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Air Force Base in Ohio Forced to Close Airspace for Several Hours After Drones Spotted Nearby; Sen. Richard Blumenthal Interviewed on Federal Government's Lack of Answers on Continuing Drone Activity over Northeastern United States and Qualifications of Donald Trump's Defense Secretary Nominee Pete Hegseth. Trump's Businesses Keep Hiring More Foreign Guest Workers; D.A. Says Alleged CEO Shooter May Stop Fighting Extradition. Aired 8-8:30a ET.

Aired December 16, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: -- but of course you're going to be paying for that. I looked at what same day costs are. It could be up to $60, $100, depending how much your item ways.

But, of course, if you're shipping yourself, you know those dates, right. But your retailer, the person you're buying from, make sure you cross reference what they're saying versus what the different shipping options are saying. Make sure you really know if you're going to get those gifts in time for Christmas.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: The day before Christmas, for $60 to $100, that might be more than the gift is worth.

YURKEVICH: That probably is.

SIDNER: Thank you so much, Vanessa.

And a new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, developing this morning, we just learned that drones shut down airspace over a critical U.S. airbase. What will it take to end the drone frenzy?

And the exit interview before the exile, Mitt Romney unleashes days before his retirement.

And then lap pools are for swimming, not diving. And for humans, not cars. So this driver broke the rules on two fronts.

I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SIDNER: Happening now, demands for answers and frustrations still building as new drone incidents raise anxieties even higher. This morning, we're learning a critical air force base in Ohio was forced to close airspace for several hours after drones were spotted nearby. Military news website "The War Zone" obtained audio of the moment that air traffic control sent out an alert.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mid-flight at Patterson tower. Use extreme caution for heavy UAS movement on the base. Security forces is handling the situation. And I got to keep the lights down so that security forces can see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Ohio is now one of several states reporting drone concerns as scrutiny over the federal response is building. This morning, local officials and lawmakers in New York and New Jersey urging more state- of-the-art drone detection tools be sent immediately.

CNN's Polo Sandoval leads us off this hour. There are calls, of course, for transparency, more resources. But first, what do we know what happened in Ohio?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Also, it's remarkable. It started as New Jersey, and then you just showed viewers that map and how widespread it is now. Sara, you're mentioning Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, temporary restrictions, flight restrictions there because of drone activity. So it's a reminder that here we are nearly a month into this mystery, and there are real implications and potential safety issues when it comes to these drones, right?

Now, fortunately, the leadership at that base did say that after inspecting the situation, there were no -- that the incursions did not have any impact on the base here. But as you mentioned those frustrations earlier today, it's coming from bipartisan leaders right now. And essentially not just the frustration now, but the disbelief that the U.S. government either can't or won't explain who or what is behind this mystery. DHS, FBI, the agency is really leading this investigation maintaining that at this point, everything that they've seen, they have not concluded, or they've been able to conclude that this does not present any sort of safety threat.

But then I want you to listen to the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas. Obviously, we've talked about the possibility that many of these are airplanes. But as we heard from the secretary this weekend, he confirms that many are not.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Some of those drone sightings are, in fact, drones. Some are manned aircraft that are commonly mistaken for drones. It is our job to be vigilant in the federal government with our state and local partners, on behalf of the American public, and we can assure their safety by reason of that vigilance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: DHS also confirming that they're sending more equipment, more resources to authorities in New Jersey and New York to try to monitor. We also heard from governor, the governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, over the weekend, who says that they have, in fact, received some of what was described as this sort of high-tech equipment, but they wouldn't really go into great detail as to what it is. But you and I have talked about this. They can use radar, they can use acoustic equipment, cameras, many different resources that they have available.

And it's certainly something that we've heard not just in New York, but also certainly in New Jersey, these officials that are demanding more information but also more equipment so that they can track these things and figure out where they're coming from.

SIDNER: Kathy Hochul saying this has gone too far because an airport about 55 miles from New York City had to be shut down for an hour because there was a drone sighting. There were also, though, arrests in Boston this weekend after a drone incident near Logan International. What happened there?

SANDOVAL: You're referring to a case this past Saturday where officials there investigating some drones that flew dangerously close to Boston. Logan. They were actually able, Boston PD able to roll out their equipment to monitor these drones, able to track them down, ended up arresting two local men. So again, this is a reminder that there are real impacts here and real safety issues when it comes to this mystery that continues nearly a month later.

SIDNER: Yes.

SANDOVAL: Incredible.

[08:05:00]

SIDNER: Yes, there's a lot that's still unknown and a lot of questions that need to be answered. Polo Sandoval, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Appreciate it.

Kate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us right now to talk more about this is Democratic Senator from Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal. Senator, thank you so much for coming in. You are among the lawmakers who have been demanding answers about these drone sightings. It has now extended into Connecticut. There have been some of these drones, big questions remaining still, who is behind them, where they're coming from. I want to play a little bit more from what we heard from Secretary Mayorkas yesterday about all of this. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I want to assure the American public that we in the federal government have deployed additional resources, personnel, technology to assist the New Jersey state police in addressing the drone sightings. We have not seen any foreign, we know of no foreign involvement with respect to the sightings in the northeast. And we are vigilant in investigating this matter, the Department of Homeland Security with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the lead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Mayorkas's point, Senator, he says the public should know that we are on it. Do you believe that?

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, (D-CT): You know, I'm like the rest of the public. I have a lot of trouble believing that the federal government is doing enough here because there is a near total absence of relevant and significant information. And that gap in disclosure is causing or contributing to the alarm that people are feeling.

There is technology that can be deployed to follow these drones, to trace them. The Robin System of drone specific radar can provide answers to a lot of the questions that have been asked, but there's no evidence that the federal government has been using it so far. And so these kinds of assurances from the secretary of Homeland Security fall flat. They leave people with even greater alarm. And the agency that's really responsible for our airspace, the FAA, has been completely silent.

And what we need here is not only a focus on the present problem, but also more broadly on the system, the regiment of scrutiny and oversight itself, which right now is really lacking. If you want to fly from New York to Washington, D.C., even in a small private plane, a two-seater, you need to file a flight plan. The same ought to be true of some of these bigger drones that are used commercially and even recreationally, and the registration requirements, the altitude restrictions, the certificate mandates all need to be upgraded because there are now a plethora of these drones out there, and they are dangerous, not just because they represent potential surveillance and intrusion on privacy, but also at airports and other sensitive locations. They can cause a major breakdown.

BOLDUAN: Weve already seen that they they're causing disruptions at airports, and they are obviously causing alarm, which is well short of disruptions. But still, can you just help me cut through this a little bit? Weve been trying to, it's been now, I think, I've been asking the same questions for a week now. Do you think the federal government knows more and is not telling, or that they do not know and they don't want to admit it?

BLUMENTHAL: My feeling is, and it's a hunch more than knowledge, because we have yet to receive the briefing that I've demanded, the federal government knows a lot less than it should. And it isn't a matter of classified information. If there is classified data here, it ought to be released to reassure the public. But my fear is that the federal government knows little or nothing about most of these sightings, because there are no flight plans, and it has not used the drone specific technology that is available. We ought to deploy those resources so that the federal government and our state and local officials know a lot more.

BOLDUAN: Mayorkas suggests that part of the problem, and you're getting to it a little bit, that part of the problem, he suggests, is that the federal government lacks authority to counter, I'll just broadly call it the problem. He's calling on Congress to expand local and state authority to investigate, to do more to be able to investigate drones. So is this a problem of Congress's making?

BLUMENTHAL: You know, we're in a new era of exploding drone technology. The numbers of these aircraft are expanding astronomically. It's not just the 800,000 or so that are properly registered, but they're probably hundreds of thousands, maybe millions more. Your 15-year-old neighbor may be flying some of them, but some are as big as cars.

[08:10:03]

And so there is a need for Congress to address this new era with a new regimen of scrutiny and oversight. And it is pressing. It's urgent, and Congress has oversight with longer term measures.

But right now, there is alarm and there's danger. There's real jeopardy at airports, military installations that has to be addressed with the authority that the Department of Homeland Security, the FAA, the FBI, the Department of Defense all have right now. And that's why I'm asking for action.

BOLDUAN: Which gets me to, when you talk about the real risk here, you have previously said that if these are in sensitive areas, they should be shot down. Donald Trump now seems to agree in some regards, saying on Truth Social kind of putting out the same. Otherwise, shoot them down is kind of how it ended. Who shoots them down, not said. Do you think, do you really think shooting down drones is the right course of action right now when you're talking about the risks of everything? We just had a New Jersey assemblyman on who says that's the worst thing -- that's one of the worst things he could see happening in the skies of New Jersey right now.

BLUMENTHAL: There's technology to take down drones without necessarily shooting them kinetically. And those means involve electronic jamming, cyber. In Ukraine right now, they're doing it. We can do it here without necessarily deploying artillery or guns to do it. So I do think if they fly over military facilities, installations, they should be taken down, or if they pose a jeopardy to flight plans and aircraft and airports. So there's no question that there's a threat here. And in the most extreme instances, they have to be taken down.

BOLDUAN: You also sit on Armed Services Committee, of course. Donald Trump's pick to be the next defense secretary, we've spoken about Pete Hegseth in the past and the questions that you have. Hegseth was at the Army-Navy football game this weekend with Trump. And in doing so, Donald Trump is showing his continued support to have Hegseth as his defense secretary. Do you think Pete Hegseth's chances of getting confirmed are getting better or worse right now?

BLUMENTHAL: His chances improved last week because Donald Trump heightened the heat on a lot of Republicans, in effect threatening them with primaries and other retribution if they fail to support Hegseth. And so a lot of the Republican senators who told me, five to ten of them, that they thought Hegseth was doomed as a nominee, have now changed their story.

I think that Hegseth still is unqualified on several major grounds. Put aside the reports of sexual assault and alcohol abuse. His managerial incompetence is shown by his running two nonprofits, veterans organizations, into the ground, and potentially his exploiting financially those nonprofits.

So there is a background check investigation underway by the FBI. My hope is that it will be made available. Theres a danger that the Trump administration may withhold that FBI investigation. I call on Donald Trump to provide that FBI background check, complete and unredacted, to the Armed Services Committee, so we can really consider all of the potential downsides of Hegseth's nomination. He could pose a real national security threat. We need access to that FBI investigation. And I hope my Republican colleagues will withhold judgment until they see it.

BOLDUAN: Let us see how it all pans out in the coming weeks. Senator Blumenthal, thank you for your time.

John?

BERMAN: All right, this morning, a new CNN investigation reveals that some of Donald Trump's businesses hired a record number of foreign workers this year even as he vows to, quote, hire American.

New details from a private and, quote, very warm conversation between Trump and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

And a man is rescued after days lost inside a pitch dark cave. No thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:19:08]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: My administration will follow two simple rules, buy American and hire American.

Under the Trump administration, we will build American, buy American and hire American. That's what we're going to be doing

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, hire American. The president-elect's vows may not mesh with his own business practices.

A CNN investigation has found that several of his businesses, including Mar-a-Lago, increasingly rely on foreign workers -- cooks, housekeepers, servers, and desk clerks.

CNN's Sara Murray is with us now. Sara, what have you learned here?

SARA MURRAY, CNN REPORTER: Well, John, it turns out it can be hard to practice what you preach, a hundred percent of the time, and that's certainly true for Donald Trump when it comes to this pledge to hire American.

You know, our CNN investigates team looked at the government data about Trump's hiring at his businesses of foreign workers and found that in 2024, the Trump Organization businesses were approved to hire 209 foreign guest workers.

Now, this is more or nearly double the number from a decade ago. It's the highest number we have for the Trump businesses for any year on record according to government data.

And now these workers mostly, when it comes to the Trump businesses, come through the H-2B program. And that allows for hiring foreign workers when there aren't American workers who are able or willing, available to do this kind of temporary work.

[08:20:32]

So, as you pointed out, people like cooks, people like housekeepers.

Now, folks who think that America has too much immigration and that even legal immigration should be limited, say, these kind of workers reduce American's bargaining power, that, you know, companies could offer better salaries, they could offer better perks, they could try to recruit workers from other states when it comes to these kinds of seasonal jobs.

But we also spoke to a staffing firm in Palm Beach that says when it is the high season in Palm Beach, getting enough people to work in this kind of service industry jobs, golf courses, resorts, that kind of thing, it's really difficult and that's where programs like this come in.

And we should note this isn't just something that Donald Trump or his businesses like Mar-a-Lago or his Virginia winery are doing. Our investigation found that there are several Trump allies who also employ foreign workers. Elon Musk is one of them. You know, Howard Lutnick, who is Donald Trump's pick for Commerce secretary. Subsidiaries of his companies also use foreign workers.

So, this is something that is somewhat prevalent throughout the folks that Trump has picked to run his administration -- John.

BERMAN: I'd be curious to see if that changes.

Sara Murray, thank you so much for sharing this reporting -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, ahead, Senator Mitt Romney says the signs are clear. The GOP now belongs to MAGA. Who he says will lead the movement in 2028 and what that means for the next four years and beyond.

And the legal strategy for Luigi Mangione. Are his lawyers planning an insanity defense? Those stories and more ahead.

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[08:26:18]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, the Manhattan district attorney says the suspected killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO may stop trying to fight his extradition from Pennsylvania to New York.

Now, Luigi Mangione is currently being held in a Pennsylvania state prison while facing charges in both states. Over the weekend, Mangione hired a high profile attorney to take over his case in New York. Karen Friedman-Agnifilo, who was until recently a CNN legal analyst.

Joining me now is current CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, Joey Jackson. You will give us a heads up if you end up, you know.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Always.

SIDNER: -- representing someone with a high profile case like this.

I want to ask you about the extradition. For a while now, I've been wondering as to whether or not the sort of slowing of the extradition or trying to fight it was because an attorney had not been picked up here in New York. Do you think that that is the case and why it may now be stopped?

JACKSON: So, certainly, you know what, Sara, good morning.

SIDNER: Good morning.

JACKSON: That could have been a strategic move. Now, an attorney is in place, which is a very good thing.

At the end of the day, though, extradition and the fighting of the extradition is anybody's right to do. But it really is an uphill battle and a losing proposition. Why?

In any extradition proceeding, which he still has the right, they're anticipating he will waive, right, but he still has the right. You show that the actual governor's warrant is facially sufficient. That means it's appropriate. Its filled out properly and clearly.

Number two, it establishes probable cause for the crimes of which you're wanted in new York State. And number three, it's your identity. And so all that does is delay the process, but ultimately, he'd be here.

Now, why the court appearance? If his going to waive, it has to be a knowing and intelligent waiver. The judge has to ask, sir, you know what your rights are? You understand those rights? You're waiving your right to go to New York.

So, at the end of the day, ultimately, if he waives, he's just here a bit quicker. However, he will be in New York. The question is when. SIDNER: So a grand jury has convened according to reporting and looking at evidence now. How soon could something follow there, assuming that they're trying to get an indictment?

JACKSON: Yes, so it's a process. So, just about the grand jury, Sara, just what we need to know. A grand jury is impaneled, and then what they do is they hear evidence.

A grand jury is really run by a prosecutor, and they're not impaneled to hear whether you're guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

There's 23 grand jurors that sit. A simple majority, 12 have to find simply that there's sufficient evidence to believe that you committed an offense. And if they find that, they vote out a true bill. And so that process will play out. The grand jury will hear evidence as it relates to this case, as it relates to specifically what they believe he did, and they don't get everything, even grand jurors, they just get enough, right, to ultimately vote it out. And so, it's a process, but I think it will be sooner rather than later.

SIDNER: It's an easier burden of proof.

JACKSON: Much.

SIDNER: But basically, whether they think a crime may have been committed.

JACKSON: Absolutely.

SIDNER: Okay, I want to ask you about the legal representation for Luigi Mangione.

Former chief assistant district attorney for the Manhattan DA's Office, Karen Friedman-Agnifilo, long time New York prosecutor described her to CNN as someone who "knows every corridor, every judge, every clerk in the courthouse." Even with that expertise, what do you think the biggest challenge is going to be for her, judging from what the public now knows, are some of the bits of evidence that have been brought together by police and investigators.

JACKSON: Sure, well first, Sara, I think it's a very good thing she's involved. I think you want talented counsel in any case. Why? Because you want evidence to be challenged. That's the way it should be. You want to scrutinize if there's DNA evidence, right? Where did it come from? Is it actually legit? Is it contaminated in any way?

If there's photos that would suggest it was him, is there a manifesto? Did he write it?

Everything you want to vet. I think it's good for the process. And I think we need trust in the process. Having said that, and she comes from my former office, which is a good thing, Manhattan DA's Office. At the end of the day, this is challenging for any attorney, let's be clear about that.

The evidence here, and everyone deserves what we call the presumption of innocence. But it's very compelling. It's very compelling from a circumstantial perspective, right, meaning evidence may be not direct and there is direct evidence in this case, right?

[08:30:26]