Return to Transcripts main page
CNN This Morning
Israeli Combat Ops Resume In Southern Gaza; 50 Trucks Of Food, Medicine Enter Gaza Today From Egypt; New EPA Rule Would Slash Methane Emissions From Fossil Industry; George Santos Expelled From House Over Ethics Violations; Major Brands Flee X, Halt Advertisement; Subsidiaries Of Major Companies Also Go Dark On X; Mysterious Respiratory Illness Spreading In Dogs; Kentucky Man Wants To Know: Who Shot His Inflatable Santa. Aired 7-8a ET
Aired December 02, 2023 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:00:00]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): It is Saturday morning. Good morning to you. Welcome to CNN. I am Victor Blackwell.
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Isabel Rosales. Amara Walker is off today. Thanks for joining us.
BLACKWELL: Israeli combat operations against Hamas are entering their second day after the collapse of the week-long truce. Israel's military says they have hit 400 targets in just the first 24 hours since the truce expired. They've been directing most of their firepower toward targets in southern Gaza. The Hamas-run Ministry of Health says 178 people have been killed since hostilities resumed.
ROSALES: Israeli officials say the extended humanitarian truce collapsed after Hamas did not provide the names of the women and children still held hostage. That was part of the agreement. Despite the truce ending, U.S. officials say talks to release more hostages are still ongoing. We begin with CNN's Ben Wedeman. He's in Jerusalem. Ben, what is the latest you're hearing on the fighting?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly, Isabel, it seems that there have been many more than 400 strikes at this point of the day since that truce collapsed. The latest we're hearing is that a residential building was hit in the Jabalya refugee camp north of Gaza City. Preliminary reports are talking about dozens of people killed and many injured. Many of them have been rushed to the nearby Indonesian hospital.
Now, this came just a few hours after the Arabic spokesman for the Israeli military had warned the people of Shajia, Jabalya and Tufah, those are three areas to the east and the north of Gaza City, to leave by 4:00 p.m. today. We're talking about a lot of people basically being ordered to leave their homes and go to the south of Gaza. But it appears that this residential building, a six-story building in the Jabalya refugee camp was hit during that time when people were supposed to be leaving.
Now, we understand that many of the people in that building were displaced. They had fled to that area from other parts of Gaza, which really underscores the fact that no matter what the residents of Gaza do, when following the orders of the Israeli military, they never really end up anywhere safe. Now, at this point, we just heard a press conference from the spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, who said that at that point, and probably these numbers are old, even though he only said them about 15 minutes ago, said 193 people have been killed since the collapse of the truce.
Yesterday, 652 wounded. He said, 70 percent of the dead and wounded are women and children. Now, some aid has been getting into Gaza. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reports that this morning, 50 trucks of food and medical aid did get into Gaza through the Rafah Crossing from Egypt. That comes after 24 hours where no trucks, no relief, food, medicine, water, or anything was getting into Gaza. Isabel?
ROSALES: All right, Ben Wedeman, thank you.
BLACKWELL: Let's go now to Camila Dechalus at the White House. Camila, how involved has the president been in the effort to try to at least get another truce established?
CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, President Biden has said that he is deeply engaged in talks to provide more humanitarian relief to the area of Gaza, but also to work towards doing another humanitarian pause in Gaza to ensure that relief is to be sent and also to work towards his commitment to freeing more hostages.
Now, at this time more than 50 hostages have been released including a little American girl named Abigail, who turned 4 in captivity, and he has talked about her extensively in his speeches and in public settings to talk about the importance of why he is working towards a humanitarian pause, but also to free more hostages that are held in captivity by Hamas.
[07:05:22]
Another one of the things that he also emphasized with a humanitarian pause is that it can also just allow more negotiations to be held between Israel and Hamas to really ensure that it can pause the infighting but also have humanitarian aid go into the region.
ROSALES: All right, Camila Dechalus, thank you for your time. And as Ben was mentioning, this morning, 50 trucks carrying food and medical supplies have entered Gaza from the Rafah border crossing. They are the first ones since that truce ended.
BLACKWELL: Yes, but conditions in southern Gaza are worsening, and wounded civilians are stretched out on floors in hospitals, as medical staff say. They're now unable to provide any medical services. CNN's Larry Madowo joins us now from Cairo. And you've been visiting the crossing, the Rafah crossing, which has been a vital lifeline for Palestinians. What have you seen?
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Isabel, we had harrowing tales of those that survived the death and devastation in Gaza, and were lucky to make it across the Rafah Crossing into Egypt. I should point out that only a small percentage can make this journey. Health authorities in Gaza say they're at about 171 percent bed capacity, but most of them cannot cross over into Egypt, but those that can, it's heartbreaking the tales we're hearing. This is the UNICEF now saying Gaza is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MADOWO (voice-over): Rose's innocent laughter as her family arrives in Egypt. Her sister, born in Gaza during the war, too young to comprehend the horrors in her homeland. Their mom, Rawan Mahdi, had her leg amputated just days before she gave birth. She says, they miraculously survived when a missile hit their home.
RAWAN MADI, GAZA RESIDENT (through translation): In just one second, the house collapsed on us. We were lying down and the ceiling was just over our heads. We were shocked. We started calling out to each other.
MADOWO: Rawan's leg could have been saved, but doctors were overwhelmed with more serious injuries. As a family, they have lost everything but their lives. Dozens from Gaza arrive at the Rafah Crossing with critical injuries. Not everyone makes it. Sometimes, they go home in body bags. Fifth grader, Yehia, is learning to play Egyptian monopoly as he recovers from a broken arm, leg and a fractured skull.
YEHIA, GAZA STUDENT (through translation): I wasn't injured in the first strike. I was injured in the second one. I was asleep and woke up to find myself in a hospital in this state. My mother and father are injured.
MADOWO: He doesn't know yet that both his parents were killed. These Egyptian ambulances now crossing from Rafah into Gaza have brought back nearly 400 critically wounded to be treated at Egyptian hospitals. Hundreds of trucks on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing awaiting clearance to deliver much-needed aid to Gaza hours before troops expired that had allowed about 200 trucks in daily.
Even with a pause in fighting, getting food, fuel, water, medicines and clothes into Gaza was a painstaking process. After leaving Egypt, they go through an Israeli security check at the Nitsana Crossing. Drivers say it can take up to three days to get cleared. Mahmoud has done the trip twice and is waiting in line to make his third aid delivery.
MAHMOUD ABD, DRIVER (through translation): I am sad, annoyed and frustrated. I want to do something to help, but my hands are tied, he tells us. When I see that my brother and sisters can't find food or water, I feel life is worthless.
MADOWO: But at Egypt's Al-Arish airport, plane loads of donations are flowing in, day and night, turning this military facility into a humanitarian hub. We just saw this Qatari military transport aircraft coming in. When we got here, there was an aircraft from Singapore, another one from the European Union, all bringing essential aid as the world surges humanitarian supplies to Gaza. The U.N. says all this is still a drop in the ocean, and with the
uncertainty of the truce, barely anything is going in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADOWO (on camera): The U.S. sent three more plane loads of food and medical supplies, baby formula, to Gaza this week through that airport where Al-Arish. So, in our report, and all of this is so critical because about 80 percent of people in Gaza are displaced. They depend on all this aid coming in just to survive.
But also, the humanitarian infrastructure there, the water distribution facilities, the shelters, all rely on cooking gas and fuel coming in to run just about everything. But at the heart of it is these kids. So many kids that there's a new acronym that has emerged out of this tragedy. WCNSF. Wounded Child, No Surviving Family.
ROSALES: So many Palestinian civilians, especially the youngest and most vulnerable there, going through unimaginable horrors with no end in sight. Larry Madowo, thank you for that report.
BLACKWELL: The U.N. is also focusing this weekend on climate change, or holding its annual climate summit in one of the oil money capitals of the world. Now, President Biden is not attending this year but Vice President Kamala Harris is. The Biden-Harris administration is aiming to significantly cut methane emissions, and those heat up the Earth's atmosphere 80 times more than carbon dioxide. Our senior international correspondent, David McKenzie, is in Dubai. So, what's the administration's plan there?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, it's a very significant plan, because what it's going to do is drastically reduce, through the Environmental Protection Agency rules, of the ability for companies to have methane getting into the atmosphere. That's a very dangerous greenhouse gas that for a long- time activists have been asking countries like the U.S. to curb. So, it is a significant moment. I spoke to the White House climate advisor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALI ZAIDI, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL CLIMATE ADVISER: It's so important that in this decisive decade for climate action, we have accountability in addition to commitments and transparency. We've got to get the receipts, make sure we're making the progress we need to make in this critical decade.
MCKENZIE: Are you hoping that these new rules will be inspiring other countries to follow suit?
ZAIDI: Absolutely. We've seen that on the basis of strong domestic action in the United States. Countries are coming along adopting the same playbook and scaling those solutions worldwide.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MCKENZIE: Now, chief among those countries of course is China the
world's biggest emitter. Some time ago when President Biden and Xi Jinping, Chinese President, met up, there was a commitment to look at methane. Hopefully, China will follow suit, says that White House adviser.
There has been a push at this climate meetings, held as you say in a major oil producing nation, that there will be a concrete look at phasing out fossil fuels, because the world is way behind its emission cuts in terms of having a livable planet in decades to go.
I did ask the White House adviser whether the U.S. would commit to phasing out fossil fuels. He didn't give a direct answer, but he said that a transition to renewables is critical and it needs to happen quickly. Victor, Isabel.
BLACKWELL: David McKenzie for us there in Dubai. Thanks so much. Still ahead, a federal judge has rejected former President Trump's claim of immunity and denying his bid to have the election subversion case thrown out. We'll have more on that.
ROSALES: Plus, what does the future of X, formerly known as Twitter, look like with more and more advertisers pulling out? We'll discuss.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:17:35]
BLACKWELL: A federal judge's ruling just made it more likely that former President Donald Trump will head to trial next year. Judge Tanya Chuck can refuse to dismiss Trump's charges in the election subversion case in Washington, D.C. She said that the Constitution does not grant presidents absolute immunity from federal crimes committed while in office.
ROSALES: Now, she is also stressing that the position doesn't confer a lifelong get out of jail free pass. The issue must likely be settled by an appeals court above the judge before Trump's criminal trial. That trial is slated to start in March.
BLACKWELL: George Santos, he's waking up this morning as a former member of Congress, he was expelled Friday over multiple ethical violations, and the race to fill his seat could affect an already tight Republican majority in the House. CNN's Lauren Fox looks at how it all unfolded and what's next.
LAUREN FOX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was a historic and unprecedented day on Capitol Hill as George Santos was ousted from the House of Representatives, making him just the sixth member of that body ever to be removed by his peers. He also became the first member to be expelled without being convicted of a crime in a court of law or being a member of the Confederacy. Santos actually left the chamber before the vote was even gaveled and said he didn't have any plans to return to Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE SANTOS, FORMER NEW YORK REPRESENTATIVE: Why would I want to
take her? The hell with the place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOX: Santos was voted out by more than a hundred Republican members. That came despite the fact that members of the Republican leadership voted against this resolution, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, who said earlier in the week he had reservations about moving forward with this vote and voting to oust Santos given the fact he hadn't been convicted of a crime.
Although behind closed doors, Republican leaders did encourage their members to vote their conscience and do whatever they thought was best for their districts. Now, all eyes are on the New York Governor Kathy Hochul as she moves forward with plans to schedule a special election. That election has to be held within the next three months. It is a district that Biden won back in 2020. So, this is going to be a major pickup opportunity for Democrats who are already saying that they plan to invest heavily in this race. Isabel, Victor.
ROSALES: Investigations are currently underway regarding alleged fake electors in Nevada who are suspected of orchestrating fraudulent electoral college votes following the 2020 election.
BLACKWELL: CNN's Kyung Lah recently tracked down those individuals who were looking to overturn the election results in favor of then President Trump. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In northwest Nevada, nestled among the mountains in the Truckee River Valley, we find in this quiet Reno Public Library, two-state Republican leaders who don't want to answer our questions. You haven't spoken it you're not going to comment on whether you spoke to anybody. You do understand it's a --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please, if you would turn that off, we have nothing to talk about really on that yet. I have nothing to say.
LAH: Have you been contacted by any of the speakers? What about your testimony in Georgia, the case of --
This is Nevada Republican Party National Committeeman Jim DeGraffenreit and Nevada Republican Vice Chairman Jim Hindle. They're also known to state investigators as fake electors. This is them on December 14, 2020.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, electors, that is six votes certified for President Donald J. Trump.
LAH: But Trump lost Nevada in 2020 by 33,000 votes. Joe Biden won Nevada's six electoral votes. Not that you'd know if you were watching this live streamed gathering posing as an official event. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald J. Trump of the state of Florida, having
received six electoral votes, is declared the winner of the electoral votes for the state of Nevada.
LAH: The document they signed that day became part of a charade seeking to undermine voters' faith in democracy. Now, leading up to 2024.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been making the road show around the state.
LAH: Crisscrossing the state talking about next year's caucus while Nevada's attorney general is investigating their actions in 2020 for possible criminal conduct. A source tells CNN that Kenneth Chesbrough, the attorney who helped orchestrate the Trump campaign's fake electors plot, is now cooperating with Nevada investigators. Chesbrough already pleaded guilty in the Georgia election subversion case.
Is there any irony in you going around with, to use your words, the roadshow, talking about 2024 when in 2020 you signed this fake electorate document?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I apologize, but this is not something I will entertain.
LAH: Do you still believe Trump won?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it's irrelevant. The electoral college elects the president, and so the electoral college elected Joe Biden, and so Joe Biden is the president.
LAH: But how do you explain what happened in 2020? That ceremony you participated in and the document you signed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again, no comment on that.
LAH: We contacted all of Nevada's six fake electors about the state attorney general's investigation.
I'm looking for Sean Meehan.
SEAN MEEHAN, FAKE ELECTOR: This is him.
LAH: And this is Meehan in 2020.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sean Meehan.
LAH: In the attorney general's investigation of the fake electors.
MEEHAN: I have no comment on that.
LAH: Let's try it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You've reached the office of Michael J. McDonald.
LAH: I'm trying to reach Mr. McDonald again.
The leader of the fake electors, Michael McDonald.
Current Nevada Republican chairman was center stage just last month.
[07:23:26]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump! Trump!
LAH: One of Trump's closest allies in the West.
DONALD TRUMP, 45TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to thank Michael. He's been fantastic right from the beginning.
LAH: McDonald has been summoned by both the January 6th grand jury and in the Georgia fake electors' case, but did not reply to our calls.
AMY TARKANIAN, NVSOS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBER OF PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY: It bothers me to no end. Yes, and I know a number of Republicans that just wish that they would go away.
LAH: Amy Tarkanian is the former Nevada Republican Chairwoman and is now an appointed advisor with the Secretary of State who believes Nevada needs to protect democracy.
TARKANIAN: It's important to address it because you want to make sure that everyone sees that these people are spreading lies and it's malicious. There does need to be some repercussions, so it will make people think very, very hard about trying to pull this kind of garbage off ever again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH (on camera): Ken Chesbrough pled guilty in the state of Georgia and when he did that the terms of his plea deal changed allowing him to travel to states like Nevada and as well to Arizona where the Attorney General in that state has what she has previously described to CNN as "a robust case." Two sources familiar with the Arizona case say that Chesbrough is indeed in touch with investigators in Arizona although the concrete details of how quickly that will proceed still unclear. Kyung Lah, CNN, Las Vegas, Nevada.
BLACKWELL: Coming up, the list of companies pulling ads from X is getting longer. So, what does this mean for the company's future? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:28:55]
ROSALES: Welcome back. In the health news this morning, if it seems like everybody is coming down with something, well, turns out respiratory illness is up in the U.S. especially among children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that that is due mainly to an increase in three well-known viruses, COVID-19, the flu and RSV.
According to November data, more than 10 percent of doctor visits among children younger than 5 were for flu-like illness. That is about three times higher than the national average for all ages. Hospitalizations have been on the rise for months, with weekly admission rates for children up 69 percent since the start of October.
BLACKWELL: More major brand names are backing away from X, the company owned by the richest man in the world, Elon Musk. Walmart is now the latest to say it will not support the social media platform, formerly known as Twitter. In a statement, Walmart said, it "found other platforms to better reach our customers."
Other companies choosing to depart X, Disney, Apple, CNN's parent company, Warner Brothers Discovery. Media analysts blame the advertising exodus over Musk's recent endorsement of an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory on X.
[07:30:10]
Joining me is Tiffany Hsu, the tech reporter for The New York Times. Tiffany, good morning to you. So, this moment that we're seeing, we are getting used to this kind of erratic statements and activities. This, go f yourself that we saw at DealBook, where he responded to the exodus. Is this just added to that list or was that outburst something different?
TIFFANY HSU, TECH REPORTER, NEW YORK TIMES: You know, I talked to a source of mine, who had recently come back to X after taking a six month pause. And she said she wakes up the next morning, sees his comments at DealBook and says, I was shocked. But also not shocked, because this is something that he is been doing fairly often.
That said, it does seem like the intensity of these particular comments have turned a lot more advertisers off.
BLACKWELL: Is this, this departure -- I'm trying to determine the right adjective, the right verb here, is it an exodus? Is it a pause? Are they waiting until these cools or are they done with X?
HSU: I think advertisers, in general, because they're focused on profit, because they tend to read the feeling in the room are never going to say we will leave you forever. They tend not to make -- they tend not to make pronouncements like that.
So, I would say that most of them are likely saying that it's a pause. Some of them might internally never plan to come back.
BLACKWELL: Yes. So, we -- again, that go f yourself moment to the big companies, X released the statement, saying, small and medium businesses are a very significant engine that we have underplayed for a long time was always part of the plan. Now, we'll go even further with it.
Are these smaller businesses enough to fill I guess the hole that wasn't full before?
HSU: On platforms like Meta, when Meta was facing a similar boycott a few years ago, they said the same thing. Most of our advertisers are on the long tail of small to medium sized companies. So, it's true that these sorts of companies are a big source of revenue.
But X has never been an especially attractive source of advertising for a company. So, to say that it's going to rely on, on this cohort, it's tough to say whether that's enough.
BLACKWELL: Oh, let's talk about Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X. She was the former head of global advertising for NBC Universal. She was brought in to make the advertisers, the big companies feel comfortable. She said earlier this year, that it's safe to come back, you could feel comfortable placing your ads next to our content, and then this happens, and the moment at DealBook.
So, she seemingly has been hamstrung -- hands tied from the start. What does she do now?
HSU: I've had multiple people who either know her or work with her or know of her reputation, say that they were heartened to hear that she had been hired on. But lately, they have been shocked to see how much she's been defending Musk publicly.
Several people have said, it seems like Musk has tied the entire valuation of this company to his ego, and there is not very much, Linda can do to save it.
So, the -- as I read this statement from Walmart, they say that they'll find other platforms to better reach their customers. Where are they going, the big companies?
HSU: TikTok? TikTok. Facebook is still a big source, Instagram is popular. But Tik-Tok is where most people say they are -- they are looking to next.
BLACKWELL: TikTok. OK. Now, we're seeing the advertisers leave. Are there any of the daily users, the -- you know, tens of millions, you know, the number I don't, people who have these X accounts who are saying, yes, this isn't for me, either. Are we seeing any similar exodus?
HSU: There is been an ongoing stream of people who have said, we're going to blue sky, we're going to check out Mastodon and we're going to look at any number of these other platforms. But at the end of the day X remains a popular platform. There are a lot of people on there who are eating up everything Elon Musk has to say. They are there because of him.
BLACKWELL: All right. Tiffany Hsu, good to have you. Thank you.
[07:34:28]
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Coming up, a mysterious respiratory illness is spreading in dogs. How concerned should pet owners be and how serious is it? The president of the American Veterinary Medicine Association, she joins us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROSALES: All right, welcome back. Has your dog been coughing or sneezing lately. Maybe eating less or maybe even sleeping more than usual?
Well, those could be signs of an infectious respiratory disease among canines, that has now been reported in at least a dozen states.
So far, researchers have not been able to identify it as any known respiratory disease for dogs. So, what is it?
Let's discuss with Dr. Rena Carlson. She is the president of the American Veterinary Medicine Association.
Doctor, thank you so much for joining us this morning. Let's start with just how worried should pet parents be right now if their dogs are we experiencing some of these symptoms?
DR. RENA CARLSON, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN VETERINARY MEDICINE ASSOCIATION: Well, thank you for having me. Yes, we definitely want to get the word out that we are seeing a respiratory outbreak. And I don't want people to panic because it is common to have respiratory outbreaks.
[07:40:04]
But we do want people to be vigilant and really watch for any signs of a persistent cough or abnormal behavior. And particularly, if they stop eating or become really lethargic, you really want to get to your veterinarian and see what's going on.
ROSALES: All right. And I do think we have a list of some of the symptoms if we can bring that up. Can you explain how this is different from other known respiratory illnesses for dogs?
CARLSON: Well, what we're seeing is a little bit different course. So, rather than a two-week course of coughing, or, you know, kind of being a little sick, this tends to go out six to eight weeks.
(CROSSTALK)
ROSALES: Wow, that's four times longer than normal.
CARLSON: Yes, exactly. And we're also seeing just some of these dogs actually will go into a pneumonia. And that's where it gets really worrisome.
And it really depends on the age of the dog, the breed of dog, and the risk levels. So, it's important that you know, you get a hold of your veterinarian, and find out what's going on.
We're also seeing some of these actually take a pretty rapid course. So, within 24 to 36 hours, these dogs can become really sick.
ROSALES: Right. So, it can turn ugly rather quickly there. Of course, pet owners watching this will want to know how to prevent it, how to not get to that point?
So, what can folks out there do to reduce the risk of their pets getting sick?
CARLSON: Well, most of the time, respiratory diseases are transmitted with closer contact with other dogs. So, it's in, you know, when they're coughing, they're sneezing, they're putting those particles out in the -- in the air, and that's how another dog is going to be exposed.
So, the best thing is really to try to avoid those areas. You can also get a hold of your veterinarian, because they are going to know what's happening in your particular area, and if they are seeing some of these abnormal cases.
ROSALES: So, is this a thing to have these extra precautions for a short period of time? Is this thing going to pass us? Or are we going to know more about what this illness is, and it's just a part of regular life for dogs and dog owners?
CARLSON: Well, I would say that respiratory outbreaks are a part of normal life. However, we are seeing a little atypical course this time around. It's actually been out there for several months. So, we don't expect it's going away anytime soon. And we also have a lot of people working really hard to really pinpoint, is this something new? Or is it a variation of our typical respiratory disease panels?
Some of these dogs are not testing positive for any of our normal known diseases. And so, that's what is making it a little confusing. So, we really just want people to be vigilant. Watch for any signs, watch for coughing, and contact your veterinarian as soon as you can.
ROSALES: So, Doctor, what's your advice? Is it may be a better idea for dog owners to maybe stay out of the dog parks right now, at least?
CARLSON: Well, once again, it's so important to find out what's happening in your area. And the other thing that's important is make sure your dog is vaccinated for the known causes of respiratory disease.
The better they can fight out, fight off what we know, the more likely they will fight off other things as well.
So, make sure they're vaccinated, make sure they're healthy, make sure you've had that veterinary exam, so you can understand their risk level, to know whether it's really important that you avoid those areas, or whether it's reasonably safe for you to go.
ROSALES: OK. So, this might be a silly question. But can this thing transfer from dogs to humans?
CARLSON: Well, at this point, we have no evidence to show that this particular disease process is going to pass back and forth between humans and dogs. So, rest assured, we don't think that's the case. But again, once we start knowing more about what exactly is causing this, we'll have more information on that.
ROSALES: And Dr. Carlson, there is -- I want to shift gears real quick if you're going to permit me here. CARLSON: Yes.
ROSALES: There is all sorts of talk about this new longetivity (PH) drug for dogs intended to expand the lifespan of larger breeds.
It just cleared a major FDA hurdle, but it is not yet available to dog owners. What do you know about it?
CARLSON: Well, we're kind of excited, obviously. I don't think anyone would argue that we're excited to think there is something out there that could increase the lifespan of our beloved pets and dogs. It's too early to know much at all. Again, like you said, there is been one hurdle passed.
There is really compelling and promising results. But we've had a small number of dogs, 500 dogs that they looked at and 80 or so breeds. So, when that gets scaled up, it will be very interesting to see if those results are -- we're able to reproduce them, and really what happens.
[07:45:04]
And the other part of it is we always have to be looking at what's the negative effect. Are there adverse effects that might go along with this? And so, as they scale this up, we will know more and more, and we're definitely keeping a close eye on it. Because it's really exciting to think that there is something we could do to keep our pets around longer.
ROSALES: Right. And right now, it only goes by LOY 001. Still has to go through clinical trials, as you said, to get the full picture of what's going on there. Dr. Rena Carlson, thank you so much for your time.
CARLSON: Thank you.
BLACKWELL: Tomorrow, "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER" takes a closer look at the future of artificial intelligence. Here is a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are going to be machines that are way smarter than you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we choose so and we don't destroy civilization before that, we could get there. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is the biggest fear? It's humans, using this technology or humans losing control of this technology?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're both valid fears. The -- for the foreseeable future is going to be humans, doing bad things with powerful technologies like they have done in the past, but now very -- more powerful technology.
It's also conceivable that, at some point, we could lose control. And that's potentially even worse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you're scared, why don't you just shut up shop and go and become a farmer? Your research could be contributing to the end of all of us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm asking that question myself every morning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER" airs tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. right here on CNN.
ROSALES: Now, well, "FIRST OF ALL", is coming up at the top of the hour. OK, Victor, I heard something about Beyonce.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
ROSALES: Some sparkly silver shoes.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
ROSALES: Oh, boy.
BLACKWELL: We'll get to that the back half of the show. But we're starting with the question over if a two Israel should be conditional, right? Both Republicans and Democrats agree that there are too many innocent civilians who are dying. So, should there be some conditions on the multibillion-dollar package that the U.S. will likely send to protect those civilians.
Also, we have, you know, we reported on the first black man in Jackson, Mississippi who was killed by an off-duty officer and buried without the family being notified.
There is now a second black man in Jackson, Mississippi who was buried and they say that they did not get notification from the Jackson Police Department.
Also, we're going to talk about the effort to primary -- Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. Now, two members who are -- two candidates, I should say who are running for Senate in Michigan to replace Debbie Stabenow, say they have been approached with $20 million of campaign support, if they'll drop out and run against her.
We had Hill Harper, one of those candidates who says that he was made that offer, who will be with us.
And yes, Renaissance shoes are back.
(CROSSTALK)
ROSALES: Sparkly shoes.
BLACKWELL: We're going to talk about that photo that triggered some people, Beyonce, from the premiere of the Renaissance film, and the question of skin and complexion. We'll get into that at the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:52:19]
ROSALES: All right. So, who killed jolly old St. Nick? Though not the real one, but an inflatable Santa Claus. That's what a Lexington Kentucky man is trying to figure out after surveillance video shows Santa deflating in his outdoor Christmas display, following a loud noise.
CNN's Jeanne Moos has that holiday story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Santa is known for using a sleigh.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ho, ho.
MOOS: But could this have been an attempt to sway Santa? Instead of singing about in --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Santa Clauses is coming --
MOOS: Did someone try to zing him?
Donald Nelson heard a noise outside his Lexington, Kentucky home the other night?
DONALD NELSON, RESIDENT, LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY: Kind of like a small bang or whatever.
MOOS: Nelson checked his surveillance video, which showed a car going by a popping sound, and then, Santa deflating. Was this a drive by shootings, similar to when Frosty the Snowman?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, oh.
MOOS: Oh, oh. Was attacked by a masked man who jumped out of a pickup and slashed frosty back in 2016 in St. Louis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just mean spirited. I mean, it's silly vandalism.
MOOS: But to try to take out Santa seems even worse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Santa! Oh my God!
MOOS: No wonder Santa's owner was mad.
Discharging a firearm at someone's home.
MOOS: But there is a plot twist. The Lexington Police tell CNN, "All possibilities are being looked into, even possibly overinflation. Meaning, Santa may have popped himself.
Whatever happened left Santa with an 18-inch hole, neighbors offered to help so up.
Next thing you know, Santa will be arming himself. For $93 you can get a six-foot Santa dressed in camo, with a sack of presents in one hand and a gun in the other.
Looking ready to hunt reindeer rather than drive them. Jeanne Moss, CNN New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROSALES: All right. The grinch are overinflation, the great holiday mystery there.
All right. Moving to weather, waves of rain and snow. They are expected in the Pacific Northwest this weekend.
With millions of people under winter weather alerts. But New York City has a new record. It has gone more than 650 days without an inch of snow.
All right. Allison Chinchar she is tracking it all for us. Break this down. 600 plus days.
(CROSSTALK)
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's right. And --
ROSALES: What?
CHINCHAR: I know, right? it sounds like a lot. But again, they are not the only ones. So, New York has gone since last --
[07:55:02]
CHINCHAR: February 13th of 2022, they have not had an inch of snow. And New York is not the only one, Baltimore, Philadelphia, even Washington, D.C.: All of these areas going over 600 days without an inch of snow.
And all of those being record length. But it's quite the opposite story out in the west, where we're going to be measuring snow in feet the next few days.
All of these areas here, about eight states in total, looking at winter weather alerts, and that's in preparation for this atmospheric river event that's going to push a surge of moisture into these areas.
You can see level ones and level two, atmospheric river events. Those are mostly beneficial. But when you start getting up to level four and fives, now they become more hazardous than they really are beneficial.
And that's what we're going to be experiencing across much of Oregon, and in the southwestern portion of Washington. Rainfall, you're talking widespread along the coast of four to seven inches of rain inland. You're talking one to three feet in those higher elevations of the Cascades, the Olympics, as well as the Rocky Mountains.
ROSALES: Meteorologist Allison Chinchar, Thank you for your time.
All right. That does it for CNN this morning. "FIRST OF ALL" with Victor Blackwell. That's up next. Thanks for joining us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
