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CNN International: Russia Detains Uzbek National Over General's Killing; Mass Graves Being Found After Assad Regime's Fall; Optimism Builds For Gaza Ceasefire & Hostage Deal. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired December 18, 2024 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
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RAHEL SOLOMON, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Good morning or good evening, depending on where you're watching. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.
And ahead on CNN Newsroom, new details in the assassination of the Russian senior general and some strong words from the Kremlin to Ukraine. We have more from Moscow. Plus, in a shocking reversal, the U.S. House Ethics Committee votes to release its ethics report into Matt Gaetz. What this could mean for the former representative? And CNN gains exclusive access to a police report with disturbing details on the French case of a man accused of inviting men inside his home to rape his wife.
We begin in Moscow with the assassination of a senior Russian general. Just one day after that deadly blast in Moscow, a suspect from Uzbekistan is in custody. The 29-year-old man seen here has been identified by Russian state media. They also published a video in which the suspect appears to confess to planting the bomb, although it's not clear if that confession was made under duress. Russian investigators say that the man was recruited by Ukraine's security service.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more. We do want to warn you that some of the video was disturbing.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Russian state media has named the suspect that the Russian Investigative Committee says has been arrested as 29-year-old Uzbek citizen, Akhmad Kurbanov. Now, the Russian authorities are saying that he is suspected in connection with the assassination of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who, of course, was killed when leaving his apartment yesterday, by a bomb blast. And the Russian investigators are saying that they believe that Kurbanov was recruited by Ukraine's intelligence service, the SBU. They say that he was told to get an electric scooter and then was given a homemade bomb and parked the scooter with the bomb in front of the door that later the general, together with an aid, would come out of. Now, as part of this plot, the Russians say that Kurbanov off also got
a car-sharing car, rented a car-sharing car, and parked it outside of the door of that building as well. They say that that car was outfitted with a camera that had a live feed that went straight to the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine, where it was monitored by Ukrainian security services, and when the general left his building, that is when the bomb was detonated. Obviously, General Kirillov was killed yesterday when he left his apartment building. That blast seemed to be massive. When we were on the scene, we saw that even in the houses adjacent to where this blast took place, that windows had been shattered there.
Russian politicians obviously irate about all this. The Kremlin came out and commented on all of this for the first time today, the Kremlin spokesman saying that all the shows that Kyiv, as he put it, does not shy away from terrorist methods.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: And soon, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to meet with European leaders and the head of NATO in Brussels. Zelenskyy has said that he believes the conflict with Russia could end next year, and is calling on Ukraine's allies to secure a peace deal. The huddle with European leaders comes just over one month until U.S. President-elect Donald Trump moves back into the White House, and there is concern that Trump could pull U.S. support for Kyiv.
In Syria, meantime, life is slowly returning to normal after the abrupt collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime. For the first time since his fall, more than a week ago, a domestic flight departed from Damascus airport. A UN special envoy today called for free and fair elections in Syria, saying that there is a lot of hope that the country can now move toward democracy.
But, the lingering trauma from decades of Assad's brutality won't disappear overnight. Syrians are now finding mass graves, a horrific discovery that could finally provide answers for so many families desperate for news about loved ones who were taken away by police. An international war crimes prosecutor says that the mass graves exposed what he calls Assad's state-run machinery of death.
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STEPHEN RAPP, COMMISSION FOR INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE & ACCOUNTABILITY: The other aspect of this is establishing the truth, because as I indicated earlier there, everybody in this country was terrorized by this regime, and every family seems to be affected by a disappearance, and they cry out for answers about what happened to their child. There is still faint hopes that somebody could be found alive.
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SOLOMON: Our Melissa Bell is covering the story for us from Paris.
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MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT Tragic next step in the search of many Syrians for their loved ones, some of the first images emerging of what are believed to be mass graves that may have been used by the regime to bury some of those who were first taken to the detention centers and then tortured to death, one at Qutayfah, which is on the outskirts of Damascus, not very far from the Syrian capital, where one advocacy group has been speaking of the truckloads of bodies that were brought each week. What we understand is that four tractor trailers carrying 150 bodies each were brought twice a week, between 2012 and 2018, to this particular site, now be the subject of a search for some of those bodies in the hope that some may be identified.
Another site in the southern province of Daraa also now believed to be another of those mass burial sites, as Syrians try and establish the identities of some of the 150,000 people who disappeared, to try and figure out if any of them may lie in these sites. That's according to the International Commission on Missing Persons. Still many relatives frantically searching for their loved ones in their hopes that they might be alive.
But, these are the clearest indication yet, the first tangible proof of what we've long heard about from outside of Syria during the Assad regime, of the brutality of its secret services, the brutality of its detention centers, with many of those bodies now no doubt beyond recognition. It's unclear also, for the time being, how many people may have been buried there.
Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
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SOLOMON: As international mediators intensify efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza, Israel continues to carry out deadly airstrikes. Health officials in Gaza say that new attacks killed at least a dozen people overnight. Many were in a house that was hit in Beit Lahia, triggering a large fire. Hospital director says that children and women are among the dead.
Elsewhere in Gaza, a strike hit a tent camp sheltering displaced families in Al-Mawasi, an area that had been designated a safe zone. One survivor says that the entire world should bear witness to the devastating scene.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Interpreted): There were people sleeping in their tents here when the explosion happened suddenly. We ran and found a woman here. May she rest in peace. She was murdered on the spot. There were also many injured children.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SOLOMON: And CIA Director Bill Burns is traveling to Doha to join Gaza
ceasefire talks. All parties appear cautiously optimistic that a deal can be reached. But, as a White House spokesman says, we have been in this position before and never made it over the finish line.
Our Jeremy Diamond reports.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, it really does appear that every single party to these negotiations believes that we are closer to a deal than we ever have been. But, we have, of course, heard language exactly like that before, particularly over the summer, amid those negotiations that followed that July framework that became the basis for negotiations, but those negotiations ultimately collapsed in August.
Now, though, U.S. and Israeli officials in particular are pointing to a new set of conditions on -- in terms of the negotiating environment that could be pushing Hamas to make more concessions and move towards a deal, and also conditions such as the killing of the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, other Israeli military accomplishments that could make a deal more palatable to Israel's political leadership. On the Hamas side, the sense is that Hamas is increasingly isolated following the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, that it has not been able to bring about this kind of all-out regional war that it perhaps wanted to see in order to try and bring about Israel's defeat.
And instead, Iran has been significantly weakened in terms of its influence and its proxies in the region, and that all of this may be contributing to some of the concessions that we've been told that Hamas appears to be making at the negotiating table, including the fact that Hamas seems more open to allowing Israel to maintain a troop presence along the Philadelphi Corridor during the first phase of an agreement. That was, of course, one of the key sticking points that the Israeli Prime Minister refused to budge on in August that ultimately led to the collapse of that round of negotiations.
But, the optimism that we are hearing, including from Hamas, which said yesterday that they believe a deal is possible, another Hamas source saying that the atmosphere was positive and optimistic, they are also expressing caution, caution about the potential for additional Israeli demand, slowing down the process, and caution, of course, simply about the fact that until a deal is actually agreed to, nothing is agreed to, as we have seen so often in these negotiations. It is that last yard that is most difficult to actually get across and bridge the gap there, and there is no question that a deal is needed now more than ever.
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We have seen dozens of people killed in Gaza over the course of just the last 24 hours, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. There are 100 hostages that still remain in Gaza, about half of whom Israel believes to be alive. And of course, we know, as we have been reporting on the humanitarian conditions in Gaza that are simply not improving, and of course, a deal would not only bring about a respite in the fighting, the release of perhaps dozens of hostages, but also, of course, the entry of much, much needed humanitarian aid into the strip.
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SOLOMON: Our thanks to Jeremy Diamond there.
And let's now bring in Aaron David Miller. He is a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is also a former Middle East negotiator at the U.S. State Department. Aaron, always good to have you. Certainly no one better to talk to on the heels of what could be a deal. And I think Jeremy really laid out really well, sort of the situation on the ground there, regionally. I'm curious, from your perspective, if you also share that sentiment that that appears to be what's driving this sudden willingness to get a deal done now.
AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER STATE DEPT. MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: I mean, thanks for having me, Rahel. I mean, Jeremy's reporting suggests that everybody, and it's rare when the sun and when the stars all align, are on the same page. So, I think there is a high probability that, in fact, there will be a deal. But, let's be very clear here what we're talking about. We're talking about a limited exchange of hostages. The men above 50, the infirm, if there are any children, the women and the elderly, in exchange for what, a 45 to 60-day ceasefire, not suggesting that -- I don't want to trivialize that. It's extraordinary for the hostages, their families, the ones that are going to be released, and for the people of Gaza, who have suffered far too long.
But, we're not talking about ending the war. Hamas is going to retain probably 40 or 50 male IDF prisoners and the bodies of others, and they will not return them without major concessions from an Israeli government, which, frankly, is simply not going to agree to Hamas' terms. So, let's see if we get beyond phase one. I doubt if there will be a phase two, but it's certainly, on balance, very good news.
SOLOMON: Yeah. I mean, to your point, 45 to 60 days is certainly welcome news to all of those in Gaza, but a far cry from perhaps the beginning of ending this war.
MILLER: Yeah. I think that's right. And my experience in negotiations is that parties close a deal when there is sufficient pain and sufficient prospects of gain. And I think for the first time you have a situation with Hamas, actually, they need a deal. They've seen Iran, Iranian influence in power, Hezbollah hollowed out. They have almost nothing to show the people of Gaza for more than a year of abject misery as a consequence of Hamas' decision to strike Israel on October 7th. They needed to produce something, and what they're going to produce are three things, I suspect.
Number one, an asymmetrical number of Palestinian prisoners, always popular on the Palestinian street, number two, a respite 60 days and the surging of humanitarian assistance into Gaza for that period. So, I think the pressures on Hamas now are greater than they've ever been. And Mr. Netanyahu, I think, is willing. I don't think the pressure is as great on him, but he is willing, I think, to do a deal, because he knows this is not going to end the war. It's limited exchange. He'll diffuse some pressure from the families, and he'll be able to keep his right-wing coalition intact, because the war in Gaza against Hamas is going to continue.
SOLOMON: And Aaron, what do you make, speaking of Netanyahu, of some who believe that the timing of this is coincidental in the sense that certainly in a few weeks, we're going to have a new administration that that could be perhaps part of what's happening behind the scenes. What do you think?
MILLER: I don't think there is any question that the impending transition in Washington plays a role. I do not believe, however, that the President-elect is responsible primarily for what's happening. Pressure on the parties and Mr. Netanyahu's willingness to do a deal because it's limited, I think are the dominant factors. But, there is no doubt that Benjamin Netanyahu wants to clear, at least begin to clear this issue away so he can concentrate on what is really important to him, which is an effort to persuade the Americans and the President-elect that destruction of Iran's nuclear sites is critically important, and there will never be another time in order to undertake that. So, I think those are Netanyahu's calculations.
Remember, I have one another point. He is on trial now, a week into a four-year case for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. Any distraction from his testimony is good news for Benjamin Netanyahu.
SOLOMON: Yeah. It's such an interesting point about Iran.
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I mean, just to paraphrase one U.S. official, this weekend, Iran, I mean, the cavalry is not coming, and perhaps Hamas realizes that. Perhaps Hamas is really acknowledging that.
Aaron David Miller, we will leave it here. But, thank you.
MILLER: Thank you, Rahel.
SOLOMON: The 2023 Nobel Prize winner -- Nobel Peace Prize winner is temporarily out of prison and speaking exclusively to CNN. Narges Mohammadi is a human rights activist who is serving multiple sentences in Iran after various convictions, but her supporters say that she is a political prisoner.
CNN's Narges Mohammadi asked Mohammadi about the moment that she was released from jail on medical leave. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NARGES MOHAMMADI, IRANIAN NOBEL LAUREATE: The moment they let me in the ambulance and I saw the street, I felt liberated, and I felt -- I could see a woman who was crossing the road without a head scarf, and they recognized me, and they greeted me and I started chanting "Women Life Freedom".
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MOHAMMADI: And I felt that this is not a movement that is going to lose its strength and it's still going strong, because our women are very strong. And I was filled with joy to see our women like that. And I greeted freedom, because I realized I was not surrounded by God and I could leave prison, but it was -- I had a kind of dual feeling about leaving prison.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I understand what you're saying, but I'm also -- I mean, I'm just so amazed that you would be leaving prison for only a period of time. You're jailed for defying the state, and yet you still come out and you shout the slogan Woman Life Freedom". You're on an international television interview right now that will be shown all over the world and in the United States, and you're still standing up for what you believe in. Are you not afraid of the consequences?
MOHAMMADI: I have been tried for nine times, but -- and they continue to convict me of various crimes. But, I think the path that I have chosen will never stop, not even the prison walls and all these convictions can ever stop me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: And you can see the full interview today at 01:00 p.m. Eastern, 06:00 p.m. in London.
And coming up for us, a CNN exclusive involving the ethics investigation of a former U.S. congressman who was tapped to be the next attorney general. Plus, the U.S. Federal Reserve meets for the final time this year. Will it cut interest rates again as expected? Details on what investors are watching, coming up next.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. CNN has learned that the U.S. House Ethics Committee will now release its report on former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz. Last month, the panel shelved the report, but now, in an apparent reversal, the Committee voted in secret this month to make their investigation public. That's according to multiple sources. Gaetz was in the running to be the next attorney general until numerous allegations surfaced, including sexual misconduct.
Let's get the CNN's Alayna Treene, who is live in West Palm Beach, Florida. And Alayna, you were part of this team that broke this news, and Matt Gaetz himself is now responding to CNN's reporting. What is he saying?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: That's right. We have just heard from Matt Gaetz. He posted to X. I'm going to read you some of what he said in response to this report. He said, quote, that he emphasized that he was, quote, "FULLY EXONERATED" by a separate Department of Justice probe. We know that the Justice Department had looked into several of these allegations against him, including sexual misconduct, including with minors, illicit drug use, etc. And then he went on to say that he had never had sexual contact with someone under 18. We do know that this is a claim that is addressed in the House Ethics Committee report. We have previously reported that. So, we'll see what it says about that once this report is actually released.
But then he went on to say, quote, "My 30's were an era of working very hard and playing hard too. It's embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. I live a different life now."
And Rahel, I do just want to walk you through more of what our story says, because this is a very big development that a lot of people were waiting to see what would happen. We know that last month, as you mentioned, the House Ethics Committee voted not to release the report, saying that they would revisit it in December. We know that they met this month and then secretly voted to release this.
Now, a key thing to keep in mind is that when they first had that decision and voted not to release this report last month, that was when Matt Gaetz was still in the running and under consideration for being Donald Trump's pick for attorney general. Now, of course, the timing of this vote, everything has changed. Matt Gaetz is no longer under consideration. He has withdrawn his name from that role, and has also said that he is not going to be returning to Congress next year, and said he plans to take a role at the One America News Network.
But, all to say, Matt Gaetz is still very influential in Republican politics, and whatever is released in this report, we have to wait and see what exactly these allegations are. It could be very damaging to his career. He still remains very close with Donald Trump. But, the thing to keep in mind as well is that a lot of Republicans and Democrats have very tense relationships with Matt Gaetz. Part of that is because he had voted last year. He kind of led the effort to oust the former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, something Republicans didn't forget. And this was also a key thing that people, particularly Republican senators who were at the time considering whether or not to confirm Matt Gaetz as Donald Trump's pick for attorney general, they were worried about what some of these allegations could be.
I think it's worth noting, though, however, that now that Gaetz has resigned from Congress, he does not plan on returning, it is very rare for the Ethics Committee to release a report once a congressman is no longer in fact in Congress. So, this is a bit of a departure from the norm then.
And I will also add that many people had considered that Matt Gaetz's abrupt resignation from Congress once he was named Donald Trump's attorney general, led to the idea that perhaps he resigned to try and keep this report from being published. So, this is going to definitely be a bombshell. I'm sure there will be a lot that we have to get through once this is finally released.
We're told that that likely will not happen until Republicans, or, excuse me, until members in Congress go home, finish this Congress, finish their voting, and start heading home for the holidays. Rahel.
SOLOMON: OK. So, watch this space. Alayna Treene live for us here in West Palm Beach. Alayna, thank you.
Meantime, tech giants continue heading to Mar-a-Lago, also in West Palm Beach, Florida. Today, it's Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who is meeting the President-elect. He joins a line of billionaires and top executives who are huddling with Donald Trump before he takes office. Bezos also owns The Washington Post, making him a potential prime target for Trump's criticism of the media.
And Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing a fight for his political future and the incoming Trump presidency, well, that may not be helping. Trump has threatened a 25 percent tariff on goods from Canada, and Trudeau's government has already been hit with the resignation of the Finance Minister, who was also Deputy Prime Minister.
Joining us now from Washington is CNN's Stephen Collinson. And Stephen, Trudeau himself, of course, travel to Mar-a-Lago a few weeks ago. That raised a lot of eyebrows. Unclear if that did anything to help. And in your piece you write, it is Canada now, but it could be anywhere next for Trump.
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STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah. That's right. The interesting thing about Trump is one of his best political skills, if you can call it that, is understanding and exploiting the weaknesses, political or otherwise, of his political opponents. That seems to be doing -- seems to be what he is doing in the case of Justin Trudeau in Canada, who was already facing a fight for his survival before Trump was re-elected. This threat of 25 percent tariffs has caused great political stress in Canada when the Finance Minister resigned this week, Chrystia Freeland. She said that one of the reasons she was going was because the Prime Minister's spending plans were gimmicks meant to buy popularity and didn't take into account the fact that Canada needed to save its cash and resources for a potential trade war with Trump.
To your point about the other countries, there are many other weak Western leaders right now in France and Germany, for example, and in those countries, there are right-wing populist politicians waiting in the wings, who Trump would presumably much prefer to deal with. So, I wouldn't be surprised if, once he is in office, he seeks to leverage the weaknesses of other leaders, especially in Europe, when he comes up with tariff plans for their countries as well.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Stephen, I think it gives you a sense, perhaps, of how Trump views foreign relationships as transactions that can be zero- sum, and his supporters might look at this and say, yeah, that's exactly what they voted for. I mean, what harm could come from this more hardline approach to trade?
COLLINSON: Right. And there are many Trump voters and many Democratic voters come to that, who believe that the global trading system over the last 25 years, especially the entry of China into the world trade system -- World Trade Organization, and the flight of manufacturing jobs from states like Michigan and Wisconsin and Pennsylvania to low- wage economies abroad has been a complete disaster for Americans and American workers. So, Trump is building on that sense that these places were not served well by the American government and American companies and the economic system.
The issue, however, is, is that trade is also something that has increased livelihoods. For example, in the U.S. and Canada, the trading and manufacturing systems are deeply intertwined. A car, for example, the parts of a car go back and forwards many times between southern Ontario and the United States, for example, during the manufacturing process. So, it's very hard to unbind all this. And a trade war would hurt American consumers, in the case of the U.S. and Canada, given the relative size of the two economies. It probably would just hurt the Canadians more and more quickly.
SOLOMON: It's interesting, Stephen, I also think when you're thinking about the U.S.-Canadian relationship, U.S. crude oil and how much we import from Canada, I mean, how much we pay at the pump is a really big deal and certainly has political implications. But, I think it goes farther than perhaps many of us even realize.
COLLINSON: That's true. Massive amounts of U.S. energy relies on Canada. The Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, was on CNN last night. He was arguing basically that if Trump comes after Canada with these 25 percent tariffs, Canada should start adding a tariff to oil exports. Millions of barrels go south of the border every day. That has opened up a bit of a controversy in Canada, because obviously, a lot of Canadian oil production is -- comes from western states like Alberta -- Western provinces like Alberta, for example, and they're exported into the United States, and they're more conservative, perhaps, than the rest of Canada. So, there is big political divisions there that Trump has opened up.
I think what the Canadians are obviously hoping, and many other countries are, that this is just a hard ball negotiating tactic for Trump. The U.S-Canada-Mexico trade agreement is up for renegotiation later this year, and a lot of people are seeing it in that context.
But, one thing we have to remember is that Trump and his administration don't just see tariffs as a leverage in trade issues. They see it as a way to impose power across a whole range of other areas. So, it's not just a trade story. It's about how Trump will deal with the rest of the world.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Fascinating point. Really interesting dynamics you lay out really well.
Stephen Collinson, thanks for being here today.
COLLINSON: Thanks.
SOLOMON: The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates again on Wednesday. It will be the third rate cut this year and the last one before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated next month. U.S. economy remains strong with the job market holding steady, and economic growth forging ahead.
[11:30:00]
But, progress to the Fed's two percent inflation target, well, that may have stalled in recent months.
CNN's Matt Egan brings us a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: So, there is really not much drama over what the Fed is going to do today. The real suspense is over what comes next. Now, the market is pricing in a 95 percent chance of a quarter point cut from the Fed today. That's basically a slam dunk. The Fed almost has to cut rates today, because if they didn't, they'd really be freaking out markets, and they don't like to do that.
So, this would be the third cut in a row, and it would mean that interest rates are about a full percentage point below where they were back in September. If you're a borrower, this is good news. If you're someone who is trying to pay off credit card debt or get a car loan or get a mortgage, it's nice to see that rates are finally coming down. But, the bad news is that the Fed is also likely to signal today that they're going to tap the brakes on these rate cuts next year. They're going to be issuing new guidance and projections today. And in the past, in September, Fed officials were penciling in four interest rate cuts in 2025. Now the thinking is they might be signaling three cuts, or even two or fewer.
And when you think about it, it really is an awkward time for the Fed to be cutting interest rates. There is no need to come to the rescue of the economy. It's still growing at a very solid pace. The unemployment rate has come up, but it's still pretty low, and the war on inflation has stalled out in recent months. We know that food prices and housing costs remain stubbornly high, and then there are these risks that the Trump agenda could potentially reignite inflation, specifically mass deportations. If you're deporting millions of undocumented workers, it's not clear they'll be able to do that, but if they did, that could cause shortages of workers in agriculture and in construction. And then there is this brewing trade war between the United States and China, Canada, and Mexico. That could also raise prices as well.
So, yes, it does look like an interest rate cut from the Fed is imminent today, but this could be the last cut for a while.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: Our thanks to Matt Egan there.
And still ahead, police in Wisconsin are searching for a motive in Monday's deadly school shooting. We will tell you what we've now learned about the suspect. Plus, we talked to experts about the drone mystery in the U.S., and we'll tell you what they found, when we come back.
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[11:35:00]
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. You're watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.
The suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO was facing a first- degree murder charge. On Tuesday, an 11-count indictment against Luigi Mangione was unsealed. He also faces two counts of second-degree murder along with weapons and forgery charges.
As CNN's as Danny Freeman explains, the Manhattan district attorney says that the suspect intended to, quote, "evoke terror".
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These new charges announced yesterday really escalated this case against Luigi Mangione. The Manhattan district attorney officially announcing that 11-count indictment, including that rare first-degree murder charge in New York, and it's rare because it requires special elements related to the crime, and really can only come from a narrow list of aggravating factors. Mangione was also indicted by a grand jury for murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism. DA Alvin Bragg saying, clearly, quote, "This was a killing intended to invoke terror".
Meanwhile, we have updated information about the outside world's attempt to interact with Mangione while has been behind bars here in Pennsylvania. As of yesterday, Luigi Mangione has received 157 deposits into his prison commissary account. That's according to a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. We also learned, as of yesterday morning, he'd received 33 emails and six pieces of mail. That's actually up from the two pieces of mail that we reported Mangione had received back on Monday evening. And still, the only visitors he has had has been his attorneys since he has been behind bars.
Now, all that being said, the NYPD was very forceful in their press conference back on Tuesday, saying that this is not someone that should be lionized. Take a listen to what the commissioner of the NYPD said yesterday.
JESSICA TISCH, NYPD COMMISSIONER: Let me say this plainly, there is no heroism in what Mangione did. This was a senseless act of violence. It was a cold and calculated crime that stole a life and put New Yorkers at risk. We don't celebrate murders, and we don't lionize the killing of anyone.
FREEMAN: Now, tomorrow morning, Thursday morning, Mangione is expected to have two hearings back here at this Pennsylvania courthouse behind me, first on those lesser Pennsylvania charges, and then the one, other one, right after on extradition. But, CNN has learned that Mangione intends to waive this extradition. That's according to his new attorney, and a prison spokesperson told me that that could mean he could be on his way back to New York right from the courthouse, if that is indeed what happens.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: And police in Madison, Wisconsin are trying to determine the motive behind Monday's deadly school shooting, and people in the community are turning to one another for comfort and for support.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SATYA RHODES-CONWAY, MAYOR OF MADISON, WISCONSIN: Yesterday, the Madison community experienced a terrible and traumatic event, and we will never be the same, but we will get through this, and we will get through this together by relying on each other and by taking care of each other.
MYA CULLEN, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDENT: How many more lives need to be lost? How many more lives need to be taken for people to wake up? I mean, our children, our loved ones, are stuck between a crossfire. When is it enough? When is it enough?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: And police say that the suspect, identified as 15-year-old student, Natalie Rupnow, opened fire on Monday, killing a teacher and fellow student and injuring six others at Abundant Life Christian School before apparently turning the gun on herself.
Let's bring in CNN's Natasha Chen. Natasha, it sounds like police believe that the motivation may be a combination of factors. I mean, what more have police said about the investigation?
NATASHA CHEN, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rahel, the police are saying not a whole lot about the investigation, as they continue to work. But, we are looking at some court documents right now that have already been reported by The Washington Post, where the Post have reported records of this shooter's parents having been divorced and re-married multiple times, of a turbulent childhood she experienced that she had been enrolled in therapy, sometimes forced to move between her parents' homes every two to three days. Neither parent has responded to requests for comment by The Washington Post or by CNN. But, police say that they are cooperating with them as far as the investigation is concerned.
Now, we do want to show you a photo that we've seen posted, apparently by the shooter's father. There you see, she is on a shooting range in Dane County. She is seen wearing a black shirt with the name of the band, KMFDM. That's a German industrial rock band whose lyrics have also been cited by the gunman who committed the Columbine school shooting in 1999.
[11:40:00]
Now, at the time of Columbine, that band had released a statement expressing sympathy for the victims and actually saying to Reuters that their lyrics were intended to stand against violence. These are all the kinds of details that police are looking into right now. In that post of that photo, someone had commented, is that your child? And Rupnow's father apparently said it sure is. We joined this shooting range and have been loving every second of it. So, again, lots to comb through.
In the meantime, like you showed at that vigil, the community is just reeling from this pain. We had a father tells CNN yesterday about what his third grade son witnessed in the classroom. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLEN LEWIS, FATHER OF FOUR STUDENTS AT ABUNDANT LIFE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: The students knew what to do, and they hid in the corners of their classrooms. My third grade son mentioned that his teacher stood between the door and where the kids were hiding with scissors, ready to do whatever she had to do to defend the kids in that class.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHEN: Incredible. And there are others who are protecting the privacy of the victims, but sharing that the teacher who was killed was kind and caring, another set of parents told us that she loved her school, loved her kids, loved teaching. Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Just awful details.
Natasha Chen live for us there. Natasha, thank you.
CHEN: Thanks.
SOLOMON: President Joe Biden and members of the U.S. House Intel Committee are saying the same thing, that there is apparently nothing nefarious going on with all the drone sightings reported across the eastern U.S. But, our officials said that they are still looking into 100 reported incidents, but have cleared thousands.
CNN's Pete Muntean spoke with experts and New Jersey residents about all the sightings.
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PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We are on the lookout for drones, with drones where fears first took off, New Jersey. Ocean County Sheriff Sergeant Kevin Fennessy is one of about a dozen drone officers responding to calls and now tracking flights from inside this major crimes command center, now turned into a drone war room.
SGT. KEVIN FENNESSY, OCEAN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: It is wild the amount of air traffic over New Jersey and especially over Ocean County.
MUNTEAN (voice-over): The sergeant says, sure, many of the calls the department gets are actually airplanes, helicopters, medevacs, planets, even stars. But, they have seen things they just cannot explain. A sheriff's lookout drone tethered to the ground captured this video.
FENNESSY: We had something coming at us, and as it's coming at us, it stops, just like a 180 in the air, and then drives away. That comes back and does like a giant U around us. So, that's not normal for aircraft.
MUNTEAN: So, this is really happening.
FENNESSY: We think so. It's definitely something that whatever we're seeing we can't figure out what it is.
MUNTEAN (voice-over): The federal government reiterated Tuesday that the vast majority of purported drone sightings are, in fact, airplanes or drones flying legally with no threat to public safety. But, don't say that to the folks on the Seaside Heights boardwalk who were not shy to tell me about what they have seen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it is drones. Too many people have seen them to it not be real.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I haven't seen. I do think it's legitimate, but I don't believe that nobody knows where they're coming from.
MICK WEST, WRITER AND UAP ANALYST: I haven't seen any legitimate drone sightings in this current flap around New Jersey.
MUNTEAN (voice-over): Science writer and conspiracy expert Mick West investigates possible drone sightings and says that you can too.
WEST: 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: We're on the boardwalk. The Sun is set, and the sky has really come alive. You can see almost why folks are reporting so many drone sightings. Off in the distance over the Atlantic Ocean there, I can see several planes.
I'm corroborating here with the same app that they use over in the command center. This is called ADS-B Exchange, showing within about a 20 mile view planes broadcasting their position live. There is an Atlas Air cargo flight that just left, not too far away from here, going out over the Atlantic Ocean. There is a Delta flight that's coming in over the Atlantic, turning north to go into JFK. And then another really bright light above those two, that is Jupiter. But, it's the things that cannot be explained so easily that have folks here really concerned.
MUNTEAN (voice-over): Deputies like Kevin Fennessy hope the truth is still out there.
FENNESSY: We are not drone hunters. We're just trying to see if we can figure out what's going on, where they're coming from, and try to put this to bed. MUNTEAN: The Pentagon is sending drone systems to two military bases here in New Jersey, Naval Weapons Station Earle is the closest, only about 25 miles away from where we are. The goal is to identify and track drones, not shoot them down, rather jam the signal between the controller and the drone in hopes that the drone essentially lands itself.
[11:45:00]
Pete Muntean, CNN, Seaside Heights, New Jersey.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. A verdict is expected Thursday in a mass rape trial that has shocked France and much of the world. Dominique Pelicot is accused of organizing the abuse of his own wife, Gisele. Gisele decided to waive her right to anonymity and has spoken openly in court, saying that it is time to, quote, "look at this macho, patriarchal society and change the way it looks at rape." 15 men, including Pelicot, have pleaded guilty to rape. Others claim that they believe a husband's consent was enough.
CNN has obtained exclusive access to French police reports, which reveal exactly how Dominique Pelicot enlisted men to rape his wife. And we do want to warn viewers that the content is graphic and it is disturbing.
Saskya Vandoorne reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(VIDEO PLAYING)
SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: I've come here to retrace the steps of all those men who visited Dominique Pelicot's house in the middle of the night. This case really has captured the world's attention, with so many people asking why. We're going to focus instead on how Pelicot led the men right here --
VANDOORNE (voice-over): -- the way he communicated, the tactics he used, how he came to be on trial for mass rape and drugging his wife. What was his playbook?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 50 men accused in the mass rape of Gisele Pelicot. She was drugged.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Drugged unconscious by her husband Gisele Pelicot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gisele Pelicot did to recruiting dozens --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And listing other men to join --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- to rape his wife sparked outrage across France.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- drawing levelled concern about violence against women.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): CNN has gained exclusive access to police reports with thousands of messages that Dominique exchanged with the 50 men on trial alongside him. He didn't have to search far for his alleged accomplices. They all live within a 30 mile radius of his house in Mazan. The horror is still felt here by local women.
NEDELJKA MACAN, MAZAN RESIDENT: This area was so quiet and nice area. And now we don't know if somebody who is the next shop is one of these men. It changed everything.
VANDOORNE: From a firefighter to a journalist to a nurse, from 27- years-old to 74-years-old, all the men were connected by one website, Coco. Shut down this summer, Coco's chatrooms were easy to access. It was not buried in the dark web, as one man accused of raping Gisele Pelicot said.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Interpreted): I got in touch with Coco in the evening when I was by myself. My wife had gone to bed and I was a little bored.
VANDOORNE: But, because the so-called dating site was entirely unmoderated and anonymous, it boasted chatrooms selling date rape drugs and spaces to glorify sexual violence.
[11:50:00]
Under the pseudonym available all night, Pelicot posted in a chatroom, quote, "without her knowledge". It was there that misogyny and sexual abuse were completely normalized. While Pelicot has pleaded guilty to rape, most of his co-defendants say that they believe Dominique Pelicot's consent was enough. Coco was the door. Pelicot would then move the discussion to Skype, the traded videos of his wife being raped for intimate images of the men's own partners, according to the police report.
MATHIAS DARMON, LAWYER, INNOCENCE OF DANGER: We saw Coco was a very dangerous website.
VANDOORNE: Innocence in Danger has been campaigning against the site for years.
DARMON: They went to this website to realize there was their worst fantasies. So, it became reality, thanks to Dominique Pelicot.
VANDOORNE: He told police that over time he built a network of men.
DARMON: It's a place where they couldn't meet, what time, what they could wear, they couldn't wear.
VANDOORNE: He allegedly told the men what drugs to buy and how to use them. This all went undetected for 10 years. Dominique Pelicot thought his text messages or his alleged crimes would see the light of day, and they probably wouldn't have, if it weren't for the events that took place right here on September 12th when a security guard caught him red handed filming up the skirts of several women.
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DARMON: This is kind of websites. As long as there is demand, then there will be supply.
VANDOORNE: In the wake of Coco's shutdown, more websites have gained in popularity in France. CNN extracted data from just one of those websites.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): After going through almost 6,000 messages from a 24-hour period, we found a strikingly similar pattern of men sharing explicit photos of their wives and girlfriends, and asking to move the discussions to private messaging platforms. Some men went as far as offering up their wives to other users in a manner like Pelicot. But, it's unclear if any of them set up real-life encounters.
VANDOORNE: There are some websites that could be the new Coco. How does that make you feel?
MACAN: For these websites, it's a kind of marvelous thing what happened with Gisele Pelicot. It brings them advertising.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (Interpreted): It could very well happen tomorrow in another place.
MACAN: We expect that some laws will change, but of course, I'm not sure that will be enough. So I don't feel at ease here in the streets.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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SOLOMON: The U.S. Navy is honoring Hollywood star Tom Cruise with a Distinguished Public Service Award. It says that he significantly boosted the Navy's recruitment of pilots through his lead role in the 1986 action film Top Gun. Cruise, a licensed pilot, played naval aviator Maverick and reprised his role as a captain in the 2022 sequel.
[11:55:00]
And before we go, one more thing. A certain beloved blue dog is heading to the big screen.
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SOLOMON: That's right, a movie based on the popular children's animated series "Bluey" is now in the works. The project was announced on social media Tuesday. The series creator, Joe Brumm, says that he will step back from his involvement in the TV show with the third season being his last. But, he added that he really loves the script for the movie, which will be an event for the whole family to enjoy. Apparently, even your animals, is what I'm hearing? Apparently even your dog. The "Bluey" movie is scheduled to arrive in theaters in 2027.
Well, we know your time is money. So, thank you for spending some time with me today. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. Stick with CNN. One World is coming up next.
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