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Man Accused of Setting Woman on Fire Charged With Murder, Arson; Former President Bill Clinton Hospitalized With Fever; Text Messages Show Matt Gaetz's Alleged Payments for Sex, Drugs. Aired 7- 7:30a ET

Aired December 24, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning a man is now charged with murder after setting a woman on fire in the subway. He could be headed to face a judge. We have new details on the brutal crime, the suspect, and the victim.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Former President Bill Clinton in the hospital this morning, but hoping to be home in time for Christmas. The latest on the 78-year-old's condition.

And, will you have white, wet, warm or freezing Christmas weather across the U.S.? It's all over the place as people spend this Christmas Eve trying to get those last minute gifts and heading to holiday destinations. What you need to know about the forecast.

I'm Sara Sidner with Kate Bolduan. John Berman is out today. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: So, we have new details this morning about the horrific murder on a New York City subway. The man now charged for allegedly killing a woman by setting her on fire could be headed to court for a first appearance this morning. The NYPD commissioner called the crime depraved. The Brooklyn district attorney now promises, quote, this gruesome and senseless act of violence against a vulnerable woman will be met with the most serious consequences.

The man has now been identified. Police now say the suspect was in the U.S. illegally possibly for years, and he was likely homeless.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino has much more on this. She's been following this from when this first happened on Sunday. What more are you learning, Gloria?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Okay. We learned more about the suspect, his identity. His name is Sebastian Zapata Calil (ph). He is 33 years old and we know that he is a Guatemalan citizen. We also know that he entered the United States in 2018. He was deported actually within 14 days of that entry. But then he made his way back into the country at a date that Border Patrol officials are not certain about. At some point, he made his way up here to New York City. And for the last several months, he's been in and out of many of the city's homeless shelters. That's what we know about him so far.

We do expect him to be in court perhaps today. Prosecutors are working on those charges. But most significantly, we are expecting him to be charged with murder in the first-degree.

Now, I spoke to my law enforcement sources on this. That is a pretty rare charge. That is the very top charge when it comes to homicide. And they explained to me that the reason this is happening is because the alleged murder happened while he was also committing a felony, in this case, the arson. So, he's facing murder in the first-degree, murder in the second-degree as well as the arson charge.

Now, we expect him to appear in court where he will likely be entering some sort of plea and we're still waiting to learn more about how prosecutors are going to pursue this case.

BOLDUAN: There have been a lot of questions around the victim. Have you learned more about the victim?

PAZMINO: So, just like the suspect here law enforcement officials believe that the victim was likely homeless. In fact, they have said that she was sleeping inside of the subway train, something that a lot of homeless people here in New York City are forced to do, especially when it's very cold. The subway --

BOLDUAN: And it was.

PAZMINO: It was that morning and it was the night before. The subway tends to be a place where people take shelter.

Now, unfortunately, they have not been able to identify her yet. There was nothing that was left that could help to identify her. And the medical examiner's office is working through dental records in order to see if they can figure out who this woman is. Of course, the city and law enforcement officials have both been asking having to answer questions about why this all happened, could it have been prevented in any significant way? And although there was significant an impressive police work that helped this guy be apprehended relatively quickly, there's still a lot of other questions about how this all unfolded and if it could have been prevented.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Just, I mean, all of the details coming out just getting -- making it even more clear how depraved and horrible this crime was and how it all played out.

[07:05:05]

Gloria, thank you so very much. She's staying on top of this one for us. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. On this Christmas Eve morning, former President Bill Clinton is waking up in a Washington, D.C. Hospital. The 78-year- old hospitalized yesterday after developing a fever. This is the most recent of a few health scares the 42nd president has experienced since he left office nearly 25 years ago.

CNN's Isaac Dovere is joining us now. I was in California in 2021 when he was doing an event and he ended up being hospitalized. What do you know about President Clinton's condition this morning, because we did see him quite lively during the DNC and on the trail for Kamala Harris?

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: That's right, Sarah. Look, he's waking up this morning at the Medstar Georgetown University Hospital. I am told that he is in good spirits and that this was an admission for a fever observation, looking for observation and rest, that that's what they (INAUDIBLE) the physicians for.

Of course, as you mentioned, this is one of several health scares that the former presidents had over the years.

You mentioned that his appearance of Democratic Convention, I interviewed President Clinton a week before the election in late October, and I said to him, one of the things that he said in that convention speech was, this might be his last convention. I said, you make people think that maybe there's something wrong and he said to me, no. I know I freak people out. That's not what it is. I'm in good health. But he also did point out to me that he's lived longer than any man in his family for generations. So, it's definitely on his mind where his health is, but this is, according to people I've spoken to, he is expecting to be home hopefully not even by Christmas Eve, if not by Christmas Day. But this is mostly as an observation for a fever.

SIDNER: Do you know where he was, what he was doing before all of this happened? Because as I mentioned, you know, sometimes he's out, you know, he's been talking about his book and doing public events.

DOVERE: There was no public events yesterday. He was in Washington. And that's all that we know so far. But, again, what we are being told at this point is that this is not a major health scare. This was a precautionary measure that that we thought he would take. Obviously, as mentioned, he is 70 years old, he had some health scares in the past, but this is it, at this point just a fever and observation (INAUDIBLE).

SIDNER: Isaac Dovere, thank you so much. Have a great holiday. I appreciate you coming on today. Kate?

BOLDUAN: So, the lurid text messages, now evidence revealed by the House Ethics Committee against Matt Gaetz, his alleged conversations with the women the committee says he paid regularly for sex and drugs, and why it's reigniting talk of possible charges.

Now, in the past week, the president-elect has suggested Canada become the 51st U.S. state, he's renewed his push to buy Greenland, and now says the U.S. might need to retake control of the Panama Canal. What is behind all of this? We have new reporting on this ahead for you.

And how the Grinch stole Christmas, but this time it was good news, from some suspected criminals and what the character has to do with busting accused drug traffickers.

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[07:10:00]

SIDNER: This morning, we're getting a look at text messages the House Ethics Committee says is evidence former Congressman Matt Gaetz paid women for sex and drugs for years while in office. In a report released yesterday, the committee found Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women for sex or drugs on at least 20 occasions. According to the report, at least one of those was a 17-year-old when she says she was paid for sex as she understood it. Gaetz has denied the allegations recently and for years.

CNN's Marshall Cohen is joining us now. What did the Ethics Committee find in Gaetz's text messages that they reveal to the public finally?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Hey, Sara. It was a damning and disturbing report on former Congressman Matt Gaetz. The Republican-run House Ethics Committee said it found substantial evidence that Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women for sex and drugs all while he was serving in Congress. Most importantly, as you mentioned, the panel also found that Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old high schooler in summer 2017. And the report concluded that this violated Florida's statutory rape laws.

Now, over the past two years, Gaetz has faced a lot of legal scrutiny but he has vehemently denied that he ever paid anyone for sex. He also denies any illegal drug use. In a social media post yesterday after the report came out, he said, quote, there's a reason they did this to me in a Christmas Eve report, and not in a courtroom of any kind where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses.

But, Sara, there was a lot of evidence. The committee examined 14,000 pages of documents and interviewed many key witnesses. The report even includes texts of Gaetz allegedly asking women for drugs and haggling over payments. There are texts from one of those women telling a friend, quote, Matt never paid me. How much did he pay you? You can see it right here on the screen. The friend said that she got $400 and offered some advice. Ask for the money, quote, before you have sex with him. There's even a detailed ledger of the payments between Gaetz and multiple women using Cash App and Venmo. Some of those women did testify that the payments were indeed for sex or drugs.

SIDNER: Marshall, over the weekend, President-elect Trump was praising Matt Gaetz.

[07:15:02]

That was before this report came out with all of these details, although some of these details have been known to the public beforehand. Has he weighed in after we have gotten this report and the public has taken a look at it?

COHEN: The president has not said much, or the president-elect, I should say, has not said much about this publicly, but there was a post that Matt Gaetz posted to social media, to the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, that he said was from Trump, and it was Trump's handwriting. Trump was commentating on an article from a right wing outlet that was attacking the credibility of the witnesses who testified against Gaetz, and President-elect Trump said, very unfair. Those were the president-elect's words there, responding apparently to this report for the first time.

SIDNER: Should be noted that Gaetz did have a chance to talk to the committee. He decided not to do so.

Marshall Cohen, thank you so much for your reporting this morning.

All right, ahead, at least one person is dead after a major storm slams the California coast. How more winter weather on the way could affect what's expected to be a record-breaking day for holiday travel?

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[07:20:00]

BOLDUAN: This just in, we're getting word that American Airlines has announced this morning that they've grounded all flights due to what they're calling a technical issue. Let me put up the tweet, what we've heard so far. They're citing this unspecified technical issue. The airlines saying your safety is our utmost priority. Once this is rectified, we'll have you safely on your way to your destination.

Now, we are following up on what this technical issue is, and we have definitely reached out to find out how temporary or not this ground stop is. We're following up with American Airlines and we'll be keeping you updated as this goes clearly on this Christmas Eve. This is a rough day to have all flights grounded for any airline right now.

And this is also on top of some nasty weather out west that's been happening this week. A major storm slammed into California's central coast Monday, causing high surf, causing some flooding. It even killed one man after he became trapped under debris on the beach, high surfing coastal flood warnings remain in effect there today as well.

In Sta. Cruz, a wharf collapsed from the rough weather conditions, sending three people into the ocean. It had been closed for renovation. And the victims were inspecting the structure when it gave way. Two of them rescued by first responders, the third was able to make it out on their own.

Add this all together, this is one of a series of storms moving across the country today, Christmas Eve weather that we are keeping a very close eye on for you.

That's where CNN's Derek Van Dam comes in, tracking all of these conditions for us. And, Derek, where's the worst of it? Where's the best of it? What are you watching?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Kate. So, coast-to-coast, we are really just seeing a series of storm systems impacting the country. You saw that video coming out of California. Now let's take you to the East Coast where we're getting some snowfall. These are really the first flakes that will fly this morning. I think we'll get a dusting of snow. We'll call this some miracle snow because I do believe that maybe we'll just squeeze in that criteria for a white Christmas in New York City. The snow is just beginning on this midtown cam. You can see the Empire State Building there.

Here it is. It's not a significant storm by any stretch of the means, but it will bring those festive flakes to places like New York all the way to Boston, where temperatures have been below freezing since the last time it snowed a couple of days ago. So, the snow is sticking to the ground and some of the elevated surfaces too.

I want to highlight what's happening near Washington and Baltimore, where they have a winter weather advisory this morning, and that is due to the possibility of rain and snow and even some light freezing rain that could cause some glazing on the roadways. Interstate 95, yes, and locations to the north and west of that could be experiencing some slick spots as you head out the door this morning. So, not only do we have issues with the ground stop happening with American Airlines, but also we have issues on the roadways in and around Maryland and eastern sections of West Virginia as well.

So, light drizzle and light freezing rain continues through the course of the day there, busy travel day for the nation's midsection as well. But that will be all rain, perhaps causing some weather delays from Dallas to Memphis. And, of course, we've got the West Coast storm that is bringing the high surf into portions of California, in fact, much of the West Coast right now. This is a very impactful storm system, bringing several feet of snow to the higher elevations, but several inches of rain to the coastal areas as well, from Oregon through Central and Northern California, San Francisco just getting clobbered with heavy rainfall right now.

And, of course, with the strong waves that are moving and impacted the coastal regions, we could see some coastal flooding continue, dangerous rip currents. So, authorities are advising people to stay away from the immediate coastline because of these waves that have towered over three to four storeys in some locations, especially near Sta. Cruz, where we saw the wharf that collapsed throughout the course of the day yesterday. And you can see the high surf advisories that stretch all along the western coastline because of the storm system that is bringing the rain and snow and the wind.

So, taking you through Christmas week tomorrow, this system has moved on rather quickly along the East Coast, so we dry things out. But as we head towards Thursday, Friday, maybe you're heading home from family and friends, another storm system, but this will be a warmer weather system. So, as you head back from relatives, you could experience rainfall over the eastern portions of the country.

Here's a Christmas day forecast, 43 in Washington, 61 for Atlanta, yes, no white Christmas here across the southeast, but these are the locations that you'd expect to see the snow on the ground.

[07:25:01]

So, I'm holding thumbs, crossing fingers and, yes, just really hoping for that white Christmas for you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank you, Derek. You're always looking out. I really appreciate it. We're going to stay on top of all of this holiday weather and the travel and, of course, keep you updated on what's happening with American Airlines and this current ground stop underway. We'll keep you updated as we can get more information coming in.

We're also watching this. We have new reporting into CNN this morning. Some Democratic lawmakers, they want President Biden to do more to relieve student loan debt before he leaves office just weeks left. What could be in the works now?

And new video into CNN overnight showing the moment a boat explodes in Florida, killing at least one person.

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BOLDUAN: New reporting into CNN this morning, Democrats are putting pressure on President Biden. They want the president to do more when it comes to student loan forgiveness before he leaves office in his final weeks in the White House.

[07:30:02]

CNN's M.J. Lee has much more of the details on this. M.J., this has been kind of a centerpiece of the Biden.