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Trump Team Bracing for Confirmation Fights Over Controversial Picks; Trump Taps Vaccine Skeptic RFK Jr. for Health & Human Services Secretary; Trial Begins for Migrant Accused of Killing GA Student Laken Riley. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired November 15, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

EDGAR BARRIENTOS-QUINTANA, MURDER CONVICTION VACATED AFTER SERVING 16 YEARS IN PRISON: Just live life, that's it. Travel, do what I was doing before I went to prison. Same thing, work, spend it with my family, my kids.

[09:00:11]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Is there one thing that you were looking forward to most in knowing that your moment of freedom was coming backwards or one thing that you've already experienced in just these days that, that you appreciate the most?

BARRIENTOS-QUINTANA: Yeah, spending time with my family. Yeah, that's the most thing, I think the best thing I can ask for. You know, they were there for me from the beginning and they're always going to be there for me. So spending time with them, my mom, it's the best thing.

BOLDUAN: What's your parting message, if you will, Edgar, for when you see how the system failed you but then you have great people like Julie and the Minnesota Review Board who then made it right. You also have a victim's family who supported you but the victim's family is still there without justice as well. Just what is your -- I don't know, what is the lesson you've learned from these extraordinary and horrible circumstances that you've lived through?

BARRIENTOS-QUINTANA: Man, we need more people like Julie and the Innocence Project, just more and more organizations to help us out. The system's not -- there's flaws in the system, put it that way, bad flaws to put people in prison and sometimes they don't want to admit it.

BOLDUAN: Edgar, it's wonderful to meet you. Good luck and enjoy every moment from here on out. Julie, thank you so very much for coming on and your work. Really appreciate your time.

BARRIENTOS-QUINTANA: Thank you.

JULIE JONAS, ATTORNEY FOR EDGAR BARRIENTOS-QUINTANA: Thank you so much for having us. And if I can make a pitch, Edgar was working full-time. He was a productive citizen when he was arrested 16 years ago. He does have a GoFundMe because when they come out of prison, these exonerees have nothing. So I hope people will consider donating to his GoFundMe. BOLDUAN: Thank you both so much. A new hour of CNN New Central starts now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, no FBI background checks? No problem. New details from inside the Mar-a-Lago war room on how some of Trump's cabinet is being vetted when the President-elect is doing instead of following normal procedures to make sure his picks don't have unknown foreign ties or other security risks.

And a married father of three went on a fishing trip, then went missing. Now police are investigating whether he actually tried to fake his own death, where officials believe this missing kayaker is now.

And in 1997, one of the baddest boxers on the planet bit off an opponent's ear while the man he fights tonight was in diapers and probably didn't even have teeth yet. Mike Tyson versus Jake Paul. Who's ready to rumble? Apparently they are.

I'm Sara Sidner with John Berman and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN New Central.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, who will Donald Trump pick next to be in his cabinet and how will they not be vetted? So Treasury Secretary, is the major portfolio still remaining open this morning? Could that change by the end of the day? And how is that decision being made? That is the question swirling after Trump tapped vaccine skeptic, Robert Kennedy Jr. to run Health and Human Services. He tapped Matt Gaetz to be Attorney General who quit Congress in advance of an ethics report released on sexual misconduct allegations. And he tapped Tulsi Gabbard to be Director of National Intelligence. One Democratic Congresswoman just told us she sees Gabbard as a national security risk.

Now, this comes as CNN has learned that Trump is bypassing the traditional vetting process on many of these picks. We're going to have much more on that in just a moment.

First, let's get to CNN's Steve Contorno on the process and what's going to happen today, Steve.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, John, Trump yesterday speaking for the first time in front of cameras about his new cabinet picks and going through some of the names that he has chosen and also trying to say what the warning he's given to Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, telling him to, quote, "just relax" after he picked three members from Johnson's very slim majority to be in his cabinet with several seats in that cabinet still to be filled.

He also, for the first time, discussed RFK Jr.'s selection to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, obviously a very controversial pick. Listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT: I guess if you like health and if you like people that live a long time, it's the most important position. Looked at the news reports, people like you, Bobby. Don't get too popular, Bobby. We want you to come up with things and ideas and what you've been talking about for a long time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:05:16]

CONTORNO:. What he's been talking about for a long time is the problems with vaccines, the alleged problems that are not supported by facts or science or the medical community. And there's many concerns that he will bring those views to a department that has not only a massive oversight of health community, but also Medicare and Medicaid as well, John.

BERMAN: Steve, there are new questions this morning about the person Trump has picked to be the next Secretary of Defense.

CONTORNO: Yeah, that individual is Pete Hegseth. He is a Fox News anchor. And he -- we are learning about an incident that occurred about seven years ago in California. This is from a statement from the Monterey, California City, which said that in the early morning of October 8th, 2017, there was an incident at the Hyatt Regency where Pete was speaking at the California Federation of Republican Women gathering. The statement did not identify him directly as the alleged assailant, but it said that he was involved in the investigation. There were no weapons involved according to this statement, but it did not provide any names or ages.

And they said that they also would not release the full police report. The Trump campaign putting out a statement saying that Mr. Hegseth has vigorously denied any and all accusations, and they expect him to be validated and verified by the full Senate.

BERMAN: Steve Contorno, as always, thank you for your reporting.

Kate?

BOLDUAN: We say happening now a lot, but how about we talk about what is not happening right now? And that is a standard FBI background check for some of Donald Trump's top administration picks. The new CNN reporting is also that the objective right now appears to be taking a hammer to that vetting practice and norm.

CNN's Evan Perez has this new reporting for us. He's joining us now.

Good morning, Evan. Tell us more about what you're hearing.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: OK, one of the things, as you pointed out, that is not happening is the FBI vetting that traditionally happens during this period as an incoming administration is sending in names, getting ready to try to vet people and prepare people to take over on January 20th. That is simply not happening because the Trump team has, at least so far, decided that they don't need it, that they're using private sector companies to go through these names, to go through these names, to go through the backgrounds of these people. And this has been something that has been in the works for a long time.

There are people around the former president, the incoming President- elect, who have been circulating a memo calling for bypassing the FBI background checks, taking issue with some of the problems that they say the FBI and the intelligence community had during Trump's former first term.

You remember there were a number of people, including Jared Kushner, who could not get a security clearance, and Trump had to order the intelligence community to grant that clearance. And so what we know right now is that, you know, obviously, as you pointed out, there are people who are traditionally part of this who say that the purpose here is to take a hammer to the process that exists. Trump has a deep, deep skepticism about what he calls the deep state, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, great reporting, Evan. Thank you so much.

Sara?

PEREZ: Thank you.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, Kate.

Joining me now to discuss, CNN Political Commentator, Kate Bedingfield, and Republican Strategist, Joseph Pinion.

All right, let's first jump into what we just heard from Evan and his reporting. Trump is clearly avoiding these FBI background checks, and the question is why? Could it be that his picks just simply wouldn't pass?

Joseph, to you.

JOSEPH PINION, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST & COMMUNITY ACTIVIST: Well, look, I think, first and foremost, the President has the right to choose who he wants to in his cabinet. I think it is important that we have transparency in the process, particularly for some of these more marquee positions. But I will say that part of that skepticism has been rightfully earned. I think we have to remember that this is an FBI that had a rogue attorney that used false information to procure a FISA warrant to investigate the president when he was the nominee, and then continued to -- continue spying on him through that presidency for an extended period of time.

It's the same FBI that had members of former intelligence who were key card access to Langley, and then allowed those individuals to put out a letter saying that the laptop was Russian disinformation when the FBI had authenticated that laptop 11 months prior. So, yes, the skepticism has been earned. We, as the American people, should demand that we have a thorough investigation. The mechanism for how the investigation takes place, I think, though, could be left up to debate.

SIDNER: Kate, you know, is there a problem here? I mean, is this dangerous in your mind to not vet people through a very robust FBI background check? For any of those who have been through that, they will tell you, they ask you everything that you can imagine and those around you as well.

[09:10:13]

KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely, it's potentially dangerous. I mean, look, Trump is clearly trying to short- circuit a process that he fears is not going to give him the answers he wants. I mean, we saw that in 2017, 2018, when, as mentioned in the previous reporting, when Jared Kushner couldn't get a clearance and Trump essentially had to strong-arm them into giving him one. So, it's pretty clear what he's doing here.

And yes, there's potential danger here. I mean, the FBI investigation is somebody who was involved in the transition in, you know, in 2020 and 2021. These questions get at the bottom of whether there is information that you could be blackmailed over. They get at -- you know, whether you've had issues, moments in your background that potentially make you vulnerable to our adversaries.

So, you know, it's not intended as a punishment. It is intended as a genuine exploration of issues that could create a problem and could allow somebody in a position where they have access to incredibly sensitive information to be, you know, to be abused.

So, yes, it is potentially dangerous. It is, unfortunately, typical Donald Trump. This is not, to my mind, this isn't about some righteous crusade against the deep state. This is about him trying to circumvent a process that he knows is not going to give him the outcome he wants in some circumstances.

PINION: Look, I just have to push back a little bit. I was just in this building last night listening to Senator Coons explain how there are certainly people who are not going to need a robust FBI background check. Like -- somebody like Senator Marco Rubio, who certainly is well-known, has many clearances already.

So, I think sometimes we take things that are said or circulated by President Trump, we address them in a hyperbolic manner that is completely devoid of what the regular person would think of. And yes, I do think that if you look at even what happened to General Flynn, who had his entire life destroyed by allegations coming from within the Department of Justice, many of which turned out to be fabricated or greatly exaggerated, there is a very real concern that the agenda that a nationwide mandate has set forth by electing President Trump could be thwarted by individuals simply looking to tank the people that he has decided are going to be the tip of the spear to get this country back on track.

SIDNER: We should be clear that Flynn, though, did. Go ahead, Kate.

BEDINGFIELD: Sorry, can I just say, Trump has earned that skepticism by directing people around him.

PINION: Sure. But it goes both ways, certainly, Kate.

BEDINGFIELD: (Inaudible) the Constitution. SIDNER: All right, let's talk about this. RFK Jr. is up for running HHS, which oversees the CDC, the FDA, the National Institutes of Health. I do want to run some of the things that he has said over time. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., DONALD TRUMP SURROGATE: I do believe that autism does come from vaccines. COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.

COVID was clearly a bioweapons problem. Wi-Fi radiation is -- does all kinds of bad things, including causing cancer. Some of these mass shootings that we're seeing in this country may be related to these new class of drugs, of SSRIs and benzos.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: None of this is based on any studies that he can point to. Kate, is he qualified for this job?

BEDINGFIELD: Absolutely, categorically not. I mean, this is putting somebody in charge of our public health infrastructure who fundamentally does not believe that one of the tools, vaccines, that has kept children in this country from dying for over 100 years isn't valid, isn't effective. So no, somebody who is not just a skeptic of science, but I would argue, in this case, a warrior against medical science should not be running our public health infrastructure. So no, that's an easy one. He is absolutely categorically not qualified for this job.

SIDNER: Joseph, I will give you the last word, but there are things he has said that certainly --

PINION: Oh, look, certainly you're not going to agree with anything and everything that people have said, but the president has the right to choose who he wants to have in his cabinet.

And again, the President has a mandate. The same people that labeled half the country weird and laughed about it, laughed when the president called half the country garbage, do not agree with the president's choices for the cabinet. I'm not surprised. But the reality is we just heard Sanjay Gupta talk about the fact that by 2050, we're going to have over 260 million obese Americans or overweight Americans. There are people who are desperately concerned about many of the things that Bobby Kennedy has been talking about.

That is why President Trump has brought him into his cabinet. I think that is why many of the people that were going to vote for him in the presidential election pulled the lever for Donald J. Trump.

[09:15:10]

SIDNER: All right, Joseph Pinion, Kate Bedingfield, thank you both. Going to have to end it there. Appreciate you. Kate.

BOLDUAN: President Biden is set to meet tomorrow with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in Peru. Their final face-to-face before Donald Trump takes over. What's the mission? What's the agenda?

And right now, the trial for an undocumented migrant accused of murdering nursing student Laken Riley is getting underway. The latest from inside the courtroom.

And why investigators now think a kayaker who vanished for more than 50 days was presumed dead is actually very much alive and faked the whole thing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: Happening today, President Biden on his last big trip overseas. He's in Peru before Donald Trump returns to the White House. There he's going to meet with leaders of Japan, South Korea. And tomorrow, China's Xi Jinping, during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.

[09:20:07]

CNN's Senior White House Correspondent, Kayla Tausche is traveling with the President. She is in Lima for us today. What can you tell us?

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, we know that the expectations for this trip are fairly standard. The White House National Security Advisor says that President Biden will put forth a public message, as he has for years, that allies are vital to America's national security. But the unspoken message here is that those alliances are set to be upended come January when President- elect Donald Trump begins his second term.

And U.S. officials say that that acknowledgement is pervasive here in South America. While these leaders might be physically here to talk about ways that they can advance the economies of 21 Asian Pacific nations, that really everyone's minds are back on what's happening in Palm Beach and in Washington. And that the Biden administration, to a certain extent, is powerless to try to safeguard any of these partnerships or agreements with these allies, who are now trying to figure out how to insulate their economies from the threat of another trade war or other threats that Trump has levied against their countries.

We do know that President Biden is going to be holding that high- stakes, closely-watched bilateral meeting with China's President Xi Jinping, important because of the position of the U.S. and China as the two global economic superpowers and a relationship that Biden has sought to keep from simmering over in the last four years. But it's unclear what, if anything, the two leaders will be able to advance. They did meet this time last year to talk about military-level communication and curbing illicit fentanyl trafficking. But as of right now, China experts expect that President Xi will withhold any of his personal bargaining chips for when Trump takes office and threatens that new trade war. Even so, officials expect that to be a bookend discussion as a way for President Biden to close out his term and recognize that relationship, the healthy competition that they've tried to foster. But, of course, the expectations are fairly low for this trip as President Biden makes his final swan song on the world stage quietly. Guys.

SIDNER: Kayla Tausche in Lima Peru for us with all our great reporting. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Kate?

BOLDUAN: So the trial of an undocumented migrant accused of killing a Georgia nursing student has just gotten underway. The defendant, Jose Ibarra, has pleaded not guilty to the charges that he murdered Laken Riley back in February. Ibarra has waived his right to a jury trial, meaning his fate is in the hands of the judge now.

CNN's Rafael Romo is following all this for us. He's in Athens, Georgia, this morning.

Good morning, Rafael.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kate. The trial got underway only a few minutes ago. At this time, the court is listening to the 911 tapes that the prosecution wanted the judge to hear.

In reality, this case would now be in day three of jury selection. But unexpectedly, on Tuesday, the defense filed a motion to go from a trial by jury to a bench trial, which means, as you mentioned before, that ultimately the judge is going to decide whether the defendant is guilty or not. And just in the last hour, we saw the family of Laken Riley, her mother, Allyson Phillips, and her stepfather, John Phillips, walk into the courthouse. And as you can imagine, this is going to be very, very difficult for them and many people here in Athens.

One of the first things that the special prosecutor, Sheila Ross, wanted to talk about in her opening remarks was that Laken Riley, there was a struggle with the defendant, and that's the reason why the prosecution was able to collect plenty of evidence in this case. Let's take a listen to what the special prosecutor had to say just a few moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHEILA ROSS, SPECIAL PROSECUTOR: Evidence will show that Laken fought. She fought for her life. She fought for her dignity. And in that fight, she caused this defendant to leave forensic evidence behind. She also marked her killer for the entire world to see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And, Kate, there's a mountain of evidence in this case, including phone records, DNA evidence, and also fingerprints. As you can imagine, the prosecution is going to use this evidence to try to convict the defendant, Jose Antonio Ibarra, an undocumented Venezuelan migrant.

[09:25:02]

Now back to you.

BERMAN: Rafael, thank you very much.

John?

BERMAN: All right, new details this morning in the case of a kayaker who vanished for more than 50 days and was presumed dead, or so we thought. Why investigators now think he faked the whole thing.

And as many as 100 million people tuning in tonight to watch an almost 60-year-old Mike Tyson. There we go. Wear designer underwear and fight YouTuber Jake Paul.

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[09:30:07]