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Christine McVie Of Fleetwood Mac Dies At 79; Use Of Artificial Intelligence May Predict Heart Attack, Stroke Risk; Secret Service Rental Cars Destroyed In Fire At Nantucket Airport; Attorney General Merrick Garland Addresses Oath Keepers Convictions And Jackson, Mississippi Water System. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired November 30, 2022 - 15:30   ET

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

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ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Some sad news from the music world. Christine McVie, the singer/song writer behind some of Fleetwood mac's biggest hits has died. Her family posting on Instagram.

Quote: She passed away peacefully at hospital this morning. She was in the company of her family. We would like everyone to keep Christine in their hearts and remember the life of an incredible human being and revered musician who was loved universally.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Fleetwood Mac paid tribute to McVie in a statement which was also posted on her account.

There are no words to describe our sadness at the passing of Christine McVie. She was truly one of a kind, special and talented beyond measure. McVie was 79.

CAMEROTA: Well, researchers believe they have found a way to use artificial intelligence to predict a person's risk of death from heart attack or stroke.

BLACKWELL: CNN's medical correspondent Dr. Tara Narula is here to explain. So, sounds great. How does it work?

DR. TARA NARULA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so this is my wheelhouse, my favorite topic, cardiology. Leading cause of death in men and women in this country. And so, as you said, if we can find a way to add to our ability to predict someone's risk in an event, that would be huge.

Right now, we use a risk calculator. And this study basically looked at the use of a single chest x-ray. And so, they basically they took 150,000 chest x-rays and plugged them in and generated an A.I. model and then they applied it in the world to 11,000 patients. And they in fact found that over those next ten years, the A.I. model with the chest x-rays was accurately or very closely predict the outcomes of those patients.

And so, this is definitely promising. I want to highlight though it is preliminary. This has not been published. This has not been peer reviewed. So, it's really more of a proof of concept but definitely interesting and exciting. The Holy Grail in cardiology is picking out those people who are high risk and getting them started on the road to prevention early.

CAMEROTA: OK, so tell us also about a promising study about Alzheimer's.

NARULA: Yes, so we've talked for so many years about failed drug after drug for Alzheimer's. We have symptomatic treatments but nothing that's really shown an improvement in the disease course for progression of the disease. This is really the first one that we have.

Phase three trial, about 1,800 patients published in the "New England Journal," followed for 18 months. Who got a monoclonal antibody infusion given once every two weeks, and they did showed a 27 percent slowing of decline in their cognitive function compared to those who did not get the drug.

On a scale that they measure cognitive functions on 0 to 18, this was less than a point.

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So, it's a small amount, but for those individuals with Alzheimer's, for those families, even small amounts can go a long way in terms of translating into months, days where function is improved where people can live independently and have conversations and be part of their families' lives. So, definitely exciting news. There are adverse effects associated. We want to point that out as well. There are some brain swelling, brain bleeding. So, it is going to have to be a decision that doctors make about Wayne those benefits with the potential side effects and risks.

BLACKWELL: A reason for some optimism though.

NARULA: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Narula, thank you.

NARULA: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: All right, listen to this. Multiple cars used by President Biden's Secret Service were destroyed in a fire at the Nantucket Airport. What we know about this strange incident next.

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CAMEROTA: CNN just learning that President Biden will greet the Prince and Princess of Wales this Friday in Boston. William and Kate arrived there today for an award ceremony honoring climate change advocates.

BLACKWELL: And the White House press secretary just announced that when the president is in Massachusetts for a Georgia Senate runoff fundraiser, he will greet the royals. The details according to the White House are still being finalized. Several rental cars used by the Secret Service for President Biden's

Thanksgiving trip ended up in flames at the Nantucket Airport.

CAMEROTA: The fire happened after secret service personnel dropped the vehicles after Sunday night and after President Biden left for D.C.

BLACKWELL: The Nantucket fire officials tell CNN that calls came in about a fire in the rental car area early Monday morning. They say the cause is undetermined and they don't consider the fire suspicious.

CAMEROTA: Now according to the Secret Service, there were no issues with the cars, and they were returned without incident. With us now is Jason Graziadei. He's the senior writer at the "Nantucket Current" who's been following this story. Jason, this is weird. How did the fire start?

JASON GRAZIADEI, SENIOR WRITER AT NANTUCKET MAGAZINE: So, we're not sure how it started yet, and as you guys said at the top, the cause is still but what fire officials are focused on is one of the vehicles is a Ford Expedition which was under a subject 2-A safety recall by the manufacturer, and they're focused on a faulty battery junction box that has caused vehicle fires.

CAMEROTA: Jason, I'm so sorry to interrupt you. Attorney General Merrick Garland is now speaking about the Oath Keepers.

MERRICK GARLAND, ATTORNEY GENERAL: ... yesterday evening, the five defendants associated with the Oath Keepers organization.

And yesterday afternoon I was briefed by the attorneys and staff were involved in a major environmental justice matter addressing long standing failures in the city of Jackson's public drinking water system.

Today I want to share more about these two significant matters of public interest. I also want to highlight several other matters that did not garner the same level of attention, but that are emblematic of the work that this department does every day.

When I began my tenure as Attorney General, I laid out three co-equal, core priorities for the Department of Justice. To uphold the rule of law, to keep our country safe, and to protect civil rights. Our work yesterday marked significant successes on each of these fronts. Early yesterday evening, a jury in the District of Columbia found five defendants associated with the Oath Keepers guilty of serious crimes related to the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol.

Two defendants were convicted of seditious conspiracy against the United States for conspiring to oppose by force, the peaceful transfer of presidential power. Those two defendants and the three other defendants were also convicted of obstructing the certification of the Electoral College vote.

And various defendants were also convicted of different additional felony counts ranging from conspiring to prevent members of Congress from discharging their duties to interfering with law enforcement officers attempting to guard the Capitol during the attack, to tampering with relevant evidence after the fact.

These convictions were the result of tireless work by Justice Department agents, attorneys, analysts, and support staff beginning in January 2021 with a methodical collection of evidence and continuing through the presentation of that evidence during the seven-week trial that began in October of 2022. Their skill and dedication are in the very best tradition of the Justice Department and we are all extremely grateful to them.

During the trial, the government's evidence showed that almost immediately following the November 2020 election, defendant Stewart Rhodes, the founder and leader of the Oath Keepers began planning to oppose by force the peaceful transfer of power. With Rhodes, defendants Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins and Thomas Caldwell communicated and planned to travel to Washington on or around January 6, 2021.

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On January 6th as the government's evidence showed, defendants Meggs, Harrelson, and Watkins forcefully breached the U.S. Capitol wearing paramilitary gear while defendants Rhodes and Caldwell remained outside on the Capitol grounds coordinating activities.

Last evening a jury of the defendant's peers found each of them guilty of serious felony offenses. As the verdict of this case makes clear, the department will work tirelessly to hold accountable those responsible for crimes related to the attack on our democracy on January 6, 2021.

Yesterday, the department also secured a significant achievement for environmental justice in Jackson, Mississippi. In August of this year, a water system failure caused many Jackson residents to lose access to running water for over a week. This resulted in local, state, and federal emergency declarations, and the deployment of emergency responders and drinking water infrastructure experts to Jackson. And as the residents of Jackson know all too well, the August failure occurred after years of problems with the water system.

Attorneys and staff from our environment and natural resources divisions, environmental enforcement section, from the newly formed Office of Environmental Justice, and from the United States attorney's office for the Southern District of Mississippi quickly went to work with our partners at EPA to address the water crisis facing 160,000 residents of Jackson and Hinds County.

Yesterday on behalf of the EPA, the department filed a federal complaint against the city alleging that it has failed to provide drinking water that is reliably compliant with the Safe Drinking Water Act.

At the same time, we filed a proposed interim order signed and agreed to by the city of Jackson, the Mississippi State Department of Health and the EPA. The proposed order is designed to stabilize the city's public drinking water system while the United States, the city, and the State Department of Health attempt to negotiate a judicially enforceable consent decree to achieve the long-term sustainability of the water system.

The proposed order would appoint an interim third party manager to manage the city's drinking water system and implement a set of priority projects that are needed to remedy problems that have contributed to the city's water crisis. Yesterday evening, the court approved the interim order giving it immediate effect.

Much remains to be done, and the Justice Department and our partners at EPA will continue to work closely with the community to reach a long-term agreement that can ensure the delivery of reliable, clean drinking water. In doing this work, the department's newly created Office of Environmental Justice will continue to play a critical role engaging with the community on the ground in Jackson.

Although environmental justice can happen anywhere -- injustice can happen anywhere, communities of color, indigenous communities, and low income communities often bear the brunt of these harms. As we work to fulfill our responsibility to keep the American people safe, to protect civil rights, we will continue to prioritize cases like this one that will have the greatest impact on communities most burdened by environmental harm.

I am very proud of the attorneys, investigators, and staff whose unwavering commit of rule of law and tireless work resulted yesterday in these two significant victories for the American people. I am also very proud of the other work that was being done at the very same time yesterday across the department, work that drew less public attention than the two matters I've just discussed, but that is no less important in fulfilling this department's mission. I'll mention only a few examples.

Yesterday in Kentucky, we obtained an indictment alleging that an individual conspired with others to trick seniors across the country into sending cash payments under false pretenses that a grandchild or a loved one was in a car accident or legal trouble.

Yesterday in Michigan, an individual was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the sexual exploitation of a child.

Yesterday in Puerto Rico, an individual convicted of a hate crime against a transgender woman was sentenced to federal prison.

Yesterday in Virginia, the department secured a guilty plea from an individual who illegally purchase aid fired a firearm that was use in three shootings.

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Yesterday in Washington state, an individual was sentenced for providing material support to ISIS, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

Yesterday in Alabama, the department charged an individual with allegedly smuggling parts used in the oil and gas industry from the United States to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions.

And yesterday in California, ten defendants associated with a violent prison gang pled guilty to drug trafficking offenses.

These cases represents just a small fraction of the work professionals of the department did yesterday and a small fraction of the work that they do every day to uphold the rule of law, to keep this country safe and to protect civil rights of all Americans. It is an honor to work alongside them. And I'll take a few questions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's the timeline for when residents in Jackson, who are desperate to have their water be better quality, what's the time line for when they might be able to see a marked improvement in the water crisis there?

GARLAND: Oh, I would say this to the citizens of Jackson. We realize how horrible the circumstances are there. It's hard to imagine not being able to turn on a tap and get safe drinking water. We are approaching with this with the greatest possible urgency. And we believe our partners in this are doing so as well. So, we will bring this to conclusion as soon as we possibly can.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I could follow-up. Why did the department want to take this dual action of an order as well as a complaint against the city? And how does that sort of connect to the department's overall environmental justice stance?

GARLAND: Two parts of the question, which is fine with me. So, the first part is we have to get something done immediately. The water is a problem right now and we can't wait until a complaint is resolved. So, the first thing we want to do is get an interim order, get the judge to sign -- which the judge did last night -- so that we can put in an interim manager and stabilize the circumstances. That's the purpose of the interim order.

The purpose of the complaint is to allow us to negotiate or at least to attempt to negotiate a consent decree which will then be judicially enforceable. And that's the second part of your question.

Now as for the -- how it relates to an environmental justice. In May of this year, we issued a comprehensive strategy for environmental justice, part of which -- the first part of which is to prioritize actions in cases of overburdened and underserved communities. And that's what we are doing with respect to Jackson.

The department's founding purpose was to protect civil rights of American citizens. Part of the reason that I wanted to be the Attorney General was to work on those problems. This is an example of our using all the resources of the Justice Department and civil rights issues -- not only the civil rights division, but civil rights are an element of the environment division, of every part of this component and of the work that every employee of this department in their ordinary, everyday work employs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell us if you have had a chance to meet face-to-face yet with the Special Counsel Smith? And how does the process stand of getting him up to speed on investigations he is supposed to supervise, which as we know from these trials and so forth have been underway for more than a year? GARLAND: So, obviously, in the course of deciding on Mr. Smith as

special counsel, I did meet with him. He has been meeting with the members of his team to get up to speed. They already know he's signed a pleading in the 11th circuit. He promised to the American people in his own statement that there would be no pause or hiccup in his work. And I understand that that is exactly what's going on now.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Attorney General, the committee on The Hill that is investigating January 6 is almost finished with their work. And one of the things we know that the department has been pushing for is access to some of the transcripts. Our understanding is that is still a work in progress. Can you give us an update on whether the department is still pushing to get access to all of the transcripts of the witnesses that that committee has met with?

GARLAND: We would like to have all the transcripts and the other evidence collected by the committee so that we can use it in the ordinary course of our investigations.

PEREZ: Are you satisfied that you have had the access that you need?

GARLAND: We are asking for access to all of the transcripts. And that's really all I can say right now.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does the Rhodes verdict yesterday, does that create momentum within the DOJ to pursue similar charges against others people who were not present at (INAUDIBLE)? I know this would be more special counsel (INAUDIBLE).

GARLAND: Well, I don't want to speculate on other investigations or other the parts of other investigations. This is -- this particular case is about Mr. Rhodes and the other four defendants. As you know, there's another set of Oath Keepers who start on Monday. And I don't want to talk anymore in light of the fact that there's another trial beginning on Monday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, thanks, everybody. Enjoy the rest of your day, thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right, some remarks there from Attorney General Merrick Garland on several issues. Let's bring in now senior legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid, senior national correspondent Sara Sidner and CNN's legal analyst Elliot Williams. Paula, let me start with you. A bit of a victory lap on the seditious conspiracy theories. And initially there was not a consensus in the DOJ that these were even the charges to bring against some of these members of the Oath Keepers.

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: That's right exactly right. There was some reluctance even on the part of the Attorney General. But now that they have secured these two convictions against two defendants for seditious conspiracy, the Attorney General taking a moment to do a victory lap here. This is really significant. Because here a jury weighed the evidence, assessed it and found that what happened on January 6 was not spontaneous. But instead, the product of an organized conspiracy.

And you could see what the Attorney General was really trying to say here is, look, we do more work here at the Justice Department than just these high-profile political investigations into the former president and his associates. And Victor, over the past seven years or so, there has been frustration inside the Justice Department that so much of the attention goes to the high-profile political investigations, either into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails, the Mueller probe, now the two investigations into former President Trump.

But they do so much more work on a day-to-day basis. So here he was seizing the spotlight to celebrate the prosecutors in the Oath Keepers trial, highlight their civil rights work in Mississippi, in addition to other things that they are working on.

CAMEROTA: Sara, you've covered both of these stories extensively but let's start with the Oath Keepers. How significant is this conviction of these ringleaders?

SARA SIDNER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's extremely significant. And you will notice that Mr. Garland pointed out certain names. And one of the names, the first one he brought up was Stewart Rhodes -- who was the founder of the Oath Keepers. This is a message to the leaders of groups that are extremist groups -- in this case a far right militia style extremist anti-government group.

This is a message to the leadership to say, if you go forward and do some of these things like trying to stop the peaceful transfer of power in the United States, we are coming for you. And a jury is going to see all the evidence. And in this case, a jury convicted two of the five members of this group, one of them was an associate of the group, for seditious conspiracy. The charge is very difficult. It is a very rare charge, a charge we haven't seen levied against an American in about a decade, more than a decade. And so, it's not something that the Justice Department would take lightly or anyone would take lightly.

But this I think really sends a message, particularly to the leadership of some of these groups. It was not a slam dunk. We should be clear. There were a lot of charges that the jury acquitted some of these five defendants on as well.

BLACKWELL: Elliot, on this two-pronged approach of getting the people of Jackson, Mississippi and Hinds County clean drinking water, what do you make of this strategy that we heard from the Attorney General?

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: You know, look, just, Victor, big picture, in my final stint at the Justice Department, Attorney General Wirt used to always say to us that Justice Department is the only office in the government named after a value, securing justice for people. And it's a very powerful tool of the Justice Department has in its civil enforcement authority to seek these kinds of consent decrees. You see it in the civil rights context all the time. It's not uncommon to file a suit like this, use that as a negotiating

tool to get everybody to come to the table, the community, stakeholders, citizens and law enforcement, to come to some consensus that make people's lives better.

Backing up Paula's point, we focus on the political investigations and politicians being investigated. This is the very, very important work that the 115,000 people at the Justice Department do every day and they should be celebrating it.

And frankly, given all the criticism that the Attorney General took and has taken for being slow to the punch when it comes to the victory laps, this is the kind of work that they ought to be trumpeting much more.

CAMEROTA: Sara, your thoughts on what we heard about Jackson, Mississippi.

SIDNER: Look, it's really, really, really important. We have been to Jackson, Mississippi and we continue to go to Jackson, Mississippi. My producer and I Meredith Edwards have been going there to talk to some of the residents there. I will tell you right now that here is the big problem.

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They need someone to make sure that the water that runs through their taps is safe or they have water at all. There is a huge trust deficit. And this might help deal with that.

CAMEROTA: Yes, well thank you both for helping us just, you know, parse through everything that the Attorney General announced, right. He's not somebody who often touts their work. But he made a point of doing so today. Sara, Elliot thank you.

And "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.