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Trump Picks Vaccine Skeptic RFK Jr. For Top Health Post; Kennedy Has Advocated To "Get The Chemicals" Out Of Food And Called For Removing Fluoride From Water; "New York Times": Musk Meets With Iran's Ambassador To U.N. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired November 15, 2024 - 10:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:45]
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks for joining me here for our second hour of Connect the World. I'm Erica Hill in New York in for Becky today.
Let's get straight to our top story. Boy, what a week it has been for Donald Trump, making good on his promise to really shake things up in
Washington when he comes back for that second term starting in January, announcing a number of picks for his cabinet and other officials, including
a controversial one to head Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The department, of course, oversees a number of important, important
legislative notes and also research here in the United States, food, safety, medicine. Kennedy has promised sweeping purchase and an overhaul of
the department itself. Here's more from the president-elect.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today. I nominated him for, I guess if you like Health and if you like people that live a long
time, it's the most important position, RFK Jr. We want you to come up with things and ideas and what you've been talking about for a long time. And I
think you're going to do some unbelievable thing. Nobody's going to be able to do it like you. And boy, does he feel it in his heart.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: We have also learned that rather than going through the traditional process, which is have FBI background checks, CNN learned that Donald
Trump's team is using private companies to vet some of his picks for top jobs. We're going to continue to bring a little bit more on RFK Jr. in a
moment.
I do want to start, though, by looking at the bigger picture. My colleague Steve Contorno joining me now from Florida.
So, as we look at it has been a busy week, right, of nominations of picks for the president-elect this past week who largely fit the bill of what
Donald Trump had promised. He wants to disrupt government. He wants to change things, kind of wants to blow up a lot of what exists in Washington.
As we look at where things stand, there are also questions about how some of these nominees would be confirmed and whether Donald Trump will in fact,
instead, force through recess appointments. Where does that stand?
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Yes, that's exactly where we are at right now, Erica. We talked to one person close to Donald Trump, who said people
being in a state of shock was the goal, that's exactly what MAGA wants. And Donald Trump believes he has a mandate to pursue the agenda that he put out
there throughout this entire campaign. And look, he was not quiet about what he was going to seek if he was the president. He said he would
dismantle the Justice Department and get rid of the FBI director.
He said he would kneecap military leaders. He said he would root out the so called State Department in the intelligence agencies and in -- throughout
the federal government. And he has put in place a cabinet that he believes is aligned with those goals. If you want to blow up the federal government,
you don't bring in, you know, experienced administrators or Capitol Hills veterans. You bring in people who are ideologically aligned with you.
And that is who is leading these departments. And as you said, though, they are quite controversial in name. And it starts with Matt Gaetz, his choice
for secretary -- excuse me, of Attorney general. Can Matt Gaetz get through a Senate body that does not like him at all? It will be a sure test of the
allegiances that Donald Trump has built over the past eight years if Matt Gaetz can get through.
RFK Jr., another individual who has obviously detractors in the Democratic Party. But he also has many people on the right who believe that he has a
dangerously progressive view. Someone who was a Democrat up until just a few months ago. So -- and same thing with Tulsi Gabbard, who has a lot of
concerns that have been brought up about -- from the intelligence community about her ability to serve as the National Intelligence Director.
So the question is, by trying to push forward with his mandate that he believes that he earned last Tuesday, has Donald Trump run the risk with
some of these names of getting some early blowback from the Senate? You know, we heard from quite a few individuals on the Hill yesterday in the
Republican Party who appear open to even these more contentious names that he has put out there. And we will have to see what happens when they start
going through the confirmation process. And there's always, of course, recess appointments that is hanging over this as a threat that could put us
in sort of a constitutional question right out of the gate.
[10:05:02]
HILL: Yes. And to that point, it has certainly become a focus of questioning for the incoming Senate majority leader, Senator John Thune,
who was asked just a short time ago on Fox about it again. Take listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Would you say that that report is going to factor into his hearings?
SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): Well, my guess is at some point it gets out there.
BAIER: I mean, there could be some fireworks here coming up. This is not going to be easy.
THUNE: No, none of this is going to be easy. And -- but you know, again, President Trump had a huge mandate from the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: There's a lot of talk about that huge mandate. It was interesting, I thought the Wall Street Journal's editorial board even just this morning,
really pushing back on this idea of recess appointments, saying it would be anti-constitutional and frankly urging Republicans to stand up to that
idea. But is there a sense, right, we hear from Senator Thun there that the incoming president feels he has this huge mandate, which in his view is
about disrupting government and frankly, the checks and balances system.
CONTORNO: Exactly. I mean, that's traditionally been the role of the Senate is to advise and provide consent. And, you know, Donald Trump is willing to
test how much they will show loyalty to him versus their constitutional duties. And I will say we have seen over and over again Donald Trump push
the envelope with Republicans and there will be some initial bellyaches and some consternations and then ultimately he gets what he wants. We saw that
with the Supreme Court justices. We've seen it with some of his appointments during the last go around. We saw with his heavy use of acting
secretaries during his first term when he felt like he couldn't get appointments through. So, he has been willing to test the bounds of the
executive branch and force his party to go along with it. And over and over again they largely have.
HILL: Steve Contorno, really appreciate it. Thank you.
The Biden administration's former COVID coordinator is calling the choice of RFK Jr. to head up HHS a quote, "extraordinarily bad choice to be
America's top health official." The controversies for RFK Jr. are in many ways too long to count, from denying the efficacy of proven vaccines to
rather strange encounters with dead animals, even talking about a worm in his brain. Brian Todd has more on RFK Jr.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: I'm going to let him go wild on health. I'm going to let him go wild on the food. I'm going to let him go wild on medicines.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The person Donald Trump's going to let go wild, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the 70 year old son of Democratic
icon Robert Kennedy and has become known mostly for espousing outlandish false conspiracy theories about the COVID virus.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., FORMER U.S. INDEPENDENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: COVID 19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who
are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.
TODD (voice-over): And he's repeatedly, baselessly called the COVID-19 vaccines unsafe.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: There could be widespread disinformation to the public about what they should or shouldn't be doing
in terms of their public health.
TODD (voice-over): The co-chair of Trump's transition team told CNN's Kaitlan Collins this about what Kennedy might try to do with the COVID
vaccines that are in place now, which have been proven to be mostly safe.
HOWARD LUTNICK, CO-CHAIR, TRUMP-VANCE TRANSITION TEAM: He says, if you give me the data, all I want is the data and I'll take on the data and show that
it's not safe. And then if you pull the product liability, the companies will yank these vaccines right off of the market.
TODD (voice-over): In May of this year, it was revealed that Kennedy once claimed in a deposition that a parasitic worm had once entered his brain
and died, which he said led to, quote, severe brain fog and trouble with his short term memory. He actually joked about it.
KENNEDY: Maybe a brain worm ate that part of my memory.
TODD (voice-over): Earlier this year, in a rambling video posted on X, Kennedy admitted that about 10 years ago, he was driving in upstate New
York when he found the carcass of a dead bear that had been hit by a vehicle.
KENNEDY: So I pulled over and I picked up the bear and put him in the back of my van because I was going to skin the bear.
TODD (voice-over): But Kennedy said he got sidetracked by several events that day. Couldn't go home, didn't know what to do with the bear. So he
decided to leave the carcass in New York's Central park and make it look like a bike accident.
KENNEDY: So I went and did that and we thought it would be amusing for whoever found it or something.
LARRY SABATO, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: The whole story, the wild, weird story that RFK Jr. told about the bear cub and how it got
into Central park has really made an impact and not a positive one for him.
TODD (voice-over): This summer, an article in Vanity Fair had a photo of Kennedy appearing to pantomime eating a dog carcass. Kennedy denied it was
a dog.
KENNEDY: It's actually me eating a goat in Patagonia.
[10:10:01]
TODD (voice-over): That same Vanity Fair article published allegations that Kennedy had sexually assaulted a former nanny for his family. Kennedy
sidestepped the accusations.
KENNEDY: I am not a church boy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (on camera): Robert Kennedy Jr. has already floated ideas for major turnover at public health agencies. In one recent interview, he said he
would cut the number of employees in nutrition departments at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. And at a recent conference, he proposed replacing
about 600 officials at the National Institutes of Health with handpicked staff. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
HILL: CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is back with me as well.
Sanjay, good to have you back with us. So among the other things that we have heard from RFK Jr., he has consistently talked about vaccines and
talked about a link between autism and vaccines. Can you set the record straight for us on that, please?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, there's been plenty of studies around this. I mean, I think this started back in
the late 90s with a paper around 12 kids who had received the MMR vaccine and developed autism. That paper was subsequently retracted. But it did
sort of stimulate a lot of other studies, Erica, over the last 25 years or so. Large studies, studies of 100 thousands -- hundreds of thousands of
kids followed for many years in different countries around the world, kids who were vaccinated, kids who were not vaccinated, was there a likelihood
of developing autism in the vaccinated group? And what they found was that wasn't the case.
So, you know, these studies have been done. It was a worthy question perhaps initially when it was asked 25 years ago, but then those questions
were answered by these studies.
What I think is interesting, Erica, is that you just heard, even in Brian's piece, this desire, as RFK says, just show me the data. Well, he's seen the
data, and then that data is not good enough, because I think it's really not about the data, it's about who's delivering the data. What you
constantly see is not sort of an assailing of the message, but more an assailing of the messenger. So just really sort of creating this distrust
in scientists who are, you know, doing these studies. And those scientists are part of an organization, the NIH, that he may or may not be leading
here in some time. So, I think that's what's really raising some concerns.
HILL: Yes, and understandably, among other things that he's advocated for regulating chemicals in food. Also, most recently, that I think had a lot
of people scratching their heads, asking for or calling for, I should say, fluoride to be removed from the nation's water supply. Just walk us through
a couple of those, if you would, and what the impact could be.
GUPTA: Well, at a top line, sort of, first of all, this is sort of the -- a little bit of the issue. Some of the things that he says, for example,
around food, I think are things that many people agree with. I mean, I've been reporting on these topics for a quarter century now, but sort of
saying, hey, look, we are a country that spends four and a half trillion dollars on health care. We have some of the worst health outcomes in the
developed world. That's true.
And a lot of it probably has to do with our food. It's projected. You may have seen a study that just came out, Erica, by the year 2050 that more
than a quarter billion people in the United States will be overweight or obese. These are legitimate problems. And, you know, again, people have
been talking about this for a long time. And it's something that he also talks about, which has, I think, broad sort of support.
Exactly how he's going to address these issues, that's the challenge. And is he going to do it in a scientifically based way? I mean, simply changing
certain foods around may not solve the problem.
When it comes to things like fluoride, and I will just tell you this, when you hear about a lot of these issues, think about this idea that it's
really the dose that makes the poison. And what I mean by that is that fluoride in high doses can be a neurotoxin. We know that. But that's why
it's regulated in our water supply to not get to those high levels.
When he talks about things like ivermectin, for example, ivermectin in a test tube could be antiviral. It can actually have antiviral effects. The
problem is to get to the dose necessary in the human body, to get those antiviral effects, it would be toxic. So a lot of what we hear from RFK Jr.
will sort of imminently make sense because you'll say, well, ivermectin can kill viruses in a test tube, but not in practical terms, because you could
never apply that to the human body. And I just tell you that, Erica, because as this goes forward, that's something to sort of keep in the back
of the mind what actually works in the lab versus what actually works in the human body. That's the area that scientists live, because they got to
translate some of these ideas into actual therapies.
HILL: Right. And another reason to keep you close at all times, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, because what we have to do, in all seriousness, is go beyond these
headlines, right? And to your point, you may think by reading one sentence --
GUPTA: Yes.
HILL: -- that there could be a benefit here. But the reality, the devil, is always going to be in the details. Appreciate it, my friend. Good to see
you.
[10:15:02]
GUPTA: You, too. Thank you.
HILL: U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping are among the world leaders meeting today at the APEC summit in Peru. Of
course, looming over the economic conference is Donald Trump. Many APEC leaders thinking about what the president-elect's America first agenda is
going to look like for them come January, how it could shake up the global economy, how it could impact the political landscape.
CNN's Kayla Tausche is traveling with the President and filed this story for us.
No, I have her live, Kayla, it's much better when you're live, my friend. Good to see you live in Lima. So there are a lot of questions about even
though President Biden, his last big international trip that we have on the schedule at this point for his term as president. Plenty of big meetings
and conversations on the sidelines here, but what can come out of those, given that, again, his term is coming to a close?
KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's always good to see you live, Erica. And yes, those are very real questions that are being
deliberated by the world leaders here from the 21 Asia Pacific nations who are focused on their economies specifically at this summit. And the way, if
it exists, to insulate those economies from the policies that have been threatened in a second Trump term. But Biden administration officials have
acknowledged that they're by and large excluded from those conversations, that their role here is really to thank some of these countries for the
alliances that have grown over the last four years and to try to figure out what, if anything can be done at this summit to try to advance any of the
goals that they have tried to work toward during that time.
The problem, though, is that many of these leaders don't want to be seen as negotiating with the Biden administration as it's on its way out the door
with Trump coming in and appearing to favor one side or another. No one wants to incite retribution from Trump that they fear if they're seen deal
making with the opposing political party.
Even so, Presidents Xi Jinping and President Biden will meet tomorrow. They'll be discussing some of the groundwork that they've already laid in
the years up to this point, specifically efforts to regulate the advancement of artificial intelligence, to curb the illicit fentanyl
trafficking, and also to establish military to military communication, which although it was slow to get started over the last year, the parties
are generally pleased with how it's going and how it has essentially prevented competition from spilling over to conflict in the Indo Pacific.
But what specific deliverables can come out of tomorrow's meeting still remain to be seen with the expectation that the Chinese will need to deal
in a very robust way with the incoming administration which has threatened a new sweeping tariff program to come into effect early in its term. But
certainly the dynamic and the body language between those two leaders will be critical to watch, especially what it means for the final months of the
Biden administration and for the future of Chinese relations with the United States. Erica.
HILL: Absolutely. Kayla, appreciate it. Thank you.
Still ahead here, what we know about reported talks between Elon Musk and Iran's ambassador to the U.N. A meeting at a secret location. More on that
after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:20:25]
HILL: Hopes are increasing for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Sources in Lebanon telling CNN that Hezbollah is now consider a
U.S. Israeli proposal which was apparently submitted to the Lebanese government Thursday night by the U.S. ambassador. One official saying the
Lebanese government is optimistic that Hezbollah will in fact accept the agreement, noting that diplomatic efforts are, quote, "on fire now."
Meantime on the ground, Lebanese media is reporting Israel bombed areas in southern Beirut for a fourth straight day. Israel says it is targeting
Hezbollah infrastructure.
"The New York Times" is reporting Elon Musk met with Iran's ambassador to the U.N. this week. The talks between the world's richest person and
Iranian envoy were apparently held at a secret location. According to the "Times," Iranian officials said the discussion was focused on how to
diffuse tensions between the two countries. A U.S. official says the Biden administration was notified the meeting would happen and it's not clear why
Musk, who has been chosen to head up a newly conceived Department of Government Efficiency, would be taking on a major foreign policy challenge.
Mohammad Ali Shabani is a Middle East scholar and the editor at Amwaj.media and joins me now.
Mohammad, it's good to have you here. First, I'm just curious your take on this reporting the fact that Elon Musk would be having this meeting with
Iran's ambassador to the U.N.
MOHAMMAD ALI SHABANI, EDITOR, AMWAJ.MEDIA: So while they're saying it's a secret location, we know because of restrictions on the Iranian envoy that
it took place in Manhattan. And we do know that in the past the Iranian envoy has engaged with high ranking U.S. Officials. The Iranian side are
now kind of signaling that it's been into place because Musk is not yet a U.S. government official. So that carries less political costs.
But I think the bigger picture is that we're going to see a lot of push and pull as Trump takes office. A lot of, I think, grandstanding even about
whether there's going to be any talks and if there are going to be talks, what are the talks going to be about? Are they going to be about the
nuclear issue, about the region, et cetera?
HILL: That grandstanding, I think a number of people would agree with you, we will definitely be seeing some of in terms of the substance of what the
talks could be about. Given this initial meeting, what do you imagine Iran's message was in that meeting to Elon Musk, knowing that the message
is going directly back to Donald Trump?
SHABANI: So what has been reported is that apparently it was relayed to him, probably in a joking manner, that he should apply for a sanctions
exemption to be able to do business in Iran. I think what they're really trying to signal to Mr. Trump is that they don't want further escalation.
They want a lid on the current conflicts taking place in Gaza, in Lebanon. They don't want to see an expansion of this conflict, and they most
certainly do not want to be dragged into a direct confrontation with the United States. I think that's the core message.
HILL: Is there concern on a broader level within the region about what it means to have Elon Musk hopping on a call with President Zelensky? Elon
Musk reportedly meeting with Iran's ambassador to the U.N., a private citizen who has said he doesn't want an official government role, but may
be a part of this agency that they're dreaming of a government efficiency to have him involved, the impact of that on U.S. foreign policy.
SHABANI: Well, I think what we saw with Mr. Trump's first term was that his son in law, Jared Kushner, played a prominent role in reaching out to
Middle Eastern governments. And many governments in the region grew accustomed to dealing with him. So, the element of having informal contact
with the U.S. government, with people who are seen as close to Mr. Trump and who are seen as trusted by him, that's kind of sunk in. So if a figure
like Elon Musk emerges now as a conduit for regional governments to engage with Mr. Trump or with the White House, that wouldn't be seen as too far
off from what we saw in the first term. Having said that, I think that the difference between Mr. Kushner and Mr. Trump, obviously, I mean, it's a
whole very different position.
We know very little about Mr. Musk's personal connections with Mr. Trump. So there's a lot to be, you know, unveiled yet.
HILL: And there's reportedly some debate in Iran about engaging. To that point, what -- who are you watching most in this transition period?
SHABANI: So the president of Iran has made clear that Iran does not seek any nuclear weapons development. He repeated this point just yesterday.
Again, I think the elected government of Iran seeks diplomatic engagement with the U.S. with the Trump administration to find a way forward, to find
a way out of conflict. Having said that, there are, I'm sure, members of the military, of the senior command of the IRDC who are not so keen on
engagement.
[10:25:05]
So just as there's a domestic push and pull within the Washington about how to move forward, there's an identical debate being held in Tehran right
now. What we do know is that for now at least, they want to send out the message or the signal that they're ready for engagement. And I think we're
just going to have to wait and see these coming weeks until Mr. Trump takes office.
HILL: Mohammad Ali Shabani, really great to have you here today. Thank you.
Well, CNN is hearing exclusively from U.S. Air Force pilots who took down a swarm of Iranian drones sent to attack Israel. The U.S. pilots say they
didn't know the attack back in April would be as big as it was. So big in fact, their planes ran out of missiles to shoot down the barrage of drones.
National Security Correspondent Natasha Bertrand joins me now live from Washington.
The details are fascinating, I suppose is one way to put it. What more have you learned, Natasha?
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Erica, there was so much that surprised me in speaking to these pilots this week over at
Lakenheath in England, including the fact that, you know, before this large scale drone attack that was launched by the Iranians in April, it was
really unclear just how these fighter jets and fighter pilots would be able to take down these very small, slow moving drones that can easily evade
even the most sophisticated radar systems that are on these F15E Strike Eagle planes. Listen to what one of the fighter pilots told me about the
challenges that were posed by those drones that night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERTRAND: This is kind of the new way that we're going to be fighting wars moving forward, right? It's a lot of drone warfare. And so, can you talk a
bit about how difficult that was to take down these very small, slow moving drones?
MAJ. BENJAMIN "IRISH" COFFEY, UNITED STATES, AIR FORCE: You're talking about something that's on the very edge of a fighter aircraft's ability to
detect what we call find, fix, track, target and engage. We weren't sure if our radar, the best radar in the inventory is in this airplane behind us.
No one really knew whether or not its capability to find these things even existed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERTRAND: So another aspect of this that was really interesting is that that plane behind Irish, that pilot that I was speaking to, it can only
hold eight air to air missiles at a time. And that would have been the most effective way to take down these drones. But those were quickly depleted
because this drone swarm was just so huge, over 300 missiles and drones really tracking towards these jets. And so, they ran out of missiles fairly
quickly. At one point that fighter pilot and his weapons system officer who was sitting next to him, they decided to try to use the plane's gun to try
to take down one of these drones that they saw, a very dangerous maneuver because it required them to essentially dip below the minimum safe altitude
for this F15 and try to fire on it directly.
They missed at that point and they openly say that. But it just really underscores how this new generation of warfare is really pitting these very
sophisticated multimillion dollar fighter planes and other very sophisticated military equipment against these small, slow moving, very,
you know, unsophisticated flying explosive devices that are very easily -- easy for an enemy to deploy en mass, Erica.
HILL: Yes. It is really something and gives us such an interesting snapshot into that. Natasha, appreciate it. Thank you.
Still ahead, Kremlin controlled television now praising some of President- elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks. More of that reaction from Moscow just ahead.
Plus, CNN's David Culver takes us on an exclusive tour of a prison for the worst of the worst, a place that has been praised by the man Donald Trump
picked as his new U.S. attorney general.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:31:03]
HILL: Welcome back to Connect the World. I'm Erica Hill. Nice to have you with us.
While many of Donald Trump's picks for his new administration are drawing criticism in the U.S., some are seeing a more favorable reaction in Russian
state media. My colleague Fred Pleitgen has more from Moscow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kremlin controlled T.V. praising some of President-elect Trump's cabinet
picks, calling designated Attorney General Matt Gaetz, quote, "a Trump loyalist" and also speaking favorably about Trump's pick for director of
national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, for repeatedly parroting Kremlin talking points on the war in Ukraine.
She, from day one, clarified the reason for Russia's special operation in Ukraine, the anchor says, criticizing the actions of the Biden
administration.
Gabbard's words in 2022, right after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, caused even panelists on Russian state T.V. to cynically ask if
she's a Kremlin agent. Yes, the host said, without providing any evidence. But the Russians ripping into designated Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth
and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz. Waltz at the Republican convention proposed deploying more American drones in the Black Sea and
bragged about how Trump threatened to bomb, as he put it, Putin's Kremlin, the anchor says. That is what's called Russophobic dream team or the
American Dream Team.
PLEITGEN: Of course, there's a lot of discussion here in Russia about the new Trump administration that's taking shape and what some of the picks
could mean for relations with Russia, especially when it comes to possibly ending the war in Ukraine.
(through translator): Donald Trump said that he definitely wants to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. Do you think this is possible, through talks,
through military action, what do you think?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I don't know how Donald Trump can resolve this. But I would really like this to be resolved as soon as
possible and resolved in the most peaceful way possible that is, through negotiations, and not through the actions that are happening now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): You know, there's still a bit of ambition here, with those in power. And I don't know if Trump will stick to
his line. But I hope that there will be a good agreement between Russia and Ukraine.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he's willing to talk to Donald Trump even before Trump takes office. The
Russians praising some of the president-elect's appointments as officials who could help normalize relations with Moscow.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: A U.S. Republican senator says it will be very difficult for Matt Gaetz, Donald Trump's contentious pick for attorney general, to win the
Senate's confirmation. Gaetz resigned as a member of the House this week. He of course, is a representative of the state of Florida.
Republicans on the House Ethics Committee also canceled today's planned meeting with Democrats which was supposed to address the long awaited
ethics report into Gaetz's behavior. It looked into allegations including sexual misconduct by Gaetz, who had also been the subject of a year's long
federal sex crimes investigation. Gaetz has always denied any wrongdoing. He was not charged in that federal investigation. It is now unclear whether
the House Ethics Committee's findings will ever be made public.
CNN's Katelyn Polantz joining me now.
So, this was supposed to happen. He resigns before there's a meeting about whether to release it. Where do things stand? Is there a chance that this
ever sees the light of day?
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, that is going to be up to the people who have access to it. And whether it leaks, that's
the discussion all over Washington right now. Will this health ethics report on Matt Gaetz get out somehow or not? Right now the House Ethics
Committee is not going to be releasing it.
And so there is a question there. Will the senators even who will be asked to vote on him, will they be seeing this report? And then in addition to
that, how much else will they be able to see? Our team here covering the Justice Department was able to nail down the fact that Donald Trump's
transition team isn't even using traditional FBI background checks right now to look at some of these cabinet picks, something that would help
figure out whether they are qualified or even reasonable for these positions.
[10:35:25]
But, Erica, I can't underscore enough how much Matt Gaetz is outside of the norm for the type of person who would be chosen as attorney general and put
into that position. It is shifting the conversation around what a Trump administration Justice Department is looking like so vastly that even two
other highly unusual picks for the number two and number three jobs at the Justice Department that Donald Trump has announced he wants his own defense
attorneys to take those positions. People in Washington are responding with, well, at least their former prosecutors because Gaetz is so extreme
of a choice.
HILL: Yes, there is that. It is something. It is going to keep you very busy. Katelyn Polantz, good to see you. Thank you.
Well, Gaetz, if confirmed, would actually oversee U.S. prisons. Back in July, Gaetz took a tour of one of the world's most brutal prisons and
suggested that it be used as a model for the United States. That prison is where El Salvador keeps the, quote, "worst of the worst," murderers,
rapists, gang members, including some who were deported from the U.S. El Salvador's president released a video of some of Gaetz comments after
visiting the facility.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT GAETZ, THEN-U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: There is a lot more discipline in this prison than we see in a lot of the prisons in the United States. This
is the solution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: CNN is the first major U.S, news organization to gain access to the prison system that Gaetz is praising there. My colleague David Culver takes
you inside now for this exquisite exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CULVER: All right. When I go in here.
CULVER (voice-over): Even as I'm stepping through these doors, I don't fully grasp what we're about to walk into. Suddenly, you're hit with the
intense gaze of dozens locking onto you. These men, described as the worst of the worst, tattooed with reminders of El Salvador's dark past. It's
tense and uncomfortable. But here, officials say comfort isn't meant to exist.
CULVER: There's no mattresses. There's no sheets. You've got a toilet over here for them to go to the bathroom. You've got this basin here that they
use to bathe themselves. And then you can see there's a barrel of water that they can drink from.
CULVER (voice-over): This is a rare look inside El Salvador's terrorism confinement center, known as Cecot.
CULVER: He says there's always somebody standing here in front of the cells. And then if you look up, there's another corridor with more security
personnel. 24/7 light.
CULVER (voice-over): The prison sits like an isolated fortress nestled in mountainous terrain, about an hour and a half drive from the capital. Even
with government officials on board with us, we're stopped a mile out.
CULVER: Oh, OK. He's going to inspect bags now too. OK, we're clear to get back in.
CULVER (voice-over): Only to hit another checkpoint. Approaching the main gate, our cell signals vanish.
CULVER: They want to do a full search on us before we enter.
CULVER (voice-over): Once cleared, we tour the vast campus.
CULVER: It's been equated to seven football stadiums. It's almost multiple prisons within the prison. You can see off to the distance, there's three
different rings as they describe. The far end, you have one that's nine meters high of concrete. And then above that, three meters of electrified
fencing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At 15,000 volts.
CULVER: Fifteen thousand volts.
CULVER (voice-over): More than a thousand security personnel, guards, police and military are stationed on site. Inmates are assigned to one of
eight sectors.
CULVER: The director tells me the inmates, once they're inside one of these sectors, they never leave. Everything is done within, including doctors, as
well as legal visits or court hearings.
CULVER (voice-over): Each sector holds more than two dozen large cells.
CULVER: Roughly 80 inmates per cell. But it can fluctuate.
CULVER (voice-over): Most bear the markings of the gangs that held this nation hostage for decades, committing brutal acts of violence.
MARVIN VASQUEZ, PRISONER, TERRORISM CONFINEMENT CENTER: You got to kill people, you got to rob. You got to do what you got to do to survive.
CULVER: You have to do those things?
VASQUEZ: Yes, you got to do that.
CULVER (voice-over): We meet 41-year-old Marvin Vazquez, shackled and heavily guarded.
CULVER: What gang were you part of?
VASQUEZ: MS-13.
CULVER: And do you have any gang affiliations?
VASQUEZ: Yes, I'm tattooed up.
CULVER: What is this? Crazy criminal. It say crazy criminals.
VASQUEZ: Yes, I made this click in 2011.
CULVER: You made the click?
VASQUEZ: Yes.
CULVER: You were a gang leader?
VASQUEZ: Yes.
CULVER: What is it like to live here?
[10:40:01]
VASQUEZ: It's probably not a hotel five star, but they give you the three times of food. They give you some programs. You go to do exercise, some
church religion programs too.
CULVER: But that's limited to just 30 minutes a day. The other 23 and a half hours, they're kept inside and locked up.
CULVER (voice-over): For inmates who get violent with other prisoners or guards --
CULVER: We're going to close the door. I just want to get a sense of -- wow.
CULVER (voice-over): Solitary confinement awaits.
CULVER: The only light you get is through this hole. They can be in here for 15 days potentially.
All right, I'm ready to get out.
The director brought up that a lot of folks will raise concerns from a human rights perspective and an abuse of human rights, that he's calm
hearing that because he sees it day to day, the process they go through to maintain, as he sees it, proper punishment.
CULVER (voice-over): While you're cut off from society here, whispers of life on the outside make their way in.
VASQUEZ: I've heard about it, that it's a new El Salvador. It looks different.
CULVER (voice-over): That new El Salvador has emerged under President Nayib Bukele, who took office in 2019 and declared a controversial state of
emergency more than two years ago. It sparked an aggressive crackdown on crime. We see that firsthand as some 2,500 police and soldiers deploy into
one neighborhood.
CULVER: It's going to go on through the night for however long it takes for them to root out any suspected criminal elements.
CULVER (voice-over): Critics argue Bukele's strategy has given him far reaching power to suppress dissent and silence any opposition. Late last
week, as the U.S. State Department lowered its travel advisory for El Salvador, citing a significant reduction in crime, it also warned that
Bukele's emergency measures allow authorities to arrest anyone suspected of gang activity and suspends constitutional rights. And yet most we meet seem
unfazed by the added show of force.
CULVER: I asked him, I said, how do you feel with all these soldiers? I mean, there's a couple of dozen just right outside his door. And he said,
no, I feel safe.
CULVER (voice-over): El Salvador now has one of the world's highest incarceration rates. The most hardened criminals brought to Cecot, where
inside a life sentence awaits.
VASQUEZ: We did bad things, we paid the rough way doing time.
CULVER (voice-over): And yet for many on the outside, the prison now a symbol of newfound freedom, the new El Salvador as they see it.
CULVER: Now you've got other Latin American countries that are building what some are considering to be Bukele style prisons, namely Ecuador and
Honduras. No question it's controversial. Some think it is far too extreme. But when you speak to the folks on the ground in El Salvador, and we've
made multiple trips there, even those who disagree with Bukele's tactics will tell you they're incredibly happy with the outcome. They feel far
safer, safer than they've ever felt before in their own country. Many of them will say that as extreme as those tactics are, they were necessary to
eradicate the gangs that really took control of the country for so many years.
David Culver, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Still ahead, the Biden administration bracing for its immigration policies to be undone as Donald Trump's plans come into focus.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:45:49]
HILL: Biden administration officials are bracing for the White House's immigration policies to be quickly undone once Donald Trump takes office,
and that could leave many immigrants in limbo. There are few, if any way to preserve the Biden era policies that offer temporary protection to certain
migrants in the United States. Most of those can be undone with a stroke of a pen by the incoming president. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joins us now.
And look, this happens, frankly with every administration when they come in. We saw President Biden undo some of what former President Trump had
done. So what specifically are they looking at this point, Priscilla?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the reality of immigration policy in the United States right now is that much of it is done through
the executive. Very little, if anything, is done in Congress, which means that all policies can be changed again at a stroke of a pen by whatever
administration or whatever president is in office. So, when it comes to what these Biden officials are bracing for that I've spoken with, there
were temporary protections that were extended to certain migrants coming to the United States and in the United States.
Remember, the administration struggled in the beginning with border surges from countries that typically didn't migrate to the United States. And so,
they found that the best way to mitigate it was to create programs so that people could legally migrate to the United States from where they were
coming from. These nationalities included, for example, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti, among others. So, the idea was for them to come here and
to be able to legally work and live in the United States for a temporary period of time.
I'm also told from sources close to the Trump team that they plan to undo that. So that is just one very specific example of thousands of people who
came to the United States under the Biden administration with these temporary protections that may have those protections now revoked with the
incoming Trump administration. There are also other types of protections that this administration has extended again to allow a period of time for
those in the United States to work and live while they may seek other avenues for status in the United States while they're here.
So certainly the senior administration officials in the -- here in the Biden administration and in the White House have been grappling with this
idea that much of what they did is just simply going to go away. And advocates have been trying to impress on them ways that they can try to
protect those who are already here, but really it just comes to pushing paperwork. The best that anyone can do right now, based on the
conversations I've been having, is to try to extend protections for those who are here as long as they can. That means, for example, if there is a
renewal for DACA, that program that protects undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children to process that so that those people can
continue to have their protections for another two years or so.
So, certainly this all sort of goes into the weeds and into the process in terms of how they can be protected. But Erica, you can't stress enough that
the situation that the United States finds itself in when it comes to immigration is that every administration gets to dictate what the policy
looks like. And lately it has been very different what the Trump administration did the first time around versus what President Biden did
and now what the incumbent administration is doing. And that means that for those immigrants who are here, there is just limbo.
And I will give you one more anecdote on that. I have been speaking with immigrants for years who have now lived under at least three
administrations. And each one of those presidents has changed the course of their immigration proceedings. So, that means that someone that is going
through an immigration proceeding now may have to go back to the drawing board and what their case looks like with an incoming Trump administration
versus what they had under the Biden administration. So it is incredibly disruptive.
And certainly this is why both Republicans and Democrats have repeatedly called for Congress to pass immigration reform.
HILL: We'll see if that can get done. It was close, as we know until it wasn't.
Priscilla, really appreciate it. Thank you.
A high profile murder trial is underway right now in Athens, Georgia, which is very much related to the immigration debate here in the United States.
An undocumented migrant is accused of killing a nursing student, Laken Riley, in February while she was out for a run. That ignited a political
firestorm. Here's CNN's Nick Valencia.
[10:50:13]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORREPSONDENT (voice-over): Almost from the moment Jose Ibarra was named a suspect in the murder of Laken Riley, illegal criminal
aliens --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Illegal criminal aliens --
VALENCIA (voice-over): -- the rhetoric around crime and illegal immigration ramped up. On February 22, the 22-year-old college student was out for a
jog on the UGA campus in Athens, Georgia, when prosecutors say Ibarra, an undocumented immigrant, attempted to rape her and then murdered her.
JASON RILEY, LAKEN RILEY'S FATHER: He was in this country and in this state illegally.
VALENCIA (voice-over): Riley's father has since said he was frustrated by the use of his daughter's name in politics. It has come up a lot as a
Republican battle cry.
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): Say her name.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Laken Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed --
GREENE: By an illegal.
BIDEN: -- by an illegal. That's right. But how many thousands of people being killed by legals?
VALENCIA (voice-over): During his campaign, Donald Trump used Riley's death as a vessel to deliver a familiar message.
TRUMP: He was an illegal migrant and he shouldn't have been in our country.
VALENCIA (voice-over): Shortly after her murder, Georgia Representative Mike Collins introduced the Laken Riley Act that would require the
detention of any migrant who committed burglary or theft.
REP. MIKE COLLINS (R-GA): We must enact changes now.
VALENCIA (voice-over): The bill passed the House, but was rejected by the Senate.
LUKE WINKLER, CHAIRMAN, COLLEGE REPUBLICAN AT UGA: the day of when it happened just a state of shock like, wow, this is someone local to us,
someone that I've met.
VALENCIA (voice-over): As chairman of UGA's College Republicans, Luke Winkler, has been among the most outspoken on campus.
WINKLER: I would say it was a combination of failure at the local level and failure at the federal level.
VALENCIA: If Trump's policies were in place, this wouldn't have happened?
WINKLER: I 100 percent agree with that.
VALENCIA (voice-over): Data reviewed by CNN suggests there is no significant connection between immigration and crime. While a recent Gallup
poll shows that 64 percent of the country said they agreed immigration was a good thing, most Americans, around 55 percent, said they wanted it
decreased from the current level. And according to CNN exit polls, only 11 percent of voters ranked immigration as their most important issue in the
2024 election, behind the economy and democracy. But those voters overwhelmingly said they preferred Trump.
VALENCIA: Elle, is there a fear of the other being created in Athens right now?
ELLE LEWIS, JAMAICAN IMMIGRANT IN ATHENS: Absolutely.
VALENCIA (voice-over): Back in Athens, even immigrants who came to the U.S. Legally, like Elle Lewis, say xenophobic threats and harassment in this
blue alcove of Georgia have made them feel unwelcome and unsafe.
LEWIS: It feels like something very nasty is bubbling up in America. It makes me very concerned, like about the safety of people who look like me.
VALENCIA (voice-over): But not everyone shares those concerns.
CHRISTIAN ANDRADE, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA STUDENT: Don't play victim.
VALENCIA (voice-over): UGA senior and first generation Mexican American Christian Andrade says he was profiled by police on campus.
ANDRADE: But honestly, I can't even hold it against him. They were sort of doing their job.
VALENCIA (voice-over): But he says none of this makes him feel unwelcome or unsafe.
ANDRADE: This situation has affected me more. And hearing my friends who are girls not feel safe, that's how it's affected me more, to be honest
with you.
VALENCIA: That's more of an issue than being a Latino man walking around campus.
ANDRADE: Yes.
VALENCIA (voice-over): Nick Valencia, CNN, Athens, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:55:04]
HILL: She flew up to the ceiling, then fell. That description of a passenger aboard a Scandinavian Airlines flight that was hit by severe
turbulence. So unless you're already a nervous flyer, I do want to show you some of those terrifying moments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sam.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sam.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's OK. It's OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sam, we need help (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody all right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: I mean, you can hear it right in the screams there inside the cabin. So the plane itself was actually flying over Greenland when it encountered
that intense turbulence. It had been headed to Miami, but instead actually returned to Copenhagen. One person said he and his fellow passengers began
praying. There were more than 250 passengers and crew onboard the flight.
In a statement, the airline said no one was severely injured. No word on what caused the turbulence.
The Pentagon has seen a drastic rise in accounts of new UFO sightings, hundreds of that made in just the span of 11 months, according to a just
released annual report from the office, which has been established to track the claims. The report says many of the accounts end up being everyday
items, things like balloons or drones. But some 21 cases remain open because they have not been plausibly explained.
I will leave you with that on this Friday. Thanks so much for joining me for Connect the World. I'm Erica Hill. Stay with CNN. Newsroom is up next.
Have a great week.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
