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California Hit with Rain, Floods and Mud; Classified Documents Found in Private Office Biden Used; Prince Harry's Memoir "Spar" Hits Bookstores; Bolsonaro Supporters Storm Key Government Buildings; Biden and Lopez Obrador Seek to Strengthen U.S.-Mexico Ties. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired January 10, 2023 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Bianca Nobilo live from London. Max Foster has the day off today on assignment. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the first time it's ever happened. I've never seen this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The misery continues across the state of California as a parade of storms brings additional rainfall and flood threats across the entire state.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Attorneys for President Biden appear to have taken immediate and proper action to notify the National Archives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is no question a political gift to Donald Trump and a political gift to the Republicans.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's on surveillance at that time purchasing about $450 worth of cleaning supplies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lied to investigators about his whereabouts surrounding the disappearance of his wife, Anna Walsh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.

NOBILO: It's Tuesday, January 10th, 9 a.m. here in London, 1 a.m. on the U.S. West Coast where much of Southern California is being pounded by heavy rain, deadly flooding and mudslides. Around 34 million people across the state are under a flood watch and thousands have been told to evacuate their homes. The storm is now tracking south bringing the threat of mudslides and flooding to the Los Angeles and San Diego areas. Already some parts of Southern California have seen up to 10 inches of rain in the last 24 hours. Some of the heaviest rain moving into Ventura County just north of LA where a local river flooded causing significant damage. CNN affiliate KCBS is on the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This really is just a tough, tough scene. This is the RV park here in Ventura, and you can see it is completely underwater. All of this starting just a couple of hours ago. They thought it would stop at about 5:00. But then the river gave way and of course flooded around in a different direction causing all of this. We have the picnic tables that have floated over here to the water. The water going all the way up there into the office. As I mentioned, the good news is, it is receding.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: This was the scene in Moorpark, California. An 18-wheeler stuck in a mud flow that was three feet deep in some areas. The storm also turning deadly. Officials say that a driver was killed after trying to enter a flooded roadway San Luis Obispo County. Residents there are also be told to stay away from the water because it could be contaminated. No community is being spared. Comedian Ellen DeGeneres posted this video of flooding near her home in Montecito where officials have ordered everyone to evacuate.

And elsewhere residents are being told to shelter in place because widespread flooding and rock slides have made travel near impossible. The downpour also prompting dozens of rescues across the state as the rising waters trap people in their cars and homes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard the branches that -- like almost 3 hours ago like tree starting to want to fall and we're like, oh my God, and then we seen the water it was superhigh. So, they help me get out of being right there where it was flooding and I'm really grateful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Officials in Ventura County say at least 18 people were rescued from flood waters on Monday. Many of them were pulled to safety after getting stranded on an island in the Venture River. And joining me now from Ventura County, Captain Brian McGrath, public information officer with the Ventura County Fire Department. Thank you so much for joining us this morning, sir.

BRIAN MCGRATH, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, VENTURA COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: Good morning, everyone.

FOSTER: So, we're hearing reports and seeing pictures of intense flooding, mudslides, flows of debris. Set the scene for us and describe what you're dealing with.

MCGRATH: Luckily right now the rain is subsiding just a little bit for us, but in some of our rivers and drainage areas, we did receive about 14 inches of rain today. And that prompted our call volume to go up to 1,200 calls. And that's up from where it's usually in the mid 4s. That's a 264 percent increase in our call volume. We had numerous rescues today. Approximately 19 swift water rescue calls for service.

[04:05:00]

That one call you were talking about, where you were talking earlier, there was a rescue of 18 people. But we're estimating up above 40 people we've rescued today alone.

NOBILO: What would your message be to residents at the moment, wherever they are in the community?

MCGRATH: You might be seeing a slowdown of rain in your area, however, the rain on the hillside, the rain on the mountains, that water still needs to get to those waterways and gets back out to the ocean and to our reservoirs. So please, stay out of those areas. If you don't have to leave your home right now, stay in your homes, stay dry. The roadways are not open and very easy to travel right now.

NOBILO: Do you require any further support to help with these rescue operations and deal with these downpours and impacts of the floods?

MCGRATH: We are pretty prepared in our community here. We had extra staffing, extra swift water crews. We changed our wild land crews over to be prepared with sand and sand bags and using our heavy equipment operators to be able to push and move debris. We're pretty self- sufficient here. So, luckily, we're able to sustain ourselves with all of our local cooperators because it's not just firefighters doing this. You have the road workers and Caltrans. It's all a team effort out there to get these roads open and our community members safe.

NOBILO: Brian, you're obviously dealing with a difficult situation, fast moving. Where is the best place for people to go for updates?

MCGRATH: In our local community you can go to vcemergency.com for all of our evacuations, road closures and any kind of shelters that are opening up. You can even follow us on our Twitter page at vcfd_pio where we try to give the most current and up to date information on those larger incidents.

NOBILO: Captain Brian McGrath from the Ventura County Fire Department. Thank you so much for taking the time to join us this morning. Stay safe and thank you for everything you're doing for your community.

MCGRATH: Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. Everyone out there please stay safe and be calm. Your fire department is here to help you.

NOBILO: CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam has a look at the severe weather threat for the day ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Talk about weather whiplash. The state of California is either feast or famine. You have several months of drought and fire conditions and then mother nature flip on a switch and we're dealing with floods and mudslides. That's what we're contending with overnight and into Tuesday. As yet another parade of storms lines up to impact the state of California going forward.

Just to give you a taste of some of the things that California is dealing with, in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, that's in southern California, they have had multiple swift water rescues, complete cars submerged under flood waters. We've had mudslides and landslides. There's even been mandatory evacuations in Montecito and Santa Barbara County. There's also been temporary ground stops at Los Angeles International Airport because of the rough weather that's moving through.

This is a radar estimated rainfall total. Here's Santa Barbara County, Ventura, Los Angeles and some of the mountainous regions just away from the coastline has been able to squeeze out over 10 inches of rain. And unfortunately, that water needs to funnel itself down into the valleys and the communities where people live below. And that's why we have all of these threats and concerns to heavily populated area.

Now the latest satellite imagery does shows that this atmospheric river, the plume of moisture has an ending, right. It's going to dry out from west to east, but that very temporary because yet another upper level feature is going to slam into the state of California into Tuesday morning. And that's going to bring the potential of severe weather and even more flooding. Look at this, you can see how that precipitation oscillates again from North to South bringing more misery and the potential for more flooding as it brings additional precipitation on top of an already saturated environment.

Can't forget about the high wind warnings that are in place across Southern California. And then we wouldn't do this justice if we didn't talk about the multiple feet that are in the forecast across the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Interstate 80 from Reno to Sacramento, that's going to be virtually impassable with snowfall totals exceeding five feet in some locations. Just incredible amounts of precipitation and a lot of that spilling over the Sierra Nevada and impacting Nevada, Utah and Colorado to a lesser extent, of course.

Now here's a severe weather threat. This is from the Storm Prediction Center. A marginal risk exists for Los Angeles. In fact, they've hashed out this shading of brown -- that is a 2 percent probability anywhere around that particular point. We have a 2 percent chance of seeing a tornado or a water spout. A very fluid and dynamic situation, to say the least, very active for the state of California for the next several days. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[04:10:00]

NOBILO: Attorneys for the U.S. President say that they've discovered a small number of classified documents at a Washington think tank where Joe Biden once worked. According to officials, the papers were found on November 2 and were turned over to the National Archives the next day. The discovery of these documents is being compared to the case involving former President Donald Trump in which classified records were found at his Florida home last year. But there are key differences between the two as CNN's Evan Perez explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Attorneys for President Joe Biden say they discovered a number of classified documents and other government records from his time as vice president at a private office that he set up after leaving government in 2017. The legal team turned over the documents including what they say were fewer than a dozen marked as classified to the National Archives which in turn referred the matter to the Justice Department.

Now the matter is now being reviewed by the Chicago U.S. Attorney John Lausch, originally an appointee of former President Trump and the FBI which handles these types of investigations. Now we don't know exactly what is contained in the documents. But a source tell CNN that they included some mark at the TSSCI level which stands for top secret sensitive compartmented information, a designation used to protect the U.S. government's most closely guarded intelligence secrets.

Richard Sauber a special counsel to President Biden, said in a statement: The White House is cooperating with the National Archives and the Department of Justice regarding the discovery of what appeared to be Obama-Biden administration records, including a small number of documents with classified markings. The documents were discovered when the president's personal attorneys were packing files housed in a locked closet to prepare to vacate office space at the Penn Biden Center in Washington D.C.

Former President Trump and Republican allies have drawn immediate comparisons to the Justice Department's handling of the classified documents recovered from Trump's Florida home. But there are important distinctions from what we know so far. Biden's lawyers say that they found fewer than a dozen documents with classified markings. Now court documents show that the FBI recovered more than 300 documents that were marked classified from Trump's home.

Biden's lawyers say that they turned over the documents immediately after finding them. And the Archives and the Justice Department spent months trying to get Trump to return government documents even after Trump's lawyers said that he had turned over all documents that were marked as classified. The FBI said it obtained evidence showing that boxes of documents were being moved from a storage room where they were supposed to be kept. And that prompted the Justice Department to open an obstruction investigation and conduct the extraordinary search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort where the FBI says they found even more classified documents.

Evan Perez, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: As Evan mentioned, the National Archives referred the discovery of the Biden documents to the Justice Department. CNN's Jamie Gangel explains why they did it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: I spoke to a source earlier today who's familiar with the National Archives and how they handle this. And over the last year I've spoken to a lot of former high level officials who, frankly, admitted to me that they had accidentally had a file that they found later. There is a certain amount normally, in normal times before Mar-a-Lago, a certain amount of discretion. Does the National Archives think this was a honest mistake? In the past they might not have referred it. But I'm told specifically because of what's going on with Donald Trump that the Archives knew that they had to, you know, out of an abundance of fairness, caution, but really because of Donald Trump there was no question they had to refer it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Now to a CNN exclusive. Donald Trump's former Rudy Giuliani has been subpoenaed as part of a grand jury investigation into the former U.S. president's fundraising right after he lost the 2020 election. That's according to a source familiar with the investigation. The special counsel has asked Giuliani to turn over records about payments he received around that time when he filed numerous lawsuits on Trump's behalf.

This shows that prosecutors are following the money as part of their sweeping investigation into Trump's efforts to overturn his election loss. And that's not the only grand jury that Trump has to worry about. Another in the Atlanta area has finished investigating whether the former president and his allies broke the law when they tried to medal with Georgia's election results. And now we're waiting to hear whether the district attorney will pursue criminal charges. CNN's Sara Murray has this for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[04:15:00]

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: A special grand jury in the Atlanta area investigating efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election in the state has finally wrapped up its worth as of Monday. The judge signed an order dissolving the special grand jury that had convened for over a year. Now course, what set all of this off is Trump's phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking Raffensperger to just find the votes needed for Trump to win the state of Georgia in the 2020 presidential election. That sent District Attorney Fani Willis down the path of investigating Trump and his allies.

But in the time since this special grand jury has been working, has been calling witnesses, subpoenaing witnesses, trying to get more information, this investigation has expanded. It includes threats to election officials. It includes the fake electors scheme. It includes false statements that were made before Georgia state lawmakers.

So now that the special grand jury has finished their work, they have written all of this in a report. They don't issue indictments. But the report goes to prosecutors and it's expected to include recommendations about who if anyone should face charges and what crimes. And then it is up to district attorney Fani Willis to decide if she's going to go to a regular grand jury and seek indictments. One key question is when the public is going to see this special grand jury's report. There is a hearing set on that matter on January 24. Notably in this order dissolving the grand jury the judge points out that the special grand jury wants the report to be made public.

Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Prince Harry's much talked about memoir "Spare" is hitting the book stores globally. The explosive tell all book lays bare the rifts within the British monarchy. And in the book Harry talks about a secret meeting that he had with his father, King Charles and brother Prince William at his grandfather's funeral in 2021. He said that his father Charles pleaded with him not to make his final years a misery. He also accuses Camila, the queen consort, of leaking stories to the media as part of a campaign to, quote, rehabilitate her image.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, 60 MINUTES: You wrote, I even wanted Camila to be happy, maybe she'd be less dangerous if she was happy. How was she dangerous?

PRINCE HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSEX: Because of the need for her to rehabilitate her image.

COOPER: That made her dangerous.

PRINCE HARRY: That made her dangerous because of the connections that she was forging within the British press.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Harry expresses regret for cutting short what turned out to be his final phone call with his mother, Princess Diana. He writes about his brief trial for the hope that his mother wasn't actually dead too. The Duke of Sussex also said that his father, King Charles, felt at fault for Harry's mental health struggles.

Disney employees will have to work in the office four days a week starting on March 1st. In an internal memo CEO Bob Iger said that this would boost the company's creativity and culture. Iger has also signaled the cost-cutting measures may lie ahead. And we'll be watching Disney shares when the markets open in just a few hours' time.

And the first ever rocket launch from British soil has failed. Virgin Orbit says that an anomaly kept its Launcher One rocket from reaching orbit and it's not clear what with wrong. Launcher One has been hitching a ride under the wing of a modified 747 jet dubbed "Cosmic Girl." No people were on board the rocket, just satellites. Cosmic Girl and its crew landed safely and the goal was to release nine satellites into earth's low orbit which would have marked a milestone in Britain's commercial satellite sector. Still to come, unrest in Brazil. We're tracking the fallout after

supporters of Jair Bolsonaro broke into key government institutions.

Plus, $450 worth of cleaning supplies didn't hide a bloody knife. Now investigators are searching through piles of trash for clues to a Massachusetts woman's disappearance.

And later on, the Georgia Bull Dogs leave no doubt they are the U.S. college football champions once again. Details in the historic fete we haven't seen in more than a decade when we come back.

[04:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: A Peruvian official says at least 17 people have died in the latest anti-government protests. Nearly 70 others were wounded on Monday during the unrest in the southern city of Juliaca -- according to Peru's vice health minister, who says that almost 30 police personnel were also hurt. State media reports the Peruvian president is calling on citizens to come together for the sake of the country. The demonstrations began last month after the former president was impeached and removed from office.

And Brazil is reeling from what top leaders are calling acts of terrorism after thousands of supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the country's three branches of government. The President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is criticizing the police conduct before and during Sunday's attacks and is accusing them of negligence and connivance.

Meanwhile, Brazil's former leader is in the United States where he tweeted this picture from a hospital bed in Florida. He says that his wife -- his wife says, rather, that he's being treated for abdominal discomfort. Brazil's justice minister says Bolsonaro bears political responsibility for the attacks. But right now, there are no legal grounds for an investigation. CNN's Isa Soares is following developments and has more from the capital.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A stunning attack, on Brazil's seat of power, as thousands of supporters of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, broke through security cordons in Brasilia. Roaming presidential building corridors, vandalizing Congress, smashing windows, stealing presidential documents, and destroying invaluable works of art. Simply running riot, through Brazil's halls of power. In scenes, eerily similar to the Insurrection in the U.S. Capitol two years ago.

[04:25:00]

One week earlier, the scenes were of democratic triumph, as Bolsonaro's left-wing rival, Lula da Silva, was inaugurated as the new Brazilian President following a tight election result. Bolsonaro never explicitly conceded, and neither did his most ardent followers. This - this is my hero. I'm at his home, our home, our home, a Bolsonaro supporter says from inside the presidential palace.

Protesters dressed in the colors of the Brazilian flag, now a symbol of Bolsonaro's far-right movement. Unfurled banners from the congressional building rooftop, demanding the result of Brazil's most fraught election in a generation be overturned.

More than a 1,000 arrests were made, after security forces used tear gas and stun grenades to regain control of the Congressional building, the Supreme Court, and presidential palace. But by the time they did, the damage had already been done.

The President's Chief of Communications showed destruction, inside his own office.

PAULO PIMENTA, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT'S CHIEF OF COMMUNICATIONS (through translator): It's unbelievable what was done in the palace. Look at the state of the rooms, equipment, computers. Look at this.

SOARES (voice-over): World leaders condemned the attack as an assault on democracy. Brazil's new President pinned the blame, on his predecessor, accusing him of encouraging rioters, through social media from Florida. He promised no stone will be left unturned, vowing to find those responsible.

LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We will find out the financiers, and they will pay with the force of the law for this irresponsible gesture, this anti-democratic gesture of vandals and fascists.

SOARES (voice-over): Bolsonaro denounced the actions, of his supporters, from the U.S., where he traveled, after the election.

The former President, already facing, at least four Supreme Court investigations, the later scenes will only add to further calls at home into Bolsonaro's influence, on his base. A conservative firebrand politician, who, for years has been taking cues from the Trump playbook, pushing election fraud conspiracies, and casting doubt on the integrity of the electoral system.

Isa Soares, CNN, Brasilia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: In the U.S. House Republicans approved a rules package for the 118th Congress which governs how lawmakers will operate for the next two years. The vote marks the first big test of Kevin McCarthy's ability to navigate his slim Republican majority in the wake of last week's chaotic scramble for the speakership. The rules package passed on a mostly party line vote with the majority of Republicans voting in favor of it.

In the day ahead President Biden will meet with his Mexican and Canadian counterparts at a summit to discuss the most pressing issues in North America. The White House says a major talking point will be the recent surge in immigration. Ahead of the summit Mr. Biden addressed the issue in a bilateral meeting with Mexico's leader. And CNN's MJ Lee has more on what they discussed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden participating in a highly anticipated bilateral meeting with his Mexican counterpart here in Mexico City. This marks the first time that a U.S. president has visited the country of Mexico going back to 2014. The US-Mexico relationship, of course, was incredibly fraught during the Donald Trump administration but it also hasn't been without friction under President Biden's watch.

We know that the two leaders were set to discuss immigration as one of the most urgent issues and President Biden before going into the meeting with his counterpart, he highlighted a number of areas where he said he believed the two countries could very much work together. Take a listen.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, today we're going to discuss how we can further deepen that relationship, not only with Mexico but the Western hemisphere. This includes strengthening our supply chains to make the hemisphere even more competitive. We're also going to discuss our shared security including our joint action to address a plague of fentanyl -- which is kill 100,000 Americans so far. And how we can tackle irregular migration which I think we are well on our way to doing.

LEE: Now this meeting comes at a moment when it has been made clear that President Biden clearly needs the support and cooperation from partners like Mexico. Last week the Biden administration announced a new immigration policy basically an expansion of the controversial policy known as Title 42. And a part of that announcement said that there was an agreement by Mexico to accept tens of thousands of migrants each month that were turned away at the U.S. border if they hadn't sought asylum from other places.

Now officials were clear heading into this highly anticipated meeting, but that there wasn't necessarily going to be a new announcement, new numbers, a new plan coming out of the meeting but the two countries at this point in time, at least as far as the issue of migrants is concerned, they would really just have to wait and see if that initial agreement was working for the two countries.

MJ Lee, CNN, Mexico City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Just ahead, a Massachusetts man ...

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