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12 Killed, Dozens Injured in Kazakhstan Plane Crash; Tourist Helicopter Goes Missing Off Coast of Hawaii; Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell Locked in Battle Over Impeachment Trial Rules; Video Interviews and Group Texts Reveal More About Edward Gallagher; CNN: President Trump Pre-Approved Military Response to North Korea's Threat; Doctors Without Borders: No Safe Place for Civilians in Idlib; Washington Post: President Trump Searches for New Secretary of State. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired December 27, 2019 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

CAMEROTA: We're going to miss him. I also did just get a couple of texts from the crew guys over at FOX News Channel who also want to send him a special message. This comes from Joel, our stage manager there. "Best of luck. And if you ever need the very best stage manager you've ever worked with, and that includes Bruce, call on Dr. Joel."

(LAUGHTER)

AVLON: All right. Congratulations, Duber. We love you, man.

CAMEROTA: Duber, congratulations. We love you. We're really going to miss you around here.

AVLON: All right.

CAMEROTA: All right. "CNN NEWSROOM" begins right now.

AVLON: "NEWSROOM" begins now.

CAMEROTA: Have a great weekend.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Ryan Nobles. Poppy and Jim are off today. And we begin this morning with breaking news.

A plane with nearly 100 people on board crashes shortly after taking off from Almaty International Airport in Kazakhstan. At least 12 people are dead. Several others are injured. Officials say the plane lost altitude after taking off, breaking through a concrete fence before slamming into a building. It was headed to Nur-Sultan, the capital of Kazakhstan.

I want to get to CNN's Nathan Hodge now in Moscow for more.

Nathan, what are you learning at this point?

NATHAN HODGE, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Ryan, earlier today, the prime minister -- I'm sorry, the deputy prime minister of Kazakhstan said that preliminary investigation into the incident led to a conclusion that it was either pilot error or technical issue, very broad, that led to this crash, and adding that the tail of the plane hit the runway twice during takeoff from Almaty International Airport.

Shortly after that takeoff, the plane was only in the air for seconds before coming -- crashing to the ground, careening through a concrete wall and hitting a two-story building. Officials say that a dozen people have died. That casualty count, that death toll is lower than initially feared. And authorities quickly noted that the plane did not catch on fire, even though the fuselage was broken into multiple parts.

So first responders were on the scene throughout the day, bringing out victims of the crash, taking them to local hospitals. Kazakh authorities have announced that on Saturday, there will be an official day of mourning. And in the meanwhile, Kazakh authorities have also suspended the operations of Bek Air, the company that was operating this aircraft -- Ryan.

NOBLES: OK. Nathan Hodge live from Moscow with more on that plane crash.

Nathan, thank you so much.

There's other aviation news this morning. Breaking back here in the United States, the U.S. coast guard is searching for a missing tourist helicopter with seven people on board. Officials say it failed to return Thursday night after taking passengers on a tour of the Napali coast in Hawaii.

CNN's Dan Simon is following the latest on this story.

And, Dan, we're hearing that two of the passengers are minors. What is the latest?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ryan, at this point, details are still a bit sketchy, but I can tell you that this was a tour helicopter. It was flying off the coast of the island of Kauai. It was specifically hovering around the Napali area which is known for its pristine beaches and really gorgeous views. And what brought that helicopter down, we do not know, but it appears that weather may have been a factor.

There was rough weather in the area when the helicopter witnessing strong winds, heavy rain and we know that the search right now is also hampered as a result of the weather. Now I can tell you that that helicopter did have an electronic locator on it but at this point no signal has been detected. And at this point we don't know who was on that helicopter. As you said we're talking about a total of seven people. One pilot, six passengers. Two of the passengers are believed to be minors.

And, Ryan, obviously, you have a tragedy unfolding here. And this is a very busy time for tour operators in Hawaii as you have a lot of families, of course, traveling there over the holidays. We'll send it back to you.

NOBLES: All right, Dan Simon. Dan Simon, we'll keep an eye on that story. When we learn more, we will update our viewers.

Dan, thank you.

Meanwhile, it's day nine of the congressional game of chicken unfolding in Washington. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refuses to budge on when she'll send articles of impeachment to the Senate. And Majority Leader Mitch McConnell doesn't appear to be moving his needle on the Senate rules.

CNN congressional reporter Lauren Fox is live on Capitol Hill this morning.

So, Lauren, walk us through where we stand at this point.

LAUREN FOX, CNN POLITICS CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I don't see this getting resolved any time soon, Ryan. Lawmakers still on recess for another week. But I will tell you that there are some clues about what this Senate trial could look like.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOX (voice-over): Six days a week and absolutely no talking. Those are the rules that could govern the Senate's impeachment trial.

[09:05:06]

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): We will have to convene every day, six days out of seven at 12:30 or 1:00 in the afternoon. Senators will not be allowed to speak, which will be good therapy for a number of them.

FOX: The contours of the trial are still in limbo.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): We don't know the arena that we are in. We'd like to see a fair process but we'll see what they have, and we'll be ready for whatever it is.

FOX: But if all else fails, Senate rules from the past impeachment trials may serve as a model this time around. Once the articles are sent over, the rules dictate that a Senate impeachment trial is to begin at 1:00 p.m. the following day. And expected guest in the Senate chamber, Chief Justice John Roberts presiding over the Senate trial.

Once it begins, the sergeant-of-arms will issue a stark warning to senators to, quote, "keep silence on pain of imprisonment." Senators also are expected to take an oath vowing to, quote, "do impartial justice" before sitting in their desks for the trial.

MCCONNELL: I'm not an impartial juror.

FOX: There's no way of knowing how long a trial could last. Many Republicans have argued they'd prefer a shorter one without any witnesses even as the president has suggested that he wants a more robust defense to clear his name.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Give the president his day in court, and let's get this behind us so we can talk about things that people really care about.

FOX: Also unknown, who will play the role of the House managers. The Democrats who will make the case against the president.

REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): The speaker is waiting to understand what the rules of the trial are going to be so she's appointing the right people.

FOX: Once a trial is under way, if lawmakers have questions for witnesses or motions to offer, they would likely make them in writing to the chief justice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Senate will convene as a court of impeachment.

FOX: And when it's time to vote on each article of impeachment, lawmakers stand next to their desks and answer guilty or not guilty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Specter?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not proved, therefore not guilty.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOX: And that of course is Arlen Specter making his famous vote not proven, therefore not guilty. That confused Senate clerks at the time. That isn't a vote that they're used to but he was citing Scottish law.

Now I will tell you that any of these rules can be upended as long as senators have a simple majority. These things are subject to change. But right now, without a clear road map of where we're going, Ryan, it's very unclear whether or not there will be any agreement moving forward -- Ryan.

NOBLES: All right, Lauren Fox, as the staring contest continues on Capitol Hill. Lauren, thank you so much.

Meanwhile, the "New York Times" has just published video interviews and group texts from Navy SEALs who worked under Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher. And the details are disturbing. Some of the SEALs depict Gallagher as a man who, quote, "seemed to care primarily about racking up kills." Here's an example of what else is included in the videos.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard more rumors and stuff like that of Eddie like targeting civilians.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw Eddie take a shot at probably a 12-year-old kid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The guy got crazier and crazier.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can tell he was perfectly OK with killing anybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: Gallagher faced several war crimes charged in a military court. In July, though, he was acquitted of murdering an ISIS prisoner in Iraq, but he was convicted of taking a photo with the fighter's corpse and then demoted.

President Trump, of course, has been heavily involved in Gallagher's case since the beginning. Last month he stepped in again and restored Gallagher's rank.

I'm joined now by retired Rear Admiral John Kirby to talk more about this. Of course, John, former press secretary at the Pentagon and a CNN military and diplomatic analyst.

So, John, the men that were working under Gallagher according to this report called him toxic, evil. They even called him a psychopath. And yet his honor pin has been restored.

What do you make of all of this?

REAR ADM. JOHN KIRBY, CNN MILITARY AND DIPLOMATIC ANALYST: Well, we need to remember these interviews were done by naval criminal investigators in the pretrial time frame. So this was used as evidence going against him at his trial. And then you might remember, Ryan, that another SEAL admitted to the murders so that led to his acquittal. What this underscores for me, this story and these videos, one, how confusing and complicated his case was, which also augured for the president not to involve himself the way he did.

And number two, it points exactly to the kinds of issues that Rear Admiral Collin Green, the commander of this special warfare community, is trying to grapple with in terms of standards of conduct. Ethical behavior on the battlefield, in his force, in the SEAL community. And this story, those videos, Gallagher's case, it's not going to do anything to help Admiral Green move past this, apply lessons learned and try to institute better discipline in the SEAL community.

NOBLES: I think probably one of the things that strikes people about this particular case is that Navy SEALs are traditionally so quiet about their missions.

KIRBY: Right.

[09:10:06]

NOBLES: They rarely talk about them. They do it all in the shadows. These men, though, spoke out because they say they were so concerned about Gallagher's actions. How significant is that? KIRBY: Yes, it is significant. They are a quiet bunch, and they tend

to be more insular. They look after one another. But you can see in the text messages that "The New York Times" released that they were very concerned about just telling the truth. There was no prior coordination of what they were going to say. They just admonished one another to tell the truth. I think that was extraordinary.

And again, I think but for the fact that another SEAL admitted to the murder, this testimony, these interviews probably would have had a much greater effect on the jury.

NOBLES: All right. Well, let's talk now about how Gallagher is responding to all of this. In a statement through his lawyer, he responded to "The New York Times" by writing this. Quote, "First, my first reaction to seeing the videos was surprise and disgust that they would make up blatant lies about me. But I quickly realized that they were scared that the truth would come out of how cowardly they acted on deployment. I feel sorry for them that they thought it necessary to smear my name, but they never realized what the consequences of their lies would be."

You know, President Trump himself, John, has been a staunch defender of Eddie Gallagher.

KIRBY: Right.

NOBLES: Did Trump's blind faith in Gallagher before all the evidence was presented perhaps hurt this judicial process at all?

KIRBY: Yes. I think it was really misguided and imprudent for the president to involve himself. I mean, he was involved in this case when Gallagher was in pretrial confinement. Got him out of pretrial confinement. Again, you can argue whether that was the right thing for the Navy with him or not but the president was involved all the way through this case.

And I just don't think that's a wise use of his time as commander-in- chief and it's not really good for the judicial system because now the message is going to be sent to so many others who may be in trouble that, hey, look, all I've got to do is get on FOX News, get somebody to advocate my case before the president and I don't have to worry about the judicial system.

The other thing that I worry about this is good order and discipline not just within the SEAL community and the rest of the military but what this message sends to our allies and partners overseas about the degree to which they can take heart in the fact that our troops will be held accountable for a high standard of conduct and ethical behavior on the battlefield in their countries.

And so I think there's going to be a lot of questions now emanating out of this case that don't necessarily speak well of the United States Military overseas.

NOBLES: Well, and finally, the Navy secretary, or former Navy secretary, Richard Spencer, lost his job over this primarily. KIRBY: Right.

NOBLES: As part of the reason that he was removed from that post. How do you think these newly published videos - do you think that that will change people's perception of his role in all of this?

KIRBY: You know, I don't know, Ryan. It might. I think those who are inclined to support Gallagher and oppose the system, the Navy, Spencer, and the bureaucracy or not, are not going to be swayed by this at all. And those who I think were in the camp of -- you know, in Spencer's camp and against Gallagher are not going to change either.

But what I do worry about, when I saw the videos this morning and I read "The New York Times" article, what I do worry about is the fact that it's not going to help. Admiral Green as he tries to get his arms around the SEAL community and institute better discipline and higher standards of conduct, the Gallagher case is the most acute of what we've been seeing recently. But you might remember that the SEALs have had other incidents on the battlefield.

They had to send a whole platoon home because of intoxication while they were on combat deployment. There are a lot of issues inside the SEAL community that they're trying to grapple with. And we need to remember, too. And we ought not to be too judgmental here in terms of the whole community. This is a community, special operators in particular across the services have been deployed time and time and time again to combat deployments over the last 19 years.

This is a force which is incredibly resilient but they have been under a lot of strain and pressure as has their families. And I think, again, what Admiral Green is trying to do is get his arms around all that and these kinds of revelations in this particular case are just not going to make that any easier for him.

NOBLES: Well, they have an incredibly tough job. It seems as though these controversies make that job even more tough.

KIRBY: They do. I agree.

NOBLES: Rear Admiral John Kirby, thank you so much. Appreciate you being here.

KIRBY: You bet. My pleasure.

NOBLES: And still to come, could Secretary of State Mike Pompeo soon be heading out the door? New reporting about where he may be going and who could replace him.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Bye-bye. Can't win them all.

(END VIDEO CLIP) NOBLES: The president's Hispanic supporters in the border city of El Paso are trying to convince others to re-elect him. Can they grow their support for President Trump?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:00]

RYAN NOBLES, ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: Well, another Christmas has come and gone without any sign of the, quote, "Christmas gift" threatened by North Korea. CNN is learning that the Trump administration pre- approved a series of U.S. military options that could have been quickly executed if Kim Jong-un followed through with that threat. With me now, CNN national security reporter Kylie Atwood. So, Kylie, what options were on the table here?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, so, there are a series of pre-approved military show of force operations that the Trump administration has signed off on. And that depends on what North Korea actually ends up doing with regard to this promised Christmas gift, of course.

And this is reporting from my colleague Barbara Starr that these show of force options include a number of things, potentially bomber aircraft flights that would go over the Korean Peninsula or ground military drills. But it's important to note here that these are not things like the U.S. planning any military action against North Korea.

[09:20:00]

They are not expected to take any action that would lead to sustained military action against North Korea by the U.S. This is show of force of the U.S. military demonstrating their strength in the region based on anything that North Korea does. And it's also important to note, however, Ryan, that over the last few months, North Korea has launched some short-range missiles, and the Trump administration has done nothing in response to those launches.

NOBLES: All right, Kylie Atwood with the latest on the situation in North Korea. That Christmas surprise, the window there come and gone, we'll have to see what happens here in the future. Let's talk more about it now with David Sanger who of course is the national security correspondent for "The New York Times". So, David, I want to start with your reaction now to our new reporting.

Does it surprise you that the United States government would have a readied response in response to anything that North Korea would do, and does it seem appropriate to you?

DAVID SANGER, NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Well, Ryan, it doesn't surprise me at all. The oldest sort of military plan the U.S. has goes back to the days right after the Korean war about how you would respond to various North Korean provocations from missile launches right to a full invasion of the South. What I find interesting about the pre-planned actions that Kylie was

just discussing, and Barbara Starr reported on is basically how little they change from what the U.S. has done in the past. The Obama administration ran bombers along the North-South borders, staying just south of the border at various moments of provocation.

The Bush administration did this. And when you think about it, it's not especially useful. The North Koreans know that the United States can reach North Korea with bombers. They know we have submarines offshore. They know that our intercontinental ballistic missiles in the Midwest can reach North Korea.

So it's a strange kind of way to try to do a show of force. And actually, it struck me as what you do when you actually can't think of anything terribly creative to do.

NOBLES: All right, let's turn now to Syria. There's quite a bit of coming out of there on this hour. Doctors Without Borders reporting that camps on the Syrian-Turkish border are being pummeled with airstrikes and barrel bombs. President Trump actually responding to this, tweeting this warning, quote, "Russia, Syria and Iran are killing, are on their way to killing thousands of innocent civilians in the Idlib Province. Don't do it. Turkey is working hard to stop this carnage."

You know, David, aside from just tweeting, do we know the status of any other U.S. diplomacy efforts in this region? And isn't this exactly the scenario a lot of national security experts were concerned about when the Trump administration decided to pull out of Syria?

SANGER: Ryan, it's precisely what people were discussing would happen when the U.S. pulled a very small force. The importance of the force that was there was not their fighting capability. It was the fact that the other powers in the region, Iran, Turkey, Russia, would not want to mess with the local population if they thought it would involve the U.S. and possible casualties to U.S. forces.

When you -- when the president pulled those back, he created a vacuum. When you create a vacuum, someone fills it. And in this case, the forces that have filled it are exactly the forces that everybody was warning President Trump would fill it. And when I say everyone, I don't simply mean critics on the outside. I mean, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the rest of the leadership in the Pentagon.

The leaders within the State Department who quit a year ago when the president first attempted that, including Secretary Mattis. So, it's an interesting case study here because apart from the human tragedy, which is tremendous that's going on here, basically all the worst things that people predicted would happen when the U.S. created a vacuum have happened.

NOBLES: And amidst all of this, you know, we now are seeing reporting, "The Washington Post" reporting that President Trump may be searching for a replacement for his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. Rumors Pompeo may consider a run for the Senate seat in Kansas. You know, we've talked already just about two of the big conflicts and problems happening around the world.

There are countless others that we could talk about, but we don't have time for. I mean, what would Pompeo's departure mean in terms of, you know, the foreign diplomacy efforts in the United States at this point?

SANGER: Well, it gives the president another opportunity there to change course. And when you think about the candidates out there, it's sort of interesting to see where that choice lays out. Now, we don't know that Secretary Pompeo is going to leave yet to run for Kansas, usually people leave the Senate to become Secretary of State as John Kerry --

NOBLES: Yes --

[09:25:00]

SANGER: Did. This would be a reverse. But if he did it, he could pick somebody like the Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. If he did that, he would be moving from a China hawk in the job to a China dove in the job. Very different approach. If on the other hand he picked, say, Steve Biegun, the very capable North Korean negotiator who just became deputy Secretary of State, and would be acting Secretary if Secretary Pompeo left, you'd be getting pretty much continuity, but somebody who is an experienced long-time diplomat was in the Bush administration on the National Security Council.

Similarly, if he picked the national security adviser Robert O'Brien, you would have somebody who is much more of a technocrat, much less of an ideologue than you have in Secretary Pompeo.

NOBLES: All right, a number of options on the table, we'll have to see how this all plays out, David Sanger, thank you so much for being here, we appreciate it --

SANGER: Great to be with you, Ryan.

NOBLES: The impeachment standoff continues on Capitol Hill, but some very important events that could affect an impeachment trial are fast approaching. We'll take a look ahead, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:00]