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CNN This Morning

Five Pages of Classified Material Discovered at Biden's Home; Interview with Retired Ambassador and Former White House Ethics Czar Norm Eisen; Debt ceiling debate to test GOP-lead House; VA School Installs Metal Detectors After Shooting; Interview with National School Safety and Security Services President Kenneth Trump; Jared Jeffries Wins on the "Price is Right"; California Braces For More Heavy Rainfall, Potential Flooding; Biden Approves Disaster Declaration For Alabama After Tornadoes; At Least 20 Dead As Russian Missiles Strike Apartment Block; Yeti Airlines Crash Kills At Least 64 In Nepal. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired January 15, 2023 - 07:00   ET

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

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[07:00:52]

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to CNN This Morning. I'm Amara Walker.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And Boris Sanchez. President Biden signing a disaster declaration for California as storm after storm rips through this state causing flash flooding and mudslides. And it's not over yet, we're tracking another round of heavy rain that's moving in.

WALKER: Also, the death toll continues to climb into Dnipro after Ukrainian officials say a Russian missile struck an apartment building. We're going to go live to Ukraine this morning.

SANCHEZ: And we're following a developing story out of Nepal where a passenger jet has crashed shortly after takeoff. We'll break down what we know about the accident and the ongoing response.

WALKER: And days from hitting the debt ceiling, President Biden and the new Republican-led House could soon be sparring as the country inches closer to defaulting on its debt. How Kevin McCarthy's concessions to become speaker could complicate talks.

SANCHEZ: We are so grateful to have you this Sunday, January 15th. It is a new week. Great to be with you, Amara.

WALKER: I love your energy. You might pick me up. Good to be with you as well, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Got to be energized with these early mornings. Just got to bring it. Hey, it has been a rough few weeks for the West Coast when it comes to rain. And even today, some 8 million people are under flood watches in California as a so-called Atmospheric River continues to dump huge amounts of water on the state. WALKER: At least 19 people have been killed in recent weeks due to these historic floods and the risk is much higher now because the ground is so saturated, just too soaked to absorb any more water in many areas. Now the California Governor Gavin Newsom is urging residents to be aware of these dangerous conditions as emergency crews have rescued dozens of people from the fast-moving waters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D), CALIFORNIA: By some estimates, 20 to 25 trillion gallons of water have fallen over the course last 16, 17-day. The reality is this is just the eighth of what we anticipate will be nine atmospheric rivers. We're not done. And I just pray on all of us to maintain our vigilance, our common sense over the course of the next 24 to 48 hours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: As you saw in some of that aerial footage, the severe weather has caused some roadways to collapse with streets and highways blocked off because of flooding and mudslides. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared a city-wide state of emergency with a call to seek higher ground as so many folks have been caught off guard with very little time to prepare.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZACK RONKIN, HOME FLOODED: I woke up, everything was fine. And within a matter of minutes, it just started flooding. And my girls started screaming, there was water coming in the house. I got up and ran the look and next thing I know the creek on Wallegra (ph) is flooding into my backyard. And my my whole house just had water running through it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN's Natasha Chen is in Fairfax, California and she has the very latest.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Amara and Boris, so we've seen a lot of urban flooding around with signs telling drivers to please slow down and be careful when there is flooding around. And there was a mudslide here in Fairfax on Friday morning that -- where multiple trees crashed into the back of an apartment complex causing 19 people and all of their pets having to evacuate, and thankfully everyone was OK.

But we've also seen evacuation orders from Santa Cruz County, from Santa Clara County, places that are prone to flooding. Now we talked to one of the residents that had to evacuate his home here in Fairfax. He describes the moment that mudslide happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK FLEISCHER, APARTMENT RESIDENT: I thought I heard thunder. It was not thunder. It was a hillside giving away behind the two flats behind us. [07:05:08]

Trees went into their bathrooms. There were little kids there. There's fortunately a lady across the street is a EMT, fire person in San Francisco. We had no idea what was happening until I came outside. And there were floods. This is nothing. It was coming down this broad and about this deep, all mud flow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: Fleischer told me he's lived here since the 1980s and he's never seen anything like that. Thankfully, everyone there was OK. But there are a lot of warnings city officials are giving because of dangers like that. And like this road, what we're seeing in Pescadero, Cal Fire shared pictures of this when part of a road collapsed and fell off on a -- fell off of a cliff.

There is a lot of saturation in the ground and in rivers because of the storm after storm that we've seen over the last couple of weeks. So even if there isn't as much rain this weekend, as Californians have been seeing, it's not going to take much for that flooding and those mudslide risks to happen.

And so at one point on Saturday, there are more than 30,000 customers out of power. More than 25 million people under a flood watch. Amara and Boris, back to you.

WALKER: Natasha Chen there just north of San Francisco. So one area experiencing some pretty dangerous flooding is Santa Cruz County, California, just south, about an hour south of San Francisco. That is where thousands of people are without power this morning.

Here with me now is the county's Director for the Office of Response Recovery and Resilience, David Reid. David, good morning to you. Thank you so much for joining us this morning. Please update us on where things stand this morning and which areas you're most concerned about?

DAVID REID, DIR. OFFICE OF RESPONSE, RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE IN SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: Well, we're really concerned from our coastline up through our mountains and low-lying areas. In fact, our entire counties continued to be impacted by these series of storms. We're getting flooding in our coastal streams, creeks and rivers in our South County rivers. And we're getting expensive landslides and mudslides and road failures in a mountainous areas.

WALKER: Yes, you know, this several rounds of rain or this atmospheric river has really impacted Santa Cruz. I know the San Lorenzo River runs through there. And, of course, the areas in and around the river, I mean, they've flooded significantly. People have had to leave their homes. And we heard Governor Newsom say that it's not over yet, it's not done. So, what is your advice to people, especially in these vulnerable areas?

REID: You know, there is definitely a fatigue that happens with the continued storms, folks begin to fear that what we're telling them isn't true. But we have real real concerns. The Pajaro (ph) River in the south part of our county is going to rise and crest either later today or early tomorrow morning.

And that levee system is over 75 years old. So we want to make sure that people are safe. And we want them to listen when we tell them that they need to get out because it's a serious concern.

WALKER: Can you tell us just about the situation in terms of the soil and the ground because California has been in a severe drought for quite some time and how, you know, the land reacts when it gets this much rain in this period of time?

REID: Yes. Here in Santa Cruz County, we've had some parts of our county get over 34 inches of rain since the 26th of December. And when you receive that much rain in such a short period of time, the soils as you acknowledged are saturated.

And the flooding is exacerbated and much quicker to happen with even less rain than you would be accustomed to. So, we're seeing slope failures and road failures because of the saturation but we're also seeing the rivers reacting much more rapidly and dramatically to relatively modest amounts of rain.

WALKER: What kind of calls are you getting? Is it a lot related to the flooding, are people being trapped in their homes? Are they dealing with mudslides?

REID: I think all of the above, unfortunately. You know, we've got a lot of people in our mountain regions where power lines have been severed from falling redwood trees or majestic redwood trees are not accustomed to this much rain and then with a relatively light wind. They, unfortunately, get blown over, cutting people off from power as well as their homes.

So we've been working nonstop for the last two weeks. Our road crews and our utility companies have been working nonstop to try and restore power as quickly as possible when safe to do so. Get those trees out the way and clear roads with folks.

[07:10:02]

WALKER: We've got a huge task in front of you. We hope that this last round will be done quickly and you will be able to recover. David Reid, thank you very much.

REID: Thank you.

WALKER: So the threat of severe weather in California continues with more rain as you heard in the forecast throughout the day.

WALKER: Yes, let's get a look at that forecast. CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking it all for us in the CNN Weather Center. Allison, I'd never heard of an atmospheric river before. But at this point, I don't think the folks in California are ever going to forget what it is.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No, because it's been one after another, after another pretty much for almost three weeks straight, just dealing with back-to-back systems. And we're still dealing with one. You've got one of them that's wrapping up. It began Saturday wrapping up this morning, before another atmospheric river event pushes in later on this afternoon and continues into Monday.

You can see right now you've still got some rain showers pretty much spread out across the entire state of California. But you also have rain and snow for other states too, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. So really much of the West is continuing to see some moisture pushing in.

We've got this system up here off towards the Pacific Northwest. And then this right here, that you see that cloud cover over the open ocean, that's going to be the secondary system that makes its way in during the second half of the day today. Because you have more rain on the way, you still have flood watches in effect for San Francisco, San Jose, down through Monterey.

It's a combination of the rain that's expected today. And then also, the fact that the ground is completely saturated. Here you can see again, that next wave continuing to slide in as we go through the rest of the day. The good news is, guys, we will finally get a break by the end of this week.

SANCHEZ: Those folks in California are looking forward to that relief. Allison Chinchar from the CNN Weather Center. Thanks so much.

Pivoting to politics this morning, President Biden has approved a major disaster declaration for Alabama following the deadly storms that killed seven people in the state on Thursday. Cleanup efforts are still ongoing in Selma, Alabama, where a tornado tore through the city known for its role in the civil rights movement.

That even stronger tornado hit neighboring Otago County where at least 20 homes were either damaged or destroyed. The newly released disaster funding will go towards grants for temporary housing, home repairs and other programs to help folks recover.

WALKER: A young girl in Ukraine was spotted cleaning up the rubble after a Russian strike destroyed an apartment block and left at least 20 people dead. Dozens of people missing in the city of Dnipro.

SANCHEZ: New video shows crews standing atop the rubble pile still searching for survivors. At least 73 people were injured and four of them were hurt critically, according to local officials.

WALKER: CNN Correspondent Scott McLean in Kyiv this morning. Hi there, Scott. What more can you tell us about this attack?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Boris, Amara, just look at the video, it is difficult to envision how anyone could have possibly survived something like this. There were 300 or so apartments inside of this building and they say that more than 70 of them don't exist today. They were literally completely obliterated.

Obviously, the rest of the building was also quite heavily damaged. The death toll continues to rise, as does miraculously the number of people who have been rescued. This rescue effort has really been an around the clock effort, all the way through the night. We're talking about hundreds of people and immense amount of equipment all trying to find.

Potentially, dozens of people who may be trapped under the rubble, not clear whether they may be dead or alive. But I want to show you one piece of video which really stood out to me. This is when rescue workers discovered that there was a woman trapped under the rubble and obviously, they asked everyone to be quiet. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): One more time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Hey lady, do it one more time. Hey lady, give us a shout one more time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: So just think this was a very busy site, a hub of activity. And at that moment, you could really hear a pin drop. And what's especially incredible is that this woman, they first heard her voice around 1:00 in the morning. It wasn't until 11:30 this morning that they were actually able to successfully pull her out.

So these are extremely delicate operations to try to get people out without crashing them further. So they're hoping obviously to find more people. Yesterday was an especially tough day for Ukraine. There were more than 30 missiles across the country. About a third of them landed, the rest of them were shot down and the target it seems was energy infrastructure will -- which will only make the power cuts here even worse.

[07:15:00]

The Russians just put out a statement saying that their mission was successful and that the targets that they were aiming for were all successfully hit. They mentioned nothing, though, Boris and Amara about this apartment block in Dnipro.

WALKER: Extraordinary, though, to hear at least that woman made it out after 10 hours of being buried in that rubble. Incredible images. Scott McLean, thank you very much.

We are following a developing story out of Nepal. A passenger jet has crashed just minutes after it took off. 70 people were on board that plane, at least 68 so far had been reported dead.

SANCHEZ: And CNN's Kristie Lu stout has been following this story from Hong Kong.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris and Amara, just imagine the agony of family members just waiting for news. A Yeti Airlines jetliner crashed on Sunday in Pokhara, Nepal. According to the airline, there were 72 people on board in ATR 72 plane, including four crew members and 68 passengers. 57 Nepalese citizens were on board as well as 15 for nationals, including five passengers from India, four from Russia, two from South Korea. Also on board, one Australian, one Irish national, one Argentinian and one French citizen.

A spokesman for the Nepal Civil Aviation Authority says risky operations are on. Now, according to The Rising Nepal, it's a state- run newspaper, the plane had flown for Pokhara from Katmandu at 10:33 a.m. local time on Sunday and it crashed in the city River Gorge.

On Sunday, the Prime Minister of Nepal took to Twitter to address the tragedy. He said this, quote, "I am deeply saddened by the sad and tragic accident of the Yeti Airlines ANC ATR 72, which is flying from Kathmandu to Pokhara with passengers. I sincerely appeal to the security personnel, all agencies of the Nepal government and the general public to start an effective rescue."

Now, the spokesman for Nepal Civil Aviation Authority says that the weather was clear at the time of the accident. Pokhara, we know, is some 80 miles west of Kathmandu. Of course, that's the capital of Nepal. Nepal is home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including Everest and sadly has a record of air accidents.

In the wake of the latest accident, search and rescue is underway and so too, the agonizing wait for answers. Back to you.

SANCHEZ: Will, of course, keep you updated with the very latest on that story. Kristie Lu Stout, thanks so much for that report.

There are new details in the case of those classified documents found in President Biden's home and former office as his attorneys explain why they haven't been completely forthcoming with any information.

WALKER: Plus, the White House in Congress are headed for a showdown over the debt ceiling as the U.S. inches closer to defaulting on its debt. How Kevin McCarthy's recent fight to become speaker could complicate negotiations.

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[07:22:00]

SANCHEZ: Focusing on politics now, more documents and more questions. The Biden administration says that aides found five additional pages of classified material at the President's home in Delaware. They were discovered on Thursday, the same day a special counsel was appointed to take over the Biden documents investigation.

WALKER: CNN White House Correspondent Arlette Saenz joining us now live from Atlanta where the President will be speaking later this morning. Arlette, good morning. What more do we know? What is the White House saying about this latest discovery of more classified documents?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Amara and Boris. There had been so many twists and turns in this saga involving these classified documents. And the latest came as the White House said that there were actually more classified materials found at President Biden's home in Wilmington, Delaware than was initially stated.

It just marks the most recent shifting explanations that we've heard from this White House since the news of this, these classified documents first broke on Monday. Now, overall, it appears that there are approximately 20 documents that had fairings of classified markings on them and between both the residents in Wilmington, Delaware and that private office that Biden used in Washington, D.C. when he left the vice presidency.

Now initially, the White House has said that personal lawyers who were searching the Delaware home on Wednesday found one document consisting of one page with classified markings. That was then turned over to -- or they were going to turn that over to the Justice Department.

But yesterday, the White House clarified that when the White House Counsel went to facilitate the transfer of that documents, they actually found five more pages with classified markings. Those are now in the hands of the Justice Department.

Now this comes as the White House has faced to scrutinizing questions over their handling of this situation and how much they have information they have revealed. First, when it was reported that documents were found at that private office. They did not include that there were also documents at that Wilmington residence.

And now more thorough explanations about what exactly was at President Biden's home. Now, the President's personal lawyer, Bob Bauer, has defended their work in this matter saying that they can't release all the information due to the investigation at hand.

He said in a statement yesterday, quote, "The President's Personal attorneys have attempted to balance the importance of public transparency where appropriate, with the established norms and limitations necessary to protect the investigation's integrity."

But bottom line, this just adds to the political headache that this White House has been facing since the revelation of these documents first came to light on Monday. And now, of course, they are facing that special counsel investigation as well.

SANCHEZ: And Arlette, in just a few hours, President Biden is going to be heading to the Peach State to give a sermon at a very important church in Atlanta. Tell us about that.

SAENZ: Yes, Boris, in just a few hours, President Biden will be speaking right behind me here at Ebenezer Baptist Church. This was the church where Dr. Martin Luther King was the pastor at the time of his assassination.

[07:25:09]

And officials at the White House say that President Biden wants to talk about Dr. King's legacy and civil rights record, as well as talk about voting rights. But while this is a official trip, you can't ignore the political undertones. President Biden, of course, is weighing whether he will seek re-election in 2024.

Georgia was a critical state to helping him win back in 2020. But this trip is also an example of the fact that the White House is trying to keep up with business as usual, even as the conversation has been so dominated by these classified documents issues.

SANCHEZ: Arlette Saenz reporting live from Atlanta. Thank you so much, Arlette.

For more on the Biden documents controversy, let's bring in CNN Legal Analyst Norm Eisen. Also, we should note, a former ambassador as well. Ambassador Eisen, thanks so much for sharing part of your Sunday morning with us.

Look, some of the key questions in this story have to do with timing. That first batch of documents that were classified materials were discovered in early November at an office here in D.C. It was then six weeks before investigators found the second batch at the President's home in Delaware. Do you think they would have scoured every box belonging to Biden immediately after that first batch was found in November? No?

AMBASSADOR NORM EISEN (RET.), CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Boris, you would think that, but having sat in the White House Counsel's Office and having handled white collar criminal investigations for three decades, I can tell you that the timetable can be a little more complex. We know, for example, that the President's personal attorneys make contact with the DOJ, there's a conversation with the DOJ.

We're talking about classified documents, so you have to establish a protocol to review those. You've got to find the personnel to do it. So, from the inside, it's often a little more complicated than it may look to the rest of us.

SANCHEZ: A fair point. Norm, timing is also important, because it seems like it took a while for the public to find out about this. Like the White House may not have had, perhaps a legal obligation to tell the public, but for the sake of transparency, if there was no wrongdoing, couldn't they have put this out sooner?

EISEN: It's a fair critique, Boris. But again, to just offer the perspective how it looks from the inside, when you have an investigation of this kind, you need to be sensitive, as the President's personal lawyer Bob Bauer said yesterday, to the needs of transparency on the one hand, but to preserve the integrity of the investigation on the other.

So, for example, if the Department of Justice is interviewing witnesses, you may not want to make public statements that tip one way or the other, that you could be accused of attempting to influence those witnesses. So, while in this case, hindsight really is 2020. And some of the criticism is fair. The complexities from the inside when you're dealing with this are substantial. SANCHEZ: I also wanted to get your perspective on an attack that I got from a right-wing partisan on social media. I asked one of our guest Saturday morning about the differences between the Trump classified documents case and this one. And they argued that because Trump was president, he had the power to declassify the documents that were found at Mar-a-Lago, while Biden as vice president didn't have the power to declassify the documents that had been found. I'm curious to get your response to that argument.

EISEN: Twofold response, Boris. You can't really compare the Trump and the Biden case, because in the Biden case, we've had full cooperation with the Department of Justice. In the Trump case, you had resistance and probable cause of obstruction by Trump and the Department of Justice was forced to serve a search warrant. So the two cases are really very different there.

The notion that the President can declassify, listen, I worked on these issues. I was the White House Counsel drafter of the executive order still enforced that governs the classification system that president can't as Trump claims, just think it and declassified. That kind of mental magic isn't the way it worked, and there's no evidence that he actually did declassified.

So I think that argument is specious. And when you get right down to it, on the one hand, in the Trump case, you do have a very concerning pattern of fighting the government of possible obstruction. Findings of probable cause of crime, Boris, we don't have that in the Biden case.

[07:30:00]

Whatever questions we may have about the timetable, the transparency, and the handling of that case, they have been fully cooperating with DOJ, and no indication that President Biden knew about these documents.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN NEW DAY WEEKEND ANCHOR: And notably, that claim that you can just think and declassify documents is not something that Trump's attorneys have even argued in court. It's just something that he has said out loud as he has said many things. Ambassador Norm Eisen, thank you so much for the time as always.

EISEN: Thanks, Boris. nice to be with you.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

AMARA WALKER, CNN NEW DAY WEEKEND ANCHOR: A dire warning over the nation's debt ceiling has the White House as put -- it has the White House putting pressure on Congress to make a plan to avoid a default. We're live on Capitol Hill on what could be one of the first major tests of the new Republican-led House.

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WALKER: A battle over raising the debt limit could happen sooner than anticipated. The Treasury Department now says the U.S. will reach its debt limit this week and default as soon as June.

[07:35:00]

SANCHEZ: And with Republicans now in control of the House, dealing with the debt ceiling will not be an easy task for the White House. CNN Congressional Reporter Daniella Diaz joins us live now from Capitol Hill.

Daniella, complicating this matter further is the fact that speaker McCarthy made a lot of promises to secure the speakership.

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: He did, indeed, Boris. When he was trying to secure the gavel, not even two weeks ago, he made several concessions to conservative Republicans, those holdouts that did not support him for speaker, including proposals that would tell the Treasury Department which payments should be prioritized if the debt ceiling is breached.

Now, with this letter from Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, there's a time line to this. Lawmakers knew they would have to address the debt ceiling at some point. Now we know that the nation will likely default on its debt by June and it will reach its ceiling Thursday.

So, one of the proposals that is being floated around would, of course, as I mentioned, tell the Treasury Secretary what to prioritize. And there are different versions circulating the Republican conference on the House side that would of course address the debt ceiling.

But the priority for Republicans being, of course, that they do not want to raise the debt ceiling. They want to figure out a way to lower the debt ceiling and pay back the nation's debt. But with McCarthy's razor thin majority in the House, it will be really difficult for him to get all his conference to support any legislation that would address the debt limit. And of course, he will need Senates -- the Senate, which is a Democratic majority, to support any legislation for it to go into law. Take a listen to what he told reporters on Thursday about his priorities for this issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: We don't want to put any fiscal problems to our economy, and we won't. What we -- what we're -- fiscal problems would be continuing to do business as usual.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAZ: So of course, Republicans prioritizing being fiscally conservative, this Congress. But as I said, there are several proposals circulating the Republican conference to address this issue. But they will be messaging bills.

The reality, Boris and Amara, is that McCarthy is going to have to work with Democrats because of the Democratic-led Senate in order to address the debt ceiling and address this issue because, of course, no legislation can pass Congress without the Senate before it goes to President Joe Biden's desk. But we expect this to be a major issue in the next couple of weeks.

WALKER: Daniella Diaz, thank you so much for your reporting.

So, metal detectors are now going to greet students when they return to class on Tuesday after a six-year-old boy brought a gun to school and shot his teacher. We'll tell you what other safety measures schools are taking to prevent something like this when we discuss with an expert next.

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[07:40:00]

WALKER: Students will return this week to the elementary school in Virginia where a first-grade teacher was shot by a six-year-old student. That teacher, identified as Abby Zwerner, was shot in the chest, she remains in stable condition.

Students returning to Richneck Elementary School tomorrow will walk through metal detectors. Just, imagine that. The school has been closed since the shooting last week, and school officials say the student's backpack was searched on the day of that shooting, but that search turned up nothing. Joining me now is Kenneth Trump. He is the president of the National School Safety and Security Services.

Appreciate you joining us this morning, sir. Look, the new metal detectors, of course, might give some parents a degree of comfort. It might be emotional. But at the end of the day, you say, metal detectors in schools don't necessarily make schools safer, tell me why.

KENNETH TRUMP, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL SCHOOL SAFETY AND SECURITY SERVICES: Thanks, Amara. The majority of schools in the country do not have metal detectors, especially at the elementary school, and those that do. And oftentimes, it creates security theater, as we call it. It provides that emotional security blanket for parents but the devil's in the details of implementation.

And schools are -- that do run them run them during the school day, but leave the schools open, vulnerable in the evening, during athletic, performing arts or other community use of the school. Meaning someone could come in, put something in the school, come through, clean the next day and then still have the tragedy you're trying to prevent.

The first and best line of defense is a well-trained, highly alert staff and student body. And the number one way we find out about weapons in schools is from kids who come forward and tell an adult that they trust. So, we're looking at creating a culture of safety, a see something and say something, and train people how to do something once they hear about it.

WALKER: OK. Then tell me more about the way they should be trained because you talk about the best line of defense being a highly alert staff, right? But, you know, when you hear from the superintendent of Newport News Public Schools, so the school official, at least one was notified that the child might have brought a weapon to the school on that day. That child's backpack was searched, apparently, that gun was well hidden in the child's backpack because the search, as we said, turned up nothing.

So, what kind of training is needed to prevent a shooting like this from happening?

TRUMP: Well, we could start there. First of all, how do we go through the protocol if we have a situation where a threat has been reported. Someone who has a gun. Who gets involved? What's your threat assessment protocols?

[07:45:00]

Your supervision of children, contacting the police under certain circumstances. How do you conduct the search? What is the source of information? These are the things that educators are not trained to do.

We also talk about training on supervision, being connected to kids, relationships, out supervising common areas, where you get the information on where the gun may be, what the plot is, and what may be intended. These are people issues. They're not technology issues. You can't solve a human behavior problem such as crime and violence with a technology solution, at least alone.

Any technology is only as good as the weakest human link behind it and we're doing security assessments and emergency planning reviews in schools across the country. And in the dozens of schools I've been in just in recent months, we're finding disconnects on basic security tools. Cameras that are not functioning, not accessible by cameras. Access control at your front door where you buzz in. Problems with those protocols.

It's a people issue, and we're spending less and less time training our staff, working on supervision, working on the issues that really matter. And if you're going to pull staff out of the hallways and cafeterias to run metal detectors, because you're more likely, they're not going to be hiring hundreds of people to run these in the school district. You're going to lose that connect. And it's time for kids where you need to be out hands on working with kids in the first place.

WALKER: Look, you raise really good points, right, because there are so many factors that go into, you know, making sure that our kids are safe in school. But isn't a metal detector, if the school has resources, and you know, maybe some backpack screening, isn't that at least better than nothing?

TRUMP: Well, what you're talking about is personnel to run the equipment. The equipment is the cheapest cost. Personnel to run it, backpack screening, people standing at every door elsewhere to make sure nobody sneaks in. You're going to need to run a 24/7. You're still going to have kids who are vulnerable if someone has the intent at school buses, bus stops, walking to school. And in those lines, leading up to the school to go in that typical single point of entry for the metal detector.

So, look, school resource officers, training your staff, having adult supervision, connectedness to your community, and certainly engagement of the community itself where the guns come from in the first place are all valuable places to spend your time and energy because when you -- or else you're going to have that security theater. Look, any type of tool is only as good as the people behind it.

WALKER: Yes.

TRUMP: We need to start with the fundamentals, not working on the more advanced things that make us feel safer but may not actually make school safer when we're not doing those basic fundamentals properly in the first place.

WALKER: Yes, fair point. And look, it's just sad in general that we even have to have this conversation and worry about our kids being safe in school. This gun issue, a uniquely American problem and it's a societal issue. Kenneth Trump, appreciate you joining us this morning.

TRUMP: It is very difficult as a parent and a school safety professional. Thank you.

WALKER: Thank you.

TRUMP: Thanks, Amara.

SANCHEZ: A quick programming note before we go to break. Tonight, the CNN original series "Giuliani: What Happened to America's Mayor" continues to follow Rudy Giuliani's highs and lows, including his current legal troubles to his response to September 11th.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a time when, you know, we got emotional, but I never heard him say he's scared, you know. Some guys get in a position, and they step up, and I think that's how he was.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's the situation right now?

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: The situation is that two airplanes have attacked apparently --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can't go to the street.

GIULIANI: What?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not going through (ph).

GIULIANI: All right. Well then let's get -- let's go north then.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They might be afraid that they overcome it because they're trying to help other people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: "Giuliani: What Happened to America's Mayor" airs tonight at 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

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[07:50:00]

SANCHEZ: A former NBA player, for years, had wanted to be a contestant on "The Price is Right."

WALKER: I love that show. And he won big, but there's just one small issue. CNN's Jeanne Moos has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the "Price is Right".

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): They may yell --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on down.

MOOS (voiceover): But this contestant seemed permanently up. Former NBC veteran, Jared Jeffries, is so tall the camera had to zoom out --

JARED JEFFRIES, RETIRED NBA PLAYER: 1980.

MOOS (voiceover): -- to fit him in. He towered over everyone, including the host of the "Price is Right". And every time he got something right --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jared.

MOOS (voiceover): He high-fived other contestants like he used to high-five his teammates. Overexcited, especially when he saw this.

DREW CAREY, the "Price is Right" HOST: You are going to look great in your brand-new car.

MOOS (voiceover): The price may be right but the car is tight.

MOOS (on camera): How big are you and how little is this?

JEFFRIES: I'm 6'11".

MOOS (voiceover): Jeffries recalled he recently took an Uber that was a Corolla.

JEFFRIES: I had to sit sideways in the backseat.

MOOS (voiceover): But did that dampen his enthusiasm?

JEFFRIES: Oh, it's amazing.

MOOS (voiceover): Not a bit. Jeffries grew up watching the the "Price is Right". Just being on the show was on his bucket list and then he nailed the price.

CAREY: Yes. MOOS (voiceover): He had to stoop deeply to peer into that Corolla. Jeffries says it was more thrilling than turning pro.

JEFFRIES: I was generally more excited about winning on the "Price is Right" than I was being drafted.

[07:55:00]

MOOS (voiceover): Though he made millions playing basketball, he told us it's still a kick when someone gives you something for free.

MOOS (on camera): The price may be right but the car size is a little wrong.

JEFFRIES: There's no chance I fit in that car. I'm going to give it to my daughter. She can have it.

MOOS (voiceover): His teenage daughter, seen here a couple of years ago, you get a special license plate frame from the show.

JEFFRIES: It just says, I won this car on "The Price is Fight."

MOOS (voiceover): So, if you see a ruby red Corolla with this on it, driving around L.A. give it a toot.

JEFFRIES: OK. Hey.

MOOS (voiceover): Jeanne Moos, CNN.

JEFFRIES: Yes.

MOOS (voiceover): New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: He is genuinely so excited. I love that about him. Like, forget the career where he made millions of dollars. I mean, you know, winning that car and the other stuff, I mean, that's exciting.

SANCHEZ: He could have just opened the sunroof, too, right? He could just, sort of, drive like that?

WALKER: Because that's --

SANCHEZ: Give it a shot.

WALKER: Tall people problems.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

WALKER: Thanks for being with us this morning, everyone.

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much for joining us. Great to be with you as always, Amara. Don't go anywhere, "Inside Politics Sunday with Abby Phillip" is next.

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[08:00:00]