Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

FBI Investigating Threats Against Justices in Trump Case; U.S Strikes Back After American Troops Attacked; Donald Trump's Christmas Message to Foes, Rot in Hell. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired December 26, 2023 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: New for you this morning, the FBI is investigating reported threats against state Supreme Court justices in Colorado who recently ruled against Donald Trump. The disturbing trend continuing as Donald Trump is unleashing a very long new rant.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. retaliates in Iraq. Airstrikes after American troops are injured in a drone attack there. A new escalation as the October 7th terror attack and Israel's war on Hamas heighten tensions even more in the region.

Overwhelmed and out of room, migrants in Texas now being bused by the hundreds each and every day as border cities are grappling with the ongoing crisis.

I'm Sara Sidner with Kate Bolduan. Our John Berman got to sleep in, but he's working late tonight and we miss him so much.

BOLDUAN: He never sleeps.

SIDNER: He never sleeps.

This is CNN News Central.

SIDNER: The FBI is now taking new action in their fight against a disturbing pattern of violent rhetoric, including Donald Trump's legal matters. Federal investigators tell CNN they are joining forces with local authorities in Colorado now. This is after a series of reported threats were made against the state's Supreme Court justices who recently ruled to remove Donald Trump from the 2024 GOP primary ballot in Colorado, saying that he was part of an insurrection.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz joins us now. Katelyn, what are you hearing about these threats? How specific they are and what the FBI is saying about all of this?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Sara, there was an incident last Thursday. So, the ruling from these justices in the Colorado Supreme Court to remove Donald Trump from the primary ballot because of his insurrection participation in 2020-'21, that ruling came on Tuesday, and then on Thursday, the Denver police did have to respond to what they said was a hoax report at one of the justices' residences.

And so from then, there has also been generally law enforcement looking into the discussion about these justices on online forums, particularly some general discussion among extremists and people who are pro-Trump talking about them.

No specific threats to the justices in those forums, from what we understand, but a general violent discourse, something that has been on the rise online, especially through the Trump years and after and especially when there are political cases like these. So, the FBI is now coming in and they say, through a spokesperson, the

FBI is aware of the situation and working with law enforcement. We will vigorously pursue investigations of any threat or use of violence committed by someone who uses extremist views to justify their actions regardless of motivation.

And this comes just a couple weeks or days after the Justice Department was out there publicly saying that there has been truly an unprecedented rise in the amount of violent rhetoric, especially toward public officials.

And we have seen this year many, many threats and arrests of people making threats toward federal judges, toward Supreme Court justices, toward judges involved in Trump cases as well as election workers and members of Congress. Sara?

SIDNER: Thank you so much, Katelyn Polantz, for your reporting on all of this.

Let's discuss this now and more with CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller. John, when you hear Katelyn's reporting about what we know so far, what sort of stands out to you about this and the fact that we seem to be seeing this sort of thing more now?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, we're seeing the threat stream light up with this kind of vitriol because of a couple of factors. One, there's what you could call the Trump factor, which is he goes and makes very personal attacks against judges who rule against him, which pours gasoline on the fire within the chat rooms where a lot of this threatening language is being discussed.

[10:05:00]

The other factor is simply the anonymity offered by internet platforms, where people go by screen names or handles. One of the things that the FBI really brings to this case is their ability to take something that, under the law, would be considered an illegal threat, which is more than angry talk. It's a threat to commit an act of violence against a public official for doing their job and trace that back to an individual because of the bureau's technical abilities.

SIDNER: I'm curious though how difficult that is because there's just so many people out there using pseudonyms and doing -- I mean this takes a lot of work, does it not, to try to get down to the brass stacks of exactly who is making the threat.

MILLER: Well, it can be done. When I was in the Intelligence Bureau of the NYPD, we had the threat assessment unit. We had very good technical people who could get behind those anonymous postings to the people, to the I.P. address, to the residents. We would go and interview them.

Sara, the real problem here is making a case. And if you say, I want the four judges who voted against Trump in this decision to die, and I want them to die soon, under the law, that may not be considered a threat. It's all about context. On the other hand, if you said, I am going to the judges' houses to kill them, that would be a threat under the law.

So, a lot of this has to do with going out, finding the people if you can, interviewing them, doing an assessment. Is this person dangerous? But remember what we live through. This is a two-way street. We had a man with weapons show up at a Supreme Court justice, Brett Kavanaugh's house, with a plot to do harm to him. We had a home invasion at Nancy Pelosi's house. Esther Salas, a judge, a federal judge out of Newark in New Jersey, had a man come to her house to kill her, who instead killed her son and wounded her husband.

So, when you get behind all of the vitriol and the online language, there is a reality here. Threats against U.S. federal judges are up 100 percent over the last few years, and the U.S. Marshals investigated 4,500 of them last year that they considered serious enough to merit attention.

SIDNER: We're in a really difficult spot, and the more vitriol we see, the more potential violence there is.

John Miller, thank you so much. And one day maybe you'll invite me to that cozy little nook there. It looks nice. I appreciate you coming on.

MILLER: It's all work all the time. That's my story.

SIDNER: Thank you John.

BOLDUAN: Top secret location for John Miller.

We're also learning this morning about a number of airstrikes carried out by the U.S. military in Iraq. It's retaliation after Iran-backed militants attacked U.S. soldiers. They're critically wounding at least one.

Now, President Biden, we've learned, ordered the strikes on three locations connected to Kataib Hezbollah, the Iran-aligned militant group. Iraq is now calling the U.S. strikes hostile acts.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand has more on this for us. She's joining us now.

Natasha, what are you learning now about these strikes?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Well, Kate, President Biden ordered these strikes yesterday in response to this attack by the Shia militia group that is backed by Iran, Kataib Hezbollah, in Iraq against Erbil Airbase, where U.S. forces are stationed and three U.S. troops were actually injured in this attack, one critically, which is really an escalation from previous attacks that we have seen from this group and from other Iran-backed groups, which have led to some injuries among U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, but most of them, if not all of them, have been pretty minor.

So, the U.S. clearly felt that it had to respond to this attack yesterday. And around 8:45 P.M. Eastern Time last night, the U.S. did conduct these three airstrikes on three facilities in Iraq that destroyed, they say, some of the infrastructure that this group was using to carry out these attacks, including to launch drones against U.S. and coalition bases in the area.

And this is not the first time, we should note, that the U.S. has launched airstrikes against targets inside Iraq, and it has also led previously to condemnation from Iraqi government officials previously saying that it is a violation of sovereignty. But the U.S. really emphasizing here that they are going to do everything that they can to try to degrade these groups so that they cannot continue to launch these kinds of strikes on American and coalition bases in Iraq and Syria.

We should just note here that there have been over a hundred such attacks against U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria just since October 17th. They have been near daily attacks. And in a statement, the White House said last night that, quote, the president places no higher priority than the protection of American personnel serving in harm's way. The United States will act at a time and in a manner of our choosing should these attacks continue.

Now, the U.S. government has been urging the Iraqi government to take more action against these militant groups, but, clearly, the U.S. felt like it had to take matters into its own hands for the second time in just over a month, Kate.

[10:10:08]

BOLDUAN: Yes, Natasha, thanks for putting it all together for us. I appreciate it very much.

Joining us now for more on this is retired U.S. Army Major Mike Lyons. Major, thanks for coming in.

So, the defense secretary called the strikes necessary and proportionate. What do you see in this attack, though, from this Iran- backed group in Iraq?

MAJ. MIKE LYONS (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Well, it's the first time we've seen them admit that it was a critical injury to a soldier. And I think this is where this situation is escalating. I think you've got to look at the tactical situation on the ground.

How does an airbase not have air defenses against the suicide drone attack? So, I think if you're the commander on the ground there, the first thing you want to do is to get those kind of defenses in there to protect U.S. forces, because it must have been very surgical if they knew where these Americans were on that base.

Now, you flip the switch, go back to where the attacks, the attacks that we made back on them were their facilities again, the logistics, their capabilities of launching these drone attacks. They were more in Central Iraq too. They weren't anywhere near that airbase.

I would argue that we're playing whack-a-mole here, that we've got to go after these troop formations and the leadership. We're going after logistics again, and those logistics can be easily resupplied by the Iranians, which is what they'll likely do.

BOLDUAN: And look at it also from tactical to kind of the strategic purpose is of deterrence. I mean, what is this showing you about the deterrence efforts? Do you think that the threat here is increasing despite the deterrence efforts that have been in place so far?

LYONS: I think it is. I don't think our deterrence has been anything that's allowed the Iranians to recognize that we're serious about this. And especially attacking troops, I heard Natasha say, over 100 attacks since October 7th, I think over 69 service members injured.

This group in particular has killed service members in the past. Go back to 2020. They have that on their hands already.

So, the deterrence is still not there and I get the proportionality piece of it. They don't want things to escalate. But I don't think that's the situation on the ground. It is escalating and the Iranians are doing just that.

BOLDUAN: And put it all together with what we've been talking a lot about, which is the attacks on ships in the Red Sea, now in the Indian Ocean. We're seeing some from the Houthi rebels.

Last week, this past week, the U.S., in the face of all of this, launched what they've called Operation Prosperity Guardian. And the whole point is an international maritime coalition. It's aimed at stepping up security, acting as deterrence in another way. What's the impact this is going to have?

LYONS: Yes. Kate, it's all connected. And the fact that the Navy is not protecting some of those maritime passageways in the Red Sea, if the Suez Canal shuts down, Egypt gets hurt, the economic impact --

BOLDUAN: I mean, there were pauses that caused real fallout.

LYONS: Yes. We still believe that our deterrence is more on our projection of power instead of the actual power itself. And I think where this is all connected is the fact that the United States has got to fight this war, so to speak, in Iraq, in Syria. You saw the Israelis attack on a commander inside a Damascus area itself there. It is all connected, but it just still doesn't seem either the Houthis and the Iranians feel that the American deterrence is enough that they'll just continue to plot along this way and continue to threaten our forces there. BOLDUAN: Yes. It's good to see you. Thanks for putting it together. Thanks, Major.

SIDNER: And coming up, it's a Christmas message like no other from a former president, his words, rot in hell. Again, he says, though, Merry Christmas. Donald Trump railing against President Biden and other political foes in a series of really angry posts.

We'll go live also in just a bit to Eagle Pass, Texas, where local officials say the surging migrant crisis is straining their resources to the max. What they're trying to do about it, coming up.

And after several anti-Semitic posts and comments, Rapper Kanye West is apologizing, finally, to the Jewish community this morning. We'll talk about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:15:00]

SIDNER: Most political figures marked the Christmas holiday with messages of peace and well wishes for the New Year, but not Donald Trump, no. The former president took to social media to rant against his foes. He went hard, you guys. Saying at the end, quote, may his foes rot in hell, again, Merry Christmas.

Here are just some of the people on Trump's naughty list. Apparently, President Joe Biden, Special Counsel Jack Smith, Nancy Pelosi, and even electric car owners.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is following this for us this morning. I'm sorry, I'm laughing because this is the grinchiest, rantiest airing of grievances that I have ever seen, and it's actually pretty well done if -- you know, if you're in that sort of angry sort of Christmas mood. What does this tell you about what's going to happen going forward in this election? Is this just a harbinger of what's to come?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Sara. I mean, this is completely on brand for Donald Trump. These are the kind of messages he has always issued on holidays. He has always lashed out at his foes. He's painted himself as a victim, and there was no change in that here.

But it is really a preview of what we are likely to see in a very divisive election for the next year, particularly if Donald Trump is the nominee. These personal attacks on Joe Biden, talking about how these legal cases are all election interference, trying to paint it all as political.

And the other point I want to make here is that Donald Trump, despite any sort of public pressure on his inflamed rhetoric, does not feel any political pressure to change his messaging. If you look at the poll numbers, which is what Donald Trump and his allies, his campaign team are doing, as he continues to rant, have these aggressive anti- immigration comments, say things that normal candidates would receive an enormous amount of backlash for, instead, his poll numbers are going up. So, that messaging is going to continue.

Now, as you said, it was a particularly prolific Christmas on social media, that one in particular, saying that his foes should rot in hell. He, again, wishing a Merry Christmas after that, to make sure that Christmas message still got out there. But this is very different from any world leaders that we saw beside him, saying they were calling for peace in a time of war.

[10:20:05]

But this is really who Donald Trump is.

And one other thing to point out is, really, these comments are coming as we're seeing a ramp-up not only in the election, but in all of his multiple court cases. They are still expecting at least one of these trials to begin before the 2024 election.

And while Donald Trump thinks he has had a series of, of wins recently, particularly given that January 6th election interference case, the federal case where Judge Chutkan put a pause on this case while the presidential immunity portion was being figured out, they still are really engaged in all of these various legal battles. There are motions to file, and Donald Trump is part of much of that. And that's why you're seeing so much of this increased anger as well.

SIDNER: Yes, everything about that says stress to me, but that's just me.

Kristen Holmes, thank you so much for all your reporting.

BOLDUAN: Joining us now, CNN Political Commentator, former White House Communications Director for Donald Trump Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Josh Dawsey, political investigations and enterprise reporter for The Washington Post, with a double Christmas tree, which is bringing it on a whole new level, Joshua.

All right, let's start here. Alyssa, what do you see in those Trump Christmas Day messages?

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, just a merry spirit, a joyful spirit. Listen, it's kind of vintage Donald Trump. He's known for these kind of unhinged holiday rants. And then he follows up with a clip of him on Home Alone, in Home Alone 2. Listen, it shows that Jack Smith lives in his head in a very big way. He's very concerned about the DOJ investigation into the events around January 6th.

This is the driving force behind his political campaign. As much as his campaign advisers would want it to be the economy, jobs, foreign policy, he keeps going back to the fact that he honestly is worried that he will end up in jail. He needs to get elected president to pardon himself. So, kind of the true colors are showing when he makes it all about Jack Smith and then puts a bow on it with the old rot in hell at the end.

BOLDUAN: Josh, the thing I keep focusing in on reading this is that he's still going after Obamacare. I mean, we know what the polling says. We know where a majority of the American public is when it comes to Obamacare. What does Trump see that it seems no one else does here in continuing to attack Obamacare, do you think?

JOSH DAWSEY, POLITICAL INVESTIGATIONS AND ENTERPRISE REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Well, it's important to his base, but it's also one of the failures of his first term in office, right? I mean, he said he was going to repeal and replace it. You remember the famous John McCain thumbs down vote? I mean, it's a place where a lot of folks on the right have said that his first term in office did not repeal and replace Obamacare. And it's something that he still, I think, feels personally stung by losing that vote in the first term in office to not be able to repeal Obamacare.

BOLDUAN: Alyssa, Kristen Holmes, as she was saying, that Donald Trump admits all of this. Donald Trump does not feel political pressure to change his rhetoric. There would be no need to, when you see the polling that is out there.

I want to play you, though, some analysis from Ron Brownstein, kind of putting it all together this morning. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: By normal political metrics, you would say a president at 40 percent approval is in serious trouble, and there is trouble for Biden. But Trump, I think, responding to all of this, is putting forward an agenda that is so polarizing and so extreme, from repealing the ACA, to internment camps, to his threats about weaponizing the Justice Department, that he is providing Biden a potential path that even if there is a majority that is not necessarily affirmatively excited about giving Biden four more years, there very well may be a majority, as there were in many places, in most places in 1820 and '22, that do not want to live under the vision of America that Trump is putting forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Do you see that?

GRIFFIN: I think Ron is spot on. Listen, the Biden campaign shouldn't take that for granted, by the way, just the lesser of two evils, because you still have to energize people and you have to turn them out. And if people don't like either options, they will forego voting.

But I think this is a moment where we're still in a primary season. The juxtaposition in my party, we should think about the fact that there are next generation options that we have. Not a single vote has technically been cast yet. And we're very much careening into running somebody who will likely lose head to head to Joe Biden only because he cannot get out of his own way.

The messaging, the rhetoric, the extremist policies, we're not really litigating a lot of what he's laid out for a second term agenda yet. But, I mean, he's literally talking, as he said, internment camps, mass deportations, punishing former staffers, things that just are un- American. And that's going to be much more difficult in a general election.

BOLDUAN: Let's talk about one of those next generation options, Josh. On Friday, the pro-DeSantis super PAC canceled T.V. ad buys in Iowa and New Hampshire in order to shift the focus to bolstering ground game. And then you have The New York Times reporting, this from one of his closest advisers, saying that he's privately said to multiple people that they are now at the point in the campaign where they need to make the patient comfortable, a phrase evoking hospice care. The campaign and this close adviser both put out statements denying that this was said.

[10:25:03]

You've done some great reporting on the DeSantis campaign. Is his campaign as much on life support as people are reporting?

DAWSEY: Well, it's certainly been a campaign of calamities. I mean, the super PAC has had maybe six or seven different top officials quit, resign or be fired in the last couple of months. It's usually not a sign that the campaign is going well. It's been sort of pockmarked by series of awkward encounters with the voters where he doesn't seem to be catching fire.

I mean, if you talk to DeSantis allies and advisers, they say he's seen all 99 counties in Iowa. He's doing the groundwork. He's going to have a better showing than people think, but none of the polls show that yet, for sure.

And all of the signs that I talk to in folks in the Republican Party, and I think The New York Times and others have seen, is that people are sort of getting off the boat or preparing to get off the boat or looking for other alternatives because this just has not really become anything. I mean, you know, a lot of donors looking to Nikki Haley or looking to other alternatives on the Republican Party. You don't see a lot of enthusiasm for him.

I mean, 2023, he entered, you know, winning the governorship in Florida by almost 20. You know, Trump had had a disappointing showing in the midterms with a lot of the candidates he endorsed losing. He then had dinner with Nick Fuentes, a white supremacist. A lot of folks thought DeSantis had a chance in that moment to knock Donald Trump off, but that just has not happened.

And a lot of the things that have happened over the past year have put Trump back as the leader of the Republican Party, if he was ever gone, and DeSantis in really rough shape.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And now, soon, we can stop analyzing. We can start let the voters vote, because caucuses are now just days away. So, it's great to see you guys. Thank you so much.

SIDNER: Josh with that double tree made everything better.

Anyway, tomorrow the nation's top diplomat heads to Mexico for talks on the ongoing migrant surge. You are seeing those pictures there as local law enforcement officials in American border towns are begging for help dealing with an overwhelming wave of human beings.

And the latest Apple Watch, by the way, officially banned in the United States. But Apple fighting back this morning after the White House declined to help keep them on store shelves. So let's explain what that's all about, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:30:00]