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Alexey Navalny Turns Up After Missing For Two Weeks; A New Group Of Migrants Heading Towards The U.S. Border From Mexico; Hamas Claims an Israeli Strike Killed At Least 70 People At A Refugee Camp Sunday. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired December 25, 2023 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:44]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Alexey Navalny found. The jailed opposition Russian leader has been missing for two weeks and suddenly turns up. What his legal team is saying now this morning.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: New video this morning of thousands of migrants starting their trek from southern Mexico to the U.S. border. Secretary of State Tony Blinken is headed to Mexico City this week to address the crisis.

BOLDUAN: A groundbreaking surgery helping a young girl find her voice for the first time and opening up a whole new world to this nine-year- old and her family.

I'm Kate Bolduan, with Sara Sidner. John Berman is off today. This is a very Christmas CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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SIDNER: New this morning, Russian opposition critic, Alexey Navalny has been found. The head of his Anti-Corruption Foundation says Navalny is in a penal colony in the far reaches of northwestern Siberia. His team has been trying to locate him for at least two weeks, after he was suddenly, and without warning, moved from detention near Moscow.

CNN's Nada Bashir is following all the developments for us.

What are you hearing from the Navalny team now? Because there was a moment there were no one, no one knew where he was, except for, obviously, the Russian government.

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTERR: You're absolutely right, Sara. There has been mounting concern over the conditions faced by Navalny, his whereabouts over the last two weeks. We are just getting more details about his current whereabouts from his legal team. And, of course, the director of his Anti-Corruption Foundation. We are now learning that he is being held, and has been moved to a penal colony near Siberia, some 2,000 miles away from Moscow, in comparison to the penal colony he was held in before, believed to be held in some hundred 50 miles east of Moscow. Now, there is concern around the conditions he may be facing in this

penal colony. We have this statement from the director of his Anti- Corruption Foundation, saying just a little while ago, Navalny's is in colony IK-3 in Kharp called Polar Wolf, one of the northernmost, almost remote colonies. The conditions there are harsh, with a special regime, in the permafrost zone. It is very difficult to get there, and there are no letter delivery systems.

Now, his lawyer is said to have visited him today at the penal colony, confirming his presence there. Alexey Navalny, of course, a key critic of President Vladimir Putin. He was sentenced back in August of this year to 19 years in prison for charges related to extremism. He had already been serving 11-1/2 years in prison in a penal colony for other charges, including fraud.

These are, of course, charges that Navalny has consistently denied. He, his lawyers, and his supporters have accused judges of handing out this charge, and prison sentence for politically motivated reasons. That is how his supporters have described it.

Of course, Navalny has been one of the biggest critics of Vladimir Putin, and as pose perhaps one of the most serious threats to Vladimir Putin's legitimacy during his rule, and has faced continuous threats from the Kremlin. But, of course now, there will be serious concern over the situation he may be facing there. Particularly, of course, with little contact available between him and his team, his lawyers, and Alexey Navalny.

SIDNER: Yeah, and for those who are following, you know, what happened to dissidents in Russia, one of the scariest times, and most scary times when they're being moved from one place to another. Oftentimes they disappear. Nada Bashir, thank you so much for all of your reporting, and have a great holiday.

BOLDUAN: And on this Christmas morning, there is new reporting that thousands of migrants are joining a caravan in Mexico, moving towards the U.S. southern border. It is the largest caravan the United States has seen in over a year. And this also comes just two days before Secretary of State Tony Blinken has headed to Mexico City to try and hammer out new agreements to control, better control, the flow of migrants making their way through Mexico.

This caravan would clearly add to the migrant surge already overwhelming U.S. border crossings. Federal authorities have reported in average of nearly 10,000 migrant encounters a day along the U.S. southern border so far in December.

CNN's Rafael Romo is in Texas following this for us.

[09:05:01]

Rafael, what are you hearing about this caravan? And what are you also hearing from authorities where you are?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kate, good morning to you and merry Christmas. The caravan departed in Tapachula, Mexico, on Christmas Eve. That's a

city at the Mexican border, with Guatemala. We are talking about thousands of migrants who will be here at the U.S. southern border in the next few weeks. In addition to the ones that have already arrived here in Eagle Pass, Texas, at the border with Mexico. This is a community of U.S. less than 30,000 people that has to deal with thousands of immigrants arriving every week here.

And what you see behind me is a holding area for those migrants to surrender to immigration officials either at points along the border, or at a port of entry, wait to be processed.

Troy Miller, the interim director for Customs and Border Protection earlier said that the influx of migrants, they are currently seeing across the southwest border is presenting a serious challenge to CBP personnel. This new migrant surge, Kate, is also putting a lot of pressure on local law enforcement.

This is what Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber had to say about this great challenge. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF TOM SCHMERBER, MAVERICK COUNTY, TEXAS: On the law enforcement side, we are suffering. Because we don't have the manpower to take care, of what we call, we have the manpower to take care of local business, criminal elements, and immigration problems. So, it is costing us a lot of manpower.

And, of course, the federal government and state troops, too, they are not here at the river like this supposed to be. They're processing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And how many immigrants have entered the United States recently you may ask? Well, according to the latest figures released by Customs and Border Protection, nearly a quarter of 1 million people were detained at the U.S. border with Mexico during the month of November.

In a statement, CVP said that the U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions so far in the fiscal year 2024, started on October 1st, are lower than at this, point the previous fiscal year. But they, it remains to be seen if that change once December figures are included. Now back to you.

BOLDUAN: That's a great point.

Rafael, thank you very much from Texas. We'll be checking back in.

SIDNER: And we are just a week away from a new year. Congress is on a holiday break. And they are still no clear border deal on the horizon. Negotiations are ongoing with South Carolina, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham says there is one major snag keeping things stalled, a policy that allows migrants to stay in the United States while they seek asylum.

Listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): The hang-up's parole. This administration does not want to let go of a tool they are abusing. Under our parole law, you can admit people into the country who are outside the country, or with inside the country, on an individual basis. They've been taking the parole statute, and granting mass parole, blanket pearl.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: All right. With us now, "Axios" national supporters, Sophia Cai.

Thank you so much for being here on this Christmas no doubt. Hopefully, there is some sort of bonus that comes to you today. But we will air grievances later.

Speaking of grievances, there is a huge caravan of desperate human beings making their way to the U.S. Mexico border. What is the president supposed to do when Congress can't seem to pass comprehensive immigration policy?

SOPHIA CAI, NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER, AXIOS: Yeah, Biden is facing a lot of pressures. He's got not only the logistic challenges that you see, but also, you know, the political pressures because on one hand, he can't be seen as doing nothing. On the other, he can't lose the Democratic base to turn out for him next year in the election year.

And so, what you see is right Biden, reaching out to the president of Mexico, urging him to do more on the Mexican side of the border to prevent, you know, some of these migrants from crossing, as well as you hear Speaker Mike Johnson, my colleague Julie Grace reported earlier this week saying that Speaker Johnson wants Biden to do more of the executive action. And so, you know, he's grappling with a lot he's told Congress, he signaled that he's willing to compromise on the border. I think that says a lot about where he's that, and how tough a position he is, that when it comes to the border.

SIDNER: Yeah, and the fact that this is all contingent upon whether or not Ukraine gets funding, whether not Israel gets funding, and you throw this in. I mean, it is a complicated mix. You know, there is a crisis at the border, there -- that is no doubt. You look at pictures, you look at the numbers. There are record numbers of people who have been coming up through the border, but nothing seems to be deterring them.

What does it look like as we get any closer to a potential deal? How might this affect the politics of the presidential election? Because you mentioned, you know, Democrats aren't so happy with the Biden administration, and certainly, Republicans are not either.

CAI: Yes, so I think if you dig down into, it you see a lot of the CHC, Congressional Hispanic Caucus members protesting, saying, you know, at one, point there was not a single Latino member involved in those high level negotiations. [09:10:15]

And Republicans, right, Lindsey Graham who we just heard from, he's one of 15 conservative senators who have written out to say that the negotiations are rushed, and silent. And so, you know, those Republicans are going to be incentivized to really push, put their foot down, and push for very harsh measures that look like putting back in, remain in Mexico, as well as third safe countries, so saying that if you move from another country through Mexico to the U.S., you cannot come in, as well as including those parole programs that Lindsey Graham, and others want to be talked out, they want that to be done with.

So, that's kind of where things stand for Biden. All of this is in the context of a president who is facing reelection next year.

SIDNER: And another person, who is hoping to be president, who is really holding on to this, is Donald Trump as well.

Sophia Cai, thank you for coming in on this holiday. Appreciate you.

BOLDUAN: Now to the weather, which is always a factor when it comes to holidays, right? A large storm system is now bringing rain and snow to a big part of the country. They are seeing blizzard conditions in the Central Plains, and some flood threats in the southeast.

Let's get over to CNN's meteorologist Chad Myers for more on this.

Chad, we all love a white Christmas. It is definitely not that here in New York.

What are you seeing across the country?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I am seeing thunderstorms from Georgia to Florida. And a blizzard across parts of the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas, kind of two tales of this big storm system here, and an awful lot of, I think probably ground travel today, driving travel, going to be going through all of this rainfall.

So let's get right to it. This is where the blizzard warming is, with winds out of the north with 50 miles per hour, as the storm continues as we roll into Tuesday and Wednesday. And yes, we are talking the plains, but even by later on tonight, into tomorrow, that's when even Denver gets in the mix. And if you are flying through Denver, they do a fantastic job with snow removal, but when you get winds that big, and all of a sudden is still snowing, you can certainly get slowed down.

So where do we go from here? This is tonight, and the rain is moving off to the east. Then we move farther to the Northeast for Tuesday. And then by Wednesday, this rain, wind, clouds, low cloud cover, that's all going to be over the big airports in the Northeast. There's your snow into Denver. Skiers are going to love that.

But this is the whole point here. You're driving through, it getting back on 80, 76, going 70 over the mountains. There will be some slowdowns here. And then by Wednesday, here is the rain in the Northeast.

And a lot of people are going home on Wednesday. We know that that's a really big travel, not so much today, but by Wednesday, everyone is trying to get on an airplane, it is going to be slow -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right. We're going to be watching that. And also tracking all through today to see where things are headed. Thank you so much, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

SIDNER: All right. Coming up, Donald Trump said it was his duty to question the results of the 2020 election. His latest effort to get the federal indictment against him thrown out. Israel is increasing strikes against Hamas as some aid and supplies are arriving in Gaza on Christmas Eve.

And how this unaccompanied six-year-old headed to visit his grandmother end up on the wrong flight? We will explain.

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[09:17:58]

SIDNER: Just 70 days now from today, Donald Trump is scheduled to stand trial for his federal election subversion charges. But, the path to get there of course, a lot more complicated, and it's gotten more complicated. The federal appeals court will soon hear oral arguments from both sides. The former president wants the Trump to toss the case out completely. This is after his latest attempt to claim presidential unity.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz joining us now with more on the arguments, and the timing of all of this.

Not a surprise. Just about every defendant tries to get something thrown out. But this is the former president, and it's a huge case. What do you know?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: It is, Sara.

Everybody who is a criminal defendant tries to get their case thrown out, just like you said. But there is only a couple ways that you can actually put everything on hold, and go to an appeals court to try and get the case thrown out if you lose at the trial level.

Donald Trump lost at the trial level. He had a judge, Judge Tanya Chutkan says, saying, there is no court ever that is granted immunity around the presidency in the way that Donald Trump is seeking it here. And so, he is appealing. There are oral arguments scheduled before the D.C. circuit court of appeals, the intermediary at the trial level, in the Supreme Court. So those appeals, arguments, are taking place on January 9th.

And everybody is preparing for that, because it is a really big case. It's a lot of legal arguments about the Constitution, about the presidency, about the immunity that could be given to the president for things that they were doing while in office. Trump is saying he cannot be tried. He shouldn't have to sit for trial. It is something the Supreme Court is very likely to look at in the future, no matter what, the D.C. circuit has decided.

But, Trump already this weekend, is in his preparations. His team has filed a brief to the circuit, preparing for that argument. And they are going Shakespearean in their language. They say that it is a plague on the nation that a former president, or anyone who has been in the presidency would be prosecuted criminally, and he says that the unbroken tradition of no president ever being prosecuted, that died this year.

[09:20:02]

That's a quote, and the historical fallout is tremendous. So, a lot of strong language from Trump's legal team, but there is a lot of law that the courts are going to have to work through here on whether Donald Trump can go to trial in March.

SIDNER: I would assume that jack smith will be going with the Constitution, no one is above the law type of thought. Maybe not so Shakespearean.

Katelyn Polantz, thank you so much. We'll see what the courts decide.

BOLDUAN: A poet in his own right, joining us now, CNN legal analyst, and criminal defense attorney, Joey Jackson.

I mean, Joey, let's work through some more of the argument that has been laid out in this filing made by Trump's legal team, just late on Saturday night.

In addition to being Shakespearean, here's one argument that they are making: the 234-year tradition of not prosecuting presidents for official acts, despite ample motive, and opportunity to do so, provides powerful evidence that the power to do so does not exist. What do you think of that argument?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, Kate, good morning to you. I think that prosecutions are predicated upon facts. And if he didn't have facts that are analogous, that, is not identical, but similar to this one, that it is really a false comparison, perhaps the reason that you didn't prosecute presidents in the past is that the president didn't engage in conduct that would rise to this level, and if or when they did, there are other forms, like impeachment, that we've seen in previous circumstances that could.

Here, we have a president who, it's alleged, has done something extraordinary to warrant prosecution, says Jack Smith. So I don't think you can pay with a broad brush, and look at 236 years of history. You have to look at, specifically, what you did, and what the consequences should be. I think that is what the special counsel is doing here.

BOLDUAN: You mentioned impeachment. It's actually -- I was surprised to say that Trump's legal team is also pointing to impeachment as part of their argument of why the president cannot be prosecuted here. Trump's acquittal in the second impeachment as a reason for immunity, here's what they write -- President Trump's acquittal by the Senate bars prosecution for the conduct alleged in the indictment. Before any single prosecutor can ask a court to sit in judgment of the president's conduct, Congress must have approved of it by impeaching and convicting the president. That did not happen here, and, so President Trump has absolute immunity.

What do you think of that one? What do you think of that line of thought?

JACKSON: Yeah. So, Kate, what happens, is that good lawyers, and certainly he has, that the former president, he has very good ones. They're going to make any argument available. And so that is an argument. The double jeopardy argument, to the extent that the president was tried in terms of an impeachment, from an impeachment perspective, does now a criminal proceeding constitute double jeopardy?

I think it's a stretch of an argument. Look, you know, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. And Trump, that applies to him to, but the issue is, I do not see any precedent, I don't see any legal authority, or anything else, which would suggest, that simply because there are impeachment proceedings, that that would operate as a bar to a federal prosecution. So very good, clever, creative argument, I just don't know, Kate, that it carries.

BOLDUAN: If this is more about delaying the process as much as possible, then it is about winning the immunity argument if you will, how much does this filing late Saturday night go to delaying this process? Because we know Jackson had tried to go to the Supreme Court, and have them kind of short-circuit around this step.

How much could all of this -- you know, there has to be a domino effect here. How much could this delay things? What about the timing?

JACKSON: Yes. So remember what the end result, or end goal could be. In the event that Mr. Trump wins the presidency, then there would be nothing to see here. Why? Because then he would be in control of the Justice Department, as president, and he could either asked the justice department to dismiss the case, or, in the alternative attempt, pardon himself.

So the endgame is delay, because you get closer to the election, closer to being potentially elected, and then you have much more control. So that's the issue. I do think though, Kate, that it was very important for the Supreme Court to reject an immediate appeal. I think there needs to be a process, that process, we're going straight to the Supreme Court, it's not so much unique, but it's not done so often.

And I think that if we're going to say that President Trump is -- former President Trump is like every other person, then treat him that way. I think it gets really more confidence, and integrity in the system when you go through the requisite steps. And so, we know the D.C. Circuit Court, that's the appellate court, is

evaluating immunity decision. It's expedited. So, we'll hear oral arguments in January. And quite frankly, that's why it should be.

And so, we'll see what the Supreme Court does thereafter. Because you know, Kate, that's exactly where it's going in terms of the losing party.

[09:25:00]

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Thank you, Joey, for coming and merry Christmas.

JACKSON: Merry Christmas. Thanks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank you.

SIDNER: All right. The chances of this happening is one in two billion. An Alabama woman who already had two uteruses, which is quite rare in and of itself, just gave birth to twins. Meet her miracles, ahead.

But first, the desperation building in Gaza, after Palestinian officials say dozens of people were killed in a round of intense airstrikes, new images of the destruction are coming up.

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SIDNER: To Gaza now, where Hamas says an Israeli strike killed at least 70 people at a refugee camp on Sunday.

[09:30:03]