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Shooter Kills Teacher and Student at Christian School in Wisconsin; Catastrophic Cyclone Hit French Island Mayotte; Assad Appears to Issue First Statement Since Regime's Fall; Scholz Loses Confidence Vote; Political Chaos in Canada. Trudeau Names Dominic LeBlanc as New Finance Minister; Trump: 'You're Not Going to Lose the Polio Vaccine'; Conspiracy Theories Abound Over U.S. Drone Sightings. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired December 17, 2024 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:00]

KEN TURKEL, LAWYER: You know, there was not enough discovery for us to get information like we got in Dominion-FOX, so I don't really know, you know, and I don't know about the chilling. I do know this. He's aggressive, but he's also attacked more than many politicians have ever been attacked. So, you know, you've got to have some strategy to deal with it. And there's no way to deal with it but the courts. That's the only way to regulate it. That's the only place to go.

COATES: Well, we'll see if the chill in the -- we'll see if the chill remains in the air as you mentioned, Brian, based on what has happened here. A lot to be seen here.

Brian, Ken Turkel, thank you so much.

And thank you all for watching this evening. Our coverage continues.

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Lynda Kinkade, live in Atlanta. Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF SHON BARNES, MADISON POLICE DEPARTMENT: I think we can all agree that enough is enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: The latest deadly school shooting in the United States has parents, teachers and police once again asking what needs to be done to keep students safe.

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people are feared dead in the French territory of Mayotte as authorities struggle to get aid to the poorest place in the European Union.

And we're following a developing story on the island nation of Vanuatu, which has just been hit with a powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake.

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

KINKADE: New details are emerging about America's latest deadly school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin. We're learning the suspected shooter surprisingly was a 15-year-old female student. Police say evidence indicates that Natalie Rupnow shot herself and then died en route to the hospital. She's accused of fatally shooting two people, a teacher and a student, at the Abundant Life Christian School. There's no word yet on a motive. Six people were wounded in the mass shooting and two of them remain in a critical, life-threatening injuries.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARNES: At 10:57 a.m. a second grade student called 911 to report a shooting had occurred at school. Now let that soak in for a minute. A second grade student called 911 at 10:57 a.m. to report a shooting at school.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, after getting the all clear, terrified parents ran to the school to retrieve their children. Young students who heard the gunfire shared what happened during those scary moments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did you hear gunshots?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I heard.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Tell me what happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We heard them and then some people started crying. And then we just waited until the police came. And then they escorted us out. I was scared. Why did they do that? Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was getting ready for lunch, so it was basically lunch time, and then I just heard sobbing and there was a teacher and she was screaming like, oh, my leg. Help, help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, CNN's Veronica Miracle has further details on how that tragedy unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN DIAZ DE LEON, LIVES NEARBY: I would have never thought it would have happened in Madison, let alone at our school here at ALCS. So it's shocking. It's a strange world we live in.

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At a small Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin, just before Christmas break, a horrific tragedy.

BETHANY HIGHMAN, PARENT OF STUDENT AT ABUNDANT LIFE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: Something that you pray. I mean, I pray with my kids every morning that this won't happen.

MIRACLE: It was just before lunchtime when a female student opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School. It's a K through 12 program with just a few hundred children and about 50 staff. Police, fire and medics were dispatched to the school at 10:57 a.m. local time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Got a call coming in at Abundant Life Christian Church, 4901 for engine five and medic five for a shooter. Just advising someone was shot.

MIRACLE: Police say that call came from someone inside the school and officers entered the school three minutes later at 11:00 a.m.

BARNES: The shooter was dead upon our arrival, police department arrival, and no officers fired their weapons.

MIRACLE: Less than 10 minutes from when police responded to the scene, radio traffic from the Madison Fire Department said the shooter was down and called for medics to enter the scene.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: PD is saying everybody can come in. All EMS can come in, shooter is down.

MIRACLE: Medics were at a facility just three miles from the school at the time of the shooting when officials say a training day turned into a real-life scenario.

CHIEF CHRIS CARBON, MADISON FIRE DEPARTMENT: Within a course of 15 minutes from the first transport to the last transport, all the patients were on their way to the hospital.

MIRACLE: The injuries were contained to one area of the school.

[00:05:01]

That's according to the Madison Police chief. Sources tell CNN the shooter used a nine millimeter pistol.

BARNES: When officers arrive on the scene, they immediately go in, which we did in this case, stop the threat, stop the killing, find the killer. That's how we train. That's exactly what we did today.

MIRACLE: Police have been in contact with the shooter's family, and they are cooperating.

BARNES: As difficult as today is, that's still someone's child that's gone. That's still someone that has to deal with what happened today. And so we want to make sure that we can ensure as much cooperation as we can.

MIRACLE: The shooting at Abundant Life Christian School marks the 83rd school shooting of 2024, the most of any year since CNN began tracking school shootings. It's the third recent shooting at a Christian school.

BARNES: I think we can all agree that enough is enough, and we have to come together to do everything we can to support our students, to prevent press conferences like these from happening again and again and again.

MIRACLE: Veronica Miracle, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, CNN's senior national security analyst Juliette Kayyem is with us from Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she is a professor at Harvard.

Thanks for joining us.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Thank you.

KINKADE: So as a mother of a second grade student, it really made me sick hearing that a second grade student had to call 911 to report this shooting. What's your initial assessment?

KAYYEM: Yes. Yes. So my kids are a little bit older and they're called generation lockdown. We have a name for this generation of kids that are raised in schools that are either doing active shooter drills or in this case, and too many cases are experiencing it. They are -- they know what to do. That is -- I guess that's empowering in some ways and helps save lives. But it is depressing. And I think you heard that today in the police chief.

We tend to think of these debates and these horrors as being right or left or pro or anti-gun. But what you saw today in three, at least three press conferences was a police chief, presumably, you know, sort of representing in many ways the entirety of that community just saying, you know, at some stage we have to take a deep look at ourselves. And I found that unique. We don't hear that very often from police chiefs who tend to stay away from the sort of more political aspects of what these school shootings mean.

KINKADE: Yes, exactly. We did hear from one mother of three children who survived this. I just want to play some sound of what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not OK. If your kids are at school, they are not OK. If they are at church, they are not OK. If they are outside elsewhere, they are not OK. Well, where are they going to be safe?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: I mean, that really is a key question really for all law enforcement and America in general, right? Where are kids safe?

KAYYEM: Yes, it's true, and it is -- and that combination of it being a nondenominational place of a Christian school as well as place for K through 12, you heard in that mother's voice that sense of frustration that is reflected, I think, in the fact that we are in a year that is having more school shootings than previous years, despite, you know, our focus on it, attempts to address it.

I will say her frustration or sense that nothing can get done, there is -- and you heard this later in one of the press conferences, there are ways that we're discovering can really help with interventions especially for teenagers. And this was a unique situation. It was a teenage girl. We rarely hear of those instances where, you know, maybe we will probably learn over time that she was exhibiting behavior that had there been interventions might have stopped this.

And in the absence of controls of guns in this country, which is unlikely to happen, that is going to be sort of your next best solution to a problem that is increasing, not decreasing.

KINKADE: Yes. And we did hear some -- from some officials who spoke about the security at this particular school. I just want to play some sound from what one official had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA WIERS, ABUNDANT LIFE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: As to a metal detector, no, we do not have. We do abide by the policy of visual scans every morning as students come into the building. So every student is visually scanned before they go into their -- up to their locker spaces or into their classrooms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: I mean, it's kind of remarkable that they even have those digital scans. But, I mean, is there any level of school security that is 100 percent effective when guns are rampant?

[00:10:05]

KAYYEM: No, no, I mean, each school is going to have to base this around sort of, you know, their risk and, you know, their size, their capacity to pay for it. And also their, you know, sort of capacity to monitor it. If you have a lot of devices, there's going to be -- people are going to have to manage them and monitoring them. And so every school, I work with schools, is making its own calculation and not -- but the truth is none of them are perfect as we've seen at schools with police officers in the schools, you still have school shootings.

Maybe they're stopped quicker but you still have fatalities. And schools with metal detectors, you still have fatalities because there's just too many open areas. And the problem is that that combination of trying to be defensive against an enemy that has the means to do so, whether it's a student, an outsider or parent or whoever, it is almost impossible to close all of the gaps that any school is going to have.

And that's what we have to remember, is that they're schools. They're meant to be open. Right? I mean, it's like you can make a perfectly safe school and that would be have no students. And that's the challenge for these school districts. KINKADE: Yes, exactly. And this, of course, is the 83rd school

shooting this year. The number of school shootings are rising every single year. We have a graphic. I just want to show our audience. You can see it year after year. It's getting worse. And we've seen recently parents held accountable for children who've carried out shootings.

What will police be looking at in this case?

KAYYEM: Yes. So those cases are relatively new, new cause of action. But parents are going to jail or being convicted. In most of the instances, it isn't simply negligence, like maybe your kid was exhibiting some behaviors that you should have known about. It's either, you know, sort of gross negligence, like leaving a gun on the kitchen table or letting the kid have access to the gun, and in the most extreme cases, some parents are seeming to actively facilitate the child's violent behavior by purchasing a gun, giving them training.

I've seen pictures online of this student, the female student, I think practicing. I don't know if those were authorized practices. She had some background in shooting. How she got the handgun is going to be a big question. And that is why the cooperation of the parents is something that the police really want to continue to figure out whether there might be a case made against them.

KINKADE: All right. We'll keep following this story. Juliette Kayyem, appreciate your analysis here. Thanks so much.

KAYYEM: Thank you. Thanks.

KINKADE: We are following developments in Vanuatu after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake hit just a few hours ago. The U.S. Geological Survey says it struck off the coast of the capital, Port Vila. Tsunami warnings were issued but later canceled. No word yet on any casualties. There are reports of damaged structures, including the U.S. embassy. A spokesperson says the American embassy sustained considerable damage and is closed until further notice.

We will continue to monitor this story for any updates.

Well, now to the devastation in Mayotte. Hundreds, if not thousands are feared dead in the French territory off the coast of Mozambique after the worst cyclone to hit the region in at least 90 years. The damage is so widespread some are comparing it to the aftermath of a nuclear war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNO GARCIA, OWNER, HOTEL CARIBOU (through translator): Look, the situation is catastrophic, apocalyptic. I've lost absolutely everything. The whole hotel was completely destroyed. As you can see behind it, no more roof, no more. All in all, everything is destroyed. Theres nothing left. Looks like as if an atomic bomb had fallen on Mayotte.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, entire neighborhoods have been flattened or completely wiped out. Officials report at least 11 deaths so far, but say the figure isn't plausible given the extent of the damage, especially in the slums, home to about 100,000 undocumented migrants, many feared dead. President of France Emmanuel Macron says he will visit the island in the coming days. Officials have already pledged resources to assist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNO RETAILLEAU, FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): It is clear that the island is totally devastated. We are thinking of all these families who are severely affected, but also to show all the people of Mayotte that the government is by their side with a helping hand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, these images show some of the neighborhoods both before and after the storm. The cyclone knocked out the electrical grid and disrupted internet service, making it difficult for families to check on their loved ones.

CNN's Larry Madowo has more on the destruction.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Catastrophic. That's how residents of Mayotte are describing the damage from cyclone Chido, the worst to hit the French archipelago in nearly a century.

[00:15:09]

The category four storm killed at least 14 people as it tore through the Indian Ocean over the weekend. But government officials fear hundreds or even thousands could be dead, according to the Associated Press.

Torrential rain and winds of more than 220 kilometers per hour wiped out entire neighborhoods, knocked out electrical grids, and the water supply, leaving Mayotte almost entirely offline for over 36 hours, according to the Web site NetBlocks.

JOHN BALLOZ, MAYOTTE RESIDENT (through translator): It smashed right into us here and to be honest, it was complicated. It was a complete disaster. Lots of houses and even towns are wiped out.

CAMILLE COZON ABDOURAZAK, MAYOTTE RESIDENT (through translator): It really is a war landscape. Around me I don't recognize anything anymore.

MADOWO: Mayotte's prefect says the most devastating damage was to the island shacks, where roughly 100,000 undocumented migrants live in a population of just over 300,000. That is making search and rescue efforts even more difficult and nearly impossible to account for all the victims. French relief efforts are underway, and the country's interior minister was briefed on the hurricane's impact as they began an official visit to their territory on Monday.

RETAILLEAU (through translator): If we want things to go smoothly, we're going to pull out all the stops. We're going to mobilize everything we can in terms of civil and military resources.

MADOWO: With 75 percent of the population living below the national poverty line, Mayotte is heavily dependent on financial assistance from France.

Speaking from Brussels, the foreign minister pledged to help rebuild the archipelago. The island nation of Comoros, north of Mayotte, was also battered by the cyclone, which then went on to make landfall in Mozambique, where it continued to cause damage.

The storm has now weakened. But for the residents of Mayotte, the nightmare is only just beginning.

Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, thousands of North Korean troops are fighting in Russia's Kursk region to help Moscow's army reclaim land taken during Ukraine's offensive in August. On Monday, Ukraine's military said North Korean forces suffered heavy losses.

A warning the video you're about to see is graphic. A drone video released by Ukraine's military appears to show the bodies of dead North Korean and Russian soldiers in the Kursk region. CNN can't independently verify the nationalities of those dead soldiers.

The Pentagon says North Korean troops began actively fighting in an infantry role a little more than a week ago. Ukraine says more than 30 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded over the weekend.

Syria's ousted leader Bashar al-Assad apparently releasing a statement on Telegram for the first time since seeking asylum in Russia after the fall of his government. CNN is unable to verify if Assad still controls the Syrian presidency and the Telegram account, or even if the statement is authentic.

Our Frederik Pleitgen reports from Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): As Syrians celebrate the demise of the Assad regime, the deposed dictator seemingly delusional, apparently speaking out for the first time since fleeing to Russia.

His statement on the social media page of the former Syrian presidency appearing to be from Assad himself, datelined Moscow. I have never sought positions for personal gain, but have always considered myself as a custodian of a national project, the statement says. This after Syrians ransacking Assad's palace discovered the luxury the

dictator and his family were living in, including a garage with dozens of luxury cars, including Ferraris and a Lamborghini. Assad's wife Asma, also known for her lavish outfits, once called, quote, "A rose in the desert" by "Vogue" magazine.

But Assad also admitting as rebels were closing in on his palace, it was Russian leader Vladimir Putin who bailed him out. Assad fleeing to Russia's air base in Syria as he claims to oversee combat operations. But then, quote, "It became clear that our forces had completely withdrawn from the battle lines and that the last army positions had fallen," his statement reads.

With no viable means of leaving the base, Moscow requested that the bases command arrange for an immediate evacuation to Russia on the evening of Sunday, December 8th. That was not only the end of Assad's rule in Syria, but possibly also the beginning of the end of Russia's military footprint in Syria, as Russian forces have been seen apparently flying some of their equipment out of their air force base.

[00:20:08]

And Israel is now busy bombing Syrian military installations like this naval base in Latakia. Russia and Middle East experts warning about the huge loss to Russia in the wake of Assad's fall.

When I saw these ships with our weapons burning, I simply felt like crying, this expert says. These are our weapons, our gear, after all, and our help to the Syrians to protect their statehood.

But those now in charge in Syria are working on a new statehood without Assad. The former dictator, seemingly grappling with his loss of power.

When the state falls into the hands of terrorism and the ability to make a meaningful contribution is lost, the statement says, any position becomes void of purpose, rendering its occupation meaningless.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, still ahead, Germany faces early elections next year after Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a vote of confidence in parliament. We'll have a report from Berlin on what's to come. Also ahead, Canada's prime minister faces a growing political crisis as his finance minister quits. Coming up, why she says Canada isn't prepared for Donald Trump's potential tariff hike.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Well, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has lost a confidence vote that he caught himself paving the way for snap elections next year. Four major political parties have already officially announced their candidate to replace him. CNN's Sebastian Shukla has more from Berlin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: The German chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a vote of confidence that he called in himself on Monday. He lost that vote by 394 votes against him versus the 207 votes in favor of him. What that means is that Germany is now almost certainly headed towards a federal election, the date most likely to be the 23rd of February.

Now, the vote today came about because Olaf Scholz's bickering government collapsed back in November when he fired his finance minister, Christian Lindner. The two had been bickering for some time over a financial mechanism and Germany's economy. But what resulted in this was Scholz leading a minority government. That meant he had very few other options left to him apart from calling this confidence vote.

What the opposition party saw, though, in Scholz's weakness, was the ability to force him to make the call on having the confidence vote and the election earlier than he had originally wished. That animosity was very clear to see on the floor of the Bundestag today, with all parties leveling accusations at one another.

Scholz took another opportunity to remind the German people that the reason this government collapsed in his mind was because the liberal partners in his coalition were not prepared to agree with his policies and timetables.

[00:25:04]

The CDU, the former party of Angela Merkel, now led by Friedrich Merz, and one of the front runners to be the next chancellor, also took his opportunity to blame Olaf Scholz.

FRIEDRICH MERZ, CDU OPPOSITION LEADER AND CHANCELLOR CANDIDATE (through translator): You are asking about confidence today.

Mr. Chancellor, you had your chance. You did not take this opportunity and it applies to today as well as to February 23rd, 2025, the expected date of the Bundestag elections. You, Mr. Scholz, have not earned any trust.

SHUKLA: But forming coalitions is a key part of any German government and is often the way governments are formed. Whilst the outcome of the election is difficult to predict right now, all signs are pointing towards Friedrich Merz and the CDU becoming Germany's largest party and therefore keys to the chancellery. And as one person said to me today, it will almost certainly spell the end of Olaf Scholz's political career.

Sebastian Shukla, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, the shocking political blow for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after his finance minister suddenly quit on Monday. Chrystia Freeland's resignation came after weeks of disagreement with the prime minister over the best way to prepare for Donald Trump's promised tariff hike.

The U.S. president-elect has threatened to implement 25 percent tariffs on all products imported into the U.S. from both Canada and Mexico, unless the two nations stop the flow of illegal migrants and drugs across the border.

In her resignation letter, Freeland said Canada must push back as the Trump administration pursues what she describes as a policy of America first aggressive economic nationalism. Prime Minister Trudeau moved quickly to name a member of his inner circle, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc to replace Freeland.

For more, we're joined by Ian Austin. He is the Canadian correspondent for "The New York Times."

Good to have you with us.

IAN AUSTEN, CANADA CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK TIMES: It's good to be here.

KINKADE: So the deputy prime minister who led Canada's response to the first Trump administration resigned abruptly on Monday. Just explain why.

AUSTEN: In a letter to the prime minister she says that on Friday he contacted her by Zoom and essentially demoted her to a meaningless position. A minister without portfolio, with some vague responsibility for the United States. On top of that, she strenuously objected to some measures in an economic statement she was supposed to present today, a kind of mini-budget, that would have, among other things, have seen Canadians receive 250 Canadian dollar checks and there's currently a sales tax holiday for the Christmas season on things like alcohol, restaurant meals, and toys.

KINKADE: And so she was, of course, one of the prime minister's staunchest allies. What does this mean for Trudeau?

AUSTEN: Well, it's shocking to Canadians. She was extremely loyal to him. She's a former journalist at "The Financial Times," Reuters and other places, who Trudeau recruited very early on before he was prime minister. And since then, she's solved a number of big files for him, including renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement with the previous Trump administration. So it's a huge loss, a huge loss to him.

KINKADE: And speaking of Donald Trump, he is threatening, of course, 25 percent tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico unless those nations do more to curb illegal immigration and the flow of drugs. How is that policy and Trump in general being viewed in Canada?

AUSTEN: Well, both angrily and with fear. The 25 percent tariffs would be a disaster for much of Canada's economy, which is very heavily dependent on exports, and I think the attitude of a lot of Canadians is that the protection of the American border is the responsibility of the United States, not other countries. Plus, there's not much in the way of statistics to support Trump's claim that Canada is a major source of migrants or fentanyl.

KINKADE: And so the prime minister of Canada is being called to resign. What are the most likely scenarios over the coming months?

AUSTEN: Well, he -- I just came back from a fundraising dinner where he gave a speech and he gave no indication that he's going to resign. He talked a lot about fighting and the next election. There's a number of procedural things he might do. There's a way to shut down parliament for a period. He may well do that in the coming days. He put a childhood friend and a very close political ally into the finance minister's portfolio this afternoon, Dominic LeBlanc, who's another fighter.

So I guess Trudeau is here to stay. But there is always the possibility he doesn't control the House of Commons in terms of its votes. And if another left of center party, the NDP, take against him, they could force an election at any point in time. Although Parliament leaves tomorrow for the holidays and isn't back until the end of January, so there's no imminent threat.

[00:30:23]

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: All right. Well, we will see how this plays out in Austin. Good to have you with us from "The New York Times." Thank you.

AUSTEN: Thank you very much well.

KINKADE: Well, Donald Trump is outlining his plans for his second term as U.S. president. The latest on Ukraine, Gaza, TikTok, and the polio vaccine when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back. Donald Trump's transition team is blasting a ruling that his hush-money case should not be dismissed because of presidential immunity.

New York Judge Juan Merchan says evidence that led to Trump's conviction was not related to his official conduct as president. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in July that presidents have broad immunity from prosecution for official acts.

A jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts back in May for falsifying business records to cover up payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Trump has still not been sentenced in that case. His legal team is expected to appeal Merchan's latest decision.

Well, Donald Trump is promising once again to push for a deal to end the war in Ukraine. In his first news conference since his election, Trump wouldn't say if he expects Ukraine to give up territory in exchange for peace. He did say parts of Ukraine have been reduced to rubble, and there are

no cities left for displaced people to return to. Trump also repeated a warning that all hostages held in Gaza must be released before his inauguration on January 20th.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: As you know, I gave warning that, if these hostages aren't back home by that date, all hell is going to break out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, the president-elect met with TikTok's CEO on Monday after suggesting earlier that he might reverse course on banning the social media app.

He threatened defamation lawsuits against several media outlets, which he accused of election interference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have to straighten out the press. Our press is very corrupt, almost as corrupt as our elections.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, Trump also talked about vaccines and his controversial pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Now says he's all for the polio vaccine.

CNN's Tom Foreman has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: I think you're going to find that Bobby is much -- he's a very rational guy. I found him to be very rational.

You're not going to lose the -- the polio vaccine.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president-elect is playing defense amid new reports that a lawyer tied to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. petitioned the government to revoke approval of the polio vaccine, a move Kennedy himself could approve if confirmed to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

[00:35:07]

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., TRUMP PICK TO HEAD DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: I'm not going to take away anybody's vaccines. I've never been anti-vaccine.

Kennedy is trying to calm fears about his views and goals, but his statements over the years have raised alarms.

KENNEDY: I would be against mandates, at all. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For any vaccines?

KENNEDY: For any vaccine.

FOREMAN (voice-over): He's pushed unproven claims that vaccines cause autism. He's compared U.S. vaccine policies to those in a totalitarian state like Nazi Germany, for which he later apologized. And he's disparaged then-President Donald Trump's handling of the COVID pandemic.

KENNEDY: We had the worst record of any country in the world.

FOREMAN (voice-over): That's not true, say top medical researchers. But vaccines aren't the only issue he faces with Republican senators he must win over.

Kennedy has insisted on inauguration day, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water, which Trump said sounds OK, despite decades of evidence showing fluoride radically lowers tooth decay.

Kennedy has made false claims about the ingredients in Froot Loops and calls a lot of American foods poisonous.

And many abortion rights opponents simply don't trust him, including former Vice President Mike Pence, who says Kennedy's nomination is an "abrupt departure from the pro-life record of our administration and should be deeply concerning."

But the Kennedy pedigree still has power. And even with all the concerns about the nominee, some of his complaints about the quality of food and the policies behind food safety standards are resonating with Democrats.

REP. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): Is RFK right about some of the challenges? Yes. I've heard him say a lot of things that are absolutely right.

FOREMAN: During the campaign, Trump said he would let Kennedy go wild on healthcare policy if he won the election. Now, that may not be helping Kennedy very much, as he faces a lot of senators who are afraid he could do just that.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: The FBI is pleading with the public not to shoot at aircraft as the U.S. drone mystery sparks growing concerns and conspiracy theories. We'll have the latest on those sightings, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: The FBI is now warning Americans not to shoot at aircraft in the skies. Conspiracy theories continue to swirl over the mysterious drone sightings in several states. So far, the Biden administration insists that there is no security threat, but that's done little to ease growing concerns and confusion, as CNN's Pete Muntean reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Drone hysteria is soaring as federal authorities are scrambling to tamp down false alarms, breeding conspiracy theories online.

Fanning the latest fears, reports of unmanned aerial systems over secure Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All Aircraft use extreme caution. Patterson Class Delta is now closed for heavy UAS activity.

[00:40:06]

MUNTEAN (voice-over): Pentagon officials now say the Ohio case is not connected to possible drone sightings in a half dozen states.

Even still, President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago doubled down on conspiracy theories after Alex Jones and Joe Rogan amplified claims that drones over New Jersey are looking for a stolen dirty bomb.

TRUMP: Something strange is going on. For some reason, they don't want to tell the people.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): Federal aviation rules allow drones to fly legally, so long as they stay below 400 feet and away from airports, airplanes, and stadiums.

Biden administration officials tell CNN that, of the almost 1 million drones registered in the U.S., 8,000 might be flying at any one given time. And, quote, "We haven't seen evidence of anything non- compliant."

But that has not stopped lawmakers from demanding new technology to help detect hostile drones. Defense officials now confirmed to CNN that the government is sending drone tracking systems to a pair of military installations in New Jersey.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): If the technology exists for a drone to make it up into the sky, there certainly is the technology that can track the craft with precision and determine what the heck is going on.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy says he's been briefed by the FBI. Now that it and the Department of Homeland Security say most cases of possible drones are, in fact, manned aircraft.

Science writer Mick West is debunking purported drone videos online. New Jersey airspace is some of the busiest in the country, with videos surfacing from under Newark, Teterboro, and New York flight paths. MICK WEST, WRITER AND UAP ANALYST: If you get the details -- the date,

the time and the location -- you can actually look up what was in the sky at that point and look at what direction they were looking in. And you can see that it was actually just a plane.

MUNTEAN: The FBI says it's taken in about 5,000 tips of purported drone sightings since this frenzy began but has deemed only about 100 of those legitimate enough for any follow-up.

This fixation on drones is also causing a concern for commercial flights. There's video surfacing online of flights being hit by laser pointers from the ground. It can temporarily blind pilots and can lead to a massive fine from the FAA.

The FAA says it's investigating such incidents in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.

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KINKADE: Well, I'm Lynda Kinkade. I will be back at the top of the hour with much more CNN NEWSROOM. But stick around. WORLD SPORT starts in just a moment.

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