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Toxic Gas Prompt Pollution Concerns In Reykjavik; Trump Repeats Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric, Denies Reading Hitler; Israel Back At Table For Hostage Negotiations; More Than 280k Customers Without Power In Maine. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired December 20, 2023 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Moving laterally into the immediate area. That's calmed down a little bit. The authorities first saying that they believe there was about five events that were still active, still spewing again lava hundreds of feet into the air. Now they say it's about three events that are still going. At the same time, the authorities do say there still is a lot of activity going on. And they say there could be new vents and new fissures opening up across that fault line that is going on there, with of course, a magma tunnel that goes all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.

So, the authorities here definitely still very much on high alert. They've cordoned off the immediate area. Then you have that town of Grindavik, which has been so affected by all this. It was evacuated a long time ago. The residents have now been told that they can't go back until at least Christmas which of course, isn't really that surprising considering something that looks like the Gates of Hell has essentially just opened up in their backyard.

Nevertheless, as of right now, luckily, no one has been injured in this eruption and the authorities do say that they have the situation under control, Kate.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Still amazing pictures coming out as they continue to monitor this volcano that still erupting. Frederik Pleitgen in Iceland for us. Thank you.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Just hours after the Colorado, Colorado Supreme Court removed him from the state's 2024 ballot, Donald Trump was in Iowa and completely ignored that and instead doubled down on his xenophobic white supremacist language targeting immigrants, once again saying that migrants are quote, poisoning the blood of our country. Trump acknowledged there was an uproar over his comments at that rally in Iowa last night. He also insisted he has never read Hitler's autobiographical Mein Kampf.

Just to let you know what that says, this is what Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf in 1925, all great cultures of the past perished only because the original creative race died out from blood poisoning.

CNN's Alayna Treene is following this story from Washington DC. Alayna this has stirred a lot of fear amongst those in this country who are immigrants. What more can you tell us about how Donald Trump is handling this? and whether or not you think we're going to hear comments from him about Colorado?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Yes. Well, Sara, I mean, as you pointed out, Donald Trump defended the comments that he had made at that rally on Saturday and over the weekend, likening immigrants to poisoning the blood of the country comments that the White House and other critics were very quick to condemn and argue for parroting the language of Adolf Hitler. Donald Trump pushed back on that criticism arguing that he had never read the Nazi dictators. manifesto.

Take a listen to what he told people in Iowa last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's crazy what's going on? They're ruining our country. And it's true that destroying the blood of our country, that's what they're doing. They're destroying our country. They don't like it when I said that, and I never read Mein Kampf. They said oh, Hitler said that in a much different way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Sara, I mean, pretty remarkable for a former president to be defending such comments. And from my conversations with Donald Trump's team, they've continued to push back on the comparisons between his language and -- or the former president's language and Adolf Hitler. And again, arguing similar things that Donald Trump said last night that this is a very different type of scenario.

Now, I do just want to point out as well, we know that Donald Trump has leaned in to very violent anti-immigration rhetoric in the past in the lead up in his past campaigns to 2016, and also, in 2020. He tried to invoke fear in voters, particularly when it came to the border and immigrants. It was a strategy that his team believed worked well. And he's doing that again now except his rhetoric has become even darker and even more violent.

And I think it's also important, Sara, to just point out how the broader Republican Party is responding to this. We saw some Republicans like Senator Susan Collins and Senator Mike Rounds, reject what Donald Trump had said. Susan Collins called it deplorable. Others though, had deflected and some even argued that Donald Trump was right like Senator J.D. Vance have a very strong Trump ally, who argued that what Donald Trump had been saying was accurate.

And so, you know, we're still seeing how the greater Republican Party is responding to this, but Donald Trump is definitely doubling down on those comments, Sara?

SIDNER: Alayna Treene, thank you so much for your reporting on this. BOLDUAN: Let's talk more about this. Joining us right now is Democratic senator from Delaware, Chris Coons. Senator, thank you for coming in.

You're hearing the conversation, I hope between Sara and Alayna Treene about what Donald Trump is saying still, which is very much in line with what he -- what he has said in the past on the trail even while in office. This is the same type of commentary and rhetoric he used successfully in 2016, and he hasn't changed since.

How do you think Democrats -- Republicans, Democrats, whomever and others should address this going forward when it does not seem to be showing signs of really turning Republican voters off?

[09:35:03]

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Well Kate for reasons that I find hard to understand, former President Trump has been successful, campaigning on the argument that immigrants are as he was just cited, they're saying poisoning the blood of our country. I believe immigrants are the lifeblood of our country, that legal immigration has brought wonderful positive contributions to our society and our economy. We need to draw a clear and sharp contrast between a legal, safe and humane migration and immigration process, which is what Democrats had been trying to accomplish, and a hateful and anti-immigrant rhetoric by former President Trump.

Here in the Senate, there are negotiations still going on, about how we can improve border security, and how we can take up and pass the critical supplemental package that President Biden asked us to pass now, many, many weeks ago. It would fund assistance to Ukraine, it would put $14 billion into border security. It would fund, excuse me, badly needed humanitarian assistance, it would support Israel and it would support our Indo-Pacific partners. It's a critical national security package.

And Kate when we confront a former president whose rhetoric is way outside the boundaries of normal discourse about race and immigration and national identity, we need to show clarity, forcefulness and purpose. President Biden has been committed to improving the security of our border and ensuring we have a legal and humane immigration process. He called for it in his State of the Union speech last January. He's the only leader in our country who has put forward the kind of robust investments to secure our border that he's asked Congress to approve order over and over. And my hope is that after another week of intense negotiations, we'll be primed to come back early in January, and take up and pass that supplemental appropriations request.

BOLDUAN: Real quick on the politics of that, though, because it, it has gone nowhere this week, even though as you say negotiations continue. Doesn't -- explain to me how you think it gets easier politically for folks to vote on this. And on Capitol Hill when you come back in January, as you are then hard up against Iowa caucuses, all other sorts of deadlines that have been honestly kicked down the road and you guys are going to be hard up against it in January. COONS: So, we have a government funding deadline of January 19th. We have a new and relatively inexperienced Speaker of the House, and he has a narrower and narrower Republican majority. Now that the former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, is resigning this week as leaving Congress and George Santos, a former Republican member has been ejected. So yes, you're right, the politics get harder in January. But there has been a real commitment by Senate Minority Leader McConnell by the negotiators that include Senator Lankford.

And what I'm hearing from the small room that includes senior leadership and Senators, both Republican and Democrat, is they are making steady progress. They are drafting now. The language that we would take up and pass as text. The politics of this are very hard, Kate --

BOLDUAN: They are actually drafting language now?

COONS: -- (INAUDIBLE) at the moment demands it.

BOLDUAN: They're drafting language now?

COONS: Yes, they are.

BOLDUAN: I honestly, I will take that as progress, because that's what, what I've heard from a lot of Democrats and Republicans is we haven't seen anything we can't in when it comes to immigration policy. It is all about the language and the details, no matter what broad agreement is that there's a crisis on the border.

Let me get your reaction to the news out of Colorado. Donald Trump removed from the 2024 ballot by the state Supreme Court there. I'll say for now, what's your reaction to it?

COONS: It's a striking ruling. I think it is a plain reading of the text of the 14th Amendment. I'll remind you this provision of the 14th Amendment was written to prevent those who were part of the Confederacy, who took up arms against the United States in our Civil War from returning to federal elected office. But there was a finding by the court in Colorado, looking at the evidence that former President Trump participated in an insurrection. I was here on January 6th, we had an impeachment trial for President Trump after the events of January 6, I think it's undeniable in my view, that he participated in an insurrection and as such should be disqualified from holding federal office.

This will be appealed, I assume to the Supreme Court, and whether they take it up and whether or not they rule on it will play a critical role in the shape of the Republican primary electorate. I'm confident Joe Biden will be re-elected regardless of which Republican is on the ballot but this could really shake up the Republican primary.

[09:40:06]

BOLDUAN: Do you all think that this -- there could be some -- I don't know there's a risk of blowback amongst voters on this? Chris Christie and of Republican candidates are kind of saying essentially the same thing, which is Chris Christie, especially saying that, you know, I don't want Donald Trump to be president, but I want voters to prevent him from being president, not some court.

COONS: Well, that's an interesting take. Gov. Christie has also repeatedly publicly said that Donald Trump is not fit to hold office. So, whether it is a court that determines he's unfit to hold office because he took up force against our constitution or mobilized a mob against our Constitution, or because the electorate throws him out. I don't think it really matters.

If he's unfit to hold office, we should all be encouraged by any action that makes it less likely that he will return to the presidency.

BOLDUAN: Senator Chris Coons, thanks for coming in.

COONS: Thank you, Kate.

SIDNER: Still ahead, Israel back at the negotiating table. New details on a proposal that would pause fighting, but only if there is a release of dozens of hostages that are still being held in Gaza. We are live in Tel Aviv. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:46]

SIDNER: A source tells CNN that Israel is putting a proposal on the table now for another pause in fighting, a longer one in exchange for Hamas releasing a lot more hostages. The sources goes on to say, that the discussion of proposals is just the beginning of course of negotiations once again, and that a deal is not imminent.

CNN's Will Ripley is live in Tel Aviv for us with the very latest. How has Hamas responded to this proposal by Israel?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, we haven't heard any new response to this latest Israeli offer. But we know what they've been saying in the past, which is essentially, if Israel wants more hostages released, there needs to be a permanent ceasefire. Now, given the pressure on Hamas, you have half of the population of Gaza believed to be starving right now, with heartbreaking images of people fighting over the scraps of supplies, even climbing on to aid drops, you have obviously the uptick in civilian casualties, which is putting the pressure on Hamas and also on Israel. You had the accidental shooting death of three Israeli hostages over the weekend.

So, Israel coming back to the table now, which is a shift in position for them. Will Hamas also shift in position? One thing that they're asking for, if there is going to be any sort of prisoner swap is for heavy hitters to be released. Heavy hitters, meaning potentially men who are charged with a crime here in Israel, as opposed to women and teenage prisoners that were handed over in exchange during the last round of, of a hostage release, which took more than a month to put together by the way, that deal didn't happen quickly. So, this is being happened. This is all happening right now with the help of intermediaries in Qatar, we understand -- and Hamas is one of the top leaders of Hamas, supposedly in Egypt right now, getting this message relayed to him, these negotiations according to an Israeli official Speaking to CNN here in Tel Aviv, this this type of deal will not happen quickly. People would love to see it happen as soon as possible. Certainly, the families of those Israeli hostages, and frankly, families on the Palestinian side as well would love to be reunited with their loved ones, but it's going to take some time, and the two sides still remain very far apart.

But at least they're talking and at least there could be the possibility of a badly needed pause in fighting Israel offering potentially Sara a week, a pause for starters, and potentially even two weeks depending on the number of hostages released 129 believe to be in Gaza right now, 121 of them still alive, Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Will Ripley, thank you so much for your reporting there in Tel Aviv.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, violent floodwaters still in Maine as the search is now continuing for at least two people who are missing.

Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:52:19]

SIDNER: On our radar this morning, Philadelphia television news helicopter crashed in New Jersey overnight killing both the pilot and a photographer from the news team. WPVI officials say they're not releasing the names of the crew members right now as family members are still being notified. The helicopter crashed into a wooded area of Washington Township as it was returning from an assignment on the Jersey Shore and investigation into that crash is underway.

In Virginia, the federal judge says the removal of a Confederate statue in Arlington National Cemetery may proceed after initial pause the judge found that a group trying to stop the removal of the statue failed to prove that keeping the monument in place was in the public interest.

And new images of a seven-foot-long mammoth tusks. The fossil was discovered earlier this year in North Dakota by coal miners. According to KYFR, it then took more than two weeks to excavate this massive task and other bones from an old stream bed. Paleontologists are now studying the find. Pretty cool.

BOLDUAN: Right now, more than 260,000 customers are without power across the state of Maine after storms tore down trees and brought as you can see some serious flooding to the region. At least one person is dead, two others remain missing right now after their car was swept away in the flooding. Dozens of roads and bridges are also still shut down from damage that will take days if not weeks when you see this to fix. CNN's Danny Freeman is in Augusta with more. Danny, what does it look like out there? What do you see in?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate here in Augusta in many other parts of Maine, it's still frankly a mess out here. But there are some signs of good news just for example, this area of the Kennebec River that has been flooded. It has been receding and just the past hour since we've been out here. You can see there's a dumpster that we frankly could not see before. Also, we did not realize that garage door was open before, but just a sign of how much these floodwaters have receded.

The other good news, Kate, as you noted, earlier in the morning, it was about 280,000 people across the state of Maine who did not have power. Now as you noted 260,000 people who don't have power. So that number trending in the right direction.

But we're still in a state of emergency in 14 of 16 counties here in Maine. And it's because of this persistent flooding that public authorities are urging caution around. Again, like you said we're in Augusta, this is the Kennebec River. The good news is, is that this river crested overnight, as did many other rivers that have been have had flooding concerns, but just look at this current case. It is still so, so fierce. Fifty miles west of here in fact, in Mexico, Maine, that's where authorities are searching for two people went missing after their car was swept away.

[09:55:01]

So, it's a very serious situation. Like I said public officials still urging caution. And I want you to take a listen to a resident that we spoke with whose 97-year-old mother-in-law still does not have power.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RODNEY WAUGH, AUGUSTA, MAINE RESIDENT: My mother-in-law was out on Route 3 in Augusta, by herself, big old farmhouse. She's 97 And she didn't want to come into town. She was going to say tough it out. So, I got to check on this morning to see if she's still warm. She has a wood stove and her cat. That's it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: So, hoping she is OK. The one thing I'll note is that thankfully, it's dry out today. There is no rain today, scattered tomorrow either. So that's helping this cleanup, but it is cold out here. Many school districts are closed out of an abundance of caution. We're going to get an update, Kate from the governor on the entire situation in Maine, coming up at 12:30.

Kate?

BOLDUAN: Yes, one good -- one good piece of news as you said, Danny sun is out. And so, they can get to work. But there's a lot of work to do for everybody there.

Thank you so much for the update.

Coming up for us still, Donald Trump's campaign vowing to move quickly to appeal the Colorado Supreme Court's decision removing him from the state's primary ballot. The timing of what happens next now as the -- as we follow this fallout from this historic ruling.

And a new gauge on how consumers are feeling about the U.S. economy. What the data is showing us.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)