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Missing U.S. Citizen Located In Syria As Austin Tice Search Continues; Corporations Scramble To Protect Execs After CEO Killed In New York City; FBI Director To Resign Before Trump Takes Office. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired December 12, 2024 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:31:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: We've got breaking news for you out of Syria this morning where a man identifying himself as a missing man from Missouri was found just south of Damascus.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is joining us now. This isn't Austin Tice, which everyone in the family have been asking for and searching for and hoping to be found alive. What are we learning about this person who says he's from Missouri?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and let me just start with that again, Sara, because there was a lot of misinformation. There were a lot of rumors online. This is not Austin Tice. The search for Austin Tice, of course, continues.

But an American was found in Syria. His name is Travis Timmerman. This is breaking news, so we are waiting to get more information.

But what we know about him -- this 29-year-old from Missouri who appeared barefoot, wandering, disoriented in a suburb just south of Damascus. Now, media outlets have been able to speak to him.

There's social media video emerging of him and I just want to play you a short clip of one so that you can get a sense of his state and hear his voice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRAVIS TIMMERMAN, BELIEVED TO BE FROM MISSOURI, FOUND WANDERING IN DAMASCUS: My name is Travis. I'm from the --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One minute. One minute. What's your name?

TIMMERMAN: Travis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Travis?

TIMMERMAN: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Country?

TIMMERMAN: The United States.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The United States?

TIMMERMAN: I'm from the United States.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: Now, what we know about him is what he's been able to tell journalists on the ground that he's spoken to, which is that he has been in prison for seven months. He traveled to Syria on foot. He told reporters that he was on a spiritual journey. That he considered himself a pilgrim.

He says that when he crossed, of course, from Lebanon into Syria that's when he was arrested -- detained by security forces and taken to a regime prison. He says he was treated relatively well, given good, given water, but that he heard the sounds of people being tortured in that regime prison. Again, he was there for seven months.

It was first understood that he was missing earlier this year in Hungary, so there is very little understanding as to how he wound up in Syria other than what he is telling reporters.

U.S. officials have responded -- have commented on this. And I do want to read you what one U.S. official told CNN, which is that it is aware of reports of an American found outside of Damascus. It is seeking to provide support, but out of respect for his privacy, we have no further information to provide at this time.

So very much a person who is now receiving aid -- receiving help on the ground. And we'll let you know more when we know it, Sara.

SIDNER: Wow. There are so many questions as to how he got there, why he was there, and just sort of his state as a whole. And I know as the family is still continuing to search for Austin Tice there was a lot of hope that this potentially was him. But at least he is alive and seemingly well.

Salma Abdelaziz, thank you so much for all that reporting for us this morning -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, increased security budgets, new and elevate threat level, and CEOs being told to delete their footprints online.

The brazen killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has shaken C-suites across the country and it also forcing corporations now and their leaders to reevaluate and beef up how they are approaching security now as fears grow of more threats to the executive ranks and also possible copycats.

[07:35:00] Joining us right now is Seth Krummrich. He's the vice president of client risk management at Global Guardian, a global security services firm. Thank you so much for coming in.

Your firm provides security for these exact people. For corporate execs, their families, among other things.

What kinds of calls have you all been getting since Brian Thompson's murder? How much has it changed?

SETH KRUMMRICH, VICE PRESIDENT OF CLIENT RISK MANAGEMENT, GLOBAL GUARDIAN (via Webex by Cisco): Kate, it's increased dramatically. If we do 150 to 200 missions a month, we saw 90 calls for support within the first few days after the killing of Mr. Thompson. So it's a large uptick and it has not let off since then.

BOLDUAN: Is it -- thinking back to the -- I guess it was the intelligence report that CNN obtained earlier this week from New York police that said they believed that Thompson's killing was a -- that it was a symbolic takedown. It could inspire others to act violently. And you know that is inspiring a lot of these corporations and executives to reevaluate what safe really is. What secure really looks like.

How much do you think that is going to change going forward? How much -- what does beefing it up mean and look like?

KRUMMRICH: Absolutely. There is a significant paradigm shift that's underway. And when we look at before Mr. Thompson's killing to where we are afterward, I agree you're not putting the toothpaste back in the tube anymore.

And what it looks like is sitting down with our clients and having them understand themselves. They make tough decisions every day and they will alienate part of their population that's going to disagree with them. So we need them to look at their digital footprint. We need them to understand what they look like for those that would take umbrage with them. And then we need to be able to put in place informed digital online threat management and have the entire suite of services ready to support them.

We want to see what people are saying online and if we see a red flag -- something that we think is going to be activated -- we at Global Guardian will then immediately send armed executive protection agents to the home, to the office. But you have to be able to cover the entire spectrum for our clients and it starts with them knowing themselves.

BOLDUAN: Add in this factor to the calculation -- this kind of morbid fascination that we have seen and fandom of the man who is charged with and suspected of killing Mr. Thompson that he has received since this killing. I mean, he is being lionized and fawned over by at least some people, and you see this specifically and mostly online.

How does that change your assessment and your approach or the risk level here? KRUMMRICH: It changes it dramatically. It really puts extra emphasis on this new environment that we're working in. We did not see this after the Atlanta Olympic Park bombings. We didn't see it after Ted Kaczynski. But we're seeing this incredibly different environment that our clients are having to work in now, and now it's really getting in and making sure that we have all the bases covered -- and not just in their hometown.

For example, at Global Guardian we have agents in all 50 states and in over 145 countries so that wherever they travel we can immediately have somebody come in, reduce the risk, and take care of any security situation that might arise because people that would want to target them are global. That information, they can get on their couch.

So we really are working now to make sure that we're making informed decisions with our clients and that they understand their threat profile.

BOLDUAN: Seth, clearly, the health care industry is one that is in the spotlight and a target. What other industries do you think should be most concerned or should be most reassessing their security approach?

KRUMMRICH: This is a great question. You know, I look at it from the average person on the street. What do they struggle with every day?

On the financial side you could take credit cards, for example, and people find themselves in a financial fish trap. The fish can swim in, but you can't get out. And once they have that perception that they're trapped they -- they're going to project their anger or their frustration onto who they perceive is the reason for their situation.

So when I look across, I think student loans. I think credit cards. I think all of those things that, frankly, are what's being discussed and stressed over at the dinner table every night by families across the United States and really, the world.

BOLDUAN: When you think about all of the stresses that are discussed around a dinner table these days it's a lot of industries. That's a lot of threat.

Seth, thank you so much for coming on.

KRUMMRICH: It is.

BOLDUAN: Really interesting. I really appreciate your time.

KRUMMRICH: Thank you so much.

BOLDUAN: Thank you -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, FBI director Christopher Wray says he will resign next month when President Biden leaves the White House.

[07:40:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important in how we do our work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So, President-elect Trump celebrated the announcement calling it "...a great day for America as it will end the weaponization of what has become known as the United States department of injustice. A reminder: FBI directors are supposed to serve 10-year terms and operate outside the world of elected politics, which Trump appears to want to change.

The move seemingly clears the way for Trump's controversial pick Kash Patel to take over as the new director of the bureau if he can be confirmed. Patel, who has been meeting with senators this week, said he will be ready on day one to fill the post.

With us now is Andrew McCabe, CNN senior law enforcement analyst and former FBI deputy director.

And Andy, you say even though it was clear that Christopher Wray was not going to be FBI director under Trump, you think he should have stuck around to get fired. Why?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST, FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah, I do think that, John, and I'll tell you why. And I should preface it by saying that I believe Christopher Wray has been a good and solid director of the FBI and I think he's doing this for what he believes are the right reasons. I think -- I assume he believes that by announcing his departure and resigning he's doing this in a way to kind of minimize turbulence for the organization.

Unfortunately, I don't think that's possible at this point in time, and I think there's a much more important principle at stake here, and that he is the principle of FBI independence. That principle has been a founding -- the founding kind of core of our post-Hoover, post- Watergate reformation of the FBI. It's something that Congress imposed, not the president -- Congress imposed on the FBI giving the director a 10-year term.

And I think that maintaining his position and essentially forcing the new president's hand -- forcing Donald Trump to fire him when he arrives and is inaugurated is a much more important message. I think it sends a clear -- it would send a clear message to the FBI people that what we do is we stay on our post. We continue fighting the good fight doing the work the way that Americans expect us to, fairly, impartially.

You work at the -- at the behest of the president -- I understand that -- but the president right now is Joseph Biden, and he has not asked Christopher Wray to leave.

So I think there are all sorts of important principles and messages to defend by staying in position and forcing Donald Trump to fire him.

BERMAN: Why do you think these 10-year terms are important for FBI directors?

MCCABE: They are vitally important, John. So let's remember that our first director, J. Edgar Hoover, served for 36 years. And during that time he essentially worked as the political intelligence and retribution leader for every president he served, Democrat and Republican.

They all relied on Hoover to do essentially the dirty work that they felt they needed done in order to maintain political power, whether that's initiating investigations against people who are suspected to be homosexuals and vilified as potentially being communists, or it was putting bugs into the hotel rooms that Martin Luther King would stay in when traveling in the civil rights movement to collect his conversations with associates. Illegal surveillance -- essentially terrorizing people who presidential administrations wanted silenced or eliminated.

So in the post-Watergate, post-Church committee, Pike committee era we exposed these things -- Congress exposed these things, and the FBI was shifted to a different place in American life, and that is cloaked in independence from the political machinations of the White House, right? Expected to make decisions about who to investigate and how to investigate based only on the law and the facts that you could prove.

That is the FBI that America expects and has experienced for the last 50 years. And I think at this critical point in time we are at the precipice of stepping away from that standard. I think that's clearly what Donald Trump has indicated in his many statements about how he expects his FBI director to follow his every direction and to pursue his political enemies.

BERMAN: Yeah, and probably ends these 10-year terms because it is hard to imagine if a Democrat is elected next time that elected president ever keeping Kash Patel in the job if Patel is confirmed.

Andrew McCabe, thank you for being with us. Appreciate your time -- Sara.

[07:45:00]

SIDNER: All right. Today, Sen. John Fetterman is expected to meet with Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's pick to run the Department of Defense. It would be Hegseth's first meeting with a Democrat since he started making his rounds on the Hill, and he continues to try and shore up support for his nomination. But several key Republican senators are still holding back their support.

CNN's Lauren Fox has the very latest from Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's been yet another critical week for Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's pick to lead the Department of Defense.

He met with Sen. Susan Collins, a critical swing vote from the state of Maine, a Republican. And behind closed doors we're told that the two of them had a wide-ranging meeting in which Pete Hegseth came off as serious and thorough when they were talking about the Department of Defense.

Senator Susan Collins told reporters after that meeting that she touched on a series of issues. She said that she asked one tough question after another.

Here's what she said about their meeting.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): I pressed him on both his position on military issues as well as the allegations against him. I obviously always wait until we have an FBI background check, and one is underway in the case of Mr. Hegseth. And I wait to see the committee hearing before reaching a final decision.

FOX: But Collins, like several other swing Republican votes in the Senate right now, withholding whether or not she will ultimately back Hegseth.

Now, we should note that it's not typical for Sen. Collins to announce a minute after a meeting how she's going to be voting. But she says she's going to continue going through this process and that she looks forward to the confirmation hearing moving forward.

And obviously, that is going to be yet another critical moment for Hegseth. He's behind closed doors seemingly connecting with a lot of these senators. And so far, so many of them are not coming out against his nomination but they are reminding him in these sessions that he has to be prepared for what is going to be a grueling, long, and under-oath testimony when he tries to vie for this job in a public confirmation hearing.

On Capitol Hill for CNN, I'm Lauren Fox.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: Lauren, thank you so much for that.

Coming up still for us, the unbelievable reporting from our team on the ground in Syria. CNN goes inside a secret Syrian prison looking for signs of missing American Austin Tice. What happens next you just have to see.

And also new video showing the scary moments before a prop plane crashes into cars on a busy Texas highway.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:52:32]

BERMAN: New this morning Reuters reports that Syria's rebel leader is promising to dissolve the security forces of ousted President Bashar al-Assad and close Syria's infamous prisons. During its half-century in power, the Assad regime used the prisons the detain, torture, and kill tens of thousands of Syrians.

So, CNN's Clarissa Ward went inside one prison in Damascus with a rebel fighter and made a stunning discovery.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Deep in the belly of the regime's Air Force Intelligence Headquarters --

WARD: These are English letters.

WARD (voiceover): -- we are hoping to find traces of Austin Tice, an American journalist held captive in Syria since 2012. It's one of many secret prisons across the city. This specific branch was tasked with surveillance, arrest, and killing of all regime critics.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are all cleaned out.

WARD (voiceover): We don't find any hints of Tice but come across something extraordinary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't tell, though. It might just be a blanket, but it's the only cell that's locked.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is he going to shoot it?

WARD (voiceover): The guard makes us turn the camera off while he shoots the lock off the cell door.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lights up.

WARD (voiceover): We go in to get a closer look. It's still not clear if there is something under the blanket.

WARD: Oh, it moved. Is there someone there? I thought I saw it move. Is someone there? Or is it just a blanket? I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Touch it. There is someone. Hello?

WARD: OK. Let me just (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I told you. It's OK. It's OK. It's OK. It's OK. Journalist, journalist, journalist, journalist.

WARD (voiceover): I'm a civilian," he says. "I'm a civilian."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's OK. It's OK. It's OK. It's OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

WARD (voiceover): He tells the fighter he's from the city of Homs and has been in the cell for three months.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

WARD: OK. You're OK. You're OK. You're OK. You're OK.

WARD (voiceover): He clutches my arm tightly with both hands.

WARD: OK. Does anyone have any water? Water?

[07:55:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

WARD: OK, it's water. It's water. OK. OK. OK. You're OK. You're OK. You're OK.

WARD (voiceover): We start to walk him outside. "Thank God you are safe. Don't be afraid," the fighter says. "You are free."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

WARD (voiceover): "This is the third prison they brought me to," he says -- "the third prison." After three months in a windowless cell, he can finally see the sky.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

WARD (voiceover): "Oh, God the light," he says. "Oh, God, there is light. My God, there is light."

WARD: OK. OK. Sit, sit, sit. OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

WARD: You're OK.

WARD (voiceover): "Stay with me. Stay with me," he repeats again and again.

WARD: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

WARD (voiceover): "For three months, I didn't know anything about my family," he says. "I didn't hear anything about my children."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

WARD (voiceover): The fighter hands him something to eat. He can barely lift it to his mouth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language). WARD (voiceover): But his body can't handle it.

WARD: OK. You're OK.

WARD (voiceover): His captors fled during the fall of Damascus leaving him with no food or water, and that was at least four days ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

WARD (voiceover): "I'm shaking. My face is shaking," he says. The rebel tells him there's no more army, no more prisons, no more checkpoints. "Are you serious," he says.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)

WARD (voiceover): "Syria is free," he tells him. It's the first time he has heard those words.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

WARD (voiceover): He tells us his name is Adel Khurbar (PH) and that officers from the much feared Mukhabarat Intelligence Services took him from his home and began interrogating him about his phone. "They brought me here to Damascus. They asked me about names of terrorists," he says. "Did they hit you," the fighter asked. "Yes -- yes," he says.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

WARD (voiceover): As a paramedic arrives, the shock sets in. "There's nothing. Everything's OK. The Red Crescent is coming to help you," this man assures him. "You are safe. Don't be afraid anymore. Everything you are afraid of is gone."

Tens of thousands of Syrians have disappeared in Assad's prisons. Up until 15 minutes ago, Adel Khurbar was one of them. He is still petrified.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).

WARD (voiceover): "Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid," the ambulance worker reassures him. "Every car I got into, they blindfolded me," he says.

It is the end of a very dark chapter for him and for all of Syria, but so many ghosts remain.

Clarissa Ward, CNN, Damascus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Our thanks to Clarissa and her team for that remarkable coverage. Now, CNN cannot verify why that man was questioned by Syrian intelligence. However, as you heard there, he says he was being questioned about his phone.

SIDNER: Just an incredible story. Incredible reporting by Clarissa Ward. But also such a moment of humanity in a place where we have seen so much death and so much carnage.

BERMAN: It really was something to see.

SIDNER: Yeah. Thank you, John.

All right. This morning we're learning the star of the inaugural season of ABC's show the "GOLDEN BACHELOR" has been diagnosed with a form of incurable cancer. In an interview with People magazine, 72- year-old Gerry Turner said he has a type of bone marrow cancer that has no cure.

Turner did get engaged on the show, but the marriage ended after only three months. Turner telling People that his diagnosis played a role in the reason for the split.

The Hawaiian woman whose family members feared for her safety after she went missing says Hannah Kobayashi is safe and wants the public to know that this morning. Kobayashi's disappearance launched a frantic search for her last month after she never boarded a connecting flight to New York from Los Angeles. But Los Angeles police later said she intentionally missed that flight and was actually in contact with some of her family members and active on social media.

And just moments before disaster -- you've got to look at this -- a driver's dashcam is capturing these incredible pictures as a small plane begins to drop from the sky in southeastern Texas before it crashes.