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First Move with Julia Chatterley
Prisoner In Syrian Jail Has No Idea Assad's Regime Had Fallen; IDF Confiscates Syrian Tanks; Pentagon Praises Syrian Rebel Leader's Pledge; Israel Carrying Out Airstrikes In Syria; Shell Casing Found On CEO's Murder Matches Mangione's Gun; Franklin Fire Forces Thousands To Evacuate; FBI Director Says He'll Resign Before Trump Takes Office; Sean "Diddy" Combs Accuser Speaks Out; Speak App Offers A.I. Study Buddy. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired December 11, 2024 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:00]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: -- not guilty. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, and on the TikTok, @jaketapper. You can follow the
show on X, @TheLeadCNN. If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can listen to the show, all two hours, whence you get your podcasts. The news
continues on CNN with Wolf Blitzer. He's right next door in a place I like to call The Situation Room. I'll see you tomorrow.
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN ANCHOR, FIRST MOVE: It's 2:00 a.m. in Damascus, 8:00 a.m. in Seoul, and 6:00 p.m. here in New York. I'm, Julia Chatterley. And
wherever you are in the world, this is your "First Move."
And a warm welcome to "First Move," as always. And here's today's need to know. Pulled from prison, our Clarissa Ward finds someone locked in a
Syrian jail with no idea Assad's regime had fallen. Shell shock. Police match shell casings from the New York murder of Brian Thompson to the gun
found on suspect Luigi Mangione. Going away. The FBI director says he'll resign before Donald Trump takes office. And speak up. The language
learning app backed by OpenAI using chatbots to teach English and Spanish to the masses. That conversation and plenty more coming up.
But first, we begin with exclusive reporting at a secret Syrian prison. A team, led by Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward, discovered a
man held in a locked cell, unaware that Assad's regime had fallen. And Clarissa joins us now. Clarissa, good to have you with us. You were
originally looking for a captive American journalist. Just tell us what you found instead.
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I have to say, Julia, that this was truly one of the most extraordinary things I think
I've witnessed in my career. Essentially, we were looking to do a story about the tens of thousands of Syrians who have vanished into Assad's
dungeons, and particularly also about one American journalist, Austin Tice, who has disappeared. But when we started to look inside one facility, we
found something that we never could have imagined. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WARD (voice-over): Deep in the belly of the regime's Air Force Intelligence Headquarters --
WARD: These are English letters.
WARD (voice-over): -- we are hoping to find traces of Austin Tice, an American journalist held captive in Syria since 2012. It's one of many
secret prisons across the city. This specific branch was tasked with surveillance, arrest, and killing of all regime critics.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are all cleaned out.
WARD (voice-over): We don't find any hints of Tice, but come across something extraordinary.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't tell though, it might just be a blanket. But it's the only cell that's locked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is he going to shoot it?
WARD (voice-over): The guard makes us turn the camera off while he shoots the lock off the cell door. We go in to get a closer look. It's still not
clear if there is something under the blanket.
WARD: Oh, it moved. Is there someone there? I thought I saw it moved. Is someone there? Or is it just blanket? I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's OK. It's OK. It's OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Journalists. Journalists.
WARD (voice-over): I'm a civilian, he says. I'm a civilian.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's OK. It's OK. It's OK.
WARD (voice-over): He tells the fighter he's from the City of Homs and has been in the cell for three months.
WARD: OK. You're OK. You're OK. You're OK.
WARD (voice-over): He clutches my arm tightly with both hands.
WARD: OK. Does anyone have any water? Water. OK. It's water. It's water. OK. OK. OK. You're OK. You're OK. You're OK.
[18:05:00]
WARD (voice-over): We start to walk him outside. Thank God you are safe. Don't be afraid, the fighter says. You are free. This is the third prison
they brought me to, he says. The third prison. After three months in a windowless cell, he can finally see the sky.
Oh, God, the light, he says. Oh, God, there is light. My God, there is light.
WARD: OK. OK. OK. You're OK. You're OK.
WARD (voice-over): Stay with me, stay with me, he repeats again and again. Oh, my God. For three months I didn't know anything about my family, he
says. I didn't hear anything about my children.
The fighter hands him something to eat. He can barely lift it to his mouth. But his body can't handle it.
WARD: You're OK.
WARD (voice-over): His capture was flagged during the fall of Damascus, leaving him with no food or water, that was at least four days ago.
I am shaking, my face is shaking, he says. The rebel tells him there's no more army, no more prisons, no more checkpoints. Are you serious? He says,
Syria is free, he tells him. It's the first time he has heard those words.
He tells us his name is Adil Khurbal (ph), and that officers from the much- feared Mukhabarat Intelligence Services took him from his home and began interrogating him about his phone. They brought me here to Damascus. They
asked me about names of terrorists, he says. Did they hit you, the fighter asks? Yes, yes, he says.
As a paramedic arrives, the shock sets in. There's nothing. Everything's OK. The Red Crescent is coming to help you, this man assures him. You are
safe. Don't be afraid anymore. Everything you are afraid of is gone.
Tens of thousands of Syrians have disappeared in Assad's prisons. Up until 15 minutes ago, Adil Khurbal (ph) was one of them. But he is still
petrified.
Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, the ambulance worker reassures him. Every car I got into, they blindfolded me, he says. It is the end of a very dark
chapter for him and for all of Syria. But so many ghosts remain.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WARD (on camera): And, Julia, there is still so much we don't know. We don't know why the regime took Adil Khurbal (ph) and we may never know. And
there are so many who were taken who we may never know why, what the impetus was. I think sometimes there's an assumption that they were either
involved in the opposition or were speaking against Bashar al-Assad.
But in reality, many of those who have disappeared inside Assad's dungeons were ordinary people with no legal recourse. This was a regime that
operated with absolute impunity. And so, for families, it is an absolutely gut-wrenching time as they try to search for answers where there are so few
answers out there.
Adil (ph) is very much one of the lucky ones. We saw him get into that ambulance. And we very much hope tonight that he simply been reunited with
his family. Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Clarissa, it's an astonishing report. I just want to ask you about what you were feeling because we could see, I think, your
astonishment, shock, all the emotions that were going through your mind at that moment. And I guess one of the other questions is, how many more of
those people are still waiting for somebody hoping that they'll be available to rescue them? And obviously time was -- time is short for these
people if they're still there and trapped.
WARD: Well, that's the issue. Tens of thousands have been disappeared. How many of them are still alive? We don't know. We see their family members at
the hospitals, at the morgues, at the prisons, desperately searching for clues and answers. But for those who may be alive and abandoned like Adil
(ph), certainly time is running out.
[18:10:00]
And yes, I think all of us on this team were in a complete state of shock. Initially, when we looked at the blanket, we thought maybe it was just a
pile of blankets. And to witness such a surreal moment and to witness someone in a state of absolutely joy on the one hand, but profound shock
and trauma on the other is something that I think none of us will ever forget and something that makes it resonate all the more deeply when you
think of the pain and suffering of these Syrian prisoners, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Clarissa, thank you for being there, to you and your team. Clarissa Ward in Damascus there.
All right. Israel continuing its military action in Syria. The IDF says it seized several Syrian tanks along the buffer zone that separates the
Israeli occupied Golan Heights from the rest of Syria. Meanwhile, Syrian rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani says he's working with international
organizations to secure chemical weapons sites. The Pentagon welcoming the move, but says actions will have to match the words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SABRIAN SINGH, DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: In terms of what this leader is saying on the ground about chemical weapons, I mean, these are
good things. We want to -- we welcome this type of rhetoric, but we have -- you know, actions have to meet words as well. So, we're going to continue
to work with the groups that we have relationships with. Again, our focus is that these chemical weapons do not fall into the wrong hands.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: Meanwhile, a Syrian activist group claims Israel is operating several kilometers beyond the Syrian side on the buffer zone near the Golan
Heights. CNN cannot independently confirm that claim, but it's near an area Israeli forces captured on Sunday, as Jeremy Diamond reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the dead of night, Syrian naval ships going up in flames. At daybreak, this is all that
remains of the Syrian fleet at Latakia, after Israel launched a wave of strikes intended to destroy the strategic arsenal of the newly deposed
regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Israeli missile ships fired the fatal blow at Latakia. Many more were carried out by Israeli jets. Altogether, nearly 500 strikes since the fall
of Assad's regime.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We have no intention to intervene in Syria's internal affairs. But we certainly
intend to do everything necessary to take care of our own security.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The Israeli prime minister says the strikes are aimed at preventing the Assad regime's strategic and long-range weapons
from falling into the hands of radical Islamists. Syria's rebel leader, Ahmed al-Shar'a, better known by his moniker Abu Mohammed al-Jolani,
previously led Syria's Al Qaeda affiliate. And while he has struck a more moderate tone, there is still considerable uncertainty about what this new
Syria will look like.
Israel Ziv, a retired Israeli general, says Israel has long prepared for this scenario.
ISRAEL ZIV, RETIRED ISRAELI MAJOR GENERAL: To be honest, we have those plans for over a decade. It took, like, I think three days to refresh those
plans and refresh the intelligence, to make the decision and to go for a very big operation.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The Israeli military estimates that the operation has destroyed 70 to 80 percent of Syria's strategic weapons, including jets
and attack helicopters, crews and ballistic missiles, as well as air defense systems. It also struck Syria's chemical weapons depots.
ZIV: The strategy now behind the strikes is about taking off any future potential threats that can be shot back at us.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Israel has also sent ground troops into Syria, capturing a 155 square mile buffer zone that has separated Israeli and
Syrian troops for half a century, after Syrian troops abandoned their posts.
But Israel is also capturing strategic points beyond that buffer zone. A move it insists is temporary. Israel's actions drawing criticism from its
neighbors.
AYMAN SAFADI, JORDANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): The aggression that Israel conducted against Syria and occupying this land is a
violation and a breach of international law and an unacceptable escalation.
DIAMOND (voice-over): And the United Nations.
GEIR PEDERSEN, U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SYRIA: We are continuing to see Israeli movements. And bombardments into Syrian territory. This needs to
stop.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Israel very well may, having already accomplished what it set out to do.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: Police continue to build their case against the suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare's CEO. Authorities saying the gun found on Luigi
Mangione matches the shell casings found at the scene of the crime.
[18:15:00]
Meanwhile, a police intelligence report obtained by CNN gives a warning online post cheering on the killing, quote, "This rhetoric may signal an
elevated threat facing executives in the near-term, with the shooting itself having the capability to inspire a variety of extremists and
grievance-driven malicious actors to violence."
Brynn Gingras joins us now from New York City. We're in the authorities clearly worried about the risk of copycats tied to this, but they are
continuing to build the case and the evidence against Luigi Mangione continues to stack up.
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And remember, Julia, that this evidence is something that investigators are still trying to
collect as they are still working to getting Mangione back here in New York, but certainly as we speak, the evidence is mounting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GINGRAS (voice-over): While Luigi Mangione sits alone in a Pennsylvania jail cell, police say they now have crucial connections between the 26-
year-old and the Manhattan crime scene.
JESSICA TISCH, NYPD POLICE COMMISSIONER: First, we got the gun in question back from Pennsylvania. It's now at the NYPD crime lab. We were able to
match that gun to the three shell casings that we found in midtown at the scene of the homicide.
GINGRAS (voice-over): The NYPD commissioner also confirming what CNN first reported Mangione's fingerprints match evidence found where UnitedHealth
CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down a week ago.
TISCH: We're also able at our crime lab to match the person of interest's fingerprints with fingerprints that we found on both the water bottle and
the kind bar near the scene of the homicide.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Sources also telling CNN a to-do list on how to carry out a killing was found in the pages of a spiral notebook, along with
notes justifying the plan, suggesting what could be better than, quote, "to kill the CEO at his own bean counting conference."
LUISI MANGIONE, SUSPECT: It's completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people. It's lived experience.
GINGRAS (voice-over): The links come as Mangione's attorney continues to fight extradition to New York.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I haven't seen any evidence that says that he's a shooter.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Investigators are also working to track his whereabouts days, weeks, months before the murder. A hotel clerk telling
ABC Mangione tried to check into this Altoona, Pennsylvania hotel before his arrest.
JOHN KUKLIS, HOTEL CLERK: There was somebody that checked in and the officer goes, did he have a mask on? Did he ever take a mask off? No, he
never did take the mask off. He says, I'll be down there in five minutes to talk to you. We pulled up our surveillance. And sure in stuff, they go,
yes, that's him.
GINGRAS (voice-over): CNN has learned Mangione's mother filed a missing person's report in San Francisco on November 18th. This summer, it seems as
if Mangione fell off the grid as concerned friends reached out. I haven't heard from you in months, one friend commented on X.
CHRIS KWOCK, NEIGHBOR IN HAWAII: He was a nice guy. He, you know, said hi. We rode the elevator a couple times, always smiling, really good. I just
asked him where he's been, and for like six months he was like, on the mainland, like, he just said medical stuff.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Police wondering if a back injury in July 2023 or a list of ailments like brain fog or Lyme disease posted on a Reddit account
believed to be Mangione's point to a motive.
JOSEPH KENNY, NYPD CHIEF OF DETECTIVES: So, we're looking into whether or not the insurance industry either denied a claim from him or didn't help
him out to the fullest extent.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GINGRAS (on camera): And, Julia, more about that missing report that his mother filed in November. Sources telling CNN that she tried to get in
touch with her son several times, many times through his personal phone, through his work phone where he was working at the time, everything was
going to voicemail. So, she filed that report and she did tell police at the time she did not believe that he was a danger to himself or others,
Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Brynn Gingras there. Thank you for that report. Now, to the Malibu area near Los Angeles where the Franklin Fire continues to burn. The
inferno started on Monday and firefighters are still working around the clock.
Thousands of people have had to leave their homes. While the winds have been dying down, less than 10 percent of the fire is being contained and
many people have lost power. Nick Watt jins us now from Malibu. Nick, good to have you with us. I heard from Cal Fire this morning. They were saying
around 7 percent contained. It's simply not enough. What does that mean for the tens of thousands of people that have been evacuated and potentially
more having to be?
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's good news, but no one's really congratulating anyone just quite yet. This fire burned over 1,000 acres
overnight, more than 4,000 acres in total, but firefighters in the early hours were able to dig some trenches, to clear some fuel, to begin
containing this blaze.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is going to catch on fire.
WATT (voice-over): Locals fought to save their own homes as this fire exploded.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's chaos. It's complete chaos. And for me, it's an adrenaline rush and I'm just in the moment putting out as much water as I
can. And, you know, there's fire all around.
WATT (voice-over): Over a thousand acres burned last night. The good news, winds have dropped, but --
[18:20:00]
CHIEF ANTHONY MARRONE, LOS ANGELES COUNTRY FIRE DEPARTMENT: I don't think we've turned the corner at this point. If the wind changes direction, we're
going to have the fire moving into new areas.
WATT (voice-over): There are 1,500 plus firefighters on the ground and relentless water drops from the air.
DOUG STEWART, MALIBU MAYOR: All the way to the White House has been checking in on to see what they can do for us and how they can help. We owe
a debt of gratitude that we will never forget.
WATT (voice-over): Malibu Seafood, a famous shack by the shore, was just saved.
WATT: Was it just luck?
JOHN CHRISTENSEN, OWNER, MALIBU SEAFOOD: The wind died. So, you know, that's the driving force. And so, it moves slower and that allows all these
guys with the big trucks to get in here.
WATT (voice-over): They're closed today, but dishing out coffee and free lunch for the firefighters.
WATT: I noticed you wouldn't take money from us for the coffee.
CHRISTENSEN: We can't taste bad karma. The next time we'll burn.
WATT (voice-over): Folks in Malibu know to fear fire. Memories remain from the Woolsey Fire of 2018, which destroyed over 1,600 structures and took
three lives. Today --
ROBERT LUNA, SHERIFF, LOS ANGELES COUNTY: At least to date with the information we have now, we have no reports of significant injuries or
deaths, and that is a huge victory.
WATT (voice-over): Rivers Redclay and her family stayed to look after their home and all of their animals.
RIVERS REDCLAY, FAMILY HOME THREATENED BY FIRE: We're still not all sleeping at the same time. Everybody is taking shifts and on watch at
night. It's very spooky and very eerie because you can look out the window and see what might go up.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT (on camera): And, you know, imagine being one of those people, staying, trying to protect your home, you don't have power, you don't have
Wi-Fi, you don't have cell phones, you have no communications.
Now, the mayor of Malibu said today that that is something they are going to try to rectify, to look into, before -- I'm afraid to say, Julia, before
this inevitably happens again.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's incredible though that they, fingers crossed, have managed to keep everybody safe. And I do love the community spirit and the
free coffees there, as you pointed it out. Everyone working together. Nick, thank you for that report. Nick Watts there.
WATT: Thanks.
CHATTERLEY: Now, the director of the FBI has announced he will resign at the end of the Biden administration. Christopher Wray was originally
nominated by the president-elect, Donald Trump, in 2017 to serve a 10-year term. But Trump has voiced his frustration with Wray's leadership,
including the FBI's approved search of his Mar-a-Lago resort in August of 2022. And now, the president-elect wants longtime loyalist Kash Patel to
lead the bureau. Evan Perez has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: FBI Director Chris Wray announced plans to resign at the end of the Biden administration almost
three years before his 10-year tenure is set to expire, as it became clear that he would be forced out by President-Elect Donald Trump.
Trump nominated Wray to run the bureau after firing the previous FBI director, and he has said that he plans to nominate Kash Patel, a vocal
defender of Trump, to lead the FBI. Now, Patel this week has been making the rounds on Capitol Hill, meeting with senators to build support for his
confirmation vote next year.
Wray held a town hall with employees at the FBI headquarters on Wednesday afternoon. It's a traditional event held around the holidays this time,
however, coming a little earlier than normal and with the news that he plans to leave in order to spare the FBI from attacks that were mostly
aimed at him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: After weeks of careful thought, I've decided the right thing for the Bureau of is for me to serve until the end
of the current administration in January and then step down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PEREZ: Now, in recent weeks, Wray had wrestled with whether to resign given Trump's stated plans to replace him or to wait for Trump to actually
fire him once he was in office. Now, sources tell CNN that some at the FBI and at the Justice Department had urged him to stay because they didn't
want Wray to normalize Trump's pension for replacing FBI directors he doesn't like.
The FBI job is designed with a 10-year term to straddle administrations and to be insulated from politics. Trump has blamed Wray for a number of
things. He was particularly unhappy with the FBI's court approved search of his Mar-a-Lago resort back in August of 2022. This is during the
investigation into his alleged mishandling of classified documents, which led to his eventual indictment.
Wray's departure paves the way for Trump to change the entire leadership of the FBI. Deputy Director Paul Abbate, a career FBI agent, will take over on
January 20th, but he is slated to retire early next year.
Evan Perez, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: Our thanks to Evan Perez there. Now, straight ahead for us, one of Sean Diddy Combs' accusers is speaking out for the very first time
and leveling shocking sexual assault allegations against the music mogul. A CNN exclusive is just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:25:00]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to a CNN exclusive. For the first time, we're hearing from a man accusing Sean Diddy Combs of sexual assault. The
anonymous accuser filed his complaint against the music mogul back in October in a civil suit. And now, the accuser is speaking out about what
happened to him during one of Combs' infamous white parties nearly 20 years ago. Elizabeth Wagmeister has the story, and I should warn you, some of the
details in her report are harrowing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was screaming. I was telling him to stop. It was incredibly painful. He was acting like it was nothing.
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Telling his story for the first time exclusively to CNN.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was animalistic. It was brutal.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): One of Sean Diddy Combs' accusers describes his allegations of being drugged and sodomized in the back of a vehicle by the
disgraced music mogul. Choosing to keep his identity hidden, John Doe says Combs assaulted him in 2007 while he was working security at one of Combs'
white parties in the Hamptons.
WAGMEISTER: Sean Combs himself offered you a drink, is that correct?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct.
WAGMEISTER: OK. So, this didn't come from staff or someone holding a tray of drinks, it came from him directly?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct. The effects were so far beyond what two drinks would have been. It felt like the effects of maybe 15 drinks to the point
where I couldn't even stand any longer.
WAGMEISTER: And then what happened?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sadly, Sean Combs was waiting in the wings. He knew that this was going to happen to me and he was waiting. He was acting like
a concerned person at first in order to get my trust. And once I was in a helpless position and he was sure that he was in a position of power, then
he took advantage of the situation. He held me down and sodomized me.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Doe was seeking punitive damages. In a civil suit filed in October, Doe said he told his supervisor at the security firm what
allegedly happened to him that night. He says he was then blacklisted and had to find another job.
WAGMEISTER: Did you tell your wife at the time?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I was too ashamed.
WAGMEISTER: Have you told anyone other than your manager at the security firm at the time?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I was -- at that time, it just seemed so out of bounds. It seemed so crazy back then that it didn't even seem believable. I
thought people would just think I was crazy.
SEAN "DIDDY" COMBS, SUSPECT: I just wanted to spread the love.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Combs' white parties were a Hollywood sensation. With an ultra-exclusive guest list of A-list celebrities and executives
from film, music, and fashion.
[18:30:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're legendary for the parties that you throw. You throw a great party.
COMBS: I'm a legend, baby, for a whole bunch of things.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): He dubbed himself the modern-day Gatsby.
COMBS: If you don't have what they need, they're going to leave.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
COMBS: Got to keep them there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
COMBS: You need locks on the doors.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Combs is currently incarcerated in Brooklyn after he was indicted on three federal charges earlier this year. He's been
denied bail three times. He pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution and is
awaiting a criminal trial that could put him behind bars for life.
A torrent of civil lawsuits against Combs began surfacing after his then girlfriend Cassie Ventura filed the first complaint against him in November
2023. He initially denied her claims and said she was looking for a quote, "payday." But earlier this year, CNN published hotel surveillance video
from 2016, where Combs appeared to grab, shove, drag, and kick Ventura.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw the beatings he did to that -- the beating he did to that poor woman, and I was mortified. That was really terrible. I
wondered maybe if I had come forward, maybe if I had been braver, that maybe I could have stopped it. He used his celebrity to just keep
victimizing over and over.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Combs is now facing more than 30 suits from accusers, including John Doe's. Representatives for Combs have denied all
allegations. Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone, adult or minor, man or woman, they said in a statement. His lawyers did not respond to the
specific allegations in John Doe's case when approached by CNN, but addressed inconsistencies in Doe's October legal filing and his interview
with CNN.
WAGMEISTER: What are you hoping to accomplish? What does justice look like to you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing could give me back the person I was before that evening. Nothing could change that. Please, I would love to see him spend
the rest of his life in prison because that's where he belongs, where he can't hurt anybody else. He's going to live a very lonely, miserable life,
I hope. And if nothing else, he's not going to be able to victimize anybody else and that's all that matters.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: Stay with CNN. More to come.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:35:00]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move." And a new tech triumph topping today's Money Move. The NASDAQ breaking the 20,000-mark for the very first
time, closing at a fresh record high, in part at least on hopes that President-Elect Trump's new pick for FTC chief, that's the Federal Trade
Commission, will be tech friendly.
Also helping sentiment, a U.S. inflation report in line with expectations, which should give the Federal Reserve room to cut interest rates next week.
We're virtually priced for that, by the way. And an auspicious time, perhaps for President-Elect Trump to ring the New York Stock Exchange
opening bell. Sources telling CNN he'll do so Thursday morning for the first time ever. He's also expected to be named times person of the year on
Thursday, too, and that's for a second time, by the way.
TRUMP'S policy pal, Elon Musk, celebrating two with shares of Tesla at record highs once again, after Goldman Sachs boosted its price target.
Musk's net worth now more than $400 billion, according to Bloomberg, further cementing his position as the world's richest person.
Across Asia, South Korean stocks rising for a second day on hopes that the government will support markets during the country's political turmoil. The
Shanghai Composite rose as well as Chinese officials began policy meetings that could result in fresh fiscal stimulus there. So, we'll keep an eye on
that.
And New Year is fast approaching, which of course means New Year's resolutions, at least for some of us. If your goal is to learn a new
language, one company is offering an A.I. study buddy, the aptly named Speak, launched in South Korea, aimed at English learners. It uses A.I. to
create a real life chatbot, getting users to step away from the keyboard and actually try speaking a new language out loud. Perhaps a little
daunting for some of us.
Silicon Valley is taking note. However, investors include OpenAI startup fund and Y Combinator. And just this week, speak raised $78 million in its
latest round of funding. But is it enough to stand out in a crowded marketplace? Co-founder and CEO Connor Zwick joins us now. Connor,
fantastic to have you on the show.
Just help us understand the mission of Speak and what you say and believe differentiates you from a host of competitors out there.
CONNOR ZWICK, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, SPEAK: Yes, totally. Thanks. Thanks for having me. So, Speak in a nutshell, as you said, is. Really the best way to
get to conversational fluency in a language. What that means is really that you can actually have real conversations after using Speak with native
speakers in the language you're trying to learn.
I think that, you know, many viewers probably can relate to the -- you know, the idea that at some point or another in their life, they may have
tried to learn a language and they spent a ton of time, you know, studying in classes, maybe reading books, studying -- memorizing grammar and
vocabulary and then realizing that they actually can't have a conversation and giving up. This is a story we hear time and time again. And really, I
think, you know, the difference with Speak is that, you know, we believe, you know, just like if you were trying to learn to swim, you shouldn't read
a book, you should get in the pool and swim. We should do the same thing with language learning.
Everyone's learned their first language as a toddler by just fearlessly speaking out loud a little bit every day and getting better and better, and
that's the inspiration for Speak. And you know, really, it's only become possible now with all of the new A.I. conversational technology that's
powering apps like ChatGPT. We're doing the same thing and allowing language learners to talk with an A.I. in a way that is really engaging and
lowers the stakes and makes people feel more comfortable.
CHATTERLEY: OK. So, what's the sort of superior intelligence element of the use of artificial intelligence here? Give us a sense of that too,
because I think, to your point, there's no real substitute for learning vocabulary, but if you can't structure a sentence and actually open your
mouth and say something, it's all pretty pointless. What's the A.I. component of this and sort of the intelligent component of this?
ZWICK: Yes, great question. I think, you know, fundamentally, the missing piece with the vocab or the grammar is that you're not actually putting it
into practice. You're not actually doing the skill that you're trying to get better at. And so, really, what we're facilitating is that
conversational partner.
But we're not just a chat bot like every other A.I. chat bot that's been created in the last year and a half. You know, we're really -- a lot of the
technology that we're building in our team is really around the speech technology to understand how people are talking and be able to give them
really detailed feedback and teaching points, but also be able to facilitate a learning experience where, you know, you're just challenged
enough that we're teaching you and exposing you to more new words, but not too many that were really cultivating it to whatever your learning goal is
and really making sure that we're generating a personalized curriculum just for you and then, getting you to, you know, really speak out loud a ton.
And that's kind of like the platform and the technology that we're building.
[18:40:00]
CHATTERLEY: The irony is you're sort of working to boost communication between humans, but you're not using humans on the other side of this
process. Who are your clients and which are your biggest markets? Because I know at the moment you offer English and you offer Spanish, though, I
believe French is coming early next year.
ZWICK: Yes, it is a little bit ironic. I mean, I think the gold standard absolutely is a really, really good tutor or, you know, a friend that is
willing to talk with you whenever you want. But most people don't have access to that. So, we're trying to make it more accessible.
The main markets right now, as you mentioned, are actually mostly in East Asia. So, we're one of the most popular education brands now in Taiwan, in
Japan, in South Korea and growing really quickly. And, you know, English language learning has been historically what we're the most focused on
because English is -- for people that don't speak it, it's the skill that really enables a global connection.
But as you said, we've launched Spanish, we're launching French very soon, and we're going to be available in almost any language you would want to
learn over 2025.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's interesting to see the sort of Southeast Asia interest in this as well. What's the cost if you want to continually use
this, if you want to take out like a year subscription, for example? And how long does it take, by the way? How much work do you have to do to get
proficient?
ZWICK: It's definitely not a -- you know, a magic pill. But I think what's really great about it is that you can feel the progress right away. And so,
you know, what's -- what we really hear about from users is the fact that even if you Speak for like a week, people feel like they're already gaining
more fluency than they've ever had before because the way that we teach you, we really get you comfortable with at least a little bit of language,
functional language right away.
And yes, the product is priced depending on the local currency, but roughly around the same prices like a Spotify or a Netflix.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. Which makes sense. If we bring it back -- because I want to sort of almost end where we began on the sort of A.I. component of this
and the competitors. I mean, the obvious one, I guess would be something like Duolingo, which there's sort of a race to adopt A.I. and use A.I.
functionality in these apps.
Does the fact that you've got an investor like OpenAI and the sheer access to their data and models help keep you ahead of the competition, just in
the sophistication perhaps of the product and how it can adapt to the user?
ZWICK: Yes, I think that's right. We do have a really deep connection with them. And I think the other thing to point out is if you almost think about
it in terms of generations, you had like the original services like Rosetta Stone that were just like software language learning in general. And then,
you had like the second wave of mobile apps that were really just gamified and made learning really hyper casual.
But we're really an A.I. native company. We've been working on this from the angle of A.I. since the very beginning. It's actually the reason we
started the company because we were doing A.I. research and we realized this was possible. And I think that what that enables is -- it's enabled us
to execute in a pretty unique way. Certainly, the field is going to heat up because I think it's a huge opportunity and there's going to be lots of
different solutions. We won't be the only one.
But I think that what we're able to do and providing a very, you know, building the technology and also reinventing a learning method to be native
to the new technology is really part of what makes us super unique in the market, right?
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it is sort of reimagining the future of learning. We'll continue the conversation. I've run out of time now, but we'll talk about
more whether it could be used in other sort of spheres of education as well, which, I mean, would be fantastic. Connor, fantastic to have you on,
sir. Thank you so much. And looking forward to chatting again soon. The co- founder and CEO of Speak there.
All right. Coming up, CNN's Call to Earth Day coverage. See what students achieved on this global day of action.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:45:00]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back. Over the past 24 hours, CNN has been celebrating Call to Earth Day. We've been joined by schoolchildren around the world who
are taking action to help save the planet. And our theme this year is Connected Generations. All day, we've been looking to the wisdom of our
ancestors for sustainable living practices and to see how we can use them in our daily lives. Let's take a look at what the students have achieved.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here in Hong Kong, at one of dozens of schools across the region marking Call to Earth Day, a day of action to better protect the
environment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's fiber.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cool.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look. Take a good sniff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's some succulents here because we need to save water.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm definitely going to use that tip for my garden at home, Bianna.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I really hope you continue to pass more plants.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop polluting the ocean and cutting down trees.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a pleasure to greet you from Phillips Park where a day of cleaning and garbage collection is taking place in Miami.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like to be part of this event because I get to help my Earth live longer and I help it like be clean.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my favorite animal because of its tusks and I would like to spread awareness to poachers to stop the hunt for the tusks,
because a really special part of Kenya.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are celebrating an initiative that combines creativity and sustainability.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A group of 42 students from our school are going to Kenya with a focus on environment and sustainability.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My whole purpose of doing this is to pass this on to the next generation so that they could enjoy as much as we could, or maybe
even better.
STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: We are at the British School of Beijing's Sanlitun, and these are all year six students.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been trying to use technology from the past to save our future.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By retrofitting sails to container ships, we can use renewable energy to power them.
JIANG: That is just such an exciting moment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dear Future Heart, the urgency of climate change grows with every passing day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really hope you are continuing to come past leaves.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To make the world a better place for the people who come after us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The oceans and the skies will be as blue as sapphire. This is the world we will pour our hearts into for you.
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, the final step here is to burn the bamboo so that they can make charcoal out of it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want to wish you, from Hong Kong Peak School, a happy --
CROWD: Call to Earth Day.
CROWD: Call to Earth.
CROWD: Call to Earth.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: It's so inspiring. And you can learn more about Call to Earth Day and how students around the world are taking action at
cnn.com/calltoearth. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:50:00]
CHATTERLEY: In today's Sports Move, we now know where the Men's World Cup in 2030 and 2034 will be held. Morocco, Spain, and Portugal will be the
main hosts in 2030, and Saudi Arabia will stage the tournament four years later. The outcome for both was, no real surprise, as only one bid was
entered for each edition. Human rights groups, though, are concerned about Saudi Arabia hosting. Amanda Davies explains why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To FIFA to host the 2034 World Cup.
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT (voice-over): Saudi Arabia and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman have made no secret of their desire to become
the world's sporting destination of choice. Now, it's set to host the biggest prize of them all, the FIFA World Cup.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Qatar.
DAVIES (voice-over): It's the most controversial awarding of the tournament since that infamous day in December 2010 that saw Russia and
Qatar given the nod for 2018 and 2022 amidst corruption scandals and human rights concerns.
DAVIES: Do you think FIFA learnt any lessons, Steve, good or bad, from the Qatar experience.
STEVE COCKBURN, HEAD OF LABOR RIGHTS AND SPORT, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: My fear is that the lesson they've learned from Qatar is that they can ride
out the criticism.
DAVIES (voice-over): In Qatar, there was unprecedented levels of construction, of stadiums, and infrastructure. Migrant workers died in the
process. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, has pledged to build 11 new purpose-built venues. It was seen as a landmark moment in 2017 when FIFA became the first
global sports body to write human rights commitments into the bidding process for its major events. But nearly eight years on, actions are
speaking louder than words.
LINA AL-HATHLOUL, SAUDI ARABIA RIGHTS ACTIVIST: I think no organization, human rights organization has been consulted. And I will even add on that,
Saudi Arabia has been forbidding human rights organizations from entering the country since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman came to power.
DAVIES (voice-over): Lina Al-Hathloul is a Saudi human rights activist. Hers is one of 11 organizations that recently raised concerns about FIFA's
approach to Saudi's World Cup bid. Amnesty International called it an astonishing whitewash, while Human Rights Watch dubbed it an abysmal
failure to implement mandatory human rights risk assessments.
Their latest report, published just last week, revealed that in the first six months of this year alone, 887 Bangladeshi workers died in Saudi
Arabia. Citing unpublished Bangladesh government data, the report said the majority were recorded as dying of, quote, "natural causes." There have
been questions about how many were caused by working conditions.
FIFA's overall assessment of the Saudi bid awarded it a higher score than any other that's gone before, judging the human rights risk to be medium
based on an evaluation carried out by a Riyadh-based company.
COCKBURN: I think it's impossible to get there unless it was already decided that it was going to be a medium risk. I think this has been
decided for a long time and it's lost a huge opportunity here.
DAVIES (voice-over): FIFA's told CNN it has implemented, quote, "a thorough bidding process for the 2034 World Cup" and its bid report says
Saudi Arabia submitted commitments to respecting, protecting, and fulfilling internationally recognized human rights.
[18:55:00]
Saudi authorities haven't responded to our request for comment. But the head of the Saudi bid says that while progress has been made, there's still
room to improve.
HAMMAD ALBALAWI, HEAD OF SAUDI ARABIA'S WORLD CUP BID UNIT: We're very proud of what we've achieved. We are very hungry to do more. And that is a
commitment that we have in the areas of human rights across all areas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: And finally, on "First Move," top prize for a stuck squirrel. This image of a red squirrel squeezing into his hiding spot, winning this
year's Nikon Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards. It was actually picked for more than 9,000 entries, topping some of these photos for the crown. And the
prize, by the way, is a weeklong safari in Kenya, and you can bet the photographer will be packing his camera for that trip too. That looks a
little awkward.
And that just about wraps up the show. Thank you for joining us. We'll see you tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:00:00]
END
