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Interview with Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH): Pete Hegseth's Meeting with Three Critical Senators Today; IDF Confiscated Syrian Tanks and Weapons Along Buffer Zone; Two Families Sue Character.AI Over Youth Safety Concerns; Missing Kayaker Who Faked His Death Now in Police Custody. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired December 11, 2024 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The biggest employer in the country, there's something like two million service members plus hundreds of thousands of civilian employees and contractors, he was criticized by several former colleagues spanning years in different organizations for having issues related to financial mismanagement, sexism, and alcohol abuse. Do you think that there's a candidate out there who perhaps has more managerial qualifications and doesn't have those lingering accusations that would have a better chance of getting confirmed?

REP. WARREN DAVIDSON (R-OH), FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: Yes, we don't need a manager, we need a leader. And anyone can find an excuse, leaders find a way. Pete Hegseth's going to find a way to get the military focused on its mission.

He came direct from combat experience, not in any other unit, in line infantry units. He served in line infantry units in combat, and that's the kind of laser focus that we need in our military. We currently have a Secretary of Defense who led in combat, but now his Secretary of Defense thinks the biggest threat to national security is climate change.

Go work at NOAA, go work at the EPA, but don't lead our military. We need a military that's laser focused on its mission to be able to fight and win wars. And when they're strong and lethal and focused, they deter wars and they equip the State Department for success.

Right now, they've been undermined at every turn. And Biden administration's picked weak leaders. They've shown a weak presence on the world stage. They've evacuated 11 embassies during this administration, and it's time for change. Donald Trump is going to be the leader we need as Commander-in-Chief, and he's picked somebody he trusts from the outside.

Remember, same thing, he tried the insiders, tried Mad Dog Mattis, didn't get reform, tried the insider lobbyist guy, Mark Esper, didn't get reform, so he's going with a proven outsider. Pete Hegseth will get the reform we need.

SANCHEZ: Congressman Warren Davidson, we have to leave the conversation there. We appreciate you sharing your perspective with us.

DAVIDSON: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Still ahead, fighting for control of Syria now that Assad is gone. We look at what the dictator's fall means for the future of this country.

[15:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Days after the fall of the brutal Assad regime, Secretary of State Tony Blinken just told lawmakers he is not confident that the rebel's leader will keep his word about protecting minority religious groups. Blinken will be traveling to Jordan and Turkey today for talks on Syria.

Meanwhile, Israel continues to strike Syrian military targets. The IDF releasing also video of what it says are Syrian tanks that they confiscated along the buffer zone in southern Syria.

We have CNN military analyst, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton joining us now. And we're learning about some fighting in the north near Kobani. This is between the mostly Kurdish U.S.-allied Syrian Defense Forces and pro-Turkish groups. They're oppositional here. What dangers does that pose during this transition period?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: So this is a huge danger, Brianna, and basically we're talking about fighting in these areas right in here. And this part right here, these are the allies of Turkey. These are Kurdish and Syrian forces that are allied with Turkey in these particular areas right along the Turkish border.

The U.S. forces are along mostly with the Kurdish forces, the SDF, the Syrian Democratic Forces are in this area of northeastern Syria. And any fighting that occurs between these groups is, of course, detrimental not only to the U.S.'s ability to keep everything going in terms of the anti-ISIS mission, but it's also very important from the force protection standpoint for U.S. forces.

KEILAR: Yes, we have to remember there are hundreds of U.S. forces in the region. And at the entrance to the city of Raqqa, there was a scene, this U.S. convoy, that's not entirely unusual, but it just drives home how this can impact them.

LEIGHTON: Yes, absolutely. And so this is what these troops do day in, day out. They're on patrol throughout the area, trying to basically not only keep the peace, but also make sure that the SDF, the Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurdish forces stay not only intact, but that they're focused on the anti-ISIS mission.

KEILAR: And the SDF is saying that there were strikes there, right? They're saying that there were some strikes there from the pro-Turkish group?

LEIGHTON: Yes, that is true. There were some strikes basically in these areas right along the demarcation line between the two groups. And that is significant because it could mean that there are some issues with the SDF maintaining control here.

KEILAR: And there's just so many moving parts, right? So we have to understand what that can mean. For instance, Monday, the SDF accidentally shot down a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone. They thought it was Turkish and that they were -- they didn't realize they were going after basically sort of what the material that was helping them. It's pretty interesting that this kind of thing is happening.

LEIGHTON: Yes, absolutely. And it's very easy to have problems de- conflicting different aircraft, especially unmanned aircraft, if you're not used to seeing them on your radar screen. The MQ-9 Reaper is basically a hunter-killer plus intelligence gathering unmanned aircraft.

We use it all over the Middle East, and it's a key component to really doing the kinds of things that we do. And they can take pictures like this, where you can see post-strike activity from the Israelis, where they actually took out some helicopters in this airbase that was near Damascus. So these are the kinds of things that could be seen by the Reaper. And if you take that out, then there's a problem with our ability to collect information as well.

[15:40:00]

KEILAR: And then one of the other moving parts, of course, is Israel. They've done hundreds of strikes on Syrian military targets. Tell us about that, and if their objectives here are very much aligned with the U.S. or if there's any parts that don't overlap.

LEIGHTON: Well, there are probably a few parts that actually don't overlap. So we have at least 480 strikes as of Tuesday that the Israelis mounted in these areas. And you have, in essence, this area right around here is the big focus area for the Israelis.

And when you look at the buffer zone itself, this is the area that the Israelis are really active in right now. This is what they're trying to clean up.

KEILAR: All right, Cedric, thank you so much. It is a lot to wrap your head around, and we definitely need your help doing it. We appreciate it.

LEIGHTON: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: Still ahead, a new lawsuit is asking a court to shut down a popular AI chat bot. It alleges that the platform implied to a teenager that he could kill his parents for limiting his screen time. The lawyer leading that lawsuit will join us live next.

[15:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: The chatbot company Character.AI is now facing a second lawsuit. Two more families accused the company of encouraging their children to self-harm and commit violence. They're asking a court to shut the platform down.

This comes after a Florida mom brought a separate lawsuit against Character.AI in October, claiming the platform was to blame for her 14-year-old son's death after it allegedly encouraged his suicide. A spokesperson for Character.AI says it doesn't comment on pending litigation.

But it did write, quote: We are creating a fundamentally different experience for teen users from what is available to adults. This includes a model specifically for teens that reduces the likelihood of encountering sensitive or suggestive content while preserving their ability to use the platform.

Joining us now is Matthew Bergman, who represents plaintiffs in the Character.AI lawsuit. He's also the founding attorney with the legal advocacy group Social Media Victims Law Center. Sir, thank you so much for being with us.

What is it exactly that you are alleging Character.AI is liable for? How have they harmed your clients and their loved ones?

MATTHEW P. BERGMAN, LAWYER REPRESENTING PLAINTIFFS IN CHARACTER.AI LAWSUIT: Well, they have harmed our clients by creating these false characters, luring adolescents into a false sense of security, and encouraging them to commit heinous acts of self-harm to themselves and harm to others. This is not an accident, this is not a coincidence, this is what the product is designed to do, and it needs to be taken off the market until it can ensure the public that it's safe.

SANCHEZ: You believe Character.AI is designed to lure teens into committing self-harm?

BERGMAN: Character.AI is designed, first of all, to attract teens, and if you look at how the bots work, it is very much geared toward advocating self-harm. This child, this 15, 16-year-old child, was affirmatively directed with content telling him -- content generated by Character.AI telling him to cut himself, telling him to harm himself, telling him to forget his religious faith, and telling him to murder his parents. It's right there in the complaint. It's hard to believe, but it's right there.

SANCHEZ: I imagine that a counter-argument might be that, just like with any other potentially hazardous content or material, that parents are ultimately responsible for what their kids consume. How would you say that's different in this case?

BERGMAN: Well, in this case, parents, and in many cases, parents are actively trying to control their kids' social media use. This family didn't allow their child on social media, unbeknownst to him. Without any age verification or without any parental consent, Character.AI engaged with this child, and they did not know that he was engaging with Character.AI until they physically removed the phone from him.

And even then, the platform was designed to be difficult -- to make it difficult for parents to detect what their kids are doing online. Parents, of course, have a responsibility, but they're paddling uphill.

SANCHEZ: So the parents were not aware that the kids were engaging with Artificial Intelligence. Were they aware of any of the other previous issues that this company and other AI chatbots have had?

BERGMAN: They were not. It was not until the filing of the Garcia case involving the Sewell Setzer, who took his life, that the mother even realized that there was a bot here that was engaging in these terrible acts.

SANCHEZ: And quickly, Matthew, what would you like to see the company do?

BERGMAN: I'd like to see them shut it down. It has no business in the hands of young people. There is nothing good that can accrue to a young person from being online.

They need to shut it down until they can prove that only people 18 and older are using it. It is a clear and present danger to young people in America. It needs to be shut down, and it needs to be shut down before no more kids suffer the kind of harms that we're seeing here.

SANCHEZ: Matthew Bergman, it really is a cutting edge, unprecedented case. We appreciate you sharing your insights on it, and we hope you'll come back to discuss whatever comes out of the court case.

BERGMAN: Well, thank you very much.

SANCHEZ: Up next, that kayaker who faked his death and abandoned his family has returned from Europe and turned himself into police in Wisconsin. He was actually just in court.

[15:50:02]

The latest right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: A man accused of faking his own drowning and then abandoning his family and fleeing to Europe is now in police custody in Wisconsin. That's according to a county sheriff's office there. Investigators today offered compelling new details about Ryan Borgwardt's escape, plan, and motivations for the whole scheme.

KEILAR: CNN law enforcement correspondent Whitney Wild is following these developments after an update from county officials. This has been such a wild story. What can you tell us?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think that is the perfect way to put it.

[15:55:00] So let me just back up and give people an understanding of what happened because it's pretty complicated and it unfolded over a couple of weeks.

So on August 11th, Ryan Borgwardt, a Wisconsin man, drove about an hour north of his home and pretended to go fishing in a lake called Green Lake. It's the deepest lake in Wisconsin.

He intended to fake a drowning. So what he did was he tipped over his kayak. He dumped his cell phone, dumped a tackle box, dumped a fishing pole in the water, and then he took off on an e-bike.

And then he took his e-bike to a bus, the bus to a plane to Toronto. And then he flew, according to a criminal complaint we got in just minutes ago, flew from Toronto to Paris, where he then boarded another flight to Asia. Investigators are not saying which country he traveled to, only saying that he landed in Asia.

Again, this is coming from this criminal complaint we just got in. Here's a quote.

Ryan stated at the airport he sent an email to an adult female that he had arrived. He waited about an hour for her to come pick him up. And once she picked him up, they went to a hotel for a couple of days.

This search has been going on, obviously, for several months. In November, law enforcement was able to contact him, Brianna and Boris. They were able to get a video that showed he was alive and that he was OK. Over that month, they tried to establish this really strong rapport, trying to convince him to come home. Here's what the sheriff says happened next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF MARK PODOLL, GREEN LAKE COUNTY, WISCONSIN: On December 10th, Ryan arrived on U.S. soil. He was then booked into the correctional facility and is awaiting his initial court appearance. And in one of my press conferences, I said, could be a really good Christmas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: What they have been trying to do this whole time, Brianna and Boris, is appeal to his heart, saying you can come home. Your family will forgive you. Come home. At least be there for your kids for Christmas. Apparently, that empathy worked because he came on his own, turned himself in to the sheriff's office yesterday, guys.

KEILAR: Yes. And look, these law enforcement officials have been working with this family, who has just been obviously distraught, especially those kids you can only imagine. And I think we saw that emotion come out there.

Whitney Wild, thank you so much. We'll be right back with more news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KEILAR: And finally today, the annual Nikon Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards. They're not the overall winner out of 9,000 entries, the most in contest history.

SANCHEZ: This is the winner.

[16:00:00]

Stuck Squirrel by Milko Marchetti, taken in Italy. Marchetti said he caught the exact moment when the red squirrel let his back legs free from the tree to enter inside of it. Some of the other winners include Back Off My Bird, a couple of penguins that looked like they were about to get into fisticuffs, and an eagle whose feathers were very much ruffled.

Looks like me at the end of three hours of CNN NEWS CENTRAL. This is the 10th year for the contest. It's always fun to watch.

KEILAR: Always fun. And "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts now.