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Trump Team Skips FBI Background Checks for Some Cabinet Picks; Anti-Vaccine Activist RFK Jr. Picked to Lead HHS; Now, Trial for Migrant Accused of Killing Laken Riley. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired November 15, 2024 - 10:00   ET

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

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JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Shocking allegations this morning about one of Donald Trump's key cabinet appointments. Pete Hegseth involved in an investigation into an alleged sexual assault. Brand new CNN reporting is straight ahead.

Plus, the Laken Riley murder trial is underway right now. We'll take you live to the courtroom.

And later, mass exodus, why users are leaving Elon Musk's social media platform X and where they are going.

Good morning. You are live in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

All right, let's start the hour on the already rocky rollout for Trump's cabinet picks. Joining us this morning is Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia of California. He joins us live up on Capitol Hill. Congressman, thanks so much for being here with us.

I want to ask you first about President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Defense Department, former Fox News Host Pete Hegseth CNN is reporting Hegseth was involved in an investigation into an alleged sexual assault in California back in 2017. What's your reaction to this?

REP. ROBERT GARCIA (D-CA): I mean, it's very disturbing. I think it's pretty clear that Donald Trump is making completely irresponsible picks to his White House. I mean, you're talking about someone that's a Fox News host. There's serious allegations against him. No experience running any sort of major organization.

The Department of Defense is our largest organization and agency in the federal government. You add Tulsi Gabbard to that. You add Matt Gaetz to that. And now RFK Jr. to that. I mean, this is It's completely irresponsible people with no experience that want to essentially destroy our agencies, the people that work there and the services they provide. So, I'm shameful, quite frankly.

ACOSTA: And, Congressman, related to that point, sources tell CNN the Trump transition team is bypassing traditional FBI background checks for some of these cabinet picks opting to use private companies to vet candidates for jobs in the administration. How problematic is that?

GARCIA: It's crazy. I mean, if you're a small business owner, you know, the basic types of checks that you do just to hire somebody a background check, making sure that they are going to be a good worker, that they're being honest on their resume. Donald Trump isn't doing even just the basics to hire these folks to government.

The idea that he wants to bypass security checks, he wants to bypass FBI security checks, including folks at the highest levels of government, like at the Department of Defense or National Security, should be incredibly concerning to us.

We know that Donald Trump already has relationships with authoritarians and dictators around the world. We know how irresponsible he has been with classified information. And yet we're going to have picks of his come into our government? They're going to have unfettered access to information to our nation's secrets without going through a basic FBI background check? That should concern every single American, and these folks should be rejected by the Senate, and certainly the Senate should absolutely mandate that they go through this kind of background check.

ACOSTA: And I do want to ask you about Trump's pick to lead the Justice Department, former Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz. As you know, a former House member, now GOP Senator Markwayne Mullin told CNN last year there's a reason no one in the party defended him when he was accused of sleeping with an underage girl. Let's listen to that.

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SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): He was accused of sleeping with an underage girl, and there's a reason why no one in the conference came and defended him because we had all seen the videos he was showing on the House floor that all of us had walked away of the girls that he had slept with. He'd brag about how he would crush E.D. Medicine and chase it with an energy drink so he could go all night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Congressman, maybe you weren't involved in any of these conversations. Did you ever observe any behavior like this by Gaetz where he was showing his phone to other members on the House floor?

GARCIA: I mean, look, I didn't observe any of that behavior, but I will tell you that one bipartisan action we're all taking together in the House, Democrats and Republicans, is opposing Matt Gaetz. It couldn't be a more irresponsible pick for attorney general. I mean, this is someone that just today we're going to have a major ethics investigation released to the Congress, to the public about all of the things that we believe Matt Gaetz has done.

The fact that he is now trying to avoid that investigation and the release of those documents by resigning from Congress is cowardly. And now he wants to be attorney general and the president is going to actually try to ram that through the Senate, it couldn't be more irresponsible. He's going to be somebody that's going to go after people across this country with no evidence, destroy the justice system, essentially bypass the courts.

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And so this is, fortunately, a nomination that you're already seeing a lot of opposition from Republican senators. And hopefully he pulls us before it even comes to a vote. It's completely irresponsible.

ACOSTA: And I also have to ask you about Trump picking vaccine skeptic RFK Jr. to be in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services. You're on the House COVID Oversight Committee, which held its final hearing yesterday, I believe. What would Kennedy leading HHS mean for dealing with a potential future pandemic?

GARCIA: Of all the horrible picks, there probably could not be a worse one for the country and for families than this one. You're talking about a person that is literally a tinfoil hat conspiracy theorist. This is the person that, by the way, has said that you can't actually prove that all the vaccines are actually effective. This is somebody who has said that fluoride in water causes people to turn trans or turn gay. This is someone that has continued to attack basic scientists and doctors. He wants to gut the NIH and fire the employees.

The NIH, those are America's scientists and doctors who are doing research to prevent pandemics, to prevent the spread of diseases. His actions, as we all know, have already actually caused measles epidemics in other parts of the world. And we're going to put this person in charge of our health? We just went through the single largest loss of life event, the pandemic, just a couple of years ago. And now Donald Trump wants to put a vaccine skeptic, vaccines, by the way, that saved millions of lives around the world in charge of our health system?

I can't tell you how irresponsible, shameful and disgusting this pick is and it is something that we should come to expect from Donald Trump, but one that we must furiously oppose.

ACOSTA: But, Congressman, I have to ask you this question because, I mean, it's not as though Donald Trump was hiding at RFK Jr. somewhere. I mean, he was out there on the campaign trail campaigning with Donald Trump. I mean, this was no secret that, I mean, Trump was saying he was going to let RFK Jr. go wild on public health and so on, on women's health. And, I mean, what do you say to the question out there, isn't this what people voted for?

GARCIA: I think people are about to find out the horrors of Donald Trump. I mean, people are going to find out and realize that everything he said he's going to do, he's actually going to do. And it's unfortunate with the amount of misinformation that was out in the media that was being pumped out to so many folks. It's unfortunate that people couldn't see the dangers of Donald Trump.

But people like RFK Jr., like Matt Gaetz, like Tulsi Gabbard, in charge of our national security and our nation's health, it's going to impact families across this country, especially those that depend on systems like Medicare, that families are depending on these important agencies that provide health care are going to be greatly impacted. So, I think it's a sad day, a sad time for our country.

ACOSTA: Congressman Garcia, very much for your time, we appreciate it.

GARCIA: Thank you.

ACOSTA: In the meantime, the House Ethics Committee was expected to meet today to vote on releasing its report on sex crime allegations against now former Congressman Matt Gaetz. But that meeting has been canceled.

Let's go to CNN's Lauren Fox joins us now from Capitol Hill. Lauren, is there any pressure for this report to be released? Is this just going to get swept under the rug now that Matt Gaetz has left Congress? What are you hearing?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We are still waiting to see any reaction from Democrats who are on the House Ethics Committee about the fact that this meeting is no longer taking place this morning. This would have been the opportunity to hold a vote up or down on whether or not to release that ethics report. Obviously, that meeting is not happening now, Matt Gaetz no longer a member of Congress. But now the question is what happens in the United States Senate. The Judiciary Committee is going to be responsible for vetting his nomination to be Donald Trump's attorney general.

And I pressed yesterday Chuck Grassley who will be the chairman of that committee on whether or not he wanted to see this ethics report. He told me repeatedly that his team is going to be doing their own vetting. He was noncommittal on whether or not he was going to request or even need this ethics report. But, obviously, Democrats feel very differently about this. And there are some Republicans in the Senate who made the case that, yes, they would like to take a look at that ethics report before casting a vote for the next attorney general of the United States. Jim?

ACOSTA: All right. Lauren Fox, I know you've got a busy day up on Capitol Hill, we appreciate it. Thanks so much.

One reason why Trump's choice of RFK Jr. is causing such outrage is his history of promoting unfounded conspiracy theories. Let's show you some of them. He has falsely linked vaccines to autism, falsely called the coronavirus vaccine the deadliest vaccine ever made, promotes raw milk, stem cells and other controversial or debunked medical treatments.

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He argues government employees have an interest in mass poisoning the American public. He has falsely linked antidepressants to mass shootings. He has incorrectly suggested AIDS may not be caused by HIV. He falsely argues children's gender identity can be impacted by water. He has falsely touted Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine as effective COVID treatments. He has argued that COVID-19 was ethnically targeted to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people. He claims 5G high speed wireless networks are used to control our behavior. And the list goes on and on and on.

Let's bring in our next guest, CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner. Dr. Reiner, your thoughts on RFK Jr. I mean, we listed as many as we could there, courtesy of The Washington Post. I suppose we could have found -- I think we could have found more. There are more.

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, other than that, he's a great candidate. Look, I think that, you know, the primary responsibility for a president is to maintain the safety and security of the country. And rather than doing that, I think the nomination of a candidate to run the department that basically is in charge of virtually all of matters relating to health in the United States is remarkably irresponsible. And rather than, you know, promoting health and safety in this country, I think it imperils the safety of this country.

And, look, I agree with Congressman Garcia. The president has told us what he's going to do. And in every one of his stump speeches on the campaign trail, he vowed to remove federal funding for any school district that mandated vaccines. And now to fulfill that campaign promise, he hires the nation's most prominent vaccine denier. So, I believe he's very serious about changing how this country vaccinates children.

And what I would ask the secretary-designate, Kennedy, is he wants to make America healthy again. What year does he want to go back to? Does he want to go back before 1955 when we started vaccinating kids for polio? Does he want to go back, you know, prior to 1900 when 30 percent of all the deaths in the United States where in children, you know, less than five? Now it's 1.5 percent, what year does he want to roll the clock back to?

ACOSTA: And what would the consequences be if, say, vaccine mandates are removed from schools? I mean, I grew up with them. I mean, kids grow up with them. I mean, this is what you do with your kids. You make sure they get their MMR vaccines and so on.

REINER: right. So, prior to MMR, measles, mumps, rubella vaccine, measles, was, you know, burned through the United States. It's one of the most contagious viruses that the world has ever seen. And we've seen in parts of the world famously in Samoa several years ago.

When the vaccine rates drop, the virus will start infecting people. And you need about a 94 percent -- above 94 percent vaccination rate in the community to have herd immunity against that particular virus. And it's starting to drop below that. In Florida, now it's about 93 percent.

So, if we start removing these requirements for school-age kids to be vaccinated, we're going to see the return of things like polio and measles and other completely preventable, sometimes potentially fatal childhood illnesses. ACOSTA: And, Dr. Reiner, I mean, we'd listed some of the bizarre conspiracy theories earlier, but I do want to play some video of what RFK Jr. has said about COVID-19. If we could play some of that and talk about it on the other side.

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ROBERT F. KENNEDY, FORMER INDEPENDENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: COVID- 19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese. But we don't know whether it was deliberately targeted or not.

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ACOSTA: Dr. Reiner, is there any science behind that, what he's saying there?

REINER: No. And this is what Mr. Kennedy does. With a very authoritative voice and by using sometimes complicated jargon, he propagates these just wild conspiracy theories. And when he says the virus was targeted, what he's saying is that it's bioengineered, that it's a bioweapon.

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And no one believes that. No one believes that this was a bioweapon designed to spare Jews. I mean, that creates an entire other concern for me when I hear him saying that this was designed to spare Ashkenazi Jews. So, who might have created that?

But people listen to this. People who are a little bit skeptical of either science or vaccines look for validation for some of their concerns. And the secretary of Health and Human Services running this $1.7 trillion agency, overseeing FDA, CDC, NIH, CMS, the agency that funds Medicare and Medicaid, this person needs to be the source of truth.

We have really serious health problems in the United States, and a lot of it can be fixed by serious people. But when I hear these kinds of statements from someone who's going to run those agencies, it makes me realize that he is not a serious person.

If you want to help health in the United States, let's get more people insurance. Let's have people afford their medications. And, yes, let's improve the diet. I'm all for that. If Mr. Kennedy wants to get people eating better, I'm on board.

ACOSTA: Dr Jonathan Reiner, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it.

REINER: My pleasure, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Right now in Georgia, the defendant in Laken Riley's killing is on trial. We'll take you live to the courtroom.

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ACOSTA: Right now in Georgia, the trial is underway for the man accused of murdering Laken Riley. She was the nursing student killed in February while jogging on the University of Georgia campus, a case that ignited a political firestorm over illegal immigration.

Murder suspect Jose Antonio Ibarra, an undocumented migrant from Venezuela, has waived his right to a jury trial. His fate is now in the hands of the judge.

And CNN's Rafael Romo is outside the courthouse this morning. Rafael, what do we know so far?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jim, good morning to you. The trial got underway about an hour ago, and to be totally frank with you, Jim, it's been really difficult to hear some of the details, the gruesome details about what transpired on February 22 when the prosecution says the defendant, Jose Antonio Ibarra, killed Laken Riley, who was 22 years old at the time of her death.

Among the things that Special Prosecutor Sheila Ross said was that that morning, Jose Ibarra put on a black hat, a hoodie-style jacket, disposable gloves and, quote, went hunting for females on the University of Georgia campus. She also added that the evidence will show Laken Riley fought for her life and dignity. And that fight, she caused this defendant to leave forensic evidence behind, she said, and, quote, marked her killer for the entire world to see.

Now, again, some of the testimony in the opening arguments is very, very hard to hear Jim. I want to play a little bit of sound of what the special prosecutor had to say. But before we do that, we need to warn our viewers that it may be hard to listen for some of them. Let's take a listen.

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SHEILA ROSS, PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: He went hunting for females on the University of Georgia's campus. And in his hunt, he encountered 22- year-old Laken Riley on her morning jog. And when Laken Riley refused to be his rape victim, he bashed her skull in with a rock repeatedly. That is what this case is all about.

The evidence will show that Laken fought. She fought for her life. She fought for her dignity. And in that fight, she caused this defendant to leave forensic evidence behind.

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ROMO: And, Jim, one of the most important pieces of evidence here is that the victim was wearing a digital watch, a Garmin watch, that showed that she got stopped at 9:10 A.M. this morning. And the data shows that her heartbeat stopped at exactly 9:28, with special prosecutor said that her fight with him was long and fierce, according to that data. Jim, back to you.

ACOSTA: All right. Rafael Romo, thank you very much.

Joining me now for more, criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor Anne Bremner. Anne, what is the significance of this being a bench trial instead of going to a jury?

ANNE BREMNER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, what we just heard, which was, of course, terrific. And good morning, by the way, thanks for having me. I think is why this case is being tried to a judge and not a jury. Because, you know, jurors, even though they're told not to let passion or prejudice influence them, you know, they're lay people that are coming and hearing a case like this that's horrific. They'll be influenced, of course, by how, by the nature of how terrible it is. I mean, she's disfigured. She's trying to call 911 and he stops her. There's all kinds of evidence. There's DNA. There's bloody clothes. He's even on video surveillance. So, try to a judge, and at least there would be less passion in the case.

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And, finally, with respect to the interest in this case, nationally, it's not just how bad the cases, but how the media has been portraying the case, looking at the case and the issues surrounding undocumented migrants.

ACOSTA: And that is Laken Riley's roommate who is testifying right now. You can see her on the right side of the screen. We may be dipping into that in a few moments. We'll keep you posted on that.

But, Anne, I mean, court records have shown the prosecution is seeking a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Why do you think they aren't seeking the death penalty?

BREMNER: That's a great question. I looked at the statute again this morning. And, of course, the prosecutor has been voted out of office as being potentially too liberal, I think, for some of that guesstimations. But that was the decision of the prosecutor. And so it's life without possibility of parole, but it certainly fits certain categories of covering it up like an aggravated assault, things like that. It would put it in the category would definitely be considered, but it wasn't. It was rejected by this prosecutor.

ACOSTA: And, Anne, the judge apparently has a reputation for being stern but fair, no stranger to high-profile cases. How important is it for this case since it's become a lightning rod for this judge to have the experience that's needed, the gravitas and so on to handle this kind of a case?

BREMNER: Well, we had a trifecta of former President Clinton, President Biden and also President-elect Trump talking about this case. We heard it in the State of the Union. This judge's father was a victim of an armed robbery. So, when you look at whether or not he could be dispassionate, he is. He's reported to be very fair. And I think Bob Dylan said, it doesn't take a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing.

The sentiments out there are very important to look at in terms of whether this defendant can get a fair trial. It certainly sounds like you can. And if he does serve life in prison, it'll be here in the U.S.

ACOSTA: All right. Anne Bremner, thank you very much.

We want to go to some of the live testimony right now. This is the roommate of Laken Riley. Let's listen in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- in class. Sophia went to go pick up Connelly (ph) from class so that they could meet us at the (INAUDIBLE) with the police.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And did the three of you all meet there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And were the police officers there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At some point today, police officer asked you if you could show him the location of Laken as it depicted on your phone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And did you do so?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the thing that you showed him as it states Exhibit 2, what we've already looked at?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay. How long did y'all have to stay there that day at the INCS (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It felt like forever. I'm not sure the exact amount of time, but maybe around five hours.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At some point, did the police ask you to show them the Ring footage from your home where Laken had left out in the morning?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, there were a few times that the police asked for different things, but I did show somebody at some point, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: May I (INAUDIBLE) the witness (INAUDIBLE)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On any (INAUDIBLE) indication purposes, the state's Exhibit 4, do you recognize it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do. And did you put your initials and date, that thumb drive?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is this, Exhibit 4?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the Ring footage from our front door of (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And is it a fair and accurate recording of that Ring footage?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay. We're moving to next stage four (ph), request permission to publish.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No objection.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

ACOSTA: All right. I want to bring in Anne Bremner. She was just talking with us about this case. And, Anne, you can see right now they're showing some of the Ring doorbell footage of Laken Riley leaving the apartment that morning. Your sense of the testimony that we're hearing right now. I mean, it strikes me that, and please correct me if I'm wrong, this is a fairly straightforward case. You heard the prosecutor saying a little while ago they have DNA evidence. What are your thoughts?

BREMNER: Yes. Like, let me count the ways. It's a straightforward case and just took off the evidence of DNA under her fingernails, the bloody clothes. He's seen putting him in a dumpster jacket with dark hair on it. The neighbors saying that he was watching her. The fact he had a (INAUDIBLE) right in the area, his apartment's right on the way, you know, to where he attacked this poor victim. And then, of course, you have, you know, the fact that his proximity and bloody gloves and then the phone.

I mean, this is the biggest piece of evidence. She calls 911. He stops. Her thumbprint -- or his thumbprint, excuse me, is on that phone.

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That's the biggest piece of evidence, I think. She was trying to get help. He disfigured her skull and her.