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Millions of People Face Flood Alerts in California Storms; Classified Docs Found in Biden's Former D.C. Private Office; Husband Charged in the Disappearance of Massachusetts Mom of Three; Six Wounded in Paris Attack; Controversial Catholic Cardinal Dead at 81. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired January 11, 2023 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:30]
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and everywhere around the world. I'm Bianca Nobilo.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Max Foster joining you live from London. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is house after house that has been flooded.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it's great living on the river. It's not so great living in the river. We were expecting a flood, but not like this.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're cooperating fully.
REP. BYRON DONALDS (R-FL): I'm wondering why the vice president of the United States had classified documents outside of the hands of the intelligence community.
REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY): This is an investigation of Joe Biden and that's where the committee will focus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.
FOSTER: It's Wednesday, January 11th. 9:00 a.m. here in London, 1:00 a.m. in California where officials and residents had to clean up and dig out of days of rainfall, flooding and mudslides. But officials warned it's not over just yet as more massive winter storm is heading for the state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D), CALIFORNIA: We're not out of the woods. We expect these storms to continue at least through the 18th of this month. We expect a minimum three more of these atmospheric rivers in different shapes and forms depending on different parts of the state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: These images from space show just how massive the storm was. Wave after wave hitting the West Coast. Later meteorologist Britley Ritz will update you on what to expect.
NOBILO: But before we get to Britley, California's governor says at least 17 people have died. Millions are under flood threats and nearly 70,000 customers are without electricity at this hour. Homes across Central and Southern California are damaged as officials say approximately 150 to 200 flood reports came in. The extreme flood and rainfall led to other issues, like this sinkhole opening up in Los Angeles. Firefighters rescued two people after their cars fell in.
And the city's Union Station was underwater, too. Passengers had to use golf carts to get around as workers contained the water. Meanwhile, Northern California has seen record snow pack and whiteout conditions forcing authorities to close the roads.
KCRA reporter Orko Manna has more now from Colfax, California.
ORKO MANNA, KCRA REPORTER: The rain is coming down here in Colfax, but the real issue is further north. I-80 has been shut down for several hours because of the whiteout conditions. We're standing right in front of the I-80 east on ramp in Colfax. You can see Caltrans crews are still blocking that ramp with road closed signs and some cones. Definitely a large situation out here, and this is why. There's a lot of snow on the road which crews are trying to take care of. You could really see the snow coming down hard on Tuesday.
That snowfall caused whiteout conditions closing I-80 between Colfax all the way to the state line. It's been closed for several hours and we spoke to a lot of travelers who were parked nearby ready to go when the interstate reopens. But everyone had a different plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNIFER SATARIANO, SAN RAMON RESIDENT: We've been here since 2:30 and just keep checking the weather report and it keeps saying two to three hours. So we're holding off for another hour and then we're back to Roseville.
MATT SWENSON, LINCOLN RESIDENT: I'm probably going to go the 50 route. Go down to 50 if this doesn't work. It might take us three or four hours to get up there, but it is what it is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MANNA: I reached out to Caltrans for an update but they tell me they're not sure when I-80 could reopen.
We're in Colfax. I'm Orko Manna. Max and Bianca, we'll send it back to you. NOBILO: Meteorologist Britley Ritz joins us now.
Britley, give us the latest on all this.
BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Thankfully, Max and Bianca, a lot of this rain has started to die down, but the problem is we have wave after wave back up into the Pacific that's going to roll back on to shore. Not nearly as heavy as the past few waves thankfully but still, mind you, our grounds are completely saturated, so whatever rain comes in will cause more of a problem.
Looking at scattered showers now pushing inland, but back off into the Pacific. Another wave of moisture. Here it comes. And that is expected to push up into Northern California where the heaviest of the rain is expected during the upcoming days. But over the last two days, Southern California really got hit hard. And here we are over the last 48 hours just off to the east of Santa Barbara picking up 10 plus inches of rain. Ventura, 18.78 inches since January 5th.
[04:05:05]
And there's that area of low pressure. Look at the darker blue. That's the deep moisture that's going to push right up on to the coast line here within the upcoming 24 hours. Atmospheric rivers, you've heard that phrase being thrown out. What does it mean? Well, several areas of low pressure that come off of the southeast side of Asia, and as that pushes in with the jet stream, we get in all of that deep subtropical moisture. So that's exactly what's happening, and here you are over the next seven days pulling in more moisture.
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, doing the same thing. Seeing the greens and the blues, that's heavy moisture that gets pushed onto the Northern California coast line and all the way down into Los Angeles once again by the end of the week. And it's not just rain, it's snow, too. So we do have flood watches posted from Reading to Fresno, even just north of L.A. where widespread flooding is expected once again causing multiple mudslides and landslides.
And of course the rivers and the creeks start to rise, too. That rain falls down and it's got to go somewhere and the rivers come right back up. So the Salinas River near Speckles, we are expected to hit major flood stage by Wednesday into Thursday. And that's just over 28 feet. When that happens, we're talking about nearly 40,000 acres of agricultural land within the vicinity that's going to be flooded. So we're going to have to keep that in mind.
Above-average rainfall expected all the way through the 19th. You heard the governor say that. And that's what's expected. You see Northern California. Expect another four to six inches of rain on top of what we've already experienced. So once again, the rivers and the creeks and the mudslides start to become a really big issue. But also, the snowfall. That system pushes eastward and we wind up with heavy snow across parts of the Rockies, which is really beneficial to when it comes to filling up the reservoirs like Lake Mead -- Max, Bianca.
NOBILO: You are so good at what you do, Britley. Thank you so much for joining us and explaining it, Britley Ritz.
FOSTER: And there's some good news to this as well. The plus is the rain has been helping refill California's drought-stricken reservoirs. And they're expected to gain even more water in the coming days, as Britley was saying. The two largest reservoirs, Shasta Lake and Lake Oroville, are still below where they should be by this time of year. California officials say the state's overall reservoir storage is about 81 percent of its annual average.
NOBILO: We are getting new information about the classified documents discovered at a private office Joe Biden used before becoming president. A source tells CNN exclusively that 10 classified documents were found covering topics including Ukraine, Iran, and the U.K. I really want to know.
FOSTER: Yes. The records are from 2013 to 2016 when he was U.S. vice president. Now President Biden says he was surprised to learn the documents were in that office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: When my lawyers were clearing out my office at the University of Pennsylvania, they set up an office for me, a secure office in the Capitol when I, for four years after being vice president I was a professor at Penn. They found some documents in a box in a locked cabinet, or at least a closet. And as soon as they did, they realized there were several classified documents in that box and they did what they should have done. They immediately called the archives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: Republican James Comer, the chair of the House Oversight Committee, says they'll investigate why the classified items were found in Mr. Biden's former private office.
CNN's Phil Mattingly has more on this developing story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Biden on the world stage but grappling with a serious problem back home. The high stakes leader summit in Mexico overshadowed by broad questions about Biden's handling of classified documents.
Ten classified documents discovered in November, among boxes in a personal office no longer in use. Among the documents, a source tells CNN, intelligence memos and briefing materials that cover topics including Ukraine, Iran, and the United Kingdom.
BIDEN: We want this to be a gathering place.
MATTINGLY: Uncovered by a Biden personal attorney at his office at the University of Pennsylvania, Biden Center, in Washington, D.C. The White House, in a detailed Monday night statement, saying, the White House counsel was immediately notified. And the National Archives recovered the materials, quote, "the following morning."
The Justice Department also notified, triggering a review from U.S. attorney, John Lausch. The initial part of that inquiry, a source says, has been completed and submitted to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, with unmistakable echoes of the case tied to Biden's predecessor.
MERRICK GARLAND, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly, without fear, or favor.
MATTINGLY: Donald Trump's failure to turn over classified documents, leading to an unprecedented FBI raid last year, underscoring the sharp and consequential differences between the two scenarios, as Trump held on to hundreds of classified documents, didn't turn them over when asked, then only turned some of those documents over before more were found.
[04:10:11]
All as he continues to attack the ongoing criminal investigation, actions that drew this response from Biden in September.
BIDEN: How that could possibly happen, how anyone could be that irresponsible.
MATTINGLY: Biden, now facing his own sharp criticism from Republicans.
REP. DON BACON (R-NE): When you're living in a glass house, don't be throwing stones, right?
MATTINGLY: The Intelligence Committee chairman writing to the director of national intelligence for, quote, "An immediate review and damage assessment," as questions grow about why the information didn't become public for more than two months.
BACON: They knew about it before the election, didn't say a darn thing until after the election.
MATTINGLY: All as Democrats start to rally support in the face of an expanding political problem.
REP. PETE AGUILAR (D-CA): The president is handling this the way that he should. He's disclosing it, he's letting the archives know, law enforcement is aware.
MATTINGLY (on-camera): And after more than a day of not answering any questions related to what happened back in Washington, D.C., the president did address those 10 classified documents saying he was surprised when he was briefed by his lawyers about the existence. Still doesn't know what the documents actually are or how they actually got there but he did make clear that he and his White House are determined to cooperate fully.
They hope that the inquiry that is underway by the Justice Department will be over soon and at that point they will be able to share more details. The president making clear when it comes to classified information, he takes it very seriously. Obviously in this case a lapse and one that doesn't seem to have a lot of information about as this continues to play out.
Phil Mattingly, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: As Phil reported, former President Donald Trump's alleged mishandling and failure to turn over some classified documents that led to an FBI search of his Florida home last year, his former VP Mike Pence is trying to compare that case with President Biden's, and says he sees a double standard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: When the American people see President Biden receiving one form of treatment with the discovery of classified documents that were retained after he left the office of the vice president and they see President Trump treated in an entirely different way, again, the handling of classified materials, that very serious issue for our nation, and we ought to take it seriously, but there ought to be equal treatment under the law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: As Republicans prepare for that investigation, new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is planning to make good on his promise to remove key Democrats from their committee assignments in Congress and put Republicans in their place.
NOBILO: House Democrat Eric Swalwell who's served on the House Intelligence Committee calls McCarthy's plan vengeful.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): Their plan is to take me, Adam Schiff and Ilhan Omar off the committees and put George Santos, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar back on the committees. I think you see that that is an uneven, vengeful approach. They can try and do what they want to do, but I think the voters see that this is nothing more than one side trying to take the best of the other side off the field in a very vengeful way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, meanwhile, some House Republicans are concerned about the behind-the-scenes deals with hard right conservatives that helped Kevin McCarthy become speaker. GOP and key negotiators are not committing to release details on the concessions and some rank-and- file Republicans are expressing their frustration at the lack of information and transparency.
NOBILO: And after its unprecedented coverage of Kevin McCarthy's battle to become House speaker, public affairs network C-SPAN is asking for permission to operate its own cameras in the chamber. Usually the video feed is provided from government-controlled camaras but during special events like the election of the House speaker some independent cameras are permitted. C-SPAN says the network has not heard back from McCarthy's office yet.
FOSTER: Yes. That's a hot topic, that one, isn't it?
NOBILO: Yes, we will watch the space.
FOSTER: In Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has signed a bill banning the sale and distribution of assault weapons and high capacity magazines. That ban is effective immediately. The governor touted the strong gun control law and said his administration would keep fighting to eliminate gun violence. The new law will require existing owners of semiautomatic rifles to register their ownership.
NOBILO: Just ahead on the program, chaos at one of the busiest rail stations in Paris as a man with a homemade weapon goes on the attack. We're live in the French capital with the latest.
FOSTER: Plus, Cardinal George Pell, who was convicted of child sex abuse and spent time in prison before he was acquitted, has died. We're live in Rome.
NOBILO: And investigators searching through the trash come up with some possible clues in the disappearance of a Massachusetts woman.
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FOSTER: Investigators in the U.S. state of Massachusetts have found some potential new clues in the disappearance of a mother of three missing since New Year's Day.
NOBILO: Her husband is already charged with misleading police. CNN's Jason Carroll picks up the story from there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Investigators processing potential evidence collected after hours of searching through garbage late into the night at this trash transfer station north of Boston. Law enforcement sources told CNN materials found included a hacksaw, torn up cloth material and what appears to be bloodstains. The Norfolk district attorney not commenting on the specifics of what was found, only to say the search resulted in a number of items which will now be subject to processing and testing to determine if they are of evidentiary value.
Sources also tell CNN investigators found disturbing searches on Brian Walshe's Internet records as they looked into the disappearance of his wife, which included how to dispose of a 115-pound woman's body and how to dismember a body. Walshe is being held on a charge of misleading investigators.
[04:20:01] He pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors describe chilling details during his arraignment of what they say investigators found at the family home in Cohasset.
LYNN BELAND, ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY, NORFOLK MA: And during that time, they found blood in the basement. Blood was found in the basement area as well as a knife, which also contained some blood.
CARROLL: Walshe's attorney not commenting on the case. Her office telling CNN she wants to focus on Walshe's defense. During his arraignment, she said her client is cooperating with investigators.
TRACY MINER, BRIAN WALSHE'S ATTORNEY: Mr. Walshe has given several interviews. We have consented to searches of his home. We have consented to searches of his property.
CARROLL: Brian Walshe told police he last saw his wife New Year's Day. A friend of the couple says the last time he saw them, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
GEM MUTLU, FRIEND OF ANA WALSHE: We hugged and celebrated and toasted and just what you do over New Year's.
CARROLL: The 39-year-old mother of three wasn't reported missing until January 4th, when her workplace said she didn't show up. This as investigators discovered Walshe made purchases at a Home Depot on January 2nd.
BELAND: He's on surveillance at that time purchasing about $450 worth of cleaning supplies that would include mops, bucket, tops, TVX drop cloths.
CARROLL: Ana Walshe's friends say they now fear the worst.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She would not, by her own choice, go a day without speaking to her husband or children. Like that's very out of character.
CARROLL (on-camera): And another update on the investigation. The Norfolk district attorney's office says investigators have wrapped up the search and processing of the Walshe's home. So at this point the investigation very much focused on those items that were found in the trash. Investigators will be trying to see if they can get a match and trying to see where it leads them.
Jason Carroll, CNN, Cohasset, Massachusetts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: We are following a frightening story out of Paris where at least six people injured when a man attacked them with a homemade weapon.
NOBILO: This happened a few hours ago at one of the busiest rail stations in the city Gare Du Nord. The interior minister says that the suspect has been neutralized. FOSTER: Melissa Bell is in Paris. It sounds like a frightening
experience for passengers there.
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: You can only imagine the scene here, Max and Bianca. It was 6:42 in the morning. I'm just showing you the part of the station that's been cordoned off ever since the attack took place.
We've been finding out more details from France's interior minister that's just been here. The head of Paris police as well giving some of the details that we now have. And one of the most extraordinary things is that this is an attack that lasted for a minute. Between 6:42 and 6:43. What we know is that the man was wielding some kind of homemade blade, not quite a knife says the French interior minister, but some blade with which he went on the rampage, managing in that single minute to wound six people.
The first critically, someone who is now between life and death we're hearing, and the other five hurting them as well before he was neutralized, not killed, neutralized, shot by off-duty policemen who had been carrying their weapon as a result of a change in the law here in France since the spate of terror attacks around 2015 that allows off-duty policemen to be carrying. So in that single minute he wounded six people and was taken down by the off-duty police officers.
Now what we've been hearing from the anti-terror investigators here in Paris, they're waiting for more details to see whether they will be seized of this case. And they've confirmed to CNN that that process could take a little bit longer and because the attacker has been wounded and therefore it will be longer to be spoken to and be able to speak to investigators about what his motives may have been -- Max and Bianca.
FOSTER: OK. Melissa, what a situation. And lucky the police were there.
NOBILO: Absolutely. Somebody, as Melissa was saying, off duty. And also as Melissa was saying the fact that these six stabbings took place in about a minute or two in the station.
FOSTER: Yes. We'll be back with Melissa to get more details.
NOBILO: Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Catholic official to be convicted of child sex abuse before his 2020 acquittal, has died. He was 81. Church officials say Pell died of cardiac arrest following his hip replacement surgery in Rome.
FOSTER: The Australian-born Pell was a former archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney, and he served as a Vatican treasurer for five years. But in a case that shocked the church, Pell was convicted in 2018 for allegedly abusing two choir boys in the 1990s. He's denied the charges but served 13 months in prison before Australia's high court acquitted him.
CNN contributor Barbie Nadeau joins me now live from Rome. How are people reacting to this?
BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, the people who support the legacy of George Pell, and that includes Pope Francis, are going to want people to be remembering his contribution to the institution, that is as a great reformer, someone who turned around the Vatican bank situation which was bad at the time he took over as a treasurer in 2014.
[04:25:140]
But the other side of the coin, of course, is his conviction of clerical sex abuse. It must be noted that he died an innocent man in the eyes of the Australian high court but he was also accused of covering up, of knowing about errant priests and pedophile priests within Australia who were under his charge, and that's something that's going to stick with him.
The legacy is complicated. You know, we're talking about crimes that happened in the 1990s, and his acquittal was shocking. His conviction was shocking, his acquittal was shocking, and his legacy is going to be very much tied to the clerical sex abuse scandal in Australia and the greater problem of the clerical sex abuse, coverups from here in Rome at the Vatican -- Max.
FOSTER: OK. Barbie, thank you very much indeed. We're going to keep across that as well because a very mixed legacy for a lot of people.
NOBILO: Brazil's justice minister and Supreme Court justice are vowing to punish everyone responsible for the violent attacks on key government buildings. Police have detained more than 1500 people since Sunday and of those at least 527 have been arrested for allegedly participating in Sunday's storming of Congress, the presidential palace and the Supreme Court. Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva has criticized the police in the capital after hundreds of supporters of Jair Bolsonaro were able to breach those buildings.
And controversial kickboxer and internet personality Andrew Tate will remain in custody in Romania along with his brother after a court rejected their appeal for release. Late last month the judge ruled they should be held for 30 days as Romanian authorities investigate their alleged involvement in human trafficking and rape. Andrew Tate is known for his viral online rants expressing misogynistic ideas and he also advocates violence against women.
FOSTER: And Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer for the Trump Organization, has been sentenced to five months in jail by a New York judge. Weisselberg pleaded guilty to 15 felonies last August as part of a deal with prosecutors to testify against the Trump Organization. He also had to pay more than $2 million in back taxes and penalties that he owed.
NOBILO: Still ahead, Prince Harry is hitting back at claims that he was boasting about the number of Taliban members that he killed in Afghanistan. FOSTER: Plus, dozens of Ukrainian soldiers are heading to the U.S. to
learn how to use the Patriot missile defense system. We'll see how effective it can be against Russian forces.
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