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Woman Admits She Lied About Duke Lacrosse Players Raping Her; Growing Number Of Unexplained Drone Sightings In New York City Area; Canadian Official Threatens To Cut Off Energy To United States. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired December 13, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:59]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Her allegations set off a national firestorm. And now, nearly two decades later, the woman who falsely accused three Duke lacrosse players of rape admits she lied.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: And unexplained drone sightings are now being reported in New York as lawmakers demand the FBI tell the public who is flying these mysterious, sometimes car sized objects.

Plus Canada hitting back Ontario's top leader threatening to cut off energy to the U.S. if President Elect Trump implements his promised tariffs. We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

KEILAR: We begin with the first ever public confession from the woman who falsely accused three Duke University lacrosse players of raping her nearly 20 years ago. Crystal Mangum now admits lying about the encounter, lies that ignited a national firestorm.

Mangum was an exotic dancer back in 2006 when she claimed that David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann raped her at a team party where she'd been hired to perform. The charges were later dropped and the men were exonerated but got no apology from their accuser. She had stuck by her story until now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRYSTAL MANGUM: I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn't and that was wrong. And I betrayed the trust of a lot of other people who believed in me and made up a story that wasn't true because I wanted validation from people and not from God. I hope that they can forgive me and I want them to know that I love them and they didn't deserve that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN's Jean Casarez reported on this case from the beginning and is with us now. Jean, what led to this confession after all these years? JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was a podcast, and she decided that she wanted to say this, but I think, Brianna, you said something very important just a minute ago. She has stuck by this story for 20 years almost.

And so there was always that, yes, they were exonerated, and they were exonerated for very plausible reasons. Her story changed. It was -- there was inconsistency. Right after she said that she was raped, she walked into a room and a picture was taken, big smile on her face. But more than that, the defense found that there was DNA and that that DNA on the thousands of pages -- and I learned this in the courtroom during the trial of the district attorney, which I'll get to in a second. But the DNA showed that they were excluded, the three Duke lacrosse players. But the prosecution never gave that evidence to the defense.

The case was going forward. They're going to be in prison for life, these three Duke lacrosse players who were students at Duke University and have promising futures. But once that occurred and they were exonerated, there was a trial of Mike Nifong, the District Attorney of Durham, and he was convicted on contempt charges and he lost his bar license.

But it came out that that DNA was there all the time. And it was the defense, a Defense Attorney that was young, that had just passed the bar, that stayed up night after night, looking at the evidence, he found that DNA issue right there, that they were actually excluded from the beginning. And the District Attorney had done many interviews standing by that she was horrendously raped, and her specifically, she had horrific allegations.

But I think, Brianna, they became household names.

[14:05:02]

Collin Finnerty, Dave Evans, you knew their names, you knew their pictures. And they have to live with that forever, even though they've been exonerated. And now there is an admittance that there was lying on the stand and she was never charged with perjury. She's in prison right now, by the way, on a murder -- on a murder conviction.

KEILAR: Yeah, Jean, it really is something to hear it from her. Jean Casarez, thank you so much. Boris.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Let's discuss the story with Defense Attorney Misty Marris. Misty, thanks so much for sharing part of your afternoon with us. So you just heard Jean say there that Mangum is currently incarcerated for second degree murder in a separate case. Could this admission potentially open the door for her to face charges over lying?

MISTY MARRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, the issue is that the statute of limitations has long passed. It's a two year statute of limitations for perjury. And the District Attorney back at the time declared declined to bring those charges because there was an issue regarding her mental state and potential competency. So at this point, that door is closed.

SANCHEZ: I know that the accused players settled significant lawsuits with Duke University and the city of Durham. Do they now have standing to file civil charges against her even though there may not really be financial considerations given that she's imprisoned?

MARRIS: Right, Boris, a great point. And again, the same issue applies. This would be a perfect case for a defamation lawsuit because she's admitted to lying back at the time about something which is obviously harmful to an individual's reputation. But again, the statute of limitations on that has also passed, given the age of these allegations and the age of the case.

SANCHEZ: So beyond the obvious public humiliation that she's enduring now, is there any other avenue for her to be held accountable for altering the course of these young men, now adults, lives?

MARRIS: The one thing that an attorney could look at is when she has made her last representations about what happened that night. Because as Jean said, she had stuck with her story for almost 20 years. But when did she affirmatively last said that in the public sphere that these individuals had raped her? And that would be an avenue to see if there was a way to have a statute of limitations issue extinguished because it had been republished or published at a time more recent in the recent past?

SANCHEZ: Sure. And Misty, you could also argue that it wasn't just the men who were accused that may have been harmed by her lying. I wonder if you think that this case and cases like it have had a chilling effect on actual victims of rape and sexual assault. Are there broader ramifications here?

MARRIS: It is the worst part of a false allegation because all of the very, very real situations that are out there and the real victims are undercut by these false allegations because it just puts increased scrutiny on every single case. So absolutely there is a chilling effect and it is a broader issue. And so the fact that she's now at least come clean and made this representation publicly, at the very least it could -- it could continue to open the door for real victims to step forward and not have fear of reprisal.

SANCHEZ: Misty Marris, always appreciate your perspective. Thanks for joining us.

MARRIS: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Brianna.

KEILAR: Now, to the growing mystery over drones spotted in the skies over New Jersey and New York. People in the New York metro area are now reporting a growing number of these drone sightings in their communities. And it follows a wave of mysterious drone appearances in the skies over nearby New Jersey for the past several weeks.

The White House and the FBI say that there is no evidence the drones pose a national security threat or that they have a foreign connection. But the feds have given no explanations as to what they are, where they're coming from, or who is launching them. And frustrated lawmakers have gone from asking questions to demanding answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOSH GOTTHEIMER, (D) NEW JERSEY: Based on one of the briefings I've received from the FBI, which is the lead agency in the United States on drone threats, coupled with Homeland Security and the FAA, based on the information they have presented to date, I feel there's no imminent threat to public safety.

This is not some made up thing. The question I believe the FBI and DHS needs to brief the public on right now is what do they know where these drones are from? Are they authorized or unauthorized? Right? Are they licensed or unlicensed? Where are they from?

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KEILAR: Drones have been spotted in many areas of New Jersey, flying over homes, President Elect Trump's New Jersey golf course, and even sensitive government military sites. Here's what a New Jersey state assemblyman said this morning on CNN.

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PAUL KANITRA, (R) NEW JERSEY STATE ASSEMBLYMAN: So literally just before I came on Naval Weapons Station Earl, which is where some very serious machinery and ordinance is based on, confirmed that unmanned aerial drones were above their critical airspace recently. And that's on the heels of coming out of my district, the Coast Guard cutter that was trailed by about 12 drones and was harassing their crew. And they confirmed that to us as well. So there's very real incidents of this occurring.

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KEILAR: So far, the drones have been able to evade radar as well as police helicopters. But CNN's Polo Sandoval spoke to a leader at a private airspace security company about how investigators could track them.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: DHS and the FBI saying that thus far they have not been able to corroborate any drone sightings with electronic detection, I should say. So we did some digging into what that actually looks like and how that can actually happen.

I had an opportunity to speak to a representative of T-DRONE (ph), which is a private aerospace security company that basically helps their clients prevent and detect any unauthorized drone -- drone flights. That representative telling me that there are at least four ways that you can actually detect some of these flights.

The first, using radio frequency, you can actually pick up some of that chatter, some of that -- some of the signals that are sent to dispatch between the drone and the remote control on the ground, there are certainly cameras. A simple surveillance camera often does the trick, though with more advanced cases, more advanced technology is needed.

Radar, we all know how that works. And then finally, acoustics, you can quite literally use equipment to listen for some of these drones, though that representative told me that that is becoming less reliable since drone technology has evolved. And oftentimes these drones are much quieter. But overall, these are the kinds of resources that authorities on the ground in New Jersey, at the state and local level are asking the federal government to provide.

In fact, on Friday, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy sending a letter to President Biden. And in it, not only does he express growing concern about these drone sightings, but also is asking for more federal resources to be sent to New Jersey to help them try to get to the bottom of this. The Governor also adding that the residents in his state deserve more information.

That it's not enough to simply be told that this is not a matter of any sort of public security or public safety. They want to find out what's behind these drone sightings. And finally, the governor is saying, expressing concern about conspiracy theories that we have seen and heard for the last several days.

It was just a few days ago that there was an official that was publicly speaking out about this, saying that it was his theory that it was likely an Iranian mothership off the east coast that was sending these drones in. Of course, the Pentagon quickly denying that claim. Back to you.

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much to Polo Sandoval for that update.

What really stands out about some of these drones is their size. Some have been described as being as big as a car. CNN's Clare Duffy has new reporting on what these drones are typically used for. And Claire, the size of these drones, these aren't the ones that like hobbyists buy.

CLARE DUFFY, CNN WRITER: Yeah, Boris, I mean, of course officials are still trying to figure out what exactly these things are that people are seeing and whether they're drones at all. But these big drones do exist.

And in fact, experts told me that it could be the kind of thing a hobbyist could make or buy these sort of extra-large drones. But you need a special approval from the FAA to fly anything that weighs more than 55 pounds. And experts also told me that these larger drones can also cost tens of thousands of dollars.

So more often they are used for commercial or military applications. Companies can use these large drones for things like agricultural surveillance or to spray fields. They can also be used for infrastructure to survey buildings or roads or for mapping. Some law enforcement agencies are also using drones for search and rescue applications, although you don't necessarily need an extra- large one. These things can also be used for commercial transportation, like deliveries. And then of course, they can be used by the military for surveillance with very powerful cameras or infrared sensors.

But again, I want to stress that we don't necessarily know that any of these things are the case, that these are what are being spotted over New Jersey. But it's worth knowing that these larger drones do exist and that not all of the applications are scary things, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Clare Duffy, thank you so much for clarifying that for us.

Still to come, a Canadian official is now threatening possible retaliation if President Elect Donald Trump's proposed tariffs take effect. And it could have a big impact in several U.S. states.

Plus, Trump saying he's going to pardon -- he's going to start the pardon process for January 6th rioters within minutes of taking office. How might that play out? We have some brand new reporting to bring you.

And CNN is on the ground as Syrians search for missing loved ones taken prisoner during the Assad regime. Many, however, are only finding confirmation of long rumored horrors. Those important stories and much more still to come.

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SANCHEZ: A top Canadian official says he has something up his sleeve if President Elect Donald Trump makes good on his proposed 25% tariff threat, cutting off energy to the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG FORD, PREMIER OF ONTARIO AND CHAIR OF THE COUNCIL OF THE FEDERATION: We will go to the extent of cutting off their energy, going down to Michigan, going down to New York State and over to Wisconsin. I don't want this to happen, but my number one job is to protect Ontarians and Canadians as a whole. We'll use every tool in our toolbox, including cutting them off energy that we're sending down there.

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Folks, this is coming. It's not -- if it is, it's coming and it's coming January 20th or 21st. And we need to be prepared.

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SANCHEZ: Canadian Premier Doug Ford added that Americans would also feel the pain. CNN's Paula Newton is here with more details. Paula, how serious are these threats from Canada? PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, they're serious, but you have to keep in mind, Boris, look, he's the premier of Ontario. Anything like that would have to be approved by the prime minister himself. Having said that, that look, the war of words has started. Is that going to lead to a trade war? Everyone here in Canada is in fact prepared for a 25% tariff on many, many things, if not all exports to the United States.

And the Prime Minister himself, Trudeau has been categorical. That would be devastating for the Canadian economy. But what does it mean, you know, for Americans and the whole energy system? I want you to look at some facts. Even though Premier Ford there, he was talking about electricity specifically. But if we talk about electricity, we're talking about 84% of all of the electricity that the U.S. imports come from Canada.

But again, Boris, it's only about 1% of consumption. When we talk about oil, sure, 60% of the oil that the U.S. imports does come from Canada, but the United States has enough oil for the entire country.

What does this do more than anything, Boris, is it will have severe disruption to what is a highly integrated energy system between Canada and the United States. Doesn't matter if you're talking oil, electricity, natural gas. And what is that going to do? It's going to cause a little bit of chaos and disruption, but that's if it comes to this.

And how did we get here, Boris? Well, you know, President Elect Trump has said that, look, 25% tariffs, unless something is done about the border. He really wants to tackle fentanyl and human trafficking. To that end, the Canadian government has said that, look, they'll have a plan likely presented next week, about $700 million extra that'll go to helicopters, drones, intelligence, a lot of different things that the United States is looking for.

Now, look, to make his point, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau the day after Thanksgiving, went to Mar-a-Lago. He spoke one on one with the president and assured him, we hear you, we will do what we can on the border. But they did not come away with any guarantees that these tariffs, 25% on everything Canada imports to exports to the United States, he did not come away with that guarantee.

So what are they doing Boris, they're drafting a list, a list of retaliation. And Trudeau himself, he's the one who brought up energy. He brought up electricity. He brought up gas. He would then put, not stop supplies totally, but certainly perhaps put a tax on all oil or electricity or natural gas going into the United States. And that obviously, again, can cause significant disruption.

I want to tell you, Boris, look, a lot of things are on the table right now. And the point is that Canadian officials do not believe any of this will go away. They are taking the President Elect at his word. And they do expect some economic chaos to come by the end of January.

SANCHEZ: We'll be keeping a close eye on that. Paula Newton, thank you so much for the update. Brianna. KEILAR: President Elect Trump has repeatedly pledged to pardon January 6th rioters, but with roughly one month until inauguration, it's still unclear just how many will ultimately receive clemency. In a new interview, however, he says his decision will be made on a case by case basis. CNN's Chief Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid has more on the debate inside Trump's inner circle over how to handle these pardons.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, in speaking with sources, it's clear this is not going to be a traditional pardon process where each individual's case is assessed. Instead, the Trump team really looking to do things in broad swaths. But as is often the case with President Elect Trump, he is big on promises, short on specifics.

But we do know that an attorney who represents dozens of people who have been charged related to January 6th has been inundated with calls with interest from people who have been charged who would like a pardon, naturally. But it's unclear the process to understand whether or not they qualify.

The one clue that Trump has given is that he wants to carve out an exception and not grant clemency for people who have been violent. Now, it's difficult to suss out exactly who is and is not violent when you're dealing with something like this because, of course, this was a violent event.

And when we take some of the leaders, like Enrique Tarrio, he's the former Chairman of the Proud Boys, he wasn't in D.C. that day. He was not engaging directly in violence, but he was directing his followers to do so. He was convicted on charges of seditious conspiracy. He is in prison for decades, currently serving that sentence. So big question, what do you do with someone like him?

Now, Trump has signaled he wants to pardon people here. One other option that he has is commutations. He could offer commutations.

[14:25:01]

So commute sentences, not wipe someone's record clean, but instead commute their sentence so they could walk out of jail. If they are still serving time. That is an option.

But look, they still have five weeks to figure this out. The one thing that is clear is that the President Elect and his team, they do want to do this. It's just unclear exactly how they're going to do it and how many people will benefit.

KEILAR: All right, Paula Reid, thank you for that.

So for the first time, UnitedHealthcare's parent company addresses the murder of its CEO publicly, as well as the apparent long simmering anger that it has revealed against health insurers nationwide. We'll have that next.

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