Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Jury Selection to Begin Monday in Trial of Former Uvalde Officer; Survivor Describes Smashing Through Window to Escape Bar Fire; Multiple People Missing After New Year's Fire at Swiss Bar; At Least 40 Killed, 119 Injured in Fire at Swiss Ski Resort Bar; Trump Says He Takes Higher Aspirin Dose Than His Doctors Advise; Trump Says He had a CT Scan, Not an MRI, in October; Mamdani Sworn in as Mayor, Begins Work on Ambitious Agenda; Mamdani Revokes Israel-Related Executive Orders Signed by Adams; DHS Begins Slashing FEMA's Disaster Response Teams. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired January 02, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And we see that time and again. Some people they kind of really step up in like this superhuman way and some don't. How does the law see that on the individual actions of an officer versus, say, what you're talking about which is the leadership kind of comes in you have a lot more people and they're supposed to be overriding that desire obviously to not be dealing with someone shooting at you?

BRENDAN BALLOU, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Yes, it's a great question and here it's going to be important to see if Texas law distinguishes between what an ordinary civilian might have to do and what a police officer might have to do. You know ordinarily we don't have an obligation to save other people even if we, you know, perhaps have a moral obligation to do so and none of us really know how we would handle just a horrifying tragedy like that.

But I think one of the key things here is that these officers had received school shooter training. And, in fact, officer Gonzales had actually helped to administer a school shooting training just a few months before. So, you know, he perhaps better than anybody would have been equipped to understand sort of mentally what would be required in a moment like that.

KEILAR: Such a good point. Brendan Ballou thank you so much.

And a new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

New footage from the crowded Swiss bar that caught fire during New Year's celebrations. Investigators believe that it was sparklers on champagne bottles likely igniting the flames that killed at least 40 people.

Plus, attack thwarted. An 18-year-old was arrested and charged for planning a deadly ISIS-inspired attack on New Year's Eve near Charlotte. What we know about this investigation?

And then later, President Trump opening up about his health. What he says about his daily use of aspirin and the large bruises on his hands.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

We do begin this hour with this new video from inside of that horrific bar fire in Switzerland that killed dozens of people just over an hour into the New Year. And a warning, the footage is disturbing, but you can see some of the first moments right here after that fire started. At one point, a man jumps and tries to put out the flames before they start to spread rapidly. In another video, an entire wall of the bar just engulfed in flames as the terrified and panicked crowd tried to rush out of a small exit.

A lead official confirmed sparklers on top of champagne bottles likely started the fire. These are pictures that are showing the moment the sparks came too close to the ceiling. Today some survivors are now sharing the split-second decisions they made in order to escape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AXEL, FIRE SURVIVOR (through interpreter): We were yelling, "fire, fire," and then we thought it was a joke or that it wasn't necessarily serious. And then, suddenly a huge cloud of black smoke we couldn't breathe anymore and then maybe we had to get out and everyone got out, but a crowd gathered so we couldn't get out, so we tried to hide. Then, when I got back upstairs I thought I was either going to die or I'd managed to get out, but the only way was through a window. But the windows were blocked, so I grabbed a table and tried to smash it against a window I couldn't and I thought well I'm going to die but finally I managed to kick the glass it broke and then we got out we managed to get people out. It's true, I lost my shoes, I lost my coat, I lost all my possessions but in the end that's not what matters, I'm still alive and that's that and we pray for those who stayed behind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Swiss officials say at least 40 people were killed, 119 others injured including six people who they have not been able to identify. CNN's Nic Robertson is at the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: We're right in the middle of Crans-Montana here, mountains in the background, Le Constellation bar right here. The atmosphere here is very quiet. It's very subdued, this town. It is a very upmarket ski resort. You can see that when you look in the stores around here.

What we know about what happened just over 24 hours ago now in the very early hours of the 1st of January the downstairs underground bar was crowded. There were a lot of people in there. And we know from talking to youngsters in this town that this bar was popular with sort of 16-, 17-, 18-year-olds, 19-year-olds, young 20s.

How many people were in the downstairs underground bar at the time that's part of the investigation, but already investigators, and fire experts, and the hospitals, in fact, are talking about a downdraft that -- that the fire took hold and spread so quickly.

[15:05:03]

They're dealing in the hospitals they say where people with severe burns. In some cases, the police say that they're still trying to identify even the injured and this is a hugely painful time for the families and we've seen families here in the streets, a father whose son is still missing. He was on his knees weeping in the streets. That sense of pain and grief is very palpable here.

A lot of journalists here. There are some dignitaries arriving. We know that there have been French among the dead injured and missing. We understand there are Italians among the dead, injured and missing. But, of course, there are so many questions about the dead and injured, the identification.

Police are saying that could take days but the fact that you have senior politicians from outside of Switzerland coming really shows the gravity and the reach of this tragedy.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Crans-Montana, Switzerland.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Our thanks to Nic Robertson for that from Switzerland.

Today, we're learning the oldest U.S. president ever to take the oath of office consumes more aspirin, a known blood thinner, than his doctor recommends. That's what he's saying. It's just one of the myriad medical details that President Trump, who is 79, revealed in a lengthy impromptu interview with the Wall Street Journal yesterday.

Trump spoke of his daily aspirin intake to explain the ongoing bruises on his hand. The White House physician told the Journal the President consumes 325 milligrams a day.

Trump said this, quote, "They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood and I don't want thick blood pouring through my heart. I want nice thin blood pouring through my heart. Does that make sense? They'd rather have me take the smaller one. I take the larger one, but I've done it for years and what it does so -- what it does do is it causes bruising."

Let's get some medical expertise on this from vascular cardiologist Dr. Bernard Ashby who is also medical director at Larkin University.

Thank you so much for being with us, Doctor.

I mean, first off just tell us why someone would take 325 milligrams of aspirin at this age, 79, significantly more than their doctor would want. Is this something you see?

DR. BERNARD ASHBY, VASCULAR CARDIOLOGIST & MEDICAL DIRECTOR, LARKIN UNIV.: First of all, Happy New Year, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes. ASHBY: And, yes, I --we run into patients all the time that kind of make it up as they go -- go along and that's what Trump is doing here. I mean, he's kind of freestyling. Are you familiar with like hip-hop freestyling?

KEILAR: Yes, I am.

ASHBY: Yes. So -- so we're not talking about sliding on beats, but we're just talking about making it up as you go and this is something that we've seen from the administration thus far where they kind of shoot from the hip and this aspirin issue is no different. To hear Trump discuss his blood being thinner because of a higher dose of aspirin just doesn't fit the science and essentially what we're saying is with aspirin it decreases your risk of clots related to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease which is plaque in the heart that can rupture and cause a clot.

And starting a higher dose of aspirin doesn't -- actually doesn't decrease your risk of having that clot but it does increase your risk of bleeding.

KEILAR: Okay, so that's the risk is that it seems to not be mitigating the risk and it's actually opening someone up to more risks is that your read on it?

ASHBY: Yes, exactly. And there's been study after study, randomized controlled trials, a large one recently called a -- a large randomized control -- clinical trial -- known as adaptable has shown that increasing the dose doesn't decrease your risk of cardiovascular events but simply increases your risk of things like gastrointestinal bleeding and intracranial hemorrhage. And so, what the President is doing is going against the mountain of evidence that we have that shows that baby aspirin is enough and we've been through this multiple times in the medical community where there's been debates that have -- that occurred and the science has, you know, prevailed and that's what we expect when we're talking about making recommendations for individuals and -- and the public, and simply put it together is that the Trump is -- Trump is just making it up as he goes and that's something that we don't recommend as cardiologists, but general generally as physicians in the medical community.

KEILAR: We recommend it for wrapping but maybe not when it comes to dealing with your own ...

ASHBY: Yes. Yes.

KEILAR: ... medical health, I see your point there. Okay, so ...

ASHBY: Yes.

KEILAR: ... the President also told the journal that the imaging he underwent in October was a CT scan, that it was not an MRI and his doctor Sean Barbabella told the journal that the CT scan was done quote to definitively rule out any cardiovascular issues.

[15:10:02] Last month, the doctor released a memo saying the October medical imaging was of Trump's cardiovascular and abdominal systems and the both showed perfectly normal results. We do know that in 2018 Trump had a coronary CT scan that showed a steady buildup of plaque in his blood vessels indicative of moderate heart disease. What would you be looking for in a CT scan today in a patient with a previous scan like that?

ASHBY: Yes. So, what Trump has is what we call atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease or ASCVD. And that is the number one cause of death in the United States. Meaning that it causes heart attacks and strokes. So, if you have plaque in the cerebral vascular circulation in the carotid artery, for example, that can cause a stroke. And if you have it in the coronary distribution that can cause a heart attack. But you can also have it in the abdominal aorta or any other part of the circulatory system which doesn't have the same consequences as it does when it's supplying the brain or the heart.

And so, what we know based on that information is that Trump is at an elevator a higher risk of heart attack and possibly stroke, because once you have plaque in one distribution you likely have in other distributions. So, I would assume and this is just conjecture on my part that he underwent a CT angio to look at the amount of plaque buildup in his coronaries and also in his abdominal distribution as well, which will give you an indication of how high the risk is and how aggressive you need to be with antiplatelet therapy.

And so, if Trump really wanted to further mitigate his risk of a cardiovascular event, there's other ways you can do that without increasing your aspirin, which is actually ineffective. And so, that's when he should listen to the medical experts who will give him the advice that he needs to, again, prevent his -- prevent him from having a heart attack or stroke.

KEILAR: And what would those things be that a patient might do to reduce the risk?

ASHBY: So, I understand that he's already taking a statin, so that certainly is something that mitigates your risk of a cardiovascular event. But in addition to that, there's other blood thinners that can be used in addition to aspirin that can further mitigate your risk like XARELTO, which is a blood thinner, but also the aspirin can be replaced by a different medication known as clopidogrel, which is a stronger antiplatelet agent that actually further mitigates your risk of cardiovascular events but doesn't necessarily give you that increased risk of gastrointestinal bleeding so again this is just a -- a common thing we've seen this administration from the vaccine recommendations in the updates to the schedule to the recommendations on acetaminophen, they just seem to be shooting from the hip and that's simply not how you operate a -- a medical establishment even at the level of -- of me as a -- a cardiovascular practice owner. I -- I own a cardiology clinic and I can't just come in there and make it up as I go, you really have to follow the signs, because that would be medical malpractice and I would argue that Trump is committing medical malpractice against himself and that's not good for the country.

KEILAR: Yes, very interesting points that you raised.

Dr. Bernard Ashby, thank you so much for being with us.

ASHBY: Thank you.

KEILAR: Still to come, it is Zohran Mamdani's first full day as mayor of New York City and he's doubling down on his Democratic socialist agenda. We'll tell you about the five executive orders that he's already signed.

Plus, a CNN exclusive, the Trump administration cutting dozens of FEMA staff including some responsible for the agency's operations during and after disasters.

And later, U.S. officials say Venezuela has detained several American citizens as Washington ramps up its pressure campaign. We'll have that and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:17:35]

KEILAR: It's a first full day on the job for the new leader of America's largest city. We're talking about Mayor Zohran Mamdani who is already getting the ball rolling on several progressive promises that he made for New Yorkers and he's doing so with a lot of eyes in the political world and beyond closely watching every move.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino is live outside of City Hall there in New York. Big promises, big stakes and the question now is can he deliver, Gloria?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna, that is frankly the biggest question and the story of this administration is whether or not Zohran Mamdani is going to be able to balance his political ideology, his political identity with the reality of running a complicated place like New York City. He has made some really big and difficult to enact promises, taxing the rich, creating universal child care, making buses fast and free, freezing the rent for rent stabilized tenants.

Those are all ambitious proposals, but he said here yesterday that that is what his administration is focused on. He's already used the executive power that he now has as mayor to direct his new administration to look at ways in which the city of New York can make sure that housing is being built quickly.

Now, he also signed another number of executive orders and some of them are causing a little bit of controversy. The mayor essentially reversed and revoked many of Eric Adams' executive orders which he put into place after he was federally indicted in September 2024. Zohran Mamdani is saying that that was a moment in which he believed New Yorkers had lost faith that their government was actually acting on their behalf.

Now, within that order, there are two that do two very specific things. The first is that it reverses an order by Adams which had expanded the definition of antisemitism to match that of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance which essentially equates criticism of Israel with antisemitism. Mamdani is reversing that order which some advocates said raised serious questions about free speech.

He also reversed an order which barred city employees from boycotting or divesting in Israel.

Now, Mamdani was asked about this and he explained that this is part of the restructuring of government that any mayor is able to do when they take office. Take a listen.

[15:20:04]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D-New York): That structure also includes the continued incorporation of the office to combat antisemitism. That is an issue that we take very seriously and is part of the commitment that we've made to Jewish New Yorkers to not only protect them but to celebrate and cherish them. What I would say about the executive orders at large that were issued after that date is they are ones that time and time again come up against the interests of working-class people and what they need from their mayor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: Now, Brianna, I think it's important to really put this into the proper context and explain that not everything that the new mayor is doing is just targeting Israel-specific stuff. In fact, Mayor Adams created the office to combat antisemitism and Mayor Mamdani is keeping that in place, as you heard there, but he is restructuring it and giving it new directives. And that's what he was talking about today in terms of organizing his government, which he now gets to do.

As you said, really big promises, a challenging agenda, and the question, how is he going to do it and he -- and whether or not he'll be able to deliver on many of those promises in the next four years. Brianna?

KEILAR: All right, we'll be watching.

Gloria Pazmino, thank you.

Next, CNN exclusive reporting on how the Trump administration is abruptly downsizing FEMA disaster response staff. Stay with us for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:25:33]

KEILAR: Two days into the New Year, and the Trump administration is slashing staff at FEMA. It appears to be the beginning of a larger effort to cut the agency's disaster response team. FEMA's new acting chief on Wednesday began sending notices, abruptly cutting dozens of core staff at the front of the agency's disaster response and recovery. Internal emails obtained exclusively by CNN showed these workers were let go with almost no warning. CNN Correspondent Gabe Cohen is here now with the details.

These are core staff. What does that mean?

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, look, to be clear, there's a lot of confusion and anxiety among officials at FEMA right now, really from rank and file all the way up to senior officials, because this happened really abruptly on New Year's Eve, where all of these 50 or so workers suddenly got these notices. All of them are seeing their contracts expire between January 1st and January 4th, and they were all told that their positions are being terminated and that their services are no longer needed.

You talk about what are their roles. We're talking about core employees. They are part of what is called core at FEMA. They wear a lot of hats, but they do a ton of work on the ground during disasters. Some of the first federal boots that are on the ground deployed to help communities in the initial aftermath and then to help them recover.

The big question, though, because 50 employees is somewhat of a drop in the bucket -- the big question is, what does this mean for the thousands of FEMA employees who are going to see their contracts expire between January 5th and the end of the year. Because I can tell you, sources have been telling me from inside FEMA that the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, has been discussing dramatically downsizing core for months now.

Now, DHS, a spokesperson, posted after our story ran this morning, just in the last couple hours, calling these 50 or so workers who are not being renewed, calling this a routine staff adjustment, which if that's what is happening here, that would really be a small number of people.

But remember, the Trump administration has said they want to dramatically overhaul FEMA. They want to shift far more responsibility onto states away from the federal government. And just last month, we obtained this final list of recommendations from the task force that Trump put together in order to help him overhaul FEMA. And one of the key recommendations was, we want to cut FEMA staff in half. Getting rid of core employees as their contract end -- contracts end, that would be a step in that direction. It would be logical in some ways.

But now we have the administration, DHS, saying, well, that might not be the case. This might just be a routine staff adjustment.

KEILAR: Is it seen kind of as arbitrary just based on these dates?

COHEN: Well, I think that is one of the reasons people think this is so odd. I've talked to several officials since this was posted, calling this a routine staff adjustment. They said, this is not like any routine staff adjustment we've ever seen. And the fact that it was just selectively any employee whose contract ended between January 1st and January 4th, as long as core was in their title, people are saying this doesn't really make a lot of sense and, again, it seems arbitrary.

KEILAR: Yes. The question will be, are they going to make a routine of this?

COHEN: Yes.

KEILAR: I guess, we'll see ...

COHEN: And what is it going to mean for states that may not have as many boots on the ground during a disaster. We don't know if that'll be the case.

KEILAR: Totally. Gabe Cohen, thank you so much for the great reporting.

Coming up, some more details on the ISIS-inspired terror plot thwarted by the FBI in Charlotte.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)