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Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) Discusses FBI Director Chris Wray Announcing Resignation, House To Vote On Bill Denying Gender-Affirming Care For Children of Service Members & Sen. Warren's Comments On CEO Shooting; FBI Director Chris Wray Announces Resignation; Top Real Estate Brokers & Brother Charged In Sex Trafficking Scheme; CNN Goes Inside Ousted Syrian President's Opulent Palace. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired December 11, 2024 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

REP. SETH MOULTON (D-MA): -- where they're asked to do something that they fundamentally disagree with?

It's a sad state of affairs where so many public servants, people who joined the government, not because of a political affiliation, but just to do the right thing for the country, know that they're going to be asked to do things that are lawless.

And they're trying to figure out when the right time to resign is as Trump comes into office.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And turning now -- as I mentioned, you're on the Armed Services Committee, and the NDAA, which is the huge annual defense authorization bill, is in the spotlight right now.

Because it includes a Republican provision that would prohibit government provided insurance coverage, Tricare coverage, of gender- affirming care for transgender children of servicemembers.

I do want to note that Tricare covers hormones and mental health coverage, not surgeries for dependents who are diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

But I wonder, you, as someone who has been critical at times of your party and how they talk about transgender rights issues, did -- did this being in that bill inform your decision that you will vote no on the bill?

MOULTON: You know, we haven't had the vote yet, but I am completely against this rider because it is politicizing the defense bill.

The defense bill has a long history of being totally bipartisan. And this was a very difficult year to actually make it bipartisan.

Democrats and Republicans worked together on the Armed Services Committee through long, long nights over the course of many, many, many, many weeks to get this bill to the floor without any of these politicization riders, without politicizing the bill, without trying to inject social culture policy into our military. Fundamentally, politicizing the military itself. And yet, at the last minute, Speaker Johnson went to his conservative agenda and stuck this thing on there that says we, as lawmakers, are going to legislate health care decisions that should be made by doctors, patients and their families.

So I'm completely against this provision. You know, I've made the point that Democrats need to be able to engage on these issues, in part, because this is exactly what Republicans are going to try to do.

And if we don't have reasonable compromises, you know, maybe you have restrictions on transgender women in sports, for example, like the Olympics does. But in exchange, you ensure you protect the civil rights and access to health care of all Americans, including transgender Americans.

Then we're just going to have this debate settled on Republican terms. That's exactly what the Republicans are trying to do right now. And it's politicizing our military in the process.

KEILAR: Yes, sir. I do want to be clear, you voted no on the rule to advance it. There has not been a vote yet --

MOULTON: That's right. I voted on this.

KEILAR: On this. But it sounds like if --

(CROSSTALK)

MOULTON: -- later.

KEILAR: Yes. How would you vote? Would it be the same?

MOULTON: No, I plan to vote no at this point. You know, there's going to be a lot of debate on the floor about exactly how this vote goes, because we want to pay the troops.

In fact, this bill includes a massive pay raise, especially for our enlisted troops. That is so important.

But it's also really critical that we maintain the bipartisan transition tradition that's been upheld through incredibly polarized times in Washington right now, of working together on this bill and not having it politicized by Republican leadership at the at the last minute.

This is exactly what they're trying to do. That's bad for our military. It's bad for our troops. It's bad for the Armed Services Committee, on which I'm proud to serve.

KEILAR: And a lot of people may not know, but Tricare is so necessary for dependents of servicemembers because, oftentimes, the spouses of servicemembers are not able to get the employment that they're seeking. Certainly not continuous employment because of the challenges of the military lifestyle. Which is something, if they could have that employment, that might ensure separate health insurance that they could provide for their children if they do need this coverage.

That's just not an option to so many of them, right?

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: And I wonder what concerns you have and what message this sends to certain servicemembers if something like this is pushed through.

MOULTON: If something like this is pushed through, just like if the Republicans push through bans on abortion or access to contraceptive care, what you're basically saying is, if you serve in our military, you do not get the same health care options as the rest of America.

And that's going to hurt recruitment. That's going to hurt retention. There are people who are going to get out of the military at a time when we need to have more people stay in, when recruitment is a challenge, just because they can't get their families the health care that they need.

And it's a double standard.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Do you think that double standard?

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Do you think what should be the point, sir, that they may be purging or not covering people of a certain political persuasion or people of a certain familial need?

MOULTON: I certainly wouldn't put it past them. I mean, they've nominated -- Trump has nominated a defense secretary who has said that women do not deserve the same standards and opportunities in the military as men. Right?

[14:35:03]

And -- and so when they push things that say, well, women don't get access to health care for certain things that men do, they're setting a double standard.

And that's what this ultimately is. it's setting a double standard. That means that if you serve in the military, if you volunteer to put your life on the line for the country, you and your family are not going to get the same level of health care as the rest of America.

That's exactly the opposite message that we want to send to our troops. And that's what Republicans are doing when they politicize the defense bill like this.

KEILAR: Before I let you go, I also want to ask you about something that your State Senator told "The Huffington Post," when asked about the response to UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's murder.

Senator Elizabeth Warren saying, quote, "The visceral response from people across this country who feel cheated, ripped off and threatened by the vile practices of their insurance companies should be a warning to everyone in the health care system. Violence is never the answer, but people can be pushed only so far."

She said, "This is a warning that if you push people hard enough, they lose faith in the ability of their government to make change, lose faith in the -- faith in the ability of the people who are providing the health care to make change and start to take matters into their own hands in ways that will ultimately be a threat to everyone."

The "but" in that sentence is problematic for critics of Senator Warren on this issue. What do you think about what she said?

MOULTON: Look, as someone who's recently been attacked over one or two words in a statement, I know Senator Warren, she's not condoning murder. She's against murder, just like all the rest of us. That's not what she's saying.

What she is saying is that we have problems in our health-care industry that need to be addressed. Murder or violence is never the answer. She makes that clear in her statement as well.

But we all know, every American knows that our health care system is broken. We pay an extraordinary amount of money for health care in America, including a lot of taxpayer dollars that go to Medicare and Medicaid. And yet we don't have the best health care outcomes in the world.

So we've got a lot of work to do. And we can't forget that, even as we're sure that we bring this murderer to justice.

KEILAR: Congressman Seth Moulton, thank you so much for your time. We do appreciate it.

MOULTON: Good to see you, Brianna.

KEILAR: And again, our breaking news is that FBI Director Christopher Wray has announced his intent to resign at the end of President Biden's administration. We have much more right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:41:50]

KEILAR: We have some breaking news. FBI Director Christopher Wray says he's going to resign at the end of the Biden administration. This, after President-Elect Donald Trump announced that he intends to fire Wray and nominate a new FBI director, Kash Patel.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: I want to bring in CNN's Josh Campbell.

Josh, what are you hearing from folks inside the bureau about this news? JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, I've been

talking with a lot of former colleagues at the FBI since this news just broke about 20 minutes ago.

And to be sure, the FBI is not a monolith. But no one is shocked. I mean, the consensus over the last several weeks, essentially since the -- the election, was that FBI Director Christopher Wray was headed for the door.

The big question was whether he would be shoved through it whenever Trump took office and fired him, or whether he would walk out on his own.

We know that he is now opting to do the latter, announcing that he will be leaving as the current administration departs.

Interestingly, you know, people are somewhat conflicted. There is a -- there are a number of people who have been telling me that they personally think that he should have stayed and made Trump essentially fire him.

Thinking that that would help bolster or put a fine point on this 10- year term that an FBI director is supposed to serve. Now, to be sure, you know, the FBI director serves at the pleasure of the president.

But those 10-year terms were instituted for a reason, so that any FBI director would necessarily cross over administrations and wouldn't be politicized.

And so I'm hearing a bit of criticism, people saying that he should have just stayed and made Trump fire him again to make that point.

I will note that, obviously, this isn't the first time that there has been contention between a president and an FBI director.

I mean, you most famously, you go back, you know, 20 years ago when Bill Clinton appointed Louis Freeh, he came in saying that, you know, this is a someone who is a great lawman, who is an experienced as an FBI agent, as a prosecutor, and as a judge.

And their relationship quickly turned very, very sour. I mean, they those two men could not stand each other.

In fact, Louis Freeh wrote in his book afterwards that, quote, "Clinton's closets we're full of skeletons just waiting to burst out." And so there was that conflict.

But you didn't see Bill Clinton firing the FBI director just because they we're in conflict, which I think puts a fine point on, you look at how, you know, my former boss, Jim Comey, was handled.

And then obviously Director Mueller, who came under intense scrutiny whenever he launched his special counsel investigation.

And then now, obviously, Christopher Wray, who has supervised a number of investigations that Trump World doesn't like. They've had, you know, targets on their backs.

And, you know, as I've said at the outset, people aren't really surprised that Christopher Wray will be leaving.

KEILAR: No, in some form or fashion, it was certainly expected. But now we know how it's going to go down, that he is announcing his resignation at the end of this term.

Josh, thank you so much for your insights. We appreciate it.

[14:44:39]

SANCHEZ: And still to come, a pair of top real estate brokers have just been charged in a sex trafficking scheme. Hear what prosecutors say the brothers allegedly did to dozens of women for more than a decade.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Just in, a pair of top real estate brokers are facing sex trafficking charges after allegedly using their wealth and status to bait, drug and sexually assault multiple women for more than a decade.

Prosecutors say the two brokers, Oren and Tal Alexander, along with their brother, Alon Alexander, worked together to rape dozens of victims.

CNN's Kara Scannell is following this story.

The details here, just horrifying, Kara.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, in the words of the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, he called them "heinous."

Now, what prosecutors allege is that these three brothers, for more than a decade, had sexually assaulted women. In this indictment, they're accusing this assault of being from 2010 to 2021.

But prosecutors say that this conduct actually goes back to when these brothers were in high school. So some 20 years.

And authorities say that they have interviewed dozens of women, and they're asking more of them, as you can see on the screen, to come forward, to reach out if they have been assaulted by any of these men.

Now, according to the indictment, they say the Alexander brothers, sometimes acting alone, sometimes with each other, and sometimes with other men, forcibly raped or sexually assaulted their victims.

At times, the defendants physically restrained and held down their victims during the rapes and sexual assaults and ignored screams and explicit requests to stop.

So according to this alleged scheme, the brothers would find women either through social media or dating apps in trying to identify ones that they found to be sexually attractive, or used, at times, even party promoters, to go out and find women.

They would lure them by offering to pay for their travel, bring them to vacation destinations like Miami and Tulum. And then once they we're there, they would give them drugs, allegedly including cocaine, GHB, the date-rape drug, and then sexually assault them.

And prosecutors also allege that the brothers would do this when they met women by chance, if it was at a bar or nightclub, and repeat this same alleged pattern of conduct.

Now we've reached out to attorneys for these brothers. They did not have any comment on the allegations.

The brothers have faced numerous civil lawsuits alleging sexual assault. They've denied allegations in those cases.

The three brothers were arrested in Miami this morning. Two of them are facing, in addition to the federal charges, also state charges in Florida. They are -- they're in detention at this time.

Eventually, they will come to New York to face the charges. Prosecutors are asking for them to be detained. That will all play out in the future -- Brianna?

KEILAR: Wow. Kara Scannell, thank you for following this for us.

Next, some new video shows piles of pills and drug making equipment stacked in a military warehouse in Syria, supporting claims that the Assad regime was involved in drug trafficking.

[14:49:57]

This discovery, as CNN gets a firsthand look inside Assad's opulent palace.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Days after the fall of the Assad regime, we're getting an inside look at the opulent life of ousted President Bashar Al-Assad and what may have helped pay for it.

Social media video surfaced today allegedly showing a warehouse stacked with the illicit drug, Captagon. Piles of pills are seen on the floor, and drug making equipment as well.

The warehouse is reportedly near a military base not far from Damascus, led by Assad's brother.

CNN has been unable to immediately verify the location. But if confirmed, it would support claims by the United States that the Assad regime was involved in exporting the drug.

CNN's Clarissa Ward got a rare chance to go inside the palace walls that separated the ousted dictator from the people of Damascus.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Outside the palace of Bashar Al-Assad, Syrians gather to pose for photographs and celebrate the removal of its despised former owner.

The public is not allowed inside the sprawling compound yet, where the courtyards stretch longer than a city block.

(on camera): This is the driveway into Bashar Al-Assad's palace, and you can see how enormous it is. There are still casings all over the ground from rebel celebratory gunfire as they swept in here and took control.

(voice-over): At the entrance, an Iranian flag unceremoniously laid out for people to step on. Iran, one of the regime's staunchest allies.

Where once foreign dignitaries roamed the halls, now rebel fighters have the run of the place.

(on camera): You can see blankets on the sofas in here. It looks like this is where the rebels are sleeping. And in fact, over here, you can see they've got some kind of a makeshift dining area going. Some of their weapons here, a couple of rifles on this sofa.

So this gentleman here, who is with the rebels, has just asked that I put on my scarf. It's the first time since we've been here that anyone has asked me to cover my hair.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WARD: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WARD: Idlib, (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WARD: He says that he's from Idlib and that this is the first time he's seeing the palace.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WARD (voice-over): "We feel that the injustice will break down one day and justice must win. This is the idea of justice in our religion," he says. "In Islam, it is a must and a promise of Allah that Islam is victorious."

After nearly 14 years of a vicious civil war, to stand in this palace is a proud moment, capping off a seismic victory.

[14:55:06]

(on camera): So the rebels here want to stress, they tell us, that it was not their group that ransacked this office when they first swept in.

You could see, actually, some of the graffiti here that those first rebels wrote on the window. It says, "Allah cursed Hafiz's soul." Hafiz Al-Assad being the father of Bashar.

When you look at these ceilings and these chandeliers, the marble, the detail, this is the kind of opulence, this lavish lifestyle that engendered so much resentment from so many Syrians who have been struggling to survive for decades while the Assad family lived like this.

(voice-over): In a warehouse, rows and rows of luxury cars, Ferraris, Lamborghinis and classic Cadillacs.

This was a dynasty that will be remembered, not only for its brutality, but its deep corruption.

(SHOUTING)

WARD: Below the palace in the heart of Damascus, crowds gathered in Umayyad Square.

(HONKING)

WARD: Under Assad's rule, the Syrian people were forced to worship him. Now they finally have the freedom to celebrate his demise.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Our thanks to Clarissa Ward for that fascinating report inside Damascus.

Back -- we're going to take a quick break. And we'll be back with our breaking news. FBI Director Christopher Wray announcing that he intends to resign at the end of President Biden's term.

Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)