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Bashar al-Assad's Regime in Syria Falls to Rebel Forces; Family Members of American Journalist Austin Tice Thought to have been Held Captive in Syria Interviewed on Prospects of His Return Home after Fall of Assad Regime; Jay-Z Denies Allegations He Sexually Assaulted 13-year-old in 2000; Trump Lays Out Aggressive Agenda for First Days of Second Term; Interview with Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY). Aired: 8-8:30a ET

Aired December 09, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: John, the first round games kick off December 20th and 21st, with two of the on our sister channel TNT.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm super excited about this, but I still don't quite know how to process the whole college football playoff thing, Coy.

(LAUGHTER)

WIRE: Well, I'm with you. I think all of us are just getting the hang of it. But a lot more excitement for many more fan bases this time of year.

BERMAN: And it starts soon. It starts like in a week, which is awesome. All right, Coy, thank you very much.

Brand new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: Developing this morning, the stunning fall of the Assad regime in Syria after five decades of brutal dictatorship. But the world is wondering just who is in charge now, as fears grow of a resurgence of ISIS, and the U.S. works to bring home a journalist captured there 12 years ago.

New disturbing allegations against Jay-Z in an amended lawsuit first filed against Sean Combs. The accuser saying she was assaulted by both men when she was just 13 years old. This morning, Jay-Z forcefully denying those accusations.

And President-Elect Donald Trump laying out sweeping and aggressive plans he wants to enact as soon as he returns to the White House, including possible pardons for January 6th rioters.

I'm Jessica Dean in with John Berman. Kate and Sara are out today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. And happening now, a remarkable first look inside Syria this morning

with brutal dictator Bashar al-Assad now out of power. Our CNN crews are inside the capital city of Damascus now that Assad has fled and the world watches and waits to see what happens next in the volatile region with rebel forces now in charge.

CNN's Clarissa Ward is one of the first western journalists on the ground there. And the communication extremely challenging, as you can imagine, but she was able to file this report just a few moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You can see there are a lot of people out on the streets today. It's not scenes of celebration. It's not scenes of looting like we were seeing today. Now people are trying to make sure that they have stocked up on all the supplies that they might need.

Take a look at this line here. We're outside a bakery. These people say they've been waiting more than half an hour, some of them, they're waiting for bread. We've seen lines like this around the city. People are lining up for cash. They are lining up for gas. They are trying to make sure that they have enough food to ride out this transitional period where nobody really knows what's going to happen.

Now, you can see behind me at the end of the road there, that is the central bank of Syria. Yesterday there was extensive looting there. A lot of people in the city started to feel a little bit concerned that this was going to be a chaotic period. Then more rebels arrived in the capital. The looting appears to have stopped. It does seem very calm on the streets.

Of course, there are many people who are elated that Bashar al-Assad is finally gone. But there is also the day-to-day that people need to focus on to ensure that they have enough bread, enough gas, enough cash, enough supplies to get them through this tenuous transitional period.

Clarissa Ward, CNN, Damascus.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

BERMAN: And that was our first look at Clarissa in Damascus. Remarkable to have her there. So interesting to see the calm on the streets there, the lines of people waiting for things. But as of now, the situation, at least for Clarissa, is apparently under control. We'll stand by to hear more from her, but as I said, remarkable to have her presence in the Syrian capital city.

So this morning, the fall of the Assad regime, it almost certainly impacts the case of Austin Tice, the American freelance journalist held in Syria since 2012. President Biden says he thinks Austin Tice is alive. He confirmed that, but he wants to wait and see how the situation unfolds in the region before making a decision as to how the administration will proceed in trying to get him home. The family joins us this morning. With us now Simon Robert Tice,

Austin's brother, and Meagan Tice Malone, Austin's sister. Thank you so much for being with us. I have to say, events have been moving so quickly. Let me just ask you, Simon, first, any new information about Austin in just the last 24 hours?

SIMON ROBERT TICE, BROTHER OF AUSTIN TICE: Thank you so much, first of all, for having us on. And I would like to say that. Yes, well, we know that Austin is alive and we know that Austin is in Syria. And so at this point, we are encouraging anyone who is in a position to do so to provide him assistance and help him to return safely home to us.

[08:05:02]

BERMAN: Meagan, the administration had made comments that they believe the Syrian government was holding Austin. That Syrian government is no more. So who do you believe is holding Austin now?

MEAGAN TICE MALONE, SISTER OF AUSTIN TICE: You know, in our opinion it is you know, Austin is our brother, and we just want to appeal to anyone who has the capability and the authority to help reunite us with him.

BERMAN: This new rebel group that toppled Bashar al-Assad, Meagan, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, what is your belief of their intentions in regards to the some of these prisoners, some of the hostages that have been held?

MALONE: I can't speak specifically to that, but I can say that we are seeing prisoners being freed, and we are seeing them being reunited with their families, people that have been held for years, these joyful reunions. And so we are just exceedingly hopeful that that will be the case for our family in the coming days as well.

BERMAN: Simon, absolutely, that is all of our hope here -- hopes here as well. Simon, you said you know, you said you have information that Austin is alive. How do you have that information? From whom?

TICE: So unfortunately, it's too much of a dynamic situation for us to feel comfortable sharing those sorts of details. But we can say that what we're seeing is on the ground hostages and people in captivity are being released, and they're being reunited with their family after these extensive periods of time like we've seen, and we're just hoping for that, pushing for that as much as we can.

BERMAN: And Simon, I just spoke to John Kirby from the White House, who said, obviously, they have those same hopes that you do, and they're waiting and watching this situation unfold to figure out what opportunities there might be. What have been your contacts with the White House in this period, really, that only goes back at this point where the Assad regime fell 48 hours, in the last 48 hours, what's your contact been with the White House?

TICE: Well, we had a long plan to arrive here as a family in force at this time to push the president really to do everything that he can to bring Austin home. And although the situation is a bit chaotic right now, our message has not changed to President Biden, which is to please help us. And we have the same message for President-elect Trump, which is please help us do everything that you can to bring Austin safely home.

BERMAN: Magan, how satisfied --

MALONE: We have been --

GOLDBERG: Go ahead. Go ahead, Meagan.

MALONE: We have been in contact with government officials. We've had meetings at state in the White House, various different -- they're extremely involved.

BERMAN: How satisfied are you with their outreach and what they're doing for you?

MALONE: Well, Austin isn't home yet.

BERMAN: I can understand that, to be sure.

How do you think the change in regimes changes Austins situation, Meagan?

MALONE: You know, it's really hard for us to speculate. Again, I mean, I know I keep saying it, but we are just incredibly encouraged by seeing that people are being freed and reunited. We do believe that in chaos, there is opportunity. And that is why we feel so strongly that now is the time to have anyone who has any kind of authority to use every available resource to bring Austin home.

BERMAN: And Simon, just so I can understand the timeline here, you guys had planned to have these contacts with the Biden administration, these in-person contacts now independent of what's happening in Syria, and the Syrian government just happened to fall basically during this time when you've been meeting with the Biden administration?

TICE: That's exactly how I would characterize it, yes. We had planned here, planned to be here since around July, and we had no idea that we would be here at such a historic moment. And so we really see this as an opportunity, and we're hoping that that opportunity leads to Austin being reunited with us.

BERMAN: As do we all. I have to say, Simon and Meagan, I really appreciate you coming on this morning. I appreciate the messages you're sending. I understand how complicated it is, and precarious it is, and why there are certain things, especially now, you are careful to say and not say. So please keep us posted on what I hope is over the next several hours, or maybe the next several days, and maybe we'll have some really, really wonderful news to discuss. So thank you.

MALONE: We hope so too. Thank you so much for having us.

BERMAN: All right, Jessica?

DEAN: All right, sending them the best as well.

New allegations this morning against music mogul Jay-z, saying he and Sean "Diddy" Combs sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl. How the superstar is fighting back this morning.

[08:10:07]

Plus, bird flu has been spreading in dairy cattle for months. The new steps the Agriculture Department is taking to protect the milk supply.

And this morning, we will find out who has been nominated for the Golden Globe Awards. Will "Wicked" lead the way?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: This morning, rap mogul Jay-Z is denying allegations he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl alongside rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs. That civil lawsuit filed against Combs in October was amended Sunday to include Jay-Z.

[08:15:00]

The accuser, identified only as Jane Doe, says she was sexually assaulted by both men at a video music awards after party in 2000.

In a blistering statement, Jay-Z accuses Jane Doe's attorney of trying to blackmail him. He said further, "These allegations are so heinous in nature that I implore you to file a criminal complaint, not a civil one. Whomever would commit such a crime against a minor should be locked away, would you not agree?"

He added, "My only heartbreak is for my family. My wife and I will have to sit our children down, one of whom is at the age where her friends will see the press and ask questions about the nature of these claims and explain the cruelty and greed of people."

Joining us now, Joey Jackson, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor. There's a lot to unpack here.

Joey, I want to start with just the statement from Jay-Z, which is so forceful in its denial. I just read a teeny part of it, it's long, where he says that that they should file a criminal complaint. Is that even possible at this point?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST AND CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: So, based on the allegations, Jessica, good morning, good to see you. I think that it could -- it certainly could be. Why do I say that?

Now, he of course is -- more than annoyed would be an understatement. He has a family and he has a lot to protect, including his brand. But to the extent that he's saying, hey, come after me criminally, that could be likely. Why do I say that?

Because rape in New York and what's alleged in this complaint is forcible compulsion. What that means in English is that it is saying that he held her down, raped her, and that of course, the allegation is that Mr. Combs did the same thing.

And so, if those facts are actually accurate, it would require an investigation by prosecutors. And if true, right, you could pursue it criminally. Now, with respect to the evidentiary value. Yes, it happened 24 years ago, right, more than 24 years ago. But in the allegations, there's a few things, number one, that there's allegation and another celebrity was present at the time, right, in addition to other people. Number two, there's the claim by the victim, right, that she left -- that she went and she was seen by a gas attendant who saw her in distress.

Number three, that she phone called her dad, who showed up, the 13- year-old and now removed her. So, civil complaint simply allegations need to be proven in a court of law. But if true, it could rise to the level of criminality. And you know, we'll see what happens if the DA looks and investigates.

DEAN: So what happens now?

JACKSON: So, what happens now is, this is simply a civil complaint and in a civil complaint, it goes through the technical legal process. Now, the distinction, Jessica, between civil and criminal, of course, is that civil is for monetary damages. Right? The system can only reward you with money. There's allegations that this 13year-old is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder suffered depression, et cetera. So now, you go to fact finding. Right?

Before that, just briefly, there was a demand letter sent and a demand letter is a letter being sent by a lawyer saying, hey, I don't have to sue you. We can sit. We can mediate it. If we reach an agreement it never sees the light of day.

Jay-Z is saying, I don't care about your demand letter, I look at it as blackmail. You want to sue me? Sue me. You want to look at it criminally, but it will go to the fact finding process. If a trial is necessary to determine the facts that's what will happen. But it will be deemed civil. No indication at this point as to whether or not any criminal investigation will ensue as a result of this.

DEAN: Yes and Jay-Z came back incredibly forcefully against these allegations and really singled out that attorney as well for being -- I'm paraphrasing here, but greedy saying he's out to get money and calling that letter essentially blackmail.

JACKSON: Yes, and in addition to that, Jessica, also suing the attorney, saying he's intimidating him, harassing him et cetera. Now, demand letters are not new. What lawyers do is they send them out as a matter of protocol and practice so that you can expedite the process. At the same time, there are certain ethical standards that you have to use, and you have to have a good faith, factual belief that this is true.

Now, you can argue this complaint was filed in October, right, it could have mentioned Jay-Z then, it didn't, why? It was amended now to include him. Are the factual assertions true? Are they fact or fiction? Is it a money grab or not? All of that will be litigated in a court of law, but according to Jay-Z, this never happened. It's pure fiction. It is a money grab and he's fighting for his name, reputation and certainly innocence and justice in his view, which is he didn't have anything to do with it.

DEAN: Yes, and you touch on a point two, that I wanted to ask you about, which was that this was an amended -- this was an amendment to this already existing lawsuit. What are people to take away from that? The fact that they're coming back and adding to this now with this, this specific name?

JACKSON: Yes, you know, Jessica. So it depends, that's also common. You could amend lawsuits, right? As a matter of course. And you do to include certain factual allegations.

The interesting thing to me in terms of your question and the takeaway if you had this information about Jay-Z, it happened allegedly in September of 2000, why not include it in the original complaint? What happened between October and now that necessitated you putting in and it's a question of credibility. Was he celebrity A, right, as was noted in the October complaint? Is this pure fiction?

And what's interesting in the complaint is he really, that is, the lawyer tries to tie Jay-Z to Mr. Combs in so many ways, right?

[08:20:32]

Birds of a feather is the argument that he's making. You can make that argument, you need the facts to sustain it. Let's see if they come up with any facts.

DEAN: All right, we will see. All right, Joey Jackson, thanks. So much.

JACKSON: Thank you.

DEAN: President-elect Donald Trump lays out an aggressive plan to deal with immigration. What it could mean for Dreamers and children with birthright citizenship.

And a passenger tries to force a commercial airliner to fly from Mexico into the US.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:25:19]

DEAN: President-elect Donald Trump appears ready to take action as soon as he returns to office. He says tackling immigration is among his biggest priorities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're the only country that has it --

MSNBC: Through an executive action -- TRUMP: You know, we're the only country that has it. Do you know, if somebody sets a foot -- just a foot, one foot, you don't need two -- on our land, congratulations you are now a citizen of the United States of America. Yes, we're going to end that because it's ridiculous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joins us now. And Priscilla, on these topics of various immigration topics. A lot of it was familiar territory, but he did in that interview appear to shift some thinking around DREAMers?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that was his most notable comments in the interview that aired on Sunday indicating that he would be willing to work with Congress on this subset of the undocumented population. Those are those undocumented immigrants who arrived to the US as children, many of whom are already adults, and he said in that interview that he is willing to find some consensus with Democrats and Republicans. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And we have to do something about the DREAMers, because these are people that have been brought here at a very young age, and many of these are middle-aged people now. They don't even speak the language of their country.

I will work with the Democrats on a plan, and if we can come up with a plan. But the Democrats have made it very, very difficult to do anything. Republicans are very open to the DREAMers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now, he is correct there that there has been bipartisan support for DREAMers among, again Republicans and Democrats.

But for years, Congress has struggled to gain any consensus to pass legislation to extend protections to that group of the undocumented population.

I'll also note that some of his remarks were contradictory on the one hand, he showed an openness to this part or these undocumented immigrants, those who arrived as children, but also said that he'd be willing to deport all of those who came illegally.

Now, he suggested that his mass deportation plans go beyond criminals, but he didn't detail who exactly he was referring to, and also conceded that it is, "a very tough thing to do."

And that's true. There are limited resources for detention, deportation, and challenges, with some countries who refuse to take back those who are repatriated.

But in addition to all of that, he said that he would end birthright citizenship. Now, that would require Congress. Of course, that is in the Constitution, and there are over two dozen countries who also offer birthright citizenship.

So, the US is not alone on that front, but that is one of the most controversial plans and actions that his incoming administration has talked about, and that they say that they are planning behind the scenes.

So, certainly all of this starting to take shape ahead of January -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right, more to come on this. Priscilla Alvarez, thanks so much -- John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now is Congressman Adriano Espaillat, a Democrat from New York, who will be the incoming chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

They were just talking about birthright citizenship. And the president-elect was as well. Just so people know where that comes from, it's the 14th Amendment. It's in the US Constitution. Let me read you that part: All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.

He says he's going to end that. What's your reaction?

REP. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT (D-NY): Well, this is enshrined in the Constitution and the Constitution is an elastic document that to amend it is a very vigorous process. It will require two-thirds of both Houses and to ratify are three-quarters of both Houses.

I don't think he has the votes and the House of Representatives will be a very tight vote at some point during the next session. It may be as tight as one person, one member of Congress.

So, I don't think he has anywhere near the kind of margin of votes that he needs to do that is a very vigorous process, as it should be because amending the Constitution is not a weekend in Cancun, it is a very rigorous process that requires the input of not just Congress, but of the American people.

BERMAN: Will you fight it?

ESPAILLAT: Oh, we will definitely fight that. I think that that concept of birthright citizenship, it's sort of like the backbone of America. It is very much a part of the history of our nation, and it should continue as such.

BERMAN: All right, you heard Priscilla talking about the DREAMers and the comments that President-elect Trump made about that that he wanted to work with Democrats to find a solution for those people in the country who were brought here when they were young not legally, but are still here now, he said he wants to work with you. I imagine how?

ESPAILLAT: Well, we are open to have a good discussion. In fact, we already had bipartisan discussion, the Dignity Act, which is sponsored by Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican from Florida, has been one that we've spoken about and we're open to a constructive discussion about DREAMers, farm workers, family reunification.

These are issues that I think are important to the American people and uphold very well. DREAMers may be poling over 75 percent of the country, so we're willing to support good things, but we will oppose rigorously bad things.

[08:30:43]