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Lawyer: Putin Critic Navalny "Doing Well" In Siberian Prison; Thousands Of Migrants Join Caravan Headed For U.S.; Pentagon: Iranian Attack Drone Strikes Chemical Tanker; City Of Bethlehem Cancels Christmas Festivities Amid War; Weather Causes Disruptions At Midway Airport. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired December 25, 2023 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:00:58]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Alexey Navalny found, the jailed Russian opposition leader who had been missing for two weeks suddenly turns up. We'll show you where he is and what his legal team is saying about the Siberian penal colony where the Kremlin is now keeping him.

Plus, a new caravan of migrants has just started to make its way toward the southern U.S. border. This as Secretary of State Tony Blinken heads to Mexico City to address the surge. We'll take you live to the border.

Plus, a new report showing Americans are skipping their use of popular weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy in order to indulge in their holiday favorites. We'll talk with an expert on whether that's a good idea.

We're following these major developing stories and many more. It's all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

Vladimir Putin's most famous critic has been found alive in a Siberian prison. This follows two weeks of uncertainties surrounding the jailed opposition leader's whereabouts. He missed two scheduled court appearances last week, but a spokesman says Navalny's lawyer saw him at the remote penal colony today and that he's doing "quite well."

Known as the Polar Wolf, the prison is some 2,000 miles from where Navalny had been held before. His years-long protest of Putin was the subject of a CNN film and HBO Max documentary that won an Oscar this year.

CNN's Nada Bashir has the latest now from London.

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, news of Alexey Navalny's whereabouts has come as a huge relief after his legal team lost contact with the jailed Kremlin critic more than two weeks ago. But there is still deep concern over the situation he now faces after he was located on Monday at a penal colony in northwestern Siberia, described as the Polar Wolf colony. Now, in a statement on Monday, the director of Navalny's Anti- Corruption Foundation said that Navalny's lawyer had been able to visit him at the penal colony, adding that this particular colony is one of the most remote, with conditions known to be harsh and restricted contact with detainees.

Navalny was sentenced back in August of this year to 19 years in prison after he was found guilty of extremism-related charges. He'd already been serving sentences of 11 and a half years in a maximum security facility on fraud and other charges and was believed to be held at a penal colony 150 miles east of Moscow until now.

These are charges he and his legal representatives have consistently denied. Supporters believe his arrest and incarceration are a politically motivated attempt to stifle his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Navalny has, of course, posed one of the most serious threats to Putin's legitimacy during his rule, known for organizing anti-government street protests and using his blog and social media to expose alleged corruption in the Kremlin.

His incarceration has drawn widespread international condemnation. The White House earlier this month reiterating its call for Navalny's immediate release.

Nada Bashir, CNN in London.

DEAN: Nada Bashir, thanks so much.

And joining us now is CNN Political and National Security Analyst, David Sanger. He's also White House and National Security Correspondent for The New York Times.

David, thanks for being with us on this Christmas day. Let's talk first about why you think Navalny was moved to the Siberian prison to begin with?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Jessica, first Merry Christmas and thank you for having me.

It's a little bit of a mystery why Navalny was moved and it was pretty typical of the Russians that they wouldn't even tell his defense team where he had been moved to. They had to call around to hundreds of different prisons and detention centers before they found him.

When they did find him, it was up near the Arctic.

[15:05:01]

It's 1,400 miles from Moscow.

His previous incarceration had been an hour and a half from the capital, so his lawyers could get out to see him. This time, the lawyers had to first find him and then travel for a few days by train just to get to him.

So clearly Putin does not want him around as elections approach. There's not a whole lot of mystery about how the election will turn out, but Navalny has a way of attracting protests that certainly Putin does not want to see happen.

DEAN: Right. Does this suggest at all that Putin essentially sees himself as unassailable if he's willing to make this move with Navalny?

SANGER: Pretty remarkable, if you think about it, Jessica, that it was only in June when we saw his other great - Putin's other great antagonist, Prigozhin, marching with his forces, the Wagner Group, toward Moscow, no one really understanding who was going to go stop him.

He did ultimately stop in a deal that was made and, of course, Prigozhin ended up by August dying in a mysterious plane crash that now does not appear to be very mysterious at all. It seems since then that Putin has reconsolidated his power. We thought that he might be damaged in some significant way. Looks like he's emerged from it under - with everything under complete control.

But moving Navalny in some ways almost speaks of a little bit of nervousness, that just even having him an hour or two from Moscow in a maximum security prison wasn't enough.

DEAN: That's very interesting.

And what now for Navalny? We know that he has spoken with his legal team. They're saying he's doing well under the circumstances. But he's so remote, so very far away and really it seems at the mercy of Putin and the Russian government.

SANGER: And he's got a 19-year term. So clearly Putin does not want him anywhere near the ability to go campaign again.

You mentioned that great documentary in CNN and HBO Max had about him. It was a reminder that the Russians tried to kill him, tried to poison him, that when he recovered after being in the hospital here in Germany, where I am now, he then voluntarily flew back to Russia against the advice of many of his advisers, knowing he'd be arrested right away and he has been.

And it does raise the interesting question, would his voice be more powerful free but outside of Russia or incarcerated and inside Russia.

DEAN: But his team does continue to try to really keep him in the spotlight as best they can. I want to ask you before we let you go about Ukraine and the war in Ukraine, because military officials in Kyiv have just requested an additional 500,000 troops.

Here we are at the end of 2023, any aid for Ukraine is currently hung up in Congress. We're not clear how that's going to shake out. Where do you see the war proceeding as we head into this new year there in Ukraine?

SANGER: Well, it's hard to predict, of course, Jessica, but it is certainly pretty evident that we're at a much bleaker place today, this Christmas, than we were Christmas a year ago. A year ago, the Russians had been routed from Kherson and some other Ukrainian cities. There was talk in the West that there could be a rapid victory for Ukraine, that the Russian forces would collapse and, of course, they were getting ready for that spring offensive.

That offensive isn't, in retrospect, gave the Russians time to dig in. The Russians have now poured more people and more armaments at this. The Ukrainians are running low on arms, which is why there was so much urgency about trying to get the congressional aid through.

And clearly in 2024, while it is hard to say how this will all play out, the Ukrainians are going to have to learn how to fight on a budget. It seems unlikely to me that they're going to get the kind of money and aid that they've had for the past two years, even if Congress passes something and that's not a certainty at this point.

DEAN: Right. All right. David Sanger, thanks as always, for your expertise. It's great to see you and Merry Christmas.

SANGER: Great to see you, Merry Christmas.

[15:10:04]

DEAN: Thanks.

And happening right now, thousands of migrants in Mexico are marching toward the U.S. southern border. It is the largest caravan the U.S. has seen in over a year. It may only add to the crisis that's facing border officials. Caravan organizers calling it "the exodus of poverty."

CNN's Rafael Romo is watching what's unfolding in Eagle Pass, Texas and CNN White House Reporter, Priscilla Alvarez is in Washington with the White House response.

Let's go to Texas first.

Rafael, what are you learning about this caravan and the situation where you are?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, it's a group in the thousands, and they departed on Christmas Eve from Tapachula. That's a city at the Mexican border with Guatemala. They have spent most of this Christmas Day advancing on foot towards their ultimate goal, which is here, the United States. The distance they must cover is nearly 1,400 miles.

So it's probably going to take weeks, considering that they can only go so fast. But make no mistake about it. This means this new migrant surge that we're seeing here in Eagle Pass is going to go on for much longer.

The problem is that this is a community of less than 30,000 people that is being stretched to the limit due to the amount of resources needed to deal with this challenge in terms of basic needs of the immigrants and security as well. This is what Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber had to say about this great challenge.

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SHERIFF TOM SCHMERBER, MAVERICK COUNTY, TEXAS: On the law enforcement side, we're suffering because we don't have the manpower to take care of what we call the local business, the criminal elements and then the immigration problem. So it's costing us a lot of manpower and, of course, the federal government and the state troops too, they're not here in the river like they're supposed to be. They're processing.

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ROMO: And Jessica, just behind me, you see the migrants being processed by Border Patrol. On Friday, Customs and Border Protection released new figures regarding apprehensions at the U.S. border with Mexico. Officials say during the month of November, more than 242,000 were detained by Border Patrol compared to 235,000 for the same month last year. Jessica, back to you.

DEAN: All right. Rafael Romo for us in Texas.

Let's go now to Priscilla Alvarez, who's at the White House - or I'm sorry in Washington, covering the White House.

Priscilla, we know that senior U.S. officials, including the Secretary of State, are headed to Mexico in the coming days and that President Biden has spoken with Mexico's president. What are you hearing from the White House about what's happening today and what's going to come in the next few days?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Jessica, this has been a top concern for the White House and an issue that officials have had to grapple with under the Biden administration, amid this record migration across the Western Hemisphere. And as you mentioned, the situation has become so dire that President Biden called the Mexican president last week to place pressure on Mexico to do more to stem the flow of migration.

Now, during that call, both leaders agreed that additional enforcement is "urgently needed." But, of course, this is the type of situation the White House was hoping to avoid because border security is not only a political vulnerability for President Biden, it's also a major logistical challenge as the number of people apprehended at the U.S.- Mexico border strains federal resources.

So the president asking senior U.S. officials to visit Mexico this week, they include Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Now, usually when the U.S. and Mexico engage in these talks, there are asks on the table. That has looked in the past like Mexico doing more on its northern border, to help with enforcement, as well as keeping people from moving through Mexico to get to the U.S. southern border, for example, this caravan.

Now, we should note with migrants, as they pass through Central America and Mexico in caravans, they often splinter off. So not all will reach the U.S. southern border, but even those that do create more strain on an already buckling system, Jessica?

DEAN: All right. Priscilla Alvarez for us in Washington, D.C. Thanks so much for that reporting.

Growing fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East, this after another Iranian attack on a commercial ship, this time a chemical ship in the Indian Ocean. We're going to have the latest from the Pentagon.

Plus, airports across the country dealing with millions of passengers every day and we're already seeing delays at some major hubs, what we're hearing from passengers out there.

And speaking of travel chaos, it was a holiday mix-up that sounds like a scene straight out of Home Alone. How a six-year-old made it to his grandmother's for Christmas after getting on the wrong flight.

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DEAN: There are mounting fears of escalating conflict in the Middle East, this after the Pentagon says an Iranian drone struck a commercial ship in the Indian Ocean Saturday. A U.S. defense official says a fire broke out on the chemical tanker with nearly two dozen crew members on board, but no one was hurt in that.

The attack coming as newly declassified U.S. intelligence suggests Iran has been deeply involved in a series of Houthi rebel attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

CNN's Oren Liebermann is joining us now from the Pentagon.

And, Oren, this is the first time the Pentagon has pointed the finger directly at Iran for one of these attacks on commercial shipping. What else are defense officials saying?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: And this is a space to watch specifically because of that reason. The Pentagon and U.S. Central Command pointing the finger directly at Iran, saying it was an Iranian drone launched from Iran itself. They said it was a one-way attack drone, also known as a suicide drone, that attacked the Chem Pluto, a chemical tanker that was operating in the Indian Ocean.

The defense official said says that drone started a fire on board the tanker, but nobody was injured on the crew. It's worth pointing out that this is a Liberian-flagged, Japanese-owned ship that's operated by the Netherlands.

Now, what's noteworthy here is that many of the attacks we've seen in the region over the course of the past month or so, and there have been many of these attacks, have been attributed to the Houthis in Yemen, and they've occurred in the Red Sea against commercial and maritime vessels.

[15:20:05]

This was well-over a thousand miles away in the Indian Ocean, some 200 miles southwest of the west coast of India. That, too, also why it's interesting to watch Iran here. Now, there hasn't been a claim of responsibility yet, as we've seen with the Houthis in the past claiming responsibility, but this is something the U.S. has been very careful of.

U.S. officials have said that Iran was directly involved in the planning and the execution of many of the Houthi attacks against shipping in the Red Sea, and the U.S. has deployed and created a maritime, essentially a task force with other countries to try to address security in the Red Sea, as many shipping companies have decided to avoid the Red Sea altogether and go other routes around Africa, perhaps.

But this is a space to watch if there are more attacks directly from Iran. Jessica, the U.S. has tried very hard not to let this conflict spread, but when you see attacks like this, you see it is an ongoing concern and a major risk as the war in Gaza nears the three-month mark.

DEAN: Absolutely. All right, Oren Liebermann for us, thanks so much for that update. And moments ago, Israeli authorities said 218 humanitarian aid trucks expect - inspected at its crossing points crossed into Gaza today. Meantime, Pope Francis used part of his Christmas Day message to call for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas. The 87-year-old pontiff also demanded the release of the hostages still being held in Gaza.

In the West Bank, the city of Bethlehem carried on with its Christmas Day mass, but without the large crowds of worshipers who normally gather at the biblical birthplace of Jesus.

CNN's Will Ripley has more.

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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Christmas is canceled in Bethlehem. Church bells ring, but no one's listening. The season's magic, missing from Manger Square, along with the Christmas tree and dangling decorations. In the biblical birthplace of Jesus, only sadness fills the air.

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ALI THABET, BETHLEHEM RESIDENT (through translator): My son asked me why there's no Christmas tree this year. I don't know how to explain it.

RIPLEY (on camera): Are you sad?

THABET: Of course. Of course, I'm very sad.

RONY TABASH, THIRD-GENERATION SHOP OWNER: The root of the tree, you see, and we carve it, and it look, the nativity scene. RIPLEY: Beautiful.

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RIPLEY (voice over): Bombs may not be falling here, but everyone feels the fallout.

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TABASH: Since three months, honestly, we don't have one sale. I don't keep want to keep my father at home. Tell him not to give up from hope.

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RIPLEY (voice-over): Hope, is in short supply in Bethlehem. For businesses banking on a busy Christmas, no comfort and joy, only silent nights. The usual crowds, gone. Shops and restaurants, shuttered. The handful still open, empty.

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KHALID BANDAK, TOUR GUIDE: Most of the festivals were canceled, during that - because of the war in Gaza.

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RIPLEY (voice over): Across Bethlehem, red and white warning signs instead of red and green, barbed wire instead of mistletoe, barricades instead of decorations.

Israeli bulldozers left behind piles of rubble, blocking every road in and out. Walls and checkpoints, part of life for Palestinians. This is a new extreme.

Israel blames the blockade on security threats. Palestinians, the U.N., and human rights groups call it collective punishment. Cutting people off from their homes, their loved ones, their livelihoods.

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RIPLEY: When you see it empty like this?

REV. SPIRIDON SAMMOUR, GREEK ORTHODOX NATIVITY CHURCH: I have never seen that here.

RIPLEY: Never seen it this empty?

SAMMOUR: Like this year, no.

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RIPLEY (on camera): The restaurants, the hotels, the shops, the square, emptiness surrounds you here in Bethlehem. Perhaps nowhere do you feel it more than here, the Church of the Nativity.

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SAMMOUR: It's very bad.

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RIPLEY (voice-over): Father Spiridon Sammour has been in Bethlehem since 1970, 54 years. He's never seen a Christmas season like this.

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SAMMOUR: The Christmas is joy, love and peace. We have no peace. We have no joy.

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RIPLEY (voice over): Long lines usually wrap along the basilica. The grotto, always standing room only. Now, you can practically hear a pin drop.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Foreign language).

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RIPLEY (voice over): Priest are still praying; praying for all this madness to end. But these days, only God is listening.

Will Ripley, CNN, Bethlehem.

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DEAN: Will, thank you.

Airports across the country dealing with record travel for the holidays, and also, as you would imagine, some headaches as winter weather, fog, and rain wreak havoc, a lot of details for you.

Plus, the chances of this happening are one in two billion. An Alabama woman with two uteruses just gave birth to twins. You'll meet them ahead.

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DEAN: Foggy conditions in Chicago on Sunday caused delayed flights. Now, travel in the central part of the country is being threatened by blizzard warnings. The wintry weather also adding to the chaos there.

One passenger shared her story of being stranded for three days.

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BRENDA STRAUGHTER, PASSENGER: The luggage downstairs was lined up for at least four blocks full of people trying to get their luggage because they've been canceled Saturday and Sunday, and nobody got their luggage. It's terrible. It's terrible. I'm just - keep - trying to keep a smile, keep a positive outlook to keep from crying.

About me being disabled, I have to pay the wheelchair back and forth for three days.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you said your medication is in the bag (inaudible) ...

STRAUGHTER: All of my medication, then I take two different kind of blood pressure pills and I haven't took them in two days, because they've lost my luggage upstairs.

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DEAN: And I'd like to bring in Sara Nelson, who's the president of the Association of Flight Attendants.

[15:30:02]

Sara, it's great to see you, Merry Christmas. Thanks for coming on this afternoon.