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U.S. West Coast on Tsunami Watch after Underwater Volcano in South Pacific Erupts; Large Storms and Ice to Hit Parts of Eastern U.S.; Firefighters Battle 11-Alarm Fire at Chlorine Manufacturing Plant in Passaic, New Jersey; Biden Administration Planning to Make High Quality Masks Available for Free to Help Stop Spread of Omicron Variant of COVID-19; Biden Administration Attempting to Make COVID Tests Free or Low Cost for Americans. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired January 15, 2022 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:20]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Happening now in the Newsroom.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This by far is going to be the biggest issue we encounter over the next 48 hours -- ice, and a lot of it.

SANCHEZ: More than 65 million under winter storm alerts as a massive storm moves east, bringing heavy rain, snow, and the potential for a crippling ice storm.

Some neighbors in New Jersey told to stay inside and close windows after an 11-alarm fire breaks out at a chemical plant. What we're learning about the blaze.

Starting today, at home COVID tests are now free through private insurance as the Biden administration prepares to send out hundreds of millions more tests and masks, trying to contain the surge of new COVID cases. We'll tell you how you can get yours.

And Novak Djokovic detained. The tennis star back in detention after his visa is again revoked. The moves that could reshape the Australian Open.

And bare shelves and high prices greeting grocery store customers across the country. The factors contributing to the shortages and whether we'll see relief any time soon.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The package you have been waiting for could be somewhere on this Los Angeles train track.

SANCHEZ: Plus, thieves looting freight trains in California, how this mess could impact future deliveries.

Newsroom starts right now.

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CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning on this Saturday, January 15th. It's so good to have you. I'm Christi Paul.

SANCHEZ: And I'm Boris Sanchez. You are live in the CNN Newsroom.

And we begin with breaking news at this hour. The western U.S. coast is under a tsunami advisory as the National Tsunami Warning center says they're watching a one-to-two-foot wave heading towards the area. It comes after a tsunami hit Tonga's largest island, reportedly sending waves into the capital of that island. It happened after an underwater volcano in the South Pacific exploded in a violent eruption.

PAUL: We want to show you the satellite of that. Take a look at this. This is the imagery of that eruption on that massive ash cloud and shock wave spreading from it is something that really caught CNN's Allison Chinchar, caught her eye. She's with us now to talk to us about this. So explain to us what the threat is at this moment.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. So yes, basically up and down the west coast, you've got that tsunami advisory. Again, one to two feet waves, that's what we're talking about for the forecast here. The timing ranges anywhere from 7:30 a.m. pacific time all the way to 10:00 a.m. Again, it's a pretty wide coast, so it's going to depend on where you are.

For example, Homer, Alaska, about 9:05 Alaska standard time, 7:35 a.m. pacific time for Monterey, California, Los Angeles, about 7:50, and then eventually San Francisco around 8:10. So again, these waves are going to come in increments here, each individual place is going to have its own time.

We also have a tsunami advisory in place for Hawaii, all of the Hawaiian Islands. For them it's different. They've already started to see some of those waves observed across the different islands, the vast majority of them between one to three feet. Again, this is not devastating for all of the islands. Those aren't the numbers we're talking here, but they are going to still impact. You're going to have water that inundates right along the coastline.

Do not go out and surf. Don't go stand on the beach to go take a selfie. These are still significant enough numbers that we want you to avoid the coast areas. We want you to avoid being on shore. Again, that video that we showed earlier, this is very impressive. It shows not only the initial reaction from the eruption itself, but you can see shock waves that are a subsequent portion out there on the outer edge. Putting it in a little bit slower motion, this actually is from a lightning plot satellite. Again, you can see those shock waves just reverberating out from the eruption in every which direction. Again, very impressive.

But again, Boris, Christi, the takeaway, please don't go surfing, please don't go out into the water, and please don't go stand and take selfies in front of it because it is going to look like the water is going back first before it comes back in. PAUL: Somebody has their mom voice on this morning. I recognize that

because I have one as well.

(LAUGHTER)

PAUL: Thank you, Allison. We appreciate it. News we need to hear, definitely.

Listen, we want to talk as well about this wicked storm that's slamming through parts of the country. Look at what it is leaving behind. That's what it looks like in South Dakota, 65 million of you from the Midwest to the east coast are under some winter weather alert. A lot of states already preparing for what meteorologists warn could be a crippling ice storm for parts of the deep south all the way up to Virginia.

[10:05:03]

SANCHEZ: Yes. Some regions are expected to see rain, snow, sleet, and freezing rain all within a 24-hour time span. So, Allison, this is a complex storm, one that could lead parts of the country cleaning out for several days.

CHINCHAR: Yes, it's a mixed bag for a lot of states. And when we say a lot of states, I mean a lot of states, because this is going to be far reaching. You have midwestern states, southeastern states, mid- Atlantic, northeastern states all likely to be impacted from this particular storm.

Here's where it is not. That low pressure system is expected to dive down into the southeast today and slowly it will meander across that region before finally picking back up and heading towards the mid- Atlantic and the northeast Sunday into Monday. That's why you have so many places that are under some type of winter weather alert. Winter storm warnings, winter weather advisories, and even an ice storm warning across the Carolinas and Georgia.

And that's really going to be the biggest concern. Here you can see that forward trajectory of the storm. Again, notice once it really gets into the southeast, it just simply doesn't move. That means it has got a lot of time to dump a tremendous amount of moisture. In some cases, it is rain, some cases it's snow, and unfortunately in some cases it's going to be ice.

And hands down, this is the biggest concern going forward. Most areas that you see on this map in pink, about a quarter of an inch. But there will be some spots, half an inch, three quarters of an inch. Now you're talking obviously not only widespread problems on the roadways, but you're talking airline cancellations, you're talking widespread power outages because the weight of that really ice pushes down on the trees.

You're also going to have heavy rain and some thunderstorms across Florida, heavy snow between Nashville and Charlotte, about two to six inches mostly for those areas, but once you get into higher elevations of the southern Appalachians, now you're talking one to two feet of snow there.

From the southeast, the stormy eventually slides up into the mid- Atlantic Sunday as we go through the day on Sunday, and then eventually pushing into the northeast once we get to Monday. So again, this is an all-encompassing storm that's going to affect a lot of different states over the next 48 hours, guys.

PAUL: Allison Chinchar, I know you are working extra today. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.

SANCHEZ: Thanks, Allison.

So this morning, firefighters are battling a massive 11-alarm fire at a chlorine manufacturing plant in Passaic, New Jersey. At one point, the fire led officials to issue air quality warnings for the region. But officials say that fortunately that danger passed.

PAUL: CNN's Polo Sandoval has been following this story for us. The good news really just coming down in the last, what, I think hour or hour-and-a-half is that they do have this contained. We can't believe how long they weren't able to do that because this thing was just so out of control.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They literally had to actually turn to water from a nearby river to try to douse flames, so it gives you an idea. But as you mention, a lot of good, positive updates to share with you a moment ago here. The fire is contained, that's obviously the most important one. And also there are no major injuries. Only one firefighter receiving a minor eye injury due to some falling debris. But that massive 11-alarm fire did not actually reach the chemical plant where chlorine was actually stored. That's according to Passaic mayor. This fire, this 11-alarm fire breaking out in a warehouse last night, in a warehouse complex rather, and that includes a facility that's used to store plastics and chlorine pellets, primarily a manufacturer of those products that you would use to maintain your pool. And authorities saying that massive flames, they're relieved to say that they did not actually reach that portion of the complex.

Now, we do understand that there was an air quality assessment that was actually performed in the early morning hours, and those officials on the scene were able to determine that there was no health, no safety threat in the surrounding community, no environmental threat as well. But nonetheless saying that they will be monitoring for chemical pollutants for the possibility that that may happen. But at this point, they are confident in saying that the threat has passed, not just at the scene for those brave men and women that were trying to put out the flames, but also for those neighbors who live in surrounding communities, and even here in New York City, too, Christi Paul. We're about 16 miles. And last night, we were getting alerts saying, basically, don't be surprised if you see or smell smoke from that massive blaze that was happening in a neighboring state. But again, good news to report, that fire is contained, and no major injuries after that fire breaking out at a warehouse in New Jersey.

PAUL: All right, Polo Sandoval, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Excuse me. So the surge of the Omicron variant is pushing U.S. hospitals into crisis mode. Many health care systems are running out of beds, they're facing major staff shortages. Several states are deploying National Guard personnel to fill those vacancies.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and to help stop the spread, the Biden administration is planning to make high quality masks available for free. The CDC is now urging everyone to wear the most protective mask they can find, saying that swapping cloth masks for N95 masks offers better protection against the virus. Testing, though, for COVID-19 remains a major obstacle in the United States.

[10:10:01]

So let's go to CNN's Nadia Romero. She's live in Atlanta for us this morning, where a mega testing site just opened to try to handle some of that demand. What's it like there right now, Nadia?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, Christi, it's almost like deja vu, right, because we were outside of Mercedes-Benz stadium where the Atlanta Falcons play, so a mega facility, and they had a vaccination site here not long ago. And now we're back to having a mass testing site because there's such difficulty for people to find access to tests. So they opened this site that began actually yesterday, today, the first Saturday to have the site back open.

Take a look behind me. Cars are going to be coming up. They're going to be driving through, and they'll administer the test inside their car. Health experts say that's the safest way to do it, instead of having people who think they might have COVID all packing inside of a building to get tested, they can stay in cars and we can do this outside.

But health experts said that they really hope that we wouldn't be at this point this far into the pandemic, but they did predict that we would see this spike if people didn't heed precautions during the holidays. Take a listen to what health experts say we should do now.

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DR. LYNN PAXTON, FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA HEALTH DIRECTOR: We don't deal in "I-told-you-so's" in public health. You just deal with what is in front of you. And so that's why we are doing everything we can. That's why we have opened this testing site. We are moving heaven and earth to try to get more rapid tests available for people to use at home, and we're very hopeful that that will come through. The federal government has committed to supplying about 500 million of those. And we're also looking here in Fulton County for our own source. But they're hard to come by right now.

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ROMERO: Yes, so hard to come by. So if you're in the Atlanta area, you can come to Mercedes-Benz stadium right outside. You have this drive through testing. They're doing PCR tests, so those are more reliable than the rapid tests, then you'll get an update on your phone. They'll have this open until February 18th. And of course, one of the biggest concerns here in the Atlanta area and really what we're seeing throughout the southeast is that uptick in hospitalizations for children, children being impacted by this new Omicron variant, and how it is effecting them at a higher rate than what we've seen throughout this entire pandemic, not just in Atlanta but in Alabama, saying that they're at their record numbers of pediatric hospitalizations because of COVID-19. Boris, Christi?

PAUL: Nadia Romero, thank you so much for the reminder.

Listen, starting today, health insurance companies must cover the cost of those at home COVID tests. Cases across the country, you just heard her, they're surging. We know hospitals are overwhelmed. And as she was talking about, tests can be really difficult to come by.

SANCHEZ: CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard explains how you can get a free test. Jacqueline?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Christi and Boris, this is happening right now. Most Americans with health insurance can now walk into a pharmacy, store, or go online and get at home COVID-19 tests for free through their insurance. How this works, depending on your plan, you can get an over the counter at home test at no cost up front, or you may get reimbursed. So you may have to still purchase the test but submit your receipt to your insurer for that reimbursement. So remember to save those receipts.

And another thing, some insurers may set up a preferred network of pharmacies, stores, or online vendors where you can get free tests. If you purchase a test outside of the network, insurers must reimburse up to $12 per test. And then for those who don't have health insurance, the Biden administration says that it's launching a website on January 19th where any American can request a free at home test. The administration says it's limiting orders to four rapid tests per household.

And of course, Boris and Christi, with the ongoing spread of the Omicron variant, increasing testing has been a major focus of the White House. Back to you.

SANCHEZ: Jacqueline Howard, thank you so much.

Still to come. They tried to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 election. Up next, what we're learning about the Oath Keepers plan as their leader faces a judge for seditious conspiracy.

PAUL: Also, it probably feels like deja vu. We stand in the stores and look at these empty shelves. The perfect storm that led to this round of shortages we're all seeing.

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SANCHEZ: For the first time in the investigation into the January 6th riot, the Department of Justice is unveiling seditious conspiracy charges. Eleven defendants have been charged, including leader of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes. He pled not guilty in court yesterday.

PAUL: Rhodes is going to be held in jail until next Thursday when the same judge will decide if he is granted bail. CNN crime and justice reporter Katelyn Polantz is with us. Katelyn, good to see you this morning. Walk us through what happens from this point.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Boris and Christi, this begins us on a very long road ahead. And this has already been many, many months of investigation that the Justice Department has done in building this case. This is a really bold move from the Justice Department to add defendants like Rhodes to this and to add the seditious conspiracy charge, and the reason that they're able to do it is because they have charged many Oath Keepers previously. They were beginning to gain cooperators. We know of four against the Oath Keepers.

And since January 6th of last year, over the course of the year, they have gathered a lot of evidence and continued to build out this case in court. What takes this charge from a conspiracy charge to the seditious conspiracy charge against the Oath Keepers is what happened after January 6th. That is really key.

[10:20:01]

Up to this point, these cases have been about January 6th and conspiracies, cooperation between groups who were attempting to allegedly plan to stop Congress on January 6th. But after that happened, after the insurrection on January 6th, prosecutors say that this group, including Rhodes, regrouped. They got together to celebrate that night of January 6th, and then continued to talk about civil war. And Rhodes even is accused of spending thousands of dollars on stocking up on guns and equipment up until essentially the Inauguration Day, January 20th. So that's two weeks or so after the 6th.

And the big point here, the words that prosecutors are using in this indictment is that they should be stopping, this group is allegedly stopping transfer of presidential power by force. That's not the same thing as just stopping the Electoral College vote. It really is accusing them of a plot to overthrow the Biden presidency. Boris, Christi?

PAUL: Katelyn Polantz, thank you so much for breaking it down for us.

President Biden is vowing to keep fighting for voting rights, even though two Democratic senators are still withholding their support for the legislation.

SANCHEZ: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says the Senate is going to take up votes next week, but without support from Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin to change the rules of the Senate to carve out the filibuster, the measure is likely to fail. CNN's Daniella Diaz joins us now live from Capitol Hill. Daniella, run us through this timeline that Schumer is proposing.

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Boris, the way this was going to go is they were planning to vote this week on Thursday on voting rights legislation, but because of scheduling conflicts, of course, a senator has COVID, they decided to push this and buy themselves time. And they are planning to take this up now on Tuesday, even though the Senate was originally scheduled to be in recess.

But the problem here is exactly what you said, Boris. There are still two senators who don't support a filibuster carve out. Otherwise, changing Senate rules instead of 60 votes threshold to break the filibuster, it would only require a simple majority or 51 votes to advance the legislation. These two senators that don't support this rules change being, of course, Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

And President Joe Biden seemed to acknowledge after he met with the Senate on Thursday that he knows this is an uphill climb, he knows it is going to be very difficult to convince these two senators to change their minds about this filibuster carve out. And without their support, it really appears that even though they're going to take up the legislation Tuesday, Boris, Christi, the bottom line here is this legislation is dead on arrival if they don't have the support they need from these two senators for the rules change, especially considering no Republican senator supports the voting rights legislation.

PAUL: Before I let you go, I want to ask about something else we've learned, this Republican, another Republican lawmaker who also voted to impeach President Trump announcing now that he is not running for office, joining a pool of a few others already.

DIAZ: That's exactly right, Christi. That's Congressman John Katko. He now joins -- he is following in the footsteps of Adam Kinzinger, Anthony Gonzalez. These are moderate House Republicans who voted to impeach then President Trump in a second impeachment trial. John Katko also voted in favor of the bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6th insurrection, both votes that former President Trump did not approve of, did not want Republicans supporting.

And as a result, because Katko had a target on his back from the right because of these votes, it appears that he is now not seeking reelection. He had a lot of pressure from his own party, lack of support from his own party, and, of course, former president Donald Trump having lots of statements against him, encouraging people to primary him. And it does appear now that he is not running for reelection, and he joins, of course, Adam Kinzinger and Anthony Gonzalez, two other House Republicans who also are not seeking reelection.

But President Donald Trump will not stop, of course, unless all the Republicans who voted to impeach him don't run for reelection.

SANCHEZ: He plans to have influence in the midterm elections, plotting campaign stops up until November. Daniella Diaz from Capitol Hill, thank you so much.

There are new numbers that suggest the pandemic price hikes we're seeing across the country are not going away anytime soon. PAUL: The U.S. producer price index, which tracks what America's

producers get paid for their goods, that rose 9.7 percent last year. That is, just to put it in perspective for you, the highest it has been since Bureau of Labor began releasing that data. It was slightly smaller, though, than economists predicted. So the biggest increases, and I bet you can guess this based on what you do every day, biggest increases were in gas, cars, furniture and bedding, and in meat products such as chicken and bacon.

[10:25:02]

You may not like the prices, by the way, that you see at the grocery store, we know that. But I don't know if you understand, there is a struggle going on behind the scenes at stores. We want to talk about that, the challenges stores are facing here, with Phil Lempert. He's editor of the "Lempert Report Newsletter." His website is SupermarketGuru.com. So good to have you with us. We certainly appreciate it, Phil.

You have said, you said something in an interview which got my attention. You said that grocery stores have turned into battlefields during the pandemic. It is a little jarring to hear, but help explain what you're talking about there.

PHIL LEMPERT, EDITOR, "LEMPERT REPORT NEWSLETTER": Sure. Christi, just imagine when you go into a supermarket, you're seeing empty shelves, you're having maybe one of the store associates coming up to you saying please wear a mask. We see other retailers now putting in security agents like Hy-Vee in the Midwest in all their eight states. They're hiring security people.

And the bottom line is going shopping used to be fun, walking up and down the aisles, seeing your neighbors, having all of those aromas and colors. Not so much anymore. So as a result of that, and also as far as the whole labor situation goes, a lot of these people who have worked in supermarkets for decades, frankly, are throwing up their hands and they're walking out.

PAUL: So that's created a labor shortage. And those positions have to be filled. Are supermarkets doing anything to entice them, to entice new employees?

LEMPERT: They're trying. Let me say that. But if you look around the country, there are certain retailers like Wegmans or northeast or Coburns in the Midwest that really have done for decades what they should be doing, training their employees, paying their employees well. Right now, there's a strike going on in Denver at King Soopers, which is a division of Kroger. And basically there are 6,000 supermarket employees that are on strike. They're hoping, they're trying to negotiate $16 an hour. And what Kroger has done is they have hired temporary workers and they are paying them $18 an hour.

So there's a lot of frustration going on on both sides. Supermarkets need labor. But I think if we fast track to the future, what we're going to see is a whole different supermarket experience. Obviously, you and Boris I'm sure have ordered online over the past two years. We're going to see more of that happening. I think we're going to see more robotics in the backroom. We're going to, frankly, just see less people in the stores working there.

PAUL: You said let's fast track to the future. Can we do that with when might we get back to a normal experience in the grocery stores? What are the factors other than the labor shortage? How much does Omicron play a part in this? How much does shipping play a part in this? How much does the severe weather play a part in this, because that's something we're watching today?

LEMPERT: Well, you're hitting all of the key points. What's driving up prices, what's driving up shortages is certainly climate change. If we take a look at what went on just a few months ago with the wildfires in the northwest, that destroyed a lot of corn and soy crops. If we look in Brazil, the floods have created major shortage as it relates to coffee. If you go to India and Asia, their potato crops aren't doing well, so they actually have to -- McDonald's is limiting French fries, the sales of French fries in those countries. So climate is a big one, and frankly, that is going to take a while to fix.

Transportation, as you talked about, we're down between 80,000 to 100,000 truck drivers here in the U.S. We have got those cargo ships out in Los Angeles and San Pedro where there are no trucking who can take the cargo off the boats and deliver it. So we have got labor, we have got transportation issues, and we've got climate change. And it's going to take, frankly, 12 to 18 months until we get back to normal. That doesn't mean prices are going to come down, but hopefully they'll level off.

PAUL: Hopefully we will see something on store shelves. You know that when you hear there's a French fry shortage, there are problems.

LEMPERT: Trouble, exactly. Absolutely.

PAUL: Phil, thank you so much. Phil Lempert, we appreciate it. Thank you.

LEMPERT: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Potential for panic hearing that, Christi.

PAUL: Yes, yes.

SANCHEZ: Trying to keep kids in the classroom as Omicron spreads has been a challenge. Schools finding themselves shorthanded. Up next, we're going to hear from a superintendent in northern California calling on parents to volunteer to keep schools open.

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[10:34:18]

PAUL: Obamacare open enrollment ends today, just a head's up for you there. You still have until the end of the day in most states to sign up for health insurance for 2022. We know 33 states use the federal exchange healthcare.gov, and we also know that interest is soaring. So far a record 14.2 million have signed up for coverage under the program as of last week.

SANCHEZ: One school district in northern California is committed to staying open for in-person learning, but it needs parents to make it happen. In a video posted on YouTube, the superintendent of the Palo Alto Unified School District made this call to action. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON AUSTIN, SUPERINTENDENT, PALO ALTO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: We need your help. My request is that until the surge passes, we need our community, one Palo Alto, to volunteer like never before. We need help in areas many people don't even know exist. It won't be glamorous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: That superintendent, Don Austin, joins us now live. Don, we are grateful to have you this morning. Parents have answered that call. You say this is the first sign of optimism you've seen in a long time. Nearly 800 volunteers in less than a week.

DON AUSTIN, SUPERINTENDENT, PALO ALTO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: Yes, that's right. First of all, thank you for having me. It's a pleasure.

I think after a couple years of families, including parents and students, hearing everything they can't do and being told they're essentially powerless, we finally found that little space where we can invite parents back. The parents that used to be the first line, that used to be the first call. But during COVID, somehow that idea of having parents on campus and volunteers faded away. And when we asked our parents to step up, we sent that message out after 9:00 at night on a Sunday, and in 20 minutes we had 50 volunteers. We thought OK, this might work. And by the next morning, we had 350. And now as you said, we are nearly at 800. So our parents stepped up in a big way.

SANCHEZ: Where did the idea come about, what drew you to it?

AUSTIN: Well, it was interesting. We used the concept of "unless we." And we're watching the whole country every day in the news struggle. They're closing schools in districts, and there's labor un-peace, and their school board meetings are wild. And we thought, look, this is going to be just the same for us here in Palo Alto unless we. And then we problem solved "unless we."

And the combination between my deputy superintendent Trent Bahadursingh and my wife, Paula, they kind of just broke loose one day and said why aren't we leveraging parents, why aren't we asking parents back to help solve this problem? And the next thing you knew, in about three or four hours, we had it roughed out on a white board, and then called in our principals on a Saturday and our PTA presidents on a Sunday, and the energy was instant. We thought, OK, this might be a winner.

SANCHEZ: So obviously you had a strong response from the parents. I'm wondering what you're hearing in terms of why they decided to volunteer, why they decided to get engaged this way. AUSTIN: Well, I think the why was the call to action hit home with

them. They've watched our teachers and our support staff and our administrators just work tirelessly for the last two years. And there's almost nothing communities value more than their school system. So when they were asked to pitch in, I have parents that told me they've taken off from their jobs. I had a parent tell me yesterday how grateful she was for the opportunity to come to our school to pick up trash in the hallways and wipe down desks, and that it reaffirmed her love of our schools because she got to see what happens in our hallways, the magic of schools, those interactions that students don't get when they're at home.

So the parents who have shown up, and there are many, have put all of their training and their personal jobs and business on the side. And everyone is equal now, and if anything good comes out of the COVID, I would say this -- our community has found a way to partner in a way that's been lost for a long time. And I think that the grateful messages that I'm receiving have been unlike anything I've had since our original closure in March of 2020.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it takes a real sense of community to have people pick up and leave their jobs, as you said, to get involved that way, though I don't know that I would have enjoyed it that much if my parents were working at school when I was a student myself. I do appreciate the time, Don Austin. Thanks so much.

AUSTIN: Thank you.

PAUL: I get it. I get it.

(LAUGHTER)

PAUL: All right, still to come, detained in Melbourne, what's next for Novak Djokovic after his visa was revoked a second time? And this, of course, just days before the start of the Australian Open.

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[10:44:30]

PAUL: It's 44 minutes past the hour right now. The immigration case against tennis star Novak Djokovic will be heard in an Australian federal court now. The number one tennis star is back in detention this morning ahead of that hearing. Djokovic is fighting to stay in Melbourne, of course, and contest his Australian Open title after his visa was cancelled for the second time. CNN's Paula Hancocks is with us live from Melbourne. Paula, walk us through what we extremist expect to see in the next 24 hours.

[10:45:03]

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christi, Djokovic, as you say, is in detention overnight tonight, clearly not where he would want to be so close to the Australian Open. He was detained this Saturday morning. He was interviewed once again by immigration officials. He then had some time with his lawyers in order to prepare for what's coming up on Sunday, but he was constantly escorted by border force officials as he was in detention.

So 9:30 a.m. local time tomorrow, that's just about seven hours away, less than seven hours, is when the full hearing starts. This is where the detailed arguments will begin. We expect it will be done within the day. Certainly, Djokovic's lawyers have said that they want that to happen. Time is of the essence. He is supposed to be on court for round one on Monday. But we don't have any guarantees of that at this point.

In court filings we've had more of an indication of what the government argument is, what the immigration minister is arguing by cancelling this visa once again. He said it is in the public interest. They also say that Djokovic being here could increase anti-vaccine sentiment, also pointing out that there could be civil unrest. These are arguments that already in previous hearings have been rebutted, as you could imagine, by Djokovic's lawyers. But this is going to be the kind of arguments that we expect to hear. Also pointing out that Djokovic, ignoring his COVID-19 positive infection and then going out and having a photoshoot, saying that that could lead some to emulate that kind of behavior here, Christi.

PAUL: It's going to be interesting to see how all of this shapes his overall persona with people as well. Paula Hancocks, thank you so much for walking us through it. We appreciate it.

Still to come, look at this. I know it looks like the aftermath of an explosion, doesn't it? Well, if you're expecting a delivery and it's delayed, this might actually be the reason. We have details for you next.

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[10:51:41]

PAUL: Well, the actor and comedian Bob Saget has been laid to rest. Friends and family were together for a private ceremony yesterday in Los Angeles. He was 65 years old when he died suddenly almost a week ago. Sources tell CNN, a public memorial will take place, that's at a later date that hasn't been chosen yet. His "Full House" co-star and close friend John Stamos seemed to allude to Friday's ceremony in a post on Twitter, writing this, in part, "Today will be the hardest day of my life."

So when was the last time that one of your online orders didn't arrive? If it was coming from Los Angeles, or even traveling through the city, this might be why. Boxes littering those train tracks. You see them all over the place, right? Thieves are targeting freight trains. They're stealing packages that are being shipped by UPS, Amazon, and FedEx and just leaving them behind there. CNN's Camila Bernal has more.

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CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is what's left of millions of dollars' worth of packages set to be delivered all over the country. Instead, thousands of boxes plundered and discarded, which means the package you have been waiting for could be somewhere on this Los Angeles train track.

ADRIAN GUERRERO, GENERAL DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD: It is an exponential issue that is going to take a number of entities to help resolve it.

BERNAL: Containers are being connected so the train is stopped. And even though everything is locked, it is no match for thieves who seize the opportunity, move in, and steal anything of value they can find. It's easy to spot things like home COVID tests, medication, luggage, throw pillows, and even appliances. And it is so bad in Los Angeles that Union Pacific, the company that runs the trains and patrols the tracks, says they may even avoid operating in the area.

GUERRERO: To help put that in perspective, on average, over 2021, saw 160 percent increase. But there were several months throughout last year where we saw over 200 percent, over 300 percent increase from the year prior.

BERNAL: Union Pacific says the lax prosecution of crimes is to blame, and point to a special directive issued in December of 2020 by Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon that changed how low level offenses like mail theft are prosecuted. The D.A.'s office responded in part, saying some cases presented to their office by Union Pacific have been filed, such as burglary and grand theft, while others have been declined due to insufficient evidence. Meanwhile, the company says as many as 90 containers a day are broken into.

GUERRERO: We were over $5 million specific to rail theft in the L.A. Basin.

BERNAL: And it's not only costing L.A. residents. It's Union Pacific, UPS, FedEx, Amazon, and all other companies and customers waiting for those packages now in the wrong hands or left as trash on those tracks.

And bottom line, this is not an easy fix. We're in just a small portion of those tracks, and you can see the piles of garbage, the boxes, the Styrofoam, the prime packages, the COVID tests. And it just continues to pile on.

[10:55:01]

Union Pacific that they've hired extra officers, that they have called local authorities for help, and are even using technology, things like drones, to try to solve this issue. But the mess is still here. UPS says that they're working with local authorities. FedEx saying they're trying to identify if their packages have been affected. But as time goes by and this continues to happen, all of us ordering things online will be paying for this.

Camila Bernal, CNN, Los Angeles.

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PAUL: Camila, thank you. That is unbelievable, isn't it? Listen, you know her face, but do you know Marilyn Monroe's whole

story? Discover the life and legacy of Marilyn in a new CNN original series "Reframed, Marilyn Monroe." It premiers tomorrow at 9:00 p.m.

We hope you make good memories today. Stay safe for all of you who are in the eye of that storm. There's much more ahead in the next hour of CNN Newsroom. You're going to see him again, Mr. Boris Sanchez really working hard today. He is going to be back with you in a moment. Stay close.

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