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Opening Statements Begin In Giuliani Defamation Damages Trial; Louisiana Town's "Redneck Parade" Hides Bleak Reality; At Least 6 Dead, Dozens Injured From Southern Tornadoes; Study: Weight Loss From Zepbound Reversed After Stopping Treatment. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired December 11, 2023 - 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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[14:33:57]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Happening right now, opening statements in the defamation trial of Rudy Giuliani. Here he is arriving to court in Washington, D.C. this morning.

Now, a court has already determined that he defamed some 2020 election workers, Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Shay Moss. This trial is to figure out the damage that Rudy Giuliani would have to pay them for spreading false claims that they tampered with 2020 presidential ballots.

His lies upended both women's lives as they testified to Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUBY FREEMAN, FORMER ELECTION WORKERS DEFAMED BY RUDY GIULIANI: I've lost my name, and I have lost my reputation, I have lost my sense of security.

All because a group of people starting with number 45 and his ally, Rudy Giuliani, decided to scapegoat me and my daughter, Shay, to push their own lies about how the presidential election was stolen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN's Katelyn Polantz has been following the start of the trial today.

So, Katelyn, get us up to speed on what's happening.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME & JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Boris, the question today for this jury that just got seated before lunch is how much.

How much should Rudy Giuliani have to pay these two women, Ruby Freeman and Shay Moss, for the things that he was saying about them quite publicly after the 2020 election that were just not true, saying that they were stealing votes, switching votes as they count the ballots or worked the ballot counting.

And already from the two reporters that we have at the courthouse today, they are reporting that, in opening statements, the jury is already hearing the voicemails of harassment, things that were racist, curse words, people calling these women traitor.

Essentially, the argument that their lives were being stolen by the damaging words that Rudy Giuliani was putting forth, that Donald Trump and his campaign were also perpetuating after the election.

So, the jury is not being asked to find if they have been defamed. That's already been done by the judge. What is at stake here is the numbers.

[14:35:01]

And the numbers that the women are asking for are staggering. They are asking for a payment of somewhere between $15.5 million and $43 million just for reputational damage alone.

On top of that, Ruby Freeman and Shay Moss, her daughter, also want to be awarded for their emotional distress.

And they want the jury to look at what is called punitive damages. That is punishment of Rudy Giuliani.

And specifically, they write, not just punishment for his outrageous conduct, but for the conduct so that he will be deterred from doing this in the future, and others would be deterred from doing something like this in the future as well.

SANCHEZ: That is a significant point.

Also notable, Rudy Giuliani has some very serious financial issues because of all these legal matters.

POLANTZ: He does, indeed. He's essentially broke, is what he said in court.

But that does not mean that the painful moments of these women and Giuliani's response to them -- he is expected to testify to that -- all won't be put on display in this federal courtroom, this window of what happened after the 2020 election. Before it will be revisited likely in the criminal trials as well.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Katelyn Polantz, thanks so much for your reporting.

Pamela?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: All right, we're going to show you a new perspective on the race for the White House. Despite what most analysts read is a surprisingly good economy, a lot of voters are not buying it.

That is what our Elle Reeve found when she visited a time-old tradition in a tiny Louisiana town, proudly called the Redneck Parade.

Here's Elle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

ELLE REEVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the annual Bawcomville Redneck Christmas Parade in West Monroe, Louisiana.

(HONKING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just not your typical Christmas parade. I mean, we've got a motorized La-Z-Boy. I mean, you can't get much more redneck than that.

LAURA KAY, PARADE PARTICIPANT: It's hilarious. People will be throwing toilet paper, Ramen packets, toothbrushes. My goodness, it's always a good laugh.

ZACH RAYBOURN, PARADE PARTICIPANT: This part of our town, I don't think there's very many rules, you know? And so, pretty much anything goes.

REEVE: But behind the jokes, there's a tough reality. Bawcomville is a very poor community, and the parade serves as a holiday toy drive.

KAY: I have been a child who has been less fortunate growing up. And I had the Redneck Parade, the fire department give me and my brothers Christmas gifts. And this is my way of returning the love.

(YELLING)

REEVE: These ladies run Bawcomville Hope, a non-profit that gives food to the needy.

(on-camera): Is there a lot of need in this community for them?

RACHEL HOLMES, PARADE PARTICIPANT: Oh my lord, yes. People don't realize this is kind of like a third-world country.

DEBI MAYO, PARADE PARTICIPANT: There's a need for clothes, food, housing. There's many, many homeless in this area.

HOLMES: There's a lot of abandoned homes, abandoned trailers that they're living in, and so --

MAYO: And in the woods.

HOLMES: Yes.

MAYO: They just makeshift tents.

They were managing to survive until everything got so expensive and they couldn't afford the little apartments that they had or the houses and -- HOLMES: Interest rates skyrocketing, fuel skyrocketing, the milk, $5 a

gallon.

REEVE: I know it's a sensitive subject but do you guys have any thoughts about the upcoming presidential election?

MAYO: We hope Trump gets back in there. Maybe he can straighten it out.

REEVE: And why do you think he'd straighten it out?

MAYO: Because it wasn't in this turmoil when he left. All this has managed to happen in the last three years, so.

CHRISTINA JONES, PARADE SPECTATOR: I think we are going downhill, especially for a parent like me that's a single mom, and not being able to find work.

Feels like you keep getting put in a hole. You're trying to climb out, but you keep getting knocked down.

REEVE (voice-over): President Biden's campaign has been pushing Bidenomics, saying the economy has gotten better since he's been in office.

But while, by some metrics, that's true, wages are higher, inflation is falling, public opinion polls show that people still think it's bad.

(on-camera): So there's some, you know, commentary, punditry that says, well, yes, inflation was bad, but now it's lower. The economy was bad, but now it's better. Unemployment is lower.

What do you say to those people?

TONI BOLER, PARADE SPECTATOR: I say that's a big fat lie.

REEVE: OK, why? Just give me some details.

BOLER: Well, I mean, look at our pocketbooks. What little people may have been able to save from the stimuluses we got and all that, it's gone. People are living off credit now. If they even have that.

I don't know how these families that come to this Redneck Parade, this community even can buy groceries. Because you got to either choose to buy gas, or do I buy groceries, or do I pay my electric bill.

REEVE (voice-over): Louisiana is a deep-red state, and neither presidential campaign will spend much money to win over voters here.

There were a few Trump flags at the parade, but support for the former president had a different feel to what we felt in the run up to 2020.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No comment.

REEVE: Many people didn't want to comment on politics, but those who did focused on the economy.

[14:40:00]

JANE TEMPLE, PARADE SPECTATOR: Economy, economy, economy. You know, the economy is horrible. We're ready for Trump -- can I say that?

REEVE (on-camera): Totally.

TEMPLE: We're ready for Trump to get back in. Can't wait. We're counting on it.

I think he cares. May be wrong, but I think he does. And that's not to say he's going to be perfect. We know that, you know, a lot of things he does, uh.

But for the most part, when he was in office, even with everything going on, he accomplished a lot.

REEVE: And do you think that Biden doesn't care about people down here?

TEMPLE: I don't think that he has a clue.

REEVE: You've probably seen a lot running a convenience store.

WILLIAM THOMPSON, PARADE SPECTATOR: Oh yes. They got problems with the drugs, the meth and the Fentanyl. That's here. It's prevalent. And the law still hadn't been able to deal with it. I blame Biden for that, too.

REEVE: Who do you think you'd vote for in the 2024 presidential election?

THOMPSON: Trump.

REEVE: Why?

THOMPSON: Because he's the only president in my knowledge who's given back to the people and helps the people. If he's in jail, I'd vote for him.

REEVE (voice-over): Elle Reeve, CNN, West Monroe, Louisiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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[14:45:25]

BROWN: Powerful, deadly storms twisted their way through parts of Tennessee over the weekend, and now thousands of residents are left dealing with the aftermath.

At least six people are confirmed dead, dozens were injured from a swarm of tornadoes that passed through Nashville and to the north in Clarksville. Thousands of residents have been displaced or have no electricity.

CNN's Rafael Romo is on the ground in Nashville surveying the damage.

So what are you seeing?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Pamela, we have been taking a look at everything that has happened here.

And let me tell you, the last few hours here, officials with the city of Nashville have been declaring some of these houses behind me that are unsafe for living, because they just are no longer structurally safe.

That is what many of these people are facing now. They are going to have to find a new place to live.

And let me tell you, we have been learning more details about how powerful and devastating those tornadoes that hit this area over the weekend were.

The National Weather Service here in Nashville says that a tornado that hit Clarksville, a community about 70 miles northwest of here, was an EF-3 tornado, packing winds of 150 miles an hour. It tracked for 43 miles.

It was on the ground for more than one hour. And it killed three people. Among them, a 10-year-old boy. Authorities have identified him as Arlin Bernam (ph). His family told CNN that a friend of the family had to dig him out of the rubble along with his sister, who fortunately survived.

Here, where we are, this is the Madison neighborhood here in the north side of Nashville. The tornado that hit this area was an EF-2 tornado, with wind of up to 125 mph. And an additional three people died here, including a 2-year-old boy.

And earlier, we had an opportunity to talk to a couple that they had to run to their kitchen when they realized the tornado was coming this way, because it was the only room in the house that didn't have any windows. And that is a decision that might have saved their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREGORY CHANCE, TORNADO SURVIVOR: Devastated. A friend of mine lost his life last night, down the street.

Don't think it won't happen to you, because I thought of that. But I was wrong. So, when they say there's a storm coming, make sure you pay attention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And you see the electrical workers working here in the Madison neighborhood of Nashville. What I can tell you is that they have been working for the last few hours in shifts of 24 hours because they wanted to reconnect everybody here as soon as possible. And we have got some numbers from the local utility company. They are

telling us that, either 45,000 people, or customers, I should say, that originally had lost power, they have been able to reconnect about 38,000.

Remaining about 6,000 to 7,000 customers that still have to have power turned back on. But in any case, that is good news.

Although, I can tell you, Pam, because it is very devastating to see what has happened here, the road to recovery is going to be very, very long, indeed.

Now back to you.

BROWN: Yes, it sure will be.

All right, Rafael Romo, thanks.

Boris?

SANCHEZ: Now to some of the other headlines we are watching this hour.

AAA expects more than 150 million people to travel during the upcoming Christmas and New Year's holidays. And the 104 million people who are driving are going to get a bit of a break this year, as gas prices have dropped to the lowest levels of 2023.

The national average for regular gas fell to $3.15 a gallon today. That's the lowest since December of last year, down sharply from the peak of $3.88 in September.

Meantime, a high-profile court trial in Atlanta has been delayed today after one of the defendants in the "Young Slime Life" case was stabbed multiple times overnight at the Fulton County jail.

Authorities say an inmate is now charged with attacking Shannon Stillwell during a fight. Stillwell is reported to be in stable condition. He's among the six defendants on trial in the racketeering and gang conspiracy case involving the superstar rapper, Young Thug.

And today, the Supreme Court throwing out several cases challenging the federal government's now defunct Covid-19 vaccine mandates for executive branch employees and military servicemembers.

[14:50:02]

The court's action comes after President Biden rescinded the federal employee vaccine requirement in May and the Pentagon, as result of congressional action, rescinded its mandate for the military in January.

Still to come on NEWS CENTRAL, a new study on one popular weight-loss drug suggests that people may have to continue taking it after they lose weight to keep the pounds off. Details on that in just a few minutes.

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SANCHEZ: A new study finds that people who take the weight-loss medication Zepbound to shed a few pounds may put the weight back on once they're off the drug.

[14:55:01]

CNN medical correspondent, Meg Tirrell, joins us now live.

Meg, this is one of several new drugs that is sort of revolutionizing the treatment for obesity. Walk us through the findings of this new study?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris, this is among a class of drugs that also includes Ozempic. Now this trial actually looked at a new medicine called Zepbound. It's also approved for type 2 diabetes as Mounjaro.

And really the findings from this study reinforce what we already know about these medicines, which is they work incredibly well while you are on them for most people but it can be hard to maintain that weight loss once you stop.

Now check out this graph. This really summarizes what happened in the study.

For nine months, everybody was on the medicine. And you can see there, on the average, they lost weight, about 20 percent of their body weight over time.

Then they split the trial participants into two groups. Have stayed on the medicine and half switched to a placebo. Those who stayed on the drug continue to lose weight, although it did start to level out.

Whereas those on placebo started to gain the weight back. And by the end of the year of follow-up, had gained back almost half of the weight that they had lost.

Now the researchers also looked at it another way, which is how many of the participants maintained at least 80 percent of the weight that they lost in the first nine months.

And 90 percent of participants taking the medicine the whole time maintained 80 percent of their weight loss. Whereas only 17 percent of those on placebo maintained that much weight loss.

So this is something that we've known about these medicines but it really puts numbers to how difficult it can be once you stop taking these drugs to maintain weight loss -- Boris?

SANCHEZ: Yes. Some really important perspective to those that think it's a cure all. You are taking it and then you are done.

Meg Tirrell, thanks so much for your reporting. Appreciate it.

Still ahead, breaking news on that pregnant woman at the center of an abortion battle in Texas. The latest developments, when we come back.

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