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Musk and Ramaswamy Defend Foreign Workers Visas, Sparking MAGA Backlash; Judge Denies Jay-Z's Efforts to Dismiss Rape Case; Mega Millions Jackpot Hits $1.22 Billion; Bird Flue Kills More than Half the Big Cats at a Washington Sanctuary. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired December 27, 2024 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

PETE SEAT, FORMER WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN UNDER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: And a couple of points on what was said. Number one, Donald Trump ran against illegal immigration. He ran against securing our border and tackling the scourge of illegal immigration in this country.

And one of the messaging components I would use, if I were Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy and others, is to say the H-1B visa program is a way of preventing the offshoring of American jobs, particularly when it comes to the tech industry and our interconnected global economy. It would be very easy to have these jobs in India or Taiwan or elsewhere, but you make sure they're in America and that these individuals are paying taxes and contributing to the strength of our communities by having them come here because they are the best and the brightest. And that's why it's an important program.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: And Nomi, just before we go, I'll let you have the last word. Any other thoughts on that topic?

NOMIKI KONST, FORMER BERNIE SANDERS SURROGATE: Well, the reality is that these jobs exist in the United States, and they almost entirely exist here, the U.K. or Canada. So those are not the jobs that are being offshored to India. Those are more lower skilled jobs, some very important jobs that tech companies do rely on, and we wish they were here in the United States.

But that is another issue that Donald Trump, again, ran against. Make America great again, bring jobs back to America. Why don't you invest in unions?

If you don't think America is smart enough, why don't you fully invest in our public education system? Unfortunately, under the libertarian aspect of these tech companies and these tech leaders, they want to dismantle all of government, which is essentially what makes this country so smart and so strong.

We need to invest in our people and education. We need to open up jobs, protect our labor force, so they don't go offshore, not just at the convenience of these billionaire tech workers who want to take advantage of one small program to their liking.

DEAN: All right, Pete and Nomi, thank you again. Happy New Year to both of you. Appreciate you being here.

KONST: Thank you.

DEAN: Still ahead, the anonymous woman accusing Jay-Z of raping her 24 years ago will remain anonymous for now as a New York judge rejects the rapper's fight to reveal her identity.

[15:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: A judge today throwing out rapper Jay-Z's efforts to dismiss a rape case against him, allowing that case to proceed. A Jane Doe plaintiff alleges she was raped when she was just a 13-year-old girl by both Jay-Z and Sean Diddy Combs. That's 24 years ago, following the MTV Music Awards.

Combs' legal team denies that he has sexually assaulted anyone. Jay-Z, whose legal name is Sean Carter, has aggressively denied those accusations and also wants the accuser's name revealed.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Joining us now, CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson. So, Joey, the judge was not mincing words. Some pretty scathing language in terms of the decision here, specifically targeted at Jay- Z's attorney, basically paraphrasing, saying that his attorney is wasting the court's time, not helping Jay-Z at all.

How does this set the tone, right, for moving forward?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: So, Erica, good to be with you and Jessica. You know, judges have thick skin and they understand that attorneys represent clients. And I think this particular attorney and Jay-Z were put in a tough situation.

How? You're really given allegations by a litigant who is anonymous. The identity is not known. You have to fight against that. And then it's revealed that significant parts of her story have inconsistencies. Like her father apparently picking her up at a gas station. The father being contacted saying, hey, I don't remember that. Like her naming another celebrity that she spoke to that evening and representatives saying, hey, you know, he wasn't even in the state. He was on tour in the Midwest at the time. So you have to fight against these allegations.

Now, generally speaking, what happens, Erica, is that us attorneys don't learn these inconsistencies until the litigation goes forward and you interview witnesses.

Because it's Jay-Z and it's so public, there's been interviews of this particular alleged victim. And so the attorney got ahead of it, filed a motion to dismiss the judge saying, hey, it's premature and stop wasting my time.

So at the end of the day, the judge will get over it. The case will turn on the facts. It'll turn on what happened or did not happen. And everything will ensue. And if it's right, then the victim, alleged victim will be compensated accordingly. And Jay-Z will be held accountable. And if it's wrong, then it'll be thrown out. And so that'll happen sometime in the near future.

DEAN: Joey, this is obviously part of the Sean Diddy Combs case, which is a much bigger case. Diddy is being held in prison right now. How does this affect that case, if at all?

JACKSON: So both -- yes, so both cases, Jessica, are standalone cases, right? So we certainly know that in September, P. Diddy was arrested and he's facing three federal charges, for which he could face a life sentence, as well as the forfeitures of his entire empire. So that's criminal.

And then, of course, there's the slew of civil cases that relate to monetary damages. We should note that in this particular civil lawsuit, it was filed initially in October. It did not name Jay-Z. And then it was filed again, amendedly in December. And then it did name Jay-Z.

So Jay-Z swinging, saying, hey, this is ridiculous. And by the way, if I did this, then you should go after me criminally. Wouldn't this be a crime?

As to how it will ultimately affect the criminal litigation, is it's an outstanding question. And just very briefly, Jessica, what happens is, prosecutors will vet all of these civil claims, the one we're speaking about now, and others as it relates to P. Diddy.

We'll see if these alleged victims are credible. We'll try, if they are credible, to use them as prior bad act witnesses, right? Not for the fact that he did these alleged federal crimes, but to show a pattern, to show intent, to show that was his MO.

[15:40:00]

And a judge will have to rule whether they should admit, the judge should admit them in front of a trial jury criminally or exclude them. But be sure that prosecutors are vetting all these civil cases to look for other potential victims, as well as amending the existing federal criminal claims against P. Diddy.

DEAN: All right, Joey Jackson, thanks so much. Happy New Year to you.

JACKSON: And to you.

DEAN: When we come back, the odds may be slim. We're talking 300 million to one. Very slim. But what would you do with a billion dollars? You can dream about it.

HILL: Yes, you can.

DEAN: The drawing for tonight's Mega Millions Jackpot, now just hours away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: All right, the countdown is on to your new glamorous life. Because we're hours away from tonight's Mega Millions drawing. And perhaps your winning ticket. Maybe you have it. The jackpot now a massive $1.22 billion. It is the fifth largest prize in the game's history.

[15:45:00]

CNN's Marybel Gonzalez is live in Altadena, California. Plenty of excitement building there. How are people feeling about their chances in Altadena?

MARYBEL GONZALEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hey Erica. Well, they know the chances are slim. But they tell us that the reward is oh so very big. And that is what so many people around the country are banking on.

Now, here in Altadena, we're outside of the Joe's Service Center. A spot considered a lucky one by locals. And that is because two years ago, someone walked into this gas station, just like so many people have been doing all morning long today and bought a ticket. And that ticket ended up being a winning ticket. A Powerball ticket worth over $2 billion in jackpot prize. Today, people are hoping to strike gold once again.

Now, we spoke to one ticket buyer, one Mega Millions hopeful, who drove several miles from her home to come here and purchase some extra tickets. This after she's already spent $600 in tickets to give as holiday gifts to her family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's once in a lifetime, no matter what. And then at the same time, if I don't win, the people in the school system get it. And so that's the main thing, the kids, our kids, our future. And if I do win, boy oh boy, what a day, what a day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GONZALEZ: What a day, definitely. Now, Erica, nobody has won the jackpot in over 100 days. And only three people have won so far this year.

Let's just say the odds are against everyone. And I'm going to take my notes out because these are some fun facts. The chances of winning any prize in the lottery game are about one in 24, according to the Mega Millions website.

But for the odds of winning a jackpot, those are one in 302,575,350, a mouthful. You're more likely, for example, to win the U.S. presidency or even becoming a movie star.

But you know what? Somebody has to fill those shoes. Somebody has to win eventually. And tonight, Erica, people are hoping that it's them. HILL: I mean, why not, right? All right, I'm crossing my fingers that it's, you know, me or someone I know. Marybel appreciate it, thank you.

Still ahead here, bird flu, now a growing risk, not just for dairy, cattle and poultry farms, but also for cats. As the CDC warns, the virus is mutating in a way that could also make it easier for humans to catch as well.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: New results from samples taken from the first person hospitalized in the U.S. with a severe case of bird flu shows the virus likely mutated, making it potentially more transmissible to humans. That's all according to the CDC. The agency also saying the mutations it identified were not found in the birds the person was exposed to in a backyard flock, suggesting the virus mutated inside the person after that person was infected.

So the CDC says the risk to the general public has not changed. It remains low. But there is growing concern over bird flu spreading to other animals.

CNN's Randi Kaye reports that more than half the big cats at a wildlife sanctuary in Washington state died after contracting the virus.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That's Thumper, a 10 year old Eurasian lynx who used to love to play and scratch the decks high above the foliage. The video from August was taken at the Wild Felid Advocacy Center of Washington, a big cat sanctuary where Thumper lived. Thumper is one of 20 cats from the sanctuary who died in recent weeks from bird flu.

MARK MATHEWS, DIRECTOR, WILD FELID ADVOCACY CENTER: We thought we were doing everything we could to avoid anything like this from happening. The cats are pretty well split up into 30 by 40 foot habitats.

KAYE (voice-over): The sanctuary's director and co-founder, Mark Mathews, says the cats enclosures are spread out among five acres. He told me their first cat got sick on November 22nd. The 17 year old cougar named Hannah Wyoming stopped eating and died the next day.

A day later, this African caracal named Crackle also got sick and died. Others they lost included this cougar named Holly and Tabby, a Bengal tiger.

MATHEWS: Tabby the tiger was a very fond, loving tiger. She had a super personality. Every time I came up, she'd come running, running to meet me.

KAYE (voice-over): This Bengal cat, Pebbles, also succumbed to bird flu, as well as Mouse, a Jeffrey cat. Only 17 of the 37 cats once housed here are left. Niko, an African serval, is still in critical condition, fighting to regain the use of his back legs.

JOLIE CONNOLLY-POE, STAFF MEMBER, WILD FELID ADVOCACY CENTER: Feeling devastated, kind of in shock and just taking really good care of those ones who are recovering.

KAYE (voice-over): The disease spread rapidly and they still don't know how exactly the bird flu entered their facility.

MATHEWS: Initially, we thought it was the bird droppings from waterfowl. We are in a flight pattern for migratory birds. So I don't know if that's part of the equation or not. So we really don't know at this time if it was food related or not.

DR. DEAN BLUMBERG, INFECTIOUS DISEASE EXPERT, UC DAVIS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: Although we don't know exactly how it got there, it just makes sense that it's likely due to migratory birds because we know bird flu is transmitted through the migratory bird population.

KAYE (voice-over): Dr. Dean Blumberg is an infectious disease expert at UC Davis.

BLUMBERG: It's spread through the bird's saliva, the feces, the urine. And so you really can't protect against that in the natural environment.

KAYE (voice-over): The staff at the sanctuary are working tirelessly to disinfect the habitats while also protecting themselves from getting sick. They're wearing PPE, including N95 masks and doing foot baths when they enter and leave.

BLUMBERG: The virus may mutate and become more easily transmitted person to person. So the more this virus circulates and specifically co-circulates with human strains, that's going to increase the odds of the virus evolving to more human to human transmission. And that that, of course, could signal another pandemic.

KAYE (voice-over): Randi Kaye, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[15:55:00]

DEAN: A pet going missing anytime is stressful, but especially around the holidays. When we come back, how a Florida pooch who ran off decided to let her family know she'd come.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Probably have plenty of deliveries at your door this time of year. For one Florida family though, the present on their porch may really take the cake. Our affiliate WJAX reporting, the Comer family of Green Cove Springs had their dog had been missing for nine days and well, not much of a holiday without Athena.

DEAN: Yes, and then very early Christmas Eve morning, Athena returned ringing the doorbell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKE COMER, ATHENA'S OWNER: It was about 2.30 a.m. She came pawing at the door, ringing the doorbell, which was Christmas Eve. And then that morning I woke up to, she had made it on everybody's camera. She's like, I think that's her. I think this is her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: She had to be home for Christmas. And the family said the community stepped in to help search for the four-year-old German shepherd husky mix going through hours of doorbell camera video in hopes of finding her. They're now going to microchip her.

HILL: I think that's probably a good call, but we're glad Athena's home. She's clearly very smart. She knows how to get in.

DEAN: I know, and ring the doorbell.

HILL: Yes, smart girl.

[16:00:00]

Before we go, a quick programming note for you. The boys are back for the biggest party of the year. Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen, New Year's Eve live. You will see it right here on CNN.

Coverage begins at 8:00 Eastern.

DEAN: Honestly, that's really become a tradition.

HILL: Yes, Andy and Anderson.

DEAN: It's a great New Year's tradition.

I'm Jessica Dean for myself and Erica Hill. Thanks so much for watching today. I'm going to be back tomorrow from 4 to 8 p.m. Eastern. Thanks for watching today. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.

END