Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

George Santos Wants Off Of His Committees; Health Care In America Not Paying Off; U.S. Has One Of The Highest Infant And Maternal Mortality Rate; Whale Washes Up On Long Island; Texas Police Investigates Suspicious Incidents At Dallas Zoo; Interview With Zoo Miami Communications Director Ron Magill; Insurance Companies Refuse To Insure Kia And Hyundai Cars Made From 2015 To 2019. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired January 31, 2023 - 13:30:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:30:00]

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: Of course, all this follows a string of Santos' lies that have been exposed since his election. So, you know, I question whether we can -- how much can we believe what he says now? Let's get right to CNN's Melanie Zanona.

Mel, it's great to see you. What is Speaker McCarthy saying about all of this?

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITAL HILL REPORTER: So, Speaker McCarthy says this was Santos' decision to temporarily step down from his committee assignments and that Kevin McCarthy did not pressure Santos into making this decision. We are also told that Santos and McCarthy met last night in McCarthy's office where the idea did come up, and then, Santos informed the rest of the party of his decision during a closed- door conference meeting earlier this morning saying he wants some of these controversies and investigations to be resolved until he does serve on those two assignments. So, small business committee and the science committee as well.

Here is a little bit of McCarthy's reaction to all of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): We had a discussion and he asked me if he could do that. So, I think it was the appropriate decision. He will have a voice here in Congress. And until he answers all of those questions, then he'll -- at that time, he'll be able to be seated on committees.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZANONA: Now, we should point out that Kevin McCarthy is the one who decided to give George Santos committee assignments in the first place, despite the fact that Santos lied about his resume and despite the fact that he is under investigation for his finances. But this has all become a huge distraction for Republicans. It has become a huge political liability.

And it also comes as Republican leaders are struggling to lock down the votes to kick Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar off of her committee. So, perhaps Santos deciding to temporarily relinquish his committee seats could alleviate some pressure on Republicans.

But one other thing I want to point out here, Kasie, is that up until this point, Santos has been really defiant. So, we are starting to see a little crack in that, but he is still refusing to step down as a congressman. He is refusing to resign and he continues to insist that he did nothing wrong or illegal. Kasie.

HUNT: Yes. It was really interesting, Melanie. It really does go to show you that there is clearly some pressure building on him within the Republican conference, otherwise, there's no way this would be happening. Melanie Zanona, thanks very much as always for your reporting. Really appreciate it.

Meanwhile, Americans spend the most money on health care, but it is not paying off. A new report shows that people here in the U.S. actually have worse health outcomes compared to people in other high- income countries. And the bad diagnosis doesn't stop there. CNN Medical Correspondent Dr. Tara Narula joins us now to talk some more about this.

Dr. Narula, always great to see you. There are several alarming findings though that we got to break down here. First, let's just walk through. I mean, how much more are Americans spending on their health care?

DR. TARA NARULA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: A lot more. So, this data basically compared the U.S. to 38 other high-income countries. And when you look at the numbers in general in America, we are talking about $11,911. And you can look at the full screen, compare that with most of the other countries where we are talking about more in the range of $5,000, $6,000, $7,000. In South Korea, it is as low as $3,900.

So, clearly, the expenditures here are very, very high. And when you talk about outcomes, which I know we will, it makes it a hard pill to swallow to see how much we're spending and how poor the outcomes.

HUNT: Yes, I know. Let's -- I mean, let's talk about outcomes. What did the report discovery specifically about death rates?

DR. NARULA: Well, here in this country, we have the highest infant and maternal mortality rate. We have the highest mortality rate when it comes to preventable or avoidable conditions. We have the highest death rate from assaults, and that includes gun violence. Highest rates of obesity. Third highest rate of suicide. And in general, the highest rate of chronic conditions, multiple chronic conditions. So, really not a great picture from this report.

HUNT: Yes, dire really. All right. So, what is the answer here? I mean, how does the U.S. change, not just the narrative, but the reality? DR. NARULA: Well, the reality, let's talk first about the fact all of these other countries have universal health care coverage and we do not. So, clearly that is a factor here. It is the lack of access to health care. In addition, we obviously have very high costs. We need to rein in some of those costs. And then, you look at the fact that we have an over 8 percent, almost 8.6 percent that are uninsured in this country, and we have less practicing doctors.

So, going forward, as I said, we really need to invest in expanding health care coverage, decreasing costs, investing in prevention, because we talked a lot about these chronic conditions as well as social services. I will say the one bright spot of this report is that America does very well when it comes to cancer screening and treatment, particularly breast and colon cancer and also, flu vaccine up take. So, there was some positive here.

HUNT: It is a couple of things at least. And that's, we got a little bit of good news in there. Dr. Tara Narula, thanks very much for that reporting. We appreciate it.

Up next, a loose leopard, a dead vulture and a pair of missing monkeys, all that happening at the Dallas Zoo just in the past few weeks. And now, police are asking for the public's help in identifying a person of interest. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:35:00]

HUNT: A massive whale washed up on Long Island, just outside New York City yesterday. And now, marine officials are trying to figure out how it died. The 41-foot humpback named Luna was a fixture in the Atlantic. Experts had been monitoring Luna for decades. CNN's Jason Carroll is on the scene.

Jason, what can you tell us? These pictures are really sad to look at.

[13:40:00]

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They're incredibly sad to look at. I want you to take a look behind me. We won't go too far into it for obvious reasons. But right now, what they're doing is they're using backhoes to try to move the mammal. They're going to have to break the mammal apart in order to -- what they're going to do is they're going to actually bury him. And we know it is a male. They're going to do that right up there. You can see they've already started to dig out some of the sand there where they can eventually do the burial. That will take place later on this evening.

What is really alarming, not just to see that this whale had beached himself, but this has happened several times, at least eight whales have beached themselves over the past several weeks in the New Jersey/New York area, which obviously has a great number of people, especially environmentalists alarmed wondering what is going on here.

I want to bring in Don Clavin. He is the town supervisor here in Hempstead and he has been watching this since 6:30 yesterday, is when this huge mammal beached himself, 6:30 a.m. yesterday, died about half an hour later, correct?

DON CLAVIN, HEMPSTEAD TOWN SUPERVISOR: Yes, yes. Right here on the beach. A 40-foot whale. We haven't seen a whale like that in decades of this size coming to this area. We were able to bring in the heavy equipment in, move the carcass up for today. They're doing the autopsy. NOAA is doing the autopsy to hopefully make a determination of why this young whale beached itself.

And as you said, after that's done, working with both state and federal officials, we're going to be burying the whale up here in the dunes.

CARROLL: I mean, it's incredibly sad. You see these majestic creatures, and you -- when one of them you see beaches himself or herself, something like this happens, you know, hearts go out when you see something like this happen. But then when you hear it has been eight over the course of several weeks, some red flags are being raised.

CLAVIN: You know, it is a concern. And you said it, when I got down here yesterday morning around 7:30, I mean, you were just amazed with this creature of God, this size on this beach. And within a moment, you are saying you are heartbroken because it has passed away. But the question is why? Why did it do this? That's why this autopsy is so important.

You know, I read the paper. I watch CNN and other news outlets where they are covering this. This is an alarming number, and residents and people deserve an answer of why it is. If it is, you know, something in the water, great. If it is some environmental reason or some other reason, it needs to be determined so we can rectify it.

CARROLL: And, Mr. Clavin, explain to us very quickly what is happening now. I see you've got these backhoes here in action, a lot of heavy equipment out here. This young male weighed several l,000 pounds, we are told, correct? So, a lot being done to move and get into position for burial.

CLAVIN: Yes. As you see, you know, this is sizable. So, what is taking place right now, the backhoes have now broken the body into several pieces. You are watching NOAA as well as the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society going through the carcass as part of their process. And then, when they are done, they're going to break the body up and get it into the burial location.

CARROLL: Very good. Thank you very much, Don. I really appreciate you coming out and doing that for us. And, you know, in terms of questioning, there's been a lot of questions, obviously, about what is going on here. Environmental groups trying to draw some sort of a link between these beached whales and wind farming off the coast, but we're told by NOAA, they've seen no link between the two. Back to you.

HUNT: Boy, it's really, really tough to see. Jason Carroll, thanks very for that report. Really appreciate it. All right. So, what is going on at the Dallas Zoo exactly? Police in Texas are investigating a string of suspicious incidents over the past several weeks and it now includes the apparent theft of two monkeys. All of this started on January 13th when a clouded leopard disappeared for several hours, prompting a frantic search and the closure of the zoo. She was later found near her habitat.

But around the same time, officials discovered damage to a fence holding langur monkeys. Now, none of them were harmed or escaped. But then, last weekend, this endangered lappet-faced vulture named Pin was found dead from "unusual circumstances" inside his enclosure. Pin was just one of four lappet-faced vultures at the zoo. He had been living there for 33 years.

And finally, just yesterday, officials reported that a pair of emperor tamarin monkeys were apparently stolen after their habitat was "intentionally compromised." Dallas police earlier today tweeted a picture of this man and his Doritos, who they say they would like to talk to in connection with those missing monkeys. They also released the surveillance video showing him at the zoo.

Joining us now is Ron Magill. He is a long-time wildlife expert, conservationist and communications director at Zoo Miami. Ron, thanks for being with us. I mean, have we seen anything like this before? I mean, what is going on?

RON MAGILL, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, ZOO MIAMI: No, we haven't. And, you know, I mean, right now, it is all speculation because there's an investigation going on, but the indications would suggest to me that there is -- all these incidents are connected and that, you know, it's either got to be some kind of disgruntled employee, which I tend to lean towards only because, you know, Dallas Zoo is a world-class zoo, they're an accredited institution, they have a lot of security in place, security cameras everywhere, and for all of these things to be circumvented for the incidents that have been happening, I tend to want to believe that somebody is familiar with the system, the protocols to circumvent those things.

[13:45:00]

HUNT: Yes. It does seem unlikely that your average person would kind of know how to navigate a zoo to actually cause this kind of damage. I mean, so, let's say something like this does happen at the zoo where you are, I mean, is there a standard protocol when you discover an animal has gone missing?

MAGILL: Absolutely. And generally speaking, animals, if they do escape from a habitat, they generally, like what was suggested with the clouded leopard, they stay around that habitat because that's where they find their security, that's where they find their food, that's where they know how to live. So, they stay around that habitat. And like they do like with the clouded leopard, they usually are found close to the habitat.

What is strange about these monkeys is that they're not being found. And my concern is, in Dallas now, it's in the 30s. These are tropical monkeys. There's small prime ape, it's only a pound, nine, 10 inches long. They're from the tropical forest of the Amazon basin. They're not going to survive in Dallas weather at 30 degrees without the specific food and comfort that they need that's given to them by the Dallas Zoo.

HUNT: Yes. Very, very sad. So, let's talk for a second about the Pin, that's the endangered vulture that was found dead. And this vulture had been there for 33 years. I mean, what does it mean to lose a creature that's special like this?

MAGILL: Well, vultures by themselves are special and their population are declining worldwide. These animals, though a lot of people see them as kind of not the most appealing animals, they play a very critical role in keeping population healthy by eliminating bacteria and things like that. And the lappet-faced vulture is one of the largest of the world's vulture. To have an animal like this die with -- from unnatural causes, as they're stating, again, if this connected to all of these other incidents, it is really a sad reflection on somebody or somebodies who has either got a hardwood grudge with the Dallas Zoo or zoos in general, an extremist trying to make a point and trying to do so as -- brought nothing but harm to these animals.

HUNT: That's really terrible. The leopard situation you mentioned, I mean, this could have been really bad. You know, I think there are probably a lot of people who were relieved to hear you say that they're likely to stick close to their habitat if something like this happens. I almost feel silly asking this, but if a normal person comes across something like this, I mean, what are you supposed to do in that situation?

MAGILL: Well, Kasie, let me get you -- put you a little bit to rest. The clouded leopard is a very small type of leopard. It is not an animal that's dangerous to human beings in the sense there's never been a --

HUNT: Oh, good.

MAGILL: -- case of a clouded leopard going -- eating big. OK. And that's another thing that's interesting about these cases. Every animal has been affected here. These are all animals that don't pose a direct threat to human beings. It's like they're just trying to make a statement here. You don't see somebody trying to let out a tiger or a lion or a bear or something like that.

So, the clouded leopard is a small, highly endangered cat. It doesn't really present a danger to human beings. So, I don't want people -- I know people think right away, oh, my God, leopard, spotted cat, it is going after a human being. That's not the case with the clouded leopard. It's very shy. A reserved small cat that would avoid human confrontation almost at all costs.

HUNT: So, this is really a very -- across the board, a story about a tragedy happening to these very valuable, special animals. Ron Magill, thanks very much for providing with us -- providing us with that perspective. We really appreciate it. And you might call them hot wheels that are just too hot. Cars so easy to steal that insurance companies are refusing to cover them. We'll tell you the makes and models coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:50:00]

HUNT: If you drive a Kia or a Hyundai, it may be harder to get car insurance. Progressive and State Farm say that they will no longer insure some of the older models of those cars because they are too easy to steal. In some cases, all it takes is a USB cable to crank the cars and take off. And a recent TikTok trends even encouraged people to try it at home.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich joins us now with more. Vanessa, what models are affected here?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is Progressive and State Farm saying that they're no longer going to drop -- draw new insurance policies for Hyundai and Kia vehicles that were made from 2015 to 2019. If you have an existing policy, they will honor that, of course.

But what these insurers saw was that Kia and Hyundai vehicles were twice as likely to be stolen than regular vehicles. And this has because those car makers, 2015 and 2019, did not put one very important tool into the car, and that's called an electronic immobilizer. What it does is it connects the car to the actual physical key and that's the only key that can be used to start and drive the car.

However, only 26 percent of Hyundai and Kia vehicles have that technology. So, what you saw was that these cars were very easy to steal. And as you mentioned, some people were even using USB cables to do it. There was a TikTok sort of viral video moment challenge just showing how easy it was to steal these different vehicles.

[13:55:00]

But Hyundai and Kia saying, don't worry, their new models after 2019 and then, especially those with that push-start button for the cars, those vehicles do have this important technology. And State Farm and Progressive saying that they are, in fact, insuring those models after 2019. Kasie.

HUNT: Yes. Don't worry unless you are trying to trade-in a 2015 to 2019 Hyundai or a Kia. And any new buyer is not going to be able to get an insurance policy. I mean, that's a little ridiculous. I mean, are Hyundai and Kia doing anything? Like, is there a fix? I mean, is there a way to make your older model less easy to steal?

YURKEVICH: Unfortunately, they can't work backwards and put this electronic immobilizer into the vehicles. However, they are offering customers beefed up security systems. Hyundai is doing something interesting. They are offering their customers a free steering wheel lock, a little bit old school, but maybe it will help some people feel a little bit more comfortable about driving their older versions of the Kia and Hyundai models that are easier to steal. Kasie.

HUNT: I do remember my dad had a club in the '90s. So, but that's --

YURKEVICH: Yes.

HUNT: Thanks very much for that report.

That's going to do it for me this hour. But don't go anywhere, we've got so much more news coming up right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:00]