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Rupert Murdoch Steps Down As Fox And News Corp. Chairman; Former Professor At Coast Guard Academy Accused Of Sexting Cadet Is Now College President; "Waiting For JFK: Report From The Fringe" Airs Sunday At 8PM ET/PT. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired September 22, 2023 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[07:32:41]
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: It is the end of an era and a changing of the guard at one of America's most influential companies -- media companies, that is. Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as the chairman of Fox and News Corp., the media empire he built more than 70 years ago.
Here is how the announcement was made on Fox News yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL HEMMER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR, "AMERICA'S NEWSROOM": And we have now some personal news to share with you this morning. Our boss, Rupert Murdoch, is transitioning from chair of our parent company, Fox Corporation. Rupert Murdoch created all of this and so much more across America and the globe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: The media mogul said in a statement that he will remain quote "involved every day" and take on the title chairman emeritus.
Murdoch tapped his eldest son the current -- to be the current CEO of Fox News, Lachlan Murdoch. He's going to take over both of the companies at this point.
Joining us now is CNN senior media analyst and Axios senior media reporter, Sara Fisher.
Your article hot off the presses here. We just got it in. And you have an interesting take at the very beginning.
We know that Rupert Murdoch is going to have his hands in this still because he said so. But you say that in naming his eldest son Lachlan as his successor, Murdoch -- is 92 -- has ensured that Fox Corp. goes forward and will live on. But maybe not with the same vent. Maybe not as conservative as we have been seeing. Explain.
SARA FISCHER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA ANALYST, SENIOR MEDIA REPORTER, AXIOS: Well, I think that Lachlan is definitely going to carry Rupert's torch and he praised his son for being the person to do that -- to continue on with the populous fight taking on what he thinks is the elitist establishment. But the real challenge here is that is not a forever thing.
Rupert Murdoch, at age 92, is leaving his company, after he dies, to a trust in which four of his six children all have an equal say.
Now, we know where Lachlan stands. Of course, he's taking over this company. He shares his father's viewpoints. But do the other three? That's what's going to be the question. And if they don't all come to a consensus about the future of the company, it's unclear what the direction is both for Fox Corp. and News Corp. long term.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: I mean, to be crystal clear -- and I should note Sara doesn't actually have a printing press here. She's actually just reading your digital story, which is very good and you should go find it --
[07:35:01]
SIDNER: Thanks, Phil.
MATTINGLY: -- on Axios.
But, like, I feel like we know that the other three don't agree with Lachlan. They certainly aren't ideologically aligned with him. Is there any sense that they're aligned from a business perspective?
FISCHER: Somewhat. I mean, all of them have incentive to continue growing a financial empire in which they have a 40 percent stake, right? So they want this business to continue but the direction that they want it to continue is so different.
James Murdoch stepping down on the board of News Corp. in 2020, citing differences ideologically with what their editorial board was saying, gives you a sense of where he stands versus his brother. The two sisters are sort of the wild card and we know that you need a majority. So it's going to need to be at least three people coming together on the same side here.
I think, sort of, the thing I'm watching, though, is that as Lachlan takes over, how is he going to continue Rupert Murdoch's vision for this sort of populous, conservative editorial bend, but also in the digital era?
You know, in the newspaper era where you had very powerful op-eds and in the cable TV news era where you could have a voice and reach a lot of people, it was easy to carry on that torch. In the digital era, Phil, you know this -- it's very different. With streaming now, it's hard for one outlet to command huge, huge, huge attention. It's a very fragmented media environment. And so it's going to be curious to see how he lives on that legacy but in a very different era.
MATTINGLY: Yeah. It's going to be fascinating to watch. They could probably make a television show based off of it and may have.
Also --
SIDNER: They might call it succession.
MATTINGLY: -- the irony is not lost on attacking the elites when you are a multibillionaire.
Sara Fischer, great reporting. Go read the piece on axios.com. We appreciate it.
FISCHER: Thank you.
MATTINGLY: Coming up, a CNN exclusive. A former professor at the Coast Guard Academy accused of sexting a cadet and the fallout he's facing now as a college president as our Pamela Brown continues her investigation into misconduct at the academy.
SIDNER: Police finding more drugs under a trap door at a Bronx daycare where a 1-year-old boy died of a suspected fentanyl overdose. The new details ahead.
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SIDNER: Now to an update on the death of that 1-year-old boy who died of a suspected fentanyl overdose at a Bronx daycare center. Police are now saying they found roughly eight to 10 kilos of drugs, including fentanyl, under this trapdoor. The drugs were in the floor under a play area for the children.
[07:40:16]
A grand jury, Thursday, indicted the daycare center's owners and one other suspect on murder charges. Investigators say they, along with other co-conspirators, ran a fentanyl distribution business out of that daycare.
MATTINGLY: And the Senate has launched an inquiry into the Coast Guard's handling of a secret yearslong investigation exposed by CNN. You will remember on this show, our Pamela Brown has done several reports on the investigation dubbed Operation Fouled Anchor that found rapes, sexual assaults, and other misconduct at its academy that had been ignored and, at times, covered up by high-ranking officials.
SIDNER: This morning, Pam has another CNN exclusive. A college president is taking a leave of absence after CNN started asking questions about his past at the Coast Guard Academy where he was accused of exchanging hundreds of sexually suggestive text messages with a student more than a decade ago.
CNN chief investigative correspondent Pamela Brown is joining us live now with more -- Pamela.
PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you both.
As you know, we've been reporting since June about the Coast Guard's mishandling of allegations of sexual misconduct from the '80s until today. And our new reporting shows yet another case where the Coast Guard didn't hold anyone accountable.
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BROWN (voice-over): Retired Capt. Glenn Sulmasy has had a long career that includes being a lawyer, a provost, a captain in the Coast Guard. Now he's the president of Nichols College and said he wants to turn it into the business college of choice for women.
But a CNN investigation found Sulmasy allegedly sent lewd or suggestive text messages to at least two of his students more than a decade ago when he was a professor at the Coast Guard Academy.
MELISSA MCCAFFERTY, RETIRED COAST GUARD LIEUTENANT: Yeah, he operates with complete impunity. He is untouchable.
BROWN (voice-over): Melissa McCafferty, a former Coast Guard cadet, said when she texted Sulmasy after graduation asking for a letter of recommendation for law school, Sulmasy said this.
MCCAFFERTY: Only if you send me pictures will I write you a letter of recommendation. It doesn't take an idiot to figure out that he was insinuating nudes. He then followed up with -- and I will never forget this -- "I've always loved that tattoo on your left foot."
BROWN (voice-over): To another female student, Sulmasy exchanged more than 1,600 text messages, most of which were sexual or flirtatious. According to this internal Coast Guard document obtained by CNN, "an alleged offer to give high grades to the cadet in exchange for sexual banter."
Listen to what he wrote. "Do u luv turning me on? U really looked great and the nails were very hot. Ur very precious. I adore u. I really do want u. I am a good boy. No final for the goddess."
Coast Guard attorneys learned about the texts years later after Sulmasy had retired from service. Yet, they were so concerned they wrote this 2016 prosecution memo recommending two court-martial charges against Sulmasy, including willful dereliction of duty and conduct unbecoming an officer.
The document states the cadet, who was 20 years younger than Sulmasy, denied any sexual contact occurred and appears to have been a willing participant.
Sulmasy's attorney saying to CNN, that means "texts between them were entirely consensual between two of-age adults." Yet, the memo's conclusion was "...prosecution appears to be the only proper course of action. Charges were never filed.
MCCAFFERTY: He would get away with all sorts of inappropriate behavior.
BROWN (voice-over): McCafferty says her interaction with Sulmasy went beyond text messages. She says Sulmasy harassed her, making sexual comments to her or about her. MCCAFFERTY: He made countless comments towards me about my body to my boyfriend, to me, to a classroom. He made comments about how I looked in a suit, and a pencil skirt and heels.
BROWN (on camera): Did you feel like the power differential between the role you had as a cadet and the role he had as a captain impacted how he was treated?
MCCAFFERTY: Oh, absolutely. I brought it up to multiple people and they told me that he was too powerful and that they could do nothing about it.
BROWN (voice-over): Sulmasy retired from the Coast Guard in 2015 --
GLENN SULMASY, RETIRED COAST GUARD CAPTAIN: My name is Glenn Sulmasy.
BROWN (voice-over): -- and became an administrator at Bryant University in Rhode Island.
The memo warned Sulmasy would have access to students for the rest of his career and if no action was taken the Coast Guard would be accused of sweeping the case under the rug. Yet, that's what the Coast Guard did. It's another example of the agency internally expressing concern about sexual misconduct but ultimately failing to act.
[07:45:02]
In June, CNN uncovered a damning investigation that had been kept secret for years. It showed academy leaders bury dozens of cases of sexual assault.
ADM. LINDA FAGAN, 27TH COMMANDANT OF THE COAST GUARD: I, again, apologize to each victim, survivor, their loved ones.
BROWN (voice-over): As for Melissa McCafferty, she says the culture in the Coast Guard has been one of silencing victims.
MCCAFFERTY: The message was very loud and clear. It was to keep your head down and shut up. And that's what I did and I regret it.
BROWN (voice-over): Sulmasy's attorney told CNN "Any allegation made by Ms. McCafferty that Mr. Sulmasy harassed her is categorically false."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER: Wow, what a story, Pamela.
We understand that Sulmasy has taken a leave of absence now from his post as president of Nichols College. Is that correct?
BROWN: That's right. After CNN reached out for comment, Nichols College told us that they have launched a third-party investigation into the allegations. Sulmasy voluntarily took a leave of absence.
The Coast Guard told CNN in a statement that it is also referring Melissa's allegations to its investigative service. And CNN has learned that investigation has already begun.
MATTINGLY: But Pamela, despite this memo recommending the court- martial charges, the Coast Guard never actually prosecuted Sulmasy, correct? Why is that?
BROWN: Yeah. So we don't know about the internal discussions. But that memo that we obtained does discuss how difficult it would be to prosecute Sulmasy for a number of reasons, including the statute of limitations. There was no physical contact alleged. And it would be hard to find an impartial jury because Sulmasy had so many connections at the Coast Guard.
SIDNER: Great reporting, as usual, Pamela Brown. Appreciate you coming on. Thank you.
BROWN: Thank you.
SIDNER: All right.
For the past year, CNN's Donie O'Sullivan has been investigating conspiracy theorists who believe President Kennedy and his son are alive and in hiding. To be clear, they are not. But Donie is here and will show us what he has learned. Some incredible reporting here, next.
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[07:50:46]
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WALTER CRONKITE, ANCHOR, CBS EVENING NEWS: From Dallas, Texas, the flash, apparently official, President Kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. Central Standard Time.
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SIDNER: That was a moment -- almost anyone that was alive at the time remembers that moment to a T. It's been nearly 60 years since President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas fueling, though, decades of conspiracy theories about whether Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone and whether it was him at all.
CNN's Donie O'Sullivan has spent the past year investigating a group who refuses to believe that President Kennedy and his son are dead. They believe that he's alive and in hiding.
Donie traveled across the country to find out about the toll conspiracy theories and cults have on families all for a new episode of "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER" that airs this Sunday. Here is a look.
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ERICA VIGRASS, BROTHER BELIEVES JFK JR. IS ALIVE: One time we went to play tennis and he got a phone call. Jason believed it was Junior calling him.
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): JFK Jr.?
VIGRASS: JFK Jr. calling him. And this was maybe a week before he went to Dallas.
O'SULLIVAN: Wait. So you're playing tennis with your brother --
VIGRASS: Yes.
O'SULLIVAN: -- and he gets a call --
VIGRASS: Correct.
O'SULLIVAN: -- and he thinks it's JFK Jr.
VIGRASS: He does.
O'SULLIVAN: At that point are you, like, there is something seriously wrong here?
VIGRASS: Yes, but what do you do?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: CNN's Donie O'Sullivan is joining us now. Wow, Donie. You are -- you've talked to so many of these families who are going through this. What are they saying about how they deal with this and how difficult it might be to pull someone out of this rabbit hole?
O'SULLIVAN: Yeah, and look -- I mean, of course, you're dealing with two kind of ends of the spectrum here. One, it's so absurd. It's laughable in terms of the actual beliefs. And -- but I think QAnon and everything else -- I think we all want to treat it as a joke because it is so absurd. But treating it as a joke and ignoring it isn't make -- isn't going to make it go away.
And you saw in that clip there, Erica Vigrass, who was kind enough to speak to us -- her brother was not this, like, kind of lifelong quack or anything like that. He was -- he had a successful construction business and everything and began going down this rabbit hole she thinks during COVID-19. And you kind of see there the helplessness. What do you do if you have somebody coming to your kitchen table every night and espousing this nonsense? Because if you tell them they're wrong and they're a fool, you're at risk --
SIDNER: (INAUDIBLE).
O'SULLIVAN: -- of kind of pushing them further away --
SIDNER: Yeah.
O'SULLIVAN: -- and further down the rabbit hole.
SIDNER: Yeah. MATTINGLY: Can you explain -- and people should really watch the piece on Sunday night -- but what is the theory? Like, how is this the case and why are so many people locked in on it?
O'SULLIVAN: Yeah. I mean, it changes kind of depending on the day and who you ask. But the general theme is that they believe JFK Jr. did not die. That he faked his own death and that he's working with Trump somehow and is going to kind of come back and save the U.S. from an evil cabal. Some also believe that JFK, himself, is potentially alive or was reincarnated. A lot of it kind of has weird biblical overlaps.
Look, I mean, you could -- you could go down the rabbit hole yourself trying to understand this thing.
MATTINGLY: Right.
O'SULLIVAN: Taking a step back, though, it's -- it all fits into the broader QAnon belief. And another step back, fits into the beliefs of all these election lies that are being pushed. I mean, all these people believe in that stuff. And they are seeing, famously, years ago when President Trump was asked to -- then-candidate Trump -- President Trump was asked to denounce QAnon, he didn't.
SIDNER: Right.
O'SULLIVAN: And those kind of messages these people are getting and that, sort of, eggs them on. They say, oh, maybe we're onto something here.
MATTINGLY: Yes, it's an important point -- to step back -- that these all connect --
O'SULLIVAN: Yes.
MATTINGLY: -- and that Trump -- actually, he doesn't know what he's doing when he retweets stuff or --
O'SULLIVAN: Precisely.
MATTINGLY: -- truths, stuff -- whatever you want to call it.
Watch this on Sunday night. Donie, excellent work. You've worked on this for a long time -- the entire subject matter -- so I can't wait to watch. Thank you.
O'SULLIVAN: Thank you. Thank you.
MATTINGLY: And be sure to tune in to that all-new episode -- "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER." It airs Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific only on CNN.
Well, it's eight days until the government shuts down and instead of working through the weekend to come up with a solution, House Republican lawmakers -- they went home. Can House Speaker Kevin McCarthy rally his conference to get a deal done before it's too late?
[07:55:09]
SIDNER: Also, another crisis here. Eagle Pass, Texas is under a state of emergency now after a surge of migrants has overwhelmed the border city over the past week, and it's causing big tensions between federal and state authorities in border towns. A live report from that border ahead.
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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
MATTINGLY: And we do want to start this hour with breaking news. Ukraine launching a missile attack on Russia's naval headquarters. We're going to show you some video. You can see the smoke rising in this video. This is the city of Sevastopol. It is one of the largest cities in the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and was illegally annexed by Moscow's forces in 2014.
Russian state media says debris is, quote, "scattered for hundreds of meters."
Now, Ukrainian officials have not yet commented on the incident. It has been an area in a specific strategic target. The Ukrainians have spoken about -- talked about over the course of this entire conflict.
