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Ukraine Fires Missiles into Russia; Mace Introduces Anti- Transgender Bathroom Resolution; Larie Pidgeon is Interviewed about his Missing Niece; Trump to Attend SpaceX Test Flight. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired November 19, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: That stopped the Biden administration from allowing these weapons to be used in the first place.

JOSH ROGIN, COLUMNIST, "WASHINGTON POST": Right. I don't think that we should totally discount these Russian announcements. At the same time, we have to remember that Vladimir Putin has used nuclear brinksmanship and threatened nuclear weapons. You said every stage over the last thousand days of this war. And at every time the Biden administration came to some decision about planes or ships or tanks or missiles, they threatened nukes and then didn't follow through. And I think we just have to understand that that's what they do. They use this nuclear brinksmanship to stop the United States and the west from helping Ukraine defend itself. And there are really good reasons to believe that Vladimir Putin won't use nuclear weapons, mainly because if he did that would be the end of his regime as he knows it. So, he's deterred. But it doesn't mean we shouldn't totally - we should totally ignore it, but we should just understand this is just what Vladimir Putin does.

SIDNER: Josh, why now? Why now did the Biden administration decide this when Ukraine has been asking to use these ATACMS for many, many months as they lose territory to Russia?

ROGIN: Right. Well, the administration's explanation doesn't really make sense because if there were - if they thought these weapons were provocative last year, then they would still think that now. What - everybody knows what's really going on, Trump is coming back. He's threatened to take away Ukraine's funding and its support.

And so the Ukrainian's are under a dire situation. They're losing ground. They're outmanned and outgunned. And they have about, you know, a month and a half before they could lose all of their support from the United States. It's a pretty big deal.

So, this is the Biden administration scrambling to give them any chance to do a little bit better and also to respond to the influx of 19,000 North Korean troops into the area near Kursk where they're about to attack Ukrainians. So, I think they're - they're grasping at straws for how to help the Ukrainians on their way out the door. SIDNER: Now to politics at home. While - while a lot of people are

paying attention to the controversy surrounding Matt Gaetz and his nomination for AG, you wrote about Tulsi Gabbard's nomination for DNI, saying Gabbard's lack of judgment and flights from reality are disqualifying. You are certainly not the first to put this out. "The Wall Street Journal" also wrote something very, very similar. Why do you say that? And do you think people need to be paying more attention to the Gabbard nomination?

ROGIN: Yes, I think that it presents a danger for U.S. security to have someone in charge of 18 U.S. intelligence agencies who's shown a very long record of believing Russian and Chinese and Syrian propaganda above that - the claims of the U.S. intelligence community she's nominated to lead. And when Russia attacked Ukraine, Tulsi Gabbard said it was the Ukrainian's fault and she said the Ukrainians were just a corrupt autocracy, no different from the Russians. And then she parroted Russian propaganda that the U.S. is funding biolabs in Ukraine, which was used by Putin to justify that very aggression. And the list goes on and on.

And, you know, as a private citizen, Tulsi Gabbard is more than entitled to have any view or follow any Russian propaganda or Chinese propaganda or Syrian propaganda that she wants. But can you imagine what could go wrong if the person giving President Trump, who's already inclined to sort of believe conspiracy theories and disinformation, the person giving him that daily intelligence brief, is someone who believes the Russians more than the U.S. intelligence agencies. It's a recipe for a disaster.

And I think that, you know, the Senate is just sort of overwhelmed with so many other crazy nominees that they haven't even had a chance to contemplate what that would really mean for the intelligence community internally. It would be a total chaos. And for the U.S., credibility would - all of our friends and allies, who depend on us to have a clear view of what the democracies are and what the autocracies are and what's fact and what's fiction and what's Russian propaganda and what's the truth.

SIDNER: Yes, there are so many things to think about, but they are - the barrage of nominees are coming fast and furious. We'll see if the Senate gets to or decides to confirm them.

Josh Rogin, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this morning, House Republican Nancy Mace is proposing to ban transgender women from using the women's restrooms on Capitol Hill. And it comes as Sarah McBride from Delaware just became the first transgender woman to be elected to Congress.

Let's get right to CNN's Lauren Fox on Capitol Hill.

Lauren, tell us about this proposal and what happens next with it. LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, we actually just spoke once again with South Carolina representative Nancy Mace, who's digging in this morning. Here's what she said last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): Sarah McBride doesn't get a say. I mean this is a biological man. He does not belong in women's spaces, women's bathrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms, period, full stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:35:03]

FOX: And McBride was recently elected to Congress. The first transgender woman to do so. And she was responding yesterday to Nancy Mace saying, quote, "this is a blatant attempt from a far right-wing extremist to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions on what Americans are facing. We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care and childcare, not manufacturing culture wars. Delawareans sent me here to make the American dream more affordable and accessible, and that is what I'm focused on."

Now, Nancy Mace says she's not going to just stop with this resolution. She wants it included in the House rules package. She also says she's going to introduce legislation to ban transgender women from using women's bathrooms in all federal buildings across the country. She said, if you are getting federal funding, whether you are a school, whether you are a government building, she wants this legislation to apply to those institutions.

So, Nancy Mace, once again, digging in this morning, despite the pushback that she is getting from one of now her colleagues, Congresswoman Sarah McBride.

John.

BERMAN: All right, Laura Fox for us in the middle of it all on Capitol Hill. Thank you so much.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, CNN has obtained a photo appearing to show some of the last known images of a woman who has now been missing for a week. Hannah Kobayashi landed in L.A. and never made it to her connecting flight in New York. And now her family is desperate to get some answers.

We'll be right back.

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[09:40:56]

BOLDUAN: This morning, a family is desperate for answers and desperately searching for Hannah. Hannah Kobayashi is 30 years old and she missed a connecting flight in Los Angeles. That is now more than a week ago. She was traveling from her home in Hawaii to New York when she missed that connection November 8th. California's state attorney general's office has now released this photo showing her getting off the plane at LAX to make that connection. Days later her mother texted her to ask if she'd made it to New York and received the response, no. That's the last time anyone has heard from Hannah. Her friends say that they have received strange messages from her phone, though, that said she didn't feel safe, that someone was trying to steal her identity.

Here's one of the messages a friend received. A message saying, "I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds." Followed by a message saying, "for someone I thought I loved."

The FBI has now gotten involved, helping the LAPD with the investigation. And her family is now asking for the public's help for any sign of Hannah.

Joining us right now is Hannah's aunt, Larie Pidgeon.

Larie, thank you very much for coming in to speak with me today. How are you and the family doing?

LARIE PIDGEON, AUNT OF HANNAH KOBAYASHI: We're tired, as can be expected. We are trying to keep hope. And - but we're - we're - we're scared.

BOLDUAN: Understandably so.

Can you talk to me about these messages that family and friend received from her phone? What doesn't sound right? What didn't feel right about them?

PIDGEON: Well, Hannah - Hannah's a, you know, she's a communicator. She talks to us. And, you know, emojis and cute things and sweet messages. And these messages were alarming because basically it was saying things like, you know, I'm scared, someone's trying to steal my identity, someone, you know, is looking to steal my funds. You know, just that word, funds, it was all very strange and out of character because up until this point the messages that we were receiving were extremely positive. I love you. I can't wait to see you. I can't wait to come to New York. And then it basically just took a complete right turn.

BOLDUAN: And what was - she was - she was planning a trip to New York. What was she going to do?

PIDGEON: So, she was planning to come to New York, to New York City, to see her aunt, my sister Jordan. It was a bucket list trip. She had been planning for it, you know, for months. She also had gotten her first photography gig. You know, she's - she's an aspiring photographer. So, she got her first paid photographer gig, which she was super excited about. And she was going to be there until yesterday - or until Sunday basically, just seeing sights, visiting family, you know, and also going to one of her favorite DJs, a DJ called Tycho (ph). BOLDUAN: Yes. So, what I'm hearing is, everything about this is just

completely out of character for your Hannah. I mean, she doesn't - I assume, because I was going to ask you, does she - does she - is she someone who, you know, goes silent or goes dark for long periods of time? It sounds like that's the antithesis of what Hannah's like.

PIDGEON: Yes. Hannah's - Hannah's that - is that friend, you know, and if you have a problem, you know, who can I call? Who's going to pick up? And that's Hannah. She's always in contact with her mom, with her sister, you know, with - with her aunts. You know, she - she wouldn't, you know, she wouldn't stop communicating. She wouldn't have told us, like, hey, I can't make it, I'm going to stay in L.A., you know, just for instance, I'm going to stay in L.A. I like it here. I'm going to, you know - she would have communicated with us.

Her character is trusting, loving, kind, compassionate, depending, trustworthy, you know, so that is why when she went dark, it was so worrisome.

BOLDUAN: What I hear is, she also wouldn't want you all to be left feeling how you're feeling right now, scared and desperate to get any sign - any sign from her.

[09:45:10]

Police have been tracing some of her last known movements through video and security footage, Larie. And just - I was just going through it with our team. Hannah was seen at LAX on November 8th.

PIDGEON: Correct.

BOLDUAN: Her sister then says that Hannah was seen in the background of a YouTube video from an event at The Grove on the 10th. That's in L.A. And then Sunday I saw that her sister posted that the family has surveillance footage showing Hannah around a downtown L.A. metro train station with another person, though the way her sister describes it is that Hannah did not appear to be in good condition.

What does all of this mean to you?

PIDGEON: So, it's confusing. You know, the word that keeps coming, it's bizarre. You know, she was cited. And where she was cited at The Grove, it seemed like she was, you know, she was in good spirits. She was probably just waiting for a standby flight. And in her personality, she does explore. So, you know, going to that Grove, we have spoken with people, and they said that she was in good spirits. She actually charged her phone at one of the stores that we made contact with, and he said she was lovely. She even filled out a mailing form with her address in Hawaii and said, you know, she would like to get information.

And then on November 11th, we have been made aware of video surveillance of her, you know, getting on, you know, a metro and - with an unknown individual that you know, she didn't talk to us about, we haven't heard about, we haven't - you know what I mean? She knows no one in L.A. Our entire family know no one in L.A. BOLDUAN: What is your heart and your head telling you right now about

what's going on and what's happened?

PIDGEON: You know, we try not to think the worst. We're trying to keep hope alive. But it has now been, you know, basically a week and a day since, you know, November 11th, when she was last spotted with this unknown person and didn't seem to be OK.

So, where - where our mind is now going to, you know, abduction. And I hate to say the word, but, you know, trafficked. So, we - we - we're doing the best that we can, but the family at this point is now - we're having to come to the reality that those things could be a possibility.

BOLDUAN: If Hannah's listening, if you can get a message to her or someone who has seen her or is with her is watching, what is your message to them, Larie?

PIDGEON: Hannah, we love you. We are all here. Your mom's here. Your sister's here. Your father's here. The entire world is looking for you.

If someone has Hannah, I want you to know that she is the kindest, most beautiful soul in the entire world. And please don't hurt her. Please just give us back to her. No questions asked. Just - just - just don't hurt her, please.

BOLDUAN: I'm so sorry, Larie, that your family is going through this. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for your time.

PIDGEON: Thank you for your time.

BOLDUAN: Let's put her picture back up. Hannah Kobayashi, 30 years old. Her family's desperately looking for her now.

We'll be right back.

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[09:53:01]

BERMAN: In Texas today, President-Elect Donald Trump plans to attend his buddy Elon Musk's SpaceX flight test.

With us now is CNN space and defense contributor Kristin Fisher.

Let's talk about the space of it first. What are you looking for in today's launch?

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, John, it's been just over a month since Starship's last flight test. And back then what that was, was really just a proof of concept. I mean there were so many people who didn't think it was possible at all for this giant booster to be caught right back on the same launch pad where it had just lifted off from by those two chopsticks, or as President-elect Trump likes to call it, a big hug, right? Right that flight test back in October was really a proof of concept. This time around, for the sixth flight test, SpaceX says they really want to fine tune this. They want to get a bit more precise with that booster catch, if it's possible, but they also want to get more precise with the Starship' splashdown into the Indian Ocean. That's the piece that breaks off from the booster, goes almost around the earth, and then splashes down.

So, what we're really seeing is what SpaceX describes as one more great big step towards what they believe is the rapid reusability, full reusability of this rocket, which is what they're aiming for. The CEO of SpaceX, John, says that she believes there will be 400 Starship launches within the next four years.

BERMAN: So, Kristin, I don't think there's any question right now that the relationship between Elon Musk and Donald Trump could reshape the country, but how could that relationship impact space exploration?

FISHER: Well, Elon Musk's biggest gripe so far with the federal government when it comes to one of his companies, SpaceX, has been that regulators and in particular the FAA is just moving too slow in terms of granting SpaceX its new launch licenses to get this Starship up on these test flights.

[09:55:01]

They say that this rapid, iterative development is absolutely critical to helping NASA achieve its goal of returning American astronauts to the moon as part of the Artemis program and beating the Chinese in doing so. So, what this partnership could potentially mean is that, you know, we know that - that the president-elect likes to and talks a lot about deregulation, getting rid of all that bureaucratic red tape. He could very easily do that for Elon Musk and his companies, in particular SpaceX, and make these rocket launches far more frequent, John.

BERMAN: All right, Kristin Fisher, I know you will have a busy day. Thank you so much for being with us.

SIDNER: And thank you for joining us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. That's John Berman. That's Kate Bolduan. You know who I am, I guess, I'm Sara.

CNN NEWSROOM, up next.

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