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American College Student Missing While Studying Abroad In France; Twins Accused Of Cheating Win $1.5M Lawsuit Against Medical School. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired December 13, 2022 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: She served her country, and she did it well. Thank you very much, I appreciate it.

ALEXANDRA PELOSI, DIRECTOR, "PELOSI IN THE HOUSE": Thank you for talking to me. It's an honor to be on CNN THIS MORNING.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Thank you, Alexandra.

And the documentary debuts on HBO Max and HBO tonight at 9:00 eastern.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: That was quite an interview.

LEMON: It was. Thank you very much. It was quite an interview. And it is interesting to get -- we have seen some of the footage. We heard some of the stories, and it's interesting to get the behind the scenes of her with her mom. And imagine, listen, you were in D.C. during the insurrection. She just happened to have cameras in the Capitol.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: I know. And it's interesting because it's from the view of her daughter's eye. It's not a journalist, it's a documentary, but it's still so significant to see this moment and to see this footage that we wouldn't have otherwise of her talking about Trump that day and even before the attack had happened.

HARLOW: Tonight.

LEMON: Yes. Even in all of this, you cannot tell your mom that it is time to -- they're thinking about --

HARLOW: Mom is in charge, yes. But the toll on the family was interesting, too.

LEMON: Good morning. Good morning. Good morning to you as well. Thank you, everyone, for joining us. It is Tuesday, December 13th, and this is CNN THIS MORNING. We appreciate you hanging with us. We're going to catch you up on the five big stories on CNN THIS MORNING.

The founder of and CEO -- former CEO of crypto exchange FTX arrested in the Bahamas after federal prosecutors in the U.S. filed criminal charges against him. Now the Securities and Exchange Commission has officially charged Sam Bankman-Fried with defrauding investors. He is now accused of orchestrating a years-long fraud to build a crypto house of cards.

HARLOW: Also, from blizzards and ice storms to heavy rain, hail, possibly tornadoes, this monster storm system is crashing through the middle of the United States this morning. And it has it all. About 15 million people in more than a dozen states are under winter alerts, including blizzard warnings. Another 25 million under the severe threat of storms, including tornadoes, strong winds, and hail.

COLLINS: Also today, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is headed to El Paso, Texas, after a major surge in illegal border crossings. More than 2,400 migrants crossed into the United States near where he's going today. Officials are worried that even more crossings could continue as hundreds more are waiting just across the border in Mexico. And of course, this moment comes after a judge struck down that Trump era border pandemic restriction that was used to quickly expel migrants. It's now set to expire within just a matter of days.

HARLOW: And a little bit later today, President Biden will sign the historic and bipartisan Respect for Marriage bill. That will happen this afternoon on the south lawn. It shores up federal protection for those in same sex and interracial marriages across this country. And while this law does not require states to legalize same sex marriage, what it does require is that every state recognize any legal marriage.

COLLINS: U.S. Capitol police sergeant Aquilino Gonell, who was seriously injured during the January 6th attack on the capitol is leaving his job. He says the lasting trauma from what happened that day is the reason behind his departure. And Gonell originally planned a full return, but he now says his medical condition won't allow him, and that, quote, "returning to the scene of the crime every day became taxing and unbearable."

LEMON: But our top story this morning is this. The FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried arrested in the Bahamas after U.S. prosecutors in the Southern District of New York filed criminal charges against him. "The New York Times" is reporting those charges will include wire fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy charges, and money laundering.

And this morning, the Securities and Exchange Commission just charged Sam Bankman-Fried with defrauding investors by concealing the diversion of FTX customers -- funds, I should say, to his hedge fund. Bankman-Fried suggested that he had no idea any of this was coming on a podcast recorded hours before this sealed indictment was announced last night. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you worried you might be detained if you stepped foot into the U.S.?

SAM BANKMAN-FRIED, FOUNDER AND FORMER CEO, FTX: I don't believe I would be, but I haven't done a, like, deep dive into that. At some point it is something I have to think harder about. (END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: We have reached out to Bankman-Fried's attorney for comment and are yet to receive a response.

Let's discuss now. Kara Swisher, she's the host of the podcast "On Kara Swisher." Thank you. We appreciate you joining us this morning. Here's the question, we weren't sure there would be charges because it is not regulated. There was a whole back and forth. Were you surprised by this? And just before he was supposed to testify in front of Congress, Kara.

KARA SWISHER, CO-HOST, "PIVOT" PODCAST: No, I've been saying he's going to jail quite a bit. Fraud is fraud, and you can dress it up with crypto and you can dress it up with all kinds of saying I didn't know what was happening, but it's fraud. And so I think it's a pretty straightforward case for the government, as long as they have the proof that he was knowledgeable about what he was doing and that he moved the money.

[08:05:04]

He can't just say he didn't know, especially since he owned everything and was running everything and had this whole group of people in the Bahamas doing such. I assume they have testimony from others there. But they wouldn't do this without some cause that he knew what he was doing.

HARLOW: Kara, good morning. I think it is your birthday soon or it was. So happy birthday.

SWISHER: Thank you.

HARLOW: But let me ask you about this, you say it so well and so clearly, fraud is fraud, no matter if it's dressed up with crypto. But Gary Gensler, the chair of the SEC says, and this is a quote this morning, that Bankman-Fried, quote, "Built a house of cards on a foundation of deception." This comes in an environment when none of those folks regulate crypto, which makes this easier to -- go ahead. I was going to ask you, does this lead to some actual, meaningful change in terms of regulating this stuff?

SWISHER: Well, they were beginning to regulate it. Remember, it's a nascent industry. And so they were starting to do that. They had put all kinds of recommendations. The administration had done it. Gary Gensler talked about it a lot, but they were just trying to decide how to do that when this happened. And so it still is an investor thing. They still have existing laws that they can use to apply to this guy. And I think probably they got irritated that he was going around talking to everybody and his mother about this situation. And so I think they probably were, like, enough is enough, let's put him in jail. It's not unsimilar to Bernie Madoff or many of the others who have been convicted of similar crimes.

COLLINS: Kara, that's what stuck out to me was just in recent days he was saying I don't think I'm going to get arrested, I don't think I'm going to be detained if I came to the United States, because he's supposed to be testifying before a congressional hearing today, but he was set to do so over Zoom. And so I kind of wonder how much damage all the media interviews, all of them that he's been doing, could be a factor on top of what the allegations are that he's facing.

SWISHER: Absolutely. He's just convicting himself over and over and over again. And saying he didn't think he was going to be arrested is exactly what you say before you're arrested. And so, his parents are law professors at Stanford University. They certainly knew the stakes here. I think he was going -- I called him the unmade bed in pretending he didn't know what was happening, this little boy, he dresses up in shorts and mopey hair, I think that -- I don't know. I just was sort of like, it seems like you are an adult and you know what you were doing. But he was trying for that, this sort of -- I found it dis disingenuous. But he was trying for this, I don't know, I don't know where the money was. It was in the drawer here and someone must have taken it, that kind of thing.

LEMON: Listen, I remember after Madoff, everyone was coming, what were the warning signs? Didn't people know?

SWISHER: So many.

LEMON: Let me ask you this, Kara, because "The New York Times" is reporting, it's called CZ, or Changpeng Zhao, who is he is a crypto exchange --

SWISHER: Binance.

LEMON: He's head of massive crypto exchange, Binance, he offered it save FTX. But then he took a look at the books and backed out of helping, saying, I guess he saw issues. So, what could he have seen that may have been a warning sign? And then the follow-up is, should he have said something, or were people not listening?

SWISHER: No. It is not his job to do that. He probably saw leverage upon leverage, like lots of warning signs that they were borrowing back and forth. And there's other people here, like Caroline Ellison, who ran Alameda Research, this hedge fund that Bankman-Fried owns most of it, I think 90 percent of. And so she was also -- they were all tweeting this. This is the thing. They were all talking to each other in public, which makes it even more interesting from a prosecution point of view.

LEMON: That's my point. That's my point. Was anyone listening?

SWISHER: They're just leaving, they're like dropping criming all over the place.

HARLOW: They're listening now.

SWISHER: It was sort of interesting to listen to the interviews. Yes, they are. They are.

LEMON: All right.

HARLOW: Thank you, kara.

LEMON: Thank you, Kara. We'll see you soon. We appreciate you waking up really early for us.

SWISHER: No problem. It's early here.

COLLINS: Thank you.

HARLOW: She always helps us really understand it and boil it down.

LEMON: She is in --

HARLOW: That's her world.

LEMON: That's the area right there.

HARLOW: Also new this morning, millions of lives saved. In two years since first COVID-19 vaccines were approved for use here in the United States, that is according to a new study just out from the Commonwealth Fund and the Yale School of Public Health. Let's talk about this with CNN medical correspondent Dr. Tara Narula. Gosh, this is what everyone in the -- both administrations, take this, this can save your life, this can save your life. Now we actually have some numbers. What do they say?

DR. TARA NARULA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is hard to believe it has been two years. And in those two years, 658 million vaccines have been administered. And so when you really take a look back at what the impact has been, and that's exactly what researchers did, you just see the massive benefits that have come. So, they used a computer model to estimate the impact, and they found that covid vaccines essentially prevented about 18.5 million hospitalizations, saved about a little over 3 million lives, and saved over $1 trillion in healthcare costs.

[08:10:03]

And they say these estimates are probably conservative. The numbers are probably much bigger than this. And that without vaccines we would have had over 120 million more infections. And they broadened that out to say, look, it is not just hospitalizations and deaths, but vaccines got our kids back in school, helped us open businesses, there may have been individuals who we prevented long COVID in. These vaccines, many of them, produced in the U.S., were rolled out globally. So we possibly change the course of the trajectory of this pandemic because of the vaccines that were produced here.

And then finally, when you look at the burden on hospitals, and we talk about this now with RSV and the flu, we decreased that burden with vaccines, at least from COVID. So really a big, big impact.

COLLINS: But I think a big question is where we stand now, because looking at the numbers, and I know this gives all the health officials in the Biden administration heartburn, only 14 percent of the eligible U.S. population is boosted.

NARULA: Right. And one in five Americans are still completely unvaccinated. And so let's not forget that just in the past week, there were 3,000, almost 3,000 deaths, 30,000 hospitalizations. So this is still having a real impact, and about 14 percent of Americans live in areas where there is still high levels of transmission, New York City, L.A., Maricopa County.

So it is really important that we don't forget. But it is a really monumental anniversary. I remember two years ago when I got the email that I could get my vaccine, and having lived through that year in New York City as a healthcare worker, walking by my hospital and seeing --

HARLOW: There you are.

NARULA: -- seeing the freezer trucks in the back of Lenox Hill Hospital with the bodies, you can't forget how this vaccine changed our lives. I was emotional that day, I remember, just in tears getting that vaccine.

LEMON: I hope this sort of blunts -- not sort of. I hope it blunts the opposition to the vaccine, the misinformation that is out there that people say it doesn't do anything, look at you, you got the vaccine -- I hope it blunts this, because there is actual, concrete evidence. But we'll see what evidence and facts actually means in this environment. I don't know. Thank you.

NARULA: Thank you.

COLLINS: Doctor, thanks so much.

NARULA: Thanks.

COLLINS: All right, the search for an American college student studying in France is underway now. Not a lot of details though. His parents really want to know more. They say they haven't heard from him in over two weeks. We're going to talk to his parents about where the search stands. That's coming up.

[08:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: This morning, French prosecutors are investigating the disappearance of Kenny DeLand Jr., a college senior at St. John Fisher University in Rochester, New York. He was studying abroad in France. But family and friends say they have not heard from him in more than two weeks. They are deeply concerned.

This is DeLand caught on a store's security camera on December 3rd. It's thought to be the last known footage of him as he was entering a store. Local police say they've been looking for him after a missing person's report was filed when he didn't show back up at his host family's home or his classes. That store that he was seen at is about an hour train ride south of the University of Grenoble Alpes where DeLand was studying.

So, joining us now to talk about this is his father, Ken and his stepmother, Jennifer. Thank you both for joining us this morning. So, I know that you have a lot of questions. And so, I know that the FBI is involved in this. What have your conversations been with them? Have they really been able to shed any light on where he is?

KENNETH DELAND SR., FATHER OF KEN DELAND JR.: No, I have given the FBI all of our information. It's gone through the embassy. There, they're not able to share what's -- what the status is due to the Privacy Act.

COLLINS: And I know he was supposed to come home for Christmas, is that -- is that right? He was just a moment just a matter of days?

DELAND SR.: Yes, that's correct. December 17, which is Saturday.

COLLINS: And when you last spoke to him, did anything stand out? What -- did he say anything? What do you remember of that conversation?

DELAND SR.: I'd say it's just our normal back and forth. He's asking me how I'm doing. I'm asking him how he's doing, how he's -- you know, enjoying his studies and if he had traveled to any, you know, spot because he had he -- had and really enjoy the trip and taking pictures and whatnot, and he loves to be able to, you know, see France -- you know, it's pretty awesome trip and opportunity for him. So, it's been a -- it's been a good opportunity up until this.

COLLINS: And I know he's young. I've got young brothers around his age. They don't always call my parents every single day, but they check in. Is it like him to go this long without calling to check in, without telling you where he is?

DELAND SR.: Now, this isn't characteristic of my son. We were in constant contact. If it wasn't every day, it was every other day. So, this isn't typical for him. It doesn't feel characteristic of Kenny so it's concerning.

COLLINS: Have you -- have either have you been able to speak to the host family where he was staying?

DELAND SR.: We have not. We just came to know that information of her name and -- but we have not yet spoke with her. And I'll in all likelihood, it would have to be through the organization that he traveled there as a liaison to speak with her.

JENNIFER DELAND: They'd been in contact with her. And then they -- when it all started, they were updating us. But now, we haven't actually spoken with her.

COLLINS: And have they given any updates when it comes -- I know the cell phone paying. That's often a way you can sometimes track where someone is. Has their phone pinged off of tower recently? Anything on that?

DELAND SR.: We've heard nothing.

J. DELAND: Just that one time.

[08:20:01] DELAND SR.: I spoke with the embassy this morning. He can't provide any updates, the embassy. And we kind of feel left in the dark. The addition of the French prosecutor story is something that was new yesterday. I just challenged that French prosecutor. He doesn't know our son. And there were statements made in his statement that, you know, I feel he's making statements based on a person he does not know.

COLLINS: And the French Embassy, when you spoke with him today, did they -- did they offer you anything? What was kind of their message?

DELAND SR.: The French embassy person that I spoke with this morning was surprised by how far this story has traveled in such a short amount of time. I wanted to make it perfectly clear to him to make sure that he looked at the website. We've been trying to keep the website up and updated. And the drop-down menu up at the top right has some other stories that have ran and attachments. So, I'm trying to make as many people aware of this.

So, he was complimentary in the fact that it had gotten to the -- to the French media outlets. And he knew that it was moving around France, which he said was a positive thing. So, that's good.

COLLINS: And I know -- you know, CNN is an international channel. It's watched all over the world, not just here in the United States where we are. If your son is watching, if anyone who knows him is watching, what do you -- what's your message to them this morning?

DELAND SR.: Tell your kids, you love them because you never know things could go sideways. And if they do study internationally, just make sure the Privacy Act has an intent. But had I known, I probably would have made sure that the waiver was signed so that in the event and something happened like this, that we as parents could get reciprocation of information, because it feels like we're just left in the dark, and we don't know what's happening.

And if it wasn't for news agencies like yourself and some of the others that have reached out to us for interviews, I feel like, you know, they wouldn't go anywhere. So, we want Kenny to come home safely. And we hope you're all right. And you know, we love you.

J. DELAND: And we miss you, Kenny.

COLLINS: Ken, Jennifer, I know you got a fridge full of magnets out there back there -- back there with some family photos. I know this is really important to you, guys. It's important to us as well. So, thank you for joining us this morning. We hope you get more information on your son soon.

DELAND SR.: Yes.

J. DELAND: Thank you.

DELAND SR.: Thank you for taking the time to talk to us. We appreciate it.

COLLINS: Of course.

HARLOW: Wow. We will, of course, stay on that for them.

Just ahead, twin sisters accused of cheating on a medical school exam argue they're similar test answers were not because of cheating but rather genetics. We'll tell you who prevailed next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:25:00]

LEMON: That was Seattle, live pictures in Seattle this morning. Welcome back to CNN THIS MORNING, everyone. United Airlines placing a massive order of at least 100 planes from Boeing, the largest wide- body jet order on record by any U.S. carrier. We're speaking with United's CEO Scott Kirby. That happens in just moments.

A debate erupts over the deal that brought WNBA star Brittney Griner home. Bomani Jones will be live with us. And any moment now the Labor Department will release November's Consumer Price Index report, a key measure of how inflation is impacting you. We're going to bring you the numbers as soon as it is released.

HARLOW: So, we have all heard the phrase "great minds think alike," right? Does it really work that way for twins? Twin sisters Kayla and Kellie Bingham recently won $1.5 million judgment against the Medical University of South Carolina that had accused them of cheating on an exam after they gave identical answers on 296 of 307 questions.

The Bingham twins successfully argued that identical twins often perform similarly on tests and that the science backs them up. The jury agreed. They said that they withdrew for the medical school after all of this. And now. they work as government affairs advisors at the same law firm. I'd hate to be on the opposite side of them in court. How common is it for twins to pursue the same career path?

Harry Enten joins us with this "MORNING'S NUMBER." Good morning!

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER (on camera): Good morning. Good morning. So, you know, this whole story got me thinking of how frequent it is that twins actually go into the same professional field. It turns out that 25 percent of the time, they do at least when they're the same gender. Compare that with 15 percent of siblings who are the same gender who are born within two years of each other, or nine percent of strangers who are born within two years of each other. So, far more likely to go into the same profession if, in fact, you are twins.

Let's dig into the data a little bit more because this all got me thinking when I saw this story. I felt like there were a lot more twins than there used to be. And it turns out that the twin birth rate per 1000 births is way up from where it used to be. It's now 31.1 of every 1000 births. Compare that to 1980 when it was just 18.9 per 1000 births. The peak was back in 2014, but we're still pretty close to peak well more than we used to be. Now, why is it that we have more twin bursts than we used to have? Well, there are a bunch of different reasons, but I think that there are a few potential ones I want to point out.

[08:30:00]