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The Situation Room
Protecting Vaccines; New Jersey Man Arrested on Arson Charges; Holocaust Remembrance Day. Aired 11:30a-12p ET
Aired April 24, 2025 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:31:19]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MARTIN STERN, HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR: If we concentrate exclusively on the Holocaust, we're fighting the last war. We have a war now.
We have to deal with the situation that exists today. And it is our duty to learn the facts from both sides, to educate people about them, and to assert that every human being has the same right to life, Jew or Arab.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is the Jewish memorial day to honor the 6 million Jews murdered by Nazi Germany and the families forever scarred by those horrors.
This is the annual March for the Living at the former Auschwitz death camp. On hand this year is freed Gaza hostage Eli Sharabi and relatives of other hostages.
And, today, people across Israel paused for two minutes as sirens echoed across the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SIRENS BLARING)
(End VT)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Remembering the Holocaust and the victims of the genocide is, of course, very, very personal for me. I'm the son of Polish Jewish Holocaust survivors.
My parents met on a train after World War II. Both were searching for surviving relatives. All four of my grandparents were killed during the Holocaust.
CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig bears the name of his paternal grandfather, a Polish Jew who lost most of his family to the Holocaust.
Eliezer Honig barely survived the Nazi concentration camps. This is also -- there is also a third man, by the way, who shares their unusual name, and his family also shares much of the heartbreak and the horrors of the Holocaust.
CNN's Elie Honig has the story of Dr. Elie Honig.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: At this point, you are declared a fugitive.
DR. ELIE HONIG, HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR: I'm declared a fugitive.
ELIE HONIG: A fugitive from who exactly?
DR. ELIE HONIG: From the Germans that occupied.
ELIE HONIG (voice-over): At just 20 days old in November of 1942, Elie Honig was a fugitive from the Nazis, along with his mother and two sisters.
(on camera): Why would the Nazis have been so possessed with finding a woman and her three children?
DR. ELIE HONIG: Because every single person was supposed to be annihilated.
ELIE HONIG (voice-over): I have lived my whole life thinking I was the only Elie Honig. And then I met Dr. Elie Honig, an 82-year-old Holocaust survivor.
DR. ELIE HONIG: Well, my grandson called me up and said: "Do you know an Elie Honig?"
I said: "I heard the name, but I have no idea who he is." Why not try to contact you? And we have been talking ever since.
ELIE HONIG: Dr. Honig initially thought we might be related. We aren't, but we bonded over a shared connection to the Holocaust. I was named after my grandfather. His Hebrew name was Eliezer Honig, a Nazi concentration camp survivor and a man I never met.
Dr. Honig was born in Nazi-occupied France during the Holocaust. Most of his family were murdered by the Nazis, including his father.
(on camera): How many of your family members ended up at Auschwitz?
DR. ELIE HONIG: Ten, and nine perished there.
ELIE HONIG (voice-over): Honig was already being hunted by the Nazis before he was born, but he, his sisters, and his mother lived because one woman made it her mission to help them survive.
DR. ELIE HONIG: She swore to herself that she would do whatever she could to save us, and she enlisted her entire family.
ELIE HONIG: Madeleine Counard (ph) was a Christian woman who taught kindergarten to Dr. Honig's older sisters. Shortly after he was born, Counard directed her 12-year-old niece to sneak Honig and his mother out of the hospital and into hiding.
[11:35:02]
DR. ELIE HONIG: I was carried in a bag, literally in a bag. I was 20 days old, whatever, a newborn, practically. They placed me in a house where there was another newborn, so that, if there's any crying, there wouldn't be any suspicion.
And then they took me from there to Angers, and I was in an orphanage run by Dr. Gigon (ph). I don't know where. I don't have more information. I wish I did, but I don't know.
ELIE HONIG: In order to protect him, Honig was given a French alias, Michel. His mother and sisters were hidden in different locations from him, so the entire family was separated for the duration of the war.
(on camera): How long a period of time did this network of your French Christian neighbors protect you as a newborn?
DR. ELIE HONIG: I would say 19 months.
ELIE HONIG: If any of the French Christian neighbors who helped you and your family survive had been caught harboring you, helping you by the Nazis, what would have happened to them?
DR. ELIE HONIG: They would have been brought to concentration camp. They wouldn't have survived.
I think of the bravery of all of them. And I asked myself many times over the years, what would I have done had I been in their place? I don't have an answer. I don't know what I would have done. I just think to myself, I hope I would have done an honorable thing, but I cannot...
ELIE HONIG (voice-over): Because of their bravery, Dr. Honig survived and went on to lead a beautiful life, becoming a celebrated physics professor. He also married, had four children, and now he has five grandchildren.
(on camera): Is there anything that you hope future generations would take from your story or from the story of the people who saved you?
DR. ELIE HONIG: I would like them to recognize how difficult it is, but how important it is to rise above a crowd, to do what's right, to do what you know in your heart is right, even though it is difficult. How do you act honorably? How do you pass that down, so that you can look yourself in the mirror and said, I did the right thing?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And Elie Honig is here with us in THE SITUATION ROOM.
Elie, thanks so much for doing this report. It's so, so important for these stories to be shared and preserved like you have done.
What was it like to sit across from Dr. Honig and hear the horrors of that time?
ELIE HONIG: Well, first of all, Wolf, what a joy to meet this man. I mean, we met through the coincidence of our shared names, and he's such a warm, loving soul who's had this remarkable life, this large family.
I met his grandchildren. He was a beloved physics professor for years at the University of Toronto. And it's hard for me to reconcile that with the horrors that he experienced. I mean, his father was murdered before he was born, two months before he was born. Ten of his family members were taken to Auschwitz, and they were all killed.
And there's a detail that it sticks with me. They -- the Nazis officially declared Dr. Honig a fugitive when he was 20 days old. At one point, the neighbors who were protecting the family said that the mother had jumped in the river. She'd committed suicide. And so the Nazis were so hell-bent on killing every last Jew, they dragged that river, the Mayenne River, for three days looking for the mother and her infant son and two young sisters.
BLITZER: So interesting that Dr. Honig really wants to drive home the point that some people showed tremendous courage in the face of evil.
ELIE HONIG: Yes.
BLITZER: Whenever I hear these stories, I get so, so proud that there are wonderful people like that.
ELIE HONIG: Let's remember the saviors here.
I mean, Madeleine Counard, we saw her photo. She's long deceased, but she risked her own life to save this man, who still lives today. There's -- the image I keep in my head is of Madeleine Counard's 12- year-old niece who was sent in the middle of the night to get Dr. Honig's mother, who was in disguise, and Dr. Honig, who was a baby.
She put him in a bag and walked him through an area occupied by Nazis and brought him to a house, where he was hidden. And because of their bravery and courage 82 years ago, this man has lived a wonderful life.
BLITZER: You're Elie Honig, and he called himself Elie Honig, right?
ELIE HONIG: He's the original. He's the original.
BLITZER: Yes.
ELIE HONIG: No, I mean, look. I thought I was the only one on Earth, and he e-mailed me, and I didn't quite believe it, but it's true. We -- there are two of us now.
The Hebrew is Elie.
ELIE HONIG: Elie, yes, or Eliezer.
BLITZER: Eliezer.
BROWN: I'm so glad that he reached out to you...
ELIE HONIG: Yes. Yes.
BROWN: ... and that you have developed this bond. And even though you're not part of the same families, you share so much, right?
ELIE HONIG: I -- when I met him, I felt like he was an uncle. It took us two seconds.
BROWN: Right.
ELIE HONIG: There was an instant connection. He's a wonderful, warm soul. He he's lived a blessed life.
BLITZER: Yes. And we want to thank him for all...
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: Really powerful.
ELIE HONIG: Thank you both. Appreciate it.
BROWN: Really.
BLITZER: Thank you very much, Elie Honig. Appreciate it.
BROWN: Well, here in Washington, Wolf, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum hosted the annual national commemoration of the Days of Remembrance ceremony at the Capitol.
BLITZER: And we want to share some of these extremely moving moments as they unfolded yesterday. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD LUTNICK, U.S. COMMERCE SECRETARY: I saw the tattoos inked on their arms. They survived, and they reminded me of the scale of the hate that can and must be overcome.
[11:40:11]
The Holocaust was a failure of humanity. But as we all know, no matter how hard we try, that kind of hatred continues to exist, just in many, many other forms.
ABRAHAM FOXMAN, HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR: I am here. It gives me hope because I am here only because of one Polish woman who made a choice to save a Jewish child.
MAJ. RUFUS ALLEN, U.S. MILITARY: I'm Major Rufus Allen (ph). I remember.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Pam, Pamela...
BROWN: Sorry. I got emotional.
BLITZER: ... as we watch this, it's so emotional.
BROWN: Yes. I mean, just seeing those -- sorry.
Seeing those pictures of those kids...
BLITZER: Yes, it's really, really -- and I grew up as a son of Holocaust survivors, so those stories were told to me as a kid growing up. And I was named after my two grandfathers, who were both killed during the Holocaust.
My mother's father was Wolf. My dad's father was Isaac. I'm Wolf Isaac Blitzer.
BROWN: I love that. You're carrying on quite the legacy, Wolf.
BLITZER: That's a tradition.
BROWN: Certainly.
BLITZER: All right, we will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:46:17]
BLITZER: All right, just into THE SITUATION ROOM, a 19-year-old man is facing arson charges this morning connected to a massive wildfire in southern New Jersey.
So far, more than 13,000 acres have burned, as firefighters are working to try to contain the flames.
Let's go to CNN's Jason Carroll. He's watching all of this unfold.
Jason, are investigators saying how this all started?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, not only are they saying how it started, Wolf. They are telling us who they believe is responsible for it as well.
The person has been identified as Joseph Kling. Again, he's 19 years old. Kling, at this point, has been charged with arson and aggravated arson. Here's how it happened. According to fire officials, he was out in a wooded area in New Jersey, an area called Pine Barrens.
He was with some -- working on some wooden pallets in this wooded area, and, apparently, he set them on fire. And fire officials say he then left the area before extinguishing the fire, and that's what they say caused this massive wildfire.
And all they say at this point, it has burned some 15,000 acres, caused thousands of evacuations. At one point, portions of the Garden State Parkway had to be temporarily closed because of this wildfire. Again, despite as massive as this wildfire was, no structures, have been burned, no homes have been burned, at least so far.
The governor saying -- quote -- "We have truly averted a major disaster." Again, a 19-year-old man who has been identified as Joseph Kling now in custody, charged not only with aggravated arson, but arson as well.
As for the wildfire, Wolf, it is still burning in a wooded area of New Jersey. It's about 50 percent contained. Fire officials hope to have it fully contained, if they're lucky, by this weekend -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, let's hope for the best.
Jason Carroll reporting.
Thanks very much, Jason.
And we will have more news when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:53:00]
BLITZER: A SITUATION ROOM health alert.
A group of public health experts have decided to do something about the vaccine misinformation being spread across the country. They have started a new initiative called the Vaccine Integrity Project, which will consider what's needed to protect vaccine policy and use in the United States.
BROWN: CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell joins us now.
So, Meg, tell us a little bit more about this initiative.
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Pam, they're calling this a precautionary step, really trying to put pieces in place in case they see the vaccine infrastructure, our system of approving vaccines, monitoring their safety, making recommendations about their use, in case they see real actions that threaten that, they say.
This is organized by the University of Minnesota's CIDRAP, or Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, Dr. Michael Osterholm the director there, somebody everybody remembers from COVID well. And it'll be helmed by a steering committee led by a former FDA commissioner, Dr. Margaret Hamburg, and the former president of the National Academy of Medicine Dr. Harvey Fineberg.
This is also funded by a foundation backed by the Walmart heiress Christy Walton. And, now, Michael Osterholm saying in their release about this that -- quote -- The system that we have relied on to make vaccine recommendations and to review safety and effectiveness of data faces threats right now."
And, of course, this comes as the U.S. is dealing with a deadly measles outbreak that continues to grow in Texas and surrounding states. And the folks involved with this are worried about comments that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made about the measles vaccine in the face of that, also about the fact that a key vaccine regulator, Dr. Peter Marks, departed the FDA under circumstances that are worrisome to folks.
And they're worried that some of these outside advisory groups to the FDA and to the CDC may be threatened. So, guys, this is really putting into place, they say, a system that's ready to respond, because they say they don't want to wait until they're already seeing those threats really causing problems with access to vaccines and good information about vaccines.And they don't want to see vaccine-preventable diseases come roaring back.
[11:55:05]
BROWN: No, understandably.
Tell us a little bit more about why these health experts feel this project is so needed.
TIRRELL: Yes.
I mean, in terms of we have got measles going on and those RFK Jr. comments, but also the NIH director has talked a lot about mRNA vaccines. And we heard from Michael Osterholm yesterday he's worried about what we might see around regulation of those.
There was also a state bill in Minnesota that was proposed he pointed to that was focused on mRNA vaccines. And so there's just a lot of worry about what might happen. And, of course, we also know about this autism study that RFK Jr. has launched. And a lot of folks are concerned he will inappropriately connect autism with vaccines, despite decades of studies showing no connection.
BROWN: All right, Meg Tirrell, thank you so much.
BLITZER: And, to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. You can keep up with us on social media @WolfBlitzer and @PamelaBrownCNN.
We will see you back here tomorrow, every weekday morning for our expanded two-hour SITUATION ROOM at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.
BROWN: "INSIDE POLITICS" with our friend and colleague Dana Bash is next right after a short break.
[12:00:00]
