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FBI Looked for Remains of Jimmy Hoffa Under Jersey City Bridge; Ukraine President Says Coup Plot Thwarted Involving Russians; Afghan Girl From Famous Cover Portrait Is Evacuated To Italy. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired November 26, 2021 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Again digging for answers.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That wasn't neither were several locations around Detroit, a backyard, a horse farm, a suburban home. Underneath the old New York Giants Stadium was discounted by investigators the search found another dead end in the Florida Everglades. Where is Jimmy Hoffa, now part of American lore.

SETH MEYERS, "LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS" HOST: The FBI reportedly search the site of a former landfill in New Jersey last month looking for the body of union leader Jimmy Hoffa. So far no Hoffa, three Jimmy's but no Hoffa.

MARQUEZ: We do know he was last seen outside Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Township, Michigan.

ROBEET SNELL, BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP POLICE CHIEF: There are confirmations that he was seeing outside of the restaurant.

MARQUEZ: Hoffa helped build the Teamsters Union into a powerhouse.

JIMMY HOFFA, FORMER TEAMSTER UNION LEADER: I appeal to the chair, that that be taken out of the record, and that nobody cast any aspersions on my loyalty to this country.

MARQUEZ: And spent nearly five years in prison for conspiracy, fraud and jury tampering his 13 years sentence commuted in 1971 by President Richard Nixon.

DICK CAVETT, "THE DICK CAVETT SHOW" SHOT: Tonight, our Jimmy Hoffa, former head of the Teamsters Union.

MARQUEZ: When he got out, he still had celebrity status and was still trying to control the Union.

HOFFA: The media, maybe look as though it's probably one of the biggest goons that ever took place in this country. And then I was some kind of in a little bit VM that had muscled his way to the top of his union.

MARQUEZ: The FBI used ground penetrating radar and conducted a site survey underneath the Pulaski Skyway for two days in October. Results are now being analyzed to see if yet another dig. Another search in a 46-year mystery is called for.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Knowing the FBI, if they believe they have a reasonable chance to find Jimmy Hoffa, they will dig. The FBI cares about solving this mystery.

MARQUEZ: A decades old mystery his family and the country would like solved.

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MARQUEZ: So one big question folks have is why, why is it important? He's dead. Probably most people who were around when he was alive are now dead. Does it really matter? This is like a law enforcement itch that cannot be scratched. The case itself has its own gravity. The idea of not solving it. It's just not in the cards, Kaitlan.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I think the nation wants to know too. I mean, this is really gripped people at the time when it happens. Still, the fact that often these leads come up. I mean, I think they've searched in a drive, underneath a driveway, a swimming pool, a farm now this landfill in New Jersey. Miguel Marquez, thank you for letting us know. We don't know yet still about this murder.

MARQUEZ: Special, isn't it?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: So a major story developing Ukraine's president now alleging that Russia is plotting a coup against him that could come he says as early as next week.

COLLINS: And five U.S. lawmakers are defying China and what happened when they arrived in Taiwan to meet with officials there on Thanksgiving.

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[08:37:03]

KEILAR: Breaking this morning, Ukraine's president is now alleging that Russia is plotting a coup against him as the U.S. warns a Russian invasion of the country is very possible. CNN's Matthew Chance is joining us now with more on this. Tell us about his concern where this is coming from Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Hey, Brianna. That's right. I mean, this sort of came out of the blue really in a sort of marathon press conference. The President Zelensky of Ukraine has been giving over the past several hours. He basically said that there has been a coup plot identified in his country. He said that, that Russian and Ukrainian citizens had been recorded by the Ukrainian Security Services, plotting a coup that was expected to be staged within the next few days on the first and second of December, he said, I thank you very many details.

But he did say that one of the people who was named in the audio recordings that he says the security services have got there is someone called Rinat Akhmetov. And he's Ukraine's richest man, who's got, you know, massive interests in heavy industry in the sort of gas and the steel manufacturing business as well.

And so it all taps in to this campaign that President Zelensky of Ukraine has been undertaking in the past several months to try and get rid of or reduce the power of rich businessman, so called oligarchs in the country. He's been sort of closing down media organizations that have been run by them. He's been, you know, tapping into and crushing, limiting their business interests as well.

And, you know, there are two important points about that, first of all, the genuinely are concerns in Ukraine, that rich and powerful people are working in the interests of the countries, for instance, Russia, to undermine the Ukrainian state, that's a legitimate turn that they have.

But the criticism of President Zelensky is that he's moved beyond that line, that he is, in fact now sort of tackling or, you know, going up against people who just regards as critical of his administration. And so, you know, there's a lot of criticism internally in Ukraine, that President Zelensky in this very popular move against rich oligarchs in Ukraine is actually sort of teetering a bit too far towards making himself indeed.

KEILAR: Yes, no, it's a very interesting thing that we are going to watch Matthew. Matthew Chance, thank you so much.

COLLINS: And here's what else to watch today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The landscape has changed, and not for the last time. The rules of business are being reinvented with a more flexible workforce, by embracing innovation, by looking not only at current opportunities, but ahead to future ones. Resilience is the ability to pivot again and again, for whatever happens next.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People who know, know BDO.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Coming up is an epic new eight-hour ad ocumentary that gives a never before seen look at the Beatles.

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[08:44:22]

KEILAR: For Beatles fans and all music fans, Peter Jackson's new three part nearly eight-hour documentary epic on the band's final days is now streaming and here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're talking about 14 songs we hope to get. How many have we already recorded good enough?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: None.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one was on the idea of what the show is going to be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want Jake to play on stage and nobody else wants to do a show.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we've got a bit shy.

(END VIDOE CLIP)

KEILAR: And joining us now senior writer at Rolling Stone Brian Hiatt to talk about this.

[08:45:01]

Brian, you got to look at this. Tell us what to expect. Tell us what this reveals about the Beatles.

BRIAN HIATT, SENIOR WRITER, ROLLING STONE: Well, it's kind of just a gift, Thanksgiving gift to Beatles fans to music fans, it kind of simultaneously shows them at their most human. They're really, really struggling to come up with stuff. They're working hard. They're -- those magical harmonies. They're actually kind of fighting to get them right. This is right after they released The White Album, and they're a little bit out of inspiration. And they're just trying their best and at the same time, it shows them that their most sort of supernatural.

There's a moment when you see Paul, out of nowhere, write the song Get Back, you actually see him write it on camera, and it's just one of the -- probably one of the most amazing things ever captured in a music documentary.

COLLIINS: I think this is so fascinating. It's 60 hours of unseen film, a 150 hours of audio that we've never heard before. And I know what goes into their last ever live performance, which is on this rooftop in London.

HIATT: Yes.

COLLINS: So what does it say about all of that?

HIATT: Well, basically, you've never seen the Beatles in this much detail. You've never gotten to hang out with them for basically eight hours. It would have been inconceivable to even have a documentary of this length really, before the age of streaming.

And it's just sort of revelatory just to see how they interacted, how they -- the shorthand they had with each other, the way that George Harrison looks incredibly hurt, while John Lennon and Paul McCartney are vibing with each other. And George has left out the moment when George quits the band. It's just sort of Revelation After revelation of just the granular hour-to-hour, day-to-day detail what it was like to be in the Beatles.

KEILAR: Brian, I want to listen to what Paul McCartney had to say about it.

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PAUL MCCARTNEY, BEATLES MEMBER: For me, it's lovely because it brings back to me. My leads, my fallen heroes, you know, out here, and it's great to see them on the film.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: It brings it back to him, Brian. I mean, that is fascinating.

HIATT: Absolutely. It -- For him, I think it's -- he was never able to see it quite like that. He was never able to see what it was like to watch the Beatles rehearse because he was always in the middle of it.

COLLLINS: And so all of this footage that no one has ever seen before that Peter Jackson has apparently masterfully put together in this documentary. Where has it been for the last several years? Where has it been kind of hiding out?

HIATT: Well, it's just been in the archives. It's, you know, there was a guy named Michael Lindsay-Hogg. He directed a movie called "Let It Be," that was quite infamous for being a little bit dreary. It also kind of got perceived through the lens of. It was released when the Beatles were known to be breaking up. So it was perceived as the breakup film even though they actually recorded after "Let It Be."

But so basically, everything that he didn't put into this movie "Let It Be" was just sitting there for years and years and let it be itself never came out on VHS or DVD except for a very brief period in the 80s. So this is all been just kind of lost magic for everyone.

KEILAR: Look, there's a lot of stuff in here that I think people have never seen that, you know, even just to tease it a little bit. How much is John Lennon involved in in the songwriting in what is captured here. It's fascinating to see. Brian, we're certainly very excited about this, and we're very excited that you could tell us a little bit about it. Brian Hiatt, thanks.

HIATT: Thank you.

KEILAR: So we do have some breaking news this morning a concerning new Coronavirus variant coming out of South Africa. Moments ago we actually learned that Belgium has reported a case of this strain. We're going to have new details ahead.

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[08:53:43] KEILAR: The top 10 CNN Heroes of 2021 have been announced. One of whom will be named the CNN Hero of the Year by you, our viewers, who get to pick this. So as you vote for only two more weeks here. We will be reintroducing each of our top 10 so that you can recall all of them.

The world has lost more than 5 million people from COVID. And those waves of grief for those left behind have been tremendous, knowing just how difficult and isolating it is to lose a spouse. This top 10 CNN Hero created a community of widows that can heal together. Meet Michele Neff Hernandez.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would tell the nurse telling my loving will put the phone by because they would not let me in. Sometimes I just go sit in the parking lot just to be close to him. You know, April 13 they told me he was gone. I needed someone to understand what it was like to be widowed.

MICHELE NEFF HERNANDEZ, CNN HERO: Initially, you imagine that when someone dies, the worst day is the day they die. And the truth is that living without them is the hard part. But you have to make your way through.

Thank you for being here and showing up for each other.

We help people live and live through something that many times they did not think that they would survive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:55:10]

KEILAR: Such a beautiful community that she has built there. And you can go to CNNHeroes.com right now to vote for Michele, for CNN Hero of the Year, or you can pick any of your favorite top 10 Hero.

COLLINS: As that last piece showed for many, it's been a really difficult year, but there's a new book by the author Kevin Linder -- Ken Lindner, who hopes to help people lead better lives. The book is titled Aspire Higher: How to Find the Love, Positivity and Purpose to Elevate Your Life in the World." And it's available now.

Ken is joining us this morning. He is also the founder of Positive Life Choice Psychology. So Ken, tell us what was behind this book and what drove you to write this?

KEN LINDNER, AUTHOR, "ASPIRE HIGHER": Well, good morning. And you know, these days, we're all subjected to so much negativity, were barraged with stories of shootings that, as you said, the devastating effects of COVID and global warming and racism and rancor and division and distrust and, and runaway inflation, it's no wonder that so many of us feel deflated, and demoralized and psychologically stuck, because we don't see a way up or a way out during these troubling times. So I wrote Aspire Higher to give everyone the clear and actionable steps to make positive life choices that reflect your highest sell, your highest values and your highest goals. And if you can make these empowering life choices, you fill your heart with positivity, and love and peace and confidence and highest life purpose, and you're motivated to live your very best and highest life, which you want to do, and you know that you can do.

KEILAR: And so Ken, you know, as you point out in the book, the negative kind of sticks a little more than the positive, right? It really does kind of permeate into us. And I just wonder with so many people coming out of the pandemic, and I think they really do need to be reaching for positivity, what kind of advice you can give them?

LINDNER: Well, you know, that scientists say that the negativity bias looms in all of us, which means you can hear three positive things about yourself and one negative and you'll focus on the negative more and longer. But the key is, you can jumpstart your life today, by starting to make small positive life choices, that give you the confidence that you can affect positive change in your life. Your self-esteem rises, your feelings of self-worth rise, your self-image elevates.

And when you start to feel like you're worthy of your life choices, and you deserve a better life, you develop self-love. And if you love yourself, you're more likely to love others as well. So, by making great life choices, it's almost a triple bonus in that you elevate your life, you elevate the lives of others. And by doing that, you'll put more civility, respect and unity in our country. So you elevate our country as well.

COLLINS: Ken, that sounds like a great book for people for the holidays.

KEILAR: We all need this.

COLLINS: We're looking for a gift. I think that seems like an inspiring message, a positive message and one that is hard to come by these days. Thank you so much for joining us this morning to tell us about the new book.

LINDNER: It's always my pleasure to be on New Day. Thank you so much.

COLLINS: We love having you.

KEILAR: Thanks Ken. I'm going to start small myself as soon as I get home for this weekend. All right, so it's one of the most iconic National Geographic photos of all time, right and now the green eyed Afghan girl who made international waves in the 1985 photo is making waves again.

Refugee Sharbat Gula, the girl in the photo has arrived in Italy at the age of 40. She is part of that exodus of Afghans as the Taliban has taken over the country. CNN's Barbie Nadeau has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE) BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (on camera): We're here in Italy the 12-year-old Afghan girl who became famous in 1985, after appearing on the cover of National Geographic has been given refugee status by the Italian government.

Photographer Steve McCurry shot the famous photo of the Pashtun orphan Sharbat Gula in a refugee camp on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, but no one even knew her name for decades. She was tracked down years later living in Pakistan and returned to Afghanistan in 2016 after being deported from Pakistan.

Gula was now in her 40s petitioned the international community to leave the region. After the events in Afghanistan in August.

Italy's Prime Minister personally heeded the call and arranged for her to come to Italy to apply for political asylum. She arrived in Rome on Thanksgiving Day.

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KEILAR: Story really the traces I think the story of so many Afghans as well. I just want to say before we head on out of here, Kaitlin, that I had a lovely time with you. And thank you so much.

COLLINS: This has been so much fun. I have loved joining New Day twice this week and I keep with how quickly three hours goes by I'm really excited to go meet my leftovers --

KEILAR: Yes.

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