Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Suspect of Killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Battles for Extradition to New York; 18,000 People Evacuated Following the Worst Franklin Fire; CNN Call to Earth Day Spotlights Connected Generations. Aired 3- 3:30a ET

Aired December 11, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max, I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead.

The suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare's CEO is defiant entering court as he fights extradition to New York.

The Israeli military launches hundreds of airstrikes as it advances into Syria beyond the buffer zone, but denies it's moving towards Damascus.

And the latest on wildfires ravaging parts of Southern California and threatening homes in Malibu.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: I appreciate you joining us.

And we begin with a loud outburst from Luigi Mangione, who's accused of killing UnitedHealthcare's CEO in New York. The 26-year-old shouted at reporters and struggled with police as he was led into a Pennsylvania court on Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUIGI MANGIONE, SUSPECT OF KILLING UNITEDHEALTHCARE CEO: It's completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people. It's lived experience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: His attorney says he told Mangione to keep quiet during the hearing and he left court without saying anything. The suspect is fighting extradition to New York, where he faces one count of second- degree murder, three weapons charges and one count of possessing a forged document. Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania on Monday. Police say he had fake I.D.'s, a 3D-printed gun and silencer, a handwritten note denouncing the healthcare industry and a mask and clothing similar to the gunman.

His attorney refused to say if he was accepting random offers to pay for Mangione's defense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS DICKEY, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I don't know, I just don't feel comfortable about that, so I don't know, I haven't given that much thought, but I'm not looking, you know, I mean, you know, obviously, my client appreciates the support that he has, but I don't know, I just, I'd have to look in, but it just doesn't sit right with me, really.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: A closer look now at the suspect's background from CNN's Danny Freeman in Philadelphia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Years before he'd be escorted into a Pennsylvania courthouse, Luigi Mangione spent time more than 200 miles east, here at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

The prestigious Ivy League university confirming Mangione graduated on May 18th, 2020 with a bachelor's and master's degree in engineering.

FREEMAN: That means he likely spent much of his time here at the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Now, while there weren't a lot of people who knew him or were willing to speak to us about him on camera, at least one student said that he was a T.A. of computer and information sciences.

FREEMAN (voice-over): Also, in a since-taken-down post for the university's pen today, Mangione was featured for leading a 60-student club that made video games. Quote, "I wanted to make my own game, and so I learned how to code," Mangione told a university writer.

JARED MITOVICH, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, 'THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN": He was a member of the honor society engineering school, which is only for the top students in the class. He was involved in a fraternity on campus.

FREEMAN (voice-over): UPenn student newspaper editor-in-chief Jared Midovich said his team has been working to see if there were any signs then of what was to come.

MITOVICH: What was the type of education he received at Penn? Is Penn the type of place where he would have learned how to 3D print? Is it the type of place where he was exposed to certain beliefs just in the groups that he ran into or the things that he was involved in?

FREEMAN (voice-over): Mangione grew up in a wealthy family from Baltimore. According to the "Baltimore Sun," his grandfather, Nicholas Mangione, built a local real estate empire that included nursing home facilities around Maryland and two suburban country clubs. In a statement released by Mangione's cousin, Maryland State Delegate

Nino Mangione, his family said they were shocked and devastated by Luigi's arrest. At his arraignment Monday night, Mangione told the judge he had been in contact with his family, quote, "until recently."

Mangione graduated valedictorian in 2016 from Baltimore's prestigious All Boys the Gilman School. Former classmates couldn't believe he was now this suspect.

I can tell you that this is one of the last people you'd think would do something like this.

FREEMAN (voice-over): In recent years, according to a friend and online postings though, Mangione suffered from back pain and underwent surgery to treat it. A Reddit user matching his biographical details writing in July 2023, my back and hips locked up after the accident. Intermittent numbness has become constant. I'm terrified of the implications.

[03:05:02]

But after maintaining a social media presence for years, Mangione went quiet this past summer and appeared to stop communicating with his family.

FREEMAN: Now I should note, after Mangione really stopped his online presence, a lot of people actually did notice. One user on X tweeted at him saying, I haven't heard from you in months. Another user in late November before the shooting posted at him, thinking of you and prayers every day in your name. Know you are missed and loved.

Also mentioned that the University of Pennsylvania declined to comment further for this story.

Danny Freeman, CNN, Philadelphia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: I spoke earlier with CNN's senior national security analyst Juliette Kayyem and I asked her about statements that police are looking into whether a back injury may have been a motivation for the shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SR. NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: What they're trying to construct is essentially what's what's a radicalization process. Here you have a top student, the best schools, a family that clearly was supportive of him. They've been looking for him once he went into hiding. He then has something happen, whether it's a back injury or substance abuse or where he basically tunes out.

Right. And he goes off to Hawaii. He's in a shared house. He's surfing. He basically goes off the grid and then reemerges to kill the CEO of a major healthcare company. So they're looking at that time period to see, you know, was he

radicalized because of the injury? Some combination of both outside and internal things. Who was he communicating with? The books he was reading were clearly in the genre of sort of hating the healthcare industry.

And how did all of those things lead to the kind of very targeted attack that we often don't see?

CHURCH: Yeah. I mean, as you mentioned, he's a young man of privilege. He was the smartest kid in the school and a brilliant college graduate. He goes from that to being a murderer outside the court Tuesday.

The suspect shouted out to the media and I'm quoting here, "it's completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people. It's lived experience." Now, what does this reveal to you and could he end up with a mental health defense here, do you think?

KAYYEM: He probably could. And he's probably sort of -- they're probably sort of aiming for that at this stage. That's going to be a problem for two reasons. One is in the manuscript that they found with him.

He acknowledges that what he is doing is wrong. So he has it's not like he does something and doesn't recognize that it's wrong. And it's hard to build an insanity defense if you know that the thing you did was wrong. Because in most cases, the insanity defenses, I didn't know what I was doing was wrong because I was insane.

The second is this other piece to this very horrible incident, which is him as a sort of Robin Hood, right. Him as a hero, as a martyr, that people supporting his mission, even if they don't support the assassination and hating the healthcare industry.

And it seemed to me that in the courtroom he was playing off of that in the statements he made or the yelling that he did, that he was he was he was with us. He was telling the American public, I'm with you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: We turn now to Syria, where Israel is being accused of a land grab after the sudden fall of the Assad regime. Syrian rebels claim they've taken the city of Deir ez-Zor from the Kurdish led Syrian Democratic Forces. But an SDF source tells CNN that the U.S.-backed forces have withdrawn from only a part of the city.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military says it has carried out nearly 500 strikes across the country in a matter of days, hitting strategic weapons stockpiles and destroying the Syrian navy fleet.

A Syrian activist group says after seizing the demilitarized buffer zone near the Israeli occupied Golan Heights, Israeli forces have now advanced to a village just 16 miles from Damascus. CNN is unable to verify the claim. But now the Arab League is accusing Israel of executing a land grab in Syria.

Joining us now is CNN's Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi. Paula, what more can you tell us about Israel moving beyond the buffer zone and apparently striking hundreds of times inside Syria?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, Israel has been remarkably active in Syria since Assad fell over the weekend. We heard confirmation from the Israeli military just how many strikes they had carried out, 480 strikes across the country in just a period of 48 hours.

[03:10:03]

Now, they say that they are targeting airfields, they are targeting anti-aircraft defenses, including tanks and fighter jets.

And also we heard from the foreign minister, Gideon Saar, saying that they are targeting facilities which are housing chemical weapons elements so that they make sure that they don't fall into, as he put it, the hands of extremists.

Now, we've also seen and heard from the Israeli military that their navy targeted two Syrian naval facilities where about 15 vessels were docked. We have seen images of the destruction at those particular naval areas. And so the impact has been significant.

We have heard from Israel's prime minister as well. Benjamin Netanyahu said that this would -- they're intending to change the face of the Middle East, pointing out that the collapse of Syria, as far as he is concerned, is due to Israel's activities, weakening Iran, weakening Hezbollah. And this is the repercussion of that.

It has been criticized, though, significantly. You mentioned there, Rosemary, the Arab League criticizing these moves. You have a number of the Middle East nations here, some of them accusing Israel of carrying out a land grab and taking advantage of the instability in Syria and taking advantage of developments.

We also heard from the U.N. special envoy for Syria saying this needs to stop. It is important.

Now, the United States has not been too vocal about what Israel is doing at this point. We did hear from Matthew Miller, though, that the State Department spokesperson, he was asked directly for a response to Israel's airstrikes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW MILLER, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: I will let Israel speak to its own operations and what it is they are trying to accomplish. I will say that on behalf of the United States, we're going to discuss these matters with them privately before I opine on them publicly.

I would say that, broadly speaking, we, of course, don't want to see any action that makes a Syrian led process more difficult. And we ultimately want to see a peaceful process for not an escalation of the conflict.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Israel also admitting that they have moved beyond the buffer zone. This buffer zone was between the Israeli occupied Golan Heights and Syria, where Israel said that regime military had evacuated. So they filled the area. So there was no vacuum.

But they have admitted that they have gone further than that. They are trying to create, they say, a security zone. Again, this has been widely criticized by nations in this region. Rosemary.

CHURCH: Paula Hancocks, joining us live with that report from Abu Dhabi. Many thanks.

Well, after rebel forces took over the presidential palace in Damascus, Syrians got a peek into the luxurious lifestyle of ousted President Bashar al-Assad, the ornate halls and luxury cars, a stark contrast to the years of oppression and poverty inflicted on the people of Syria.

CNN's Clarissa Ward takes us inside.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Outside the palace of Bashar al-Assad, Syrians gather to pose for photographs and celebrate the removal of its despised former owner.

The public is not allowed inside the sprawling compound yet, where the courtyards stretch longer than a city block.

WARD: This is the driveway into Bashar al-Assad's palace, and you can see how enormous it is. There are still casings all over the ground from rebel celebratory gunfire as they swept in here and took control.

WARD (voice-over): At the entrance, an Iranian flag unceremoniously laid out for people to step on. Iran, one of the regime's staunchest allies. Where once foreign dignitaries roamed the halls, now rebel fighters have the run of the place.

WARD: You can see blankets on the sofas in here. It looks like this is where the rebels are sleeping. And in fact, over here, you can see they've got some kind of a makeshift dining area going. Some of their weapons here, a couple of rifles on this sofa.

So this gentleman here, who is with the rebels, has just asked that I put on my scarf. It's the first time since we've been here that anyone has asked me to cover my hair.

He says that he's from Idlib and that this is the first time he's seeing the palace.

[03:15:03] WARD (voice-over): We feel that the injustice will break down one day and justice must win. This is the idea of justice in our religion. He says. In Islam, it is a must and a promise of Allah that Islam is victorious.

After nearly 14 years of a vicious civil war, to stand in this palace is a proud moment, capping off a seismic victory.

WARD: So the rebels here want to stress, they tell us, that it was not their group that ransacked this office when they first swept in. You could see, actually, some of the graffiti here that those first rebels wrote on the window. It says, Allah curse Hafez's soul, Hafez al-Assad being the father of Bashar.

When you look at these ceilings and these chandeliers, the marble, the detail, this is the kind of opulence, this lavish lifestyle that engendered so much resentment from so many Syrians who have been struggling to survive for decades while the Assad family lived like this.

WARD (voice-over): In a warehouse, rows and rows of luxury cars, Ferraris, Lamborghinis and classic Cadillacs. This was a dynasty that will be remembered not only for its brutality, but its deep corruption.

Below the palace in the heart of Damascus, crowds gathered in Umayyad Square.

Under Assad's rule, the Syrian people were forced to worship him. Now they finally have the freedom to celebrate his demise.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward reporting from Damascus, Syria.

Well, police have raided the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, a security official tells CNN this is part of their investigation into President Yoon Seok-yeol's short-lived attempt to impose martial law last week. Yoon is now barred from leaving the country as prosecutors consider possible insurrection charges.

Meantime, the head of the country's correctional service says former defense minister Kim Jong-un has attempted to end his own life while in custody. Kim was detained Sunday, just days after he resigned. He allegedly recommended that martial law be imposed and was the first figure detained over the case.

A wildfire that's exploded in size is tearing through Malibu in California, burning homes and forcing some residents to flee. We'll have the latest on the conditions there. Back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will take the stand again today to push back against what he calls baseless accusations in a sweeping corruption trial.

[03:20:04]

This will be the second day of testimony for Netanyahu, who is the first sitting Israeli prime minister to face criminal charges. He was indicted in 2019 on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. All of which he denies.

Residents in Southern California are being forced to flee from a fast- moving wildfire that's burning homes and vehicles. The so-called Franklin Fire in Malibu is so intense, it's altering the weather and making already extreme conditions even worse.

About 18,000 people are under evacuation orders or warnings, including 98-year-old award-winning actor Dick Van Dyke, who says he and his wife and pets were able to get out safely. CNN's Veronica Miracle has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Malibu's scenic hills ablaze after a fast-moving wildfire exploded overnight.

LINDA MICHEL, CARETAKER WHO FLED THE HOUSE SURROUNDED BY FIRE: From 1 to 10, it was like a 15, like scary.

MIRACLE (voice-over): The Franklin Fire tripling in size in just one hour, at one point scorching the equivalent of five football fields every minute since it ignited late Monday evening, prompting evacuation orders.

MICHEL: Everything, all these mountains were covered in flames, just covered. Like you took a crayon and just colored everything.

MIRACLE (voice-over): Linda Michel is a caretaker who lives on a property with horses in the evacuation zone. She says she awoke to a wall of flames surrounding the area and had to scramble to save the animals.

MICHEL: Woke everybody up, got everybody in the car. It was all a toy. Nobody had time to get dressed. Everybody jumped in the cars, like, get out of here. And then after that, I must have had like 30 minutes to run around and try to get the horses.

And we didn't know what we were going to do. Like, we could not leave them in the barn. Thank God we didn't leave them in the barn because the barn broke down.

MIRACLE (voice-over): The inferno fueled by dry conditions and Southern California's infamous Santa Ana winds creating what fire officials call a, quote, "particularly dangerous situation."

Some wind gusts reaching 40 to 60 miles per hour. The flames destroying some homes and threatening businesses, even the iconic Malibu Pier.

GABRIELLE SALGADO, STUDENT, PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY: It has definitely been a stressful and very tiring night.

MIRACLE (voice-over): Hundreds at nearby Pepperdine University had to shelter in place for hours in the campus library. Classes were canceled on Tuesday.

SALGADO: I called my friends, found whatever friends I had in the same residential hall as me, and I just packed a bag. You look out the window and, you know, the sky is red.

MIRACLE (voice-over): Veronica Miracle, CNN, Malibu, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Coming up, CNN's coverage of Call to Earth Day. We head to Nairobi, where students are learning about endangered species and why they're worth protecting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

We are returning to our Call to Earth Day coverage. Thousands of students around the globe engaged in a day of action to help save the planet that they're inheriting. We have correspondents filing reports from around the world, including Beijing, London and Los Angeles.

And our theme this year is Connected Generations. We'll be looking to the wisdom of our ancestors for sustainable living practices and how we can use them in our daily lives.

[03:25:04]

And we start our coverage in Nairobi, Kenya, where students are learning about endangered animal species. CNN's Victoria Rubadiri is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VICTORIA RUBADIRI, CNN REPORTER: Well, I'm at Rusinga Schools in Nairobi. It's one of the leading international schools in the country. So I'm walking into one of the art rooms, if it isn't already obvious, with all the art around me.

And this is actually one of the clubs in the school called Rusinga Speaks, basically encouraging students to use their voices to self- advocate when it comes to the major issues of our time, climate change clearly being one.

So there are two focuses here are the environment and sustainable development goals. So lots of artwork when it comes to animals that have been extinct or biodiversity scenes. Let's take a look at one of the paintings here.

I can see a rhino. So why do we have a rhino here?

UNKNOWN: It's not just any rhino, it's a white rhino, yeah. UNKNOWN: And this is my favorite animal because of its tusks. And I

would like to spread awareness to poachers to stop the hunt for tusks because it's a really special part of Kenya.

RUBADIRI: A very special part of not just Kenya, but Africa as well. A very iconic animal.

I can see another iconic animal here, an elephant. Why did you guys decide to paint an elephant?

UNKNOWN: We picked an elephant because it plays a wonderful and big part in our Kenyan culture.

UNKNOWN: The elephant is currently an endangered animal because of the illegal poaching of its tusks.

RUBADIRI: Oh, absolutely. And this is why awareness is so important. I can see a poster here that says save our oceans. Why is this important to you all?

UNKNOWN: Because the coral reefs in the ocean are dying and they give a lot of oxygen to the earth and we need to protect our ozone layer.

RUBADIRI: Oh, absolutely. The oceans are the lungs of the earth because of how much oxygen they actually release. So this year we had students write letters to their future selves, basically talking about the environment that they want to see when they get older.

So here's a young man who wrote one to his future self. So what did you write about?

UNKNOWN: I'm 11 years old and I wake up every day to a new apartment building and it really worries me. Deforestation is causing global warming because trees take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen.

And the less trees that we have, the less fresh air we have. This is to add on to the air pollution currently being released into the environment.

RUBADIRI: Oh, fantastic. So he clearly wants to see more green spaces the older he gets. And once he has a family in the future, I have to say if these are the custodians of our environment, we are in good hands.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Totally agree. And stay with CNN for more Call to Earth Day coverage and our special program, "Restoring the Andes." That is coming up next.

I want to thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)