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CNN This Morning

Trump Wins South Carolina Republican Primary; Nikki Haley Vows To Fight On Despite Losing In Her Home State; U.S. And Britain Carry Out Fourth Round Of Strikes On Houthi Targets In Yemen; House Returns From Two-Week Recess With Foreign Aid Bill On The Line; Zelenskyy To Address Ukraine After Second Anniversary Of War; Ukraine Marks Grim Anniversary As Third Year Of War Begins. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired February 25, 2024 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:43]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It is Sunday, February 25th. I'm Victor Blackwell.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Amara Walker. Thank you so much for being with us this morning. Here is what we are watching for you.

Another win for Donald Trump. And new questions for Nikki Haley after she loses another primary to the former president this time in her home state.

BLACKWELL: This desperate fight in Russia -- against Russia, I should say. Ukraine enters a third year of war, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepares to take questions from CNN about whether he can win.

WALKER: And criticism for a beloved college tradition after a basketball player is injured during a collision with a fan storming the court.

BLACKWELL: And now you see it but soon you won't. Death Valley is witnessing the rarest thing imaginable in one of the driest spots on Earth. All right. Looking forward to that story.

Just minutes after the polls closed in South Carolina last night, Donald Trump was declared the winner of the Republican primary in the Palmetto State. Trump has swept all GOP nominating contest to date. The overwhelming victory last night gave him even more of a decisive lead over former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley.

WALKER: Defeat for Nikki Haley in her home state is a major blow to her campaign. But the former governor made it clear that the loss would not push her out of the race anytime soon. She is pledging to campaign through Super Tuesday which is next month.

CNN's Alayna Treene joining us now from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Hi there, Alayna. What does last night's primary tell us about, you know, where things stand?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Right. Well, Donald Trump's resounding victory in South Carolina, where Nikki Haley was twice elected governor, has all but ended the race, even as Nikki Haley has insisted that she plans to battle on through at least next month. Now, Donald Trump's advisers tell me that they are really hoping that this win followed by the three other overwhelming victories and the other early nominating states will help unite the Republican Party around him. And not just bring over holdout Republicans but also holdout donors, as well as put more pressure on Nikki Haley to ultimately a drop out.

Now, Donald Trump last night was very different than he was in New Hampshire following that victory. Unlike in New Hampshire where he used his victory speech to attack Nikki Haley, last night he was really a different person. He was very congratulatory and he didn't even mention the former governor's name once during those remarks. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now, there's a spirit that I have never seen. We ran two great races, but there's never been, ever, there's never been a spirit like this. And I just want to say that I have never seen the Republican Party so unified as it is right now.

NIKKI HALEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In the next 10 days, another 21 states and territories will speak. They have the right to a real choice, not a Soviet-style election with only one candidate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Victor and Amara, Donald Trump has been pivoting to more a general election messaging over the past several weeks. But his advisers told me that they really want to begin shifting the campaign apparatus to more of a campaign -- to more of a general election strategy in earnest following his win last night. And that's mainly from a fundraising perspective and a donor perspective.

I'm told that they're really going to be starting having more serious conversations about how to win over the critical battleground states, places like Michigan, and Arizona, and Georgia, and really try to shift the campaign itself to looking toward November. Now, another thing I just want to quickly mention here is that Donald Trump is still very much frustrated by Nikki Haley's refusal to drop out and that's going to be another thing his advisers told me that they're going to try to prevent him from doing.

They want him to train that fire on Joe Biden, not on Nikki Haley. But we'll see if he's able to do that given I know in the past his advisers have personally appealed to him to ignore Nikki Haley, and he has not been able to do so.

[06:05:01]

Victor, Amara.

WALKER: All right. Alayna Treene, thank you so much. Joining me now is Max Cohen. He is a reporter for "Punchbowl News." Good morning to you, Max.

I don't know. Let's try to look at this from Nikki Haley's perspective. I don't know that there's really any bright spot, but most polls did have Trump ahead of Haley in South Carolina by more than 30 points. The margin for Trump was 20 points. Does that matter?

MAX COHEN, REPORTER, PUNCHBOWL NEWS: In my opinion, it doesn't matter. I think Alayna was spot on earlier just now saying that, look, this primary campaign is for all intents and purposes over. Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee, in my opinion, barring some incredible comeback by Nikki Haley. At the end of the day a lot of Nikki Haley's support is coming from independents and Democrats.

We saw in New Hampshire an exit polling showed that last night in South Carolina, that's not where you want to be as a candidate running for the Republican nomination. And in my mind, what we saw in South Carolina just further solidifies the Republican Party currently is a party of Donald Trump.

WALKER: OK. So, let's listen to what Nikki Haley had to say last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALEY: I know 40 percent is not 50 percent. But I also know 40 percent is not some tiny group.

There are huge numbers of voters in our Republican primaries who were saying they want an alternative. I'm not giving up this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: What do you think about that point that Nikki Haley is making? Yes, 40 percent of voters rejecting Trump in the primary in North Carolina, you know, may not be so much of a problem for Trump, but when it comes to the general election, that could be a point of concern, no?

COHEN: That's a fascinating point by Nikki Haley and I think that point, however, is blunted. Because if you remember, you know, late last year, there are a number of these high-profile general election polls which show that Donald Trump was out-running Joe Biden. It also showed Nikki Haley, out-running Joe Biden, yes. But Nikki Haley's strongest point as you mentioned, there, is that she is -- quote -- "more electable" than Donald Trump.

But this current point in time, Donald Trump standing in the polls, doesn't reflect that, in my opinion. And the only way that Nikki Haley can build momentum is if a lot of polls come out, a lot of narrative starts forming saying Donald Trump can't beat Biden. But at this moment with Biden's weakened electoral standing and Trump's, honestly, pretty strong swing-state polling, Nikki Haley doesn't have that argument in her back pocket.

And I think that's why she'll continue to struggle. She said she'll go until Super Tuesday. At this point, I think it's a matter of, you know, when she drops out and not really if.

WALKER: What do you think her end game is? And, I mean, is she trying to go out in flames here? Is she trying to position herself for 2028? But, of course, the argument is, well, you know, is she damaging her political brand by staying in the race for so long?

COHEN: It's really tough to say in my opinion because on one end Nikki Haley is under no -- she shouldn't have to drop out. She has a very well-run campaign, has raised a lot of money. At this point of the game, it's really about can you stay afloat? Can you keep your campaign going with all the expenditures you're going to be making to run a national campaign, which is what Super Tuesday is?

As long as she has the resources, there's no reason that she should be forced to drop out. But right now, I do think it might be planning for the future. I think what Nikki Haley sees right now is perhaps a post- Trump future. A lot of candidates thought that would happen in 2024, and a lot of candidates now thinking, wait, that can be 2028. That's where I think Ron DeSantis is positioning himself now.

I think Nikki Haley as well could say, you know, four years from now, another Republican primary, look, I ran the strongest against Donald Trump four years ago, give me the chance now '28.

WALKER: So, Trump has won all four contests thus far. It's been quite effortless for him, even in New Hampshire, where Nikki Haley -- Nikki Haley was thought to have a chance with more of the moderate and independent voters. I mean, what does this say about, you know, Trump's dominance over the Republican Party?

COHEN: I think it's complete dominance. That's the perfect word to describe it. Let's just rewind to the start of this campaign when Donald Trump announced, in the fall 2023, he was facing all of those indictments. And in my opinion, that process of him facing these legal charges has only brought the party closer around him. And that, I think, has dumbfound many of his challengers, the would-be people who would knock him off.

They thought that was a sign of weakness. They thought, look, Donald Trump is facing all of this legal calamity. Voters don't want that. But Republican voters have showed us time and time again is those charges have rallied them around the former president. They see it all as a conspiracy against Donald Trump. And this is why we must support him. And if that's the mentality you're going up against if you're Nikki Haley, it's very, very difficult to beat.

[06:10:05]

WALKER: Michigan is up next. What will you be watching for, Max?

COHEN: Michigan for me, I think, it's going to be more the same. I think, Donald Trump is going to beat Nikki Haley. I think there'll be more calls for her to drop out.

At the end of the day, she has to decide whether it's worth it to wage this, you know, ultimately losing campaign against Trump to raise her profile. Or if she's going to drop out and endorse him. That's going to be a fascinating story line.

Because Trump, as you heard earlier, is preaching unity. Nikki Haley clearly is the last stand against that Republican unity in this primary election.

WALKER: Will she endorse him? That will be interesting. Max Cohen, thank you very much. Good to see you.

And just a reminder, starting tomorrow CNN THIS MORNING has a new start time during the week. You can catch Kasie Hunt starting at 05:00 a.m. Eastern. And tomorrow she'll be joined by West Virginia senator Joe Manchin.

BLACKWELL: Turning to the Mideast now where U.S. and British forces carried out more attacks on several sites in Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels. The strikes are meant to cut off the rebels' weapon supply and at least slow down attacks on commercial vessels that have disrupted international shipping. But as CNN's Oren Liebermann explains, there are still some major challenges.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. and the U.K. carried out another round of strikes, coalition strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Saturday night, Yemen time, after a number of recent attacks from the Houthis have hit ships associated with the U.S. and the U.K.

In this case, the U.S. and the U.K. struck 18 different targets across eight different locations. Those targets included weaponry used by the Houthis, underground storage facility for that weaponry, radar sites, and more. The goal here, as it has been now for several months, is to try to degrade and disrupt the ability of the Houthis to attack commercial vessels. These attacks carried out by aircraft and perhaps other assets as well.

In this statement, we saw from the coalition that took part in this, that includes the U.S., the U.K., Canada, the Netherlands, Bahrain, and others, it specifically lists some of the ships that were hit recently, including the Rubymar. That's a ship associated with the U.K. that's now anchored in the Red Sea. It is apparently the first ship whose crew had to be rescued and abandon ship because it was struck by a Houthi attack. It has now left an 18-mile oil slick as it poses an environmental hazard and sits there because U.S. officials say it's not safe enough to go rescue it because of the threat of more attacks from the Iran-backed rebel group.

Part of the challenge here is that U.S. officials have acknowledged the ongoing strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, the attempts to degrade their weaponry and take some of that away have been unsuccessful and having changed the Houthi's direction here. They continue to launch these attacks. And what makes it difficult is that the U.S. doesn't have a great sense of how much more weaponry and equipment the Houthis have. That's because Iran continues to try to resupply them.

Still, the Biden administration has made clear as has the Pentagon that if the attacks on commercial vessels in one of the world's most critical waterways continue so, too, will the U.S. strikes and the U.K., as we now hear and see this fourth round of coalition strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. Oren Liebermann, CNN at the Pentagon.

BLACKWELL: Oren, thank you. We are just getting started here on CNN THIS MORNING. Seven hundred thirty days of pain and 730 days of hope. That's how Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy described Russia's two-year war on the country. We're taking you live to Ukraine for the latest in just minutes.

WALKER: Plus, anti-government protests in Israel turned violent as negotiators try to hammer out a deal for a weekslong ceasefire to get Hamas to release more hostages. What we're learning this morning out of a live report from Tel-Aviv.

And here's something you don't' see every day. Kayaking at one of the driest places on Earth. We plunge into a new lake in Death Valley.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:18:34]

BLACKWELL: In just a few hours, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to address his country from Kyiv. On Saturday, Zelenskyy welcomed world leaders to Ukraine, and he thanked them for their continued support. He reminded them that as the fighting rages on stockpiles of ammunition and equipment are dwindling. And so, their help is as crucial as ever for Ukraine's success.

WALKER: Later this week, all eyes will be on the U.S. House of Representatives returning from a two-week recess. On Wednesday, billions of dollars in foreign aid remain on the line for Ukraine, but is looking very unlikely that House Speaker Mike Johnson will ever bring that aid package to the floor for a vote.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh joining us now from southern Ukraine. Nick, what do we expect to hear from President Zelenskyy today?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think, he's going to have that very difficult message of sending both a suggestion that Ukraine is able to win on the front line, that it is seeing success, that's important for domestic morale, but also too potentially for those in their Congress who don't want to back a loser, but also striking a tone for western allies of quite how urgent the need for aid is. And so, it's a complex message to try and conjure.

We've also just heard this morning from his new defense minister that about 50 percent of western aid arrives late by their calculations, not entirely clear what the details of that is, but it's another sign essentially that they are beginning to feel the pinch of a lack of ammunition.

[06:20:04]

We've heard that on the front lines as well. There were suggestions from the extraordinary array of European and western leaders who came through Kyiv yesterday to mark the war heading into its third year, that there'll be maybe 170,000 more shells from Europe. I should point out, they failed to meet their own delivery expectations in the past. And so, there's a huge amount of pressure, I think, on Europe now to come forward, given this extraordinary lack of financing from the United States and the possibility, as you say, that by the end of next week, we won't see that vote even coming to the House floor.

Overnight in Ukraine, yet more drone strikes. And it appears at this point not to have taken any lives. That's not the case in Odessa the previous two nights where there were, I believe, three and -- one people losing their lives as a result of debris from a destroyed drone falling on residential areas.

So, an increasingly and lengthy bleak picture for ordinary Ukrainians. So, I think wake up today in some ways, unable to imagine how this war, which so many at the start two years ago thought would be a Russian victory in a matter of days is now slipping in to its third war.

But the real key point here is that Russia has been known for its patients, its tolerance for pain. And now as western aid begins to look like it might falter, certainly, materially, the rhetoric still there, just the actual substance doesn't appear to be in the way Ukraine needs it. This is the moment, perhaps the kremlin has been waiting for when it is more resurgence and Ukraine is in trouble. Back to you.

BLACKWELL: Nick Paton Walsh, thank you. CNN political and national security analyst and "New York Times" White House and national security correspondent David Sanger is with us now. David, good morning to you.

I want to start with that western aid as Nick described it. And, you know, we've covered here the uncertainty over the U.S. support for Ukraine with what's held up in the House. But as it relates to Europe stepping up, how long is that sustainable considering when you compare even the Russian economy to Germany, the German central bank says that they're likely in a recession, how long can Europe hold up their end and potentially what the U.S. is not going to send?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, good morning, Victor. And it's a really fascinating question and a crucial moment for the NATO allies. I think, the essential problem, as you heard from Nick before, is that the United States has the capacity to give the Ukrainians the arms they need to at least keep going and stay afloat, and keep the Russians at bay this year. But they don't have the will, at least they don't have it so far.

And the Europeans have the will, but they simply don't have the capacity. They have spent -- and just recently authorized $54 billion for the reconstruction of Ukraine. But to get to reconstruction, they need to have a stable sustainable economy. And right now, the Europeans simply don't have the level of arms.

Their production declined a lot in the post-Cold War period. There's an effort to build up on artillery production and so forth. They've already given the Ukrainians tanks and some long-range missiles. But their stores are pretty -- are running down pretty fast as well. So, we're kind of stuck.

And my fear -- I'm in Berlin right now and I've been doing a lot of reporting on this in the past couple of months. My fear is that if the U.S. loses its will on this the Europeans are going to say, why are we going to go into this if the core of NATO, the United States, will not?

BLACKWELL: You wrote for the "New York Times" that this two-year marker piece in which you say that there could soon be possibly some pressure on Ukraine, pressure on Zelenskyy to start considering a settlement.

Is there a single trigger for that or is this just the continued wear of a stalemate and the economic cost to these economies that have to support Ukraine?

SANGER: Well, right now it's continued wear. You know, wear is happening on both sides. I mean, the Russians, by British estimates that came out yesterday, have suffered 350,000 casualties. That's combination of killed and wounded since the invasion began two years ago. That was not in the set of predictions that Vladimir Putin was making. So, he has suffered huge losses, but seems to be willing to continue.

The Ukrainians have suffered big losses as well. But the problem here is they are running out of ammunition at a moment that the Russians seem to be ramping up.

[06:25:06]

And I think that's -- that's the core of the difficulty. For a negotiated settlement the hope had been that the counter offenses that the Ukrainians launched last summer was going to give them enough of an edge that they could go to the negotiating table with something of an advantage. Now, if they go to the negotiating table, it's with a disadvantage.

And frankly, if you're Vladimir Putin, you're probably -- your best bet right now is to see whether Congress falters and see who gets elected president. Because he probably thinks that if Donald Trump is elected, and Mr. Trump has said that he would solve this problem in 24 hours, well, the only way to do that is by giving the Russians the land they want.

BLACKWELL: Let's turn to the U.S. and U.K. strikes against the Houthi rebels. Eighteen locations -- or 18 targets at eight locations across Yemen. The Houthis have been striking since November vessels in the Red Sea, has impeded commercial travel there.

I wonder if the Biden administration acknowledges that military strikes alone have not restrained the Houthis, what are the other pressure points possibly that are plausible that the U.S. and the U.K. could press that could restrain them? SANGER: Well, you're right, Victor. Right now, this kind of looks like mowing the lawn, right? I mean, the Houthis strike the U.S. and the British to a counter strike. Eventually, the Houthis get more arms. We don't know exactly how much. Most of them from Iran. And you go into this cycle.

We may well be degrading the Houthi's capabilities, but clearly whatever the U.S. and the British were doing is not deterring the strikes. And that's because the Houthis get their authority internally. And politically, they get their magnetism from taking on the U.S. So, this runs to their political advantage to some degree.

So, now the question facing the Biden administration and the British is, do you go after the source of supply, Iran? And so, far they've been very hesitant to do so because nobody wants to get in a bigger conflict with Iran.

BLACKWELL: David Sanger, good to have you. Enjoy this Sunday. Thank you.

For more information about how you can help humanitarian efforts in Ukraine go to CNN.com/impact or use your phone to scan the QR code on your screen.

WALKER: Still to come, outrage over the murder of a nursing student on the campus of the University of Georgia. Why the state's governor is slamming President Biden following a young woman's death.

[06:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: There are new developments this morning in the killing of a nursing student Laken Riley on the campus of the University of Georgia. Governor Brian Kemp is demanding answers from the Biden Administration about the suspect's immigration status.

Jose Antonio Ibarra is in custody. He's accused of killing Riley. Ibarra is not a U.S. citizen. Governor Kemp shared a letter yesterday accusing the President of turning every state into a border state. The White House has not responded.

WALKER: And in Tokyo, a Hello Kitty Theme Park is back open today after temporarily closing due to a terror threat. Park officials at Sanrio Puroland say it came by email yesterday. No one was hurt and police did not find any suspicious objects. Hello Kitty is one of Japan's most recognizable brands and the theme park is on par with its Disney Resort.

BLACKWELL: New this morning, Israel says that it is ready to discuss the next steps on a deal with Hamas that would exchange hostages for ceasefire. Representatives met in Paris yesterday and Israeli officials. They tell CNN that Israel will now send a negotiating team to Qatar.

WALKER: Meanwhile, dozens of people were killed overnight from air strikes in Gaza with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to continue pushing the army into Rafah.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv. Let's start with these negotiations and where they stand.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying yesterday that the Israeli government is working to obtain another outline for the release of hostages as part of this comprehensive deal that would include a weeks-long pause in the fighting.

The Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi for his part saying yesterday on Israeli television that it was clear that the negotiators who went to Paris on Friday did not come back empty- handed, saying that there was a positive tone and that it appeared that it will be possible to move forward. But so far, we've gotten very few details about exactly what this latest outline might actually look like, this latest framework for a ceasefire deal and the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

And Israeli official is now telling us though that Israel is expected to continue these talks sending a delegation to cutter for further negotiations. Axios which first reported that development said that those talks were expected to be limited in scope focus on the technical details of the humanitarian portion of this -- of this potential deal. But nonetheless, it indicates that there is certainly momentum behind these negotiations and that things are moving along but even as there is momentum for a potential pause in the fighting, a temporary ceasefire.

The Israeli Prime Minister is making very clear that he is preparing for the alternative should there not be a deal. And that is a plans to move into Rafah, the Southernmost city in Gaza, which has about one and a half million people currently sheltering there. The Israeli Prime Minister saying that he would convene his cabinet early this week to discuss operational plans for that potential military advance including plans for the evacuation of civilians from that city, although we have not heard any details.

And for now this war is very much continuing. The Israeli military conducting several uh heavy strikes over this weekend killing at least 86 Palestinians in the last 24 hours alone, 131 injured. This brings the total number of Palestinians both combatants and civilians to nearly 30,000 people who have been killed since the beginning of this war. And we know that the majority of those are indeed women and children.

[06:36:54]

WALKER: All right, Jeremy Diamond, thank you very much. Still ahead, Death Valley springs to life. We'll explain how the driest place in the United States now boasts an extremely rare lake.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:47] BLACKWELL: You think Death Valley and obviously you think dry, very dry except for this moment there is a lake there.

WALKER: Yes, a lake. It's not deep but it is huge, six miles long, three miles wide. As CNN's Stephanie Elam reports, tourists are flocking to see it before it's gone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Tourist waiting in. Kayakers paddling out. This is after all California, but this is not the ocean. In fact, it's 282 feet below sea level. This is Death Valley, the lowest point in North America and the hottest place on earth, now attracting visitors with its cool lake water. This group of friends drove in from Las Vegas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like a Garden of Eden, would you think? I mean, look at it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can check it off your bucket list and you don't know when it's going to happen again.

ELAM (voiceover): Like the desert oasis it is, the last time the lake appeared was 19 years ago. But things are changing.

ABBY WINES, PARK RANGER, DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK: The climate change models for this area predict warmer temperatures which we are definitely seeing and also more intense rainstorms.

ELAM (voiceover): Yet even for Park Ranger Abby Wines, the massive Lake Manly is a marvel.

WINES: Normally, there's a lot more evaporative potential than there is rainfall coming in. Meaning that this is usually just a dry salt flat.

ELAM (voiceover): On average, Death Valley gets two inches of rain a year, but in the last half year, the park has been walloped with nearly five in of rain wine says including from tropical storm Hillary last August.

WINES: IT'S the rainiest day we've ever had on record.

ELAM (voiceover): This is what Badwater Basin usually looks like. This is what it looks like now. Even I couldn't resist getting out there.

ELAM: It's hard to overstate just how incredibly special and serene it is to kayak in Death Valley. Right now, Lake Manly is about six miles long and three miles wide but it's only about a foot deep.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Salty.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Salty, yes.

ELAM (voiceover): Visitors are finding out just how salty the water is. Rangers say it's more a sight to see than taste. WINES: I haven't seen anything living in there.

ELAM: I mean, well, and also it's very salty. I mean, it's extremely salty.

WINES: It's extremely salty. It's too salty to drink, so it's not going to help the wildlife in the area at all.

ELAM (voiceover): But no one is bitter about getting salt-soaked.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Miraculous.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Surreal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Crazy.

ELAM (voiceover): If it means enjoying the magic of a dreamy lake in the driest place in North America.

ELAM: And if you do want to experience the lake for yourself, time is of the essence because as it starts to heat up here in the desert and that evaporation rate goes up, the lake will soon disappear.

Stephanie Elam, CNN Death Valley California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right, Stephanie, thank you.

Still ahead, North Korea opens up to tourists for the first time since the pandemic but not everybody is welcome. In fact, they're just allowing visitors from one country. Why the decision is about more than sightseeing.

Plus, could the decades of tension between the U.S. and Iran lead to an even greater conflict in the Middle East? Fareed Zakaria investigates why Iran hates America. tonight at 8:00 Eastern on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:48:38]

WALKER: North Korea is reopening its border to visitors but there is a catch. Apparently, it's only to Russians. A group of 100 Russian tourists just visited the reclusive country in a sign of the deepening ties between the two nations.

BLACKWELL: North Korea imposed some of the strictest border controls in the world at the start of the pandemic. As CNN's Will Ripley reports, these are likely the first visitors in years.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): After years of near total isolation, North Korea is rolling out the red carpet for Russian visitors. This group of 100 believed to be the first post-pandemic tourists, visiting Kim Jong-un's hermetically sealed nation amid its deepening ties with Russia.

They flew from Vladivostok to Pyongyang on a vintage Russian plane operated by Air Koryo, North Korea's only airline. I've flown it more than a dozen times when Westerners were still allowed in. Diplomacy with the U.S. collapsed in Hanoi in 2019 when observers say Kim made a strategic pivot bolstering his nuclear arsenal, prioritizing ties with Moscow and Beijing both protecting Kim from fallout at the United Nations for his unprecedented missile testing binge.

[06:50:04]

Russia is reportedly releasing millions of dollars in frozen North Korean assets, facilitating access to international banking networks, the New York Times reports, setting the stage for a new chapter of Kim's nuclear ambitions possibly with the help of Russian rocket scientists.

This Russian tour and perhaps more to come is about more than sightseeing. It's about the bigger picture of international relations, Russia and North Korea strengthening ties, icing out the West.

Ilya Voskresensky is a travel blogger from St. Petersburg, a tough job these days. Many European nations ban Russian tourists, the result of Putin's war on Ukraine.

ILYA VOSKRESENSKY, RUSSIAN BLOGGER (through translator): I signed up for this tour the moment I heard about it. It's like stepping back in time, reminiscent of the stories my grandparents told me about life in the Soviet Union, the empty streets, the lack of advertisements. It's surreal.

RIPLEY (voiceover): Elena Bychkova is a marketing professional from Moscow.

ELENA BYCHKOVA, RUSSIAN MARKETING PROFESSIONAL (through translator): the meticulous preparations for our visit felt like being in a theater production. But amidst the choreographed scenes, I couldn't shake the feeling that there's another side to North Korea, one that remains hidden.

RIPLEY (voiceover): Beneath the carefully controlled facade, encounters with North Korean children revealing curiosity, genuine interest in the outside world.

RIPLEY: Tourism is one thing, but what the United States and its allies are truly concerned about is this deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. At least 24 North Korean ballistic missiles fired on Ukraine responsible for at least 14 deaths according to the prosecutor general of Ukraine. And an investigative organization out of the U.K. says that a North Korean ballistic missile launched just last month by the Russian military onto Ukraine contained hundreds of opponents from the U.S. and Europe, all of them made reportedly within the last three years.

Will Ripley, CNN Taipe.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: All right, still to come, a chaotic scene in college basketball. Duke's star player injured after fans stormed the court to celebrate an upset. So, is it time to retire the age-old hoops tradition?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:56:50]

BLACKWELL: Duke's basketball coach is fuming. One of his star players was hurt by some students storming the court after an upset win.

WALKER: Coy Wire is here with us. I mean, just seeing the video was frightening to watch.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes.

WALKER: All these people rushing in. So, what is he saying?

WIRE: Well, he's not happy.

WALKER: Yes.

WIRE: He -- you know, this storming the court is part of sport culture, right? Storming the court, storming the field, ripping goalpost down. But several incidents in recent weeks here, they're raising some serious concerns. At the end of number eight Duke's loss to in-state rival Wake Forest yesterday, look at the sea of fans as they storm the court. And Duke star sophomore projected first-round pick Kyle Filipowski who was in that chaos. Several fans making contact with him and his teammates and Coach Jon Scheyer were then seeing rushing in to try to help protect him and eventually carry him off the court.

Wake Forest athletics director said the school sincerely regrets what happen. The ACC does not have a fine structure or disciplinary measures in place for court storming like the SEC for instance which just fined LSU $100,000 this week.

Filipowski was injured after what he says was intentional contact.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYLE FILIPOWSKI, CENTER, DUKE BLUE DEVILS: I've already heard that there's some videos of, you know, getting punched in the back and so I absolutely feel like it was personal, you know, intentional for sure.

JON SCHEYER, COACH, DUKE BLUE DEVILS: When are we going to ban court storming? Like, when are we going to ban that? Like how many times does a player have to get into something where they get punched or they get pushed or they get taunted? You look around the country and Caitlin Clark something happens. And now, Flip, I don't know what his status is going to be. He sprains his ankle.

And it's one thing like when I play, at least it was 10 seconds in the court, you know, when you storm the court. Now, it's the buzzer doesn't even go off and they're running on the floor.

WIRE: Let's turn to the NBA now to see something we don't normally see. An emotional finish at the end of the Magic-Pistons games tied with just seconds to go and Paolo Banchero hits this circus shot. It's the game-winner with just eight-tens of a second to go. And the 21- year-old who is battling an illness and struggling all night, he came up clutch and then could not hold back the tears after to the game. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAOLO BANCHERO, FORWARD, ORLANDO MAGIC: Man, and it was important. It's just been tough, man. I've been feeling terrible. I played terrible. And I just give credit to my teammates, man. They lifted me up the whole game. So, I don't know why I'm (BLEEP) crying right now. I don't know why I'm crying right now. It was a hard game and I'm proud of my team for sure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Just get it all out, baby. Get it out. All right, this is a fun one. Toronto Blue Jays make their pitcher Tim Mayza wear the number four and 10 on his jersey at spring training yesterday as punishment for finishing last in the team's fantasy football league with a four and 10 record. What's worse, he had to be bat boy for the entire day wearing his shame for all to see.

You know, we have the tournament selection for March Madness coming up soon and we always do our anchor challenge. Maybe we should have some sort of --

WALKER: Scarlet letter, scarlet numbers? I'll be wearing that.

BLACKWELL: I will buy into to the scarlet letter if everybody buys in. We all have to buy in.

WALKER: OK.

WIRE: I'm here for it.

BLACKWELL: I'm in.

WALKER: Fine.

WIRE: OK.

BLACKWELL: Deal.

WIRE: There we go. You heard it.

WALKER: Gosh, what did I just do?

BLACKWELL: Coy, thank you.

WALKER: Thanks, Coy, really.

BLACKWELL: The next hour of CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

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