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Dust Storm Triggers Crash On I-55; U.S. Tracking Another Mystery Balloon; Trump Era Policy Set To Expire; Hunter Biden Must Answer Questions About Finances; Toxic Fumes Escape From Common Items. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired May 02, 2023 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:32:29]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning the strike is on and we will soon see the picket lines. More than 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America, they are now on strike. Their first since 2007. There was no deal before a midnight deadline. The studios claim they were willing to improve on their offer, however, it would not meet some of the union's demands. The strike could halt the production of several television shows and could possibly delay the start of new seasons as well.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Six people are dead this morning and dozens more are recovering after a dust storm triggered a huge pileup involving more than 70 vehicles. This all happened in Illinois on I-55 near Springfield. The dust blinded drivers almost instantaneously. And the images coming out afterward, just look at this. I mean you not only have mangled cars, but you have piles and piles of semi-trailers. You have vehicles and looks like also some cargo catching fire in the midst of all of this.

CNN's Adrienne Broaddus is on the scene for us, how it looks today.

Adrienne, a very different scene today as crews were clearly working around the clock to clear the scene, but what more are you learning about what happened here?

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, I'll start with the crews who worked overnight and through the morning to get this stretch of Interstate 55 back open. I am going to move out of the frame of the lens so you can see what is left behind. To the right, on the southbound lanes, you can see where the road is charred. When those more than 70 vehicles crashed, some of them caught fire and first responders who were handling this scene said that was one of the most difficult tasks, going to each individual car to make sure nobody was inside, even if they weren't involved in the crash, and it was especially difficult when the two trucks were on fire.

Now, to answer your question in regards to what caused this. You see how windy it is today. The wind gusts were at least 45 miles per hour. That excessive wind picked up soil, dirt from neighboring farmland, as well as debris, and created those blinding conditions for drivers. Six people were killed, at least 37 others were sent to the hospital with injuries ranging from minor to life-threatening. The youngest victim, according to members of law enforcement, was a two-year-old. The oldest, an 80-year-old.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Adrienne, thank you for the update. It's just -- the video from there was just terrifying.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. is tracking another mysterious balloon.

[09:35:03]

This one was spotted flying over parts of Hawaii. But the Defense Department says it's not a threat and they won't be shooting this one down.

You may remember the military shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast earlier this year.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand is joining us now from the Pentagon.

Natasha, why is the U.S. confident that this balloon is not a threat in any way?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Well, a couple reasons, Sara. The first is that this balloon does not appear to have been maneuverable. So, it doesn't appear that it was being maneuvered by any kind of foreign government or any kind of external actor.

It also, according to our sources, was not emitting any kind of signals. So that means that it was not being used likely for intelligence gathering or surveillance purposes. That Chinese spy balloon was emitting signals when it was flying over the United States, suggesting that it was being used for spying.

In addition to this, the balloon that the U.S. military observed flying over parts of Hawaii did not actually transit over any sensitive government sites or any kind of critical Defense Department infrastructure. Just to remind viewers, the balloon, the Chinese spy balloon that was shot down earlier this year, it did hover over sensitive military sites. So just the contrast there really suggested to U.S. officials that this was not necessarily a balloon that posed any kind of national security threat.

The balloon also, according to the Defense Department, did not pose a risk to civil aviation. It was flying at around 36,000 feet, but they say that they did not determine that it was posing a risk to aircraft at that - at that height. So, bottom line here is that this is a very different situation than

what they observed with the Chinese spy balloon, but, still, we have to recall that just earlier this year the U.S. military did shoot down three other unidentified objects. Of course, they do reserve the right to do so in this case as well. Right now no indication that they will. And we should note this balloon is now out of Hawaiian air space and out of U.S. territorial waters, though the Defense Department is still tracking it with the FAA.

Sara.

SIDNER: I am curious whose balloon it is. We will stick with you and try to find that out. Thank you so much, Natasha Bertrand. Appreciate it.

John.

BERMAN: A major setback for President Biden's son Hunter, who will have to answer more questions about his investments in art sales as part of a paternity case.

And a concerning new study reveals the amount of toxic chemicals that are being released inside our homes and workplaces from every day consumer products.

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[09:41:54]

BOLDUAN: With only days left until a Trump era immigration policy expires, the Texas border city of El Paso is now under a state of emergency. They're preparing for a surge. Tens of thousands of migrants in Mexico are hoping to make their way across the border as soon as Title 42 is lifted.

The pandemic era policy, as you'll remember, made it easier for the government to quickly expel migrants. The policy is set to expire on May 11th.

CNN's Rosa Flores is in El Paso for us. She's covering all of this.

And, Rosa, the mayor says that they needed time to get housing ready for all of this, but what are you seeing there?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kate, there are hundreds of migrants here on the streets of El Paso. I'm going to walk around the block just to show you the magnitude, but let's pan over here to the side and then we're going to walk around the block and you'll see that there are hundreds of migrants that are sleeping on the streets here of El Paso.

Let's walk. Walk with me as I tell you the story here because you'll see that there are lines here for everything, for water, for food. And, like you said, El Paso is in a state of emergency right now. Officials are very concerned about public safety, about shelter, as you can see, and also about transportation because there's only a limited amount of seats to exit the city of El Paso. And that creates a bottleneck. That's why the city of El Paso issued a disaster declaration to make sure that they can ease up some of those resources.

Now, you can see, we just made the turn here. Take a look behind me and you'll see that there's an entire block that is just packed with migrants. All of these migrants have been sleeping on the street here. I can tell you, Kate, from talking to the priest from this church, he says he has never seen anything like this, saying that this is a crisis.

Now, process this with me because Title 42 allows immigration agents to swiftly return certain migrants back to Mexico. So, the obvious question is, why are we seeing so many migrants right now if Title 42 is in place? Well, here's what we know from talking to migrants.

Officials on both sides of the border and community leaders on both sides of the border, they say that at least in four northern Mexican cities, there are nearly 40,000 migrants waiting for the lifting of Title 42, which is scheduled for May 1st -- for May 11th, excuse me, but they are getting impatient. From talking to some of the migrants here, some of them, they say, they have grown impatient and they decided to cross the border.

Now, here's the key, some of them crossed by turning themselves into border authorities. Others decided to enter the country illegally, which takes me to my final point, Kate. That's the other reason why it's very difficult for the city of El Paso and city of El Paso officials because the FEMA money that they get to help migrants is for those migrants who have been processed by immigration authorities because that's what FEMA moneys allow them to do. A lot of these individuals here, if they enter the country illegally, the city just can't help them.

[09:45:03]

Kate.

BOLDUAN: What you described very well and in very vivid detail is just what a mess is on their hands at the border and is on - is at the feet of the federal government right now. Thank you so much, Rosa.

John.

BERMAN: Thanks, Kate.

This morning, President Biden's son, Hunter Biden, likely regrouping after suffering a setback in court. An Arkansas judge ruled that Biden must answer more questions about his investments in art sales, saying, quote, this cryptic, hide-the-ball game isn't going to cut it when we get to trial.

So, that decision comes as part of a paternity case which has now morphed into a battle over Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings, his laptop and other financial issues.

With us now, Katie Cherkasky. She is a criminal defense attorney and former federal prosecutor.

Again, this is a paternity suit in Arkansas that was reopened at Hunter Biden's request because he wanted to pay a lower amount in child support. So, was that an unforced error?

KATIE CHERKASKY, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: I think it absolutely was. Hunter brought this about himself and essentially now his finances are really open for scrutiny on all fronts by this judge in this child support case. So, that being said, the implications of this very, you know, state-specific child support issue are very widespread for obvious political reasons, but it's all because he reopened the case, absolutely.

BERMAN: His lawyers, they had to know that this could happen, yes?

CHERKASKY: Of course I think they knew. Maybe they have a defense. Maybe they are not concerned. Maybe they believe that it's justifiable to reduce the amount based on financial circumstances. But that being said, there is so much information that's going to be put out there as a result of this request by him.

BERMAN: Including a deposition scheduled for June. How significant is that and how much could happen before then?

CHERKASKY: Well, there's going to be ongoing discovery in the case and if the case proceeds as scheduled there's going to be depositions, it's going to get into basically any and all financial dealings that Hunter Biden's been involved with, which, obviously, coincidentally or otherwise, are the subject of many other inquiries. So the overlap of this is quite shocking, including the fact that he brought this on himself.

But the deposition is going to be able to get into pretty much any and all financial dealings that Hunter's been involved with whatsoever.

BERMAN: So, talk to me more about that intersection. So, if there is a deposition in this case, and discovery, if this all goes forward, how much of that could then play there because there are two other major things, there are a congressional investigation, Republicans in Congress trying to dig into Hunter Biden, and also this federal DOJ investigation, criminal, which is still going on.

CHERKASKY: Well, the family court filings are going to be somewhat sealed for the most part, but there can be subpoenas that are issued, and a lot of this information is going to practically come out and a lot of these investigators are probably going to be very interested in some of the disclosures that are made in the family court case, not only for what they reveal, but whether they're consistent with the other information that they have already on him, from the laptop and from other sources.

So, the consistency is really going to be a problem for him if there's any sort of mismatch between prior disclosed information to the family court and other information that other investigators have, for instance. BERMAN: All has to line up. So, we read in the intro here what the

judge said, the cryptic hide-the-ball game, accusing Hunter Biden and his legal team there. What does that all mean? He basically said, you've redacted too much in the documents we asked for.

CHERKASKY: Sure. So there's already been some disclosures in the case that have been turned over and the judge felt that Hunter Biden's team had gone too far and redacted information that would have been relevant and felt that it was prolonging the process, delaying the process, when, again, he was the one who brought this action in the first place.

So, she was not pleased with that and wanted to make sure that all the parties know that it's going to be very specifically enforced that they disclose everything that needs to get this matter resolved. And that's just the child support piece of things, of course. But the far reaching implications are very obvious here.

BERMAN: All right, more to come, in Arkansas. Thank you so much, Katie Cherkasky. Appreciate it.

CHERKASKY: Thank you.

BERMAN: Sara.

SIDNER: Ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, a new report suggesting our homes and office spaces are filled with harmful toxins that are making us sick. A live report, next.

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[09:53:10]

SIDNER: Toxic and potentially harmful fumes could be circulating in the air inside your home and workplace right now. That's according to a new study just released today. Researchers found 5,000 tons of potentially harmful VOCs, that's volatile organic compounds, were emitted in the state of California alone in 2020, and they come from having all kinds of things that we have in our home, like shampoos, lotion and cleaning products.

CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard joins us.

Can you help us understand what exactly these things, these compounds, are doing to our bodies?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Yes, Sara, well, the chemicals that we're talking about have been associated with asthma, with reproductive harms, birth defects, hormonal disruptions and cancer. And these are chemicals like formaldehyde or methylene chloride, for instance. And like you said, Sara, these chemicals were part of this study that was based out of California where they did find that in 2020 more than 5,000 tons were released from consumer products that we use every day. And this was in the state of California.

These are products, as you mentioned, like household cleaning supplies, paint removers, even certain shampoos and body lotions. And this new data kind of adds to our understanding, Sara, of how these, again, chemicals that are associated with products we use every day, how they can impact our health.

Sara.

SIDNER: What exactly can we do about this? I mean we all use shampoo and the soap and cleaning supplies in our homes.

HOWARD: Right. And, you know, in California, they already have Prop 65, which is where businesses are required to warn consumer when they are exposed to chemicals that can cause cancer or birth defects.

[09:55:06]

But some experts say that we can do more. And here's what Linda Birnbaum, she's the former director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, she called this a wake-up call, saying, quote, we don't regulate indoor air except radon, yet many people spend 90 percent of their time indoors. And by saying this she's talking about babies, children, the elderly especially. And she says that we can do more to raise awareness and to protect ourselves from the exposure to these kind of chemicals. So, it will be interesting, Sara, to see where this conversation heads in the future as we think about the volatile chemicals that are used in day-to-day products.

SIDNER: Wow. Thank you so much, Jacqueline Howard, for that.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: And this just in, the order to shelter in place at UC Davis has just been lifted as police are searching for a suspect in a string of stabbing attacks, including one just last night near campus. The latest on this and why the order has now been lifted, that's coming up.

Plus, an amazing rescue at sea. A father and his young son swept away by rip currents in Florida. We're going to show you how they were rescued and saved. It was all caught on tape.

We'll be right back.

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