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Carter's Secret Service Agents Reflect On His Passing; Jimmy Carter's Impact On Affordable Housing & Homelessness; Homelessness Hit A Record High In The U.S. This Year; Federal Appeals Court Upholds Sexual Abuse Case Against Trump; Today Expected To Be One Of The Busiest Days For Travel. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired December 30, 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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[13:30:19]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: While the country mourns the passing of former President Jimmy Carter, the people who stood closest to the man, both during and after his time in office, are now sharing their memories there.

They're the Secret Service agents, who were part of Carter's security detail for nearly half a century.

I want to bring in CNN security correspondent, Josh Campbell.

And, Josh, you've been hearing from members of those details. What are they telling you about their decades protecting the nation's 39th president?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right. His Secret Service code name was Deacon. And as you mentioned, he was under the protection of the Secret Service for nearly 50 years.

I'm told that agents who served on that detail have been privately reflecting in messages and phone calls with each other, talking about their time serving the former first family.

One official saying that, although this was not a surprise, he had lived a very long life and had recently been in hospice care, it was still a gut punch to the members of the Secret Service, who have gotten to know the Carters over the years.

And you have to understand just the relationship between a protectee and those guardians is one that is often quite personal. These agents are literally with the individual, and oftentimes, their family around the clock, traveling with them.

We've heard stories about former first family sometimes tangling with their Secret Service detail. We don't hear those stories with the Carters.

In fact, one person tells me that most of the tension that they remember actually was when Jimmy Carter was going overseas after his presidency, sometimes into areas where there was a heightened threat environment.

But he said -- he told his detail that, look, these -- these missions are so important, he needed to go through with them.

And I want to play a little bit of a sound. This was a moment last year at the funeral of Rosalynn Carter. This was a moment that really choked up a lot of Secret Service agents. It was the family pastor taking time to tell the detail just what they meant to the Carter family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY LOWDEN, CARTER FAMILY PASTOR: For 46 years, men and women of the Secret Service has made sure that she got home safe.

For 46 years, they gave themselves.

I want to tell each and every one of them, she would tell you, thank you, you got me home safe.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: And of course, the same can now be said for the former president. From coast to coast and across multiple continents, the Secret Service getting him home safe.

We're told their work isn't yet finished. There is still one more mission. We expect a U.S. Air Force special air mission to take the casket of Jimmy Carter to Washington for the state funeral.

Then he will be brought back to Georgia. Again, the man whose codename was Deacon will finally be laid to rest -- Brianna?

KEILAR: I love that story.

Josh Campbell, thank you so much.

As the country is reflecting on the legacy of Jimmy Carter, his work with Habitat for Humanity to provide affordable housing remained a priority for him long after he left the White House. Still building homes well into his '90s.

Carter didn't even let a bad fall stop him from volunteering. In 2019 -- here you see him -- he showed up to help build homes in Nashville just hours after getting 14 stitches and suffering a black eye.

One California woman remembers when the former president helped build her home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSE VINCENCIO, PRESIDENT CARTER HELPED BUILD HER HOME: He wanted the -- the low-income families to make -- to be able to own our -- our homes. He -- he wanted to help us in that way. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Well, now the country's homelessness crisis has hit a new record high. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reporting homelessness increased 18 percent from 2023.

Let's talk about this now with the CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, Ann Oliva.

And, Ann, first thoughts for you on the passing of such a consequential advocate for housing like President Carter.

ANN OLIVA, CEO, NATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS: Well, one, thank you so much for having me on today to talk about this.

The tie between affordable housing and homelessness, it's so important. And President Carter, I had an opportunity this morning to listen to an interview with him.

And what really struck me was his deep understanding of the ties between poverty and discrimination and access -- lack of access to wealth building and homelessness, and his ironclad commitment to the dignity of housing.

[13:35:02]

And -- and I wish that all of our elected leaders had that same ironclad commitment.

KEILAR: There is a new report that shows homelessness, as I mentioned, has reached another record high. Can you talk a little bit about what is driving this surge?

OLIVA: Yes. Thank you for the question. It is, in its simplest terms, the fact that there is not enough housing that is affordable to people at the lowest incomes across this country.

The gap between incomes and rent is getting bigger, not smaller. And therefore, in 2023, the year leading up to the count that's in the report that you just mentioned, on average, 19,000 people became homeless for the first time every week, on average, across the year.

And that includes really vulnerable populations like older adults, the seniors who are getting priced out of their housing. It includes families with kids. And it includes people who are struggling with unemployment or underemployment or substance use or mental health issues.

So what we're seeing really is this increase in the number of people who are becoming homeless for the first time. And that's reflected in the report that you're talking about.

KEILAR: And what about the surge of asylum seekers? What role is that playing in this?

OLIVA: That is definitely a part of this story, especially in some parts of the country where asylum seekers or new arrivals really sort of were relocated to those areas.

I think you can see in the report that there are some places that had increases in -- in asylum seekers.

But what HUD doesn't do is actually collect data on the number of people who are asylum seekers. So the report doesn't actually bear that out. But what -- that's only part of the story.

The rest of the story is that folks can't afford housing, especially folks at the very lowest incomes. And many of those people are employed.

So the -- the gap between their incomes and the cost of rent across the country is getting bigger and bigger, and the number of units that we need in order to have enough affordable housing available is in the millions.

KEILAR: The Biden administration says that this data is outdated and, quote, "no longer reflects the situation that we're seeing."

What do you think about that? And can you tell us about what the government has -- has done to reduce homelessness over the last year? Were there other conditions that changed?

OLIVA: I think, generally, when they -- when the federal government refers to that data being outdated -- so you -- you should note that that data was collected in January of 2024, the last 10 days of January of 2024. That was at the height of the migration crisis.

So I do think that in some communities, the numbers have changed because they've been able to get folks housed and they've closed shelters for new arrivals.

All of that said, the gap -- again, the gap that we have in the number of units that are affordable to people at the lowest incomes is in the millions, about 7.3 million units.

And the median rent in the United States is about 18 percent higher today than it was in 2020. Those things have not changed.

That said, the administration and Congress have worked to provide resources to the homeless services system and to invest in -- in affordable housing, but not at the scale that we need.

KEILAR: Yes, we see it in our communities. It's inescapable.

Ann Oliva, thank you so much for the conversation. Really appreciate it.

OLIVA: Thank you for having me.

KEILAR: And before we go to break, we do want to share with you a moment from 2019 when President Carter spoke with CNN about public service and what he considered to be priorities for living an impactful life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: God gives every one of us life and freedom and I think enough opportunity and -- and talent to live a completely successful life as judged by God.

And we don't have to be rich. We don't have to be powerful. We don't have to be influential. We don't have to be good speakers in order to -- to make a beneficial impact.

[13:39:49]

And within the limits of our own capabilities and opportunities, we need to search about how to -- to make the upmost impact for peace, for human rights, for freedom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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KEILAR: New today, a federal appeals court has upheld the verdict that found President-Elect Trump sexually abused writer, E. Jean Carroll, denying Trump's request for a new trial.

CNN's Kara Scannell is with us now on this.

Kara, what did the court say about Trump's appeal in this case?

[13:45:00]

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Brianna, the federal appeals court said that the trial judge, Judge Lewis Kaplan, who had made decisions about evidence that came into the case, they said that he didn't abuse his discretion when he made those judgment calls about what the jury could hear.

Trump had challenged this verdict on the grounds that the judge had allowed two women, who, separately and independently, accused trump of sexual assault, from testifying.

Those two women were able to testify in the case. And so Trump was challenging that ruling.

Now, the appeals court saying that they found that the trial judge made no errors. But they said, even if he had, the strength of Carroll's case outweighed any decision that would give Trump a new trial.

So the appeals court saying that Trump does not get a new trial in that one Carroll lawsuit.

Now, Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, issuing a statement today, saying that, "Both Jean Carroll and I are gratified by today's decision. We thank the Second Circuit for its careful consideration of the parties' arguments."

Trump's team, also responding to this decision. Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung saying:

"The American people have reelected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate and they demand an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and a swift dismissal of all of the witch hunts.

"Including the Democrat-funded Carroll hoax, which will continue to be appealed. And we look forward to uniting our country in the new administration as President Trump makes America great again."

So signaling there that they are going to try to appeal this further.

But that said, Brianna, this moment, this appellate court decision does bring E. Jean Carroll closer to collecting on that $5 million that the jury awarded her when they found Trump liable for sexual -- sexually abusing her and for defaming her when he denied that abuse -- Brianna?

KEILAR: What about the separate civil case against Trump? Does this verdict have any bearing on that? The one where a jury awarded E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million after finding that Trump had defamed her?

SCANNELL: So in that case, that is also up on appeal. But they're arguing different legal grounds, so it's not clear how much this could impact the other one.

Trump's team, in that appeal, are focusing on that Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity, saying that it should apply in -- in that case, because the judge had said that they were too late to try to assert presidential immunity when Trump had responded to Carroll's claim while he was president.

So now they're trying to get an appeals court to take a second look at that, among other legal arguments.

Now they have just begun to file the motions on that. So a decision by the appeals court on that other case with that massive $83.3 million judgment is still going to be several months away -- Brianna?

KEILAR: All right. Kara Scannell, thank you for the latest there.

And coming up, the end of the holiday travel season is going out with a bang. A record number of Americans expected to fly as we're heading into the new year. Up next, a look at what is expected and what travelers can do to make things a little bit easier.

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[13:52:18]

KEILAR: Today is shaping up to be one of the busiest travel days of the holiday season. TSA says that it's already processed record numbers of passengers this year compared to 2023. But stormy weather moving across the U.S. could be causing some travel delays.

CNN's Whitney Wild is at Chicago O'Hare. All right, Whitney, how's it looking there at O'Hare?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It looks -- it looks pretty good. It comes in waves. O'Hare can be like, shoulder to shoulder sometimes or it can be a really thin crowd sometimes. Right now, it's kind of in the middle, Brianna.

But the good news is TSA is still going really quickly. So you're looking at about five to 15 minutes to get through security.

This is, as you mentioned, one of the busiest days, because the Chicago Department of Aviation says that there's going to be record numbers of travelers coming through O'Hare.

And midway over that two weeks, you know, beginning just before Christmas and ending after New Years, they think they're going to process 3.6 million passengers between those two airports.

And actually at O'Hare, Brianna, they think they're going to process 7.8 percent more this year than last year.

Across the board, the numbers are ticking up. Just yesterday, TSA processed 2.7 -- about 2.8 million passengers, and that was just one day in this really busy travel season. So again, this is a big rush in the skies.

AAA saying there's going to be a big rush on the road as well. And they have some tips. So if you're traveling it is best to leave before 2:00.

The worst time to leave is obviously rush hour when everybody is getting off of work between 5:00 and 7:00. That's -- that is, you know, you're cramming on the highways, jamming on the highways. It's tough.

Those times you had mentioned the delays from the weather impact. We are seeing some of that. So, you know, in -- into, within and out of the United States, there have been thousands of delays. Less than 100 cancellations though. So that's good news.

But we did speak with one couple earlier today who was delayed, and we spoke with another family that was in all matching outfits. Both of these families bringing good vibes to their holiday travel.

Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not bad so far. We -- we just got all the bags checked, so hopefully security doesn't take too long and we'll be all right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm OK about it. Things happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK if it's only an hour. If it ends up being five or six hours, then you know you lose the -- the day in Arizona. But you know what, it's vacation, so no complaints.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: Brianna, sometimes the journey is the destination. You know, if you have that attitude, delays aren't so bad.

Back to you.

KEILAR: I like how your live shot started with a crying baby, which is just ubiquitous when you're traveling. And the baby speaks for all of us when you're experiencing these flight delays. I thought it was appropriate, Whitney.

[13:55:04]

WILD: That is so true. I have so many children that I actually didn't even hear it --

(LAUGHTER)

WILD -- because I've now conditioned not to hear crying children. So that one went right past me, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, you're immune. Mine are just old enough that I now hear it again. It comes back to you. That will be soon.

Whitney Wild, thank you so much for the report from O'Hare.

And now to a new CNN film that examines the storied career of one of the most influential artists of all time, Luther Vandross.

From his formative years in Harlem as a member of the Apollo Theater house band to his rise as the king of love songs, he made some of the best musicians of all time even better, including icons like David Bowie.

Here's a preview.

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LUTHER VANDROSS, SINGER: During that time, we had this whole thing where the way that we used to get gigs is we would attend each other's session and if, incidentally, they happened to need somebody to fill in, oh, my friends, a singer, he could definitely do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we always brought Luther in.

(SINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lucy started doing what he does, which is start singing. When David put music on, he starts, you know, whatever, how many. And David was like, wow, this guy is great.

(SINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: David knew talent. And he whispered to me, he said, I love this guy. And I'm like, what's not to love?

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: The all new CNN film "LUTHER, NEVER TOO MUCH" premieres New Years Day at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on CNN.

Stay with us. We'll be right back.

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