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International Students Warned To Be On Campus Before Trump Inauguration; Top-10 Entertainment Stories Of 2024; Company Recalls Pet Food That Tested Positive For Bird Flu. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired December 26, 2024 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:30:33]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: With just 25 days until the U.S. Inauguration, fear and uncertainty at U.S. colleges are prompting some universities to tell international students to return to campus early from winter break.

The schools want students safely back on campus before President-Elect Donald Trump returns to the White House in case he orders another travel ban, such as the one that stranded students abroad at the start of Trump's first term.

Trump is promising more hardline immigration policies quite publicly, including expanding his previous travel ban and even revoking some student visas.

Joining us now is Stuart Anderson, executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy, a nonpartisan research organization.

Good to have you, Stuart.

And I wonder, do you believe that worry is warranted? And is there specific guidance circulating as to what specifically Trump might target and who?

STUART ANDERSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR AMERICAN POLICY: Well, international students are vital because they help U.S. universities provide more courses and programs for U.S. students. They help U.S. students have more access, basically, to the world.

And over 70 percent of the graduate students at U.S. universities in key technical fields are international students. And we found more than half of the billion-dollar startups were actually founded by immigrants, and most of those are international students.

So keeping all that in mind is the reason why university presidents and their offices have decided to tell students to be inside the United States, because, you're correct, that the first travel ban that was announced did include international students for those seven countries.

Now, later on, the final version that the Supreme Court approved gave a waiver for international students. But the reality is we do not know precisely which countries and which classes of immigration will be included in a new ban.

But we do know that there almost certainly will be a new ban. And in fact, there already is a continuing ban from the Trump administration on certain Chinese graduate students that the Biden administration continued.

And I've had some of those students be in touch with me. And I know one student was a -- had a PhD program at a U.S. university. She went to visit her family in China, and she's been blocked for over two years from coming back to the United States.

So these aren't theoretical worries. These are legitimate concerns.

SCIUTTO: UCLA has said it will not release immigration status or related information in confidential student records, unless it is forced to do so by law.

Do you believe colleges and universities can protect international students? Will they be forced, by law, to -- to reveal who's enrolled and from -- from which countries?

ANDERSON: Well, some of these issues are not really just international students. They actually affect people who are undocumented immigrants who may be enrolled at these universities.

And considering that the Trump administration has said they really are not going to have any priorities, even though they've talked about going after criminals, really, they're going to go after everyone to drive up the numbers.

Numbers are going to be the priority of the mass deportation plan. That's already been clear. And -- and so students who give their information and who are in the country and unlawful status, they can very well be targeted for deportation.

And that's what I think universities are concerned about, in addition to the international students who they want to make sure are inside the country, because that's what the authority for blocking people is geared towards, blocking them from entering the United States.

SCIUTTO: Right. So you're saying, and just to be clear, this would not be students who we're guilty or accused of any crimes, just purely based on their nationalities.

ANDERSON: Well, certainly, the travel ban would be based on nationality. And in fact, that was clear from the first time. There's really isn't really a good process to -- to discern one person versus another in -- in any of the orders they had.

They basically did not put a process, much of a process in place. Essentially, even people who had U.S. spouses last time weren't able to get into the country in many cases.

[13:35:03] SCIUTTO: Notable.

Now, let me ask you this, because the prospect of, say, a UCLA not providing these records rings familiar to me. Because it sounds something like a sanctuary city, right, where you had cities who did not want to comply with some of the more draconian immigration regulations at -- at the federal level.

Could universities, in effect, be oases from a policy such as this or would they be open to raids? I mean, could we see the prospect of raids in which students are picked up at universities and shipped out?

ANDERSON: I think the policy is going to be, whoever is easiest to find, they will try to deport. And to the extent that some students' information may be out there and they can discern that they're in the country unlawfully, I think they will go after them.

It would obviously be very controversial to -- to plan a raid at a -- at a university. But you know, having shock-and-awe type policies could be possible.

I think the -- I think the bigger debate on international student policy is going to be -- Donald Trump had talked about allowing more to stay here and get green cards.

Which is something, certainly, people like Elon Musk and other of his Silicon Valley supporters that supported the president -- the president-elect in his campaign would like to see.

And someone like Stephen Miller, who's going to come in with a very restrictive policy and would probably like to keep many of the policies they tried to do the first time around.

Which made it much harder for international students to stay in the country and work, particularly after graduation.

SCIUTTO: Well, then it becomes a question as to who is on the acceptable list and who's not, which country specifically, and then how would those decisions be made right?

Would they --based on, on politics, on -- on the administrations perception of those countries? I mean, these are major issues.

Stuart Anderson, we appreciate getting your point of view.

ANDERSON: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Well, still ahead, a nationwide pet food recall over concerns about the spread of bird flu. What you need to know. That's coming up next on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[13:40:07]

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: From brat to box office blockbusters to Beyonce and Taylor Swift, CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister counting down the top-10 entertainment stories now for 2024.

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ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: From big stars in big legal trouble to big movies, concerts and a Brat summer. Our top 10 entertainment stories start with a wicked boost at the box office.

(voice-over): Number 10, the Glick and pairing of "Wicked" and "Gladiator II" form this year's Barbenheimer.

(SHOUTING)

WAGMEISTER: With over $150 million dollars in opening weekend ticket sales, the two films energized the typically slow post-summer box office.

(SINGING)

WAGMEISTER: "Wicked," starring Golden Globe nominees Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo stayed strong through the holiday season, while "Gladiator II" excelled overseas. The pair set the table for the Thanksgiving box office, with "Moana II" joining to set an all-time record for the holiday weekend.

Number nine --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe now people can understand the truth.

WAGMEISTER: -- television takes on the Menendez brothers case, pushing prosecutors to take action.

GEORGE GASCON, FORMER LOS ANGELES DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I believe that they have paid their debt to society.

WAGMEISTER: The then-Los Angeles district attorney said public attention factored into his decision to reexamine the case and recommend a reduced sentence that would allow the brothers to walk free nearly three decades after they were sentenced for murdering their parents in Beverly Hills.

The Hollywood production spotlighted abuse the brothers say they endured at the hands of their father, with even some of the victims' family members calling for them to be released.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thirty five years is a long time.

WAGMEISTER: Ultimately, the judge delayed a decision while a newly elected district attorney reviews the case.

Number eight, the hip-hop feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: This may be the hip-hop equivalent of asking to speak with the manager.

WAGMEISTER: In November, Drake filed a court petition accusing a record company of using bots to artificially inflate Lamar's song "Not Like Us" on Spotify.

(SINGING)

WAGMEISTER: It's the latest chapter in the ongoing feud between two of the industry's biggest names who once toured together as rising stars.

(SINGING)

WAGMEISTER: Each claims the other dissed them in song lyrics with one question at the heart of the feud: Who is hip-hop's biggest star?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who would have thought it would potentially end in a courtroom?

WAGMEISTER: Number seven, a pop star ignites a Brat summer.

(SINGING)

WAGMEISTER: Charlie XCX album "Brat" not only stormed the charts, it propelled an online political movement.

CHARLIE XCX, SINGER: Very honest, it's very blunt, little bit volatile.

WAGMEISTER: With that description, the singer declared, "Kamala is brat," on social media, spotting a torrent of memes that kicked off Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential run and a lot of questions amongst a certain generation.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: So it's the idea that we're all kind of brat and Vice President Harris is brat. I don't know.

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I don't know.

(CROSSTALK)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: I don't think you aspire to be brat. You don't just become brat.

TAPPER: I will. I will aspire to be brat.

(LAUGHTER)

WAGMEISTER: Number six, Alec Baldwin's courtroom shocker.

UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: Dismissal with prejudice is warranted.

WAGMEISTER: A judge dismissed the case against the actor accused of involuntary manslaughter when the gun he was holding on the "Rust" movie set fired, killing cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins and wounding the film's director.

The judge's decision came less than a week into the trial, citing the prosecution's improper handling of new evidence in the case.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bobby! (APPLAUSE)

(CHEERING)

WAGMEISTER: The ruling paved the way for Baldwin to return to the limelight, appearing on "Saturday Night Live" as former presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

[13:45:08]

Number five, charges filed in the death of Matthew Perry.

Two doctors and Perry's assistant are among five people charged in connection with his overdose death. One of the doctors allegedly said, quote," I wonder how much this moron will pay for ketamine prescriptions."

WAGMEISTER (on camera): Three people have pleaded guilty. One of the doctors is awaiting trial, along with an alleged dealer prosecutors say is known as the Ketamine Queen.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): The Perry family relieved that charges were filed nearly a year after the beloved actor died in the hot tub at his Los Angeles home.

KEITH MORRISON, MATTHEW PERRY'S STEP-FATHER: People who have put themselves in the business of supplying people with the drugs that will kill them that they are now on notice, it doesn't matter what your professional credentials are, you're going down, baby.

WAGMEISTER: Number four, Beyonce goes country.

(SINGING)

WAGMEISTER: The superstar bends genres with the release of "Cowboy Carter," which debuted at number one, including on the Billboard Country chart, making Beyonce the first black woman to do so in the chart's 60 year history.

(SINGING)

WAGMEISTER: Beyonce's mega year wraps with what some call the second Super Bowl. A halftime performance on Christmas Day during the NFL's first ever games to stream worldwide on Netflix.

Number three, the death of pop star, Liam Payne.

Fans held vigils for days in Argentina, where Payne fell three stories from his hotel balcony.

(SINGING)

WAGMEISTER: The 31-year-old British pop star rose to fame in the boy band, One Direction. He went on to have a solo career and spoke openly about his struggles dealing with fame and substance abuse.

LIAM PAYNE, SINGER: I was like, I need to fix myself.

WAGMEISTER: Toxicology reports found cocaine, alcohol and prescription antidepressants in Payne's system. With more than 70 million One Direction albums sold, Payne's impact on fans was undeniable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So for me, it feels like, I guess, like the end of like us growing up together, which is really that's what makes it so hard.

WAGMEISTER: Number two, the end of the Eras tour for Taylor Swift.

(SINGING)

WAGMEISTER: The nearly two-year tour wrapped in Vancouver on December 8th. Estimated to have made over $2 billion dollars, it's by far the most successful concert tour of all time. Not only that, she released a new hit album, "The Tortured Poets Department."

All this and she's still the darling of the NFL. Cheering on boyfriend Travis Kelce in February to yet another Super Bowl victory for the Kansas City Chiefs.

And the number-one entertainment story of 2024, the fall of music mogul, Sean "Diddy" Combs.

After a flood of civil lawsuits alleging Combs sexually assaulted dozens of people, federal investigated the hip-hop star's homes signaling a federal indictment was imminent.

Then CNN released this video of Combs assaulting his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, at a hotel in 2016.

The shocking video prompted Combs to speak out for the first time since he came under fire.

SEAN "DIDDY" COMBS, MUSIC MOGUL: I mean, I hit rock bottom, but I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable.

WAGMEISTER: But it only got worse for Combs with a September federal indictment charging him with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking.

The case is sending shockwaves through the music industry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The names that we're going to name are names that will shock you.

WAGMEISTER: Jay-Z was named in a civil suit alleging he assaulted a 13-year-old girl with Combs in 2000, charges he vigorously denies, questioning why there was never a criminal charge.

WAGMEISTER: Combs has also denied all of the allegations against him, saying he never sexually assaulted anyone.

His criminal trial is set for May of 2025 and he faces at least 30 civil suits, ensuring that Combs' is legal troubles could be big news for years to come.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: And our thanks again to Elizabeth Wagmeister for that.

A quick programing note. The boys are back for the biggest party of the year. Be sure to join Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen for New Years Eve live. Coverage starts right here on CNN and on Max at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

[13:49:33]

We'll be right back.

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HILL: There are growing concerns about bird flu spreading to both people and animals. Those concerns come amid an outbreak that devastated a wildlife sanctuary near Seattle, killing 20 large cats, including tigers and cougars.

SCIUTTO: And in Oregon, a house cat died after eating raw pet food contaminated with the virus, prompting a nationwide recall.

CNN medical correspondent, Meg Tirrell, has more.

Meg, you know, I look at this and I remember covering previous concerns about bird flu outbreaks years ago. And always the concern is, does it jump from animals to people? I mean, are we -- how close are we to that scenario?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, we have seen the virus infect people from having infected animals. We have seen it from cows. We've seen it from birds.

[13:55:01]

What we haven't seen, really importantly, is person-to-person transmission of this virus. So that would be the real key concern.

So what we are seeing now in these latest news reports are really in cats on the west coast. We've heard about this cat in Oregon. It was a house cat that consumed this raw frozen turkey cat food that had been -- has now been confirmed to have the H5N1 virus in it. That cat was infected and the cat died.

We've also heard about house cats who have drunk raw milk, who've been infected with H5N1 and died. And then these big cats, of course, in the sanctuary. And we don't actually know what their source of exposure was.

And so, you know, there is a concern. But right now, because this isn't spreading person to person, at least that we know of, that the CDC says the risk to the public is low.

The most exposures have been from workers exposed to cattle because this is spreading widely among dairy cows. Also, workers at poultry flocks.

And there are a couple instances where we don't know exactly how people we're infected. And one instance of somebody getting infected from a backyard flock.

And so, right now, the USDA is trying to expand it's testing of the milk supply, really essentially as surveillance to get a handle on how this is spreading.

They now have ramped this up into 13 states. The goal is to make it nationwide testing of raw milk before it's pasteurized.

But the advice to the public is really be careful around wildlife, because that's where we're seeing these cases coming from. Right now, not seeing that human-to-human transmission, which really would elevate the threat level if we see it.

And of course, the recommendation is don't drink raw milk or feed it to your cats -- guys?

SCIUTTO: Seems like simple rules you could follow.

Meg Tirrell, thanks so much.

Still ahead, a U.S. official tells CNN that a Russian anti-aircraft system may have taken down and caused that deadly plane crash in Central Asia. Why that official says the tragedy might have been the result of mistaken identity. We'll have the details next.

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