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Trump Picks Brooke Rollins for Secretary of Agriculture; Ukraine Struck by North Korean Missiles With U.S. Parts; Israel Strike on Beirut Residential Building Kills 20; Countries Agree on $300B Climate Deal for Poorer Nations; Texas Approves Curriculum Teaching Bible Lessons in Schools. Aired 5-6 am ET
Aired November 24, 2024 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world. I'm Max Foster. It's Sunday, November the 24th.
Ahead on CNN Newsroom: Donald Trump names another former advisor to a top policy spot as his potential cabinet takes shape. An Israeli rabbi found dead in the UAE after being reported missing days ago. We'll have a live report from Jerusalem.
And the Texas Department of Education approves a controversial new lesson plan. Critics say it violates the separation of church and state.
ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN Newsroom with Max Foster.
FOSTER: Well, we begin this hour with incoming Donald Trump administration picks. The President-elect has picked most of his cabinet and high-level staff, advisors and directors, just shy of three weeks since his re-election. One of Trump's last cabinet picks came on Saturday with the choice of Brooke Rollins for Secretary of Agriculture.
More now from CNN's Alayna Treene.
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ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday continued to quickly move to finalize his cabinet picks, announcing his decision for who he wants to lead the Department of Agriculture. He named Brooke Rollins, his former Policy Advisor, to that role. She is someone who, in Donald Trump's first White House, served as the Director for the Domestic Policy Council.
But she also led one of the top policy tanks after her time leaving the White House. She was the president of the America First Policy Institute, one of the key shops that really began shaping Donald Trump's policy priorities and the priorities that he could take on if he were to win a second term.
Now, Rollins is someone who has known Donald Trump for several years. She is viewed as someone who is very loyal to him. And she has been in close communication with the transition team ever since he won the election.
Now, she was actually one of the candidates and one of the names that Donald Trump had initially been considering to serve as his White House chief of staff. However, we had reported that she had withdrew her name from consideration once it was clear that Susie Wiles, Donald Trump's 2024 campaign manager, was likely to get the role.
Now, I'm told that Rollins had made it clear to Donald Trump's team that she was interested in serving in the top job in the Agriculture Department. But she also is someone who could be confronted with some controversy in that role, particularly because we know that one of Donald Trump's key policy priorities, his promise to impose sweeping tariffs on imports, could directly impact the agriculture community.
We've heard many economists argue that farmers could be hit by those tariffs in a negative way. So that's one thing to keep in mind if she is confirmed to that role. Alayna Treene, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
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FOSTER: A long-running Chinese cyber espionage campaign could become one of the biggest national security challenges facing the incoming Trump administration. National security officials met with U.S. telecom executives at the White House on Friday to share information on the Chinese spy efforts.
The spy campaign has targeted the phone calls and text messages of senior U.S. officials, and some telecom networks are having trouble removing the hackers. Senator Mark Warner is calling it the worst telecom hack in U.S. history. The senior figures targeted are in both the Republican and the Democratic parties, and the FBI notified fewer than 150 victims.
CNN Political and National Security Analyst David Sanger spoke with us earlier about it.
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DAVID E. SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: The American telecommunications system is this hodgepodge of old and new equipment, some of it 40 years old, much of it unpatchable. And the Chinese did a brilliant job of working the seams, getting inside it, and then heading for the crown jewels, which in this case was the system that enables the government to put lawful wiretaps on suspected criminals or spies, including the FISA system, the Federal Intelligence Surveillance System. So they would have a chance to look at whether the U.S. was following, for example, Chinese spies.
(END VIDEO CLIP) FOSTER: Well, officials are still investigating the full scope of the hack and its impact on national security, and all senators classified briefing on the matter scheduled for next month. China has denied the hacking allegations.
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Donald Trump met with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutter in Florida on Friday. NATO says the two discussed a range of global security issues facing the alliance. Rutter and his team also met with Trump's pick for National Security Advisor, Congressman Mike Waltz.
In Ukraine, air defenses shot down dozens of drones as Russia carried out a fresh overnight attack. The Air Force says it downed 50 of the 73 drones launched across the country.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's President says the war could end next year as he embraces a new Trump administration. Volodymyr Zelenskyy says, he's confident about that prediction.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): As for when the war will end, when Russia wants this war to end, when America has a stronger position, when the global South is on the side of Ukraine and on the side of ending the war, it will happen. I'm confident in that. It will not be an easy path, but I'm confident that we have every chance to do it next year.
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FOSTER: Zelenskyy said last week that the war will end faster when Trump returns to the White House. For his part, Trump said last July that he could settle the conflict in just one day, but he didn't and still hasn't provided any detail on how he'd do that.
All this happening as Russia's use of North Korean missiles in the war is going stronger, it's growing. And manufacturers in the West are helping to make it possible, too. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has more. But a warning the video you're about to see is disturbing.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The scramble for the dead or the living. Horrifically commonplace in Ukraine. Yet, this series of homes in Kyiv turned to rubble by something other, not Russian, but a North Korean supplied ballistic missile. And made able to fly here to cause this barbarism, killing a man and his four-year-old son by circuitry from the United States.
Ukrainian officials told CNN ballistic missile attacks by Russia were rising fast, 194 so far this year, and about a third of them, at least 60, were using North Korean KN-23s. But these crude missiles, part of growing aid as North Korean troops also come to Russia, rely on a sophistication smuggled into the hermit kingdom. One on display by Ukrainian investigators at this Kyiv warehouse of missile fragments. It is a house of horrors, drones that haunt the night skies, rockets that tear down lives. They pick through the dust to learn how the killing machines work. Here, rebuilding a Shahed Iranian drone's circuits.
WALSH (on camera): Parts from a Kinzhal missile, a Shahed Iranian drone and a Russian Orlan reconnaissance drone, all things Ukraine has been subjected to for many months, but key, these North Korean KN-23 missiles rely on -- they say, on components from the United States and the Netherlands.
WALSH (voice-over): This box, containing dozens of small bits of circuitry made by household names in the USA or Europe. Subject to sanctions globally, but smuggled often via China to North Korea.
WALSH (on camera): When you open all this up and find American components, how do you feel?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Like sanctions are failing.
ANDRIY KULCHYTSKYI, KYIV SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF FORENSIC EXPERTISE (through translation): All the electronics are foreign. There is nothing Korean in it. The only thing Korean is the metal, which quickly rusts and corrodes.
WALSH (voice-over): The journey the chips and circuits take to Russia may lead through North Korea, even China as a middleman, that, ultimately, they are U.S. Design and make.
OLEKSANDR VYSIKAN, KYIV SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF FORENSIC EXPERTISE (through translation): The chips most often from the United States, but the country of manufacture can be China, Malaysia, Taiwan. However, it means that the headquarters is in the United States.
WALSH (voice-over): As the toll from these missiles deepens, Ukrainian officials say the western firms need to be held accountable. From Thursday's Russian launch of a new weapon to their growing use of purloined North Korean missiles, the global reach of this war grows.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kyiv.
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FOSTER: Well, despite ceasefire talks, Israel conducted a deadly strike on a residential building in central Beirut. The death toll is now at least 20.
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Video showing the attack on the eight-story building, Lebanon's national news agency says Israel used bunker-busting bombs, but the Israeli military didn't give any warning ahead of the attack and hasn't actually commented on it.
In Gaza, the Israeli military attacked and destroyed a mosque on Saturday. In the video, you can see smoke and debris fill the air as people run. Some of them were rushing to help the injured, but Gaza's health ministry says in this instance only a few people were hurt, but in other parts of Gaza, the ministry says more than 100 people have been killed by Israeli military operations over the past two days.
Meanwhile, the UN's aid agency says 97 aid trucks were looted in southern Gaza, calling it one of the worst incidents of its kind.
Announcer: This is CNN breaking news.
FOSTER: Breaking news coming to us, Israel saying the body of an Israeli rabbi missing in the United Arab Emirates has been found, and that he is the victim of anti-Semitic terrorism.
Zvi Kogan had been missing since Thursday. In this video, you can see him in front of a kosher supermarket in Dubai. The video was shot only on Monday. Nic Robertson looking at this for us from Jerusalem. Hi, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, hi, Max. It's understood that that was his kosher grocery store. Rabbi Zvi Kogan was part of the Chabad group, really a sort of a Jewish community outreach group. He is -- he had gone missing on Thursday, and it was reported by his family to authorities in the UAE, who then quickly started searching for him along with Mossad and other Israeli agencies.
There was a real concern late last night that terrorism was involved. And with the discovery of his body, of course, those worst fears have been realized. The government here, the Prime Minister's Office, saying that this is a heinous act of anti-Semitic terrorism, and the government will use all its resources, all means to bring those responsible to justice within the use of the law.
So this is being taken very seriously here, but also taken as a reminder for Israeli citizens and the Jewish community more broadly around the world that anti-Semitism is on the rise. And in particular, in the case of the UAE, the Israeli government has reissued its warning to citizens not to go there unless it's really necessary, and telling those Israeli citizens there and Jewish community members that they should avoid gathering in business and leisure environments where typically the Jewish and Israeli community do gather. So that's a very, very clear warning.
His wife, who is Rabbi Zvi Kogan's wife, is an American citizen, and she is the niece of another Chabad rabbi who was, along with his wife, murdered in a terrorist attack in Mumbai, in India, back in 2007. So this Chabad community is no stranger to this sort of terrorism.
But, of course, it sends real levels of concern among the Jewish community worldwide, and this commitment by the Israeli government to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice within the reach of the law.
FOSTER: OK, Nic, thank you so much for that update. Well, still to come, a major breakthrough at the world's top climate summit, but why are so many nations unhappy about it? Details ahead.
Much of northwest Europe facing severe weather. Just up next, an update on Storm Bert after it turns deadly in southern England.
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FOSTER: A deadly winter storm is battering northwest Europe with strong winds, heavy rain, snow and ice. Storm Bert snarled roads and shut down rail services across much of England. Police say a man in southern England actually died when a tree fell on his car.
In Ireland, it was flooding that caused the havoc. At least 60,000 homes and businesses are without power. The U.K. Met Office issued snow and ice warnings and flood alerts in northern and central England. In France, thousands remain without power after another storm hit earlier this week.
Americans are heading into a holiday week with Thanksgiving on Thursday. It's a major travel holiday with the weather making most trips challenging in some parts of the country.
CNN's Meteorologist Allison Chinchar has your forecast for Sunday and beyond.
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ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: All eyes are on the forecast for this big holiday travel weekend and really even going into next week. Just in time for Thanksgiving. Now when we look at the forecast for Sunday, it's really actually nice for most of the eastern half of the country.
It's really going to be in the west where we have some of our bigger problems. Even then, this next system that's going to be sliding into the west coast is not going to be anywhere near as bad as the system that we had earlier in the week.
Now we've got a couple of different areas. One that's going to start to bring some light rain into areas of the Ohio Valley and down into the southeast once we get towards the latter portion of the day Monday. By then, that system that just entered the west coast now is going to overspread portions of the mountain west. And so by the time we get to let mid part of the day Tuesday, Denver starting to see their forecast begin to deteriorate pretty quickly and could cause some travel hazards there.
But also on the flip side, by the time we get to Tuesday night, that first system begins to exit, clearing the way for some nights or weather at least temporarily before that system in the west begins to overspread farther east as well. So once we get towards late Wednesday, now Chicago down through Memphis starting to see some rain and snow into the forecast there. The concern really becomes Thanksgiving Day itself when that main system really overspreads a lot of moisture. Essentially from New York all the way back into portions of east Texas.
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Now the real question here is about the timing for New York City specifically. When you take a look at most of this, you'll notice most of it just really starts to spread into that area by the time we get to Thursday afternoon and into the evening. This is important because a lot of eyes are going to be on the New York City Macy's Day Thanksgiving parade.
Now, as we mentioned, there is heavy rain in the forecast late in the day. But what about in the morning? Those first couple hours likely to be OK. It's the back half of the morning when we're really going to start to see some of those rain chances begin to increase.
Regardless of whether it rains or not, though, it's definitely going to be chilly. Temperatures for most of the parade likely only going to be in the upper 30s.
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FOSTER: Well, a 911 call ends in tragedy when police shoot and kill the man who called for help. What is family saying about it, next. Both sides have rested in the trial of the veteran Marine. He fatally restrained on a New York subway. Just ahead, what each side says about the role a six-minute chokehold played in his death.
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FOSTER: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster. If you're just joining us, here are some of today's top stories.
Dozens of people are dead after a series of Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon on Saturday, including 20 people who were killed when a strike flattened a multi-storey residential building in central Beirut. The Israeli Defense Forces did not issue an evacuation order for the area and hasn't commented on the attack. A Lebanese security source tells CNN that no senior Hezbollah member was in the building that was levelled.
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U.S. national security officials are sharing new intel with American telecom executives about the potential for Chinese hacking. The White House says a significant cyber espionage campaign is targeting firms like AT&T, Verizon and Lumen.
Donald Trump adding to his Cabinet selections over the weekend. On Saturday, he announced that Brooke Rollins, a former advisor and current head of right-wing think tank group, will be his Agriculture Secretary.
A Las Vegas police officer shot and killed a 43-year-old man who called 911 for help. That officer is now on paid administrative leave, pending an investigation. CNN's Camila Bernal has the story.
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CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The family continues to speak out and describe this tragedy and what they're going through, saying they are heartbroken, but also asking for the officer involved in this shooting to be arrested.
Now, this all happened when Brandon Durham called authorities on November 12th. He told dispatch that he feared for his life, said that he heard gunshots outside of his home. At some point in the conversation, he also tells dispatch that he believes he knows who is outside of his home.
By the time officers arrive, he is now in a confrontation with Alejandra Boudreaux, and he is trying to get a knife from her. There is this confrontation that is now then caught on police body cam video, but what's also caught on this video is the six shots fired by one of the officers that was responding.
The family, again, is speaking out and describing how horrible this has been for them and for his daughter. Take a listen to what his sister said and how she described all of this.
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DIANE WRIGHT, BRANDON DURHAM'S SISTER: He was everything to her, and his life was ripped away while she is down the hall in her room while his life is being taken from him after calling for help. Like he is supposed to do, like a good citizen would do, he is calling for help to get assistance to try to defend his home, protect himself, protect his daughter, and we all see what the results of that came out to be.
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BERNAL: And Alejandra Boudreaux was arrested and is facing multiple charges. When she talked to authorities, she said that the two of them had a casual relationship and said that she was essentially suicidal and wanted police officers to shoot her, but instead Durham was the one that was shot and killed. We also know that according to the Las Vegas police, Durham had made a call to police the previous day. That day, though, Alejandra Boudreaux agreed to leave his home, so there's a lot of questions as to what happened the day before the shooting.
Now, the officer was placed on administrative leave, and the attorney, the general counsel for the Police Association, the Las Vegas Protective Association, releasing a statement and saying that the officer was doing his job and did not intend to commit a crime. Now, the family attorney, on the other hand, is saying that this officer should not have used deadly force.
They are, of course, seeing some support from the community. There was a rally at City Hall in Las Vegas, and many continue to call for this officer to be held accountable.
Camila Bernal, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE) FOSTER: The trial of a Marine veteran who held a man in a fatal chokehold on a New York City subway is on a break ahead of closing arguments, which will be next month.
Daniel Penny is charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely last year. Penny told investigators he put Neely in a chokehold just after the homeless man started shouting at train passengers.
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OFFICER: How long had he been on there before you intervened?
DANIEL PENNY, CHARGED WITH MANSLAUGHTER IN KILLING OF JORDAN NEELY: I mean, he got on, he whipped his jacket off, that's all. I mean, usually I don't crackhead, you know what I mean? I just kind of let him do the thing. But then, well basically he started threatening people.
OFFICER: Once he starts doing that, that's when you try to subdue him?
PENNY: Yes. I'm -- I'm not -- I wasn't trying to, like, injure him. But I'm just trying to keep him from hurting anybody else, he's threatening people. That's what we learn in the Marine Corps. That's what you guys learn as -- as police officers.
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FOSTER: Prosecutors say they don't believe Penny intentionally tried to kill Neely, but argue he went, quote, "way too far" after holding Neely's neck for about six minutes. A witness for the defense argued Penney's chokehold wasn't fatal, but said a combination of factors led to Neely's death.
Now, a major breakthrough. At the COP29 summit in Azerbaijan, as nearly 200 countries have agreed on a new climate deal after days of intense negotiations.
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The gavel finally came down on Saturday, more than 30 hours past the scheduled deadline. As part of the agreement, developed nations have pledged $300 billion annually to help poorer countries tackle the devastating impacts of the climate crisis. The 11th hour deal comes after two weeks of bitter divisions and tense negotiations.
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MUKHTAR BABAYEV, COP29 PRESIDENT: People doubted that Azerbaijan could deliver. They doubted that everyone could agree. They were wrong on both. We never accepted that the task was impossible. We knew that breakthroughs demand courage. We understood that reaching for the highest possible ambition is difficult. And we asked everyone to be brave.
(END VIDEO CLIP) FOSTER: Well, the amount, however, falls far short of the $1.3 trillion that developing nations say they needed to help them cope with climate change impacts that they, by and large, didn't cause. The many are criticizing the deal as vastly insufficient.
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NKIRUKA MADUEKWE, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, NATIONAL COUNCIL ON CLIMATE CHANGE: This is an insult to what the convention says. That the developing country is saying that it's taking the lead with $300 billion until 2035 is a joke. And it's not something we should take lightly. I do not think it's something we should clap our hands and force us to take it. I do not think so.
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FOSTER: U.S. President Joe Biden, meanwhile, praising the agreement as an historic outcome in a statement apparently referring to his successor, President-elect Donald Trump. Biden said, quote, "while some may seek to deny or delay the clean energy revolution that's underway in America and around the world, nobody can reverse it -- nobody."
Joining me now from Baku, Azerbaijan, is Avantika Goswami. She is the Programme Manager for Climate Change at the Centre for Science and Environment.
Thank you so much for joining us. I mean, it was a very tense atmosphere, wasn't it? Just -- this just came down to negotiation, right? The richer companies wanting to compromise on how much money they were giving and the countries really being affected by climate change, having not caused it in the first place, wanted more.
AVANTIKA GOSWAMI, PROGRAMME MANAGER, CENTRE FOR SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT: Yes, absolutely. Thank you so much for having me here. And, you know, this moment is something that the countries have been working towards for about 10 years. It's been known that before 2025, a new climate finance target was due to be negotiated. And the demands were placed very clearly on the table by the developing countries, asking for $1.3 trillion, the majority of which about $600 billion should come from public money from the governments, the government budgets of developed countries.
But what we have here in Baku is an astonishing disappointment. We see a commitment of $300 billion as a part of a larger mobilization of a $1.3 trillion vague target. But the $300 billion may not just come from country governments. It's expected that other sources like the private sector and multilateral development banks may play a role. So there's a lot less predictability and certainty that these funds will flow to developing countries.
So this is, I would say, a historic moment. But it's a historic moment of disappointment, because we have been waiting for this for a long time. And essentially, it locks us in for the next 10 years to what is essentially an inflation adjusted sum of money equivalent to the previous goal of $100 billion up until 2035. FOSTER: There'll be many in developed countries who'll be saying, you know, this is a tough time for them. The cost-of-living crisis, economies are shrinking. In America, there isn't the same focus on climate now. We have a Trump administration coming in, many would argue. So this was still a very generous sum in the context of that when it could have been less.
GOSWAMI: Absolutely. It could have been less. It could have been a no deal. There's no doubt about that. And times are tough. Geopolitics are particularly difficult. And one thing that we hear from developed country governments is that it's difficult to explain to their domestic constituencies and their domestic parliaments that we are here to, you know, sign off trillions of dollars of money to fund some climate projects in countries far away.
But the reality is, as the U.S. and the European Union and other developed countries frequently say at multilateral forums, the climate crisis is here. It's the biggest existential crisis of this moment. And we're seeing the impacts of that not just on developing countries and the poor world, but also on the rich world. Europe is facing massive floods. The U.S. is facing worse cyclones every year.
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So what we need is essentially funding to help the developing world adapt and mitigate the impacts of the climate crisis. And if this doesn't happen now, because developing countries don't have the funds to do it, it's going to make global efforts to address climate change much harder. The impacts of which will be felt by the U.S., by the European Union, by Australia and their allies as well.
FOSTER: Okay, Avantika Goswami, really appreciate your time. And thank you for joining us from Baku.
GOSWAMI: Thank you.
FOSTER: Now coming up, Texas is giving public schools the option of teaching Bible lessons to children. Why critics say that's unconstitutional.
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FOSTER: Watchdog groups are sounding the alarm about a controversial new school curriculum in the U.S. state of Texas. The material was developed by Texas education officials and heavily infuses Bible stories into its lessons. Schools can choose whether to use it, but critics say it's unconstitutional for the state to play or to use public funds to promote Christianity over other religions in schools.
Rosa Flores has the details.
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ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A big win for the Republican-led effort to infuse Christianity into public schools.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 8-7, the motion passes.
FLORES: Officials in Texas approved a controversial public-school curriculum called Bluebonnet Learning, that critics say disproportionately focuses on Christianity.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please vote no.
FLORES: The days long debate at times becoming heated.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please, respect the rules.
FLORES: Both sides voicing strong opinions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Public schools are not Sunday schools.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These biblical references do not constitute an establishment of religion.
FLORES: The Texas education agency defending its curriculum, telling CNN Bluebonnet Learning incorporates multiple faiths, and religious content is a small part of the product.
[05:40:09]
Reaction outside schools in Houston, mixed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our kids need the Bible.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just don't think it has a place in school.
FLORES: And while these controversial K-through-five lessons are optional, some are concerned a state-funded $60 per student incentive could encourage even some progressive budget-strapped schools to adopt Bluebonnet learning.
RYAN FIRTH, DAD OF 2ND GRADER IN HOUSTON, TEXAS: There are better ways to spend that money than giving it to schools that adopt this religious stance.
FLORES: This move in Texas --
RYAN WALTERS, STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, OKLAHOMA STATE: I will now say a prayer, and to be clear, students, you don't have to join. I pray in particular for President Donald Trump --
FLORES: Coming just days after Oklahoma state superintendent announced the purchase of over 500 Trump-approved Bibles for classes across the state.
WALTERS: We're not telling kids they have to pray, but we are telling kids they have the right to pray if they so choose.
FLORES: A group of Oklahoma parents, teachers and ministers filed a lawsuit against the state's top educator after he ordered the Bible be taught in public schools. The case is ongoing.
In Louisiana, the legal fight over a law requiring the 10 commandments be displayed in public school classrooms has been temporarily blocked.
(On camera): Why is religion in schools such a flashpoint right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I think it's -- one issue is because for Republicans, it's an issue that mobilizes the base.
FLORES (voice-over): Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University says President-elect Donald Trump's push for Christianity in schools --
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will support bringing back prayer to our schools --
FLORES: And his influence could help spread the Bluebonnet curriculum to other states across the country.
MARK JONES, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, RICE UNIVERSITY: Especially since the Bluebonnet learning curriculum is open source, it's something that other states could adopt relatively quickly and relatively easily, and it's free.
FLORES (voice-over): But like similar efforts in other states, this one too, is expected to end up in the courts.
(On camera): And at least one advocacy organization says that it has attorneys ready for the legal fight. Here's a statement from the Americans United for Separation of Church and State, quote, "We urge all Texas school districts not to implement this curriculum. If families learn their public schools are using this curriculum, our attorneys are standing by and ready to defend their religious freedom."
If Bluebonnet learning survives the expected legal fight, it would be available for instruction during the 2025-2026 school year. Rosa Flores, CNN, Houston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Ovidia Molina is the President of the Texas State Teachers Association. She joins me now from Atlanta. Thank you so much for joining us.
Just give us your view so everyone knows where you're coming from on this quite sensitive issue.
OVIDIA MOLINA, PRESIDENT, TEXAS STATE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION: Well, you know, as a middle school teacher by trade, I can tell you that we believe in teaching our students the truth. And we believe that the new curriculum doesn't do that. We also believe that all of our students should feel welcome and included in our schools. And making one religion somehow more important than another is not what we want to do to our students.
FOSTER: In this country, there's quite a tradition of having, you know, religious schools, but they're quite clearly defined. It is a church of England school or a Muslim school, for example. So you very clearly know what you're signing up for. So that's different from what they're proposing here, right? Because this is a general school where one religion gets picked up on.
MOLINA: Yes, that is true. And that is one thing that is the biggest thing that is worrying us right now, because our public schools should teach children facts about all religions or no religions. But it should not indoctrinate students into teaching a selected religion, should not make students feel othered when they don't practice the religion that is so being talked about in our schools. And we also believe that our parents have the control over the religion in their family, in their household. And this infringes on that.
FOSTER: Are you concerned there's an agenda here? I mean, obviously, any religion feels a duty to grow and promote itself. But are you concerned there's an agenda perhaps within education itself?
MOLINA: The concern is that we are going to have students that are feeling like they don't belong. And I think that is one of the biggest things that is happening right now. We are getting groups feeling as if they don't belong in our communities. And that is not the United States. United States is a place where all are welcomed and all belong, especially in our schools.
The United States and Texas is a very diverse place. And we should celebrate that and not make it to where that is something that is seen as something bad.
[05:45:10]
And so as an educator, making sure that our students are feeling welcomed is one of the priorities, but also making sure that our students are learning an honest education.
And some of the stories that are going to be taught, especially to our kindergartners and our first-grade students, they may not understand that they are a religious claim or story. They may see it as truth. And we don't want our students learning false information and believing it to be true. And that's one of the other big problems here is that the curriculum is not what educators would want in their classrooms. And how do we teach that to our students?
FOSTER: Are you referring there to, you know, the legends that you, you know, you find in the Bible effectively?
MOLINA: Yes. You know, we want to make sure that our students know factual information that is going to prepare them for the world. And some of these stories, especially in the younger ages, they may not know what is true and what is made up.
FOSTER: Yeah. In terms of the legal challenges here, then, there will be opportunities to challenge this and block it potentially. What are the plans for that? And how confident are you?
MOLINA: Well, we have several groups that are going to make sure that they are watching that and asking parents to make sure and report it and reach out. But the issue for us as educators is ensuring that we have educator voice in what happens in our schools. We want people to pass curriculums and make sure that we are doing the best for our students, listening to people that are actual experts in what happens in our schools.
And this is not happening right now in Texas. The other thing is that this is being incentivized. And our school districts did not get money from the legislature last year. And this is one way where they can get money. So it's also being sort of like they're being bullied into using this curriculum.
FOSTER: But they're being very clear, aren't they, all sides in this? This does come down to individual choice. No one's being forced to receive these readings, for example.
MOLINA: Well, if they're being -- if the district chooses to use this and they're being incentivized by the state giving them more money, if they use it in a time when districts need more money, then the curriculum will be used in that school district.
FOSTER: OK, Ovidia Molina, really appreciate your time. And thanks for joining us so early in Atlanta today. Thank you.
We'll be back in just a moment.
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[05:51:48]
FOSTER: Turning to sport for the fourth straight year. Red Bull's Max Verstappen is Formula One world champion. The Dutchman managed to do just enough in Las Vegas to take home the title.
Joining me from New York, CNN Sports Correspondent Carolyn Manno. Carolyn, it wasn't that easy for him though this time.
CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: No, it wasn't. I mean, he's coming off the most dominant season in Formula One history in 2023. So you set that bar and then you win seven of the first ten races this year.
So the frustrations that he and Red Bull have felt in recent months are certainly real. But in the end, all that matters is how things end. And it was a spectacular night for the second edition of the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Some 300,000 fans soaking up all the glitz and glamour that the Strip had to offer in Vegas across the weekend. And for Verstappen, the goal was simple. Cross the line before Lando Norris and the title is yours. And that's just what he did with a very steady performance throughout. For Verstappen, starting and finishing in fifth. His friend and rival Norris right behind him in sixth.
And there were all the fist pumps and the hugs, the champagne celebrations all around as the 27-year-old in the end became just the sixth driver to win the driver's championship four times.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAX VERSTAPPEN, WON 4TH STRAIGHT DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP: As a team, you know, we kept it together. We kept working on improvements. And yeah, we pulled over the line. I mean, got to be proud of everyone, what they have done for me. And, you know, to stand there as a four-time world champion is, of course, something that I never thought was possible. So yeah, at the moment, just feeling relieved in a way, but also very proud.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MANNO: Another title handed out stateside Saturday, the Orlando Pride, led by the legendary Marta, winning the National Women's Soccer League championship for the first time in club history. Orlando beating the Washington Spear 1-0 in front of a sold-out crowd in Kansas City. The lone goal scored by the game's MVP, Zambia's Barbra Banda.
And as for Marta, another crowning achievement. 38 years old, a six- time Ballon d'Or winner saying before and after this was the greatest match of her career. The cherry on top, she got to share the moment with her mom, who after some last-minute visa issues was able to actually fly in from Brazil and watch her daughter play in the U.S. for the very first time. Very emotional moment there. Incredible in every other way.
Manchester City's sudden decline in form. Now five straight losses across all competitions. The first time that's happened in 18 years, and Pep's squad absolutely dominated from start to finish. In front of their home fans by Tottenham on Saturday, James Maddison scoring twice for the Spurs in the first 20 minutes. Then it was Pedro Porro, Brennan Johnson, both fighting in the back of the net in the second half. 4-0 the final, putting an end to City's 52-match unbeaten streak at home.
And lastly for you this morning, Max, and anybody else who might not know a lot about college football here in America, welcome to the chaos. Number 21 Arizona State hosting 14th-ranked Brigham Young University. Arizona State had a five-point lead with the ball in the final minute, meaning they should win. But on fourth down with seven seconds left, their quarterback launched the ball out of play to try and run out the rest of the time.
And with that, Arizona State students rushed to the field to celebrate. Stadium crews started to tear down the goalposts for safety reasons.
[05:55:01]
But hold on. After review here, the officials determined that the ball actually touched a fan in the crowd with one second remaining. And because it was fourth down, the ball goes to BYU. So now that means everybody had to get off the field. And when they finally did, look at this. BYU heaving the ball toward the end zone. It was caught, but the receiver, was tackled just two yards short of the score. So here come the students again. Arizona State holding on to win a wild one, 28-23, the final. Max, we can't get into all the details of what's happening right now in college football. But I can tell you, it is just as crazy as it looks. Back to you.
FOSTER: Students breaking the rules. I'm shot, Carolyn. Thank you so much.
Now, it reads like a sci-fi story. A robot turned kidnapper in China. The small AI-powered machine apparently convinced at least 12 other robots in a Shanghai showroom to leave their jobs.
Security footage showed the bot talking to the taller robots, asking them if they wanted to go home. Then the mastermind machine began to lead the captives away. The company behind all this said it was an experiment to see if a robot could command other robots without directly involving humans. So they sort of were involved. But in the end, no robots were actually stolen. The getaway exit had been locked down in advance.
It's kind of worrying. Now, face it, you'll likely never get a visit to planet Mars. But you can see a giant facsimile of the red planet in the historic painted hall of the old Royal Naval College here in London.
Spectators can gaze up at the spinning model made up of high- resolution NASA images. Each centimeter of the sculpture represents 10km of the Martian surface, and it's probably no coincidence that it's in this building that the painted hall has paintings of mythological images, including the Roman god of war, who's Mars.
Thanks for joining me here on CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster in London. For those of you watching in North America, "CNN This Morning" up next, for viewers elsewhere, "Going Green" after the break.
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