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CNN This Morning

Options in the Colorado River Crisis; Tax Credits for Electric Vehicles; Matt Dorsey is Interviewed about Whole Foods closing in San Francisco. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired April 12, 2023 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:32:28]

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Want to update you on this because we're following these developments in a massive toxic fire raging at a recycling plant. It's in Indiana. An evacuation order has been issued for people who live within a half mile of the inferno. Around 2,000 people have been told to leave their homes. A shelter in place order has also been issued for anyone downwind of the fire, which officials say could burn for days.

This is new video. There it is right there just into CNN of this toxic plume of smoke, which is so large that you can see it from miles away. We are awaiting a press conference in the next few hours and we're going to stay on this story with any breaking details.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Also this morning, a story that is just as important, 40 million Americans, as we know, rely on the Colorado River for drinking water. It is one of the nation's most important sources of freshwater. But years of drought have federal officials floating tough options to slash water usage as water levels from major reservoirs continue to plummet.

CNN's Lucy Kafanov joins us live from Avon, Colorado.

And, Lucy, this is a really significant decision that is coming from the federal government because they're kind of putting legal precedent aside here when they're proposing these cuts.

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kaitlan. The Colorado River is literally what powers the American west. It quenches the thirst of some 40 billion people. It helps water the farms that provide the nation's winter greens. And although we had an unusually wet and snowy winter, that hasn't been enough to override those decades of climate change, drought and water overuse. The federal government, with this new proposal, is effectively trying to scare states into voluntary water cuts before it is forced to step in and take some scary actions.

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KAFANOV (voice over): As water levels for the Colorado River's major reservoirs remain at alarmingly low levels, exacerbated by more than two decades of drought and chronic overuse, the federal government releasing a dire assessment of the painful choices facing the American west.

TOMMY BEAUDREAU, DEPUTY INTERIOR SECRETARY: We cannot kick the can on finding solutions. And the women and men responsible for managing this system for the benefit of 40 million Americans and countless ecosystems.

KAFANOV: Snaking across the southwest and into Mexico, the Colorado River is the lifeblood of the region. It waters booming cities, while nourishing some of the nation's most fertile fields, and generates hydroelectricity for the southwest. But without massive changes to how the water is used and distributed, all that could soon be at risk.

[08:35:01]

TOM BUSCHATZKE, DIRECTOR, ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES: We have a lot of hard work and difficult decisions ahead of us in this basin, but those paths have dire consequences in some cases and may spur opposition or even litigation.

KAFANOV: The options presented by the Interior Department to cut two million acre feet and water usage in 2024 are grim. One prioritizes the needs of thirsty farming regions in California, which along with native tribes have a higher water priority claim, but that could devastate major western cities like Las Vegas, which gets 90 percent of its water from the Colorado River, as well as Los Angeles and Phoenix.

Option two, spread the pain evenly among all the users, which could lead to lengthy court battles.

A third option, doing nothing at all, might have the highest cost if the river continues to dwindle.

CAMILLE CALIMLIM TOUTON, COMMISSIONER, BUREAU OF RECLAMATION: There's no action alternative. We will see the most impacts to the system. We can expect water levels to continue to decline, threatening the operations of the system and the water supply of 40 million people.

KAFANOV: While an unusually wet winter is providing some relief, it's not enough to solve the Colorado River crisis.

BEAUDREAU: Everyone who lives and works in the basin knows that one good year will not save us for more than two decades of drought.

KAFANOV: For some communities in Arizona, the dire future is a present reality. Part of Maricopa County, about an hour's drive from downtown Phoenix, the Rio Verde Foothills community was a slice of paradise until it began to run dry. Too many homes, too little water.

KAREN NABITY, RIO VERDE FOOTHILLS RESIDENT: I think everybody thinks the government or somebody's going to take care of it. And, unfortunately, I think that's what most of the U.S. is thinking. And they need to wake up and people need to start conserving water now before it's too late.

WILL THELANDER, ARIZONA FARMER: We lost all of our water.

KAFANOV: Drought has already pushed farmers, like Will Thelander, to the brink.

KAFANOV (on camera): Do you fear that the future of farming in Arizona is under threat?

THELANDER: Yes. No one can produce it like the Colorado River can for food. It's just nowhere on earth is it done like that. So, yes, I'm really worried. Fifty years down the road, unless we come up with solutions, farming won't be here.

KAFANOV (voice over): But time to come up with those solutions is running out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAFANOV: The options presented by the federal government and the Bureau of Reclamation showed the sort of cuts that could be imposed if this region doesn't reach an agreement. There's still time, but it is running out, Kaitlan. The government does plan to take a final decision this summer.

Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Yes, an important decision that everyone should be paying attention to.

Lucy Kafanov, thank you.

LEMON: All right, thanks, Lucy.

A flagship Whole Foods in downtown San Francisco closing due to staff safety. We're going to speak to a local official on how it got to this point, right after this.

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[08:41:33]

LEMON: New this morning, the Biden administration unveiling ambitious new car pollution rules aimed at pushing the market toward electric vehicles, or EVs, right. Under the new guidelines, electric vehicles would make up nearly two-thirds of the new cars sold in the U.S. by the year 2032. But new polling suggests Americans are not yet sold on that idea. That's what they say.

Joining us now to crunch the numbers, our data reporter, the senior one here, Harry Enten. I like to call him data.

So, what's the incentive - or what is happening here?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes, call me whatever you want, Don, just don't call me late for supper. OK, this morning's number is 5.8 percent. Why? Because electric vehicles in 2022 were 5.8 percent of all new vehicles that were bought. So, well south of that two-thirds, right?

But I will point that this 5.8 percent is up from 3.2 percent back in 2021. So, we're going in the right direction. It nearly doubled in the past year, the number -- the percentage that electric vehicles made up of all new vehicles that were bought.

And the other thing that I will note is that the market is diversifying, right? When we think of electric vehicles, I think we think of Tesla, right? Look at Tesla's shrinking share of the electric vehicles bought. Other car companies are getting in on the act because in all of 2021 electric vehicles made by Tesla made up 72 percent of the market. In the beginning, through the third quarter of last year, it was 67 percent. But look at quarter four of last year, it was just 58 percent. So, more carmakers are getting in on the act, and that's a good thing if you want to reach that two-thirds goal come, you know, 2032.

COLLINS: And, Harry, I think the big question is, obviously these are incentives trying to get people to buy electric vehicles. Do you have numbers on what it -- what people are saying when it comes to their next car, or is that going to be generally the consideration that people make from now on?

ENTEN: Yes, so, you know, take a look here. Non-electric vehicle owners, chance of buying one in the future, only 12 percent -- just 12 percent say they're seriously considering one. Quite low. There is this 45 percent who say they might in the future. But look here, 43 percent say they'd never buy one.

But how do we get those people who have not bought an electric vehicle to actually buy one? It all comes down to money. It all comes down to cost savings because the top reason to buy an electric car, look at this, save money on gas. The top reason not to buy one, they cost too much. So, the fact is, if you can drive down the cost of electric vehicles, I think that people will follow. But its cost, cost, cost. Environment is a secondary concern for those who don't currently have an electric car. It comes down to money.

COLLINS: Yes. Of course.

LEMON: Interesting. I think that will change over time, though, as we get used to, you know, electric cars.

Thank you, Harry.

COLLINS: Yes. But he's got a point about the price of it, because that's what -

LEMON: It's expensive.

COLLINS: The sticker shock scares people away.

LEMON: Yes. ENTEN: Yes.

LEMON: Thanks, Harry.

COLLINS: Thanks, Harry.

ENTEN: Thank you.

LEMON: Appreciate it.

COLLINS: All right, also this morning, a flagship Whole Foods in downtown San Francisco has temporarily closed because of safety concerns. We have a story ahead. We're live on the ground there, next.

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[08:48:38]

COLLINS: All right, you see San Francisco there. We're also learning now that an enormous Whole Foods store, one of the flagships in downtown San Francisco, is not going to be opening today over concerns about worker safety. The company says it is shutting down this store just one year after it opened. A Whole Food spokesperson told CNN, to ensure the safety of our team members, we have made the difficult decision to close the Trinity store for the time being.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Matt Dorsey responded saying, our neighborhood waited a long time for this supermarket, but we're also well aware of the problems that they've experienced with drug related retail theft, adjacent drug markets and the many safety issues related to them.

Matt Dorsey joins us now and he represents the district where that Whole Foods is located.

And thank you so much for being here.

You said you could tell this store was struggling. What did you see?

MATT DORSEY, SAN FRANCISCO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: Well, I will say this, I just want to set the stage for, you know, what this neighborhood is about. Market Street is the main thoroughfare of San Francisco. It goes from our iconic Ferry Building to the foot of Twin Peaks and the Castro District. So, this is a place where there's a lot of activity.

And the mid-market section of this, which is close to city hall, has always been just about there. And in the last few years we had some development coming and, you know, this is what 21st century urbanism should be, as a great neighborhood that's up and coming, well served by transit and bike lanes, and then Covid came.

[08:50:05]

And in San Francisco, it also happened to coincide with the arrival of fentanyl. Over the last three years here in San Francisco, we have seen a 12-fold increase in the amount of fentanyl that our local police officers are taking off of street level drug dealers. And it's playing out in a level of addiction and bad behavior that's largely driven by a level of addiction that we have never seen here.

That's why I made the decision to run for the board of supervisors. I have a journey and recovery from addiction myself. And I believe we can do better as a city. But I will tell you, the closure of Whole Foods, after just a year of being open, is a real gut punch for the neighborhood. And I wish I could say I was surprised, but I - I have seen a lot of the issues with people acting out and shoplifting.

So, fingers crossed, we can turn things around here. And I do have some optimism. But hopefully we can get this supermarket back open because the neighborhood waited a long time for it.

LEMON: I think it's very brave of you to talk about your personal issues as well. So, thank you for doing that because it takes the stigma off. People know that there is a road to recovery and you can get better.

You also represent the area where tech executive Bob Lee was stabbed to death last week. Despite that high-profile killing, San Francisco has far fewer homicides than other similarly sized cities. Do you think people have a misunderstanding of just about how dangerous San Francisco is, Matt?

DORSEY: I - yes, I do. And thanks for asking the question. As you may know, before I joined the board of supervisors, which is our local sort of city council, I served for two years as a civilian member of the command staff of the police department. And one of the things that I saw play out in terms of crime in a time of Covid was, I think most major cities in the United States would trade their violent crime problem for our property crime problem and sort of public drug use problem in a heartbeat.

That being said, we're a major city. We have violent crime. So, I don't want to diminish anybody's sense of fear.

I think what the perception is -- really is around the public drug use, the brazen drug dealing, the kind of acting out retail theft, the kinds of things that are very unsettling to people and very visible. And for a city like San Francisco that relies so much on being a welcoming, you know, iconic city that people want to commute to and visit from around the nation and around the world, this is something that really hurts our economy. And the store right behind me, the Whole Foods, that's not going to be opening up, is exhibit a of why we've got to turn this around.

LEMON: Yes.

COLLINS: The question I think people have is, how do you turn it around? We were just talking to Katie Porter, who is obviously running to represent your state in the Senate. She's a congresswoman there now from Orange County, a congresswoman. She talked - she talked about more resources for housing, grants on how to be innovating on policing. What do you think the solution is? DORSEY: So, I think in San Francisco the issue that we are facing, and

it's not unique to San Francisco, but we have a real police understaffing crisis. This is a generational issue because there is a disproportionately large generational cohort of police officers hired during the Clinton administration. And right now they're all reaching retirement age and we're all going off a demographic cliff if we don't do more and better to make sure that we're hiring police officers.

One of the things that has been frustrating to me is, San Francisco is being out competed by local jurisdictions around northern California. I think our recruiting bonuses is about $5,000. Across the bay in Alameda, they're paying $75,000.

LEMON: Wow.

DORSEY: That's the difference between a down payment for a condo and a down payment for a car. And I think we've got to do better. We are the, you know, the giant of northern California. So, I want to make sure that we're competing better. And I'm proposing a charter amendment, along with my colleagues, supervisor Catherine Stephanie (ph), to get to a fully staffed police department within no -- no less than five years.

LEMON: Wow.

DORSEY: But I think we might even be able to do it sooner.

LEMON: Wow. Interesting.

COLLINS: Yes, ambitious timeline.

LEMON: Yes. Learned a lot. Thank you, Matt.

COLLINS: Thanks, Matt Dorsey.

LEMON: Thank you.

We'll be right back.

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[08:58:48]

LEMON: Time now for our "Morning Moment." Kaitlan is really excited about this one.

The NYPD's newest recruits will look slightly different.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D-NYC): Digidog is out of the pound. Digidog is now part of the toolkit that we are using.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right, so meet Digidog. There he is. One of three new crime fighting robotic tools unveiled in Times Square just yesterday. It is remote controlled and will assist with hostage negotiations, counterterrorism and more. Digidog was briefly used by the NYPD just a few years ago, but it was shut down following a backlash, labeling it as dystopian. But Mayor Adams ensured the public that the new technology will save lives and it will be used transparently.

Also revealed this StarChase gun that can shoot a tractable - a trackable, I should say, GPS projectile at vehicles. And these K5 robots will patrol predetermined paths and use AI to give real-time notifications.

Digidog is ready to go. The other two will have to spend a little more time in the academy. Pilot programs could launch this summer.

[09:00:04]

COLLINS: Just you're putting dogs out of work.

LEMON: So, there you go.

COLLINS: Real dogs.

LEMON: And maybe humans, too. Digidog -

COLLINS: (INAUDIBLE).

LEMON: There we go. Astro and the Jetsons. We are in -- we live in the future. The future is now.

We're so glad that you could join us today. Have a great day. We'll see you tomorrow.

NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.