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Erin Burnett Outfront

Trump Team Raising Questions About Hegseth's Viability For Defense; Is Speaker Johnson Protecting Gaetz?; The Power Of Ozempic. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired November 15, 2024 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:28]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

Breaking news, team Trump questioning whether defense pick Pete Hegseth's nomination survives amid revelations of a sexual assault allegation against the former Fox host. New reporting into OUTFRONT at this hour.

Plus, is Mike Johnson protecting Matt Gaetz? The speaker saying he doesn't want an ethics report on Trump's AG pick to see the light of day. Even Republicans crying foul.

And the power of Ozempic. The weight loss drug may also protect against memory loss and help curb drinking and even help with knee pain. Is it a miracle cure?

Dr. Sanjay Gupta shares what he learned from a long investigation. Let's go OUTFRONT.

Good evening. I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, breaking news, Trump's team stunned. CNN learning tonight that the president-elect's team has been caught off guard by a sexual assault allegation against Pete Hegseth, who Trump has tapped to be the next secretary of defense. According to sources, several members of Trump's team have now raised questions about the viability of Hegseth's nomination after learning that police investigated a quote alleged sexual assault involving the Fox News host back in October of 2017.

What we know is that Hegseth was a speaker at a conference held by the California Federation of Republican Women when the alleged assault took place, according to photos posted on Facebook. Now, Hegseth has not been charged or named as a defendant in any civil lawsuit filed in Monterey County since 2017, and his attorney denies any wrongdoing.

But that is not stopping speculation in Trump's orbit this evening about whether Hegseth will ultimately pull his own nomination, fearing more damaging information may come out.

Kristen Holmes is OUTFRONT live in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Kristen, what are you learning? KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Brianna. I mean, that is exactly what we've started to hear from these sources close to Trump's orbit within the transition team that everybody was surprised when these allegations came out. They were informed this week after Pete Hegseth had been chosen to be secretary of defense by Donald Trump about the sexual assault allegations. They had no idea.

And part of that reasoning being because Hegseth nomination came together so quickly that there was little to no internal vetting for him. Now, the allegations caused so much surprise and unease among members of the transition team that it prompted a call with Susie Wiles, of course, is going to be Donald Trump's chief of staff to question Hegseth over these allegations and to ask him if there was anything else that they needed to be aware of before they moved forward.

Now, it appears that Hegseth said no because I spoke to one source who said that despite the allegations, they are standing by his side that Donald Trump has been made aware, as has his team, as we know, and that they have decided to move forward at this point with the nomination. But they were clearly caught off guard. And that goes to show you part of what we have seen over the last week has been a number of these nominations coming together incredibly quickly, meaning essentially, that they're not getting the same level of vetting that they might have gotten if he had chosen someone from the original short list.

So one of the things to watch, obviously is how exactly this plays out with the potential confirmation of Hegseth does he make it to the actual confirmation round, or is there something else that's out there? And that, of course, is, as you mentioned, what Trump's team fears.

KEILAR: Yeah, Kristen Holmes in West Palm Beach, thank you for the reporting.

Kyung Lah joins us now.

Kyung, what more are you learning about this investigation into Pete Hegseth there in California?

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Well, this does date back, Brianna, to 2017. And it took place, this alleged assault took place about 90 minutes from where I'm standing here in the city of San Francisco in Monterey, California. What we have learned from the city of Monterey is that its police force did investigate that, quote, alleged sexual assault involving Pete Hegseth.

They do not specifically in their news release, state that Hegseth is the alleged assailant, but it does go on to say these details that this occurred, this alleged incident occurred in the early morning hours of October 8th, 2017 at the Hyatt in Monterey, and that this was reported to local authorities to the police department in Monterey four days after this alleged incident occurred.

[19:05:05] I want you to take a look at this picture from Facebook and this comes from the organization, the California Federation of Republican Women. You can see there that Hegseth is standing at a podium. Those pictures confirm that he was indeed a speaker at their conference at that hotel.

Now, there is also in the news release that we got from the City of Monterey, an unnamed victim and it does cite injuries although it's not specific as to who was injured. And the injury is described as, quote, contusions to right thigh.

We did learn from the city that they do not plan on releasing the full police report. We also did check with the county courts. His name Pete Hegseth, does not come up as a defendant in any criminal charges dating back from 2017 until today.

As far as Hegseth's camp, his lawyer says that yes this allegation did exist but those charges did not. He was never charged and this is just an allegation that's out there, Brianna.

KEILAR: So what was happening during Hegseth's life around this time, Kyung?

LAH: This is a -- I'll just lay out the timeline this way. The month before Hegseth was pictured at that event from the California Federation of Republican Women, his wife had filed for divorce in September. And then in early October, this alleged incident occurs. There is this police investigation four days after this alleged incident.

And then I want you to take a look at this photo. This comes from the White House. You can see Hegseth sitting there. The woman in between, president Trump and Hegseth is his third wife. And at that point, that the woman who would become his third wife would become -- she -- she was pregnant and she would become his third wife.

As far as how all of this is playing out, you heard Kristen there refer to the steadfast public support for him. When we reached out to Trump's spokesman, he said that we look forward to his confirmation and that we vigorously deny any and all accusations via Pete Hegseth.

KEILAR: All right. Kyung Lah, thank you for that report.

And OUTFRONT now, Democratic Congressman Pat Ryan of New York. He is an Army combat veteran who served two tours in Iraq.

And, Congressman Ryan, the viability of Hegseth's nomination obviously in question here after Trump's team was caught off guard by this sexual assault allegation.

Do you think this should disqualify him?

REP. PAT RYAN (D-NY): I think he was already not qualified for this position and clearly this is insult to injury. And, look, this is a guy who has said half of our country, women across this country that are willing to put their life on the line for the country in uniform, shouldn't be able to do so. Deeply disrespectful to my brothers and sisters and sisters in particular, that I served 27 months in combat with. And we'll see where this leads but I think if he had any integrity, he would already pull himself from this position.

KEILAR: Do you think -- you think obviously, that he should pull his own nomination? Do you think hearing this reporting of sources questioning whether he will, that they are telegraphing to him that he should?

RYAN: Well, I can't even pretend to put my mind in -- in -- myself in Trump's mind, excuse me. Look, but this is a pattern. If we zoom out across all these nominees, you have Matt Gaetz, you have now Hegseth, you have the president-elect himself and a whole host of others with long standing patterns of disrespect for women, in Trump's case, civil liability for these types of charges. So I don't know why anybody is surprised frankly, that's I think something I wish I didn't have to say.

But let's also not forget, there are American troops in harms way, right now. Of course, this is about Hegseth, but it's really about our men and women in uniform who are willing to put their life on the line. They deserve better than this and for that reason alone, I would hope he would withdraw.

I know that you raised, obviously, questions that many people have raised about his qualifications, but if we just focus on this latest discovery of this investigation from 2017, given how big an issue sexual assault is in the military, do you think someone with this kind of question hanging over them could lead the Defense Department again? I think he was not qualified even before this. If this is true, and certainly, he deserves some presumption of, you know, we need evidence and this needs to be vetted out.

If this were true, certainly he is incredibly disqualified for the position.

[19:10:03]

And I serve on the armed services committee looking at the still systemic challenges with sexual assault and harassment in our forces is a -- is a huge issue. Certainly, the secretary of defense needs to be fully above board on an issue like this. And yeah, I think to your -- the heart of your question, even with allegations this serious and what appear to be this credible, if the Trump team is looking at withdrawing and pressuring him to withdraw, I think there needs to be serious pause. And at a minimum, the Senate needs to do their job regardless of party and any fealty to Trump, and actually vet someone like this, given such serious allegations.

KEILAR: So he's -- he's said a lot about the Defense Department, how the military runs. He's clearly not been a fan of it. He served in the guard for 20 years. He's called for the firing of the chairman of the joint chiefs. He said that the military has become too, quote/unquote, woke because of CRT, meaning critical race theory, DEI things, gender stuff. That's a quote that he says has seeped into the military.

I am curious, do you think that the military has become too, quote/unquote, woke?

RYAN: I've spent two years on the Armed Services Committee hearing this total BS from almost every single Republican. And every time I asked them in committee hearings, what does that even mean? What does that mean?

We have the most lethal and by the way, most elite tough, smart patriotic force around the world. People around the world still absolutely fear the U.S. military, rightly so, and this -- this kind of I think its purely partisan disingenuous attacks that folks like Hegseth have put forward. It mirrors the language of Donald Trump who dodged the draft five times, has insulted our troops, called them suckers and losers, insulted Gold Star families, Medal of Honor recipients.

This is the tone and tenor set from the top. Unfortunately, by President-elect Trump and again, it is about our men and women in uniform and they deserve better.

KEILAR: Congressman Ryan, we appreciate your time tonight. Thank you so much for being with us.

RYAN: Thanks.

KEILAR: OUTFRONT next, is Mike Johnson, the speaker protecting Matt Gaetz? He's saying that he doesn't want an ethics report on Trump's AG pick to see the light of day. And even Republicans are crying foul.

Plus, Biden pressed about his message to Americas allies after the election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: What do you tell allies who have fears about the incoming Trump administration?

REPORTER: What is your message to allies, sir?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And I'll talk to a nurse who once bought into RFK, Jr.'s skepticism about vaccines, how she finally snapped out of it, and why she calls his nomination terrifying.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:17:20]

KEILAR: Tonight, House Speaker Mike Johnson making it clear that he wants to bury the bipartisan ethics investigation into Trump's attorney general pick, Matt Gaetz.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: That is not the way we do things in the House. And I think that would be a terrible precedent to set.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: This is a report that "The New York Times" calls, quote, highly critical. "The Miami Herald" describes it as, quote, highly damaging. Gaetz was under investigation for allegations that he engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, among other things. Gaetz has denied those allegations.

And Johnson, who spent last night with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, now wants to keep it out of the public even as Republicans ask for the information as they're preparing to vote on Gaetz's nomination to be Trump's attorney general.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE ROUNDS (R-SD): We should be able to get ahold of it, and we should have access to it one way or another based on the way that we do all of these nominations.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): I think there should not be any limitation on the Senate Judiciary Committee's investigation, including whatever the House Ethics Committee has generated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, Johnson claims it would be a terrible precedent to set if the Senate got their hands on the report. But here's the thing. The precedent has already been set to release Gaetz's report, even though he resigned. In 1987, the House Ethics Committee put out its report on Congressman William Boner, even though he was no longer in Congress. And in May of 2011, the Senate Ethics Committee released its report on Senator John Ensign even though he had also resigned days earlier.

Let's talk to our panel now.

Congressman Kinzinger, Speaker Johnson is saying that this ethics report on Matt Gaetz shouldn't be released. But how important do you think it is for Americans to see the report?

REP. ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Oh my gosh, shocking. Johnson, no kidding.

Look, here's the thing that's crazy is last, what, Congress they were all about transparency, right? Remember they wanted the sum conversation with Joe Biden released because the American people deserve transparency. That's the case here.

American people deserve transparency particularly because Matt Gaetz is up to be attorney general. And senators, your senator, America, whoever represents you, has every right to know what is in that, because it's not like were just appointing, you know, an ambassador to the un which they still would have a right to know. This is the chief law enforcement officer for the country.

So I -- I think ultimately, it will be released. It will have to be or, you know Gaetz pulls himself out of contention for attorney general. One of the two I think will happen.

[19:20:02]

KEILAR: And, Congressman Mondaire Jones, you served on the Ethics Committee when you were in Congress. Do you think that the report will get out either by the committee releasing it or someone leaking it?

MONDAIRE JONES (D), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: Well, let me start by saying that there is even more precedent than what you described in the opening. I mean, there are examples. In 1990 and in 1987 of reports being released post jurisdiction going away. And of course, in 2018 on two different occasions, there were public statements made characterizing the contents of those reports after jurisdiction had gone away from the ethics committee.

Obviously, there is no rule saying that this can't go forward, but I'm not surprised that Mike Johnson is trying to keep his Republican members of that otherwise bipartisan committee from voting to release a document that I think is more important than any document that we've considered in recent history for both the American people and even globally.

I would not be surprised if this document were to be released to the public -- to the public, if for no other reason than the Republicans on the committee thinking that this is really important, and knowing that Matt Gaetz should come nowhere close to being attorney general of the United States of America.

KEILAR: By release, you mean leaked?

JONES: We can call it that. Yeah.

KEILAR: There's ones official, ones -- one's not so much. Ones a little secretive, Kristen, you heard Congressman Jones there talking about all of the precedent.

Is it surprising, then, that Speaker Johnson tried to say this would be a terrible precedent to set when its already been set?

KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think the reason why Speaker Johnson was saying that is because by virtue of Congressman Gaetz resigning in just, what, was the last day or two, that that does affect this precedent but frankly, I think if the thing gets leaked, its going to wind up giving Republicans even more ammunition to say, look, this is a hit job.

I do think that the Senate has every right to investigate. And if it means that they've got to go back to the drawing board and dig all of this up themselves, they should absolutely use every tool they have to do a thorough investigation.

But I do think that if things get leaked, its going to wind up feeding into a narrative. Look, look, look, this is the swamp coming out to get me. And it could ultimately backfire and wind up paving the way for a Gaetz confirmation.

KEILAR: That's interesting.

And, Congressman Kinzinger, our other breaking news tonight is that several members of Trump's team were stunned to learn of sexual assault allegations against his defense secretary pick, Pete Hegseth.

You of course, are a veteran what is your reaction to this news?

KINZINGER: I mean, this is a pretty big deal because first off, what it shows, you know, the Trump administration has basically bypassed FBI security checks on a lot of these people. This stuff still comes out. This idea that like, we'll just push people through.

So I think this is a big deal, even if its just an allegation. You know if there's any reality to it which there likely is, this is a guy that's going to be running the biggest bureaucracy in the government and a bureaucracy that honestly has had some real issues with sexual assault in the past and has been trying to get that under control and taken some really positive steps to do it. Every soldier, airman, marine naval, sailor, anybody should feel safe in the military. Our enemies should feel very scared of our military.

And it looks like Hegseth is kind of off to a bad start. I would, again, this is one of those things where I would expect that he may end up either being forced to withdraw himself from nomination or -- or he'll do it voluntarily.

KEILAR: Congressman Jones, what do you think? Do you think his nomination is still potentially viable?

JONES: Look, I look at a guy like Matt Gaetz, who's been very publicly and credibly accused of sex trafficking. And I wonder to myself, is this what's going to make the White House reconsider its nomination of Hegseth for the defense secretary role? I wonder if there's not something else going on that they're also learning about in the course of this.

Of course, this guy is not qualified by any stretch of the imagination to be the secretary of defense for any number of reasons, this being the latest, if true.

KEILAR: And, Kristen, we're also learning about this on the same day that we've learned that Trump's team is skipping FBI background checks for some cabinet picks going instead with private companies who I mean, obviously, they aren't privy to as much information.

Trump has a mandate from voters with his win. I think the question is, is it for every pick, no matter what? I mean, does he have a mandate to do all of this?

ANDERSON: Well, he has a mandate to shake things up and to make change. And I think voters knew when they elected him that he is kind of a -- I didn't come here to make friends type of guy, but that doesn't mean that everybody who voted for him is part of his really core base that looks at an institution like the FBI with as much skepticism, et cetera.

[19:25:01]

So this is the challenge that Donald Trump is going to have as he comes to Washington in his unleashed, no holds barred, I'm going to do what I want kind of mode is he did get a lot of voters who said, we want you to go to Washington and shake things up, but there's a lot of different ways you can execute on that. And there's of course always the chance that you'll do something that alienates people who maybe voted for you only because they didn't like the other side. So there's always that risk.

KEILAR: And, Congressman Jones, Kash Patel seen as a Trump sycophant by so many being looked at to head up the FBI. What are your thoughts on that?

JONES: So these string of -- not -- this string of nominations makes me think that Donald Trump is really banking on recess appointments, because one after another, you wonder how these people could ever survive a confirmation hearing over in the Senate.

Kash Patel has pledged to go after people he describes in the media as having facilitated what he describes as a rigged 2020 election. He is obsessed with this false notion of the deep state. He obviously questions the results of the 2020 free and fair presidential election, and would weaponize the FBI in a way that Republicans have falsely alleged has occurred under President Biden's administration.

He should be nowhere near the FBI in any capacity, certainly not leading that agency.

TAPPER: I see you do concur there, Congressman Kinzinger. We're going to have to leave it at that.

Congressman Jones, thank you. Kristen Soltis Anderson, we appreciate your input as well.

And OUTFRONT next, Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick for director of national intelligence, in her own words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TULSI GABBARD, FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: Ukraine isn't actually a democracy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Plus, emotional and powerful testimony as the murder trial for the illegal immigrant accused of killing Laken Riley begins.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He went hunting for females on the University of Georgia's campus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [19:31:33]

KEILAR: Tonight, President Biden refusing to answer as he is questioned about his message for allies after Donald Trump's win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: What do you tell allies who have fears about the incoming Trump administration?

REPORTER: What is your message to allies, sir?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: This as Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz saying this about Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump's pick to run national intelligence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D-FL): There's no question I consider her someone who is likely a Russian asset.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: To be clear, we have asked Democrats if they have evidence of this, and so far they have not provided any, just concerns, though a lot of them, they point to how Gabbard has echoed Russian propaganda repeatedly over the years and openly questioned U.S. intelligence assessments. We're also learning tonight that Trump's own team is surprised that Gabbard is not getting more scrutiny.

Alex Marquardt is OUTFRONT with more on how Gabbard got here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Tulsi Gabbard's journey from Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii to Trump's choice for spy chief has taken many twists and turns. Democrats now say she's become an apologist for the Putin regime, consistently spouting Russian propaganda.

GABBARD: Ukraine isn't actually a democracy.

MARQUARDT: As the war in Ukraine began, she argued, as Russia has, that Ukraine shouldn't be allowed to join NATO.

GABBARD: Presidents Putin, Zelenskyy and Biden, it's time to put geopolitics aside and embrace the spirit of aloha, respect and love for the Ukrainian people by coming to an agreement that Ukraine will be a neutral country.

MARQUARDT: Days later, she repeated a debunked Russian conspiracy about supposed American biolabs in Ukraine, developing deadly pathogens.

GABBARD: These facilities, even in the best of circumstances, could easily be compromised and release these deadly pathogens.

MARQUARDT: Republican Senator Mitt Romney quickly accused Gabbard of parroting false Russian propaganda, saying her treasonous lies may well cost lives.

Hillary Clinton suggested without proof that Russia was grooming Gabbard, as Gabbard ran for president in the 2020 race.

Gabbard in response called Clinton the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption.

Gabbard is 43 years old, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves after serving 17 years in the Hawaiian National Guard with tours in Iraq and Kuwait. She was elected to the house as a Democrat in 2013, the first American Samoan to go to Congress.

She left eight years later and soon became a Republican.

GABBARD: Aloha!

MARQUARDT: Campaigning for the GOP and becoming a fixture on Fox News, where she often filled in for Tucker Carlson.

GABBARD: This is the whole problem with the Biden administration. They are so focused on how do we punish Putin that they don't care and are not focused on what is actually in the best interest of the American people?

MARQUARDT: Concerns over Gabbard extend to her position on Syria. In 2017, she publicly doubted a chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime.

But Trump responded to by firing Tomahawk missiles at Syria.

GABBARD: I'm skeptical.

MARQUARDT: That was just months after the congresswoman took a secret trip to Syria, meeting with Dictator Bashar al Assad after hundreds of thousands had been killed in the country's war.

GABBARD: Whatever you think about President Assad, the fact is that he is the president of Syria.

In order for any peace agreement, in order for any possibility of a viable peace agreement to occur, there has to be a conversation with him.

[19:35:06]

MARQUARDT: Gabbard has never served in an intelligence role, but if confirmed, she'll oversee the country's 18 intelligence services serving a president who has long been suspicious and critical of the intelligence community, particularly over its assessment that Russia supports

Serving a president who has long been suspicious and critical of the intelligence community, particularly over its assessment that Russia supports him. And Trump has vowed to overhaul it.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will clean out all of the corrupt actors in our national security and intelligence apparatus, and there are plenty of them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: And Alex Marquardt joins me now.

Alex, Gabbard is clearly one of Trump's more outlandish cabinet picks. What are her chances of actually being confirmed?

MARQUARDT: Well, Brianna, I just spoke with someone from the Senate intelligence committee who said its going to be a real uphill climb for Gabbard to get confirmed. Remember, the path to confirmation goes right through that committee. They are going to demand an FBI background check. A long questionnaire, and that could set up a very contentious hearing and then it goes on to the broader Senate. And there's a real question of how much Republican support she could get there.

Susan Collins, for example, Republican from Maine, she wrote the bill that actually created the office of the director of national intelligence. She could be one of several Republicans who vote against Gabbard for this job, if it indeed gets that far -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. We'll be watching. Alex Marquardt, thank you so much.

And also tonight, Trump's former VP Mike Pence slamming one of Trump's cabinet picks, urging the Senate to reject RFK Jr. as health and human services secretary because of Kennedy's stance on abortion.

And this comes as the medical community is almost unanimously sounding the alarm about Kennedy for a host of other reasons, namely, his fervent and well-documented opposition to vaccines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. (I), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There's no vaccine that is, you know, safe and effective.

I do believe that autism does come from vaccines.

I see somebody on a hiking trail with a carrying a little baby, and I say to them, better not get them vaccinated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: OUTFRONT now is Lydia Greene. She was once against vaccines and says she was strongly influenced by Kennedy's views. She's now a nurse and co-founder of the pro-vax group, Back to the Vax.

Lydia, you have three children and years ago you were looking into vaccine side effects when you came across RFK Jr. And what he was saying about vaccines. What was it about him and what he was saying that won you over to his thinking on the topic?

LYDIA GREENE, FORMER VACCINE OPPONENT, INFLUENCED BY RFK JR., TURNED PROPONENT: Well, him and others like him like to offer the anti-vax movement and way of life as a magic wand to prevent everything from happening to your children, everything from autism to allergies to cancer. You know bad attitude, like you name it right? Like so it is very -- inviting to parents that are wanting to give their children the best possible chance at life.

And so, that's what drew me to it in the beginning. My daughter did have a minor reaction and wasn't dealt with properly by public health and explained properly and so when I went to the forums online, which introduced me to people like RFK, they convinced me my daughter had brain damage. My daughter is an honors student now at 16, so that actually didn't happen.

But the seed was planted and the fear was put in and it feels like a magic wand to protect your children from everything.

KEILAR: And who wouldn't want that? One of your children, your son, turned out to be autistic. He wasn't vaccinated until he was five, after showing some signs of autism. He's nine now. And Kennedy, of course, is connected. Vaccines, as you said to things including autism. So how did that affect your thinking when you saw what -- what your son was diagnosed with?

GREENE: Yeah. So, my son, I had a totally I joke about it as like, he's a grass fed, organic child. I did everything the natural anti- vax, crunchy groups say you should do. I took the correct vitamins, the correct form of the vitamins. I ate, organic food, I breastfed him for two years. I had a natural childbirth.

I did all of the things that they promise will give you the perfect child. And make no mistake, my son is the perfect child. But at the time I had very ableist view on what autism was.

So when he was about 2 or 3, people would say, oh, I think your sons autistic and the stuff I heard about autism in these groups was so awful, and I couldn't look at my beautiful son and say, wow, you know, he must have that too. And I would get offended and delayed, you know, intervention that he had needed at the time because how could he have autism?

I did all of the things that they said would lead to a perfect, healthy child, so -- yeah, it's -- it's amazing that to think that I did these things and now, you know, my son is still autistic.

[19:40:09]

KEILAR: So, you -- you thought RFK was heroic and you weren't alone. He was a respected voice on the environment and health in 2008, it was even reported that Obama considered him for EPA secretary. He wasn't always the lightning rod that he is now. Have you seen a change in him over the last several years?

GREENE: Yeah, his environmental work was very admirable, and that's where he got into the mercury and then naturally led into vaccination.

But, you know, thimerosal was removed from vaccines in the '90s and autism, you know, the rates have done nothing but go up since then. But the way that they word things like they're the king of correlation and, you know, correlation isn't causation.

So I try to ask people, you know, okay so if that's the case, why don't we put the thimerosal back. You know, but that's not how it works correlation is not causation. Thimerosal didn't cause autism and vaccines don't cause autism.

We have many, many studies proving that that's not the case.

KEILAR: And Trump says that he wants Kennedy to, quote, go wild on public health. Does that scare you? What do you think that could mean?

GRENEE: I -- I really -- I'm saddened to hear that because to me, going wild on public health would be to address social determinants of health. That's the -- that's going to have the biggest impact on peoples health overall.

You know, the average person doesn't need raw milk. The average person needs access to health care. The average person, you know, lives in a food desert and can't afford vegetables.

You know, this idea that stem cells and raw milk and lack of vaccination is going to make America healthy again is just silly. And it's not what the average American, even wants.

KEILAR: Lydia Greene, thank you so much for such an interesting discussion and congratulations on all of your beautiful children and reminding us to see all of our children as beautiful. We appreciate your time tonight.

GREENE: Yeah. Thank you for having me.

KEILAR: OUTFRONT next, a graphic start in the murder trial for the undocumented migrant accused of killing Laken Riley.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: There's hair on the buttons, ripped up sleeves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And Ozempic, Dr. Sanjay Gupta shares what he found after a year-long investigation. Is it a miracle drug?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:47:12]

KEILAR: Tonight, emotional testimony on the first day of the trial of the undocumented migrant accused of killing Laken Riley, the Georgia college student murdered in broad daylight while out on a run. Some of the evidence so gruesome that several people left the room. Rafael Romo is OUTFRONT over the case that was front and center in the

election.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the opening day of the trial of Jose Ibarra, prosecutors played body camera video too graphic to be shown beyond the courtroom of when Laken Riley was found.

Sergeant Kenneth Maxwell with the University of Georgia Police Department performing CPR as emergency sirens wailed. Observers in the court crying as a responding officer described the scene.

SGT. KENNETH MAXWELL, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA POLICE: It was intentional and that somebody had attempted to either remove her top or maybe had used it to drag her.

ROMO: Also entered into evidence images of the crime scene, and fingerprints found on Riley's phone and pictures of injuries of the defendant that prosecutors say came from the attack.

Police bodycam video shows the moment police found the blue jacket thrown in a dumpster not far from the crime scene.

And Ring video of a man police say is Ibarra wearing that jacket?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who is this person?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jose Ibarra.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now what is he wearing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is the blue jacket that we wound up finding in the B32 dumpster.

ROMO: Pieces of evidence that the prosecutor Sheila Ross told the judge in her opening statement would lead them to a verdict of guilty in the trial of Jose Ibarra, the undocumented migrant charged with murder and aggravated assault with the intent to rape Riley in February.

SHEILA ROSS, PROSECUTOR: He went hunting for females on the University of Georgia's campus.

ROMO: Prosecutors say Laken Riley called 911 but never had a chance to ask for help --

911 OPERATOR: Clarke, 911.

ROMO: The 911 operator called back, but there was no answer. She fought for her life for nearly 18 minutes.

ROSS: She fought for her dignity and in that fight, she caused this defendant to leave forensic evidence behind.

ROMO: In his opening statement, Ibarra's defense attorney called that evidence graphic and what happened to Riley tragic.

JOHN DONNELLY, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The evidence that Jose Ibarra killed Laken Riley is circumstantial.

ROMO: And explained the defendants waving a jury trial saying that if the judge made, quote, honest assessment of the evidence --

DONNELLY: There should not be enough evidence to convince you beyond a reasonable doubt that he is guilty of the crimes charged.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMO (on camera): And, Brianna, those of us inside the courtroom witness how several members of Laken Riley family and close friends chose to leave when the judge gave them the opportunity to do so before showing some of the most graphic evidence. For many of those who stayed, the testimony and the body cam video from the officer that found Riley's body was so overwhelming that they started sobbing and crying -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Understandably. Rafael Romo, thank you for the report.

Next, the benefits of taking the weight loss drug Ozempic are multiplying. Is it a miracle? Dr. Sanjay Gupta is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:55:23]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Tonight, is Ozempic a cure for everything?

So what started out as a drug to treat diabetes soon opened up the door for a whole new class of drugs that have become weight loss wonders. And now we are hearing more about how they might do even more possibly curb addictive behaviors like drinking and smoking, maybe even able to help treat Alzheimer's, dementia and knee pain.

So, I mean, if that's the case, what cant these weight loss drugs do?

CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta for a year has been investigating these drugs. Here's a look at what he found.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What it did help me was not have a whole lot of thoughts about food. My cravings went away.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Those voices in her head that had made her crave food, experts call it food chatter. They were silenced and that is part of the magic of these new medications.

GLP-1 seems to act in a way that no other known hormone can. Here's how it seems to work. Every time you eat, all sorts of hormones are released, like GLP-1. They are called post nutrient hormones. They travel here to the hypothalamus and the brain to tell you that you are full or satiated. They also travel over here to the pancreas to kick out more insulin to help absorb the energy you just consumed. And also over here, to your gut to slow down the emptying, allowing you to better digest your food.

In so many ways, it seems like the perfect hormone, to help you stop eating as much.

It seemed perfect for Rashida. In that first year, she lost 100 pounds. It changed her life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins me now.

And, Sanjay, you know, it changed her life and it has for many, many others.

And all these other incredible health benefits we've been hearing about. You know, some people at first were very cautious. I'll count myself among them saying, oh, come on, is this really going to be all its cracked up to be? And now, as a little bit of time has passed, you hear more and more good things you got to wonder, should we all be considering taking a drug like Ozempic?

GUPTA: I think we still have to be cautious. I think your initial instincts are spot on when it comes to that, but I think in some for some people it is doing something that other medications haven't been able to do. That's the thing that really struck me about it.

One is that they just took off. These drugs have actually been around for some time, but 3 or 4 years ago, they just suddenly took off the largest or fastest growing drug class really in the world.

But the second thing, and I mentioned this briefly in the clip you just showed, when you think about weight loss medications, you think about them speeding up your metabolism or working on your gut. This also works on the brain. It works on an area of the brain called the hypothalamus, an area that's responsible for your feelings of fullness, your feelings of what they call satiation.

So it's interesting, some people have this constant food chatter, Erin, even when they're eating, they're already thinking about their next meal. They develop -- they develop anxiety if their pantry doesn't have enough food in it.

BURNETT: Right.

GUPTA: And so, most people, once they eat those feelings, sort of quell down a little bit, but not for everybody. And that's where these medications really seem to make a difference.

BURNETT: So, you know, for those considering doing it that are maybe not in the, you know, a morbidly obese group, right? So they may have some discretion, should you take it or should you not?

GUPTA: Yeah. BURNETT: What are the side effects to be worried about?

GUPTA: So, again you know, one thing that's important to point out. These drugs have been around for a while. So we do know more about the long term impacts than I think people realize.

BURNETT: Because they were diabetes drugs, because they were diabetes drugs, and they were originally started off as potentially being a treatment for ulcers. So that didn't work well for that. Then they went to diabetes and now weight loss.

So it's been around for a little while. I think one of the big things is there's not a lot of data on people who are taking this off label. So if you're taking it for a medically necessary reason obesity or diabetes or some sort of other condition, in addition to to carrying too much weight, we have pretty good data on that.

But for people who are taking it to lose 5 or 10 or 15 pounds, we just don't know as much about the long term impact. One thing I think was really interesting more most people, more than half will stop taking it within 12 weeks. We thought this was going to be a lifelong drug for a lot of people the majority of people stopped taking it within three months.

BURNETT: Does it continue to work though, or do the cravings just come right back?

GUPTA: For some people, they seem to continue to work. There was a study that came out saying people who quit during that time, they still retained about 80 percent of their weight loss.

BURNETT: So their habits changed.

GUPTA: Yeah, the habits changed. Their lifestyle sort of changed. They were able to incorporate a lot of lifestyle activities into this.

You lose, you lose fat when you take these drugs, but you also lose muscle. That's another consideration and a concern. Losing lean muscle mass predispose you to falls and other things.

BURNETT: All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you very much.

And I hope everybody will watch Sanjay's full report, "Is Ozempic Right For You?" It is this Sunday at 8:00, only here on CNN.

KEILAR: And thank you for joining us.

"AC360" starts now.