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RFK Jr. Testifying In Hearing On Censorship; A.I. Transforming Hollywood, Sparks Fears Tech Could Take Jobs; Women's World Cup Is Underway. Aired 11:30a-12p ET
Aired July 20, 2023 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:30:00]
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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, on Capitol Hill, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is continuing to testify before a House committee there. It's a hearing about alleged government censorship. Democrats have actually urged House Republican leaders to dis-invite him to this hearing over his documented history of pushing dangerous conspiracy theories. Just this week, he was rebuked by his own family for pushing an unfounded conspiracy theory that COVID was actually targeted to hit certain ethnic groups while sparing Jewish and Chinese people. In his opening remarks this morning, he insisted he's never been racist, anti-Semitic, or anti-vaccine.
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ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've never been any vaccine. But everybody in this room probably believes that I have been because that's the prevailing narrative.
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BOLDUAN: CNN's Daniel Dale has been watching this hearing for us and checking the facts on it. Daniel, what are the facts here?
DANIEL DALE, CNN REPORTER: So, Mr. Kennedy says he's not anti-vaccine because he just wants safe vaccines to which anyone who has followed his public remarks should respond. Come on. Kennedy has spent much of his recent public life attacking safe vaccines, basically calling them unsafe. And in addition to that, Kate, falsely linking vaccines to all kinds of diseases that actually have nothing to do with vaccines.
I could cite dozens of examples. He is maybe most famously insisted on a connection between vaccines and autism. There was zero basis for this claim, but he's done it for years.
You've probably heard him baselessly attack the safety of the very safe COVID-19 vaccines. He's made numerous false claims. I won't repeat about the extent to which vaccines are tested.
And that is far from all. He is deep down the anti-Vax rabbit hole. He's made all sorts of obscure claims. You probably will never have seen yourself unless you are immersed in that world.
For example. He's been saying this spring and summer that there is strong evidence that the 1918 flu pandemic was not actually a flu. That it was caused by vaccine research.
This is out-and-out nonsense that has circulated in long-ago debunked Facebook and Instagram memes. The flu pandemic was indeed a flu pandemic. There was no vaccine research that couldn't even possibly cause it.
He also claimed at a recent public event that there is convincing evidence that HIV originated from a vaccine program. That claim to has been thoroughly discredited. So, what do you call someone like Mr. Kennedy, who devotes their time, energy, and public remarks to promoting entirely fake claims about vaccines, killing people in all manner of ways? I think anti-vax is a fair descriptor.
BOLDUAN: On top of that, Daniel, I want to play another moment from his testimony this morning denying that he's ever said anything racist or anti-Semitic. Let's listen to this.
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KENNEDY JR.: In my entire life -- and why? I'm under oath, in my entire life, I have never uttered a phrase that was either racist or anti-Semitic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Daniel, how does that check out?
DALE: I don't personally decide for the Jewish community what's anti- Semitic or any other community about what's racist, of course. But I can tell you that prominent Jewish groups and Asian groups strongly disagree with his claim here that he's never said anything anti- Semitic or racist. This topic, of course, came up as you said, because he recently claimed basically that "COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese."
Here's what the CEO of the American Jewish Committee, sorry, had to say about that. He said every aspect of his comments reflects some of the most abhorrent anti-Semitic conspiracy theories throughout history and contributes to today's dangerous rise of anti-Semitism. Groups advocating against anti-Asian hate also condemned these comments as hateful and offensive.
And this was not the first time, Kate, that Mr. Kennedy made comments related to Jewish people that were criticized as hateful. Early last year, he made this frankly deranged comparison to the Holocaust while attacking COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KENNEDY JR.: Even in Hitler's Germany, you could -- you could cross the Alps into Switzerland, you can hide in an attic like Anne Frank did. I visited 1962 East Germany with my father and met people who had climbed the wall and escaped so it was possible. Many have died drawing but it was possible. Today, the mechanisms are being put in place. I will make it so none of us can't run and none of us cannot hide.
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[11:35:24]
DALE: Six million Jews including Anne Frank were killed by Hitler's Nazis. And for these comments, Mr. Kennedy drew the rare distinction of being denounced by both the Auschwitz Museum and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. He ended up apologizing.
BOLDUAN: Daniel Dale, thank you for that fact-check. This hearing continues as you can see on Capitol Hill. Rahel.
RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR: All right, Kate, thank you. Eastern North Carolina cleaning up after a massive tornado in another example of severe summer weather. The National Weather Service says that the storm hit 150 miles per hour. An EF-3 is the strongest tornado to ever hit this area at this time of year.
And when it was over, it left a path of destruction that is 16 and a half miles long, and about 600 yards wide. There were no fatalities but 16 people were injured, and it will take days to assess all of the financial damage.
Let's bring in CNN Dianne Gallagher. She is in Dortches, North Carolina with the latest. Dianne, trees down, homes destroyed I mean, walk us through some of the damage that you're seeing out there.
DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And, Rahel, I think when you see the damage here in Dortches, you will understand why it is so miraculous that there were no people killed in this tornado. 16 people injured as you said. This is what that EF-Three tornado left in its wake as it came through almost 24 hours ago.
Now, according to the National Weather Service, it started here in Dortches. And I'm going to get West of Hanover across the street here. You can take a look at that home.
There were people inside when the tornado came through. They escaped unscathed. The home, a total loss.
And it looks like this all through this community. We're on Town Hall Road. The people who live here I spoke with them.
They said they're still traumatized. They don't want to speak on camera yet but it was a woman, her daughter, and her small grandchildren. They survived. They're OK right now at least physically, she says.
The tornado continued this way for 16.5 miles, as you said, into Edgecombe County, and look, destroying buildings just like this, more than 80 structures, homes, and businesses at this point. And look, that is another concern here.
In Nash County, one of the largest employers, Pfizer. They have a large manufacturing site here that produces more than a quarter of all of the sterile injectables that are used by hospitals in this country, significant damage that you can see in aerial footage that we have of that facility. Now look, Pfizer tells us they are still assessing that damage. But I will say that supply chain experts are concerned because they fear that the damage to this facility may further exacerbate the drug shortage that the country is currently impacted by.
Now, look. Back out here in Dortches, the family that was in this home. They told me that she looked outside, the woman who lives here, and said that she noticed it was dark but -- and that there was a storm coming but didn't have any sort of real warning at that time. She says that she saw some trees flying.
She got in here. She was able to again be with her grandchildren and her daughter and they escaped without physical injury. She says about two minutes after that storm -- that tornado came by, her phone went off with that warning telling them that there was a tornado in their area.
She's asked, Rahel, she says right now, she's just trying to figure out what to do. She's waiting for insurance adjusters to come and survey her property. And she's asking for people to just pray for the people whose properties and homes have been destroyed.
SOLOMON: Yes, certainly will be a long road for people there as you lay out both financially but also emotionally. Glad to see that nobody was physically killed though. Dianne Gallagher, live for us there in Dortches, thank you. Kate?
BOLDUAN: Coming up for us. Artificial Intelligence is being used more and more in TV and movies. This is part of what actors and writers are striking over right now. CNN's Donie O'Sullivan. He got the Hollywood A.I. treatment to dig deeper into what this new tech means for the entertainment industry.
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DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is very impressive.
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[11:43:50]
SOLOMON: Welcome back. It's more than just movie scripts. The capability for A.I. technology already being used on the big screen to de-age some of its actors, like Harrison Ford in the latest Indiana Jones movie. It can also execute lip-dubbing movie magic on translated voiceovers. But what does all of this mean for jobs in Hollywood? CNN's Donie O'Sullivan takes a closer look.
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MATT PANOUSIS, COO, MARZ: This is where we started. It's an automated solution for cosmetic and de-aging work.
CHRIS WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Through some technological wizardry, 80- year-old Harrison Ford looks exactly like 40-year-old Harrison Ford. Do you understand how they did that?
HARRISON FORD, ACTOR: Not completely.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): In the latest Indiana Jones movie, Harrison Ford is de-aged for a flashback where he fights the Nazis.
FORD: It's not photoshopped or anything. It doesn't look that way.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): Hollywood studios are moving beyond traditional visual effect technology and embracing artificial intelligence turning to companies like MARZ.
O'SULLIVAN: What does MARZ stand for?
PANOUSIS: Monsters, Aliens, Robots, and Zombies.
O'SULLIVAN: I think that's the best name I've heard for a company.
PANOUSIS: Thank you.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): The latest Spider-Man movie released in 2021 features villains like the Green Goblin and Dr. Otto Octavius, characters who haven't been seen in years.
[11:45:08]
JONATHAN BRONFMAN, CEO, MARZ: So, they took the villains from previous versions of Spider-Man movies and they wanted to bring them back in that moment. Then when they originally performed that character. So, without naming names, we helped Marvel do that on a certain character.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): MARZ says its de-aging AI technology knocks thousands of man-hours off the visual effects process, but they say they aren't killing jobs.
BRONFMAN: The demand for visual effects way outstrips the supplies. But there are a finite number of artists in the world that are able to execute on that demand.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): MARZ has also built an AI dubbing tool aiming to make awkward out-of-sync voiceovers like these add thing of the past. MARZ uses deep fake technology to reconstruct an actor's lips to match the dubbed audio. They tried it out on me. First, we sent them this short clip I shot in a CNN studio.
O'SULLIVAN: My name is Donie O'Sullivan on CNN. (INAUDIBLE) I think that I've always been terrible at speaking any language other than English. In fact, I struggle with English sometimes.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): With that, they were able to do this.
O'SULLIVAN: That is very impressive. My lips look French.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): This technology can even put other people's words in your mouth.
O'SULLIVAN: My fellow Irishman as well.
PANOUSIS: Lip dub was built for the purpose of allowing studios to take content in their native tongue and put that content across the globe in a way where it looks native to the viewer.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): For its part, MARZ says it is not in the business of replacing actors. Its technology is meant to enhance performances, not create them.
FORD: I think it's not a question of the technology is how you use it.
TOM HANKS, ACTOR: Look. You know, I can be hit by a bus tomorrow and that's it. But my performances can go on and on and on and on and on. And outside of the understanding that it's been done with AI or deep fake, there'll be nothing to tell you that it's not me and me alone.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): Fears of how AI will be used as part of why SAG-AFTRA, the Actors Union is on strike saying the studios want to replace them with artificial performances. The movie studios are pushing back on that claim.
BRONFMAN: Technology cannot replace an actor full-on. So, you cannot go head to toe and redo the entire face and expect that to be photo- real. The technology just isn't there right now. Now, as it relates to writers, I think they can more easily be replaced by artificial intelligence.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): Donie O'Sullivan, CNN, Toronto, Canada.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: Donie O'Sullivan, thank you. Kate, I had no idea that Donie O'Sullivan wasn't fluent in French. Who knew?
BOLDUAN: I will say well, the issues are very real that actors and writers are striking over right now. A Donie O'Sullivan who we already love, mash together with Liam Neeson? I don't even -- I think I would just explode.
SOLOMON: (INAUDIBLE) So good.
BOLDUAN: I would just explode.
SOLOMON: So good.
BOLDUAN: All right. Coming up for us. The Women's World Cup is underway. Next, we're going to bring you the very latest action from New Zealand and Australia and how the U.S. team is preparing for their quest to make history.
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[11:53:02]
BOLDUAN: The 2023 Women's World Cup is officially underway, and it's already breaking new ground. 32 teams are vying to take home the coveted title of World Champion. Australia and New Zealand opened play as the world's first world -- first-ever World Cup co-hosts. I think I got that right.
CNN's Amanda Davies is following all the action. I don't know why that was so hard to get out of my mouth, but it was. What happened so far, Amanda?
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: The good -- the good news is that you've got a month to get it right. We've got a lot of practice to come.
But this is not just the biggest Women's World Cup ever. It's the biggest women's sporting event the world has ever seen. 32 teams battling it out over 64 matches for the right to be crowned World Champions.
And it's gone off to a brilliant start. It was all eyes on Auckland and New Zealand as the tournament got underway. A huge occasion for so many reasons for the co-hosts having never before recorded a win at a World Cup finals.
But despite the star power of Norway, the football fans got off to the best possible start. A one-nil win courtesy of Hannah Wilkinson's goal in the 48th minute, giving them their first-ever World Cup victory in 16 games.
A real moment of history for them. But that brings us nicely on to the U.S. women's team looking to become the first side in either the men's or women's game to do the three-peat to win not one, not two, but three World Cups in a row. It would be unprecedented but of the 23 players on the roster, 14 are playing in their first World Cup and they quickly need to learn what it means to be under that kind of pressure.
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SOPHIA SMITH, USWNT FORWARD: It's obviously incredible what this team has done. And all we hope to do is kind of continue on that legacy and you know push the boundaries and be even better. And you know make history and do things that you know teams have never done.
EMILY FOX, USWNT DEFENDER: Obviously, we've -- the team has won two World Cups in the past but like we're thinking of this as like a new challenge and we're attacking it. And focusing game by game, Vietnam first.
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[11:55:18]
DAVIES: Yes. And that is an ominous message for Vietnam in their opening World Cup fixture. Team USA though then will face The Netherlands, a repeat of the 2019 final in their second game, then close out the group stage against Portugal in the early hours of August the first.
BOLDUAN: A lot to watch. Amanda Davies, thank you.
DAVIES: We have a month.
SOLOMON: We have a month, Kate.
BOLDUAN: Tomorrow we have -- but the first and last tomorrow. That's what I know. And I've got a month to get marbles out of my mouth when I'm talking about this.
SOLOMON: Yes, of course.
BOLDUAN: It's great to see you, Amanda. Thank you so, so much. And thanks for being here, Rahel.
SOLOMON: Good to be here.
BOLDUAN: I see you tomorrow, yes?
SOLOMON: Yes.
BOLDUAN: Thank you all for joining us today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "INSIDE POLITICS" is up next.
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