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New Study on Gun Laws and Violence; FBI Searches Rep. Cuellar's Home; Florida Bill on Racist History; Mysterious Havana Syndrome Attacks; Pope Benedict Knew of Abuse; New Reports Says Alcohol is Not Good for Your Heart. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired January 20, 2022 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:30:22]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: This just in to CNN. A new study that shows states with weaker gun laws have higher rates of both firearm-related homicides and suicides.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: CNN'S Brynn Gingras joins us from New York.

And, Brynn, what exactly does this data show.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Bianna and Jim, this coming from Everytown, the country's largest non-profit, that analyzes -- or rather advocates for gun control. And it's giving this data first to our colleagues, Emma Tucker and Priya Krishna Kumar.

Now, the non-profit's hope is just the visual of this will be the tool lawmakers looking into legislation this year, journalists, supporters of gun control need to make their case clear that more gun control measures has an impact on violence and deaths by guns in this country.

And so what Everytown did was analyze data from the CDC which looked at each state's rate of gun deaths in 2020 and then it compared that with 50 policies that it says are scientifically proven to work in preventing gun violence, with the most important ones being things like required background checks, permits to carry, concealed guns in public and laws requiring secure storage of guns.

So, let's look at these two maps to help you further understand what's going on here. According to Everytown's research, the darker the blue the state, the higher the score got for strength in gun laws. Now, focus on California, for example. It has strong gun laws. Then look at one of the states in white, like Mississippi. Now, let's look at a different map and compare it to this, which shows each state's gun death rate per 100,000 people. California there again now shaded lightly, meaning a allow number of deaths. Mississippi, in dark red, where gun laws are not strict, with a 28.6 percent gun-related death rate.

So, again, guys, this study, according to Everytown's leaders, proves gun laws save lives. And the hope again is it will help with legislative efforts moving forward.

Bianna.

SCIUTTO: You know, it's interesting, Brynn and Bianna, when I've spoken to law enforcement in states that actually have stricter gun laws, they say one problem they have are guns coming in from states with less restrictive gun laws.

GINGRAS: Right.

SCIUTTO: There's a pipeline there, so even they have been affected by this. It's notable.

GINGRAS: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, pretty eye-opening study and data there.

Brynn Gingras, thank you.

Well, this also just in to CNN. CNN has learned that the FBI has searched a building housing Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar's campaign office, as well as searching the Texas congressman's home in Laredo. The reason behind the searches is still unclear.

SCIUTTO: CNN's senior justice correspondent Evan Perez following this story.

Evan, I know it's early, but what more do we know at this point?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim and Bianna, we know -- we knew the FBI was at the congressman's home yesterday. And then later on we learned that the FBI also was conducting a search at a building that houses his campaign office there in Laredo, Texas.

What we know is, from the FBI, is that they say that they were conducting a court authorized activity, which is the FBI's language for essentially a search warrant being executed. Reporters there on the scene reported seeing agents coming out with bags and bins full of what we believe are evidence, as well as a computer, taking photographs of some items as well.

And as you pointed out, at this point, we don't know exactly what this is about. Cuellar's office put out a statement saying that they will cooperate with any investigation that is ongoing. We know, at this point, Jim and Bianna, that the prosecutors who handle public integrity cases, this is the public corruption unit of the Justice Department, are among those who are involved in this investigation. Beyond that, we don't know exactly what the specifics of this investigation are at this point.

Jim and Bianna.

SCIUTTO: We know you'll stay on top of it.

Evan Perez, thanks very much.

PEREZ: Sure.

SCIUTTO: Well, Florida's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, is now backing a bill that would ban public schools and private businesses from making people feel discomfort on the basis of race, sex, or national origin. The bill just passed out of committee on a party line vote.

GOLODRYGA: So, here's what it does. It prohibits training or instruction that could cause any guilt or anguish in one group based on the actions of their ancestors. Critics say it's an obvious attempt to whitewash history.

Here's how the governor has defended the bill.

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GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): If you think about what MLK stood for, he said he didn't want people judged on the color of their skin but on the content of their character. You listen to some of these people nowadays, they don't talk about that.

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[09:35:00]

SCIUTTO: We should note, MLK, Martin Luther King Jr., also said, quote, whites, it must frankly be said, are not putting in a massive effort to reeducate themselves out of their racial ignorance. It is an aspect of their sense of superiority that the white people of America believe they have so little to learn.

Bianna, a consistent phenomenon here, right, is taking quotes out of context.

GOLODRYGA: People choose to hear and repeat what they want to, right?

SCIUTTO: Yes, pick and choose. Yes.

GOLODRYGA: So let's bring in CNN anchor of "EARLY START," Laura Jarrett.

Laura, from a legal perspective, what else do we know about this bill?

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR, "EARLY START": Guys, good morning.

So, the bill is known as Individual Freedom, but as you pointed out, aside from selective MLK quotes, the bill actually appears aimed at limiting freedom, not only in schools, as we've seen across the country, bills aimed at doing that, but this one actually takes aim at what's happening in workplaces, specifically workplace training.

So, you went through a little bit of this. But let's just sort of walk through what the bill actually does.

The most controversial part, it seems, is that it bans making people feel uncomfortable, to use its words, discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress, not only on account of race but sex. So, you can imagine someone sitting through a workplace training on sexual harassment feeling under attack about that, they would now be able to do something about it and say that that's unlawful.

The bill also talks about teachers addressing things in an age- appropriate manner. And then it also prohibits employee trainings that make people feel guilty on account of what others of their race have done, essentially going after white guilt.

Now, you can imagine there is some pushback, some strong pushback from the Democrats on this bill. One was on "NEW DAY," Shevrin Jones. Here's what he said.

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SHEVRIN D. JONES (D), FLORIDA STATE SENATE: I taught in a predominantly white school. And at no time did a parent or a child come up and say, during black history month or any other time, that they were uncomfortable. This is a continuation of Donald Trump's and his allies and his base carrying and they've been carrying over to Don -- to Ron DeSantis and his allies and his base of the big lie that the critical race theory is the biggest issue of our time, and it's just not.

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JARRETT: So, you hear Jones there really cueing in on the fact that this is much -- this is part of a much larger conversation about race and how history is taught in schools. But teachers, you see here say, basically, it's a solution in search of a problem. That critical race theory is not being taught in schools. Children are not being taught that white people should feel guilty about slavery. And what this is really going to do is open the door to censorship and lawsuits that's really going to stifle academic freedom, guys.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, making it much more difficult for teachers and really complicated, right, to navigate how you even enforce this law.

JARRETT: Yes, the language is so broad and so vague, it's going to get challenged.

GOLODRYGA: Yes.

Well, Laura Jarrett, thank you so much for breaking that down for us.

JARRETT: Sure.

GOLODRYGA: And still ahead, CNN is learning that an investigation found Pope Benedict knew about priests abusing children when he was archbishop of Munich, despite his repeated long standing denials. A live report straight ahead.

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[09:42:50] GOLODRYGA: The CIA says the mysterious Havana syndrome, which has sickened hundreds of U.S. officials around the globe, is unlikely a widespread campaign against U.S. personnel by foreign actors.

SCIUTTO: This is a notable development. There have been hard questions about this for years.

CNN reporter Katie Bo Lillis joins us now with more.

So Katie Bo, CIA says this is not a, quote, sustained worldwide campaign, but they are still looking at some of these incidents. So I suppose clarify for us what they're saying here, what you've learned and what they're not eliminating here.

KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN REPORTER: Yes, so, for years, U.S. service members, spies, diplomats overseas have been being struck by this sort of mysterious constellation of symptoms. It's everything from headaches, to nausea, to head pressure. In some cases, U.S. personnel have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and have been so ill that they have been forced to retire. There's been a thousand of these reports, roughly, that have come in over the -- over the last few years from around -- from around the globe.

Now, what we have learned is that the CIA task force that has been investigating these incidents and trying to figure out who or what is behind them have issued interim findings that the majority of those thousand reports can actually be attributed to other things. They can be attributed to previously undiagnosed medical conditions, for example, or environmental factors.

Now, officials have really stressed that this does not mean that they don't believe Havana syndrome is real. What it means is that they have been able to assess that it's unlikely that Russia or any other nation is carrying out some sort of vast campaign globally to try to harm U.S. personnel in dozens of hot spots around the globe. But they have zeroed in on about two dozen cases that the CIA doesn't have an explanation for from any other known cause, and in those instances they have not ruled out the possibility that the episodes have been caused by some kind of attack.

But the bottom line here, Jim, is, those two dozen cases, even though they've become the focal point of the CIA's investigation, are some of the toughest ones that the CIA has to look into, and they don't really have any evidence that any other nation state is behind it.

[09:45:08]

They don't really have any evidence or sort of common data patterns to help them draw conclusions about attribution at all.

At the end of the day, as one CIA official put it to us last night, this is one of the hardest analytical problems that the CIA has been faced with in years.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. SCIUTTO: It will be interesting to see how this is -- this answer is received, right? Because as you know, Katie Bo, this is an issue of major, major concern among U.S. diplomats and others deployed overseas.

Katie Bo Lillis, thanks for the reporting.

LILLIS: Sure.

SCIUTTO: New this morning, investigators say that Pope Benedict knew -- knew about priests who abused children when he was the archbishop of Munich in the late '70s and early '80s.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, a major revelation here. Lawyers just saying in a revealing findings of an inquest into sexual abuse at the Munich archdiocese over several decades. The new revolutions are a damning judgment on the former pope following years of speculation about just how much he knew.

CNN's Delia Gallagher is live in Rome and joins us now.

So, Delia, what exactly is the Vatican saying in response to this?

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, the report has just come out about two hours ago. It was prefaced by a press conference from Germany on the part of the investigators who gave some details. So the Vatican has issued an initial statement saying this, the Holy See considers that appropriate attention should be paid to the document whose contents are presently unknown. In coming days, following its publication, the Holy See will be able to give it a careful and detailed examination.

So, they say that, obviously, because they were not privy to this document before it came out, although it was commissioned by the archdiocese of Munich as many catholic diocese have been doing for a historical reckoning. It spans 75 years of what happened in -- with sexual abuse in he archdiocese. So, obviously, it will take time to comb through and find out all the details.

But the principle findings we know because the investigators reported them at the press conference just a few hours ago, which implicate the Pope Emeritus, when he was archbishop there, in mishandling four cases and also importantly the current archbishop of Munich, Cardinal Marx (ph), who is a good friend, close advisor to Pope Francis, implicated in mishandling two cases of sexual abuse.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

GALLAGHER: We're going to hear from Cardinal Marx in about 45 minutes. He will give a statement. We have not yet heard from Pope Benedict. But, presumably, the Vatican will be coming up with a response to these findings in the coming days, as they say.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: Delia Gallagher, I know you will be covering this story for us as we do hear more from the Vatican in response to these damning allegations and reports. Thank you.

Well, you heard it before, red wine is good for your heart, right? But is it really? New information that may make you want to reconsider that next drink.

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[09:52:23]

GOLODRYGA: A U.S. Marine has been charged after a military tactical vehicle he was driving overturned in North Carolina on Wednesday. The 19-year-old driver was trying to make a right turn at the intersection when it overturned into the median, throwing passengers out. A second military vehicle was also being operated at the time but was unable to come to a stop and hit one of the ejected passengers. A total of two service members were killed, 17 others were injured. The driver now faces one count of exceeding a safe speed and two counts of misdemeanor death by motor vehicle.

SCIUTTO: Goodness, two service members killed.

Well, two men have been arrested now in England as part of the ongoing investigation into the Texas synagogue hostage incident. Authorities say both men remain in custody for questioning as they try to find out why a 44-year-old British national held four people hostage at Beth Israel Synagogue last weekend. The standoff lasted for about 11 hours before a rescue team entered the building, killed the hostage-taker. Thankfully, all the hostages were safely released.

Shifting gears now, the World Heart Federation is now warning that no amount of alcohol is good for your heart. Even, Bianna, with all we've heard about, say, the benefits of red wine.

GOLODRYGA: Right, resveratrol, right, that was supposed to help people when they drink red wine.

Well, this is despite previous suggestions that moderate amounts of red wine may decrease the risk of heart disease.

CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now.

And, Elizabeth, one could be forgiven for being confused by all of this seemingly conflicted data in studies that come out suggesting that wine is good for you and now that it's not.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: What does this report reveal?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

So, what this report looks at is deaths from heart disease, as well as from other diseases due to alcohol. An I know we heard for decades wine is good for you, alcohol is good for you But, really, research that's been done since then shows that maybe that wasn't right. Maybe red wine is good for you. But the flavonoids and other elements in it, you can also get that in blueberries. You can also get that in grapes. It doesn't need to be wine.

So, let's take a look at this study and what they found regarding deaths due to alcohol and also illness.

So, what they found is that heart problems have been associated with alcohol, as well as high blood pressure, stroke, and several types of cancer.

Now, when we're talking about cancer, it's really interesting because some cancer deaths have been associated even with people who are moderate drinkers who really aren't drinking all that much. So, all of the sort of hype that we heard for decades that alcohol might be good, research since then, because we know research, you know, continues on and on, research since then has shown that maybe that wasn't quite right.

[09:55:10]

There don't seem to be health benefits of alcohol. And, in fact, there are many problems with drinking alcohol. I haven't even talked about mental health issues and all of that. So, the general agreement here is that no amount of alcohol is necessarily good. It doesn't mean that small amounts are bad, but don't think, oh, I'm doing something good for myself if you decide to drink.

SCIUTTO: Elizabeth Cohen.

GOLODRYGA: So I guess pass on the wine and eat some grapes instead, right?

COHEN: Maybe that.

SCIUTTO: Don't tell that to -- don't tell that to the Italians, myself included, or John Boehner, by the way.

GOLODRYGA: Exactly.

SCIUTTO: Elizabeth Cohen, thanks very much.

COHEN: Thanks.

SCIUTTO: An alarming prediction from President Biden. He says that Russia, in his view, will ultimately move into Ukraine. More on what exactly he, the U.S., its NATO allies plan to do if that happens. That's coming up.

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