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Russia's Largest Air Attack on Ukraine; Trump Barred from 2024 Ballot in Maine; Fake Elector Scheme Revelations; Israel Expands Military Operations in Gaza; Harvard Faces Plagiarism Scanda. Aired 2- 2:30p ET

Aired December 29, 2023 - 14:00   ET

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

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Russia unleashing its biggest air attack on Ukraine since the start of the invasion. An unprecedented number of drones and missiles fired at targets all across the country. President Biden's reaction here, we cannot let Ukraine down. Plus, a second state removing Trump from the 2024 primary ballot, for now at least. Maine's top election official barring the former president from running for office based on the insurrectionist ban in the Constitution.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: And a monster wave hitting California's coast, triggering flooding, road closures, evacuation warnings, and Ventura, more than a dozen onlookers swept away by the surge you're watching on your screen. We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN. News Central.

KEILAR: Today, President Biden is once again calling on Congress to urgently pass billions of dollars of new aid for Ukraine. And he's pointing to this. Russia launching its largest air attack across Ukraine since it invaded nearly two years ago. Dozens of people are dead. More than 100 are injured from this. Video from the eastern city of Dnipro showing extensive damage to a maternity hospital.

SANCHEZ: Officials say that 12 pregnant, women, and four newborn babies were lucky and unhurt. But had the missile hit any closer and if staff had not responded quickly to air raid siren warnings, there could have been a more significant number of casualties. We want to go to CNN's Nick Robertson now. Nick, walk us through what we're learning about the details behind these attacks.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPOLMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, we know that a number of people were killed in the capital Kiev. We've seen video of a man who had a really lucky escape in the northeastern city of Kharkiv that was struck by multiple surface. A fairly crude and rudimentary system really designed for taking down aircraft. President Zelensky, who was touring the front lines today, said that Russia had thrown pretty much every different type of armament it had.

And I think that, you know, when you look at the map, Lviv in the west getting hit, Odessa in the south, cities in the centre of the country getting hit but then examine and take apart just how Russia perpetrated this attack. It began in the early hours overnight. The Ukrainians, say, first of all, there were 36 Russian drones, the shaheed drones. And this was something a pattern that they've seen before. The drones come in from the north they come in from the from the southeast. But then everything got mixed up.

The Russians put up strategic bombers. They put up long-range bombers. They put up fighter jets in the air. So, there's always multiple, multiple bombs. And this is potential hostile enemy activity around Ukraine. And then Russia starts firing in the missiles, the hypersonic missiles coming from the fighter jets, the strategic bombers launching long range cruise missiles. And then these other strategic bombers, there were 18 of those. Together, they launched 90 cruise missiles, but they've been loitering in the air for hours just to kind of try to overrun, if you will, Ukraine's air defense capabilities.

And of course, that is a potential weakness for Ukraine in the future. You know, can its air defense capabilities, which defend all the civilians in these major cities, can they continue to sustain that if they don't have the support from the West?

KEILAR: And Nick, this new wave of attacks is, you know, this is what the West is pointing to. This is spurring allies to say Ukraine needs more assistance. We're going to give more assistance. What can you tell us about this?

ROBERTSON: Yeah, the British today have said that they're going to contribute more. Surface to air missile systems or air defense missile systems for Ukraine. But, you know, what Ukraine was counting on was the United States with this near $60 billion of finance that would be structured over an extended period of time. The European Union as well, just before Christmas, planning a $55 billion over four year spend on Ukraine. That didn't pass the finish post, just as the billions in the United States didn't get approval required. So, the Ukrainians are now in this position where they don't know if they can count on these missiles coming in the future.

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They need -- Their air defense systems need to know that they can fire every weapon system they need on one night and the next night and the next night because that's the way they keep the population safe. One hundred and fifty-eight missiles fired by the Russians last night. Forty-four of them got through. Imagine if it had been more. There were 114 that were intercepted. But imagine if more of those got through. The death toll would have been much higher. The infrastructure damage much higher. And this is what the Ukrainians are worried about.

SANCHEZ: Nic Robertson, thanks so much for the details. Let's discuss further now with retired U.S. General Wesley Clark. He served as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander. General, thank you so much for being with us.

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: Thanks, Boris.

SANCHEZ: So, General, why do you think Russia would conduct this type of air attack using so much weaponry hitting so many different parts of Ukraine at this point in the war?

CLARK: It's a matter of breaking the will of the West, as well as the will of the Ukrainian people to resist. That's the intent. It's psychological. Maybe there's a material impact as well. I know they hit some factories. They hit some power, tried to hit some power plants. But this is essentially psychological warfare on a massive, destructive scale.

KEILAR: The narrative right now about the war has been that this is stalled. And now you have Russia incredibly aggressive move. The question now will be, do they have more of this planned in the coming days, weeks, months ahead? What do you think?

CLARK: Well, of course, they do have more planned. We know the Russian military-industrial complex has been going 24-7. We haven't. They have. And consistently, in these two years of this fighting, we underestimate what the Russians intend to do and what they're capable of doing. A lot of our perception was colored by that fumbling effort at Kyiv in the first few days. They looked like idiots, bumbling idiots. But they're not. And they're adapting. They're building up their systems. And they have a plan. And we have to beat that plan. And it starts at the top with telling Mr. Putin, no more.

And then it starts with the mobilization of the U.S. industrial base, putting that $60 billion of effort into Ukraine and taking off some of the handcuffs. So, we need to give them better intelligence. We need to give them better logistics support. We need to consider putting some American logisticians, contractors into Ukraine to help them repair Western equipment. We have got to keep them in the fight, because this is our fight as well as theirs.

SANCHEZ: And General, in order for that to happen, there would have to be a significant shift among lawmakers in the United States, specifically on the question of aid and, obviously, with personnel going to Ukraine. I'm wondering what do you think happens if that shift doesn't come together, if there's no more aid Ukraine coming from Congress?

CLARK: Mr. Putin thinks that what's going to happen is that the West will continue it sole (ph) effort. The Europeans will give some and it will falter and fail, and eventually there'll be a breakthrough on the ground. Ukrainian forces will suffer a significant defeat on the ground and basically it will collapse. At that point, then the the finger-pointing starts inside NATO. Did Germany do enough? Did France do enough? Did the United States really lead? And these four nations that are facing directly the Russians, the Baltic states, Romania, and especially Poland, will be looking to their own devices.

And so it'll be the end of a 70-year era of American leadership in Europe. And this is why we have to reach American lawmakers and the American public and explain to them the enormous stakes that are riding on Ukraine's defense. They're not fighting just for themselves. They're fighting for democracy. They're fighting for America. They're fighting for all of our values. So, we've got to move forward. This is like 1915-16, 1939-40, when America stood by as Europe was at war. In both those cases, we intervened, but, only after there was tremendous suffering and almost too late. But we got there in time. There's no time to waste any longer. We need to pull American leadership together and demonstrate it more forcefully in the support of Ukraine.

KEILAR: You were, of course, a former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. What are the implications of one of these Russian missiles having spent a considerable amount of time, minutes, in Polish airspace? Poland, of course, a member of NATO.

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CLARK: Well NATO has been under the same guidance as the United States has given everywhere. Let's go get involved directly. Let's don't get ourselves legally entangled in this fight. Let's try to assist it from a distance. And, of course, that's playing Russia's game right now. So, Russia's gone along with this because they can't do more right now. So, the NATO leadership has to decide how significant this is, how much greater risks are you willing to take to end this now on terms favorable to NATO or let Ukraine collapse and have a much bigger problem in the future.

KEILAR: General Clark, thank you so much for being with us. Clearly, this could be a key moment in this war that we are watching begin overnight. And we appreciate your time today. Today, Israel says it is expanding its military operations around the city of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza. The IDF saying it has eliminated dozens of members of Hamas using aerial strikes, sniper and tank fire.

SANCHEZ: Meantime, in central Gaza, the U.N. says the humanitarian crisis is growing worse, warning that over 150,000 people have nowhere to go after the IDF told residents urgently to evacuate. CNN's Nada Bashir has the latest.

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, the humanitarian situation inside Gaza seems to grow more dire by the day. And, of course, the death toll continues to climb. And there is still growing pressure on international aid agencies to get aid into the Gaza strip. The amount of aid crossing the border at this current point in time is simply a drop in the bucket in comparison to what is actually needed.

But, of course, there is also mounting concern around the security situation facing these aid agencies. The U.N.'s own secretary general has previously accused Israel of placing massive obstacles in the way of aid agencies distributing that much-needed aid to civilians in Gaza. And now, of course, we are seeing more worrying developments. The U.N.'s own agency for Palestinian refugees on Friday reporting that a UN convoy of seven vehicles which they say were clearly labeled was reportedly fired at by Israeli troops as it made its way from northern Gaza into southern Gaza in a route designated by the Israeli military.

Now no one is said to have been injured but the UN has reiterated that aid workers should never be a target. The is looking into the incident but of course this has raised concern over the security situation and brought into question the security guarantees that aid agencies and UN agencies alike have repeatedly sought from the Israeli military and of course the need to get aid into Gaza is growing more desperate by the day. Just on Friday we have seen that dramatic video circulating showing desperate crowds clamoring around aid trucks desperate to grab whatever food aid has made it into the Gaza.

And of course, as we know the UN has reported that some 2.2 million people in Gaza are now facing an acute hunger crisis with the imminent risk of famine and of course we are also seeing a massive displacement crisis inside Gaza. Some 150,000 people according to the UN simply have nowhere to go following Israel's evacuation orders targeting central Gaza. We have seen now of course the vast majority of Gaza's 2.3 million population now internally displaced many of them taking shelter around the south.

But there are fears that people in the south now could also become a target. We have seen the Israeli military expanding its operation both in the air and on the ground. The Israeli military says it is targeting Hamas and has accused Hamas of embedding itself amongst civilians, but we have seen the targeting of residential areas and of course airstrikes near hospitals near schools and of course near aid centers as well. And there are fears that for the millions of Palestinians now sheltering in southern Gaza thought to be a safe zone they will now no longer find any place of safety there. The UN of course repeatedly calling for a humanitarian ceasefire, but this is something that the Israeli government has outrightly rejected. Nada Bashir, CNN in London.

SANCHEZ: Nada, thank you so much for that report.

KEILAR: And still ahead, former President Trump removed from the primary ballot in a second state. Maine joins Colorado barring the former president from appearing on the ballot. The decision is now on hold pending potential appeal.

SANCHEZ: Plus, CNN exclusive reporting on the last ditch effort to keep Trump in office after he lost the 2020 election. There's new audio revealing the plot to get fake elector ballots to D.C. before the vote could be certified by Congress. And later, Harvard facing a deadline over its president's plagiarism scandal. The university has until today to respond to a series of questions from Congress. That and much more still ahead on News Central.

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SANCHEZ: The state of Maine has now joined Colorado in banning Donald Trump from the 2024 primary ballot. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows announced her decision last night, siding with three voters from her state who are also former lawmakers, and it's a bipartisan group. They filed a challenge saying that Trump should be disqualified because of his actions, on January 6th.

KEILAR: Yeah, they said that Trump's actions tied to January 6th fall under the 14th Amendment's ban on insurrectionists holding office. One of the voters, Ethan Strimling, former mayor of Portland, spoke to us last hour.

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ETHAN STRIMLING, CHALLENGED TRUMP'S ELIGIBILITY FOR MAINE BALLOT: We've now had three judicial bodies, two in Colorado, one in Maine, that have looked at the evidence, given Donald Trump is day in court, to try to refute that evidence.

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And those three bodies have all said, no, indeed, what we all saw on January 6th is actually what happened, and he is an insurrectionist. And two of those judicial bodies have determined that the 14th Amendment applies to the president. So, I think, you know, our strongest evidence without doubt is Donald Trump's actions.

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KEILAR: We have CNN's Marshall Cohen, who has been covering all of these 14th Amendment cases across the country here. What happens next year?

MARSHALL COHEL, CNN REPORTER: Appeals, as we've been talking about with every one of these cases. Nothing is final until it's final, and the U.S. Supreme Court is looming over all of this. So, Maine state law actually does set up a pretty expedited process for this. Donald Trump's next stop in this journey would be a trial court in Maine. And they only have a few weeks to issue their decision, and the Maine Supreme Court would have to issue its decision if it's appealed again by the end of January, January 31st. Maine votes on Super Tuesday. That's March 5th. So look, got to deal with it, got to deal with it soon.

But there is a process in place in Maine to adjudicate this quickly. But look, we've had different outcomes in different states, huge victories for the challengers against Trump, who filed these cases in Maine and Colorado. But Trump prevailed largely on procedural grounds that never reached the questions about January 6th in other places like Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and the next state we're all going to be talking about is Oregon. That decision could come soon. A case was filed in front of the Oregon Supreme Court, and those justices could weigh in potentially as soon as this week.

SANCHEZ: All of it seems destined for the federal Supreme Court. Marsha, while we have you, you were part of the CNN team that obtained exclusive audio related to the fake elector scheme. And one of the details in the reporting that stands out to me is that there was this panic when some on Trump's team realized that the fake elector ballots weren't going to get to D.C. in time. They were talking about getting private jets to bring them to the nation's capital.

COEHN: Believe it or not. They did not ultimately get a private jet, but they talked about it. We have known bits and pieces of this story for a while now, but we're getting the most clear and fullest accounting of what really happened behind the scenes. And we're getting it from Ken Chesebro, the pro-Trump attorney who in many ways was the architect of the fake electors plot. He recently sat down with criminal investigators in Michigan and told his side of the story as part of his cooperation.

And CNN has obtained a recording of that interview and hundreds of emails that he provided to investigators. So, take a listen to Chesebro in his own words, describing what Trump campaign operatives were doing. How they kind of jumped into action on the eve of January 6th, when they realized that those ballots, those fake ballots from Michigan and Wisconsin were stuck in the mail.

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KENNETH CHESEBRO, PRO-TRUMP ATTORNEY: The general counsel of the Trump campaign is freaked out that Roman reported that the Michigan votes are still in the sorting facility in Michigan, which doesn't look like they're going to get to Pence in time. So, the general counsel of the campaign was alarmed and was chartering -- they didn't have to charter a jet, but this is like, yeah, so this is a high-level decision to get the Michigan and Wisconsin votes there. And they had to enlist a U.S. senator to try to expedite it to get it to Pence in time.

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COHEN: So, they did fly it in on January 5th. Once those fake ballots were in D.C., there was a series of handoffs and couriers, even some help from a sitting senator. And a sitting member of Congress. There was a meetup at the Trump Hotel. But when they eventually got those ballots to the Capitol in time and tried to give them to Mike Pence, he didn't want them. His team did not want to be part of this attempt to overturn the election.

KEILAR: That's right. Passing on that very significant point in the whole process. Marshall, thank you for taking us through that. And let's dig a little deeper here with a legal expert. Nick Ackerman is former assistant special Watergate prosecutor.

SANCHEZ: He was also a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York. Nick, I'm curious to get your perspective on the 14th Amendment. So much of the conversation has centered on Section 3, which covers insurrection broadly. But Section 5, we have a full screen here. It explains that Congress has the power to enforce the insurrectionist ban. And we've heard the arguments from some on Trump's side that say that this portion means that a decision on whether Trump should be on the primary ballot or not, shouldn't be made by the states. What do you make of that argument?

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NICK AKERMAN, FORMER ASSISTANT SPECIAL WATERGATE PROSECUTOR: I don't think that argument holds water. Essentially, what the provision provides is that they can remove the disability by a two-thirds vote from each House of Congress. That's all it says. Other than that, this is just a regular qualification for an individual to run for president of the United States, just like being 35 years old, having been born in the United States, and having lived and resided in the United States for at least 14 years. It is really no different than that, except in this situation, there is a circumstance where Congress could remove that disability by those two-thirds votes.

KEILAR: Why -- It says there, and it says earlier in the third section, that Congress can, by the two-thirds vote, basically not enforce this. That section five part says Congress shall have the power to enforce. Congress also shall have the power not to enforce, is what section three says. Why does section five make it a little confusing here? Congress shall have the power to enforce, when now what we're seeing is you have secretaries of state, you have state courts also using the power to enforce. Why is that okay in your view of how you read it? Why is that okay in your view of how you read the Constitution here?

AKERMAN: Well, I think ultimately, the only arbiter here really is the United States Supreme Court. They're the ones that have to enforce this. Otherwise, you're getting yourself into a situation with 50 jurisdictions, 50 states, who are going to come at this in different ways. The bottom line is, anytime you've got a qualification to be president, whether the person's 35, whether they were born in the U.S., this is something that has to be decided ultimately by the U.S. Supreme Court, or you're going to get 50 different decisions, or you're going to get some states that can't make decisions because they have technicalities in their laws that don't permit them to make those decisions.

SANCHEZ: Another one of the arguments that we've heard from folks in Trump's circle is that whether he committed insurrection should not be defined by a lone secretary of state or even by a judge, but rather through the judicial process. He hasn't been convicted. He hasn't even been charged with insurrection, right? So what do you make of the case that he wasn't a party to what happened on January 6th?

AKERMAN: Well, he was a party to what happened on January 6th. I mean, everybody knows that. Everybody's seen it. The evidence is out there. But the fact of the matter is, there is no requirement in the 14th Amendment to be convicted of a crime. There is no requirement of, in the 14th Amendment, that this necessary be decided in some judicial proceeding. The fact of the matter is, just like if you're 35 years old and you're not really 35, ultimately, somebody's going to have to make the decision for all 50 states that, in fact, you are or are not 35, or you are or were not an insurrectionist. Ultimately, that decision is going to fall with the U.S. Supreme Court because there's no other body that can do this in a uniform way that will apply to all 50 states.

SANCHEZ: Nick Akerman, it is a really fascinating legal conversation. We appreciate you being part of it.

AKERMAN: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Coming up, Harvard is under growing pressure over plagiarism allegations swirling around its president, Claudine Gay. The university is actually facing a deadline of today to respond to Congress about how it's handled the allegations. We'll be right back.

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