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U.N. Adopts Resolution On Gaza; U.S. Abstains; Israel Dropped Hundreds Of 2,000 Pound Bombs On Gaza; Jamal Khashoggi's Widow Wins Political Asylum In The United States; California Approves Plan To Turn Sewage Water Into Drinking Water. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired December 22, 2023 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Explain to us what happened here.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this resolution looks very different than the original draft. After days of negotiations, in order to avoid a U.S. veto, this resolution does not call for a cessation of hostilities. It doesn't establish a new mechanism to monitor the aid going into Gaza, as it originally would have.

Instead, it calls for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors to allow for the entry of aid, and it appoints a senior U.N. official to help coordinate the entry of aid into Gaza.

Now, the United States praised this resolution, but the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. made clear that the U.S. voted to abstain rather than for this resolution in the end because of the lack of condemnation of Hamas for its role in -- for it carrying out the October 7th terrorist attacks.

Now, Israelis, for their part, they are vowing that this war is going to continue up until they can achieve the goal of releasing all of the hostages and eliminating Hamas. But there's no question that the focus on humanitarian aid is much needed at the moment. About half of all Gazans, according to the U.N. World Food Program, are estimated to be experiencing extreme or severe hunger at the moment, and there is simply an enormous gap between the amount of aid that is getting into Gaza and the enormous humanitarian need inside.

KEILAR: And, Jeremy, talk to us a little bit about this CNN analysis that shows Israel dropped hundreds of these massive 2,000-pound bombs on Gaza in the first month of the war. These are four times heavier than the largest bombs the U.S. dropped on ISIS in Mosul.

DIAMOND: Yes, we have seen, I mean, some of the images of the impact of these kinds of massive bombs. A lot of people will remember that enormous crater at the Jabalia refugee camp. And so, our CNN team actually went, using artificial intelligence, analyzing satellite imagery over the course of the first month of this war, and what it revealed is that Israel has dropped hundreds of these 2,000-pound bombs just in the first month of the war. Finding more than 500 craters that are over 40 feet wide, consistent with the impact of these 2,000-pound bombs. And now weapons and military experts say that it's the use of these bombs that has contributed so much to the very high civilian death toll in Gaza. And that's because when you use these types of bombs that have a nearly 1,200-foot radius where people can be killed or injured in such a densely populated area as Gaza, this is the inevitable result.

The Israeli military, for its part, said it is operating to dismantle Hamas's capabilities, and it said it follows international law and takes all feasible precautions to mitigate the harm to civilians.

KEILAR: All right. Jeremy Diamond, live for us from Tel Aviv, thank you.

The widow of slain Washington Post columnist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi has received political asylum here in the U.S., just granted, we've learned. Her husband suffered a brutally violent death at the hands of a Saudi assassination squad back in 2018.

Investigators concluded that he was strangled and dismembered in Turkey, his slaying at one point appearing to threaten U.S.-Saudi relations. His wife, Hanan Khashoggi, immediately went into hiding because she feared that if she returned to her native Egypt or to the UAE where she had been living for 26 years, her life would be in danger. And she is here with us in studio.

Hanan Khashoggi, thank you so much for joining us, along with your attorney, Randa Fahmy. We certainly do appreciate it. And I understand this has come as quite a surprise to you that you've received asylum. Tell us.

HANAN KHASHOGGI, WIDOW OF JAMAL KHASHOGGI: It was a big surprise for me, and in fact, I did have a doubt when I did receive the letter in the beginning. I shared it with Ms. Randa Fahmy and my immigration lawyer, Yalda Hajavi, to make sure this is the right information, that I get approval for my asylum, that I'm safe, that I did have the right choice by coming to U.S. and seek to start establishing justice for my husband. And I realized, yes, after they confirmed it to me.

KEILAR: Because what were you afraid might happen?

KHASHOGGI: I was afraid I will meet the destiny my husband did have. I've been threatened to have the same destiny in Middle East. I've been put under house arrest, and I had a very bad experience in Middle East before I fled to U.S.

KEILAR: Interrogated, placed under house arrest.

KHASHOGGI: Twice.

KEILAR: You had spying software put on your devices prior to his death, and certainly I know that you've been very fearful of future surveillance because of that. Tell us what your life was like after Jamal was slain.

KHASHOGGI: After Jamal disappeared in the beginning because it was not accurate information what exactly happened to him, I was in very bad shape because I was not sure about what happened to my husband until they admitted.

[15:35:05]

The Saudi authorities, they took time to admit it immediately. When they admitted, I remember this day I couldn't stand on my feet even because Jamal was a very peaceful man, and he doesn't deserve this ending.

KEILAR: As I mentioned, what happened to Jamal threatened U.S.-Saudi relations. Since then, though, we've seen it strengthened. We saw the fist bump that President Biden gave MBS last year. Just yesterday, officials said that Biden is poised to relax a two-year ban on sales of major offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia. What do you make right now, even as you are being granted asylum, of what relations are like between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia?

KHASHOGGI: I'll be honest with you. I will work the same way my husband worked, which is he doesn't want his country to be a bandit country. He wants his country to have a good relation with all countries in the world, including, of course, the U.S.A.

Regardless of a weapon deal or economic deal or a politics deal, I want Saudi Arabia not to suffer because a bunch of people who create a crime. I don't want the Saudis' citizen or the country itself to suffer. This is what my husband was doing, and I'm doing the same exactly what my husband was doing.

KEILAR: So, when you look also -- I mean, we even talk about the economic relationships between the United States and Saudi Arabia. We've seen that particularly when it comes to sports, right, when it comes to golf and LIV Golf financed by the Saudi government, the possible joining with American golf. How do you see that?

KHASHOGGI: I do see this is as normal. Again, I don't want Saudi Arabia to be abandoned and to suffer because of the act of a bunch of criminal and the psycho, mental psycho, some group. I don't want the Saudi people to suffer in any term. And if Jamal here, he will agree what I'm doing. He himself didn't ask, seek even a political asylum. He was care for his country. He's until last day of his life, he keeps saying, I'm not a dissident. I love my country. I'm just the adviser for my country.

KEILAR: Randa, Hanan is seeking compensation from Saudi -- from Saudi Arabia because of Jamal's death, demanding that Turkey return his cell phone for analysis. Have you gotten any assistance from the U.S. government on this?

RANDA FAHMY, HANAN KHASHOGGI'S ATTORNEY: Well, thank you for asking, because those are the two remaining issues. So, on the issue of returning the devices from Turkey, I had the good fortune of actually in person seeing the director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, at a State Department event last year.

And I approached her. She acknowledged receiving Hanan's letter requesting those devices. She promised me that she's going to go to the Justice Department to work with Justice to see if they could make that request to the government of Turkey to get those devices back.

Since then, I've been in contact with the White House, with Jake Sullivan, Tony Blinken, and others to say, look, your director of national intelligence promised us an answer. We want these devices back.

On the issue of compensation. Brianna, as you may know, the Saudis have admitted responsibility for Jamal's death under anyone's law, whether U.S. law or Sharia law. There is compensation when you murder somebody's husband or you murder somebody's father. The Saudis have compensated the children of Jamal, the four children. Now they need to take care of Hanan.

This is what justice for Jamal looks like. It's about granting Hanan her rightful rights as the wife of Jamal, and that includes financial compensation.

KEILAR: What do you want for Saudi Arabia? What change do you want to see and what is that going to take -- Hanan?

KHASHOGGI: I would like first to apologize for the crime and to listen what Jamal was wishing before he died, because I still carry his legacy and his message. At least to start to release the political prisoner, opinion prisoner. They are not a criminal. They advise for their country and this is their duty, and they don't deserve to be punished. At least this is a start.

KEILAR: Hanan, congratulations on your new status. I know it's a huge relief to you, and Randa, thank you so much for being with us as well.

FAHMY: Thanks.

KHASHOGGI: Thank you very much, I appreciate it.

KEILAR: And we'll be right back.

[15:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: OK, so we're going to talk about drinking recycled toilet water. Yes, I know that sounds gross, but officials in California say it's one of the best solutions for combating the effects of climate change.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: The state just approved new rules that will allow sewage water to be transformed into clean, drinkable water. The wastewater would, of course, be extensively treated and tested before going to the tap, so they tell us.

KEILAR: You don't say.

ACOSTA: I hope so. KEILAR: You don't say, Jim. All right, here to explain -- and you have

a lot of explaining to do -- is Darrin Polhemus. He's the Deputy Director for the California State Water Board's Division of Drinking Water. Darrin, I'll tell you, I am from California. I understand how it's like liquid gold when you were there. Some critics, though, have coined this plan, Toilet to Tap.

[15:45:00]

I know it's a bit more complicated than that. Tell us about the process.

DARRIN POLHEMUS, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF DRINKING WATER FOR CALIFORNIA STATE WATER BOARD: Sure, happy to. First thing I want to recognize is that all water is recycled, right? People that are drinking it out of rivers, lakes, and others, that's where we discharged waste some time ago, and it's still picked up.

What we're talking about here is taking it, obviously, straight from treatment process, connecting it all the way through a very advanced level of treatment with multiple steps all the way through, and then either adding it as a raw additive to the front of a drinking water system or actually putting it straight into drinking water pipes. Again, as you mentioned, it goes through extensive levels of treatment, and I'm happy to discuss each one of those.

It's about eight steps in all that really go through it. It's monitored at each step of the way to really verify water. I think the important point to note is that we take out so much, we actually have to put minerals back before you can drink the water.

ACOSTA: And, I mean, tell the folks how you're going to overcome the skepticism on this. Because I got to think folks are just going to say, yes, I don't care what you do to this water, I ain't drinking it.

POLHEMUS: Yes, I think the public's come a long way here in California. We've been using recycled water in numerous ways for multiple years.

We actually already have had for over a decade what we call indirect potable reuse where we treat it highly, put it in the ground or in a reservoir, and then take it back out just a couple months later.

Really, all we're doing with this step is we're shortening that time frame so it doesn't actually sit in the groundwater or a small reservoir and get dirty again. We actually just monitor it and know that it's clean and take it right back into the drinking water system.

We require a public process. We require that a water system that's going to pursue this, bring the public along with education. You know, make them understand what's going on, gain their confidence in how they're doing it.

This has already been done in California by several of our large water systems, Orange County Water District being the leader in this. They've been educating their public and got them comfortable with their indirect potable reuse, and we're confident we can gain their trust for direct potable reuse just the same.

KEILAR: Yes, shout out to my home county, the OC there. You said there's eight steps. Unfortunately, we don't have time to go through that. We do have a graphic, though. Let's put that back up so that people can see it. Because it really does explain why you were able to take this so incredibly seriously and make sure this water is clean.

California, Darrin is hoping that this is going to help combat climate change drought, which is such a big problem in the state. How realistic is that?

POLHEMUS: Yes, it's going to be a while before anybody completes projects that actually use DPR. I mean, these facilities aren't built yet, and it'll be six, seven years of construction and planning to get them actually to come on board.

But it will be an important part of a water systems portfolio. You know, it could be 15, 20 percent of their supply at some point. The criticality we see with doing this is that we know our water sources are highly variable as climate change continues.

And from a source, drinking water, wastewater is always there. A community is always producing wastewater, always provides ability to use it as long as you're treating it highly, like we've set forward in our regulations, and make sure it's completely safe for public consumption. So, it'll be an important tool for large water systems to use in California to be climate resilient.

ACOSTA: Yes. Well, we've got to do something about the climate. There's no question about it. And I'm sure we're going to have to check back in with you, Darrin, just to see how things are going out there. But in the meantime, thank you for bringing us this heartwarming holiday tale of how things are going to be changing in terms of treating water out there in California. Best of luck to you. Appreciate it.

POLHEMUS: Most welcome.

ACOSTA: All right.

KEILAR: Reverse osmosis. You're treating it with ozone. You do the initial steps. You see all those steps?

ACOSTA: What could possibly go wrong?

KEILAR: It looks delicious.

ACOSTA: It looks delicious. Yes.

KEILAR: He said that. They have to put minerals back in. There you go.

ACOSTA: It's California. It's all your fault.

KEILAR: When we come back with the airport so busy this week, you might be hoping that the PreCheck or Clear is going to get you right through security. But do they really get you to the gate faster? We'll look.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Millions of people are flying to their holiday destinations. Everyone, of course, hoping to get through airport security as quickly and as painlessly as possible. And in an effort to essentially cut the line, many are now signing up for either TSA PreCheck or a private company alternative known as Clear. But which is better?

ACOSTA: I have them all, so I have no idea. Whenever they offer something new, I just get it. But that's just me. Is it best to just try your own luck? Go through the regular security line?

KEILAR: No.

ACOSTA: We know the answer to that is no. Let's bring in CNN -- that's in the teleprompter, so I'm reading it. Let's bring in CNN Consumer Reporter Nathaniel Meyersohn. Nathaniel, do you have the PreCheck and the Clear? I have the Global Entry as well. Literally anything that they offer that will make it faster, I will sign up for that.

NATHANIEL MEYERSOHN, CNN CONSUMER REPORTER: They've got you hooked, Jim. I just have TSA PreCheck. I don't fly quite enough to need Clear.

But look, who ever thought that airport security lines could be this complicated? So, let's break down the difference between these two programs. Clear, it's a lot more expensive, about $190 a month versus a year -- versus TSA PreCheck, which is about $15 a year or $80 over the course of five years.

[15:55:05]

Clear is a private security company. It lets you jump the TSA line if you scan your biometric data, your facial recognition or your thumbprint. Versus TSA PreCheck, which is a government program, and it's available at many more airports, about 200 airports versus Clear, which is about 50 airports.

KEILAR: OK, so which should you choose?

MEYERSOHN: So, Brianna, if you are a frequent traveler like Jim, it may make sense to have both of these programs. If you're an occasional traveler like me, probably makes more sense to have TSA PreCheck and not that $190 a month -- $190 a year Clear program. But if you can get it with your credit card, Clear does have the option for some of that.

But we're seeing on social media people who have Clear saying TSA PreCheck lines are moving longer -- or shorter. That does happen at Reagan, at the Reagan airport. Sometimes the Clear line is longer. But also, Brianna and Nathaniel, you can get into sporting events faster with Clear now, too. I've gotten to a Caps game, skipped the line with that, so something to think about.

KEILAR: Nathaniel, thank you for that. Lots to think about. And "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" starts right now.