Return to Transcripts main page
CNN News Central
Judge Orders Mahmoud Khalil's Case Be Moved To New Jersey; Astronauts Readjusting To Gravity After 9-Month Delay In Space; Authorities Investigating Attacks On Tesla Vehicles Across The U.S. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired March 19, 2025 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Barak Ravid, thank you for your reporting, as always.
BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL & GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Coming up, an update on Palestinian Activist Mahmoud Khalil's deportation case. A judge ordering it should be moved to New Jersey. The latest there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: New today, a federal judge in New York has ruled that a Palestinian activist who led protests at Columbia University will have the case challenging his detention heard in New Jersey.
[14:35:06]
The judge siding with a claim by the Trump administration that New York does not have jurisdiction over the case.
Mahmoud Khalil is currently being held in an ICE facility in Louisiana. He recently -- he released a letter yesterday describing himself as a political prisoner.
The judge did not issue an opinion on whether Khalil's detention is constitutional, or whether he should be released.
CNN correspondent, Gloria Pazmino, is with us now.
So, Gloria, tell us about this latest ruling and what this means for Mahmoud Khalil.
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, even though the judge sided with the Trump administration on the venue question, this is still a win for Khalil's team.
The reason for that is because they've been arguing that he should be brought back to Louisiana -- from Louisiana, I should say, and that his case should be heard right here in the New York City area. The judge is now agreeing that the case should be heard in New Jersey.
The reason for that is because, as you remember, after Khalil was arrested, he was first detained in New York, but he was briefly held in a detention facility in Elizabeth. That's the reasoning behind the judge's order today.
The judge did not issue an opinion on the merits of the case. But he did mention the importance of it and the seriousness of it. Judge Furman (ph), a federal court here, a federal court judge here in Manhattan, said, quote:
"These are serious allegations and arguments that no doubt warrant careful review by a court of law. The fundamental constitutional principle that all persons in the United States are entitled to due process of law demands no less."
So Khalil's attorneys are celebrating this decision, but they're also making it clear that their fight is not over yet.
They are still pushing ahead with motions to have Khalil released, or to be brought back to a detention center here in the New York area, where he can be closer to his counsel and his wife, who is eight months pregnant and cannot travel.
Now, in the meantime, we are hearing directly from Khalil for the first time. He wrote a letter from detention, which he dictated to his attorneys by phone.
We have reviewed that letter and, in it, he accuses Columbia University of essentially exposing him and handing him over to Trump administration officials.
He also says that the Trump administration is trying to chill political speech.
Khalil wrote, quote, "The Trump administration is targeting me as part of a broader strategy to suppress dissent. Columbia targeted me for my activism.
"Columbia surrendered to federal pressure by disclosing student records to Congress and yielding to the Trump administration's latest threats."
Finally, Khalil says that, "Visa holders, green card carriers and citizens alike will all be targeted for their political beliefs."
And, Brianna, we should mention that since Khalil's arrest, there have been other students at Columbia University who have been targeted, including one who was on a legal student visa and decided to travel back to Canada out of fear that she would be detained.
So the next step in this process will be for the judge in New Jersey to hear those motions and to consider whether or not Khalil should be released while this case moves forward -- Brianna?
KEILAR: All right, Gloria, thank you for the report. [14:38:26]
After an extended stay at the International Space Station, astronauts Butch and Suni back home. Now we're going to take a look at how their bodies will have to adapt to life on earth with gravity, after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:43:13]
SANCHEZ: The weight is literally back on the shoulders of Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore.
They're now in Houston reacclimating to gravity and much more after splashing down on earth yesterday beneath picture-perfect skies in the waters off of western Florida.
The duo had to stay on the International Space Station for nine extra months because of a faulty spacecraft.
CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, explores the road ahead for them and what has happened to their bodies after spending so much time living gravity free.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Release.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been 286 days since Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have felt the pull of Earth's gravity.
BUTCH WILMORE, ASTRONAUT: Gravity is really, really tough.
GUPTA: Tough, learning to live with it, but also without it.
JOHN DEWITT, BIOMECHANIST: Our bodies were really built to work in gravity.
GUPTA: At NASA's Countermeasures Lab, exercise routines and equipment are designed to help prevent astronauts from losing bone and muscle mass while they're in space.
DEWITT: Force is what helps our muscles get stronger. Force is what helps our bones to stay strong. Force is what helps our heart to stay strong by having to pump the blood against gravity.
So when you take that force away, you, all of a sudden, lose a really important stimulus that's important for health.
It would be the same thing as if someone was confined to a bed because they had an injury for a long time. It's -- people lose their muscle strength, they lose their bone strength.
GUPTA: That's why astronauts spend hours each day exercising while on the space station.
In fact, back in 2012, Williams even showed me how she was preparing to do a triathlon from space so that she could compete with me while I was doing a triathlon on Earth.
GUPTA (on camera): You're going 17,500 miles an hour.
SUNI WILLIAMS, NASA ASTRONAUT: Yes, I'll be done like that. What am I saying?
(LAUGHTER)
WILLIAMS: I'll be done way before you.
(LAUGHTER)
[14:45:02]
WILLIAMS: So I'll base it on time.
GUPTA (voice-over): But again, we are talking about an unnatural environment for humans.
When you're in space, body fluids shift from the legs to the head and upper body as much as two liters of fluid.
NASA says a natural reaction to this is a decrease in the total amount of blood in your blood vessels. That can result in low blood pressure or hypotension.
We've even started to see how long-duration flights directly impacts the brain. Look here. You can see that the brain shifts up ever so slightly in the skull, and the fluids surrounding and protecting it expand.
SCOTT KELLY, NASA ASTRONAUT: To, you know, have, you know, me being there for such a long time, they can see how that, you know, environmental effects affect us on a genetic level and what that means to our -- our health.
GUPTA: Astronaut Scott Kelly knows this better than most people. He spent 340 days aboard the International Space Station for NASA's twin study. That's where they compared his physical state in space to his twin brother, Mark, back on Earth.
They found that space impacted a host of things, like his eyes, his balance, his gut microbes, his cognitive abilities, and even his gene expression.
But then --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Touchdown.
GUPTA: -- the body has to adapt again when it is thrust back to Earth.
WILMORE: When you get back, gravity starts pulling everything, your lower extremities, the -- the fluid that is shifting. I got a little puffy face. It's always that way when you were -- when I'm in space.
And all that fluid is going to be pulled to my lower extremities, and it's really going to be different.
Even to lift a pencil, you don't even feel a pencil when you lift it. When we get back, even to lift a pencil, we will feel the weight.
GUPTA: And it will take time to adjust. In fact, when Kelly landed back on Earth in 2016, he was actually two inches taller. But then, as gravity took hold, his height, along with most of the other physical changes did eventually go back to baseline.
It took about six months with the study concluding that human health can be mostly sustained for a year in space.
Kelly did, however, find some benefits.
KELLY: When I got back on my previous flight, I was getting a massage at one of these massage envy (ph) places. The lady goes, you have the softest feet I've ever felt in my life. And she did not know I was in space. And I was like, thank you. I'm very proud of them.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Very proud of his feet.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you so much for that.
Still ahead, "domestic terrorism." That's what Attorney General Pam Bondi is calling vandalism of Tesla showrooms across the country. More on these incidents and the severe consequences the A.G. is promising, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:52:08]
KEILAR: Attorney General Pam Bondi says recent attacks on Tesla property are, quote, "nothing short of domestic terrorism." She also announced in a statement that the Justice Department is charging several people.
Police departments across the country are investigating a wave of attacks on showrooms, charging stations and Tesla vehicles.
CNN security correspondent, Josh Campbell, is with us now.
Josh, what's the latest on these investigations into all these incidents we've been seeing?
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna. We now know the FBI as well as police in Las Vegas are investigating yet another act of vandalism involving a Tesla facility. Officials say that they were called early morning yesterday to this
Tesla facility after receiving 911 calls, reporting shots fired and several of the vehicles on fire.
As they arrived, they found several of these Tesla automobiles that were engulfed in flames.
Now, after this incident, officials gave an update with the latest on their investigation.
Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DORI KOREN, ASSISTANT SHERIFF, LAS VEGAS METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: This was a targeted attack against a Tesla facility. We believe the suspect approached the business wearing all black clothing. And he used what appeared to be Molotov cocktails and a firearm to conduct his attack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMPBELL: Now, officials have not yet released any information about a possible suspect. That remains under investigation.
But as you mentioned, it comes as we've seen numerous incidents in recent days involving vandalism at Tesla properties, including recently in Kansas City, Missouri, and southern California, as well as the Chicago area.
So this is something that both the FBI and local law enforcement in those areas are certainly trying to get to the bottom of.
Interestingly, in talking to law enforcement experts, they say that the type of vehicle here may actually provide additional clues to investigators.
That's because several Tesla products have video cameras that will record if, you know, someone gets close to their vehicle.
Officials there in Las Vegas are hoping that they will be able to exploit that footage in order to try to help identify the suspect and the motive.
KEILAR: Is Elon Musk reacting to the attacks, Josh?
CAMPBELL: Quite loudly, in fact, as can be expected. Obviously, the founder of Tesla, he recently took to the social media platform X, calling this terrorism.
And if you look at the definition here, he's probably right. I mean, terrorism, domestic terrorism is violence in pursuit of some type of political goal.
Musk has obviously been at the forefront of a lot of controversy regarding his role in trying to dismantle the federal government. And as you mentioned, the attorney general says that, yes, she will indeed be pursuing this as acts of terrorism.
Now, we know the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force in Las Vegas is now running a robust investigation.
Take a listen here to the top FBI agent issuing a warning of sorts to anyone who might be thinking of doing any type of copycat attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SPENCER EVANS, FBI LAS VEGAS, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: Violent acts like this are unacceptable, regardless of where they occur, and specifically to those who might think that something like this is justifiable or potentially even admirable.
[14:55:05]
We want to let you know it's a federal crime. We will come after you, we will find you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMPBELL: And finally, we know that in addition to the damage of these properties and of these vehicles, this is having real consequences on the Tesla brand.
Our colleague Jordan Valinsky's reporting that the Vancouver International Auto Show just removed Tesla's display at that event, saying that that's because of safety issues revolving surrounding the Musk-owned company.
This is an auto show last year that drew a record 130,000 visitors. But again, they pulled the Tesla display out of an abundance of caution.
So you can just see all these safety issues that we see from coast to coast, essentially involving Teslas, it's certainly having an impact.
KEILAR: Yes, horrible incidents that we're watching here.
Josh, we know you'll stay on this. Thank you very much.
A new escalation in the fight between Ben & Jerrys and its parent company. Why the ice cream company says its leader was fired for political reasons.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
