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Scrutiny Over Growing List Of Trump Cabinet Picks; Interview with Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL); Biden, Xi Meet On Sidelines Of APEC Summit In Peru; Bullet Strikes Southwest Jet As It Prepared To Depart From Dallas; Southwest Flight Evacuated After Phone Battery Catches Fire; "Worst Of The Worst": CNN Goes Inside El Salvador Prison; Democratic Senators Ask Federal Authorities To Probe Elon Musk Over Russia Conversations. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired November 16, 2024 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:36]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in Atlanta, and Saturday night in Palm Beach is the place to be if you want to lobby President-elect Donald Trump for a place in his Cabinet.

Just in the last couple of hours, Trump naming fracking CEO, Chris Wright as the next Secretary of Energy; however, Trump is facing some big issues right now out of the gate with some of his first Cabinet picks. Pete Hegseth, Trump's choice to be Secretary of Defense, is confronting a past accusation of sexual misconduct that caught the transition team off guard.

Matt Gaetz, who is Trump's nominee for attorney general, was the subject of multiple investigations stemming from alleged sex trafficking and other accusations. Gaetz resigning from Congress this week, closing the door on an ongoing House Ethics investigation.

And for the latest, let's head now to west palm beach. CNN's Steve Contorno is near Mar-a-Lago. We are awaiting more Cabinet announcements, Steve. But let's focus first on the controversy surrounding Pete Hegseth, Matt Gaetz, even Tulsi Gabbard. What more can you tell us.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Yes, those two first names you mentioned when they were announced, they caught not only Capitol Hill Republicans with shock, but also people In Trump's orbit and many of his allies who did not expect those individuals to get Cabinet spots. Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., obviously controversial picks. However, they had spent so much time around Donald Trump in the last months of his campaign. They were on the road with him, and he had all but signaled that he intended to find a place for them in his government.

But Pete Hegseth, as Defense Secretary and Attorney General for Matt Gaetz, those are totally out of left field. And now his administration -- his incoming administration is dealing with some of the fallout from these picks. Hegseth, for example, caught his own team off guard with an allegation from 2017 of sexual misconduct in California. There has been recent developments around that. Now, he has been defending himself and his character on social media, even as Trump's team deals with the fallout from that pick although they have signaled that they are standing by him and expect him to be confirmed. And that is also the case with Matt Gaetz as Attorney General whose elevation to the nation's top prosecutor has alarmed many people on Capitol Hill, several of which have had run-ins with Gaetz over the years and the intraparty fights he has caused in the Republican Party and it will be interesting to see if those two individuals can get the 51 votes necessary to get confirmed by the Senate.

DEAN: And Steve, there is a big push from the right for Trump to select Kash Patel, a Trump loyalist to lead the FBI. What more do you know about that?

CONTORNO: Yes, that's coming from some of the more far-right voices in Trump's orbit who want to see Patel take over very quickly for Christopher Wray, who Trump has promised he would fire as FBI director in one of his first acts as president.

We don't know if he intends to keep that promise, and there are other names he is considering for that job. Mike Rogers for example, the former representative from Michigan who just lost a tough race for Senate in that state, he is on the short list and being considered.

Patel, though, is someone who has got a lot of friends in Trump's more fringe parts of his orbit, people who are hoping that Trump makes good on his promises to blow up the FBI and we will have to see if he goes through with that, and if he chooses Patel for that job, Trump himself is actually going to be heading out of Palm Beach later today. He is headed to New York.

In fact, I think we might have footage of him getting in his plane or with his plane on the tarmac there as they prepare to fly to New York later this evening where Trump will appear at Madison Square Garden for a UFC fight. Of course, that is the scene of one of Trump's final rallies, where he got in a little bit of hot water for a comedian who made some remarks about Puerto Rico, but Trump heading back to the Big Apple with a close ally there as well, Dana White, the UFC CEO who was by Trump's side on Election Night, and actually spoke and addressed his Election Night crowd.

[18:05:11]

So a bit of a homecoming with a friendly crowd, and you can expect Dana White and Donald Trump to be close there as well -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Steve Contorno for us there in West Palm Beach. Thanks so much for that reporting.

And joining us now, Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois.

Congressman, thanks so much for being here with us.

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL): Thank you so much, Jessica. DEAN: We've got a lot to cover with. I want to start first with Matt Gaetz and this House Ethics Report and you have tweeted that the House Ethics Committee needs to release that report on Matt Gaetz in order for the Senate to have a complete picture of who they are voting to confirm.

We know that Speaker Mike Johnson, after saying he didn't think Speakers of the House should be involved with anything that happens out of Ethics, then turned around and said, actually, he is requesting that the report not be released. Do you think this report gets out one way or another?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Yes. I think somehow, it is going to get out. Certainly, senators want it. We saw what John Cornyn said in the last couple of days and as that old saying from Martin Luther King, Jr. goes, there is nothing more dangerous than sincere ignorance or conscientious stupidity and to not have access to this report is ignorant and to confirm Matt Gaetz with all of these implications of serious criminal wrongdoing, is the height of stupidity.

DEAN: And I just want to ask you, just in terms of -- because I want to I have other nominees that I want to ask you about, just broadly though, the American people did vote for Donald Trump, and he was pretty open about what he wanted to do, who he would want to nominate and Tulsi Gabbard was with him, RFK, Jr. was with him on the trail as Steve was just reminding us.

So what do you say to that? Because the American people did vote for him, and he was pretty open about what he wanted to do with the government.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Sure, but I don't think they wanted Matt Gaetz to be attorney general, someone who is implicated in such serious lawbreaking. You know, being the top law enforcement official, I just don't think that is what they wanted.

Now, did they want Donald Trump to be president, yes. However, you know, the Senate, for instance, has an advice and consent role under the Constitution that it must perform, and so that's one of those checks that is on the president and that that must be observed in this case.

DEAN: And so, okay, now I want to ask you about Tulsi Gabbard, because you're also a member of the House Intelligence Committee. There has been a lot of concern about what who she has really sided with in terms of American adversaries, some of the Russian talking points that she has promoted and put out there.

What do you think about that choice? And how serious do you think those concerns are?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I think they are pretty serious. I think they raised the questions with regard to, you know, why she is being retained or nominated in this particular position. Regardless, they raise so many questions that she should not have been nominated, and certainly she shouldn't be confirmed. The only people who would be cheering this on are our adversaries.

DEAN: And how -- what do you think in terms of the background checks? Because the Trump transition team has said they want to skip these routine FBI background checks for some of the Cabinet picks, including Tulsi Gabbard, including Matt Gaetz.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: That tells you all you need to know, Jessica. I mean, when, first of all, a lot of these picks aren't qualified, but then they're seriously flawed and the fact that they're kind of putting their head in the sand to avoid the FBI background checks to reveal those flaws tells you all you need to know about whether these people should be confirmed for the positions for which they've been nominated.

DEAN: And Trump is also considering Kash Patel to lead the FBI and sources tell CNN that Trump allies are urging him to fire the current director, Chris Wray, replace him with Patel. He has a history of spreading conspiracy theories and railing against the so-called Deep State.

I just want to play a clip. This is from Steve Bannon's podcast. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Kash Patel, Former chief-of-staff to the United States Secretary of Defense: We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government, but in the media. Yes, we are going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections. We are going to come after you, whether it is criminally or civilly, we will figure that out, but yes, we are putting you all on notice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Joe Biden didn't rig any elections, we know that. But Congressman, what does that look like? And if he were to be the head of the FBI, just in a sobering way, not with anyone's hair on fire, but just to really consider it, like what might that look like?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, it looks like a purge, a potential purge. We know that as part of Project 2025, there was a study of how to remove, you know, basically not just political appointees from positions in the government, but also civil servants.

And so for someone like Kash Patel to make those comments, it leads me to believe that they're going to go in and remove people who are not loyal to Donald Trump.

In other words, the only criterion it appears that would merit you staying within the government under a Trump administration is whether you pledge complete loyalty to Donald Trump. Of course, the American people want these people to pledge their loyalty to them and America.

DEAN: I also want to ask you, as someone who is the ranking member on the Select Committee -- the House Select Committee on China, we have been following President Biden, who is in Peru for that APEC Summit. He just met with China's president and so we see -- we've been tracking that they are really trying to capstone that relationship as of course, China looks to incoming President-elect Trump.

What do you make of the relationship between these two countries right now with Trump now returning to the White House and promising these really hefty tariffs on China?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well I am concerned about the kind of economic, technological, and military aggression that is being practiced by the Chinese Communist Party. All of that being said, I think the Biden administration has taken some very important steps to counter that aggression.

I do think that the Trump administration is going to continue with a lot of those policies, but what I am most concerned about is a very important element of the Biden administration's policies, is bringing together our partners, friends, and allies to counter that aggression together.

And my concern is that Donald Trump is going to do things that could disrupt those partnerships and make it harder to counter the aggression, indeed it might just invite more of that aggression, and that is a big concern.

DEAN: It is interesting, though, because that committee and kind of just the attitude toward China is one of the one few things we saw bipartisan agreement on in the House, just wanting to make sure that that is properly dealt with and a lot of people, Republicans and Democrats wanted to serve on that committee. Trump putting in a number of China hawks or at least nominating them to some of his -- you know Marco Rubio as Secretary of State. What do you think about how all of that fits together?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I think that Marco Rubio or Mike Wallace, my committee colleague on the Intelligence Committee, or even John Ratcliffe with whom I served in Congress are serious and credible nominees, and I think they will do their level best to keep continuity where necessary and make changes where they feel it is necessary in light of new developments.

But all of that being said, we have to approach this relationship in a bipartisan manner because, remember, the Chinese believe that we are hopelessly divided with regard to the question of China, that we can't come together in competing with them. So we have to play against hype, Jessica, that means, the incoming administration, the Trump administration has to work with Congress, Democrats and Republicans on our committee in, you know basically showing the Chinese that we mean business and we are going to counter the CCP in a credible fashion going forward.

DEAN: All right, much to come on that. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, thank you so much. We appreciate your time.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Thank you, Jessica. DEAN: And when we come back, how prosecutors say Sean "Diddy" Combs has been trying to interfere with his federal sex trafficking case from his jail cell.

Plus, an emotional first day in the trial of the undocumented migrant accused of killing a Georgia nursing student. The evidence that prompted such strong reactions in court that some people had to leave.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:18:48]

DEAN: In a new federal court filing, prosecutors say Sean "Diddy" Combs is trying to obstruct the investigation into his sex trafficking case and trying to taint the jury pool. Prosecutors allege that even while behind bars, Diddy has been using other inmates' phone accounts to contact people he is not supposed to be talking to.

Joining us now, CNN legal analyst, Joey Jackson and criminal defense attorney, Misty Marris.

Good to see both of you.

Joey, I want to start first with you. Prosecutors allege Diddy is trying to blackmail people from jail.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, apparently, I mean, again, these allegations -- good to be with you, Jessica and Misty.

There are large issues in the filing of the government and that is that remember what Diddy is doing. His immediate objective is to have another bail hearing. Remember, he has made efforts to be released on bail. The first time it was denied, the second time it was denied. This motion seeks to secure a third bail hearing where he would be released from jail.

We should note that the judges previously were concerned about two major issues. One is whether he posed a danger to the community. They answered yes. The other issue is whether he would obstruct and influence witnesses while released on bail and that was apparently a concern.

[18:20:03]

And so here, as it relates to the allegations that the government says, and that is him flouting rules, Mr. Combs, in jail, that does not bode well either to permitting another hearing for him to potentially be released, or to actually getting released if he has that.

And so to the extent that you cannot follow rules, allegedly, while you're in a facility, that doesn't speak well to your ability to follow them, once you would be released from a facility, and that's really the issues here. DEAN: And Misty, do you think in your opinion this alleged behavior shows Diddy's desperation or is it more about arrogance/disregard for the law?

MISTY MARRIS, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, you know, that's actually a great question because he is really not doing himself any favors if this conduct that is set forth in this submission by the prosecutors is in fact true, because trying to communicate with witnesses, even through other individuals incredibly problematic.

To Joey's point, really, really, really sabotaging his own request for bail and for that hearing, but also potentially adding additional charges if true, about witness tampering or obstruction type charges and then these calls are recorded. Keep in mind that can ultimately be admissible in court. It can be used by prosecutors to show the indicia of guilt.

Why are you trying to communicate with witnesses except for the fact of trying to tailor their testimony to be more favorable for you. So all of that is incredibly problematic. And the fact that he is doing it at this facility, what is he going to do when he is out there on his own volition with a security company he employs? So certainly a problematic behavior by Diddy behind bars if true.

DEAN: Yes, I also want to ask you both about another high profile legal proceeding and that's the murder trial for the murder of 22- year-old Laken Riley that happened here in Georgia.

The first day of that trial wrapped up on Friday, and one of the key pieces of evidence was her smartwatch, which chillingly tracked her heart rate and showed it stopping at that location where she was during the attack.

Joey, how does that evidence help prosecutors in their case against Jose Ibarra?

JACKSON: Yes, Jessica, it helps them significantly, right? The defense in this case is that this is based on circumstantial evidence. What does that mean? It means that no one directly can say that there was a witness who saw him -- were looking at him, the defendant engaged in this allegedly -- well, we do know the murderous act, whether he did it, that's an allegation at this point.

So you look to circumstantial evidence, and when you have a smartwatch that stops at a certain time indicating that, you know, bodily activity has ceased, which would suggest a death in this case, when you have it tracking movement but it is not only the smartwatch, it is other indicia, right, other evidence that is there like DNA that's found under the fingernails of the victim in this case, like him taking off his jacket and throwing it into a dumpster like DNA and blood being on that jacket, like, so much else.

And so certainly, he is entitled to the presumption of innocence. Jessica, he will get that. It is a bench trial before a judge, not a jury. The defense team making the determination that that was their best out. But to this point, the evidence has been and compelling. And we will see what other evidence surfaces, which would be suggestive of his guilt.

But to this point, there has been damning evidence presented by the prosecution.

DEAN: And Misty, I want to ask you about something that Joey just brought up, which is this is a bench trial in front of a judge instead of a jury trial. Why was that decision made, do you think? And how does it impact how this plays out?

MARRIS: Well, some of what we've heard in the courtroom, just in the short time this trial has been going on, is so horrific and it really -- you know, it tears your heart out and especially looking at the family members as some of this evidence was presented, her mother crying, her father, her sister -- all of that -- so much of a sympathy factor that the defense, I think strategically said, let's get this before a judge, not a jury, because the judge is going to look at this more tactician, more from the perspective of these are the legal issues and did the prosecutors fulfill their burden and take that emotional component out of it?

Now the judge is a human being, but of course it is different with a jury and a judge is going to look at it from the legal issue. So I do think that from a defense perspective, that was a strategic choice that they made, and they made that right before the trial began.

DEAN: Yes, and it is -- you're right, it is -- your hearts really go out to her family and her friends that have to relive all of this in graphic detail, your heart really aches for them.

Joey Jackson and Misty Marris, thank you so much, I appreciate it.

JACKSON: Thanks Jessica. Thanks, Misty.

MARRIS: Thank you.

DEAN: Yes, coming up, some terrifying moments for passengers on a flight just seconds from taking off after the plane was hit with a bullet. We have details on that ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:29:19]

DEAN: We are following multiple airline incidents that are raising some serious safety questions. In Dallas, police are investigating after a Southwest Airlines flight was hit by a bullet Friday night as the plane was preparing to take off. No one was hurt.

Hours earlier in Denver, another Southwest Flight was evacuated after a passenger's cell phone battery caught on fire. And you can see the passengers scrambling to get off the plane, some sliding down evacuation slides there.

Joining us now to discuss this, CNN aviation analyst, Miles O'Brien. Miles, thanks for being here.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Hey, Jessica. How are you?

DEAN: Good. Good. Normally when we are talking to you, we are talking about incidents that happen mid-flight, when a plane is already in the air. But this Southwest plane was struck by a bullet as it was getting ready to take off. I think people would say this is a concerning development. What do you think?

[18:30:10]

O'BRIEN: You could put it in that category for sure. Clearly as the aircraft taxis at the airport, it's a little more of a sitting duck as it were. I mean, when an aircraft is at altitude six miles above us traveling, approaching 600 miles an hour or so, that's going to be a pretty hard thing to shoot with a conventional weapon. But at an airport, you know, nestled in a city like Dallas Love Field, the city kind of grew around that airport over the years, lots of people there. And as we know, lots of guns in this country. It's a really scary thing.

And, you know, frankly, I've often wondered why this doesn't happen more. I'm not trying to encourage this, but it does surprise me that this hasn't happened. There is no, you know, real security idea for this. I mean, there's obviously a fence around the airport. There are cameras and patrols and so forth. But this is something that clearly, if somebody wanted to take a pot shot, they can get away with. It's good that the crew was aware of this before they took off.

DEAN: Yes, there's no doubt about that. And I'm sure we'll get more information as the days go by in that one. And then I had mentioned in our - when we were introducing you this Denver situation where the cell phone battery fire forced an evacuation. I know they always ask you about lithium batteries before they put you on a plane and if they're in your baggage or anything like that. But how common in this is a cell phone battery fire?

O'BRIEN: Well, it's probably a lithium battery. And this is really this is the reason, by the way, that they don't want these in the cargo hold better to be in the cabin and in proximity of the passengers so, number one, you have awareness, certainly. Number two, you can take some action.

If it's in the cargo hold and it starts burning. You got real trouble.

DEAN: Mm-hmm.

O'BRIEN: So this is precisely the reason why you do this. If you've ever wondered why you have to keep the batteries with you, it's - they're safer if you can see them and be around them. Obviously, this was a very scary incident. And, you know, these batteries, if they're damaged at all, they have this kind of thermal runaway scenario that can occur and it's a very hot fire.

So, you know, again, this was - it was good that this happened on the ground. It was good that it happened - you know, I'm - I feel bad for the passenger, the owner of that phone who got burned. But again, this could have been a lot worse in both cases, you know? DEAN: Sure. No, of course.

O'BRIEN: I hate to say this, dodge a bullet, if you will.

DEAN: I know. All right. Miles O'Brien, as always, thank you for your thoughts. We appreciate it.

O'BRIEN: You're welcome.

DEAN: Thank you.

Still to come, we're going to take you inside one of the world's most brutal prisons. Is it providing inspiration for Matt Gaetz, the man who if he becomes the next attorney general and is confirmed, might be in charge of America's prisons.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:37:42]

DEAN: If confirmed, Trump's pick for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, would oversee U.S. prisons. And earlier this year, he toured El Salvador's notorious terrorism confinement center, suggesting it should be a model for the U.S. and praising its discipline. It holds gang leaders and murderers who are locked up, never to be released.

CNN was the first major U.S. network to gain rare access to the notorious prison. And David Culver and his team take us inside.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: All right. I'm going to go in here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (voice over): Even as I'm stepping through these doors ...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Foreign language) ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (voice over): ... I don't fully grasp what we're about to walk into. Suddenly, you're hit with the intense gaze of dozens locking on to you. These men described as the worst of the worst, tattooed with reminders of El Salvador's dark past. It's tense and uncomfortable. But here, officials say comfort isn't meant to exist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (on camera): There's no mattresses. There's no sheets. You've got a toilet over here for them to go to the bathroom. You've got this basin here that they use to bathe themselves. And then you can see there, there's a barrel of water that they can drink from.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (voice over): This is a rare look inside El Salvador's terrorism confinement center known as CECOT.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER: And he says there's always somebody standing here in front of the cells. And then if you look up, there's another corridor with more security personnel.

Luz, 24 horas?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Siete-veinte quatro.

CULVER: Twenty-four/seven light.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (voice over): The prison sits like an isolated fortress nestled in mountainous terrain about an hour and a half drive from the capital. Even with government officials on board with us, we're stopped a mile out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Buenas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Buenos tardes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Foreign language), vamos.

CULVER (on camera): Oh, okay. He's going to inspect bags now too. Okay, we're clear to get back in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (voice over): Only to hit another checkpoint. Approaching the main gate, our cell signals vanish.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (on camera): They want to do a full search on us before we enter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Si, del total ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (voice over): Once cleared, we tour the vast campus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (on camera): It's been equated to seven football stadiums. It's almost multiple prisons within the prison. You can see off to the distance, there's three different rings as they describe. The far end, you have one that's nine meters high of concrete, and then above that, three meters of electrified fencing.

[18:40:04]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At 15,000 volts.

CULVER: Fifteen thousand volts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (voice over): More than a thousand security personnel, guards, police and military are stationed on site. Inmates are assigned to one of eight sectors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (on camera): The director tells me the inmates, once they're inside one of these sectors, they never leave. Everything is done within, including doctors, as well as legal visits or court hearings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (voice over): Each sector holds more than two dozen large cells.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (on camera): Roughly 80 inmates per cell, but it can fluctuate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (voice over): Most bear the markings of the gangs that held this nation hostage for decades, committing brutal acts of violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARVIN VASQUEZ, PRISONER: You got to kill people. You got to rob. You got to do what you got to do to survive.

CULVER (off camera): You have to do those things.

VASQUEZ: Yes, you got to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (voice over): We meet 41-year-old Marvin Vazquez, shackled and heavily guarded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (off camera): What gang were you part of?

VASQUEZ: MS-13.

CULVER: And do you have any gang affiliations? VASQUEZ: Yes, I'm tattooed up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Es miembro de MS.

CULVER: What is this?

VASQUEZ: Crazy criminal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Crazy criminals.

VASQUEZ: Say crazy criminal. Yes, I made this click in 2011.

CULVER: You made the click?

VASQUEZ: Yes.

CULVER: You were a gang leader?

VASQUEZ: Yes.

CULVER: What is it like to live here?

VASQUEZ: It's probably not a hotel five-star, but they give you the three times of food. They give you some programs. You go to do exercise.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ejercocio nosotro podemo repitir siempre.

VASQUEZ: Some church or religion programs too.

CULVER: But that's limited to just 30 minutes a day. The other 23 and a half hours, they're kept inside and locked up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (voice over): For inmates who get violent with other prisoners or guards ...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Foreign language) cierra la puerta (foreign language) ...

CULVER (on camera): They're going to close the door. I just want to get a sense of - wow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (voice over): Solitary confinement awaits.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER: The only light you get is through this hole and they can be in here for 15 days, potentially. All right. I'm ready to get out.

The director brought up that a lot of folks will raise concerns from a human rights perspective and an abuse of human rights, that he's calm hearing that because he sees it day to day, the process they go through to maintain, as he sees it, proper punishment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (voice over): While you're cut off from society here, whispers of life on the outside make their way in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VASQUEZ: I've heard about it, that it's a new El Salvador. It looks different.

NAYIB BUKELE: Pero la realidad y que (foreign language) ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (voice over): That new El Salvador has emerged under President Nayib Bukele, who took office in 2019 and declared a controversial state of emergency more than two years ago. It sparked an aggressive crackdown on crime. We see that firsthand as some 2,500 police and soldiers deploy into one neighborhood.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (on camera): It's going to go on through the night for however long it takes for them to root out any suspected criminal elements.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (voice over): Critics argue Bukele's strategy has given him far-reaching power to suppress dissent and silence any opposition. Late last week, as the U.S. State Department lowered its travel advisory for El Salvador, citing a significant reduction in crime, it also warned that Bukele's emergency measures allow authorities to arrest anyone suspected of gang activity and suspends constitutional rights. And yet, most we meet seem unfazed by the added show of force.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Se siente seguro. Si, si ...

CULVER: I asked him, I said, how do you feel with all these soldiers? I mean, there's a couple of dozens just even right outside his door. And he said, no, I feel safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (voice over): El Salvador now has one of the world's highest incarceration rates. The most heartening criminals brought to CECOT, where inside a life sentence awaits.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VASQUEZ: We did bad things. We pay it the rough way, doing time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER (voice over): And yet for many on the outside, the prison now a symbol of newfound freedom. The new El Salvador as they see it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CULVER: Jessica, it does seem that this type of prison is being exported to other Latin American countries. We know that Ecuador and Honduras are building what some are calling Bukele-style prisons. Now, it's controversial. There's no question. People think it is far too extreme and harsh.

But when you speak to folks on the ground in El Salvador and we've now made two trips there, they will tell you that even those who disagree with the tactics believe it was necessary so as to eradicate the very brutal gang violence that they lived with for decades down there, Jessica?

DEAN: David Culver, incredible reporting. Thank you so much for that.

Just ahead, how Elon Musk has worked his way into Donald Trump's inner circle and is already influencing the President-elect and world leaders.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:49:29]

DEAN: Two Democratic senators are asking federal authorities to investigate Elon Musk's contacts with Russia. The tech billionaire holds a security clearance in defense contracts with the Pentagon. Brian Todd has a closer look at Musk's expanding influence within the Trump transition.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Take over, Elon. Yes, take over.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Elon Musk, the billionaire new best friend of Donald Trump, has been such a constant presence with the president-elect in recent days that Trump joked about it at Mar-a-Lago.

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TRUMP: I can't get him out of here. He just likes this place.

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TODD (voice over): When Musk flew to Washington with Trump this week on Trump's private plane and attended a meeting with House Republicans, Trump joked: "I can't get rid of him."

[18:50:08]

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MARGARET TALEV, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: He also has more proximity to president-elect Trump right now than Trump's running mate J.D. Vance.

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TODD (voiceover): Musk, who's been tapped by Trump to co-lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, has, according to sources who spoke to CNN's Kaitlan Collins, been omnipresent with Trump at Mar-a- Lago since the election, exerting enormous influence over the president-elect.

Dining with Trump, hanging out at the golf course with the Trump family.

When the Trumps were posing for family photos like this one the day after the election, the President-elect encouraged Musk and his young son, X, to be included.

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TRUMP: You have to get Elon with his boy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.

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TODD (voice over): Trump's granddaughter, Kai Trump, posting a photo with a caption, Elon achieving uncle status.

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MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Maybe one thing that attracts Elon Musk to Donald Trump and Donald Trump to Elon Musk is that they're kind of the same person. They like being the one person in the room, they like walking into a room and sucking all the oxygen out of it.

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TODD (voice over): Following this comment from CNN analyst Gloria Borger ...

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GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think Musk is becoming like first buddy.

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TODD (voice over): Musk posted, quote, "I'm happy to be the first buddy." Musk has sat in on Trump's post election phone calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other leaders, posted this photo from Mar-a-Lago after meeting with Argentina's president there.

And according to "The New York Times," Musk met with Iran's ambassador to the U.N. He's also weighed in on staffing decisions.

But is Musk overextending with Trump's inner circle?

The New York Times reports that one recent evening, Musk walked into the dining room at Mar-a-Lago about 30 minutes after Trump did and received a similar standing ovation to the President-elect.

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TALEV: There is some conventional wisdom, if you followed the first Trump presidency, which is that, if you begin to overshadow the principal, it usually ends quite badly.

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TODD: Then there's the matter of the enormous power Musk could have with his new portfolio. Musk's companies face multiple federal investigations, some of them by agencies whose budgets he might be able to cut.

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RONAN FARROW, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST, "THE NEW YORKER": He's now positioning himself to have potential oversight of the agencies that are investigating him. That would be an unprecedented level of conflict of interest.

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TODD (on camera): No matter when or how this high powered partnership between Elon Musk and Donald Trump ends, Musk seems to have already benefited from it financially.

It's been reported that, since Trump's election victory, Musk has gotten about $70 billion richer on paper, much of that due to Tesla stock skyrocketing.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

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DEAN: Brian, thank you.

Within the past few years, medications including Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound have become known as so-called "miracle drugs" for people struggling with obesity. And tomorrow night, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, takes us through his years- long investigation into these revolutionary medications. And he dives into the question, is Ozempic right for you?

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SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Lyn Sorep (ph) was one of the first people in the world to use this medication.

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LYN SOREP, OZEMPIC USER: I tried what was called sort of the little sister of Ozempic called, Victoza.

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GUPTA (voice over): For her, it didn't work. Her blood sugars did not budge. Lyn (ph) did not respond at all to that first-generation daily injection.

But everything changed, seven years later.

(Ozempic advertisement)

GUPTA (voice over): Novo Nordisk's second-generation GLP-1-like medication, a weekly injection, called Ozempic, something almost everyone has now heard of.

But at the time, it was just a dream - a prayer.

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GUPTA (on camera): What was your first thought?

Pray that it works?

SOREP: Yes.

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GUPTA (voice over): At first, those prayers went unanswered. And the side effects were horrible.

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SOREP: The first time I tried Ozempic, I got really sick. It was like being seasick. I was actually panicking a little bit. Because I knew once you injected yourself, it would be in your body for a whole week.

GUPTA (on camera): That sounds miserable.

SOREP: So, I had to stop very quickly. And then, I tried again, and the side effects was worse. But then I had another break, and then I tried again, and then, oh, finally, it worked for me.

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GUPTA (voice over): For the first time in her life, Lyn's (ph) diabetes stabilized. Her blood sugar normalized.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SOREP: I was very relieved. Oh, finally, this miracle medicine is working on me.

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GUPTA (voice over): And something else amazing happened. She lost weight, a lot of weight, 70 pounds in total. She called Ozempic, the world's easiest diet.

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DEAN: Be sure to tune in for "Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports: Is Ozempic Right For You?" It airs tomorrow night at 8 Eastern and Pacific, only here on CNN.

[18:55:03]

Still ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM tonight, CNN's newest reporting about President-elect Trump's determination to make Matt Gaetz the next attorney general, despite growing concerns on Capitol Hill about the former congressman.

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[18:59:57]

DEAN: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. And I'm Jessica Dean in Atlanta.