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Jay-z Denies Assault Allegations; Assad's Fall in Syria; Stephen Knight is Interviewed about Being CNN Hero of the Year. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired December 09, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:33:15]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, in a scathing response, Jay-z is denying allegations he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl alongside Sean "Diddy" Combs. The accuser says this happened in 2000 at a VMA's afterparty. The civil lawsuit was first filed against Combs back in October. It was then amended Sunday to include Jay-z. Jay-z telling CNN, these claims are, quote, heinous and says this is an attempt to blackmail him.

CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister is here.

This - that statement from Jay-z is - is very long, and he is clearly quite fired up about this.

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And it's very rare that we hear from Jay-z. He's a very private star. Him and Beyonce are incredibly private. And I was told that this was something that he felt he needed to respond to. As you said, he called these claims heinous. He said it's an attempt to blackmail him. He called them idiotic.

Now, let's go to this part where he says it's an attempt to blackmail him. You said that this original suit was filed in October against Diddy. There was an anonymous celebrity. Of course we now know that anonymous celebrity is now Jay-z. Both him and Combs are alleged to have raped a girl who was 13 years old at the time. That's what she says. She says that it was a VMA's after party, that she was drugged, and that both of them sexually assaulted her and then watched.

Well then you fast forward to November, and Jay-z, but as an anonymous jane doe, filed an extortion suit against this alleged victim's attorney. His name is Tony Buzbee. Tony Buzbee, at the time, told me that that's not true, that he is not extorting him. He said that it's very typical to send a demand letter and try to settle something privately so that Jay-z's name wouldn't be out there.

[09:35:01]

But now he did put his name out there in this amended suit. Now, I want to read you part of what Jay-z said. He actually

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

Now, I have reached out to a representative for Beyonce. No word yet from her. Don't know if we will hear anything from her. But I reached out to Buzbee last night because Jay-z is coming out against this so strongly, and he tells me, "the pleading speaks for itself. This is a very serious matter that will be litigated in court."

DEAN: It's very interesting. Jay-z also saying that if they really want to go, that they should go after him criminally if it's - if it's true. So, we'll see -

WAGMEISTER: We'll see.

DEAN: How this - how this goes.

Elizabeth Wagmeister, thanks so much.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, geopolitical earthquakes after the fall of the Assad regime in Syria. What does it mean for the United States? What does it mean for Israel? What about Russia? Is Russia losing control?

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BERMAN: Happening now, major uncertainty in the Middle East after the stunning collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria. One of the most brutal dictatorships in the world.

We are just now seeing new drone footage from inside Damascus after the fall. You can see celebrations on tanks there. This is our first look at this.

We also learned overnight that Assad himself granted asylum inside Russia.

With us now is former deputy assistant secretary of state under President Obama, Joel Rubin, and CNN military analyst, retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling.

And, General, let me just start with a simple question, everything happens so quickly here. How did the Assad regime fall this fast in your mind?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILIARY ANALYST: Well, in my view, John, having watched this area for a long time, because it was part of our operations in Iraq, this has been roiling for - since 2014. And, in fact, over the last 50 years, if you talk about not only Assad but his father, there is turmoil inside of the country with the citizenry. I think part of the reason that the rebels were able to move so quickly is because they had support of people in the various cities they were moving through.

You know, these are people who had been barrel bombed and - and atrocities committed against them. So, when you get the support of the - of the governed, the citizens of the country, and you see a crooked dictatorship in charge, and you have allies fleeing like we're talking, specifically Russia and Iran, and you have a lack of support militarily from other groups that were helping the Assad regime, it was only a matter of time. And it did happen quickly. And very few shots were fired. So that tells me that the support of the people and the lack of, you know, basic governing by the Assad regime is what caused all this to happen so quickly.

BERMAN: Joel, what does it tell you about the ability of Russia and Iran to project power around the world?

JOEL RUBIN, PRESIDENT, WASHINGTON STRATEGY GROUP: You know, John, it's in retreat. That's what it says. There's a very clear example right in front of our eyes, as you're describing, as General Hertling is laying out, Iran beat a retreat from Syria because it does not have the capacity any longer to support that regime. And clearly the regime fell.

Iran had sent, remember, Hezbollah fighters in over a decade ago, and now those Hezbollah fighters have been decimated by Israel in the war of the past year, the war that Hezbollah unwisely entered into after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th. So, they had no resources to spare. And, of course, Russia, they're asking North Korea for troops. They're the last country in the world to be able to extend further into theater like Syria. And so they didn't. And Assad was left alone. And he did not have the capacity to defend himself. And that's why he's in Moscow right now.

BERMAN: General Hertling, if anyone has experience about what happens when a brutal dictator falls and the chaos that can rise up, you know, it's you. I mean we saw something like this in Iraq when Saddam Hussein was pushed out of power. But then we saw these militant groups rise up in Iraq. What might happen in Syria now?

HERTLING: Yes, the two words that scare me the most, John, are regime change. Whenever you say that, there are things like statues being pulled down and people celebrating and celebratory gunfire. And it is exactly like Iraq. And some other places that I've seen, like Romania, even when Ceausescu was replaced, several other countries. And no country is unified in their approach to leadership and government in the Middle East throughout. There's always distinctions between religions, cults, tribal groups, and followings. You know, I think it's a good thing of what we're seeing right now. But I think we have to wait a while longer to determine whether or not this is going to be great.

And there's going to be a lot of turmoil over the next couple of weeks with all of this. You see the happiness now. You know, now we have to see whether or not this new government, or the rebels, can - can execute a new government and have the electricity go on and the trash collected and all the things that governments do. Will it happen and will the people in a very diverse population of religions and cultures be happy with what happens?

BERMAN: Joel, President-elect Trump put out a long statement on social media. I just want to read you the last couple lines. He says, of what's happening in Syria, the United States, he goes, it's not our - it's not our problem.

[09:45:01]

The United States should not have - the United States should have nothing to do with it, he says. This is not our fight. Let it play out. Do not get involved. How possible is that, do you think?

RUBIN: Yes. You know, John, look, that's - that's a misread. Now, the president-elect, he is right to suggest that we should not be sending troops. And nobody is. We have 900 troops alongside our Kurdish allies in eastern Syria that are engaged in a very important counterterrorism mission against ISIS. But what we do need to be mindful of is that we have regional allies, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, all neighboring Syria. There's Turkey neighboring Syria as well. We have a critical vision here for how to get peace and stability in the region, but we won't do that if we turn our backs on it.

So, we need to engage. We need to have our diplomats out there speaking to these allies. We need to try to figure out a program with this new potential Syrian leadership of how to resettle the millions of Syrians that are sitting in refugee camps around the world, and ultimately provide stability there.

This is a keystone country. This is the crucial point. This is a keystone country in the Middle East. It needs to be stable for the region to be stable. If it is allowed to fail, because the U.S. turns its back on it, then we're all going to pay a price here.

BERMAN: All right, Joel Rubin, General Mark Hertling, great to see you both. Thank you very much.

Jessica.

DEAN: CNN has named Stephen Knight our 2024 Hero of the Year. And up next we're going to talk to him about his mission to help people battling substance abuse and keeping their pets.

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LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: And the 2024 CNN Hero of the Year is. Let's read it together.

ANDERSON COOPER AND LAURA COATES: Stephen Knight.

COOPER: Come on over here, Stephen. (END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Ah, Stephen Knight named our 2024 Hero of the Year. He founded Dogs Matter. It's a nonprofit that provides foster care for pets as their owners undergo addiction treatment. And he's with us now to share his story.

Stephen's here with Jade, 17 year old Lady Jade there, who was with you on Saturday night.

Congratulations.

STEPHEN KNIGHT: Thank you so much.

DEAN: This is so exciting.

I watched the piece that really walked through what you're doing. And just giving people who are brave enough to seek treatment this like real like kind of sliver of light, knowing that their pet's on the other side. It's such a special thing you do.

KNIGHT: Yes. Well, it gives them motivation. It gives them a reason to keep going, you know? A lot of times in making that brave decision and going into treatment is the hardest thing you're going to do. And the first year is really hard.

So, if they have a safe place for their dog and knowing that. And we'll send them videos and pictures so, like, they - they - you know, they can continue to see how well the dog's doing. And then they get out. It's even more of a part of their healing and part of the whole journey for their sobriety. And people that can keep their dogs actually have a higher rate of staying sober the first year, too. So there's some really good data there.

BERMAN: I have to say that Jade, or Lady Jade, as you say -

DEAN: Yes.

BERMAN: You know, I think the first dog that we've had on our desk here.

DEAN: And she is literally on the desk.

BERMAN: She is on the desk here making CNN NEWS CENTRAL history. And she's so well behaved.

DEAN: I know.

BERMAN: This is something that, a, is wonderful, but, b, it - you know, it's close to your heart and something that you came to through your own personal experience.

KING: Right. I mean 13 years ago I was basically living out of my car, homeless, and dying from addiction. And then I made that brave decision to go into treatment. And, you know, eight months later, I, you know, I found her, a knock on the door came. And during that time I was really struggling myself. You know, you - all this wreckage, you feel the shame, but treat - you know, going to treatment taught me to be my authentic self. And I know this sounds kind of corny, but I had to first find that hero within to be able to be confident enough to, like, really, you know, live my new life and to be able to put together a program like that.

And when I got a knock on the door with her, one of my friend had relapsed, and I saw her face, she automatically gave me purpose and responsibility and I had so much reason to really move forward. And I got the idea, how often does it happen where somebody needs treatment but has no place to put their dog? We often are, you know, wreckage of our life and our relationships. It's usually it ends up being you and your dog. And the - so the one thing you don't want to have to give up is your dog to go get better and healthier.

DEAN: There is no question about that. And I loved just the look on your face when - when Laura and Anderson announced your name. That had to be such a - what a moment for you to go from living in your car at the rock bottom, to that.

KNIGHT: This is what life beyond your wildest dreams looks like. And that's exactly what sobriety does to you. I mean it can really - when you really heal and get that second chance in life and it's - the motivation is that I am completely with joy. I can't stop smiling now. But it's just been such a journey.

BERMAN: She's smiling too. I can - that face just keeps looking up at me. I'm like, oh, you know, it's such - like, hi. Hi.

DEAN: Hi.

BERMAN: And your tongue. I appreciate. How many - how many dogs have you - I mean I - it's really the people you're helping, but how many have you helped over the years?

KNIGHT: I mean, its 1,200 dogs, you know.

BERMAN: Wow.

DEAN: Wow.

KNIGHT: And with each dog comes the owner. So, we - it's both. And with the owner, we have an aftercare program that we stay with them for 12 months. So, that's the really hard part. So, we have recovery coaches. I'm a substance abuse counselor. So, we're going to make sure that we're the safety net. So, if there's any issues that first year, which is the hardest year, we're there for them. So, they become our family. So, everybody in our - in our program is our family.

DEAN: Yes, no doubt about that.

All right, so where do you go now, because now you have this bigger - even bigger platform.

KNIGHT: We're going to - you know what, our next step is, we're going to have our own facility and we're going to have a place where you can have the human side and the animal services together.

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So, you can come in and do both. And we're very excited about that. And it's going to be state of the art. So, watch out.

BERMAN: I've got to say, Lady is rocking the cable sweater too.

DEAN: I know.

BERMAN: The cable knit sweater.

DEAN: And a nice TV color, purple. Really rich for the camera, you know.

BERMAN: She looks great. She knew. She knew.

KNIGHT: She does know.

BERMAN: All right. Stephen Knight, congratulations to you.

KNIGHT: Thank you.

DEAN: Congrats.

BERMAN: You have to be so proud. What an achievement.

KNIGHT: I am. I appreciate that.

BERMAN: Lady Jade, Congratulations to you too.

Thank you all for being with us today. Thank you for coming in.

DEAN: Thanks for having me.

BERMAN: Great to see you here.

This has been CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "NEWSROOM'" is up next.

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