Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Trump Set to Meet Biden at White House on Wednesday; Only 1 Money Recovered After SC Research Facility Escape; Thousands of People Protest Handling of Spain Flooding. Gaza Health Minister: 36+ Killed In Israeli Strike; Qatar Suspends Mediating Gaza Ceasefire Talks Between Israel And Hamas; Companies Are Changing How They Do Business To Avoid Trump's Tariffs; Man Arrested In String Of Stabbings Over Two Days In Seattle; First Responder Dies Responding To Wildfire In New York; Tourist Get Close View Of Trevi Fountain During Restoration Works. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired November 10, 2024 - 06:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:00:39]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Good morning. I hope you're feeling good. If you're going to rise, you might as well shine. Welcome to CNN this morning. It's Sunday, November 10th. I'm Victor Blackwell.

AMARA WALKER, CNN HOST: And I'm Amara Walker. I am still waiting for that chai tea latte weather. I mean, when is it coming? We were talking about this morning, crock-pot weather.

BLACKWELL: Oh, I think I'm being robbed of my crock-pot weather.

WALKER: Like, your --

BLACKWELL: We're going to go straight from summer to winter.

WALKER: I have a feeling.

BLACKWELL: I just know.

WALKER: Yeah. Well, here's what we have for you this morning. President elect Donald Trump is heading back to the White House this week for the first time in nearly four years. What we know about his face to face meeting with President Biden in the Oval Office this week.

BLACKWELL: And looking live at Capitol Hill this morning, Congress is back in session this week with a lot to do while the balance of power in the House is still up in the air.

WALKER: And one down and more than 40 to go. One of the lab monkeys on the loose in South Carolina has been captured while crews are trying to track down dozens more. BLACKWELL: And the big dig is happening across New Mexico and Colorado today. The places that picked up more than four feet of snow. That's coming up.

We're starting this morning, though, with another big win for President elect Donald Trump. CNN can now project that the President elect will win Arizona, completing his clean sweep of all seven battleground states. He'll finish the election with 312 electoral votes in total. Vice President Kamala Harris will win 226 electoral votes.

WALKER: Meanwhile, the President elect is preparing for an Oval Office meeting with President Biden. The meeting is a political tradition that projects a peaceful transfer of power. However, the last one was between Donald Trump and Barack Obama in 2016. You may recall Trump did not host Biden four years ago as he was fighting the election results at the time.

We have Team coverage this morning. Daniel Strauss is in Washington, but we begin with Betsy Klein in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Betsy, what's the read on the Oval Office sit down?

BETSY KLEI, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Well, Amara, President Biden will host former President and now President elect Donald Trump at the White House in the Oval Office this Wednesday at 11 a.m. And we've also learned that first Lady Jill Biden extended an invitation to Melania Trump, though it's unclear whether or when that meeting will take place.

And as you said, it is so notable because this is a meeting that Trump refused Biden back in 2020 as he was baselessly contesting the election results. So President Biden trying to show the country and the world here that there will be a peaceful transfer of power in January, even after he called Trump a threat to democracy. And we've learned that this meeting is coming together after behind the scenes coordination and conversations between Trump's incoming chief of staff, that's Susie Wiles, and Biden's chief of staff, Jeff Zients. The two of them have coordinated closely on this and other issues like the aftermath, those assassination attempts in recent months.

And we are also learning that this is coming as the White House is pushing, nudging the Trump team to sign a pair of key transition agreements to unlock some of those briefings and other transition activities. And the holdup, our sources are telling us, is over concerns in part from the Trump team about mandatory ethics agreements.

But obviously, a key moment to watch and the first time that Biden and Trump will meet substantively together since that critical CNN debate back in June.

BLACKWELL: Betsy, what are President's plans for the rest of the week?

KLEIN: Well, tomorrow is Veterans Day. And the President does plan to attend some of those solemn commemorations at Arlington National Cemetery. And then later in the week, he turns his attention back to foreign policy. First, he will travel to Peru for an economic summit and then he will head to Brazil where he will visit the Amazon rainforest, of course, one of those perks of the presidency, and then head onward to Rio de Janeiro for the G20 leaders' summit.

And of course, this election results loom so large over those world leader meetings. And President Biden often talks about back in 2021 after he took office. He told his counterparts America is back and French President Macron replied, for how long? So of course, a lot of uncertainty looming over that meeting and the future of U.S. Leadership in the world, Victor and Amara.

WALKER: All right. Betsy Klein, thank you so much. So the Trump transition team is working to fill key positions in the incoming administration.

BLACKWELL: Let's go to CNN's Daniel Strauss now.

[06:05:00]

So Daniel, good morning to you. What do we know about the transition process, how it's going far?

DANIEL STRAUSS, CNN REPORTER: Well, what we do know right now is that the -- one of the major picks Donald Trump has already made is elevating his campaign co-chair Susie Wiles to be his first chief of staff.

Now, this is a really telling move by Trump. There had been rumors of other names floating around. And it's not unusual for a successful presidential campaign to look outside the campaign for a chief of staff.

But he here with Wiles, Trump is bringing in ultimately one of his most competent campaign aides and someone he does listen to even when he has to hear no to something. That's been really the influence in power of Wiles, ultimately a power player that stays outside of the limelight. And it's someone who has wide respect across the Republican Party right now.

BLACKWELL: Daniel Strauss, of course, we will wait to see how this cabinet fills out.

Thanks so much. Let's bring in now White House reporters for Politico, Daniel Lippman. Daniel, good morning to you. So the transition team has not announced members of the incoming administration. But the President elect yesterday identified two people who will not be part of his next administration, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. You've got a new story out on that.

It was a gracious message, but why highlight them to say, they're not coming along?

DANIEL LIPPMAN, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, POLITICO: Yeah, you almost never see presidents in the past who air out dirty laundry like this. He wanted to kind of get that news out there. What's funny is that we had reached out to the transition team for

comment a half an hour before he put out that post. And so we're back to the President elect at least wanting to scoop reporters on this. And I remember a time when Democrats would criticize Mike Pompeo for being too loyal to Trump. You know, he said during the transition, oh, they'll be -- last time around, oh, there's going to be a peaceful transition of power to us again, to the -- to a second Trump administration. But now he is not seen as sufficiently loyal. And Nikki Haley, who had offered to campaign with Trump a few months ago, she had ran against him last year.

And that is seen as not, you know, she's not on the Trump team anymore. And it was proven that they didn't need her, those vaunted Nikki Haley voters in the suburbs because they won that handling.

BLACKWELL: Yeah. Let's talk about this meeting that's coming up this week. President elect Trump did not offer the courtesy of an Oval Office meeting to then President elect Biden, although he was offered one by then President Obama. What's the expectation? Is this just going to be handshakes and, you know, sitting around kind of stone face around a fire?

LIPPMAN: Yeah, I think this is one of those like check the box meetings, where Joe Biden, he is always a traditionalist. He wants to carry out things the way other presidents have done. But he also views this as an important aspect to show the world that we do have a peaceful transfer of power because Trump had to be kicked, dragging it, you know, kicking and screaming last time around and didn't even attend Joe Biden's inauguration. So we should expect Biden to attend this one. And so there will be handshakes.

But what's interesting is that when Trump came into power in 2017, he had a similar meeting with Obama and he said, oh, I'll use you as counsel sometimes during that administration. And of course, he never picked up the phone once and tried to take out a lot of Obama's initiatives.

BLACKWELL: Yeah. So CNN now projects that the President elect will win Arizona, completing, as I said, that clean sweep of the swing states. But in several of these swing states, Democrats are winning as well. You got Alyssa Slotkin for the Senate race in Michigan, Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin, Jackie Rosen in Nevada. CNN is not called the Lake Gallego race, but Congressman Gallego is winning in his race for the Senate or at least ahead there has a lead.

Does this portend something for what's coming as Democrats return to Washington? They won't have control of the Senate. But are there any indicators of these split tickets and what this means for progress for the president's agenda in the next term?

LIPPMAN: Well, I think it kind of -- the most important thing that it indicates is a path for Democrats to eventually come back to power and the types of candidates that are -- have winning personalities and policy agendas with Ruben Gallego.

[06:10:14] He's a veteran, you know, someone that connected, of course, with Latino-Americans in Arizona with Slotkin, she was able to speak to Michigan voters who have faced a tough economy in their own personal lives. But it's also candidate quality matters.

There's a lot of people in Arizona who did not like the fact that Kari Lake spread conspiracy theories that she refused to accept the results when she lost last time around for the gubernatorial race. But even the fact that those Democrats got in doesn't really stop Trump from enacting his agenda because it's going to be a clean sweep in Congress for Republicans. And so it helps Democrats with the math a little bit for the next time around. But it's still an uphill climb, you know, hill to climb.

BLACKWELL: Daniel, Politico has some reporting out this weekend about the fight or flight decision that civil servants are having to make. I mean, it's typical at the end of an administration when there's a change of power, a party in the White House that the political appointees know that it's probably time to go.

But just detail the climate there as people who have worked across several administrations are now deciding if they will stay or go.

LIPPMAN: No, civil servants are freaking out much more this time than last time around. When Trump was -- came into power in 2017, he was still getting his handling of what it was like to be president. He relied on a lot of established Republicans. But this time, he's talking even more about the deep state. And we're expecting a brain drain from those civil servants. And Trump has also promised to enact what's called Schedule F, which is a way to make civil servants who have a policymaking role potentially able to get fired, lose those civil service protections so that they can put in more Trump loyalists. And that could affect tens of thousands of people. But the expectation is that's more kind of along the edges that it's hard enough for a president to staff 4,000 political appointments.

So to try to staff 40,000 civil servants and convert them to political appointments is going to be very hard to do. But there is still a lot of apprehension among people in the federal government in varying roles about what this new administration will mean for their work and whether, you know, how effectively they can do their nonpolitical jobs.

BLACKWELL: And of course, we're standing by to get those names of the political appointees, the incoming president's cabinet. Daniel Lippmann, thanks so much.

WALKER: Well, Vice President Kamala Harris's niece, Meena Harris, shared two photos on social media last night of Harris playing with her grandnieces. The photos show Harris, along with Meena's children, Amara and Leila, playing Connect 4. Meena Harris captioned the post, back to where it all began a few months ago. The captions seemed to refer to another time Harris was with her grandnieces back in July when she learned that President Joe Biden was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race. Well, while Republicans have clinched the White House and flipped the

Senate, GOP control of the House is still not a certainty. The latest on the House races still in play. That is next.

Plus, Steve Madden is already moving production out of China to avoid potential Trump tariffs. A look at why more companies may soon follow their lead.

And after an unusually warm spell, Colorado is finally covered with snow. A look at the wintry conditions facing the state this weekend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:18:56]

BLACKWELL: Tomorrow, a jury in Indiana is back in session for a high profile double murder trial after being unable to reach a verdict yesterday. Richard Allen pleaded not guilty to killing Libby German and Abby Williams in 2017. The two girls were found dead after hiking a bridge in Delphi. And the case went cold for almost five years. Allen could be sentenced up to 130 years in prison if he's convicted on all the charges.

Tens of thousands of people marched in Valencia, Spain. They're demanding their regional leader resign after the deadly flooding there. At times, the protesters clashed with police. They threw chairs and other objects at officers. And the people blamed the Regional President for a slow response. But he says, he was not warned of the flood's severity in time. More than 220 people died in the disastrous flood that began in late October. 70 are still missing.

And now, the story that we can't get enough of, there are 42 still missing. How many monkeys remain on the loose in South Carolina after just one was captured yesterday?

[06:2006]

On Wednesday, the 43 of them escaped from a research center about an hour outside of Hilton Head. Authorities warn people living nearby that the primates can be a little skittish. A lot of them have been seen playfully exploring the fence around the facility, hanging out with the monkeys still inside. I don't know if it's hanging out or just teasing. It's not the first jailbreak from the facility. Some escaped back in 2016, but were captured much faster.

All right. Congress returns Tuesday with a big to-do list. At the top is getting a new budget passed. They are staring down a Dec. 20th funding deadline before the newly elected Congress gets sworn in. And while the Senate flipped Republican, key House races are still hanging in the balance.

Congressional reporter with The Hill, Mychael Schnell, joining me now. Good morning, Mychael.

Okay. So Congress set to return to work Tuesday. And as we said, one of the most pressing agenda items is for lawmakers to fund the government for the 2025 fiscal year. What do you expect there? Do you expect clashes and what else? Will this lame duck Congress try to accomplish by the end of the year, Mychael?

MYCHAEL SCHNELL, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, THE HILL: Yeah. Hey, Amara, good morning. That government funding shutdown deadline on December 20th is the most pressing priority for when this Congress returns to session on Tuesday. As you could imagine, members of Congress have been a bit busy over the past month or two back in their home districts and campaigning. So there hasn't been much conversation about that government funding deadline. However, expect a clash because that's always what happens when we have these potential shutdowns. Republicans are likely going to push for a shorter term funding patch, while Democrats are going to want a longer term funding plan.

And of course, what's going to come into conversation now is whether or not lawmakers want to, what's called clear the decks, clear the government funding decks before President Elect Trump comes into office in January. He has a robust plan. He has a lot of things that he wants to get done, a lot of priorities for those first hundred days too longer. Do lawmakers want to be hamstrung by having to deal with government funding? That's going to be a key question asked when they return to Capitol Hill because that December 20th deadline is going to creep up very quickly.

WALKER: Is there anything else they're going to try to push through before January?

SCHNELL: There's also the annual defense bill that has to be dealt with the National Defense Authorization Act. There's some question about potential emergency funding after the hurricanes that hit parts of the southeast U.S. earlier this year, Hurricanes Helene, for example. There's question about if there'll be some supplemental funding for that.

And then also, there's some chatter among Democrats about potentially doing something for Ukraine aid, a number of -- Democrats are concerned about the prospect of a President Elect Trump being in office in the next four years. And his relationship with Ukraine and past remarks he's made about funding. Same goes for J.D. Vance being vice president and also potentially having this trifecta government for Republicans. So I've heard from some House Democrats who maybe want to try to get something done on the Ukraine aid front in this final lame duck stretch to January.

WALKER: Yeah, got it. And that makes sense because obviously, there's been so many concerns expressed about what happens to Ukraine aid, you know, when -- if and when Trump takes office.

In the House, Mychael, there are still dozens of races that remain undecided. As it stands, you can see there, Republicans currently have 213seats compared to 205 for the Democrats. You have reporting that House Republican leaders are expressing confidence that they will control the lower chamber come January.

SCHNELL: Yeah, that's right. And I mean, all races aren't called yet. We actually don't have one party that's hit that critical 218 seat point yet. Of course, 218 being enough to clinch the majority. But Republicans feel very good. And they think that they are in a better chance to clinch that majority. There was a call this week of members of the House Republican Conference.

And on it, a number of members of leadership had said, we have a mandate to serve. We are going to have the majority. It's, clear, the voters have put us into office. And we are going to have to get things done for the voters. The only thing is, is that it's actually not a done deal and Democrats are holding out hope.

We've seen a number of statements from House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries who says that every vote needs to be counted. Democrats still have a path to the majority. There are a number of key races across the country.

One of those states that has a number of key races, California, there are still a handful of contests that have not yet been called, a number of which are razor thin margins, extremely close. In fact, there was just one yesterday, California 27. That's where incumbent Congressman Mike Garcia, a Republican, is running.

He was in the lead since Election Day, the Democratic challenger just took the lead, again, by a very slim margin, just 0.08 point of a percentage point.

[06:25:03]

So this thing is close. Republicans absolutely in a better chance to clinch the majority because they have more seats at this moment and are leading in a number of others. But this thing is not a done deal and it is extremely close.

WALKER: Yeah. And so giving Democrats reason to hope. Quickly to the Senate where the Republicans will retake control, there's this three- way race, of course, to replace Senator Mitch McConnell. What do you expect there because there will be a vote this week for majority leader? And do you expect Trump to weigh in? Because obviously, if he does, that could make a huge impact.

SCHNELL: Yeah. This contest has been going on for months now. Mitch McConnell announced back in February that he was going to step down as Republican leader. So the Senate knew they were going to have to deal with this question. And the three candidates have been running for weeks now, but it's really heating up now. And you mentioned it, the big question hanging over this is will President Elect Trump wade into the race and endorse a candidate?

Now, each member of the Senate has their own opinion on that. John Thune, for example, who's running for leader, has said he doesn't think that Trump should weigh in, that it shouldn't -- he should let the process play out as it should. That is notable and makes sense because John Thune has a bit of a rocky relationship with Trump. For example, Thune endorsed Tim Scott during the 2016 primary. But others want him to wade in, particularly those who are supporting Rick Scott. So it's an open question, but that election on a closed ballot will be Wednesday morning. And a lot of folks can be watching to see who emerges as the next Republican leader of the Senate.

WALKER: Mychael Schnell, thank you.

BLACKWELL: Another deadly day in the Israeli-Gaza war. The airstrike there as Qatar says it's suspending its role as mediator in the talks between Israel and Hamas. A live report on the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:31:16]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, the death toll has risen to at least 36 after an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza earlier today. That's according to Gaza's health minister, who says that the majority of the dead are children.

Israel's military officials claim the blast killed terrorists. The IDF says the strike also destroyed infrastructure and weapons storage sites.

Qatar has suspended mediating Gaza ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas. Qatar's foreign minister says that both parties were notified 10 days ago. The spokesperson says it's because there was a lack of good faith by both sides to work out an agreement.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, this comes after more than a year of starts and stops in negotiations to hash out a ceasefire deal and secure the release of hostages.

CNN correspondent Paula Hancocks is joining us now from Abu Dhabi.

Paula, does Qatar stepping back from the negotiations make the ceasefire nearly impossible at this point?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on-camera): Well, Amara, it is making it far more difficult. Qatar has the ear of Hamas and Qatar has been really one of the key mediators for the past more than year trying to hammer out this deal. Egypt is also a mediator.

But Qatar is really the country where many Hamas officials from the political side had been living and staying over many years. So, it will be hugely disappointing to the families of Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza, of civilians in Gaza who desperately need a ceasefire and humanitarian aid to be allowed in.

So, it is a disappointing piece of news. But what we're hearing from Qatar is that there simply wasn't the willingness on either side to try and make this deal work. They're talking about Hamas and Israel, saying that there just weren't good faith negotiations.

So, 10 days ago when the last round of negotiations was ongoing, Qatar said if this doesn't produce a result, if we don't have a ceasefire at the end of this, then we will step back.

Now, we've heard from a senior administration official just how key and invaluable Qatar has been during these negotiations. They were key back in November of last year, more than a year ago, when there were some hostages that were released in return for a ceasefire and Palestinian prisoner releases.

So, it is a very disappointing element. But they don't rule out the possibility of reversing that decision if the talks restart and if they believe that there is going to be a willingness on both sides to push it over the finish line.

Now, they've also said that they're going to close the office of Hamas in Doha. This doesn't necessarily mean that Hamas will be expelled from the country. We heard from a diplomatic source that they may choose to leave, but they don't have a deadline or an ultimatum to leave that country. But we have heard from a senior Biden administration official that no country -- no country that they are allied with should be housing Hamas at this point.

We know that they have been putting pressure on Qatar behind the scenes. U.S. and Qatari officials say that has some bearing on the decision, but they weren't under pressure to make that decision.

Victor, Amara, back to you.

WALKER: Obviously, a very discouraging sign, especially for those families who are still waiting for the loved ones to come home.

Paula Hancocks, thank you.

After Donald Trump floated the idea of 60 percent tariffs on Chinese imports, some U.S. companies are taking measures to move production out of that country.

Coming up, we are live in Beijing on how the Chinese government is reacting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:34:41]

BLACKWELL: President-elect Trump's promise of steep across-the-board tariffs on imports to the United States with a significant tax on goods coming from China is already changing the way at least really one notable company is doing business.

WALKER: That would be Steve Madden, a multi-billion-dollar shoe company. It announced it would cut its Chinese production in half to avoid Trump's tariffs.

[06:40:04]

So why do so many American companies depend on China for manufacturing? And what will Trump's tariffs mean for the prices we pay in the store?

CNN international correspondent, Marc Stewart, joining us now live from Beijing. Marc, you've actually been in a number of Chinese factories. Why do they have such an edge?

MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on-camera): You know, Amara and Victor, I think there are really two things at work here. One is workforce, but the other is workspace.

And what I mean about that is China is known as the world's factory. The production capabilities here are tremendous and the government is proud about it and wants to show it off. In fact, it was last fall that we went on a factory tour to a port city called Dalian. And I just remember we went to this very massive complex.

One of the big selling points for China, especially when it comes to the apparel industry, such as Steve Madden, you know, fashion trends come and go and one bad color or one bad style really can hurt a company. These factories are so nimble. If they need to make any kind of adjustments to the products that they are making, they can do so with a lot of ease.

I remember I first went to China 10 years ago and I went on a tour of a cashmere factory and the efficiency and the technology that was at work still has left an imprint with me. And then the other advantage that China has is labor, workforce. Wages here are relatively low and there are a lot of people to do these different tasks. There are more than a billion people in China.

So, the workforce is there. So, for these American companies, it does make business sense in many regards to do this kind of business, to do this manufacturing in China.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about the tariffs. Some critics of the president's elects plan say that this will start a trade war. What are Chinese government officials there saying will happen if the tariffs here move forward?

STEWART (on-camera): Well, the government has been asked about it. It's a question that happened just after the election. The government is saying, we're not going to get into hypotheticals, but they have made it very clear that there are no winners in a trade war and it would be bad for the world.

You know, helping their cause perhaps is the National Retail Federation. They are saying that prices on products will soar. Looking about the holidays, a lot of people get toys from China. And then if we look at apparel, for example, a $50 pair of shoes, it could cost $10 more if these tariffs move through.

But look, this is a long process. I was talking to a source of mine who suggested this idea of tariffs could be a negotiating ploy on the part of the U.S. So, there are a lot of factors at play. The Chinese economy is dealing with a lot of weakness. So, we'll have to see what kind of leverage, what kind of strength the incoming administration has with all of this.

BLACKWELL: Certainly will. Marc Stewart, good to see you. Thank you. A suspect is in custody after what appears to be a series of random stabbing attacks in Seattle. What police are saying about these incidents.

That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:47:48]

WALKER: Police have made an arrest in connection to a string of stabbings that left a Seattle neighborhood on edge.

BLACKWELL: Investigators think the stabbings, which happened over the course of two days, were random attacks.

CNN's Camila Bernal breaks down how police were able to identify a suspect.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Amara, Victor, authorities saying that witnesses provided a description of the suspect and then were able to verify this suspect after the arrest. Police also saying that they found a weapon in the area where this suspect was arrested and they also found a knife that was still in one of the victims. So, they will be able to test and use this to verify their theory.

Now, this all happened within a 38-hour time period in the community or in the area of the Chinatown International District. And authorities saying that at least nine, maybe even 10 people were stabbed in this period of time. Some of them severely injured.

On Friday, five people were stabbed and of those five, one of them was treated at the scene and then released. But the other four were taken to Harborview Medical Center and they were taken in critical condition. The medical center saying that as of late Friday, two of those victims had been upgraded and two others were still in critical condition.

Authorities saying that they also believe that the same person is responsible for another four, possibly five stabbings that happened on Thursday.

Take a listen to what police are saying about this suspect.

ERIC BARDEN, DEPUTY CHIEF, SEATTLE POLICE DEPARTMENT: There's a similar description, suspect description, the randomness of this. This is a horrific tragedy, a mass casualty event.

Officers located a suspect matching a description given by witnesses. Officers detained that individual. Witnesses were then brought by who -- who looked at that suspect and confirmed that that was the correct person.

BERNAL: And you heard there that police believe most of these stabbings were random. But there is one stabbing that happened on Thursday where police say that a 60-year-old man was in his car and someone tried to forcibly open his door to steal his cellphone. They also tried to stab him in the chest, but that man was able to block the attack. Only his hand ended up being cut.

[06:50:11]

So again, authorities just trying to verify whether it was nine or 10 stabbings where they believe this one suspect is responsible. Regardless, the people in this community, the people that work or live in this area, or just have to walk through this area, extremely concerned about this attack.

Amara, Victor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: All right, Camila Bernal, thank you.

Rome's Trevi Fountain is getting a makeover and tourists are getting a bird's eye view of the fountain from a metal walkway, while restoration is underway.

Coming up, what visitors are saying about the project.

BLACKWELL: And a look at how new weight loss medications are transforming lives. Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports, "IS OZEMPIC RIGHT FOR YOU?" Premieres Sunday, November 17th at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:23]

BLACKWELL: Heavy snowfall that set daily records and stalled traffic across parts of Colorado and New Mexico has ended. Colorado Springs received about 24 inches of snow. Fort Garland got hit with around 53 inches. See, they've passed their chai phase.

WALKER: Yes.

BLACKWELL: They're deep into hot chocolate.

WALKER: Yes, you're into hot chocolate and onesies. Don't forget that.

In Santa Fe, New Mexico, they saw about 16 inches. And Angel Fire received a whopping 40 inches. Wow. That is a lot of snow.

Well, new this morning a volunteer forest ranger has died while working to put out a wildfire in New York. Officials say the volunteer was responding to the Jennings Creek wildfire that was, that has burned 2,000 acres across Passaic County, New Jersey and Orange County, New York.

BLACKWELL: See -- no, you go ahead. You go on.

WALKER: Don't mean to step by your toes. CNN's Allison Chinchar is tracking it off from the weather center.

Allison?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST (on-camera): Yes, that's right. And take a look at this image. You could actually see that fire that you spoke of from space again here. You can kind of see the smoke plume just kind of funneled over portions of New Jersey and over New York. This was taken yesterday.

Now we still have some of those same fire concerns today, just a little bit farther north. The main concern today is going to be Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, where you have those red flag warnings in place, gusty winds, but also incredibly low humidities. But relief is on the way in the form of rain.

You're going to start to see a lot of that moisture begin to overspread, especially later this afternoon and into the evening across the northeast. This will be very welcomed rain, not only because of the drought in these areas. But also, to hopefully put out that fire and any others that could end up sparking this morning.

Now, most of that rain does finally exit by the time we get to early Monday. Other rain showers we're watching are closer to the Gulf Coast. This area around portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, and even eastern Texas still looking at some pretty heavy rain. This was after an incredibly heavy rain yesterday.

Look at the totals. This is just 24-hour rainfall totals. Widespread, three to five inches across portions of Louisiana. But you have that small target area right there, you're talking eight to 12 inches of rain fell in just the last 24 hours. But then we take it back to the last five days. This area was already saturated, which unfortunately is leading to a lot of the flooding concerns that are going on there, which is why you have the flood watches and flash flood warnings still in effect.

BLACKWELL: Allison Chinchar, thank you so much.

WALKER: Well, if you are playing a -- planning a trip to Rome anytime soon, one popular tourist site will look a little different.

BLACKWELL: Yes, Rome's famous Trevi Fountain is under restoration. Now while the workers begin the painstaking process of cleaning this 18th century masterpiece, tourists get to get a bird's eye view of the sculpture on a metal walkway that goes over the fountain.

CNN's Barbie Nadeau is in Rome with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Trevi Fountain is normally gurgling with water into which millions of tourists throw coins each year. But thanks to a massive renovation project worth more than $300,000, that includes cleaning and scrubbing up of calcium rust and dirt, this iconic fountain is dry. NADEAU: You know where the water should be is this metal walkway that is going to offer the tourists who come here a rare opportunity to take an intimate look at this 18th century masterpiece.

NADEAU (voice-over): The walkway will also allow the city to study a proposed ticket system by tracking the ebbs and flows of the tourists through the day.

ROBERTO GUALTIERI, MAYOR, ROME: By improving the experience of visitors to make a unique experience to -- to admire the fountain to about overcrowding. That's why there is a limit on people that can stay on this walkway, but also after the end of the maintenance working, there will be a cap on the people that could at the same time be inside the fountain to admire it in order to avoid the fact that overcrowding make the experience worse.

NADEAU (voice-over): Rome sees some 35 million visitors a year and around four million are believed to visit this site. The city believes that by eventually charging a small entrance fee, they can better control over tourism and protect the ancient stone.

ARLENE SPELLING, FLORIDA TOURIST: It was one of the things I couldn't wait to see and I'm sort of disappointed, but I still get to see the beauty of it, you know. So yes, I would pay.

NADEAU (voice-over): The fountains last cleaning and repair began in 2014 and took more than a year, but increasingly hot temperatures and a steady growth in tourism traffic have also led to the erosion of some of the basin.

The Trevi project is one of many conservation and renovation projects slated to finish in time for the kickoff of the Vatican's Holy Jubilee year of 2025 which will draw millions more visitors than usual to the Eternal City's popular sites.

[07:00:08]

And for those who have come during this Roman construction season, all is not lost. They can still throw their coin into this smaller basin for luck. And they're getting an opportunity of a lifetime to see this fountain up close.

Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Is it good luck to throw your coin into a basin in front of the Trevi Fountain?

WALKER: To each their own.

BLACKWELL: All right, Barbie Nadeau. Thanks so much.

Next, our "CNN This Morning" starts right now.