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U.S. Senators Grilled Outgoing Boeing CEO on Safety Concerns; North Korea Leader Welcomes Russian President, Sends Shocking Waves to the West; Baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays Dies; Israel Warns Hezbollah of an All-Out War; Justin Timberlake Charged for DWI, Court Hearing set Next Month; Americans lose Billions of Dollars to Pig Butchering Scams. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired June 19, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world. I'm Eleni Giokos.

Just ahead, U.S. senators blast Boeing's outgoing CEO for safety concerns and what they call a culture of retaliation against whistleblowers.

Plus, North Korea's leader welcomes Russian President Vladimir Putin as the pair look to send a signal to the West about their deepening ties.

And a warning about an online scam costing Americans billions of dollars, victims and their families share their harrowing stories with CNN.

Welcome to the show. And for the first time, Boeing's embattled CEO has answered directly to U.S. lawmakers about the company's troubled safety record. And he also came face to face with the families of passengers killed in two Boeing crashes.

Dave Calhoun endured a grilling from Republicans and Democrats alike at a Senate subcommittee hearing Tuesday. In one tense exchange, Republican Senator Josh Hawley questioned Calhoun about allegations that Boeing has cut corners, putting profit over safety and retaliating against whistleblowers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): We've had multiple whistleblowers come before this committee and allege that Boeing is cutting every possible corner on quality and safety. Not just in the past, but now. They've alleged that you've eliminated safety inspections, that there are fewer in quality and there are fewer inspectors doing quality inspections out there. They've alleged that when they raised quality issues and concerns, they were reassigned. They were retaliated against. They were physically threatened. That doesn't sound like attention to quality to me. And yet you're getting paid $33 million a year. Extraordinary.

DAVE CALHOUN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, BOEING: Senator, we have increased our quality inspectors significantly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: All right. As the hearing began, Calhoun turned around and apologized directly to the families of Boeing 737 MAX victims. A combined 346 people were killed in crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018 and 2019. Now before the hearing, another Boeing whistleblower came forward, accusing the plane maker of hiding faulty parts from regulators.

Aviation correspondent Pete Muntean has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, the head of Boeing says he is responsible for the company's repeat failures spanning years. It is the major admission from a relentless blasting by senators. The first public hearing since January's dramatic door plug blowout brought Boeing quality control into question.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT), SENATE HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: This hearing is a moment of reckoning.

HAWLEY: You don't recognize the Boeing that has airplanes falling out of the sky?

MUNTEAN (voice-over): Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun walked into a hearing room at capacity with critics. In the audience, families of those killed in the two 737 MAX 8 crashes held signs saying the company has blood on its hands.

CALHOUN: I would like to apologize on behalf of all of our Boeing associates spread throughout the world.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): It is the newest acknowledgement by Boeing of its faults. From the certification of its planes to problems on factory floors.

BLUMENTHAL: These are chilling allegations.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): The bombshell here from committee chair Richard Blumenthal, a new whistleblower account that Boeing hid substandard parts from the FAA and still put them on airplanes. Blumenthal says the worker spoke up but was told to shut up.

BLUMENTHAL: How many of your employees have been fired for retaliating against whistleblowers?

CALHOUN: Senator, I don't have that number on the tip of my tongue, but I know it. I know it happens.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): The account in this hearing makes more than a dozen Boeing whistleblowers to speak to the committee. Here, senators from both parties pressed Calhoun on quality control. He outlined an overhaul plan.

CALHOUN: Our culture is far from perfect, but we are taking action and we are making progress.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): Though his promises did little to settle critics.

HAWLEY: Why haven't you resigned? Senator, I'm sticking this through.

CALHOUN: I'm proud of having taken the job. I'm proud of our safety record. And I am very proud of our Boeing people.

HAWLEY: You're proud of this safety record?

CALHOUN: I am proud of every action we have taken.

[03:05:00]

MUNTEAN (voice-over): Calhoun is staying on as Boeing CEO until the end of the year.

Samia Stummo was killed in the 2019 737 Max 8 crash. Here her mother said she has no faith in a Boeing turnaround.

NADIA MILLERON, DAUGHTER KILLED IN BOEING PLANE CRASH: When they get pressed for time and they need to produce a lot of planes quickly, they throw all of their safety rubrics out the window.

MUNTEAN: Here is what is next for Boeing. A decision from the Justice Department about whether or not the company will face criminal charges for the fatal 737 Max 8 crashes. Senator Blumenthal is a former federal prosecutor and here he left no doubt about where he stands. He says he wants to see accountability and families do too.

Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: I want to go now to Jeffrey Thomas. He's the editor-in-chief and managing director of AirlineRatings.com. Joining us from Perth, Australia. Great to see you, Jeffrey. On the back of his testimony, very heated, tough questions. But I want you to take me through your sense of how he was able to field some of these questions. And of course, just hours before his testimony, you had that new whistleblower coming in with very serious allegations, basically proving that no real change has occurred in Boeing when it comes to safety.

JEFFREY THOMAS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, AIRLINERATINGS.COM: Look, indeed, it was a very brutal hearing. And David Calhoun was honest as upfront, taking responsibility and is adamant that there is a culture change.

And that's -- that's been my sense from engineers and workers that I've spoken to at Boeing that, yes, change is certainly underway. And since they had those special staff meetings, worker meetings in -- in February of this year, there's been 30,000 suggestions put forward by staff on improvements that Boeing could make right across the board. So they're working through those now to the whistleblower allegations that just surfaced. They came in yesterday.

Boeing hasn't had a chance to respond to those and to investigate exactly what they're about. But look, whistleblowers are very, very important. No question about that.

But several whistleblower claims that have been made, including one that 787s would fall out of the sky, have been found to be not correct and have been slightly exaggerated. So we have to -- we have to treat them obviously with great respect and examine them in great detail. But we also have to be cautious that the allegations being made are in fact well founded and correct.

GIOKOS: So, Jeffrey, I mean, there's a couple of things there. And you say there are many suggestions that have come through and new commitments being put on the table and conditions that they want to comply with. After the two fatal crashes that we saw with the 737 in Ethiopia and Indonesia, it is clear and many of the many of what we've heard in terms of questioning basically show that there's mounting evidence that Boeing has not complied with a lot of those conditions.

What do you say to that? Because since -- since those fatal crashes, one would assume that there would be a huge turnaround on the safety front, which has not been the case.

THOMAS: Well, it takes a long time for these changes to be implemented. Also, you know, you've got the supply chain as well.

You have to make sure that all down the line, Boeing's got literally thousands. They've got 22,000 suppliers right around the globe. Now, the changes that are required take time. It can't be done overnight. And they have to be done carefully, methodically to make sure that at every single turn things, first of all, all the parts have to be examined. Are these parts correct? Are these parts being made properly? Are the raw materials correct?

So there's a raft of things that have to be checked. There's a raft of things that have to be changed and reexamined. And, you know, we wouldn't want Boeing to rush into this and quickly sort of gloss over changes. We want them, in fact, to be methodical about this.

And certainly we had this Alaskan door issue in early in the year. But, you know, we still haven't had a full investigation into exactly what happened there as to why that door was taken off at Boeing, the Boeing factory, and why it was not put back on correctly. We still don't have the answers to that yet.

But look, they are -- they are indeed making changes right through the system. But they do take time. And maybe it's not fast enough for some of the senators. I understand their angst, but they are making progress.

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GIOKOS: Absolutely, Jeffrey. And of course, rebuilding trust, because I think that's what many people are feeling as well. I mean, the people that are frequent flyers are looking at this very closely. So really good to have you on the story for us. Jeffrey Thomas, joining us there.

Well, officials say as many as 29 active wildfires are burning across the United States, two of which are raging near communities in New Mexico. Officials say at least one person has been killed and two others injured there. A state of emergency has also been declared. The fires broke out on Monday and quickly exploded in size. But crews are hopeful for more favorable conditions with rain in the forecast for the next few days.

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GOV. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM (D-NM): These are very serious fires traveling in and around that eastern southeastern part of the state is not only not allowable right now with road closures, but it's discouraged even where roads are open.

LAURA MCCARTHY, STATE FORESTER AT NEW MEXICO FORESTRY DIVISION: This fire is dangerous and fast moving. The winds are strong. They're not quite at the red flag level, but they are close.

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GIOKOS: Well, nearly a dozen wildfires are burning in California. The Post Fire near Los Angeles is more than 30 percent contained. But crews say high winds and low humidity still pose a challenge and they're having trouble reaching some areas. Farther north, the site's fire has grown to 10,000 acres or 4,000 hectares and has not been contained at all.

And in the area of fire in northern California, it's about 20 percent contained, but has prompted evacuations in surrounding areas. CNN's Natasha Chen has been following the Post Fire and has more.

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NATASHA CHEN, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the post fire has burned more than 15,000 acres, just one of about 10 wildfires burning throughout California right now. The Post Fire on the north side is pretty well secure at this point, but on the south side, there is a lot of work to be done, especially along the southeastern perimeter, where there is very rough and rugged, steep terrain.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department says they are for the first time employing the sheriff's department boats to take fire crews across the lake to get to that southern perimeter. We watched as several hotshot crews were brought to that perimeter, taking everything they can with them. They have all of that medical equipment, basic life support so that if

something should happen, they can take care of themselves and basically do the best they can in the middle of nowhere.

Now, this fire caused evacuations for more than a thousand people from a state park over the weekend. It grew very quickly.

The difficult conditions include high wind gusts and high heat. There should be a little bit better wind, wind and weather conditions as the day progresses.

However, there is expected to be more heat coming by the next weekend. And so the work that needs to be done now is really containing what they can.

As fires continue to grow larger, more quickly, the fire public information officer here tells me that their strategy is really to bring in more crews to work on attacking the fire more quickly so that they can wrap this and hopefully be ready for the next fire.

Natasha Chen, CNN, Castaic, California.

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GIOKOS: And more than 20 daily high temperature records could be shattered across the northeastern U.S. today. Several states in northeast are under heat alerts, with temperatures running 10 to 15 degrees warmer than usual for this time of year. Cities in Ohio, West Virginia and New Hampshire broke temperature records on Tuesday, the oldest one going back more than 50 years.

Now potentially massive tropical cyclone could impact the coast of Texas. The weather system is forecast to become a tropical storm in the next 12 to 24 hours and move into northeastern Mexico. And its impact will be felt in Texas. Flood watches are in place for southern Texas, including Houston, where heavy rain is expected and storm surge of up to four feet is expected along the Texas coast. The rainfall will move into New Mexico Thursday and will last until Friday.

We're moving to Pyongyang, where North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin are sitting down for talks during a rare visit to the country by the Russian leader. Now, a short time ago, Mr. Putin said relations between the two countries were based on, quote, "equality and mutual respect."

Those comments reported by the Russian state news agency TASS, which added that Mr. Putin has invited Kim to visit Moscow. It's the Russian leader's first visit to North Korea in 24 years, building on the growing partnership between the two countries. TASS also reports that Kim expressed his support and solidarity for Russia's military operation in Ukraine.

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CNN correspondents are tackling this for us and following all the developments. Clare Sebastian is in London. We also have Ivan Watson in Hong Kong. Ivan, I want to start off with you. Look, the optics behind this very rare visit is one of support and enthusiasm towards Putin. What signal is this sending?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that these two countries are going -- growing closer together. Two countries, North Korea, that has been internationally isolated for generations; Russia, which has been internationally isolated really since Vladimir Putin launched his full scale invasion of Ukraine a bit more than two years ago. Take a listen to what his North Korean host had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM JONG-UN, NORTH KOREAN SUPREME LEADER (through translator): The DPRK expresses full support and solidarity with the struggles of the Russian government, military and the people, which are conducting special military operations in Ukraine to protect its own sovereignty, safety and territorial stability.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: So interesting to hear Kim Jong-un use the same exact terminology that the Kremlin uses to describe this ferocious war that's gone on for more than two years, calling it also a special military operation.

Now, the U.S. government, the South Korean government, accused North Korea of funneling weapons to Russia that they claim are being used on the Ukrainian battlefields to kill Ukrainian troops and civilians. That's something that North Korea has denied.

One thing that these two leaders have in common, they're both under sanctions regimes led by the U.S. and its Western allies. So when they get together to talk about enhancing their ties, that leads to people to wondering whether or not they both might be looking at finding ways to evade some of those sanctions.

GIOKOS: Yeah, really good point there, Ivan, and of course, clearly a show of force, even seeing the ceremony that happened today. Clare, NATO says it is concerned. Let's talk about the international reaction here to this visit of these two leaders in this sort of very rare occasion. But as Ivan says, sending a very clear message to the West.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I think it is. I think this is a stark reminder, Eleni, of the security issues that are being created by the war in Ukraine far beyond Ukraine. Obviously, there is the concern that this visit will lead to more weapons transfers from North Korea to Russia, which could, of course, prolong the conflict in Ukraine. But certainly what NATO is watching is the broader implications of these deepening ties. Take a listen to the Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL; Putin's visits to North Korea demonstrates and confirms the very close alignment between Russia and authoritarian states like North Korea, but also China and Iran. And this also demonstrates that our security is not regional, it's global. What happens in Europe matters for Asia, and what happens in Asia matters for us. And this is clearly demonstrated in Ukraine, where Iran, North Korea, China are propping up, fueling Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: Well, the Pentagon also says this deepening relationship is concerning. And I think, look, aside from the implications for the conventional war that we see in Europe, the big concern here is the nuclear specter. Of course, Russia has already vetoed the extension of a mandate of a U.N. panel of experts that monitors North Korean sanctions violations. That mandate has already expired. Those sanctions, by the way, would explicitly prevent the kind of weapons transfers that both the U.S. and South Korea say are already happening from North Korea to Russia.

Russia, as we know, consistently rattling the nuclear saber in Ukraine. And this is another card that it can potentially play here. North Korea said to be dramatically increasing its nuclear arsenal. It has very few scruples when it comes to threatening the West. So this is a way that President Putin can send a message to the West of just how much Russia can be a global spoiler here.

I think it was very telling just how much his letter ahead of this visit in North Korean state media talked about confronting the West. So the optics really matter here. And certainly, Russian state media is full of references to just how much the West is watching this and why the West is so worried about this. Eleni.

GIOKOS: All right. Clare Sebastian, Ivan Watson, thank you so much for that analysis. Good to have you on the show.

Well, Russian state media reports that a court has sentenced a U.S. soldier to nearly four years in a Russian penal colony.

[03:20:03]

Staff Sergeant Gordon Black was found guilty on charges of theft and threatening murder following his arrest in May in Vladivostok. TASS reports that Black's legal team plans to appeal and the soldier had been accused of stealing about $112 from a woman believed to be his girlfriend. The two had first met in South Korea.

And still to come, U.S. President Joe Biden and Donald Trump are ramping up the rhetoric ahead of next week's presidential debate. We'll have more on what they're saying ahead of that debate. That's coming up next. Stay with CNN.

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GIOKOS: All right. So Tuesday was primary election day in three U.S. states with just over four months until the face-off between President Biden and Donald Trump in November. In Virginia's 5th congressional district, Trump-backed state senator

John McGuire has claimed victory against Bob Good, even though the race is still too early to call. CNN projects Democrat Eugene Vindman, a high-profile figure during Trump's first impeachment, will win the Democratic primary in Virginia's 7th district.

[03:25:04]

In the Republican runoff race in Georgia's 2nd district, former Education Department official Wayne Johnson is ahead of Chuck Hand, who was convicted of a misdemeanor of illegally demonstrating in the Capitol during the January 6, 2021 riots.

Now in Oklahoma, Republican Congressman Tom Cole has won the primary race in the 4th congressional district with about 65 percent of the vote.

Meantime, President Biden stepped up his appeal to Latino voters, who are crucial to his chances of winning a second term. Now on Tuesday, he unveiled a sweeping new executive action on immigration that's aimed at protecting undocumented spouses and children of U.S. citizens. The new policy would affect around 500,000 families and about 50,000 children.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: This action still requires undocumented spouses to file all required legal paperwork to remain in the United States. It requires them to pass their criminal background checks. And it doesn't apply to anyone trying to come here today. This action is a better way. It doesn't tear families apart while requiring every undocumented spouse to fulfill their obligations under the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Biden also called out Trump for separating families at the border when he was president. But on the campaign trail in Wisconsin, Trump says if he's elected in November, he'll dump Biden's new immigration program.

Meanwhile, Trump also walked back his comments from last week when he called one of Wisconsin's biggest cities, Milwaukee, a horrible city. Steve Contorno has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Donald Trump appearing in Racine, Wisconsin on Tuesday, very critical of the new immigration policies announced by President Joe Biden earlier in the day. He called it, quote, "mass amnesty." He said it would be illegal to do without Congress's approval. Take a listen to what he said.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When I'm reelected, Joe Biden's illegal amnesty plan will be ripped up and thrown out on the very first day that we're back in office. Because he's just using that group. They're trying to sign these people up and register. They're not citizens. They're not allowed to do it. They're trying to use all of these people that are pouring into our country to vote. Now, I should point out there's little evidence of non-citizens voting in U.S. elections.

CONTORNO: In fact, it would be a federal crime for them to do so. But Donald Trump has made immigration a major part of his pitch to Wisconsin voters. It's one that he has delivered in this part of the state, southeast Wisconsin, twice in the last six weeks alone. And he will, of course, be back here next month for the Republican convention in Milwaukee. It's a city that he reportedly said was, quote, "horrible" last week when he was meeting with Hill Republicans. Here's what he had to say about it on Tuesday.

TRUMP: I love Milwaukee. I was the one that picked Milwaukee, I have to tell you. I was the one that picked it. These lying people that they say, oh, he doesn't like Milwaukee. I love Milwaukee. I said, you got to fix the crime. We all know that. You got to make sure the election's honest. But I'm the one that picked Milwaukee.

CONTORNO: Trump also teased his upcoming debate against President Joe Biden, which, of course, is just eight days away.

Steve Contorno, CNN, Racine, Wisconsin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: Well, you can tune in to see the CNN presidential debate right here on CNN coming up on June 27th at 9 p.m. Eastern. And we'll replay the debate in its entirety a few different times. You can watch it at 7 a.m. London time, that's 2 p.m. in Hong Kong, or 12 hours later at 7 p.m. in London or 10 p.m. in Abu Dhabi. You don't want to miss that.

Well, Hall of Fame baseball player Willie Mays has died. He played in the Old Negro League and was among the first generation of African- American players in Major League Baseball. Mays played 23 seasons in the majors, mostly for the New York Giants before the team moved to San Francisco.

He finished with 660 career home runs at the time and the second most behind Babe Ruth. The center fielder also was dominant in the field, winning 12 Gold Glove Awards. Known as the "Say Hey Kid" for the way he enthusiastically greeted others, Mays was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979. Willie Mays was 93.

Well, coming up, how Israel's military is responding to Hezbollah's latest cross-border strikes and provocations. We'll bring you an update right after this. Stay with CNN.

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GIOKOS: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." I'm Eleni Giokos. Now Israel is warning Hezbollah there could potentially be an all-out

war after the Iran-backed militant group published a nine-minute-long video of military and civilian sites in Israel. The video appears to show sites in highly populated Israeli cities close to the Lebanese border, hinting that Hezbollah could strike major targets there.

This comes after months of cross-border strikes between Hezbollah and Israel since the October 7th Hamas attacks and Israel's military campaign in Gaza. But the attacks have ramped up this past week after an Israeli strike killed a high-ranking Hezbollah commander in Lebanon. Israel says it's preparing for the possibility of an offensive in Lebanon if diplomatic efforts to reduce hostilities with Hezbollah fail.

Meantime, America's top diplomat is confirming an ongoing pause of a heavy bombs shipment to Israel as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tries to ramp up pressure on the U.S. Antony Blinken says the Biden administration is reviewing the 2,000-pound bombs shipment that was paused last month over concerns they may be used in densely populated areas in Gaza.

Now, in a video message, Netanyahu says it's, quote, "inconceivable that the U.S. has been withholding weapons and ammunition from Israel," and added that Blinken had assured him the restrictions would be lifted.

CNN's Scott McLean joins us now from Istanbul for an update. Scott, good to see you. Look, there seems to be confusion about whether Israel and the U.S. are on the same page when it comes to this latest shipment of weapons and ammunition. Give me a sense of what we know right now, because the messaging from Antony Blinken is that the U.S. is reviewing the shipment.

[03:34:59]

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. So, Eleni, this video that was made by the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was handed specifically to foreign journalists. And in that video, he is making two claims.

First, that the U.S. is withholding weapons and ammunition shipments. And secondly, that Antony Blinken, in the last time he visited Israel, he had this candid meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, he says, and that he assured him, as you mentioned, that he is working day and night to remove what was described as a bottleneck.

Now, the White House was asked about this yesterday, and frankly, they seemed a little bit bewildered. The press secretary said that genuinely, they did not know what the Israeli prime minister was talking about, because they say that there is only one single shipment that has been held up right now for further review.

This shipment is one of 3,500 bombs, roughly half of them are 500- pound bombs, the other half are 2,000-pound bombs. And specifically, the Biden administration is worried about these kinds of weapons being used in a dense urban environment, specifically like Rafah. And so they have held it up to make sure that Israel doesn't have access to this kind of weapon to be carried out in that kind of an environment, because obviously the U.S. has urged Israel to be more careful when it comes to civilian casualties.

These 2,000-pound bombs, especially, will leave a massive crater in the ground, they will send shrapnel potentially hundreds of feet away. These are not precision weapons, and Israel is not always that interested in precision. Even yesterday, they dropped two bombs on the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to Gazan officials, killing 15 people, including women and children, and they didn't even say who they were targeting.

Now, the secretary of state was asked about these comments from the prime minister yesterday, and he said that, look, all of the shipments, with the exception of this one, are moving as normal. But he was pressed specifically by one journalist about whether Netanyahu was telling the truth. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Again, I've been as clear as I can possibly be. I'm not going to talk about what we said in diplomatic conversations. I can just say, again, that we have a commitment to make sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against a whole variety of threats.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: And when it comes to weapons, Eleni, it seems that there is almost nothing that Israel can do to deter Congress from supplying those kind of weapons. Just yesterday, two Democrats approved, or cleared the way for the Biden administration to approve the shipment of 50 F-15 fighter jets worth $18 billion to Israel, though they won't be delivered for several years.

GIOKOS: All right, Scott McLean for us in Istanbul. Thank you so much.

I'll be right back after the short break. Stay with CNN.

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GIOKOS: All right, we all know that song. That's singer Justin Timberlake, who's in some legal trouble in New York. He was charged with driving while intoxicated early Tuesday after being pulled over by police in the Hamptons, an upscale community on Long Island.

The officer said Timberlake's eyes were bloodshot and glassy and that there was a strong odor of alcohol on his breath. Timberlake told police he had one drink with friends and was following them home. And he's since been released and has a court date set for next month. Well, thanks so much for joining us. I'm Eleni Giokos. "Marketplace

Europe" is up next for our international viewers. And for those in the United States and Canada, I'll be back with more "CNN Newsroom" right after the break.

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GIOKOS: Welcome back. Dr. Anthony Fauci became a household name in the United States during the COVID pandemic. His appearances during White House press briefings gave Americans access to a top expert answering questions about the virus that shut down the world.

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta sat down with Dr. Fauci to talk about his career, including a pivotal moment when he had to correct misinformation spread by the president, Donald Trump, at the time. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You talk about this interesting press briefing that you did. This is in March of 2020. And you had to correct the record, even if the president was talking. How challenging is that?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, FORMER DIRECTOR, U.S. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I said to myself, I have a responsibility to preserve my own personal integrity and a responsibility to the American public. So when I walked up to the podium, I said, here it goes, Dr. Fauci. The president just said that hydroxychloroquine is the end all.

The answer is no. And the evidence that you're talking about, John, is anecdotal evidence.

That was painful to me to have to do that. But there was no doubt that I had to do it. I mean, it wasn't like, well, maybe you shouldn't, maybe you shouldn't. There was no doubt that I had to do it.

GUPTA (voice-over): He thought President Trump would be angry. But listen to what happened behind the scenes.

FAUCI: But then he called me in his office once when he wanted to ask me another question. And he was on looking at three different televisions. And he says, my God, these ratings are amazing. They're better than cable. They're better than network.

The president, it's no secret. I'm not divulging a secret about the president. He was very, very fixated on image and ratings. And he thought that the amount of attention that was given to the press briefings was really terrific. And his comment was, wow, do you see those ratings? And my feeling was that ratings were in the middle of a pandemic. What are we talking about ratings? (END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Moving on now, and law enforcement authorities in the United States say an elaborate scam is costing victims billions of dollars. And in one particular heartbreaking case, it cost a family their father. The scam is known as pig butchering.

International scammers using fake online identities target their victims on dating websites, convincing them to invest in phony cryptocurrency businesses. And before they know it, their life savings are gone. CNN's Ivan Watson with a devastating financial, psychological, and emotional toll the scheme has left behind.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT, DENNIS JONES' SON: As soon as I found out that it was a suicide, I was 100 percent sure that it was the scam. It just, it crushed them. It like took the life out of them.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It has only been a couple months since Matt and Adrian suddenly lost their father.

MATT: I mean, our father was the grand optimist. He was always. And they, uh, they extinguished that for him.

WATSON (voice-over): I meet them at Adrienne's home in Northern Virginia, where their father's ashes have yet to be buried. Dennis Jones was an avid photographer, guitarist, and loving grandfather. But last summer, Dennis started withdrawing from the family, instead talking daily to a woman he met on Facebook.

WATSON: The profile's name here is Jessie Chu. Do you think this person exists?

ADRIENNE, DENNIS JONES' DAUGHTER: No.

WATSON (voice-over): Over time, Jessie convinced Dennis to invest in cryptocurrency. He pumped more and more money in until it suddenly disappeared. Text messages show Dennis was desperate. And yet his children say he still trusted his friend named Jessie.

ADRIENNE: I do believe he loved the person that was, that he believed was behind that profile.

WATSON (voice-over): Carina, who works in biotech in Northern California, is also the victim of an online cryptocurrency scam.

WATSON: Were you in love?

CARINA, SCAM VICTIM: I was. Yeah, I really felt like I trusted this person.

WATSON (voice-over): She says she first met her scammer on the dating app Bumble.

[03:50:03]

WATSON; How much money did you lose?

CARINA: In the end, I ultimately lost $150,000. I mean, I went into a depression. I was depressed. I ashamed, embarrassed that I had done all this without sharing it with anybody.

ERIN WEST, SANTA CLARA COUNTY DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I've been a prosecutor for over 25 years. I spent nine years in sexual assault and I've never seen the absolute decimation of people that I have seen as a result of pig butchering.

WATSON (voice-over): Erin West is a deputy district attorney in Northern California, specializing in online crypto scams she calls pig butchering.

WEST: We've got over $5 billion in losses.

WATSON: In 2023.

WEST: In 2023, and that's up 38 percent from last year. And when crime is growing at 38 percent, that's something you better keep your eyes on.

WATSON (voice-over): Using fake social media profiles, scammers spend months gaining the confidence of their victims before convincing them to invest in cryptocurrency through fake websites. Those platforms claim huge profits until the money suddenly disappears into the pockets of criminal gangs mostly based out of Southeast Asia.

A 2023 CNN investigation revealed many scammers are actually themselves victims of human trafficking like this Indian man named Rakesh. Imprisoned in this armed compound in Myanmar, he was forced to work pretending to be a Russian woman targeting Americans online.

RAKESH, SCAMMER: They provided us. I got a Russian girl with using a Russian girl fake profile. I need to scam people.

WATSON (voice-over): Investigators warn of a mass transfer of wealth stealing billions of dollars from ordinary Americans. And this year they predict it will only get worse.

JEFF ROSEN, SANTA CLARA COUNTY DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Many of these perpetrators are beyond my reach. And in order to establish deterrence, we need to prosecute some individuals who are running these operations in Southeast Asia.

WATSON (voice-over): U.S. law enforcement say they have yet to arrest a single scammer. Though the U.S. Secret Service has had better luck in recouping some of the lost money.

SHAWN BRADSTREET, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE OF THE U.S. SECRET SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO: We've been able to claw back, you know, millions but it's still a small percentage compared to how much is going overseas.

WATSON: Which is billions. BRADSTREET: Which is billions.

WATSON (voice-over): The scammers flood social media sites to ensnare victims.

Tech companies like Meta, Match Group and Coinbase say they're trying to spread awareness about the threat. But Deputy District Attorney Erin West says that's not enough.

WEST: An enemy has declared war on the rest of the world without really telling any of us that we are at war. And we are not fighting back.

WATSON (voice-over): Carina says she spent hours every day exchanging romantic texts with the person she thought she loved.

CARINA: It's heartbreaking for me to see the state that I was in.

WATSON (voice-over): By the time she realized she'd been defrauded, Carina says she took out high-interest loans, borrowed money from loved ones and had to move back in with her mother.

WATSON: What is the timeline like for repaying your debts right now?

CARINA: Probably 10 years.

WATSON (voice-over): After Dennis Jones took his own life, his adult children were left piecing together what happened by looking through his Facebook messages.

MATT: He's saying these are basically evil people. I did not know that such people existed. And he ends it with the ultimate pain here is that I've betrayed my family's trust. This is unbearable.

WATSON (voice-over): In early March, Matt, Adrienne and their sister Laura planned to have a meeting to help out their father. The plan was for him to move in with Adrienne here in Virginia.

ADRIENNE: Unfortunately, the day that we were supposed to have the meeting is the day that we found out he died. He died embarrassed, ashamed, financially devastated and heartbroken. And if sharing our story helps somebody else or another family, then it's worth it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: Well, Ivan Watson joins us now from Hong Kong. Ivan, brilliant piece there. Incredible investigation into the story that not only has a personal impact, but if you think of the wider economic impact, $5 billion lost in 2023 alone. What's striking is that authorities haven't been able to intercept one of these perpetrators. What more did you learn on that front?

WATSON: Right. I mean, there's an absolute lack of deterrence here.

[03:54:54] The Department of Justice did announce last month, for example, that it arrested two men, Chinese nationals, that it accuses of laundering tens of millions of dollars on behalf of pig butchering scam groups through the U.S. and then into the Bahamas.

But they can't get, they say, at the actual scam operators, the kingpins of this. When you go to the Thai border with Myanmar and you look across this small river and you see these giant office parks, which are effectively slave factories that are getting electricity and have cell phone towers aimed at them from the Thai side of the border, you get a sense of how massive these operations are.

And Thai law enforcement authorities, they insist they can do nothing across that international border, that jurisdiction. However, the Thai Telecommunications Regulation Commission has told CNN that it has ordered Thai telecommunications companies to stop sending wireless signals across these borders. Yet they say that they've seen the syndicates shift their activities to using other technology like Starlink to try to send their messages out.

So, basically, there is no deterrence, nothing to stop these groups from spamming people in the U.S. and in other developed economies. They're never going to get punished for it, thus far, and they prey on the loneliness of their victims, who eventually, some of them, sadly, fall for this type of attention.

GIOKOS: Yeah, it's those vulnerabilities. And what's also striking about your story is that there are victims on both sides. Ivan, thank you so much for your insights into this important investigation. Good to see you.

Well, thanks so much for your company. I'm Eleni Giokos. I'll be back with another hour of Newsroom right after this short break. Stay with CNN.

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