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Axios: Israeli Strike Hurts Iran's Effort On Nuclear Weapons Research; Trial Begins For Immigrant Accused Of Killing GA Nursing Student; "Is Ozempic Right For You" Airs Sunday At 8PM ET/PT; U.N. Climate Talks Descend Into Chaos In Azerbaijan. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired November 15, 2024 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:30:00]
BARAK RAVID, AXIOS POLITICS & FOREIGN POLICY REPORTER: So I think the interesting thing is that Israel hit a facility in Parchin, 30 kilometers, 20 miles, southeast of Tehran.
And inside this facility that is called Taleghan 2, there was critical equipment that has to do with the plastic explosives that you need to create a nuclear explosion in a nuclear military device, in a nuclear bomb, and the Israelis took it out.
And once they took it out, then any Iranian attempt to move forward for a nuclear weapon will be much, much, much more difficult. And as a senior Israeli official told me, this was the bottleneck, and without this bottleneck, the Iranians are now stuck.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Its really interesting.
Barak Ravid, thank you very much. We appreciate your time.
RAVID: Thank you.
KEILAR: Next, we are in Georgia for the murder trial of Laken Riley, of the man who is suspected of killing her, a nursing student allegedly killed by an undocumented immigrant.
Prosecutors laying out their evidence piece by piece, including how Riley's Smart Watch recorded the final minutes of her life.
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[13:35:42]
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: All right, everyone, this just in. As President-Elect Trump's staff takes shape, Stephen Chung is joining the White House as communications director.
He served as the spokesperson for Donald Trump's 2024 campaign. And during Trump's first term. He served as director of the Strategic Response.
We're going to have more on this and Trump's other cabinet picks at the top of the hour. But wanted to bring you that update. We are following a lot of other news as well, including, out of Georgia, where we're really following gruesome new details as the trial gets underway for the man accused of killing Laken Riley.
She's the 22-year-old nursing student that was brutally attacked while jogging at the University of Georgia back in February.
Prosecutors say the Smart Watch she was wearing captured her 17-minute struggle for her life against her killer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHEILA ROSS, PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: The evidence will show that Laken fought. She fought for her life. She fought for her dignity. And in that fight, she caused this defendant to leave forensic evidence behind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ: Now, the suspect in this case is an undocumented migrant who waived his right to a jury trial, which means it's up to a judge to decide his fate in a case that's really become a lightning rod over climb and illegal immigration in the United States.
CNN's Rafael Roma is outside the court in Athens, Georgia.
Rafael, what's the latest right now? I know things are still underway.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi. Just before noon, we witnessed what has been by far the most shocking and emotional moment of the trial against Jose Ibarra, the suspect in the death of nursing student, Laken Riley.
The prosecution called Sergeant Kenneth Maxwell, with the University of Georgia Police Department, to the stand. He was the one who discovered Laken Riley's body, Omar, the day of her murder.
And body camera video he recorded was played in the courtroom. Judge Patrick Haggard paused the proceedings to allow anyone who didn't want to see Laken Riley's body shown to have an opportunity to get out of the courtroom.
We saw about half a dozen people leave, some of them in tears. As you can imagine, a very emotional moment.
The video showed the moment Sergeant Maxwell found the body in a wooded area with the midsection and breast area partially exposed.
This is what Sergeant Maxwell had to say in court about finding the body.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. KENNETH MAXWELL, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA POLICE DEPARTMENT: It was more intentional. Somebody had attempted to remove her top or maybe had used it to drag her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: And, Omar, as the video was being played, we could hear loud sobbing across the courtroom.
In addition to the body camera video, the prosecution also revealed that they have the defendants thumbprint on the victims phone, another key piece of evidence for the prosecution is DNA matching the suspect found under the victim's fingernails.
Investigators also found the victim's blood on the defendants hat, as well as the victims location, heart rate matching the time of the attack and video of Ibarra disposing the evidence.
Omar, back to you.
JIMENEZ: And, Rafael Romo, appreciate the reporting. And this is just the beginning of the trial. We'll likely learn more details as this gets going.
[13:39:03]
Still ahead, they have been described as miracle drugs. You've probably heard of them at this point. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta finished a year-long investigation into the popular weight loss injectables. We're talking about Ozempic, Wegovy. We'll hear what he learned, next.
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KEILAR: A new study predicts that almost 260 million people will be overweight or obese by 2050. That is sharply higher from about 209 million in 2021.
And as America faces a growing obesity epidemic, there is a surge in popularity of so-called miracle drugs, GLP-1-like medications, including Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound. And there are questions about their long-term effects.
We have CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who has just wrapped a yearlong investigation into these revolutionary medications.
Here's a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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 in 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.
[13:45:02]
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.
Seemed perfect for Rashida (ph). In that first year, she lost 100 pounds. It changed her life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Dr. Sanjay Gupta is with us now on this story.
And, Sanjay, how have these drugs changed our understanding of obesity as a disease?
GUPTA: You know, I think we are, with obesity, where we probably were with depression and maybe addiction a few decades ago.
I think, for some time, you know, if someone had depression, you'd say, pull yourself up by the bootstraps, not really recognizing the impacts on the brain, the brain disease component of it.
I think with obesity, as you just sort of heard there, this idea that there's a center in the brain that's responsible called the satiation center, it's responsible for you feeling full after you eat. OK?
When you eat, those hormones send a signal to your brain, OK, you've eaten, you don't need to eat anymore. Some people just don't seem to generate that signal as well.
So even as they're eating, they're already thinking about their next meal. They develop anxiety if their pantry doesn't have enough food in it.
That's, I think, where these medications are probably the most useful here, sending that signal to the brain that, OK, you can quiet the food chatter, literally quieting the noise inside your head.
I think it's given us -- these medications have given us that insight about obesity.
KEILAR: And what do we know about the long-term side effects of the drugs because I think that is the real thing that people question about these. GUPTA: Yes, you know, we really dug deep into this. I think a few
points. One is that, first of all, the medications have been around a lot longer than people realize. They sort of really came on to the scene a few years ago.
But I traveled in Europe. I was in Denmark, for example. They have been there for a couple of decades now. Point being that there is some long-term data on these medications. Obviously, a lot more people taking it now so that data needs to be collected.
What we don't know as much about is people who are taking this for medically not necessary reasons, so they're taking it off label, so to speak. There's not a lot of data in terms of long-term exact impact for those folks. So that's something to be aware of.
The third thing that really jumped out from every researcher we talked to is, you know, when you lose weight on these meds, you can lose fat.
But you can also lose muscle, and losing lean muscle mass, that's a real concern, especially for older patients. It predisposes them to falls. Predisposes them to a shorter life span.
So how do you make sure that people don't lose muscle at the same time they're taking these medications? That's one of the big concerns in terms of longer-term side effects -- Brianna?
KEILAR: Yes, very important. And you will delve into more of this. We cannot wait.
Sanjay, thank you so much for that preview.
Because you can tune in on Sunday for Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports, "IS OZEMPIC RIGHT FOR YOU." That will air Sunday night at 8:00 right here on CNN.
And coming up, the host country for a climate conference just threw a wrench into the already chaotic summit. All of this as leaders worry about what President-Elect Trump could mean for the fight against global warming. We'll have details ahead.
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[13:52:51]
JIMENEZ: Welcome back, everyone.
The latest U.N. climate talks have turned into a bunch of boycotts, political tirades and open celebration of oil and gas.
Now, though, top diplomats and scientists are demanding change, saying countries aligned with fossil fuels should be banned from future talks and calling for a fundamental overhaul.
CNN's chief climate correspondent, Bill Weir, is following all of this.
So, Bill, what's the latest.
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Omar, there was overall skepticism leading up to this that a small petrol state, like Azerbaijan, shouldn't be holding a conference. One analogy was like hold a cancer convention at a tobacco plantation.
And the president of Azerbaijan didn't do himself any favors by scolding the world upon their arrival, saying that their gas reserves are a gift from the God and they shouldn't be told it's evil and try to transition away.
There's been sort of theatrical standoffs. A minister from France canceling a trip, tension with the Netherlands, and the host country here as well. This has led to this open letter from a bunch of high- profile activists who are earnestly trying to get countries to agree on action.
They're calling for stricter rules for host countries, limiting fossil fuel influence, pointing out there 2,000 fossil fuel lobbyists in Baku, Azerbaijan, fight for their interests to keep drilling as long as possible, shifting the folks to action over negotiation.
I guess there's hope with these folks that they have a week left, a half and a half left of the conference and they can pull it together. But it does not seem to be going well.
And of course, Omar, the Trump specter of that presidency coming and pulling out of the Paris Accords, undermine so much for many. And we saw even the new president of Argentina pulling out dramatically on his way to Mar-a-Lago.
JIMENEZ: And of course, you know, the United States election happens right before this conference and has implications on how a lot of these countries shape their own policies.
And, you know, we're getting some clues from what the next administration will look like.
For example, the President-Elect Trump announcing that Doug Burgum, North Dakota governor, would be his pick for Department of the Interior, which, as you know, has a lot of purview over the nation's great green spaces and climate as well.
What does that pick signal to those in the climate world, a signal to you as a correspondent?
[13:55:04]
WEIR: Well, it's an interesting pick because, unlike Lee Zeldin, his pick for EPA, the governor admits climate change is real.
In fact, he has a big ambitious plan for carbon capture in his state to make North Dakota carbon neutral by capturing it, burying it underground, the heat trapping pollution, even using it in greenhouses to grow avocados and blueberries in northern climates as well.
And he's a big fan of wind energy, which President Trump is not. So who influences who going forward here?
But it is an interesting pick since he does address a lot of the concerns of environmentalists and climate folks, but also those from energy as well.
JIMENEZ: Bill Weir, appreciate the updates, from here in the United States, but also abroad as well. Thanks for being here as always.
When we come back, we're going to tell you why right-wing allies of President-Elect Trump are pushing him to fire FBI Christopher Wray and nominate former Republican Hill staffer, Kash Patel, as FBI director.
Another hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL next.
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