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CNN This Morning
Democrats Furious Over A Judge's Ruling on Medication Abortion Pill; Israel Strikes Targets in Syria After Rocket Fire; Justice Department Opens Probe into Leaks of Classified Military Documents; Tiger Woods Withdraws from the Masters; Play Resumes after a Soggy Saturday at Augusta; Families Reunited in Ukraine after Alleged Deportations by Russia; DeSantis Vows to Retaliate after Disney Apparently Outflanked Him; California's Snowy Winter Offers Hope for Drought-Stricken State. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired April 09, 2023 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:00:41]
AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Hopefully you're awake. Making breakfast, having your coffee.
Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It is Sunday.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I hope you're not drinking coffee actually.
WALKER: Me?
BLACKWELL: No, just coffee it off.
WALKER: Why? Because you don't drink coffee. You don't want anyone else to do it, right?
BLACKWELL: Morning tea would be nice.
WALKER: All right. I don't like tea but --
BLACKWELL: There we are.
I'm Victor Blackwell. Thanks so much for spending part of your Easter Sunday.
WALKER: What tea would you recommend?
BLACKWELL: Just a nice green tea. Maybe an Earl Gray, something with cinnamon, maybe.
WALKER: All right.
BLACKWELL: I've got something in my office.
WALKER: Maybe I'll swing by.
BLACKWELL: You won't, you won't. That's okay. It's all right.
Here's what we're watching this morning.
Top Democrats are vowing to make abortion a central issue in the lead up to the 2024 election after a judge ordered the suspension of a drug used in medication abortions. What Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is telling his caucus about the fight ahead.
WALKER: A weekend of religious celebrations and escalating tensions in the Mideast. The Israeli military has carried out retaliatory attacks in Syrian territory. We are live in Jerusalem.
BLACKWELL: The Department of Justice is investigating after trove of apparent U.S. intelligence documents were posted on social media. What the documents show and the potential implications for the U.S. and its allies.
WALKER: And Ron DeSantis says he's not done yet with Disney. The latest twist in the ongoing battle coming up.
And we begin with the reaction pouring in from one side of Capitol Hill this morning, while the Republicans stay mostly silent. Democrats are furious over Texas judge's ruling to suspend the FDA approval of a drug used in Medicaid abortions.
New York's Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul says she intends to introduce a bill in the state legislature as early as tomorrow to try to, quote, get ahead of this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D), NEW YORK: The extremist in the Republican Party, they just won't stop and now, they're coming after all other forms, medication provided abortions. These are rights we cherish, have always taken for granted. And this is an insult to all women.
CNN's Alayna Treene has more from Washington.
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ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Democrats immediately started railing against the court's decision once it was announced, and some like Senator Ron Wyden and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez went so far as to say that President Biden should ignore the ruling altogether. Now, Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, have been far less outspoken and many have been virtually silent on the issue.
And that's something that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pointed out on a press call Saturday morning. Here's what he had to say.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): I think the Republicans know that these -- their decisions, the Dobbs decision, this court decision are wildly unpopular with the American people. They're probably, at least in some of the survey data, unpopular with a large number of Republicans. So what -- they are afraid to speak out. But that is outrageous. TREENE: Now, I will argue that Schumer's press call was on a Saturday
during a holiday weekend, so I'm not sure how many Republicans were actually playing close attention to him. But Schumer's point was valid. This is very tricky territory for Republicans to navigate. Abortion in the wake of the Dobbs decision has not been in warning message for them, and we saw that very clearly in the 2022 midterm elections.
As for what Congress can do, they don't have many options. The bills that they want to pass are essentially dead on arrival. They can and have already begun applying pressure on the Biden administration to appeal the ruling, but legislatively, there really isn't much that Congress can do.
Schumer has said, however, that Senate Democrats remain committed to passing the Women's Health Protection Act, which is a bill aimed at preserving abortion access nationwide, but that legislation failed to pass last year due to the balance of power in Congress and remains unlikely to pass now given Republicans control the House and Democrats have a narrow majority in the Senate -- Victor, Amara.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALKER: Alayna Treene, thank you. And CNN will have much more on the abortion fight coming up on "STATE OF THE UNION". Representatives Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Tony Gonzales will join the show, as well as HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.
Well, Israel says it has carried out air strikes in Syrian territory. It is the latest violence following the Israeli police raids on the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem last week.
Israel's defense forces released video it says shows strikes on a Syrian military compound radar systems and artillery posts.
[08:05:05]
BLACKWELL: Israel says it launched the strikes after rockets were fired from Syria toward Israeli controlled territory.
CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joins us now from Jerusalem.
This latest violence happens as three different faiths observed traditions within the walls of Jerusalem's old city.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Absolutely. I mean, this escalating violence really widening, if you will. That area of concern growing bigger already rockets coming from Gaza, there is already a tip for tap there with the Israeli military, also southern Lebanon in the last few days, a tip for tat retaliatory strikes there.
And now, Syria as well entering to into the fray, but it just demonstrates and explains to you how quickly an event on that very contentious site, of course, the Al Aqsa mosque site known as Temple Mount to Jews, any confrontation there, how quickly it devolves and brings really in the region into these escalating tensions, and that's where all eyes were today.
Back on the old city, where three different faiths were observing three different religious traditions, all under a very heavy Israeli security presence. You have, of course, Easter mass taking place churches there inside the old city. You had a very important prayer serve service, rather taking place for Passover at the western wall. I know we have images to show you of that thousands of people there praying.
And then at the top of the mountain, of course, on that complex, again, known as the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims, known as Temple Mount to Jews, you had coinciding prayers overnight, of course, the holy month of Ramadan overnight, Muslims were observing overnight prayers.
Those took place peacefully, but there was a moment of tension there, Victor and Amara, when Israeli authorities overnight accused some youth of barricading themselves inside the mosque. Jordan's which is the protector, if you will, the manager of Al Aqsa mosque complex, responded quickly to those accusations, warning Israel not to enter the mosque as it had several days ago, warning that any raid on Al Aqsa mosque would have catastrophic consequences.
Thankfully, the night did pass peacefully. But this morning, some Muslim worshippers, eyewitnesses telling us they were not allowed into Al Aqsa mosque to carry out dawn prayers. That coincided with some non most -- non-Muslim worshippers rather, Jewish groups visiting that complex. They are allowed, of course to pass through that site, to pass through that contentious area under a heavy police presence.
Again, this day did unfold peacefully, but you still have that wider issue. You still have that bigger picture, escalating tensions, ramping up rhetoric. We don't know what happens next. But keep all eyes again on that holy site.
WALKER: Salma Abdelaziz, thank you.
Let's go now to CNN's Scott McLean, who is joining us now from Lebanon.
And, Scott, Israel also hit targets in southern Lebanon. What happened there?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATOINAL CORRESPONDENT: So, there were a series of them in the southern part of the country, and I should just say off the bat that we've just learned today that the leader of the Lebanese militant and political group Hezbollah has met with the leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas to discuss what's happening in Jerusalem and the readiness of what they describe as the resistance access to confront it.
Now, Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility for any of the rocket fire coming from Lebanon into Israel, nor have they been blamed for it. Palestinian militant groups here in Lebanon have been blamed instead. But this group is so influential that whatever they say may well have an impact on what actually happens next. In the meantime, you have the Lebanese military that is trying to
prevent the next attack or potential attack from happening. And when we went to southern Lebanon yesterday, we quickly realized started to understand how many challenges they have ahead of them.
First off, just when you look at the landscape, you realize that there's plenty of good, easy places to hide weapons if you wanted to. You have Iraqi hillsides. You have orchards, things like that. There's all the complexities involved with the factions and the militant groups that they are trying to keep at bay.
Plus, you have the Palestinian refugee camps there that have been there for decades that the Lebanese authorities don't actually have the jurisdiction to police directly. On top of that, it's easy to find people with an ax to grind when it comes to Israel.
In fact, we went to the site of one of the Israeli strikes, and we found people who were making no apologies for Lebanese or rockets coming from Lebanon going into Israel. Here's one of those people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Hezbollah is not terrorism. They are the terrorists. Palestine is not terrorism. It's a cause for every Arab and Muslim.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCLEAN: Now, I asked that same man if he wished for peace with Israel, and his answer was, of course not.
Now, not everybody feels that same way. Of course, the man whose family was sleeping just 200 yards away from another Israeli air strike or strike down the road obviously doesn't want to see any of that.
[08:10:08]
One other thing to mention very quickly and that is that we are expecting to hear more from the Hezbollah leader, more commentary on what's happening in Jerusalem. On Friday, the same day that there are protests plan here in Lebanon in solidarity with the Palestinians -- Victor, Amara.
WALKER: Scott McLean, thank you.
So this violence began after two police raids on the Al Aqsa mosque last week. Now, Jordan, Israel's neighbor, has warned any further actions at the site will have catastrophic consequences.
The last hour, I spoke with Ron Dermer, Israel's minister of strategic affairs, who said Israel has a responsibility to protect worshippers of all religions visiting that holy site.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RON DERMER, ISRAEL'S MINISTER OF STRATEGIC AFFAIRS: Well, what we can't do as these as Israel who's responsible for security on the site, we cannot allow innocent civilians to be killed by violent terrorists who would barricade themselves into the Al Aqsa Mosque. That is that is not that is not a policy that we would be able to adopt. We do not want to go in there. It is the last thing.
Unfortunately today, Victor, we didn't have to go in because the people who went in there did not go there according to our intelligence to perpetrate violence, and so therefore there was no incidents. It's very rare when Israeli police have to go into the Al Aqsa compound.
I think it's happened three times in the last half dozen years. It is the last thing we want to do, but we also have a responsibility to protect our civilians to protect Muslim worshippers to protect Jews and non Jews who go to the temple mount, which is part of the status quo. We cannot allow those violent young men who are masked, and were armed to perpetrate those attacks, because then you'll have a situation that will be infinitely worse than the pictures that you saw on Wednesday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: The violence comes as anti-government protests sweep across Israel. There were additional demonstrations against the proposed slate of judicial reforms last night.
Mr. Dermer said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is working to find some compromise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DERMER: Well, he definitely believes that this is a time for compromise, and that's why he suspended the legislation. The president of Israel is now bringing the parties together in the hope that we can forge that compromise, and that's what we'd like to see happen.
Look, if people in Israel are seriously divided over this issue, there are people who think that if you don't have judicial reform, its endangers Israel's democracy. There are people who think if you do have judicial reform and endangers Israel's democracy, I think it's important to get everyone in the room together and to try to forge a compromise. That's exactly what the prime minister wants to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: All right. Still ahead, the Justice Department is launching an investigation into how what appeared to be classified documents ended up on social media. But we know about what is in those documents and the concerns from American allies, that's coming up.
WALKER: Plus, this just in to CNN. Tiger Woods is out at the Masters. What we're learning about why he was forced to withdraw.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [08:17:05]
BLACKWELL: The Department of Justice is open an investigation into a trove of leaked U.S. intelligence documents that have been posted on social media in recent weeks. The latest batch of documents surfaced online on Friday and cover topics ranging from the war in Ukraine to information about key us allies like Israel.
WALKER: And even more concerning, the league appears to include classified documents. Some even marked top secret, which is the highest level of classification,
CNN national security correspondent Kylie Atwood has more.
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KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY: The Department of Justice has now opened an investigation into this apparent trove of classified U.S. documents that have appeared on social media sites in recent weeks, and these documents cover a wide range of topics like U.S. support for Ukraine, South Korean officials' concerns about providing ammunition to the United States that could then be given to Ukraine to be used in the Ukraine war, UAE, United Arab Emirates' ties to Russia, information having to do with U.S. allies such as Israel.
Now we don't know the source of these leaks, and we also can't independently verify that these documents haven't been altered in some way. But they do appear similar to the initial trove of documents having to do with the U.S. support for Ukraine that caught attention earlier in the week, and U.S. officials did confirm that those documents appeared to be authentic.
Now, in addition to the Department of Justice, opening this investigation, the Pentagon says they are looking into the matter and looking at these documents is pretty surreal because they are photos of crumpled up pieces of paper that have classified markings on them, some holding top secret markings, which is the highest level of classification, some holding markings of the office at the Pentagon that advises President Biden. So, obviously, creating quite a bit of alarm among U.S. officials, particularly at the Pentagon.
Kylie Atwood, CNN, Washington.
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WALKER: Okay, Kylie Atwood, thank you.
Let's get some analysis on this now from CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger. He's also a White House and national security correspondent at "The New York Times".
Hi there, David. Good morning.
What stands out to you about the nature of this leak?
DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, good morning.
And, you know, the sleek is fascinating in some ways disturbing in some ways expected. So if you think about it when the last big weeks that we worried about came out, WikiLeaks say in 2010, which was a look at mostly State Department cables, although some Pentagon information, or the Edward Snowden revelations, they covered a much larger segment of intelligence and diplomatic material than what we've seen so far in this leak.
But they were just current, and what really strikes me about this is that many of these documents are dated, you know, March 1st, just a little over a month ago.
[08:20:08]
And so you get a very granular sense of how the United States is operating right now to try to manage the war day by day, everything as detailed as just making sure there's enough ammunition in place.
WALKER: Why do you say that this was somewhat expected?
SANGER: Expected because this -- these documents are widely distributed despite their classified nature, probably thousands of people without access to it. And, you know, it looks like they were mostly probably cellphone photographs of printed out documents. As Kylie indicated, you sort of see them as somewhat crumpled paper documents, David.
WALKER: David, you mentioned this that, you know that these photos of these classified documents surfaced on social media in ,March. That's been a month since really nobody noticed until about a week ago. I mean, how does this happen that it goes unnoticed? And what kind of damage are we talking about here?
SANGER: Pretty remarkable, right, that there's just so much stuff out there on Twitter on the web and so forth that these could be out there. And, as you say, no one notices.
The Russians seem to notice because a small number of documents were clearly and not terribly artfully manipulated. You'll see two different versions of them. Told lower the numbers estimated numbers of Russian casualties and increase the numbers of Ukrainian casualties. So someone saw them.
How much damage is done? I think there are one or two documents in here, including a look at air defenses that may actually give the Russians a significant, you know, battlefield piece of information they may not have, but most of them simply give you a sense of how much the United States is doing day to day, and, of course, the White House's wanted to play that down because one of President Biden's mandates here is we're not a direct combatant. We're not pulling triggers. We're not sending troops.
WALKER: Yeah.
SANGER: But it turns out we're doing everything but. WALKER: What is your sense in terms -- in terms of the motive, and, you know, possibly who could be behind this? You just mentioned you know that there was one document that was shown online that you know, apparently was falsified to show that there was much higher number -- highly inflated number of Ukrainian deaths.
That's not true, but then on the other side, there were some pro war pro Russian bloggers who were speculating that the leak is to mislead Russian command. What do you make of that?
SANGER: Well, the fact that there's so many conspiracy theories about how it got leaked and the Russians are so suspicious of it tells you that it may not do quite that much damage because it's not clear the Russians will believe whatever they see there. And, as you say, there's some question about what's been manipulated, and what versions.
The source of leaks is always hard to figure out or at least the motives for them. Sometimes it's people just wanting to show off how much they know. Some of these appear to have first going on some gaming sites, so it may have been somebody who was, you know, sort of more fooling around and had a -- or seeking to impress rather than having a desire to hand materials off directly to the Russians.
Could also be that there's somebody who believe fundamentally believes that the United States and the Ukrainians are on the wrong side of the war, and they saw this as a method of disruption. That's going -- that's really going to be the hardest part of the investigation.
WALKER: Well, the Department of Justice is investigating, and the Pentagon is starting first looking inwards.
Let's turn quickly just to politics into 2024 David and CNN is reporting that President Biden could wait until the summer to officially announce his reelection campaign. That seems, seems a bit later than at least, you know, some of his predecessors. What do you make of that? What's your read on that?
SANGER: It is later than his immediate predecessors. But if you go back, you know, 40 or 50 years it was common that people didn't announce until the year of the election or just prior to the year of the election. And remember, Joe Biden goes back a long way in the political world.
There's very little pressure on him to announce right now. It's assumed he's going to run. It kind of freezes the rest of the field. The only thing that it unlocks when he does announces is that he can then go out and actually fund raised. But I don't think there's a whole lot of doubt that he's going to have trouble fundraising.
So unlike the Republican candidates were trying to maneuver around former president Trump and try to gather fundraisers early in lock this up.
[08:25:06]
There's really no pressure on Biden himself.
WALKER: Got it. Well, we'll leave it there. David Sanger, thank you.
BLACKWELL: Just ahead, another round of rain forced play to be suspended for the second straight day at the Masters and the golf great pulls out of the tournament. Details ahead.
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BLACKWELL: New this morning, Tiger Woods has withdrawn from the masters. He's a 15 time major champ, but he struggled late in yesterday's round.
WALKER: Yeah, I think a lot of people are noticing that he was having a hard time walking around on his surgically repaired leg that was injured in that car crash two years ago.
Don Riddell joining us now from Augusta,
Obviously, very disappointing moment for Tiger.
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, very disappointing for Tiger Woods, very disappointing for his fans as well. He's still one of the most popular players out here.
But given what he experienced yesterday in the absolutely dreadful conditions, I don't think anybody can really be that surprised. The limp, the new gait, he has, as a result of that car accident is now what Tiger Woods is and in difficult conditions. It just seems to get even worse.
I'll just read you that the tweet that he sent posting the news about 45-50 minutes ago that he was withdrawing. He said, "I'm disappointed to have to withdraw this morning due to reaggravating my plantar fasciitis. Thank you to the fans and to the Masters who have shown me so much love and support. Good luck to the players today."
Tiger Woods made the cut for a record equaling 23rd consecutive time, but he only just made the cut. He finished in dead last and towards the end of the day before play was called he went bogey, double bogey, double bogey. He was 22 shots off the pace. And you had to wonder why would you continue in that condition and in the in that state?
And to be honest, given what he and all the other players went through on Saturday, guys, I'm surprised he didn't pull out sooner.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADAM SCOTT, GOLF PLAYER: Beautiful isn't it?
RIDDELL: The Australians have always excelled at irony, and Adam Scott captured the mood perfectly at Augusta National.
SCOTT: I mean, I feel like I just survived.
RIDDELL: Early on Saturday morning play resumed at the Masters. Tournament organizers were trying to make up for lost time the previous day, when inclement weather which had toppled several trees, called a halt to the action.
Almost half the players returned to the course to complete their second rounds, trying to keep their hopes afloat in a torrential downpour.
SCOTT: I think I'm good on the umbrella, Bone.
VIKTOR HOVLAND, GOLF PLAYER: He's got to hold the umbrella. I've got to hold the umbrella. He's got to clean the ball. And you know you kind of have to work together a little bit. And if you're not used to it, it can get awkward.
SAHITH THEEGALA, GOLF PLAYER: It was brutal this morning because it's just so cold.
RIDDELL: The temperature had plummeted from the mid eighties to a real feel of 39 degrees. Even some of the world's best players struggled to hold it together.
Two time major winner Justin Thomas was all at sea, capsizing and missing the cut after dropping six shots in eight holes.
Tiger Woods survived the cut, qualifying to play the last two rounds of the Masters for a record equaling 23rd consecutive time. But his face of thunder said it all. Even the veteran players who had seen and done it all had never witnessed Augusta National quite like this.
FRED COUPLES, GOLF PLAYER: Am I going to look thrilled to play 18 holes in this this afternoon? No I'm a wimp. You know, I'm an old wind, but I'm excited to play.
RIDDELL: The tempest briefly subsided to lure the third round players back out onto the course. But the rains quickly returned.
And even Augusta's highly sophisticated subterranean drainage system soon became swamped. The greens became lakes and after just six holes, the leaders were told to call it a day.
MACKENZIE HUGHES, GOLD PLAYER: It felt like a different sport today. You know, dealing with all the elements and the cold rain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mentally, it's obviously hard just because you're generally not having the most fun out there. But yes, I mean, it's basically impossible. I don't -- I don't really know what you're supposed to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIDDELL: Remember earlier this week, Tiger Woods did tell me that the thought crosses his mind when he's out on the course that this could be the last time. Was that the last time? Only time will tell.
But the action is resuming right about now. Brooks Koepka is the tournament leader. He will be hoping to win the Masters for the first time, but these guys have all got a very long day ahead of them.
Back to you.
WALKER: Well, at least the weather isn't so bad as it was yesterday.
Don Riddell, good to see you. Thank you.
Still to come, an emotional reunion. Dozens of Ukrainian children return home and reunite with their families. They were allegedly taken to Russia several months ago.
[08:33:41]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALKER: A string of Russian attacks across Ukrainian settlements have destroyed and damaged homes and buildings. According to Ukraine state emergency service one attack overnight in the city of Zaporizhzhia killed a father and his 11-year-old daughter.
BLACKWELL: But among the heartbreak of war there is some hope, but among -- we see here, CNN was there as children who were deported to Russian territories were reunited with their families.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh joins us live now from Kyiv with this story, Nick.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thank you.
The scene you just saw there actually in Kyiv when families were finally reunited after months of being separated. Extraordinary after hearing Ukrainian claims -- Ukrainian charges that 20,000 children have been forcibly deported to occupied areas of Ukraine controlled by Russia or Russia proper itself.
And work of Ukrainian NGO over the past weeks has led to small numbers of parents undertaking a perilous, difficult journey, going from Ukraine to Belarus through the Russian Federation itself and then back (INAUDIBLE) into occupied areas of Ukraine controlled by Russia. Some to retrieve their own children, some to retrieve the children of people who've given the power of attorney to help out in these circumstances.
The group that we saw one of a number of trips but 13 parents retrieving 31 separate children. And startling scenes of happiness here, the words we heard from Irena (ph) and Bogdanich (ph) 13, mother and son. They're from Kherson.
He thought he was going to Crimea for two weeks for holiday camp and was held there for six months. Hear what they had to say.
[08:39:50]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were driving here for nearly a week. I met my mother for the first time in six months. We went to the summer camp for two weeks, but we got stuck there for six months.
Why should I cry now? But I cried when I saw my mom from the bus. I'm very happy to be back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was no phone connection. I was very worried. I didn't know anything, whether he was being abused, what was happening to him? I was calling his teacher asking for at least five minutes just to hear my son's voice to make sure he was All right.
My hands are still shaking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALSH: This is one of the darker, more warped parts of an invasion, frankly. Russia's behavior has been sickening throughout the separation of families, the purposeful desire to move children into areas controlled by Russia from Ukraine proper, startling and really brought into focus, there by seeing these small numbers finally allowed back to their genuine parents.
Quite how traumatic that has been bogged down there, flippant, cavalier but clearly still shaken as well his mother Irena.
Back to you.
BLACKWELL: Good to see some of these families, even if it's a small number back together.
Nick Paton Walsh, thanks so much.
Coming up, the latest from the ongoing feud between Ron DeSantis governor of Florida there, and Disney. What DeSantis says all options on the table when it comes to taking action against the company.
[08:41:15]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: Florida governor Ron DeSantis is not backing down from his feud with Disney. In two consecutive appearances, the governor vowed to hit back hard after the company quietly maneuvered to block the governor's attempt to take control of their tourism district.
WALKER: So he says he is hoping to void their move and may retaliate by putting up toll roads or developing property near the park.
CNN's Steve Contorno has been following this drama for us. Steve, so can DeSantis actually take back control?
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well he's going to certainly try. And what he has said is that he is not only going to try to regain power over Disney's special district, but he is considering a whole bunch of options to further punish the company.
He said that all options are on the table, and he will work with the legislature to enact some more retribution against Disney. And he laid out what some of that might be on Thursday.
Here is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): We're going to look at things like taxes on the hotels. We're going to look at things like tolls on the roads. We're going to look at things like developing some of the property that the district owns.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CONTORNOT: Now it's not exactly clear how taxing the hotels or putting toll roads in hurts the company and not the tourists who, you know, make up the lifeblood of Florida's economy. But it definitely signals that DeSantis is going to go even further in this battle.
And remember, this is a power struggle that DeSantis had already claimed victory in. Back in February, he said that there was going to be a new sheriff in town in Disney's special district. He said the corporate kingdom had come to an end.
Yet here we are in April and this is still going on.
BLACKWELL: What's Disney saying about this?
CONTORNO: Well, we have heard this week actually from Disney CEO Bob Iger, who for the first time sort of gave this full throated defense of Disney in this case. And he talked about the way that Disney and Florida have mutually benefited from the company's Orlando theme parks. And he said that you know, this company will continue to make investments in Florida. They have $17 billion worth of projects in central Florida over the next decade. And he laid that all out to make this point to shareholders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB IGER, CEO, THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY: And so our point on this is that any action that thwarts those efforts simply to retaliate for a position the company took sounds not just anti business, but it sounds anti Florida.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CONTORNO: Now when I talk to people who know Disney well, I talked to historians and people that have been around the Orlando theme parks for forever they said that DeSantis should have seen this coming that Disney has always gone to great lengths to protect its special powers in Florida. And they were surprised that Disney -- that DeSantis, excuse me, didn't see this coming.
I talked to one historian who said quote, "Disney was playing chess and DeSantis was playing checkers."
WALKER: Wow. Well, Disney is not going to back down. DeSantis isn't going to back down. Obviously some political ramifications there. We'll see where this goes.
Steve Contorno, thanks for watching this for us.
All right. Still ahead, what a difference a year makes -- from almost nothing to record setting snow depths. We're going to take a look at California's historic snowpack.
BLACKWELL: And tonight, Eva Longoria continues her culinary adventure in Oaxaca (ph) where indigenous traditions and modern innovations create some of Mexico's most incredible food wonders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have our (INAUDIBLE) place here. Look at this. That smell, it's nice.
EVA LONGORIA, ACTRESS: Ok here goes the (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now our friend --
LONGORIA: Chocolate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chocolate.
LONGORIA: Can we get it out?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes.
LONGORIA: Alex's custom-made chocolate is the crowning ingredient.
So smooth and silky to this magnificently complex and sophisticated sauce.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me give you a taste.
LONGORIA: Ok.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please.
LONGORIA: Ok.
It's super chocolatey.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
LONGORIA: So good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You like it?
LONGORIA: Yes. Oh my God. I knew I was going to get mole on my dress.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got mole. You know --
LONGORIA: Now I'm Oaxacan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now you're Oaxacan.
LONGORIA: Now I'm a real Oaxacan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can marry Oaxaca, si senora.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:50:02]
BLACKWELL: The new episode of the "CNN ORIGINAL SERIES: EVA LONGORIA, SEARCHING FOR MEXICO" airs tonight at 9:00 on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:54:51]
WALKER: What a difference a year makes in California. State water officials now say the Sierra snowpack is among the largest on record dating back to the 50s.
BLACKWELL: And now the question is how much of all that snow will help ease the state's long running drought.
CNN's Stephanie Elam has more from the Sierra Nevada mountains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From almost nothing to record setting snow depths.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 127.
ELAM: California's current snowpack in the Sierra Nevada is one of the largest ever, one that couldn't be more opposite from last year.
SEAN DE GUZMAN, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES: This is the fourth wettest in terms of snow water content going back to 1941.
ELAM: The snowpack which the state says accounts for about 30 percent of its water supply in an average year measured a depth of more than 126 inches for an astonishing 221 percent of the April 1st average near Lake Tahoe. Melted down that's the water equivalent of 54 inches.
April is generally when the snowpack hits its peak before the spring melt off and is thus the basis of the state's water supply forecast.
DE GUZMAN: There have only been three other years where our April snowpack has been greater than 200 percent of average in April.
Our statewide automated snow sensory network is reporting 237 percent of average.
ELAM: In stark contrast only 2.5 inches of snow were measured in April, 2022 containing the equivalent of just one inch of water, a paltry 4 percent of the April 1st average.
According to the U.S. drought monitor less than 2 percent of the Golden State is in severe drought, the lowest it's been in about three years. Compare that to 2022 when large swaths of the state were in severe or extreme drought.
THOMAS PAINTER, CEO, AIRBORNE SNOW OBSERVATORIES INC: We've never melted a snowpack this big.
ELAM: To get a more accurate picture of how much snow California is under, Airborne Snow Observatories flies over the mountains, providing its findings to the state's Department of Water Resources.
PAINTER: We measure snowpack wall to wall over mountains from aircraft, using lasers and spectrometers. And from that information, we can then know the full distribution of how much water there is in a mountain snowpack.
And also how fast it's going to melt. And that's allowed us then to change forecast errors from being pretty large to very small and really dramatically change water management in the west.
ELAM: Look at ASO's imagery of the (INAUDIBLE) Basin near Yosemite Valley at this time last year, there's barely any snow. Now look at this year. The bright yellow showing most of the same area buried under more than 10 ft of snow.
That's nearly 640 percent more snow than in 2022 Painter says.
PAINTER: The central and southern Sierra and, in particular, the southern Sierra are just crushing the record.
ELAM: But these scientists say despite the deluge of moisture this wet season, drought concerns haven't dried up. This is proof that western weather patterns are changing.
KARLA NEMETH, DIRECTOR, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES: Even though we have this extraordinary snowpack, we know that the droughts are getting deeper and more frequent. and that means we have to use water efficiently, no matter what our hydrologic conditions.
PAINTER: God knows what we're going to have next year.
ELAM: Stephanie Elam, CNN -- the Sierra Nevada mountains.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: Wow that snow.
Stephanie Elam, thank you.
WALKER: Yes.
BLACKWELL: We're tracking another storm system moving into the west.
WALKER: Another one? BLACKWELL: Yes.
WALKER: CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking that for us. Hi, Allison.
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes it's like a broken record, really.
WALKER: Right.
CHINCHAR: This one in particular, however, is really going to hone in on the Pacific Northwest rather than California. We're already starting to see some of those really heavy bands begin to push into Washington and Oregon and then you can go through the day.
You can see that very finite funnel, that hose that we talked about with atmospheric river events because this is going to be an atmospheric river event that will continue to push a tremendous amount of moisture not only today but also Monday into the Pacific Northwest.
You're talking widespread along the coast, 2 to 4 inches of rain. Some of those areas could be higher and then even some rain and snow into the higher elevations.
Now here's one thing to note. When you get this rain in a short period of time, it could end up leading to some localized flooding. But we're also dealing with flood watches elsewhere for a different reason.
Again you can see these green areas here. This flooding, however, is from a heat wave that is expected to roll in and it's going to melt a lot of that snow pack that's been coming down the last few months and in turn, you're going to get some localized flooding from all of that run off.
Take a look. Las Vegas normal high this time of year 77. They're going to be in the nineties starting this week. Los Angeles, Palm Springs, even Sacramento all going to see those temperatures above normal.
While it may feel nice, Victor and Amara, one of the key things is going to be that it will turn into a concern with the flooding.
[08:59:52]
WALKER: Oh, boy. All right. Allison Chinchar, thank you.
And hope you all have a great Easter if you're celebrating.
BLACKWELL: Yes. Thank you so much for joining us this morning. Have a great Sunday.
We will see you back here next weekend.
"STATE OF THE UNION" starts right now.
