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Hamas Says It Is "Studying" New Truce Proposal; Musk Startup Installs First Chip Implant Into Human Patient's Brain; Conservatives Float Conspiracies Over Swift, Super Bowl. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired January 30, 2024 - 11:30   ET

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

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[11:31:30]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: All right. New details this morning about the broad framework for a potential hostage deal between Israel and Hamas. Let's get right to CNN's Chief National Security Correspondent Alex Marquardt for the latest on this. Alex, what are you learning?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, we're being very careful to call this a framework and not an agreement. But we're -- what we're hearing is that progress has been made in the past few days, notably after that meeting in Paris with the CIA director, his Egyptian and Israeli counterparts, and the Qatari Prime Minister. That took place on Sunday.

And so, what we've been told by officials and sources is that there is a broad framework with a general understanding of how another truce, another pause in the fighting, and a -- and a hostage release could take place with warnings at the same time, that there are a lot of details that need to be ironed out. A lot of work needs to be done to get this across the finish line.

But what this generally would look like is that there would be a first phase of around six weeks of a pause in the fighting, during which time, some of the -- all of the civilian hostages who remain in Gaza would be released. At the same time, three Palestinian prisoners held by Israel would be released for every civilian hostage. Then, we would move on to another phase.

So, that pause in the fighting could be extended. The IDF soldiers, both men and women, they could be released in that pause as well as the bodies of hostages who had been killed since October 7, or some of the bodies who were taken into Gaza on October 7. Now, there are questions about how many Palestinian prisoners Hamas would demand to be released for those IDF soldiers who in Hamas's mind are much more valuable. There are indications that Hamas would want a huge number of Palestinian prisoners to be released.

But, John, there are still major questions about humanitarian aid that would go in, governance of Palestinians, the security setup in Gaza, and longer-term questions. But for now, John, there -- it does seem to be momentum. There are those words of caution. But there are -- that there is a lot of optimism. I asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken about this yesterday. He said there is some real hope going forward, John.

BERMAN: What's the reaction been from Hamas?

MARQUARDT: Well, Hamas was the only party that wasn't at the table. And so, I understand that Egyptian intelligence handed the proposal to them just yesterday. They said today that they are studying it.

But this is where there is a fundamental disagreement, John. Hamas wants to see a comprehensive deal to end the war. Israel is not yet agreeing to that.

What we heard from Hamas in their statement is they want the brutal attack on Gaza to end. Those are their words. And the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces.

We also have to see what the Israeli positioning would be during a pause. Last time, they stayed in Gaza but pulled back a little bit. Here, you've got Hamas demanding that they leave.

So, there are still sticking points. The other parties who met in Paris now awaiting a response from Hamas, John.

BERMAN: All right, keep us posted. Alex Marquardt, thank you very much. Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN HOST: All right. The trial for Jennifer Crumbley. That is the mother of the Michigan school shooter. It's back underway this morning.

Right now, Jennifer Crumbley's former supervisor there on the stand. Earlier, it was school officials back on the stand testifying about meetings with the Crumbleys going through the warning signs leading up to the shooting. And what one official called an "odd response from Jennifer Crumbley." In that sit-down, she faces charges of involuntary manslaughter and a first-of-its-kind trial that could hold her accountable for the school shooting alongside her son and potentially her husband.

CNN's Jean Casarez is joining me now. Jean, what is happening right now in court? Who's on the stand?

[11:35:12]

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we just had Nicholas Ejak. He is the Dean of Students. He was on the stand.

He talked about the Monday before the shooting. And we've heard this before, but he is reiterating it that Ethan was in English class, and he was researching bullets on his phone. The English teacher saw it.

She sends an e-mail to all the officials of the school. And she also says, you know, this made me think about what he's done in English class. He has written violent things in English class this year. And so then on Tuesday, of course, was that drawing in the early morning hours. And you saw it the math sheet with all of the facts and figures, blood everywhere, my life is useless, the world is dead.

And then, the dean says that Ethan was in the office. It was a change of classes right then, so we went into the math class, and he got the backpack that we knew had a gun in it now. And he took that backpack back into -- give it to Ethan. I want you to listen to his defense of not searching that backpack.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At any point, did anybody request to search the backpack?

NICHOLAS EJAK, FORMER DEAN OF STUDENTS, OXFORD HIGHSCHOOL: They did not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you search for that bet yourself?

EJAK: I did not. It wasn't necessary or rise to the occasion that I do that because I didn't have any reasonable suspicion to do that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Explain that -- (INAUDIBLE)

EJAK: Sure. So, reasonable suspicion means that there needs to -- by law says you have to have some type of reasonable suspicious activity to be -- searching student belongings.

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CASAREZ: So, he was researching bullets, violent writings on the math sheet, no reasonable suspicion to search the backpack. There's a civil suit in this area. No criminal charges at all but the discussion with parents and the concern is in the -- has been immense for two years.

Now, the jury is going to have to look at a video. And this was the video in the jail right after Ethan was charged with mass murder. Jennifer and James went into that jail, and they went into the room where their son was. Listen to their reaction, their demeanor, and Ethan's.

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JENNIFER CRUMBLEY, ETHAN CRUMBLEY'S MOTHER: Why?

ETHAN CRUMBLEY, MASS SHOOTING SUSPECT: I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.

I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.

J. CRUMBLEY: (INAUDIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: And that right there was the very last time that Jennifer and James Crumbley ever saw their son because they were charged with homicide shortly thereafter.

SIDNER: This is a stunning case with lots of twists and turns. But the warning signs were there.

CASAREZ: Yes.

SIDNER: And teachers noticed that. It'll be interesting to see what happens with the civil case as well.

CASAREZ: Yes, it will.

SIDNER: Jean Casares, thank you so much.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

SIDNER: John?

BERMAN: Those are wrenching. All right. Elon Musk claims his startup has implanted a chip into a living human's brain that could one day help control all kinds of things with a mere thought.

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[11:42:54]

SIDNER: "ON OUR RADAR" this morning. A pharmaceutical company is recalling some of its ADHD and narcolepsy medication called Zanzedi after a pill mix-up. Azurity says a pharmacist discovered that instead of Zanzedi, a bottle contained a sedative allergy, that -- a drug that has the opposite effect. The company says it has not received any reports of serious injury related to the mislabeled bottles.

Now, a jury has ordered the maker of Roundup weed killer to pay a cancer patient more than two billion dollars. A 49-year-old man sued saying he developed cancer after using Roundup on his property for two decades. The parent company Bayer says it will appeal these verdicts and call the settlement unconstitutionally excessive.

Now, a rare shark attack in Australia right inside Sydney Harbour not far from the city's iconic opera house which sits right on the water. A woman was bitten on the leg and seriously injured on Monday evening during a swim off a private pier. Officials believe it was a bull shark. They are now warning swimmers to avoid the water at dawn and at dusk when bull sharks are most active. John.

BERMAN: This is why you stay in lakes and pools. All right. Elon Musk claims that one of his companies has placed akin to -- a computer chip implant inside a living human brain. That person is currently doing well, according to Musk. The implant once in full working condition would allow people to control a computer with just their thoughts.

With me now is Emily Mullin, a staff writer covering biotechnology for Wired Magazine. Emily, let me just start out with this. Elon Musk says a lot of things and makes a lot of claims. Do we -- should we take this at face value? EMILY MULLIN, STAFF WRITER, WIRED: I think we should. You know, Neuralink has been working up to this for a number of years now. This is a big milestone for the company, which has been developing a brain- computer interface since its founding by Musk in 2016. We've seen over the years Neuralink doing these live streams demonstrations, in which they have trotted out some pigs that have gotten its brain implants.

[11:45:12]

And they've also implanted some monkeys. So, now yes, we do -- it seems like the first patient has now received a Neuralink brain implant. Last year, Neuralink said that it received approval from the U.S. Drug and -- U.S. Food and Drug Administration to go ahead with a clinical trial and people to test its device. And then it also got approval from a ethics board -- an independent ethics board at a hospital site to do this.

So, I think it's pretty likely that it has happened. We don't have any details beyond what Elon Musk has posted on the social media platform X. This person apparently got the implants on Sunday is doing well. But, of course, it's going to take some time before we know whether this actually works.

BERMAN: So, you told us that Neuralink is not the first company to put chips in people's brains. So, what's the difference here?

MULLIN: Right.

BERMAN: And what's the promise for this technology long term?

MULLIN: Yes. So, actually, brain-computer interfaces have been -- researchers have been working on them now for several decades. And the initial ones, you know, were made by academic researchers. And really, this has been a field of -- kind of confined to the academic realm up until recently.

Really, in the past couple of years since Neuralink was founded by Musk in 2016. There are now several companies that are racing to develop similar brain implants. And the goal is really to help people who are paralyzed to give them back a little bit of independence that they've maybe lost. You know, being able to control a computer or send an e-mail or a text to a friend or colleague.

I mean, these are things that most of us take advantage of every day that people who have lost the use of their limbs are not able to do this. So, as you mentioned, yes, there are other players in this space now. There's one company in New York-based Syncron that has implanted a couple of its devices in patients with ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, who are paralyzed.

And their grand plan is a little bit different. It's a stent-like implant that actually goes into the jugular vein. And so, there's no actual brain surgery required. It's threaded up through the jugular vein and sets -- It sets against the brain. But what's different here is, you know, Neuralink is -- it's a Musk company, right?

BERMAN: Yes.

MULLIN: I mean, Musk has made a lot of buzz around brain-computer interfaces.

BERMAN: Yes. It has a ringmaster behind it right now with the social media, Emily. All right -- all right. Emily Mullin, thanks for being with us. I really appreciate it.

MULLIN: Yes. I think it has -- (INAUDIBLE) You know?

BERMAN: Yes, absolutely. Sara.

SIDNER: Interesting technology. All right, coming up. Conspiracy theorists have some bad blood with Popstar Taylor Swift and her boyfriend Travis Kelce. Why they're tying the two of them to the 2024 presidential election? This conspiracy is wacky.

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[11:52:53]

SIDNER: It's a trend that seems to keep coming up whenever Taylor Swift shows up. The average Super Bowl ticket is going for $9,800 -- does the $800 even matter? I mean it was basically a thousand bucks, which is 70 percent more than it was last year. All of the Swift Energy's fueling conspiracy theories for members of the right-wing media about the singer and her boyfriend, Chiefs superstar Travis Kelce. Take a listen.

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CHARLY ARNOLT, HOST, OUTKICK.COM: Now, there's an online plea circulating that is begging people to become Niners fans for the next two weeks. Just so it doesn't raise Travis Kelce a.k.a. Mr. Pfizer's star power along with of course Taylor Swift.

EMILY COMPAGNO, HOST, FOX NEWS: That's persuadable power. And this administration is locked dead set on harnessing that.

JEANINE PIRRO, HOST, FOX NEWS: Why alienate the -- your -- the -- your fans as Swifties. You know, they come across from every political ideology. Why put yourself in one area?

ARNOLT: Please don't believe everything Taylor Swift says. We're all begging you.

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SIDNER: All right. It may have stemmed from Taylor Swift's 2020 endorsement of President Joe Biden. I did notice it didn't say you have freedom of speech in this country, which she does. And then there's the article published yesterday by the New York Times, which may have stirred the pot even more, claiming President Biden would love to have her endorsement again this year.

Let's bring in CNN's Senior Media Reporter Oliver Darcy. OK. I mean, the fact that this ended up on Fox, it has been, as you have talked about on OAN and some of the more fringe for right publications and online groups. But this is -- I don't know where to start. I -- it's outrageous.

OLIVER DARCY, CNN SENIOR MEDIA REPORTER: Yes. The idea that the NFL and Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are a part of this plot to rig the Super Bowl to elevate Swift and Kelsey so that they can be wielded by the Democrats as a weapon against Donald Trump is -- it's absurd. But we should know, it is, as you said, very mainstream now most in the right-wing information space. And there are a lot of people who are living in this space and relying on outlets like Fox or OAN, or these entertainers online for their news and information.

SIDNER: Right.

[11:55:08]

DARCY: And so, you know, it might be absurd to the people in reality, people who consume credible news. But for others, it could be seen as an attractive idea. And you've seen in the past that people latch on to these outrageous conspiracy theories, like Q Anon.

This is almost in the same vein as Q Anon, where you have an idea that there's this shadow -- the shadowy powers, right, lurking -- who are secretly controlling puppets, like, you know, apparently Taylor Swift. And so, you know, I think it might be tempting to dismiss this and it just --

SIDNER: Oh, yes.

DARCY: As a -- as a comedy almost. But there are some people who are going to end up buying into this idea.

BERMAN: The idea is that -- we only have like eight seconds left. The fix is somehow in.

DARCY: Yes.

BERMAN: And that the Chiefs are going to win the Super Bowl because Taylor Swift wants them to win?

DARCY: Because Biden wants them to win. Because when they win, then apparently Taylor Swift's going to even have more influence. So, her endorsement which is going to happen because she did endorse in 2020 --

SIDNER: I'm going over it.

BERMAN: Yes.

DARCY: You know, it's going to matter more.

SIDNER: I know 49ers since. I lived in San Francisco. There is no freaking way they're playing along with this. I'm just putting that out there right now.

BERMAN: Well, it -- I mean Patrick Mahomes isn't very good. That whole Patrick Mahomes that he's got no role.

DARCY: Wow, John.

BERMAN: He's got no role in any of this. Thank you all so much for watching us. "INSIDE POLITICS" is up next.

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