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Magnitude 5.1 Quake Adds To Concerns Over Tropical Storm Hilary Lashing Out In California; Evacuation Orders In Parts Of San Bernardino County; Trump Expected To Surrender To Fulton County Jail This Week; Mark Meadows Asks Federal Court To Throw Out State Charges; California Officials Give Update On Tropical Storm Hilary; Profile Of Scott McAfee, Judge In Trump Trial In Georgia; Interview With Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA). Aired 7-8p ET

Aired August 20, 2023 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:30]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

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

We begin this hour with a couple of breaking news stories from California. Magnitude 5.1 earthquake has shaken Southern California. The epicenter was in between Santa Barbara and Ventura, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Right now in the southwest the main concern, though, is Tropical Storm Hilary, which will cross into Southern California we're told by forecasters within the next couple of hours.

Some areas will see a year's worth of rain, according to those forecasters, in just a day or two. Flash flood warnings are up across the region. Deteriorating conditions are affecting the roads. We've been showing you this image. This tells the story for a big chunk of this area and the skies we should note at this hour. Hilary has contributed to more than 1,000 canceled flights at this point. 4,000 delays. But the worst is likely to come.

And this is what Hilary unleashed on Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. One person in this coastal town died when their vehicle was swept away. And weather forecasters are warning those on the path of this storm to be prepared for catastrophic and life-threatening floods. The warning that blankets much of Southern California today is this. Stay off the roads if you can. A small mudslide temporarily shut down a lane of the 14th Freeway just north of Los Angeles, and crews were able to quickly clear that away.

CNN's Stephanie Elam is in Palm Springs, California, for us where officials took the precaution of closing some roads hours ago.

Stephanie, what's the latest? How do things look where you are? It looks like a little flooding on that road behind you.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For sure. And this is what I can tell you, Jim, that they've declared a local emergency here in Palm Springs and this is part of the reason, because of these flooded out roads. We've been out here pretty much all day. And I can tell you we drove down this, it was fine, and then all of a sudden, after that first time I think I was on with you today, Jim, and it was really boring. This is what's happened.

And this road is completely flooded out. We've seen a few cars go through here. But, look, I have on -- I had to change shoes because my socks and boots were just so wet. I put on these old-school sandals here just so I could show that this is how deep it is. And you can't tell especially when it's raining how inundated the road is. We know at least one car has been stranded in this water. This is why they're telling people not to do that. Nonetheless we've seen cars coming out here to go flying through this.

But it can be very dangerous when you can't see how deep it is. This is part of the issue, washing out the road behind us where we've been standing. That's the road that will lead to Interstate 10. And it is flooded out down there as well. They knew that that was happening, and that's why they barricaded the road off so early. But all in all, they are seeing some issues here in Palm Springs, and the storm is not done.

There's still more rain, more wind coming through. The wind has died down now a bit from when I talked to you last time. But it's still very persistent right now. So you're seeing this whole idea of mudslides, of fast-moving water, all of that inundated through parts of Southern California. And we're definitely seeing it right here in Palm Springs.

ACOSTA: All right. Stephanie Elam, please stay safe. Give us the latest if anything comes up over the next hour. Really appreciate it. Thanks for all your hard work.

Let's go about an hour south to San Diego where officials are preemptively closing some roads, as well. Especially those roads that are prone to flooding.

CNN's Kyung Lah is there for us.

Kyung, the brunt of the storm is expected to hit San Diego any moment now. It looks like it's OK, it's just drizzling a bit it seems where you are. But that might lull some people into a false sense of security.

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and exactly that, Jim. That is the concern by city officials. What the mayor has said is that this city is not built for this type of weather. The city has had about three to four inches already, and the expectation is in these next few hours, that the city could see three to four times that much. That's why you're seeing things like this.

I want you to take a look. This entire road is completely closed off, and the reason why is because this area right behind me, this is really a bit of a concrete jungle in Mission Valley and if you're familiar with San Diego.

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And this is where a lot of the water, from the hills, from the deserts, all funnels down into these drains. And so the concern is that you have a river here, you have drainage, and that's where you can run into some flooding issues. So the concern from the city is whether the infrastructure can take it, especially in August when people aren't expecting it. And a lot of people aren't heeding some of the rules.

All these barriers that were put up, what we saw people were simply driving around them. And it wasn't just one car, it was one car after the other. That's why you are hearing city officials say stay home. The city park is closed, as well as its parks, as well as all of the beaches. The Navy has moved 10 ships out of San Diego Bay because the concern is that this tropical storm could damage some of those sea vessels.

So the schools, in fact, say because of all of this water that's coming into the city from this tropical storm, they're going to delay the start of school, which is supposed to be tomorrow a full day. So the preparation is in place, Jim. The concern is that people won't necessarily heed this advice, and that this infrastructure could fail. But as you point out, it is a lighter period of rain right now. But the city is stressing it is not out of the woods yet -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes. There's some heavy bands of rain coming into that area in the next several hours. Please stay safe. Kyung Lah, thanks for all your hard work as well. Really appreciate it.

Parts of San Bernardino County are under evacuation orders. That's just east of Los Angeles. CNN's Josh Campbell is there.

Josh, what's it like where you are?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the wind is picking up, the rain certainly picking up here as well, Jim. All of us here just got an alert on our phone from the National Weather Service, this part of San Bernardino now under a flash flood warning. The National Weather Service call this a very dangerous situation, telling residents here not to be out on the roadways unless you are evacuating, based on authorities telling you to do so or if you're in an area that has been flooded.

Now where we are here as we look over to the side, this is the base of the San Bernardino mountains. This whole area now is under a mandatory evacuation because of the sign over my shoulder here really says it all. This area, prone to mud and debris flows from recent burns. That is so key here as we walk over. We're going to walk very slowly because the wind is coming in rapid bursts here.

You can see behind me, some of these burn scars. This is what has fire department officials so concerned. In past years, this whole area was subjected to wildfire. What that means is that will significantly change the landscape here should water start rushing down the mountains, down to the lower areas. And so, you know, officials tell us they are certainly very concerned. I spoke not long ago with the battalion chief of the San Bernardino

Fire Department who told us that, look, residents if they get the evacuation order, it's not something that officials are sending out lightly. They are very concerned about people in this area. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE MCCLINTOCK, BATTALION CHIEF, SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: If we ask you to evacuate we don't take that lightly. We're asking you based on predictions and concerns, and we want you to get out sooner rather than later. The last thing we want you to do if we have significant rain is if you try to leave last minute and then be overtaken by floodwaters. You know, just 12 inches of water can whisk away your car from the roadway. So it is a concern. We don't take it lightly and we're asking you to do so, please do so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: And the San Bernardino Fire Department certainly on high alert. The battalion chief telling us there that their staffing has been increased around the area here, San Bernardino, the largest county in the nation geographically. Those firefighter, Jim, have about 20,000 square miles of the areas to cover. We're told that across that area from east L.A. over to the Nevada and Arizona borders, their officials are out and about there, on the alert just in case this situation turns into massive flooding.

Their people are out there, they're monitoring the weather models, and they're certainly trying to get in touch with the public as they can to warn the public of potential flooding. But we'll have to wait and see how this -- what happens. The rain here is certainly starting to pick up -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Josh Campbell, please stay safe. Thanks for all the hard work to you, as well, and your crew. Really appreciate it.

Let's go now to CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray. She is in the CNN Weather Center.

Jennifer, you know, as we are talking to those correspondents over the last several minutes, I think one of the recurring themes was that these rain bands are lightening up from time to time. And so you might talk to somebody in Palm Springs, you might talk to somebody in San Diego, and it looks like things are dissipating.

Is it dissipating overall for Tropical Storm Hilary, or might there be some heavier bands coming later on this evening that people need to be concerned about?

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS CERTIFIED METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I mean, it's definitely not over, Jim, you know, and this is something that people who live along the Gulf Coast and the East Coast are very used to with these bands. There'll have breaks and then it'll come back once again. But we are still seeing some moisture pulling up from Baja California, and that's all going to feed into Southern California in the coming hours.

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So while the heaviest rain may have wrapped up for now, we still have more that's going to come. This is still a 60-mile-per-hour storm. It is moving quickly to the north at about 23 miles per hour. We've had almost five inches of rain reported in San Diego County, San Bernardino County, almost four inches of rain, so really unbelievable rainfall totals across this corner of the world.

We're looking at flash flood warnings, all of these boxes shaded in red are flash flood warnings. So we've had rain rates at anywhere from half an inch to an inch an hour, which is really incredible because the terrain we've been talking about is so dry and it's not going to absorb that rain. It is going to just wash down the hillsides, the mountainsides, and on into those valleys and fill up those creeks and river beds incredibly fast.

And so it's very easy to get flash flooding across Southern California. But those flood watches extend all the way up to the Pacific northwest because the storm is going to shoot straight north during the overnight hours and into tomorrow morning. This is 11:00 a.m. tomorrow. And you can see already on the border of Oregon, so it's a fast mover for sure. We're going to see anywhere from two to four inches of rain widespread, too.

Some National Weather Services offices in Southern California were reporting potentially up to 10 inches of rain, Jim, before it's all said and done. So those rainfall totals are still stacking up.

ACOSTA: Yes. And we're going to see the reports of bad flooding and that sort of thing coming in, trickling in over the next 12 or so hours. And I suspect some of that video is going to be, and some of that damage is going to be pretty extensive.

And what about the earthquake, I mean, on top of everything else? They had a magnitude 5.1 earthquake in Southern California and it sounds as though people in the area did get those text alerts. And some, we talked to the mayor of Los Angeles not too long ago, they felt the quake in the Emergency Operation Center.

GRAY: Yes, they absolutely got those text messages, which is good. You know, if a tropical system wasn't enough, let's add an earthquake on top of it. 5.1 magnitude. It was about nine miles deep. It happened around 2:41 local time. The good news is there were no tsunami threats with this one, and it looks like there's not any widespread damage and no fatalities have been reported. But there have been at least a dozen aftershocks since. And this was very recent, and most of those were around 3.0, maybe a tad higher.

Like I mentioned, no tsunami threat and no damage reported yet, Jim, which is excellent news. But just one more thing to add to the day, right?

ACOSTA: Yes, busy day for the folks there in Southern California. Hope everybody is staying safe. Jennifer Gray, thank you very much.

Much more coverage of Tropical Storm Hilary coming up. Just ahead, in the meantime, the mayor of Long Beach, California, will join us to explain how they're doing where they are. Plus a new court filing connected to the Georgia election interference case. Why Donald Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows says his charges should be thrown out.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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ACOSTA: The state of Georgia is about to get a lot of global attention this week as former President Donald Trump prepares to surrender to the Fulton County Jail after being indicted for election interference along with 18 others. Friday is the deadline for them to turn themselves in. Now one co-defendant wants his case thrown out altogether. Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows is asking that he have all of his charges dismissed against him, arguing that his alleged action should be immune from state prosecution because he was acting in his capacity as a federal official at the time.

CNN's Isabel Rosales is live outside the Fulton County Jail where it's going to get very busy in a few days from now.

Isabel, do we know exactly when the former president is going to be showing up in Atlanta?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the days that we're looking at are Thursday or Friday. That is according to a senior law enforcement source, who is familiar with the knowledge of that surrender. And of course, Friday, as you mentioned, is the big day that marks the deadline for D.A. Fani Willis' command that these 19 defendants come and turn themselves in tomorrow. It has been a week since the indictment came down.

Now sources tell CNN that there is a lot of conversations happening here, communication between Trump's team and the DA's office specifically conversations that are going to continue into next week about the conditions to his appearance, and also the logistics of his surrender. We've been hearing from a lot of officials, including the Fulton County sheriff here that Trump and the co-defendants will be treated the same as everybody else.

But frankly, that's not possible just due to all of these security precautions that have to be taken here with transporting a former president of the United States. We know that the Secret Service has been here on site over the last couple of weeks, working out with the city of Atlanta and the Fulton County Sheriff's Office. The particulars of that surrender and also the arraignment. And it's likely, Jim, that that booking process for Trump and the co-defendants will move much more swiftly -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Isabel Rosales, thank you very much.

For some legal analysis, let's go straight to our next guest, former U.S. attorney Michael Moore.

Michael, great to see you. First, I want to ask you about Mark Meadows' request to get all these Georgia charges against him dismissed. What do you think of that?

MICHAEL MOORE, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Well, I'm glad to be with you this afternoon. There's nothing surprising in the filings that Meadows has made thus far. I mean, we expected that he was going to file to have the case transferred from the state court to federal court. And now he's simply asking the judge to dismiss the indictment against him at least, because of the supremacy clause of the Constitution. And that really is just sort of, in layman's terms, says that the states can't enact or enforce laws that deal with a federal official performing their duties.

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And so he's making that argument that he was doing as he was told in his role as the presidential chief of staff, making calls, making appointments, reaching out, doing those things he was directed to do. So the judge has set a hearing, I believe it was on August 28th, and we'll know more then. But these filings were expected I think by anyone who thought much about the case. And so we'll see what the judge does with it later.

ACOSTA: And you're there in Atlanta, you're a former U.S. attorney. You know, what do you make of this spectacle that we're going to see unfold in about I guess four or five days from now, when the former president is expected to surrender at the Fulton County Jail? We expect that to happen. I suppose we can't say there's a guarantee that's going to happen. And these other 18 co-defendants are supposed to be there as well.

How do you -- I mean, just as somebody who is in Atlanta, perhaps you can explain to the folks who are watching. What are we going to see here? How is this going to unfold?

MOORE: Yes, this is really unprecedented. And you know, I think it's a good lesson for everybody who says that all people will be treated the same in this case to just now recognizing that that's not how it's going to be. I mean, you cannot have a former president, a sitting president, a former president, any of them come into a situation where there's not been some extra security and things haven't sort of buttoned up and buttoned down to make sure that there's no problems as he's processed in.

So this is not going to be run-of-the-mill. This idea about well, we're going to treat him like everybody else. That's just not going to happen. You know that by looking at the pictures, the barricades surrounding the courthouse not that long ago. So basically, for Trump and for some of these other folks who are turning themselves in, I mean, it'd be a little different. But they'll come in and they'll have a pretty simple processing, that is get some biographical information, that type of thing, fingerprinting. They already know kind of how that was done for the New York case.

The questions up in the air whether or not there'll be a mugshot. And I think there are probably some folks who really want them --

ACOSTA: What do you think?

MOORE: Well, I mean, my guess is they won't do one.

ACOSTA: Oh, really?

MOORE: I think it's probably ill-advised. You just do a mugshot because you need to identify somebody. This guy is one of the most recognizable people in the world. And there's no question if he were to skip bail, run overseas that they can find him quickly. So that's the purpose of a mugshot. I mean, that's just what it boils down to. So to make some kind of statement out of it political or otherwise I think at this point doesn't make a lot of sense.

But I would hope they would just move him in and out fairly quickly. This is different than federal court. In federal court, you know, we saw the defendants move quickly to a judge and have them issue a bond set and all that kind of stuff and being advised of the charges against them. This is different. This will be a case where they are processed in and out of the jail. And then there will be an arraignment date set with the court.

At that time, they'll make their initial appearance in front of a judge who will advise him of the charges and that type of thing.

ACOSTA: And those proceedings may be on camera?

MOORE: There could be. There's no prohibition in state court. And there's a history actually in the Fulton Superior Court to have trials televised in some respects. And in certain instances they have done that in the past. So there certainly could be. And we've seen, even when you saw the indictment returned in front of Judge McBurney the other night, and there's plenty of media there.

You've seen the pictures and the clippings about that. The clips certainly of the indictment being handed out. So it wouldn't surprise me to see cameras in the courtroom. It's going to be up to the judge at that point. We've got a fairly new judge who will be hearing this case. It's been assigned to him and he'll have to make some decisions about what goes on in his courtroom. But there will be nothing like you have in the federal courts and the Supreme Court where cameras are prohibited.

ACOSTA: I'm imagining there's going to be a lot of buzzing around that courthouse in the weeks to come.

MOORE: Yes.

ACOSTA: Michael Moore, thank you very much for your time. We appreciate it.

MOORE: Glad to be with you, Jim. Thank you. ACOSTA: All right. Tropical Storm Hilary is heading right for Southern

California. They're already starting to feel some of the effects. California Governor Gavin Newsom is expected to give an update in minutes. We'll be staying on top of that and we'll bring that to you as it comes in.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:28:48]

ACOSTA: Following the latest on Tropical Storm Hilary as it slams into Southern California. We are awaiting a news conference from governor of California, Gavin Newsom. We're anticipating that to take place in just the next several minutes from now.

You're looking at a live picture there from L.A. You see the mayor of Los Angeles Karen Bass there as well. We're going to break into that as the governor starts speaking. So stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, a brand-new poll shows former President Donald Trump dominating his rivals for the 2024 Republican nomination. It's not even close. CBS polling shows Trump, look at this, 62 percent support among likely GOP voters. He has a whopping 46 percent -- point lead I should say over his next closest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. All of the other candidates in the race are just basically in the single digits at this point.

Joining us now to discuss CNN senior political analyst John Avlon and CNN political commentator and host of PBS "Firing Line" Margaret Hoover.

Guys, great to see you as always. Please don't be mad at me if we have to cut away to the governor in California. But let's just get right to it. That poll that we just showed our viewers, John, does that surprise you that he's that far out in front?

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And that these other candidates, maybe with the exception of Ron DeSantis, just not making that much of a dent at this point, could the debate change that?

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, it could. I'm not surprised because he's got the highest name ID by far, he's got a vise-like grip over the party and he has sucked up all the oxygen in his primary calendar to date, in part because of his profound legal problems, i.e. consequences for trying to overturn an election.

But once the debate start, candidates will have more of a chance to speak up and make the case for themselves. And remember, this is also a state by state race. So if a dent can be put in, in Trump in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, that could have a cascading effect, but it's a reason the debates matter so much, because to date, Trump has really been able to suck up the oxygen. ACOSTA: Margaret, what do you think?

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I think the national polls are interesting, they do demonstrate how strong Trump's grip is on the party, but this isn't a national race. This is a -- you know, there are 25 primaries that are relevant here. Most importantly, Iowa, the New Hampshire, South Carolina and the Super Tuesday states. So those are the numbers we should really be looking at.

Now, no surprise here, Trump is leading and most of those states, but you do see Chris Christie edging up on DeSantis becoming number two in New Hampshire. The debates will make a difference, and I think it is just important that we continue to think about Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and these early states. This is not a national race.

AVLON: And also, obviously, electability matters.

ACOSTA: All right, guys, I've got a break in here, the governor of California is speaking. Try to get back to us.

Stand by --

GOV. GAVIN NEWSON (D-CA): ... conference. I had the intention of doing what I've done for much of the day, and over the last few days, and that was to visit, to check in, to listen, to learn and to offer the support of the state.

I've had the privilege of doing that today from the border, down National City, I had the privilege of being there yesterday, the convoy, hundreds of National Guardsmen and women, 350 that were deployed to 11 counties throughout the region.

The opportunity to spend time with Mayor Bass' colleagues down in San Diego and elsewhere, talking about their efforts and moved our way up to meet with farmworkers that were just worried not about the weather, but about the fact that they didn't get a day of pay because they were asked not to work out in Marietta -Temecula area, meeting with outreach workers in Paris, California.

I just had the opportunity as well be with the sheriff in San Bernardino. I drove over here and watched three accidents on the freeway, quite literally one in front of us by about 30 yards, a pickup truck.

And so Mr. President, I appreciate your comments about commonsense, just do your best, be safe. If you don't have an essential reason to be out there don't, and you know, if you're passing the CHP, which I was with, maybe you want to slow down which was the incident that marked my consciousness here today.

But it's also a marked conscious in this respect, how proud I am of all the leaders that are assembled here today. You've got pros, you got folks that have reps.

We were just out here how many months ago with all of those rain bombs and atmospheric rivers. In December, January, February, March. You know, I think there's an old ancient curse that loosely is translated, so we live in interesting times.

Certainly interesting times of tornadoes, lightning strikes. I've got CalFire worried about wildfires because of the winds, not just the tornadoes.

Walked out of the OES, the Office of Emergency Services in San Bernardino, checked my phone and learn about an earthquake that originally came in at 6.0. It appears to be close to five, 5.1. There were over 13 aftershocks just in the drive over at the Ventura region. These are certainly interesting times that was punctuated by a call just an hour or so ago from Nevada.

The president unsurprisingly checking in comparing and contrasting the work we're doing here and the support, I want you to know how grateful the president is and I am for this local support you're providing the people of Hawaii, in Maui, and the hundred-plus personnel that we've sent over to Maui as well, complementing this extraordinary mutual aid system that is just best in class, does not exist at this scale anywhere else in the country, and I would argue around the globe and I don't say that lightly because people travel around the world to learn about this system of mutual aid.

Seven thousand five hundred people the state has pre deployed; 3,904 CHP, over 2,000 CalTran officials we just brought down you last few hours, some of our engineers from Northern California and Southern California that will do inspections around bridges so that we can more quickly open up and recover.

[19:35:10]

None of us. None of us, including the superintendent, and the comments he made, are naive about the nature of where we may be this time tomorrow. You know, this is not a permanent state. And so people are going to look forward to getting back and we have to make sure they get back, but they're safe. And so enormous amount of work that needs to be done in that respect as well.

Final point, while we have 7,500 personnel situated throughout Southern California, and we put forward that emergency declaration, localisms determinative and localism is not just local elected officials and those first responders, but its neighbors helping neighbors, checking in on seniors, checking in on the most vulnerable, and making sure those that are underserved and under resources, know what's going on, and know what to expect.

We're just walking into this. I left and I'll close.

I left from Palm Springs at city hall meeting with the mayor and others. I want to drop from the sky, coming from the sky soon, as we got up to San Bernardino, they reported flooding at that same site, and the most significant rainfall over a 60-minute period, anytime in the history of Palm Springs. That's how quickly the system is moving.

Take nothing for granted. If you think boy, the skies are clear and can go out on a long jog or walk, just be cautious. Wait till this time tomorrow night to consider that. And so let me again, thank you all for your consideration, the

privilege of the opportunity to share that. And again, deep gratitude, Madam Mayor, for your leadership, for staying ahead of this, for being as serious as you have been, intentional as you've been, people expect nothing less and we're very, very proud of the leadership here in LA County.

Thank you all very much.

ACOSTA: All right, and that was Governor Gavin Newsom there in California giving the latest on how they're dealing with Tropical Storm Hilary.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll have the latest on the storm as it is barreling into Southern California. It is going to be a long night for people on that part of the country. The governor there, other local officials urging residents not to take this too lightly. You might see some light bands of rains coming through and think that this storm is over with, that is not the case according to forecasters.

It's going to be a long night of a lot of heavy rain, and it's going to be very dangerous in certain parts depending on where you live, if you're in a flash flood prone area, to be very careful, that according to the local officials there and the governor who was just speaking a few moments ago.

We'll take a quick break. Be right back. Stay with us.

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[19:41:57]

ACOSTA: We are learning more about the Georgia judge who will preside over Donald Trump's racketeering trial in Fulton County.

CNN's Gary Tuchman has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is Scott McAfee, superior court judge in Fulton County, Georgia.

SCOTT MCAFEE, SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE, FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA: All right, welcome back, everybody.

TUCHMAN (voice over): Presiding over a recent murder case seen on courthouse video.

MCAFEE: And so to that end, I believe the state did prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there was -- that there was sufficient evidence to convict on each of the charges in this case.

TUCHMAN (voice over): Judge McAfee now randomly assigned to a dramatically different legal scenario. He's 34 years old and was appointed to a seat just six months ago by

Georgia's Republican Governor Brian Kemp to fill a vacancy. Before that he served as the State Inspector General, and both a state and federal prosecutor after graduating from the University of Georgia law school in 2013. Classmates and professional acquaintances say he is politically conservative.

Notably, McAfee was a state prosecutor in the complex trial division in Fulton County, which was led at the time by the woman who is now the Fulton County D.A., Fani Willis.

Esther Panitch is a democratic Georgia State Representative and a defense lawyers handled two cases where McAfee was the prosecutor.

ESTHER PANITCH, (D) GEORGIA STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: In the cases I had with him, he made reasonable decisions related to pleas or discovery requests and he was fair. Politics never came into it.

TUCHMAN (voice over): University of Georgia record show he was the treasurer of the Law Republicans, a group that serves libertarian members of the law school community and provide support for Republican political candidates.

He was also treasurer of the law school's Federalist Society, an influential conservative and libertarian organization in the US.

Just a few months ago, he presided over a case involving L. Lin Wood, an outspoken Trump supporting conspiracy touting lawyer.

L. LIN WOOD, LAWYER: I have political views. I believe our country has been taken over by communists.

TUCHMAN (voice over): This case though did not directly involve politics or Trump. It was a contempt case for allegedly making derogatory comments about his former legal associates.

MCAFEE: So that's where I am. Tell me why I'm wrong.

TUCHMAN (voice over): Judge McAfee held Wood in contempt and leveled fines against him.

Scott McAfee has only been on the Fulton County Superior Court bench for a few short months, but he is now dealing with a case that could be one for the ages.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Fears of flash flooding and mudslides in Southern California from Tropical Storm Hilary. Stay with CNN for live updates on the storm and what's happening on the ground.

Stay with us, you're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[19:49:06]

ACOSTA: We are continuing to follow Tropical Storm Hilary as it moves into Southern California. The area was also hit a short time ago by a magnitude 5.1 earthquake centered north of Los Angeles. We should also note at this hour, the LA Unified School District, the nation's second largest school district announcing just moments ago that classes are canceled for tomorrow. They're telling students please don't come to class, classes are canceled.

This, after the storm hit Mexico's Baja Peninsula and California declared a state of emergency over the arrival of its first tropical storm and 84 years.

Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee represents the area around Oakland near San Francisco. She's also running for the United States Senate.

Congresswoman, it sounds as though your area is going to be okay. It's going to miss most of the wrath of this storm, is that right?

[19:50:03]

REP. BARBARA LEE (D-CA): At this point, yes, but let me just say, Jim, you know, these climate events are devastating and they're unprecedented.

You look at in my area, it is prone, of course, to wildfires, as you know. But we have earthquakes, we have floods, we have these unprecedented tropical storms.

Right now we have to make sure all of us in California make sure that people are safe and the lives are saved, and I have to applaud our governor for declaring a state of emergency and our mayors, Mayor Bass, our supervisors, our city council; people, the first responders. FEMA is embedded in many of the teams that are making sure that people are safe and that lives are saved.

And so this is the time we have to pull together and make sure all of California focuses on the dangers before us and make sure that people are not impacted and that they follow the guidelines that had been put forth.

ACOSTA: Yes. California, no question about it has been dealing with a lot of climate change, weather related disasters in recent years and it just seems to be getting worse and worse.

I do want to ask you about politics, what's going to be taking place later on this week, former President Donald Trump who is now facing four criminal indictments. He is expected to report to the Fulton County Jail later on this week, either Thursday or Friday, according to what we're hearing from our sources, but a new CNN Poll of Polls, finds some 40 points ahead in the race for the Republican nomination.

I'm just wondering, are you surprised by that? And what do you think? Do you think the president should be speaking out a bit more about Trump's legal troubles? The president has been very quiet about that.

LEE: Well, the judicial process is working. No one is above the law, including Donald Trump and we will see how these court proceedings proceed.

I have to just say, you know, we have many tools at our disposal to hold Donald Trump and those responsible accountable. For example, I am the lead plaintiff in an NAACP lawsuit indicating and saying, as the basis of the lawsuit that no one is above the law. Donald Trump does not have immunity. And yes, we're suing for damages and we intend to make sure that this never happens again.

We filed our lawsuit before the January 6 Committee and they did a phenomenal job with Chairman Thompson leading that effort. And he initially was the lead plaintiff in our NAACP lawsuit, but excused himself and recused himself because of possible conflicts, which he did not need and want and wanted to make sure he had full rein of the January 6 Committee.

And so, we're working on a variety of legal strategies of civil and criminal to hold Donald Trump accountable. That's the issue that we all must really focus on, not whether or not the president or anyone is spoken out, but let the process work, and I'm sure that there will be justice.

ACOSTA: And I know you're running for that seat held right now by Senator Dianne Feinstein. And as you know, she has missed some important votes during her months' long absence from the Senate earlier this year, and she continues to face questions about her health.

This month, the senator was hospitalized after suffering a fall at her home. What is your sense of it right now? Do you think it would be helpful to the state of California to have her step down at this point and have the governor come in, appoint a successor? Or is it okay to wait, do you think until election time?

LEE: I don't think that's the issue for me. We have to all hope that she recovers and that she is in such -- in good health and can get back to work. No one benefits from her not being there.

But first priority is her health and making sure that she's okay. And that's what I have said in the past and I will continue to say that. And in fact, once again, no one benefits from her not being there, but we have to be concerned first and foremost, most about her health.

ACOSTA: Well, yes, and but you have this big storm coming through California right now. Would it be better for the state of California to have two United States senators who are able to put in a hundred percent day in and day out?

LEE: Look, it's all hands on deck when we have storms in California, when we have emergencies. We have emergency preparedness protocols established, House members, members of the Senate. I serve on the Appropriations Committee. I stand ready to do everything I can do personally in my capacity as a member of the House Appropriations Committee to make sure that lives are saved and that people do not -- are not negatively impacted by this tropical storm.

[19:55:11]

And so this is a moment where everyone is working together to make sure that we provide the mitigation efforts and the emergency preparedness and the funding to make sure that California is and its residents are okay after this devastating storm.

ACOSTA: All right, and we wish the best to everybody in California as the storm makes its way through the state and to the rest of the Southwest. Please, stay safe, everybody, if you're watching.

And Congresswoman Barbara Lee, thanks very much for your time. We appreciate it.

LEE: Thank you. My pleasure.

ACOSTA: All right, we'll be right back.

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ACOSTA: And recapping our top story: Tropical Storm Hilary is slamming into Southern California and will do so throughout the night.

Please stay safe. We are hearing in just the last couple of minutes that the San Diego School District has delayed the start of school. That's in addition to in LA, they have canceled classes for tomorrow. So we hope, everybody stays safe in California as this storm continues to make its way through that part of the country.

Coming up next, "The Whole Story" breaks down the details of the criminal indictment of Donald Trump in Georgia. I'm Jim Acosta.

See you next weekend. Have a good night.

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