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Trump Orders DOJ to Investigate Epstein Ties to Democrats; Trump Withdraws Support for Marjorie Taylor Greene; Trump Says He Will Discuss Abraham Accords with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman; U.S. Issues Iran-Related Missile and Drone Sanctions; Trump Cuts Tariffs on Some Food Items; Top Nuclear and Energy Officials to Meet with White House to Dissuade Trump from Nuclear Testing; Illinois Attorney Sues over Curfew on Protest Activity; Actors Michael Caine, Matthew McConaughey Make Deals for AI Voice Cloning; NFL International Games. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired November 15, 2025 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
President Trump looks to shift the focus of the Epstein fallout to others, including high-profile Democrats. We'll have details on the extraordinary step and, the Department of Justice, see what they're doing.
The affordability crisis persists in America. We'll look at the concerns about the cost of living as well as the state of the U.S. economy.
Plus, what to expect when Trump hosts the Saudi crown prince at the White House and how the talks could impact the country's relations with Israel.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: President Trump has ordered a new investigation into late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's connections with powerful people and institutions.
But Trump has instructed the Justice Department to target Democrats. This comes days after a House committee released 20,000 pages of documents it received from Epstein's estate. On a flight to Mar-a-Lago late on Friday, the president brushed off reporters' questions about the emails and redirected his focus toward Democrats. Here he is.
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QUESTION: What did Jeffrey Epstein mean in his emails when you said you knew about the girls?
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I know nothing about that, they would have announced that a long time ago. It's really what did he mean when he spent all the time with Bill Clinton, with the president of Harvard, who, you know, that is Summers, Larry Summers, whatever his name is and all of the other people that he spent time with.
Jeffrey Epstein and I had a very bad relationship for many years. But he also saw strength because I was president.
So he dictated a couple of memos to himself?
Give me a break.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Former president Bill Clinton is one of several figures who will be investigated over potential Epstein ties. Attorney general Pam Bondi has already appointed a federal prosecutor to lead the inquiry.
The House is set to vote next week on releasing files from the criminal investigation into Epstein. But the new probe could impact the Justice Department's willingness to hand the files over, since they typically don't provide documents during an ongoing investigation.
Evan Perez has more on the inquiry ordered by the president a few hours ago.
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EVAN PEREZ, CNN SR. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Attorney general Pam Bondi says that federal prosecutors in New York are being tasked to launch yet another investigation of people associated with child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
The new investigation comes after president Trump said that he was asking Bondi to investigate Epstein's ties to prominent Democrats. And he named specific names, including former president Bill Clinton.
It's yet another extraordinary turn in a political mess that has consumed this White House for months. And it comes just days after Democrats released emails from the late Epstein estate that mentions Trump a number of times.
Trump announced in his directive in a social media post that accused Democrats of trying to revive attention to his past ties to Epstein, contending that they are, quote, "using the Epstein hoax involving Democrats, not Republicans, to try to deflect from their own disastrous shutdown and all of their other failures."
Bondi responded to the president's post by thanking the president and saying that she would have U.S. attorney Jay Clayton in Manhattan lead the new investigation. This is the same office that led an earlier investigation of Epstein
and of Ghislaine Maxwell, who worked for Epstein and was convicted of charges that she aided in the trafficking of girls.
We should note that the Justice Department this summer did an assessment of documents in their possession and determined that there were no additional defendants that could be charged with crimes associated with Epstein.
And, of course, this new investigation also means that Congress will likely have to wait much longer for any documents to be released. There's an effort gaining steam in the House to force the release of those documents.
But during an ongoing investigation, the Justice Department generally doesn't release investigative files out of concern that it would harm any possible prosecutions -- Evan Perez, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: President Trump is defending his policies and decisions after rescinding his endorsement of one of his most ardent supporters.
His post on Truth Social marks a remarkable split between Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene. She's criticized him for traveling around the world and for neglecting issues facing Americans at home. Here she is on CNN's "THE SITUATION ROOM."
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REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA), OVERSIGHT AND HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEES: Keeping him on nonstop tours around the world and nonstop meetings with foreign countries' leaders is not America First. It's just not.
I think domestic policy should be the most important issue that the president and the Republican-controlled House and Senate are working on and that showed up in the election on Tuesday.
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BRUNHUBER: The Republican congresswoman has also repeatedly upset Trump by calling for full transparency on the Jeffrey Epstein files. This is what the president had to say about her from aboard Air Force One.
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TRUMP: I stay home 95 percent, 98 percent of the time. The last thing I want to do is travel 22 hours in an airplane, as nice as this plane is. So you know, Marjorie Taylor Greene is not any way -- I mean, she is a -- very different thinking than I have.
Something happened to her over the last period of a month or two where she changed, I think, politically. I think that her constituents aren't going to be happy. Already I have people calling me. They want to challenge her to a race in her district in Georgia.
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BRUNHUBER: It remains to be seen whether their differences are irreconcilable.
The judge overseeing the Georgia 2020 election interference case has thrown out more charges against Donald Trump and his allies. The charges that were dismissed include filing false documents and conspiring to file false documents.
But most of the sprawling racketeering indictment remains intact. Now this comes as a new prosecutor takes over the case. Peter Skandalakis assigned the case to himself after he couldn't find another prosecutor willing to take it on. A pretrial conference is scheduled for December 1st.
President Trump says he'll sue the BBC over a misleading edit to his speech ahead of the January 6th storming of the Capitol. The BBC apologized for the edit and the corporation's director general and head of news resigned.
President Trump previously threatened to sue for $1 billion. Now he says he'll probably sue for between $1 billion and $5 billion. The BBC said it strongly disagrees that there is any basis for defamation claim.
President Trump says he plans to discuss the Abraham Accords with the Saudis when he hosts Saudi Arabia's crown prince at the White House next week. Tuesday's meeting will mark the first visit of the kingdom's de facto ruler to the White House in more than seven years.
The visit comes as Trump has tried to strengthen the relationship in hopes that Saudi Arabia will sign on to the Abraham Accords and establish diplomatic ties with Israel. The accords, which Trump brokered, saw Israel normalize relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and others.
Want to go live now to Jerusalem and CNN's Nic Robertson.
So Nic, take us through this visit and what we're expecting to come from it.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, I think what president Trump wants to achieve is something that's always been on his agenda.
And it's certainly on the agenda of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu here in Israel, who believes that Israel can find its place in the region if it can normalize relations with Saudi Arabia.
But the war in Gaza has really scotched those ambitions. And I think, you know, when I talked to Saudi diplomats about their position on normalizing relations with Israel particularly, you know, the conversations I've had have gone on over these past two years.
And perhaps the best person to quote right now on this is the one of the Saudi ministers at the foreign ministry, Manal Radwan, who was speaking just a couple of weeks ago on precisely this issue at the Manama dialogue in the region here.
And she said this, she said, "A Palestinian state is a is a prerequisite for regional integration."
And she said, look, we keep getting asked this question, that when is -- when is Saudi Arabia going to normalize with Israel?
People don't seem to be listening to us, was effectively what she was saying.
And I think the implication there might have been, not just the White House but Israeli politicians as well, that the issue of a Palestinian state is core. It's something that the Saudis and the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, MBS as he is known, has strengthened their lines when they've talked about this publicly.
So I don't think we're going to see that. The Saudis really don't trust prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They don't trust his cabinet to deliver on a Palestinian state. There are some of the cabinet members who are avowedly against that.
And, of course, this all factors and plays into the U.N. Security Council resolution that's expected to come up soon, the proposal put forward by the United States.
The U.S. mission at the U.N. last night put out a joint statement that came from not just the U.S. but the Saudis, the Jordanians, the Turkish, the Indonesians, the Emiratis, the Qataris as well.
Saying that they believe that this U.N. Security Council resolution, which kind of expands out the 20 points of president Trump's initial ceasefire proposal from a month or so ago.
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That this offers a pathway, a possible pathway to a Palestinian state. But there does seem to be, in talking to diplomats here, a lot of gaps on that, just how to interpret some of the details of the ceasefire, the stabilization force.
And precisely what demilitarizing Hamas looks like, how it's done, what the rules of engagement are, all those things, we may get some knowledge of them in that Security Council resolution.
But all of that for sure is going to be part of the conversation, the nuanced conversation between president Trump and MBS. MBS goes to the U.S. wanting things as well, wanting a security treaty or pact, at least similar to what Qatar has.
He wants F-35s. He wants civilian nuclear power plants. A lot of these are well on the -- on the track to being agreed. But that normalization point, that Saudi joined the Abraham Accords, I don't think we'll see that during this visit.
BRUNHUBER: Fascinating. Nic Robertson in Jerusalem, really appreciate that. Thanks so much.
The U.S. is trying to pressure Iran over its nuclear program with a new round of sanctions. The U.S. Treasury issued sanctions on more than 30 people and entities across several countries for supporting Iran's ballistic missile and drone production. Iran maintains that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen has reported from Iran many times over the years and he's now back in Tehran, joins us live.
So Fred, that is the question, whether Iran will negotiate with the U.S.
Where do things stand right now?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, certainly. It seems as though, at this point in time, the prospect of possible indirect negotiations between the U.S. and Iran to continue some of those talks.
Of course, have been happening throughout the course of this year between the U.S. special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, it seems as though those prospects are pretty dim.
A couple of days ago, Iran's supreme leader, ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on whom, of course, everything in this country hinges, he came out and he essentially said he believes right now there's no reason for talks between Iran and the U.S.
He says there's deep mistrust toward the United States, of course, especially after the U.S. bombed some of those nuclear installations here in Iran as part of Israel's bombing campaign that was going on anyway.
And the Iranians, quite frankly, pretty angry at some of the things that president Trump has said since then, essentially coming out and saying that he was in charge, as he put it, of those Israeli bombings that happened here in Iran.
The Iranians then saying, look, we've said that all along that there was U.S. involvement. So the Iranians are saying at this point in time, the distrust, of course, lays very deep.
One of the interesting things, though, that we've picked up on since coming here is that someone from the supreme leader's office, an adviser to the supreme leader, came out and said, that doesn't mean that all of that is the case forever.
That could be the case, that there could at some point be at least indirect negotiations between the U.S. and Iran if the Iranians believe that it is in their national interest. Certainly at this point in time, as we're here on the ground, it seems as though the hurdles are very high.
The Iranians also saying that the door is not closed completely and certainly doesn't appear to be closed forever. But they also say a lot of that depends on the political moves that the United States makes as well.
A lot of that, of course, as you know, revolving around Iran's nuclear program. And in fact, this coming week could be quite pivotal in that we are expecting inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to come here to Iran and possibly go to the nuclear site in Natanz.
One of the things that the IAEA has been wanting to do is check out what Iran has left of its highly enriched uranium after that aerial bombing campaign by the United States.
And, of course, there is also a meeting by the IAEA board of governors set to happen at the end of next week, where the U.S. and some European countries are expected to launch a resolution against Iran. The Iranians, already criticizing that going on.
So it seems as though right now the rift between Iran and the U.S., the rift between Iran and the U.S.' Western partners, seems to be growing deeper at this point in time. Nevertheless, it does not appear as though, for possible talks in the future, that the door is closed completely, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right. So we'll be watching for any outcome of those important meetings that you mentioned.
In the meantime, I want to know about the missiles themselves. I mean, recent reports suggest Iran may be expanding or reconstituting aspects of its missile capabilities.
How does that all factor into this?
PLEITGEN: Well, the Iranians have never made any secret of the fact that they believe that the missile program, their ballistic missile program, that that's something that's key to this country's national defense.
Both the missile program, by the way, and, of course, the drone program as well, they believe is extremely important. One of the reasons -- and I've spoken to Iranian officials about this.
One of the reasons, they say, is they believe that this is an equalizer for them. They understand, of course, that the U.S. and the U.S.' allies have a technological advantage as far as, for instance, fighter aircraft and other aerial weapons is concerned.
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And they believe that ballistic missiles could be an equalizer to that. And, of course, it's also something that they say, in that recent military confrontation that they had with the Israelis and with the U.S., that they believe that, in the end, the Israelis were forced into a ceasefire.
And the U.S., of course, pushing for that ceasefire as well, because Iran's ballistic missiles were, in fact, having an effect on Israel and were also depleting some of those surface-to air-missile systems and the interceptors that not only the Israelis have but the U.S., of course, had put into Israel as well.
So the Iranians have made no secret of the fact that the missile program is key to them. They've not commented directly on that report, that some of that might already be going on.
But one of the interesting things that we've also seen over the past couple of days is that they've been showcasing in national media their ballistic missile program, opening an exhibition for people to come there.
Showing that on national TV, obviously once again, portraying that for, them, the ballistic missile program is a source of national pride but also a key aspect of Iran's defense and a key aspect also of Iran being able to project power into this region, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Fantastic reporting, as always, from Iran. Fred Pleitgen in Tehran, thank you so much.
All right. Still to come, rising grocery prices have many people concerned. So next we'll explain how they might also be thinking about Donald Trump's changing plans for his tariffs.
Plus, the chaos at U.S. airports may finally be coming to an end. We'll look at why the authorities are easing up on mandatory cuts to flight traffic. That's coming up next. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: President Trump is cutting some of his tariffs on groceries. He signed an executive order on Friday, lowering tariffs on things like beef, coffee, tomatoes and bananas. The move comes as grocery prices around the country are rising, sparking affordability concerns for many voters.
Also on Friday, the White House said it's reducing tariffs on imports from Switzerland from 39 percent to 15 percent. That could lower prices of things like watches and medical equipment. In exchange, Swiss companies agreed to invest at least $200 billion in the U.S.
So how much have prices gone up in the past month?
We may never find out. That's because the White House says some reports may never be released and those include wholesale inflation, retail sales and consumer spending. Without these data points, it's hard to pinpoint the state of the U.S. economy.
Well, it was a wild ride on Wall Street this week. Thursday saw a massive drop. On Friday, the Dow fell just over half a percent. The S&P 500 was flat and the Nasdaq rose a 0.1 percent, ending a three-day losing streak.
To discuss all of this economic news, I want to bring in Lynda Yueh, who's an economist at Oxford University.
Thank you so much for being here with us. Really appreciate it.
So looking back at this week on the markets, I mean, what's driving the sudden nervousness in the markets after such a strong run?
LINDA YUEH, ECONOMIST, OXFORD UNIVERSITY: High valuations of tech companies. And that's because AI has been quite a darling of the investment world.
So if you look at the Nasdaq, for instance, very tech heavy between -- well, I was going to say, up to about October. So really since the spring. Over that period, about six months, it increased by over 50 percent.
So it's been driven by companies, AI companies or companies that have links to AI, like Nvidia. And I think the jitteriness is over whether or not those valuations are overblown and looks a little bit like the late 1990s, when the dotcoms rose to very lofty valuations.
And then they crashed in the beginning of 2001 and actually triggered a U.S. recession. So I'll give you one company as an example of the dramatic decline. So CoreWeave is a data center company. So those are beneficiaries of the growth of generative AI, generates lots of data. You got to store them somewhere.
So this company experienced dramatic falls over the course of just the last month. And its share price dropped something like 45 percent. So that's what led to the selloff, this worry that perhaps history might be repeating itself.
BRUNHUBER: Well, I mean, let me ask you directly, when you talk about the dotcom bust, I mean, alarm bells start ringing.
Are you expecting something similar to that to actually happen?
YUEH: Well, I'm going to give you one caveat, Kim, which is a great economist said, this sole function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.
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YUEH: So it's very hard to forecast what could happen. My last book is actually called, "The Great Crashes," where I actually write about lessons from history. So I think it's not unusual for lots of money to go in into a sector that looks like it could be transformative, because that's what happened with the dotcoms. And it was transformative. We now, you know, regularly buy from e-
commerce companies. We shop on the internet. We don't have to go to a physical store.
But the problem is, well, you know, all markets go up and there's a lot of FOMO, fear of missing out. But then they fall. And I think the fall is what's very hard to predict, because lots of things could burst the bubble.
So for instance, right now, there are concerns that interest rates are not going to come down as quickly as had previously been hoped. The Fed has cut rates for two months in a row. But the economy is fairly resilient. And there is now a declining expectation that rates will come down as quickly as before.
And tech companies are very sensitive to rates. They're growth companies. So different triggers from the '90s than today. But I think this pattern we see a lot in history.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. And, of course, making things harder to predict is the loss of economic data that I mentioned earlier because of the shutdown. I want to move on to something that that is affecting many of our viewers and that's the feeling that inflation, I mean, it's come down from its peak. But prices are still up 3 percent from a year ago.
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And groceries and gas haven't gotten any cheaper.
I mean, why doesn't it feel like things are getting more affordable, even though inflation is technically slowing?
YUEH: Yes, a level. So it's exactly as you said. It's actually what people are paying out of their pocket. So you can say, on the whole, inflation is slowing but it is still rising by 3 percent. So that means everything compared to last year is 3 percent more expensive. And this is far from the 2 percent target the Federal Reserve always aims for.
And the other thing about tariffs, which is causing some of this price increase, is that it's not uniformly affecting everyone. So you know, agricultural products -- so food and, you know, coffee, pretty essential stuff. They have experienced double-digit price inflation. So the price index as a whole captures lots of things.
But if you just take coffee, this is back when we still had data, then the six months to August, which was the BLS, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and various statistics were still being released. Coffee was up 13 percent year-on-year.
So the disproportionate double-digit increase in food is what's causing people to feel like things are less affordable. And that's actually triggered a number of outlying (ph) trade agreements the White House has announced, with Central American companies like El Salvador and Guatemala, which obviously are big exporters of these products.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. We'll see whether president Trump lowering some of these tariffs that caused part of this to happen in the first place will actually lower some of those prices in the end. Lynda Yueh, thank you so much for speaking with us. Really appreciate it.
YUEH: Thank you.
BRUNHUBER: A new, stronger Pacific storm is soaking Southern California. It's the second storm in the past two days and it could cause life-threatening flooding, mudslides and debris flows. And it's especially true for areas scarred by recent fires in the Los Angeles area.
Now the first storm dumped nearly 1.5 inches of rain in San Francisco on Thursday and also caused flooding and a mudslide on part of a highway in southern Santa Barbara County.
All right, well, some good news just in time for holiday travel. The FAA is beginning to ease its mandatory cuts on flights. Now that the government shutdown is over, air traffic controllers are returning to work. And starting today, airlines will be able to operate at 97 percent of their normal traffic at 40 major airports.
The FAA's cuts were originally made as controllers began calling out of work as the shutdown dragged on. Despite staffing numbers increasing, there were still some shortages at busy airports on Friday.
Well, top nuclear and energy officials are set to meet with the White House in the coming days, hoping to change president Trump's mind about resuming nuclear testing. New reporting exclusive to CNN, that's coming up next. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Welcome back. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Let's check some of today's top stories.
President Trump has ordered an investigation into possible connections between Jeffrey Epstein and several Democrats. As the president headed back to Florida late Friday, he dismissed reporters' questions about his knowledge of the late sex offender's activities.
The House of Representatives will vote next week on whether to release files from the criminal investigation into Epstein. The floor schedule for next week hasn't yet been set but the House Speaker said leadership wants to vote on the measure as soon as possible.
And president Trump has posted that he rescinded his endorsement of representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. That's after the Republican congresswoman repeatedly criticized him for traveling around the world and neglecting issues facing Americans at home.
She has also repeatedly upset Trump by calling for full transparency on the Jeffrey Epstein files.
President Trump wouldn't say whether he wants the U.S. to explode a nuclear weapon, as he calls for the country to resume nuclear testing.
This comes after CNN exclusively reported that top nuclear and energy officials are planning to meet with the White House and National Security Council in the coming days to try to dissuade the president from resuming nuclear weapons testing. CNN's Betsy Klein reports.
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BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You may recall that absolutely stunning announcement from president Donald Trump in the moments before he headed into that very high-stakes meeting with China's leader Xi Jinping in Asia a couple of weeks ago.
The president announcing that he was directing the Pentagon to immediately begin the testing of U.S. nuclear weapons, quote, "on an equal basis."
And that would mark a major shift in U.S. policy. The U.S. has not tested nuclear weapons since 1992. But the U.S. does test every other part of its nuclear weapons system, except for the explosive nuclear material in warheads.
Trump told "60 Minutes," when asked about this post to social media, he wanted to do this because Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, had announced the successful testing of a Poseidon nuclear-powered torpedo.
And he said, quote, "I don't want to be the only country that doesn't test."
But now we are learning, according to sources, that top energy and nuclear officials are planning to meet with the White House and the National Security Council in the coming days to try to steer president Trump away from this decision.
Two sources familiar with the matter tell our colleagues, Ellen Nielsen, Rene Marsh and Alayna Treene, that Energy Secretary Chris Wright, the national Nuclear Security Administration leader Brandon Williams and officials from the U.S. National Laboratories are planning to inform the White House.
That they do not think that blowing up nuclear weapons for testing is a tenable strategy. Those officials, one source said, are prepared to tell the Trump administration that there's, quote, "not going to be any testing" and attempt to steer the White House into what they believe is a more workable solution.
Now a White House official told CNN that all options remain on the table and, ultimately, this is going to be a decision for president Trump -- Betsy Klein, CNN, traveling with the president, in West Palm Beach, Florida.
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BRUNHUBER: More than 20 people were arrested during a protest outside a Chicago area Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Friday. Largely peaceful protests turned chaotic when some demonstrators pushed past the designated protest zone.
Earlier in the week, a judge ruled that more than 600 people detained by ICE in the area must be released. Documents show the Department of Justice only has criminal histories for 16 people.
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Meanwhile, 40 people were listed as high risk to public safety, though officials didn't provide reasons why.
The top Border Patrol official and some of his agents have left Chicago and are headed to Charlotte, North Carolina. That's according to two U.S. officials familiar with the planning. Local officials say they weren't initially aware of the move.
The sheriff's office says it was later told ICE personnel would arrive on Saturday or early next week. The news has some people in Charlotte on edge. North Carolina governor Josh Stein encouraged residents to remain peaceful, follow the law and not let themselves be provoked.
Stefania Arteaga is the co-founder and co-executive director of the Carolina Migrant Network and she says ICE agents coming to Charlotte has many people afraid. Here she is.
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STEFANIA ARTEAGA, CO-FOUNDER AND CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CAROLINA MIGRANT NETWORK: We first heard news that this operation may have -- would take place, just a couple of days ago.
The mood in our city quickly changed. We started people not seeing -- seeing people not show up to work. People who are buying groceries in bulk to try to hunker down at home.
And in total, the mood is fear. We are concerned. People are worried about what it will mean to have CBP here in Charlotte. We're a very different city than Chicago. We're smaller, we're a southern new town. And so there's a lot of concern of what it can mean to have these forces here.
BRUNHUBER: Now it sounds as though your hotline has been lighting up with calls from worried families across the city.
And what are people most scared of right now?
ARTEAGA: To be honest, we're hearing a lot of calls about fear of family separation. We're hearing calls from parents who are worried about what will happen to their children if they are detained.
What will happen to their homes if they are taken all of a sudden?
People are very concerned about what's going to happen if they're also not found right away.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, I can imagine.
And we've seen in other cities -- in Chicago, for instance, as I mentioned; in Los Angeles -- with these Border Patrol operations agents, you know, kneeling on people's necks, tear gas against protesters.
Are you expecting the same kind of heavy-handed enforcement in Charlotte?
And how are you preparing residents for that possibility?
Well, certainly it is a grave concern that we have that we will be seeing similar actions from CBP here in Charlotte.
Many of our community members have seen the videos that have gone viral of 1-year olds being pepper sprayed, parents having seizures while being detained by ICE agents. So there's a lot of concern that that may be replicated here.
What we are doing is trying to inform community that, regardless of the behavior of this administration, people still have constitutional rights. They should be creating emergency plans, talking to their family, talking to their neighbors on how to prepare in the event that we do have operations as early as today.
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BRUNHUBER: Artificial intelligence was a sticking point in the actors' strike two years ago. Now we're learning about big, new developments in how AI is being used in Hollywood.
And Pope Leo XIV recently met with actor Robert de Niro. Look at how he's meeting with more figures from the world of cinema in a live report coming up after the break. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: I want to show you some live pictures now. We see Pope Leo XIV there, meeting with Spike Lee, of course. Now this is part of his ongoing meetings with stars and luminaries from the world of film.
And we know Spike Lee is a huge Knicks fan. And Pope Leo a huge sports fan. So they must be bonding over their love of sport there. And we've seen actor Cate Blanchett, director Spike Lee we just saw
there, part of an effort by the pontiff to deepen dialogue between the church and the world cinema, particularly with actors and directors. CNN Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb joins me now live from London.
So Christopher, yes; we were just seeing those live pictures as we were speaking there. Walk us through, you know, who the pope is about to meet, who he's meeting with.
And who's going to be the more star-struck, do you think?
CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's certainly a star-studded lineup for Pope Leo this morning. He's been meeting, as you saw, with Spike Lee, Cate Blanchett; we've also got Monica Bellucci there, Chris Pine.
There's also actor Sergio Castellitto, who played one of the cardinals in the movie, "Conclave," which, of course, was such a hit before the real-life conclave. So life imitating art there.
There's a number of actors and directors who have been brought together to the Vatican for this meeting. Pope Leo has just addressed them. He said that their work can offer a glimpse into the mystery of God. He urged them not to shy away from the complexities of the world, from difficulties and suffering.
He also praised all those people who work behind the scenes in movies, the technicians, makeup artists -- and he got a round of applause from the crowd when he did that. Of course, Leo is the first American pope. And so he's very conscious of the power of Hollywood, of movies to shape the culture. He understands that very clearly.
And this meeting, the Vatican says, is also about showing how the church can, through art and through cinema and storytelling, how the church can communicate its message more convincingly and more credibly through the artistic creativity of people such as filmmakers. So this is also an important part of the meeting today.
Before this gathering, Leo released his favorite movies, four favorite movies, including "The Sound of Music," of course, with Julie Andrews; "It's a Wonderful Life" by Frank Capra; "Ordinary People" by Robert Redford, which, of course, is set, in Leo's home state of Illinois, in a suburb of Chicago. Leo is, of course, Chicago born.
And "Life Is Beautiful" by Roberto Benigni. And a Vatican official said all those films communicate the importance of being kind in an unkind world. So Leo using this meeting and his choice of films to communicate a message, to have that dialogue with the world of cinema. Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, so cool to see. All right. Thanks so much. Christopher Lamb in London. Appreciate it.
Well, some big developments this week in the controversial issue of artificial intelligence and its use in Hollywood. Oscar-winning actors Michael Caine and Matthew McConaughey have partnered with ElevenLabs.
[05:45:02]
That will allow the voice-cloning company to use AI technology to replicate their voices.
Meanwhile, in an interview with "Deadline," the creator of the AI actress, Tilly Norwood, has revealed that she has another 40 AI actors in the pipeline and plans to build a whole universe in the AI genre with a whole new cast.
Seth Schachner is the managing director of Strat Americas, a consulting company that focuses on digital media, entertainment and technology, and joins us from Los Angeles.
Thanks so much for being here with us very early in the morning there in L.A. We're seeing these two totally different paths right now. You've got Michael Caine, Matthew McConaughey making deals to license their voices.
And then you've got these AI actors like Tilly Norwood popping up.
I mean, why are these two things happening at the at the same time?
SETH SCHACHNER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, STRAT AMERICAS: Great to be here, Kim. Yes, it is definitely a little bit odd. But you know what we're looking at is the emergence of a new business. And you know, it's got threat and opportunity, you know, on both sides of it.
And I think what you're seeing here, you know, on the positive side is the emergence of an actual, legitimate AI business.
It's built around the voice, the ElevenLabs announcements. And it's sort of, you know, a concise, neat set of voice products that are clearer than a lot of the other products in the market and I think are probably, you know, less threatening to talent, to their representatives.
And you know, it's very interesting. They've got everything from the voice of Babe Ruth to Amelia Earhart and Johnny Weissmuller in there.
And I think, more importantly, you know, ElevenLabs, which, with Matthew McConaughey is a part of as well, are, you know, just going about this by licensing it, you know, the content and the properties.
And doing it, you know, in a -- in a purely legal way, which I think is maybe better than coming in and breaking things and asking for permission later, essentially.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, which is what a lot of -- a lot of people are doing. Now the creator of Tilly Norwood, as I said, announced plans for 40 more AI actors.
You know, should Hollywood be taking that seriously as a threat?
Or is this more hype than reality at this point, do you think? SCHACHNER: It's -- well, it's a little bit of both. I mean, the
biggest threat right now is something called Sora 2, that I think is extremely disruptive and I think that everyone in this town here is on alert for.
But you know, I think this latest kind of thing that has come out from the Tilly Norwood kind of creators and studios is kind of half hype, half threat Basically. These are what I would call synthetic actors, completely untethered to the system out here, not represented by talent agents.
And you know, this particular one, Tilly Norwood, is particularly real, you know, looking. I think it's disturbed a lot of people. But yes, I mean, it is kind of a gesture, a poke in the eye, if you will, in terms of 40 new ones coming.
But I think it's a reality. And I think the town will have to deal with it in some way. But you know, I kind of look at the more constructive way of doing things by licensing, opting in, doing what's called ethical AI with rights holders, with studios, with agents out here as the only way forward.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. OK. So you say, you know, the talent will have to deal with it. Let's say I'm a working actor watching all of this unfold.
I mean, should I be more worried about losing work to an AI actor?
Or should I be thinking about how to license my own voice and likeness before someone else figures out how to copy it?
SCHACHNER: Yes. I mean, I'm a business developer and it's definitely the latter for me. I mean, look, these new technologies have really obvious threats.
If you're talent, whether you're an actor or a musician, whatever it might be, you're saying, hey, you know, am I going to get replaced by a robot?
It's a completely understandable fear. And, you know, particularly with all the labor strikes and strife we've had out here in L.A., it plays into that for sure.
But you know, I think what these voice products are showing us, what these new partnerships -- and some of these are, you know, Michael Caine's in it. He's not a young man anymore. These are actors that have been around for quite some time -- that there's a constructive pathway to kind of opt in to some of these technologies.
Certainly they're building licensing deals, which aren't so unfamiliar to anyone in the media business. And I think that's the way I would look at it. I think it's probably going to, you know, create new pathways of revenue for many, not all, in the town.
And I'm personally, just in general, I think AI is going to live alongside of a lot of the interests out here. It's not going to kill everything. But, yes, you got to look at it a little creatively, a little opportunistically if you're in the talent business.
BRUNHUBER: So I'm curious how closely it's going to live alongside all of this.
If we -- if we jump ahead, let's say two or three years, are we going to see AI actors in major films, do you think?
Or is this going to be more about, you know, cost savings on smaller productions, do you think?
SCHACHNER: Well, it'll be both. I personally think you'll see more -- I mean, you know, I come from the music industry. AI has got a placement all over production, below-the-line processes everywhere.
There's Beatles tracks with it. It was on one of the last Beatles records, if you will, the rerelease. And it lives in the ecosystem without a lot of publicity, as it does in Hollywood, with a lot of production processes.
[05:50:03]
So I think you're going to see more of it. You probably will see some of these synthetic actors alongside of human actors as well. And if you if you think back, whether it's movies, Oscar-winning movies, AI technology is all over a lot of these things. It's just not being brought up to the top because it's an actor.
So I think you're going to see a mix of it. And I mean, when I first heard these stories about the voice, I thought it was an incredibly, you know, basically encouraging sign that a real ecosystem will develop.
Because I think if you go in without the license being in place and you train on someone's content without getting the permission, I personally think it's very hard to kind of go back from that. I think that's the biggest point.
A lot of these applications, Suno, Udio, something called Midjourney that the studios out here have sued, have kind of missed. And so that's why I'm so encouraged about these voice developments.
BRUNHUBER: Listing all those synthetic products, synthetic news anchors surely not among them, let's hope. Seth Schachner, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
SCHACHNER: Great to be here.
BRUNHUBER: We'll be right back. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Spain is getting ready for American football. [05:55:00]
It's the next stop on the NFL's international tour. The Miami Dolphins and the Washington Commanders will face off on Sunday in Madrid. CNN's Pau Mosquera has our preview.
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PAU MOSQUERA, CNN SPAIN CORRESPONDENT: Madrid is gearing up to host its very first NFL game and the excitement is already in the air. Now many fans are making their way to the Miami Dolphins' fan zone that is set downtown in Plaza de Espana.
Such a lively hot spot where the football spirit is running high.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been in Spain for 34 years and I was born in Miami, so when they said Miami is coming to Spain, I was the first one to get tickets. I'm a passionate Miami Dolphins fan and have a huge tattoo right here, the Dolphins.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, Miami. Miami.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I came specifically from Brazil to watch Sunday's game. We like the NFL a lot and we have a special passion for the Miami Dolphins.
MOSQUERA (voice-over): Even though in the Spanish capital, American football is not as popular as soccer, many of the visitors in the fan zone have decided to take a chance to practice their passes and throws like they were in the big leagues.
I'm not a good kicker, so let's see what happens.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On a scale of scale from 1 to 10, maybe a 3. After a few beers, I pretend to be a 7.
MOSQUERA: What do you think that its going to happen on Sunday, David?
DAVID: 2017 Dolphins.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been a challenging season but it's been a challenging season for the Commanders, too. So we like our chances.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hopefully it will be a close game and it'll be exciting. You guys like kicking the field goal will win the game hopefully.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, pretty much like the Berlin game last week. It was pretty good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last games, the defense was great, right? Success. The whole season a little bit under the weather, right?
But, yes, looking forward to the game.
MOSQUERA: So if you don't want to miss this match, mark your calendars down. The clash between the Washington Commanders and the Miami Dolphins will kick off 9:30 in the morning, Miami time -- Pau Mosquera, CNN, Madrid.
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BRUNHUBER: I'm Kim Brunhuber. For our viewers in North America, "CNN THIS MORNING" is next. For the rest of the world, it's "AFRICAN VOICES PLAYMAKERS."
