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Representative Kevin McCarthy Elected Next Speaker Of House Of Representatives; C-SPAN Able To Capture Unique Coverage Of House Of Representatives During Speaker Election; Buffalo Bills Safety Damar Hamlin Joins Facetime Meeting With Team While Recovering From On-Field Collapse In Hospital; Iran Executes Two More People In Connection With Protests Against Country's Morality Police; New Information Released About Police Investigation Into Suspect In Murders Of Four University Of Idaho Students; Mexican Authorities Delay Extradition Of Son Of Drug Kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman; Closer Look At Decline Of Public Image Of Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Aired 2-3p ET.

Aired January 07, 2023 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Even hardcore Republicans couldn't keep a straight face. And check out the fact of a newly elected Congressman who got caught in a web of lies about himself, George Santos.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Santos?

MOOS: He didn't recognize his own name during one roll call.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Santos?

MOOS: George who?

One commentator wrote, "The poor House clerk is dangerously close to running out of pencil. But one thing that wasn't out of order -- this kid's hair.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. Happy New Year. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

News just into CNN, an update on Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin. He continues to make a remarkable recovery after suffering a cardiac arrest on the field during Monday's game. Hamlin is now breathing on his own after having a breathing tube removed late Thursday. The 24- year-old also surprised his teammates in Buffalo yesterday, facetiming with them on a phone from his bed in the hospital in Cincinnati.

CNN's Adrienne Broaddus is live for us from the hospital in Cincinnati and has new information on his medical update. ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. From the physicians here

at the hospital where Damar is receiving treatment, they're telling us he is still in critical condition but continues to make progress. And here is perhaps the line in this tweet the Bills just published that sticks out, "As he continues to breathe on his own, his neurological function is excellent."

And many of you, if you've been following this story, you likely remember when Damar woke up, doctors treating him said the game was still on his mind. The first question he asked was, did we win, and doctors responding with, yes, Damar, you won, you've won the game of life.

And there was another surprise yesterday. Damar was able to join the team's meeting. He facetimed in and was able to have a conversation through body language and a little communication with the players, telling them "I love you, boys," also kind of flexing on them like this, according to some of the teammates who have shared that conversation with us.

Let's listen to the head coach and what he had to say about that facetime call.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN MCDERMOTT, BUFFALO BILLS HEAD COACH: What have I learned? I think more reminded how real, and this is probably a message for fans out there, how real these guys are. They're not robots. They're real people with real families. These young men, in this case football players, come from a mom and a dad that care for them very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROADDUS: So again, that breaking news coming just moments ago from the bills per the physicians here at the university of Cincinnati medical center. Damar Hamlin still remains in critical condition. However, he continues to breathe on his own, and his neurological function is, quote, excellent. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Amazing news. Really encouraging and wonderful. Thank you so much, Adrienne Broaddus, appreciate it.

Now to Capitol Hill, where after four days of exhaustive negotiations the House finally has a new speaker.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES, (D-NY) HOUSE DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS CHAIR: The gentleman from the great state of California and the next speaker of the 118th Congress, Kevin McCarthy.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Kevin McCarthy grabbing the gavel right there after 15 rounds of voting. It was the longest speaker contest in 164 years. And despite the sometimes contentious days of negotiations with a narrow faction of his conference, Republicans in the end rallied around McCarthy and his vision for America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY, (R-CA), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: I make this promise -- I'll never give up for you, the American people. And I will never give up on keeping our commitment to America. Our nation is worth fighting for. Our rights are worth fighting for. Our dreams are worth fighting for. Our future is worth fighting for.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Eva McKend is live for us on Capitol Hill. So Eva, what finally pushed McCarthy over the edge? He was very confident just ahead of that 15th vote.

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: Fred, in the words of one of McCarthy's key opponents, Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, essentially this group of detractors were running out of things to ask for. Ultimately enough of those never-Kevin lawmakers voted present. That isn't a ringing endorsement of McCarthy, but what it did was lower the threshold necessary for McCarthy to secure the speakership.

[14:05:08]

McCarthy also, though, made some other key concessions. For instance, it will require only one member to force a vote that could potentially oust the speaker. So that weakens the speakership in a sense. Also, and actually this is something that we hear from both Democrats and Republicans, a real frustration that there isn't enough time to read bills. What McCarthy pledged to do is to ensure that there are truly 72 hours for lawmakers to review bills.

And then of course he also pledged to put more of the farm right members, the members of the Freedom Caucus, on the key House Rules Committee. Take a listen to McCarthy after the vote.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY, (R-CA), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Now what happened was it became a tie, and I really think -- Matt had talked to me before, Matt really wanted to get everybody there. And so, look, through all of this people's emotions go up and down. At the end of the night, Matt got everybody there from the point that nobody voted against the other way. So it actually helped unite people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: So you can see McCarthy there basically trying to put a positive spin on what really became this historic episode, this historic event, and saying this essentially was good for the democratic process. Many Republicans will say it was good, it wasn't a coronation, that they had this very bitter open dispute over the course of a week. But Democrats say that this really illustrates that Republicans are not ready to govern. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Eva McKend on Capitol Hill, thanks so much.

So with the speaker now in place, a new Republican majority will finally get to work ushering a new era for the Biden administration. CNN's Arlette Saenz is at the White House for us. So Arlette, what is the president saying about this new House majority, the new speaker, and their expressed missions?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Fred, President Biden congratulated Kevin McCarthy for winning that House speaker's race just days after he called that chaos up in the House embarrassing for the country. But as Republicans have reached this resolution, President Biden now says it's time for Democrats and Republicans to find ways to work together.

He said in a statement last night, quote, "As I said after the midterms, I am prepared to work with Republicans when I can, and voters made clear that they expect Republicans to be prepared to work with me, as well. Now that the leadership of the House of Representatives has been decided, it is time for that process to begin."

Now the president and his advisers have been watching this race very closely as it now has determined who they will be working with over the course of the next two years. But there have been remarkable split screens that have been at hand over the course of the past week.

One of the starkest being as the House was in chaos over this vote for House speaker, President Biden traveled to Kentucky to push this message of bipartisanship where he was joined by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. One of the things that the president has tried to stress over the past week is that he is willing to find ways to work with Republicans.

But even as he has a longtime history with Senator McConnell, his approach with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will be quite differently. The men don't know each other just as well, and there is expected to be more resistance coming from Republicans in the House.

There are looming fights expected over things like the debt ceiling and government funding, and also Republicans are readying those investigations that they've promised into the various facets of the Biden administration, ranging from probes into the president's son, Hunter Biden, to the administration's handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

But the president, as he is now entering this era of divided government, he's trying to argue that bipartisanship needs to be the way in trying to show that he is willing to put that first even as he's expected -- expecting this resistance from House Republicans all along the way.

WHITFIELD: Arlette Saenz at the White House. Thanks so much. Through all of this week's voting, C-SPAN was there to capture all of

the drama unfolding on the House floor, and in so doing offered a rare glimpse of democracy in action. Lawmakers negotiating in ways not usually seen by most Americans. Multiple cameras in the House chamber giving the public a front row view of the high stakes talks between lawmakers. Sometimes talks, sometimes cajoling, you name it. We saw all of it.

Joining us right now, one of the people orchestrating the coverage of all that action, the director of editorial operations for C-SPAN, Ben O'Connell. Ben, so good to see you, and happy New Year. What a what to kick off the new year. So all of these multiple cameras -- do you usually have that many in the House chamber? Or was there something different about the opportunities that you were able to take advantage of this go round?

[14:10:03]

BEN O'CONNELL, DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL OPERATIONS, C-SPAN: Good afternoon, Fred. Thank you so much for having me on.

We actually on a normal legislative day have zero cameras in the House chamber. Typically, when you're watching the House of Representatives in action, you're watching a government-operated feed that all media have access to. And it operates under very, very strict rules. They are allowed to show the person speaking and wide shots. And that's it. You're not allowed to show the negotiations in the back of the chamber, the scrums roaming through the aisles, or any conversation between members that isn't this front of a microphone.

So this was an unusual event. It's not unheard of. Every speaker's election, independent media organizations, typically C-SPAN, are allowed to put cameras in the chamber. This just happened to be very unusual speaker's elections.

WHITFIELD: "Unusual" is a good word. That's a good delicate, safe word, in which to describe this.

So people watch C-SPAN because we want to see the back channels of a lot of things going on in Washington, on Capitol Hill, and beyond, White House and many other agency buildings. But what was it about the timing here where you all knew to either request or put in place these cameras, make them live, see this kind of sweeping directions in order for viewers to see all that we saw?

Because you just mentioned, it is rather unusual to be able to do this. Usually, you have pool cameras. But tell me about the process, who made the decision, how did that decision-making or collaboration end up being everyone's bird's eye view onto the House floor?

O'CONNELL: Sure. So like I mentioned, every two years we put in cameras for the speaker's election, justice like a network will put in cameras for a State of the Union or a joint session of Congress like when President Zelenskyy was in town. But we did know or had an inkling, anyway, that this was going to not be a typical speaker's election. We all read the news articles. So we got together a few weeks ago, myself, my colleague Kristina

Buddenhagen who was our production manager, Andrew Jones, who was going to be the daytime director, and we thought the only director, frankly, to discuss what were the stories, who were the people, and what did we think our viewers and the viewers of all networks that were going to be taking our cameras, what would they want to see. So we talked about the personalities. We talked about the sights that aren't typical to see in the House chamber when you're watching that very guarded Capitol Hill, government-operated feed.

WHITFIELD: Yes. You had the foresight. And what people don't realize, in a lot of editorial meetings there is a level of anticipation and planning, but then there's the spontaneity. You have to be able to pivot on a dime because things happen. And we just saw one of those moments of Alabama's Rogers, and how that lunge is something we are all talking about, we were all shocked about.

So talk to me about how you -- I guess in your control room, how many cameras you're looking at simultaneously, to then say we're going to cut to this one because we anticipate something's about to happen, just like you would any live show. What was unique about how things were unfolding here?

O'CONNELL: Sure. So we had three cameras in the chamber. We had one that was looking at the dais to get the House clerk, and any action on the floor that it might be able to see. And then we had two on either side up front looking back at the lawmakers, which is where we got most of the footage of people milling in the aisles and the like. And the nomination speeches, et cetera.

Now, in terms of how things unfolded, I had mentioned that I work with a -- if I didn't mention this, I should have -- a really talented group of field technicians. These people are on Capitol Hill every day when Congress is in session. They're in the hearing rooms, they're in the briefing rooms, they're in the hallways. They know these people, and they know the stories.

So they were the ones who were making the decisions as to where are we going to go next, who's important right now. I might have texted them every now and again to say, hey, can we get a little bit more of x or y, but these guys know their job. They're pros. They really were extraordinary.

WHITFIELD: So Ben, we all learned a lot, from those of us who are in the business to those who don't watch C-SPAN all the time, and now they're riveted by what they were able to see.

[14:15:02]

Do you think now that we will be seeing more of this, more of C-SPAN taking advantage of opportunities like this?

O'CONNELL: Oh, I hope so. I hope viewers stick around. And beyond that, I hope that the House will seriously consider whenever there is a major piece of legislation on the floor, something that they know everybody's talking about, that's it's one of the main topics on social media around the dinner table, in text chains, I really hope that the House will consider allowing independent journalists in with their cameras on -- on at least on that limited basis moving forward.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Yes. I understand, because it's not just an issue of entertaining, movie watching opportunity, we just had a fun Jeanne Moos piece, people who had popcorn. But it really is about learning, people understanding and learning the process, the very important process of what makes this a democracy.

O'CONNELL: And it's about transparency, frankly. I think a perfect example, if you looked at the government-operated feed of the altercation where McCarthy walked up to Gaetz during the end of that 14th vote that culminated in the lunge --

WHITFIELD: Yes.

O'CONNELL: -- if you watched the government operated feed, go to my colleague, C-SPAN Jeremy, Jeremy Art is his name, a social media specialist, go to his Twitter feed, look at the video from the government operated feed. What you see is a wide shot of the backs of heads, you see McCarthy stand up, turn around, and walk off camera, and that's it.

WHITFIELD: And not because it's an effort of sanitizing. It's just -- you're talking about the ability to train the eye to be able to be closer to discern more specifically what is playing out.

O'CONNELL: It's telling -- it's showing people what's in the room. It's showing people what's in the room. It's offering transparency to the American people.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Delicate details. Ben O'Connell, I'm so glad you were able to join us to give us an idea of what led up to it, what we saw, and what we can expect to see next. Thank you.

O'CONNELL: Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: All right, Iran has executed two more people in connection with protests that spread across the country. In a moment we'll hear from a woman who fled Iran and had her own run-ins with the regime's morality police.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:21:38]

WHITFIELD: Iran hanged two more men, both in their 20s, in connection with the anti-regime protests that have swept across the country. As many as 41 more protesters have been sentenced to death in Iran, according to statements from both Iranian officials and Iranian media. A European-based human rights group today warned there could be many more executions in the coming days.

CNN's Nada Bashir joining us live right now. Nada, what do we know about these two men? NADA BASHIR, CNN PRODUCER: Look, Fredricka, this is yet another

tragic example of the regime's brutal crackdown, bringing the total number of executions of prisoners who have participated in this protest movement to four.

These two individuals, Mohammad Mahdi Karami, a 21-year-old Kurdish Iranian karate champion, and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, a 20-year-old volunteer working with children, both were executed by hanging earlier this morning. They were convicted in December for allegedly killing a member of the Basij amid protests, that is, a member of Iran's paramilitary forces.

But as we've heard from rights groups, from legal representatives, it is believed that the two individual faced torture while in detention, as we have heard with multiple other cases of detained protesters, and also, that forced confessions were used against them as evidence in court.

So there have been huge concerns over the validity of these trials. We've heard from Amnesty International saying that this mass trial, this group trial bears no resemblance to a meaningful judicial procedure. So there's real concern there around the treatment that these two men faced prior to their execution.

We heard from one lawyer advocating from Mahdi Karami speaking on Twitter. He said that Karami had been on a hunger strike a dry food hunger strike as of Wednesday, and that he had been denied the right to speak to his family before he was executed.

Fredricka, the concern now is we could see more executions taking place. Rights groups have warned that there are dozens of people facing potential execution for their participation in the ongoing protests. Even as you laid out, we've heard today from Iran Human Rights based in Norway, they say we could see a significant amount of people facing execution just in the coming days if there isn't an appropriate response from the international community.

WHITFIELD: So with more convictions, more executions, are there any signs whatsoever from the regime that there will be any shifts at all as it pertains to protests or women who don't want to wear the hijab? Any shifts at all?

BASHIR: Well, look, nearly four months on since this process movement began, we are still seeing a brutal crackdown by the regime each and every day. We have heard some words of softening of policy or suggestions, rather we heard from Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaking on Wednesday to a group of women in Tehran, saying that women who choose not to wear the full hijab or wear it improperly, in his terms, shouldn't be considered irreligious.

But the point being here is that women's rights continues to be at the heart of this movement despite the fact that the protest movement has grown into so much more. And it is a movement calling for regime change.

[14:25:00] But what women are demanding here is the freedom, the right to make a decision on how they wish to dress and their own religious expression without facing the threats of Iran's morality police. And yet every day we are still seeing the Iranian security forces brutally cracking down on these protesters.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nada Bashir, thank you so much.

Let's talk more about all this right now. Roudabeh Riggs is joining me. She's the president of the Woman Life Freedom in Iran Foundation. Her group has been organizing protests in the U.S. against the Iranian regime. And Roudabeh, so good you could be with us. Thank you so much.

Roudabeh, I understand that you fled Iran more than a decade ago, and so what has this been like for you as you are learning about two more executions involving these two young men, and as Nada was just explaining, there doesn't seem to be much shift to look forward to with the Iranian regime.

ROUDABEH RIGGS, PRESIDENT, THE WOMAN LIFE FREEDOM IN IRAN FOUNDATION: Hi. Yes, the Iranian diaspora and inside Iran, we are all heartbroken, we are so sad and angry and devastated by the news. These two young men -- like, they accused them of waging war against God while the crime of one of them, Mohammad Hosseini, was distributing flowers and candies to unveiled women during the protests.

And they killed these two innocent young men last night, and I personally I could not sleep last night, I was just crying all night. And this is so sad, but we are going to turn and change this anger and sadness to motivate us to process against this regime and to amplify Iranian voice and raise their voice in the western community, and to hopefully be able to dismantle the international arena and hopefully very soon see the collapse of this regime.

WHITFIELD: And how hopeful are you about that? Because while people in Iran are trying to do just that, raise their voices, it's leading to run-ins the with the morality police, it's leading to at detainment, and, as we just see, it's leading to death. Do you feel like you are in a safer space to do that, to raise your voices? I mean, are you, by doing that, do you also worry about whose lives you are -- you might be jeopardizing in Iran, because it's clearly a zero- tolerance regime against any protests?

RIGGS: Well, at this point, nobody is safe in Iran anymore. All the 80 million Iranian people are in the line of execution no matter what. There is no law, there is nothing to protect anybody.

So Iranian diaspora, we all feel that the pressure that we have to raise their voice because public opinion matters in the western countries, and if you show the true face of the regime to public opinion, they're going to make the government accountable, they're going to make the Biden regime accountable to stop the deal with this negotiation -- stop nuclear deal with this -- all the negotiations with this regime, and stop legitimizing them in the international arena. So basically, I encourage all international community to join our

movement. Like if you're in New York or you are in any state, join your Women Life Freedom of your own state like in New York, Women Life Freedom NYC. We are having protests on a weekly basis.

And, or -- we are trying to raise the voice, or I personally realize that we need -- Iranian diaspora needs kind of unification. So I found my own foundation, Women Life Freedom in Iran Foundation, to provide capacity building grants and free resources to support Iranian diaspora, to encourage their involvement in the Women Life Freedom movement.

[14:30:11]

WHITFIELD: I understand. All of this comes at great risk, but at the same time you and others feel like you can't afford not to speak out and raise your voices. Roudabeh Riggs, yes, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

RIGGS: Sure. I appreciate it.

WHITFIELD: All the best in this continued fight. Yes.

All right, we're also learning new details about now the suspect in the Idaho murders. Up next, what investigators are saying about his actions in the days leading up to the stabbings and how they narrowed their sights on him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:34:58]

WHITFIELD: New details are emerging on what suspect Bryan Kohberger was doing after allegedly stabbing to death four University of Idaho students. Sources tell CNN that he was seen thorough cleaning his car inside and out, wearing surgical gloves outside his family's Pennsylvania home, as well as putting garbage in the neighbor's trash bins.

Court documents are also giving us some insight into the evidence investigators have discovered. An affidavit shows police found DNA on a knife sheath at the crime scene that matched DNA found in trash at Kohberger's family home. In addition, a roommate told officers she saw a masked figure with bushy eyebrows on the night of the attack. And phone record showed the suspect was near the victims' home at least a dozen times.

Camila Bernal is following the latest for us. So Camila, police also say tracking a car seen near the house where the murders happened also played a key role in identifying the suspect. So what more are we learning?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred. Yes, a lot of new details, but also a lot of questions. And I'll get to some of those questions in a minute, but I want to go over some of the things that we learned from these court documents. There's a surviving roommate that was at the house at the time of the murders, and she says that she heard crying at the house.

She also heard someone say something along the lines of "It's OK, I'm going to help you." But then she says she saw this man at her house wearing all black, he had a mask covering his nose and his mouth. And she says that he was athletically built, not necessarily muscular but described him, as you mentioned, with bushy eyebrows. And she said that she stood there frozen in shock.

So it's unclear why she didn't call police that night. What the affidavit said was that she went into her room and locked herself in. I don't think we're going to know the answer to why she didn't call police that night until maybe possibly at trial.

But as you mentioned, there's a number of other things that are linking him to this crime, according to police. One of the things that you mentioned was the fact that they put the car in the area of this house 12 times leading up to this crime. So cell phone towers pinging him there. He was also back at the crime scene the morning of the murders according to police before they were called. He was near that house again.

Authorities also saying that they have linked that white Hyundai Elantra. Of course, they'd been looking for this car for so long. But we also learned after all of this that he got a new license plate for his car just five days after the killings. You mentioned the cleaning of the car.

According to sources he was cleaning inside and outside of that car. You mentioned the trash bags. Those are being now processed in a lab, anything that authorities collected from there, because they say, according to sources, that he put the trash bags in the neighbor's trash bins. This was at around 4:00 in the morning.

So a lot of things that are suspicious, that raise a lot of questions, but more is needed for a successful prosecution. And I think that's what police are working on at the moment. But of course, we're left with the question of motive, of what was going on, what was the connection between Bryan Kohberger and these four victims, if there is any. So again, just a lot of questions, and we'll have to wait for this court process to play out. His next court appearance, Fred, is on Thursday.

WHITFIELD: All right, Camila Bernal, thank you so much.

Coming up, a federal judge in Mexico halts the extradition to the U.S. of the alleged cartel leader Ovidio Guzman, the son of "El Chapo" Guzman. He is being held in the maximum security prison his father escaped in 2015. Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:43:09]

WHITFIELD: A Mexico City federal judge has halted the extradition of former drug king pin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's son to the U.S., Ovidio Guzman, who was arrested this week in an intense operation that led to the deaths of 29 people. The U.S. says he's a senior member of the Sinaloa cartel, and he is seeking his extradition for drug trafficking. CNN's Rafael Romo joining me right now. I almost turned to you say, did I pronounce that right?

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: But why has Mexico halted this extradition?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: It came as no surprise to me, to be honest with you. The day before Mexican foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard had already said that the government's position was that they wanted to play the judicial process out before making a decision on whether he would be extradited.

And as you may remember, his fathers, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who, by the way, escaped from the very same prison he's being held at right now in 2015, was caught in 2016 in January. It was not until May, until a judge said yes to an extradition to the United States. And then, seven months later, which means a year after his capture, that's when he was finally extradited to the United States.

So if history is any indication, we can expect a similar process. But in Mexico, anything really can happen. And we don't know at this point. But for the time being, Ovidio Guzman is going to stay in a Mexican prison.

WHITFIELD: This is a big family business.

ROMO: It is definitely. And it's a very important point, because authorities are also after his brother, Joaquin "El Chapo" Jr. Guzman. And let me read to you what the State Department said about them, because he says both brothers, both Ovidio and Joaquin, I think we have the statement from the State Department, it says, "Law enforcement investigations indicate Ovidio and his brother Joaquin Guzman Lopez functioned in high-level command."

[14:45:05]

That's the key right there, Fred, high-level command and control roles over their own drug trafficking organization. They are in charge of what is called the transnational criminal organization. So he remains at large at this point, even though his brother has been caught.

WHITFIELD: So then what will the ripple effect be potentially? If one is extradited and then there are still other family members who authorities are after, is there, I guess, a domino effect of the operation, of the protection of the operation, or even of the pursuit of trying to make more arrests?

ROMO: Well, one thing that was very clear to me when the arrests happened on Thursday was how powerful the Sinaloa cartel is. They essentially dominated a whole city, the Culiacan, for multiple hours, and we have the images of the disaster that the city became.

And if you allow me, I will introduce a new word to the English language, juliacanaso (ph). That means big blow to Culiacan. Culiacan is the city in northwest Mexico. So armed gangs, heavily armed gangs of members of the Sinaloa cartel essentially terrorized the city for about 24 hours, and Mexican authorities were either unwilling or unable to do anything about it.

The population was terrorized. A plane full of passengers, if you can imagine that, was shot at, people terrorized trying to get down to the floor. There were children there. So that's the power, the armed power the Sinaloa cartel has.

WHITFIELD: Wow, people are fearful of saying anything, hear nothing, see nothing, don't want to be involved.

ROMO: That's right.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you so much, Rafael Romo. Great to see you.

ROMO: You, too.

WHITFIELD: Still to come, he was a hero to many in the aftermath of 9/11 but is now facing a litany of legal troubles for his role in spreading Donald Trump's election conspiracy theories. A look at our new CNN original series "Giuliani, What Happened to America's Mayor," that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:51:40]

WHITFIELD: Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who became a hero to many in the aftermath of 9/11, is now facing a litany of legal troubles for some of his actions on behalf of Donald Trump following the 2020 election. The new CNN original series, "Giuliani, What Happened to America's Mayor," reveals the reasons behind the epic rise and fall of this larger-than-life politician. Our Brynn Gingras takes a closer look at his mounting legal battles.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

OPRAH WINFREY: He's the mayor of New York City! Ladies and gentlemen, Rudy Giuliani!

(CHEERS)

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Once lauded as a voice of leadership, resilience --

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: Put your mask on --

GINGRAS: Leading New York city and the country through one of its darkest times --

GIULIANI: Today is obviously one of the most difficult days in the history of the city.

GINGRAS: Rudy Giuliani now facing -- KEN FRYDMAN, FORMER AIDE TO RUDY GIULIANI: Legal jeopardy. I not he's

going to be in and out of courtrooms, in and out of grand jury.

GINGRAS: America's mayor has become a punch line.

GIULIANI: Bad to the bone, bad --

GINGRAS: Using his voice to spread conspiracies and lies about the 2020 election being stolen --

GIULIANI: I know crimes, I can smell them.

GINGRAS: As former President Donald Trump's personal attorney and mouthpiece.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do not think that Rudy Giuliani understands that there has been a tremendous erosion of his reputation that he has caused at all. He looks in the mirror, and he sees the hero of 9/11.

GIULIANI: Let's have trial by combat!

GINGRAS: Some lawmakers argued his words on January 6th played a part in inciting the violence that followed at the capitol.

REP. BENNIE THOMPSON, (D-MS): If the faith is broken, so is our democracy.

GINGRAS: The house select committee says Giuliani fueled the former president's inclination to declare victory.

LIZ CHENEY, (R) FORMER WYOMING REPRESENTATIVE: President Trump rejected the advice of his campaign experts on election night, and instead followed the course recommended by an apparently inebriated Rudy Giuliani to just claim he won.

GINGRAS: Giuliani's spokesperson denies the committee's allegations. In 2021 federal prosecutors in New York, an office Giuliani once led, raided his apartment in connection with his business dealings in Ukraine. That fizzled.

FRYDMAN: The fact the feds didn't bring charges has to encourage him.

GINGRAS: But Giuliani may not be as lucky in Georgia where prosecutors say he is a target of an ongoing criminal probe examining efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you expecting to talk about here today?

GIULIANI: Well, they ask the questions, and we'll see.

GINGRAS: He was ordered to testify before a special grand jury this past summer.

FRYDMAN: The man who used the RICO statute to put away the five heads of the Mafia is now potentially the subject of a RICO action in Georgia. GINGRAS: And more, Giuliani is suspended from practicing law in New

York and facing disbarment in Washington, D.C., for pushing election lies.

How do you see Rudy's legacy ending?

FRYDMAN: It's going to be a mixed bag at best. And that's a shame.

GINGRAS: Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

[14:55:00]

WHITFIELD: And be sure to tune in to the all-new CNN original series "Giuliani, What Happened to America's Mayor," that premieres Sunday with back-to-back episodes beginning at 9:00 p.m. eastern and pacific only right here on CNN.

And lottery fever is back. The mega millions lottery jackpot has jumped to more than $1 billion after no one matched all six numbers in last night's drawing. Friday's jackpot was an estimated $940 million. And now it grows to $1.1 billion. That's crazy money. If someone wins, it will be the third highest prize in U.S. history. And don't worry, you've got time to get your ticket. The next drawing is Tuesday.

Thanks so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Back here tomorrow. CNN Newsroom continues with Jim Acosta after the break.

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