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Contempt Proceedings to Move Forward Against Bill Clinton; Supreme Court Hears Challenges to State Bans on Transgender Athletes; Pentagon Testing Device Possibly Tied to Havana Syndrome. Aired 2:30- 3p ET

Aired January 13, 2026 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: ... be enough? Chair Comer is saying it's not. Tell us why.

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Comer maintains that he has questions for the Clintons that can't be answered in a written statement. He wants to know about the times that Epstein visited former President Bill Clinton while he was president of the White House. He wants to know about the times that Clinton flew on Epstein's plane.

He wants to know about the photographs of the Department of Justice released that feature photos of Bill Clinton with a number of individuals, including Epstein and his co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell. Now, Clinton, as you mentioned, has not been accused of any wrongdoing. And for months, the Clinton team and Comer have been going back and forth about this testimony.

They have been -- this data has been pushed multiple times. There's been multiple debates here. And the Clintons have argued, why not allow us to write written testimonies like Comer has allowed for a number of other witnesses in his investigation? They say that they don't have first-hand knowledge of Epstein or his crimes, and that Clinton cut ties with Epstein long before he was arrested back in 2019.

Now, I want to read for you some pieces of Hillary and Bill Clinton's letter to James Comer today, where they really just lay out the stakes and why they feel like they do not need to participate in these closed-door depositions. So the pair write, quote, "Every person has to decide when they have seen or had enough and are ready to fight for this country, its principles and its people. No matter the consequences. For us, now is that time."

And then, later, the Clintons write, "Indeed, bringing the Republicans' cruel agenda to a standstill, while you work harder to pass a contempt charge against us than you have done on your investigation this past year, would be our contribution to fighting the madness." So, in that last quote, the Clintons are arguing this is a complete waste of time and a distraction. But either way, now that Comer has announced that contempt proceedings are going to happen, a process is set to play out, which could have major legal and historic complications down the road if it does pass out of Congress and head to the Department of Justice to be debated.

KEILAR: All right, Annie Grayer, live for us from the Hill. Thank you.

Still to come, the Supreme Court takes up a major battle over transgender rights. It's a question that could reshape school sports nationwide.

[14:35:00]

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We're now at a pivotal moment for an issue that's become a political lightning rod in the United States. Today, the Supreme Court hearing two cases challenging state bans on transgender athletes playing sports. The plaintiffs argue the bans illegally discriminate on the basis of sex.

The states say they have a duty to create an even playing field for biological women and girls. Right now, 29 states are imposing those bans, meaning the Supreme Court's ruling will have far-reaching implications.

Let's get some perspective now with Angel Flores. She's a former competitive powerlifter turned coach who came out as trans back in 2022. Angel, thank you so much for being with us. The argument that we're hearing from these states is that the bans are not about targeting transgender people but rather ensuring competitive fairness.

What's your response to that?

ANGEL FLORES, TRANSGENDER ATHLETE: Oh, it's very simple. We're taking an argument that has been so focused around professional sports at a much higher level and trying to apply it to much younger people. A lot of these youth are simply trying to experience sports, the development that comes with sports, and the team building and friends that they make. Oftentimes, we take these ideas and we kind of spread them across this huge subject of sports, when in reality, we just want kids to play sports, right?

We want them to experience that experience that we have all experienced through our entire lives. If I had come out a lot earlier, I would have very much appreciated any sense of normalcy and together in this community, I would have found through sports and to know that there are youth now that aren't experiencing that, that are having trouble because of these bans, because of how people view them, especially the small population of youth. It's hard on me and it's hard on all of them too.

SANCHEZ: I'd love to know what you think about something Justice Kavanaugh said during arguments. He was talking about concerns that he has about harm to biological girls losing to transgender athletes.

He says, "For the individual girl who does not make the team or doesn't get on the stand for the medal or doesn't make all-league, there's a harm there, and I think we can't sweep that aside."

Do you see that dynamic even at the younger levels as a harm?

FLORES: I think it's about framing, right? If we are automatically labeling trans youth as harmful, as dangerous, then you're creating this kind of trickle-down system where kids are going to also see you see them that way, right? When in reality, they're just kids, right?

They're youth, they want to experience the things that their peers are experiencing, they want to play sports, they want to have fun and find community, as I said. And so if you want to talk about harm, we can talk about all the ways that they'll try and -- that these systems and these laws will try and ban trans youth, for example, like genital inspections, bodily inspections. And I would argue that there's much more harm in forcing girls of any background to go through any sort of inspections.

[14:40:00]

Of being paraded around a locker room, paraded around a school, paraded around coaches who need to, quote, unquote, confirm their cisness as opposed to transness.

SANCHEZ: And so I guess the question would be, what would you say to parents whose daughters have competed against transgender athletes or been not put on the team because a transgender athlete was put on the team or have not won, you know, competition or felt like their competitors had an advantage, what would you say to those parents?

FLORES: I'd say that I can feel the idea that you might feel there is some unfairness there, especially when it comes to sports. But these are kids, right? It's competitive. They want to find community. They want to find space.

And ultimately, there are so many studies that I could bring up, so many ideas I could bring up about fairness, when in reality, it's about that competitive spirit, right? Sports are all about the competitive spirit. And so I don't want to sit here and say, hey, work harder, but this is sports, right?

We want to foster community. And if we can work together to become better, right, both trans and cis youth, I think there'd be success for everybody, right? Especially in regards to team sports, especially in regards to building community around each other.

SANCHEZ: If the judges decide that sports, and specifically, again, sports related to these age groups that we're talking about in schools, if they decide that that falls outside of the protections that the Supreme Court has recognized for the workplace, what then happens to athletes like yourself and the kids that you coach?

FLORES: There's just a -- See, I felt lonely playing SPENGA, like growing up, not knowing who I was, what I was, who I could possibly be. And so to exclude these trans youth, the tiny population of trans youth, the less than 1 percent of athletes across the U.S., to exclude them and tell them that they're other, that they don't belong, that they should be removed from these spaces, it creates a harm that is simply unnecessary, right? These athletes are being forced into the background.

They're being forced to stay quiet, stay at home, and ultimately, the rates of harm and risk for these trans youth just skyrockets, right? It's a snowball effect. It could start with sports, but ultimately, we're looking at further implications of, OK, now these kids don't feel safe going to school.

They don't feel safe hanging out with their friends, going to the mall, going about their extracurriculars, right? We want to create a space and community that's safe for all kids regardless of the background, as I said. And so do we really want to multiply that harm that's already being done to trans youth across the U.S.?

SANCHEZ: Angel Flores, we have to leave the conversation there. Look forward to the next one. Thanks so much for joining us.

FLORES: Thank you so much.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Still plenty more news to come this afternoon. Has the U.S. government found the source of the mysterious illness known as Havana Syndrome? We have new CNN reporting on the secret device that was purchased during an undercover operation. It costs millions of dollars, and it's been tested by the Pentagon. More stunning details when we come back.

[14:45:00]

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SANCHEZ: Sources tell CNN the Pentagon has spent more than a year testing a device that may be the cause of so-called Havana Syndrome. The mysterious illness first emerged in late 2016 when a group of U.S. diplomats in the Cuban capital reported being sick, some with strange career-ending ailments.

KEILAR: Since then, dozens of U.S. troops, spies, and diplomats around the world have reported similar cases. The U.S. government paid millions of dollars for this device in a secret undercover operation in the waning days of the Biden presidency.

CNN's Jim Sciutto is with us now. Jim, this is really a remarkable development, especially considering a few years ago, we were told that there appeared to be no foreign adversary responsible for this, and there's been a lot of skepticism around whether this was a real thing. So this is pretty amazing.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: It is. So, for 10 years, this has been going on, and the victims of this, who are many and have had quite debilitating traumatic brain injuries, et cetera, have not gotten any answers for 10 years. In fact, oftentimes they've been told there's really nothing to this, right? Or there's no one single cause. Maybe it's a collection of things.

Some have even been hinted to that perhaps they're kind of imagining the symptoms, right? So you imagine going through that for 10 years. Clearly, the U.S. state -- well, the Defense Department certainly, but also intelligence services took this seriously enough to buy what they believe might -- they haven't concluded this definitively, which should be clear here.

And there are still questions from some in the intelligence community, but they took it seriously enough to buy a device that they think could be responsible and for not an insignificant amount of money, right? I mean, you know, nine figures, we're talking double-digit millions of dollars. It's a device that pulses radio waves. That they theorize could be causing these brain injuries here.

It is not Russian, but it does have Russian components, but they have not identified definitively one particular state or non-state actor who is behind it. It's a significant development. They haven't concluded conclusively that this is the cause, but they're taking it seriously enough, and they've been testing this device for years, that that is at a minimum an open question.

[14:50:00]

SANCHEZ: One of the most alarming things is that it apparently fits in a backpack.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

SANCHEZ: So this thing is portable. It could be directed ostensibly in any direction at soft targets. I mean, where does the investigation go from here?

SCIUTTO: So one thing that a source told me is this, is that one of the most alarming things about this is that it's not just one state or non-state actor that could get this, right? It's not exclusive to one. Maybe if you could -- I mean, $10 million is not a small amount of money, but there are a lot of people who could put up $10 million to buy this thing. If it's portable, you could carry it around.

So the concern is that you might get attacked by more than one adversary with this kind of thing. And that's a major, major concern. And inevitably, when a technology like that is out there, more than one actor looks at it, right? Because they're like, one.

I mean, one, you have to think defensively, which clearly the U.S. is thinking here. But you're going to have other actors saying, how can I potentially utilize this in my own operations, whether those be military or non-military operations? Again, nothing definitive yet, but they're taking it seriously enough to have taken the step and to continue to test this thing for many years.

KEILAR: People who have been suffering, I mean, to hear them listen to what they have endured, and who believe it is from something kind of like this, right? They must feel some relief that perhaps there are more answers.

SCIUTTO: For sure. I'm going to be talking to one. I'm sure your team's reached out as well. I'm going to be talking to one of those victims later today. And that is, that's why I mentioned earlier that some of these

concerns and fears have been dismissed, right, overtime. You know, what you're telling us is happening is happening, right? And there's been disagreement in the Intel community, some of which remains to this day. But from a victim's standpoint, given the symptoms are quite severe, that's not what you want to hear. So today they're hearing, hey, maybe there's some progress here.

KEILAR: Looking forward to that interview you have.

SCIUTTO: Thanks.

KEILAR: Jim Sciuto, thank you so much.

And still to come. Is an AI chatbot battle brewing? We're going to take you inside Amazon's push to have Alexa take on ChatGPT.

[14:55:00]

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SANCHEZ: Now, to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour. A former Navy sailor has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for selling information on U.S. military chips to China. 25-year-old Jinchao Wei, an engineer on the USS Essex assault ship, was convicted of six crimes, including espionage. He was paid more than $12,000 for the information he sold to a Chinese intelligence officer, which included dozens of the ship's technical and operating manuals.

Also, command of the International Space Station has officially been handed over. NASA's Mike Finke handed over command of Expedition 74 to his Russian counterpart on Monday as he and the rest of the members of Crew-11 prepare to head back to Earth. The team is making the journey more than a month earlier than planned because of an unknown medical issue affecting one of the astronauts. The Crew 11 team is now expected back on Thursday.

And a family dog starts a fire inside a Canadian home. Watch this. Fire officials say the dog found a heated glove and started chewing on it on the couch. The damaged lithium-ion battery burst into flames. Firefighters, fortunately, arrived within minutes, put the fire out and rescued the dog. No injuries reported. The family, though, has since been displaced -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Amazon has unveiled its vision for the future of its voice assistant, Alexa. Make her remember specific things about you. This is the company's attempt to go head to head with chatbots like ChatGPT.

CNN's Lisa Eadicicco is joining me now with her reporting on this. You spoke to Amazon executives at the Consumer Electronics Show. What did you learn?

LISA EADICICCO, CNN TECH EDITOR: So last week when I was at CES, I sat down with a couple of executives and they really laid out this vision for how they want to compete with ChatGPT, which has kind of become the household's name in the space, Google Gemini and other rivals. And really, the key comes down to having Alexa remember more things about you so that the assistant can apply that not only to its answers, but to actions that it can take for you in the real world. And that's kind of building on the vision that Amazon laid out last year when it announced Alexa Plus, which is the new upgraded version of Alexa.

So based on what Amazon announced last week and my conversations, there are a couple of ways the company is doing that. First of all, by putting Alexa in new and different places so that people can use Alexa differently. For one, they announced that Alexa Plus is coming to Samsung Smart TVs.

There's also a new web version of Alexa so that users can chat with Alexa Plus online, which might help people actually use Alexa for things that they're already using ChatGPT for today by accessing it through the web instead of just talking to an Echo Smart speaker. But in the future, where Amazon really sees this going, the company last year acquired a company called Bee, which makes a wristband that can record your conversations in your surroundings with the press of a button.

You do have to press the button for it to record. It's not an always listening device, of course. But being able to use a device like that to gather more context about what you're doing, who you're speaking with, and how you're interacting with people, Amazon sees that as being useful in the future to informing what Alexa can potentially do for you. Now, we don't know exactly how that's going to tie into Alexa yet, but it is something that the company sees as being important to where Alexa is going down the road.

KEILAR: And real quick, safeguards here.

EADICICCO: Absolutely. So privacy, I think, is going to be a big concern when you're talking about a device like this. When I asked Amazon about this, they kind of pointed to the choices that users have. Of course, you have to ...

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