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Pentagon Conducting Damage Assessment From Classified Documents; Trump/Pence Get Very Different Receptions At NRA Convention; Justice Thomas, Relatives Sold Property To Wealthy Donor; France Raising Retirement From 62 To 64; Thousands Of Acres Underwear In California; Deal Nears For Sale Of Washington Commanders; Twenty- One-Year-Old Airman Charged With Leaking Pentagon Secrets. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired April 15, 2023 - 17:00   ET

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

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[17:00:47]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

We begin this hour with new details in the case against 21-year-old Jack Teixeira. The air national guardsman is accused of leaking top secret Pentagon information and is now charged under the Espionage Act.

He worked in IT and had to have top secret clearances for access to the materials at the center of this controversy. Prosecutors say he first began posting some of the classified intelligence online back in December.

Since the arrest, President Biden has directed national security agency officials to take more steps to secure this very sensitive information.

And we start now with CNN's White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond. He joins us now over at the White House.

Jeremy, what more are we learning tonight?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well Jim, this investigation is continuing and the Pentagon is working to assess now the potential damage to U.S. national security. That's because we're talking about dozens of highly classified documents that were leaked online allegedly by this 21-year-old airman Jack Teixeira.

This intelligence spans the gamut really, we're talking about looks into how deep the U.S. has been able to get into the Russian ministry of defense as well as the Russian mercenary group, the Wagner Group.

We're also talking about what the U.S. does in terms of intelligence gathering, with key U.S. allies eavesdropping on allies like South Korea, Israel and Ukraine. And also now some new information about Taiwan and their vulnerability to a potential Chinese air attack. So now the Pentagon, in partnership with these intelligence agencies,

is working to assess what the potential damage could be to U.S. national security and also to those U.S. allies.

We did get a statement from President Biden yesterday about what he would like to see. And he says in this statement, quote, that "he commends the rapid action taken by law enforcement to investigate and respond to the recent dissemination of classified U.S. government documents. While we are still determining the validity of those documents, I have directed our military and intelligence community to take steps to further secure and limit distribution of sensitive information. And our national security team is closely coordinating with our partners and allies."

Now we do know that the Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has already been working to assess the potential access and security of classified information going forward. Reviewing some of the protocols about who has access to this information as one of the central questions here is really why Jack Teixeira had access to this information and whether other people like him should potentially not have access to it going forward.

Now, in terms of this damage assessment that the Pentagon is conducting, that is separate from the investigation being led by the Justice Department that led to these charges in the arrest of Jack Teixeira on Thursday. But that damage assessment could ultimately be used as evidence in a potential eventual trial, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Jeremy Diamond, thanks so much. We appreciate it.

So who is Jack Teixeira, the 21-year-old air national guardsman accused of posting top secret Pentagon information online?

CNN's Alex Marquardt takes a closer look.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Jim, Airman First Class Jack Teixeira is just 21 years old. He's been in the Air National Guard since enlisting back in 2019, and for the past two years has held a top secret security clearance.

Now according to the unsealed affidavit, he began violating the terms of that security clearance back in December, starting to post classified information as just paragraphs of text.

Then in January, he started posting photos of the classified documents on the social media site Discord, which is popular with video gamers. So these documents and we understand there are hundreds of them, they were online for months before they really came to light back on April 6th. That is the day that the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, he got his first briefing, and it was just one week before Teixeira was then arrested at his parents' house south of Boston.

So why did Teixeira have access to these documents with such a low military rank? Well he worked in the 102nd Intelligence Operations wing. That is a military unit that produces intelligence for senior military commanders all around the world. [17:04:51]

MARQUARDT: And Teixeira's job was called a cyber defense operations journeyman. Essentially that means he was IT support for this highly classified network that he worked on and you can't be a normal IT guy and service this network so he had to have a high level clearance.

Now, federal agents are certainly looking into what he accessed, how he accessed it. We know that they've looked on his computer already questions about whether he printed out these documents himself and how he got them out.

And there will be much bigger questions going forward about who can access what kind of intelligence in the military and intelligence community, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Alex Marquardt, thank you very much.

One of Donald Trump's top attorneys has recused himself from representing the former president, at least in the special counsel investigation into the classified documents that's been going on for months now.

Sources tell CNN that attorney Evan Corcoran is leaving that case after the special counsel forced him to testify without the shield of attorney-client privilege. Corcoran will continue to represent Trump in other matters, including the January 6th investigation.

Top Republicans are courting the Second Amendment crowd this weekend at the National Rifle Association convention in Indianapolis. Donald Trump is already offering campaign promises like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will ask Congress to send the bill to my desk to (INAUDIBLE) national concealed carry reciprocity.

One protection just like your driver's license or your marriage license your Second Amendment must apply across state lines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And Mike Pence, who has yet to formally declare himself as a 2024 candidate wasn't quietly -- excuse me -- quite as warmly received. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, hello, NRA. I love you, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Ok. And the former running mates were far from alone at this event. Other 2024 hopefuls -- Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu also showed up to woo NRA members.

A lot to talk about. Joining us now to talk about this is "Vanity Fair" special correspondent and "Fast Politics" podcast host Molly Jong-Fast and CNN contributor Doug Heye, a Republican strategist.

Molly, I mean, let's just start with what we just saw there a few moments ago. You know, you have Donald Trump at the NRA convention. You have Mike Pence at the NRA. All these other candidates, potential candidates at the NRA convention.

What about all of this talk that the NRA's influence was waning in the Republican Party on the national stage? Is it really waning if all of these candidates, potential candidates are there.

MOLLY JONG-FAST, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, VANITY FAIR: Well, they're not there for the NRA. They're there to show the base that they love guns, right. They're there because they know that with this Republican base, the goal is to sort of be the most pro gun. So that's why you have all of them there.

But I mean, certainly this gets to the larger problem that a lot of these Republicans have, which is they have a base that has gotten, you know, sort of high off this sickly sweetness that is this race to the farthest right.

And so now they're all trying to out-right wing each other and you are seeing the results of that.

ACOSTA: And Doug, I mean, I want to ask you about some of what Mike Pence had to say at the at the conference. But what about that -- that response that he got, that booing.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: I mean how do you run for president if you're getting that kind of reception at the NRA?

DOUG HEYE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it tells you that your lane is going to be a truth teller, and you know, you -- I think you were at the Gridiron dinner. I was there as well. And the boos that Mike Pence got had nothing to do with guns, had nothing to do with Second Amendment rights issues, or anything that goes on around that.

It was about January 6th, and it was about comments that he's made that has shown him to be not necessarily the loyal soldier to Donald Trump that Donald Trump always demands people be.

Donald Trump has loyalty that's a one way street and he doesn't give points. He only takes them away one at a time.

ACOSTA: Yes.

But Molly, it's hard to imagine how Mike Pence can win the Republican nomination if he's going to get that kind of reception, you know, wherever he goes, I mean, nearly everywhere he goes while courting that Trump base. It just doesn't seem like he can square that circle. JONG-FAST: Yes, it doesn't seem like that at all. And the polling is saying that same thing. I don't think there's a lane in the Republican Party which is still I mean this Republican primary is still really very Trumpy, right.

So I don't see the world in which there's a lane for someone who is sort of like Trump, but didn't do what Trump wanted the time Trump wanted him to. Like I just think it's a fantasy.

And I also think -- I just think like they're all fighting for this very small section of the base that they need to win the primary and I think that group has already soured on Mike Pence.

[17:09:58]

ACOSTA: And Pence did talk about how he wants (INAUDIBLE) to a federal death penalty for mass shooters. That made some news. Trump says blame mental illness, not guns.

I mean, days after what happened in Nashville and in Louisville, Republicans continue to deny that the United States has a gun problem, by and large.

HEYE: By and large --

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: That's what the party is doing.

HEYE: But if we saw what happened last year in Washington, we saw some gun legislation enacted in part and in big part because of Mitch McConnell. So we actually do need to act on this, and the reality is where Republicans and Democrats are far apart -- they're so far apart on this. It's very hard for the big things to happen.

So if we can be systematic and go after small things here and there on this issue, Tennessee is a perfect example of this. It's a Republican House, Republican senate, Republican governor, but we're seeing some progress in Tennessee on this.

We're actually seeing the former Republican governor, former Democratic governor writing op eds. They podcast together, they've talked specifically about guns. If anything is going to be able to get done in Tennessee, this is a huge lift. It's a huge lift anywhere. Whether you have one party control was tough in Michigan, or Democratic control with Gretchen Whitmer.

If anything's going to happen in Tennessee, it's going to be because Republican voters have told and donors specifically and importantly, have told their legislators it is time to act. We're tired of this.

ACOSTA: And Molly let's talk about the 2024 race when it comes to fundraising. Politico reporting that the Trump campaign says it has raised nearly $19 million in the first quarter of the year. It saw a spike after he got indicted. I mean, we've talked about this before. This is clearly helping him

with the base of the Republican Party. I mean, this may just be radioactive in the general election, you know if he's got indictments stacked on top of indictments, but it is I mean, we saw this after between the 2020 election and January 6th. He can raise a lot of money when his base is aggrieved.

JONG-FAST: Well, it's just like Marjorie Taylor Greene. Here's someone who most of America doesn't relate to, and finds an outlier at best. But she's someone who the base loves and gives tons of money to.

So I think that's a similar situation here with Trump. He got indicted and not, you know, healthy party would see this person as an unwinnable candidate. But you know, these voters decided that Trump was their way of striking back against the deep state that was holding him accountable for possibly, you know, you know, I mean, the man has been investigated endlessly, so I think that it has galvanized the base. It has raised him a ton of money. And they are just ready to go.

And the biggest loser of the Trump indictment was Ron DeSantis, which is really a sign of where the base is.

ACOSTA: And Doug, a super PAC aligned with Trump's presidential campaign, released a new ad. I'm sure you've seen this. Aimed at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over entitlements and his alleged eating habits.

Let's take a look at this if we have it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: DeSantis has his dirty fingers all over senior entitlements like cutting Medicare, slashing Social Security. Even raising --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: I guess this has to do with the story that said that DeSantis wants a pudding with his fingers. He has denied this, Doug. Can Trump really win voters, I guess, take votes away from Ron DeSantis by grossing them out? Is that -- is that what's going on?

HEYE: Well, the argument that he's making is the it's the substance that's gross, not the pudding, which is its own thing. And as a Seinfeld fan I think of eating the candy bars with a knife and fork.

I think Amy Klobuchar could have a good response here about using a comb or a shoehorn or what have you. But what we're seeing is they're starting to fight now.

DeSantis has a new ad right now, where he says that Donald Trump is the one who is soft on guns, not an argument. I think a lot of Republicans or certainly a lot of voters expect it.

ACOSTA: Molly your take on the pudding ad -- it leaves a bad aftertaste. What do you think? JONG-FAST: I mean, I think it's very smart ad and it's quite

disgusting but also makes the point. I mean, the question is --

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: It can be both at the same time, I guess.

JONG-FAST: Yes but running on protecting Medicare. I mean this is not what Republicans do. So I mean, you know, I don't know how he's thinking -- I mean. I don't know how he does this and how this works out for him because, like the central party of the-- central point of the Republican Party is fiscal conservancy -- pretending to be fiscally conservative.

ACOSTA: All right. Well and at the -- I mean, there's got to be a pudding eating vote out there somewhere. Is that a constituency? I don't know if they're going for that, but I think I might be staying away from that.

HEYE: I'm not touching that with a clean spoon.

ACOSTA: Yes, I was going to say I'm not going to be dipping my spoon into that anytime just for watching that ad.

All right. Doug Heye, Molly Jong-Fast, thanks so much, guys. Really appreciate it.

Just kidding. I do like pudding.

[17:14:56]

ACOSTA: The controversy surrounding Justice Clarence Thomas is deepening. A new report alleges he sold property to a billionaire donor and should have disclosed it.

Plus coming up next, talk about weather whiplash, a lake that was no more is now back to life. Take a look at this. A fresh look at the climate crisis later this hour.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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ACOSTA: There's new reporting concerning alleged financial connections between Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and billionaire Harlan Crow. According to ProPublica Crow's companies bought a string of properties belonging to Thomas and his relatives.

Quoting ProPublica's article here. The transaction marks the first known instance of money flowing from the Republican mega donor to the Supreme Court justice.

And Justin Elliott joins us now. He's one of the ProPublica reporters on this groundbreaking story.

Justin, great reporting as always on this. Thanks for doing this and being with us this evening.

[17:19:57]

ACOSTA: This comes after your organization blew the lid on tens of thousands of dollars in gifts and travel that Thomas allegedly accepted from Harlan Crow. We talked about that last week with one of your colleagues.

Exactly what was bought and sold, though, with this real estate transaction and what jumped out to you and your reporting, as you and your colleagues were putting this together as being especially concerning about it?

JUSTIN ELLIOTT, REPORTER, PROPUBLICA: Yes, well after our first story, which as you mentioned was about this businessman Harlan Crow providing Justice Thomas with a lot of luxury travel over many years. Both Justice Thomas and Crow released statements saying that they were friends and these were family trips.

Our latest story is about actually a business deal between Crow and Thomas around a decade ago, one of Crow's companies, purchased the house and two vacant lots that Justice Thomas owns with some of his relatives down in Savannah, Georgia where Justice Thomas grew up.

One of the sort of stranger aspects of this is that, the house that Crow bought is actually where Clarence Thomas's elderly mother lives. And after the purchase, there was around $35,000 of improvements made to that house, adding a carport and that sort of thing.

ACOSTA: And so money actually changed hands in the sale of these properties that you're talking about. Is this the first known instance of that happening between Harlan Crow and Clarence Thomas? How does that change things -- you know, if Thomas did not disclose it or disclosed it to the degree he should have, what are the rules on that sort of thing? Was he supposed to?

ELLIOTT: Absolutely there's a law that covers Supreme Court justices, along with many other government officials that says, you have to disclose real estate transactions like this. The idea behind that is it allows people in the public and in this case, folks who have cases at the Supreme Court to assess possible conflicts of interest.

Justice Thomas did not disclose this transaction. We talked to several ethics law experts who said that was just a clear violation of the law. And it also just adds to this picture of this extremely unusual relationship between Harlan Crow who's somebody that has been involved in funding efforts to sort of push the law and the judiciary in more conservative direction.

The relationship between Crow and the Supreme Court justice not only giving him gifts now, but actually buying real estate from him.

ACOSTA: And what are Crow and Thomas saying in response to this.

ELLIOTT: Yes. So Justice Thomas hasn't responded yet. We did what we always do. And you know, sent a very long list OF questions. Harlan Crow did release a statement saying that he purchased at least the house with plans to someday make a museum there about Justice Thomas's life.

He didn't respond to several of our other questions. Including why he would need to buy these vacant lots from Thomas in order to build a museum in the house there. The vacant lots are on the same block, but they're sort of down the street. So and also he didn't -- he didn't comment on whether he's charging Justice Thomas's mother rent or really give a full explanation for why you poured money into improvements on the house given that he's saying this was part of a project of historical preservation.

It sounds like we don't have all the answers yet and before ProPublica broke this news on the real estate transaction, you guys reported on several luxury trips that Thomas and his wife took with Crow, apparently at no expense to the Thomases. What are tax and ethics experts telling you about that? Are there, you know -- are there more details to emerge in all of that?

I guess you know, I know sometimes when you do reporting like this -- investigative reporting like this, there are other leads you want to chase? Might there be other trips, other kinds of travel that you're looking at that might have gone been going on between Clarence Thomas and Harlan Crow?

ELLIOTT: Yes, absolutely. We're still reporting and people with information should please get in touch. But actually our latest story about the real estate transaction you know, we only learned about that after publishing the first story. As you said, the first story outlined this, you know, multi-decade relationship where Justice Thomas has been going on Harlan Crow's private jet, on his very large super yacht on cruises around the world, and just as with the real estate transaction, justices are supposed to be disclosing gifts, especially when it comes to transportation like private jet travel.

Justice Thomas did not do that. He did release a statement in response to the first story saying that he had been told by a colleague that he didn't have to. We, you know, we followed up asking, you know who did he consult with? And what precisely did they tell him?

[17:24:58]

ELLIOTT: And we haven't gotten answers on that yet, but we're still actively reporting on all of this.

ACOSTA: And Justin, does the justice have anything to worry about from a legal standpoint? Is in any kind of legal jeopardy as it relates to all of this? Or is it just a matter of whether or not the senate wants to try to expel him -- impeach him that sort of thing.

ELLIOTT: Yes, it's a great question. I mean, the law we're talking about actually does say that there are potential civil or criminal penalties if you sort of knowingly falsified these disclosure forms.

One of the kind of larger issues here is that it doesn't appear that there's much -- much, if any enforcement of that at the Supreme Court or actually in the larger federal judiciary. It's all a bit of a black box what actually happens when these forms get submitted by a justice. Is anyone even reading them?

You know, in other parts of the federal government, there's a whole infrastructure of ethics lawyers that process these, give people advice, enforce the rules. The Supreme Court sort of -- our current understanding appears to be operating in a, you know, atmosphere of basically impunity with regard to this, but the Senate Judiciary Committee has said they're going to have a hearing. So you know we're following it closely.

ACOSTA: All right. Justin Elliott, great, great reporting over there. Tip of the cap to all of you guys at ProPublica. Thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it.

ELLIOTT: Thank you.

ACOSTA: All right. For weeks, hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Paris and other parts of France, angry about changes to the country's retirement rules.

Did the protests make any kind of a difference? That story is next here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[17:26:39]

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[17:30:56]

ACOSTA: There is a quiet calm across France tonight, one day after the country's highest court upheld a controversial new law that raises France's retirement age from 62 to 64. Nada Bashir has more from Paris.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, despite the fierce backlash this new legislation has received, President Emmanuel Macron wasted no time in signing it into law. This comes after weeks of deliberation by France's Constitutional Council and weeks of protests by union members and other demonstrators against the proposal by the government to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.

Now, of course, the Constitutional Council has given the green light to the core of this new legislation. They're striking down six minor measures included in the proposal. President Emmanuel Macron has now extended an invitation to union heads to meet with him at the Elysee next Tuesday. Though the head of one of France's largest unions has already rejected this invitation and is calling for more protests, particularly on May 1st, which is traditionally Labor Day here in France.

The head of the CGT Union calling for historic protests to take place against this new law. And of course, we have seen mass protests in Paris and across France, in fact, over the last 12 weeks. On Thursday, 380,000 people taking to the streets across the country, some 42,000 here in Paris alone.

And of course, while these protests have been largely peaceful, there were pockets of violence, some scuffles reported between the police and protesters. Police later having to use tear gas to disperse the crowds at the end of Thursday's process. And in fact, there were small demonstrations on Friday in response to the Constitutional Council's decision.

Now, this has been a deeply controversial and deeply unpopular legislation. It has drawn fierce backlash not only from protesters but also from opposition leaders, and President Emmanuel Macron himself has faced criticism over his decision to push this legislation through bypassing the lower house of parliament, where Macron's party crucially doesn't hold an outright majority and foregoing a final vote.

Many of the protesters that we have spoken to over the last week telling us they believe this undermines the fundamental principles of democracy here in France. While this bill is going ahead, it has had a significant impact on President Macron's popularity. And according to the unions, they expect to see further protests over the coming weeks.

Nada Bashir, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

ACOSTA: All right. Nada, thank you very much for that report. We'll be right back.

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[17:35:00]

ACOSTA: Dusty crop fields turned into waterfront property after relentless rains drench the once extinct Tulare Lake in California. But this weather whiplash could become more common, threatening the landscapes we live in and depend on for our survival. CNN's Bill Weir has the latest from California.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): In California's Central Valley, farmers have spent much less 20 years praying for rain. But then came this winter of relentless rivers in the sky, enough to bring a long dead lake back to life and drown over 150 square miles of farmland and counting. So, now, they pray for the water to stop.

WEIR (on camera): It is mind blowing to realize that if you'd stood here for the last couple of generations, you'd be watching the sunset over dusty fields of cotton or alfalfa or pistachio trees. And now, it is waterfront property. I had no idea Tulare Lake was once the biggest freshwater body west of the Mississippi, but it was dammed and dikes and drained to build a $2 billion agriculture industry. And now, it's back. It's proof that water never forgets. And this may just be the beginning because behind those clouds over there, the Sierra Nevada's are so packed with snow, 260 percent above normal. And sooner or later, that's going to melt, which is only going to make this flooding worse and last longer.

WEIR (voiceover): The last time it flooded this dramatically here was 1983, and it took two years to dry out.

WEIR (on camera): You were telling me about the effects in '83?

SIDONIO PALMERIN, COUNCIL MEMBER, CORCORAN, CALIFORNIA: Yes.

WEIR: The town hollowed out pretty much.

PALMERIN: Yes. I was on the school board at that time, in 1983, and we lost half our school population, about one-third of our city population. And a lot of the people that were field workers lost their homes, their cars.

WEIR (voice over): And this time, in addition to the dripping time bomb in the mountains, Corcoran is many feet lower in elevation after years of over pumping groundwater to grow thirstier crops made this one of the fastest sinking areas in the nation.

DANIEL L. SWAIN, CLIMATE SCIENTIST, UCLA: So, the ground has literally sunk in some places by 10 or 15 feet over the past decade. That has literally changed the topography of the historical lakebed. Some places are lower even than they were the last time there was a big flood event. So, there's quite a few unknowns.

[17:40:00]

WEIR (voiceover): That is UCLA scientist Daniel Swain. And last summer he published a paper that found weather whiplash will become only more extreme on an overheating planet. And worse case, Tulare Lake could grow into a vast inland sea.

SWAIN: That as disruptive and as damaging as this year's flooding has been, it's still nowhere near close to what we foresee as the plausible worst-case scenario.

DAVE ROBINSON, KINGS COUNTY SHERIFF: The levee that we're standing on is called the Corcoran Levee. It's a 14.5-mile levee that protects the city of Corcoran, the two state prisons, the residents here, there's about 22,000 residents and about 8,000 inmates. And so, the work behind us that you'll see over here, with the tractor work in the distance, they're actually building the levee up another four to five feet. And God-willing, that will protect the city of Corcoran.

WEIR (on camera): There's a race against the melt basically happening, right?

ROBINSON: That's exactly right. So, we've been fortunate with a very slow, mild spring so far, but we know the heat's coming. MARTINA SEALY, CORCORAN RESIDENT: All of the crops are completely flooded and ruined. So, that's -- it takes a lot of jobs from people. That's a lot of food that provide -- we provide for up and down California, and all around the nation. It's pretty scary.

WEIR: And, unfortunately, this is just the beginning, right, because --

SEALY: Very beginning.

WEIR: -- the big melt hasn't even really begun.

SEALY: Yes. This is just from the rain. The snow melts, there's nowhere for it to go besides here, you know.

WEIR: So, Tulare Lake is back for a while?

SEALY: Yes, it's back and it may take over and put us out.

WEIR: While I met some young families like that one who are thinking about leaving altogether, there are other folks, lifelong senior residents of Corcoran now frantically trying to figure out how to buy flood insurance in a town that would have been laughable for the last 20 years it's been so dry here. But you get just a little taste of why this disaster will cost at least $2 billion to the agriculture industry here in the Central Valley.

These were mostly cattle and dairy operations around here. As a result, a lot of this water is contaminated. And now, the state has to try to figure out it, can they get some of this into the aqueduct system? Can they store it? Is any of this recharging aquifers that have shrunk as all of this land has been tapped over the years? So many questions. And this is just the beginning of what the National Weather Service in Reno calls an ultra-marathon of snowmelt.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

ACOSTA: And there is Bill. We're in a much drier setting, Bill. Thanks so much. Extraordinary story about the lake. I want to talk to you about another unusual climate story, I guess similar in some ways, because of this rush of water that's caused devastating flooding in Fort Lauderdale.

Fort Lauderdale got hit with two feet of rain over the course of 24 hours on Wednesday, the airport was shutting down for a while there. I mean, the pictures are just extraordinary. What did you think when you saw those images?

WEIR: Well, it's a very similar phenomenon to what we saw out Tulare Lake, California, which is climate change is not bringing more precipitation in some total, it's bringing it to the extremes, either all at once or not at all. It's either floods or droughts, and that's what you're seeing in a warmer atmosphere that it holds so much moisture that it could just fire hose Fort Lauderdale an ancient hour for 24 hours is -- there's no storm water system in existence that can handle that sort of thing. And unfortunately, this is what scientists like Daniel Swain were predicting would happen.

ACOSTA: And it's a little different from what I've heard you talk about with what happens down in Miami Beach with the sea level rise issue that they deal with down there. And so, I take it from your report on Tulare Lake, in Fort Lauderdale, you know, it's not so much, you know, do we have enough water, is there not enough water, it's just unpredictability. Just that -- it's just the name of the game here?

WEIR: Totally.

ACOSTA: Yes.

WEIR: Exactly. And even thinking I was in Florida few weeks ago where there is on the on the Atlantic Coast, Vero Beach area, it's drought. There are golf courses that are turning around there as their ponds get more saltier, right, (INAUDIBLE) of operation.

ACOSTA: Yes.

WEIR: It is this idea we have to think, you know, I grew up -- we grew up in a world where, yes, there was -- once in a 50-year drought but then, it evened out, and things were predictable. And then, there was another one. Now, it's this sort of ping ponging between these extremes, and depending on where you are in one state, it can either be a record drought or a record flood happening.

And how we manage water around that long-term, I think is a new challenge for city planners, for agricultural industry, for all walks of life in various ways to think about these roller coaster rides that we seem to be on now permanently.

ACOSTA: Yes. We're on one. That's for sure. All right. Bill Weir, thanks so much. Great stuff. As always, we appreciate it.

WEIR: You bet. Thanks, Jim.

[17:45:00]

ACOSTA: Thank you.

A deal is apparently closed for the sale of the Washington Commanders football team. If you listen closely, that's everybody celebrating here in Washington. If it closes, it would set a new record and the controversial ownership by an embattled billionaire. You're live in "CNN Newsroom."

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ACOSTA: The tenure of one of the NFL's most controversial owners is about to end. Dan Snyder is nearing a deal to sell the Washington Commanders for a record breaking $6 billion. This comes after years of lawsuits, investigations and scandals involving Snyder, not to mention a terrible losing record.

[17:50:00] Christine Brennan is a CNN sports analysts and the former Washington football beat reporter at "The Washington Post." Christine, great to see you. You and I have been waiting a long time to talk about this story. And I have been seeing signs going up around D.C. that say, buy Dan. I saw local story about a brewery in Virginia selling buy Dan beer.

I mean, fans are ready for this change. But why is this so important outside of Washington, D.C.? Why is this so important for folks around the country?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST, FORMER WASHINGTON REDSKINS REPORTER, WASHINGTON POST AND SPORT COLUMNIST, USA TODAY: Well, you're right, Jim. You know, that -- I half expected a parade to go down Connecticut Avenue or Pennsylvania Avenue. You know, the old -- very important. It's statement by Gerald Ford after Richard Nixon's, you know, resignation, our long national nightmare is over. Certainly, for Washington sports fans, absolutely, it looks that way.

Why is it important? Well, Dan Snyder, as you said, has been embroiled in so many controversies. He bought the team in 1999. The last Super Bowl for the Washington team was 1991. And there was a time -- as you well know, as a young fan that from '82 to '91 when Washington was in four Super Bowls and won three of them. And so, just the notion of the losing, as you mentioned, and then, the scandals.

And we are talking about sexual harassment, we are talking about running women out of the office, young women whose careers were ended because of harassment. It has been a cesspool for several years, two investigations, not one, but two congressional inquiries. And it's just a national embarrassment, frankly, and it's time it's past time. And obviously, that's the larger significance of this moment.

ACOSTA: Yes. His ownership has been the shame of the nation's capital for generation. And thankfully, it's about to end. I mean, I remember growing up outside of Washington, D.C., going down to the Super Bowl parades on Constitution Avenue or wherever it was, I mean, I remember the glory days of pro football in Washington. But a lot of football fans in D.C. they don't know this because they're too young. You know, like my kids, they just -- they never experienced it.

How big of a lift is this going to be for the new owners? Apparently, it's going to be the owner of the Philadelphia 76ers along with some other folks.

BRENNAN: That's right. Josh Harris, Magic Johnson is involved. Now, what we know, of course, is that this doesn't happen overnight. And the reporting has been solid from the "Washington Post" and others about where this goes from here.

The next NFL meeting will be in May, a little bit more than a month from now, Jim. And the finance committee of the NFL has to look this deal over whenever it is finalized. And then, there has to be a three quarters vote, at least of the owners. So, 24 out of 32 owners. Word is that everyone is very excited to vote yes and get rid of Dan Snyder. And I think, you know, what we've seen here is just a master class and how not to be an owner. You know, obviously, everyone has their fans, they're fans of sports and have watched their teams in various sports around the country ebb and flow. And in Washington, as you know, from your fandom as a kid, Jack Kent Cooke, I covered him. He was an eccentric owner, but he knew to hire Joe Gibbs and to hire general manager Bobby Beathard and let them do their jobs and not meddle.

ACOSTA: That's right.

BRENNAN: And I think that's one of the huge mistakes that Dan Snyder that he didn't learn those lessons.

ACOSTA: Right. He ran this team like a kid runs a fantasy football team, you know, changing the coach, changing the quarterback every year. I mean, I can't even count how many quarterbacks that Washington has had over the last 20 years or so.

But, you know, the other thing that's fascinating about this, Christine, is that Snyder apparently blocked Amazon owner, Jeff Bezoz, from buying the team because he also owns the "Washington Post," which is written a lot of critical stories about Snyder over the years. This gets to the larger picture. Why does the NFL tolerate that sort of thing?

BRENNAN: It's very hard to get rid of an owner, that is one of the oldest of the old boy's clubs and, you know, they have to vote themselves out, as I said a few moments ago, right? You have to have a three quarters vote of your fellow owners who look around and say, hey, if you could do it to that guy, maybe you could do it to me. So, that's certainly part of the problem. The club itself is an issue, they have every right as owners. And you know, it is hard to get rid of an owner.

Jerry Richardson, the Carolina Panthers' owner, sold back in 2018 after sexual harassment of workplace allegations, really troubling. We have Donald Sterling, of course, with the NBA a few years ago. But it's really hard to get rid of an owner, and I think that's the answer to your question.

ACOSTA: Yes.

BRENNAN: One would have thought that this would have happened sooner, but it didn't. That's a shame for the NFL and for the Washington franchise. But obviously, if it does happen, it certainly will be a new day here in this town, at least during the fall, during football season.

ACOSTA: That's right. And Giants and Cowboys and Eagles fans, they're not going to be happy about what may be coming. I think Magic Johnson is going to be a great thing for the Washington football franchise, if they continue to go by the Commander's name. We won't get into that kind of speculation. There's a lot we could talk about. We can't clear out the rest of the show. But Christine Brennan, great to talk to you. Hail to the Commanders, if that's what we say, thanks so much. Appreciate the time. [17:55:00]

BRENNAN: To my pleasure. Thank you.

ACOSTA: All right. Good to see you. All right. Tomorrow night on "Searching for Mexico," Eva Longoria visits Nueva Leone, which borders her home State of Texas. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EVA LONGORIAM, HOST, "EVA LONGORIA: SEARCHING FOR MEXICO": Come and get it. Come and eat.

LONGORIAM (voiceover): Our crew has earned their lunch?

LONGORIAM (on camera): Oh my, God.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chorizo.

LONGORIAM: Chorizo.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): That is machacado, also venison.

LONGORIAM: OK. The last eggs with deer, deer sausage, deer meat.

LONGORIAM (voiceover): It's venison served five ways.

LONGORIAM (on camera): Frankie, I'm going to give you a little bit of everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

LONGORIAM: You guys need a tamale.

LONGORIAM (voiceover): Our British sound recorder, Nathan, has taken a break so he can try his first ever tamale. This is huge.

LONGORIAM (on camera) (through translator): You have to tell the gringos that they have to remove the leaf. You have to take the leaf off. She's going to drop this on my head.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't film me.

LONGORIAM: Nathan ate the lead. He's not supposed to eat the leaf.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: "Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico" airs tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

New details tonight tied to the fallout of the historic classified intel legal. What was in those documents? What more are we learning about the 21-year-old who leaked them? That's all coming up next. We're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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