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Israel Strike in Lebanon Kills a Senior Hezbollah Commander, Sources Say; Resolution to Find Hunter Biden in Contempt of Congress Released by House Oversight Chair; Text of Hunter Biden's Contempt Resolution Released by Comer; House Republicans Plan to Quickly Impeach Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas; U.S. Lunar Lander Mission Experiencing "An Anomaly"; Trump Claims Immunity While Requesting Dismissal of Georgia Election Subversion Lawsuit; NTSB: Missing Part of Alaska Airlines Plane Found in Portland Yard. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired January 08, 2024 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: All right. Just in, we're learning a senior Hezbollah militant was killed by an Israeli drone strike in his car in Southern Lebanon earlier today. This is according to a Lebanese security source and Hezbollah.

CNN's Nada Bashir in Beirut for us this morning with the latest. Nada, what's the significance here?

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, look, this is an area where we have seen those escalating skirmishes between Hezbollah and the Israeli military from the outset of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. But this is perhaps the most senior member of Hezbollah that we have seen targeted and killed from the outset of the war. And there have been fears over the last few weeks of the escalation of that conflict, the potential for it to spill over to pull Lebanon and Hezbollah, more specifically, further into confrontation with the Israeli military. And this may trigger a further response from Hezbollah.

Now, of course, as you mentioned, Wissam al-Tawil, a senior Hezbollah commander was killed earlier today. His car in Southern Lebanon was struck in an apparent Israeli drone strike. CNN has reached out to the Israeli military, no comment just yet. But we have, over the last 24 hours, seen Israel carrying out strikes on Lebanon's southern border area, including targeting what appears to have been a Hezbollah military compound.

Now, of course, this does follow a large-scale attack by Hezbollah over the weekend. 62 rockets launched on Saturday by Hezbollah across the border target. The targets among them, of course, a military air surveillance base, a crucial target for Hezbollah, which has long been concerned about Israel's ability to carry out surveillance operations around that southern border area.

But according to Hezbollah, this was a preliminary response to the targeting of Senior Hamas Commander Saleh al-Arouri last Tuesday in the southern suburbs of Beirut. And of course, we did hear from Hezbollah's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah condemning that strike. Hamas has described it as a cowardly assassination. Hezbollah vowing that their response, if Israel seeks to wage war on Lebanon, would be limitless and severe. But of course, this has raised concern once again. This conflict could escalate further, and we could see Lebanon pull deeper in a conflict that the Lebanese government has said it does not want to see on its border.

BERMAN: Nada Bashir in Beirut for us. Nada, please keep us posted. Thank you.

SARA SIDNER, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: All right. Joining me now is CNN Global Affairs Analyst Kim Dozier. Let's begin with a source telling us that a senior Hezbollah commander has been killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon. What might that mean for reaction, response, and the potential of a wider war here?

KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST AND SENIOR MANAGING EDITOR, THE MILITARY TIMES: Look, it's an escalation at a time when the U.S. administration is worried that Prime Minister Netanyahu is looking at the northern border and an attack on Lebanon, a greater incursion into Lebanon, as a way to secure his political support. Israel has answered the volley of rockets that Nada was talking about from Hezbollah to Israel's northern territories with another, what looks like a targeted assassination.

Hezbollah, its next step could be targeting Haifa. It hasn't done something like that. It hasn't hit any major Israeli cities. If that happens, then we are looking at a move towards a greater armed conflict.

SIDNER: Yes, and as people should know, Haifa is right there on the border, a large city where a lot of people actually fled, worried about the fact that there may be some sort of conflagration coming from Lebanon or between Israel and Lebanon.

I do want to ask you, because all of this is happening as Antony Blinken is in the Middle East, Netanyahu hasn't been as forthcoming with his stance on what the United States has been giving him advice on, which is to do his absolute most in the Israeli military doing their absolute most to stop killing civilians in Gaza. You have Blinken there again. This is one of many trips that he's made to the Middle East. He's now in Jordan.

[10:35:00]

Can you give us some sense of what he might be able to accomplish when you have this, what appears to be a rift between Netanyahu and the United States?

DOZIER: Each one of these visits is about impressing upon the Israeli government that the scenes of destruction that are coming out of Gaza are damaging Israel's reputation and also damaging the White House's ability to continue to support Israel wholeheartedly. We keep hearing from Israeli defense officials that they are going to start to move towards a more targeted phase of this campaign, but over the weekend there was another massive strike that the Palestinian, Hamas-run health authority says killed dozens of people in the Jabalya neighborhood. And that's not the kind of image that sends the message that Israel is ratcheting back and going for more targeted special operations attacks on individual Hamas members.

SIDNER: Yes, Kim, and you know, as well as anyone, that because it is one of the most densely populated places on Earth, those targeted strikes are nearly impossible. There always are civilian casualties in Gaza, in any war that I've ever been in on the ground there. It is very, very hard to watch and also to understand what happened on October 7th as well. There's a lot going on here in the region and we'll be keeping in touch with you to try to get better analysis. We appreciate it, Kim.

Kate.

DOZIER: Thanks.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: And just moments ago, the top House Republican investigating Hunter Biden just released details on a resolution to hold the president's son in contempt of Congress. We're going to take you live to Capitol Hill. We'll be right back.

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[10:40:00]

BOLDUAN: This just in a first look at the contempt resolution targeting the president's son, Hunter Biden. House Oversight Chairman Republican Jim Comer -- James Comer, he is now putting out the details of their move to hold Biden in contempt of Congress and also a 19-page report.

Let's get over to CNN's Manu Raju. He's on the Hill. He has the very latest on this. Manu, what does this say?

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR, INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY AND CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Yes, it details what it believes is a flagrant violation of law, essentially saying that what Hunter Biden did by not appearing behind closed doors for a deposition in December was a violation and that the House should hold him in contempt. That is something that needs to be voted on in both the House committee, which will happen on Wednesday. The House Oversight Committee, as well as the House Judiciary Committee also taking up this matter.

This 19-page report, they -- the Republicans argue that Hunter Biden's deposition would be critical for their investigation into Joe Biden, the president. They're trying to establish that Hunter Biden took action that could help his president -- his father financially, or that President Biden acted officially in a way to help Hunter Biden's business dealings, though they have yet to prove that link. But they believe that Hunter Biden's testimony could uncover some of the details that they have been searching for for months. Now, in this report, they say Mr. Biden, that's referring to Hunter Biden's, flagrant defense of the committee's deposition subpoenas while choosing to appear nearby on the Capitol grounds to read a prepared statement on the same matters is contemptuous, and he must be held accountable for his unlawful actions. The committee goes on to compare what happened in the Democratic controlled House with Hillary holding Trump advisers Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro in contempt for defying Democratic subpoenas in the House.

So, the question is, what happens next here? Hunter Biden's team said that he that he would have been willing to testify publicly. He said that himself when he did come to the Capitol saying that he does not -- he did not want to go behind closed doors because he argued that Republicans would have cherry picked and leaked his testimony. He said, why not just do it in public? Republicans said you could go in public, but we want you behind closed doors first. So, therein lies the tension.

Next, there will be votes in the House Committees and then ultimately on the House floor where House Republican leaders believe they have enough support to hold the president's son in contempt of Congress. Kate.

BOLDUAN: I just wanted to ask you, speaking about some growing support, potentially, about everything that's swirling around with the Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and the efforts, the Republican efforts to move toward impeaching him. What are you hearing about this now?

RAJU: Yes, in fact, we've spoken to a number of Republicans, swing district Republicans, and there is a growing sense that they are in favor of moving ahead with impeaching Alejandro Mayorkas given what is happening at the southern border with Mexico. This would be a dramatic and extraordinary move. Only one other time in American history has a cabinet secretary been impeached, and that was the Secretary of War back in the mid-1800s.

Republicans say that he is violating his oath of office because of what we're seeing is the uptick in border crossings along the southern border with Mexico. Democrats say, there is absolutely no grounds to impeach Mayorkas given that the dispute, in a large part, is a policy dispute between the two sides, not something that would rise to the level of charging the Homeland Security Secretary with a high crime or misdemeanor.

But nevertheless, in talking to members, including New York Republican freshmen, those who come from swing districts, several of them tell me, along with my colleagues Melanie Zanona and Annie Grayer, in a report we just put out about how -- the fact that they believe that they are in favor of moving ahead with impeachment. And others said that they want moderates so that they will watch these proceedings closely and that they are open to that as well.

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So, Kate, you're seeing a shift on that approach while many of those same members uncertain about impeaching Joe Biden. But they're saying as immigration becomes a dominant issue, that it's time to go ahead on the Mayorkas effort. Kate.

BOLDUAN: It's interesting to see how these are happening on the different tracks that they're taking. It's good -- also, something very different, obviously, to move to impeach the president. But still great reporting, Manu. Thank you so much.

RAJU: Yes, thank you.

SIDNER: All right. Ahead, the lunar lander that launched from the U.S. just hours ago is now experiencing a, "Anomaly." What does that mean? We will get you the very latest on what's happening in space, next.

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[10:50:00]

BERMAN: All right. Just in, a new filing from Donald Trump's legal team, not in the federal election case, but in Georgia. But the filing is calling for some of the same grounds for dismissal that he is in the federal case. He's saying the Georgia case should be dismissed because Trump and his legal team says he has some kind of presidential immunity for actions he took around January 6th.

CNN's Nick Valencia is live in Atlanta with the very latest. Nick, what are you hearing?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Good morning, John. A bombshell filing, and frankly one that we had been anticipating, from the former president and his defense team here when his -- with his case related to the Georgia election subversion case. As you mentioned, he's claiming that he should be immune from these state charges because these charges happened while he was serving as the president of the United States.

It is very similar to the claim and motion he filed in his federal hearing, and we should note that those -- that hearing will be on Tuesday. President Trump tweeted -- he was on his "Truth Social" saying that he is expecting to be in person for that federal hearing. But listen to what his attorney had to say to us just a moment ago after that, immunity filing was put on the docket here, saying, "President Trump has filed three persuasive meritorious pretrial motions, seeking a complete dismissal of the indictment and thus an end to the Fulton County District Attorney's politically based prosecution. Also still pending is President Trump's first amendment as applied challenge which seeks the same relief."

So, we're going through these filing here, over 140 pages from Steve Sadow, his defense attorney, but bottom line here is the former president is seeking to get his Georgia case dismissed because he's claiming Presidential immunity.

Now, a district attorney, we haven't heard from Fani Willis just yet, but previously, John, she has called similar claims silly. Saying that, you know, claims of political interference that this case would go on during the presidential primary, that is not a reason, according to Fani Willis, to dismiss this case or whatsoever. John.

BERMAN: And again, these are the same types of arguments that will go before a federal appeals court panel. Tomorrow, you're going to be able to hear those arguments right here. But as our senior legal analyst Ellie Honig noted last hour, this will all hinge on whether Donald Trump can prove that the actions he took were part of his government role as President of the United States and not a campaign role.

And up until this point, every court that's weighed in on any type of this issue for any person involved with January 6th, either in a civil version or criminal version, have decided this is not part of any government action. We'll see where the appeals court feels differently tomorrow. Nick Valencia bringing us the breaking news, now a filing to dismiss the case on immunity grounds in Georgia. Thanks very much.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Keep an eye -- close eye on that. And also -- this, a new lunar mission and already an update today. We just learned that the first American made spacecraft to attempt a landing on the moon since the Apollo program, that mission has suffered what is being called an anomaly. The never before flown Vulcan rocket launched just a few hours ago. It's carrying what the -- what is the first moon lander to launch from the United States since 1972.

Let's go to CNN's Kristin Fisher for much more on this. Kristin, an anomaly mid-flight, is the whole mission at risk now?

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: It's just too soon to say, Kate, but it's certainly not good. To be clear here, the rocket that propelled the spacecraft into space, United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket, this was the first flight for this rocket. The rocket itself performed well. That launch was a success. The problem now, this anomaly, as they like to say in space terms, this anomaly occurred with Astrobotic's Peregrine Lunar Lander, which is what the rocket propelled into space.

At some point, while it was on its way to the moon, it experienced this anomaly. And I'm going to read to you the statement that the company, Astrobotic, just put out. They say, "Unfortunately, an anomaly then occurred, which prevented Astrobotic from achieving a stable sun-pointing orientation. The team is responding in real time as the situation unfolds and will be providing updates as more data is obtained and analyzed."

So, it's unclear exactly how bad this anomaly is. It did happen after a successful separation from the rocket and the spacecraft. So, that's some good news there. But you know, Kate, so much money, so much time went into this mission. The very first American made spacecraft to attempt to land on the surface of the moon since the end of the Apollo program back in 1972.

And there's so much NASA technology. NASA's a paying customer on this mission. So, much NASA technology on board this spacecraft. But also, there's some other more unusual payloads, Kate, like cremated human remains that are on board this spacecraft, destined for what was supposed to be a lunar burial. So, very unclear right now what happens to those remains, and also all of the technology inside the lunar lander itself, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, there's a lot going on with this, to say the least. But first and foremost, you need to figure out -- learn more about this anomaly. I know you're all over it. We'll stay in close touch. Kristin, thank you so much.

[10:55:00]

SIDNER: All right. We are learning new details surrounding that terrifying mid-flight incident on an Alaskan Airlines plane. Federal investigators say that they have now found that huge missing chunk of the plane that fell from the Boeing 737 Max 9 jet. The latest on the investigation is just ahead.

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BERMAN: And the breaking news just moments ago. Donald Trump's legal team in Georgia filing a motion to dismiss the case, saying Trump should be immune for actions he took on January 6th. This is the same type of argument a federal appeals court will hear tomorrow.

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