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Inside Secret Prison in Syria; More Evidence Linked to CEO Shooting Suspect; Firefighters Get a Break on Wildfire as Gusty Winds Ease; FBI Director Announces Resignation; Tech Company Builds AI- Driven Robot Companion. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired December 12, 2024 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:33]

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, Israeli forces captured tanks and weapons in the so-called buffer zone in Syria. CNN is there when a Syrian prisoner is rescued from one of the Assad regime's notorious secret prisons. And meet Ne-Yo, a humanoid robot being developed to take care of those household chores many people dread.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Lynda Kinkade.

KINKADE: We begin this hour with developments in Syria where a new reality is slowly taking shape. Key players in the region are stepping up efforts to prevent terrorist organizations from making gains after the fall of the Assad regime. At the same time, there's fighting underway between pro-Turkish and Kurdish factions in northern Syria.

The Syrian Democratic forces, a coalition of militant groups dominated by Kurdish organizations, says Turkey and its militia allies are bombarding areas near the Turkish-Syrian border. The SDF also says there were two drone strikes in the city of Raqqa. A resident tells CNN that a U.S. military convoy was seen at the northern entrance of that city on Wednesday. The U.S. has worked with the SDF since 2017 to eliminate the remnants of ISIS, and has some 900 troops still stationed in northern Syria.

Well, the Israeli military claims to have confiscated several Syrian tanks along that buffer zone that separates the Israeli occupied Golan Heights from the rest of Syria. The Israeli prime minister had ordered the military to seize the buffer zone, as Israel insists that it's working to eliminate threats to its security.

Well, meantime, video has surfaced on social media, which allegedly shows a warehouse in Syria packed with illicit drugs Captagon. It reportedly is located at the headquarters of a military division near Damascus. If confirmed, the discovery would support claims that the Assad regime was involved in actively exporting that drug.

Syrian rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani says his team is working to secure possible chemical weapons sites, and promises to shut down all prisons operated by the Assad regime. Here's what he said about the future of the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABU MOHAMMED AL-JOLANI, HAYAT TAHRIR AL-SHAM LEADER (through translator): We must give Damascus its right. We must give it its right by restoring people's dignity and pride and by building it properly. The opportunities are available to us and the people who have emigrated, who have sought asylum, who have been displaced, they must return. All these people must return so that hand in hand we can build the next Syria, God willing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, families are still searching desperately for loved ones in Syria's notorious prisons that had been operated by the Assad regime.

CNN's Clarissa Ward went inside one of them and made an incredible discovery behind a cell door.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Deep in the belly of the regime's air force intelligence headquarters.

These are English letters.

(Voice-over): We are hoping to find traces of Austin Tice, an American journalist held captive in Syria since 2012. It's one of many secret prisons across the city. This specific branch was tasked with surveillance, arrest and killing of all regime critics.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are all cleaned out.

WARD: We don't find any hints of Tice, but come across something extraordinary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't tell, though. It might just be a blanket. But it's the only cell that's locked. Is he going to shoot it?

WARD: The guard makes us turn the camera off while he shoots the lock off the cell door. We go in to get a closer look. It's still not clear if there is something under the blanket.

It moved. Is there someone there? I thought I saw it move. Is someone there? Or is it just a blanket? I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One second, I think someone. Hello?

WARD: OK. Let's me just -- it just moved.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's OK. It's OK. It's not Tice. Journalist. Journalist. Journalist.

[00:05:01]

WARD (voice-over): I'm a civilian, he says. I'm a civilian.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's OK, it's OK, it's OK.

WARD: He tells the fighter he is from the city of Homs and has been in the cell for three months.

OK, you're OK. You're OK. You're OK. You're OK.

(Voice-over): He clutches my arm tightly with both hands.

OK. Does anyone have any water? Water. OK. It's water. It's water. OK. OK. OK, you're OK. You're OK. You're OK.

(Voice-over): We start to walk him outside. Thank God you are safe. Don't be afraid, the fighter says. You are free. This is the third prison they brought me to, he says. It's the third prison. After three months in a windowless cell, he can finally see the sky.

My God, the light, he says. Oh, God, there is light. My God, there is light.

OK. OK. OK. OK. OK. You're OK.

(Voice-over): Stay with me. Stay with me, he repeats again and again. For three months, I didn't know anything about my family, he says. I didn't hear anything about my children. The fighter hands him something to eat, barely lift it to his mouth. But his body can't handle it.

OK. You're OK.

(Voice-over): His captors fled during the fall of Damascus leaving him with no food or water. That was at least four days ago. I'm shaking. My face is shaking, he says. The rebel tells him there's no more army, no more prisons, no more checkpoints. Are you serious, he says. Syria is free, he tells him.

It's the first time he has heard those words. He tells us his name is Adel Herbel (PH), and that officers from the much feared Mukhabarat Intelligence Services took him from his home and began interrogating him about his phone. They brought me here to Damascus. They asked me about names of terrorists, he says. Did they hit you, the fighter asked. Yes, yes, he says.

As a paramedic arrives, the shock sets in. There's nothing, everything is OK. The Red Crescent is coming to help you, this man assures him. You are safe. Don't be afraid anymore. Everything you are afraid of is gone.

Tens of thousands of Syrians have disappeared in Assad's prisons. Up until 15 minutes ago, Adel Herbel was one of them. But he is still petrified. Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, the ambulance worker reassures him. Every car I got into, they blindfolded me, he says.

It is the end of a very dark chapter for him and for all of Syria.

Clarissa Ward, CNN, Damascus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: South Korea's president has lost support of his own party as he fights to keep his job.

On Wednesday, the ruling party made a U-turn and decided to get behind attempts to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol. He's been facing calls to step down after imposing a short lived martial law last week, which quickly was overturned by lawmakers. The ruling party initially opposed an attempt to impeach him, hoping he would step down, but it changed course after the president made it clear that he's not going anywhere.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOON SUK YEOL, SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We must prevent the forces and criminal groups that have led the paralysis of government administration and disorder of national constitution from taking over the state administration and threatening the future of the Republic of Korea no matter what. I will fight to the end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:10:11]

KINKADE: Well, the effort to impose martial law backfired on the president, leading to street rallies calling for his impeachment. Lawmakers could hold a new vote to oust him as early as Saturday.

New York police now say they can directly tie Luigi Mangione to the sidewalk execution of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson. First, the police commissioner says the 3D printed gun found on Mangione when he was arrested Monday in Pennsylvania matches three shell casings found at the crime of the scene. Plus, she says Mangione's fingerprints matched those investigators found on a water bottle and an energy bar near the scene.

Mangione's attorney says he still hasn't seen the evidence, but there's no question his client will plead not guilty to murder charges.

More now from CNN's Brynn Gingras.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While Luigi Mangione sits alone in a Pennsylvania jail cell, police say they now have crucial connections between the 26-year-old and the Manhattan crime scene.

JESSICA TISCH, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: First, we got the gun in question back from Pennsylvania. It's now at the NYPD crime lab. We were able to match that gun to the three shell casings that we found in midtown at the scene of the homicide.

GINGRAS: The NYPD commissioner also confirming what CNN first reported. Mangione's fingerprints matched evidence found where UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down a week ago.

TISCH: We're also able at our crime lab to match the person of interest's fingerprints with fingerprints that we found on both the water bottle and the kind bar near the scene of the homicide.

GINGRAS: Sources also telling CNN a to-do list on how to carry out a killing was found in the pages of a spiral notebook, along with notes justifying the plan, suggesting what could be better than, quote, "to kill the CEO at his own bean counting conference."

LUIGI MANGIONE, SHOOTING SUSPECT: It's clearly out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people. It's lived experience.

GINGRAS: Investigators are also working to track his whereabouts days, weeks, months before the murder. A hotel clerk telling ABC Mangione tried to check into this Altoona, Pennsylvania, hotel before his arrest.

JOHN KUKLIS, HOTEL CLERK: There was somebody that checked in and the officer goes, did he have a mask on? Did he ever take a mask off? I was like, no, he never did take his mask off. He says, I'll be down there in five minutes to talk to you. When we pulled it up on surveillance and sure enough, they go, yes, that's him.

GINGRAS: In February, Mangione traveled to Japan and met Japanese poker player Obara Joon, who tweeted about having lunch with him in Tokyo. A month later, it appears the 26-year-old went backpacking in Thailand and told a fellow traveler he was in between jobs and was planning to return to the U.S. in June. He stopped hearing from him in July, according to Reuters. Mangione's neighbor in Hawaii says he ran into him three or four months ago after not seeing him for a long time.

CHRIS KWOCK, NEIGHBOR IN HAWAII: He was a nice guy. He, you know, said hi. We rode the elevator a couple of times. Always smiling, really good. So I just asked him where he's been and for like six months he was like on the mainland, like, he just said medical stuff.

GINGRAS: Then this summer, it seems as if Mangione fell off the grid as concerned friends reached out. I haven't heard from you in months, one friend commented on X.

(On-camera): And more about that missing person's report filed by Mangione's mother, a source telling CNN that she told police she did it because she tried calling her son's personal phone, his work phone where he was working at the time, and everything was going to voicemail, and she said she was worried about him, but she was not worried that he was a danger to himself or to others.

Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, joining me now from Los Angeles is Steve Moore, a CNN law enforcement contributor and retired FBI supervisory special agent.

Good to have you with us, Steve.

STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you for having me.

KINKADE: So the gun Mangione had upon arrest matches the shell casings from the scene according to police. What does that mean for the prosecution's case?

MOORE: Well, it means that the gun that Mangione had literally was the gun that killed the -- killed Mr. Thompson. So that just builds and builds and builds. There's literally a mountain of circumstantial evidence right now connecting Mangione to the murder. But when you start getting into forensics and you can say the gun he's carrying is the murder weapon, and his fingerprints were on items found right next -- right near the body, then it becomes an almost insurmountable mountain of evidence. And I think that's what they're going to have to deal with at this point.

KINKADE: So, Steve, what is the next phase of the prosecution as they build their case?

MOORE: If this -- whether or not it's going to be a death penalty case, but even more so if it is, investigator is going to have to get now just basically write a biography on him specifically from the most detailed parts are going to be from, say, the last year where he went from functional adult to disappearing and now committing an execution style murder.

[00:15:26]

You're going to want to know every day of his life. It's going to -- when they finish, it's going to read like his own diary so that they can track where he was mentally, physically and possibly how -- what motivated him. It will also assist in finding out where he got the IDs, the illegal IDs, and where he picked up the gun, whether he trained with it. All these things are crucial. At the same time, they're going to go back all the way through high school and even back to birth to track him, to show that in case the defense tries to plead not guilty by reason of criminal insanity.

They have a defense against that. They are going to go into court absolutely certain they know every single thing about him.

KINKADE: Mangione's fingerprints are also at the scene, as you mentioned, but his lawyer says they want to see them, given that there has been criticism of the credibility of that in the past. I just want to play some sound from Mangione's lawyer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) THOMAS DICKEY, ATTORNEY FOR LUIGI MANGIONE: What we're talking about is fingerprint evidence and some ballistics. Those two evidences in and of themselves have come under some criticism in the past relative to their credibility, their truthfulness, their accuracy, however you want to do it. So that's why, as the lawyers, we need to see it. We need to see how do they collect it, how much of it matches.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: So he is trying to obviously break apart the case. How difficult will it be for him to challenge that evidence?

MOORE: Probably fairly impossible. He's not being accurate when he said that firearms evidence and fingerprint evidence have been widely challengeable. Certainly in every science, there's going to be mistakes made, but generally fingerprints and ballistic markings, tool markings, those things are considered really, really strong. And as long as those are accurately collected, it's a done deal.

You know, they say if the facts are on your side, argue the facts. If the facts are not on your side, argue the person who's bringing the facts. So it kind of telegraphs what they're going to do. They're going to attack the evidence because that's all they have. If the evidence is real, if the evidence is valid, his client is guilty of an execution murder. And so what you have to do is tear down evidence even at the cost of trying to tear down evidence that is legitimate.

KINKADE: And, of course, we've seen some of the reaction from other CEOs. Wanted posters that are hanging up, forcing some to enhance security or work from home. What would law enforcement be doing to ensure that there isn't a copycat attack?

MOORE: Well, I think all law enforcement can do is disseminate the information to corporations, to anybody who's interested in this. The FBI is not like a Secret Service for corporate executives. However, corporations are smart enough to realize that the world has just changed. And so those things that used to be out in the open like meetings and schedules and things like that are not going to be so.

You're not going to see high-level executives walking around without protection in the future. It's going to be a very serious sea change in how corporations protect their C level executives.

KINKADE: All right. Steve Moore, for us in Los Angeles, appreciate you. Thanks so much.

MOORE: Thank you.

KINKADE: Still to come, FIFA has officially picked Saudi Arabia to host the Soccer World Cup in 2034. Why the decision has human rights groups concerned. Plus, firefighters get a break from the gusty winds as they battle a huge blaze in Malibu, California. We'll have the latest on the Franklin Fire when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:21:51]

KINKADE: Welcome back. Fire officials in Southern California are hoping to get a better handle on a raging wildfire now that weather conditions are improving. The strong winds have been fueling the Franklin Fire since Monday, and they have eased. The fire is now 7 percent contained. 20,000 people are still under evacuation orders or warnings, including Grammy winning singer Cher, who had to leave her home for safety in a hotel.

More now from CNN's Nick Watt.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is going to catch on fire.

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Locals fought to save their own homes as this fire exploded.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's chaos. It's complete chaos. And for me, it's an adrenaline rush. And I'm just in the moment, putting out as much water as I can. And you know, there's fire all around.

WATT: Over a thousand acres burned. The good news, winds have dropped. But --

ANTHONY MARRONE, CHIEF, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: I don't think we've turned the corner at this point. If the wind changes direction, we're going to have the fire moving into new areas.

WATT: There are 1500 plus firefighters on the ground and relentless water drops from the air.

MAYOR DOUG STEWART, MALIBU, CALIFORNIA: All the way to the White House has been checking in on to see what they can do for us and how they can help. We owe a debt of gratitude that we will never forget.

WATT: Malibu Seafood, a famous shack by the shore, was just saved.

Was it just luck?

JOHN CHRISTENSEN, OWNER, MALIBU SEAFOOD: The wind died so, you know, that's the driving force. And so it moves slower. And that allows all these guys with the big trucks to get in here.

WATT (voice-over): They're closed but dishing out coffee and free lunch for the firefighters.

I noticed you wouldn't take money from us for the coffee.

CHRISTENSEN: We can't take it. It's bad karma. The next time we'll burn.

WATT (voice-over): Folks in Malibu no to fear fire. Memories remain from the Woolsey Fire of 2018, which destroyed over 1600 structures and took three lives. Today -- SHERIFF ROBERT LUNA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY: At least to date with the

information we have now, we have no reports of significant injuries or deaths. And that is a huge victory.

WATT: Rivers Redclay and her family stayed to look after their home and all of their animals.

RIVERS REDCLAY, FAMILY HOME THREATENED BY FIRE: We're still not all sleeping at the same time. Everybody is taking shifts and on watch at night. It's very spooky and very eerie because you can look out the window and see what might go up.

WATT (on-camera): Now for those people who stay behind to look after their houses, remember, many of them don't have power, don't have Wi- Fi, don't have cell service, have no communication at all. So they're blind.

The mayor of malibu said today that that lack of communication is something that they're going to start working on here before this inevitably happens again.

Nick Watt, CNN, Malibu, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Lindsey Horvath is the Los Angeles County supervisor for the Third District. She joins us live from West Hollywood, California.

Good to have you with us. How are you doing?

LINDSEY HORVATH, LOS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERVISOR, THIRD DISTRICT: I am doing OK, but I could not be prouder of those who are on the front lines fighting this fire in partnership with the members of the Malibu community and surrounding communities who are all hands on deck to support our first responders in this effort.

[00:25:03]

KINKADE: And we've been reporting on this raging fire for days. Just how are things looking in terms of the weather?

HORVATH: Well, at night it gets a little bit cooler and the humidity increases. So those are ideal conditions to work on fire containment. And overnight we saw that Los Angeles County Fire Department, along with their partners, were able to get the fire at least 7 percent contained. And that means the fire will not come back over that boundary once it is contained. But we do know that the fire has expanded and it's now at more than 4,000 acres.

And so they're working relentlessly to -- under these conditions to try and secure more attainment. They think it's going to take a little while, but CalFire, our state fire entity, along with a lot of regional partners, came together to support Los Angeles County Fire Department in this effort. A lot of this area is state land, and so working together is essential to get the job done. KINKADE: Absolutely. It is good to hear about that teamwork. Talk to

us about the number of people still in the affected areas and how many right now are under evacuation orders.

HORVATH: So there are thousands who are under evacuation orders. But we do know that some of the -- some of them have been lifted. We know our students at Pepperdine have actually been in an opposite situation where they were ordered to stay in place, and that was for their safety and to make sure that emergency personnel were able to traverse the area and access some of those really hard to get to areas in the canyons that they need to access in order to truly fight this fire.

So our law enforcement agencies are working in partnership with our firefighters on the front lines. We also have a community fire brigade, which was trained by the county fire department and other partners to work alongside the department in crisis situations like this. So we have members of the community who themselves are stepping up and putting themselves in harm's way to be supportive of this effort.

KINKADE: And of course, we've mentioned a few of the celebrities who are among those who were evacuated, including Cher and Dick Van Dyke. When will people be able to return to the area?

HORVATH: So as soon as our first responders, our law enforcement agencies are able to secure the area, then they will start welcoming people back. Right now, the focus is on making sure that we get the fire contained and that the area is safe, and even after the fire is mostly extinguished, there are teams that go in to sort of survey the land and make sure that some of those lingering embers are also put out.

And I saw firsthand today some of those teams who are doing that excruciating work. And so while it looks like in some of those areas the fires are out, they're doing that work just to double check and make sure all community areas are safe. So we will get people back in their homes as quickly as we possibly can. I'm proud to say that it looks like right around 15 structures have been impacted so far, and for a fire of this magnitude, we're really lucky that the circumstances haven't been worse so far.

I'm really proud of those who have been on the front lines. They are second to none and I really thank them and the community members who have supported them.

KINKADE: Yes, Lindsey, we're just showing some of the pictures of some of those homes that were destroyed. It really kind of is remarkable that only 15 were damaged in this massive fire.

HORVATH: Yes, there are nine that are marked as destroyed. There are about five or six that are damaged. And like I said, given the magnitude of what we've seen so far, I'm glad that it's only that number and most importantly, that we haven't seen any loss of life. There's been an extraordinary effort to protect this region, and we will continue to fight to keep people safe.

KINKADE: And just finally, how does the size of this fire compare to what you've dealt with in recent years?

HORVATH: Well, because we were prepared not only through the National Weather Service and being on high alert today was our last noted red flag day, those are the, you know, high fire severity days where we're at extreme risk. But leading up to these days, we were getting alerts so we could let the community know. And in months prior, we've actually done community training for emergency preparedness to make sure that people had information around how to communicate, what communication channels they could use.

As you described, some of the circumstances, we are experiencing power outages in some cases, spotty cell coverage, and so Verizon has stepped in to bring in additional cell towers so there is more coverage. But, you know, there are extreme challenges in a situation like this.

And so, while the fire hasn't yet reached the magnitude that we've seen, perhaps, with some of the other fires in recent years, it's certainly doing a great bit of damage. And -- and it requires us to remain vigilant until we get it contained so we can keep everyone safe.

[00:30:15]

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Lindsey Horvath, appreciate your time and all the work you are doing there. Thanks so much for joining us.

HORVATH: Thank you.

KINKADE: Well, still to come, the head at the FBI announces his resignation. We'll break down Christopher Wray's decision to leave his post before Donald Trump returns to the White House.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back.

FBI director Christopher Wray says he will step down at the end of President Biden's term in January. He made the announcement Wednesday at a town hall in Washington, calling it, quote, "the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray." A clear reference to the shake-up that's expected when President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

The move seemingly clears the way for Trump to install Kash Patel as the new director. Patel has been on Capitol Hill this week, looking to drum up support for his nomination, and says he'll be ready on day one to fill the post.

Some in Washington have expressed concerns over what Patel would mean for the FBI's future, but Trump's allies in the Senate are showing their support.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. KEVIN CRAMER (R-ND): I'm glad he did it, to be honest, because clearly, when it comes to his relationship with Donald Trump, it was tainted by the fact that he authorized the FBI to raid his home. And to think somehow, he could, you know, survive that and maintain his job while Donald Trump becomes president would have been untenable.

So, I'm glad he did it before he got fired.

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): This FBI director activated the FBI against parents who went to school board meetings. I mean, he's the worst FBI director in American history. He should go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, CNN's Evan Perez has more on Wray's decision.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: FBI Director Chris Wray announced plans to resign at the end of the Biden administration, almost three years before his ten-year tenure is set to expire, as it became clear that he would be forced out by President-elect Donald Trump.

Trump nominated Wray to run the bureau after firing the previous FBI director, and he said that he plans to nominate Kash Patel, a vocal defender of Trump, to lead the FBI.

Now, Patel this week has been making the rounds on Capitol Hill, meeting with senators to build support for his confirmation vote next year.

Wray held a town hall with employees at the FBI headquarters on Wednesday afternoon. It's a traditional event held around the holidays. This time, however, coming a little earlier than normal and with the news that he plans to leave in order to spare the FBI from attacks that were mostly aimed at him.

[00:35:00]

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: After weeks of careful thought, I've decided the right thing for the bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current administration in January and then step down.

PEREZ (voice-over): Now, in recent weeks, Wray had wrestled with whether to resign, given Trump's stated plans to replace him, or to wait for Trump to actually fire him once he was in office.

Sources tell CNN that some at the FBI and at the Justice Department had urged him to stay, because they didn't want Wray to normalize Trump's penchant for replacing FBI directors he doesn't like.

PEREZ: The FBI job is designed with a ten-year term to straddle administrations and to be insulated from politics.

But Trump has blamed Wray for a number of things. PEREZ (voice-over): He was particularly unhappy with the FBI's court-

approved search of his Mar-a-Lago resort back in August of 2022. This is during the investigation into his alleged mishandling of classified documents, and which led to his eventual indictment.

PEREZ: Wray's departure paves the way for Trump to change the entire leadership of the FBI. Deputy director Paul Abbate, a career FBI agent, will take over on January 20th, but he is slated to retire early next year.

Evan Perez, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, human rights groups are raising red flags after the announcement of Saudi Arabia as the host of the 2034 World Cup.

The Saudis have pledged to spend billions of dollars on the tournament, promising to build or renovate 11 stadiums and 185,000 hotel rooms.

But rights groups are warning of the human costs, especially to migrant workers who will work on the projects. There are also concerns about press freedom, the treatment of LGTBQ+ groups, and the rights of women, among others.

But FIFA judged the risk to be medium in a recent report.

Still to come, a humanoid companion to help around the house. We'll introduce you to NEO, the robot that takes artificial intelligence to another level.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back.

The richest person in the world has just hit an even higher milestone. According to Bloomberg, Elon Musk's net worth has reached $400 billion. He's the first person ever to cross that mark.

Musk's net worth has skyrocketed since the reelection of Donald Trump, rising roughly $136 billion since November 5.

The jump in wealth was fueled by a rise in the valuation of Musk's rocket company, SpaceX. Tesla shares also closed at a record high on Wednesday.

Musk is Tesla's largest individual shareholder.

Now, imagine inviting a robot into your home to take care of the chores that you hate doing, or even just to keep you company. One tech firm is developing what it calls a safe intelligence humanoid to do just that.

Kristie Lu Stout introduces us to NEO.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR (voice-over): How do you take your morning coffee? Milk and sugar? Maybe a latte? Well, how about prepared by a humanoid robot?

For those daily tasks no one likes to do, tech companies want to be the first to take them off your hands and into the hands of human-like droids.

[00:40:12]

1X is a leader in the home robot race, its prototype NEO, able to handle, as the company's CEO puts it, the simple things.

BERNT BORNICH, 1X FOUNDER AND CEO: Though nothing is simple in robotics, but the laundry, tidying, general cleaning, and everyday kind of household tasks, right?

And in addition, it's going to be a great companion. You can talk to it, have good conversations. It can teach you things. It can be entertainment.

STOUT (voice-over): And it all comes back to A.I. In NEO's case, an A.I. brain and an engineered body working together to make the household companion feel more human than humanoid.

BORNICH: All of this is modern A.I. applied to robotics. And what really is exciting about NEO and the pilots that we're starting to roll out now is to have these systems learn among people.

STOUT (voice-over): NEO can also be controlled by people, even from across the world.

The CEO of 1X tried living with an earlier version of the company's humanoid. He says it was useful at the time, but it wasn't a product he'd pay for. Now, NEO's future looks more promising.

BORNICH: We're about to try this again now, and I'm super excited to see the results.

STOUT (voice-over): So how much for your sleek new household gadget? Well, it will cost you. 1X says just imagine what you'd pay for your average new car.

But if you think the practicality is worth the price, you could have a new roommate as soon as 2025.

Kristie Lu Stout, CNN.

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KINKADE: Well, now to a contest showcasing wild animals in all their glory and splendor. It is, of course, the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, and this year's top prize winner is "The Stuck Squirrel." Photographer Milko Marchetti found just the right moment as a red

squirrel was jumping into a tree trunk. Marchetti says it makes audiences explode with laughter.

Organizers say more than 9,000 photos were submitted this year, a record. Other notable entries included a mantis looking like a flamenco dancer, a fish jumping out of water to hunt a bald eagle, and a frog with its head stuck in a bubble.

Well, that does it for this edition of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade. I'll be back with much more news at the top of the hour. Stay with us. WORLD SPORT is next.

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