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Civil Rights Icon, John Lewis Diagnosed With Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer; Five People Stabbed At Hanukkah Celebration In Rabbi's Home; Pentagon: U.S. Strikes Five Facilities In Iraq And Syria; Group Works To Build Latino Support For Trump In 2020, Top Media Stories Of 2019; Second Victim Of Texas Church Shooting Dies. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired December 29, 2019 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:00]
JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: And we begin tonight with some breaking news. Georgia Congressman and legendary civil rights icon John Lewis has been diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer and will undergo treatment.
He released this statement today regarding his prognosis, saying, quote, I have been in some kind of fight -- for freedom, equality, basic human rights -- for nearly my entire life. I have never faced a fight quite like the one I have now. This month in routine medical visit, and subsequent tests, doctors discovered Stave IV pancreatic cancer. This diagnosis has been reconfirmed.
He goes on to write, please keep me in your prayers as I begin this journey.
CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, joins me now over the phone.
Sanjay, what can you tell us about Congressman Lewis' diagnosis, Stage IV pancreatic cancer?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Yes. Yes, Jessica. well, you know, it's obviously a tough diagnosis. people who have heard of pancreatic cancer at all know that's a -- it's a challenging cancer, and when it's Stage IV, that basically means that the cancer has spread somewhere outside of the pancreas itself.
So that's what that statement is basically telling us. You know, he also talked about the fact that he had this diagnosed on a routine visit. And that's important -- important to note.
I think part of the reason this cancer is often found late is because there's no symptoms, typically. And I think that's what the congressman was telling us.
He also said that it was reconfirmed. That probably means they were suspicious and they subsequently did a biopsy or something to confirm the diagnosis. So Stage IV pancreatic cancer, that's the diagnosis. And the Congressman talks a lot about, you know, being optimistic and
the various -- you know, the fight that he wants to have going forward. And you know, there are different treatment options, which I'm sure he is being presented with and discussing with the doctors and his family now to figure out the best path forward.
DEAN: And, Sanjay, what would treatment for him look like? What is typical, or is there a typical protocol in this case?
GUPTA (via telephone): Yes, there are some typical things. I mean, you know, typically, when you -- when you think about Stage IV pancreatic cancer, one of the goals, you know, typically, if it's early cancer, is try and remove the cancer surgically.
If it's Stage IV, that means that the cancer has spread, so surgical removal is not going to be a cure. That's one thing that doctors are sort of thinking about in terms of going forward.
They may do surgery to -- if there's blockages or something that the cancer is pushing on to sort of relieve that pressure. But really, most likely, it's going to be some form of chemotherapy or -- and possibly radiation.
But typically, chemotherapy is given into the bloodstream and specifically targets these cells and tries to prevent them from growing. That's the goal.
DEAN: And he --
GUPTA (via telephone): And, you know, that's technically what happens.
DEAN: Right, and he's 79 years old. How much does age factor into all of this?
GUPTA (via telephone): You know --
DEAN: And health?
GUPTA (via telephone): Yes, that's a good question. And what I would tell you is that, you know, we typically really focus on the physiological age of someone as opposed to the chronological age. And what I mean by that is, you know, there are people who are 50 years old who have the physiology of 80 and vice versa.
So typically, this type of cancer and the treatments that I've just talked about are often done in people who are older because that's when this cancer typically, you know, is diagnosed. So it does play a role. It's certainly a tough diagnosis. It's harder to undergo some of these therapies when you're older, but, you know, it happens.
Look, just remember Jimmy Carter. You know, President Carter, he had metastatic melanoma.
DEAN: Right. GUPTA (via telephone): And he was, I believe, close to 90 years old
at the time and underwent therapy and has -- you know, has done very well since then from the cancer standpoint.
DEAN: Yes.
GUPTA (via telephone): So there is optimism, certainly, but it's going to be a tough road.
DEAN: Tough road, yes. And you know, it struck me -- and I think other people I've been talking to, too -- Alex Trebek had Stage IV pancreatic cancer --
GUPTA (via telephone): Yes.
DEAN: -- and went through his treatment and has been able to really prolong his life and gone back to work.
How personal is it in terms of treatment? And, well, I guess what I'm getting at is, some people react really well to one certain drug or one certain protocol.
GUPTA (via telephone): Yes.
DEAN: How much does the -- each individual play into it?
GUPTA (via telephone): It is changing so quickly, and it's kind of -- it's a great question because, you know, we used to think about these cancers as just, you know, pancreatic cancer, period.
And now, the testing will look at the types of cells that are mutated within that cancer and try and figure out, are those mutated cells, do they provide certain targets in terms of immunotherapy or in more targeted therapy?
[19:04:58]
This is, you know, the wave of new cancer therapies. Right now, there's a lot of people, I'm sure, going on the Internet and googling Stage IV pancreatic cancer.
DEAN: Yes.
GUPTA (via telephone): And what they're reading is not going to sound particularly optimistic, but it's also reflective of data that, you know, may be 10, 20 years old. Things are changing quickly.
And Congressman Lewis talks about that in that statement that he released, that, you know, doctors have told him that there are new therapies available. And there are.
But to your point, there's more sophisticated testing that can give doctors and the medical team a better idea, is he likely to respond to these new therapies? And if so, what's that degree of response?
DEAN: Right. GUPTA (via telephone): It's exciting. You know, people don't want to
put a cart in front of a horse, be overly hopeful, but he is right in that there are new therapies and new options available.
DEAN: Well, we certainly hope there are for him. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much for your expertise. We really appreciate you being with us.
GUPTA (via telephone): You got it, thank you.
DEAN: And we are just getting in reactions to this news. Former President Bill Clinton tweeting, if there's anyone with the strength and courage to fight this, it's you, John. Hillary and I love you, and we join with millions of other Americans in praying for you and your family.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi shared a photo of her and Congressman Lewis, adding, we're all praying for you following this diagnosis, John. Know that generations of Americans have you in their thoughts and prayers as you face this fight. We are all praying that you are comfortable. We know that you will be well.
Now, earlier tonight, I spoke with CNN's Chief Political Correspondent, Dana Bash about the mark that Congressman Lewis has made on this country and his decades of public service. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): When it comes to his role in American history and, obviously, more recently, his 30-plus years in Congress, it's hard to overstate how much of an impact he's had.
First of all, on that bridge in Selma, Alabama, I had the honor of going back with him. He does this every year. He takes -- he makes the pilgrimage, a bipartisan pilgrimage, takes some reporters with him, in order to tell the story of what happened in 1965 when he was walking across that bridge with so many other civil rights activists just for the sole purpose of getting the right to vote for African- Americans.
And he got his head bashed in. He almost didn't survive. He said he remembers feeling like he was going to die. He was 25 years old. And that -- that moment was really a turning point in the movement for African-Americans to get the right to vote.
That led to the Voting Rights Act, and that was such a critical time that he -- as I said, he makes a point of bringing people back every single year. Sometimes it's the President. Sometimes it's, you know, first-term members of Congress from across the aisle, Republicans and Democrats. So really, really special event that he does.
DEAN: Yes.
BASH (via telephone): But also in Washington -- you kind of alluded to this, Jessica -- John Lewis is the heart and soul of the Democratic caucus. And even beyond the Democratic caucus.
When there is a big fight coming up, whether it's a policy fight or even a political fight, the Democratic caucus turns to him many, many times for the leadership that they know he can give, for the sort of the heart and the soul that they know that he can -- he can provide.
You know, he always says we need to get into trouble, good trouble.
(LAUGHTER)
DEAN: Yes.
BASH (via telephone): He tells that to kids. To kids -- I've seen him say that to kids that he meets and to adults who are trying to make a change.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: And our thanks there to Dana Bash.
Still to come, two states, two horrific attacks. One thing in common -- the victims were all people of faith. What we're learning about a mass stabbing inside a rabbi's home in New York and a shooting at a church in Texas.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:11:01]
DEAN: Other breaking news this Sunday evening, violence, bloodshed, and a deadly shooting today. Two terrifying attacks on peaceful religious services, one Jewish, one Christian.
And I want to warn you about some of the images we're going to show you. They're very disturbing.
This is where a man with a knife barged into a rabbi's home outside New York City late Saturday. He stabs several people, sending five victims to the hospital before running away. The house at that time was filled with people celebrating the seventh night of Hanukkah.
Now, take a look at the surveillance video. It's from a neighbor, who -- and it shows what's believed to be the attacker running to a car. Police found him, they say, covered with blood a few minutes later driving into New York City. He has now been charged with five counts of attempted murder.
Then, this morning, inside a Church of Christ near Fort Worth, Texas, police say a man there opened fire during on worshipers during Sunday services. He shot two people, one of them dying, before two armed people in the congregation used their own guns and shot the man dead.
Let's go first in our coverage tonight to Monsey, New York, and CNN's Alison Kosik. Alison, people there dealing with this second violent attack on the Jewish community in Monsey in the span of just a few weeks. How are they coping tonight? ALISON KOSIK, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, this
community is certainly in disbelief. And tonight, we're learning just how the suspect, 30-year-old Grafton Thomas, got inside the rabbi's home.
According to police and witnesses, he walked through the front door, which was unlocked. And it wasn't unusual to have that door unlocked at Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg's home, especially on a night like last night, the seventh night of Hanukkah, when there was a big celebration going on, almost 100 people inside that house.
A guest at this celebration tells us that it was during the moment that the Rabbi was lighting the menorah that Thomas allegedly walked in with a long machete-type knife and began his stabbing spree, stabbing five people including the Rabbi's own son.
Now, one of the guests is being hailed as a hero, Joseph Gluck. He told CNN that he threw a coffee table at the suspect and wrote down the suspect's license plate number. And that was a good thing because that car was electronically tagged as it drove over the George Washington Bridge into New York City.
So once police got their eye on him, they wound up apprehending him in Harlem. I don't know if we can go to that NYPD video of them apprehending Thomas. They say he was covered in blood. And later, we learned that prosecutors said he smelled like bleach, indicating that he was trying to cover up a crime.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had some strong words about what happened here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: It is an American cancer that is spreading in the body politic. An American cancer turns one cell in the body against the other. Once we become intolerant of differences, then we are intolerant with America because America is all about differences.
This is terrorism. It is domestic terrorism. These are people who intend to create mass harm, mass violence, generate fear based on race, color, creed. That is the definition of terrorism.
And just because they don't come from another country doesn't mean that they're not terrorists. And they should be prosecuted as domestic terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Governor Cuomo is ordering that state police increase their patrols of security and otherwise in these orthodox Jewish neighborhoods across New York state. Jessica, back to you.
[19:15:00]
DEAN: Alison Kosik, thank you so much for your update. Let's listen now to how one witness described how the horrific attack
unfolded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take us back.
ARON KOHN, WITNESS TO THE STABBING ATTACK: I saw him walking by the door. I asked who is coming in the middle of the night with an umbrella.
While I was saying that, he pulled it out from the thing, and he started to run into the big room, which was on the left side. And I threw him tables and chair, that he should get out of here.
And he injured the guy who was carrying (INAUDIBLE) guy, but he was bleeding here, bleeding in his hand, all over. I ran into the other room because I tried to save my life. I saw him running down this way, so I ran out.
(CROSSTALK)
KOHN: And two ladies came along with me. They're still hysterical. What time is it now? I don't even know the time now. And they're still hysterical right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: Horrific and just so wrong.
Joining me now is Yossi Gestetner, the co-founder of the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council.
Yossi, thanks so much for being with us. We saw you earlier today, walking alongside Governor Andrew Cuomo. Did you ask him for anything specifically, and is the Jewish community of New York, in your mind, getting what it needs in the government's response?
YOSSI GESTETNER, CO-FOUNDER, ORTHODOX JEWISH PUBLIC AFFAIRS COUNCIL: While I was walking with the Governor, I stressed to him that press releases have limited effect, and there needs to be more concrete and more ongoing steps from state and local governments.
And that's certainly something that the Governor echoed in his conversation with the Rabbi inside the home and then at his two press conferences where the Governor stressed that there will be an increased level of law enforcement presence from the long -- for the long-term.
And the Governor also made mention that, come 2020, he wants to propose new legislation in Albany via the state of state next week or two weeks from now where when these cases come about, prosecutors will have better tools to prosecute such cases.
DEAN: Do you -- will that make you feel safer if that legislation is indeed passed? GESTETNER: I mean, when the government acts in the direction of
taking hate crimes seriously, that's obviously a good thing. But the challenge with many of these legislative pieces is that prosecutors, many times, do not have the evidence to apply those new laws.
Take, for example, this specific case. If the law were to be in place, can we then use it in this case? I don't know. And sometimes. perps are at scenes of attacks, and they don't say anything. And prosecutors say, well, we don't have evidence that this is a hate crime.
DEAN: Right.
GESTETNER: So it's good that the Governor and the government wants to -- want to do more work. But I am wary, if you will, how effective some of these new legislative steps will actually be.
DEAN: Yes. I want to take a look at the scene this afternoon at the Rabbi's house where this stabbing occurred. I want to let people see and kind of hear. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC AND SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: And we see people, Yossi, singing, dancing, clapping, really a moment that appeared to show the strength and resilience of the Jewish community there. How is your community doing tonight?
GESTETNER: Well, last night, about an hour after the attack, after all the victims were transported to the hospital, the Rabbi went over to his congregation, to a synagogue next door, and continued with the celebrations.
And this afternoon, as you just showed to your viewers, it's called the Torah of procession, basically the old testament, the Bible is written on parchment, and then put onto scrolls. And it's called the Torah scrolls. So when a new Torah is written, you have celebrations as you have seen now.
DEAN: Yes.
GESTETNER: So this, obviously, shows that members of the Orthodox community will continue with their lives, and they continued at the same place, on the same street, on the same night, and the same day that this attack took place.
Now, continuing with life doesn't mean that you can ignore the problem, and therefore, it has been very helpful for the Governor to come in. It has been a great show of support from all levels of government, to be honest, and law enforcement last night and today. And we are expecting more dignitaries to come by tomorrow.
So on the one hand, you continue life, including celebrating Judaism, if you will, in the streets. And on the other hand, you got to make sure that the government doesn't get, you know, tired, and they move on to the next story the next day. And instead, they are focused on how to handle the problem of anti-Semitism, whether it's in Jersey City in New Jersey, whether it's here in Rockland County, or down back in the city, especially Brooklyn.
[19:20:08]
DEAN: Yes. I want to ask you about the people injured in the attack. Five people were injured in the attack, the Rabbi's song -- son among them. Do you know how they're doing?
GESTETNER: My understanding is that three of the five victims have been released from the hospital. Two of them are there. Certainly, one of them is in very critical condition. He went through a lot of surgeries over the past, I don't know -- where are we now, about 20 hours?
DEAN: Right.
GESTETNER: So there's one patient who is in serious condition. He is a 71-year-old male.
DEAN: All right, so that 71-year-old in serious condition.
Yossi Gestetner, thank you for joining us. We're sending you guys lots of love there in your community.
GESTETNER: Thank you very much. Thank you very much for covering this story. I appreciate it.
DEAN: Yes, thank you.
As New York grapples with the aftermath of 13 anti-Semitic attacks in recent days, we're going to take a look at the role Homeland Security plays in protecting Jewish communities. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEAN: Defense Secretary Esper says additional action is possible after today's airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as he spoke briefly last hour after he and other top national security officials traveled to Mar-a-Lago in Florida to brief President Trump on the operation.
The Pentagon says the strikes targeted five facilities linked to an Iran-backed militia, and that they were retaliation for a series of attacks that injured American military personnel and left a U.S. civilian contractor dead.
[19:25:05]
CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in West Palm Beach, Florida where the President is now entering his second week of vacation.
And, Jeremy, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is saying threats against American forces have been ongoing for weeks now. What do we know about the threats, and what do we know about why the U.S. decided to take action now?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jessica. Well, the Secretary of State did begin his remarks talking about the fact that these attacks have been ongoing for weeks and weeks and that he has issued repeated warnings to Iran and to its proxies in the region not to continue carrying out these attacks at Iraqi bases where U.S. coalition forces are stationed.
And so, it appears that the tipping point was this latest attack that took place on Friday that actually resulted in one U.S. defense contractor dead and four U.S. service members injured. Because Secretary Pompeo specifically talked about the fact that the U.S. will not stand for Iranian actions that put U.S. lives in jeopardy.
So it does appear that that loss of life and those injuries on Friday were perhaps the tipping point. It was interesting that the President was not the one to actually come out and deliver this message today, despite being at the same location as his three top defense and foreign policy officials.
Instead, we saw the Secretary of State, as well as Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, delivering this message, which was not only to explain what actually took place with these five strikes -- three in Iraq and two in Syria -- against this Iranian-backed militia.
But instead, what we also saw was a message of deterrence, it appeared. Secretary Esper, in particular, making it very clear that he had just briefed the President on other options and that the U.S. could take additional action if indeed there were any kind of retaliation from Iran or from its proxies or if they indeed do continue these attacks that continue to threaten those American forces in the region.
So that was the very clear message that we saw from the President's top officials, but, again, no word from the President himself yet on these strikes -- Jessica.
DEAN: All right, we'll wait to -- and see if we hear anything from him. Jeremy Diamond in Florida for us, thanks so much.
And here to discuss this is CNN National Security Analyst, Samantha Vinograd. This is a segment we bring to you every weekend with the most pressing national security issues President Trump will face tomorrow.
Sam, what impact do you think these strikes will actually have in terms of our missions in the Middle East?
SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, we have to look at this from a few perspectives -- force protection, counterterrorism, and countering Iran.
We have thousands of troops in Iraq, not to mention thousands of American civilians working with the U.S. military. They are going to stay in place. These strikes were meant to deter more attacks against those thousands of American personnel. They were defensive and really for force protection.
Second, from a counterterrorism perspective, KIH, Kata'ib al Hezbollah, has been targeting Americans for years. It was founded in about 2006 or 2007. And we have instituted counterterrorism operations to stop groups like KIH. This is sending a message that our counterterrorism operations within Iraq and Syria, where we have drawn down forces, are ongoing and are not just focused on countering groups like ISIS.
And finally, this is a major countering Iran message as well. I think it is critically important to note that Pompeo was standing next to members from the Pentagon in this briefing shortly ago, which sends a message that they are -- there's a whole government approach to counter Iran, whether that be with more sanctions or more military operations.
DEAN: That there is a lot of tools in the tool kit at work.
VINOGRAD: Exactly, and they're being used together.
DEAN: Right. And Trump is reportedly meeting with his national security team about these strikes. They are down in Florida with him.
And earlier today, he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin just days after Russia claimed it now has a hypersonic weapon. How big of a threat is that hypersonic weapon?
VINOGRAD: Well, we have to take everything Russia says with a grain of salt. They tend to exaggerate. But this hypersonic weapon travels at incredible speeds, and Russia claims that it can evade U.S. missile defense architecture.
We do know that Russian capabilities with respect to hypersonic weapons are well beyond ours, and China is also said to be developing hypersonic weapons, as well, so that is a threat. What's a bigger threat in the near term, however, is the broader arms control or arms out of control architecture disintegrating.
The United States withdrew from what's known as the INF Treaty. It governs a specific set of weapons that the U.S. and Russia had. We withdrew from that treaty. And now, another treaty, the New Start Treaty, is set to expire in 2021.
So the whole set of architecture that governs the kinds of weapons that we have is disintegrating, and we are teetering very quickly towards an arms race not just with Russia, but also with China while, of course, North Korea and Iran are developing their own capabilities.
[19:29:59]
DEAN: Yes, a lot of parts moving around on that one. Let's turn now from conventional weapons to cyber ones. There's reporting the administration is considering more offensive cyber operations against Russia. So going on the offense here. What are the pros and cons of those types of operations? VINOGRAD: This is a good reminder to read between the tweets because
President Trump is so focused on perceived domestic adversaries, but parts of the U.S. government really are upping the ante with our rivals and enemies abroad.
The United States has engaged in influence campaigns using both military and civilian efforts throughout history. What we're seeing now is a modernization of those influence campaigns by bringing them into cyberspace.
As you mentioned, we are taking this on the offensive and trying to target actors involved in information warfare against us. Reportedly, we did an operation against Russian trolls, and now we may be considering targeting security professionals and oligarchs perhaps aligned with Putin.
The question is if we do implement those operations, how Russia responds? There's a tit-for-tat cycle that could ensue, which makes the targeting critically important.
DEAN: Really important to have that. What's the next step exactly?
VINOGRAD: Right.
DEAN: After that often starts. All right, Samantha Vinograd --
VINOGRAD: Thank you.
DEAN: Always great to see you. Thanks so much.
VINOGRAD: Happy New Year.
DEAN: We're going to take a quick break and we will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEAN: President Trump launched his 2016 campaign with an attack on immigrants from Mexico saying Mexico was not sending its best, and then infamously calling Mexicans rapists.
But as CNN's Nick Valencia reports, one group of Hispanics near the border insist Trump is the candidate most in line with their values and they are campaigning for his reelection.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAY BACA, CHAIRMAN, BORDER HISPANICS FOR TRUMP: Are you a member of Border Hispanics yet?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I'm not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ray Baca has his work cut out for him. As the Chair of the Border Hispanics for Trump, living in the Democratic stronghold of El Paso, his goal is to get Latinos to help reelect the President. But the odds are against him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BACA: I'm with Border Hispanics for Trump. Are you? Have you heard of us?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALENCIA (voice over): As the 65-year-old sees it, there are countless Latinos who support the President, but are afraid to admit it. He hopes to convince them that their values are more in line with the G.O.P. and with Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BACA: I look at President Trump as the one who most closely represents my values.
VALENCIA (on camera): People will hear that and say, values? You know, what values does the President have? So, when you say that, what do you mean?
BACA: I mean supporting things that I support, like being against abortion, being for limited government involvement, being for border security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALENCIA (voice-over): Indeed, support for Trump in Texas among Latinos has remained steady at 30 percent, according to a recent CNN poll.
The unwavering support comes in the face of criticism over the President's rhetoric on the Latino community, which his critics, at best, see as offensive and, at worst, racist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALENCIA (on camera): How can you still support somebody who they see as saying racist things against the Latino community?
BACA: I disagree. I really don't think he's said things that are racist.
VALENCIA (voice-over): In August, 22 people were killed in a racist attack targeting Latinos at an El Paso Walmart. Baca says anyone who blames Trump because of his rhetoric and border policies is trying to make political hay of the shooting.
[19:35:12]
BACA: I just don't think you can hold a president -- or President Trump in particular -- responsible for the actions of a single madman.
VALENCIA (voice over): Baca agrees with the President on most things, but not everything. Mainly, though he supports the idea of a wall, he questions the practicality of building one across the entire U.S.- Mexico border, a signature issue for Trump and his base.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BACA: I see him with his faults. You know, I see him warts and all. I don't want to spend $200 billion a wall, if you can do it for $50 million and solve the problem.
I'm Ray Baca.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I remember you, Ray.
BACA: Well, good to see you. Good to see you.
VALENCIA (voice over): Tonight, Baca's pitch for Trump comes in an impromptu gathering of conservatives. But, even in a friendly crowd, it can be a hard sell.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will think about it. I will think about it. Thank you. Nice to meet you.
BACA: Okay, thank you. Bye-bye.
Can't win them all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALENCIA (voice over): But there are already some unlikely voters he doesn't have to win over.
VALENCIA (on camera): President Trump was the first President that you voted for?
BLANCA BINKLEY, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Yes.
VALENCIA (voice-over): Originally from Mexico, 29-year-old Blanca Binkley became a U.S. citizen just five years ago. She plans on voting for Trump again in 2020.
BINKLEY: Oftentimes, when I'm asked, but why? You know, or, like, I feel like someone's going to throw eggs at me or I'm going to be shunned from the Hispanic community, you know?
VALENCIA (voice over): Shunned by some, perhaps, but that's what Ray Baca and Trump are counting on.
BACA: We need to get our Hispanic brethren to quit voting Democrat simply because that's what they have always voted.
(APPLAUSE) VALENCIA (voice over): Nick Valencia, CNN, El Paso, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: Nick, thank you. From a billionaire showdown with the "National Enquirer" to a war on facts, to the Hollywood streaming wars. We are counting down the top media stories of 2019. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEAN: With 2020 now just days away, we're counting down the biggest media stories of the year from big moments in investigative journalism to the streaming wars, to Fox News and it's cozy relationship with the White House. CNN's Brian Stelter takes a look back at 2019
[19:40:07]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: A misinformation minefield feeding a war on truth. Plus, an abrupt departure, shocking investigations, and an alleged corporate cover-up. Here are the top nine media stories of 2019.
Number nine, Jeff Bezos versus "The National Enquirer." In January, the tabloid published a bombshell about the Amazon founder's love life. A month later, the tech billionaire, who also owns "The Washington Post," went public with a stunning allegation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Breaking now, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos accusing "The National Enquirer" of blackmail and extortion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STELTER: AMI, the parent company of "The Enquirer," denied trying to extort Bezos with racy pictures and texts. But Federal prosecutors began looking into the claim.
Later AMI's hedge fund owner announced a sale of the tabloid after reportedly becoming disgusted with "The Enquirer's" tactics. So will the company pay a legal price for tangling with Jeff Bezos? Well, that is still an open question.
Number eight, the fall of local news. While many big papers are gaining digital subscribers, local papers are struggling, and some are even going out of print.
Across the country, newsrooms are being hollowed out, leaving behind ghost papers that are shells of their former selves. America's biggest newspaper chains, Gatehouse and Gannett, just merged, and now they are making more cuts.
If there's a silver lining, it's that more people are subscribing to digital outlets. But local papers are critically important. It's where some of the best watchdog reporting comes from, which brings us to number seven.
A triumph of investigative journalism. The Jeffrey Epstein scandal was forced onto the national news radar thanks to one newspaper, "The Miami Herald." Intrepid reporting from the paper's Julie K. Brown effectively caused the case to be reopened.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will say we were assisted from some excellent investigative journalism.
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STELTER: And "The Herald's" reporting didn't just lead to Epstein's arrest, it also forced the exit of a Trump Cabinet member.
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POPPY HARLOW, CNN HOST: Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta resigning after the fallout from the sweetheart deal he gave to Jeffrey Epstein as a prosecutor a decade ago.
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STELTER: It's why local journalism is so crucial. It holds the powerful to account.
Number six is #MeToo, two years later. Women journalists are keeping the pressure on powerful men. Gayle King kept her composure as R. Kelly ranted.
The BBC's Emily Maitlis was widely praised for her interview of Prince Andrew. And more just keeps coming out. Ronan Farrow's "Catch and Kill" contained an explosive rape allegation against former "Today Show" host Matt Lauer, an accusation Lauer categorically denied.
Farrow also pointed a finger at NBC, alleging a corporate cover-up. NBC dismissed his book as distorted and inaccurate.
Number five, in Hollywood, the streaming wars are on. Apple TV Plus launched in November with programming from A-list talent. Disney Plus followed two weeks later, and 10 million subscribers signed up on the first day, crashing the platform early on.
CNN's parent company Warner Media unveiled its plans for HBO Max, and all of these companies are chasing Netflix, which doubled -- no, tripled down on original content. It funded Martin Scorsese's "The Irishman," mostly bypassing a traditional theatrical release.
Number four. It is Fox versus Fox, with news being squeezed out and pro-Trump opinion winning the day. At Fox News, the tensions built all year long.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Attacking our colleague, who is here to offer
legal assessments on our air in our work home is repugnant.
TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: Repugnant? Not clear if that was you or me, but someone is repugnant.
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STELTER: And adding to the pressure, President Trump lashed out whenever Democrats or dissenters appeared on Fox.
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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's something going on at Fox, I'll tell you right now, and I'm not happy with it.
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STELTER: The ultimate flash point came in October when chief news anchor Shepard Smith resigned.
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SHEPARD SMITH, FORMER FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: Even in our currently polarized nation, it's my hope that the facts will win the day, that the truth will always matter.
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STELTER: Smith provided a reality check to Fox's viewers, who pretty much hear pro-Trump talking points all day long. And now reporters at Fox are worried that Smith's exit has left a giant hole.
And that feeds right into number three, impeachments dueling media bunkers. The networks went wall-to-wall for the hearings. On day one, two career diplomats testified for six hours.
But in Fox's alternative universe, viewers heard that the hearing was a disaster and downright boring.
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LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: So, day one of this impeachment farce.
[19:45:10]
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: It was such a disaster.
DAN BONGINO, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CONTRIBUTOR: A triple full disaster for the Democrats.
INGRAHAM: A complete and utter disaster.
(END VIDEO CLIP) STELTER: All across the pro-Trump media universe, far-right websites
hyped clips of G.O.P. stars like Jim Jordan and Devin Nunes. Experts said that this echo chamber really helped protect Trump and exacerbated the country's divisions.
And all of this gets amplified on the web, which brings us to number two, the misinformation age, with deep fakes and dumb fakes, bots and trolls, making it harder and harder to know what is true.
Like a video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slowed down to make it seem like she was slurring her words. It racked up millions of views on Facebook, which refused to take it down.
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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Why keep it up, though?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We think it's important for people to make their own informed choice about what to believe.
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STELTER: And it's only getting worse heading into 2020. Facebook is sparking outrage for essentially allowing lies in political ads.
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REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): Do you see a potential problem here with a complete lack of fact-checking on political advertisements?
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STELTER: Facebook claims that its job is not to decide whether an ad is true or false, although the company is said to be considering some changes. Google already made a few tweaks, eliminating how political ads are microtargeted to people. And Twitter has stopped taking political ads entirely. But the big tech backlash is growing.
The constant haze of misinformation brings us to number one, the war on truth and the Trump administration's daily assault on facts.
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TRUMP: The Deep State and the failed ruling class.
The Democrats, the media, and the Deep State are desperate to stop us.
The opponents, the opposition, the Democrats, the radical left, Deep State, whatever you want to call them.
DON LEMON, CNN HOST: More gas lighting. There is no Deep State conspiracy. Nope.
(END VIDEO CLIP) STELTER: Trump's message is, don't believe your eyes, don't believe
your ears, only believe me. And it has undermined the trust in everything. Remember Sharpie-gate as Hurricane Dorian approached? Trump said Alabama was at risk when it wasn't. Even after weather officials tweeted a correction, the President persisted, holding up an altered map.
Agency staffers reportedly felt pressure to support his lies.
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COOPER: To say this out loud, it sounds ludicrous, but, as you point out, we have Federal employees getting reprimanded for accurately disclosing scientific truth.
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STELTER: That is a war on truth. And we see it again now with the assertion that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 election.
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CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: There's only one reason they're changing this story for you right now, and it's to confuse you and distract you and make you not care about it, because it doesn't seem to make sense anymore, because nothing is true.
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STELTER: Does anyone know what to believe anymore? And what does it mean for our democracy if we can no longer agree on objective truth? That is the challenge heading into 2020.
Brian Stelter, CNN, New York.
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DEAN: And here is a programming note for you. You can ring in the New Year with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen, Two best friends, one epic night. New Year's Eve Live begins Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. right here on CNN.
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DEAN: Breaking news. We have just learned a second victim has died in the church shooting in Texas. The news coming after police revealed stories of heroism and the attack in White Settlement.
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CHIEF J.P. BEVERING, WHITE SETTLEMENT, TEXAS POLICE: Today at approximately 11:50 a.m., a gunman entered the West Freeway Church of Christ, White Selma, Texas during the church service. The preliminary reports indicated that the man entered the church and fired a weapon. A couple of members of the church returned fire striking the suspect who died at the scene.
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DEAN: And as you just heard there, parishioners were able to return fire killing the suspect before police arrived. Officials now working to determine a motive for the shooting. They're going to look at new video from inside the church to determine exactly what happened and how it all unfolded.
I want to bring in now CNN National Security Analyst, Juliette Kayyem. She is a former Assistant Homeland Security Secretary. Juliette, great to have you with us.
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Thank you.
DEAN: Yes, we know the F.B.I. and A.T.F. have been dispatched to the shooting at the church in Texas, help us understand the significance of that.
KAYYEM: So I mean, in any case in which there might be a Federal crime, whether it's a hate crime or any other Federal criminal behavior, you would have the F.B.I. investigate, as well as A.T.F. We don't know when the Texas case exactly what the motive is. It is a place of worship. So you might wonder, and it's right to question whether it was related to sort of a religious animus, it might have also been you know, a family dispute. We just don't know yet.
So you're always going to want to have that federal nexus, in particular, where it's a place of worship. I think that's sort of what you heard from Governor Cuomo today, the sort of, you know, whatever the person's motivation is, whoever he may be, the very fact that it was a Rabbi's home, it was Hanukkah that was leads to, I think a sort of suspicion that it is a hate crime related to a Federal crime.
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DEAN: Yes. And as we've been reporting all evening, a terrifying 24 hours of violence and bloodshed with the attacks, one Jewish -- one targeting Jewish people, one targeting Christians.
We've been talking about Texas there a little bit. You mentioned New York, where we talked about a man with a knife who barged into a Rabbi's home outside New York, stabbing several people, sending five people to the hospital.
The house at the time was filled with people who were celebrating the seventh night of Hanukkah and New York Senator Chuck Schumer is calling on the F.B.I. to investigate the stabbing, and whether it has any other links to the numerous other attacks -- anti-Semitic attacks in New York. What kind of resources could the F.B.I. provide? Even right now there is no indication they will take over, but what could they provide?
KAYYEM: So they can, you know, provide obviously additional resources in terms of assisting New York, either the city or the county. These are -- New York is very sophisticated, so it probably has the resources that it needs.
I think the important thing to remember is when you need to -- we need to look at the totality of incidences across like just to say, 2019, let alone this last month. I think in each individual case, we can parse out, well, this was that person or that person had mental disability, you know, mental illnesses, and this person had these problems in terms of looking at the killers or assailants.
But the truth is, is if you look at the totality of hate crimes, focusing on places of worship, we do have an epidemic in this country, and so I think, what you're starting to see in particular from the Department of Homeland Security, which has the resources to support institutions of worship, across the board, any of them is starting to see, look, we're focused on the trends now, and that is that people are wreaking violence on places of worship.
I will say the challenge for places of worship, anyone who has faith is that you know, they are open for a reason. They want to be welcoming whether it's the immigrant, the refugee converts, whatever -- a church or synagogue or mosque -- wants to be welcoming, and then when you put ...
So if we say the answer is, let's get armed guards at every door and have people go through metal detectors that that you lose what it means to have a place of worship and to have faith. And I think that's the challenge for a lot of these places. They don't want to become like an airport.
DEAN: Right. Right. They want to maintain that openness. Well, Juliette Kayyem, thank you so much for your insight. We certainly do appreciate it. Have a great Sunday.
KAYYEM: Thank you.
DEAN: All right. We'll be right back.
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DEAN: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean in for Ana Cabrera in New York this evening and we begin tonight with Breaking News.
Georgia Congressman and legendary Civil Rights icon John Lewis has been diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer and will undergo treatment.
He released a statement today regarding his prognosis saying quote, "I've been in some kind of fight -- for freedom, equality, basic human rights -- for nearly my entire life.
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