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Thieves Steal Priceless Jewelry From The Louvre Museum; U.S. Conducts New Strike On Boat In The Caribbean; Police Discover Human Remains After Philadelphia Woman Goes Missing; The She-Cession, Randall And Reba Offering Free Legal Advice, Ballet Dancer Misty Copeland. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired October 19, 2025 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:02]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have the courage to eat this?

SHALHOUB: Yes.

Fabian knows fish but to take the restaurant to the next level, he partnered with Chef Celine Bonnier, a Marseille native whose culinary identity is deeply rooted in the local fishing and restaurant scene.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're talking about you, Celine.

SHALHOUB: Celine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sea anemone.

SHALHOUB: Anemone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anemone.

SHALHOUB: Celine's recipe for cooking sea anemones is a simple one. After soaking in vinegar, they're coated in flour and then flash fried.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Celine is famous for her (INAUDIBLE) anemones in Marseille. People come here for this. You know?

SHALHOUB: Just for this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They know they want them.

SHALHOUB: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, yes.

SHALHOUB: OK. I guess that's enough stalling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now is the time for eat.

SHALHOUB: Now is the time. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You take everything ready? Everything.

SHALHOUB: All at once.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, everything in your mouth. And you crunch. OK? This one, huh? You take in your mouth and you crunch.

SHALHOUB: It's like a true delicacy. It's kind of like the oyster-ish, earthy, saltwater. I'm doing it. That was a --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: See?

SHALHOUB: Big one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Yum? OK, be sure to tune in to a new episode of "TONY SHALHOUB BREAKING BREAD," tonight, 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific. Only on CNN.

Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And we begin with breaking news out of Paris. Priceless jewels are stolen from the Louvre in an audacious daytime heist that took only seven minutes. A manhunt is now underway to try to find the thieves who police say used a truck lift, which you can see on the lower right hand of the screen there, to break into an upstairs window, steal rare historical jewelry, before getting away on motorbikes.

Visitors had to be evacuated and the museum was eventually closed for the day. A tourist in the museum at the time of the robbery described the chaotic scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOAN CARPENTER, WAS VISITING LOUVRE DURING ROBBERY: We're headed out the exit. We didn't realize the whole museum was being evacuated and then we asked a guard and the guard said, we're having technical difficulties. They wouldn't -- but they did a really good job of evacuating. And then they evacuated the lobby. And then we went out an emergency exit underneath that hasn't been used for a while.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sirens going off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's senior international correspondent, Melissa Bell, is joining us now from Paris.

So what are you learning, Melissa?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, even now, Fredricka, that manhunt is underway. It was 9:30 a.m., broad daylight. That truck that you showed a moment ago parked on the other side of the louvre museum here just behind me. That mechanical lift, that ladder that went up to that first floor window, it was broken.

What we've heard from a bunch of eyewitnesses who were inside at the time is that it was packed, of course, as it will be on a Sunday museum again, the most visited museum in the world. They heard banging on the window. That was the window being broken. Seven minutes in all the robbers spent inside the room. We understand there was some kind of altercation with security guards. The alarms of these displays went off.

This is the Apollo Room of the Louvre Museum, which houses France's crown jewels. What we understand the early elements of the investigation, Fredricka, is that they're looking for four people who were very well prepared. They made off on motorcycles, taking with them nine pieces of priceless French jewelry, priceless and cultural heritage terms. They dropped one, which was the crown of the Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon the Third from the 19th century.

The eight other pieces of jewelry are still at large, as are the men believed to be behind this most brazen of robberies. This is what the local mayor of where the Louvre Museum inside Paris had to say just after the heist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARIEL WEIL, PARIS CITY OFFICIAL: It is a little bit early to, you know, draw any conclusions from what happened. We don't know precisely who and when and how. It does appear that these were extremely well- trained robbers. They planned this meticulously, obviously. We've had such events in other museums.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELL: The very last time the Louvre was stolen, broken into, like this, Fredricka, it was the Mona Lisa in the early 20th century that was stolen by Italian robbers, who were quickly caught. But again, these are for France priceless pieces of jewelry.

[16:05:02]

The crown jewels of the country. Extraordinary that they should have been stolen in broad daylight when the museum was open to the public and fully packed. For now, though, the manhunt continues. They're looking for the people behind this robbery. They're trying to understand what they were hoping to achieve with these jewels, which will be very difficult to sell in the open market if they're not broken up, what they were hoping to do with them and where they are now. For now, just one piece of jewelry has been found. Eight more remain at large -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Oh, and so fascinating to hear that there was a confrontation with security. Can't wait to hear more about that.

Melissa Bell, thank you so much.

All right. Also, this just in to CNN. The U.S. Military has carried out a new strike on a boat that American intelligence officials believe was involved in illegal drug trafficking in the Caribbean. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote in a post on X that the vessel was affiliated with the Colombian terrorist organization and had, quote, "substantial amounts of narcotics," unquote, on board.

This is the seventh known strike in a series of recent attacks by the U.S. Military on ships that the Trump administration says are involved in drug trafficking.

CNN's Betsy Klein is joining us right now.

Betsy, what more are we learning about this latest strike and how it is sparking an escalation now in the war of words between country leaders?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. President Trump announcing earlier today that the U.S. will halt all subsidies and payments to the country of Colombia. This marks a significant escalation of what's been a long back and forth with Colombian President Gustavo Petro.

The president saying in a post to social media that drug production, quote, "has become the biggest business in Colombia by far and Petro does nothing to stop it despite large scale payments and subsidies from the USA that are nothing more than a long term rip-off of America. As of today," he writes, "these payments or any other form of payments or subsidies will no longer be made to Colombia."

Now, Trump and Petro have long clashed on issues of migration and drug trafficking. And of course, this comes as the U.S. Military has launched multiple strikes in the Caribbean on what it says are illegal drug trafficking boats, but it also comes -- it marks an intensification with really high financial stakes for Colombia. And the president did not lay out exactly what money the U.S. provides Colombia that will be targeted here.

But the U.S. has been a major backer of Colombian security, and Colombia, in turn, has been a key U.S. ally in South America on issues like national security and defense. The U.S. this fiscal year so far has provided about $210 million in subsidies to Colombia, according to data from the U.S. Department of State. And these two leaders have been sparring for months. It really escalated last month when Petro was in New York, at the United Nations General Assembly, and he encouraged U.S. soldiers to disobey President Trump.

The U.S. in turn revoking his visa. But Petro responding to Trump with his own criticism and invoking his country's revered Nobel Prize winning author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. He said in a post to social media moments ago, quote, "You are rude and ignorant toward Colombia. Read, as your charge d'affaires in Colombia did, One Hundred Years of Solitude, and I assure you, you will learn something about solitude."

Petro did not, however, address the financial implications for his country -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Betsy Klein, thank you so much.

All right. Let's continue the conversation now. Here with me is CNN global affairs analyst Kimberly Dozier, who is here in Atlanta.

So good to see you in person. Usually in Washington. Welcome. All right. So challenges against Venezuela and now Colombia. What might President Trump's endgame or mission or goal be here?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, surely part of it is putting the fear into any trafficker who might be taking to the high seas that you won't just be facing a U.S. Coast Guard vessel that will stop and search you. You may not get stopped at all. You may just get blown out of the water. That said, this is against international law as we've all been taught it. You are supposed to have probable cause to stop a vessel, and that means having evidence. And that means also sharing the evidence you have with the rest of the world. The U.S. isn't doing that.

WHITFIELD: No. But the U.S. has helped reveal that there were two survivors of one of the attacks involving Venezuela vessels, that they're being returned to the country. But again, we're not getting any details about who are those two people, what kind of evidence, you know, what kind of evidence was retrieved before the targeting of even that vessel, and why would those two people be returned to their country? If they were drug traffickers, where are the charges and all that good stuff?

[16:10:08]

DOZIER: Exactly. Why weren't they charged, tried, and, you know, somehow held in incarcerated? Instead just to have them return to their countries leaves a big question mark. But there doesn't seem to be anyone with the power at this point or the standing to sue the U.S. to stop this. Congress could, but Congress isn't operating like that right now.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it's getting more curious, isn't it? OK, now let's talk about Gaza and now fighting in the midst of what is supposed to be a ceasefire. So two IDF soldiers were killed. Israel launches strikes across Gaza. And now it has also been said that Hamas carried out some targeted attacks as well. So what does this mean for the viability of this ceasefire and what's taking place here?

DOZIER: We've always worried since the ceasefire got enacted that the two enemies were so close to each other. Israel still holds something like 52 percent of Gaza. And then just on the other side, you've got Hamas fighters in different pockets. You've also got Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other armed militant groups, and you've got an internecine warfare going on between Hamas and groups it accuses of collaborating with Israel.

So what apparently happened this morning is Hamas fighters, according to Israel, in Southern Gaza attacked its forces on the side that Israel controls, and it fought back. Hamas proper in -- up in Gaza City is saying that it's lost contact with its people in the south, so it can't confirm or deny basically. But we have trouble ahead. I mean, look, the ceasefire has been saved. It looked like it was going to fall apart, but then from Israeli reporting, there was a flurry of outreach from the Trump administration. And now you've got a series of senior Trump officials heading for Israel to try to get this to the next stage.

WHITFIELD: Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

DOZIER: Exactly. And -- but it's really delicate. And at the same time, Hamas in Doha gave an interview to Reuters where they said, we're not going to disarm. We might be -- we might agree to a three- year ceasefire, but not disarmament. Israeli officials have said no disarmament, we go back to war.

WHITFIELD: And then Gaza hospital authorities are saying more than 30 Palestinians were killed in this recent back and forth of strikes as well.

All right. So now I want to move on to Ukraine and Russia, that conflict, because, again, you know, there are -- there's a lot of movement as it pertains to that. And even the president's most recent comments, as he was meeting with Zelenskyy at the White House, saying, you know, we can have peace if they just give up, you know, the battleground areas. But that would be acquiescing, or at least Ukraine's point of view would be, that would be acquiescing to what was clearly a Russian incursion.

So where do things stand? I mean, is there a diplomatic solution here, as the president is underscoring there might be?

DOZIER: At the beginning of last week, it looked really good for Ukraine that perhaps the White House was going to give them these long-range missiles that could help them reach 1600 miles inside of Russia to further damage the energy infrastructure and put the pressure on Russia to stop its invasion. But then Vladimir Putin made a phone call, and he apparently convinced Donald Trump to pull back on giving the Tomahawks to Ukraine.

And Zelenskyy left his White House meeting very disappointed. There's now reporting that it was a very heated meeting and that basically, as many European officials I've spoken to fear that after one more conversation with Putin, Donald Trump sort of reset and saw this in terms of a war of choice on the Ukrainian side as opposed to a war of aggression against it by Russia.

WHITFIELD: Yes, because we did hear this before from the president, where he talked about, you know, previously just coming to an agreement on what kind of land, you know, to go ahead and give Russia. Now it's in a different terminology. It's battle lines, you know, the battle lines that have been drawn. And just at those battle lines, just go your separate ways. And then there's peace.

All right. Kim Dozier, we'll have you back. Thank you so much. Great to see you.

All right. Still to come, a troubling new trend for women in the job market. New data shows hundreds of thousands of women exiting the workforce. Why? And an attorney is going viral by providing free legal advice to anyone who wants it. This is happening in Atlanta. Who is helping and why he's doing it?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:19:29]

WHITFIELD: Two weeks after a 23-year-old Philadelphia woman went missing, human remains belonging to an unidentified female have been found in a shallow grave. The remains were located in a heavily wooded area behind an abandoned school after officials say they received an anonymous tip. Police say the remains are now with the medical examiner's office.

CNN's Rafael Romo is following the story for us.

I mean, tell us more about Kada Scott. She was a missing, you know, Penn State scholar, and she worked at an assisted living home. What do they believe happened?

[16:20:02]

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. An incredible young woman. And it is very difficult for the family right now because the medical examiner is trying to identify the remains. We're not sure who they belong to. But given that she's been missing for two weeks, the family is fearing the worst of course. And Philadelphia authorities they want to give the medical examiner's office time to conduct their investigation and determine if the human remains found this weekend are those of the woman they have been looking for over the last two weeks.

Twenty-three-year-old Kada Scott was last seen at her workplace on the night of October 4th. The Philadelphia Police Department is leading the investigation into her disappearance with the assistance of the FBI's Violent Crime Task Force. 21-year-old Keon King was arrested Tuesday night. Prosecutors say investigators believe he was the last person to be in contact with Scott before she went missing.

She has been charged with or he, I should say, has been charged with her kidnaping and also faces a charge of recklessly endangering another person and criminal use of a communication facility, meaning his phone, in the disappearance of Scott. Prosecutors say he had previously been arrested this year for allegedly kidnaping another woman. Philadelphia police say they started searching again for the body of Scott Saturday morning after receiving a very specific tip from an anonymous source, leading them to a wooded area behind an abandoned school in Philadelphia's Germantown neighborhood, where they found a shallow grave.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN STANFORD, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, PHILADELPHIA POLICE DEPARTMENT: After being able to remove some of the debris back they're able to locate the body of a human being. All indications at this point is that it's a female. We are not going to confirm at this point that it is Miss Kada Scott, because that has to be done by the medical examiner's office.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMO: First Deputy Commissioner Stanford added that he's still asking the public for more information on this case. In a statement published Saturday, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker expressed her condolences to the family, adding that, "The city of Philadelphia is here to support them in any way that we can, and we'll continue to stay by their side."

Prosecutors in the case say they learned King, the suspect, had previously been accused of kidnaping a woman in front of her house earlier this year, assaulting her and eventually letting her out of the car, which led to charges of strangulation and kidnaping that were later withdrawn because a witness failed to appear in court. Prosecutors say they've refiled those charges, and King is expected to face preliminary hearings in both kidnaping cases in the coming months.

Before her disappearance, Scott was in contact with King, who met with her shortly after she left her workplace, according to police, citing video and digital evidence and gathered by investigators. And what this means is that they have cell phone records tying him to her the very night that she disappeared.

WHITFIELD: Oh, gosh. All right. So terribly sad.

Rafael Romo, thank you so much.

All right. Still to come, a manhunt is still underway in Paris following a brazen daytime heist at the world's most visited museum. The latest on the investigation, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:27:36]

WHITFIELD: All right, new details now on the breaking news out of Paris. French officials say the daytime jewel heist at the Louvre Museum involved up to four people. And now a manhunt is underway for the thieves who police say used a truck lift to enter an upstairs window, steal the rare, priceless jewels. Nine pieces were targeted, including a tiara and necklace worn by royalty.

Police have recovered one piece, a crown that belonged to Empress Eugenie. That's because it was dropped apparently by the robbers. The robbery triggered an evacuation and the museum did eventually close. Police say the suspects got away on motorbikes. And we also have seen and learned from investigators that they have retrieved a helmet that also may have been left behind.

All right. Joining me right now for some perspective is CNN's senior national security analyst Juliette Kayyem.

Great to see you, Juliette. So this is pretty fascinating in broad daylight, while people were at the museum and the Louvre did briefly lock down after a, you know, this break in, thieves were long gone, but they did leave behind a couple things. Like I mentioned a crown that they intended to take and a helmet. So where does this investigation go from here? Does this say to you

highly coordinated operation, very sophisticated?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Absolutely. With the goal of actually probably not harming anyone. So, you know, part of this brazenness of coming in on a Sunday morning with the truck is they clearly thought people would look at it and go like, oh, they're workers or something like that, right? That they're, you know, they're not sneaking in in the middle of the night where they might encounter law enforcement.

They clearly have done some staking out. They knew what they wanted to take, or at least what was of value in that room. And then they quickly exit, of course, on Mopeds, which you can go through Paris streets relatively quickly. Also, importantly, you can separate. So if one of them goes down or is captured, others could still get away. So sort of dividing at the end is a sign of a sophisticated criminal enterprise.

WHITFIELD: And Melissa Bell just reported not long ago that these thieves may have had a confrontation with security once they had broken into this room or space, but we haven't heard any more detail about that. You know, was there any struggle? Anything like that? But, you know, I guess, what does this tell you about the direction that they might be able to go with the investigation, maybe as you mentioned, with the mopeds or motorbikes splitting off in different directions, --

[16:30:15]

KAYYEM: Right.

WHITFIELD: -- that's where the CCTV cameras' footage is going to be very helpful, right?

KAYYEM: That's exactly right. So, the Louvre is the largest museum in the world. It's -- and its security is not all armed. So, they've got people walking through the rooms to make sure no one is putting their hand on something valuable.

So, we don't know if that encounter was between someone who was there for safety purposes, but not -- but not armed, not able to stop them. We're going to learn more about the nature of what the burglars had, what they left behind.

And then, of course, you do the DNA prints, any hair samples that may have been left in the helmet, CCTV as well.

I should say, this is not confined to France. In France, there's been a number of museum heists of re -- of late. So, they're going to look to see if there's any similarities to those.

But, also, Interpol, the international law enforcement agency, will get involved. Art heist is a key part of their mandate. They actually have a cultural artifact division. They have a stolen artworks' Website. It is going to be hard for whoever wanted this to do anything but keep it. And that may be what their motivation is.

WHITFIELD: Fascinating. All right, Juliette Kayyem, thank you so much.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Up next, a growing number of women no longer in the workforce. What's driving the so-called she-cession?

[16:31:47]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A growing number of women are out of the workforce. It's a troubling trend economists warn could stall progress made since the pandemic.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich takes a closer look at what's driving their exit, and just how many women are leaving or losing their jobs.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Women are leaving the workforce at an alarming rate. A rate not seen since the pandemic, when the entire world shut down.

And according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 455,000 women have left the workforce between January and August of this year. And if this continues, economists are warning this will erase gains made by women since the pandemic and could ultimately hurt economic growth.

Highly educated women and black women are leading the exodus and here's why. Childcare costs simply just too expensive right now for many families. Women with children also were able to reenter the workforce post-pandemic because of flexible work policies, hybrid work from home. But now, companies are making return-to-work mandates much stricter.

Also, the cutting of public-sector jobs and the rollback of DEI initiatives have impacted black women. So, how do we encourage women to return? Well, we have to reverse all of that. We have the data that points to this concerning trend.

But CNN spoke with more than two dozen women who recently left the workforce. The vast majority of women we spoke to said that it was just assumed that they would drop out of the workforce and stay home with children instead of their husbands.

And this tracks with another alarming rate. Women, on average, make $0.81 for every dollar men make, and this wage gap is moving in reverse. It's moving in the wrong direction, according to data from the census department.

Just two years ago, it was $0.83 women were making to the dollar. Now, that number has fallen, widening the wage gap. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Vanessa Yurkovich, thanks so much. Joining me right now to talk more about all this, Michelle Holder, assistant economics professor at the city university of New York. Professor, great to see you.

MICHELLE HOLDER, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, JOHN JAY COLLEGE, CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK (via Webex): Nice to see you as well. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. So, what's your reaction to this exodus, whether it's losing or leaving the workforce?

HOLDER: Well, I would say it's definitely not good for the economy, number one. You want as many people working in an economy as possible, because that leads to higher productivity, higher GDP.

The second thing I would say is it's also not good for women, themselves, in terms of their trajectory in their careers. Any stoppages or leaving a job has depressive effects going forward, in terms of promotions and earnings. And it's also not good for families. You know, we need the income of women. So, it's not -- it's a troubling trend.

WHITFIELD: That the number of women in the -- in the American workforce is dwindling really does chip away at historical markers celebrating women's ascension in places of work. Is this shift, you know, proportionately a reflection of consequence or choice?

HOLDER: Well, I think it's both. I think we are at a time in the economy where there are policies that are kind of feeding into women leaving the labor force. You know, one of the most notable would be, sort of, this push to bring people back to the office, right?

[16:40:01]

HOLDER: Right after the pandemic, when people were working from home, et cetera, we found, at that time, that that was very good for working women and working mothers.

But in the last two years, there's really been this push to get back to the office. Get all the bodies back. And that's not really helpful for, you know, a woman or a family who may be juggling small children as well as working.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Black women have been especially hit hard in the U.S. government layoffs. You know, although they make up just, you know, more than six percent of the overall workforce, black women account for more than 12 percent of federal employees.

So, these positions have long-offered pensions, benefits, you know, more equitable pay than the private sector. Where wage disparities remain stubbornly, you know, fixed.

So, how damaging do you see the exits of black women in the federal workforce and women overall?

HOLDER: Oh, yes, absolutely. It's not good on a number of levels. First of all, it's definitely not good for the black community. I've looked at the issue of black women's employment, black women's wages, and the black community really, you know, depends on the work of black women. And, historically, that has been the case.

And so, once the federal layoffs began and the cuts to the public sector, I automatically knew that this was not going to be good for black workers. Because, as you said, black workers, particularly black women, are well represented in public-sector employment.

So, you know, this is on top of the fact that we also do know black women deal with gender wage gaps even more so. So, it's just -- it's troubling all around for black women workers and the black community.

WHITFIELD: So, this whole thing is being called, you know, she- cession. Do you see an end in sight?

HOLDER: Well, I am hopeful for an end in sight, but the trends have been kind of a slow burn. This has been happening over the course of several months, what we're seeing, in terms of women leaving the labor force. Also, what we're seeing in terms of it disproportionately being black women.

It hasn't been a rapid trend. It's been kind of a slower trend. My hope is that it will reverse. But it doesn't seem to be leading in that direction, unfortunately.

WHITFIELD: All right, Professor Michelle Holder, thank you so much. Great to see you.

HOLDER: Great to see you, too. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. In a moment, a lawyer working for free with his best friend. Why he decided -- why this duo decided to start providing pro bono legal advice along a very popular footpath in Atlanta.

[16:42:52]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. With growing numbers of Americans falling on hard times due to mass U.S. government layoffs, immigration raids or speeding tickets, more people are inquiring about their legal rights. An Atlanta lawyer has felt compelled to help for free. You're looking at video of him right now. Attorney Cody Randall, who sets up along parks and trails of Atlanta's popular beltline sections in town.

And he is open for business, giving free legal advice. But he's not there alone. He's there with his dog, Reba. And not only is he hit with, you know, a lot of questions coming from local people, but social media has kind of picked up.

And they're taking notice and posting videos like this, showing that man's best friend and a great attorney are there to help. Help people of all walks.

Here with me now is Cody Randall and his best friend, Reba. So, good to see you.

CODY RANDALL, SPECIAL COUNSEL, GEORGIA TRIAL ATTORNEYS AT KIRCHEN & GRANT, LLC: Good to be here.

WHITFIELD: And hello, Reba. So, what sparked this idea? Why did you decide to do this?

RANDALL: The thing is it is a -- it is almost impossible to get an attorney on the phone, unless you've already gone through 15 gatekeepers, signed a bunch of paperwork, answered a bunch of questions. A lot of people have a question about a problem going on in their life, and they don't necessarily need a lawyer. They just have a problem, and they don't know where to start.

So, I thought to myself, I became an attorney to help people. What is the best way that I could just democratize access to information?

WHTIFIELD: And these are big problems that people are facing right now, especially with so many, you know, government layoffs, with immigration-related raids. People are wondering, well, A, they might not be able to afford an attorney even to just ask questions.

Are you finding that while you're on these trails, people are asking you some heavy-hitting big questions like that? You know, what are my legal rights as an employee who was, you know, laid off? Or what do I do if I'm approached or subject of a particular raid?

RANDALL: I get questions about everything. And the thing we got to understand is whether or not it's something important about like a question about a divorce, or an immigration question, or a status about how do I get my partner to immigrate to the country. You know -- or, you know, being employed.

It's the question that they're asking is important to them. Like everybody has something going on in their life. And whether or not we think it's a serious question, it's something that is important enough that they want to get an answer to.

And what I do is I let people come up and ask questions about problems they have. And I try to point them in the right direction so that they can help themselves.

[16:50:01]

RANDALL: Sometimes they need an attorney. And I'll say, you should probably get attorney for that.

And sometimes it's something simpler though (?). You can actually handle this yourself. And then, sometimes people don't even need legal advice. They just have a problem with something and no ones listened to what their issue is. I'll act as an independent third party. And sometimes I tell people, honestly, this might be a you problem.

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh. Now, you're also a therapist.

RANDALL: A lot -- some -- I would say probably 25 percent of the advice that I give people is, you know, they have this narrative where they feel like they've been wronged about something. Like, they want to know, is there a legal recourse to things?

And I'll go, well, yes, you have an option. But maybe it's, you know, more trouble than it's worth.

WHITFIELD: And sometimes people need to hear that. Right. You need to hear that sometimes.

RANDALL: Or maybe, you know, you're not seeing it from your side.

WHITFIELD: So, Atlanta is home to, say, the Centers for Disease Control. You know, there are 70,000, you know, people who are employed there. Many of them who have been impacted by the government shutdown or even the layoffs. There are other U.S. government or federal government agencies, you know, here as well.

And I wonder, you know, if people feel like or if they're asking you, you know, questions that are pertinent about whether they, you know, have legal recourse to try and retrieve their paychecks or what does this mean about, you know, furloughed workers, et cetera? You know, do people feel comfortable enough to share that with you?

RANDALL: People feel comfortable sharing with me far too much information, especially in the context of this is being filmed and published. I always tell people this is being recorded. I'm a lawyer. I'm not your lawyer. And then, they just tell me a lot of things.

But during the last, I guess, few months ago, our administration, where they're talking about how they wanted to do buyouts and get people to leave the government and stuff. I had questions about employment from this. And I had to tell people, you -- if you want to take up that option, think about it.

But Congress approves the budget. Congress determines where money comes from. The president can't just unilaterally decide that he's going to give employees $100,000 to quit their job. You might take that offer. You might quit. And that check may never come.

And with all these employees now that are being put on furloughs, and they're going, oh, in the past, they'd get paid. But now, we have an administration saying, oh, I don't' think we're going to do backpay. Or I think we're going to fire you, while you're -- you know, the government's shut down.

Well, if you're afraid that you're going to get fired while the government shut down, that's not legal. You can't do that. The way that those mechanisms work and the severance and all the things, those require purse strings which come from Congress. And Congress is closed, so the President can't fire you right now.

WHITFIELD: So, obviously, a lot of people who are approaching you are getting a lot out of this. Approaching you and Reba. But then, quickly, what are you getting out of this? Because you're doing pro bono work. RANDALL: The feeling of helping somebody -- like, this is a hobby. A

hobby is literally defined as the work that you would do without being paid. I'm not out there every single day. This isn't a job for me. It's something I do when I have an awkward amount of free time.

Me and my dog, we go out there. She gets lots of attention from strangers, and I get to help people. What else would I do? Sit on my couch and scroll social media? No, I can go outside and help some people with some problems. Big or small, whatever it is, I'm making a difference to somebody. And that makes a difference to me.

WHITFIELD: Awesome. Cody Randall, thank you so much. And, Reba, you are so good. Thank you so much, to both of you.

RANDALL: Yes, thanks for having us.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll be right back. Hey, girl.

[16:53:17]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Misty Copeland has captivated audiences and broken barriers in ballet. Anderson Cooper shares how she's expanding the art form's reach and impact.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MISTY COPELAND, AMERICAN BALLET DANCER: With ballet, the reason I got into it was because of the joy that it brought me. This beautiful escape.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST (voice-over): Ballet star, Misty Copeland, broke barriers as the first black female principal dancer with American Ballet Theater. Now, she's working to make the art form more accessible for the next generation.

COPELAND: I started the Misty Copeland Foundation in 2021. Really, with the idea of bringing dance to under-resourced, underserved communities. I wouldn't be who I am if I hadn't been introduced to this incredible art form at a Boys and Girls Club. I just felt like, we have to keep this going and give other children the same opportunity.

COOPER: BE BOLD is a free after-school ballet program offered at community centers in the Bronx and Harlem, serving more than 500 children of color ages five to 12.

COPELAND: It's really with the idea of introducing them to moving their bodies, the vocabulary of basic ballet technique, and live music. What's different about this, from just your traditional ballet class, was that this framework was made with black and brown children in mind.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The majority of other kids don't get to do this stuff like I do. I've learned how to respect myself and others. And I've learned to just be yourself.

COPELAND: It's not about creating professional dancers. That would be fantastic. But this is about creating future leaders.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go up.

COPELAND: There's so many incredible skills that you learn by being a part of dance, but ballet in particular. It's dedication. It's discipline. It's community. It's empathy.

COOPER: Misty's foundation recently expanded classes to include people over 50, demonstrating that ballet is truly for everyone.

[17:00:02]

COPELAND: Eventually, I want to have this program in community sites all over the United States.