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John Martin is Interviewed about Possibly Solving a 44-Year-Old Mystery; Majority of Influencers Don't Check Accuracy; CNN Hosts Thanksgiving in America. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired November 27, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:31:58]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this morning, a stunning discovery in a Georgia pond may finally solve a 44 year old mystery.

In 1980, Charles and Catherine Romer were driving back to New York from Florida when they vanished. All right, so recently this non- profit called Sunshine State Sonar alerted authorities who ultimately drained a pond along the route that they would have been traveling. And they found human remains inside a 1979 Lincoln Continental. The same model car that the Romers owned.

With us now is John Martin, co-founder of the Sunshine State Sonar Team.

All right, John, so, look, how did you find the car?

JOHN MARTIN, CO-FOUNDER, SUNSHINE STATE SONAR TEAM: Well, we were - actually, there was another sonar team that had gone out to - to this body of water. And sonared the, you know, this body and came up with a vehicle and sent an image to my brother. And my brother looked over the image. They had concluded, after sonaring it, that it was a white pickup truck. After finding out the location of the - this white pickup truck, we were concerned and made a trip down there to do our own search of that body of water.

BERMAN: And then -

MARTIN: And after conducting our -

BERMAN: I was just going to say, what did you find and what evidence was there?

MARTIN: Yes, and after doing - OK, so we conducted our own sonar search of the body of water and we came around the pond to a diner that had been there for years. And we got a hit on sonar of a vehicle right in front of the diner parking lot.

And then we continued to search the pond and found the other vehicle that the other sonar team had - had discovered as well. So, there were two vehicles in that pond.

BERMAN: And one of them was this Lincoln Continental.

So - so what happens next after you find it?

MARTIN: After we find it, we suit up. We dive the vehicle. There was zero visibility in the lake, so everything was by feel. We started pulling parts from the vehicle to try to identify what kind of vehicle it was. My brother was - my brother Mike was able to pull the grill off of the vehicle. We brought it to the surface, brought it onshore, ran the part number on - on the grill and, sure enough, it came back to a Lincoln Continental.

BERMAN: And -

MARTIN : And after doing that, I went back down and drove the vehicle and found an open window. I reached inside the window and just started feeling around. I felt something, you know, hard and long. So, I grabbed what I, you know, whatever it was, brought it to the surface of the water and, sure enough, it happened to be a femur bone. So, we knew right then and there we had remains in the vehicle.

BERMAN: A human bone.

MARTIN: Yes.

BERMAN: Has anyone told you whether or not the DNA results have come back on that?

MARTIN: No, that usually takes time just from experience on other cases we've solved. That takes time to get DNA back.

BERMAN: How long had you been working on this?

[09:35:04]

MARTIN: Actually, we were not working on this case. The other sonar team, which is run by a man named Jason, he's the one that alerted us to it, because when we had found out the location of this body of water, which was directly in front of the hotel, it concerned us. So, we made the trip down there to, you know, verify the vehicle that he had found and to sonar the rest of that body of water to see if we could find anything. And we just happened to find that - the Lincoln.

BERMAN: So, the Lincoln, presumably, if it is the Lincoln, had been underwater for 44 years.

MARTIN: That's correct.

BERMAN: You know, what condition was it in and how does that complicate what you're doing?

MARTIN: The condition of the vehicle was - I mean it wasn't too bad for being down there 44 years, but it was - it was pretty much deteriorated. You know, the parts came off pretty easy, as we - you know, as we were trying to pull parts off the vehicle, they were coming off pretty easy. But, you know, the law enforcement tried to retrieve the vehicle, and

they ended up pulling the rear axle off, which, part of the trunk came off with the rear axle, and they were a lot - they were able to grab a lot of evidence, a lot of personal items off of that little piece that they pulled out. And then they stopped trying to retrieve the vehicle and decided to drain the pond so that, you know, they could get all the evidence without losing it trying to pull the vehicle out.

BERMAN: Well, John Martin, you and your team, just amazing work. And you and the rest of us waiting for those DNA results for a conclusive proof here.

Thank you so much for being with us this morning. Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

MARTIN: You too.

BERMAN: All right, battling the spread of misinformation. New data revealing that most social media influencers do not verify information before they share it.

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[09:41:36]

BOLDUAN: Aa majority of social media influencers are not checking the accuracy of the content that they are putting out. That's the big take and one - one of the takes and a really big warning coming from a new report from UNESCO, a division of the United Nations. With nearly 40 percent of young people saying they rely on influencers to get their news, well, that's a problem.

CNN's Clare Duffy is looking into this. She's here with us now.

What more are you learning about this, Clare?

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes, Kate, we hate to see this after we know we talked so much about how influencers played such a huge role ahead of the election. We know that more than half of Americans are regularly getting news from social media. And it's a good reminder that although influencers often build these personal feeling relationships, they build brands around their trustworthiness. You really can't trust everything you see on social media.

According to this report, 62 percent of influencers do not check the credibility of the information they're sharing before they share it to their followers. And here's how the report found that influencers are trying to gauge credibility. Forty percent of the respondents said they looked at measures of popularity, like the number of likes on a post to decide if it was credible before sharing it, which we know is not a great measure -

BOLDUAN: At all.

DUFFY: Because a lot of times it's the inflammatory content that is what goes viral. BOLDUAN: Yes.

DUFFY: Twenty percent say they look to trusted friends and experts, so maybe a bit better. But just 17 percent said they actually looked at documentation and evidence to decide if something was trustworthy.

We also know that influencers are often paid to promote content. Fifty-three percent of the respondents said that they had created sponsored content, but 7 percent of them said they presented that content as if it were unsponsored.

So, while people may think they're getting this trustworthy information from people they rely on, actually they could be getting something that is biased or just plainly untrue.

And, of course, we've seen this happen. We know one of the big prominent examples recently where these viral, false claims that immigrants in Ohio were stealing and eating peoples pets, amplified, of course, by President Donald Trump. And that ended up being really harmful. So, a good reminder to people to think critically about what they're seeing on social media.

BOLDUAN: News literacy is something that needs to be taught in a very - in a much bigger way.

These influencers are on platforms. These platforms are, you know, they know that they are being watched. They've been under scrutiny for forever for what the content that they've allowed on their platforms. Are the platforms doing anything in this regard?

DUFFY: Yes, I mean, of course the platforms say that they try to address misinformation. But we've actually seen a lot of these platforms pull back on their trust and safety and content moderation efforts on X. The platform says that it has these community notes that users can add to add context to claims. The other platforms will work with professional fact checkers. YouTube says that it doesn't allow videos with false claims about elections, for example, to be monetized, but they don't remove them. Meta also says that it doesn't promote content that's been labeled by fact checkers as false. But again, that's still up there. Many of these platforms say that they promote good information, but that doesn't always outweigh the false information that's out there.

BOLDUAN: Just presenting - there's a big problem ahead, currently and ahead. And this is a great highlight to say that much more needs to be done.

Thanks, Clare. Really appreciate it.

So, how do astronauts in zero gravity celebrate Thanksgiving? I know this is something you woke up thinking today. We're going to show you the holiday menu on the - at the International Space Station.

And the new additions to tomorrow's big Thanksgiving Day Parade will be joining us live. Alternate captain, can John Berman and Erica Hill handle the Thanksgiving trivia I just cooked up. [09:45:03]

Stick around. You'll find out.

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BERMAN: NASA astronauts, they get to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday a couple hundred miles above earth. That includes Butch Williams - Butch Wilmore, I should say, and Suni Williams, who had their stay at the International Space Station extended because they got stuck there, frankly. They just floated this Thanksgiving message to everyone.

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SUNI WILLIAMS, ASTRONAUT: Greetings from the International Space Station. Our crew up here just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family who are down on earth and everyone who is supporting us.

[09:50:05]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got a container here of all the things that we're going to enjoy on Thanksgiving. It is a feast.

Let me see, we've got brussel -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got sardines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brussel sprouts, butternut squash, apples and spice -

WILLIAMS: Smoked turkey.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And - and smoked turkey. It's going to be delicious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's true we have much to be thankful for. On a professional stance, I mean there's not many places that you can be that you can actually lay on the ceiling. And this is one of them. We're thankful for zero gravity. It's fantastic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: I mean, you love it. And if you can - you can lay on the ceiling just depending on how much you drink during dinner. But, you know, we'll get to that later.

We also do have breaking news that we need to get to. Not breaking news. But breaking news. There's a new addition to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this year. Two additions, actually. And you are in luck. They are both here with us for their exclusive first live appearance together. John Berman and Erica Hill shepherding CNN's new and first "Thanksgiving in America" special.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. BOLDUAN: And you brought treats.

HILL: I baked for you guys this morning. I made some little egg bites. And these are great for you to have maybe Thanksgiving morning, or today, when you're watching the parade. They pair lovely with coffee and mimosa, perhaps a bloody maria, your choice.

BERMAN: Did you prepare them at home before you came in or did -

HILL: I did. I did. I baked these last night for you. And they looked a little better when I brought them out of the oven. They got a little flat. But you've got - this one's got some ham in it. There's cheddar and jalapeno and then also a scallion.

BERMAN: Oh, delicious.

BOLDUAN: Delish. I love a scallion.

BERMAN: I think it's full of protein as well.

HILL: A scallion. The scallion is that one. Yes, full of protein.

BOLDUAN: Full of protein. I am -

HILL: When you're ready for a protein bite, babe, there you go.

BOLDUAN: Yes, going to - going to happen. I found the protein.

JB, with your mouth full, what are we in store for tomorrow?

BERMAN: This is going to be the best Thanksgiving Parade special that CNN has ever done.

HILL: Can confirm. Yes, will be.

BOLDUAN: Single source approved.

HILL: Yes.

BERMAN: It's also the first -

BOLDUAN: Yes, exactly.

BERMAN: CNN Thanksgiving Parade special that CNN has ever done.

Look, we got it all. We have the parade here in New York, which will be taking place right behind us. We're going to be covering parades live in - in Philadelphia -

HILL: Chicago, Detroit, Houston.

BERMAN: Houston. And wherever you are, if there's a parade, we'll be there.

HILL: Yes.

BERMAN: We can get there in a moment's notice. So, so tweet us.

HILL: Sort of like Santa. We can get there right away.

BERMAN: Right away, yes.

BOLDUAN: We will find you.

And what - this is more research than you do for literally anything.

HILL: This is our - this is our Bible.

BOLDUAN: We have worked together forever. John Berman's a genius and never has to prepare.

BERMAN: This is my -

BOLDUAN: What is this?

BERMAN: This is my Thanksgiving briefing book, "Thanksgiving in America," prepared by - by Anna Glickman, who sits up there.

BOLDUAN: The one and only.

BERMAN: I haven't studied it yet. I'm going to spend all day today memorizing the facts here about Thanksgiving. So, this is - this is learning that we're going to do.

HILL: We're going to be - we're going to be ready. There's a - there's a question about whether tomorrow. It could rain heavily here in New York.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

HILL: But I think that's also maybe, Berman, why we're on this assignment because we have some hurricane experience.

BERMAN: That's right.

HILL: And we both have giant bins full of rain gear. So, we're ready.

BERMAN: I think the two main qualifications, when they were looking for hosts for the Thanksgiving special, number one, people who've covered hurricanes before. And, number two, people - the only two people who had already agreed to work Thanksgiving morning.

HILL: That could be it, too.

BERMAN: That could be it also.

BOLDUAN: That is not true. It is because of your sparkling personality -

BERMAN: Yes.

HILL: Bingo.

BOLDUAN: And your ability to - to multitask and do amazing things, and your love of facts. We - no, no, no.

HILL: We do love facts.

BERMAN: I will say - OK, OK.

BOLDUAN: What?

BERMAN: I was just going to say, I missed the celebrities. We have a lot of celebrities tomorrow too.

HILL: Oh, we do have a lot of celebrities. We've got Bobby Flay, who's also in the family, so we love that, that he's with us.

BERMAN: Yes.

HILL: Our friends from "Inside the NBA." Who else is on our list?

BERMAN: The Temptations.

HILL: The temptations.

BERMAN: They're going to be singing.

HILL: Andy Grammer.

BOLDUAN: Oh, fun.

HILL: Yes.

BERMAN: It's huge. All right, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt.

BOLDUAN: Now we're out of time, but not out of time.

BERMAN: All right. (INAUDIBLE).

BOLDUAN: So, I thought, in this - this delicious day, you guys should do a little Thanksgiving trivia to prepare you for tomorrow.

HILL: Oh, boy.

BOLDUAN: OK.

We'll run through these as quick as possible.

BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE).

BOLDUAN: This is like bringing back a lot of good memories for us.

OK, who was the first president to pardon - oh, this is number one. Who was the first president to pardon a turkey?

BERMAN: I actually know this one.

HILL: Shocker.

BERMAN: Abraham Lincoln. BOLDUAN: No.

BERMAN: It was Abraham Lincoln.

BOLDUAN: Pardon a turkey. Yes.

BERMAN: It was Abraham Lincoln.

BOLDUAN: No.

BERMAN: His son, Tad, had like a turkey somehow. And he wanted to pardon the turkey.

BOLDUAN: We have a different answer, so we're going to have to go back and check that, because the answer I was - I received was that it was John F. Kennedy.

HILL: I believe I saw that in our coverage of the turkey pardon earlier this week that it was, in fact, Lincoln. So, we're going to -

BOLDUAN: I'm going to blame the fact checker for that one.

BERMAN: Yes. Yes. This is one of those social media influencer thing where, like -

BOLDUAN: Oh, sorry, I got that one from social media.

BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE).

BOLDUAN: Moving on. How many calories on average are consumed per person at Thanksgiving dinner?

HILL: Twenty-seven hundred.

BERMAN: I'm going to say, yes, 2,700.

BOLDUAN: Three thousand to four thousand.

BERMAN: Whoa!

HILL: Oh, that's actually pretty close. OK.

BOLDUAN: No, I was - I was going to be like one million.

BERMAN: For one person?

HILL: That's a lot.

BERMAN: That's a lot. All right.

BOLDUAN: I mean you - you got to pound it.

Which president refused to celebrate Thanksgiving, number five, refused to celebrate Thanksgiving as a national holiday?

BERMAN: Oh, that I don't' know. HILL: No idea.

BERMAN: Calvin Coolidge.

BOLDUAN: So close. No. Thomas Jefferson, so I'm told.

HILL: OK.

BERMAN: OK.

HILL: Was it even really a thing at that point?

BERMAN: No, that's my concern. I actually don't - I don't think it was a thing with (INAUDIBLE) Abraham Lincoln.

HILL: I don't think it was a thing then. I'm going to go out on a limb here. Yes.

[09:55:00]

BOLDUAN: Stop trying to game the system.

BERMAN: All right. All right. All right.

BOLDUAN: Just go with it for God's sake.

HILL: (INAUDIBLE) first over here. Us two.

BOLDUAN: OK, this one, I don't even care if it's true, because I love it.

Number seven, which president received a live raccoon as a Thanksgiving present?

BERMAN: Oh.

HILL: A live raccoon.

BERMAN: Let me go Teddy Roosevelt.

BOLDUAN: No, but it was actually your other answer, Calvin Coolidge.

HILL: Oh.

BERMAN: It was Calvin.

HILL: Calvin Coolidge.

BOLDUAN: Why do you think that occurred is what I want to dig into.

BERMAN: Silent cow. Also lover of raccoons.

BOLDUAN: And they're really cute sometimes.

BERMAN: Yes.

BOLDUAN: How many pumpkin pies are consumed every Thanksgiving?

HILL: Oh, wow. A lot.

BERMAN: Well, there's 350 million people. I'm going to go with 100 million.

BOLDUAN: No. About 50 million. But a lot wins.

HILL: That's still a lot.

BOLDUAN: Erica won. Sorry, John. Keep working.

HILL: Oh, I just heard that ding. Is that the ding of a correct answer?

BOLDUAN: Yes. Yes. Yes.

HILL: Lovely. I love it when we have sound effects.

BOLDUAN: Do not forget, you can join CNN for the ultimate Thanksgiving morning watch party featuring, as we know, celebrity appearances, a live view of parades across the country, and, most importantly, this dynamic duo all morning long. It starts tomorrow at 8:00 on CNN and streaming on Max.

BERMAN: All this information. A binder full of Thanksgiving information. A binders full of Thanksgiving information will all be here.

BOLDUAN: You have binders full of Thanksgiving?

BERMAN: Along with egg bites. In my head.

BOLDUAN: (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: Thank you all for joining us. Have a wonderful, safe holiday, whatever you're doing, but make sure you're at a television at 8:00 to watch our special.

BOLDUAN: You matter. What.

BERMAN: This has been CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "CNN NEWSROOM" is up next.

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