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Recovery Efforts Begin in Storm-Ravaged Southeastern U.S.; California's Historic Snowfall and Rainfall Totals; U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Pledge to Boost Security Cooperation; Explosions Rattle Kyiv and Other Ukrainian Cities. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired January 14, 2023 - 04:00   ET

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

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): And welcome to all of you watching here in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber.

Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, more flooding could impact millions of people in California this weekend. Officials warning they're not out of the woods yet. We've got the forecast just ahead.

Plus, we'll look at the difficulties the White House has projecting business as usual as President Biden is facing a special counsel investigation.

And Russia claims it has recaptured a town in Eastern Ukraine as we hear of a new assault on Kyiv. A live report from the capital city just ahead.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: We're looking at the large-scale destruction after severe storms and tornadoes swept through the southeastern United States on Thursday. At least nine people were killed, seven in Alabama and two here in Georgia, including a 5-year-old boy.

The massive cleanup effort is already underway. At least 37 possible tornadoes shredded trees and homes, knocked down power lines and sent debris flying. The governor surveyed some of the damage in the city of Selma, saying it's the worst she had anticipated.

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GOV. KAY IVEY (R-AL): My glimpse was very revealing, it's far worse than what I had seen on television. Roofs are just gone and trees look like toothpicks. There's a lot of work to be done here.

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BRUNHUBER: And in California, almost 60 million people are under flood watch this weekend. Waves of storms fueled by a powerful atmospheric river expected to bring heavy rain and snow and strong winds.

The governor of California says he's waiting for a federal disaster declaration from President Joe Biden as his state prepares for the next round of storms.

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[04:05:00]

BRUNHUBER: We're learning more about the private office where President Joe Biden's classified documents were found. On this floor plan, his former office is highlighted in blue. Then in yellow you see three closets, one of which is where the first documents were discovered.

The Justice Department is reviewing the scandal and the House Judiciary Committee is investigating the DOJ response. Here's committee chair Jim Jordan.

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REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): The double standard is obvious.

The double standard, I think, is starting to become evident. We've seen the double standard time and time again. I've heard it from constituents all the time. They're sick of the double standard that they see out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: As Phil Mattingly shows us, the White House is trying to manage the controversy.

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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the first full day of a president under investigation, an attempt to focus on business as usual.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, we need a remarkable moment in our lives.

MATTINGLY: President Biden welcoming Japanese Prime Minister Kishida to the White House to highlight a transformational shift in the Pacific nation security posture as he ignored questions about the special counsel.

Now investigating his handling of classified documents after his time as vice president and his press secretary continue to deflect or decline to answer critical outstanding questions.

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I'm not going to go into any specifics from here. If you have any questions, anything further related to the review or -- I refer you to the Department of Justice or my colleagues over at the White House counsel's office.

MATTINGLY: For Biden, who has maintained this --

BIDEN: People know I take classified documents and classified material seriously.

MATTINGLY: -- even as the scale of the problem has mushroomed into a crisis over just five days.

BIDEN: We're cooperating fully and completely with the Justice Department's review.

MATTINGLY: The outward appearance of normalcy serving to cover what has been described by officials behind the scenes as a scramble to adjust to a new normal. All as new details emerge from the initial batch of 10 classified documents discovered at a Biden-affiliated think tank stored in Biden's office there.

Floor plans show a small closet to the left of Biden's desk and storage spaces in the adjoining conference room. The documents include a memo from Biden to then- President Obama, as well as two briefing memos prepared for Biden phone calls with the British prime minister and the president of the European Council.

JEAN-PIERRE: We have been transparent in the last couple of days. And remember, there is an ongoing process and we have spoken when it is appropriate.

MATTINGLY: Even as details of another set of classified documents found at Biden's Wilmington home in his garage and in an adjacent room remain under wraps after their existence was publicly revealed nearly a month after their discovery.

BIDEN: My Corvette is in a locked garage, OK?

So it is not like they're sitting out on the street.

MATTINGLY: Just one of the many questions that remain unanswered for a White House facing a most perilous moment.

JEAN-PIERRE: And we have said that we are going to continue to fully cooperate. We have been. The president's lawyers and team has been fully cooperating with the Department of Justice and we're certainly -- they're certainly going to do that with the special counsel.

MATTINGLY: While President Biden's closest advisers have been quietly meeting, when we talk to many of them, they acknowledge they have no involvement. Most have been surprised every step of the way.

In large part they're trying to maintain some semblance of business as usual. In fact, senior White House advisers say they believe, when the process plays out, the facts will show the president did and his team did what they were supposed to do, followed the correct protocol when it comes to actually alerting people to the existence of these classified documents.

In the meantime, they acknowledge there's not much else they can do but try and implement the very strategy they had before all of this happened five days ago. Whether or not that's possible seems somewhat aspirational but certainly at least at this point in time, business as usual is the primary goal -- Phil Mattingly, CNN, the White House.

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BRUNHUBER: President Biden welcomed Fumio Kishida to the White House for his first visit since he became Japan's prime minister. The two pledged to strengthen security cooperation.

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BRUNHUBER: President Biden calls it a remarkable moment for the alliance and says the U.S. is fully committed. Kishida echoed that, explaining the need for increased defense spending there.

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FUMIO KISHIDA, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Japan and the United States are currently facing the most challenging and complex security environment in recent history.

And in order to ensure our peace and prosperity in the region and to contribute to that, also to safeguard the peace and security of Japan, in late last year, we formulated a new national security strategy. And in doing so, Japan decided to fundamentally reinforce our defense capabilities.

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BRUNHUBER: The U.S. and Japan also signed an agreement to boost cooperation in space. NASA plans to have Japanese astronauts as part of its Artemis moon missions.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case that focuses on a Christian former postal worker, who says he was discriminated against after he said he would not work on Sundays. The legal standards since 1977 religious have been that religious accommodations can be denied by employers for undue hardship.

The Supreme Court's conservative majority could possibly change that standard.

In a newly unsealed deposition that he fought to keep private, former president Donald Trump denies sexually assaulting former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll. She accuses Trump of raping her. She said he defamed her when he said she made up her allegation that he attacked her.

Trump criticized Carroll as a "nut job" and called the allegations "a con job" and "a big fat hoax."

New explosions rattle cities in Ukraine as Russia launches a new barrage of missile strikes. Still ahead, we'll go live to Kyiv where Russian crews went after key infrastructure.

Plus Iran executes a British Iranian man despite international pleas. We get to why Iran carried out the execution and how the West is responding. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: We're getting word of new strikes on Ukraine's capital. The president's office says a missile attack hit critical infrastructure in Kyiv in addition to new explosions that rattled two other Ukrainian cities. So far there's no report of casualties.

That's happening while there's fighting in the eastern town of Soledar. Russia claims it's in full control of the town. But the latest from a local Ukraine military unit is it's still holding onto at least some of the town's outskirts. Scott McLean joins us live from a foggy Kyiv.

What can you tell us about the blasts today?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was a couple of hours ago, less than two hours ago actually, that we were woken up here in Kyiv by three loud explosions very close together.

And what was unusual about this is that the air raid sirens in the city went off only moments after the explosions had already taken place. So according to the mayor of Kyiv, there were explosions on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, so beyond the church's dome.

It's very foggy. You can't see if there's any smoke on the horizon. There was also debris reported in a nonresidential area to the south of here, implying that at least one of these missiles or drones was shot down.

The same goes for a village to the southwest of here near a major highway. Again, not clear on the damage that's being reported there, if it's from debris or from the actual strike.

You also mentioned Soledar. This is the eastern town in Ukraine that Russia is throwing all their resources at to try to take. Ukrainians insist the fighting continues there, despite the Russian military and private Wagner military contractor saying they are in control there.

You mention that video. We want to walk you through what we know about this. This was a video that shows, look, this is still very much active in the town of Soledar in terms of fighting.

It shows Russian soldiers walking along a roadway under a bridge. And then they get to a building with a green roof. And then you see this massive explosion take place. The Ukrainian troops say they had been monitoring that building since the morning and obviously they say the fighting there continues.

We're hearing from one of the brigades that's doing much of the fighting in Soledar. They say they're hanging on. But there's heavy fighting in the town and they're being surrounded.

We've been in touch with a soldier on the ground over the last few days. The day before yesterday, this soldier said his window to actually get out was closing fast. And as of yesterday, it appears that that window was firmly shut.

He believes his unit has been left to surrender and says he won't be able to hide for very long because there continues to be heavy gunfire, firefights in the streets and it's only a matter of time, he thinks, before the Russians will eventually close in. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Appreciate that. Scott McLean in Kyiv. Thanks so much.

CNN is on the ground just outside of Soledar and our Ben Wedeman got a firsthand look at what's happening there.

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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One mortar round off, the crew prepares for the next.

The target: Russian positions in Soledar. The leader of this national guard mortar unit, who gave us only his nickname, Engineer, says they need help to stop the enemy from advancing.

"We need 120 millimeter rounds for the mortar," he says.

"We'd also be happy if someone gave us, as a sort of prize, two or three mortars."

The battle for Soledar rages on. Russian officials claim they've seized the town, the Ukrainian military insist they still control part of it. What the Russians now control under heavy fire.

Ukrainian tactics designed to make every step forward come at a heavy price. Despite the battle nearby, this soldier nicknamed Sova is certain of how the war will end.

"To be honest, in the first days, I had some doubts because, according to the news, Russia has the strongest army" he says.

"But since we pushed them back from Kyiv to Kharkiv, I'm confident that we can win."

For the few remaining civilians near Soledar, exhaustion.

"Nine months it's like this," says Valentina, "flying back and forth over my head."

With conflicting rumors coming from the town, Paulina says her family is leaving.

"The soldiers are surrounded," she tells me.

"My sister, who's pregnant, decided to leave, so we'll follow her."

Late afternoon, Ukrainian Marines prepare a fresh salvo of rockets. The battle for Soledar is not over yet-- Ben Wedeman, CNN, outside Soledar.

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BRUNHUBER: Ukraine is stepping up diplomatic efforts to get Western tanks. Ukraine's foreign minister tweeted he discussed it with his U.S. counterpart, Antony Blinken. France is now promising to deliver light tanks like this one in the next two months while Poland and Finland are working to supply Ukraine with Leopard tanks.

Going forward, Estonia will no longer take in Ukrainian refugees. It's approaching a borderline when it will be unable to offer all the unnecessary support. Instead, Finland has agreed to take 100 Ukrainian refugees a week and Estonia is offering transport. But that number is just a tiny fracture of those hoping to reach safety.

The United Nations' High Commissioner for Refugees says nearly 8 million Ukrainians have fled for other countries since Russia invaded in February.

The British prime minister is condemning Iran for executing a former Iranian official and dual British citizen. State media reports Alireza Akbari was hanged for, quote, "corruption on Earth," a term used to describe a broad range of offenses. He had been accused of spying for British intelligence.

We get more from Nada Bashir in London.

What more can you tell us about this case?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: According to reports, Alireza Akbari was arrested back in 2019. As you laid out, he was accused of spying on behalf of the United Kingdom.

In the announcement of his execution, the news outlet associated with Iran's judiciary said he had taken extensive cooperation with British intelligence for large sums of money.

Previously we heard the Iranian intel ministry identified Akbari as working for MI-6, the British secret intelligence service, providing important national information to the United Kingdom.

These accusations have long been refuted by Akbari. We have heard pleas for Akbari's release from detention, for the halting of his execution, clearly to no avail. Today, the announcement he was hanged in response to those allegations; of course, this has drawn widespread condemnation.

[04:25:00] BASHIR: We've heard from U.K. prime minister Rishi Sunak condemning the execution.

He had this to say on Twitter, "I am appalled by the execution of British Iranian citizen Alireza Akbari in Iran. This was a callous and cowardly act carried out by a barbaric regime with no respect for human rights of their people.

"My thoughts are with Alireza's friends and family."

We've heard from the British foreign office and foreign secretary James Cleverly, who said the foreign office is offering support to his family but also he said that this will not go unchallenged by the United Kingdom.

And they have already summoned Iran's representative to the United Kingdom in response to this latest execution. But this follows a wave of executions that we have seen in Iran, particularly in relation to the anti regime protests that we have seen.

The fear now is that we could continue to see this hardline response to any signs of dissent in Iran. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: So you mentioned this slate of executions.

Why is that, what message is Iran trying to send?

BASHIR: Well, look, they have identified Akbari as having worked as an undercover agent. So not necessarily in connection to the ongoing protests or antiregime protests we have seen in the last four months now.

But we are seeing the regime trying to get a tighter grip on any sign of dissent within the country in reaction to those protests. We've already seen at least four people now executed in relation to their participation in these protests -- excuse me.

And, of course, now there is concern that we could continue to see this trend. We've already heard from Iran HR, another human rights organization, warning dozens more detainees, political prisoners could face execution in the coming days and weeks.

Of course, what we have heard condemnation from the international community. There is fear there is little leverage left for the international community to hold the Iranian regime to account when it comes to these executions.

BRUNHUBER: All right, thank you so much, Nada Bashir live in London.

NFL player Damar Hamlin's collapse on the field horrifying the world. But conspiracists wasted no time blasting out allegations that COVID vaccines were to blame for his near death experience. It's a disturbing trend spreading once again. More on that coming up, stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to the program. Thank you for watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

It's an issue sure to bring the first major showdown for the new U.S. Congress as they are closer to reaching their debt limit. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen estimates it could happen in less than a week with default possible as soon as June.

She's urging lawmakers to work together to avoid the default, which would be a financial Armageddon. Listen to this.

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JAMIE DIMON, CEO, JPMORGAN CHASE: I understand why Republicans might want to use it to get some stuff -- and I'm not talking about the fight before the debt ceiling. I'm talking about on the day that America can't pay its debt. That has potentially disastrous outcomes.

American debt doesn't cross default but it's cumulative. The T-bill defaults and next week T-bill defaults and next week T-bill defaults. Pension plans have to sell. It is so potentially dangerous. We shouldn't get anywhere near it.

And after all the shenanigans of politics, we're going to have to fix this. I think it's very bad for the nation to constantly be looking at this type of thing.

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BRUNHUBER: The U.S. debt ceiling was last raised in December 2021 to $31.4 trillion.

New research shows American families are paying more money every month as they try to keep up with inflation. According to Moody's Analytics, the average household spends $371 more in December than a year ago. On average, they pay an extra $82 more for shelter, $72 for food and $47 for utilities. But inflation has cooled and cost of living seems to be easing.

The World Economic Forum is set to kick off on Monday in Davos. Workers are putting the finishing touches on getting the Swiss resort town ready for the business and political elite. Ukraine will send a high-level delegation and several sessions will be held on the war.

Russia won't be attending the conference. Some of the topics will include how to avoid the risk of a global recession in 2023 as well as the global effort to tackle the climate crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BORGE BRENDE, PRESIDENT, WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM: There is no doubt that our 53rd annual meeting in Davos will happen against the most complex geopolitical and geoeconomic backdrop in decades.

So much is at stake. A hole can be avoided, a global recession, soaring energy and food prices and also hope to really avoid further escalation of the global crisis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Organizers say they're expecting a record turnout this year, more than 2,500 people; 52 heads of state and government will be there as well as 56 finance ministers, 19 central bank governors and 39 leaders of international agencies. And CNN will be there. Join Richard Quest and Julia Chatterley throughout the week.

Three years into the pandemic, many people have stopped wearing masks in public. But the World Health Organization is urging everyone to mask up if they're exposed to the virus or are at high risk or if they're in a crowded, poorly ventilated space.

They issued new guidelines regarding isolation, recommending symptomatic patients test negative on an antigen based rapid test before leaving isolation. Those who test positive but have no symptoms are still encouraged to isolate for five full days.

The CDC says it has identified a possible safety issue with the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine but they're still encouraging people to stay up to date with shots. The CDC there is a possible increase in a certain kind of stroke for those 65 and older.

But of half a million seniors who got the shot and were tracked by the CDC, 130 people had strokes within the first three weeks; none died. And the CDC says the risks posed by the booster are outweighed by the dangers of COVID for older adults.

[04:35:00]

BRUNHUBER: Now the CDC's acknowledgement of concerns like these are likely to amplify unproven claims the vaccines are leading to deaths from other causes.

We've seen this false narrative spring up recently as several celebrities have suffered sometimes deadly heart issues. The death of Lisa Marie Presley came after she experienced cardiac arrest and some antivaxers posted tweets speculating COVID-19 vaccines were the reason.

It's a tactic that outrages CNN's Dr. Jonathan Reiner. Here he is.

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DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Really a whirlwind of conspiracy theories that somehow people are dying because of COVID vaccines, when, in fact, we have now safety data from over 600 million people in this country who have received these vaccines, showing they've been incredibly safe and well tolerated.

And the use of these public tragedies to promote anti-vax agendas, I think, are just despicable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Sports journalist Grant Wahl died while covering the World Cup in Qatar and accusations flew on social media that COVID vaccines caused his aneurysm. Things got so bad his wife, Dr. Celine Gounder, felt compelled to write an opinion column in "The New York Times" to refute those claims.

The loudest speculation came when Bills player Damar Hamlin collapsed after a seemingly routine hit. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted this.

"Before the COVID-19 vaccines, we didn't see athletes dropping dead on the playing field like we do now. How many people are dying suddenly? Time to investigate the COVID-19 vaccines."

Now of course, Damar Hamlin didn't drop dead on the field and is recuperating after being released from the hospital.

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BRUNHUBER: Derek Beres is the co-host of the podcast, "Conspirituality," and he joins us now.

Thanks for joining us. I hear it all the time, not from the high- profile anti-vaxers. Otherwise rational people, as soon as someone dies suddenly, they start speculating about the COVID vaccine being possibly the cause.

And this is sometimes coming from folks who have had the shot.

So why is this type of misinformation becoming so pervasive?

DEREK BERES, PODCAST CO-HOST, "CONSPIRITUALITY": Well, if you follow the anti-vax playbook over the last 25 years, since Andrew Wakefield's studies, you'll notice that there's been constant penetration into mainstream audiences.

And with the way social media travels these days, with misinformation traveling faster than credible information, it's not a surprise they would jump on any opportunity to get their propaganda across.

So any time you hear about an athlete injury or death or a celebrity injury or death, before you can even understand what happened, you're going to see this sort of quote-unquote "speculation" coming from anti-vaxers, trying to push forward their message.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. Just asking the question, as they always say.

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BRUNHUBER: A lot comes from the right wing but there's a curious intersection between right-wing anti-vaxers and the left wing wellness community. You've written a book about this seemingly unlikely union.

So why are we seeing this trend from both ends of the political and ideological spectrum?

BERES: Well, they're both rooted in a very American sense of individualism. On the right wing, it's that pull yourself up by the bootstraps. But on the left wing, there's a long-standing idea that's proliferated in yoga studios. You are your own best doctor; your diet will heal you, your intentions and intuitions are your best guides.

So you should use those as your medicine. They're not new ideas. They've been used for decades. But usually at moments of cultural trauma, such as a pandemic, you're going to see people sort of coming back into their corners of individualistic thinking and looking for anything that will help them feel better.

And so you have this strange intersection occurring at that time, where the political facade sort of falls down and it really comes back to this really refined sense of ego.

BRUNHUBER: So we've seen that intersection accelerate throughout the course of the pandemic. But you might sort of expect them to decouple, now that the mask mandates, social distancing, isolation, all that stuff from the pandemic are largely a thing of the past.

But has that happened or have they sort of fused permanently?

And if so, what does that mean going forward?

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BERES: Well, I don't think anything is permanent. But one thing we've noticed on "Conspirituality," is these conspiracies always track Right. You won't see right wing activists coming over to left wing thinking and progressivism. It's always going to be the more liberals moving over to the Right.

So people I know from my yoga communities, all of a sudden, I see posting how great Ron DeSantis is, for example. So I think it's going to be very hard to decouple at this point. I don't know what it's going to take, what sort of literacy or education is necessary.

But I think we're going to be stuck in this pattern for a while. And your guess is as good as mine as to how we get out of it.

BRUNHUBER: Then that was going to be my next question.

How much is genuine belief and how much is a grift from people who know better by they but they're just exploiting others?

BERES: That's one of the hardest questions. You can tell who's grifting. Watch what they say and then watch what they sell.

For example, if someone is talking negatively about the COVID vaccines and saying they're some deep state operative or they're not going to be good for you but then they're selling supplements that were never be scientifically tested, you can tell there's an agenda there.

For a lot of people who are confused and don't have the medical or scientific literacy, they get caught up in it. They're not going to get future vaccinations or seek medical attention and instead buy these supplements that are not going to be doing anything for them.

BRUNHUBER: It's very frightening and the fact that there isn't an easy solution for this makes it so much harder to fight. But conversations like this hopefully will help. Really appreciate having you on, Derek Beres. Thank you so much.

BERES: Thank you so much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: More to come on CNN. We'll hear from the father of one of the Idaho college students killed late last year. He'll talk about life since that terrible crime.

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BRUNHUBER: We now know where the daughter of the late rock 'n' roll legend Elvis Presley will be laid to rest. Lisa Marie Presley will be buried at her childhood home at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. She'll be placed next to her son, Benjamin, who died by suicide at the age of 27.

Lisa Marie died hours after being hospitalized for cardiac arrest. Fans have been leaving flowers and notes at Graceland, which is a popular tourist attraction.

"The New York Times" reports it has obtained online posts by Bryan Kohberger. They were made while he was a teenager.

He reportedly wrote, "I am blank, I have no opinion, I have no emotion, I have nothing."

In another he wrote, "As I hug my family, I look into their faces. I see nothing. It's like I'm looking at a video game but less."

One of the article's authors described some of the other posts. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICHOLAS BOGEL-BURROUGHS, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": He's really hard on himself, saying he feels worthless, that he's a jerk to people in his life and doesn't feel bad about it afterward. He also talked particularly about his dad, saying he treats his dad like dirt, even though he thinks of him as a good guy. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The father of one of the Idaho students killed last November says surviving grief comes one day at a time. Ben Mogen told CNN 21-year-old Madison Mogen was bright and bubbly and loved watching live music with him. He said frequent reminders of his daughter really hit him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN MOGEN, MADISON MOGEN'S FATHER: Sometimes when I see her picture, you know, I'll just be somewhere random and I will see her picture up on the TV screen or see her name in print and I don't know if I'll ever get used to that, really.

It's so -- it's just so surreal. She could have done anything she wanted to. She was so bright and so good with people and just so -- just had a magnetic personality.

And, yes, she could have done anything she wanted to and I couldn't wait to see where she went with things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: His comments come a day after suspect Bryan Kohberger appeared in court. He's currently held without bond in Idaho, facing four counts of first-degree murder.

Brazilian authorities will investigate whether former president Jair Bolsonaro was involved in riots last Sunday. The supreme court said he should be included in the inquiry in order that a video he posted and deleted questioning the presidential election be preserved.

Until now he's not been directly linked to the investigation. And his lawyer denied he condoned any vandalism. More than 1,800 people have been detained, his supporters. Police said Thursday they found an unsigned draft decree overturning the election in the home of Bolsonaro's former justice minister.

Peru's president is vowing to stay in office. Dina Boluarte replaced three senior ministers after a spate of resignations over the unrest. The new ministers were sworn in by the president on state TV.

The president did, however, call for early elections in a concession to one of the demands from protesters. She also asked for forgiveness for the deaths that occurred amid clashes between the police and demonstrators. At least 49 people have died since protests erupted in December.

Still ahead, police are looking into the lost -- then found -- clouded leopard at the Dallas Zoo. Investigators don't think the leopard acted alone. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: A clouded leopard that escaped from the Dallas Zoo is now safely back in her enclosure. The police say the approximately 25- pound female named Nova escaped from a hole intentionally cut in a fence.

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HARRISON EDELL, SENIOR DIRECTOR, LIVING COLLECTIONS AT DALLAS ZOO: This is intensely frustrating. This is a cat of conservation concern that is not a pet. She's a critically important of our family at Dallas Zoo. She means a lot to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Nova was on the loose for about six hours, prompting the zoo to close and was located not far from her regular enclosure. She was examined by a veterinarian and seems fine.

All right, well, sometimes you need to watch some adorable pandas. Have a look here.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): These images were captured on iPanda. That's a platform that shows giant pandas, even little giant pandas around southwest China. The footage of them playing comes from research base of giant panda breeding.

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BRUNHUBER: And hundreds of thousands of newly hatched giant South American river turtles scurrying to the water in the largest single gathering of the reptiles on the planet. You can hear how a wildlife society described the conservation efforts.

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GERMAN FORERO MEDINA, SCIENTIFIC DIRECTOR, WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY COLOMBIA: My name is German Forero Medina. I'm the science and conservation director for Wildlife Conservation Society Colombia. We're here on the (INAUDIBLE) it's called in Brazil or (INAUDIBLE) as it's called on the Bolivia (ph) side.

[04:55:00]

MEDINA: This is the most important place for the nesting of the giant South American river turtle in the world. This place has the largest known population of the species across the whole Amazon and (INAUDIBLE) basin.

During this time of the year, the water level of the river is low. The sand beaches emerge and all the turtles gather to lay their eggs in the beaches, which will emerge after two months.

Bolivia (ph) has been working with a group of scientists to use novel technology such as drones and thermal images in order to estimate the population of the species here. That's very important in order to monitor the population trends over time and also to assess the effectiveness of the conservation actions that the people are implementing here.

(INAUDIBLE) river is actually the border between Bolivia and Brazil. So the turtles are nesting in areas that are shared between the two countries. So that is why it's very important that they both coordinate and work together for the protection of the species.

What is taking place here right now is what we could consider a nature spectacle or a wonder of nature because over 60,000 females of the giant South American river turtle gather here to nest. So it's an incredible sight and it's an amazing event.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: One lucky lottery ticket in Maine was sold that beat the astronomical odds in the Mega Millions jackpot that was worth more than $1 billion dollar. It's the first time a winning ticket has been sold in Maine.

They can take a lump sum cash payout worth more than $720 million before taxes. Others got lucky across the U.S., snagging prizes of $1 million.

That's this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back with more news. Please do stay with us.