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U.S. Carrier Group Enters Caribbean Ahead Of Military Exercises; House Set To Vote On Releasing Epstein Files On Tuesday; Schumer's Future In Question Amid Mounting Democrat Frustration. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired November 16, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:02]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: All right, hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I am Fredricka Whitfield, and we begin this hour with this breaking news. The U.S. says its biggest aircraft carrier strike group has now entered the Caribbean Sea.

The U.S. Navy making that announcement a short time ago. The USS Gerald R. Ford is set to join military exercises that are scheduled to begin today off the coast of Venezuela. The U.S. has already put more than a dozen warships and 15,000 troops in the region as tensions with Venezuela continue to rise.

U.S. Forces have also attacked 20 boats in the Caribbean and Pacific killing at least 80 people. The U.S. claims without evidence that they are part of drug operations.

President Trump has been briefed on military options on Venezuela and on Friday, he said, he has sort of reached a decision on what to do. With me now is global affairs analyst, Kim Dozier.

Welcome. Good to see you.

So taking all of those alleged drug boats out and now doing these military exercises in the region, is this a prelude for something more in terms of U.S. military involvement in or on Venezuela?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: It certainly looks like that. What you see is a collection of forces, the kind that you would put together if you're going to do a series of airstrikes and strikes from those naval vessels on various targets across Venezuela, most likely military targets, police targets, anything that would get in the way of Maduro being knocked out of power and possibly the opposition leader taking power, anything that would challenge a successor's power.

Also, possibly they could just go after the drug cartels and various targets like that. That would give Trump a little bit more maneuverability, because then he wouldn't be locked into a confrontation with Maduro and trying to get Maduro to leave power. WHITFIELD: So if the U.S. were -- if the ambition was to take out Maduro, that would mean that a U.S., whether it be a political or military planning, would know who the successor might be. Is the U.S. that far along in this kind of planning?

DOZIER: I think what we will be able to tell what their goal is by what they choose to target. Now, they could just be putting the pressure on the maduro regime with this huge show of force to try to get the various elements of the military to consider taking him out, or replacing him. Maduro has already had to put down several coups during his time in office. The military is riddled with double agents from Cuba who are looking for who is in the planning.

But it is also what you do to try to show force that would do something like the U.S. has done in Iran or in Yemen, a series of strikes that do a lot of damage, but don't put U.S. troops on the ground in harm's way.

WHITFIELD: What is Venezuela's military equipped to, you know, and able to do? Is it able to be in in some sort of sustained conflict with the U.S.? Or is it strictly one that that is equipped to protect itself?

DOZIER: Yes. Sustained conflict would be difficult. They've got supposedly 150,000 standing army, plus a number of small militias that back Maduro. That would probably present more of an issue inside the cities in Venezuela. But that's if this goes to some sort of a ground operation.

It is more likely that this would be a chance to knock out the system in power. And then, you know, there's been a rebellion across the country that's barely repressed. And so The White House is probably banking on, if we push hard enough, that rebellion will surge forward, especially if people don't face the crackdowns that they have faced over the past several years of Maduro's rule.

WHITFIELD: Interesting, and then President Maduro has most recently, while being interviewed by CNN's own Stefano Pozzebon, he invoked Libya and Afghanistan when he spoke essentially saying to the U.S. that, you know, we know what your track record is when you have involved yourself in any kind of regime change or conflicts, do you really want that here? I mean, that was quite clever, wasnt it?

DOZIER: Yes. Look, also, if they do a head-on confrontation with the Venezuelan military, the military is well-equipped to turn into an insurgency. It would be very hard to take this vast country that's about 30 percent larger than Texas. It has got a coast of 1,700 miles. And, you know, generally, decapitation strikes don't work very well in the past. But if they can create enough friction that Maduro thinks I can't stay in power maybe someone like Russia would offer him asylum. It would have to be something like that, that the U.S. creates space for people on the ground in Venezuela to take action to remove him.

[15:05:10]

WHITFIELD: Oh, and that serves perfectly into what I was wondering about, like, where would Venezuela find its support? Is it its oil? That is the leverage for that country?

DOZIER: Well, Russia and China have been backers and access to that oil is important for both. Russia has given military supplies. In October, there was a large plane that arrived from Russia and we think it had things in it, like anti-aircraft type weaponry to at least frustrate any sort of U.S. attack. But we don't know and this is all up to Trump. You know, he has promised his supporters that he is not going to drag them into another war.

WHITFIELD: Right.

DOZIER: So those were big campaign promises. So if he launches some sort of strike and Maduro hangs in there, that's going to present a real conundrum for The White House, whereas what they are hoping for is a quick win and then Trump supporters in the Latino community in Miami, Florida, et cetera will back him, and it will look like a win in his own hemisphere and it will message other countries that the U.S. believes isn't doing enough, aren't doing enough to stop drugs, that they better crack down on it.

WHITFIELD: Fascinating. All right, Kim Dozier, thank you so much for breaking it down. Really complex, confusing, but you put it in such a succinct way. I think there is a greater understanding of it now, for sure.

Kim, thanks so much.

All right, this is setting up to be a pivotal week in other ways for the United States, especially as it pertains to the Jeffrey Epstein case already playing out. On Capitol Hill on Tuesday, the U.S. House will hold a high-stakes vote on whether to release more files related to the convicted sex trafficker. A Discharge Petition was collected, and its already collected enough signatures to force House Speaker Mike Johnson to hold a floor vote that he has been delaying for months now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): So it will be on the floor again next week. I suspect there will be lots of votes and we will just get this done. President Trump has clean hands. He is not worried about it. I talk to him all the time. He has nothing to do with this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The vote will happen despite President Trump's repeated attempts to pressure Republicans to vote against the bill. On Friday, Trump ordered a Justice Department investigation into Democrats' ties, potential ties to Epstein. Trump's opposition to releasing the Epstein files has also created a stunning fallout with some of his biggest supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): Unfortunately, it has all come down to the Epstein files, and that is shocking. And, you know, I stand with these women, I stand with rape victims, I stand with children who are in terrible sex abuse situations and I stand with survivors of trafficking and those that are trapped in sex trafficking and I will not apologize for that. I believe the country deserves transparency on these files. And I don't believe that rich, powerful people should be protected if they have done anything wrong.

And so I am standing with the women and I will continue to do my small part to get the files released.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, Representative Greene says this case is central as to why she and President Trump have split for now. CNN's Julia Benbrook is joining us now.

So, Julie, you know, what are supporters of this push to release these files saying, as we get close to this upcoming vote on Tuesday?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This effort is moving forward. We do expect to see a full House vote next week on the release of Department of Justice files related to Jeffrey Epstein, and this effort has been led by a bipartisan pair of lawmakers, Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, and Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky.

Now they only had a handful of Republican members actually sign on to the Discharge Petition. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene being one of them. But GOP leaders are bracing for a significant number of members to support this when it is a vote on the House floor.

Massie has set a goal. He wants to get a veto proof majority. That would be two-thirds of the house or 290 members if everyone is there together, and he hopes that that kind of support would put pressure on the Senate to act as well. Now, in an interview with ABC News that aired earlier today, Massie, who has gotten some personal attacks from Trump himself in these recent days, he shared a message to members facing any pressure and any of those that are concerned about their political futures. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): I am winning this week with Ro Khanna. We are forcing this vote and it is going to happen. I would remind my Republican colleagues who are deciding how to vote, Donald Trump can protect you in red districts right now by giving you an endorsement.

[16:10:13]

But in 2030, he is not going to be the President, and you will have voted to protect pedophiles if you don't vote to release these files and the President can't protect you then. This vote, the record of this vote will last longer than Donald Trump's presidency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: House Speaker Mike Johnson has said that he is going to move forward quickly with this vote, and that marks a change in strategy, both for him and for The White House. A White House official did tell CNN that President Donald Trump was made aware ahead of time that Johnson was going to expedite this vote, and that there was a general understanding that it was an inevitable outcome at this point.

Now, Trump, of course, has not been accused of any wrongdoing. It is always important to note this as we report on this back and forth. But he has put an intense focus on stopping this vote, which in some ways has just brought more attention to his previous relationship.

Now, he has called this effort, this push, those that are going after it, both "soft and foolish" and has repeatedly referred to it as a hoax. Now that hoax language is a bit confusing because he has also, in recent days called on the Department of Justice to investigate other high profile figures for their relationships with Epstein, and that could be seen as a way to discredit these moves that are taking place on Capitol Hill -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Julia Benbrook, thanks so much.

All right, now, we have more of our exclusive interview with Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The Georgia Republican gives her take on Trump's public attacks on her and she apologizes for her role in spreading toxic rhetoric.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR AND POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Congresswoman, you posted on X that President Trump is with his comments fueling a "hotbed of threats against you." Obviously, any threats to your safety are completely unacceptable. But we have seen these kinds of attacks or criticism from the President at other people. It is not new.

And with respect, I haven't heard you speak out about it until it was directed at you.

GREENE: Dana, I think that's fair criticism. And I would like to say humbly, I am sorry for taking part in the toxic politics. It is very bad for our country. And it has been something I've thought about a lot, especially since Charlie Kirk was assassinated is that we -- I am only responsible for myself and my own words and actions. And I am going -- I am committed, and I've been working on this a lot lately to put down the knives in politics.

I really just want to see people be kind to one another, and we need to figure out a new path forward that is focused on the American people because as Americans, no matter what side of the aisle we are on, we have far more in common than we have differences, and we need to be able to respect each other with our disagreements.

BASH: So just to put a button on this, you regret the things that you have said and posted in the past. The Facebook post that was taken down of you in 2020, holding a gun alongside the squad, encouraging people to go on the offense against the socialists, liking a tweet of somebody calling for the execution of Nancy Pelosi and former President Obama, just examples. GREENE: Well, Dana, as you know, and many people know, I addressed that back in 2021 and of course, I never want to cause any harm or anything bad for anyone, so that that was addressed back then and I very much stand by my words I said then and I stand by my words today.

I think America needs to come together and end all the toxic, dangerous rhetoric and divide and I am leading the way with my own example and I hope that President Trump can do the same.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And of course, you can watch the entire interview with Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene on cnn.com.

All right, and now this breaking news, New York Jets cornerback Kris Boyd is in critical condition at a Manhattan Hospital after he was shot outside a New York City restaurant early this morning.

Let's get right to CNN's Don Riddell with more on this. How is he doing and what happened leading up to this?

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT HOST: Well, I can tell you what we know from a law enforcement official. The incident happened at 2:00 in the morning on the corner of 38th and 7th. It sounds like it was a dispute that escalated, resulting in two shots being fired. The shooter fleeing the scene in a vehicle.

And now, we have the situation where he is in Bellevue Hospital recovering in a critical, but I believe stable condition. So not at all a good situation for Kris Boyd. The Jets are aware of the situation. They played their game this week on Thursday night.

[15:15:19]

Details are limited, but clearly not a great situation and he has only been with the Jets since the summer and he injured his shoulder in August. So he has been on the injured list since then. We don't actually have an image of him in a Jets uniform because he hasn't actually taken the field for the Jets yet.

So yes, not great news.

WHITFIELD: Yes, we hope he recovers and is able to resume and everything is okay. All right, let's talk about something that happened on the college ball level. I mean, a Texas State Trooper now was sent home after a run-in, we call it a run-in with a University of South Carolina player. It was kind of two players, right, Saturday games. Something strange, shoulder brush, and then the next thing you know, some finger pointing.

What happened?

RIDDELL: Everything about this is wild. So South Carolina playing in Texas. Wide Receiver Nyck Harbor scores an 80-yard touchdown and he kind of continues his run all the way up into the tunnel --

WHITFIELD: Because he is fast as, it would happen.

RIDDELL: He just couldn't slow down. And he was making his way back onto the field when this Trooper came over in the opposite direction, kind of shoulder bumped two of them, turned and scolded one of them. As you can imagine, this went instantly viral.

LeBron James among many who commented about it, LeBron said the Trooper needs to be suspended. That was premeditated. Clearly, he was trying to start something. That's what LeBron James said and he threw in a couple of expletives as well, which is why we can't show you his tweet.

Anyway, this led to a position where South Carolina were leading by 30 points to three at half time, which was massive against a team that has been unbeaten this season. Different story in the second half. The Aggies came back. They scored 28 points unanswered to pull off an extraordinary win, the biggest comeback in the history of the team.

WHITFIELD: That was a game.

RIDDELL: It maintains their unbeaten run and I think everybody that was there, they will never forget it. They will be telling their grandkids about it except presumably for the Trooper who was relieved of his duties. So I am assuming he didn't get to see this incredible comeback.

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh.

RIDDELL: Just everything about that game was wild.

WHITFIELD: Yes, yes, and still, I guess people are trying to figure out what was that all about, that moment? I mean, not good. Not good.

RIDDELL: I think the video speaks for itself.

WHITFIELD: It really does. I mean, it is hard to explain that one away. Thank you, Don. That's why we have you here to help explain what we see and what we don't see, and all the inferences in between. Thank you. Appreciate it. Good to see you.

All right, coming up, under pressure, questions swirling about Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's future. His fired up base angry over Democrats helping to reopen the U.S. Government. Will he seek another term or step aside? Brand new CNN reporting.

Plus, crackdown in Charlotte, North Carolina, federal agents saying they have arrested dozens of people in just hours as Border Patrol launches a new operation in North Carolina's largest city. One of the state's largest cities.

And Elon Musk's father speaks to CNN. Our investigation into President Trump's claims of White genocide in South Africa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: So you understand, because the Black population here was so oppressed under apartheid.

ERROL MUSK, ELON MUSK'S FATHER: Well, we never saw this oppression you're talking about.

O'SULLIVAN: You never saw it.

MUSK: No, I never saw it.

O'SULLIVAN: Yes, because you're White.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[15:23:23]

WHITFIELD: All right, happening on Capitol Hill, growing frustrations among Democrats with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer after eight Democratic senators broke rank in last week's shutdown deal, new CNN reporting reveals that Schumer's future is increasingly in doubt, with some in the party amping up their calls for him to step aside.

Here to share some of that reporting with us, CNN senior reporter Isaac Dovere.

Isaac, what are Democrats that you spoke to saying about Schumer and his leadership?

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Look, a week ago today, we had this deal come across from eight breakaway senators and what we know is that right away, Chuck Schumer got on the phone and started calling governors and other party leaders and saying, hey, don't attack me. Don't attack Democrats even if you have to attack the deal. He kept doing that over the course of this whole week, and he largely failed to get people to stand by him now.

He has got members of his own Democratic Senate Caucus who feel so angry, they were telling me they couldn't even talk about him. He has got people in New York who are making the assumption that it is so over, that they are planning, what a 2028 campaign for other people running for Senate could look like. This is a big shift for Chuck Schumer that has happened here and basically, everybody is saying this looks like the beginning of the end of maybe his career. We will see.

A lot of things can happen, but it is really a difficult week for people who are associated with Schumer and Schumer himself to try to figure out his place in things.

WHITFIELD: So talk to me what is at the core here? People being angry that he was not able to be more persuasive for the seven Democrats who voted with Republicans in the Senate and they feel like he just -- you know, that that's a reflection of his leadership or lack thereof?

[15:25:15]

DOVERE: As we get into the story, the two options for Schumer are basically that he was -- that people thought that he was secretly maneuvering to be part of this deal or to make this deal happen, that's not quite true, though. He was keeping tabs on it and trying to hold them together longer, actually hoping to get to Thanksgiving with the shutdown or that he just doesn't have control of his caucus, which does seem to be the case. It was eight senators who broke away, some of the lowest profile senators among the Democrats there, who upended the shutdown and also the there's a larger feeling of does he have the right energy for this fight?

One of the people that we spoke to for this is the Lieutenant Governor of New York. I talked to him the other day, and he gave voice to something that I was hearing from a lot of people, who were more reticent about going on the record, but saying to me that he hopes by 2028, there will be people with new energy, new voices, a new, different way of going about things.

J.B. Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, a big leader in the fight against Trump and one who is seen as likely to run for President himself in 2028. I asked him, is Chuck Schumer a leader for the future of the Democratic Party? He said to me that's an interesting question. I don't know if somebody in the 70s could be thought of as a leader for the future, but we need someone who is on team fight, is the way he put it to me.

WHITFIELD: Okay and is Schumer addressing this in any way?

DOVERE: Well, Chuck Schumer has been talking to a lot of people over the week, as I said, and as we detail in this story, getting in, trying to get some cover for himself in how he is being talked about, but he, is in a situation where he is looking at he sees a win overall, even if this shutdown did not end as he wanted to in getting people to focus on health care costs and how Republicans haven't addressed them.

And he thinks that that could be a real important thing going into 2026, where his main focus is trying to win the Senate back for Democrats, trying to get the majority back for them, that's an uphill battle, given where a lot of these races are the states that they're in. But something he has been very, very focused on.

It will take him over the course of the next year to get there. We will see what happens if they win the majority, if they don't win the majority. But he is not up for reelection as leader until after the elections next year and he is not up for reelection until the end of his term, for his own Senate seat until 2028.

WHITFIELD: And it is becoming increasingly likely that Schumer could face a primary for his New York seat when he is up for that reelection in 2028, I mean, the biggest threat I am hearing is Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Here is part of what she actually said this past week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): We are talking about a coordinated effort of eight senators with the knowledge of Leader Schumer voting to break with the entire Democratic Party in exchange for nothing.

We have a cycle coming up with many primaries, not Senator Schumer, but many Senate primaries where voters are going to be deciding between candidates.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Speaking of primaries, are you considering primarying him?

OCASIO-CORTEZ: he is not up for --

RAJU: He is up in 2028.

OCASIO-CORTEZ: But he is not up for election this cycle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Read the tea leaves for us, please?

DOVERE: Well, look, Ocasio-Cortez is someone that a lot of people have been thinking about. The question is whether Schumer will run at all in 2028. He will turn 78 just a few weeks after election day in 2028. If he does run, the expectation is that he will face a primary, it could be from her, it could be from someone else, from the left or from otherwise. That is very much in people's minds.

But really, there are a lot of New York politicians who are thinking that he is probably not running at all, so much so that they are hoping that Ocasio-Cortez runs for President in 2028, so that she leaves the Senate race to them. And there are a bunch of people who have been making motions, a lot of chatter about another member of Congress from New York, guy named Pat Ryan, who is from the Hudson Valley in New York.

There are other names bouncing around, too. That's the thing that comes across, I think, in this reporting is that the age of Schumer and I mean, like the era of Schumer is in many minds, so much being coming to an end that they are planning for past it is already well underway.

WHITFIELD: All right, Edward-Isaac Dovere, thank you so much. Good to see you.

DOVERE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, and this breaking news, just in to CNN, the U.S. Southern Command announcing another strike on an alleged drug boat, this one in the Pacific as the world's largest aircraft carrier strike group arrives in the Caribbean.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, we have breaking news now. The U.S. military says it has carried out another strike on alleged drug trafficking boat, this one in the Eastern Pacific. This is the 21st vessel now that the U.S. has attacked in recent weeks and it comes as the U.S. says its biggest aircraft carrier strike group has now entered the Caribbean Sea.

CNN's senior reporter, Betsy Klein, is in Florida, where the President is spending the weekend. Betsy, what more do we know about this strike?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER AND WRITER: Right. Well, Fredricka, there have been weeks of threats from President Trump on the topic of Venezuela, as the U.S. has amassed significant resources in the region. We know that President Trump last month said that he has authorized the CIA to operate in Venezuela.

[15:25:06]

And now, we are learning that the administration has now launched what is the 21st known strike on an alleged drug trafficking vessel, this time in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Most of those airstrikes have been operating in the Caribbean. This killed three men, according to U.S. Southern Command in a post to social media just moments ago.

Now, the President has been briefed by his team multiple times in recent days on the possibility and the options for moving forward in Venezuela. Those options include airstrikes on military or government facilities, as well as drug trafficking routes, and also the possibility of a more direct attempt to oust the country's president, Nicolas Maduro.

Trump told reporters Friday that he "had sort of made up his mind," but declined to provide details offering some potentially strategic ambiguity there. But experts have described this U.S. military buildup as significant. We know that the USS Gerald R. Ford, which is the world's largest aircraft carrier, entered Caribbean waters earlier today. There are roughly 15,000 military personnel in the region, as well as dozens -- more than a dozen warships and about 10 F-35 fighter jets in the area.

We also heard from Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott, who voiced support for the administration's efforts here. Listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): I am appreciative of what he is doing. He is doing everything he can to keep Americans safe and we should not -- Congress should not slow down what he is trying to do.

Look, the thing about Maduro, Maduro is not the President. He is not the duly elected president of Venezuela. He is the head of drug cartels. It is basically a drug cartel run country right now.

So I think President Trump is doing the right thing. Congress should not slow him down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now, officially, the Trump administration says that they are going after illegal drug trafficking operations. Of course, regime change could be a side effect of that. This is high risk. It has the opportunity to give the President credit for ousting Maduro. If that happens, it is all what the President is weighing as he prepares to return to Washington later this evening -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Okay. Betsy Klein, thanks so much.

All right, straight ahead, sign of the times? Georgia, the state of Georgia was once hailed as the Hollywood of the South, but film production has plunged now by nearly half. How studios are fighting to reclaim the spotlight and get the industry out of a slump, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:42:20]

WHITFIELD: Federal agents are on the ground in North Carolina after executing controversial ICE operations in Chicago. Border Patrol officers arrived in the Charlotte area on Saturday to continue their immigration enforcement. President Trump's top Border Patrol official, Gregory Bovino, says 81 people were arrested during a span of about five hours. Bovino added that those arrested had "significant criminal and immigration history and are off the streets." -- his words.

The administration defended these operations as necessary for fighting crime and enforcing immigration laws.

For years, Georgia was considered the Hollywood of the South, seen as a filming hotspot in the U.S. for its tax credits and diverse landscapes and locations, but recently, film production in the Peach State has been nearly cut in half and those cuts are hitting Hollywood as well.

CNN's Ivan Rodriguez has more on where all the production has gone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Trilith Studios, just south of Atlanta, isn't only Georgia's largest film studio, but it is part of one of the largest studio complexes in the continent.

FRANK PATTERSON, PRESIDENT AND CEO, TRILITH STUDIOS: It is a great place to make content.

RODRIGUEZ (voice over): Frank Patterson has led Trilith Studios for almost a decade. In that time, the studio was home to major productions including the "Avengers" and the latest "Superman."

SUPERMAN, FICTIONAL CHARACTER: Eyes up here.

RODRIGUEZ (voice over): At its peak, production spending in Georgia reached over $4 billion in fiscal year 2022. That's more than Hollywood reported that same year, but it has fallen off a cliff since, with about half that spent in the Peach State in the last year, according to the Georgia Film Office.

PATTERSON: The drop in spend in Georgia is indicative of what has happened across the United States.

RODRIGUEZ (voice over): Georgia still has an attractive tax break for production companies, and in California, Governor Gavin Newsom expanded the state's film and T.V. tax credit program. Both states hoping to lure production back from overseas.

PATTERSON: I've lived through three of these business cycles where we, for example, offshore content and the macroeconomic forces change and product comes back.

RODRIGUEZ (voice over): For Patterson, this is an opportunity to usher in a new generation of storytellers and focus beyond blockbusters. It starts with Jeremy Garelick opening a new hub at Trilith for American High South to help expand Gen Z focused content.

JEREMY GARELICK, FOUNDER AND CEO, AMERICAN HIGH: I wouldn't come down here and buy low if I didn't believe that were going to sell high and many, many -- you know, this thing is about to take a turn and Atlanta and Georgia is going to be a huge hub for creators, for filmmakers, very, very, very soon.

There are going to be jobs coming back here.

[15:45:02]

RODRIGUEZ (voice over): Garelick and his team aim to generate four productions a year starting in 2026. It also guarantees Trilith a steady slate of productions and busy stages during this slump.

PATTERSON: We will be back to some kind of new normal in 2027, certainly in 2028, that I am excited about, not just a new normal, into some level of exciting storytelling that we haven't seen before.

RODRIGUEZ (voice over): In Atlanta, I am Ivan Rodriguez.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead, skipping the Summit, the U.S. is planning to boycott this month's G20 in South Africa because President Trump claims White farmers are being killed and persecuted. What our Donie O'Sullivan found out during his investigation next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:50:25]

WHITFIELD: Tonight on "The Whole Story," a new CNN investigation from Donie O'Sullivan. President Trump claims White South Africans are suffering from human rights abuses, even calling it a genocide and he refuses to send a U.S. delegation to the upcoming gathering of world leaders at the G20 Summit in South Africa.

Donie O'Sullivan takes us there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN: Right now, there's about 40 or so people living here, give or take. But you told me there's hundreds of people want to move here.

Hundreds of people have applied.

ERIC ORWOLL, CO-FOUNDER, RETURN TO THE LAND: Yes, there are quite a few people waiting to be interviewed.

O'SULLIVAN: Wow. Are they all racist?

ORWOLL: Well, it depends on what you mean by racist. Are they racist in the sense that they hate other groups of people and want to deprive other groups of people of resources or opportunities? No.

O'SULLIVAN (voice over): People like Eric are afraid that White Americans are being replaced. And a projection from the U.S. census has them worried.

O'SULLIVAN (on camera): I think America is due to become a minority White country for the first time in the 2040s. Are you concerned about that?

ORWOLL: Of course, I'm concerned about that. And look what's happened in South Africa. Right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Donie O'Sullivan joining us now. I know in full context, we will better understand what is going on there, you know, in your piece, but that gentleman wasn't in South Africa, correct? He was in the U.S. but he is speaking as someone who admires some things about what some parts of South Africa have been known to be like.

O'SULLIVAN: That's right, Fred. That is actually a Whites-only settlement that is being built in the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas. And look, I mean, the reason why we are doing this documentary tonight is because there has been so much talk in the U.S., in The White House and particularly sort of in the far-right about South Africa over the last year.

Trump and many on the right are claiming that a so-called White genocide is happening there. Of course, apartheid ended in South Africa, just more than 30 years ago and trump has sort of adjusted the entire U.S. Refugee Program based on these claims of White persecution.

The U.S. has historically, you know, over the decades, taken in hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing persecution and war from all around the world. In the next 12 months, over the next year, the Trump administration is going to reduce that down to just 7,500 people. Most of which will be White South Africans.

But are these claims true? Well, frankly, what we found is no. There is a lot of crime in South Africa. South Africa has major issues. There are White victims of crime there, but it is not as though it is being specifically targeted at Whites.

One person, of course, who has played a big role in sort of promoting this narrative in the U.S. is Elon Musk himself, who was born in Apartheid South Africa and while we were there, we spoke to his dad, Errol, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN: America, in the next 20 years will become, for the first time in its history, a minority White country.

ERROL MUSK: Well, that will be very, very bad thing to happen. You want to see the U.S. go down? Why? You don't like cars and electric cars and you don't like technology? Or what is it? Do you want to go back to the jungle or --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN: And Fred, obviously to hear something like that is pretty stunning, but it is clarifying in the sense that -- I mean, this is the way a lot of folks talk about this, especially online.

And, look, the fears of demographic change in the U.S. is what is driving so much of politics in this country. So the picture they are trying to paint South Africa, a false one, is important and I should just point out that even though apartheid ended 30 years ago, you know, statistically, Whites are still doing much better today in South Africa than Black people writ large.

The White population make up seven percent of the overall population, but they own about three-quarters of the land. That is not, of course, to say and you will hear in our documentary tonight, that there are attacks on White people, many White farmers, but again, it is this racial component that is being pushed here that is a false narrative.

WHITFIELD: Right, and in contrast with that one remark, Black people are victims of crime there as well.

O'SULLIVAN: Absolutely. Yes.

[15:55:11]

WHITFIELD: Yes. All right, it will be an eyebrow raising, enlightening, you choose the word, a story that we will be watching from you tonight, Donie O'Sullivan, thank you so much.

Don't forget to tune in to a new episode of "The Whole Story," MisinfoNation: White Genocide" airing tonight at 8:00 on CNN and next day on the CNN app.

All right, coming up, they say the best way to understand someone is to walk a mile in someone's shoes, right? Well, we will try 6,000. How about that? I will speak to a husband and wife trekking across the country on foot about many powerful reasons why they are doing this.

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