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Flooding in California; Thousands Pay Tribute to Pele; Hundreds of Russian Troops Killed; FDA Reviewing Experimental Alzheimer's Drug. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired January 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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ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: More than 15 million people from the west coast on into the Midwest now under winter weather alerts. Snowfall is expected to be anywhere from four inches to one to two feet in the mountains. This dangerous storm left widespread flooding and power outages behind in northern California over the weekend. Two people were also killed.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Emergency crews rescued several trapped by high waters. Parts of Sacramento County are now under evacuation orders. Two levee breaches triggered floods and forced evacuations as well in the town of Wilton.
And that's where CNN's Camila Bernal is this morning.
Camila, I wonder if you can describe to people the scale of this? The pictures just look disturbing.
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They are disturbing, Jim. And a lot of people still being told, look, you need to stay inside of the house. There are areas here in the county where an evacuation order is still in place.
[09:35:02]
And people being told just stay home because a lot off the roads look like this one you see here behind me. Some of the cars could go through but there are others that are just not going to make it. We saw some cars turning around this morning because of how scared they were to maybe be stuck here.
Look, already two people have died as a result of this storm. A 72- year-old man who was killed by a tree. Another person who was found inside of their car.
You mentioned people being rescued. Dozens and dozens of them here in Sacramento County. Officials saying they had to use boats and a helicopter to get people out of their cars. Many of them were just sitting on top of their cars waiting to be rescued. Many, many roads were closed over the weekend. The National Weather Service saying there's just too many roads to
even count and tell people which ones are closed or open. The 101 in south San Francisco also closed on Saturday for a period of time. So just people all over the state impacted by this rain.
Here's some of those residents.
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LINDA NEWTON, EL DORADO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, RESIDENTS: The water kept getting deeper and deeper. And it's - really, I've been here about six years and that's the deep - it's worse than it's ever been.
GABRIEL COKE, WATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA, RESIDENT: When you see the water moving this quick and rising like this, it's a little unsettling.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I opened one of my gates, there was so much water, it was gushing and it knocked me over. And I got stuck and my phone - I lost my phone in the water.
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BERNAL: And rainfall exceeded eight inches here in California. It's always welcome news in a state that's so impacted by the drought.
Jim. Erica.
HILL: Yes, you want the rain but not the flooding that goes along with it and the closed roadways.
Camila, appreciate it. Thank you.
SCIUTTO: Well, mourners are lining up in Vatican City to pay their respects to Pope Emeritus, as he was known, Benedict XVI. Benedict died on Saturday. He was 95 years old. He is lying in state, you can see there, at St. Peter's Basilica ahead of his funeral, which will be held on Thursday inside St. Peter's Square.
HILL: Benedict was, of course, elected pope in 2005 following the death of John Paul II. In 2013, he became the first pope in six centuries to step down. And his funeral will mark another first, the first led by another pope.
SCIUTTO: Well, of course, another passing we've been covering closely. In Brazil, thousands of people paying their respects to the soccer icon Pele. A 24-hour public wake is underway in Santos. Pele died last week in Sao Paulo after suffering from colon cancer. His coffin is resting now in the middle of the field at the stadium where he started his legendary career.
HILL: Stefano Pozzebon joining us now from Santos with more for us.
So, people, understandably, were lining the streets as the casket made its way into the stadium. Give us a sense -- we see some people milling about behind you. What's it like there inside? STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: It's a very somber atmosphere, Erica. I
don't know if you can hear it, but there is a very low, light samba that the Santos football club put on to accompany the moment. But it's - it's remarkable to see this going on inside a stadium which, of course, we think of a soccer stadium as a cheerful atmosphere, as people chanting and singing. Well, now, nobody is really screaming, nobody - nobody is even talking loud. Everybody is very silent and is - the multitude are walking by the casket. They are just paying their respect as silently and most solemnly as possible.
We're really witnessing history here (INAUDIBLE) because, you know, we talk about soccer being just a game, but, well, perhaps nobody more than Pele showed the outreach that this game has all over the world. He was truly an ambassador for this country, for Brazil. He was truly an ambassador for the game. And he had a stance in the 20th and 21st century than really transcended world soccer. I think we're really seeing an icon leaving us.
Jim. Erica.
SCIUTTO: He was revered. He was beloved. I mean so much history there in this one man.
Stefano Pozzebon, thanks so much.
Well, just in, this news from the war in Ukrainian. The Ukrainian military is claiming that a strike -- a Ukrainian strike killed hundreds of Russian troops in a strike targeting a cache of ammunition. It is sparking criticism inside Russia of their military operations, failure to protect these troops. We're going to have details coming up.
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HILL: This morning, a manhunt is underway in Mexico after two dozen prisoners escaped during a deadly prison attack and riot in the city of Juarez. Officials say ten security guards and four inmates were killed when gunmen in armed vehicles arrived at the prison and opened fire. Juarez sits, of course, just across the U.S./Mexico border from El Paso, Texas. It's one of Mexico's deadliest cities, also the epicenter of drug cartel violence. Authorities have not yet named who they believe was behind the attack.
SCIUTTO: New this morning, this is just in to CNN. Ukraine's military is claiming one of its strikes struck a place where hundreds of Russian troops were being housed, killing hundreds of them. This in the occupied Donetsk region. According to both Ukrainian and pro- Russian accounts, the troops were stationed next to an ammunition cache, which is said to have then exploded when the rockets hit. Ukraine's military claims some 400 Russian soldiers were killed, another 300 injured. CNN cannot independently confirm those numbers. The Russians put the death toll at 63.
[09:45:01] Here with me now, CNN military analyst, retired Major General James "Spider" Marks.
General, Happy New Year to you. Thanks for joining us this morning.
MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Happy New Year, Jim. Thank you.
SCIUTTO: So first the news of this strike. I don't have to tell you that for a commander Force protection is the number one priority for troops. And this is early here. We don't know all the details. But at least Ukrainian claim they struck the ammunition cache that exploded, then killed perhaps hundreds of Russian troops. Significance of that? And why would troops be right next to an ammunition depot like that?
MARKS: Well, bad decision to house your troops right next to a -- what's called an ASP, an ammo supply point.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
MARKS: But the Russians have increasingly, over the course of this - this war, the Russians have enjoyed a certain amount of sanctuary. I'm not certain where the ammo supply point was specifically, but what Ukraine has been able to do quite effectively is engage Russian forces one-on-one in tactical fights. What has been increasing in their capability is their ability to conduct long-range fighters and then to synchronize that with activities on the ground. That's, you know, creating this bubble of synchronization, this air/land battle space and be able to achieve effects on the ground. And so when you've achieve sanctuary, and the Russians, in many case, think they have sanctuary behind these enemy lines, you put yourself at great risk and you take a lot - you make a lot of stupid decisions like this.
SCIUTTO: Yes. And perhaps an effect of the HIMARS, which is one of the -- one of the missile systems that has had an impact in the battle there.
I do want to ask about the other side, and losses on the other side, and that is, of course, these continuing Russian missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities. A lot of them get shot down, but a lot of them don't. There are just too many. The U.S. is sending one patriot battery to bolster Ukrainian air defenses. Is that insufficient? And, if so, why not more?
MARKS: Yes, very insufficient. Look, where this patriot battery is going to be deployed will provide tremendous point-air defense. In other words, the area around where those -- that battery is deployed, probably six launchers will enjoy an increased amount of protection. I mean the patriot is a quite phenomenal capability.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
MARKS: But in order to protect infrastructure, in schools, in hospitals, I mean all the targets -- all the infrastructure that the Russians are going after is, you need a much larger array of air defense capabilities. And right now the Ukrainians have a mix of former Soviet-Russian capabilities, now this patriot battery will be coming into the fight, but probably not for a couple of months because the train-up period for that is pretty significant.
SCIUTTO: And we should not -
MARKS: This is a step in the right direction but it's insufficient to your question.
SCIUTTO: Sure. And we should acknowledge, it's the biggest country in Europe, right? I mean it's a lot of territory to defend from - from these relentless strikes.
MARKS: Right.
SCIUTTO: Before we go, we've heard Ukrainian officials publicly warning about the potential for a big Russian offensive in the new year. U.S. sources I've spoken to have said they doubt Russia has frankly the forces or the capability to do so. What do you expect?
MARKS: Yes, they don't.
SCIUTTO: No.
MARKS: Look, the - I think the Russians have a certain level of self- awareness, right? They've been getting their butts kicked, and they realize that. And so when they engage with the Ukrainians, they have zero result. So, I think what Russia would like to be able to do is have Belarusian forces come down directly south toward Kyiv and, at the same time, move forces up to the Donbas and try to, you know, connect these two and try to conduct some type of synchronization. But they lack the ability. The Russian military has established that it's incompetent, it's leaderless, the leaders that they do have are immoral, they're criminals and so they're not -- they don't have the capability to do that. But there is certainly, you know, the law of large numbers.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
MARKS: They've got the capability to conduct these artillery attacks and these drone attacks. But I don't see a large maneuver operation on the part of the Russians. They just can't do it.
SCIUTTO: Yes, punishing the civilian population where they can't gain on the ground.
MARKS: Unfortunately.
SCIUTTO: Major General "Spider" Marks, thanks so much.
MARKS: Thank you, Jim.
HILL: Just ahead here, what's at stake as the FDA considers an experimental treatment for Alzheimer's?
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[09:53:13]
HILL: Could be a big week here. The FDA is expected to decide on whether to give an experimental Alzheimer's drug an accelerated approval.
SCIUTTO: Yes. To be clear, this is not an Alzheimer's cure but - and this is some good news -- clinical trials have found that it could slow the progression of the disease.
CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard joins us now.
Jacqueline, it was just a couple of weeks ago we heard of some promising news with another experimental treatment. Tell us about this one and is it similar big news and how long does this all take going forward?
JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Yes, Jim.
Well, scientists call right now an exciting time for Alzheimer's research because we are seeing the development of these Alzheimer's drugs. And this drug, Lecanemab, is similar to others we've seen before, like you mentioned, Jim. It's also very similar to Aduhelm, which was just approved in the year 2021. And how these drugs work, they use antibodies to clear amyloid plaque, which is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. A brain with Alzheimer's has these main characteristics, amyloid plaque, as well as tangles. Sometimes we see chronic inflammation, vascular issues, loss of neuro connections and cell depths. So those are all hallmarks of the disease. And Lecanemab works by targeting the amyloid plaques.
Now, what we know about the drug, based on clinical trials, there was a phase three trial in more than 1,000 adults. And in that trial it was found that the drug appeared to reduce cognitive and functional decline by 27 percent. In that same trial we also saw some serious adverse events. Fourteen percent of people who took Lecanemab experienced adverse events compared with 11.3 percent who took a placebo. And some of those adverse events were a side effect in a small percentage of the Lecanemab group, including brain swelling and brain bleeding.
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And some researchers have noticed that some people are at a certain genetic increased risk for those adverse events. So depending on what the FDA decision is this week, we might see something where if the agency does grant accelerated approval for Lecanemab we might see it noted that if you have this increased genetic risk, the drug might not be recommended for you, but recommended for others. So I'm sure that will be part of FDA discussion this week.
But overall, Jim and Erica, all eyes are on the agency to see what it will decide by this Friday.
HILL: Yes, it's fascinating stuff and it could mean so much for so many families, as we know.
SCIUTTO: I hope so. Yes, I really do.
HILL: Yes.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
HILL: Jacqueline, appreciate it. Thank you.
SCIUTTO: Well, still ahead, not only has he been interviewed by the FBI before, he was on a terrorist watch list. The latest details about the man accused of attacking three NYPD officers with a machete on New Year's Eve.
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