Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Water Cuts in West; Apple Urges Update; Watson 11-Game Ban; FCC Cracks Down on Robocalls. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired August 19, 2022 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:32:58]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: An extraordinary drought in the United States drying up the Colorado River, which supplies water to 40 million people in the west. And this week the federal government announced water cutbacks to avoid a catastrophic collapse of the river system. So, while the west remains engulfed in a climate change driven mega drought, no region of the country has been spared.

Right now, nearly 50 percent of the continental U.S. is in a drought. Half the country. A flash drought in New England is intensifying and expanding. And in Texas, cattle ranchers told CNN conditions are too dire and the economic strains so large they can no longer maintain healthy livestock.

Now, take a closer look here at the west. The historic drought is drying up the Colorado River, which irrigates farms, powers electric grids and provides drinking water for 40 million people. The Colorado River's water was divvied up among these seven states a century ago. The pact gave half of the river's water to the upper basin states and half to the lower basin. Mexico was also granted an allotment.

So, what's happening now? The drought is draining the nation's largest reservoirs. We're talking about Lake Mead and Lake Powell. And water cuts are coming. Starting in January, the Colorado River will operate on what's known as a tier 2 shortage condition for the first time. Since Lake Mead's water level is projected to be below 1,050 feet below sea level at that point.

So, this summer, the water level fell to a record low, putting the lake below 27 percent of its capacity. The tier 2 shortage means that Arizona, Nevada, Mexico will have to further reduce their Colorado River use beginning in 2023. California won't have to cut back just yet.

Of the affected areas, Arizona will face the largest cuts, about 20 percent, of the state's yearly allotment of river water. The growing concern is that the mandatory cuts announced this week won't even be enough to save the river in the face of the historic drought.

And this affects all of us. The western water situation really has an impact on the entire country since the states we're talking about fuel a multibillion-dollar agriculture industry that helped feed us all.

[06:35:04]

So, for more on all this let's bring in our chief meteorologist Chad Myers.

You know, and, Chad, the monsoon season looks to be one of the wettest in recent years.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: True.

BERMAN: Extremely heavy rain is forecast across the southwest. Is that going to make any kind of difference?

MYERS: It will, except that most of what we're going to see, at least this weekend, will be south of Lake Mead. It will miss the Lake Mead basin and will just get into basically the Bay of California. We're not going to see a lot of help up into the river levels, but at least it's raining now. And it will rain tonight. And it will rain tomorrow. There may be even flash flooding in Phoenix and in Tucson from the -- what we're experiencing this monsoon season.

People think the drought - the desert is just always dry. It's not. It is humid sometimes, especially in the middle of the summer. That's what we call monsoon season.

So here you see, some very heavy rain around Phoenix, very heavy rain around Tucson and even spreading some into Texas.

But here is what you were talking about. The Lake Mead was full in '83. It was full in '99. And now we're down to 27 percent. This is like speeding through the desert and not slowing down until your low fuel light comes on. That's where we are right now. We are at 27 percent of capacity. And it has to rain up here for that water to get into Lake Mead, not down here, which just washes kind of the wrong way.

We'll take the relief. A lot of the southwest will get drought relief. Everywhere that you see here in yellow and in green, there will be more rain than there should be. That helps the drought. Up here, not a lot of help. Less rain than there should be.

BERMAN: Those illustrations, so helpful, Chad. It needs to rain but it also needs to rain in the right place.

MYERS: Correct.

BERMAN: All right, Chad Myers, thank you very much.

A warning from Apple about a vulnerability in its operating systems. What you might need to do to your device now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And Mitch McConnell not sounding too confident about Republicans winning back the Senate this fall. What has him worried?

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: It is 1,000 percent her responsibility to load the gun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Ahead, CNN is one-on-one with Alec Baldwin about the shooting death on his set and the FBI's report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:41:17]

BERMAN: All right, Apple says update your devices now. The company is releasing an emergency security alert. This goes for iPad, iPhone, McIntosh. The company uncovered a vulnerability in its operating systems that it says may have been actively exploited. This security flaw could allow hackers, listen to this, to take complete control of the devices.

Here with us, CNN chief business correspondent Christine Romans and CNN business correspondent Rahel Solomon.

To be clear, we are talking about complete control of these devices.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, as - as soon -

BERMAN: They can link your camera, everything.

ROMANS: Exactly. Exactly. As soon as this segment is over, but not before, please go and update your software. And that's what they're telling everybody to do. The last couple of days they've been posting that you need to get this done as soon as you can. These are your devices at home. There's a whole list. We have got a great story on CNN business on exactly which products, but probably all of your Apple products at home you need to make sure that you've updated that software.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and the reason why it's really important, right, is because we know from prior previous cyber-attacks that sometimes you don't even know as a user whether your phone, whether that site has been compromised. So, it's not necessarily even something you would know. This is why you want to do the update as soon as possible, which is some - which is what some of the government officials, cybersecurity officials have said, you may not even realize your device has been compromised.

KEILAR: Can you tell us more about what it looks like? What it is? Do we know?

SOLOMON: well, that's the thing. I mean I've done stories about this in the past and sometimes it is completely imperceptible to the naked eye, right? I mean experts might be able to see it, but I've actually done sort of visuals where I've put in my credit card information on sites and had no idea because they are so skilled at making it look exactly how it's supposed to look.

ROMANS: And sometimes it's, they're getting access to your camera, right? So this could be espionage, it could be spying, it can just be creepy people who want to see what you're doing and take - and record what's happening on your phone while you think you're actually just using it.

BERMAN: Yes, very creepy. I updated my phones in roughly 0.003 seconds when I heard this yesterday.

ROMANS: Right.

BERMAN: Look, speaking of Apple, Apple's just one of the companies, Peloton, there are a bunch of others -

ROMANS: Yes.

BERMAN: Who are telling people after Labor Day this year, you've got to come back to the office.

ROMANS: Rewind the tape. We said this last year, remember, and they realized they couldn't really do it because there was the omicron surge and there was still a health crisis. But now you've got a - you've got a situation where the hybrid, the remote work model is entrenched.

We've been doing this for two and a half years. People want it. People want flexibility. They don't want to be told to go in three days a week. They have childcare issues in many, many cases. So, there are a lot of women who say, I actually can't be in the office three days a week. Oh, and, by the way, I'm more productive at home and I'm getting a lot done. And so I think you're going to have a showdown in September for some of these companies who are going to have people quit. There are almost 11 million jobs open.

SOLOMON: Yes, absolutely.

ROMANS: The worker has the upper hand.

SOLOMON: Absolutely. And we actually just got some research late last night from Robert Half (ph), which is a global talent solutions firm, suggesting that employers, according to one of their surveys, we can show it to you here, according to one of their surveys, employers are already seeing pushback from employees. I mean, take a look at this, 41 percent of managers surveyed have already lost employees because of new policies to return to the office. And another 34 percent expect to lose employees because of this policy.

So, to Christine's point, I mean, job seekers and workers still feel like they have the upper hand and are clearly pushing back against some of these policies.

KEILAR: They are feeling themselves and for good reason, right? They've got some leverage here. BERMAN: Hopefully they've updated their iPhones (INAUDIBLE).

KEILAR: Yes, definitely update your iPhone.

You guys, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

KEILAR: Cleveland Browns quarterback DeShaun Watson now suspended for 11 games and hit with a multimillion dollar fine. How he's responding.

BERMAN: Plus, those bogus car warranty robocalls are actually part of a multimillion-dollar scam.

[06:45:07]

How the federal government is cracking down on the ring leaders, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: The NFL and the players union reached a deal to nearly double Browns quarterback DeShaun Watson's suspension after allegations of sexual misconduct by more than two dozen women.

[06:50:02]

Andy Scholes with the latest on this in this morning's "Bleacher Report."

Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, guys.

So, the new suspension for DeShaun Watson is now 11 games, a $5 million fine and he has to undergo a mandatory evaluation by behavioral experts and follow their suggested treatment program. But this agreement did not include any apology directly to his accusers or admission of guilt. And Watson actually did the opposite yesterday, maintaining his innocence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DESHAUN WATSON, CLEVELAND BROWNS QUARTERBACK: I'm moving on with my career and my life and I'm continuing to stand on my innocence. Just because, you know, settlements and things like that happened doesn't mean that a person is guilty for anything. I feel like the person has the opportunity to stand on his innocence and prove that and we proved that on the legal side and we've just got to continue to push forward as an individual and as a person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Now, in a statement, Watson did say, I apologize once again for any pain the situation has caused. I take accountability for the decisions I made. Watson has been accused by more than two dozen women of sexual

misconduct during massage sessions. He has settled 23 out of the 24 civil cases against him. Watson can still practice with the team in the pre-season, but Browns couch Kevin Stefanski says he's not going to play in the team's final two pre-season games. Watson will be eligible to return against the Houston Texans, guys, which is his former team. That game is on December 4th. And many of the accusers and many of the allegations of what took place happened in the city of Houston. So many people thought that was a weird coincidence that the NFL, I guess, made it an 11-game suspension, allowing him to return for that game.

BERMAN: Yes, interesting timing there to be sure.

Andy Scholes, thank you very much.

And you're going to be speaking to an attorney later for one of the alleged women involved here.

KEILAR: Yes, we're hoping to do that.

Willful retention of national defense information. What we're now learning about the potential crime the Justice Department is investigating Donald Trump for.

BERMAN: And Senator Lindsey Graham challenging a subpoena to testify in Georgia. We are live as prosecutors face a 9:00 a.m. deadline to respond.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:43]

KEILAR: We've been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty. Sound familiar? Chance are you've heard that annoying phone pitch more than once. And it turns out to be one of the most sophisticated robocall scams ever. And the federal government is cracking down.

Gabe Cohen has more details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi there. This is Jessica calling in regards to your Volkswagen warranty.

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Odds are you've received a bogus auto warranty call similar to this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The warranty is up for renewal.

COHEN: Now, authorities are cracking down on a scheme an FCC official calls the most sophisticated illegal robocall operation they've ever seen. More than 8 billion spam calls to Americans. And a new lawsuit claims two California men are behind nearly all of it. Aaron Michael Jones and Roy Cox Jr. are accused of violating

telemarketing laws by tricking Americans into buying vehicle service contracts and making millions of dollars off the scam.

CNN tried to track them down, dozens of calls, texts and emails, but no response.

Both Cox and Jones have been sued by the Federal Trade Commission in the past and ordered never to telemarket again. And yet, like many robocall scammers, they're accused of just retooling their operation.

DAVE YOST (R), OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL: We're coming in to try to take them down.

COHEN: So now, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is suing Cox, Jones and their associates potentially for millions of dollars.

YOST: It's enough to take back everything they've made. If a slap on the wrist doesn't work, punch them in the face and knock them down.

COHEN (on camera): Did you consider criminal charges here?

YOST: Criminal charges are not off the table.

COHEN (voice over): Yost is part of an new anti-robocall task force. Attorneys general from nearly every state working with federal officials to ramp up illegal robocall enforcement.

In 2021, Americans received an estimated 21 billion scam robocalls calls, costing them nearly $40 billion in a 12-month period.

MARGOT SAUNDERS, SENIOR COUNSEL, NATIONAL CONSUMER LAW CENTER: It's usually very hard to find the callers. All of these unwanted robocalls are undermining the value of our telephone system.

COHEN: Most of the calls come from overseas, and tracing them is a fairly new technology. So, up to now, authorities have struggled to stop them. And the callers that do get caught often go right back to scamming, according to an FCC official.

So, authorities are turning attention to the gateway providers, the telecom companies that let those robocalls on to the U.S. phone network.

JESSICA ROSENWORCEL, CHAIRWOMAN, FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION: Specifically, those that we believe may be turning a blind eye to these kind of calling scams.

COHEN: When a call comes from overseas, typically several small carriers get paid to pass it along before it reaches your cell. Investigators are using a technique called trace backs to identify the original source of these illegal calls, then agencies like the FCC can order the rest of the industry to stop doing business with those carriers.

JAMES EVANS, GENERAL ATTORNEY, FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION: If there are not this tier of providers who are willing to take this bad traffic, then the robcallers will find themselves with nowhere to place their calls.

COHEN (on camera): That's the case with the auto warranty scam. In July, the FCC ordered all telecom companies to block all robocalls from Cox, Jones and eight voice service providers they say are linked to the scheme. Since then, those calls have nearly vanished according to a robocall analysis company.

Do you think you can really stop these scammers?

YOST: I think we can significantly decrease it.

COHEN: How long will that take?

YOST: Years, not months. It's an arms race between the enforcers and the criminals. But we're getting smarter and we're on to their ways.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: Now, there are some steps you can take to avoid these spam calls. You can get on the National Do Not Call Registry or get a call blocking app. And if you want more of those tips, you can go to ftc.gov/calls.

But, Brianna, it's not a foolproof system and consumer advocates have told me much more needs to be done, especially with telemarketing laws because, frankly, it's just not good enough to tell people, hey, just don't answer your phone.

KEILAR: I completely listen to that, just don't answer your phone. I just don't answer my phone.

[07:00:01]

It works great, Gabe.

COHEN: Yes, I think most people are like that now.

KEILAR: Yes, Gabe, thank you so much. Such an important report.

And NEW DAY continues right now.