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Israel Negotiating Team Heading to Qatar to Discuss Hostage Deal; Growing Debris Field in Earth's Orbit Worries Scientists; SAG Awards Debut on Netflix for First Show Since Actors' Strike; Duke Star Player Injured. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired February 25, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: And Israel is working out the details of a hostage deal with Hamas. Can the two sides agree to a deal that could spare the people of Gaza more bloodshed?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: The South Carolina showdown between the former two-time governor and former president is done.

To no one's surprise, Donald Trump sailed to victory in the Palmetto State's Republican primary. So far, Trump has swept the GOP nominating contest. His last opponent, Nikki Haley has lost all of them. The overwhelming victory last night gave him even more of a decisive -- decisive lead over her.

WALKER: And this could be the file final nail in the coffin for Haley's campaign, even though she is vowing to stay in the race through the Super Tuesday primaries next month,

CNN's Alayna Treene joining us now from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

Hi there, Alayna.

What are the takeaways from last night's primary?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, good morning, Victor and Amara.

Donald Trump's big win last night essentially all but ended the primary, even despite Nikki Haley's insistence to stay in the primary. Well, in two next month, but look, according to my conversations with Donald Trumps campaign, they are really hoping that his big win last night means that some of the holdout Republican voters, as well as the holdout donors, will flock to his campaign. And also hopefully put more pressure on Nikki Haley to ultimately bow out.

Now, last night, as he was taking the stage after his win, he had a very different tune than we saw after he won in New Hampshire. New Hampshire, he used those remarks to really sharply go after Haley, something that I know from my conversations with his advisers, they were not very happy about.

But last night, he was a different person. He got up there. He was very congratulatory, hit his remarks or attacks really only focused on Joe Biden and then he didn't even mentioned Nikki Haley's -- Nikki Haley's name once. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now, there's this spirit that I have never seen. We ran to 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 ten 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: So, Victor and Amara, Nikki Haley insisting that she wants to continue to give voters a choice. It's something that has really been frustrating and annoying the former president behind the scenes. And even though his campaign has really been encouraging him, especially at this point after winning South Carolina, to really focus his attacks on Joe Biden. I know that they've had trouble doing that in the past and in their conversations with him as they've tried to encourage him to ignore that.

But I also just want to quickly point your attention to something I've been picking up from his campaign, which is that even though Donald Trump is already been shifting to more general election rhetoric on the campaign trail over the last several weeks now, now that they won South Carolina, they really want to start shifting the campaign itself and the campaign apparatus toward a general election as well. That means targeting some of those crucial battleground states like Michigan and Arizona, and Georgia.

And also focusing a lot of efforts on more fundraising, something we know Donald Trumps campaign isn't necessarily struggling with, but they are struggling with finances given his mounting legal bills. So that's something that they're going to be putting a lot of time and energy into and really looking beyond the primary and to that general election rematch with Joe Biden -- Victor, Amara.

WALKER: Alayna Treene, thank you so much.

Joining us now to discuss is Republican strategist Brian Robinson, president of Robinson Republic PR, and Theron Johnson, CEO of Paramount Consulting Group. He also worked as an advisor to the Biden- Harris campaign in Georgia.

Welcome to you both, gentlemen. Thanks for coming into the studio.

So first of all, Brian, I mean, Nikki Haley, she spent a lot more time and money in her home-state, and yet she lost not to mention though she's already lost all four primary -- voting contents thus far. How does she justify staying in the race? BRIAN ROBINSON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, there's really not an

argument electorally for her campaign when she loses in around upstate, particularly by a 20 point margin. This is the electorate that knows her best. This is the one where she doesn't have to spend money to tell them who she is, and she would in some other state.

So we have to think this is not about winning the nomination, even if Donald Trump were to die of a stroke or a heart attack, the party's not going to turn to her at this point. This is Donald Trump's party. So, shoot, she was still be put aside.

I think what this is about is the heart of the party. She's talking about issues that are substantively different then were Donald Trump is on those on those. And so this is about where the party is going to go.

I think Ukraine funding is a great example. These are not, you know, paper at the end differences.

[08:05:02]

And some of the glue of the party is coming undone, and I think this is symbolic of it.

BLACKWELL: As of late, Haley has paired Trump and Biden together, and she did that again last night. Let's play what she said.

Okay, I will tell you what she said.

She said that voters are increasingly tired of Joe Biden's failures and Donald Trump's -- we have now? Let's play it now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALEY: I'm not giving out his fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden. We can't afford four more years of Biden's failures or Trump's lack of focus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Do you hear any potential there in there of a third-party run?

THARON JOHNSON, PRESIDENT & CEO, PARAMOUNT CONSULTING GROUP LLC: Well, we've been here this third party run idea. Last time we want to show, Victor, we talked about it and there are people out there who will say, all right, I'm want to look at another candidate, Republicans and Democrats are saying that.

However, I just think that look, its going to be a head-to-head rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Now what former Governor Nikki Haley is hinting on is that I will be disingenuous. Disingenuous if I can tell you that there are some poll numbers that both parties feel like, you know, both parties definitely has some challenges, but overwhelmingly, when she talks about the failures of the Biden record, I don't know what records she's talking about.

I mean, you look at what the president is doing on the economy. Been in people predicted a recession. We're not going that way. You look at the student loan debt forgiveness, you look at what he's doing around small businesses minority-owned businesses, I mean, the list goes on and on.

BLACKWELL: But if there is a potential third party candidate, she's getting 40 percent against the former president and polls better than the current president. Then, then Trump, she would be the one that would be I guess the nightmare for Democrats, will she not?

JOHNSON: You just heard B-Rob talk about how she's going to exit gracefully, right? And so, she can't get support from the Republicans, right? I mean, she's getting hammered and these contests that we just saw me, if you cant win your home state.

Now, how do you think you can garner enough support to possibly be a third-party candidate? Democrats are not going to overwhelmingly support her. We're running with by Biden. Joe Biden is our nominee for president.

So I just don't know where to third party momentum comes from for Nikki Haley.

WALKER: Well, let's play that sound where she's talking about this 40 percent.

Okay, well, again, she's referring to the whole, you know, there are 40 percent of voters who rejected Trump, right? Mathematically, obviously, doesn't make sense for her to keep going on, but she does raise a point regarding the weakness that Trump faces coming into the general.

ROBINSON: Well, look at where those differences are, looking at who that 40 percent is and who the 60 percent is. Donald Trump is killing when it comes to non-college-educated Republican voters. She is doing extraordinarily well with college-educated Republican voters and some independents who perhaps don't like Biden, don't like Trump either.

That is one of the huge divides in the party. Republicans have to figure out how to bring back those college-educated voters back into the party for November where they're going to have another choice. You know, it's not -- and they're going to lose some of them so they got to figure out a way to keep that, that coalition together. And she really is bringing those fissures to the surface here.

BLACKWELL: You think those comments that Trump made on Friday night about Black people like me because I got but mug shot hurts, bringing those college educated Republicans back in.

ROBINSON: Well, you know, doing events like that, Victor is indicative of something else. As the coalition and the party and the Democrat Party is changing, you are seeing Black and Brown voters beginning to move into the Republican Party. BLACKWELL: I'm not talking about the event. I get talking to the

Black conservatives. I'm talking about saying because I've been indicted, this is akin to racial discrimination that's why Blacks liked me. That's got to hurt bringing those college educated voters in.

ROBINSON: But, Victor, is this new? I mean --

BLACKWELL: I'm not saying I'm shocked. I'm just saying, does it help?

JOHNSON: Unacceptable. He must apologize.

ROBINSON: It's all baked in. It's all baked into the process. People know that he's going to say stuff like this. But Republicans showing up and doing events with Black voters that is telling you what's happening as far as you know, the -- it's changing. Black men are coming to Republicans --

JOHNSON: Look, I'm a Black man, hey, I'm not.

(CROSSTALK)

JOHNSON: When you make comments like that, it's disingenuous to Victor. You and I as Black man who basically, we see those images, but to infer to say, because I've gotten indicted most of the times, Black people are going to vote for me or think about them, it's insulting. Not every Black person gets indicted.

And so, I think that he lost more and more, not just black voters, but these college-educated suburban disaffected Republican White women, Brian noticed my favorite demographic. When they see those comments, they don't want that to be their world leader, somebody's going to insult the Black race saying that only because I've gotten in trouble, I'm going to support you.

[08:10:06]

And it was really disingenuous to if that non-Republicans say, oh, we should accept it is who he is. No, we're talking about the leader of this country. Joe Biden doesn't make those type of comments, at those remarks, the speeches because he don't believe that. That's not in his inner core.

What you heard from Donald Trump is how he truly feels about Black people and anybody who is Black that's running to Donald Trump. I mean, I can give you 10 more clips when he's insulted our race and he definitely should apologize to us.

WALKER: Senator Tim Scott is running very close to Donald Trump. And of course, the South Carolina primary show, just how cozy their relationship got. I was going to play this sound bite, but we've got to go because it was so funny last night where they're making fun of everyone's loyalty, that Republican lawmakers' loyalty to him.

But great conversation. Appreciate you joining us there and Johnson and Brian Robinson. And just a reminder, starting tomorrow CNN THIS MORNING has a new

start time during the weekend. You can catch Kasie Hunt starting at 05:00 a.m. Eastern. Tomorrow, she'd be joined by West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin.

BLACKWELL: I would love to hear what Senator Tim Scott has to say about those comments, though --

WALKER: Yeah, yeah.

BLACKWELL: -- about Black people in South Carolina. Where is the senator on Black people love Trump because he's got a mug shot?

Right now, Congress is barreling towards a March 1st deadline to fund the government or face a partial shutdown. House and Senate leaders are still negotiating a deal with no plan in place to avoid it.

WALKER: Yeah, if that sounds familiar, that's because this is not the first, second, or third, but it is the fourth time since September that Congress has run up against a funding deadline.

CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju is with us now.

Hello, Manu. So what's the process? What's making this process so complicated in Congress?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, this historically unproductive Congress has had a very difficult time doing just about anything much as keeping the lights on for the federal government mean which really is the basic job of legislators, but this has been incredibly difficult process given the narrowness of the two houses, given the divisions within the GOP.

Remember, Speaker McCarthy was kicked out of the speakership back in October after he agreed to a short-term increase in government funding and extension of government funding up until the fall, then Mike Johnson came in as the new speaker, agreed to another extension of government funding that prompted a lot of backlash within the right.

And then come January, they did it again, kick the can down the road up until this coming Friday, which is going to be the first of two deadlines on March 1st deadline and a March 8 deadline, and they still don't have a deal between the House Republicans and the Senate Democrats.

Now, Johnson and Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, had been negotiating for some time to try to figure out whether they can ink another deal. Johnson suggested in a conference call on Friday that they may have yet another short-term extension of funding and that could prompt serious blowback within his right flank. In fact, Johnson said two times ago that they will not be any more short-term extensions of government funding instead, to extend the government funding until the end of the current fiscal year ends at the end of September.

But Congress has been unable to pass any of its 12th annual funding bills which is leading to the situation that were in right now, a dispute over some of the policy provisions that Republicans want to be included in your Democrats say there should not be certain policy restrictions in place against the over the Biden administrations actions, all of which is raising some questions about how do they get out of this mess again? And can they avoid a shutdown? We'll have to see, but time is ticking.

BLACKWELL: So that's the government funding dispute. Let's turn toward the Ukraine support dispute. Of course, Speaker Johnson at the center of that as well. Ukrainian official this morning says that they're expecting $11 billion more dollars in aid this year, waiting on Congress's decision. Where is that fight right now?

RAJU: Yeah, remember a bipartisan Senate majority earlier this month passed a $95 billion aid package for Israel, for Ukraine, for Taiwan, roughly $60 billion of that would go to Ukraine. But Mike Johnson says, no, he says that that bill must include new border security provisions, but Johnson scuttled a Senate bipartisan border security deal that he said did not go far enough. And now he is facing pressure internationally and within his own party to move on this aid package because they say that time is of the essence.

Here's the other dynamic, though, folks on the right, Republicans in particular divided over how to move forward with Ukraine and some of his hardliners are saying, do not put any Ukraine funding bill on the floor of the House.

I put that question to Congressman Matt Gaetz, who led the charge to oust Kevin McCarthy and asked him about Johnson's calculations here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: You think that he, the speaker, could sustain, could survive as speaker if he were to put on the floor any Ukraine aid bill?

REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): I don't get the sense that the majority of the majority wants to support any of the Ukraine bills that have been developed. But certainly you give people the ability to start with the blank sheet of paper and draw up what ideas they want to present to us, and we'll consider them.

[08:15:06]

But I don't view that is existential to Mike Johnson's speakership.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, some members in the hard-right have warned him that he would be faced a motion to oust him from the speakership if he did move forward with any Ukraine aid package.

Now there's another issue here, too, Democrats are trying to circumvent the House Republican leadership all together using a parliamentary maneuver to force a vote on the house floor, they would need 218 supporters to do that, meaning they had to pick off more than just a handful of Republicans to get to 218 votes supporters to force a vote on the House. For some Republicans, I talk to you though, are keeping open that option of signing onto that effort. So well see how that plays out. But as pressure is building on the speaker.

WALKER: Well, that'll be an interesting maneuver.

And, Manu, you have new reporting coming up on inside politics, on Speaker Mike Johnson. What can you tell us?

RAJU: Yeah, there was a meeting that happened actually just last week in Mar-a-Lago with Mike Johnson and Donald Trump. And Johnson urged the former president to get behind a Republican from southern Illinois, Mike Bost, who is running in a contested primary, actually being targeted by Matt Gaetz, who's trying to boost a primary challenger to him.

Johnson, you leverage during his relationship with Trump, got him behind him to support them in that very heated primary. So we dig further into the GOP politics, the primary fights are dividing the party and how Trump and Johnson are squaring all that later this morning.

WALKER: Manu Raju, great to see you. Thank you so much.

And make sure that you catch all that and more with Manu Raju on "INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY". That's coming up at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

Still to come Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia's two-year long war on the country has been 730 days of pain, 730 days of hope. We will discuss the state of the war with former Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

BLACKWELL: And cosmic clutter in earth's orbit. Why the growing debris field circling the planet has some scientists worry.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:21:19]

WALKER: Ukraine says it expects to get nearly $12 billion in military aid from the U.S. this year. Congress, though, has yet to pass more foreign aid promised by the Biden administration. It is still stalled in the House. Representatives are expected to return from their winter recess on Wednesday, but the aid deal with $60 billion for Ukraine is not expected to hit the floor for a vote anytime soon, if at all.

Now this comes as we learned that a staggering 50 percent of all Western arms deliveries do not arrive on time to Ukraine. The defense minister said that the late deliveries mean one thing, the loss of more people and more territory.

I'm joined now by CNN global affairs analyst and former defense secretary under Donald Trump, Mark Esper.

Mr. Secretary, thank you so much for your time.

MARK ESPER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Good morning.

WALKER: I do want to ask you about Zelenskyy's address to his people. Of course, we expect him to rally morale in has country and speak of optimism, but its got to be so difficult for him when the reality is that his troops are running out of ammunition are probably already have so ones some front lines. And that promised aid up there -- there's no telling if that will even come.

ESPER: Sure. It really is challenging. There's clearly a stalemate on the battlefield one would argue, I think persuasively that Russia is back on research and right now. They just captured Avdiivka and have there sights set on other towns in the Donbas region.

And so, there's lot of pressure and you hear these desperate stories of Ukrainian soldiers rationing bullets, rationing artillery just so they could fight another day because they don't know when additional arms and ammunition are coming from the west. So they have to think to how long can they do this? How long will they do this? And continuing to give up grounds, see grounded or divide by time.

WALKER: And I'll ask you that question. I mean, how much longer can Ukraine go on without U.S. aid and what kind of losses can come out of this as, you know, as a result?

ESPER: Well, I think its certainly months. There are arms and ammunition in the pipeline that go back to our last and previous spending on Ukraine back in December. And the western European allies are providing funding as well. So I think at last months, but it's hard to say beyond that what how much longer they can go.

Ukraine also has a manpower shortage that continues to grow at the same time.

And again, if you look at the battlefield two years, yesterday was the anniversary, the second anniversary. After two years, Ukraine has lost nearly 200,000 killed and wounded. So it's a heavy toll on a country that's only 45 billion people to begin with.

WALKER: You worked at the Trump administration. Obviously, you've been a vocal critic. Just your perspective here. If Trump were to become president again, in November, what would that mean for the war in Ukraine? Knowing Trumps hold on, the Republican Party now and him basically forcing their hand when it comes to not allowing Biden to have this legislative victory with this foreign aid package?

ESPER: Yeah, look, I think its the key question. I think it's so important, not just us here in our European allies are looking at this, but also Zelenskyy and President Putin. I think Putin is going to kind of continue to press the offensive, but really wait to see what happens November.

But my view is if Donald Trump wins and comes into office in January 2025, probably his first move will be to cut off completely if it hasn't done so already, funding for Ukraine. And I think once that formally, officially finally happens, I think its just a matter of time before the rest of NATO support fails or falters. So you'll see that process.

And then the next question is, will, or how will Donald Trump go after NATO?

[08:25:04]

And talk about withdrawing troops from NATO, possibly pulling out of NATO, things like that.

WALKER: Yeah, and of course, European leaders are not only alarmed at this prospects, but also making preparations in the event, if he does indeed win in 2024. Let me ask you this really quick because, you know, just seeing these numbers are quite staggering.

South Korea has recorded a record number of Russian nationals seeking asylum. They said that 5,750 Russian citizens sought asylum in South Korea in 2023, which is a five-fold increase. We know that Germany has granted 2,000 Russian nationals -- Russian nationals protection due to personal dangerous since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Why are we seeing these -- these large numbers of Russians leaving the country?

ESPER: Well, clearly, they're unhappy with the regime under Putin and he's talking about, he put in his talking about additional mobilizations what you're going after, not the children of the elite in St. Petersburg or Moscow, but everywhere else.

And so, I mean, look, Putin's lost over 350,000 killed or wounded and continues to recruit more in this meat grinder of Ukraine. So those numbers are interesting, but keep in mind he enjoys overwhelming support from the Russian people and he's going to win his election coming up here pretty soon as well. And many of us will hope that Putin leaves the stage at some point, but he's a relatively young man, and quite frankly, the people coming in behind him, if something were happen, aren't better. In fact, many are concerned that anybody who comes in behind Putin would be worse.

So look, I think the United States and our NATO allies need to gird for the long run here. I mean, the long run being decades of fending off Russia and deterring Russian aggression. That's why you see our allies and the Baltics are building their defense is actually digging lines again. And you see United States and western European defense industry growing once again because I hate to say, but were heading back into a cold war in many ways with Russia.

WALKER: Former U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, really appreciate your time this morning. Thanks.

And 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.

BLACKWELL: Coming up, anti-government protests in Israel turning violent at the same time that negotiators are trying to hammer out a deal for a weeks-long ceasefire and to get the Hamas hostages released.

What we're learning this morning ahead, in a live report from Tel- Aviv.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:31:24]

BLACKWELL: There are new developments this morning in the killing of nursing student Laken Riley on the campus of the University of Georgia. Governor Brian Kemp is demanding answers from President Biden about the suspect's immigration status. Jose Antonio Ibarra is in custody, 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. And 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 saying it came via 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: An Israeli official says his country is now sending a negotiating team to Qatar to discuss a deal with Hamas that would exchange hostages for a ceasefire. Representatives met in Paris yesterday, including the director of the CIA. Now for their part, a Hamas official tells CNN that he is not aware of any progress in talks.

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

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv. First off, Jeremy, what do we know about where the negotiations stand?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, clearly over the last week or so, there has been some progress being made. A key meeting happening in Paris on Friday with Israeli officials meeting with American, Egyptian and Qataris. And the Israeli prime minister last night saying that his negotiating team is actively working to obtain another outline for the release of hostages, basically working to try and see if they can agree on a framework for this deal and then work out the details and begin to actually implement it.

The national security adviser of Israel Tzachi Hanegbi saying yesterday that the negotiators didn't come back empty handed, that there was a positive tone from the meeting and that it will be possible in his view to actually move forward with these negotiations.

And we now understand that an Israeli negotiating team is going to be heading to Qatar to continue those talks. So a lot -- a lot of sense of optimism here, but we should be clear that nothing is agreed to until this deal is actually set in stone and actually can move forward.

And the Israeli prime minister is also making clear that even as they push forward those intensive negotiations, even as there does appear to be some progress, he is still preparing for what he has said will come if there is no hostage which deal.

And that is a major Israeli military offensive into Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah where about 1.5 million Palestinians are currently sheltering. The Israeli cabinet is set to convene to discuss those operational plans, which will also include plans to evacuate civilians from Rafah. All we haven't heard the details of those negotiations.

But meanwhile, this war is very much still continuing. Over the last 24 hours alone, at least 86 Palestinians have been killed, 131 injured, bringing the total number of those killed very close to that 30,000 mark, which -- of which we're told the majority are indeed women and children.

So even as the negotiations continue, the military operations are very much continuing as well.

WALKER: Jeremy Diamond. Thank you very much.

Still ahead this morning, old satellites and celestial scraps: we will explain why some scientists are raising concerns about junk floating in earth's orbit.

[08:34:48]

WALKER: And be sure to stay with CNN for "STATE OF TH EUNION" at the top of the hour. This morning, Dana Bash will speak with national security adviser Jake Sullivan. That is at the top of the hour right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: When it comes to earth's orbit, the cosmic clutter has never been this bad. Old satellites, pieces of rocket boosters, other stuff that I guess explorers have left there -- they are part of a growing debris field that is circling the planet.

WALKER: CNN's chief climate correspondent, Bill Weir explains why it's a problem and how it might be cleaned up.

[08:39:51]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: We all drop things around the house.

PIERS SELLERS, ASTRONAUT: Guys, I think my spatula escaped.

WEIR: So, when astronaut Piers Sellers dropped a spatula while spreading putty on the space shuttle, it was relatable news.

SELLERS: I don't see it on me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. We'll take a look.

WEIR: But while a spatula in space was still novel in 2006, it seems quaint now, because nearly 70 years after Sputnik, the moon holds tons of human trash. And the final frontier is filthy with rocket fumes and orbiting junk.

Check out this NASA time-lapse. Each dot, a manmade object bigger than a softball, flying 10 times faster than a bullet. The Web site Orbiting Now is tracking over 8,300 satellites, most of them put there by private companies like SpaceX. And over time, they will only add to the hundred million tiny pieces of manmade debris in orbit.

WEIR: So behind us is the National Air and Space Museum. Do they have an exhibit on space junk? Is it time we start paying attention?

RON LOPEZ, PRESIDENT, ASTROSCALE U.S.: There's been discussion about it, and it is time that we pay attention to the issue.

WEIR: Ron Lopez heads the American branch of Astroscale, a Japanese entry into the growing field of orbital debris removal.

LOPEZ: The interesting metric is that over the next 10 years, we're going to launch three times as much into space as we have launched since Sputnik, since the beginning of the Space Age, three times as much in just the next 10 years.

WEIR: While they're a long way from flying garbage trucks, Astroscale just launched a second test mission. And funded only by private investment recently proved that they can use magnets to catch and potentially extend the lives of dying satellites.

In 2018, a team from the U.K. proved that space junk can be snared with a net, which helps with traffic control up there, but does nothing to stop dead satellites from burning into countless pieces of metal, throwing off remnants that can stay in our skies for years.

The launches are almost a weekly or daily occurrence. Is that having an effect on the stratosphere?

TROY THORNBERRY, RESEARCH PHYSICIST, NOAA CHEMICAL SCIENCES LABORATORY: Yes. So as we see this increase in space traffic, we see significantly increased emissions and it's something we've been talking about is adding a lot of material to the stratosphere that was never there before.

All of the sort of the mass of material that we put into space doesn't all just stay there, and when it's de-orbited, it basically acts in the same way that a meteoroid does.

WEIR: With special high-flying jets, a team from NOAA recently discovered that 10 percent of the particles in the stratosphere contain bits of rocket and satellite metal. And in the next few decades, it could be 50 percent matching the amount created naturally by meteorites. Scientists worry that this could eventually alter Earth's climate.

So this summer, Japan and NASA aimed to launch the world's first biodegradable satellite, made mostly from wood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Wow, Bill Weir. Thanks for that.

Hollywood stars honor their own at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the moving tribute to one of our favorites after the break.

First though Las Vegas has been a powerful force in the zeitgeist recently, we're talking the Super Bowl and audiences with its futuristic new sphere everybody is so excited about.

Well now the "CNN ORIGINAL SERIES VEGAS, THE STORY OF SIN CITY" examines the city's transformation from desert town to entertainment mecca.

Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUTH GILLIS, FORMER LAS VEGAS LOUNGE STAR: I witnessed segregation without knowing it when I were working opposite Ella Fitzgerald. Ella said to me, will you take me over to see Pearl Bailey.

Ok. It meant nothing to me. I walked into the front door with Ella. We walked into the casino, walked into the dining room. Afterwards, we walked through the front door again. That's when Ella turned to me and says you're my friend for life. I said, I thought I was your friend for life. What do you mean by that?

She says you took me through the front door. I had no idea that I made history that night with her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: "VEGAS: THE STORY OF SIN CITY" premieres tonight at 10:00, only on CNN.

[08:44:30]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: The stars shine on the red carpet at the first Screen Actors Guild Awards since the actors' strike ended last November.

BLACKWELL: So this show was a little different from the others. There were no commercials, no bleeps, and plenty of time for acceptance speeches because it's streamed on Netflix.

CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister has a look at some of the must-see moments ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: We are here on the

carpet at the Screen Actors Guild Award, where the best in film and television is honored and voted on by the actors themselves.

And what a night it was.

Barbra Streisand, honored for lifetime achievement, presented by none other than Jennifer Aniston, let's take a look at that moment.

JENNIFER ANISTON, SAG NOMINEE: Barbra.

That's all you have to say and you know. You know, right. That face, that voice. That talent. It is a once in a lifetime talent. And how lucky that it is in our lifetime.

[08:49:41]

BARBRA STREISAND: I have to say to my fellow actors and directors, I've loved working with you, playing with you and inhabiting that magical world of the movies with you.

And most of all, I want to thank you for giving me so much joy just watching all of you on the screen. Thank you for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WAGMEISTER: There was even a reunion with "The Devil Wears Prada" with Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt taking the stage together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MERYL STREEP, ACTRESS: It's an age-old question. Where does the character end on the actor begin?

EMILY BLUNT, ACTRESS: Well, as we've just seen, Meryl and Miranda Priestly -- those are like twins. Right?

STREEP: I don't think I'm anything like Miranda. No, no?

ANNE HATHAWAY, ACTRESS: That wasn't a question.

BLUNT: By all means, move at a glacial pace. You know how that thrills me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WAGMEISTER: This is the first major award show to air on a major streaming service with Netflix streaming the SAG Awards globally.

That of course, comes on the heels of the SAG strike, where actors were fighting for better streaming residuals.

On the carpet just before the show started, we spoke to SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher, about why this night is so momentous. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRAN DRESCHER, PRESIDENT, SAG-AFTRA: It was a very arduous year. Unrelenting stress. It demanded a great deal of courage and perseverance and we rose to the occasion.

We held out, we hung in and we ended victorious. So all's well that ends well. And now we can celebrate ourselves. And also being on Netflix, where people can see this around the world, which is actually a first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WAGMEISTER: Now of course, the SAG awards are the final award show before the Oscars, which is just weeks away.

Elizabeth Wagmeister, CNN, Los Angeles.

WALKER: Elizabeth Wagmeister, thanks so much.

And still to come a scary scene in college basketball. Duke star player was injured after fans stormed the court to celebrate an upset. So is it time to retire the age-old hoops tradition?

[08:52:12]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Duke's basketball coach is upset. One of his star players was hurt by students running onto the court to celebrate an upset win.

WALKER: Coy Wire is with us now. Coy, I mean, the simple solution is to ban court storming right?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Now that Southeastern Conference has disciplinary measures in place against court storming. They fined LSU $100,000 just this week.

Now the conference of which Duke is a part, the ACC they do not. But these -- now, the commissioner says they're going to look into it with several events in recent weeks raising serious concerns.

Here it is at the end of the number eight Dukes lost to in-state rivals Wake Forest yesterday. You'll see this, see the fans storming the court and that's Duke star sophomore Kyle Filipowski caught in the chaos. Several fans making contact with him, his teammates and coach John Scheyer were then seen rushing to help protect him. carry him off the court.

Wake Forest athletics director said the school sincerely regrets what happened. And maybe the school and event security should have done better.

Filipowski was injured for what he says was intentional contact. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KYLE FILIPOWSKI, DUKE CENTER: I've already here that there's some videos of, you know, them punching the back so I actually feel like it was personal, you know, intentional for sure.

JON SCHEYER, DUKE HEAD COACH: When are we going to ban court storming. 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 (ph), something happens. 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 played at least it was ten seconds in the court. You know it you were stormed at court. Now it's the buzzer doesn't even go off and they're running on the floor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: All right. Just quick highlights. Deep in the heart of Texas coach Scott Druze, number 11 Baylor hosting number 2 Houston. And in the final seconds, (INAUDIBLE) hitting a tough bucket through contact as the Bears claw all the way back from 16 down at half to tie it.

But with a chance to take the lead, misses the free throw, Jamal shed the other way draining the three at the buzzer or did he? After a review, the ball was still in his hand as time expired. So in overtime, Houston would handle business, up by six with under 30 to go (INAUDIBLE) Roberts, scoring and swatting and stealing the win for the Cougars.

Finally you have to see this. Rangers rookie Matt Rent be getting a talk to from Fliers 11 year-vet Nicholas Deslauriers, pre-game and then a heavyweight battle. As we see in hockey from time to time, absolute haymakers being thrown. And the guys would go away with some red marks and some black and blue memories of it.

But Rempe, well get to throw his hands up again, this time in celebration. It's his first career goal. It happens in the third period. The game winner Rangers win 2 to 2. The tenth win in a row, and the rookie says, he's having a ball. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT REMPE, NHL PLAYER: Probably obvious first goal and the NHL history, but I'll take it. It was awesome. I'm having a blast. I'm loving it. I want to bring that physicality, that edge -- that edge to the team, bring speed, fire in their bodies going to the net. I think I'm doing that. And I'm having so much fun.

[08:59:51]

WIRE: The rookie played in four games, 15 minutes on the ice, he spent 27 minutes in the penalty box. He's learning the tough way, the rough way.

WALKER: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Thanks, Coy.

WIRE: You got it.

BLACKWELL: So this is a special moment. We're going to let you in on a little secret here.

This is our last show in this studio, in CNN Center.

WALKER: How excited are we?

BLACKWELL: Yes.

WIRE: I mean, the memories and you know, it's just incredible that we will shut this place down.

We're turning the light switch on the way out.

WALKER: We will.

BLACKWELL: We are looking forward to the new studio, smells great.

WALKER: It's beautiful.

BLACKWELL: That new studio smell.

WALKER: We are so excited to be there. So we hope that you will tune in next weekend when we are live from Techwood.

Thank you so much everyone for being with us this morning.

BLACKWELL: "STATE OF THE UNION" is next. Have a good day.

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