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CNN This Morning
Trump's Transition Team Caught Off-Guard By Hegseth Allegation; Woman Told House Ethics Committee She Saw Gaetz Having Sex With A Minor; Murder Trial Begins For Man Accused Of Killing Georgia Student Laken Riley; Jake Paul Beats Mike Tyson By Unanimous Decision. Jakes Paul Beats Mike Tyson in Unanimous Decision; Zelenskyy: War with Russia will End "Faster" with Trump in White House; Biden, Xi Set to Speak on Sidelines of APEC Summit Today. Aired 6-7a ET
Aired November 16, 2024 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[06:00:30]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to CNN This Morning. It is Saturday, November 16th. We are already in the back half of November.
AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we are. I mean, holiday season is pretty much here.
BLACKWELL: Oh, it's Christmas time.
WALKER: It is Christmas time.
BLACKWELL: It's Christmas time.
WALKER: I'm in that spirit for sure. Good to be with you, everyone. I'm Amara Walker. Here's what we're working on for you this morning. President-Elect Donald Trump's Cabinet controversy. The new CNN reporting on sexual assault allegations against potential Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth that reportedly caught Trump's team off guard. And what this means for his path forward to confirmation.
BLACKWELL: And happening today, President Biden and Chinese President Xi are set to meet for the final time before President-Elect Trump returns to power. What's on their agenda ahead? We have that in a live report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He went hunting for females on the University of Georgia's campus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: And chilling testimony in the trial of a man charged with murdering a Georgia college student. What was found in a dumpster that prosecutors say links the accused killer to the case. BLACKWELL: And Jake Paul, Mike Tyson, don't go to your phone. We're
going to tell you what happened in this fight. We got some details for you. You won't get anywhere else.
WALKER: Well, as President elect Donald Trump's team develops, the next big shakeup could happen at the highest level of law enforcement. Trump is weighing a push to fire current FBI Director Christopher Wray and replace him with Kash Patel. Now, Patel is the former chief of staff to the acting secretary of defense. Other names include former Republican Representative Mike Rogers, former acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan, and former St. Louis U.S. State Attorney -- U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen.
On Friday, Trump named two key roles for his communications team. He promoted his campaign spokesman Steven Cheung to White House communications director. He'll also be Trump's assistant. Caroline Leavitt will be press secretary after serving in the same role for his national campaign.
BLACKWELL: Now for the Cabinet, President-elect is still undecided on eight roles. Seven if he decides to get rid of the Department of Education as he promised. He announced yesterday that North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum is his choice to lead the Department of Interior. He wants to nominate Tulsi Gabbard to be Director of National Intelligence, RFK Jr. for Health and Human Services Secretary.
But his choices for secretary of defense and attorney general are turning up concerns within his own transition team. Sources tell CNN that Trump's transition team was caught off guard by allegations involving Pete Hegseth within 48 hours of his election. They got a complaint about a sexual assault allegation involving the Fox News host, at least now former Fox News host.
WALKER: Our sources tell us that Trump's incoming chief of staff, Susie Wiles called Hegseth asking if there were any other issues they should be aware of moving forward. CNN's Kyung Lah details the allegations.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Amara, Victor, these allegations swirling around Pete Hegseth date back to 2017, and it comes from Monterey, California. The city issued a saying that its police department did indeed become involved in a, quote, alleged sexual assault involving Pete Hegseth.
The city says that it dates back to the early morning hours of October 8, 2017, and that its police department became involved with an incident that happened at the Hyatt Regency and that its officers became involved four days after this date after a complaint was made about October 8th.
Now take a look at this Facebook post. It comes from the California Federation of Republican Women. You see there that Hegseth is standing at a podium. He was a speaker at their conference at around this time, according to these Facebook photos. The city says that while it is not specifically identifying Hegseth as
an alleged assailant, it does say that he was involved.
There is also an unnamed victim and an injury described as, quote, contusions to right thigh. The city says it would not be releasing a full police report and a check of the county court showed that Hegseth has not been charged in any criminal case since 2017 up until today.
[06:05:00]
We did reach out to Hegseth's lawyer who says that, yes, an allegation was made, but no charges were filed. And Trump's spokesperson, when asked by CNN to respond to all of this, says that Hegseth has vigorously denied any and all accusations and quote, we look forward to his confirmation. Amara, Victor.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALKER: All right, Kyung Lah, thank you for that. An allegation made against Matt Gaetz during the House ethics investigation has come to light.
BLACKWELL: An attorney representing witnesses in that probe says that during closed door testimony, one of his clients told the panel that she saw Gaetz having sex with a minor. The investigation is over now that Trump's choice for attorney general has resigned from his seat in the House. The question is though, will the full report on this probe be released? CNN's Paula Reid explains when we could learn more details.
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PAUAL REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Amara and Victor. Well, I've been speaking with my sources in and around the Gaetz investigation and one source who spoke with investigators on the Hill tells me that the committee has highly damaging evidence against the former congressman.
We've learned that investigators have spoken with several of the same witnesses who were interviewed as part of the sprawling federal criminal investigation against the congressman, including the witness who was just 17 years old when Gaetz allegedly had sex with her and Gaetz ex-girlfriend who was a key witness in the federal probe.
A lawyer for the underage girl has called for the ethics report to be released. But I've spoken with several witnesses who participated in the criminal probe and the Hill investigation and have gotten mixed reaction about whether they want this release.
At least two witnesses say they would rather this not be released because they dealt with these allegations, these salacious details for several years while the criminal case was pending. And they don't believe they want to live through this again, especially when no criminal charges were filed.
But of course, the biggest question up on Capitol Hill is will this report be released? And my biggest question is what else will be in it? Because questions about what the evidence that they have gathered will they include and also what else did they learn what other allegations were uncovered in the course of their investigation? It's unclear if we'll get those answers. Amara, Victor.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: Paula Reid, thanks so much. Joining me now for analysis, congressional reporter for Punchbowl News, Mika Solner. Good morning to you.
All right, so the speaker has said that he will strongly suggest that this report not be released. Do you think that this new revelation from the attorney who's representing these two women complicates that?
MIKA SOLNER, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, PUNCHBOWL NEWS: Yes. Good morning. There's been a lot of controversy around Capitol Hill and discussion about the ethics report that was investigating Gaetz.
Obviously, the speaker is in a difficult position because of the way that he has to help Trump get his nominee through confirmed in the Senate, which is highly unlikely at this point. Many people across Capitol Hill and the House and Senate have said about Gaetz nomination, but he also has to work with his own House Republicans.
And obviously, as we know, Gaetz is a very unpopular member. But there is a meeting that has been postponed. We don't know when that is yet, but it should happen shortly. And I think members will be discussing things more.
BLACKWELL: Is it clear why that meeting was postponed? It was supposed to be of the Ethics Committee yesterday, but they called that off. At least, as you say, postponed. Do we know why?
SOLNER: I think members are still figuring out the next steps and I didn't think they want to get ahead of leadership. We only heard from Speaker Johnson yesterday. And similarly, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the same thing when asked about if he believes the ethics report should be released. He said he did not want to get ahead of Susan Wild, the top Democrat on the Ethics Committee, who's actually outgoing. So there's a lot of speculation on her whether she may release it in her own, perhaps in the form of a statement.
BLACKWELL: Matt Gaetz nomination wasn't a sure thing even before the allegation, as you suggest, that he has some foes within Congress and we know for the ousting of Kevin McCarthy and for some other reasons.
But as it relates to this allegation, Trump himself has been found liable for sexual assault. He denies those allegations. Others have accused him of sexual assault. He denies those, too. Is this, though, a step too far for Republicans? Would they block even the potential for a recess appointment if they could?
SOLNER: The recess appointments, I think, are already very controversial. So I believe, you know, I think that it's still kind of up in the air, but we did see that now, the Senate leader John Thune was open to them, he said, after Trump has called for them. But that was also when leadership was kind of jockeying for these roles to lead the Senate. So it's very unclear what's going to happen. So we're going to see what chart is path there.
BLACKWELL: All right, let's talk about your latest reporting for Punchbowl about Democrats and their way forward. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says that it's time to reconsider some of the Democrats messaging to voters.
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Talk about what he's detailing here specifically.
SOLNER: Yes, absolutely. I mean, Jeffries basically said that the largest lesson that needs to be learned from these election losses that Democrats had is they need to understand how Americans are feeling economically squeezed. And that means really appealing to the middle class and the working class that have really helped boost Trump and lifted the Republican top of the ticket there this cycle.
So, I think we're going to see a lot of Democratic messaging kind of moderate and shift to the center and try and win back some of these voters that have gone to the right in recent cycles and especially this cycle.
BLACKWLEL: All right, Mika Solner, Punchbowl, thanks.
WALKER: Still ahead, the trial is underway for the man charged in the killing of a Georgia nursing student. What prosecutors are saying about her and the evidence as well.
Plus, scary moments for passengers after their Southwest Airline flight was hit by a bullet. What investigators in Texas are saying about this incident.
Plus, boxing legend Mike Tyson returned to the ring nearly two decades after retiring. We had the results of his bout with YouTuber turned fighter Jake Paul.
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BLACKWELL: Nine months after the murder of 22 year old college student Lakin Riley, the trial for the suspect, 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra, has begun in Athens, Georgia. He faces multiple charges. He's waived his right to a jury trial. That means the court judge will be the one to decide his innocence or guilt.
WALKER: During opening statements on Friday, prosecutors said Ibarra, quote, went hunting for females on the University of Georgia's campus before encountering Riley on a jog in a wooded area of the campus. CNN's Rafael Romo is in Athens, Georgia with more.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma'am, ma'am.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the opening day of the trial of Jose Barra, prosecutors blamed body cam video too graphic to be shown beyond the courtroom of when 22-year old Laken Riley was found.
Sergeant Kenneth Maxwell with the University of Georgia Police Department performing CPR as emergency sirens wailed, observers in the court crying as the responding officer described the scene.
SGT. KENNETH MAXWELL, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA POLICE DEPARTMENT: It looked more intentional, as if somebody had attempted to either remove her top or maybe had used it to drag her.
ROMO (voice-over): Also entered into evidence images of the crime scene, fingerprints found on Riley's phone and pictures of injuries on the defendant the prosecutors say came from the attack.
Police body cam video shows the moment police found the blue jacket thrown in a dumpster near not far from the crime scene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh yeah, there's hair on the buttons. Ripped up sleeves.
ROMO (voice-over): And ring video of a man police say is Ibarra wearing that jacket.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who is this person?
MAXWELL: Jose Ibarra.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now what is he wearing.
MAXWELL: That is the blue jacket that we wound up finding in the B32 dumpster.
ROMO (voice-over): Pieces of evidence that prosecutor Sheila Ross told the judge in her opening statement would lead him to a verdict of guilty in the trial of Jose Ibarra, the undocumented migrant charged with murder and aggravated assault with intent to rape Riley in February.
SHEILA ROSS, PROSECUTOR: He went hunting for females on the University of Georgia's campus.
ROMO (voice-over): Prosecutors say Lakem Riley called 911 but never had a chance to ask for help.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Clarke County, 911.
ROMO (voice-over): The 911 operator called back, but there was no answer. She fought for her life for nearly 18 minutes.
ROSS: She fought for her dignity. And in that fight, she caused this defendant to leave forensic evidence behind.
ROMO (voice-over): In his opening statement, Ibarra's defense attorney called that evidence graphic and what happened to Riley tragic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The evidence that Jose Ibarra killed Laken Riley is circumstantial.
ROMO (voice-over): And explained the defendant's waiving of a jury trial, saying if the judge made a, quote, honest assessment of the evidence --
UNDIENTIFIED MALE: There should not be enough evidence to convince you beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Ibarra is guilty of the crimes charged.
ROMO: Victor and Amara, those of us inside the courtroom witness how several members of Laken Riley's family and close friends chose to leave when the judge gave them the opportunity to do so before showing some of the most graphic evidence.
For many of those who stayed, the testimony and the body cam video from the officer that found Riley's body was so overwhelming that they started sobbing and crying. The trial resumes Monday at 8:30 in the morning. Victor, Amara.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALKER: All right, Rafael Romo, thank you for that. I mean, it really is tough to listen to and watch some of the details from this trial. Kelly Hyman is now joining me. She is a trial attorney to discuss what we learned on the first day.
Let's start with the evidence and what the prosecution says will be presented throughout the trial. One that stood out to me was the DNA, Ibarra's DNA that was found in the victim's fingernails.
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What are your thoughts on the strength of the case and evidence that will be continued to be presented?
KELLY HYMAN, TRIAL ATTORNEY: It's a very strong case from the state's perspective. They laid out in their opening statements. So the opening statements when the state presents a case to the judge, because this is a bench trial, so there's no jury in this case, and lays out the fact that there's going to be three different types of evidence. There's going to be forensic evidence, digital evidence as well, and there's also going to be video evidence as well in this case that's going to play a key role.
WALKER: And did we see some of that video evidence? Was it the video of him allegedly dumping evidence in a dumpster?
HYMAN: Yes.
WALKER: OK.
HYMAN: There is some video evidence of him allegedly dumping some evidence into a dumpster. WALKER: OK. So the defense attorney said that, you know, the evidence
is all circumstantial, but you would think DNA forensic evidence like that, with Ibarra's DNA under her fingernail, his fingerprints on her phone, that would connect him to the murder. But you say it's going to get more technical.
HYMAN: Yes, of course, you're innocent until proven guilty. But the defense is basically that, yes, this what happened is tragic, it's horrible that she was murdered, but they can't link the defendant because of the way in which it's going to get very technical about the DNA evidence that was the way it was handled. And supposedly he used gloves, but defense is saying, OK, if he used gloves, then why did you get his DNA on the phone? There's a counterargument to that there was a hole in the glove.
And because there was a hole in the glove, that his fingerprint was on her phone, and they got that and then also through the DNA, through her nails as well.
WALKER: So for the prosecution, is it just going to be about connecting the dots and kind of painting this picture with the timeline?
HYMAN: Laying out its cake.
WALKER: Yes.
HYMAN: So when the state presented its case, its first witness was one of her roommates. And she talked about how they had phones and they tracked each other so they could monitor where each other was. And that's why she knew that she was in the woods.
And so because of that, then her friends started looking for her. And then they talked about what they found. And they had found her earpod there near the woods. And then one of the detectives came out and had the body cam, and that's when the family left the trial because it was so emotional to see him finding her in the state. That she was in and trying to resuscitate her and bring her back to life, but sadly, she was already dead.
WALKER: Yes, I mean, the gasp you can hear in the video. Right. And all of that is caught on his body cam where he's trying to give her CPR to no avail. You mentioned that the defendant waived his right to a jury trial. So it's going to bench trial, which means that the judge will make the final ruling. Is that a risky move? Why do you think they did that?
HYMAN: It's a strategy decision. Now, under our constitutional, you are allowed a trial by your peers, by your jury. And so one reason why the defense could do this is because this case has gotten national attention. People are very emotionally involved in this. Here's this beautiful young girl, 22-year-old nursing student that was brutally attacked by a rock and killed.
And so to take that away from the jurors and have the judge look solely at the evidence, look at the DNA and say the fact that the DNA doesn't substantiate the fact the defendant did the crime.
WALKER: Got it. Yes, that makes sense. Well, we'll leave it there. So good to see you this morning. Kelly Hyman, Thanks. Victor.
BLACKWELL: Still to come, the long awaited showdown between the social media star and the one time baddest man on the planet. We'll tell you who won the fight and some details that you probably didn't see in the ring.
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[06:28:17]
WALKER: Here are the other stories we are watching for you this morning. An April trial date has been set for three former Memphis police officers accused in the murder of Tyre Nichols. Nichols murder was caught on police video which showed him being punched, kicked and hit with the police baton after he fled a traffic stop in January of 2023.
The three officers have pleaded not guilty to state charges of second degree murder. They were found guilty of federal witness tampering charges last month.
BLACKWELL: Democrats in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, say they will count more than 100 provisional ballots that are missing one of the two necessary signatures and their decision goes against a state Supreme Court ruling.
The ballots are part of a legally mandated recount in the Senate race between Democrat Bob Casey, the incumbent, and his Republican challenger, Dave McCormick. The court ruled that ballots without proper signatures should be thrown out, but Democrat officials say that voters likely got bad instructions from poll workers and should not be penalized.
WALKER: And in Dallas, a runway has reopened after Love Field Airport -- at Love Field Airport after a bullet struck a Southwest Airlines plane Friday night. The FAA says the bullet hit near the cockpit of the Boeing 737, which returned to the gate where passengers deplaned.
In a statement posted on X, airport officials say no injuries were reported and the impact on operations was minimal. No arrests have been announced.
All right, Jake Paul and Mike Tyson finally faced off in their highly anticipated bout last night in front of over 72,000 fans in Arlington, Texas.
BLACKWELL: This matchup was years in the making. It's been promoted everywhere. So I went to get a shave yesterday.
[06:30:02]
The cape was a Jake Paul Mike Tyson cape. There were stickers on the mirrors. There was stuff everywhere. Carolyn Manno is with us now, did it live up to the hype?
CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Well, to you exact point, those involved in planning this event did such a masterful job at creating a tremendous amount of hype heading into Friday night. That's one of the things that social media influencer-turned pro-boxer Jake Paul is very, very good at.
And then you had the former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson doing his part too, slapping Paul at Thursday's weigh-in, that sent everybody into a complete frenzy, ratcheted things up even more. You know, Netflix is very secretive about how many people actually streamed this, but thousands of people did complain about an outage at one point before the main event that Netflix actually crashed.
Paul said afterwards, he feels like a 120 million tried to view it, that isn't confirmed, but we know that there was a tremendous amount of hype. Now, to your question about whether or not it lived up. At 58 years old, Tyson hasn't fought professionally in over two decades, he was able to keep up through the first two rounds.
They were seemingly getting acclimated with one another, but then we saw the fall off and it happened really fast. Tyson trying to pick it up in the third round, but he lost significant stamina at that point in the fight, Paul was able to muster some well-timed punches against the former champ, and he eventually beat Tyson in a unanimous decision.
A lot of trash talk before the fight, but Paul had nothing but respect for Tyson afterwards.
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JAKE PAUL, SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER-TURNED PRO BOXER: First and foremost, Mike Tyson, it's such an honor, let's give it up for Mike, bro, listen, he's a legend. He's the greatest to ever do it. He's the G.O.A.T, I look up to him, I'm inspired by him, and we wouldn't be here today without him.
This man is an icon and it's just an honor to be able to fight him, and he's obviously the toughest, baddest man on the planet. So, it was -- it was really tough like I expected it to be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MANNO: Both fighters going to take a very large pay-day from the Netflix event. This win improves Paul's record to 11-0-1 in his pro career, though he has been very selective about which fights he's taken. As for Tyson, he was asked afterwards, guys, if he will now retire and he would not give a definitive no, which is a little bit concerning, given his age.
But as you can see, Paul giving him his flowers, calling him one of the best to ever do it, and that's certainly true. Now, he's upwards of 60, so we'll see what happens from here. But a little bit disappointing I think for fans who really wanted to see "Iron" Mike maybe do a little bit more, but overall, a huge event with an incredible audience.
WALKER: Well, you know, he's retired. He hasn't fought in how long you said? In -- he --
BLACKWELL: Yes, two decades --
MANNO: Two decades --
WALKER: Yes --
MANNO: Yes --
BLACKWELL: I really wanted Mike to win though --
MANNO: Let me see how you are --
WALKER: You did?
BLACKWELL: I really did, I just wanted to see --
MANNO: A lot of people did --
BLACKWELL: Mike do it, but you know, poor thing --
(CROSSTALK)
BLACKWELL: He still did really well, Carolyn Manno, thanks so much.
WALKER: Good to see you, Carolyn.
BLACKWELL: He did really well for my age. He did well --
WALKER: For anyone -- age --
BLACKWELL: Any age --
WALKER: I know.
BLACKWELL: All right, President Joe Biden is at the APEC Summit in Peru ahead of a very important meeting. Still to come, his meeting with China's President Xi and what could be a difficult conversation.
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[06:35:00]
BLACKWELL: All right, this just into CNN, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country's war with Russia will end quote, "faster with Donald Trump as President."
WALKER: Let's get right to CNN senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak, he's traveling with President Biden in Peru for the APEC Summit. Kevin, we'll get to Biden's trip in just a moment. But first, tell us more about President Zelenskyy's comments, and what did he mean by that? KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, these are
significant comments, I think from the Ukrainian President. And they reflect what is happening across the world, which is world leaders coming to grips with the reality that Donald Trump is coming back into power. And in an interview on Ukrainian radio today, Zelenskyy said that the war with Russia will end faster with the policy of this team that will now lead the White House.
Zelenskyy went on to say this is their approach, their promise to society, and it is also very important to them. And of course, we know that Donald Trump has cast a more skeptical eye on American assistance to Ukraine, as have a number of appointments that he's made to his national security team.
Donald Trump has said that he would be able to resolve the war in Ukraine in one day. Of course, he hasn't said exactly how he would do that, but the implication of course, is that it would require Ukraine to make territorial concessions to Russia. That is something that until now, Zelenskyy has been vehemently opposed to.
But what he's suggesting in this interview is that he could be willing to go to a negotiating table with Russia, where that happens, when that happens remains to be seen. But it's clear that Donald Trump is already having an effect on these conflicts that are roiling around the world.
How exactly he would resolve them and how this conflict would end under a Trump administration. Still very uncertain, but this does reflect of course, the new reality as Trump prepares to enter office.
BLACKWELL: All right, today, President Biden will also sit down with China's President Xi's third and final time. These two are meeting face-to-face, and of course, a little more than a week after Donald Trump was elected.
[06:40:00]
So, how is the election result influencing today's meeting?
LIPTAK: Yes, and certainly, this is what is looming over all of President Biden's meetings here on the world stage. World leaders trying to ascertain what exactly the next four years will hold for them -- of course, President Biden does have a number of contentious issues that he'll want to raise with Xi, whether it's Taiwan, whether it's fentanyl production, whether it's the economy, even the war in Ukraine, I think will be a centerpiece of this discussion.
The U.S. is trying to put pressure on China to put more pressure on North Korea as its troops head to the battlefield in Ukraine. But at the end of the day, how much Xi is listening to Biden, I think is unclear. At the end of the day, he is looking towards the next four years of what pretends to be quite a volatile relationship under Donald Trump.
What officials say is that this is more of a book-end conversation. She and Biden have known each other for more than a decade. They have traveled hundreds of miles together. They've sat for hours of meetings together, and in a way, this is a moment for the two men to reflect on a relationship that has had its ups and downs over the years.
President Biden has taken a tough line on China, but he has tried to maintain good communication with Xi. He has emphasized the importance of open channels of communication both at the leader level, but also at lower levels between officials in the U.S. and Chinese governments. And I think what he'll try and emphasize is the importance of maintaining those communication levels as Donald Trump comes into office.
And certainly, that will be an important point for him as he makes this final meeting in the most consequential bilateral relationship really in the entire world, guys.
WALKER: Kevin Liptak, thanks for watching this closely, appreciate it. Well, medical professionals are sounding the alarm as Trump picks RFK Jr. as Health Secretary. Coming up, the medical conspiracies he has pushed and why experts are so concerned. We are introducing you to the 2024 top five CNN Heroes as you get to vote for your favorite for CNN Hero over -- of the year -- over the next three weeks.
Since 2021, a record number of unaccompanied migrant children, nearly 500,000 have traveled to the United States, many fleeing violence and extreme poverty.
BLACKWELL: And even after those long and difficult journeys, their challenges continue. Rachel Rutter is an immigration lawyer who saw the many physical and social and educational needs that these vulnerable kids have, and she decided to go well beyond her free legal representation to meet them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RACHEL RUTTER, IMMIGRATION LAWYER: The cartel started asking for money. They were telling my family that they were going to kidnap me and my sister. My mother chose to just leave everything we had.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
RUTTER: Once the children arrive here in the U.S., they've already been through so much trauma. It can be jarring when they arrive here and realize that it's really just beginning. These kids are not coming here to ruin the United States or take our jobs or commit crimes, they're coming here to be safe and to take care of their families. They want to study.
They want to work. They want to achieve something here in the U.S., and they are some of the hardest working, kindest, most resilient kids.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BLACKWELL: You can go to cnnheroes.com to vote for your favorite top five heroes. You get 10 votes per day every day to help those heroes who inspire you most.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:45:00]
WALKER: During his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump said he would let vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. go wild on health food and medicine. And Trump's choice of Kennedy to head the Department of Health and Human Services has sent shockwaves through the public health world.
Doctors and scientists are concerned about Kennedy's potential impact on vaccination rates and infectious disease research and much more. Joining me now, Dr. Carlos del Rio; the Executive Associate Dean of Emory University School of Medicine and Grady Health System. Dr. del Rio, good morning, thank you so much for joining us this morning.
First, I want to get your reaction when you heard about the nomination of Kennedy to -- not nomination, but Trump intending to nominate RFK Jr. to this position.
CARLOS DEL RIO, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DEAN, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE & GRADY HEALTH SYSTEM: Good morning. Well, I would say that I would -- you know, urge the Senate to do the appropriate vetting of any person that has been nominated for this important position. HHS is a big agency whose mission is to impact, improve the life and well- being of all Americans.
And it's such an important agency that we need to be sure that the person in this position is the right person. So, I urge the Senate to do that. But once the person has been confirmed, myself and other members of the infectious disease, global health, you know, public health and medical community look forward to working with this person to again improve the health of all Americans.
WALKER: I -- you have expressed concern along with your colleagues, right? I mean, this is a man that has waged war with public health, and now he may be nominated to lead our public health. Case-in-point, you know, he has vowed to shake up the National Institutes for Health, the NIH, which is the nation's premier research agency.
[06:50:00]
He's vowed to fire hundreds of workers from there. And he also has said that he would end or at least take a year's long break or make the NIH take a break from researching infectious diseases. Doesn't that concern you?
DEL RIO: Oh, all of that is incredibly concerning. We have to remember that NIH is not only a premier agency in research nationally, but it's a premier agency in research globally, and a lot of discoveries that have come out of the NIH have actually not only improved health, but actually have gone on to industry and to do really transformative things that have improved the lives of many people, not only nationally, but globally.
The fact is that we have not -- have not end infectious disease, and we really need to continue doing research in infectious disease. Robert Kennedy has put -- said he's going to put an emphasis on chronic diseases. We cannot divide infectious disease and chronic diseases. They're all together, and I'll give you an example of that.
For example, the vaccine against human Papillomavirus, HPV vaccine, when administered has significantly decreased the rates of a cancer called cervical cancer. The vaccine against Hepatitis B can significantly decrease the rate of Hepatocellular carcinoma. So, again, we have vaccines for infectious diseases that impact chronic diseases.
And that link is something that we need to continue to understand better because I agree with him. We have a significant problem with chronic disease in our country. Diabetes, hypertension, heart disease need to be addressed, you know, the opioid epidemic. So, we have a lot of things to address, but we shouldn't do that at the expense of infectious disease.
WALKER: You know, but when it comes to concerns in the public health community, what would a potential nomination and confirmation mean then for people like us, especially when it comes to infectious diseases and getting a handle on, you know, certain kinds of diseases like measles? I was reading that the CDC is recording a dip in vaccination rates and a resurgence of measles this year.
DEL RIO: Well, I'm deeply concerned about the misinformation that exists around vaccines and the anti-vaccine movement that is actually decreasing the rates of vaccinations. Let's be clear, vaccines are incredibly effective. Over the last two decades, vaccines have saved millions of lives. Vaccines have actually increased childhood survival.
We are not seeing diseases like polio and measles and many other diseases have -- could potentially be eliminated if we vaccinated at the levels we need to. So, vaccines are safe, vaccines are effective --
WALKER: Right --
DEL RIO: And what I want to also be clear, vaccines do not lead to autism.
WALKER: Right, and this is -- you know, something that Kennedy has promoted. He is a vaccine skeptic. And even though, you know, it has been often debunked that vaccines do not cause autism, this is something that he has talked about very publicly, even made a documentary about it with his children's defense fund nonprofit.
He also opposes school vaccine mandates. I mean, again, what kind of consequences could we see if you know, he indeed becomes the HHS Secretary?
DEL RIO: Well again, I want to see parents be able to send their kids to school and be safe in schools. And this is not only done through a vaccination, but I'm also quite worried for example, about our gun violence epidemic in our country. And I would urge the Trump administration to also address that.
The fact that you can send your kids to school and your kids may come back -- may not come back because of a school shooting, is something that we as Americans should not be a -- should not accept.
WALKER: All right, Dr. Carlos del Rio, appreciate your time. Thanks.
DEL RIO: Thank you.
BLACKWELL: An investigation into racist text messages sent to black people across the country is expanding. Officials say people in the Hispanic and LGBTQ communities are also being targeted.
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[06:55:00]
BLACKWELL: Over the past few years, medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound, they've been called miracle drugs for people struggling with obesity.
WALKER: CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes us through his year-long investigation into these revolutionary medications. Here's your first look at his new special "DR. SANJAY GUPTA REPORTS: IS OZEMPIC RIGHT FOR YOU?"
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SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think one of the most fascinating things about this year-long investigation was learning how these medications have given us these new insights into exactly what obesity is. It's only been recently that we even think of obesity as a disease.
And as you just heard there, as a brain disease specifically, there's an area sort of near the bottom of the brain here called the Hypothalamus, where there's an area that is responsible for your ability to feel full after you eat, what they call satiation. For some people, they just don't feel full.
I mean, even as they're eating, they're already thinking about their next meal. They develop anxiety, worried if they have enough food in their pantry. These -- there's these post-nutrient hormones that are typically released, that tell your brain, OK, you've had enough calories consumed, but some people don't have enough of that.
And that's where these medications seem to really work the best. For a lot of people, they've tried other medications that speed up their metabolism or that slow down their gut. These new GLP1-like drugs seem to do a combination of things including affecting the brain, and that's probably why they've had such a great impact.
It is worth pointing out quickly that more than half the people stopped taking these medications within 12 weeks. The people that continue to have weight loss or at least don't regain as much of the weight are probably people who have adopted new lifestyle measures as part of taking these medications.
Thinking of them not just as medications, but as a burst of motivation as well to change their lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: "DR. SANJAY GUPTA REPORTS: IS OZEMPIC RIGHT FOR YOU?" Airs tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on CNN. The next hour of CNN THIS MORNING starts now.
