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More Storms Pummel California; More Classified Material Found in Biden Home; Yeti Airlines Passenger Plane Crashes in Nepal; World Leaders Condemn Iran's Execution of Alireza Akbari; Former Brazilian Justice Minister Arrested; Upscale Shopkeeper Hoses Down Homeless Woman. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired January 15, 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 AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber. Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM:
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GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): I just pray on all of us to maintain our vigilance, our common sense over the course of the next 24 to 48 hours.
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): California's governor's warning residents that the severe weather isn't over just yet, as 25 million of them are under flood watches right now.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Plus, more classified material is found at the Delaware home of President Biden on the same day the attorney general names a special counsel to the case.
And search and rescue workers are desperately looking for survivors trapped in the rubble of an apartment building in Ukraine after a Russian missile strike.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: We begin in storm-ravaged California. Here's what we know at this hour. U.S. President Joe Biden has approved a major disaster declaration, clearing the way for federal funds to help the state.
Some people in San Benito County have been ordered to leave their homes because of severe flooding. More than 25 million people are under flood watches. The governor's warning people to prepare for more weather disasters. Here he is.
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NEWSOM: We're mindful this is all occurring as we're experiencing a 1,200 year megadrought over the western United States. And here we are, by some estimates, 22 trillion to 25 trillion gallons of water, stacking of these atmospheric rivers, the likes of which we've not experienced in our lifetimes.
The reality is, this is just the eighth of what we anticipate will be nine atmospheric rivers. We're not done.
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BRUNHUBER: Hundreds of people in one county had to be rescued from flooding.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): We have video of a swiftwater rescue in Laguna Hills. There was the rescue of this young victim hanging on to a tree in a creek. He was picked up by helicopter and taken to safety.
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BRUNHUBER: Natasha Chen has more on the flooding and mudslides from Fairfax, California.
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NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is a common sight around town: urban flooding; the roadways marked with signs so drivers can be told to be careful and slow down.
While there has not been as much rain on Saturday compared to the storms in the previous couple of weeks in California, the ground and the rivers are so saturated that it doesn't take much for flooding to happen, for mudslides to happen.
Like the one that happened here in Fairfax, just one street over, where multiple trees crashed into the back of an apartment building, causing 19 residents to have to evacuate.
There were evacuation orders in Santa Cruz County, Santa Clara County, areas prone to flooding. Here is one of the residents, who had to evacuate from the building in Fairfax here, describing the moment the mudslide happened.
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MARK FLEISCHER, FAIRFAX RESIDENT: I thought I heard thunder. It was not thunder. It was a hillside giving way behind the two flats behind us. Trees went into their bathrooms. There were little kids there.
There is, fortunately, a lady across the street, is a EMT/fireperson in San Francisco. We had no idea what was happening until I came outside. And there were floods. This is nothing. It was coming down, this broad and about this deep, all mud flow. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHEN: Fleischer told me he's lived here since the 1980s and has never seen anything like that. Thankfully, everyone was OK and got out of the building.
Another dangerous situation, on Saturday, CAL FIRE shared pictures of a situation in Pescadero, where part of the road there fell off of a cliff. So again, a lot of warnings to residents and drivers, just that, even though the rain is less than they may have seen over the last couple of weeks, the ground is extremely saturated.
At one point on Saturday, more than 30,000 customers were out of power and more than 25 million people under a flood watch --
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CHEN: -- Natasha Chen, CNN, Fairfax, California.
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BRUNHUBER: People in the Southeast continue to clean up and sort through the damage left by a string of tornadoes this week. At least nine people were killed, seven in Alabama and two in Georgia.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): This was in Selma, Alabama. The people were devastated. Here's what the mayor of Selma had to say.
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MAYOR JAMES PERKINS JR., SELMA, ALABAMA: It's tough. A lot of people are hurting. The devastation is real. We've got a lot of work to do.
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BRUNHUBER: The National Weather Service says survey teams will be assessing the damage for the next several days.
To Washington now and a new disclosure from the White House. The president's lawyer has acknowledged that more classified items were found this week at Joe Biden's Delaware home a day after discovering a single classified document in a room adjacent to the garage.
Officials found five additional pages with classification markings alongside it. It happened on Thursday, the same day a special counsel was appointed to investigate. Priscilla Alvarez has more.
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PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The White House is revealing new details about another set of documents that were found in the personal residence of President Biden. This is the third time in less than a week that the White House has
acknowledged that documents with classified markings have been found in private spaces belonging to President Biden.
In the latest disclosure, the White House counsel said that five additional pages were found at the Wilmington residence of President Biden.
This happened earlier this week when personal attorneys were planning to turn over a classified document the White House counsel, who has security clearance, had come to Wilmington to provide that to the Justice Department and, in doing so, found these additional five pages.
Now in a lengthy statement, Richard Sauber, the special counsel to the president said the following.
He said, "The president's lawyers have acted immediately and voluntarily to provide the Penn Biden documents to the Archives and the Wilmington documents to DOJ. We have now publicly released specific details about the documents identified, how they were identified and where they were found."
Now based on this latest disclosure and CNN's own reporting, we now approximate that some 20 documents with classified markings have been found, again, in private spaces belonging to President Biden.
Of course, this has put the White House in a bind, as it tries to navigate this new reality. In a statement, Biden's personal attorneys said that they are limited in what they can share because they do not want to interfere with the investigation. All of this review is ongoing as more questions surface -- Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Wilmington.
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BRUNHUBER: Republicans have slammed Biden over his handling of classified records and some accused him of hypocrisy after he called out Donald Trump. Here's what he said back in September.
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SCOTT PELLEY, CBS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: When you saw the photograph of the top secret documents laid out on the floor at Mar-a-Lago, what did you think to yourself, looking at that image?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: How that could possibly happen? How one -- anyone could be that irresponsible? Totally irresponsible.
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BRUNHUBER: (INAUDIBLE) have also been accused of double standards. Here's how one Republican congressman reacted to the Trump probe last year and then to the Biden case this week.
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REP. MIKE TURNER (R-OH): This is so outrageous, that this has to rise to the level of -- there better -- this better not be a clerical issue between the archivist and the former president. I've been in the Oval Office with the president. I'd be very surprised if he has actual documents that rises to the level of an immediate national security threat.
This facts and circumstances are just absolutely outrageous. I mean, this is completely mishandling of classified information. Why did he have these documents?
When did he get them?
Did he get them when he was vice president and then take them with him when he left?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you going to hold hearings?
TURNER: It is possible that we will hold hearings on them.
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BRUNHUBER: CNN's political commentator Charlie Dent joins me now. He is a former U.S. representative from Pennsylvania.
Thanks so much for being here with us. Let's just start with your reaction to the latest developments on the Biden document story.
What do you find more remarkable here, that more documents were found again or the timeline that, even though the first documents were found back in November, that the review to find more wasn't finished until this week?
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CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I guess what I find most remarkable about this whole situation is that President Biden was so careless and reckless and irresponsible with classified material.
I had the privilege of being able to review classified material. I thought the rule was you were supposed to view classified material in secure settings. And we'd read the material, there was someone there to answer the questions if we have them and return the material. There's no taking this stuff out of that secure location.
That is what's so stunning. We've also had the drip, drip, drip of, you know, when there's bad news, it never gets better with time.
Why would they not have announced all of the materials that have been located, not just those at the Biden Center in Washington and also at his home and his garage and by his Corvette?
I mean, it just struck me as terrible public relations that they would have to release this information on separate days. I think it just looks awful. BRUNHUBER: Yes. They haven't fully accounted for that, even though
we've been asking them about that.
But how much of this -- how much of a boon is this to Republicans politically?
DENT: Certainly some like congress man Jim Jordan, who is going to be forcing the Judiciary Committee, is probably salivating and is giddy over this opportunity to secure the president.
As a political matter -- Donald Trump seemed to be obstructing and wasn't complying with the DOJ and Joe Biden appears to be cooperating. But as a political matter, Republicans have been able to change the subject.
They can turn away from what happened with the speaker election and with George Santos and now they can focus their fire on a serious misstep by President Biden. So in many respects, I think the Biden team has given Republicans a little bit of a lifeline.
BRUNHUBER: What do you make of the hypocrisy we've been seeing from the Republicans, who are sort of trying to bat away some of the investigation into Donald Trump, for instance, and now making hay, as you say, about a sort of similar case now with President Biden?
DENT: Certainly the hypocrisy is unseemly. But I think the problem is greater for Joe Biden, because he is the sitting president. Whether Donald Trump becomes a Republican nominee or not remains to be seen.
Clearly, if Donald Trump can become the Republican nominee again and Joe Biden not for Democrats, well, then, this issue is almost off the table unless one of them is charged criminally.
But it's got to be hard to argue this in the political context. Democrats have said Republicans are reckless with classified material when the president has just been nailed for the same issue, even though the circumstances are different.
Look, there's a lot of hypocrisy in politics and we all have to get used to it. But Joe Biden is the sitting president and I think he is a little bit more vulnerable to political attacks at this moment.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. The situation and the circumstances are very different, as you say. One of the key things is that the obstruction that was so evident in Donald Trump's case.
But do you think that for the voters, especially for those swing voters, who won't necessarily just jump into one camp or another, do you think that the differences in these cases will kind of be lost on some of those voters?
DENT: Yes. Again, for those of us who pay close attention, I think we understand the differences. For most voters, I don't think there is focus on the nuances and differences in the two cases.
I suspect most voters aren't particularly paying attention to the issue. Most don't handle it. What they are paying attention to is the price of gasoline, the price of groceries, housing costs, things that affect them more directly on a daily basis. Those are the issues that most likely affect voters.
This is not an issue if you're Joe Biden. You don't want this hanging around. It undercuts his narrative that he's capable, competent and this shows a certain amount of carelessness and recklessness that harms Joe Biden more than Donald Trump.
But we expect him to be careless and reckless.
BRUNHUBER: Lots of twists and turns in this story. Charlie Dent, appreciate your analysis. Thanks very much.
DENT: Thanks, Kim.
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BRUNHUBER: We're tracking the crash of a Yeti Airlines passenger plane in Nepal, we'll bring you the latest in a live report.
Plus, a race against time in Ukraine, saving people believed to be trapped in this rubble after a Russian missile strike. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: We're tracking developments in Nepal, where a local official says at least 32 people are dead in a plane crash west of Kathmandu. Yeti Airlines confirmed the flight went down with 72 people on board. Emergency responders are on the scene. Smoke is rising from the debris. Kristie Lu Stout joins us with more.
Kristie, still a developing story.
What more can you tell us?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Kim, a very tragic development. A Yeti Airlines plane crashed near Nepal. At least 32 people were killed, including an infant.
According to the airline, there were 72 people on board the ATR 72 plane, including four crew members, 68 passengers; 57 Nepalese citizens were on board and 15 foreign nationals, including five from India, four from Russia, two from South Korea, one Australian, one Irish national, one Argentinian and one French citizen.
A spokesman for the Nepal civil aviation authorities said rescue operations are on. According to a state-run newspaper in Nepal, the plane had flown from Pokhara to Kathmandu and it crashed in the Seti River Gorge. On Sunday, the prime minister took to Twitter. He addressed the
tragedy.
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STOUT: This is what he said.
Quote, "I am deeply saddened by the sad and tragic accident of Yeti Airlines ANC ATR-72, flying from Kathmandu to Pokhara with passengers. I sincerely appeal to the security personnel, all agencies of the Nepal government and the general public to start an effective rescue."
The spokesman said that the weather was clear at the time of the accident. The scene of this disaster is 129 kilometers west of Kathmandu. Nepal is home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including the world famous Mt. Everest.
It sadly also has a record of air accidents. Search and rescue is underway. Of course, so, too, the agonizing wait for answers.
BRUNHUBER: Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, appreciate it.
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BRUNHUBER: The death toll keeps growing as rescuers dig through the rubble of a building obliterated by a Russian missile strike in Ukraine.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): The latest word is that at least 20 people are dead after a Russian missile hit this apartment building in Dnipro on Saturday; over 40 others are still unaccounted for as rescue workers look for victims believed to be trapped in the rubble. More than 70 people were wounded in the attack.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Some residents of the city are offering a helping hand at the site. This young girl was caught on camera, doing what she can to help clean up the debris.
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BRUNHUBER: The strike was part of a wave of missile attacks targeting energy facilities across Ukraine on Saturday. The power is out in many places across the city. Crews are working to fix the damage. Ukraine's capital also took a hit, which forced some residents to shelter in subway spaces.
President Zelenskyy responded to the attacks in his evening address.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): No amount of persuasion or just passing the time will stop the terrorists, who are methodically killing our people with missiles, drones bought in Iran, thrown artillery, tanks and mortars.
The whole world knows what can stop and how it's possible to stop those who sow death.
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BRUNHUBER: For more, Barbie Nadeau joins us from Rome.
Barbie, as I said, sadly, the death toll keeps climbing. Give us an update on the search for survivors.
BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's still about 40 people unaccounted for. Among them, there are children. As time goes by, the hope is they'll be finding survivors dims. They're expecting the death toll may rise.
Looking at the tragic scenes and the human effort to find survivors, these are scenes more likely seen in a natural disaster, not a missile attack. This is a residential building struck on Saturday. And it's just one more tragedy in a list of many, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: In terms of getting help on the battlefield, Ukraine will be getting something they've asked for: tanks. They're hoping for more.
NADEAU: That's right. They're also hoping, here in Europe, that Germany comes forward and donates some tanks. Many tanks being sent from France, Poland and the U.K. are German made. So Germany has to sign off on reexportation.
They say they will not stand in the way of that and for other countries to donate tanks. But the rest of the European bloc is looking for Germany to lead the way. There is resistance, because this is seen as an escalation, whether Moscow will in fact retaliate.
BRUNHUBER: Thanks so much, Barbie Nadeau, appreciate it.
Still ahead, widespread condemnation for Iran after it executed this British Iranian national. How world leaders are reacting. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM. Iran is facing international outrage and condemnation following its
execution of a British Iranian citizen, Alireza Akbari. French President Emmanuel Macron denounced the act, calling it despicable and barbaric.
Iranian state media reported that the former deputy defense minister was hanged after being convicted of espionage and corruption. Joining us live from London is Nada Bashir.
Take us through the reaction you've been tracking.
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Outcry, particularly here in the United Kingdom. Yesterday, foreign secretary James Cleverly expressed the government's condemnation. Alireza Akbari was a dual British Iranian national. He was also clear in setting up the steps the government would be taking to hold the Iranian regime to account.
The foreign office had summoned Iran's charge d'affaires as well as an announcement that the British government had laid sanctions on Iran's prosecutor general, who they say lies at the very heart of Iran's use of the death penalty.
The latest step is an announcement that the foreign office will now be recalling the U.K. ambassador to Iran in response to the execution.
This is a move we've heard from activists and other rights groups had been called for by European leaders, by Western leaders in response to the brutal and deadly crackdown that we have seen by the Iranian regime in response to protests which have taken place since September.
So this could be an important turning point. It may set the tone for other European leaders and allies to take similar steps. But in response and in turn, the Iranian regime has also summoned Britain's ambassador to Iran.
Now Alireza Akbari was detained back in 2019 on allegations of spying on behalf of the United Kingdom. Iran are reporting they have identified him as being an undercover agent while also working within Iran's defense ministry, providing important national information to the United Kingdom, with large sums of money in return.
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BASHIR: Now these are allegations that have been denied by Akbari, by his legal representatives and is something the U.K. government and his relatives have said is a politically motivated charge. Take a listen.
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RAMIN FORGHANI, ALIREZA AKBARI'S NEPHEW: It was a surprise, the accusations that did come out of Iranian media. They were not expected by me. I don't think that they're correct. The character that I knew would have never done anything to harm the country nor the regime.
I can speculate that it was only a political game both in the country but also they to potentially influence U.K. politics toward Iran. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BASHIR: Now we also heard from the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, who described this as a callous and cowardly act by a barbaric regime with no respect for human rights of its own people.
When it comes to those human rights abuses, we've learned from Amnesty International as well as the U.S. State Department there are reports that Akbari faced torture and treatment in solitary confinement.
While in detention, he was forced into making false confessions. Amnesty International has urged the U.K. government do a full investigation. There are serious concerns we will continue to see the Iranian administration be ever more in its brutal crackdown and any sign of dissent against the regime. Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Thanks so much. CNN's Nada Bashir. Appreciate it.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Israelis rallied on Saturday to protest against the right wing government and changes it wants to make to the legal system. Crowds jammed the streets in Tel Aviv.
The proposed changes would allow parliament to overturn rulings by the supreme court. The prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused his government of trying to gut the government's democracy and scrap its checks and balances. Hadas Gold has more on what the demonstrators were saying.
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HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday night to protest against the new right wing Israeli government but especially the proposed changes to the judicial system that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others want to undertake, that some call the most drastic reforms to the Israeli legal system in Israeli history.
The proposed changes would allow the parliament to override supreme court decisions with a simple majority.
For the protesters here, young and old, families brought their dogs, they fear for their future, for the rule of law, for the protection of minorities. And they also say that they believe that these changes will pave the way for Benjamin Netanyahu to get out of his corruption trial.
Benjamin Netanyahu says these changes will not be the destruction of democracy but the strengthening of democracy, saying this is the will of the voters who voted him and his partners into power in November elections.
But for the protesters here, who they say they don't have a majority in parliament and they don't have a written Israeli constitution, the only way to fight against these changes is to come out onto the streets, to come out in protest against what they see as the supreme court.
The president said it's an unbridled attack on the legal system -- Hadas Gold, CNN, Tel Aviv.
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BRUNHUBER: One week after antigovernment riots in Brazil, the government is stepping up its efforts in investigating the attacks. Former justice minister, Anderson Torres, an ally of the former president Jair Bolsonaro, has been arrested.
A federal police report says more than 1,800 people were detained after last week's riots. For more on the story, we go to CNN's investigative reporter Katie Polglase.
Katie, what does our investigation tell us what happened on January 8th and the role of police?
KATIE POLGLASE, CNN INVESTIGATIVE RESEARCHER: Well, Kim, we investigated looking at the visual evidence from that day. So we're talking Telegram videos, Twitter videos, TikTok even YouTube livestreams.
And the protesters started walking around midday toward the congress. They had 7 kilometers to walk. They were police, standing there, walking alongside them. Some of them checking bags, searching them, some smiling and waving them through, giving them the thumbs up.
They're not stopping them crucially. By the time they get to the congress, there are some barricades, some pushback. We see videos of police officers trying to spray some pepper spray in their faces.
But it's too little. The crowds are so large, they completely overrun and overwhelm the situation. By just after 3 pm, they're inside the congress, the presidential palace and the supreme court.
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POLGLASE: The question is why was there this division within the police response?
There were clearly some officers overwhelmed and others appearing friendly. There was one video most telling that we found just outside the presidential palace.
You see a commanding officer talking to the other police officers and he says, "Command your officers, damn it."
The officers look at him. They seem hesitant. They seem unsure how to respond. That really encapsulates the issue here. There was a lack of coordination in terms of how to deal with the attack, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: The official investigation is ongoing.
What do our findings tell us about how planned this attack was and who could have known about it?
POLGLASE: Well, I mean, this attack was very clearly planned online. We found details on Telegram about this march, detailed maps of where they were going to go, even sharing details about walkie-talkies they would use if the internet went down.
They talked about buses they would book for going to the capital, Brasilia, the buses the intelligence agencies were notified about. They saw a large number of buses arriving and they warned the government authorities.
But it's unclear whether that warning was sufficiently heeded. Now the investigation is underway by authorities. And there are two key figures. One of them is the head of the military police at the time. These are the people that you see on the ground with the military police on their backs.
He was the one in charge of them.
Was he involved in the instructions, them smiling and filming sometimes and not appearing to be that involved?
And the other is Anderson Torres, head of security and notably the former justice minister for Jair Bolsonaro. So the suspicion was he was in support of the protesters, one that he strenuously denies. But he was arrested yesterday, on Saturday, as he arrived back in Brazil. So investigations continue.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Appreciate the reporting live from London, Katie Polglase.
Protesters took to the streets of Tunisia Saturday on a key anniversary of the Arab Spring.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Reuters reports thousands of people marched against Kais Saied, the president, in Tunis. Some chanted the slogan of the 2011 revolution, people demand the fall of the regime. The economy continues to struggle under Saied and his opponents accuse him of trying to create a new dictatorship.
And this just in. The government of Peru has declared a state of emergency because of the ongoing protests. The declaration applies to the capital city of Lima and three other regions over the country. It takes effect today and lasts for 30 days, according to state news media.
It suspends certain constitutional rights. A 30-day state of emergency was also declared.
Meanwhile, flights have resumed from the tourist city of Cusco. Service had been suspended because of the ongoing protests throughout the country. Several airports have been the target of protests, which erupted in December after the impeachment and removal of president Pedro Castillo. According to Peruvian government figures, 48 people have died since
the protests began. One protester died and at least 19 Peruvian police officers were injured during anti-government clashes in Cusco on Wednesday.
The crisis of homelessness in America has reached a shocking level in San Francisco. What one businessman did to clear his sidewalk is sparking outrage. We'll have more on that story coming up. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: A troubling story now from San Francisco, where one store owner has taken his fight against homeless camping in front of his business into his own hands. CNN's Nick Watt has the story.
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NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The person on the sidewalk is homeless, goes by the name Q.
The guy with the garden hose is Collier Gwin, owner of an upscale art and antiques gallery.
COLLIER GWIN, FOSTER-GWIN GALLERY: I find it hard to apologize when we've had no help on this situation.
We called the police. There must be 25 calls on record.
TRENA HAMIDI, CO-OWNER, BARBAROSSA LOUNGE: I was outraged when I saw the video.
WATT (voice-over): Trena Hamidi co-owns the lounge bar next door, says this of Q.
HAMIDI: She has caused some trouble. She is mentally ill. And she screams obscenities. The city needs to take action and do something to give these people support and help that they need, not move them a few blocks away. That's not the solution.
WATT (voice-over): More than 4,000 people live on San Francisco streets by latest count, in part because renting an average one bedroom in this fashionable city now costs $3,000 a month, second only to New York City.
KRISTIE FAIRCHILD, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NORTH BEACH CITIZENS: The reality is San Francisco is only seven-by-seven, seven miles by seven miles. So there's a need for more housing and more affordable housing.
WATT (voice-over): And nearly half of unhoused women in San Francisco experience violence, according to a 2020 study.
FAIRCHILD: I don't think that this is a San Francisco problem. We're seeing this nationally. I think that the passerby that was filming it was bringing to light what's happening every day.
WATT (voice-over): In this city, businesses have used planters on the sidewalk to keep homeless away.
Neighbors on this street cobbled together over $2,000 through a Facebook group to buy boulders to deter drug dealers and the homeless. The city did take them away.
Even Saint Mary's Cathedral, a house of God, installed sprinklers back in 2015 to prevent the needy from sleeping in her shadow.
Gwin, who right now has this Baroque Italian cabinet on sale for $55,000 in his gallery, also resorting to soaking the inconvenient unhoused.
MAYOR LONDON BREED, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: As far as I'm concerned, it's assault. And there should be consequences.
We know that people are very frustrated. But this is not the solution.
GWIN: I totally understand what an awful thing that is to do. But I also understand what an awful thing it is to leave her on the streets.
WATT (voice-over): Housing, not hosing the homeless just might be a better solution.
WATT: Officials say that Q, the homeless person, is in hospital getting help. As for Collier Gwin, well, his gallery is closed. The door has been smashed and his case, we are told, is with the SFPD Investigations Bureau.
Now listen, this is clearly a huge problem in San Francisco and beyond; number one, connecting unhoused people with the services that they need and also managing that point of contact between the housed and the unhoused.
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WATT: You know, a federal judge actually just put a temporary stop on city officials here in San Francisco clearing homeless encampments and tents off streets and confiscating people's belongings.
Why?
The judge said the city wasn't giving people adequate alternatives -- Nick Watt, CNN, San Francisco.
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BRUNHUBER: Nearly 60,000 people across the country died in the month after strict zero COVID policies were lifted, according to Chinese authorities. Officials said Saturday the deaths were reported from December 8th, the day after most restrictions were lifted, through last Thursday.
The World Health Organization says it's received more information from Chinese authorities. Earlier this month, the WHO accused Beijing of underrepresenting the severity of the outbreak.
Several thousand protesters in Germany confronted riot police on horseback as they marched against the planned demolition of a village for the expansion of a local coal mine.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Swedish activist Greta Thunberg joined the protest on Saturday. The Olympic mine in the village of Lutzerath had been the focus of protests for about two years Witnesses say some officers were seen hitting demonstrators with batons. Supporters of the mine expansion say the (INAUDIBLE) energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.
(INAUDIBLE) say the nation should speed up its transition to green energy.
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BRUNHUBER: Many European ski resorts are seeing more green grass than snow because of warmer than normal temperatures. Details on what could be a new climate trend. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: California may get some respite from the storms but not just yet. Forecasters say later this week there could be a break in the deluge that swamped the streets for weeks. More storms are expected to hit central and northern California today. More than 25 million people are under flood watches.
The governor an estimated 25 trillion gallons of rainwater have fallen over the past few weeks. Forecasters say up to six feet of new snow is possible through Monday in the Sierra Nevadas. We'll have more of that just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.
Europe has been experiencing warmer than average winter temperatures for the past three decades, which experts say could be a new climate trend. Warmer weather means less snow and fewer skiers on the slopes.
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BRUNHUBER: That wraps this hour of "CNN NEWSROOM." I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back in a moment with more news. Please do stay with us.
