Tensions Escalate After Israel's Clash With Iran & Syria; Power Plant Explosion Causes Blackout In Puerto Rico
HILL: Israel's cross-border clash with Iranian and Syrian forces escalating hostilities along the country's northern border. It comes after an Israel fighter jet came under fire and crashed. CNN's Oren Liebermann is live in Jerusalem now with more -- Oren.</s>OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Erica, this is the first time Israel has openly struck Iranian targets in Syria, making this the first direct confrontation between Israel and Iran since the start of Syria's civil war. So, let me walk you through what happened over the weekend. This all started on Saturday morning when Israel says an Iranian drone enters Israeli airspace. Notably, that drone is a copy, Israel says, of an American drone that Iran intercepted back in 2011. A drone that was, at least at the time, supposed to be stealth. Israel downs that drone with an attack helicopter and retaliates by striking the drone's command and control center in Syria. In that strike, a Syrian anti-aircraft missile downs an Israeli fighter jet for the first time in some 35 years. Israel strikes back, hitting 12 different Iranian and Syrian targets in Syria. That military tension peaks, roughly, on Saturday afternoon and even as the rhetoric and the threatening language keeps flying back and forth, the military tension, the escalation there has ebbed a little bit and the tension, itself, has eased. But you get a sense of who the regional players are and who's looking. Chris, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Russian president Vladimir Putin on the phone Saturday night. Putin took a very evenhanded approach between Israel and Syria, urging both sides to deescalate. Remember, Russia and Putin have ties with all of the players here -- Israel, Syria, Iran -- and it's Russia that has the leverage to tell both sides to back off here. There was a phone call to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who is on a tour through the Middle East now. Notably, Tillerson not visiting Israel on this trip -- Chris.</s>CUOMO: That is something that is painfully apparent to many. Oren, thank you very much. Keep us in the loop on how this develops. All right. So, news of an explosion and fire at a power substation that caused a blackout in parts of northern Puerto Rico, including San Juan. Officials say this was a mechanical failure which caused the fire. It was quickly extinguished. The explosion knocked two other substations offline. This is the latest setback for the U.S. territory's efforts to fully restore power more than five months after Hurricane Maria and it is also a reflection of infrastructure problems that they had there from the beginning.</s>HILL: That's true. We want to show you now some live pictures. This is -- these are live pictures of the active search for any remains of the passenger plane that crashed near Moscow on Sunday. The crew did not report any problems before that plane went down. All 71 people on board were killed. The plane disappearing from radar shortly after takeoff. Now, witnesses report seeing an explosion. You see some surveillance video here. Witnesses, again, saying they believe there was an explosion before the aircraft went down. Moscow, we should also point out, is experiencing its heaviest snowfall in decades. It is not clear, at this point, whether the weather played any role in the crash.</s>CUOMO: All right. So, going on this morning, we're going to take you to some aerial views that show the rugged terrain where a sightseeing helicopter went down in the Grand Canyon. I know we just told you about another plane crash. This is totally unrelated -- different place, different circumstances. We do know that there were six passengers aboard, all visiting from the U.K. Three of those people are now dead. Three others, along with the pilot, airlifted to a Nevada hospital and they are said to be in critical condition. And I'll tell you, looking at the pictures it is amazing anyone survived.</s>HILL: I had -- I had the exact same thought in seeing that. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is speaking out to CNN about the #MeToo movement, telling Poppy Harlow it will have staying power. And, she also called for an equal rights amendment. Take a listen.</s>RUTH BADER GINSBURG, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: I don't think that there will be a serious backlash. It's too widespread. My concern is that it shouldn't stop with prominent people. It's amazing to me that for the first time, women are really listened to because sexual harassment had often been dismissed as well, she made it up or she's too thin-skinned. So I think it's a very healthy development.</s>HILL: I think we can call it a healthy development.</s>CUOMO: Yes, and look, the sad part of the reality of what the Justice supposed is playing out right now in the White House. I mean, what else do you describe as the president saying well, I'm going to take his side?</s>HILL: Yes.</s>CUOMO: He's a good guy and, you know, a lot of these women -- you know, they lie.</s>HILL: Yes.</s>CUOMO: So, let's keep that in mind. It's exactly what's happening right now.</s>HILL: And that's what playing -- that's what is playing out. All right.</s>CUOMO: She's obviously right.</s>HILL: At least some consistency, I guess.</s>CUOMO: That's true, that's true. Heavy rain -- it's not letting up in parts of the southeast and mid- Atlantic. Flash flooding now a possibility. CNN meteorologist Chad Myers has your forecast. What are the factors?</s>CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's warmer than it should be in many spots so we're talking rain and possibly flooding rather than what could be or would have been a major snow event. This weather is brought to you by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Packed with goodness. It has been raining across the northeast. It has been raining, and still will, across Richmond and Hampton Roads. But all of south Florida, too, picking up some significant rain today. It could slow down a few airplanes but other than that, that's really, truly about it. A lack of moisture on the map here for the next couple of days after that -- some rainfall here. Some could be three to four inches deep. Those rainfall totals somewhere around Pensacola could make flooding on the roadways. Be careful this morning. And we will talk more on the Olympics weather later on tomorrow. Last night was really tough --</s>HILL: Yes.</s>MYERS: -- in South Korea.</s>HILL: Cold and windy, too. Chad, thank you.</s>MYERS: Yes.</s>HILL: Steve Bannon speaking out on the #MeToo movement. Why he thinks it could be a major threat to President Trump. The author who interviewed Bannon is with us, next.