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Manhunt Underway after CEO's Killing in New York City; Embattled Defense Secretary Pick Pete Hegseth Vows to Fight On; FBI Arrests Paris Flight Stowaway After Return to U.S.; Police Crackdown Intensifies Against Pro EU Protesters in Georgia. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired December 05, 2024 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This was a premeditated, pre-planned, targeted attack.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just heard sirens going off. I thought oh gosh, what's going on?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're shocked that somebody would be killed in the in broad daylight in New York. That's really quite shocking.
PETE HEGSETH, TRUMP'S PICK FOR U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: We're putting the warfighters first. That's what Donald Trump asked me to do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: None of this behavior from Pete Hegseth will give any confidence to the troops.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Pete has a uphill climb to get confirmed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Delta Stowaway is back in the U.S. where it started.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We saw police and all kinds of officials waiting at the gate, which is something that you just never see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Christina Macfarlane.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world, including the United States. I'm Max Foster.
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christina Macfarlane. It's Thursday, December 5th, 9 a.m. here in London, 4 a.m. in New York, where police may have a potential clue in the killing of the CEO of a major healthcare company in the heart of Manhattan.
FOSTER: ABC News is reporting that police say they found shell casings at the scene with the words deny, defend and depose written on them. MACFARLANE: United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot outside the Hilton Hotel in the heart of Manhattan as he was walking to an investors meeting on Wednesday morning. Police say the motive is unclear, but Thompson's widow told NBC News that he had received, quote, some threats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAULETTE THOMPSON, WIFE OF BRIAN THOMPSON: Brian was a wonderful person with a big heart and who lived life to the fullest. He will be greatly missed by everybody. Our hearts are broken and we are completely devastated by this news. He touched so many lives. We ask everybody to respect our privacy during this time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, the suspected gunman was caught on multiple security cameras near the site of the shooting, including this image obtained by The Washington Post that appears to show him on the subway before the attack.
MACFARLANE: He made one stop just minutes after this image was taken. CNN's Shimon Prokupecz has more on the suspect's movements and a warning, some of the images you're about to see are graphic.
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SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: 6:17 a.m., the alleged gunman came to this Starbucks, according to law enforcement sources, where he made several purchases just two blocks away from where the shooting happened.
6:30 a.m., a new video obtained by The New York Times, the shooter walks less than 200 feet away from the soon to be crime scene. He appears to be on the phone.
At 6:44 a.m., Brian Thompson leaves his hotel, which is just across the street. He comes this way to enter the Hilton Hotel, where the conference is. And as he's making his way, the gunman is here waiting for him.
COMMISSIONER JESSICA TISCH, NEW YORK CITY POLICE: Many people passed the suspect, but he appeared to wait for his intended target.
PROKUPECZ: Seconds after Thompson passes him, the gunman begins what police call a targeted attack. CNN obtained this video.
Watch as the gunman comes from behind and raises his handgun within feet of Thompson. What happens next is too disturbing to show. The assassin opens fire, shooting Thompson in the back.
Thompson stumbles and looks back at his killer as the gunman walks towards him. Police say the gun malfunctions, but the shooter clears the jam and continues to fire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was paying attention. I was holding my phone. Then I hear the shot. I saw him after he shot him. He run across the street this way.
PROKUPECZ: Seconds later, police say the gunman flees through an alleyway towards 55th Street, makes a right, and then gets on an e- bike and goes north on 6th Avenue.
At 6:46 a.m., the first 911 call goes out. There's been a shooting outside the Hilton Hotel. Two minutes later, 6:48 a.m., officers arrive on scene to find Thompson, a 50-year-old male lying on the sidewalk, gunshot wounds to his back and leg.
At the same time, the shooter is seen riding his e-bike into Central Park, into Center Drive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last we see with him on that bike is in Central Park.
PROKUPECZ: Officers recover three live 9mm rounds and three discharged 9mm shell casings at the scene.
[04:05:00]
TISCH: Every indication is that this was a premeditated, preplanned, targeted attack.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This does not appear to be a random act of violence.
PROKUPECZ: Thompson is transported by EMS to Mount Sinai West Hospital and pronounced dead at 7:12 a.m. And a citywide manhunt begins.
TISCH: We will not rest until we identify and apprehend the shooter.
PROKUPECZ: And now a new clue for investigators. They have found new video of an individual they believe to be the gunman from early Wednesday morning around 5:00 a.m. with a e-bike battery. And what they're trying to figure out now is whether or not he brought the battery here to this location, to this area where perhaps he had stashed, stored the e-bike in preparation for his getaway.
Shimon Prokupecz, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: A retired senior FBI agent says the gunman made some mistakes which she believes could help investigators.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARY ELLEN O'TOOLE, RETIRED SENIOR FBI PROFILER: No matter how perfectly it seems that this was executed, he will have made mistakes. And that started with leaving the casings at the crime scene. And I'm also interested in whether or not those hands are really bare in Starbucks.
Because if they are, he could have inadvertently touched something. We touch things probably upwards of a thousand times a day. So those are the things that detectives will be looking at.
Where did he make mistakes? Because he did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Donald Trump's embattled pick for U.S. Defense Secretary is vowing to fight on despite growing controversy over a series of misconduct allegations. Pete Hegseth met with key Republicans on Capitol Hill Wednesday, even as sources told CNN that Trump is already considering other options. But Hegseth assured CNN that he still has the president-elect's support.
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PETE HEGSETH, TRUMP'S PICK FOR U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: I spoke to the president-elect this morning. He said, keep going, keep right. Find your way.
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FOSTER: Well, Hegseth denies all the allegations against him, including claims that he mismanaged a veterans group, was publicly intoxicated at work events, and sexually assaulted a woman. The former Fox News anchor told reporters what his priorities would be as defense secretary.
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HEGSETH: We're putting the warfighters first. That's what Donald Trump asked me to do. Your job is to bring a warfighting ethos back to the Pentagon.
Your job is to make sure that it's lethality, lethality, lethality. Everything else is gone. Everything else that distracts from that shouldn't be happening.
That's the message I'm hearing from senators in that advising consent process. It's been a wonderful process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju has more on the allegations against Hegseth and his damage control efforts on Capitol Hill.
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MANY RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There are a number of Republican senators who simply will not say if they will support Pete Hegseth's nomination for secretary of defense because of all the misconduct allegations that have come out in the past, as well as questions about whether he can actually do the job.
One of the people who is most skeptical about him right now is Republican Senator Joni Ernst. She is someone who is pointedly undecided about whether she will get on board, could actually vote for his nomination.
She's actually someone who has endured sexual assault herself, a victim of sexual assault, and has sort of pushed to change the practices of how the Pentagon deals with these sexual assault claims.
Now, Hegseth, of course, has been accused of sexual assault. He's denied those allegations. But leading a meeting with him for about 45 minutes on Wednesday afternoon, she refused to say if she would support him for the position. She only said she had a thorough conversation and a frank conversation with him. Really would not say anything else when I asked her if she would vote for him.
Now, there have also been questions about some of these allegations of misconduct, including excessive drinking on the job. He has denied that, but he did tell senators, including Senator Roger Whitaker, who chaired the critical Senate Armed Services Committee that would take up his nomination, that if he's confirmed, he would no longer drink.
RAJU: You had told me earlier that he said he would not drink on the job.
How did that come up?
SEN. ROGER WICKER (R-MS): Well, really, I normally don't discuss what we have talked about specifically. But, you know, the allegation was made about him being intoxicated several times. And so the questions that every member will be asking him led to his statement.
RAJU: And he kind of obviously can stop drinking altogether if he becomes Secretary of Defense.
WICKER: That's exactly right.
RAJU: Will you see the whistleblower report?
WICKER: Absolutely. Well, I will see whatever the FBI investigation provides us. I assume it will be comprehensive.
[04:10:00]
RAJU: And the last part that Wicker was referring to was what was revealed in the New Yorker investigation that came out over the last couple of days, saying that there was a whistleblower investigation into his conduct when leading a veteran services organization several years ago. And that whistleblower report, as you heard there from Senator Wicker, he believes that the committee will see some form of that, whether it's the report itself or, he says, through an FBI investigation that a lot of Republicans and Democrats are demanding before they consider voting for him.
Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Well, Hegseth's defenders are closing ranks in an attempt to fend off the controversy. His attorney spoke with CNN and insisted some aspects of the media reporting have been exaggerated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIM PARLATORE, PETE HEGSETH'S ATTORNEY: After these events, they oftentimes do get together for an after party. And that part of it's true. But the rest of it is not.
And that's where the best lies come in, is you take something that is true and then you add additional facts to try and make it more nefarious than it is. And so all of these claims of what he allegedly did during these after parties and the alcohol-fueled environment is really exaggerations on something that actually did happen.
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MACFARLANE: His mother went on Fox News Wednesday. She said she regrets sending a 2018 email to her son accusing him of mistreating women, which was the subject of a New York Times report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PENELOPE HEGSETH, MOTHER OF PETE HEGSETH: I wrote that out of love. And about two hours later, I retracted it with an apology email, but nobody's seen that. He's a changed man, and I just hope people will get to know who Pete is today, especially our dear female senators, that you would listen to him. Listen with your heart to the truth of Pete.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Earlier, Nebraska Republican and retired Air Force Brigadier General Don Bacon spoke with CNN about some of his concerns and the questions he has of Hegseth.
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REP. DON BACON (R-NE): There's two areas of concern. One is he prepared to run an organization of two million people, and he's going to have to make that case to the senators. But two, all these allegations, I think are worthy of being looked at, because in the military, if you have an affair, you get kicked out.
I've known many people who've been fired and removed out of the military for having affairs, so I think it's a relevant issue that he's going to have to convince the senators that that's all in the past, he's a changed man, and that's the challenge he's going to have. Being loyal to your wife, being faithful in marriage.
People make mistakes. They don't want to be overly judgmental, but if there's a long history of it, a long record of it, for some people, that's a red line. Character does matter. The military's going to be watching this, too, and I think Mr. Hegseth is going to have to convince the senators, but the military men and women are going to be seeing this, too, because we want the same standard up and down the chain of command.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: A Russian woman who stowed away on a flight from New York to Paris will appear in courts in the coming hours.
FOSTER: The FBI says 57-year-old Svetlana Dali was arrested after being flown back to the U.S. on Wednesday. She's expected to face a federal charge of being a stowaway on a vessel or aircraft without consent and could face up to five years in prison. CNN's Saskya Vandoome flew to New York on the same flight as Dali on Wednesday and has this report.
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SASKYA VANDOOME, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: A pretty uneventful flight with that 57-year-old Russian national, Svetlana Dali, who remained compliant throughout. Now, it was just earlier today that I took a flight from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to JFK, the same one that Svetlana Dali was on. She was sat at the back of the aircraft and she was flanked by two French security officials who would escort her all the way to JFK.
Now, she was not in handcuffs. When I got on the flight, I was four rows in front of her and I was able to watch her as we took off. She was incredibly calm. At one point, she rested her head against the seat in front of her.
Now, French officials were determined to get her on that flight today. One official telling me this morning that they sent a negotiator onto the flight to speak with the Delta crew to try and make them feel comfortable with the idea of Dali being on that flight.
Now, since we landed, we were greeted here by at least 15 officials, U.S. officials, Port Authority, Border Police. We do know that officials are looking to interview her to try and find out how she was able to evade all those security checks at JFK Airport.
Saskya Vandoome, CNN, New York.
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MACFARLANE: Well, Delta Airlines has not provided any specifics about how the woman was able to stow away on its flight, but the airline issued a statement saying: Our review affirms that Delta's security infrastructure as part of our safety management system framework is sound and that deviation from standard procedures is the root cause of this event.
FOSTER: So not sound.
MACFARLANE: It is sound.
FOSTER: No, I'm just saying it's not sound if it didn't work.
[04:15:00]
MACFARLANE: Well, that's true. I mean, I think the issue around this was they were saying was the Christmas season, right? And the swell of the number of people enabled her to get on board. But yes, to your point.
FOSTER: I think Christmas season's quite predictable.
A fast-moving and powerful winter storm is threatening millions of Americans across the Midwest and Northeast. The intense burst of snow and wind could knock out power and bring dangerous travel conditions. Parts of the Northeast could see up to eight inches of snow.
MACFARLANE: Blizzard conditions are in sore parts of the Appalachian region.
FOSTER: Appalachian.
MACFARLANE: Appalachian region, thank you. And the blistering cold will be felt along the East Coast, with temperatures dropping 10 to 25 degrees below normal today and Friday.
FOSTER: Now ahead, Syrian rebels appear to be focusing their efforts on another key city after the stunning fall of Aleppo. We'll have details in the live report.
MACFARLANE: Plus, in Paris now, French Prime Minister is set to formally resign after an incompetence vote in Parliament. We'll have the details of the political crisis unfolding in France.
FOSTER: Bitcoin hits a record high, driven partly by Donald Trump's crypto-friendly pick for an important government commission.
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[04:20:03]
FOSTER: South Korea's president could end up keeping his job despite his widely criticized but short-lived martial law decree.
Members of Yoon Suk Yeol's ruling party say they'll oppose a motion to impeach him. A vote is expected by the end of the week.
MACFARLANE: Martial law order has been met with persistent protests and South Korean police have now launched a treason investigation into Yoon and other top officials. But as of now, opposition lawmakers say they don't have the votes to force him from office.
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SUNWOO KANG, MEMBER OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, REPUBLIC OF KOREA: We are trying to contact the members from PPP personally, especially for, of course, I have in person good friends in PPP. So I'm trying to persuade them and trying to tell them, please vote for this impeachment proposal. So we can kind of like make this nation better.
But to be honest with you at this time, we are not sure if we can have eight votes from PPP. But I am sure that if we do this process over and over again, the crack in PPP will get bigger and bigger. And we will be able to get even more than eight votes from PPP sooner or later.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're talking about a scenario where you could have multiple impeachment votes. That's kind of what you're threatening right now.
SUNWOO: We will do it until we make it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
FOSTER: South Korea's defense minister is the latest political casualty from the debacle. President Yoon accepted his resignation earlier today.
MACFARLANE: Now France is now facing its own political crisis. President Emmanuel Macron is expected to address the nation today as he works to name a new prime minister. We're now learning that Prime Minister Michel Barnier is at the presidential palace to formally submit his resignation.
This will leave France without a stable government or a 2025 budget at the end of this year.
FOSTER: Barnier's ousting came after left and right wing lawmakers united to support a no confidence vote against him, mostly over his proposed annual budget for next year. Members of Parliament blame Macron for the political chaos and some are calling for him to resign.
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MARINE LE PEN, PRESIDENT OF NATIONAL RALLY PARTY (through translator): I am not pushing for, I am not asking for the resignation of President Emmanuel Macron. I am saying there will come a moment when if we don't take the route of respecting the voters and political forces and elections, well, then the pressure on the president will, of course, be stronger and stronger. But he's the only one who will make the decision, who will have the last word on whether he wants the French people to vote again before 2027 or whether he wants to stay on the horse at any price, so to speak.
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MACFARLANE: A brutal government crackdown against protesters is intensifying in Georgia. One opposition party says a lawmaker was severely beaten by police and detained. Georgia's Interior Ministry tells CNN the opposition leader was arrested on charges of what they call, quote, disobedience to the police.
FOSTER: Massive protests began last week after the ruling Georgian Dream Party decided to suspend talks to join the European Union. Critics are accusing the government of moving towards authoritarian and pro-Russian positions.
Top diplomats from Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. are gathering today in Malta for a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived a short time ago and the trip marks the first time Sergey Lavrov has visited a European Union country since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
MACFARLANE: Ukraine boycotted last year's OSCE meeting in North Macedonia. Its foreign minister is not expected to meet with Lavrov.
FOSTER: The optics, Salma, will be interesting seeing Lavrov there and Blinken.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, first time in European Union for Russia's foreign minister Lavrov since Russia's invasion. That's extremely important. I know just a short time ago we saw Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrive.
I know we have those images to show you at this OSCE meeting. Absolutely, they're going to face off, if you will. But in some ways, this is just a technical meeting.
What they're doing is setting up the budget for the next year, deciding who holds key positions. But Ukraine will absolutely be at the top of the agenda. Now, in the past, of course, Russia has criticized the OSCE, including the foreign minister Lavrov, who's called it essentially an extension of the European Union, sees it as what Russia calls part of EU expansionism, EU aggression against Russia. Of course, Secretary of State Antony Blinken will take the opposite view with this.
Now, as you mentioned, Ukraine's foreign minister is not going to attend, most likely, these meetings.
[04:25:00]
But we're already hearing ways in which President Zelenskyy is trying yet again to shape Europe, to shape Europe in a way that supports Ukraine's fight.
And I am talking about Georgia. I know that was the top of that story. We were talking about those demonstrations in Georgia. President Zelenskyy is watching those closely, and he has imposed sanctions.
MACFARLANE: Yes, well, I was going to ask you about that. I mean, he has been very vocal in, you know, the harsh crackdown that we've seen on protesters there. The fact that the country's leadership, in his view, in many views, is bowing to Moscow. So what are these sanctions and what will they achieve?
ABDELAZIZ: So he's gone right to the top. He has sanctioned the country's prime minister. He is a billionaire. He is perceived as being someone that is pro-Russian. I want you to hear it from President Zelenskyy himself.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): These are sanctions against the part of the government in Georgia that is handing over Georgia to Putin. This is what the protests are against in Georgia.
It's important that our partners also speak out about their position and opening declare what's happening and we need to act.
This is what happens in international affairs. If you don't react in time or if you don't react in a principled way, then decades are lost and countries are deprived of their freedom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABDELAZIZ: Now, I think it's the second part of that soundbite that's key. Of course, sanctions from Ukraine on the Georgian prime minister will not make a huge deal. So what he's saying there is this is kind of symbolic. I need you, my partners, to take similar measures, especially when you're seeing what's happening on the ground. Again, summarizing President Zelenskyy there, who was saying, you are looking at demonstrators that are pro-EU and a government that he perceives, of course, as being pro-Russian. We need our partners to step in.
FOSTER: OK, Salma, thank you so much.
Now, a police manhunt is underway in New York after the killing of a major healthcare CEO. Still ahead, new clues at the scene that could potentially lead investigators to the gunman.
MACFARLANE: Plus, a scathing new Amnesty International report accuses Israel of carrying out genocide in Gaza. Those details coming up.
[04:30:00]
