Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Special Counsel Probes Of Trump Moving Fast; January 6th Committee Ends Meeting After Discussing Criminal Referral; Lockerbie Bombmaker Suspect In U.S. Custody; NASA Concludes Artemis 1 Mission With Successful Splashdown; Qatar Brushes Off Death Of Migrant Worker At The World Cup; Russian Accused Of Breaching International Law By Targeting Civilians; Video Shows Violent Altercation Between L.A. Councilman And Activist; Exploring The Crisis Of Mental Illness And Homelessness In Los Angeles; Ceremony Honors People Who Are Making The World A Better Place. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired December 11, 2022 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: That little girl suffered some bruises and scratches but is doing OK.

Well, you're about to see inspiration and grit personified.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blocks the bucket a little bit for me. This is the second -- gets his own rebound. Here he goes. Enmanuel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Yes, there he goes. Hansel Enmanuel, guard for the Northwestern State Demons in Louisiana scored the most defining slam dunk of the game. Hansel has just one arm, he lost the other one in an accident years ago. And he was quoted on the school's Web site, saying, "I had to keep going. You can't give up."

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. The top stories for you on this Sunday night.

The January 6th Committee meets to discuss criminal referrals in its investigation. And new reporting tonight on that meeting and also on the special counsel's own probes into former president Donald Trump. Plus, after more than three decades, the alleged bomb maker in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 is now in custody and families may be a step closer to justice. Also, what's next for NASA and its goal of sending astronauts back to the moon after its first Artemis mission ends successfully?

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, we have some new reporting coming into the CNN NEWSROOM tonight about Jack Smith, the special counsel investigating former President Donald Trump and a pair of criminal probes.

I want to bring in Katelyn Polantz. She is CNN's senior crime and justice reporter. She joins us with the latest.

So, Katelyn, based on your reporting, Smith's team is moving quickly. And we saw a glimpse of that with these subpoenas that we know were issued to officials in Wisconsin and Arizona and Michigan, but you have reporting on how quickly his team is moving and when could we see actual charges?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pam, that's going to be the question every day going forward. When can we see charges? We don't know exactly when that will happen. But one of the things that we were trying to understand is, what does this actually look like now that there is a special counsel over these two ongoing investigations, January 6th and Mar-a-Lago.

And a team of us tried to dig into that to get a better understanding of the shape of these investigations and this office. So Kristen Holmes, Paula Reid, Jeremy Herb, and I, few others around our justice team, we all really dug into it and we learned a few things. One, it doesn't -- this seems like it could almost be obvious, but one of the things that the team of people who are prosecuting especially January 6th cases are asking about is intent of Donald Trump.

The knowledge Donald Trump had around and leading up to January 6th. So I say that seems obvious. We've seen people from the White House Counsel's Office, from the Office of the Vice Presidency going in and being forced to give more answers to a federal grand jury, but that's not always an obvious thing that they would be asking about. We know that they're looking at a lot of different things, not just Trump. But that is one thing that we heard and found.

Another thing that we learned is that there's always been a hint of the question of finances. People who have expertise in public corruption, fraud, money laundering, who have started working in this special counsel's office, but we do understand there is a pretty sizable financial investigation, that continues on as well.

BROWN: That's really interesting. We've covered the special counsel, the Mueller investigation together. We were on that team. And there is a difference here with that investigation and this one, the key one being Donald Trump is no longer a sitting president. Right? How does that change the equation?

POLANTZ: Well, Pam, the first thing was that the Mueller prosecutors, they basically knew from the beginning, it wasn't clear to the public, but they knew that they weren't going to be able to charge the sitting president, especially with obstruction of justice. That's not the case here. Now, our understanding was, even when, before the special counsel came in to investigate around January 6th, some of those prosecutors were given the ability to take an investigation up to Trump, if they needed to.

So this special counsel is starting a little bit at a different place than Mueller was. And also, with that, our understanding of this special counsel, Jack Smith, is that he's going to function more like a career manager, a U.S. attorney, not setting up a shadow Justice Department that could be at odds with the Justice Department, as happened a little bit during the Mueller investigation.

But the other thing, Pam, that's really fascinating about this is that this is already a bigger group of investigators, almost twice the size or even more when you combine both of these investigations than what Mueller had to work with.

BROWN: And is he still -- because I know he was recovering from knee surgery. Is he still overseas or is he now in the U.S.? Do we know?

POLANTZ: Still overseas, we're waiting.

BROWN: OK.

POLANTZ: And so they should be setting up an office, but the prosecutors, as far as we know, there are many, many of them and they continue on every day.

[18:05:04]

BROWN: All right. Katelyn Polantz, great reporting. Thanks so much.

Also tonight, sources tell me and other CNN reporters Zach Cohen and Annie Grayer that the House Select Committee investigating January 6th has ended its meeting where members discuss criminal referrals. And one source I spoke with tonight just before the show said it was a successful meeting, implying that progress was made, but didn't elaborate. The subcommittee focused on those referrals presented its recommendations to the full committee, and also another source telling my colleague Jamie Gangel that the committee has agreed on a path forward on referrals.

Last hour, I spoke with CNN senior legal analyst, Elie Honig, about what it all means.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Pam, first of all, the committee obviously is in the process of deciding what they're going to do. They've said different things in the past. They've said they intend to. They said today's meeting was successful so we'll see what they do. But what's important to understand about a criminal referral, from Congress or anybody else, is that legally it has no specific impact. It's not binding on DOJ.

They don't have to investigate because Congress or anybody else asks them to, and they don't need to be asked in order to investigate. They can do it on their own. We know DOJ is already investigating Donald Trump. But of course this is an important way that the committee is going to have to think about how they want to end their presentation of evidence to us and do they want to sort of use a criminal referral as a capstone to all the findings and all the hearings that we've seen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And committee member Adam Schiff says the panel plans to make any criminal referrals around December 21st, but it's unclear what they might announce. And there are no hard and fast rules about whether the committee must name names or cite specific statutes that may have been violated.

Also tonight, an arrest 34 years after a horrific act of terror. The Libyan man accused of making the bomb that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 is now in U.S. custody. That 747 exploded over the tiny village of Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21st, 1988. The death toll was staggering. 259 people were on board, 11 people died on the ground. And most of those killed were Americans headed home for Christmas. It remains the deadliest terror strike in British history. And for Americans, it's second only to 9/11.

CNN's Nic Robertson has covered this attack for years and has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Almost 34 years since the deadliest terror attack in British history, and the man accused of building the bomb that killed 270 people, mostly Americans, is finally going to face justice in a U.S. court.

Libyan Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi was arrested for his alleged role in blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland 38 minutes after it took off for the U.S. from London, killing everyone on board and 11 people on the ground. The U.S. first charged Al-Marimi for his involvement in the attack two years ago while he was already in custody in Libya for unrelated crimes.

MICHAEL SHERWIN, FORMER ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY: It is alleged in the criminal complaint, in the indictment, that at that time, all co- conspirators worked together to arm the explosive device in the suitcase.

ROBERTSON: The Justice Department expects Al-Marimi to make his first appearance in district court in Washington in the coming days. For years, the only person convicted in the Lockerbie bombing case was Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi. Al-Megrahi, a former Libyan intelligence official, was accused along with another Libyan man who was acquitted, for planting the explosive inside a portable cassette player in a suitcase on the plane.

Al-Megrahi was sentenced to life in prison. But eight years after his conviction in 2008, he was released from a Scottish prison with terminal prostate cancer. Arriving home in Libya, he received a hero's welcome. In 2011, following the revolution that toppled Libya's dictator Moammar Gadhafi, I visited al-Megrahi at his home in Tripoli. He was near death. His family, as they always had, protesting his innocence.

(On-camera): Has he been able to see a doctor?

KHALED AL-MEGRAHI, SON OF CONVICTED LOCKERBIE BOMBER: No, there is no doctor. There's nobody to ask. And we don't have any phone line to call anybody.

ROBERTSON: What's his situation right now?

AL-MEGRAHI: He stop eating and he's -- sometimes he's come in coma.

ROBERTSON: Coma. He goes unconscious.

AL-MEGRAHI: Yes.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): He died the following year without ever proving his innocence. Al-Marimi's trial will likely revisit part of Megrahi's defense, particularly alleged inconsistencies about how the bomb came to be in the plane.

[18:10:07]

Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And last hour, I spoke with Kara Weipz, president of the Victims of Flight Pan Am 103. She lost her brother Richard Manetti in the bombing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARA WEIPZ, PRESIDENT, VICTIMS OF PAN AM FLIGHT 103: Thirty-four years later, we're still bringing those accused to justice says that we have the fortitude. Number one, the determination of the families to keep fighting after 34 years, but also the fortitude of our government to keep fighting and holding those people accountable, that the investigators didn't stop, the prosecutors haven't stopped.

Six administrations have, you know, been in power since or been in place since the bombing happened. And you know, it's still been a priority and been at the forefront. And today, he is now in U.S. custody and now we will have a trial in the U.S. to hold him accountable. And that is very important to the families. It has been one of our -- it has been the top priority, to find the truth and hold these people accountable.

And the fact that this is now going to happen in the U.S. is, it's monumental, I think, is the only word I can use at this moment. It's not the end, but it is a great first step, and we're very anxious and eager to hear what comes out of this trial.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And the 34th anniversary of the bombing is 10 days away. Kara says she will spend it as she normally does, attending a memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery.

Well, still ahead for you on this Sunday, one small splash for NASA's Orion spacecraft. One giant leap forward on the path to return man to the moon. A former astronaut joins us to explain why this is a historic moment. Plus, video shows a Los Angeles councilman in a fight with an activist

at a holiday event. And this is not the first time he has been under fire.

Plus, the nation's first female vice president swearing in the first female of America's second largest city tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:16:16]

BROWN: Well, NASA administrator Bill Nelson gives the historic Artemis 1 mission an A plus. This afternoon, the Orion spacecraft splashed down off the west coast of Mexico after a 25-day mission around the moon and back. And there weren't any people on board this flight, but the data it gathered should help get humans back to space and the moon soon.

Joining us now with more insight into this mission is retired NASA astronaut, Leroy Chiao.

So, Leroy, today is for celebrating. What does the next stage of work look like? We always want to look ahead?

LEROY CHIAO, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: Absolutely. So this flight test looked like it went very well. There were a few small glitches with the power systems, the antennas, and the star trackers a little bit. But by and large, everything looked like it went extremely well. So probably the next step is to plan to put humans on board this spacecraft and rocket and then launch them around the moon into lunar orbit. Very much like the Apollo 8 mission from 1968. So hopefully that will be the next step.

BROWN: So we've seen this boom in space tourism and innovation in the private sector. Could this mission help NASA reassert its place as a leader in space exploration?

CHIAO: Well, NASA is continuing to be a leader, in fact the leader in human spaceflight exploration with continued operations of the International Space Station over more than 20 years, and so this, you know, kind of keeps that going. Now this is the first foray of NASA to begin to send humans beyond lower earth orbit, something we haven't done, in fact, no one has done since Apollo 17 over 50 years ago.

And so complimentary aspect of a commercial effort, specifically SpaceX, in developing this Starship vehicle and the Falcon Super Heavy which of course is also being aimed at sending humans beyond lower earth orbit. I think the two are actually complimentary and shows that we America, both in the commercial and government side, are still very much leading the game.

BROWN: So I wanted to drill down on that a little bit because Artemis 2 will essentially repeat the last mission, but with humans on board. Why is that necessary? How do you explain that to the layperson who might be thinking, well, we've already sent astronauts to the moon before, why can't we go back sooner, why is all this necessary? CHIAO: Well, there are a lot of reasons to send humans back to the

moon. If we're going to go to mars, the moon is a perfect place to develop your hardware and make sure everything is going to work before we send it on to mars. It's also a great place to train your astronauts, you know. And so the reason the moon is a great place to do that is because it's a similarly harsh environment with reduced atmosphere, reduced gravity, a lot of dust.

But it's only three days away. If you have an issue with your crew, you can get them back in three or four days. Mars, even when the planets are aligned, you're about to test six months, we talk about six-month trips one way. And so if you're on your way to mars and you need to come back like Apollo 13 had to do on the way to the moon, you're talking about a year or so before you can get your crew back.

There are also a lot of scientific reasons to go back to the moon, even with humans to go ahead and gather more samples if you will of the lunar surface and maybe do some cord drilling. There are elements out there that are of interest, things like Helium 3 which could be used as a fusion reactor fuel in the future. So lots of exciting things to do.

BROWN: So what about why not I guess -- and I understand the importance of it. But again, for the layperson, who might be thinking, we've already -- we've already sent astronauts to the moon. Why is all this necessary? Why will there be another Artemis mission with astronauts on board, just circling, they're doing the same journey that this one did? Why is all that necessary, why can't we go back sooner?

[18:20:04]

CHIAO: Sure. Well, the issue of landing humans on the moon, we don't have a lander yesterday. And so NASA has contracts out to some of the contractors including SpaceX to help develop these landers, but it's going to take a little while for us to do that. In the meantime, we need to shake the vehicle out with humans on board, yes, even if this flight test out was very successful and it looks it was really the rubber meets the road, when you actually put a human crew on board and then see how the vehicle performs with actual astronauts operating the vehicle and, you know, actually loading up the systems with, you know, all of the things that humans do.

And so it's very important to go ahead and do that and maintain flight cadence as well. You don't just want to take a flight test and say, OK, we're good, and then, you know, wait X or Y number of years before we try again. And then the first time we try again, we're going to send humans to the moon on an untested vehicle we haven't flown for a number of years and a lander that we've never flown before.

BROWN: All right. Leroy, great to talk to you. Thanks so much.

And still ahead for you on this Sunday night, the death of renowned sport journalist Grant Wahl is again putting the spotlight on the plight of migrant workers in Qatar. That was an issue he wrote about a lot. We're going to discuss what it's been like for them, as Qatar hosts the World Cup, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:46]

BROWN: Well, as the world of soccer mourns the sudden passing of journalist Grant Wahl, his death is bringing new attention to a subject he was passionate about, the exploitation of migrant workers in Qatar before and during the World Cup. Wahl wrote extensively about this and what critics consider Qatar's utter disregard for their lives and safety during projects connected to the tournament. Here's how the Qatari World Cup chief responded to the death of a migrant worker at a World Cup resort.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NASSER AL KHATER, QATAR WORLD CUP CHIEF: We're in the middle of a World Cup and we have a successful World Cup, and this is something that you want to talk about right now? I mean, death is a natural part of life, whether it's at work, whether it's in your sleep. Of course, a worker died. Our condolences go to his family. However, you know, I mean, it's strange that this is something that you wanted to focus on as your first question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Well, before his death, Wahl shared his thoughts on Twitter, saying, they just don't care. Qatari World Cup organizers don't even hide their apathy over migrant worker deaths, including the most recent one."

So I want to bring in "Washington Post" reporter, Niha Masih.

Niha, tell us a little bit more about this. It's an important issue. What is the fallout from this response been like?

NIHA MASIH, WASHINGTON POST REPORTER. Our reporting on the conditions in which migrant workers were working to build the infrastructure related to the World Cup, whether it was stadiums or roads, reveal certain disturbing aspects. Of course, one aspect is what were the working conditions and how are the living conditions were for them, why they built this, and of course the second, which you just played was related to the deaths.

Now there has been no effort from FIFA or Qatar to investigate these deaths, so they actually don't know how many workers have died and what led to these deaths. Was it work pressure? Was it negligence at worksite? How do these seemingly fit people who underwent medical tests before they were, you know, sent to work on these projects start dying suddenly? It's very hard to really come up with a number and the figures range from hundreds into thousands.

And until this is really -- a concerted effort is made, it's very hard to say. Now what happens thousands of miles away to these families, where the primary breadwinners have died means the children are falling out of school, they have unpaid debts, they're encouraged to actually get these jobs via a middleman, to get to Qatar. And ultimately, the loss of losing a family member under unexplained circumstances. This also means that there is no compensation that is offered to these families for their loss.

BROWN: Because -- right, because what I've read in the article that you wrote was that basically they can just say this person died of natural causes and there's no requirement under Qatari law to further investigate it. And so the family is just left with nothing with the loss of their loved one, with no compensation, and now, they've lost, for many of these families, their primary source of income.

What else should viewers at home know about the plight migrant workers face as this World Cup comes to an end?

MASIH: Yes, I mean, these are really hard and difficult jobs. And we also have to remember that temperatures in Qatar are very high. So working conditions are even more difficult for these hard jobs. Now, obviously, these are people who have come from thousands of miles away, are away from their family, live difficult lives. In one instance, one of the families we interviewed told us how their father had actually been saving up holidays for two years to be able to get a free ticket back home, which the company was providing.

But this year, he could not get a chance to come back home because there was so much work pressure related to the World Cup, according to the family. And unfortunately, he died earlier this year before he could be reunited with his family. So this has just left them devastated. The three children are now going -- have left their private school and are now living under very difficult circumstances, sometimes not even being able to afford three square meals a day.

[18:30:09]

BROWN: That's just awful. Well, Niha Masih, thank you for shining a spotlight on this really important issue that Grant Wahl also was clearly very passionate about. And we got to keep that reporting going. Thank you so much.

Well, still ahead for you tonight, Ukraine strikes back. Multiple attacks reported in Russian-occupied areas. Could this signal a new Ukrainian counteroffensive? We'll go to Kyiv for the very latest. But first, a reminder to tune in and find out who will be the 2022 CNN Hero of the Year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

CARIE BROEKER, PEACE OF MIND DOG RESCUE: We have found homes for almost 3,000 dogs.

TYRIQUE GLASGOW, YOUNG CHANCES FOUNDATION: Our community youth center used to be the community drug house.

BOBBY WILSON, METRO ATLANTA URBAN FARM: I want my grandchildren to have it better than what I have it today.

RICHARD CASPER, CREATIVETS: I just always wanted to serve other people.

TERESA GRAY, MOBILE MEDICS INTERNATIONAL: 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 HOST: CNN Hero of the Year.

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:48]

BROWN: And just into CNN, we have learned that President Joe Biden spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tonight by phone. And Zelenskyy expressed his thanks to Biden for another package of defense aide along with the, quote, "unprecedented support for Kyiv." At the same time in Ukraine, the mayor of Odessa says the situation is controlled, although not easy after power outages caused by a series of Russian drone strikes.

About 300,000 people are still without power, but that is a significant improvement from the 1.5 million without electricity yesterday.

CNN's Sam Kiley is in Kyiv with the latest.

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Pam, the attacks by Russia using what the Ukrainians are saying are Shahed 136 Iranian- made drone missiles, focused largely on Odessa, the Ukrainians are saying that 15 were fired, 10 were shot down, five got through, plunging that city of 1.5 million at least temporarily into blackout.

Now this has been a pattern that we've seen elsewhere in the country with the deliberate targeting of -- by Russian missiles, particularly cruise missiles, of the energy infrastructure here. Now, there is also a pressure growing on international criminologists if you like that this is a shine that the Russians are in breach of international humanitarian law by deliberately targeting civilian structures, and by extension, therefore, if Iran is supplying weapons that are used to commit war crimes, potentially there could be some kind of liability there.

But this comes at a time when the Ukrainians themselves are also appeared to be getting more on to the front foot in terms of the use of their own missile capability, with strikes against Donetsk, the Russian-held territory in Donetsk, against the Crimean Peninsula, again, Russian-held territory, illegally annexed after Russia's invasion in 2014, and most importantly, in Melitopol, which is on the southern front or close to the southern frontline which has largely been frozen for the last six months but there is an expectation that perhaps the Ukrainians would want to try to launch a counterattack there to try to retake territory that they lost to Russia in the early stages of this war. Particularly, if they can hold out in Bakhmut, in the east, which has absorbed a huge amount of troops on both sides, with very heavy losses.

Quite why the Russians would be so heavily committed to Bakhmut is baffling Ukrainian commanders, but they say that perhaps it's the need for Russians to show some kind of local victory in the face of losses in the north and the south -- Pam.

BROWN: All right, Sam Kiley in Kyiv, thank you.

And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM on this Sunday. Still ahead for you tonight, a Los Angeles city councilmember under fire once again, this time over video showing him in a fight with a community activist during a holiday event. How both sides are reacting tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:43:02]

BROWN: We have some new video here on CNN showing a physical fight break out between a Los Angeles city councilmember and an activist at a Christmas event.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED), hey, you (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, hey, hey, hey. Kevin, Kevin, Kevin.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't touch him, (EXPLETIVE DELETED), Kevin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: All right, so that's Councilmember Kevin de Deon in the Santa hat there, and protesters, as you see, they appear to confront him, and they start yelling at him to resign, and the shouting match turns physical very quickly.

So let's bring in CNN's Nadia Romero to try and sort all of this out.

I mean, what happened here? These are grown-ups behaving very childishly.

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, at a holiday toy giveaway, might I add, as well, when people are supposed to be in the best of spirits. But the activists, the protesters who showed up, Pamela, are really looking for decisive action from Kevin de Leon to resign. That's what they've been asking him to do for months now because of these anti-black, anti-indigenous racist comments that were made on recordings that were released back in October.

Now some of the city councilmembers did take action. The city council president, for instance, she resigned. But Kevin de Leon said that he would not resign. So now here he is at a public event. Those protesters, those activists from L.A. came to that event to confront him, to tell him, they've said over and over again, you're racist, you need to resign, do what's right, do the right thing.

And this is what ended up happening, as you see, in the video. The councilmember, Kevin de Leon in the Santa hat and the activist, Jason Reedy in the green olive coat there, getting into a war of words, and then turning physical.

Now, you can see it for yourself, but in statements, both men are claiming a sort of innocence here. In a statement released by the councilmember, he says that he was simply acting in self-defense.

[18:45:04]

He says, I would open a door and I tried to get out, Reedy, who is the activist, he says, he launched a pelvic thrust, a head butt to my forehead, and in response, in defense, I had to push him off of me. Well, an attorney for Jason Reedy, the activist, says, no, no, no, that's not exactly what happened. It was de Leon and his supporters who initiated that physical contact and that Mr. Reedy had his hands up in the air and he didn't initiate physical contact with anyone.

Now we know that this video has been sent over to the LAPD. We have yet to hear back from them on if any criminal charges will be filed. But, Pamela, this is a man who has already been engulfed in controversy, now even more so with this tape being released, and more calls for his resignation.

BROWN: Nadia Romero, thank you for bringing us the latest.

Well, tonight on an all-new "THIS IS LIFE WITH LISA LING," Lisa explores the crisis of mental illness and homelessness in her hometown of Los Angeles, looking at what's being done to combat both.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LISA LING, CNN HOST, "THIS IS LIFE": Deputy Matson gets to work.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've been calling all last week, and it's all been no, no, no, no, no. So we got tired of the nos.

LING: Taylor has agreed to leave the encampment, but there's so much complexity involved. They can't get a bed for him in Orange County, where he's from, until they get his insurance switched over. So they have found a motel room for him, until he can go into a detox facility. But this is the kind of thing that these sheriff's deputies are dealing with. This is what it takes when you're trying to get one person off the streets.

What kinds of services are going to be available to him when he leaves here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So once he's at the program, they are able to assist him with his needs, his mental health, his drug issues.

LING: What compelled you to decide today was the day that you want to leave?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, like, my dad has been trying really hard to get my help. And I don't want him to have to bury me, so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And Lisa Ling joins us now.

So, Lisa, we see so much in that clip. It is really illuminating. Such an important story you are doing. The frustration of law enforcement, the anguish of the man they're trying to help. How did we end up in the situation where so many mentally ill people are living on the streets?

LING: Yes, Pamela, I mean, this really is a crisis that is playing out all over the country. And to answer that particular question, I have to provide a quick history. You know, a hundred years ago, when people were deemed to be mentally disturbed, they were sent to psychiatric institutions that at one time were places of refuge that housed hundreds of patients, they were fully staffed, they were safe, and sometimes even bucolic environments.

But decades later, they had just become like asylums. And doctors were experimenting with questionable practices and the quality of care went way down. So, President Kennedy, he pledged to de-institutionalize people. And he promised federal funds to build community health care centers. But after he was assassinated, all that progress stopped. So years later, when President Ronald Reagan or when Ronald Reagan became governor of California, California became the first state to de- institutionalize people, but it did not fund any mental health centers.

So all of those who were released had nowhere to go. And this was repeated across the country. So, decades later, like so many things, as you just saw on that clip, it's now often up to law enforcement to deal with this problem that just is continuing to explode all over the country.

BROWN: And law enforcement, they're not always trained to deal with someone who is having a mental illness episode. I mean, that's part of the issue, right? You know, it's interesting, because for you, my understanding is you actually had a direct experience with this problem a couple of years ago, when your husband and young daughter were accosted on the street by a man who appeared to be in the middle of a mental health crisis. And you were actually able to find and talk to that man. What did he tell you? LING: Yes, Pamela, I mean, this was a very traumatizing experience for

my husband, but particularly for my then 7-year-old daughter. And he, when he accosted them, you know, he was, he was obviously not in his right mind. And one of the things that we really try to do on our show, "THIS IS LIFE," is humanize the issue. You know, it's so easy for us to just drive by or walk by and really not take the time to understand what's really going on, and that's what we try to do, or that's what I try to do in finding this man, to try to understand where his mind was that night when he accosted my family. But also, to try to understand better the roots of this problem in order to figure out how we can come close to fixing it.

BROWN: Yes. I mean, when you start peeling back the layers, you start getting a better understanding and start getting closer to potential solutions. Again, such an important journalism.

[18:50:08]

Lisa Ling, thank you.

And be sure to tune in. An all-new episode of "THIS IS LIFE WITH LISA LING" airs tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific only on CNN.

And still ahead on CNN tonight, on this Sunday, we're paying tribute to the heroes making the world a better place with the help of some celebrity ceremony. We're going to go live for the red carpet for tonight's CNN Heroes ceremony. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:55:26]

BROWN: Well, it is a night to honor 10 special people who are inspiring change in the world "CNN HEROES: AN ALL STAR TRIBUTES" gets underway in just about one hour and a live event is being held at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and that is where we find CNN's Brynn Gingras with a preview from the red carpet.

So, Brynn, who have you caught up with so far?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Listen, Pam, we've got some amazing celebrities with us. I want to talk to them right now because they are part of the festivities tonight. We have the legendary Diane Warren and we have Sofia Carson with us and they are performing "Applause" tonight, which is -- you wrote it.

DIANE WARREN, SONGWRITER AND PERFORMER: She's the one doing the performing tonight. I'm the one trying not to mess it up on the piano.

GINGRAS: All right. I'm sure you're going to be OK. So tell me about this performance tonight. This is such an uplifting empowering song, tonight, obviously is this kind of event. What does it mean to you?

SOPHIA CARSON, ACTRESS: We are both so deeply honored to be here. Diane wrote this incredible anthem, it's called "Applause" dedicated to not only all the women of the world that's everyone those leading, fighting, surviving like you said, and tonight we dedicate this song and performance to our heroes so we're applauding them together.

GINGRAS: And you, guys, I have met some of these heroes. They are so inspiring giving back to their communities. What does it feel like to be a part of this kind of event? You've walked a lot of red carpets. What's different?

WARREN: It's amazing. It's so special. I mean, to get to be a part of it. I mean, these people really walk the walk. So we're happy to be here honoring them with this song and wait until you hear her. Oh, my god.

CARSON: There is nothing more important than we can do with our voices and then with music than to give and to applaud true heroes in this way.

WARREN: I love it. Thank you so much for being part of our event tonight. Thank you so much for talking with us. I can't wait to hear this song and we'll see you in there later on.

Pam, it's going to be such an exciting event. Ten heroes being honored for what they do in their communities. It can't get better than that. You leave tonight feeling inspired, uplifted and honestly, it is just going to be an incredible evening. The hero that is the CNN Hero of the Year gets $100,000 towards their non-profit that they are working with. All the other ones, $10,000 each already in their pockets.

One of them told me that is just so important to get this exposure. It's just a game changer. I so encourage everyone to go online, check out these heroes. You can donate. Trust me, for most of them, I was crying just reading about it. So you definitely have to tune in tonight to hear about it and watch their stories live.

BROWN: And you had mentioned that you had talked to a couple of the heroes. Tell us a little bit about them in the limited time that we have.

WARREN: Yes, listen, there is an Iraqi war veteran who came home and he didn't know how to deal with PTSD and he painted a picture, and from that picture, he was able to express the emotions that he had serving in a war zone, losing his best friend right next to him and because of that, he now is helping other war veterans find their way to speak through the arts, through music.

There is a woman here from Kenya, Pam, who grew up in rural Kenya. She told her mom I am going to make it, I'm going to make it some day and do something great and now she has brought her mom to this event and she is helping the community in Kenya with computer engineering, with up -- you know, upcycling computers. It's just an incredible event and I really do hope you tun in -- Pam.

BROWN: We will. Brynn Gingras, thank you so much.

And thank you for joining us tonight. I'm Pamela Brown. I'll see you again next weekend. "WHO'S TALKING TO CHRIS WALLACE" is next, but before we go, we want to note a historic moment in Los Angeles. L.A. has a new mayor tonight, and she is the first woman to hold the city's top job. Karen Bass was sworn in by another barrier breaking female, Vice President Kamala Harris, and had some praise for her predecessor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR KAREN BASS (D), LOS ANGELES: When we light the Olympic torch in 2028, when we take public transit to the airport --

(CHEERS)

BASS: When we go to bed in apartments that are safer from earthquakes and when we breathe in cleaner air, Angelinos will be benefitting from your legacy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And the mayor's star-studded inauguration event featured a reading by America's Youth Poet Laureate and the incredible Stevie Wonder and we're going to leave you with his voice. Have a great night.

(MUSIC BY STEVIE WONDER)