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U.S. Life Expectancy Drops To Lowest Level In 25 Years; Cities Grapple With Strain Of Increasing Migrant Arrivals; Incoming Rep's Resume, Family Story Raising Red Flags; Aired 1:30-2:00p ET

Aired December 22, 2022 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:50]

ANA CABREBRA, CNN HOST: This just in to see to CNN, the CDC says U.S. life expectancy has dropped to its lowest level in 25 years, even with all the medical advances we've made. Why? CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now. Elizabeth, break down this new report for us.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Ana, this report is really such sobering news. And I think that, you know, everyone will understand the reasons why. So life expectancy, which usually, you know, in recent decades, just goes up, up, up, up with medical advances, with better prevention and diagnostics, instead, is going down.

In other words, your life expectancy is lower than it had been the year before. So let's take a look at this report that just came out from the CDC. It looks at life expectancy last year in 2021. So they found that it was 76.4 years, that's a seven-month decrease from 2020. So a seventh month decrease, which is pretty big when you consider you're looking at the whole country.

The biggest drop this is the really sad part, was among people ages 35 to 44. So these are young people who are losing their lives. The two big drivers of this decrease on it, you can probably guess it, it was COVID and drug overdoses, nearly one in eight U.S. deaths were due to COVID 19 and nearly 107,000 deaths were from drug overdoses. Ana.

CABRERA: Wow. So as we get more distance from the pandemic, do you anticipate those numbers rising?

COHEN: You know, gosh, I hope so. In fact, the drop -- this is the second drop in two years. So in other words, the second in a row. So there was also a drop from 2019 to 2020 for essentially the same reasons. But the drop -- the more recent drop, it wasn't quite as dramatic. So in other words, as the pandemic has been getting less and less severe, things have been getting a little bit better.

So I am hoping a year from now to be sitting here saying finally life expectancy went up again. That is -- that is my New Year's wish.

CABRERA: OK. Let's hope we turn things around. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you so much. At the southern border, desperation is building among migrants as they wait for Title 42 to end. Many are facing freezing temperatures in tent camps, not knowing how they'll get their next meal.

But this isn't just a problem on the border. Cities across America are worried about another surge. Former Homeland Security Secretary, Jeh Johnson, joins us next.

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[13:35:52]

CABRERA: From border towns to big cities, the record spike in migrant crossings is having ripple effects across the country. In Texas, the National Guard is patrolling the Red Cross is setting up shop in the El Paso convention centers now outfitted with hundreds of cots to shelter migrants.

In New York, the mayor of New York City is tapping into hundreds of millions of dollars to try to deal with the influx.

In Chicago, residents have donated tens of thousands of dollars to provide essentials for the migrants who've arrived in the midst of a winter chill.

But in Washington, the big question remains, can the Biden administration offer more than just Band-Aid fixes? Let's discuss with former Homeland Security Secretary, Jeh Johnson. Thank you so much for being here.

JEH JOHNSON, FORMER UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Pleasure to be here, Ana.

CABRERA: So you've dealt, during your tenure with the Obama administration, with an influx of migrants. But the sheer numbers were nowhere near these levels. How concerning is this?

JOHNSON: The problem is much bigger now than it was seven eight years ago. Smugglers are better able at moving larger numbers of migrants. We see caravans. In addition, we're now seeing migrants from Nicaragua, from Cuba, from Venezuela, countries with whom we have little or no diplomatic relationship. So it's very, very difficult to repatriate migrants to a country that refuses to take them back.

So the hard lesson I learned from all of this, Ana, dealing with this problem, the push factors. The reasons why families women, children, fathers leave Central America, leave Venezuela, Nicaragua, in the first place, it will overwhelm whatever defense we can put up on our southern border.

They're making the basic choice. I'm better off in the United States, even if it's only for a few years while my asylum claim is pending than I am if I stay where I am right now.

And that's why we can, you know, put up, as you refer to them as Band- Aid solutions, but the longer term issue is the underlying situations in these countries. And I know President Biden understands that I've traveled with him to Central America when he was vice president and I was secretary, he understands this problem. And it takes a sustained effort by multiple administrations to really address this.

[13:40:18]

CABRERA: And it's not just the administration, obviously, Congress has a huge role in all of this. But if you were leading DHS right now, given this convergence of factors you've discussed, what would you be requesting of the Biden administration, of the White House, and what would you be communicating with or the message you'd be giving to the states and these border towns as they try to just cope with what's happening right now?

JOHNSON: Well, a couple of things, comprehensive immigration reform, which includes smart border security, which includes the ability to adjudicate asylum claims a lot faster. Right now, it's somewhere between two and six years. I've heard the numbers all over the place.

CABRERA: And the backlog is up past two million now of cases --

JOHNSON: Correct.

CABRERA: -- that are in the system.

JOHNSON: When you see numbers like 200,000 a month, there will be a backlog. And comprehensive immigration reform, in my view, must also codify into law, the DACA program. We have people who have grown up in this country, who were brought here as children, who are de facto Americans, who are, you know, in some of our nation's leading law schools, for example, there's an associate at my law firm who was a DACA recipient, and they have a very uncertain future. So whatever comprehensive immigration reform Congress can enact, has to encompass that.

The problem, however, as you will know, is immigration is a politically volatile issue. And politicians find it easier to just simply scream at the other side and call them evil. Therefore, nothing gets done. And this problem persists.

CABRERA: And they keep throwing billions and billions of dollars at the border, both parties, but there are no real results that have a lasting impact, which is also maddening, right, for everybody who's trying to deal with the situation in a humane way.

Earlier, I spoke with the former acting director of ICE under President Trump. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD VITIELLO, FORMER ACTING ICE DIRECTOR: The asylum accords with the Northern Triangle, the migrant protection protocols, gave us 40- year lows in activity. When you tore those tools down and got rid of them, you now have the largest surge ever, and they can stop the surge. There's two ways to do it, increased attention resources or the migrant protection protocols. Those both worked in the previous Obama Biden administration that both -- and they both worked in the Trump administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Do you agree?

JOHNSON: Well, the problem with simply invoking migration protection protocols, it takes two countries to do that. Simply sending people back to Mexico requires the cooperation of Mexico. It's a huge burden on their resources.

When it comes to Title 42, there's a lot of litigation about Title 42. We, as a government, really do need to wean ourselves off this authority. It's an emergency authority of the CDC. But there needs to be something to replace it, obviously.

When you have migrants coming in these numbers, we need to send a stronger enforcement message to Central America. I learned this in office. You have to repeat yourself multiple times. There's a right way and a wrong way to come here. If you come here the wrong way, we'll send you back consistent with our laws and values.

CABRERA: I mean, since this surge, we haven't really heard from the DHS Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas. We haven't seen much of Kamala Harris, who's the point person from the Biden administration on the issue of immigration. We haven't heard from the president really addressing this. In fact, he's been getting asked to come down to the border.

And so I just have a couple of seconds here. Optics-wise, should they be more out front and more directing -- directly addressing this problem?

JOHNSON: Well, I know Secretary Mayorkas talks about this. The issue is you've got to -- you've got to repeat yourself over and over and over again before the press and the public start paying attention to the message.

CABRERA: Well, thank you so much for coming on. I really appreciate --

JOHNSON: Thanks, Ana.

CABRERA: -- your time, Secretary Johnson.

Well, it just keeps getting worse. Days after Congressman-elect George Santos was called out for allegedly lying on his resume, he's facing more serious questions, this time, about his grandparents and his claims they survived the Holocaust. Stay with us.

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[13:45:13]

CABRERA: His resume was already full of red flags. And now, there's another one. Record show incoming congressman, George Santos, has claimed that his grandparents fled the Holocaust is probably not true. That's on top of discrepancies CNN already found in the New York Republican's work and education histories. Santos moments ago tweeted, he will address the questions next week.

In the meantime, here's CNN's Jason Carroll with a look at this controversy.

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GEORGE SANTOS, NEW YORK CONGRESSMAN-ELECT: Look, as I always joke, I'm Jew-ish.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Throughout his campaign, Republican Congressman-elect, George Santos, would refer to himself as half-Jewish or a Latino Jew, often telling his grandparents' story, how he says they survived the Holocaust as Ukrainian Jewish refugees and converted to Catholicism, changing their surname to survive.

[13:50:06]

Here's how Santos explained it just last month in an interview with the Jewish News Syndicate.

SANTOS: I'm very proud of my grandparents' story. My grandfather fleeing Ukraine, fleeing Stalin's persecution, going to Belgium finding refuge there, marry my grandmother's and fleeing Hitler, going to Brazil. That's a story of perseverance.

CARROLL: It's a story that may not be true. His misrepresentations of his family history, first reported by the Jewish Publication, the Forward, and his story contradicted by numerous sources reviewed by CNN's KFile.

Records from a Holocaust Museum and the International Center on Nazi Persecution, which keeps records on Jewish refugees, show no mention of Santos' grandparents. One genealogist who helped research Santos' family tree at CNN's request, said, there's no sign of Jewish and/or Ukrainian heritage, and no indication of name changes along the way.

SANTOS: I'm so proud to be able to keep our family going forward and showing that not only did we survive, but now I'm able to go advocate and fight for other Jewish people.

CARROLL: Santos has not responded to CNN request about his family history, and discrepancies with his resume and biography.

JOSHUA LAFAZAN, NASSAU COUNTY LEGISLATOR: People are perplexed. They're asking me how could somebody possibly tell this scale of lies and get elected.

CARROLL: Among the seeming misrepresentations, first detailed by the New York Times and confirmed by CNN, Santos' biography has at times claimed he earned degrees in finance and economics from Baruch College and New York University.

CNN found he also said, in at least two separate interviews, he received an MBA from NYU.

SANTOS: Today, I've been very proud with the bachelor's and master's degree, all New York, educated Baruch College and NYU for my MBA.

CARROLL: A spokesman for NYU telling CNN something different. The university records do not reflect anyone with that name having attended NYU, while a spokesperson for Baruch College could not find anyone with his name or birthday ever attending the school.

The record of his work history, also murky. His campaign bio mentioned stints at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. Neither Citigroup nor Goldman Sachs have any records of his employment.

Santos listed on his 2022 financial disclosure a salary of $750,000 and claimed he made the same amount last year, income he says he earned from the Devolder organization, which he says is his family's firm.

A search show the firm was registered in Florida last year. The state temporarily deemed it inactive for failure to file required annual reports. CNN found Santos filed the required report Tuesday.

Santos' attorney said, "Santos represents the kind of progress that the left is so threatened by, a gay Latino immigrant and Republican who won a Biden district in overwhelming fashion."

But Nassau County Republican committee chair called the issues being raised serious, "Adding every person deserves an opportunity to clear his or her name in the face of accusations and I look forward to the congressman-elect's responses to the news report."

SANTOS: My parents came to this country in search of the American dream. Today, I live that American dream.

Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: We have this just into CNN, disgraced crypto King, Sam Bankman-Fried has been now released on a $250 million bond. The founder of FTX will have to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet and be under house arrest at his parent's home in California.

Now, he's accused of stealing billions from customers on his crypto trading platform and an alleged scheme that cratered cryptocurrency markets.

OK. It's that time. It's hard to find the right word. So I'll keep this short. After nearly a decade here at CNN, today, I say goodbye. This is a personal decision, a tough decision. And my heart is full of all kinds of emotions right now, but mostly gratitude.

I feel so lucky to have had so many incredible experiences and opportunities to explore and to share the world with you and my CNN colleagues, first as a correspondent traveling the country and as an anchor the last several years. CNN is a special place.

We really are like family, all little different, definitely quirky, but we all love each other and we all love our mission, bringing you the news, seeking truth shedding light and working hard to do it in a way that is most meaningful and impactful to you, our viewers.

[13:55:09]

Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for giving me grace for my mistakes. Thank you for watching and supporting and being part of my CNN family.

I also want to take a moment to honor the team you don't see in front of the camera, the producers, the writers, the editors, directors, photo journalists, the studio crew and countless others. Thank you, thank you, thank you, you are my collaborators, you're my friends.

I've benefited tremendously from your talent and passion and grit, and spirit of service. I don't take any of it for granted, really, it's been such an honor and such a joy. Whoever sits in this chair next is beyond fortunate to have this team. It's hard to say goodbye to this place and the people here who means so much to me.

However, I'm not saying goodbye to the work I love. I'm committed to learning and growing as a journalist. And I'm excited to begin a new chapter in my career. But first, I intend to take some time in the New Year to just enjoy my family.

So for now, thanks again. I wish you a healthy and happy end to 2022. May your new year be full of wonder and fulfillment.

And as we often say in this business, please stay tuned.

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