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Report: Kerry Says Two-State Solution in Mideast In Jeopardy; Police Seek Amazon Echo Data in Murder Trial; Europe Tightens Security for New Year's Eve. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired December 28, 2016 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00] PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Back to our breaking news, Secretary of State John Kerry laid out his vision for peace and a global impasse that has vexed the United States for generations. Bringing peace between Arabs and Israelis in the Middle East and Israel's leader has just fired back. This war of words comes less than a week after the U.S. allowed a controversial United Nations resolution to pass without vetoing it. It condemned Israel's settlements on territory Palestinians believe is part of their future state. Kerry says the settlements impede a two-state solution, a land for Israelis alongside a land for Palestinians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: One thing we do know, if Israel goes down the one-state path it will never have true peace with the rest of the Arab world and I can say that with certainty. The Arab countries have made clear they will not make peace with Israel without resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. That's not where their loyalties lie, that's not where their politics are.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER, ISRAEL: I want to express my deep disappointment with the speech today of John Kerry, a speech that was almost as unbalanced as the anti-Israel resolution passed at the U.N. last week. In a speech, ostensibly about peace between Israelis and Palestinians, Secretary Kerry paid lip service to the unremitting campaign of terrorism that has been waged by the Palestinians against the Jewish state for nearly a century.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Let me turn to Sunlen Surfaty in Palm Beach following President-elect Donald Trump's movements today. Sunlen, no reaction from Trump on Kerry's speech but Netanyahu took notice, right?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No formal reaction from the President-elect who is here in Florida right now but he did earlier this morning give something of a "pre-buttal" of sorts to Secretary of State John Kerry's speech. He took to twitter and got a tweet out there reaffirming his support of Israel and pointing a finger at the Obama administration accusing them of damaging the relationship with Israel. Hours before Secretary Kerry's speech he tweeted "we cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect. They used to have a great friend in the U.S. but not anymore. The beginning of the end was the horrible Iran deal and now this. The U.N. stay strong, Israel, January 20 is fast approaching."

So, the President-elect up with a direct message sent to Israel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted back saying "President-elect Trump, thank you for your warm friendship and clear- cut support for Israel." The prime minister also this afternoon after Secretary Kerry's speech in a speech cited support for the Trump administration and said that he's looking forward to mitigating the damage done by the Obama administration working with the incoming Trump administration.

Now President-elect Trump is here at his Mar-a-Lago estate today where he's been holding a plethora of meetings, doubling down on his meetings since the holiday. He met with his national security team and had an intelligence briefing this morning where no doubt these issues are likely to come. The President-elect is likely to make a statement later today on the economy, pam, but we'll see if he weighs in on Secretary Kerry's big speech.

BROWN: Sunlen Serfaty, thank you so much.

Now for analysis. I turn to Jeremy Diamond and Juana Summers. Jeremy, you wrote an in-depth piece for cnn.com and before we dive in, I want to put this into context. How unusual is it for a President- elect to weigh in on foreign policy before he takes office like we just saw Donald Trump with his tweets?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Well, it's a breach of the protocol that existed typically between Presidents and President- elects. This notion that there is only one President at a time and President-elects typically avoid making such pronouncements on policy, particularly on foreign policy where there can be some room for you want to project one U.S. foreign policy at a time but Donald Trump is not sticking to that and he's making clear, particularly on this issue of Israel and the Israeli settlements that there will be a different era once he takes office.

BROWN: In your piece on cnn.com you say this is a remarkable moment for both men. What did you mean? Why is this such a remarkable moment?

DIAMOND: It really comes down the fact that President-elect Trump and President Obama have in the past tried to maintain pretty good relations for the past several weeks.

[15:35:00] They have tried since the election, President Obama received President-elect Trump at the oval office and they have spoken on the phone repeatedly and now we're seeing this fissure, a lot of it has to do with both the impact that that will have on policy but also the impact that it may have on the relationship between the two men and this kind of transition of power we're seeing where typically there is a tight relationship between the two men trying to help the next President assume office and do the best for the country.

BROWN: So, we're hearing two different positions from the Obama administration. President-elect Trump when it comes to Israel. Juana, talk about how the U.S.'s position on the U.N. resolution might change when Donald Trump becomes President, I understand there's a vote being planned that condemns this resolution, right?

JUANA SUMMERS, CNN POLITICS EDITOR: That's right, Pam. There's a non-binding resolution that Republicans say will be one of their first acts in the house when Congress returns in the new year. This comes as no surprise. Congressional Republicans have forcefully condemned this action saying the Obama administration hasn't handled this well but it's not just Republicans. We've been hearing from the number-two Democrat in the house Steny Hoyer saying this was not the right way to go, so the non-binding resolution is expected to pass with bipartisan support. The biggest question is will Republicans go further, even depriving funding as some have suggested because of this action.

BROWN: How likely is that, Jeremy?

DIAMOND: Well, passing a resolution in the house condemning this action will be pretty easy. There is bipartisan support as Juana suggested and what this will do is essentially show first that the Trump administration is trying to take a new tack towards Israel as it enters office and second of all showing they can have bipartisan support and a bipartisan consensus on this issue of Israel and it will be an easy measure to pass and something that will kind of be a good sign for the first days of a Trump administration.

BROWN: Give an early boost for President Trump when he officially takes office. Juana, focusing on Trump and Obama, they had been getting along, as we touched on with Jeremy then the President said this during his historic moment with the Japanese prime minister when the two visited a Pearl Harbor grave.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is here that we remember that even when hatred burns hottest, even when the tug of tribalism is at its most primal, we must resist the urge to turn inward. We must resist the urge to demonize those who are different.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So, some took that as a bit of a jab to Donald Trump and that may include Trump himself who tweeted this "Doing my best to disregard the many inflammatory statements and roadblocks. Thought it was going to be a smooth transition. Not." Sorry about my sketchy reading of Donald Trump's tweet there but Juana, how much of this is public posturing and how much of this is showing the truth that things have soured between the two men?

SUMMERS: I have to say, Pam, that is a far cry from what we saw from President Obama and President-elect Trump sitting together in the White House, the relationship Jeremy talked about earlier in the segment. I think President-elect Trump is someone who when there are attacks made at him, whether it be the statement we just heard Obama say there or Obama's comments to our colleague David Axelrod suggesting he could have won on his message of hope and change had he been able to run again, these are things President-elect Trump constantly and methodically responds to. So how far the relationship has frayed I'm not sure but I would

suspect to see if President Obama continues to make these comments, rather thinly veiled or not so veiled about President-elect Trump, we'll see this infighting play out in the open in a way we've not seen in relationships from Presidents and President-elects in the past.

BROWN: Juana, Jeremy, thank you.

Up next, the device is always listening. Now one of the hottest selling holiday gadgets could be at the center of a murder trial. Why prosecutors want Amazon to release the audio from an Arkansas man's Echo device.

[15:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: So, if you received an Amazon Echo this holiday season as I did. Your Echo data could potentially be used against you one day in court. Police want Amazon to turn over Echo data belonging to an Arkansas murder suspect James Bates. He's accused of killing a man last year after a night of drinking. Amazon says it won't comply. The suspect's father and his lawyer say the police request is overreaching.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FATHER ALLEN BATES, MURDER SUSPECTS FATHER: I have a strong feeling about personal privacy but I have a much stronger feeling about my son's innocence. However, it is felt like to me that I am in this particular case -- I have exhausted all of my personal resources proving his innocence again and again and again.

Kimberly Weber, Murder Suspect's Attorney: But what they're trying to do is novel but it's a deep invasion of privacy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Then you have the other side, the prosecuting attorney argues if you can get a search warrant for someone's home, if you can draw someone's blood against their will. Obtain a warrant for someone's cell phone, their computer, then this device shouldn't be any different. Let's talk it over with Danny Cevallos. Danny is this device different?

DANNY CEVALLOS, LEGAL ANALYST: This isn't exactly the same as getting a warrant for your blood or searching inside for him. In this case, police are seeking information not from the home but data from Amazon itself and that raises all kinds of issues in the digital age.

BROWN: Because it went to the cloud, right?

CEVALLOS: It went to the cloud, it went to a third party and if it's outside of your reasonable expectation of privacy not only can you not quash that warrant, you don't even have standing to object so there are prosecutors who will say that, hey, because Amazon has the data and not the customer, the customer can't even object to Amazon turning it over. It turns Amazon and companies like Amazon will oppose these search warrants and subpoenas but sometimes they comply, sometimes they don't depending on how overbroad they perceive the requests.

BROWN: This reminds me of -- I don't know if this is an accurate comparison -- but the FBI and Apple tussle over terrorist data. Is this similar to that?

CEVALLOS: Our antiquated law is having to deal with data and not just any data but data in the ether. Is it in a server on the moon or in Ireland? What is the cloud? Most judges and lawyers don't really even fully understand what it is. So, we have to address notions of privacy to amorphous things like data which we know of in concept but can't touch them or think of them like an object.

[15:45:00] BROWN: All right. Let's talk about the object, the Echo. It contains less than 60 seconds of recorded sound in its storage buffer. As new sound is recorded the old is erased so there's no audio record made of what went on in a room where an Echo sits. How useful is this Echo? What value does it bring the table in an investigation like this?

CEVALLOS: Admittedly, I'm a biased defense attorney but when you think about what they're seeking. They're seeking information on the off chance that somebody said something to the effect of "Hey, Alexa, how do I wash blood out of my jeans" or something like that. I'm not trying to be glib but that's how much of a sliver of sound we're talking about. So, while it's possible there may be some sliver of audio information stored in the cloud because the Echo has to send that information to the cloud to translate it and bring it back so it can interpret your voice. So, on the off chance there's a sound, a bump in the night, anything on that audio recording, it seems as a defense attorney this is a very broad approach to seek what is really prospective and maybe unlikely data out there.

BROWN: And I want to read amazon's full statement before I let you go. Amazon says it will not release customer information without a valid and binding legal demand properly served on U.S. Amazon objects to overbroad or otherwise inappropriate demands as a matter of course.

Echo's microphone is good at filtering out background noise. Could that factor into the legalities of this request?

CEVALLOS: It could. There's so many issues that come up. First of all, is recording in our home a violation of wiretapping? If it has that capability, how long before the FBI starts getting warrants not for our telephone but for our Amazon Echoes. Maybe the current incarnation but whatever comes in a year or two years from now when there's so much more sophisticated than they are now so when it comes to these recording devices, yes, the consumer can turn them off and erase the data stored locally but once information goes out into the ether, you cannot un-ring that digital bell.

BROWN: Danny Cevallos, thank you. I have a feeling we'll be talking about this for months, years to come.

Moments ago, Donald Trump emerged briefly from Mar-a-Lago. What he just said up next. We'll be right back.

[15:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Just into the CNN newsroom, Donald Trump emerging briefly from Mar-a-Lago in West Palm Beach. He was asked about this tweet directed at President Obama. "Thought it was going to be a smooth transition. Not." Moments ago, he was asked about that where he said, quote, things are going very, very smoothly.

A brief scare at Trump Tower prompted an abrupt lobby evacuation. All this over a suspicious package that was a backpack filled with toys. It spawned a twitter fight over the cost of providing security to the building on fifth avenue. Trump's pick for press secretary, Sean Spicer tweeted that they were back to work at Trump Tower after a false alarm. To which the press secretary for the New York Mayor Bill De Blasio responded, no problem. We'll send you a bill. They've already requesting $35 million to help pay for the extra man power that stands guard at Trump tower. CNN looks at the challenges the high-rise building poses.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Trump Tower, a nearly 70- story high-rise in the middle of Manhattan must soon be one of the most protected buildings in the United States.

JONATHAN WACKROW, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: Every element of the White House, whether from a security posture, communications or emergency protocols, that has to be put into place here at Trump Tower.

GINGRAS: Trump made it clear he plans to return to New York often during his term and his wife Melania and their 10-year-old son Barron will live there for the next six months. It presents challenges. Really, it's getting the President down from there.

WACKROW: Absolutely.

GINGRAS: Jonathan Wackrow, a former secret service agent.

WACKROW: Washington, D.C., is simple. It's 18 acres, fenced with a big lawn in the back that we can utilize. Don't have that here. So, those types of considerations have to be addressed.

GINGRAS: Training to address those concerns has already started. Law enforcement sources confirm these military aircraft and helicopters recently seen hovering above the New York City skyline were mapping out possible escape routes and taking pictures of rooftops and Central Park for potential landing locations. The city has never been analyzed this way before for a U.S. President because the White House was opened in 1800, so never has a President resided outside of it and in a major city for extended periods of time. But Trump is full of firsts. And the secret service, along with the military and NYPD, must adjust.

WACKROW: You'll see increasing security posture here around Trump tower, you'll see a lot of standoff distance, a lot of physical changes to the location, to, you know, mitigate a lot of different threats.

GINGRAS: And if there were a threat he says agents would have less than a minute to bring the President and his family to safety.

WACKROW: Remember, we have to extract him from the top of this building. How do we do that? How do they do that safely? How do we notify law enforcement partners that there is this action?

GINGRAS: All questions that not only need to be addressed but put into practice by January 20th.

WACKROW: Right now, it's sort of a hurry-up offense. We're trying to rush to get this done but not miss anything.

GINGRAS: CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Coming up right here in the CNN newsroom, heightened alert in the wake of the Berlin terror attack. Cities are not taking chances when it comes to new year's celebrations. We'll show you the new security measures being put into place.

[15:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Tighter security looms across much of Europe as New Year's Eve approaches. In light of the December truck attack at a Christmas market in Berlin, the police in Germany say officers will carry machine guns. Melissa Bell looks at security measures being taken in Paris.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: As in Germany, the end of the year in France means colorful and crowded Christmas markets. Even before last week's attack in Berlin, security here on the Champs- Elysees was tight ensured by regular police patrols, 200 cameras and 60 concrete blocks.

PIERRE-HENRY BRANDET, SPOKESPERSON FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTRY, (through translator): Large crowds mean strong security measures with controls, searches, protected perimeters. And all of that was taken into account well before what happened in Germany. Although, of course, the Berlin attack reminds us of the need for vigilance.

BELL: Vigilance that will mean 10,000 soldiers on the streets of France over the holiday period reinforcing a police presence that's 91,000 strong. Extra security measures announced earlier this month by this man. He visited the Champ-Elysees on the very week of his appointment as interior minister. He called on Parisians to show thanks.

BRUNO LEROUX, FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER, (through translator): They pay a heavy price. I ask that in this holiday period there be demonstrations of friendship and solidarity to those who ensure the security of the French people in this difficult period. BELL: For more than a year France has been living under a state of

emergency. Bernard Cazeneuve the incoming prime minister told the parliament why it was both necessary and working.

BERNARD CAZENEUVE, INCOMING PRIME MINISTER, FRANCE, (through translator): Since the beginning of the year 2016, 420 people with links to radical Islamism were arrested and 17 attacks planned on French soil were foiled.

BELL: After the speech MPs voted to extend the state of emergency until July of next year. For those involved in policing the streets of Paris, the extra measures are beginning to take their toll.

LUC POIGNANT, POLICE UNION REPRESENTATIVE, (through translator): Obviously, we have the means to ensure Paris' security during the holiday period. Extra riot police will be deployed and also extra mobile units. If I may ask, at what cost? I mean there is a human cost for the security forces in general, whether policeman, we are giving of ourselves and our time at a cost to us and our families.

BELL: For now, the interior ministry insists that such sacrifices are necessary.

POIGNANT: We have to maintain the high level of vigilance in the face of a threat that remains high even as we continue to live freely and peacefully.

BELL: Authorities here in France are relieved that the Christmas period has gone as smoothly as it has. All eyes now turn to New Year's Eve when hundreds of thousands of people will be here on the Champs-Elysees to ring in a new year that they hope will be more peaceful than the two preceding it. Melissa Belle, CNN, Paris.

BROWN: "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.