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Brittney Griner Back In U.S. After Russian Prisoner Swap; Russia Demanded Spy Held In Germany Freed In Exchange For Whelan; Interview With Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD); Sports Writer Grant Wahl Dies While Covering Quarterfinals; Police Look For Car Spotted Near Scene Of Idaho Stabbings; Police Look For Car Spotted Near Scene Of Idaho Stabbings; Backstreet Boy, Nick Carter, Accused Of Raping Teen On Tour Bus In 2001; Celine Dion Reveals She Has Rare Neurological Syndrome; Jennifer Lawrence Clarifies Remark About Female-Led Action Films; Iran Signals More Executions Linked To Protests In Coming Days. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired December 10, 2022 - 17:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:00:29]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

Basketball star Brittney Griner is back at home after spending months in Russian custody. And her wife is speaking out today in a new Instagram statement.

She says this. Yesterday my heart was made whole, thanks to the collective efforts of many. I'm humbled by their hearts. To care for another, a stranger to some, a friend to some is humanity in its purest form. As BG and I start our journey to heal our minds, body and spirits, I wanted to personally say thank you to some of the hands seen and unseen that helped make it possible to see my wife again."

CNN's Alex Marquardt has more on how this deal to bring Brittney home came together.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: The dramatic moment of the high stakes prisoner swap -- Brittney Griner in the red coat walking towards the American plane. Coming towards them, State Department official Roger Carstens (ph) accompanying Viktor Bout, who is hugged by a Russian official.

This new video from Russian state media shows Griner leaving Russian detention and boarding the plane in the snow. Her passport returned, Griner smiles, knowing she's heading home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you ready for your flight?

BRITTNEY GRINER, WNBA PLAYER: Yes. JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Congratulations.

MARQUARDT: Back in the U.S., Griner's wife Cherelle was invited to the White House.

CHERELLE GRINER, BRITTNEY GRINER'S WIFE: Today I'm just standing here overwhelmed with emotions but the most important emotion that I have right now is just sincere gratitude for President Biden and his entire administration.

MARQUARDT: The release was the culmination of many months of negotiations with Russia.

BIDEN: This work is not easy. Negotiations are always difficult. There are never any guarantees. But it's my job as president of the United States to make the hard calls and protect American citizens anywhere in the world.

MARQUARDT: The WNBA star, who was caught with cannabis oil entering Russia, spent ten months in Russian detention. But now she's spared from a brutal nine-year sentence in a Russian penal colony.

U.S. officials said that the trade for notorious Russian weapons smuggler Viktor Bout was finalize din the past 48 hours. Griner was moved from her prison to Moscow before being flown to Abu Dhabi, where the exchange took place on the tarmac of a small private airfield.

BIDEN: I'm glad to be able to say that Brittney is in good spirits. She's relieved to finally be heading home.

MARQUARDT: The U.S. wanted to trade Bout for both Griner and American Paul Whelan, but Russia refused. In an exclusive interview from his penal colony, Whelan told CNN he's surprised he wasn't included.

PAUL WHELAN, AMERICAN MARINE IN RUSSIAN PRISONER: I'm greatly disappointed that more has not been done to secure my release. I'm happy that Brittney is going home today and that Trevor went home when he did, but I don't understand why I'm still sitting here. My bags are packed, I'm ready to go home.

MARQUARDT: Whelan told CNN that the Russians see him at a higher level than Griner. He's been charged with espionage and sentenced to 16 years.

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. STATE SECRETARY: This was not a choice of which American to bring home. The choice was one or none. I wholeheartedly wish that we could have brought Paul home today on the same plane as Brittney.

MARQUARDT: The big question now is how to get Paul Whelan home. Who will the Russians want in exchange and is the U.S. willing to do it?

Whelan, clearly frustrated, told CNN that Russia got the better of Thursday's deal. He said that Griner was traded for what he called a world class felon and now Russia is dangling him, Paul Whelan, over President Biden's head and will ask for something big. Alex Marquardt, CNN -- Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: And we are getting remarkable new details about who Russia wanted in exchange for Whelan. CNN has learned that Russia demanded the U.S. secure the freedom of a former colonel from Russia's spy agency but the U.S. could not deliver on that request because that colonel is currently serving a life sentence for murder in Germany. The U.S. offered other prisoners for the swap but that deal never came together.

Here's more of what Whelan said during a call with CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHELAN: What I don't understand is why nothing has happened to this point and what the road map is for my release in the future. My parents are older, my dog is 14-and-a-half. If I'm stuck here much longer, I'm in danger of never seeing any of them again.

[17:04:53]

WHELAN: And for why? Because America and Russia don't get along diplomatically? They don't get along politically? This is four years of my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And joining me now is Democratic Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland. Senator Cardin sits on the Foreign Relations Committee. Senator, thanks so much for being with us again. We appreciate it.

Your heart breaks obviously listening to Paul Whelan. If Russia sticks to what seems like this impossible request though to free this prisoner in Germany who isn't under our jurisdiction, what does the U.S. do to get Whelan home and I guess what do you say to Paul Whelan?

CARDIN: Well Jim, first, it's good to be with you. And of course, we want to get all Americans who are inappropriately detained back here in the United States. We're very pleased that Brittney is back in the United States.

We will continue to do everything we can to bring Paul back home. That's what we do. We recognize where countries that are using leverage to try to hold Americans that are wrong. We think they should release them and we will do everything we can to bring these people back home. So we'll never give up on Paul until he's back here in the United States.

ACOSTA: And when it comes to the prisoner swap of Brittney Griner for that Russian arms dealer, Viktor Bout, some Republicans, including the House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy were deeply critical. Let's listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: I'm glad an American's coming home. She was arrested for a trumped up charge. But to exchange the merchant of death for this? It's made us weaker. It's made Putin stronger and it's made Americans more vulnerable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Senator, what's your reaction to that?

CARDIN: Well, negotiations are always challenging. I'm glad that we were able to get Brittney back home. This Viktor Bout was in prison for 15 years. You have to deal with what we can deal with. So the bottom line is we got the American back home.

ACOSTA: And what about the longstanding concern that these high profile prisoner exchanges could incentivize nations unfriendly to the U.S. to imprison Americans under false pretenses?

CARDIN: They don't need any incentive to do that. We already see them look for any excuse to detain an American. That's why we have travel advisories. And we advise Americans not to travel in these countries.

So we know there's a risk factor. And regardless of exchanges that Americans are at risk. Follow the State Department's advice. And if it's a country that is at high risk of detaining an American, you shouldn't go to those countries.

ACOSTA: And just to follow up on that, we were talking to the head of the WNBA's Players Union in the last hour and we were talking to her about whether or not it's a good idea for women's basketball players -- they go to Russia to earn more money because of the pay disparity between the NBA and WNBA. Do you think it's a good idea for American professional basketball players to be go going over to Russia -- American professional athletes to be going over to Russia to make extra money? It sounds like not a good idea in this day and age.

CARDIN: I don't think it's a good idea at all. I mean Jim, as we look at it right now, we know that Mr. Putin has committed war crimes. We know what he's doing in Ukraine. We see what he's doing generally in trying to bring down our democratic institutions.

We know that nothing is beyond his tactics. I can tell you that many of us are banned from going to Russia and we would not feel safe if we were in that country.

ACOSTA: Let me ask you about the news in the Senate yesterday that Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona is leaving the Democratic Party to become an Independent? What did you think when you heard that and have you talked to any of your fellow Democrats who are grumbling a little bit about this?

CARDIN: Well, you know, Senator Sinema is very independent, we know that. She has been very constructive in getting legislation to the finish line. I do not believe her decision to identify as an Independent will change the organizational issues in the next Congress. The majority controlled by Democrats will have a 51-49 ratio for our

committees and for our leadership. So it will not affect the organization of the Senate.

And I don't think, quite frankly, it will affect Senator Sinema's activities in the Senate. She works across party lines. She works with Democrats and Republicans. I've worked with her on several issues and I'm looking forward to working with her in the 117th Congress.

ACOSTA: So is this kind of like Angus King, the senator from Maine, is an Independent but he caucuses with the Democrats? Is it your understanding that it's going to be essentially that kind of a situation?

CARDIN: It's my understanding that she's seeking her committees through the Democrats, which for all intents and purposes means that we have 51 seats for the committee ratios and to be able to report bills out of committee. So it allows us to have the advantage of 51 Democratic senators.

[17:10:00]

ACOSTA: All right. And we know the Democrats were fighting pretty hard for that 51-seat majority.

Senator Ben Cardin, thanks very much for your time. We appreciate it as always.

CARDIN: Jim, good to be with you. Have a happy holiday.

ACOSTA: And you as well. Thank you.

Coming up, renowned sports journalist Grant Wahl dies after collapsing at the Qatar World Cup. The circumstances not yet clear. We'll have the very latest next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: A shocking tragedy at the World Cup. Renowned U.S. sports journalist Grant Wahl has died in Qatar. The 49=year-old collapsed in the press area while he was covering the quarterfinals yesterday. The circumstances around his death are still unclear. White flowers now are at his empty seat.

[17:14:52]

ACOSTA: Just days ago Wahl revealed that he was feeling unwell. He told listeners on his podcast that he went to the World Cup Media Center Medical Clinic and thought he might have bronchitis.

CNN's Don Riddell is following this for us form Qatar.

Don, I still can't believe this. It just doesn't feel real. And yet, we're just all dealing with this terrible, terrible loss. What more can you tell us?

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT HOST: Jim, it's just awful. I mean it's I guess almost exactly 24 hours ago now that I left the Lusail Stadium where we witnessed that incredible match between the Netherlands and Argentina, unknowing about the situation that Grant Wahl found himself in toward the end of that game where we know that medical experts spent 25 minutes trying to revive him after he collapsed during that game.

He was subsequently, we believe, taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. And many of us who knew Grant well haven't even slept since we learned the news in the early hours of this morning here in Qatar. And as you say, none of it makes any sense.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIDDELL: At the most extraordinary World Cup game, the most devastating news, as the quarterfinal match between Argentina and the Netherlands went into extra time, American soccer writer and broadcaster Grant Wahl died after collapsing suddenly in the stadium.

Just days before, the 49-year-old had spoken in his podcast about feeling unwell during the tournament.

GRANT WAHL, SOCCER BROADCASTER: My body, I think, told me even after the U.S. went out, dude, you are not sleeping enough. And it rebelled on me. And so I've had a case of bronchitis this week. I've been to the medical clinic at the media center twice now.

RIDDELL: After collapsing on Friday night, on-site medics reportedly spent 20 to 25 minutes treating Wahl. News of his sudden death quickly sent shock waves throughout the football community.

JON CHAMPION, ESPN COMMENTATOR: I was at the Netherlands game last night when all this horrible drama was unfolding. I wasn't aware of it at the time. So to wake up this morning and switch on my laptop and see the news was just devastating really.

RIDDELL: Wahl made his name initially as a writer for "Sports Illustrated" introducing then unknown high school basketball player Lebron James to the world through a memorable cover story.

LEBRON JAMES, LOS ANGELES LAKERS PLAYERS: I'm very fond of Grant and, you know, having that cover shoot, you know, me being a teenager and him covering that, it was a pretty cool thing.

RIDDELL: But it was as a soccer writer that he made his greatest mark. In 2011 he used a campaign to run for FIFA president to expose the corruption within football's world governing body.

Wahl quickly emerged as a cheerleader for the beautiful game in North America long before it was fashionable.

CHAMPION: He was one of the first people to welcome me when I made my big move across the Atlantic.

He was almost a missionary in that sense. He would travel around the globe telling people to take American soccer seriously.

RIDDELL: In the run-up to the World Cup, Wahl made it his mission to expose the deaths of migrant workers Qatar had enlisted to build the stadiums.

He continued to advocate the human rights as soon as the tournament got under way, refusing to follow the demands of stadium security to remove a rainbow shirt worn in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community. Wahl told CNN that he was detained for 25 minutes by Qatari authorities for wearing the shirt.

WAHL: They forcibly took my phone out of my hands. They made me stand in front of a CCTV camera. They continued to try to get me to take off my shirt.

RIDDELL: He went onto receive apologies from a FIFA representative and a senior member of the security team. After spending 12 years, writing about the buildup to Qatar, this tournament was Wahl's eighth and final men's World Cup.

The tributes that have poured in have commended Wahl's commitment to exposing injustices within the sport and cemented his legacy as one of the greatest advocates of American soccer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIDDELL: Jim, I mentioned that many of us are really struggling to comprehend this. Grant Wahl and I sat here at this desk just two weeks ago and had a conversation, I still can't believe that we're talking about him in the past tense. And I think many journalists really haven't had a chance to process this.

They've been covering the second two quarterfinal matches here this afternoon and this evening. Everybody has the day off tomorrow and I think that is when it's going to really start hitting hard.

ACOSTA: I'm sure you will Don. We're all thinking about all of you over there. It's been a lot of hours covering this World Cup. And it's just so sad to hear about the passing of Grant Wahl. What an amazing journalist he was.

Don Riddell, thank you so much.

I'm joined now by senior "Sports Illustrated" writer Chris Mannix, who worked with Wahl for more than a decade.

Chris, just to piggy back on what Don Riddell was talking about a few moments, I guess how are you feeling about this? It's hard to get your head around what has happened and that he's gone.

[17:19:56]

CHRIS MANNIX, SENIOR WRITER, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED": Yes. It's really shocking. As the news broke last night, a lot of people that worked with Grant were texting each other, trying to find out as much information as we could. You know, once it became real, the devastation really set in. One thing about "Sports Illustrated" over the years is that it's had a very familial feel to it. A lot of people, writers got there straight out of college were fact checkers, learning the craft and then became writers.

Grant was one of those guys. I was one of those guys. A lot of people followed that process and a lot of people really close to Grant over the years.

ACOSTA: And it's an amazing publication that just churns out great journalist after great journalist. And most people know Wahl as a soccer journalist, but he started his career writing about other sports.

Tell us about this. He wrote this famous "Sports Illustrated" cover on then 17-year-old Lebron James. Tell us more about Wahl as a basketball writer.

MANNIX: I mean, you know, he is known to most people as the preeminent soccer journalist, maybe the greatest soccer journalist of all time. But before that, he was one of the greatest basketball journalists of all time. He introduced the world to Lebron James back in 2002 when Lebron was still something of an unknown, a junior in northeast Ohio playing basketball and there was Grant Wahl introducing him to the world.

So it really -- his decision to cover soccer full-time, it took an incredible amount of guts. To be the basketball writer at "Sports Illustrated" that guarantees you job security. That guarantees you a lot of things, a lot of notoriety.

ACOSTA: Right.

MANNIX: He took on soccer when no one else was paying attention to soccer and he made it his passion and he dedicated himself to that sport for the rest of his days.

ACOSTA: Yes. He's done so much to elevate the profile of the sport here in the U.S. It's incredible.

And many colleagues have shared anecdotes of Wahl's kindness, his willingness to lift others up. We saw what he did at that one soccer match where he wore the rainbow shirt to highlight LGBTQ rights. That was -- what a courageous thing he did there.

Can you tell us about a favorite moment, though, that you shared with him?

MANNIX: You know, professionally, I can just say that Grant was always there whenever you needed him. If you needed a contact, he was there. Need help writing something, he was there.

I will tell you a quick story. I do not like soccer and I was very curmudgeonly about that over at "Sports Illustrated" over the years, to the point where they once put me in a mini van and sent me up and down the coast to watch soccer matches to try to turn me into a soccer fan.

Grant, I was stepping on Grant's favorite story. I can tell that, but Grant would spend hours at a time in the office, sometimes out at bars near the office educating me on the game and showing me why this was the beautiful game and this deserved more attention from grumpy American fans like me.

I don't think either one of us ever turned the other towards their opinion, but I'll always remember those conversations with Grant for the rest of my life.

ACOSTA: I've known some hard headed sports journalists over the years. I could attest to what you're saying but wow, what an effort on Grant's part to try to convert you.

He was also a prominent voice for women's soccer. Beyond his work as a journalist, what kind of impact do you think he had on the world of sports overall?

MANNIX: I mean, the world of sports overall, significant. The world of soccer, massive. I mean very few sports journalists can say that they elevated a sport. We love the sports that we cover mostly, and some of us do make an impact, some more than others on a sport.

Grant's impact on soccer was second to none. Soccer was not in the minds of most Americans when he took on the full-time soccer beat back around 2010. And he made it his life's work to tell -- show people, to bring soccer to an American audience to the point of where it is today.

You've seen Jim, all the testimonials from people involved in soccer who say that Grant's work has been instrumental in the growth of soccer in the U.S. Those words could not be more true.

ACOSTA: It's so true. And to see the enthusiasm for the sport during this World Cup, I mean, Grant has been a part of that. And it's going to continue on despite the fact that we've lost him.

Chris Mannix, thanks so much for taking time this afternoon to speak with us about Grant. We're all going to miss him. But thanks for those insights. We appreciate it.

MANNIX: Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Thank you.

Coming up, police in Idaho are following a new lead in the investigation into the stabbing deaths of four college students. We'll have the very latest details next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[17:24:52]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ACOSTA: It's been nearly a month since four University of Idaho students were brutally stabbed to death in their beds. And now Investigators are searching for at least one person they believe was inside a white sedan like this one near the apartment where the stabbings happened.

Officials believe the person who was in the car may have critical information about what happened to the four friends.

CNN's Camila Bernal joins me now outside the home where the killings took place.

[17:29:46]

ACOSTA: Camila, right now police they don't have a suspect, they don't have a weapon. But what does this development suggest? I mean they have a car that they are finding interesting in this investigation. That tells us that something may be up?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's significant because Jim, they're not giving us really any information. It's been a month and yet we're not getting much from authorities.

They are saying they're looking for this car, a white Hyundai Elantra, made between 2011 and 2013. They believe that car was near the house in the early morning hours of November 13th when these students were stabbed multiple times while they were sleeping.

Authorities say they're getting a lot of tips on this. They say they got so many tips, they had to change their strategy. Not only are local police overwhelmed, they're handing it off to the FBI, saying it's an easier process for them if the FBI call center takes these tips.

They say it's a longer process. But one of these tips could be key to solve this case. That's why it's so important to talk to the people driving this car, or if there were any passengers in the car.

They say any information these people may have could be critical to this investigation.

Again, tomorrow will be a month since all of this happened. There's still just so much frustration and so much fear in this community.

It is graduation weekend here. It's supposed to be a weekend where people are celebrating and, yet, there's no one here that you talk to that can just ignore what's going on.

It is on everyone's mind. Everyone says they're thinking about it and praying for these families and for the victims and the friends.

There was a moment of silence today at the commencement ceremony. It was emotional and a time to remember the victims.

It's a weekend people are supposed to be celebrating. The restaurants are full, the hotels are full. Yet, authorities put out a statement telling people to be vigilant, to walk in groups, to essentially tell your friends and family where you are at all times.

It's frustrating and scary for people to think, a month later, there's still no motive, there's no suspect, there's no weapon. It's the same thing we've been saying for a month.

So, yes, it's frustrating -- Jim?

ACOSTA: All right, Camila Bernal, thank you very much.

Joining me is a former senior FBI profiler, Mary Ellen O'Toole.

Mary Ellen, as we were saying with Camila, tomorrow marks one month since these students were murdered.

What is your assessment of the investigation a this one-month mark.

I have to ask you, the fact that the police are putting out this car that they are finding to be very interesting as part of this investigation. They want to get to the bottom of what this car is all about is the area.

What do you think of that?

MARY ELLEN O'TOOLE, FORMER SENIOR FBI PROFILER: Well, I think they have no choice but to put out as much information as they can about that vehicle. It does not necessarily mean that the offender drove away in that vehicle.

What it means is there could have been somebody in that vehicle that saw something. It's very likely they have vetted all the other cars in the neighborhood to rule out any other involvement.

It's important they be able to do this just because it has come in apparently for several people that it's a significant lead.

ACOSTA: One thing people continue to investigate is whether one of the young women killed had a stalker. There's no evidence that was the case, but police did receive hundreds of tips about it.

How likely is that as a scenario, do you think?

O'TOOLE: I think it has to be considered as a possible scenario. But I think there are scenarios as well that are as important.

I'll explain what I mean. When the offender came into that house, again, in the early morning hours, not to have a conservation, he brought his state of mind into that house. So there wasn't a fight, there wasn't an argument, nothing happened. It was an unprovoked attack.

So what he brought into that home that night is hatred, which is not anger. So he brought that in. And that's the reason he was so lethal in his attack. When he left that scene, that hatred will still be in his head.

I think that's important because that can begin to manifest to other people who know this offender.

What was it about those victims or maybe one victim that caused him to be so hateful that he had to destroy them? And we've seen that in other cases.

With somebody like this, we don't want to look for the straggly haired stranger. We don't want to look for the Freddie Krueger.

We want to look at someone who has blended back into society, but someone who has a hatred not necessarily for that specific person, but maybe for a group of people that that victim represented.

[17:35:59]

And has a knife, carries the knife with him, talks about the hatred he has for this particular group of people, the obsessive aspect of letting people know how he feels. Those are the kinds of things people should take note of.

ACOSTA: Do you buy the possibility that this was a situation where the killer selected this House at random?

O'TOOLE: No, I don't. Based on the planning, based on the time of day, based on the weapon, being a weapon they brought with them, and based on the inside knowledge of the house that the offender had to have, and based on the targeting of the victims.

If this was random, that would be shocking to me.

ACOSTA: Police are starting to receive forensic testing results from the scene. Not to be grim about this, but if you kill four people on two different floors of a house, wouldn't there be a significant amount of DNA evidence left behind?

O'TOOLE: There should be. And the offender likely cut himself. Blood is very slippery. So when the offender was stabbing these people, it's lick likely that their hand slipped on the blade and that would have cut himself and that would have gone onto the comforter or the floor.

So the Analysts were very careful, I'm sure, to make sure they picked up all the evidence around the immediate stabbing area so they could take it back to the lab and do the Analysis.

They're looking for obviously the victims' blood, but they're also looking for the blood that offender left behind. The gold standard is DNA.

In a case like this, where you have four victims, multiple stabbings, excessive stabbings, it's very likely the offender left his own DNA there.

What is so interesting, because your offender is watching the news, there's no doubt about that, he's monitoring the investigation. There's no way for this offender to go back in time and correct that. What's done is done.

ACOSTA: I would have to imagine this was an extremely messy scene for forensics investigators to go through, that they can sift between, say, the blood of the victims and the blood and the DNA of the offender. That is attainable in these kinds of investigations?

O'TOOLE: It is. A DNA analyst is very well trained and they know what the process is to extract the blood and to do the analysis and do the interpretation. They're very well trained. They'll do exactly what they need to do.

ACOSTA: All right, Mary Ellen O'Toole, thanks for your insights and your expertise. We appreciate it. Hope they crack the case.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: Coming up, a Backstreet Boyz's Christmas special has been pulled as one member faces serious allegations from a former fan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:42:06]

ACOSTA: Backstreet Boyz member, Nick Carter, is denying allegations he raped a 17-year-old girl on the group's tour bus back in 2001.

His accuser, Shannon Ruth, is now 39 years old and claims in a lawsuit that Carter picked her out of a line of autograph seekers, invited her on his bus, and gave her, quote, "VIP juice," which she believes was cranberry juice and alcohol.

As a result of the allegations, an ABC affiliate pull a "Backstreet Boyz Holiday Special" that was scheduled to air later this month.

Let's bring in CNN entertainment report, Chloe Melas. Chloe covers the industry for us.

Let what else do we know about these allegations?

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Good evening, Jim. Look, really troubling accusations that Nick Carter is denying, in a statement to CNN, telling us this week that this claim about an incident that supposedly took place more than 20 years ago is not only legally meritless but also entirely untrue.

Jim, this woman, named Shannon, who has said she suffers from autism and cerebral palsy, says she was raped on the tour bus in 2021, that Nick Carter picked her out of a line of fans and invited her on. She says this has haunted her.

She also claims, Jim, she contracted HPV, a sexually transmitted virus, after the incident. Nick Carter denying this.

It doesn't seem to be going over well on ABC. On December 14th, they were going to be airing this television special called "A Very Backstreet Holiday."

Now because of these allegations, the entire group is suffering and they will not be going forward with it.

I want to point out, Nick Carter faced a similar accusation in 2017 after a woman claimed he raped her more than 15 years ago. She made this allegation in 2017.

Prosecutors in Los Angeles at this time, where the woman brought the charged, opted not to pursue it because the statute of limitations had expired -- Jim?

ACOSTA: Let's move onto some other entertainment news, very sad news. Singer Celine Dion just revealed she is fighting a rare neurological syndrome. Tell us about that.

MELAS: I sat down with Celine Dion. I've interviewed her before. And I've gotten to know her and her team. There have been a lot of questions about her health and her cancellations over the years.

She's breaking her silence, telling everyone this week that she suffers from something called Stiff Person Syndrome. Many of us have never heard of this before and we're frantically googling what is this.

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, this is a very rare and progressive syndrome that affects your nervous system, including the name of the disease, extreme muscle stiffness, rigidity.

[17:45:03]

And she said it has caused issues with her vocal cords, which is why she's had to postpone .

This stood out to me this past week. Actress Jennifer Lawrence, who is amazing, but she's speaking out after getting a little bit of a backlash for this comment that she made to "Variety."

Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER LAWRENCE, ACTRESS: I remember when I was doing "Hunger Games," nobody had ever put a woman in the lead of an action movie, because it wouldn't work, we were told. Girls and boys can both identify with a male lead, but boys cannot identify with a female lead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: I think she maybe misspoke a little bit there. Help us out, Chloe.

MELAS: OK. So she's getting so much criticism this week for this interview with "Variety" in which she spoke with actress, Viola Davis. She said when she started "Hunger Games" that she was the first female

action star. So she's getting a lot of heat for that.

Because many people are saying, hello, Sigourney Weaver and the "Alien" franchise, Linda Hamilton "Terminator," all these women came and paved the way for you.

She has come out and, speaking with "The Holiday Reporter," she says it was a blunder. "It was a blunder, it came out wrong, and that's certainly not what I meant to say."

I understand. When I interview celebrities and I speak to people and they get comfortable, sometimes they say things they don't realize is going to be magnified and picked apart. So it's nice she's come out and addressed it.

You know, you can't say anything these days without getting criticism over just the smallest thing. She wasn't trying to say that she was the only female action hero ever. It just came out wrong.

ACOSTA: Totally. Two things can be true at once. She was amazing in the "Hunger Games" but, at the same time, Sigourney Weaver "Aliens," one of the best action movies of all time, for my generation. But she was incredible.

I'm sure she didn't mean any harm in that, Jennifer Lawrence. And owning up to it, too, that was big of her.

Chloe Melas, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

We'll be right back.

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[17:52:02]

ACOSTA: Iran is signaling more executions are on the way after state media in that country for the first time reported the execution of someone linked to mass demonstrations in the country.

CNN's Melissa Bell has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SCREAMING)

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The reaction to the news that Mohsen Shekari had been hanged. The howl of a relative as he became the first protester to be executed in Iran in the three months of demonstrations.

He had been arrested on September 25th, one of thousands since taken into detention. Just 75 days later, he was executed. The first protester hanged. Likely not the last.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why the Iranian authorities choose him as the first victim, I think it has got to do with the fact that we didn't know so much about him that his name wasn't so known.

BELL: It was the deaths in the custody of the Morality Police of 22- year-old, Mahsa Amini, that set off the wave of discontent that has only widened and deepened.

(SHOUTING)

BELL: Posing the greatest challenge to Iran's regime since the 1979 Islamic revolution swept the mullahs and their strict Islamic interpretation to power.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then Mahsa was a young girl, who just a normal young girl, but also a Kurdish girl. So, in so many aspects it patched, Iranians who have been treated as second-class citizens.

BELL: Across Iran this week, a strike called by the protesters. And on Wednesday, known as Student Day in Iran, protests at several universities.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

BELL: Inside Tehran University, Iran's president blamed the United States for what he described as riots.

(SHOUTING)

BELL: Outside, the protesters chants echoed in the grounds.

Tehran's response to the popular anger has been predictably violent. Already human rights groups say 458 protesters have died. Many more now face the death penalty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Death penalty is the strongest instrument of breaking fear. It's more than shooting people on the streets.

(CHANTING)

BELL: "Death to the dictator" chanted protesters on Thursday night for now at least unbound by Tehran's campaign of fear.

Melissa Bell, CNN Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: That's the news. Reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. I'll see you back here tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. Eastern.

Pamela Brown takes over the CNN NEWSROOM live after a quick break.

Have a good night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[17:54:53]

ANNOUNCER: Tomorrow, it's the time of year to be inspired and honor some of humanity's best.

(SINGING)

CARIE BROECKER, CNN HERO: We have found homes for almost 3,000 dogs.

TYRIE GLASGOW, CNN HERO: Our community center used to be the community drug house.

(SINGING)

BOBBY WILSON, CNN HERO: I want my grandchildren to have it better than what I have it today.

AIDAN REILY, CNN HERO: I have always wanted to serve other people.

(SINGING)

TERESA GRAY, CNN HERO: Human suffering has no borders. People are people. And love is love.

ANNOUNCER: Join Anderson Cooper and Kelly Ripa live, as they present the 2022 Hero of the Year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Join me --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- in honoring --

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: -- CNN Hero of the Year.

ANNOUNCER: "CNN HEROES, AN ALL-STAR TRIBUTE," tomorrow at 8:00.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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