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NY Times: Following Congressional Testimony And Plagiarism Allegations, Pressure Growing On Harvard Board; Israel-Hamas War; Israeli Prime Minister Interrupted In His Address By Hostage Families; Demonstrators Storm Belgrade City Hall In Protest; Blizzard Warnings Issued For 725,000 Residents In Central Plains; Groundbreaking Surgery Helps Girl Find Her Voice; Top 10 Political Stories Of 2023. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired December 25, 2023 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Pressure is continuing to mount on Harvard University's governing body. All of it in response to Harvard University President, Claudine Gay's Congressional testimony and her ensuing plagiarism scandal. New reporting from "The New York Times" says, two members of the Harvard Corporation met with current and former faculty and faced, "A grilling" on how the board is handling the controversies.
CNN's Polo Sandoval is joining us now. And, Polo, what more can you tell us about this meeting between faculty and then the members of this Harvard corporation?
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Jessica, you remember that in early December, Harvard issued a statement fully supporting University President Claudine Gay in the face of these calls for resignation that you just mentioned. But now this "New York Times" reporting revealing that there is certainly at least further pressure on board members about Gay's fate.
According to this "New York Times" article, two members of the school's governing board, the so-called Harvard Corporation, they met privately at a Cambridge restaurant with current and former faculty members. They, "Faced a grilling," according to the report. So, at that Tuesday dinner, board members, Tracy Palandjian and Paul Finnegan were reportedly told that they had to do more to face the controversy that's looming over Harvard.
"The Times" quotes Jeff Flier, who's actually the former Harvard med school dean, is saying, "You need to be more out front of this. If people are saying the university is making mistakes, they are talking about you." I should note that my colleague, Nikki Brown, has been able to actually confirm that quote directly with Flier.
But also, "The Times" also reporting that Palandjian shared with the group that replacing Gay might not be enough to get the Ivy League school back on course. What she called generational change, as she described it, would be needed, according to this article.
Now, the publication is also quoting a Harvard spokesman describing the dinner as constructive and productive conversation about the importance of academic freedom, civil discourse and intellectual diversity. And the spokesman adding that the discussion about the so- called generational change occurred in that context. So, that's certainly important here.
Now, Finnegan confirms a meeting did happen to CNN but referred us to other people that he says participated in that meeting. So, we're in the process of those reach outs. Additionally, CNN has reached out directly to a Harvard spokesperson as well as Palandjian for comment.
But remember, Jessica, this all comes as donors of the Ivy League school either have severed ties or have threatened to do so until the university ensures that Jewish students feel safe. And then on top of that, you mentioned the plagiarism controversy in your lead, Jessica, that is still swirling around Gay, who still enjoys support from various institutions at Harvard. So, it's certainly not the end of this, and after the holiday break, it is absolutely going to be one to watch.
DEAN: Yes, more to come on that. Polo Sandoval for us. Thanks so much for that update.
Let's turn now to some other headlines we're watching this hour. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was interrupted by hostage family members during a speech to the Knesset. The family members of the hostages holding posters and signs, you see there, with the photos and the names of their loved ones. Some of the signs that family members held up said, "We trust you to bring them home," and "80 days, each minute is like hell."
Meantime, Netanyahu had just returned from visiting Israeli soldiers in Gaza. And he said a commander on the ground told him the troops need more time to complete their operation. The prime minister also told his fellow party members it will be a long fight, "And it's not close to ending."
In Serbia, thousands of anti-government protesters trying to storm the Belgrade City Hall. Protesters using flagpoles and rocks to break the windows of the building. They say, the government manipulated the election, which was won by the ruling party. At least 35 people were arrested. Police used riot shields and tear gas to bring that situation under control.
And back here in the U.S. to the Central Plains, where it really is a white Christmas, but heavy snowfall, strong winds, and icy conditions are threatening travel there. More than 725,000 people across Nebraska, South Dakota, and parts of Colorado are now under blizzard warnings.
Still to come this afternoon, she was born with a rare condition that left her unable to speak until now. How surgeons helped this little girl find her voice.
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DEAN: Well, how's this for a Christmas present? A nine-year-old girl born with a rare condition that left her unable to speak. But a complicated procedure is helping this young girl now find her voice for the very first time. CNN's Meg Tirrell has more.
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LUCERO DIAZ, DELAYZA DIAZ'S MOTHER: You want one scoop or two scoops?
DELAYZA DIAZ, BORN WITH RARE CONDITION: One scoop.
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nine-year-old Delayza Diaz is practicing how to use her new vocal cords. Delayza was born with a rare disorder called VACTERL association, which can cause problems throughout the body. Derek Lam, her doctor at Oregon Health and Science University, showed us with this model.
DR. DEREK LAM, OREGON HEALTH AND SCIENCE UNIVERSITY AND DELAYZA'S DOCTOR: This whole area from here to here, including just below the vocal cords in Delayza was not formed normally. The vocal cords were present, but there was just no opening between them.
TIRRELL (voice-over): Delayza learned to communicate using her tongue and cheeks to make sounds and form words known as buccal speech.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you say, mama?
D. DIAZ: Mama.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Say, thank you.
DR. LAM: She was thriving like any other little girl. Except, of course, that she had no voice through any of that time.
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TIRRELL (voice-over): But last year, Delayza and her family decided to go ahead with a complex and rare reconstructive surgery to open her vocal cords. Her mom, Lucero, was nervous.
L. DIAZ: I thought she wasn't ready yet, but she was.
TIRRELL (voice-over): The surgery took eight hours.
DR. LAM: The bottom part of the voice box and the top of the windpipe had to cut that part out, and then drill out the opening between the vocal cords here and then add more cartilage in borrowed from her ribs to make this part wider, and then connect up the bottom part of her windpipe to the reconstructed voice box.
TIRRELL (voice-over): Delayza wasn't able to speak with her vocal cords right away. But after months of therapy, her new voice emerged. D. Diaz: Love you, Bubba.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's great.
DR. LAM: That's fantastic. I think that's the first time I've heard you say a sentence with your normal voice.
TIRRELL (voice-over): Delayza is working hard to improve her voice.
L. DIAZ: Can you say, E?
D. DIAZ: E.
L. DIAZ: O.
D. DIAZ: O.
DR. LAM: It's something that for the rest of us is unconscious. For her, she's had to learn to use her vocal cords.
TIRRELL (voice-over): And she still often uses what she and her mom call her squeaky voice because it's easier.
L. DIAZ: You have to do 20 drops.
D. DIAZ: 20
L. DIAZ: 20.
TIRRELL (voice-over): Though she's been through a lot, Delayza has a message for other kids who may be facing challenges.
L. DIAZ: Oh, she -- Delayza said, don't be scared. That everything's going to be OK.
TIRRELL (voice-over): After years without working vocal cords, she can now use hers to say some of the most important things.
D. DIAZ: I love you.
L. DIAZ: I love you too.
TIRRELL (voice-over): Meg Tirrell, CNN reporting.
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DEAN: An amazing story. Meg Tirrell, thanks so much for bringing that to us.
Well, 2024 has the presidential election, but 2023 did not lack for political drama, that's for sure. Straight ahead, we're counting down the top 10 political stories of 2023.
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[14:45:55] DEAN: While 2024 may have the presidential election, 2023 certainly didn't lack for political drama, there was plenty, from allegations of corruption to a seemingly endless fight over the House Speaker's gavel. There were lots of stories for political fans. Here's CNN's Eva McKend with the top 10 political stories of the year.
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EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: When it comes to the top 10 political stories of 2023, this was another big year with unprecedented chaos in Washington, courtroom spectacles, and accusations of brazen corruption.
MCKEND (voice-over): At number 10, Senator Bob Menendez faces corruption related charges.
MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR, INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY AND CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But you're being accused of aiding a foreign government, why is it appropriate for you to go into a classified briefing?
SEN. BOB MENENDEZ (D-NJ): Bottom line is, I'm a United States Senator. I have my security credentials and an accusation is just that. It's not proof of anything.
MCKEND (voice-over): Menendez and his wife are accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, including gold bars, cash, and a luxury vehicle in exchange for the senator's influence. The indictment led Menendez to step aside as chair of the powerful Foreign Relations Committee. But the New Jersey Democrat and his wife maintain their innocence and have pleaded not guilty. He has pledged to remain in his seat despite calls from many lawmakers to resign, including from some of his fellow Senate Democrats.
At number nine, a moving tribute to Rosalynn Carter, the former first lady, humanitarian and mental health advocate. Former President Jimmy Carter emerges from hospice care to attend a public memorial service, paying tribute to his late wife, which also brought together the First Ladies Club. The Carters became internationally known for their humanitarian work after Carter's stinging presidential defeat in 1980. They have the longest marriage in presidential history at 77 years.
MCKEND: Number eight, Hunter Biden's high stakes plea agreement with federal prosecutors falls apart.
ABBE LOWELL, HUNTER BIDEN'S ATTORNEY: The prosecutors who came forward to us and were the ones to say, can there be a resolution short of a prosecution?
MCKEND (voice-over): Now, he's facing three federal firearms charges and nine new tax charges. The case could pose another challenge to President Joe Biden's reelection bid with House Republicans also investigating the president's son and pursuing an impeachment inquiry into the Democratic incumbent. So far, the GOP-led probe has struggled to uncover wrongdoing by the president. HUNTER BIDEN, PRESIDENT BIDEN'S SON: I'm here today to make sure that the House Committee's illegitimate investigations of my family do not proceed on distortions, manipulated evidence, and lies.
MCKEND (voice-over): Number seven. Foreign wars create political fractures at home, from the halls of Congress to college campuses. President Biden calling on Americans to unite behind Israel and Ukraine in their respective conflicts.
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: American leadership is what holds the world together. American alliance is what keep us, America, safe.
MCKEND (voice-over): But the president facing skepticism from Republicans on providing more aid to Ukraine.
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH): Republicans disagree amongst themselves about exactly how we should respond to the Ukraine question.
MCKEND (voice-over): And pressure from some in the progressive wing of Biden's own party over Israel.
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB (D-MI): President Biden, not all America's with you on this one. And you need to wake up and understand that.
MCKEND (voice-over): Number six. The Republican race for the White House takes shape.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND U.S REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to win the Iowa caucuses. So, that should be --
MCKEND (voice-over): Donald Trump closes out the year as the commanding front-runner for the GOP nomination as his rivals battle to emerge as the leading alternative to the former president.
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After entering the race as the top threat to Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's rise was slowed amid a shaky campaign launch in a series of campaign resets.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL), U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to have this debate in Iowa before the caucus. I will be there. Donald Trump should be there.
MCKEND (voice-over): Meanwhile, Former South Carolina Governor, Nikki Haley, gained momentum late in the year after several strong debate performances.
NIKKI HALEY, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Where have you all been?
MCKEND (voice-over): Amid Trump's dominance, several GOP hopefuls dropped out before the calendar turned to 2024, including Former Vice President Mike Pence, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum. Number five, the potency of abortion rights in a post-Roe America. More than a year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade, abortion rights proved to be a galvanizing issue for Democrats.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want to protect abortion access.
MCKEND (voice-over): Helping deliver victories for Democratic candidates in off-year elections in Virginia and deep red Kentucky, and voters in Ohio passing a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We did it.
MCKEND (voice-over): Number four, President Joe Biden announces his reelection bid, facing significant political headwinds and setting up a potential rematch with Donald Trump.
J. BIDEN: It is time to finish the job. Finish the job.
CROWD: Four more years. Four more years. Four more years.
MCKEND (voice-over): Biden's bid for a second term is imperiled by stubbornly low approval ratings and persistent questions about his age. His campaign leaning on his legislative record and drawing a contrast with his 2020 rival.
J. BIDEN: There's an extremist movement who does not share the basic beliefs in our democracy, the MAGA Movement.
MCKEND (voice-over): Despite weariness from some Democrats, Biden is expected to face little resistance in winning the party's nomination in 2024, drawing long shot challenges from Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips and author Marianne Williamson. Several third-party candidates have also announced, including Robert Kennedy Jr. and Progressive scholar, Cornel West, who could turn into wild cards in the general election.
MCKEND: Number three, embattled congressman George Santos expelled.
REP. GEORGE SANTOS (R-NY): I don't care.
MCKEND (voice-over): The U.S. House voted to expel the New York Republican after a scathing ethics report in a year-long swirl of controversy about Santos's litany of lies. Santos becomes just the sixth member in history to be expelled from Congress, and the third since the Civil War.
SANTOS: Why would I want to stay here? The hell with this place.
MCKEND (voice-over): After winning a battleground House district, major pieces of Santos biography fell apart, including his claims around his education, professional experience and family background. Santos was later indicted on federal charges, including wire fraud and money laundering, but pleaded not guilty and has denied the allegations.
SANTOS: And I'm not really commenting on the ongoing investigation.
MCKEND (END VIDEO CLIP): Santos reemerged soon after being removed from office on the celebrity video message site Cameo.
SANTOS: Well, happy, happy birthday.
MCKEND (voice-over): Number two, Kevin McCarthy becomes the first house speaker removed from the post. McCarthy's ouster came 10 months after he claimed the gavel, following a floor fight that went five days and took 15 rounds of voting that divided the GOP and saw the California Republican bend to a series of concessions to hardline conservatives. In the end, eight House Republicans joined with Democrats to depose McCarthy.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), FMR. U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: It's frustrating because it's just a few, these eight working with all the Democrats, to ruin the reputation of the Republicans.
MCKEND (voice-over): The move sparked weeks of chaos and infighting among House Republicans as they struggled to coalesce around a successor before ultimately voting to elevate little known Louisiana Congressman Mike Johnson as the new speaker.
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: I want to thank you all for the trust that you have instilled in me.
MCKEND (voice-over): Number one, the country's 45th president and leading Republican presidential candidate becomes the first former president to face criminal charges.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND U.S REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I won't be able to go to Iowa today. I won't be able to go to New Hampshire today because I'm sitting in a courtroom.
MCKEND (voice-over): Trump is facing 91 criminal counts, ranging from conspiracy to obstruct justice, to racketeering across four separate jurisdictions in New York, Washington, D.C., Georgia, and Florida.
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Trump denying all those accusations.
JACK SMITH, SPECIAL COUNSEL PROSECUTING DONALD TRUMP: An indictment was unsealed charging Donald J. Trump with conspiring to defraud the United States, conspiring to disenfranchise voters, and conspiring and attempting to obstruct an official proceeding.
FANI WILLIS, FULTON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The defendants engaged in a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn Georgia's presidential election result.
MCKEND (voice-over): The Fulton County, Georgia indictment resulting in this historic image, the first mugshot of a former U.S. president. The former president regularly turning his courtroom appearances into campaign style events.
TRUMP: This is a witch hunt, the likes of which probably nobody has ever seen.
MCKEND: In a preview of 2024, when the political and legal calendars are set to collide. Eva McKend, CNN, Washington.
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DEAN: Eva, thank you. Two weeks after disappearing while in a Russian prison, Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has been located at a penal colony in Siberia. Ahead, why that's not good news for him. This is "CNN News Central".
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