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Former National Enquirer Publisher To Meet With Prosecutors; Eagles, Chiefs Advance To Face Off In Super Bowl LVII; Ice Storm Threatens Parts Of The South; Academy Meeting Over Accusations Of Campaigning For Oscar Nods. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired January 30, 2023 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: The former head of the National Enquirer's publishing company is now involved in a Trump investigation. Sources tell CNN that David Pecker is expected to meet with Manhattan prosecutors investigating Donald Trump. Pecker wasn't involved in an effort to stop adult film star Stormy Daniels from going public with her plans of an affair with Trump.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: CNN's Kara Scannell is following this story for us. So, remind us what prosecutors likely want to talk with him about?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, so David Pecker who was then the top guy overseeing "The National Enquirer," he worked with them in the past on that catch and kill strategy to stop stories from going public. And why prosecutors want to talk to him today is because he was involved in the deal to silence Stormy Daniels from going forward with her allegations of an affair with Trump, just those days before the presidential election in 2016. We should note Trump has denied they had ang affair. But Pecker was at the center of this.

What we saw from some of the federal investigation involving Michael Cohen and those court tort documents, he was on the phone back and forth with Michael Cohen as the deal was coming together and that's why prosecutors want to talk to him. And we are seeing an escalation in the number of witnesses that the Manhattan district attorney's office is meeting with. They talked to Michael Cohen two weeks ago for the first time in more than a year. So, we're really seeing them pick up the pace on this investigation.

They've also reached out to the lawyer for Stormy Daniels. Obviously, a key person involved in the structure of this deal. And what they're looking at among other things, as you know, we've talked about, it's been a wide-ranging investigation for some time. They've refocused on the hush money payments and whether the Trump Organization and the former president himself had falsified business records by treating the reimbursement to Michael Cohen as the legal expense when he wasn't rendering any legal services. This was just to cover the alleged payment to Stormy Daniels.

So that's why they want him in here again today. You know, we know some witnesses are expected to go back. So, we're really seeing this escalate following on the heels of that conviction last month of the Trump entity.

CAMEROTA: OK, Kara Scannell, thank you, keep us posted on all this.

BLACKWELL: Thank you.

All right, Super Bowl LVII is almost here. And it will pit the Philadelphia Eagles against the Kansas City Chiefs in Arizona.

CAMEROTA: The big game will be historic. It's the first time two black quarterbacks will start and also the first time two brothers will play against each other. "CNN SPORTS" anchor Coy Wire sets the stage.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: The Eagles and Chiefs, they were the top two seeds in the playoffs, Victor and Allison, and top two offenses led by phenomenal quarterbacks, 16 years after Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith made history becoming the first two black head coaches to face off in a Super Bowl. Jalen Hurts And Patrick Mahomes become the first two starting black quarterbacks to play in one. Here's a look at how they booked their ticket to the big game.

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WIRE (voice-over): With a trip to the Super Bowl on the line --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Placement is down. Butker's kick up is. The spinning kick high. Floating in the air. And it is good! Good! Good!

WIRE (voice-over): A nail biter in the AFC championship. The Chiefs, who beat the Bengals in a revenge rematch of last season's overtime AFC title game, during a frigid night at Arrowhead Stadium, the bad blood between these two teams boiling over till the very end.

Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes scrambling for field position on an injured ankle in the final seconds took a late hit out of bounds by the Bengals. Flags fly, with the penalty putting the Chiefs in range for Harrison Butker's game-winning field goal.

Kansas City heads to the Super Bowl for the third time in four years and threw a little shade at the Bengals during the postgame celebrations.

KELCE: Burrow, my (BLEEP). Woo! It's Mahomes hour.

PATRICK MAHOMES, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS QUARTERBACK: I don't think we have any cigars. But we'll be ready to go at the Super Bowl.

WIRE (voice-over): Representing the NFC, it's a Philly thing. A phrase coined by star quarterback Jalen Hurts. The Eagles annihilating the 49ers. who were riding a 12-game win streak. San Francisco's third- string quarterback and rookie sensation Brock Purdy getting injured early. Then fourth-stringer Josh Johnson leaving with injury, too. They didn't stand a chance.

Second-year Philadelphia head coach Nick Sirianni was effusive in his praise of his team's dominating performance.

NICK SIRIANNI, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES HEAD COACH: This is something we all dream about. And we get to do it because, you know, we did it better than anybody else in the NFC this year. So that is pretty special. Fans were awesome. Atmosphere was unbelievable.

WIRE (voice-over): Meanwhile, Jalen Hurts has gone from being benched at Alabama in the 2018 college football national championship game to transferring to Oklahoma. He says he uses the pain to strengthen him. He's now a pro bowler in his third NFL season, leading his team to the Super Bowl.

JALEN HURTS, QUARTERBACK, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES: You know, I've been through a lot personally. But I want -- I want to steer it from the direction of how -- how good this team has been and playing together to have this opportunity in front of us. You know, I want to take advantage of it. The atmosphere tonight was amazing. The fans showed up. The energy, all of it. So we need to bring that to AZ.

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WIRE (on camera): Eagles and Chiefs, Alisyn and Victor. Great story lines including the Kelce brothers, both Travis of the Chiefs, Jason of the Eagles, they're going to become the first brothers to ever face each other as players in a Super Bowl. What in the world will mom and dad do? 13 days till the big game in Arizona.

CAMEROTA: Coy Wire, thank you.

All right, so the World Health Organization says the COVID pandemic has reached a transition period. What that means and how big of a threat the virus still poses. Next.

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BLACKWELL: Millions of people across the country about to hit -- be hit, rather, with a messy and really dangerous winter storm again.

CAMEROTA: A big ice storm is threatening parts of the south. CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam is here. So there are at least 15 states, we understand, in this possible path.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST AMS: Yes, that's right, Alisyn and Victor. This is turning into a headache especially for the Dallas-Fort Worth region. Last we checked there's been over 550 flights canceled because of this weather. Not what we want to see especially coming out of Texas. So, what we're starting with here is the arctic air and, you know, I just had my producer talk to me a moment ago. We have readings in the North Dakota region -30 below, this is the prime heating of the day so you can call that heating, right.

But this is setting the stage, the cold arctic air and look where it's settling, further and further south. So, we are going to do a little physics or thermodynamics here because this is important, right. Cold air is denser so yet it settles towards the surface of the earth. So, when we start to interact, we have that warm air from the Gulf of Mexico overrunning the cold air that is settling in from the north and that sets us up for a recipe for potential problems, right.

Ice storm and that is what is unfolding across Texas and into Arkansas as well as western sections of Tennessee. Look at this. We see some lightning strikes, this is some impressive kind of precipitation that's moving through, perhaps some thunder sleet, thunder snow, that's a potential. But it's really starting to fill in around the Dallas region to Austin, on that Interstate 20, 30, that is going to be very difficult to drive in the days to come. And you can see computer models indicating of upwards of a half an inch of ice accumulation in this long-duration event that won't end really till Wednesday night -- Victor, Alisyn.

BLACKWELL: Thunder sleet sounds terrible.

CAMEROTA: I'm cold just thinking about it.

VAN DAM: New term.

BLACKWELL: Derek Van Dam, thank you.

VAN DAM: All right.

BLACKWELL: The World Health Organization says the COVID pandemic is still a global health emergency, but it's now at a transition point. An advisory committee warned there is little doubt the virus is here to stay for the foreseeable future and urged countries to better prepare for future outbreaks.

CAMEROTA: Meantime, we're learning more about the grave impact the coronavirus has had on children and teenagers. CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here. Elizabeth, I was so surprised to learn that this new study finds that COVID was a leading cause of death for young people.

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ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It was, I know, a lot of people were surprised. I think, Alisyn, because we've really been sort of like trained our brains to think, oh, COVID is really a problem for older people. It's not just a problem for children. And so, relatively speaking that's true but still, it was a leading cause of death for children.

Let's take a look at what this study found. It was looking at children from birth to ages 19 and it was done from July of 2021 until -- sorry, August of 2021 till July of 2022. What they found is that during that one-year period 821 children that age died. It was the eighth leading cause of death for children that age. It caused more deaths than influenza or pneumonia or any other respiratory or infectious disease.

And again, you know, you might see 821 and think, oh, well, that's so small compared to the number of adults. You know what? It doesn't really matter. 821 children who died is still too many and that's why vaccination is still so important for children against COVID -- Alisyn, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Parents have said this for some time now but there's now a report that supports the claim appearance that children lost a significant amount of school learning because of the pandemic. Tell us about it.

COHEN: Right, so this report looked at studies done in 15 different countries -- this is not just the United States -- and what they found -- and this is sort of hard to quantify -- but what they found was that children learned about 35 percent less than they would have during a normal school year. And that they haven't made up for it yet and that children who are of lower socioeconomic backgrounds were the hardest hit. So, sort of yet another remind that children really did lose out during this time when schools were shut down to help stop the spread of COVID. Alisyn, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

The Academy's Board of Governors set to meet to discuss accusations of campaigning for Oscar nominations. The details on this controversy and what it could mean for current nominees next.

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BLACKWELL: The Academy's Board of Governors will meet tomorrow and they're reviewing now this year's Oscar nominees to make sure no rules about campaigning were broken. Now some in the entertainment industry are asking about Andrea Riseborough surprising best actress nomination for the film "To Leslie."

CAMEROTA: So, this movie is about an alcoholic single mom who blows her lottery winnings on booze. It also -- It only, I should say, made about $27,000 at the box office. But thanks to a robust grassroots campaign, several of holidays best stars raved about the film and Riseborough's performance just before the nominees were announced. CNN's Chloe Melas joins us now. OK, so explain what is sneaky here.

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: We don't know if anything is sneaky. So, here's -- let me just take this back a second. So, we don't know which category and which particular film the academy is talking about. They have released a statement. And I want you guys to see what they're saying.

So, they are saying that they are conducting a review of campaign procedures around this year's nominees to ensure that no guidelines were violated, and to inform us as to whether changes to the guidelines may be needed in a new area of social media and digital communication.

And that they want to, you know, preserve the integrity of the academy awards. Which is really important. I mean, look at what happened with the Golden Globes, not particularly with lobbying for films, but you know, these relationships are fragile.

So, Andrea Riseborough, when she was nominated in the best actress category last week, there were audible gasps in the room, including cheers. Nobody is saying that she is not incredible in this film, but there are notable people in Hollywood including former Oscar winners, former, you know, academy voters are in here who were promoting this film. And many are wondering, well, if nobody has really seen this movie, how did they know about it?

So, the academy has very strict rules when it comes to how you can contact academy voters. How often you can e-mail them. How, you know, you reach out to them. But on the other hand, you see films like "Avatar" that have these hundred million dollar budgets and their taking ads out in trades and billboards and commercials and things like that. It's not to that small films haven't, you know, made their way to the frontrunners of the Oscars. Look at "Coda," but even that was a movie that was, you know, distributed by Apple.

So, this film had a lot of notable people championing it. Kate Winslet, Ed Norton, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Anniston and many are wondering if there was lobbying going on that broke the rules. So, will we see a potential nomination be rescinded? It's not unprecedented. It has happened before, but many are saying unlikely because then that might open Pandora Box into other films and potential other lobbying for other individuals. So, we will have to see what happens.

BLACKWELL: Yes, this is fascinating that this is a potential that we could see some kind of consequence for this. But bow I want to see the film.

CAMEROTA: Me, too.

BLACKWELL: All right.

CAMEROTA: It worked to drum up interest.

MELAS: Some say that there is a spike in searches for the movie and it is available on Apple and Amazon and places like that. So, it's not like you can't find it. But the point is, is that how did so many of these influential people see it amid of voting time.

And I just want to point out, Viola Davis, Danielle Deadwyler from "Till," Viola Davis from "The Woman King," they notably absent from these nominations and many were expecting those nominations.

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So, I think some people were also upset and wondering how she squeezed in there. But we don't know if it was her or the category.

BLACKWELL: All right, Chloe, thank you.

MELAS: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Organization expert Marie Kondo now says it's OK to have a little mess in your life.

CAMEROTA: The queen of clean said tidying up no longer tops her to-do list. Her having her third child Kondo says she started to reflect on motherhood and shift her priorities. She said she eased up on herself, released her need for perfection and accepted that it's OK if she cannot keep everything in order all the time.

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She says what's important is enjoying time with her children. Well, welcome to the club Marie. I'm not plagued by perfectionism. As you know, I am a student of good enough parenting and anchoring.

BLACKWELL: Good enough.

CAMEROTA: As you know.

BLACKWELL: Just good enough.

CAMEROTA: Just good enough.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

CAMEROTA: That's where we will leave it.

BLACKWELL: Sometimes that's the goal.

CAMEROTA: And "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.