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New Day Saturday

Search Warrant For Trump's Home Identifies Three Possible Crimes As The Reasoning Behind The Search; DOJ Took 11 Sets Of Classified Documents From Mar-a-Lago; FBI Investigating "Unprecedented" Number Of Threats Against Bureau In Wake Of Mar-a-Lago Search, Including Against Agents; CDC Drops COVID Quarantine Recommendations, Loosens Guidance For Schools; Liz Cheney Facing Tough Fight Against Challenger In Wyoming Primary; Shelling At Nuclear Plant Raises Radiation Safety Concerns; Monsoon Rains Bring Relief To Extreme Drought In The West. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired August 13, 2022 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Your league leading 46 home run against the Red Sox last night, clearing the Green Monster an out of Fenway Park. Judge is on pace to hit 66 this year which would shatter the American League record of 61. Boston, however, will go on to win the games 3-2 in 10 innings. All right, the next hour of NEW DAY starts now.

Good morning, everyone and welcome to your NEW DAY. I'm Amara Walker.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Amara. I'm Boris Sanchez. This morning, we have new details in that FBI search of former President Donald Trump's home. What we're learning from the now unsealed warrants including what agents removed and the potential crimes being investigated.

A big victory for President Biden as Congress passes his $750 billion- dollar health care and climate bill, the immediate impact you will feel when President Biden slides it next week.

SANCHEZ: Plus, polio virus has been detected in New York City's wastewater, what that means about how the virus is spreading and why some may not even know they have it?

WALKER: Plus, Congresswoman Liz Cheney in a fight for her political career in Wyoming's Republican primary next week. Her opponent, a woman who wants described her as a threat. NEW DAY starts right now.

SANCHEZ: It is Saturday, August 13th. Welcome to your weekend. We're grateful that you've made a support of it. Good to be with you, Boris and a lot of news to get to this morning. New this morning, we now know the potential crimes the Justice Department cited in its warrant to search former President Trump's Florida, Florida residents. According to the unsealed search warrant, federal agents were investigating federal crimes associated with violations of the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice and criminal handling of government records. SANCHEZ: So, in total, the FBI seized 11 sets of classified documents

from Mar-a-Lago, including some material that was marked as top-secret SCI, that means Sensitive Compartmented Information. That's one of the highest levels of government classification -- documents that are only supposed to be viewed at a secure government location. We should note, no charges have been filed so far in the investigation. And in response to the search, former President Trump claims that he declassified all the documents that were seized by the FBI. CNN Political Correspondent Sara Murray has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Newly unsealed court documents are revealing new information, more information about exactly what the FBI took when they searched Mar-a-Lago earlier this week. We are learning that the FBI took with them 11 sets of classified documents that includes four sets of top-secret documents, and various classified TS- SCI documents, one of the highest classification levels. Now, while they were there earlier this week, they were they're investigating three potential crimes. One of those is violations of the Espionage Act. So, gathering, transmitting, losing defensive for information. The other is obstruction, concealment, removing mutilating documents, and then lastly, destroying altering or falsifying documents.

Now, of course, we don't know if this is going to lead to any criminal charges. The former president has not been charged with anything. But it is of course, an amazing incredible step to see the FBI there searching Mar-a-Lago and then for these documents to be unsealed by a court. Trump's allies were taking pains to try to downplay the documents that were taken from Mar a Lago and also insisting that the former president has the ability to declassify documents, of course, that tends to go through a process, a normal process in order to actually do that. Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: And in the wake of the Mar-a-Lago search, FBI Director Christopher Wray, says his department is remaining vigilant due to growing concerns. According to law enforcement sources, the FBI is investigating an unprecedented number of threats against Bureau property and personnel, including agents with direct involvement in the Mar-a-Lago search.

Just yesterday, the names of the two agents who signed the search warrant paperwork were circulating online in an apparent leak prior to the official unsealing which redacted those names. Still, the FBI has not commented on any specific threats against Bureau employees.

CNN National Security Analyst Juliette Kayyem joining us now for more on this. She is a Former Assistant Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security. Great to see you, Juliette, thank you so much for getting up with us this morning.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Thank you.

WALKER: So, let's go through these, this inventory of documents that were seized. So, according to the search warrant, federal agents seized one set of top-secret SCI documents, four sets of top-secret documents, and then you have three sets of secret documents, and three sets of confidential documents. So different classi, classifications --

KAYYEM: Right.

[07:05:08]

WALKER: -- but do know that four we're top secret. So, look, Donald Trump's Florida home, we know it's not a secured facility. It's a resort, right? And it's also his residence. Could you talk about just the unprecedented level of this? And how dangerous the fact that these documents were there is?

KAYYEM: Yes, I mean, absolutely, I think you because we talk about documents, we tend to not think, OK, what's the substance of the document that then could lead to some harm or vulnerability for the United States or our allies. And so, the not just the breadth of the documents, when we say boxes, a lot of boxes, 11 boxes of documents, and also photos, which is interesting. Are there photos of our capabilities, our military capabilities, photos of individuals? We simply don't know.

The framing of the of what we know is the, the most secretive documents the TS-SCI as you describe them, and then you get down to T.S., and then secret, and then confidential, that there was a significant number of them that were within that sort of greatest level of classification. That's, a lot of documents are within that classification, but it's not done casually, because essentially, you do want information to flow within government.

This means that the reader really has to have a reason because the potential disclosure, the potential destruction, the potential publication of that document, could harm an important governmental interest. In this case, we -- you know, given what we know about the division within DOJ that's doing the investigation, it is related to national security.

WALKER: And because you're an expert in this, just, just give us a sense, Juliette of what kind of information is usually, you know, put into this classification category. So, I think an easy way to think about is sort of the world I had come from so sort of, you know, counterterrorism. So, one way to think about it is, you have sensitive, you have classified information, which is there's 12 investigations going on, related to al-Qaeda, let's say.

The top secret would be we have this many assets going after these 12 groups. And the TS-SCI, this is where it will get interesting, would have the names of the individuals that you're searching, the resources that the United States is using to try to counter that terrorist threat. Now, this is just an example but you can see why you would want to keep the TS-SCI, quite, quite, quite, quite -- we have named individuals who you're, you're targeting who might be involved in an investigation, if it's a counterterrorism case. So, that's just one example of how different categories are related to

the substance of the information in the document. So, if I'm reading something, I don't, in most cases, if I'm a government official, I don't need to know the name of the person that the United States is targeted in the counterterrorism case. TS-SCI would have the name of the individual where he was, you know, and how he was being targeted. That's just a hopefully, that's a helpful way for your viewers to understand what the differences between these documents.

WALKER: No, it really is helpful, because it kind of gives us, you know, an idea of how sensitive and vulnerable these documents can make our country. So, we know, look, I mean, we saw what we saw from the unsealed war. And obviously, the affidavit, you know, which would have would speak to the probable cause of a potential crime being committed, was not unsealed. But look, the few details that we do know, right, according to the property receipt, there was a document about pardoning Roger Stone, and also material about the president of France. What do you make of that?

KAYYEM: So, this is really, it's complicated. I mean, the sense, why these seems so random. So, Roger Stone might be related to January 6th, and an ongoing investigation. So, that might be classified in some way or, or the information about some investigation that was going on about Roger Stone in the Trump administration, and he wanted to keep those materials. The prisoner, for instance, is an interesting example. I know, there's lots of speculation online. I'm not going to say what, what, because I don't know, no one knows what the substance is.

WALKER: Right.

KAYYEM: But I think it gets to a broader point, which is the extent to which our allies are looking at this and thinking, this is really bad for us, because a former president who had access to not just the U.S. secrets, but their secrets through NATO, through Interpol, through what's called Five Eyes as an intelligence sharing capability amongst sort of five allies, that, that all of that also is vulnerable.

So, we, we can't just look at it from our perspective of what does this mean about Trump and his election in the Republican Party. This is a nightmare for the Biden administration, because they have to, no, this is out in the real world, right, at Mar-a-Lago. This is, you know, things, there's a war in Ukraine, there's challenges with China and allies are rightfully concerned. Why the heck is the president of the United, former president the United States, holding on to some documents about the French President, right? And since we can't answer, our brains go to really weird places.

[07:10:08]

WALKER: Right.

KAYYEM: And this the, this is where Trump has put us, right? Is this -- we're not like a mature country, because everyone has to go into this the sort of depths of carelessness with him. WALKER: And, and Trump's allies, they've honed in on the fact that the

search warrant, you know, shows the FBI, they're saying, waited several days to execute the search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, because, you know, they didn't have enough on him. What would give investigators reason to wait if matter, you know, like, national security was an issue?

KAYYEM: Yes. So, right, in this case, there's a couple of explanations, we don't know. I mean, the Trump people are sort of putting up so many procedural myths about how this thing works. The president can declassify on his own. And lo and behold, it just happens to be that he declassified these, even though to remind viewers, he was fighting, handing them over without making that claim. So, he's just making stuff up now.

So, think about the delay. In this case, just based on my experience, they didn't want Trump at Mar-a-Lago during the raid, that's just clear to me. So, Trump finally left Mar-a-Lago for the, for the investigation for yet another investigation of the New York. He was a, he pled the fifth a hundred-plus times, during that investigation of his financial dealings. You would not want Trump there. So, they were timing it with the Secret Service or whomever else just to make sure that it did not become the kind of circus that Trump, of course, inevitably made it.

So, I don't think much of that delay at all. And then there was a weekend in there, it's just, it's, it's not silliness. It's just a way that that the Trump people sort of deflect the very substance, because they have no defense at this stage. And so, they either create procedural sort of mythology about how things work, or of course, is as we know, they, they sort of ratchet up the, the violence speak and, and the incitement to get people angry.

WALKER: And speaking of that, inciting people to get them angry. I mean, we live in a world now, right, where you have the federal magistrate judge who OK-ed the search warrant. I mean, he was getting such violent threats that they had to pull his bio from the Florida court's Web site. But also, the fact that you have FBI agents, you know, who have risked their lives defending the Constitution. Now, now they're dealing with threats. I mean, what's your reaction to that?

KAYYEM: So, I mean, it's, it's been my reaction for several years now with Trump and his family, I should say, which is essentially the use of violence or the threat of violence as an extension of a, of a political fight, which is the political, you know, for them, it's a, it's a is Trump the, the lead, might he be the nominee. And so, they use violence as a way, as simply just the sort of another tool, like voting or, or, or, or media. I think they are so casual about it, it's incitement. It's directed incitement at this stage.

I don't even know if you can say it's sort of generic radicalization, it's, it's actually, you know, sort of the, the FBI agents. We know about the attack in Ohio related to an individual who had been involved with January 6th. This is the kind of radicalization that is occurring. This is not -- I'm very clear about this, this is not about Trump supporters or Trump voters. This is the, the, the, the violent extremists. But what's important now to know is that Trump is, Trump views them as his base now.

In other words, he won't reject them, he won't condemn them, he won't shame them, he nurtures them. And that's why you're seeing this kind of violence and threat of violence against public individuals, investigators who can't do their jobs. Think about what, if you're an FBI agent, you're worried about your spouse and your kids now, rather than, you know, the work of defending us. So, this does impact all of us as well, in terms of, of the judiciary, of law enforcement, and others who are doing their jobs.

WALKER: It's incredible how often we're talking about unprecedented things that are happening in the country.

KAYYEM: Yes, yes --

WALKER: Juliette Kayyem, I really appreciate you.

KAYYEM: Shameful, I think. I think shameful in this case. Yes.

WALKER: It sure is shameful. Thank you so much.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Today, authorities are also learning more about the man who tried to breach an FBI office in Ohio. CNN's Brian Todd has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On a social media account bearing the name of the suspect in Cincinnati, 42-year-old, Ricky Schiffer, the user seems to fixate on revenge for the FBI search of Donald Trump's home, Mar-a-Lago. On Monday, the day of the Mar-a-Lago raid, the user wrote: "People, this is it. I hope a call to arms comes from someone better qualified. But if not, this is your call to arms from me."

JOHN SCOTT-RALTON, SENIOR RESEARCHER CITIZEN LAB, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO: This was totally predictable, not the person, not the place. But the fact that angry people would take up arms and do something violent, was absolutely predictable. And the worst part is the people who were pushing that rhetoric, they knew it, they knew what would happen. And clearly, they made the decision to go forward.

[07:15:08]

TODD: Also on Schiffer's account, the user encouraged others to go to gun and pawn shops to "get whatever you need to be ready for combat." When another person responded to the user saying they'd sent his picture and information to the FBI, the user responded, "bring them on."

TERRANCE GAINER, FORMER U.S. CAPITOL POLICE CHIEF: I think a lot of their effort right now we'll be focused on who he was connected with, and what others may do. So, people who have been involved with this individual either through social media, or in a day-to-day activity, I hope they're a little bit nervous. TODD: Two law enforcement sources tell CNN, Ricky Schiffer was

previously known to the FBI because of his connections with the January 6th attack on the Capitol. His social media accounts user claimed they were in Washington that day, but didn't say whether they entered the Capitol. Our sources say, he also had associations with the far-right extremist group, The Proud Boys. Since the Mar-a-Lago raid, CNN has found ramped up extremist rhetoric in online forums sympathetic to Trump. One post CNN found called for violence against FBI agents.

ARIEH KOVIER, SOCIAL MEDIA EXTREMISM ANALYST: The thing that I have seen many people talking about and maybe fantasizing about as their potential trigger, might be a potential arrest or detention of Donald Trump.

TODD: Meanwhile, there's added tension among law enforcement agents. Former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer, whose son is a retired FBI agent told us that he's spoken to several agents since the Mar-a-Lago raid, he says they're telling him they are now taking special precautions for their own safety and for the safety of their families. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Brian, thank you so much. President Biden says he's going to sign a major economic and climate bill into law next week. That's because Democrats passed a $750 billion package along party lines, just yesterday. Here's how Speaker Nancy Pelosi celebrated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): This is like historic because every member in the house and every member in the Senate, Democratic member in the House, Democratic member in the Senate voted for this legislation.

To lower prescription drug costs, to lower health care costs, to reduce the deficit, and pay for to lower inflation, to save the planet. And every single Republican in the House and in the Senate voted against it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN White House Reporter Kevin Liptak joins us now. Kevin, just a few months ago, this piece of legislation was effectively dead. And now, it's become one of President Biden's biggest achievements.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, I mean, this is really now the centerpiece of President Biden's legacy. And when you look at the totality of all that he's accomplished in Congress, whether it's COVID relief, infrastructure, gun control, the burn pits legislation, the semiconductor bill that passed last week, and then this new package of climate, tax, and health care reforms, it really does come together to a very significant record that the President passed with only the narrowest margins in the Senate and the House, and it does affect so many parts of American society. Now, the President did watch final passage of this bill yesterday from

his vacation in South Carolina. Later, he got on FaceTime with some of his advisers who had gathered in the Roosevelt room and he told them that this bill would profoundly change the country. Now, he does plan to sign it next week. But he will have a bigger event at the White House with members of Congress who helped push this through later in September. And that will really be the culmination of more than a year of work to get this past. So, many points along the way. It really did seem doomed among this internal feuding among Democrats.

It really left a lot of Democrats dispirited along the way, of course, they're jubilant now. But there were some compromises, of course, it's a lot smaller than President Biden had initially hoped. Some of the social safety net programs have been stripped out like free tuition for community college. Even the name changed. It's not called Build Back Better anymore. It's the Inflation Reduction Act. And now, the onus will really be on President Biden to sell this bill to the American people and what White House strategists say is that he will hit the road as soon as he's back and really start selling what's in this package.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and the timing here is key as the midterm elections only a few months away. Kevin Liptak, thanks so much.

LIPTAK: Sure.

WALKER: All right. Up next, a major shift from the CDC as the agency loosens COVID guidelines. We'll tell you about their new recommendations plus what it means for your children going back to school.

[07:19:46]

Plus, health officials find the polio virus in New York City waste water. Now, there are fears it could be more widespread than previously thought.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: So, the CDC now says the U.S. should move away from restrictive COVID measures like quarantining and social distancing, and focus on reducing severe disease from the virus. Now, the agency put out new guidance this week that rolls back some previous COVID safety recommendations and also keeps others. CNN's Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen with more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Amara, Boris, it's a bit of an end of an era. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control saying this week that they're easing up on many COVID-19 restrictions. It's really a sign Omicron is much more mild than previous variants, so not as many precautions are necessary. Also, most of the country, the vast majority of the country has some immunity to COVID-19 through previous infection or through vaccine, or for some people both. Let's take a look at what the CDC is doing. [07:25:00]

The CDC is saying no more six-feet social distancing recommendations, all those little stickers can be scraped off the floor. Also, they say no more screening in most circumstances. The screening for example, that school children have been doing, also no more quarantining after you've been exposed to someone with COVID-19. They've been telling people to quarantine; they've eased up on that a bit. But this says no more quarantining.

But there are some measures that the CDC is keeping. They're still recommending indoor mask usage for most of the United States. Also, they're telling people if you're actually infected with COVID-19, you do still need to isolate. The CDC, these new guidelines are much more tailored to specific groups. For example, they tell people who are immunocompromised, that they should talk to their doctor about a drug called evusheld.

They also say that if you're at high-risk for getting very sick from COVID 19, that you should be wearing a mask and a much larger part of the country than is recommended for the general population. So, different directions for different people. Amara, Boris.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you so much. There's some concerning health news out of New York where officials say that wastewater samples have revealed the presence of polio virus, and that's just the virus is circulating in the city. In fact, late last month nearby Rockland County reported one case of infection. Now, most Americans are protected from polio, thanks to vaccines, but some estimates show as many as 14 percent of New York City kids younger than five are not up to date on their shots. Let's discuss with Dr. William Moss, he's the Executive Director for the International Vaccine Access Center at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Doctor, we're grateful that you're sharing part of your Saturday with us. First, help us understand polio has been detected in wastewater, what are the implications?

DR. WILLIAM MOSS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR THE INTERNATIONAL VACCINE ACCESS CENTER: Yes, and thank you for having me, Boris. So, waste water detection of pathogens has been around for a long time. And because polio viruses are excreted through our gastrointestinal tract, it's an obvious place to look for polio viruses. What we know about polio viruses, whether they're the wild type viruses, or the circulating vaccine-derived polio viruses, is that only a small proportion of individuals who are infected develop symptoms, and a very small proportion, maybe it's only one out of 100, or one out of 200 actually develop paralytic disease.

So, we know there can be a lot of ongoing transmission that's just invisible because of these individuals are not showing any signs or symptoms. So, what the wastewater management surveillance shows us is that there is more widespread transmission in these communities than we previously thought. This is not a single isolated case of an individual with paralytic poliomyelitis. This indicates that the virus is actually circulating, more widespread in the community. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean we're going to see a huge outbreak of paralytic disease because as you said, most people in the United States are protected through vaccinations, but there are individuals who are not protected through vaccinations, and those are going to be the individuals at most risk.

SANCHEZ: So, what precautions should people take?

MOSS: Yes, so the most important thing would be to make sure that individuals are up to date on, on all their vaccines, but obviously, in this case, specifically for polio vaccination. But this virus is transmitted through what we call the oral fecal route. So, you know, hand washing, protecting food and water supplies. I don't expect that we're going to see a huge outbreak of polio. Where we usually see this in parts of the world where sanitation is poor. That's where you get these large -- and vaccination coverage as low -- that's where you get large outbreaks. But some of those basic measures, but I would say particularly, up to date on vaccinations, and good hand hygiene.

SANCHEZ: So, as CDC officials are now considering a variety of options to protect folks from polio, including offering some kids an extra dose of the vaccine, that's something that is being employed in the U.K. right now. What do you think of that strategy?

MOSS: Yes, I would say, you know, in general, children who've had the full regimen of polio vaccines, they're going to be well-protected. A booster dose will help raise the anti-body levels and offer some, some further protection, particularly if there's been waning immunity of individuals who've had insufficient number of doses. But I would say in general, most of the population is going to be protected if they received the full vaccine schedule.

[07:30:00

SANCHEZ: Doctor, I did quickly want to ask you about monkeypox while we have you, because health officials this week authorized the plan to stretch the nation's limited supply of the monkeypox vaccine by essentially making the individual dose much smaller in a shallower injection than normal.

Some have been critical of that choice, including the vaccine manufacturer, how do you weigh that decision?

MOSS: Yes. Thanks, Boris. This is -- it's a very important public health problem. We've got an ongoing outbreak that we're none in control of, we have a limited supply of vaccines. And so, the big question is until that supply chain improves, how do we get more people protected?

And this idea of what's called fractionated intradermal dosing, where you use, in this case, one-fifth of the vaccine dose, administer it into the layer of the skin, not under the skin. And in the skin, there are a lot of immune cells, you can get a good protection, a good immune response.

So, it's -- this is -- this is a public health trade off. There is one study that suggests that the immune response to this fractionated intradermal dosing is equivalent, or at least in our -- in the epidemiology language, non-inferior to the subcutaneous dosing.

So, I think this is the right decision to go right now until our supply increases.

SANCHEZ: Dr. William Moss, appreciate you sharing your expertise with us. Thanks so much.

MOSS: Thank you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney is facing down a friend turned political foe. More on Tuesday's high stakes political matchup that will determine whether Cheney will secure another term.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:36:07]

SANCHEZ: Here is a quick check of some of the other top stories we are following this morning.

In Arlington, Virginia, at least 14 people were injured after a vehicle crashed into a pub on Friday, causing the building to burst into flames.

According to police, eight people were transported to area hospitals, four of them critically injured, another six were treated at the scene and released. Police are still investigating the cause of the accident.

WALKER: Actress Anne Heche has been declared brain dead one week after she was critically injured and badly burned in a car crash. Friday afternoon, representatives -- on Friday afternoon, representatives for Heche confirmed she was brain dead, which under California law is the definition of death.

The 53-year-old star of films including Donnie Brasco, and Six Days and Seven Nights, never regained consciousness after her car crashed into a house on August 5th. Her family says she's been kept on life support for organ donation.

SANCHEZ: The latest polling out of Wyoming shows that Representative Liz Cheney is currently losing to her Republican challenger.

WALKER: Wyoming's primary is set for Tuesday, and CNN's Jeff Zeleny reports on the Wyoming race that is of major national interest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIET HAGEMAN (R), CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE, WYOMING: I know Wyoming. I love Wyoming. I am Wyoming. JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Harriet Hageman proudly wears Wyoming on her sleeve, and wields it like a hammer against Liz Cheney.

HAGEMAN: I am going to reclaim Wyoming's lone congressional seat from that Virginian who currently holds it.

ZELENY: These days signs of trouble for Cheney are easy to spot here in Wyoming. As Hageman works to bring Cheney's time in Congress to an abrupt end. It wasn't always that way.

HAGEMAN: I am proud to introduce my friend, Liz Cheney.

ZELENY: Back when she showered Cheney with praise during her first bid for Congress in 2016.

HAGEMMAN: A proven, courageous, constitutional conservative, someone who has the education, the background, and experience to fight effectively for Wyoming on a national stage.

ZELENY: It's a telling bookend of the Republican Party's evolution under Donald Trump, who was elected the same day Cheney first won. And now, he is at the center of her political fall, in a state where he won 70 percent of the vote, his widest margin anywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is fighting against President Trump. She betrayed us.

DICK CHENEY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump.

ZELENY: Yet here in Wyoming, Hageman is seen as far more than Trump's handpicked candidate. Before her fight with Cheney, she gained prominence as an attorney, fighting the federal government to protect the state's water, land, and natural resources.

HAGEMAN: It's absolutely critical that we protect the energy industry, not just for Wyoming but for the United States.

ZELENY: That focus on Wyoming issues resonated with many voters we met like Scott Vetter, who voted early for Hageman.

SCOTT VETTER, WYOMING VOTER: When you dive into the work that she's done, it's just been stellar. And you know, we really appreciate what she did.

ZELENY: Was it more of a, for her, or more vote against Liz Cheney?

VETTER: No, it was for her.

ZELENY: Cheney's fixation with Trump and her leadership on the January 6 committee has also turned off many Republicans.

STACY JONES, WYOMING VOTER: A lot of the choices that she's made lately are not the ones that Wyoming is behind. ZELENY: And Hageman has sought to capitalize on that anger among Trump loyalists.

HAGEMAN: We're fed up with the January 6 commission, and those people who think that they can gaslight us.

ZELENY: When we cut up with Hageman after a speech to the Rock Springs Chamber of Commerce, she declined to answer our questions.

ZELENY: How was Liz Cheney betrayed Wyoming voters?

HAGEMAN: We're not going to -- you're welcome to report on what she -- on my career.

ZELENY: If I can just ask you, how Liz was -- how is she --

Before an aide stepped in.

Just last week, she embraced the former president's baseless election denial rhetoric at a campaign stop in Casper.

HAGEMAN: Absolutely, the election was rigged. It was rigged to make sure that President Trump could not get reelected.

[07:40:04]

ZELENY: What Hageman doesn't tell her audiences is that she wants a post-Trump and supported Ted Cruz in 2016. It's a sign of her own transformation from Cheney ally to Trump loyalist. With her sights now set on Washington.

HAGEMAN: I will be taking the fight to DC just as soon as I defeat Liz Cheney.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Thanks, Jeff Zeleny for his reporting.

A quick programming note for you. Don't forget to watch an all new episode of "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA" tomorrow night at 10:00 p.m. This week, W. Kamau Bell is traveling to the Black Hills of South Dakota, to show how indigenous leaders are fighting to reclaim land that once belonged to them.

Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

W. KAMAU BELL, CNN HOST: So, talk about what is the goal of Land Back movement?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, it's simple, like, land back is about reclaiming indigenous lands and getting land back into indigenous hands, and to reclaim everything stolen from us, when we were forced to remove. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A huge part of the Land Back movement has a strong premise around dismantling white supremacy. Because all these systems that have been put in place that made it possible for the stealing of our land, is the very systems that are in place to make it possible to keep our lands from us to this day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were fully thriving economies and societies and communities pre-colonization. And so, all of who we are, our spirituality, our culture, our language, our life ways, our ceremonies, but also our kinship systems, our governance systems, education, health care, housing, food systems are all based on this land right here.

And so Land Back is that it's literally reclaiming those lands so we can reestablish those relationships.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: You can watch "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA" tomorrow night at 10:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

NEW DAY is back in just a few minutes. Stay with us.

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[07:46:33]

WALKER: New video this morning of the Taliban violently breaking up a rare women's protest in Kabul. You just heard gunfire there. And before that, more than 50 women had gathered outside the education ministry building, chanting food, work, and freedom.

The protest comes almost one year after the Taliban seized control of Kabul. Since then, the group has significantly rolled back women's rights, requiring them to cover their faces in public and banning girls from attending secondary school.

SANCHEZ: There is growing concern in Ukraine over the condition of Europe's largest nuclear power plant. The plant's operator says that it is now running with a risk of violating radiation and fire safety standards.

WALKER: CNN's David McKenzie Joining us now live from Kyiv. Hi there, David. What is the latest on this?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Amara, Boris.

You know, this is a very serious situation. There is been accusations and counter accusations from the Russians and Ukrainians of who is responsible for the shelling in or near this massive Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant to the south of where I'm standing.

But the fact remains that there is shelling and it is putting this plant at danger. According to authorities, both here and across the world, the International Atomic agency is saying that while there is no immediate threat for a fallout, they say that could change at any moment.

And, you know, I've been speaking to experts about this. They are less concerned about a direct strike on one of these nuclear reactors because they are so heavily protected.

But what has happened, it appears is that several of the power lines attaching this nuclear power plant to the Ukrainian grid have been damaged.

If that is cut off completely. It's called a station blackout. Then, they'll depend on backup systems. And if they fail, you could see a meltdown or radiation leak.

Now, just imagine that these Ukrainian workers have been there under occupation from Russian force since March. They have been trying to maintain safety at this plant, make sure that it's not a danger to this country and the wider European region.

There is talk now of a demilitarized zone, but I have to say it's just talk.

The Russian and Ukrainian side appear not ready to get into any scenario where they retreat from their frontline positions in the southern part of this country. And so, that danger of some kind of leak remains.

Boris, Amara?

SANCHEZ: David McKenzie, reporting from Kyiv. Thank you so much.

[07:49:20]

Still ahead, heavy rains, thunderstorms, and potential flooding, as the Southwest braces for a wet weekend ahead. We'll have your latest forecast next.

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SANCHEZ: Millions of people in the southwest are under flood watches today as monsoon rain continues to ease drought conditions across the region. The welcome rain though also raising concerns about potential flash flooding.

WALKER: Let's bring in CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar. I mean, last weekend, we were talking about extreme heat, today, it's about monsoon rains. What can we expect?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, so you get one relief from one form, but then you get something else in return.

Take a look at this video. This is in Las Vegas. This is the planet -- this is Planet Hollywood. You can see water dripping from the ceiling, flooding into the casino down below. This was taken on Thursday.

Now, on Thursday they ended up getting about just over a half an inch of rain. But in a very short period of time. And that triggered some localized flash flooding.

The thing is, that brings their total monsoon season up to 1.28 inches, making it the wettest monsoon Las Vegas has had in a decade.

Now, monsoon season is defined as June 15th to September 30th. So, it's not over. We've got more rain in the forecast not just the short term, but likely the long term as well.

In the short term, however, we do have flood watches in effect. Including Las Vegas and many other of the surrounding areas, because we've got that flow all of that moisture surging into the area into the southwest.

Most of these areas likely to pick up an additional half inch to -- and one inch total today into tomorrow. But even the long term forecast, again, the entire western region is looking at above average precipitation.

[07:55:09]

Now, the concern is the potential for flash flooding. But the long term hope is that we can actually make a dent in the drought that's been ongoing and plaguing much of the West, really for the last several years.

This is a look at current numbers. 70 percent of the Western U.S. is in some type of drought. 25 percent are under the top two categories, what we call extreme or exceptional.

Keep in mind, two months ago, that number was almost 40 percent. So, all of the recent rains have been able to make at least a little bit of a dent in the drought.

One other area we're keeping an eye on is the Gulf Coast. While this isn't likely to become a tropical storm or a hurricane, it does, Boris and Amara, have the potential to trigger flooding in South Texas.

WALKER: Oh, boy. All right, keep us posted. Allison, thank you.

Coming up, we'll have new details about the search on Mar-a-Lago. We'll tell you what kinds of documents authorities found and what it could mean for Trump and his inner circles' legal exposure.

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