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Trump Headlines CPAC As MAGA Dominates Gathering; Trump Seeks To Block Pence From Testifying Before Grand Jury; Massive Protests Intensify In Israel Against Judicial Reforms; East Palestine Residents Complain Of Headaches, Anxiety And Coughing; Interview With Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA); Albuterol Shortage Could Worsen After Drugmaker Shuts Down; Some California Residents Face Lack Of Supplies, Resources After Snowstorm; Alex Murdaugh Sentenced To Life In Prison For Killing Wife & Son. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired March 04, 2023 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:49]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

Next hour former President Donald Trump is scheduled to take the stage and likely light the fuse. He will deliver the keynote address at the Conservative Political Action Conference just outside of Washington, D.C. Trump is joined by other Republicans eyeing the White House in 2024 but make no mistake the CPAC gathering has become MAGA country. And the man who tried to overturn the election results in 2020 appears to be his party's frontrunner according to recent polls.

Let's discuss this with CNN's Kristen Holmes. She joins me now from CPAC.

Kristen, what's the latest? What do you think we're going to hear from the former president in this address?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, what we're going to hear from him is going to be pitching himself for 2024 but it's going to be to a really enthusiastic crowd. And we're told that he's not going to go after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis by name but he is going to contrast some of his policies particularly when it comes to Social Security and Medicare.

However, I do want to note, you are absolutely right. This event has become MAGA country. Everyone here is incredibly Trump focused. And even the branding around this event seems to be all about MAGA and all about Trump. That being said, that means that Trump is probably going to feed off of the audience here. I mean, it is a very receptive audience.

And so we are already getting warnings from advisers that we're not exactly sure if he's going to end up riffing or not because of the fact that this is such a receptive audience. It's something to keep in touch -- to keep an eye on.

Now the other thing I want to point out here is that this has really become a who's who of MAGA world. We saw Don Jr., Kimberly Guilfoyle. Almost every speaker here is somebody who supports Trump in to 2024, who wants him to be president again.

Now we did hear from two other major potential 2024 contenders, Nikki Haley and Mike Pompeo. But both of their speeches really fell on to a kind of lackluster response. There was a tepid applause and even afterwards Haley was heckled outside of this room. So it goes to show you again just the deepening divide in the Republican Party and also the setting up of what is expected to be by many an incredibly ugly primary -- Jim.

ACOSTA: And Kristen, what do the crowds been like for these speeches? And how is the crowd shaping up for the former president? We know that that means a lot to him.

HOLMES: It absolutely means a lot to him and it does look like this is going to be a packed house today. Now the last several days it has been a much smaller crowd, a much more mellow crowd. It seemed low key. People were filtering in and out. A lot of what you saw actually wasn't in this room. This room remained with lots of empty seats.

It was actually out in the hallways where you saw this kind of Trump celebrity culture. People trying to take pictures with Steve Bannon or Matt Gaetz or Marjorie Taylor Greene. But for the speeches themselves, it has been a relatively smaller crowd.

Today it does look as though they're going to fill this ballroom. There are already almost more seats that have been filled the entire time here. We also know there's a pre-reception with hundreds of people in it that will be coming here later. So again, they are expected to fill all of the seats here today which, as you said, is very important to the former president.

It would be embarrassing given the way that this has become Trump- centric if he wasn't able to fill these seats and if he doesn't win that straw poll that they're expecting to announce soon.

ACOSTA: All right. Kristen Holmes, thank you very much.

Sources tell CNN Donald Trump is trying to keep his former Vice President Mike Pence before testifying before a federal grand jury that's looking into January 6th and the efforts to overturn the former president's 2020 election loss. Sources say Trump is asking a federal court to block Pence's testimony on executive privilege grounds, and CNN's Jeremy Herb joins us now.

Jeremy, we've seen this approach tried before. What are you learning? And does this throw a wrench into the Department of Justice's efforts to compel Pence to testify?

JEREMY HERB, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Jim. This certainly is going to make it more difficult for the special counsel, Jack Smith, to get former Vice President Mike Pence to testify. Now we don't know specifically what is in this filing because it was filed under seal but sources tell CNN that Trump's legal team is trying to prevent the former vice president from testifying on certain matters related to January 6th.

[16:05:14]

And this isn't the only effort that's being made to stop Pence's testimony. Pence himself is trying to block the subpoena that was issued last month. That was for a different reason. Pence is arguing that he is protected from testifying by the Constitution's Speech and Debate Clause which protects the legislative branch from certain law enforcement actions. His argument is that because he was president of the Senate on January 6th, he falls under that clause.

Now the subpoena to the former vice president, it's a sign that Special Counsel Jack Smith's inquiry is accelerating. But it's certainly the latest in the sense that this is going to be more difficult for him to actually get people like Pence and other top Trump aides before him to testify -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes. It will certainly drag this process out. I mean, that is always the Trump playbook.

Jeremy Herb, thank you very much. Appreciate that.

Let's continue this conversation. Joining me now is former Republican congressman and former presidential candidate Joe Walsh.

Joe, great to see you. Let's start with CPAC. It's a MAGA-palooza over there at the National Harbor convention area outside of Washington, D.C. What does this year's CPAC tell you about the state of the GOP?

JOE WALSH (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, Jim, I know the temptation is to always laugh, right? Mike Lindell and Kari Lake, and Steve Bannon, and laugh at how crazy these people are at CPAC. But we shouldn't laugh. I mean, this is -- this is scary, and it's odd having to say this six to seven years after Donald Trump came on the scene, but America needs to wake up. What we're seeing at CPAC right now is the base. The base of one of America's two major political parties and it's fully radicalized.

I mean, Jim, virtually every speaker lied and lied and lied. It's been two to three days of lies and disinformation, misinformation, cruelty. My god, you had Brazil's Bolsonaro spoke today about how his election was stolen.

ACOSTA: Right.

WALSH: This is scary stuff. But the important point, Jim, is this is where this Republican Party is because these are the activists.

ACOSTA: Yes. And Bolsonaro got this hero's welcome at CPAC despite the fact that his own supporters stormed government buildings in Brazil to protest his election loss on January 8th earlier this year.

Joe, Nikki Haley, Trump's U.S. ambassador to the U.N. She was heckled a bit at CPAC when she was going after Donald Trump. And Trump's former press -- I should say secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, he had a sort of veiled jab at Trump. Let's listen to this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE POMPEO, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: You can't become the left following celebrity leaders with their own brand of identity of politics, those with fragile egos who refused to acknowledge reality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: It sounds like he's talking about somebody we know.

WALSH: Say his name, Mike. Say his name. My god, that's infuriating. You can't run for president as a Republican and say you're going to attack Donald Trump, and not say his name.

Jim, Nikki Haley did the same damn thing. Look, there's no lane in this Republican Party for a Mike Pompeo or a Nikki Haley or a Mike Pence. The activists of this party, they want a son of a bitch. They want a cool authoritarian.

Jim, there was a speaker at CPAC yesterday who said transgender people should be eradicated, eliminated, and that speaker was overwhelmingly cheered. This is where my former party is.

ACOSTA: You know, but one of the things that has to be pointed out, Joe, and I'm sure you picked up on this. Several of the speakers address some pretty small crowds. I mean, it looked like the venue should have been the Holiday Inn in Crystal City versus National Harbor. What does this say about the MAGA movement? Is it shrinking but yet still in control of the GOP?

WALSH: Yes. It's that odd contradiction, Jim, that the stronger and more MAGA the Republican Party becomes, the weaker it becomes in the country overall. This is Donald Trump's party, and it's the party of Trumpism. And right now if you put a gun to my head, Donald Trump will be the Republican Party nominee but, man, oh, man, right, the crazier that MAGA in this party gets the larger the opposition in the general country gets as well wanting to defeat what this party has become.

[16:10:08]

ACOSTA: And that just dovetails to the next question that I have for you, Joe, which is, I mean, if you look at all of the recent polls about the Republican field, and I -- this is, I mean, this has been somewhat surprising to me as well. Donald Trump is pretty far out in front. Ron DeSantis is becoming kind of a distant second. I mean, we are way, way too early to put a lot of stock in these polls, but it is a worrisome sign, I would think, if you are a Republican who doesn't want to see Donald Trump back in the White House or any American for that matter.

WALSH: Yes, Jim, because the most worrisome thing, and look, let's be real. All of these cowards in my former political party, and they're all cowards, all these Republican donors, Republican media people, Republican elected officials who want Trump gone but they don't have the courage to say that. Look, there's no other lane in this party. Right now Trump and DeSantis are the only two people who measure in

the polls, but Jim, as you and I have discussed, all of DeSantis' support it is Trump's supporters who just kind of maybe think DeSantis can win a general election, but they're all Trump supporters. So outside of Trump and DeSantis, there's no support for any non-Trumpy candidate, period.

ACOSTA: Yes. And, Joe, let's talk about Mike Pence's potential grand jury testimony over the 2020 election interference efforts, we will call that what happened on January 6th. Pence has consistently said he's going to fight the subpoena. Now Trump is saying he's going to essentially join Pence in these efforts. I mean he is saying he wants to block Pence from testifying on executive privilege grounds. It's a little odd but they are on the same team on this it seems.

WALSH: Well, Jim, that's a great point. But what's interesting is this. Outside of what Mike Pence did the evening of January 6th, and let's be clear, Mike Pence who I served with and I like is no hero. He did his job on January 6th. Outside of that moment, Mike Pence and Donald Trump have been really tied at the hip on all of this stuff. Mike Pence has fought tooth and nail to avoid having to talk about January 6th, to avoid having to appear in front of the January 6th Committee, to avoid having to -- to run away from subpoenas and all the rest.

Mike Pence was aware that this was not a stolen election before January 6th but he never said anything publicly. So, again, he's in this impossible position now where he's just forever linked to Trump.

ACOSTA: Yes. It's difficult to see how any of these other Republican contenders are going to take the nomination from Trump if they're not going to stand up to him.

Republican Congressman Joe Walsh, thanks so much for your time. Appreciate it. Good to see you.

WALSH: Thanks, Jim.

ACOSTA: Across Israel today thousands filled the streets for the ninth straight week protesting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to weaken the independence of Israel's courts through reforms that critics see as threatening democracy in that country.

Earlier this week Israeli police used stun grenades and water cannons on some demonstrators prompting a top opposition leader to urge police to, quote, "remember protesters aren't terrorists," end quote, and to let them demonstrate.

CNN's Hadas Gold is in Jerusalem and joins us by phone.

Hadas, have things settled down at this hour there? I know it's late.

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Well, the protesters are still out in the streets but they do seem to be dispersing. But these protests as you've noted have been going on for nine weeks now and it seems as though the momentum is only growing. These protesters are taking to the streets to protest the judicial overhaul that the Netanyahu government wants to undertake. Among those drastic of these measures would essentially allow the Israeli parliament to overturn Supreme Court decisions with a simple majority.

Police say that around 150,000 people were protesting in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, although organizers put that number at 200,000 and claimed that additional 177,000 people attended other demonstrations around the country. We've been seeing of course Israeli flags, signs saying we must resist, other signs saying from start-up nation to shutdown nation.

Now I think what's motivating more people potentially to be coming out this week is two reasons. One is that violence that we saw on Wednesday on demonstrations that took place that day. That was called the day of disruption. Protesters were purposely going out to major highways and intersections and streets to try to block traffic. And that's where we saw police use a much heavier hand than they've been using in the previous nine weeks.

[16:15:00]

The previous nine weeks police were very sort of hands off at these protests, but that changed on Wednesday. We saw mounted police, water cannons use, stun grenades. We know of at least 11 injuries including two hospitalizations and dozens of people were arrested.

I think the second reason that caused more people to come out in the streets was what happened last Sunday. Last Sunday two Israeli brothers were killed in the Palestinian town of Huwara, and then then a few hours later they were rampaged essentially by Israeli settlers. And we're seeing some signs -- some chants from those protesters saying to the police, where were you in Huwara?

I think that those two things together prompted more people to come out to the streets. And also the rhetoric from some of the far-right Israeli ministers including the minister of National Security who wants to take a stronger stance against protesters. He's called them anarchists. So definitely you can feel the shift in tone around these protests this week.

ACOSTA: All right. Hadas Gold, thank you very much. Thanks for keeping us on top of that. We appreciate it.

Still ahead, one month after a toxic train derailed, officials in East Palestine, Ohio, are still trying to reassure residents there that they are safe now by showing them something they depend on every day.

Plus new scrutiny on Republican Congressman Jim Jordan as investigation into the so-called government weaponization. We'll get reaction from Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia later on in the program.

And later, why residents are struggling to get to and from their homes after a massive snowstorm in California. That's coming up.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:20:37]

ACOSTA: Residents in East Palestine, Ohio, got the chance to take a closer look at how the town's water system is functioning after last month's toxic derailment. There was an open house at East Palestine's water treatment plant today. Employees answered questions from -- residents there worried about toxic chemicals leaking into the air and soil from the Norfolk Southern freight train derailment.

Polo Sandoval joins me now.

Polo, this comes one day after a survey revealed the most common complaint were physical complaints being reported after the derailment. What can you tell us?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim. This health assessment taking a closer look at about 170 members of the community that spoke to health professionals in the last few days and talked about the symptoms they've experienced. When you see the list, it's certainly easier to understand why here we are a month after the incident, and those frustrations have not really faded for many of the residents there.

Just take a look, about 74 percent of those roughly 170,000 residents reporting headaches, anxiety, coughing, irritation, pain, burning sensation on the skin. We've talked about that for the last couple of weeks. This was also documented by health officials here. So all of this data basically now going to be taken by Ohio's Department of Health. They'll be working with local, state and federal authorities to see if that derailment may have had anything to do with some of the symptoms that they're experiencing.

ACOSTA: And workers starting to remove tracks near the derailment site. What more do you know about that?

SANDOVAL: About 1900 feet of track, Jim, that has to actually be replaced. It's going to be a very long process. They literally have to remove the damaged tracks that you can see in some of these images here. They have to excavate all that soil that is potentially toxic. Obviously remove that and then replace it. Then lay down fresh track. That is a process that could, according to authorities, last until April 30th if not beyond.

So the next focus, Jim, as we send things back to you, will be farmers. The state's Department of Agriculture will be meeting farmers to hear their concerns, though they are also saying that they have no reason to believe the crops that are coming out of East Palestine could be unsafe.

ACOSTA: All right. Polo Sandoval, thank you very much for that.

A bipartisan group of federal lawmakers is crafting new legislation they say will help prevent future train disasters. We'll talk to Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, a co-sponsor of that bill, about how it would help keep people safer. That's coming up in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM so please stay tuned for that.

Still ahead, New York Congressman George Santos now under an ethics investigation. Will he bow to the new calls to resign? That's what we'll discuss next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:27:24]

ACOSTA: This week the House Ethics Committee announced it is formally officially moving forward with a probe to the truth-challenged Republican Congressman George Santos.

Here are some of the lines of inquiry thus far. Possible unlawful campaign activity in 2022, whether Santos disclosed required information on House filings, possible violation of conflict of interest laws, and a sexual misconduct allegation.

Joining us to talk about this is Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia of California.

Congressman, thanks for joining us. We appreciate it. What do you think? Could this investigation end with Santos leaving Congress?

REP. ROBERT GARCIA (D-CA): I mean, it has to. I mean, at the end of the day there's evidence that George Santos is a fraud, he's a liar. This investigation is important, the House Ethics Committee of course. But he's got to do the right things. I mean, it's not just the House Ethics Committee that's looking at investigating him. You have federal and local prosecutors investigating him.

You have the FEC looking into his challenges which is also why we have expulsion resolution in front of the Congress. And so I think it's all going to end with George Santos either being removed, resigning or losing his reelection to Congress. And so our suggestion is he should resign today.

ACOSTA: And apparently at CPAC this past week, former New York Congressman Lee Zeldin who's a Republican says if he were Santos, he would resign. As you know this is a sentiment shared by a majority of New York voters.

Here's a Sienna College poll showing just that. Yet all Santos' office will say is that he's cooperating with this investigation.

You know, Congressman Garcia, isn't is possible that Santos could just take a page from the Trump playbook, try to delay things, slow down the process, and drag this process out as long as possible?

GARCIA: Well, I think that's important -- that's why it's important for us and why we're keeping the fire so hot. And at the end of the day we don't know anything about this guy's real history. He has lied about almost every part of his story, of his narrative. It's clear he has broken a law, there is no question about it. I think that the House Ethics Committee steps are the right steps. But also his district is not exactly representative of the entire country.

I mean, he has a district that generally is a Democratic district, a lot of Democrats, a lot of folks and Republicans as well that are upset and tired of him. If you look at the polling, they want him gone. And so I think it's very -- it's one of those things that was actually bipartisanship within his district. They all want Santos either removed or to resign.

We are now up to 35 folks who've signed an expulsion resolution in the Congress to remove him from office. It's going to allow the House Ethics Committee in the process to play out.

[16:30:00]

But there is going to be a period of time where action is going to have to happen. I believe the House is going to have to remove George Santos if the Committee on Ethics don't make appropriate findings.

ACOSTA: Let me ask you about what's been taking place on the House Oversight Committee. You serve of the Oversight Committee.

What do you make of the Republican Chairman Jim Jordan's claim that dozens of whistleblowers are coming to him as part of his investigation in what he describes as, quote, "weaponization of the Justice Department?"

And what is your response to this investigation as to how are Democrats going to deal with this?

GARCIA: Whether it's the Oversight Committee or the Judiciary Committee, whether it's Jim Jordan or James Comer, It's all the same thing.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: Jim Jordan is Judiciary. You're right. I'm sorry.

(CROSSTALK)

GARCIA: Yes, but there's no difference. The reality is both committees are essentially peddling in conspiracy theories. It's the tinfoil-hat caucus of the Republican Party.

It's all about laptops and whistleblowers that don't exist, Hunter Biden every other day, conspiracies against the federal government.

The Republican Party isn't putting forward any ideas or ways to help the country.

As a member of the Oversight Committee, all of our committees are filled with witnesses that don't know what they're talking about, are peddling conspiracy theories, and the Republicans have no plan.

So it's been entertaining to watch but it's not getting anything done for the American people. We have real problems that neither Jim Jordan or James Comer have interest in solving. So we'll continue to fight. We're pushing back on the committee. We're making a good case as to why this Republican caucus has no interest in governing.

ACOSTA: Let me get your thoughts on President Biden's siding with some of the House Republicans on the D.C. crime bill.

I know a lot of House Democrats are not happy with the president's decision. What do you think? What it the right call?

GARCIA: Well, I voted - I voted against. I was one of the Democrats that supported what D.C. did.

So I disagree with the president. I understand his perspective. I happened to think, if you are fully for D.C. statehood and want an independent state and statehood, then you support D.C.'s laws and the way they govern.

Look, the reality is, on occasion, people are going to differ. Our parties don't agree all the time on the topic. I support D.C., the actions that they took in making laws and rules.

At the end of the day, this caucus overwhelmingly supports the president. We're all behind him. We understand we're going to disagree sometimes on some issues. But we're all working hard to support the agenda and get him reelected in two years.

ACOSTA: What about this issue of crime in the cities? It does appear that is why the president is deciding to go the way he is on the D.C. crime bill. Crime has been going up in Washington, D.C. It's been going up in a lot of cities across the country.

Do you think your party needs to do more to show that you're tough on crime? What do you think?

GARCIA: First, I served as mayor for eight years of Long Beach, California. I had a police force and an incredible group of folks that worked really hard.

Crime is an issue and we're always trying to get people to look at it in different ways. But crime is not just about policing. It's also about investing in communities, about making sure schools that are strong, park space, that we're tackling income inequality.

There are many ways to look and support and to fix issues around crime. And Democrats have put forward ideas, investments, reform around criminal justice, which Republicans have no interest in doing. So we'll continue to provide resources.

And as a reminder, President Biden and Democrats have supported programs like grants to police departments, opportunities to within the American Rescue Plan to actually increase police departments, many of which, by the way, Republicans have voted against.

We'll continue to support law enforcement when they're doing the right thing. We also need to understand that justice is important for all communities and that policing isn't going to solve all of our challenges.

ACOSTA: All right, Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia, of California, thank you very much for your time. We appreciate it.

GARCIA: Happy to be here. Thank you.

ACOSTA: All right, coming up, concern about the shortage of a drug used to treat people with breathing problems and why it's expected to get worse. That's next.

But first, the million-dollar question: How did HQ Trivia go from Internet obsession to total meltdown? The answer coming up in a new CNN film.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm working with these guys who started Vine and they want to do a trivia show on an app. To me, I don't have high hopes for it.

SCOTT ROGOWSKY, FORMER HOST, HQ TRIVIA LIVE: This is HQ. I'm Scott, the host.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The issue of trivia was everywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You could actually win real money.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just kept getting bigger. Bigger prizes, bigger celebrities.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People dressed as me for Halloween.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was doing the "Today" show, "Colbert."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had a Super Bowl commercial.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This company is going to make at least $100 billion.

[16:35:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It got so popular, and the app is not ready to work with too many people on it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Freeze it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Disconnection.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it crashed. That's when the cracks started showing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They started as co-founders but both competing to be the CEO.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you have a lack of trust between the two people running the company, it leads to chaos. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have HQ -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're in trouble.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will Facebook copy this? They did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was some jealousy. I was the face of the product we created.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am a god!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Working day and night really ruined Alex.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So what's the big deal? Big outro.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The end of this, someone lost their life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why don't we - why don't we grab lunch and someone can do this after lunch.

ANNOUNCER: "GLITCH, THE RISE AND FALL OF HQ TRIVIA," tomorrow at 9:00 on CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:40:07]

ACOSTA: Right now, hospitals across the country are dealing with what could be a dangerous shortage of Albuterol.

The prescription drug is a critical medication for breathing problems, especially in emergency rooms for children needing care for asthma and the respiratory virus, RSV.

Hospitals lost a major supplier of the drug last week when a manufacturing plant suddenly shut down.

Let's discuss what this means for patients out there with CNN medical analyst, Dr. Jonathan Reiner.

Dr. Reiner, great to see you.

Tell our viewers, in case they're not totally familiar with this, what does Albuterol do?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Jim, Albuterol is an old drug. It was licensed by the FDA for use in the United States in 1982. Its's what's called a bronchodilator. It activates a receptor in the airways that allowed the airways to dilate. It's the primary drug used for acute exacerbations of asthma.

And it comes in a couple different forms. It comes in inhalers that people can use at home. And it comes in a liquid form that is used in nebulizers when people are admitted to hospitals with serious asthma exacerbations.

A nebulizer essentially a device to convert a liquid drug into a vapor that can be easily absorbed by the lining of the airways.

The problem is that this drug, until recently, was manufactured by three companies in the United States. One of those companies was shut down basically for manufacturing issues.

As you said, Akorn Pharmaceuticals, that was manufacturing Albuterol, shut down their Illinois plant after they declared bankruptcy. That was the plant that manufactured this agent.

That leaves only one company in the United States to produce Albuterol.

There are 25 million people in this country with asthma. There are about a million and a half E.R. visits every year for this very common issue. It kills 4,000 people a year. Almost all those deaths are preventable.

This is a crucial drug. It sort of underscores the fragility of the U.S. generic drug pipeline.

ACOSTA: Can we get into a situation where there are shortages because people are trying to get as much of this Albuterol that they can get their hands on? Could that run us into a critical situation?

REINER: Well, the problem right now is not for individual patients and consumers because the drug that is manufactured in inhalers is still readily available.

The bigger problem is the liquid forms that hospitals need. And hospitals can and have hoarded these drugs. Hospital pharmacies are very resourceful now. Hospitals can create usable batches of this drug by compounding other forms of Albuterol.

And another manufacturer has stated that they will begin to manufacture Albuterol, but it takes months to ramp up production and get the necessary approvals for the FDA so it's going to be a while.

But, again, this underscores the fragility of our system.

We saw, in 2020, when Covid hit the United States, two big countries that provide generic drugs around the world and to the United States, China and India, they stopped exporting crucial, old, but necessary generic drugs around be the world and we saw shortages of all kinds of things.

This is going to continue until the U.S. really changes how we approach these drugs and we start to manufacture more in this country.

ACOSTA: All right. Dr. Jonathan Reiner, great to see you as always. Thanks so much.

REINER: My pleasure, Jim.

ACOSTA: Good to see you again.

Still ahead, residents in the mountains of southern California are frustrated after last week's snowstorm. Some are still trapped in their homes, if you can believe that. Some are still unable to return home after being stranded for days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[16:44:14]

ILANA VARGAS, UNABLE TO RETURN HOME BECAUSE OF SNOW: We have everything to save it. We don't need help from no one. We need access to get home. That's all we want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: In California, residents just want to get home after historic winter storm that has buried areas under several feet of snow.

States of emergency have been declared in several counties and the National Guard has been deployed. But there's only so much they can do at this point.

CNN's Camila Bernal joins us now.

Camila, great to see you.

Some of these towns in the San Bernardino mountains have seen more than nine feet of snow. I can't believe the words coming out of my mouth when I say that. It's just unbelievable.

What's the status now of getting help out there?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Look, officials even saying that they're dealing with walls of snow, that's how difficult it is.

But they're saying that they're doing everything they can, especially to clear the roads so that you can have people coming in and out of the mountain.

That is not the case right now. Even though today we have seen many, many crews - there's firefighters, a lot of people going to help.

But residents, they are not allowed up the mountain and that's what's concerning here, that there are people stuck there for days now.

And what they're telling them is they're going to have to be there for even more days, at least five or so, is what authorities are saying.

I talked to one woman today who was able to come down the mountain. She says she's trying to clean her home because there's so much snow on her roof that she's afraid that it's just going to collapse.

[16:50:05]

The problem is she tried to get down to get come equipment. She cannot go back up. So there is so much frustration. Here's what she told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VARGAS: Basically, we're trying to save our home. That's all we want to do. We want to get home. They should let us up there.

We actually bought a lot of groceries yesterday. Even our restaurant asked us for stuff. We have tons of food that had to go to waste because we had nowhere to store it.

They need food. Some ladies need diapers. Some people need medicine. Some people cannot get their insulin on time. The pharmacies are closed.

It's crazy up there. They're not letting us go up.

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BERNAL: And authorities even apologizing for how long this entire process is taking. But they're asking for patience because it is going to take a couple of days to get this all cleared up - Jim?

ACOSTA: Yes, you can't dig out of this mess overnight.

All right, Camila Bernal, thank you very much.

Lawyers for the convicted ex-South Carolina lawyer, Alex Murdaugh, say they will appeal the guilty verdict handed down Friday for the murders of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul.

CNN's Randi Kaye reports from Walterboro, South Carolina.

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JUDGE CLIFTON NEWMAN, SOUTH CAROLINA CIRCUIT COURT: I sentence you for the term of the rest of your natural life.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Alex Murdaugh today given two life sentences for the murder of his wife and son.

NEWMAN: I know you have to see Paul and Maggie during the nighttime when you're attempting to go to sleep. I'm sure they come and visit you.

ALEX MURDAUGH, SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR MURDERING HIS WIFE & SON: All day and every night.

KAYE: After more than a month in the courtroom, jurors took about three hours Thursday to convict Murdaugh of murder for his wife, Maggie, and 22-year-old son, Paul, who were found fatally shot on the family's property in June 2021.

A juror told ABC -

CRAIG MOYER, JUROR: I didn't see any true remorse. UNIDENTIFIED ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: How did you know he wasn't

crying?

MOYER: Because I saw his eyes. I was this close to him.

UNIDENTIFIED ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: So it took basically 45 minutes for you guys to come to a decision?

MOYER: Probably about 45, maybe an hour.

KAYE: Murdaugh, once a prominent lawyer in the area, took the stand last week in his own emotional defense.

(CRYING)

KAYE: Maintaining he found the bodies after returning from a brief visit to his mother that night, despite cell phone video placing him at the scene.

NEWMAN: Remind me of the expression you gave on the witness stand. Was it, "Oh, what tangled web we weave?" What did you mean by that.

MURDAUGH: I meant, when I lied, I continued to lie.

KAYE: The defense relied heavily on Murdaugh's opioid addiction to account for his deception and lies about his whereabouts, something the judge and jury didn't buy.

NEWMAN: They have concluded that you continued to lie and lied throughout your testimony. Not credible. Not believable.

KAYE: Despite all the circumstantial evidence against him, Murdaugh maintained he was not guilty.

MURDAUGH: I'm innocent. I would never under any circumstances hurt my wife, Maggie, and I would never under any circumstances hurt my son, Paul-Paul.

NEWMAN: And it might not have been you. It might have been the monster you become when you take 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 opioid pills.

KAYE: Still, Murdaugh's defense team says they wouldn't have done anything differently.

DICK HARPOOTLIAN, ALEX MURDAUGH'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: He's a liar and he's a thief and he admitted that. He's not a murderer.

We saw a relationship between Paul and Alex that - it's just inexplicable that he would execute his wife and son in that fashion.

CREIGHTON WATERS, LEAD PROSECUTOR: No one who thought they were close to this man knew who he really was. And, Your Honor, that's chilling.

KAYE (on camera): And when I interviewed Alex Murdaugh's defense lawyers, they say they plan to appeal. They told me they have about 10 days or so to do that. They're going to appeal on the grounds of all these alleged financial

crimes being included. They said they expected some of the financial crimes to go into the trial, but not as much.

They said this was not a trial of Bernie Madoff. This was a trial of Alex Murdaugh.

And of course, Alex Murdaugh will still go to trial for the 99 charges that he's facing in those financial crimes.

Randi Kaye, CNN, Walterboro, South Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Still ahead, we're live at CPAC. Is the conservative conference anywhere near as relevant as it once was? We'll talk about that coming up.

But first, here is this weekend's "OFF THE BEATEN PATH."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLAKE SUMMERS, PARK CITY YOGA ADVENTURES: Welcome to Midway, Utah, 30 minutes from Salt Lake City. We are here for a snowshoeing adventure, the destination of which unlike any other in the world.

We're going to end up in bathing suits down there at the Homestead Caldera, also known as the Utah Crater, for a paddleboard yoga session.

[16:55:02]

From the outside, it just looks like a big hill covered in snow. There's an entrance inside of this hill.

So you walk in, there's a hallway. The steam hits you in the face. And you're like, what is this in the middle of the winter, this warm space inside of a hill?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good balance.

SUMMERS: This paddleboard yoga experience, where else can you do it but hot springs in a cave. There's a big hole letting in natural light. The water is Caribbean blue. It is idyllic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Into the water.

CRAIG SIMONS, UTAH CRATER: Here at Utah Crater, you're welcome to enjoy the 95-degree geothermally heated mineral-rich water. We let people just soak and float and just relax.

We also have snorkeling equipment and also try scuba diving. They can take a class and go home fully certified.

The actual depth is 65 feet. So you can come out for a week and go skiing and, in the evenings, scuba dive. It's quite unique and quite different.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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