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One World with Zain Asher
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy On The Verge Of Losing His Job; Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks Weighs In On The Republicans' Conflict In Congress; Donald Trump Back In A Manhattan Courthouse For A Second Straight Day; Hunter Biden Arraigned In A Delaware Court; Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly Joins List Of People Warning About Threat Posed By Trump; Sam Bankman-Fried Stands Appears In New York Courthouse; France's Health Minister Says There Is No Need To Panic; Laphonza Butler Soon To Be Sworn Into The U.S. Senate. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired October 03, 2023 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:21]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: One of the most powerful men in the U.S. Congress may be on the verge of losing his job.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: "One World" starts right now. The clock is ticking. If Kevin McCarthy doesn't get the votes he needs from
Democrats by next hour, his time as House Speaker will likely be over.
ASHER: Also ahead, he was the president's right right-hand man. Now, John Kelly is spilling the details Donald Trump would never want you to know and
it's a CNN Exclusive.
GOLODRYGA: And later, running for their lives. New developments in a rare shooting at a shopping mall in Thailand. Police arrest a suspect. He is
just 14 years old.
ASHER: All right, coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. The U.S. Congress could be on the verge of a first. Never before in American history has the Speaker of the
House been ousted through a motion to vacate.
ASHER: But Republicans may be about to do just that. Right wing Congressman Matt Gaetz has now introduced a motion to take the speakership away from
Kevin McCarthy and it appears that enough Republicans will be backing Gaetz to make that a reality.
Sources are telling CNN that McCarthy is going to try to stop Gaetz with a procedural vote that could come in the next couple of hours. This is a very
fast-moving story but if that fails a vote on the House Speaker's future would come next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN MCCARTHY, U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: If you throw a speaker out that has 99 percent of their conference, that kept government open and paid the troops,
I think we're really in a bad place for how we're going to run Congress.
REPORTER: Are you expecting Democrats to --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right, let's get straight to CNN's Melanie Zanona who has been watching all of this unfold from the Capitol. So, listen, McCarthy spoke to
reporters a few hours ago and said listen, if five Republicans side with Democrats then that's it, you know. I'm out, essentially. It seems as
though he has resigned himself to the possibility that this is it for him. Take us through it, Melanie.
MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Yeah, that's exactly right and by our count here at CNN, there are currently five Republicans who are
opposed to Kevin McCarthy which means he would need democratic support to survive.
However, the House Democrats had a meeting this morning. It went on for over an hour. They
did some soul searching and at the conclusion after that meeting, they determined that they will not be stepping in to save Kevin McCarthy.
Speaker Jeffrey says this is a -- sorry -- majority leader -Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said this is an issue that the Republican Party is going to
have to deal with. This is a Republican civil war and they are the ones that are going to have to deal with it.
So, Kevin McCarthy's speakership is on the line. We are going to get the first sense of where those numbers really are in about an hour and a half
when they go to the floor and take a first procedural vote which will be a vote to try to really kill this effort and to try to bury it. So, we'll get
a better sense then.
I think the real question at this point, if Democrats are not going to be crossing over to help McCarthy is, can Kevin McCarthy wear down one of
those five? He just needs to get one of them to flip at this point.
Now, there are no signs that any of those five are willing to do so at this point but Kevin McCarthy knows everything is on the line for him in this
moment. So, we'll definitely be watching in the next hour and a half to see how that plays out.
If this effort to try to kill the effort to remove him fails, then they will have an hour of debate time divided between the two sides and then
they will vote on whether to remove Kevin McCarthy as Speaker. If they do vote to remove him, then the House is essentially going to be paralyzed
until they can elect a new Speaker.
And that can take rounds and rounds as we saw in January, when Kevin McCarthy first fought for this speakership. It's unclear whether he would
step aside or whether he would try to throw his name into the hat once again.
A number of his allies coming out of a conference meeting today were furious with Congressman Matt Gaetz who is leading this charge and said
they are only going to be voting for Kevin McCarthy and that he is the only one who can get to eighteen. At this point though, just really unclear what
the next steps are in just an uncertain amount time in Washington right now.
ASHER: Yeah, more dysfunction in Washington. Melanie Zanona, live for us there, thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: We've dealt with a lot of dysfunction. We've seen a lot. This is a whole new level of
dysfunction in Washington --
ASHER: Absolutely.
GOLODRYGA: -- because there is an old saying, right? Politics does make for strange bedfellows and as we've been discussing if Kevin McCarthy is going to keep his job as Speaker of the House, he will need help from Democrats
to do that.
ASHER: And there is no love lost between McCarthy and the Democrats who see the Speaker as catering to the extreme far-right within his own party.
[12:05:00]
After all, McCarthy is the man who unilaterally, by the way, opened an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden with no proof, no evidence of
any wrongdoing. He also cut a deal with the U.S. President and Democrats back in the summer on government funding and then backed away as the
funding fight heated up.
So, there's certainly a trust issue here. The simple truth, as I just said, is that Democrats do not trust him and yet right now, they are talking
about whether to cut a deal and save the Speaker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D), U.S. HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: If there are few Republicans who are willing to break with the extreme MAGA Republicans in
their mess, we are ready, willing and able to find common ground to continue to make progress for hardworking American tax --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Well, joining us now to talk about all of this is Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks. Congressman, it's good to see you. So, as we've
discussed, Kevin McCarthy's fate as House Speaker seems to rest at the hands or in this case, literally, the votes of Democrats.
McCarthy said he hasn't asked for anything from Democrats in return for their support. How will you be voting in the next hour?
GREGORY MEEKS, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: McCarthy's fate is with his own colleagues. It's their Republican Party. It is their mess. He is their
leader. He is chosen as they -- they took side with and to work with the MAGA Republicans whose position is to not work with Democrats. So, they
have to figure out their own mess.
GOLODRYGA: Does that mean -- does that mean you're voting no?
MEEKS: That means, I am voting for Hakeem Jeffries to be the Speaker.
ASHER: From -- Congressman, Zain here. From the perspective of Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the way he put it when he addressed reporters a few hours
ago is look, this weekend, I pulled off basically a small miracle. I averted a government shutdown, I decided to put my country over politics
This is the thanks I get.
I chose to work with Democrats in order to ensure military service members to continue to get paid. And now, I'm being ousted from my job. Can you,
sort of, see it from his perspective? He says he sees this whole thing is unfair. Does he have a point?
MEEKS: No, look. McCarthy is not trustworthy. And that's the one thing I can agree with Mr. Gaetz on. He always has gone back on his words so he's
not trustworthy. Look, we had a deal on, for example, he talked about the debt ceiling on what those numbers are. He chose to move away from that
deal.
We had a deal on, in regards to Ukraine spending, he walked away from that deal. So, time after time when you talk about McCarthy, he has not kept his
word. And so, the problem is not Democrats. It's not the Democrats. It's within the civil war that's taking place within the
Republican Party.
They started that civil war. They have to decide what they want to do within their own caucus and now, not come to Democrats. The Democrats -- we
were clear from day one when we voted 215 times, 212 people voting for Hakeem Jeffries to be the Speaker.
So, the Republicans, you know, have shown from that day to now that they're not able to govern and to function. And the only way to fix it actually, is
to get five Republicans that are ready to vote for Hakeem Jeffries to be the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
GOLODRYGA: Congressman, we know the likelihood of that happening is end. Listen, you mentioned the Minority Leader's, Hakeem Jeffries, he has said
so publicly as has Kevin McCarthy that they have a good working relationship. In fact, they were texting each other just last night.
Don't you risk the scenario where whoever it is, because then it will not be up to you. You still are in the minority in the House.
Whoever is the next Speaker, however long it takes, however long it freezes the process, may not be somebody who is that readily accessible to someone
like Hakeem Jeffries. Wouldn't it be in your interests to sort of isolate these five Republican radical members as they have been described in the
House instead of empowering them?
MEEKS: I think that when you look at the members of the Republican Party, they all seem to be
radicals. You know, they try to hide as moderates. They all support Donald Trump. Donald Trump says shut the government down. That's the way the
majority of them voted. So, it seems to me that any one of them are not going to really work with Democrats in the way that you talk about pure
bipartisanship.
[12:10:00]
It is clear in that regard. They all are followers and ultimately of Donald Trump and that has been proven as you look at the primary season for who
they are looking at as their candidate and who ultimately wins, you know, in that party, the decisions of which -- in the decision in which way they
move.
So, I don't think that, you know that, whoever the Republicans try to put up, if they can put someone up, will be -- they all will be in line with
McCarthy in a sense, that they go back on their deals.
ASHER: Congressman, you know, just in terms of where things stand now, it seems almost impossible that Democrats are going to step in to save
McCarthy at this point. But just in terms of this being politics and this being Washington and the fact that anything can happen, is it at all
possible?
I know it's unlikely but is it at all possible that there is a chance that McCarthy might come to Hakeem Jeffries, might come to Democrats, and say,
listen, I am willing to cut a deal if you guys keep me in the speakership role. I'm going to cut a deal. I'm willing to make concessions. If that
does end up happening, and again, I know it's unlikely, but will Democrats reconsider?
MEEKS: Look, how could you enforce it? It seems as though --
ASHER: Right, there's no trust at this point, right.
MEEKS: That's correct. You've got to have a partner that someone that you can trust, that they would keep their word. And I see no indication of
that. And this, as I said, this is not something that was brought on by Democrats. You know, all and every Republican voted to change the rules.
And they changed the rules that I think weakened the institution itself. They're the ones that said one member can bring up and call the Speaker for
his accountability. We had rules previously where that could not happen. The Republicans -- the moderate Republicans all voted for it.
So, this is their -- this problem was created by them and this problem has to be resolved by them or five of them can vote for Hakeem Jeffries, and
then you have a leader that you can trust, a leader that will give his word and stand by his word, and we can move this institution forward in a
bipartisan way.
GOLODRYGA: Well, Congressman, one issue that does need to move forward in a bipartisan way can only move forward in a bipartisan way, is something I
know is very important to you, and that is continued funding for Ukraine. It was not included in this agreed upon CR to keep the government open for
the next 45 days. But supporting Ukraine is a priority that Kevin McCarthy says he still cares about.
Are you concerned at all, now that you have the President of the United States even today reassuring allies in Europe that support is still there?
Are you concerned at all that if you go through with this, whoever replaces Kevin McCarthy may not be there in terms of continuing the desire to
support Ukraine?
MEEKS: Well, we haven't had a commitment from Kevin McCarthy to put the vote on the floor. It should -- we have overwhelmingly, I believe,
Democrats and Republicans will vote for support in Ukraine and not give in to those MAGA Republicans who are not for supporting Ukraine. So, I would
hope that the so-called moderate Republicans would demand it.
And if, in fact, they allow someone else to control it that they would then join us to sign a motion to discharge to put the bill on the floor, so that
we can vote for it.
So, I think that there's more of us committed and understand the seriousness and the importance of making sure we continue our commitment to
Ukraine, to our NATO allies, to our friends in the South Pacific, to make sure that no one will be able to go into the sovereign property of another
country and just physically take it in the manner that Vladimir Putin has attempted to do, and that we will stand by our commitment, stand with our
allies, and make sure that Ukraine has everything that it needs so that it will win this war.
ASHER: Aid to Ukraine, of course, being one of the major sticking points in the greatest dividing line between Democrats and Republicans. Right now,
we'll see what happens this time tomorrow, where we are in 24 hours, in terms of whether or not Kevin McCarthy has managed to hold on to his job.
Congressman Meeks, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.
MEEKS: Thank you for having me.
ASHER: All right, Donald Trump -- you're very welcome. Donald Trump is back in a Manhattan courthouse for a second straight day, and he again attacked
the judge in the case and the attorney general who brought the charges, Letitia James. The former U.S. President is facing a civil fraud case this
time, one that strikes at the very heart of his businesses, of his brand as a successful billionaire.
[12:15:00]
GOLODRYGA: There you see the former president from earlier today outside the courtroom there. He and his two adult sons and others are accused of
wildly overstating the worth of their assets for financial gain. New York's Attorney General Letitia James is seeking a $250 million penalty and a ban
on the Trumps doing business in New York.
Well, the son of current President Biden also went before a judge today. Hunter Biden was arraigned in a Delaware court in the last few hours.
ASHER: Right, he pleaded not guilty to three federal gun charges related to a firearm purchase that he made back in 2018, and he was released on
several conditions that were set by the court. The historic case is the first time that the child of a sitting president has appeared in court on
criminal charges.
GOLODRYGA: So, let's get more now from CNN's Paula Reid. Paula, walk us through what happened today.
PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hunter Biden entered the courtrooms shortly before the hearing began at 10 o'clock this
morning. He was accompanied by his lead attorney, Abby Lowell, the rest of his lawyers and his secret service detail.
And he sat at the defense table attentively while the judge read the charges that have been filed against him, the possible penalties and also
laid out the restrictions, the terms of his release, which included no drugs, no alcohol. He's also prohibited from owning a firearm.
And he entered a plea of not guilty through his attorney, Abbe Lowell. Today's hearing was brief. It was procedural, but it was also historic.
This is the first time that the child of a sitting U.S. president has faced criminal charges.
Now, this began about five years ago. Hunter Biden has been under investigation, under federal criminal investigation, for five years as a
Trump-appointed U.S. attorney looked into a variety of potential crimes. This was expected to resolve itself with a plea deal on some tax charges
and then his gun-related crimes were going to be diverted. But that plea deal fell apart.
The prosecutor has now been named a special counsel and refiled these gun charges. It is unclear what is going to happen to those tax charges. Those
will be filed, too. But Hunter Biden and his lawyers, they've been taking a much more aggressive, forward leaning public approach.
And today in a statement, Abbe Lowell attacked the Justice Department saying that these charges are just the Justice Department bowing to
pressure from former President Trump and his allies, pushing them to file any case against the president's son. They point to the fact that no one in
the district of Delaware has ever been charged in a case like this with similar facts. They argue that this case will not stand up in a trial.
Many legal experts have also questioned the strength of this legal case. This is an unusual thing to bring in a federal courtroom. Abbe Lowell has
also demanded an evidentiary hearing which would allow him to really test the government's case before it proceeds to what is expected to be a
possible trial.
GOLODRYGA: All right, Paula Reid, thank you.
ASHER: All right, a number of people who are close to former President Donald Trump have been warning about the threat posed by Trump if he wins
re-election. Now, John Kelly, that's the longer-serving White House Chief of Staff for Trump, is joining that list. Kelly is confirming a number of
damning stories about Trump's time in office. Here's our Jake Tapper with this exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I, Donald, John, Trump --
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: No other president has had so many former top aides making such harsh public assessments. Most recently, Cassidy Hutchinson.
CASSIDY HUTCHINSON, FORMER AIDE TO MARK MEADOWS: I think that Donald Trump is the most grave threat that we will face to our democracy in our lifetime
and potentially in American history.
TAPPER: She joins a growing chorus.
UNKNOWN: I think he's unfit for office.
UNKNOWN: He will always put his own interests and gratifying his own ego ahead of everything else.
TAPPER: And today, Trump's longest-serving former chief of staff John Kelly is chiming in with his harshest criticism yet. In an exclusive statement to
CNN, Kelly says about Trump, "What can I add that has not already been said?" Calling President Trump, quote, "A person that has no idea what
America stands for and has no idea what America is all about."
For the first time ever, Kelly sets the record straight with on the record confirmation of a number of damning details about Donald Trump from
background sources, including from a 2020 Atlantic story reported with unnamed sources by Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, including the stunning
detail that Trump turned to Kelly on Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery in 2017 and asked, "I don't get it. What was in it for them?"
This is Kelly confirming on the record, stories of Trump insulting Senator John McCain and former President George H.W. Bush because in Vietnam and in
World War II, respectively, the former aviators were shot down.
[12:20:00]
Kelly describes Trump as, quote, "A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform or are shot down, or are seriously wounded in
combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs, are all, quote, suckers because, quote, there is nothing in it for them." "A person that did not
want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because quote, it doesn't look good for me."
"A person that demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family, for all Gold Star families on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most
precious heroes who gave their lives in America's defense are, quote, losers and wouldn't visit their graves in France."
Kelly confirming on the record a story reported in the book "The Divider", where Trump tells Kelly he wants a military parade, like one he saw for
Bastille Day in France, except he does not want any wounded veterans. Kelly confirming that Trump in 2018 in France refused to visit graves of
Americans killed in World War I.
To CNN, Kelly calls Trump a hypocrite, saying he is, quote, "not truthful regarding his position on the protection of unborn life, on women, on
minorities, on evangelical Christians, on Jews, on working men and women. And he concludes Trump is, quote, a person that has nothing but contempt
for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law. He concludes. There is nothing more that can be said. God help us.
TRUMP: He's doing a great job as chief of staff.
TAPPER: A stunning repudiation by a man who worked side by side with Trump longer than any other of Trump's many chiefs of staff. Kelly also
criticized Trump for saying that former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley should be executed. In a departure speech on Friday,
Milley responded.
MARK MILLEY, OUTGOING JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: We don't take an oath to a king or queen or to a tyrant or a dictator. And we don't take an oath to a
wannabe dictator.
TAPPER: Some of the people who know Donald Trump the best now warning of the threat they think he poses if elected in November 2024. Jake Tapper,
CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right, still to come here on One World, chaotic scenes at a packed mall in Bangkok as a shooter opens fire in the heart of Thailand's
capital. We'll have a live report for you just ahead.
GOLODRYGA: Plus, safe and sound -- a missing nine-year-old girl is back with her family after a harrowing weekend. How police found her suspected
kidnapper, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:25:30]
GOLODRYGA: A popular luxury mall in Bangkok was the scene of a deadly shooting just a few hours ago.
ASHER: All right Police say that the suspect opened fire at around 5 P.M. in the evening local time, killing two people and wounding several others.
This is the video of the aftermath. You see the hundreds of panicked people essentially pouring out of the mall amid the chaos.
GOLODRYGA: Authorities say a 14-year-old male suspect with mental health issues is under arrest after surrendering.
ASHER: CNN's Paula Hancocks is tracking this story for us from Seoul. Paula, what more do we know?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We know at this point. Well Zain and Bianna, we've just had a briefing from the National Police Chief just
outside the shopping mall and he said that there were a lot of people inside the shopping mall at the time that gunfire broke out. Now it was
around 5 P.M. local time. He said it was rush hour, it was raining outside and it was extremely busy. As you say, you could see the images of the
people trying to get out of any exit that they could.
Now, the details that he's given us at this point is that the 14-year-old boy has been arrested. Now, he said because he is a juvenile, there are
certain elements and certain things he is unable to disclose. But what he has said is that he was taken to a police station for interrogation with
juvenile experts. He has also said, the national police chief, that he has a mental health issue. He had received treatment at a hospital, but he had
not been taking his medicine.
Now, apparently he had said he felt he had been told to shoot people. The police chief also pointing out that he had said he likes playing video
games. So, this is the information that police are giving us at this point. They didn't give any kind of update on how he was able to get hold of a
gun.
Now, gun ownership in Thailand is higher than it is in some other countries in Asia but there are checks and balances. You do have to be over 20 years
old to own a gun and you do have to have a background check. So, of course the question will now be, how did a 14-year-old with mental issues manage
to get hold of a gun?
Now, one final thing that the police chief did say in this briefing was that he wanted to commend the mall workers and the police for their swift
response pointing out it could have been a lot worse as the suspect still had ammunition when he was apprehended. Back to you.
ASHER: All right, Paula Hancock's live for us there. Thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: Well, it is the best ending possible to every parent's worst nightmare. A missing child is found safe and is back at home. Nine-year-old
Charlotte Sena was abducted over the weekend while camping with her family in upstate New York. A suspect is now under arrest. Ultimately, it was a
ransom note that led officials to Charlotte. CNN's Jean Casarez has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHY HOCHUL, NEW YORK GOVERNOR: She knew she was being rescued. She knew that she was in safe hands.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Charlotte Sena, the nine-year-old who went missing Saturday while camping with her family in upstate New York, has
been found.
HOCHUL: Our prayers have been answered.
CASAREZ: An Amber Alert had been issued for the young girl Sunday morning after an exhaustive search of the state park left authorities fearing the
worst, that Charlotte had been abducted. Approximately 400 certified search and rescue personnel, including the FBI, were searching for Charlotte, who
disappeared while riding her bike near her family's campsite.
HOCHUL: And as each hour went on, hope faded because we all know the stories. The first 24 hours, there's hope. But when you hit 48 hours, hope
starts to wane.
CASAREZ: The governor says a break in the case came early Monday morning when the suspect left a ransom note in the Senate's mailbox. He literally
drove up to the family's mailbox assuming they were not home 4:20 in the morning, opens the mailbox and inserts the ransom note, leaving a critical
piece of evidence behind his own fingerprint.
CASAREZ: Police tested the document for fingerprints and searched law enforcement databases.
HOCHUL: Police worked diligently trying to find a match for a fingerprint. The hit came at 2:30 in the afternoon. There had been a DWI in 1999.
[12:30:00]
HOCUL: A match for a fingerprint. The hit came at 2:30 in the afternoon. There had been a DWI. 1999 in the city of Saratoga. A fingerprint was found
that matched what was found on the ransom note.
CASAREZ: Investigators were able to track down the suspect, 47-year-old Craig Nelson Ross Jr., who resided in a camper behind his mother's home.
Two SWAT teams entered the camper and located Ross and Charlotte. A little girl was found in a cabinet cupboard. She was rescued.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Wow. Jean Casarez reporting that incredible story. I'm so glad that it ended like that. All right, still to come, the spectacular rise and fall
of Sam Bankman-Freed, laid bare in court as the one-time crypto billionaire fights fraud charges. That story, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: Welcome back to "One World", everyone. I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher. I want to turn now to our top story. We're about one hour or so away from what could be a historic moment in the halls of
the U.S. Congress. The House of Representatives is set to vote on whether or not to remove Kevin McCarthy as speaker. Your right-wing Republican Matt
Gaetz is leading the effort to kick McCarthy out of that job. And it appears that Democrats will not take steps to save McCarthy.
[12:35:00]
In fact, Representative Meeks was on with us earlier this hour and said that he'll be voting for Hakeem Jeffries.
ASHER: Right.
GOLODRYGA: We'll be following that story for you, as well.
ASHER: All right. Eighteen months ago, Sam Bankman-Fried was a crypto billionaire enjoying the high life in the Bahamas, running a $30 billion
trading platform and reveling in celebrity endorsements. Today, he stands in the dock in a New York courthouse accused of one of the biggest
financial frauds in U.S. history which has really left the cryptocurrency world reeling.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, prosecutors have cast SBF as he's become known as a Bernie Madoff-style mastermind who stole from customers and lied to investors.
They say he enriched himself and his associates with luxury real estate and made hefty political donations.
ASHER: His company, FTX, sold itself as a safe and easy to use portal for trading in crypto. It made money by collecting fees on customers' trades,
much like a typical brokerage. Its ads featured some of America's most famous faces, including football star Tom Brady, that was one of them.
Also, the actor, Larry David here, both of them starred in a Super Bowl ad for FTX.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: Like I was saying, it's FTX. It's a safe and easy way to get into crypto.
LARRY DAVID, ACTOR: Yeah, I don't think so. And I'm never wrong about this stuff, never.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Well, soon after, the shine started to come off FTX. Turmoil in the crypto market last year slashed its valuation. When worrying reports
about the company began to surface, customers then rushed to withdraw funds, exposing a shortfall of $8 billion.
ASHER: SPF, Sam Bankman-Fried, has always cast himself as an inexperienced businessman who got in way over his head. And he says he never knowingly
did anything wrong. He never knowingly committed fraud. He's pleading not guilty to seven counts of fraud and conspiracy.
Time now for The Exchange. Joining us live now from New York is Ash Bennington, who co-wrote the book Crypto Cracker. He's also the senior host
and crypto editor at Real Vision. Ash, thank you so much for being with us.
So, talk to us a bit more. I mean, for people in our audience, people who are watching this, who may not have been following the ins and outs of this
case, just talk to us a bit more about who SPF actually is. This is a man who masterminded one of the biggest financial frauds in U.S. history. How
did his scheme actually work?
ASH BENNINGTON, SENIOR HOST AND CRYPTO EDITOR, "REAL VISION": Well, first we should say innocent until proven guilty, of course, and that's what the
trial is about. Look, Sam Bankman-Fried was a huge presence in the crypto space. He ran a company called FTX.
There was also a sister company called Alameda Research that essentially was a hedge fund operating in the crypto space. This was a significant,
significant player, and this collapse has been, frankly, a devastating event for people who care about crypto.
GOLODRYGA: So, jury selection begins today, and Bankman-Fried's lawyers, we know, submitted suggested questions that appear designed to weed out those
who may have lost money or had close friends and family who lost money by trading crypto, as well as anyone with negative views of FTX and may be
influenced by all of the media headlines that this generated. Walk us through how long the jury selection process could be in a case like this.
BENNINGTON: Well, you know, I'm not an attorney so I'm not really that much in the weeds on the jury selection. But as you say, I think this is
relatively typical in a fraud trial. You want to weed out people who have some kind of personal relationship with the alleged crime.
Look, obviously this is one of those things where the thing speaks for itself. We're talking about $8 billion in missing customer funds here. So,
there are, to your point, going to be a lot of people who are quite upset about this collapse.
ASHER: Talk to us a bit more about Caroline Ellison, because she was SBS ex-girlfriend. She worked at Alameda Research. She is now -- she's
essentially turned on him. She's now going to be the prosecution's sort of star witness, along with several others.
I mean, this case would not be possible if it wasn't for the fact that there are several people who have turned on him and who are testifying
against him. Take us through it from that perspective.
BENNINGTON: Yeah, I mean, obviously that's something that makes the case a lot easier for a prosecutor. We have right now four people who have already
pleaded guilty to serious felonies in relation to the collapse of FTX. Caroline Ellison was the CEO of the sister company Alameda that functioned
essentially as a hedge fund and as you say, allegedly, Sam Bankman-Fried's ex-girlfriend.
GOLODRYGA: And as we noted, he's facing seven charges. Any one of them could see him likely spend the rest of his life behind bars. How strong is
the prosecution's case in this point? We already mentioned Bankman Fried's defense, and that is, I made a big mistake, but I didn't know it, and I got
in over my head. Is that going to get him through this?
BENNINGTON: Well, that's exactly the key question.
[12:40:00]
We don't exactly know what defenses attorneys are going to present at trial, but it certainly sounds a lot like the dog ate my homework. Look,
the reality here is that when you are running a financial institution and you take tens of billions of dollars of client funds under management.
The reality is you have a legal obligation to protect those funds, to segregate those funds, so that they're not used essentially what the
prosecution alleges as part of a speculative trading regime over at the sister company, Alameda Research.
That's really the core of this case. And this is one of those circumstances where, again, I'm not an attorney, but you can't simply plead ignorance and
say, well, you know, I just didn't know better.
The reality is you had to know better. You were in charge of the company. You were running the company. You were the CEO of the company. That puts
you in a position of significant responsibility and that's really what this case is about.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, it was notable that the incoming CEO who was put in charge of the company had said publicly that he'd never seen record keeping as bad
as that as he walked into.
ASHER: Quick books.
GOLODRYGA: Right. Ash Bennington --
BENNINGTON: And by the way, John Ray, the CEO who you're referencing. He was the CEO of Enron after the collapse.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, that tells you something, right?
BENNINGTON: Yeah.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Ash Bennington, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it.
BENNINGTON: Thanks for having me.
GOLODRYGA: Well, France's health minister says there is no need to panic. The country -- this is not a funny story. But the country is not being
invaded by bed bugs. But boy, it seems like that's all the headlines that we've been seeing out of there.
Bug experts told CNN on Monday that it's true that there are more of the insects around than in previous years, but it's not the end of the world,
they say. Is that reassuring?
ASHER: This is making my skin crawl just seeing this video here. As for the weather on the street, it seems most Parisians are not concerned, though.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN (through translator): When I sit down on the train, I verify to see if my seat is in good condition and everything is correct. I'm not
particularly worried about bed bugs. If it happens, it happens.
UNKNOWN (through translator): I haven't had any at my place, but everyone is talking about it, so I don't know. Maybe it is a thing.
UNKNOWN (through translator): I have to admit, I haven't had any, so I'm not very concerned for now, I hope.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Taste of actually what it has been like in New York for quite some time. Officials say that travelers could be unknowingly bringing bed bugs
back with them after trips abroad. Hopefully not New York though.
GOLODRYGA: At least no more of that video either. You're watching One World. We'll be right back with more. Checking our seats.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:45:04]
ASHER: All right, United Nations mission said that it saw no damage to civilian infrastructure in its tour of Nagorno-Karabakh. The visit focused
on the mostly deserted capital of the breakaway region, which will actually cease to exist at the end of the year after Azerbaijan took control of it
in a lightning offensive.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, since then, nearly all of the more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians who lived in the enclave have fled to Armenia. U.N. officials
later drove down Lanshan Road to the border crossing, the journey taken ethnic Armenians.
Details of the U.N. mission come amid conflicting reports of a border skirmish involving Armenian and Azerbaijani troops. The United Nations
Security Council has authorized an armed force to restore order to gang- ravaged Haiti, meantime.
Thousands of Haitians have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced in recent years by violent criminal gangs. The Caribbean country has also
been plagued by political chaos, a weak police force and a struggling economy.
ASHER: Haiti's government has repeatedly asked for military assistance to restore order and welcomes the U.N.'s support.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEAN VICTOR GENEUS, HAITI FOREIGN MINISTER: On behalf of the government and the people of Haiti, I would like to thank all those who through their
voices, their efforts, their support and the contributions of all sorts have finally made today's decision possible. More than just a simple vote,
this is, in fact, an expression of solidarity with a population in distress.
ASHER: The multinational force is expected to be led by Kenya, which has pledged 1000 police officers to spearhead the mission. CNN's Patrick
Oppmann is monitoring the story from Havana, Cuba.
This is the first time, Patrick, in 20 years that an outside force is going to be deployed to Haiti. But just remind our audience what Haiti has been
dealing with when it comes to gang-ravaged violence, especially in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, considering the past history of the international interventions in Haiti and particularly U.S. peace-
keeping missions, the controversies that have happened over the years, it says a lot that Haitian officials are welcoming them back. But there are no
other options really at this point when you're talking about a situation where gangs have more control than the police do, than the government does.
Oftentimes, the government having to retreat when the gangs force them out of their territory.
And for the poor people of Haiti, that hundreds of thousands of people that have been internally displaced, thousands of people that have been killed
this year, terrible stories of mass rapes and just killings of people as they try to go to work or go to school.
This is really kind of the last option there is to get an international peacekeeping force on the ground as the U.N. expects to do in the next
several months, led by Kenya, but as well, you have personnel from other parts of the Caribbean and $100 million that's been promised by the U.S.
State Department.
So, the hope is that getting some sort of security force, Kenyan police that have a mixed record, it must be said, in terms of human rights in
their own country, it remains to be seen if they'll be able to do any better in Haiti.
But at this point, the police are out-gunned and Haiti says that their own government has lost control and forces need to come from outside the
country to restore that control.
ASHER: Yeah, only 10,000 police officers, active police officers in Haiti in a country by the way of 11 million, extraordinary. Patrick Oppmann, live
for us. Thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: Well, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with troops on the eastern front lines earlier today. Zelenskyy traveled to Kupyansk-Lyman
-- excuse me -- where some of the fiercest fighting is taking place.
ASHER: The president said he spoke to commanders about what their units need the most. It is the furthest east he has traveled since Russia invaded
last year. All right, still to come, stepping straight into the history books. California's governor takes Laphonza Butler to fill an open senate
seat. We'll tell you why she is breaking barriers when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:51:55]
ASHER: All right, just a few hours from now, Laphonza Butler will be sworn into the U.S. Senate, making history in more ways than one. She was picked
by California Governor Gavin Newsom to fill the seat left open by the passing of Senator Dianne Feinstein last week. She'll be the only black
woman serving in the Senate and also the first out black lesbian in Congress.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, this move surprised a lot of people. You'll recall Vice President Kamala Harris will swear her in now as Vice President and former
Senator of the state. California's governor says he couldn't be more pleased with his choice.
GAVIN NEWSOM, CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: I am proud and honored to have had so many extraordinarily qualified people that expressed interest in this job
and I was able to engage them in conversations, period, full stop. And I could not be more proud of Laphonza's interest in her qualifications and
her willingness to do this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, a big history-making moment. CNN's Kyung Lah has more on this appointment and what a race to elect a new senator will look like next
year.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAPHONZA BUTLER, HEAD OF EMILY'S LIST: Because our story is the story of how when women win, we all win.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Seated next to her young daughter and wife, California's future Senator Laphonza Butler, speaking then as the head of
Emily's List.
BUTLER: Young women, older women, all women, this is where our power lies.
LAH: Butler, who has roots in California's most powerful unions, moves from the advocacy world to the U.S. Senate as California's Governor Gavin Newsom
appoints his long-time Democratic ally to fill the late Dianne Feinstein's seat.
BUTLER: Our bodies belong to us. Our freedoms are not up for debate.
LAH: In appointing Butler to the Senate, Newsom fulfills a promise to select a black woman. Since Kamala Harris left in 2021 to serve as vice
president, there have been no black women serving in the chamber. Newsom also avoids a political pickle, with three congressional Democrats already
running for the Senate seat -- Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee, who had lobbied publicly to be Newsom's choice.
BARBARA LEE, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: Of course, it would have been great if I -- because I did want to fill the vacancy. If in fact that occurred. But
listen, we all have to just focus on what we're doing, and I'm running very seriously.
LAH: Newsom's office says Butler's appointment comes without any strings attached so she can run or not run for the Senate seat in 2024. Before
she's even been sworn in, some Democrats say she should not.
JOHN GARAMENDI, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: I just think it's terribly unfair that she would do so. And the word around here is that whomever he appointed
would not run. And to be air dropped into this is simply not fair. And by the way, I don't think many people know her.
LAH: Butler has four months before California's primary to change that as the sitting senator. Only the third black woman in U.S. history and the
first black lesbian to openly serve in the U.S. Senate.
AIMEE ALLISON, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, "SHE THE PEOPLE": I like to think of it as a --embarrassment of riches.
[12:55:00]
There are so many talented black women who've never had a shot at being in the Senate. And we hope that behind the scenes as dust settles that we
will, as a movement, figure out who to get behind and get a path to victory here in California so that Black women are represented in the long term.
LAH (on-camera): Soon to be Senator, Butler moved to Maryland in 2021 to lead Emily's list. She registered to vote in the state of Maryland in 2022.
Governor Newsom speaking to reporters says that Butler remains a long-term California homeowner and she has already re-registered to vote in the state
of California. Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: We'll be fascinated to watch her fill that seat. Well, that does it for this hour -- very busy hour of "One World".
ASHER: So busy.
GOLODRYGA: I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher. Thank you so much for watching. Amanpour is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
