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Telegram Founder Transferred To French Court For Questioning; FBI: Still No Motive Identified In Trump Rally Shooting; Surgeon General: Parental Stress An Urgent Health Issue. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired August 28, 2024 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:31:55]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We're about to find out what is next for the elusive founder of the popular messaging app, Telegram, after he was arrested in France on Saturday.

Russian billionaire, Pavel Durov, has now been transferred to a court for questioning ahead of a possible indictment.

He's being investigated for a slew of alleged crimes, including accusations that Telegram turns a blind eye to fraudsters, drug traffickers and other criminals.

CNN chief global affairs correspondent, Matthew Chance, is in London with the latest on this story.

Matthew, what can you tell us?

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KEILAR: All right, I think we're having a hard time -- all right, we're having a technical issue with Matthew Chance, unfortunately. So we're going to try to get that back up and running. Obviously, this is a story that has a lot of ramifications.

We do, ahead, have some new details on the FBI's investigation into the Trump assassination attempt. We'll have that next.

And also a warning from the nation's top doctor that having kids can be bad for your health. Why he just issued an advisory to help burned- out parents?

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[13:37:22]

KEILAR: The Russian ex-pat founder of Telegram, which is the hugely popular messaging app, especially in Europe and in Russia, has been arrested over the weekend in France.

And at this point, is being transferred to a court for questioning ahead of a possible indictment. So let's go to our CNN chief global affairs correspondent, Matthew

Chance, in London. He's tracking this for us.

What can we expect here? There's so many unanswered questions at this point.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: There are. And the biggest unanswered question tonight is, what will happen to Pavel Durov, who's one of the world's richest men?

He's a billionaire, entrepreneur, the founder and the owner of Telegram, which is one of the world's most popular social media platforms with something like 950 million users.

He's been held by the -- by the French authorities for the past 96 hours. He's been transferred to a courthouse now in Paris, where we're waiting to hear what the judge says, whether the judge is going to indict and charge him, designated a witness in this case, or just simply set him free?

I mean, to be clear, what -- what he's being accused of is allowing Telegram, this social media platform, to be used as a way of -- you know, being used by criminals, like pedophiles, by political extremists, by Neo-Nazis and anti-Semites and things like that, and other criminals, to congregate together and to operate freely.

Indeed, Telegram has sort of, you know, prided itself on the fact that it is relatively unmoderated compared to other social media platforms like Facebook or X or some of the others.

And that was a gamble, which Pavel Durov has turned into billions of dollars. It's made him immensely successful.

But of course, it's put them in the firing line when it comes to at least the French authorities in this instance, as a French citizen.

Telegram, back in 2015, was used by the terror attackers in Paris on their Bataclan terror attacks back then as well. And so Telegram has pretty much been in the crosshairs of the French authorities for some time now.

And so we're waiting to see what the French authorities will do. Will they hold the owner of this social media platform accountable for the content that it carries? That would be a really significant step if the authorities go ahead and prosecute Pavel Durov for that.

KEILAR: And, Matthew, it's really interesting because the Kremlin is being very outspoken about his arrest. Of course, Durov actually fled Russia and operates Telegram -- Telegram operates out of Dubai because he didn't want to be cooperating with the Russian government and wanted some autonomy from it.

[13:40:08]

And yet, Telegram has been something that the Kremlin has been able to use when it comes to its kind of propaganda processes. Tell us about this.

CHANCE: Yes, I mean, the Kremlin used Telegram quite a lot. I mean, they -- they use it as a platform to carry, you know, officially sanctioned propaganda. Ukrainians use it as well.

As I say, criminal gangs use it, pedophiles, Nazis, you know, you name it. They -- they use Telegram and are very much in favor of the sort of unmoderated way in which operates.

And so it's led to this very strange sort of coalition of supporters for Pavel Durov, including autocrats and criminals and pedophiles. It's an extraordinary situation.

KEILAR: Yes, it certainly is.

Matthew, thank you so much for the latest on that.

Boris?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: This just into CNN. The FBI says it has still not identified a motive in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. The investigation so far has also not identified any co-conspirators.

We're getting this from a call that the FBI is holding with reporters updating the investigation into the shooting at Trump's rally on July 13th in Butler, Pennsylvania.

As we get these details, we want to discuss with CNN senior law enforcement analyst, Charles Ramsey.

Sir, thank you so much for being with us.

Investigators have gotten considerable insight into the shooter's mindset from his Internet searches. But again, they don't have a specific motive that they've identified. What do you make of that?

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, first of all, it's not that unusual not to be able to come up with a definitive motive in a case like this.

The shooter is dead. And unless he leaves behind something in writing or he spoke with someone or what have you, it's very difficult to actually come up with a precise motive.

And that's exactly what they're trying to do now. I'm sure they've gone through as digital footprint to find out what's going on. They interviewed family, interviewed friends to see whether or not he gave any indication as to what he was going to do and why he was going to do it.

So they've got a lot of information, but it's not unusual to have difficulty of not ever finding a motive.

SANCHEZ: Chief Ramsey, this is the FBI's first briefing since getting a victim impact statement from former President Trump. How is that used in an investigation like this?

RAMSEY: One more piece of the puzzle. And remember, he's not the only victim. You had other victims in this case, too. And so they -- well, one is deceased, of course, but another that was wounded, other people that we're witnesses.

All those -- all that information is very, very useful in trying to piece together the case. It won't necessarily lead them to a motive. But that's part of an investigative process that takes place in, not only a high-profile case like this, but in homicides in general.

SANCHEZ: There we're members of Congress earlier this week, who we're visiting the site in Butler. They're investigating the incident, this bipartisan task force. How is that investigation going to be different from the FBI's?

RAMSEY: Well, hopefully, it remains objective and doesn't become partisan. And I know it's a bipartisan group that's conducting the investigation.

But the investigation that really will lead to some concrete information, in my opinion, would be that conducted by the FBI. There may be some additional information that may come out of the congressional inquiry and they should certainly go ahead and do it.

Because, again, we can't have anything like this happen again, not just this election season, but at any point in time. I mean, we have very high-profile elected officials -- Secret Service has responsibility for maintaining the safety and security of the president, vice president, the candidates.

And they just -- something happened and they just didn't do it. And so someone has to take a deep dive into this to find out, is this a procedural error? What kind of mistakes were made? How do we correct them?

The congressional inquiry will really be of some benefit, but it's the criminal investigation that I think is the one that would lead to any kind of motive or more concrete information about the shooter himself.

SANCHEZ: Chief Charles Ramsey, we have to leave the conversation there.

Appreciate your time, sir.

RAMSEY: That's OK. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Thanks.

[13:44:43]

For all your parents -- rather, for all you parents feeling overwhelmed and burnt out from the busy pace of life, the surgeon general says that parental stress is becoming a real public health concern. Up next, he will join us live to talk about this new advisory and how to help. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Today, the U.S. surgeon general is calling for support for parents overwhelmed by the dizzying pace of the world. A new advisory lays out recommendations for bosses and for Congress, like a national paid family leave and medical program.

KEILAR: And it's not just policy changes. Dr. Vivek Murthy argues that we need a culture shift.

[13:50:00]

Quote, "Stress, loneliness and exhaustion can easily affect people's mental health and well-being. And we know that the mental health of parents has a direct impact on the mental health of children. Something has to change. It begins with fundamentally shifting how we value parenting," he writes.

And he is with us now, the surgeon general, Dr. Dr. Vivek Murthy.

I was saying to you in the commercial, I go, "I feel seen." I think a lot of parents totally understand this and that there's a connection here.

What do you see contributing so much to parental stress?

VIVEK MURTHY, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: Well, I'll just say, from the outset, parental stress is real and it's widespread and we don't always see it because parents don't always talk about it.

And very often when I encounter parents across the country, they're talking to me about their kids' challenges, not about their own. But in my work on youth mental health, I came to see very quickly that not only are parents struggling, but they're struggling at surprising levels.

And 48 percent of parents are saying that they, on most days, feel completely overwhelmed by stress, 48 percent of parents. That's compared to 26 percent of other adults.

So that tells us we've got a real challenge. And there's a lot that's driving that. You know, parents are -- they're not only contending with the usual stressors that come with being a parent, like about finances and safety.

But they're also worried about how to manage social media and phones for their kids, something that my parents didn't have to worry about. They're trying to figure out how to contend with a youth mental health crisis and a loneliness epidemic that are hitting kids really hard right now.

So you put all of that together with this really pernicious culture of comparison that has been amplified by social media that makes parents often feel like they are constantly comparing themselves to other parents and falling short.

And you've got a recipe for these struggles that parents are experiencing today.

SANCHEZ: You describe it as a culture of comparison. And it's interesting how it not only affects parents but their kids as well. And that's how you got to the conclusion that parents we're being affected.

You write, quote, "Parents who feel pushed to the brink deserve more than platitudes. They need tangible support."

What -- what does that look like?

MURTHY: Well, here's where this is coming from. I don't think there's anybody who would disagree that parenting is important to the country. But there's a difference between saying something is important and making it a priority.

And if we're going to really make supporting parents a priority, then we've got to have a major culture shift in our country, such that we see parenting as central to the health and well-being of society.

Parent well-being is not just a moment for parents, but the mental health of parents affects the mental health of kids. And if we want to raise kids who are healthy and strong and, you know, create a foundation for our future, that we should care about parenting.

And that's got to drive changes in three areas in policies, in community programs and individual-action policies. We need more leave for parents so that they can take time off to be with a sick kid, for example.

We need parents to be able to get access to affordable childcare, to high-quality mental health care for themselves and their kids.

And on a programmatic level in workplaces, we need not just cultures and policies that support parents, providing predictable schedules, for example, that allow them to accommodate work-life demands.

But finally, I want to say, never forget about the individual actions that we can take. All of us know parents in our life, most likely. We may not know that those parents are struggling.

But in understanding the numbers that we do now we know that many parents are. So simply showing up for those parents to check on them, to remind them that they're not alone, to offer to help run an errand for them or to watch their kid for a short period of time so they can just simply sit down, breathe, take a shower, get a bite to eat.

These seem like small things, but they go a long way toward helping parents feel supported and seen.

KEILAR: Yes, feeling like you have a safety net sometimes is enough. And you don't always have to fall back on it, if you want to sort of crowd-source with some of your friends or your neighbors.

You're taking kind of an interesting approach as surgeon general. I wonder if you can talk about it because you have advisories on social media, youth mental health, loneliness, firearm violence, now -- now this, parental distress, if I can call it that.

How would you kind of characterize this -- this approach? It's a little different.

MURTHY: It's a little different because when I began my first term as surgeon general, about almost 10 years ago now, you know, I was contending with the opioid crisis, with e-cigarettes, with a number of other more traditional challenges, per say.

But what I came to see really quickly was that we have a mental health crisis in our country that -- and that was true back in my first term, but even more true now.

So I've made much of my focus on mental health and well-being, and trying to understand fundamentally what is driving the deeper struggles that people are experiencing.

And that's what led us to focus on youth in the mental health crisis and on other factors that are driving it, like loneliness and social media.

And what's happening with parents is one part of that broader puzzle that we've got to solve as a country.

SANCHEZ: Doctor, we only have a few seconds left, but I'm really curious about where you think this is headed if there isn't the shift that you're talking about, this epidemic of loneliness, specifically.

MURTHY: Well, if we continue down the path of increasing loneliness and isolation, we're going to see that manifest in both depression and anxiety and suicide, but also in the physical health complaints that we know are associated with loneliness, heart disease, dementia, premature death.

[13:55:09]

The bottom line is that we've got to start seeing mental health as health as no less important than our physical health. And if we can attend to both our mental and physical health, then we have a good chance of being happy, healthy and fulfilled.

And that's what we all want for ourselves and especially for our kids.

KEILAR: Dr. Murthy, it's great to have you. Thank you for joining us in studio for this conversation.

MURTHY: I'm so glad we did this.

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KEILAR: So am I.

CNN is getting an exclusive inside look at Iran's hacking operation. We're going to take you inside this multi-year scheme that targets the Trump and Biden administrations.

Plus, why intel agencies are on edge over this unpredictable wildcard in the 2024 race.

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