Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Police Arrest Suspected CEO Killer In Pennsylvania; Assad's Fall In Syria Sparks Fears Of Power Vacuum, ISIS Resurgence; Hegseth Back On Capitol Hill For Critical Meetings With GOP Senators; Kash Patel, Trump Pick For FBI Director, Meeting Today With GOP Senators; Jay-Z Accused Of Sexually Assaulting 13-Year-Old With Sean "Diddy" Combs. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired December 09, 2024 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: -- other industry competitors as well, that this individual is now taken off the street and no longer poses a threat.

But there is always the big question about the potential, you know, so-called copycat, people who see what this person did. Maybe they concur with the motives here if this actually ends up being someone who was essentially railing against the health care industry.

And so that is something that requires that both the private sector and law enforcement obviously keep their guards up. As we we're reporting after that initial shooting, that UnitedHealth and other health care CEOs had their security bolstered.

The way this works is a lot of these companies have their own private in-house security. Others may contract with private security firms that specialize in executive protection.

And so there is this question about, you know, what type of security do these high-profile people have around them, particularly with this threat kind of lingering out there.

And of course, as you know, we've been looking online, and so many social media platforms have become unwieldy to begin with as of late, but there have been a lot of vile comments out there.

Everything ranging from people saying, yes, you know, I agree, to others, you know, posting images of other people that are in the industry. Just really vile stuff.

And so for law enforcement and these security companies, what they're trying to look for, you know, as in any investigation or threat assessment, is two things essentially, intent and capability.

You know, there are a lot of people out there who may intend to cause some kind of harm, who don't actually have the capability to do so. But when you have those two aspects married up, that could actually present a potential threat. And to be sure, this is not an easy, you know, investigative operation

for any law enforcement agency. There's this mantra in law enforcement that "action beats reaction."

The potential suspect acts, and the law enforcement, you know, then has to respond. And you know coupled with the fact that law enforcement in this country, you know, maybe contrary to what people may think, can't just troll social media without some kind of authorized investigative purpose. And so it is a challenge.

And this, you know, particularly in this period, where you have this person, who we now are getting some sense of what the potential motive is, could there be people who have that same, you know, mindset and may try to do something of their own?

It's a challenge for security industry folks. It's certainly a challenge for law enforcement -- Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: It certainly is.

Josh, thank you so much for that.

Boris?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Turning our attention now to major news overseas, a new era begins today in Syria with rebel forces now in control of that country.

Just moments ago, Syria's prime minister under Bashar Al-Assad agreed to formally hand over power to his rebel counterpart. The ousted president has fled to his longtime ally, Russia, where he and his family have been granted asylum by the Kremlin.

While the U.S. is welcoming the end of Assad's brutal regime, there are major concerns about who now fills the vacuum, and whether ISIS or other terror groups will try to exploit a chaotic situation.

The U.S. military says it struck 75 ISIS targets in Syria in the hours after the rebels took over.

With us now to discuss is CNN military analyst and retired Air Force colonel, Cedric Leighton.

Colonel, thank you so much for being with us.

What do we know about this rebel group? Their vision for Syria and what they've promised?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, that's actually a great question, Boris. So let's start with the leader of this rebel group, HTS, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

His name is Mohammad Al-Jolani. He was a jihadist in Iraq starting in 2003. And during the period from 2006 to 2011, he was actually imprisoned by the U.S. in several different places. One of them, Abu Ghraib prison. He moved back to Syria in 2011 upon his release, set up an al Qaeda

affiliate in Syria. Then he split from al Qaeda to form HTS.

And then by the time we get into 2023, he'd been organizing this group for quite some time. He conducted some operations, first, against al Qaeda and then against ISIS.

And he killed one of the former leaders of ISIS during this period.

SANCHEZ: What can you tell us about the ISIS footprint in this area? Because obviously, it is still a concern not just for the United States, but for the world.

LEIGHTON: Absolutely. So this is -- this is actually very interesting because everybody thinks about ISIS as being a defeated entity right now. And that's -- it's true that they were defeated, but they are still in existence.

So places like this, right in here, in the Syrian desert, all these places that are marked in the striped fashion, are areas in which ISIS fighters can actually be found.

And these we're the targets that the U.S. hit yesterday in their effort to basically suppress their activities in the eastern desert here in Syria.

SANCHEZ: Colonel, I'm also curious about this prison that's been the focus, not only of concern inside Syria, but international concern as well.

I believe the U.N., or rather Amnesty International, called it a slaughterhouse during the Assad regime. What can you tell us about this prison?

LEIGHTON: Yes, this kind of evokes -- these are some pretty graphic images. In some cases, those were prosthetics that we see here.

And here we have some of the Syrian rebels poring over documents, looking to find out exactly where different cells are and potentially where different prisoners are who were executed.

[14:35:04]

So this prison was a place of torture. The Syrian Secret Services under Assad, they had various torture techniques that they had perfected.

And one of the things that they included were mass executions of their political prisoners. And they did things that were really heinous by any stretch of the imagination.

So one of the things that the rebels are doing is they're trying to figure out what happened to a lot of the Syrians that were imprisoned during this time.

SANCHEZ: Colonel, not a surprise that Assad fled to Russia. Vladimir Putin was one of Bashar Al-Assad's few allies in the world.

But what does this mean for Russia? Because Syria was obviously an important ally to them in the region?

LEIGHTON: Absolutely. So one of the key things that you have to look at, for Russia, they have a couple of bases here, one in Tartus and another one in -- near latakia.

This is an air base. This is a naval base. The idea here, control the eastern Mediterranean or at least have the facilities to do that.

The other thing is that Syria, including these bases, plus bases that the Syrians operate around Damascus and several other places, were used as logistics hubs for the Russians to move stuff into Africa.

Same thing for the Iranians to influence other areas in the Middle East, including over here in Lebanon.

So this becomes a huge deal. Both Iran and Russia are now impeded in terms of their operations and their ability to control events, not only in the Middle East, but beyond that in Africa and other places as well.

SANCHEZ: Yes, a significant blow to that crew. It will be curious to see what happens next.

Colonel Cedric Leighton, appreciate your analysis as always. Thanks so much.

LEIGHTON: Thanks, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Next, just days after President-Elect Trump said that January 6th investigators should be jailed, his FBI pick, who has suggested the same, is on Capitol Hill trying to win enough votes for confirmation. What we're hearing about his meetings in just moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:41:35]

KEILAR: Right now, President-Elect Trump's pick for FBI director, Kash Patel, is meeting with Republican Senators on Capitol Hill.

The fierce Trump loyalist, who went from being a mid-level Justice Department lawyer under President Obama to become a member of the National Security Council in Trump's first administration, has vowed to go after Trump's perceived enemies, from the president-elect's political foes to people in the media.

We should note that the current FBI director, Christopher Wray, who would have to be pushed out of the job before his 10-year term is up in order to be replaced by Patel, still has that job.

CNN's Manu Raju is with us now from Capitol Hill.

A lot going on where you are there, Manu. We're going to get to Patel here in just a minute.

But you also just spoke with Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick for secretary of defense. What did you learn?

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this was after a critical meeting with Senator Joni Ernst. She is considered a swing vote on the GOP side.

She's a member of the Senate Armed Services committee. And she is someone who's getting a ton of attention from the Trump team and from Hegseth himself.

In fact, Hegseth met with Ernst last week and spoke to Ernst over the weekend. And today was back in her office here meeting with her for about half an hour. And that meeting just wrapped up.

I mean, Ernst, remember, is -- she is a combat veteran. She is someone who has experienced sexual assault herself and pushed to reform how sexual assault claims are dealt with within the Pentagon.

And Pete Hegseth, as we know, has been accused of sexual assault. He has denied those claims. But that was supposed to be a topic, sexual assault and women in the military, were expected to come up in this meeting.

Hegseth has previously espoused opposition to women serving in combat. So how that was resolved is an open question.

I did ask Hegseth, as he was coming out, just to provide the lay of the land on this meeting, and he indicated that it went well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Can you shed some light on your conversation with Joni Ernst?

SEN. PETE HEGSETH, TRUMP'S DEFENSE SECRETARY NOMINEE: It was a very good meeting with the Senator. You know, the more you spend -- I've known her for 10-years. The more we -- we talk, the more we're reminded of, as two combat veterans, how dedicated we are to defense.

And she has been dedicated to making the Pentagon work for war fighters for a long time. We've had great extensive conversations about that.

And I just appreciate her commitment to the process. And we look forward to working together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: It's unclear exactly the specifics on their exchange though, Brianna, and whether or not they discussed -- what they discussed about sexual assault, about his views on how that should be dealt with in the military, his own personal -- the allegations that he has faced, and the like in his own personal opposition in the past on women in combat.

But that's one of the questions we'll ask Senator Ernst as she leaves this office, if she's satisfied and if she's ready to support him.

KEILAR: Yes, very interesting there.

And what do we know about Kash Patel meetings, Manu? Do you know whether he's being asked about Trump's threat to jail January 6th investigators, which is something that Patel has been -- has mused about?

RAJU: Well, we know Republicans have met with them. Senator John Cornyn, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, was asked about this today. He sort of didn't say specifically if that specific aspect came up.

But he said he wanted to urge Patel to ensure that the Justice Department acts professionally and not politically, and so it doesn't engage in political interference of sorts.

[14:45:08]

So we'll get a better sense later today as he meets with more Senators this afternoon -- Brianna?

KEILAR: All right, Manu, thank you so much for that.

Jay-Z has filed a brand-new legal motion after being accused of raping a teenager with Sean "Diddy" Combs. Hear what he wants a judge to do.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:50:00]

KEILAR: Music mogul, Jay Z. Carter, has been named in a rape lawsuit filed against Sean "Diddy" Combs. The suit, originally filed solely against Combs in October, was refiled this month and claims that Carter, along with Combs, raped a then-13-year-old girl after a video awards show in 2000.

Carter has asked the court to publicly identify the anonymous accuser or drop the suit, saying he deserves to know who is accusing him. He is vehemently denying the accusations.

And as CNN entertainment correspondent, Elizabeth Wagmeister reports, the music and business mogul had some choice words for the plaintiff's attorney.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Jay-Z has been revealed as one of the mystery celebrities that was mentioned in one of the civil suits against Sean ""Diddy"" Combs.

This suit was originally filed back in October, in which a woman, who says that she was then a 13-year-old girl in the year 2000, said that she was raped by Sean Combs and also another anonymous male celebrity.

Now that case has been amended to actually name Jay-Z in the suit. Jay-Z has come out swinging, denying these claims in a lengthy statement, which is very rare coming from Jay-Z, who is an incredibly private star.

I obtained this statement from his team last night, and he wrote this himself. I want to read you part of it.

He says, "These allegations are so heinous in nature that I implore you to file a criminal complaint, not a civil one. Whomever would commit such a crime against a minor should be locked away. Would you not agree?"

He goes on to say that "these alleged victims would deserve real justice if that we're the case."

Now, that part of the statement is actually directed towards the plaintiff's attorney, whose name is Tony Buzbee. Jay-Z is saying that he is being extorted and he is being blackmailed by Buzbee, who he says was just trying to settle privately to get money.

Now, I reached out to Buzbee and he has denied these extortion claims ever since Jay-Z sued him back in November, claiming extortion.

Now, last night, Buzbee told me, "The pleading speaks for itself. This is a very serious matter that will be litigated in court."

Now much more to come on this matter.

But I have also reached out to a representative for Beyonce, of course, Jay-Zs wife. No comment there yet.

But in his statement, where he denied the sexual assault allegations from a then-minor, Jay-Z did say that he is heartbroken for his family. And said that he and his wife, of course, Beyonce, are going to have to talk to their kids who are now going to see these allegations in the press.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Our thanks to Elizabeth Wagmeister for that report.

Let's dig deeper now with defense attorney, Misty Marris.

Misty, thanks so much for sharing part of your afternoon with us.

In a statement to CNN, Jay-Z questioned why a civil complaint was being brought rather than a criminal prosecution, given what he called the heinous nature of the crime. Why is civil suit in this case?

MISTY MARRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: So in this case, this was brought by Tony Buzbee. This is a civil lawsuit that's been resurrected under a New York City law that allows for cases of sexual assault to be brought into the court, even though they would have normally been barred by the statute of limitations. So we saw this with another statewide statute called the Adult

Survivor Act. This is the New York City gender-motivated violence act. So civil suits of this nature, that would have been time barred, are now being brought into the forefront.

So that's why we see this coming into the courtroom as a civil lawsuit.

SANCHEZ: And, Misty, Jay-Z filed a motion asking for the accuser's identity to be made public or to have the case dismissed. How do you expect the judge is going to rule?

MARRIS: Well, I'm not surprised to see the motion to dismiss. Of course, we know that Jay-Z, although, we just publicly learned of this with the most recent amended complaint, this filing, this began as a pre-litigation, meaning pre-publicly filed complaint demand letter.

So he and his lawyers have been aware that these allegations were out there for a decent amount of time. And so there's been some strategy as to how to proceed.

So the case, he's made a motion to dismiss. He said the case is frivolous. He said that this was just a money grab essentially.

And then, if the court will not dismiss the case, the next step would be for this individual to identify herself. That would be the plaintiff.

Now, these cases do not generally get resolved on motions to dismiss. I would not expect Jay-Z's motion to be successful. It will be a case that will play out in the courtroom.

However, there's been other case law, other cases relating to "Diddy" where the accusers, who are moving forward anonymously, have been directed by the court to identify themselves and so their name would appear in the caption.

[13:55:06]

That will be up to judicial discretion. Because this individual was 13, horrific allegations, it's possible that she would be -- she would be successful trying to proceed anonymously in the court in the Southern District.

SANCHEZ: You noted something interesting, and that -- and that is something we heard from Tony Buzbee. He argued that, if Jay-Z was trying to hide his identity, he wouldn't have put this statement out.

Do you think that in the process of going through this case, his name was necessarily going to be revealed unless there was a finding of liability?

MARRIS: Yes. So usually, the way these cases play out -- and this was it started pre-suit, they we're unable to resolve.

Tony Buzbee, in his statement, said that Jay-Z was invited to pre-suit mediation. That's where these cases are settled before they're publicly filed.

Now, we know, and Elizabeth laid it out there, was a filing made by Jay-Z under a pseudonym of John Doe. That's before this publicly filed complaint, adding Jay-Zs name was out there in the ether.

And so he proceeded on that John Doe motion trying to stop this from ever making its way into the courtroom. That was obviously not successful. And now it's going to proceed in the court of law.

He's been publicly identified. So this case is pretty much on the fast track to litigation. And we'll learn more about it as discovery, depositions and all of those aspects unfold.

SANCHEZ: Yes, really a surprising story. It will be interesting to see what comes next.

Misty Marris, thank you so much for the perspective.

MARRIS: Thank you.

Stay with NEWS CENTRAL. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)