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Texas State Police Agency Chief Appears Before Grand Jury On Uvalde Criminal Probe; NYC Mayor Calls For Changes To NYC Sanctuary Policy; Biden Seeks To Limit The Sale Of Americans' Personal Data; No Snow At Italian Ski Resorts Amid Unusually Warm Winter. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired February 28, 2024 - 14:30   ET

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

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[14:32:59]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Another major update from Texas. The Department of Public Safety there, the director, Steve McCraw, he's testifying before a grand jury today in Uvalde.

This is part of the criminal probe into the botched police response to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School.

CNN senior crime and justice correspondent, Shimon Prokupecz, is in Uvalde covering this for us.

Shimon, this is a significant development, something that parents of victims have been calling for now for years.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME & JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, for nearly two years, they've been asking that there be some kind of investigation, a criminal investigation, and that seems to be well under way now.

It's interesting that you have the head of a law enforcement agency -- this is no small agency. This is the Texas Department of Public Safety, essentially their state police. He oversees state troopers. He oversees the Texas Rangers.

To have him testify certainly is interesting. I don't know of another situation like this where the head of a law enforcement agency, who's not in charge of investigating anything.

He's simply running the department and simply receiving information from his officers and his investigators in the days after this shooting, to have him testify is certainly something that is strange.

But significant, of course. Remember, Steve McCraw came out in the days after the shooting, calling the response by law enforcement an abject failure.

And pinning most of the blame on the school police chief, the former school police chief, Pete Arradondo, as lacking any kind of control or command of the scene. And so to have of home testify here today, as you said, Boris, is

certainly significant.

We know that this grand jury has been meeting for about a month now, hearing from other law enforcement officials and investigators. And it could take several months before we hear what the grand jury finds.

The family, of course, is hoping that they hold officers responsible. But the chances of that are really unlikely. it's a difficult path for the D.A. to pursue.

[14:35:06]

But nonetheless, of course, they're hoping for that.

SANCHEZ: When it comes to who the grand jury will hear from, Shimon, do we know if they're going to hear from victims' family members?

PROKUPECZ: So far, we know that none of the family members have been given notice or subpoenas or have been asked to testify in the grand jury. It could come at some point.

But they've not been updated by the D.A. about this investigation, which I think is significant also because they feel that there's not been enough transparency. They feel their relationship with the D.A. is strained and she's not provided enough information.

I ran into a family member in town here this morning and I asked him if he received any word on whether or not he was going to be testifying in the grand jury, and still he's one of the family members that hasn't.

So that's certainly interesting. And we'll see what happens here -- Boris?

SANCHEZ: Shimon Prokupecz, live from Uvalde, thank you so much.

Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: In New York City, for the first time, Mayor Eric Adams is calling for major changes to the city's sanctuary policies to send undocumented immigrants accused of a crime over to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office for possible deportation.

CNN national correspondent, Athena Jones, is joining us now on this story.

Tell us more about this, Athena.

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brianna. Well, we know that New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been joining some other big city mayors, Democratic mayors and talking about the migrant crime -- migrant influx as a crisis.

This is an influx that began in the spring of 2012, when you had governors like Governor Abbott in Texas sending people crossing the border to cities like New York City and like Chicago. And so that is kind of the background of all of this.

He's breaking now with precedent, with decades of precedent, in part, in response to growing concerns about public safety and about immigration in general.

We've seen it already be a top issue in some recent elections. And it's a top issue on voters' minds. And it's an issue that Democrats aren't faring very well with.

But the sanctuary city policy in New York has been in place since 1989. So we're talking about a long time.

You saw governor -- Mayor Ed Koch first introduce a sanctuary policy. And then Mayor De Blasio expanded on that a few years later. So we're talking about decades of precedent that the mayor is now -- now wants to challenge and change.

Listen to what he said at that press conference on Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D-NYC): I don't believe people who are violent in our city and commit repeated crimes should have the privilege of being in our city.

There's some people that feels that they should be able to remain here, keep doing the actions until they eventually get convicted. I don't subscribe to that theory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And you heard him there talking about the idea that someone should -- we should wait for a conviction. And that is the problem that a lot of immigration advocates and just civil rights advocates are having a problem with.

This idea, he's suggesting that someone, a migrant who is accused of violent crime, a felony offense, could then be immediately turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation.

That is a lack of due process that rights advocates have raised as an issue.

I can tell you this. The mayor has not gotten really specific about exactly what changes he wants to see to the law. And he would need the majority of New York's city council to go along.

That seems unlikely, according to the council speaker, Adrienne Adams, who said that the group is not -- the organization, the city council is not planning to take up this issue anytime soon -- Brianna?

KEILAR: That's really interesting, but he is sending a very loud message.

Athena Jones, thank you for that report.

Coming up, the White House wants to protect your personal data by keeping it out of the hands of foreign governments. We're going to tell you what it's doing.

[14:38:52]

And there's supposed to be snow on these ski slopes, snow skiing, you know? But warmer temperatures, they're causing this muddy, muddy meltdown instead. So what this is meaning for some winter resorts, next.

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[14:43:40]

KEILAR: President Biden is cracking down on the sale of Americans' personal sensitive data to China and other American adversaries.

We're talking about information on your health, your location, your money, which could be used for spying, hacking, or blackmail, senior U.S. officials tell CNN.

Here with us now to talk about this, we have CNN's Sean Lyngaas.

What more do we know about this executive order and the need that is prompting this?

SEAN LYNGAAS, CNN CYBERSECURITY REPORTER: Well, Brianna, I mean, this data has been out there for a while. In the last few years, it's exploded and, you know, the amount of data that you can find, whether it's dating apps or phone location. It's all legally bought and sold in the U.S.

But the concern here is that foreign spy agencies don't have any sort of road bumps in getting access to this. So it's trying to make that more difficult by reviewing the sale of data to companies that may then pass it on to foreign nationals.

But it's really just kind of a Band-Aid on the problem, frankly. And administration officials acknowledged that.

Because what they're calling for is a comprehensive -- Congress legislation, a bill to protect Americans' data comprehensively, whereas this is just a stopgap measure.

KEILAR: What would foreign countries do with this information?

LYNGAAS: Well, for example, say you have data, phone records of people, you know their location of a cell phone, someone going in and out of a government facility, you could build a pattern of life based on that.

[14:45:04]

If you watch, you know, a certain, say, the Department of Energy facility somewhere that's sensitive, you know, who's been in and out and so on.

So it's really a profile in aggregate. There's not one piece of data that's some sort of huge secret that they're worried about. It's collecting a profile on someone and being able to follow them and then knowing what their weaknesses are, where they've gone on the Internet, that kind of thing.

Brianna, that could be used for blackmail or to try to recruit them as spies.

KEILAR: Very interesting.

Sean, thank you for that report.

Boris?

SANCHEZ: Now to some of the other headlines that we're watching this hour.

The University of Georgia is committing more than $7 million to campus security upgrades after the killing of Laken Riley. The money is going to go to hiring more police officers, installing more security cameras and lighting upgrades as well.

Remember, Riley was found dead after jogging through a remote part of campus last week. Investigators say that 22-year-old nursing student was hit over the head before the killer dragged and hid her body in a secluded area. A Venezuelan migrant has been arrested and charged with her murder.

Meantime, deforestation was reduced by 50 percent last year in Brazil. That's according to the country's environment minister who said that efforts to control illegal activities in the Amazon are showing results.

Brazil has stepped up efforts to address climate change since it's last president oversaw massive deforestation on his watch.

And there was chaos on the court last night during a college basketball showdown between rivals Texas Tech and the University of Texas.

Fans throwing objects on the court after a flagrant foul by a Longhorns player. He wanted to be ejected after the play.

Texas Tech was also slapped with a technical foul for the rowdy fans' behavior, prompting their head coach to address the crowd over the microphone urging them to take it easy and calm down. The Longhorns wound up winning. Yikes.

Still to come, snowless ski slopes at some famous resorts around the world. And experts are blaming climate change for the muddy mess that now threatens their survival, specifically, in Italy. That story is next.

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SANCHEZ: We keep seeing the alarming impact of the climate crisis. And right now, it is impossible to miss if you're a snow skier.

In some parts of Europe, this year's unusually warm winter has left entire mountainsides bear. No snowfall. And it's even too hot for some resorts to even make much fake snow.

CNN's Barbie Nadeau reports from central Italy.

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BARBIE NADEAU, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): These mountains in central Italy used to be a favorite spot for local skiers. Now, the area looks more like a barren, muddy wasteland.

(on camera): February is supposed to be the biggest and busiest month here at Campo Felice ski resort in the Apennine Mountains in central Italy. Not this year.

As you see behind me, all of these mountains that are brown are supposed to be covered with snow. This year, instead, there just hasn't been the snow. The only snow you see here was made with artificial snow machines.

(voice-over): The human-caused climate crisis has resulted in snow loss across the northern hemisphere.

Here, more than 4,400 feet above sea level, where snow is disappearing fast, people are questioning how much longer skiing can go on.

This year, the influence of El Nino means temperatures have been even higher than usual.

Normally, on a Sunday in February, you'd have 6,000 people skiing on these slopes. This year, only four of the 14 slopes were open.

Of the 250 people who work here normally, only 50 have been able to keep their jobs, because the season has been so mild and short.

This ski resort has been in Andrea Lallini's family for 23 years. First, his father and now he and his brother, Luca, run it. He says the seasons have been getting shorter over the years.

ANDREA LALLINI, SKI RESORT OWNER: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

NADEAU: He tells us the problem is lack of precipitation, plus it has never gotten cold.

"This year, winter barely even arrived," he says.

They tell us that in the 1980s and '90s, artificial snow wasn't necessary. There was plenty of the natural stuff to go around. This year, snow machines were the resort's only option. But even that is problematic because, last summer, there was very

little rain and lakes like this one ran dry. There was no water to make snow. And even fake snow melts if it is too warm.

"It's a vicious cycle," he says.

And non-skiers feel the impact, too. Gennarino Di Stefano is the mayor of Rocca di Cambio. He says the town's livelihood revolves around this ski resort and those nearby. The changing climate is having a ripple effect on the economy.

GENNARINO DI STEFANO, MAYOR OF ROCCA DI CAMBIO, ITALY (through translation): Every town has a good number of people who come here to work, from the ski instructors, the managers, the bars, the restaurants, the people who run the ski lifts. Many people are not working.

NADEAU: And for ski instructors like Isidoro Franceschi, the lack of snow and shorter season means these young competitive skiers have to go elsewhere to train.

ISIDORO FRANCESCHI, HEAD SKI INSTRUCTOR AT CAMPO FELICE (through translation): For those of us who have always worked in this area, it is heartbreaking to see nature spoiled like this. It isn't good.

NADEAU: As skiers turn to resorts at higher elevations where there's more snow, skiing in places like this will soon be wiped out for good.

[14:55:05]

Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, Campo Felice, Italy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Our thanks to Barbie Nadeau for that report.

Coming up in the next hour, flames, burning homes in almost every direction as a wildfire goes out of control in Texas. And now, folks are having to run for their lives. The latest on the firefight as CNN NEWS CENTRAL returns.

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