's the time people need to start realizing there is people dying every day because of gun violence. And something needs to be done about it.
COLLINS: Absolutely. Ava, you're really brave. And we're really glad that you came on to talk about this. Because you're right, it's unfair that you've gone through this, and no one your age should have to go through this. No one should. And we're very glad that you came on to talk about it, though.
FERGUSON: Thank you for having me.
COLLINS: Thank you.
LEMON: Thank you. Not once but twice. And she's not the only one. There are others who have gone through it more than once.
Look, I can't imagine what I would do in this situation. We were asking each other if you -- would you open the door if there was a knock and they said, "It's the police. Let me in." I don't think that I would trust that, even though they might be there be to save me. I don't know. I can't imagine being in that situation.
COLLINS: She's so young. My little brother just turned 19. They're a little -- they're the same age.
LEMON: Do they talk about it?
COLLINS: It's just -- it's what they've grown up with. And they do get that training. The fact that she's been through it before. But, you know, to hear her dad last night, talking to Alisyn Camerota, and saying we just couldn't believe that -- you think == he says it was mathematically impossible, they thought, that it could happen to their daughter again, and now it has.
LEMON: Here we are. And she's right. Something has to be done. The system did fail her.
COLLINS: Yes.
LEMON: We're going to move on now and talk about South Carolina. Take you to South Carolina, where Donald Trump's first major 2024 challenger is about to kick off what could be an incredibly contentious race to be the Republican nominee for president.
Just hours from now Nikki Haley is set to give her official announcement speech in Charleston. The same Nikki Haley who said that she would never run against her former boss.
In her announcement video, the former U.N. ambassador and governor did not mention Trump by name, but she did point out how he lost two popular elections, among some other not-so-subtle digs.
The big question now is how many more Republicans will take on Trump? There is a wide field of potential candidates, including some who are polling ahead of Nikki Haley, like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
We're going to get now to Kylie Atwood, live in Charleston for us this morning.
We saw a lot of faces up there today about potential candidates. But we know one right now is Nikki Haley, so take us to the scene. What's going on, Kylie?
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's right. Nikki Haley here in South Carolina today to launch her presidential campaign. It is her home state. It's also a critical state on the pathway to becoming president. The third state to vote as part of a Republican primary.
But, Don, that process doesn't begin for about a year now. So Nikki Haley is looking to identify herself to voters and donors early, ahead of the pack.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIKKI HALEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm Nikki Haley, and I'm running for president.
ATWOOD (voice-over): Nikki Haley telling her story to the American people as a presidential candidate for the first time.
HALEY: I was the proud daughter of Indian immigrants. Not black, not white. I was different. But my mom would always say your job is not to focus on the differences but the similarities. And my parents reminded me and my siblings every day how blessed we were to live in America.
ATWOOD (voice-over): The 51-year-old casting herself as the future of the Republican Party --
HALEY: It's time for a new generation of leadership.
ATWOOD (voice-over): -- urging the GOP to chart a new course.
[06:15:04]
HALEY: Republicans have lost the popular vote in seven out of the last eight presidential elections.
ATWOOD (voice-over): And highlighting her accomplishments as a two- term governor of South Carolina, the state where she was born and raised.
HALEY: Every day is a great day in South Carolina.
ATWOOD (voice-over): Cutting taxes and leading her state through the aftermath of the 2015 deadly shooting by a white supremacist at the Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The severity --
HALEY: We turned away from fear toward God.
ATWOOD (voice-over): At the time, Haley confronted a controversial issue, spearheading efforts to remove the Confederate flag from the state Capitol.
HALEY: The biggest reason that I asked for that flag to come down was I could not look my children in the face and justify it standing there.
ATWOOD (voice-over): In her announcement, Haley also nodding to her experience on the world stage as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
HALEY: China and Russia are on the march. They all think we can be bullied, kicked around. You should know this about me. I don't put up with bullies. And when you kick back, it hurts them more if you're wearing heels.
ATWOOD (voice-over): But no mention of former President Trump, who tapped her for that role.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I just want to thank Nikki.
ATWOOD (voice-over): Haley's entrance prompting praise from Republicans.
REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): She's got all the qualifications to run for president.
ATWOOD (voice-over): Even as some are concerned that a crowded primary could benefit former President Trump.
MACE: To see someone, you know, see some of the leadership coming out of South Carolina is exciting. But I do have concerns if there are too many people on the ballot by the time it gets to South Carolina that, you know, that lessens the chances of anyone else sort of coming out in this thing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ATWOOD: Now, we are learning that Cindy Warmbier. She is the mother of Otto Warmbier, who is an American who you'll remember was detained in North Korea and returned to the United States in 2017, only to die days later, she's going to be one of the people introducing Nikki Haley on stage today.
She credits Haley with giving her the strength to stand up to the North Korean regime. She says after her conversation with Nikki Haley in 2018 -- she was the ambassador to the United Nations at the time -- she went from survival mode to fighter mode. So she's one of those stories that we'll look for onstage today -- Kaitlan, Don.
LEMON: All right. Thank you, Kylie Atwood. I appreciate it.
So all eyes will be on South Carolina today. The interesting thing is, you know, as I said yesterday, you can't deny her resume. Right? She's got a great resume. There are other things that are going to be trouble for her. Chief among them, Donald Trump and her association with Donald Trump. And also what appears to be her sort of having -- doing both sides on
everything. Right? She's on both sides of the fence on -- when it comes to election deniers. She said -- she didn't really challenge Trump's election denialism.
But she did support election deniers, right?
She was credited -- and I interviewed her after she took the -- pulled the flag down from South Carolina. But then she said people looked at that as -- some people saw it as a symbol of heritage and so on.
So I think people are going to have to pin her down of where she actually stands on these issues, especially now that she's putting her -- obviously, her hat in the ring.
COLLINS: We'll see. .She did make it through day one with no Trump nickname yet. So we'll see what happens.
LEMON: We'll see. Well, is it official? Because she didn't make it official yet, right?
COLLINS: It's official.
LEMON: Right on.
COLLINS: All right. This morning also, federal prosecutors now say that they believe that a crime has potentially been committed in the investigation of former President Trump's handling of classified documents. Here's why we think this.
They are asking a court to compel Trump's attorney, Evan Corcoran, to provide additional testimony. And what's key about this is they want to override that sacred right of attorney-client privilege, after they say Corcoran already appeared before a grand jury for about four hours, where he did not answer some questions, citing attorney-client privilege.
We've been reporting this. I've been reporting this with CNN's Justice Department team, including none other than senior crime and justice reporter Katelyn Polantz.
We're back on the Kaitlan-Katelyn reporting.
But Katelyn, can we talk about why this is such a big deal? Because it certainly is resonating in legal circles, the fact that they are trying to override attorney-client privilege here.
KATELYN, POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, this is a really serious accusation for the Justice Department to be making in a very mature investigation, a criminal investigation around these documents at Mar-a-Lago.
And Kaitlin, when Evan Corcoran went into the grand jury a few weeks ago, this defense attorney that's representing Donald Trump throughout the whole Mar-a-Lago documents issue, as the National Archives were trying to get them back, the Justice Department was trying to get them back. He declined to give answers.
And there's a fairly obvious next step that the Justice Department can take to try and get those answers out of them, out of him. And that is to make this aggressive argument in court, saying that they believe that they have evidence that there was an intention from Donald Trump, Donald Trump and others potentially, maybe Donald Trump and Corcoran himself, that they were trying to further a crime or cover up a crime.
[06:20:03]
So that is the sort of thing that they're putting in sealed court filings right now. We haven't read their full argument.
It's the same sort of level of seriousness that the Justice Department would have been making whenever they were writing in court filings to get that search warrant so the FBI could go into Mar-a-Lago and do this search.
But make no mistake. At this point, Kaitlan, this is about direct conversations between Donald Trump and his defense attorney as they were dealing with -- we know that there are some obstruction of justice investigations going on. And the Justice Department wants more answers about what happened in those conversations between this guy, Evan Corcoran, and his client, Donald Trump.
COLLINS: Yes. I have a feeling this is going to be quite a fight. Obviously, they do not want to give up that right to attorney-client privilege.
But Evan Corcoran is not the only Trump attorney who's been going before the grand jury. We've actually learned that a third Trump attorney has also appeared before the grand jury back in January. What can Alina Habba provide that these other attorneys can't? Why did they want to speak to her, is your sense, in addition to Evan Corcoran and Christina Bobb?
POLANTZ: Right, Kaitlan. So this is the third attorney. And she's a little bit different than two other attorneys, Even Corcoran and Christina Bobb, who have already gone into the grand jury around the Mar-a-Lago documents.
So Corcoran and Christina Bobb, they were handling the searches and telling the Justice Department, we've searched everything, we don't think we have anything else. And then the FBI came in and found hundreds more classified documents.
Alina Habba, she's actually the chief lawyer leading Trump's defense in a civil case opposite -- or the Trump family and the Trump business, their defense, in a civil case opposite the attorney general in New York. And what she had done was a search of Mar-a-Lago for that case. So that's why they've wanted to talk to her -- Kaitlan.
COLLINS: All right. Katelyn Polantz, great reporting. Thank you so much.
LEMON: So new this morning, we're hearing audio of F-16 pilots trying to determine exactly what was flying over Michigan's Lake Huron on Sunday. A recording that was obtained by a publication that reports on military hardware called "The War Zone." Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see something. I can't tell if it is metallic or what, and there's -- I can see, like, lines coming down below, but I can't see anything below it. It's so slow and so small you can't see, because it's so close. It's just some kind of dark object. You can see some strings or something hanging down below it. I can't tell if it's holding anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: It also obtained audio of F-22 pilots shooting down the Chinese balloon off the coast of South Carolina on February 4th.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Huntress. Six miles offshore.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Franko01 Splash one! TOI 1.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Huntress copy. Splash.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is a T-kill. The balloon is completely destroyed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And happening today, senators are expected to get a classified briefing on China after that suspected spy balloon was shot down earlier this month.
Democrat John Tester and Republican Susan Collins have introduced a resolution condemning the Chinese government for its "brazen violation of U.S. sovereignty." That is a quote.
Lauren Fox, live for us on Capitol Hill this morning. Good morning to you. What do we expect these briefings to entail?
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, yesterday's classified briefing, Don, was really all about those four objects that had been shot down over the last two weeks.
Today's briefing, though, is especially on China and the broader relationship between the U.S. and that country. Expect that the briefers from the Pentagon today are going to be telling senators a lot more about the broader relationship with that country, about China's capabilities when it comes to surveillance and research and development, as well as the weapons capabilities at this moment.
One thing that you heard from Republicans and Democrats coming out of the briefing yesterday was not their concern about these objects being shot out of the sky specifically and that being a threat to the U.S. But they did argue a lot of them remember the Cold War. A lot of them remember a long battle with Russia over the last several decades.
And their concern is they could be entering into that same sort of posture with China.
So that briefing today is going to be a lot broader than what we saw yesterday, which was specifically on those objects shot down, Don.
LEMON: Lauren, I want to ask you about Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein announcing that she's not going to seek re-election. So that opens up a seat, right? What is the reaction on Capitol Hill to this announcement?
FOX: I mean, it's going to leave a huge hole just in her legacy, her capability. She was the longest serving woman senator up here on Capitol Hill.
She also has a legacy of passing bills that are hard to imagine passing today, including the assault weapons ban, in 1994. She worked really hard in 2014 to try to pass that bill once again, ultimately failing.
But she has really worked, as well, on the intelligence space. If you remember, she was in an elongated fight with the Obama administration to release a report on enhanced interrogation techniques that ultimately told the American public so much more than they would have known about that era during the Bush administration.
[06:25:00]
So it is obviously a huge legacy that she is leaving behind and obviously, a heating -- a heated-up fight up in the Senate in California to try to take her spot in the U.S. Senate -- Don.
LEMON: Lauren Fox, thank you very much.
COLLINS: Also this morning, coming up on CNN, we are live on the ground in Ohio, where fish and other animals are getting sick and dying after that toxic and fiery train wreck earlier this month. A question: is it a red flag for all the people who are living nearby, now being told to go back to their homes?
Jason Carroll is on the scene with more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Concerns about toxic contamination are growing in East Palestine, Ohio, this morning after a train carrying hazardous materials derailed almost two weeks ago, forcing crews to conduct a controlled burn and release to prevent an explosion.
Hundreds of homes in the area were temporarily evacuated. It was due to health concerns. But people are now afraid both soil and water may be contaminated there.
CNN's Jason Carroll joins us now live from East Palestine.
Jason, hello. Your photographer had a Go Pro on as he looked at nearby streams. And what did they see?
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We were there with them. I mean, we kept hearing all these stories, Don, about what folks here on the ground were seeing in their back yards, in their streams.
We went out there to see for ourselves. Very disturbing to see these dead fish just downstream from where we are now, popping up in these creeks.
So much distrust here on the ground. This after residents were told it was OK to go home. Then only to be told their water may not be safe.
[06:30:00]
