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Five People Stabbed At Hanukkah Celebration In New York; Texas Church Shooting; U.S. Strikes Facilities Linked To Iran-Backed Militia; Netanyahu Expresses Outrage After Five People Stabbed At Rabbi's House; Two Victims And One Suspect Hospitalized After Texas Church Shooting; Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D), Presidential Candidate, Campaigns In Iowa Before Caucuses; Officials Identify Some Victims In Hawaii Tour Helicopter Crash. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired December 29, 2019 - 14:00   ET

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

[13:59:56]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARON KOHN, WITNESS: I threw him a table and said that he should get out of here. And he injured a guy, was a (INAUDIBLE) guy. He was bleeding here, bleeding in his hands all over.

I ran into the other room because I tried to save my life. I saw him running down this way so I ran out. And too late, he came along with me, they're still hysterical. What time is it (ph) -- I don't even know the time now. And they're still hysterical right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Alison Kosik is live for us near the scene of that attack. And Alison, what more are you learning about what happened last night?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Martin -- we're learning that this attack happened just before 10:00. The suspect, the attacker that we're talking about, Grafton Thomas, entering Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg's house right behind me through an unlocked front door.

The rabbi often kept the door unlocked. There was an open door policy during celebrations like the one that was happening at his house last night for Hanukkah, for the seventh night of Hanukkah.

At least 100 people were inside the house for that celebration. And when the attacker walked in, the rabbi was actually in the middle of lighting the menorah.

The attacker, Grafton Thomas stabbed five people with a -- is alleged to have stabbed five people with a large machete type knife. One of the victims, actually, is the rabbi's son. All of the victims are recovering at the hospitals.

One of the guests, Joseph Gluck, is being called a hero because he threw a coffee table at the attacker and actually wrote down the license plate number of the car he was driving before he left the house.

And that's a good thing because he was spotted driving across the George Washington Bridge. His license plate number was picked up by technology there at the GWB. He was ultimately arrested in Harlem with blood all over him. And then he was transported here to upstate New York where he was arraigned on $5 million bond on five charges.

Keep in mind this is a tight-knit Hasidic Orthodox Jewish community. 90,000 people make up Rockland County and one-third of them are Jewish.

I spoke with one Orthodox Jewish representative for the community. He said this is the 13th anti-Semitic event to happen in New York state, and he says unfortunately we are living in a time that if you are Jewish, you need to look over your shoulder -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: Alison Kosik on the scene for us. Thank you for the update.

With me now is David Harris. He is the CEO of the American Jewish Committee. Sir -- thank you for joining us on what is obviously a very difficult day.

DAVID HARRIS, CEO, AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE: Thank you.

SAVIDGE: You have heard, I'm sure, that the governor of New York has called this domestic terrorism and he's vowing action. What kind of action do you want in response to this latest attack against the Jewish community?

HARRIS: I think what's clear is that despite the good will of all of our political leaders, and they are all long-time friends of the Jewish community in New York, much more has to be done. We're witnessing a veritable epidemic of anti-Semitic attacks, including at least one attack on each of the days of Hanukkah, whether in New York City or in Rockland Counties as you just reported.

So what we need is a stepped-up policy which includes zero tolerance, a get-tough message and a unity of all of New York citizens that say this is not just about the Jews or about the Hasidic community in Rockland County, this is about all of us and the way we choose to live. We want to affirm our inclusion, not our exclusion; our unity, not our separation.

SAVIDGE: As was noted here, the stabbing attack comes after at least, I believe, 13 attacks this month on Jewish people in New York. And I'm wondering, what is the mood of the Jewish community in New York and across the country? I mean how are people coping with a string of hate and violence?

HARRIS: I think for many it's come as a complete shock. American Jews felt over the years that they had become fully integrated into America, and in so many ways, we have.

And yet when we took a survey by the American Jewish Committee earlier this year, after the Pittsburgh and Poway tragedies, 31 percent of American Jews said that they now hide their Jewish identity in public, 25 percent says that they will avoid Jewish sites for fear of attack.

So something is changing. And it's coming from various sources -- Martin, it's not coming from just 1 source, multiple sources. And we're calling on local and state and national leaders to address this phenomenon, because again, it is today an epidemic.

SAVIDGE: I want to ask you David -- New York's mayor, the state's governor have condemned the attack. They've all called for action to prevent further violence.

But the President has thus far been silent on this tragedy. He has tweeted on Nancy Pelosi, impeachment, even New York's homeless problem. But no comments or tweets about this mass stabbing.

[14:05:00]

SAVIDGE: Should the President be taking a more active role in addressing this issue?

HARRIS: I think the issue of anti-Semitism in America today is serious enough that it should capture the attention of the administration, of all members of Congress, and of all political leaders of both parties.

Unfortunately, until now, some have chosen to weaponize anti-Semitism. In other words, if they're on the right they point to the left. And if they're on the left they point to the right as the culprit.

What we've now seen is the state of anti-Semitic attacks from all across the political spectrum. As a result, this is no longer about weaponizing or politicizing anti-Semitism, but coming together as a nation and understanding that a threat to any Jew or any American citizen is a threat to all of us. We must stand united against this threat.

SAVIDGE: Do you have an explanation as for why now are we seeing this? And it's not of course, not just New York. It's not just the United States. We are seeing this in many places around the world, this rise of anti-Semitism. Why now?

HARRIS: I don't think there is any one answer, but for us there are several possibilities. The first is the legacy of the Holocaust is kind of fading. Survivors like my own mother and father are no longer here, so the impact of what anti-Semitism can become is largely unknown to many younger people.

Secondly, social media has become a launching pad for every kind of conspiracy theory, every kind of anti-Semitic trope.

Thirdly, there is a growing lack of confidence in liberal democracy and the kind of societies that we've build. Rather than coming together, we're fracturing and we're balkanizing.

And fourth, I fear that unless authorities come down hard, the message is you can do this and there is a good chance you can get away with it. And this is one of the issues we've been pointing to in Europe for a number of years where there was a kind of very slow, almost lax response to anti-Semitism. And we've seen what happened there. We don't want what happened there to happen here.

SAVIDGE: No, we don't.

David Harris -- we appreciate you coming on the program today. Thank you.

HARRIS: Thank you.

SAVIDGE: And we're following another breaking story this hour. Bloodshed at another place of worship today. Three people are now in critical condition after a shooting at a church in White Settlement, Texas. We're told the shooter is among the injured. This was at the West Freeway Church of Christ. It's located just miles away from Fort Worth.

And joining us now is former law enforcement official Cedric Alexander. And Cedric -- it's good to see you again, but not under these circumstances. What can you make of what happened here?

CEDRIC ALEXANDER, FORMER LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL: Well unfortunately, as you can see, this is just another tragic event among many tragic events surrounding innocent people being hurt in public places, such as churches and malls. And of course, what we've seen more recently last night in Monsey, New York.

It should make all of us pause and really have great concern as to how we're going to address the violence in this country.

You know, I was listening to your last guest there for a moment, and he was right on so many different levels. There is no one particular place that we know this may be coming from.

But it's a nation, the United States of America whether it's New York state or any state across this country, we certainly are seeing a rise in violence toward those in the Jewish community. We see that also in our gay and lesbian and transgender communities. And we see it in our communities of color. And we see it across all spectrums, all demographic groups.

So there is something that is going on in our environment that may be creating this type of violence. But I think the most important thing that we can do as a nation, all of us collectively no matter who we are, is that we must stand publicly and verbalize our outrage towards these types of violent attacks toward any particular group.

I don't care who they are -- white, black, Jewish, Christian. This is not acceptable and America is not acceptable in our society.

And I'll tell you, as someone who has been a veteran in the law enforcement community for many, many years and still in my retired life spend time making sure that we try to keep our community safe, this is going to be a nationwide effort. What happened today in Texas, what happened last night in Monsey, New York -- we as a nation must stand against it and make it clear, make it perfectly clear, those who are in leadership positions and those of us who are everyday citizens, this is unacceptable and it's not to be tolerated.

SAVIDGE: I want to ask you this before we run out of time. You're the expert here. The governor has proposed, of New York, perhaps a new law, new legislation. Are new laws needed? Tougher laws needed? Will that deal with this problem, do you believe?

[14:10:05]

ALEXANDER: What we don't need is more laws. What we need is enforcement of the current laws that are on the books. There are laws that are wrapped (ph) around from state to state, in New York, across this nation. And there's federal laws that hate crimes will not be tolerated and those that are involved in them will be dealt with appropriately. So we have the laws. We just need to enforce them.

But here again, our leadership, and as you see, that New York state Governor Cuomo is doing a terrific job and he got on this right away last night. He dispatched his hate crime task force investigators to that scene to begin that investigation.

What we see going on this morning in Texas, you're going to see law enforcement work together collaboratively but there is a community component that has to be met. And that component is that all of us across this nation have to verbalize and make it perfectly clear to anyone who is thinking about doing harm to someone because of their race, their religion, their gender it is not acceptable in this country.

And regardless of what we think going on around here in the United States, that's not who we are and we're not going to tolerate it.

SAVIDGE: Cedric Alexander -- thank you very much for joining me today.

ALEXANDER: Thank you -- sir.

SAVIDGE: More breaking news here on a very busy afternoon in the NEWSROOM.

U.S. forces have conducted strikes -- airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against five facilities tied to Iran-backed militia. We'll have details on that straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Officials say U.S. forces conducted strikes in Iraq and Syria against five facilities that were tied to an Iran-backed militia. The targets were blamed or at least connected to a series of attacks on joint U.S.-Iraq military facilities housing American forces. CNN's Pentagon Correspondent, Barbara Starr joins me now form Washington with more. And we also have CNN White House Correspondent, Jeremy Diamond. He will be joining us and is joining us from West Palm Beach.

Barbara -- let me start with you. These strikes are the first significant military response and retaliation with these attacks which targeted American personnel on the ground -- correct?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): that's right -- Martin.

This has all been going on for several weeks. The U.S. says that (ph) an Iranian-backed militia group that's been operating in Iraq and Syria is responsible for a number of bunch of rocket and mortar attacks against locations where U.S. troops are in Iraq.

[14:14:48]

STARR: And actually on Friday one of these attacks resulted in the death of a U.S. civilian contractor. So the U.S. has been looking for some time now what its response should be and what they want to do.

And this morning Washington time, 7:00 in the evening on the ground in Iraq, U.S. S-15s conducted strikes against five facilities in Iraq and Syria operated by this militia group that the U.S. says responsible for attacks.

The targets were command and control and weapons storage, ammo sites. So what they were going after, really, was the capability for any additional strikes by this militia group to happen.

They did report there were a number of secondary explosions at these ammo sites, so they do believe for the moment in which they got to this, you know, if one is practically minded, it doesn't ever really go away. But they're hoping they've at least pushed back the capability of this group.

And to answer the obvious question, will the U.S. conduct more strikes? Officials tell us it's hard to say. They want to see what the Iranian response is to all of this and whether this group really pulls back or not.

But President Trump has made it clear that he will not tolerate attacks against U.S. forces. So the U.S. swinging into action with these strikes in the last several hours -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: All right. Stay with us -- Barbara. Let me bring in Jeremy Diamond.

Jeremy -- Russian President Vladimir Putin I'm told spoke on the phone to the President quote, "to discuss matters of mutual interest and counterterrorism". Do we know any more about this conversation?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we don't know whether the President actually discussed this particular set of strikes with the Russian president. We do know that according to the Russian readout of that call that it was, at least in part, about a U.S. Intelligence that helped foil a terrorist plot in St. Petersburg in Russia.

But what we do know about these strikes today, Martin -- is that it took place at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time while the President was actually at his golf course. We actually spotted him a couple of hours later actually on the golf course golfing. We don't know whether, at that time while the strikes were taking place, whether the President was perhaps in a secure facility at the golf club, or if he was indeed on the golf course while those strikes were indeed taking place.

But we are also now expecting the President to meet later today with his top foreign policy and defense officials. The Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defense Secretary Mike Esper, as well as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Nelly. They are all en route, we are told, and expected to arrive at Mar-a-Lago today to brief the President and to further discuss these strikes that took place in Iraq and Syria. That is according to a source familiar and an administration official who spoke with me and our colleague Barbara Starr.

So again, this is clearly something that the President is still monitoring, something that is still very much a developing situation. And it does appear that the tipping point for these strikes was, indeed, this attack that took place on Friday where you saw one U.S. defense contractor who was killed, four U.S. troops who were wounded in attacks carried out by Iranian proxies in Iraq.

Following that, you saw statements from some republicans including Republican Senator Tom Cotton, a hawkish ally of the President in the Senate, who called for retaliation from the United States against Iran.

It is interesting, of course, that the President's course of retaliation here was focused on attacking these Iranian proxies and not Iran itself. Of course, those Iranian proxies are the ones that the U.S. says is responsible for many of those attacks on Iraqi bases where U.S. troops are housed.

But of course, we know that in the past, the President has considered retaliation directly against Iran. And again, as he sits down today with his top military and foreign policy officials, that is certainly something that we expect the President will be discussing -- Martin?

SAVIDGE: Barbara -- officials say that the Pentagon have a plan and brought it to the President Saturday for approval. So this is not just a spur of the moment target of opportunity kind of thing.

STARR: That's right -- Martin, it wasn't. Because over the last several weeks there have been repeated attacks against these sites in Iraq where U.S. troops are located. And intelligence officials, when they looked at the kind of ordinance that was being fired, the kind of weapons being used, they say they have every reason to believe it was this Iranian-affiliated group operating inside Iraq and that they warned them, you know, don't do this. The message had been very clear. So the military doesn't wait to be asked, they always have a plan for everything, right? So clearly they had a plan, they knew where these sites were, and they were ready to go when it became a decision that the President made.

[14:19:51]

STARR: And I think Jeremy is right. It was the death of the U.S. contractor on Friday and the multiple U.S. military wounded. Up until that point, we don't have any information that there had been any significant injuries in the previous attacks.

But now with someone being killed and multiple wounded, it seemed to have all changed and it became necessary to take it to the President and say, this is what we want to do, get his ok and then move very quickly today on these strikes.

SAVIDGE: All right. Barbara Starr and Jeremy Diamond -- thank you both for joining me. We appreciate the updates.

STARR: Thank you.

SAVIDGE: Coming up -- here what Israel's prime minister is saying about that horrific Hanukkah attack. We'll go live to Jerusalem next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: President Trump is now condemning an attack on a Jewish celebration of Hanukkah. The President tweeting just moments ago, quote, "The anti-Semitic attack in Monsey, New York on the seventh night of Hanukkah last night is horrific. We must all come together to fight, confront and eradicate the evil scourge of anti-Semitism. Melania and I wish the victims a quick and full recovery," unquote.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also expressing outrage after those five people were stabbed at the Jewish rabbi's home.

CNN's Oren Liebermann now joins me from Israel and Jerusalem with more on the reaction there. And Oren -- just what are Israeli officials saying about all of this?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Martin -- news of the attack broke early Sunday morning, just as the work week was really getting started. And immediately we started to see reactions.

And for Israelis this has become all too often. After the Pittsburgh shooting, after the San Diego shooting, those were right as the Sabbath ended here. This one in the middle of Hanukkah, the seventh night of Hanukkah as the work week is beginning.

[14:25:01]

LIEBERMANN: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the attack at his weekly cabinet meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Israel strongly condemns the latest surge of anti-Semitism and the brutal in the middle of the Hanukkah holiday at the rabbi's house in Monsey, New York. We send our wishes of recovery to the wounded.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: Reporter: Netanyahu went beyond simply sending well wishes. He also offered any help or assistance that Israel could offer not only to local authorities but also to any country looking for help.

And that gets at an important point here because this isn't simply a New York problem, it's not simply a U.S. problem. It is well beyond that. It is a problem that the U.S. is trying to address as is Europe and other countries as well.

To that end we've seen the Jewish agency chairman say that these instances of anti-Semitism, anti-Semitic attacks always begin with the Jews but they never end with just the Jews. And that sets the stage for a wider problem of intolerance.

Now it's worth noting that next month, Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust Museum will host a conference on anti-Semitism that coincides with the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the Nazi concentration camp in Poland.

There, they'll try to come up with a plan, not only to combat anti- Semitism in any specific area but to combat it broadly and widely. At least part of the solution for them is a matter of education, not only about anti-Semitism but also about the Holocaust.

World leaders will be here, heads of state, other important dignitaries will be here to try to find some kind of answers, which as we look around right now -- Martin, both in Jerusalem here and those in New York are very difficult to come by.

SAVIDGE: Yes, they are.

Oren Liebermann -- thank you very much, reporting from Jerusalem.

Up next, more on our breaking news story about a church shooting in Texas. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: We are following another breaking story this hour, bloodshed at another place of worship today. Three people were in critical condition -- that was the initial report after a shooting at a church in White Settlement, Texas. We're continuing to wait word on further updates of their condition.

We're told that the shooter is among those who was transported to the hospital. This was at the West Freeway Church of Christ located just miles away from Fort Worth.

CNN Field Producer, Ashley Killough joins me now. She's on the scene there. And Ashley -- just tell us what's going on there right now.

ASHLEY KILLOUGH, CNN FIELD PRODUCER: Good morning -- Martin. Yes, the church is located right off this major freeway here near Fort Worth. And what you seeing is what you would imagine. There is a heavy police presence, dozens of police and law enforcement vehicles here, many with their lights on.

The church is cordoned off with caution (ph) tape all around it. Many of the roads that are leading up to the church are also blocked off.

[14:29:52]

KILLOUGH: So far we've seen police officers walking in and out of the church. A lot of cars are still in the parking lot. They look untouched. Law enforcement did just do a press conference here a few minutes ago in which the Fort Worth police -- sorry, Ft. Worth Fire Department spokesman described this is as a very tragic day.

SAVIDGE: And people there, what are they saying? Are they telling you anything more about what may have happened or how this all began?

KILLOUGH: Sure. Well, we have not seen a large presence of people outside of the church. We've seen just a handful of people, some are wearing blankets waiting to hear more about what's been going on.

I did speak with an employee at a gas station located directly across from the church. He is also here on Sunday mornings, but he said that it seemed like there is less of a presence at the church this morning, perhaps due to the holidays. He says the parking lot is normally more full than this. He was here this morning when the shooting allegedly happened at 9:00 hour central time. He said he did not hear any shots but he did start noticing police vehicles pull up.

He also said he didn't see a lot of people leaving the church or fleeing. He said he didn't see anything like that. And I did speak with another woman who has come here to the church, and she said that there is someone who she's very close to who she believes is still inside the church, and she is waiting to find out more information.

SAVIDGE: All right. Ashley Killough, thank you for that. We'll continue to stay in touch for further developments as we follow you this story of a shooting at a church just outside Ft. Worth, Texas.

Still ahead, conflict between two key Republicans and what a possible Senate impeachment trial would look like. We'll discuss what the White House strategy will be with our legal expert, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: The Iowa caucus is just 36 days away now, and many of the Democratic presidential hopefuls focusing their efforts in that key state in these final few weeks. Among them, South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who continues a three-day Iowa swing and is scheduled to make a slew of town halls across the state.

[14:35:06] Meanwhile, former Vice President Joe Biden is clearing up whether or not he would obey a subpoena to testify at President Trump's Senate impeachment trial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: First of all, I would obey any subpoena that was sent to me. But the point I was making as it relates to me is the only rational reason, and you would know this of your papers you've written, that I could possibly be called at an impeachment trial was can I shed any light on whether or not he committed the crime he's accused of. And there is no reason to believe I would have any notion about whether he committed that crime.

Every single solitary person who has investigated what's happened in Ukraine, including all the people who are under oath in his administration said Biden is as clean as a whistle. Biden did his job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Joining me now is Brittany Shepherd, who is the National Politics Reporter for Yahoo News. Welcome.

BRITTANY SHEPHERD, NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER, YAHOO NEWS: Thank you for having me.

SAVIDGE: So let's talk about this way that Joe Biden is sort of navigating all these questions on the impeachment trial while he is still focusing, of course, campaigning in these critical weeks. It's a delicate balance.

SHEPHERD: For sure, and you can hear in his voice just in that clip that Joe Biden and his campaign is really frustrated with litigating something that him and his team believes is kind of an already one and done case. He believes he's innocent. He believes his son is innocent, He is frustrated that, again and again and again, he is going to have to basically do his own reconnaissance on the road to prove his innocence.

But over the last couple of days, he has been wavering on whether or not he would come back to Washington and testify if he's called, but I would just like to throw a flag down and say it's very unlikely that the Senate would call someone like Joe or even his son, Hunter Biden up to the hill.

SAVIDGE: All right. But what Biden says, of course, there's no legal basis for a subpoena, and then he's got no more real knowledge about Trump's dealings there. If he isn't called to testify, how do you see this just playing out then?

SHEPHERD: Well, I think there was a notion when impeachment proceedings began that even just bringing up the Biden family would lower his polling numbers and kind of make it difficult for him to campaign. And, certainly, it's frustrating. But if you look at the average of all the polling from a year ago

today and today, Biden actually hasn't even moved down a percentage point. He's hovering around the same 25, 26 percent. So it seems to, even though maybe has been an annoyance on the road, it hasn't actually broken his message of coalition-building.

Although it does give other candidates a chance to maybe go and try to campaign against him to say, look, I'm not -- my candidate and my family isn't here being scrubbed up in Trump's head, so other campaigns could use it as a position point, but I don't really think it's moving folks on Joe Biden at all.

SAVIDGE: Okay. Let's talk about Pete Buttigieg's speech today where he defended his fundraising efforts comparing them to former President Obama. This is something that's been dogging him for a while. Do you think that will continue?

SHEPHERD: Absolutely. As long as Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are in the race, folks who have basically disavowed any kind of millionaire or billionaire money, Pete Buttigieg will have to face his fundraising.

And I do think that he made somewhat of a good point that in traditional Democratic campaigning that money is taken from any kind of donor. They're not in a position to shoo away any cash. But he seems to still be doing well in early states like Iowa and New Hampshire despite all of the criticism.

SAVIDGE: And let me ask you about Iowa. First of all, are there still undecided voters there, and if so, what are they saying?

SHEPHERD: Absolutely. I definitely think that Iowa is not a foregone conclusion. I think we're seeing they are really liking Joe Biden, they are really liking Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren. I do think that we should keep our eye on Bernie Sanders too. He has been quietly in second and third place in many of these early states, especially in Iowa.

But I really want to focus on the next six weeks, on the potential Senate impeachment trial. That would take about five senators running for president off the campaign trail that only have one day out of the week to virtually campaign in Iowa, and that could be a real hurt for them, the Cory Bookers of the world who need to score high in these early states to seem viable up until Super Tuesday and beyond.

SAVIDGE: Yes. And that's why the scheduling of all of this impeachment trial is so important here.

Brittany Shepherd, thank you very much. Good talking to you.

SHEPHERD: Thank you for having me.

SAVIDGE: And let's just discuss what is ahead for the president. Ross Garber is a CNN Legal Analyst and teaches impeachment law at Tulane Law School. Ross, Senator Mitch McConnell is, of course, a key player in setting the rules for the upcoming trial. [14:40:01]

What do you make of him openly coordinating with the White House in his role? He's talked about his for a while.

ROSS GARBER, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. And in some coordination given that they're from the same party isn't shocking, but the level of openness is actually the surprising thing, sort of the brazenness of the coordination, and I think that there are probably a few reasons for that.

One is I think he does want to show the president that he is on the president's team. Second is I think he wants to send a message to the public that he doesn't believe he -- Senator McConnell, doesn't believe there's much to this impeachment stuff and that the charges will be disposed of quickly.

SAVIDGE: Do you think that he is sort of reading the polling there that suggest there may be -- I don't know, I'm sort of summarizing -- a kind of fatigue to all of this and that the president may have the upper hand?

GARBER: Yes. He wouldn't be doing this, I think, unless he thought that his constituents and ultimately his caucus was sort of behind that approach.

Now, we did see the senator from Alaska, Senator Murkowski, raise some issues with this approach, and fundamentally there could be some blowback because, ultimately, the notion is that there is going to be a trial, people think a trial is going to be a fair proceeding, and the notion of the fact-finders, you know, coordinating with one side or the other, you know, does look sort of unappealing.

But I do think Senator McConnell believes that his caucus and, ultimately, his constituents will back that sort of approach.

SAVIDGE: And that they'll prevail in the overall process.

The strategy in the House, of course, on the part of the president is blocking with his testimony. How intent going to translate into a Senate trial? We don't even know if there are going to be witnesses.

GARBER: No. And Senator Kennedy from Louisiana talked with our Jake Tapper today and laid out what he thought would be a way to try the case, which is pretty much the way the Clinton Senate trial went, which was several days of presentations by lawyers for both sides, and then questions and answers from the senators through the chief justice to those lawyers, written questions from the senators passed up to the chief justice and then asked by the chief justice for the lawyers.

And then only after that process, then the Senate would consider whether actual witness testimony is necessary. That's how it went in the Clinton trial. That's what Senator McConnell is proposing for this time around also.

SAVIDGE: Of course, all of that hinges on when the House or when the House speaker passes along the articles of impeachment. That hasn't happened yet. And there's no clear indication of when exactly that might happen. That wasn't something that went on in the Clinton era, and it really impacts not only a political schedule but campaign schedules as well, as we've heard.

GARBER: Yes, which is why I don't think this is going to take that long. I mean, Congress is on recess right now. There is nothing going on. There would be nothing that would actually happen if the articles had been transmitted immediately. I don't think there is going to be a long delay.

As you've noted, Martin, the Democratic primaries and caucuses start in just a few weeks. They start in February. I don't think it's going to be in anyone's interest and certainly not in the Democrats' interest to have the country focused on impeachment issues while the Democrats are going to want them focused on democratic fundamental issues, healthcare, immigration, education and the like.

SAVIDGE: Well, couldn't the Republicans also have a hand in the scheduling here and they would very much like to see that happen.

GARBER: Yes, perhaps. I have a feeling that the Republicans and particularly the Senate Republicans aren't going to want to have this drag on for longer than it has to. It's really not much, I think, return in it for the Senate Republicans. They're not going to be wanting to be sitting there and listening to arguments for longer than they have to. They're not going to want to be talking about these issues on news shows for longer than they have to. I have a feeling what's going to happen is it's going to be in everybody's interest to get this done quickly.

There is some question about whether there is witness testimony, but I think what's very likely to happen is there is not going to be additional witness testimony. The Republicans are going to want to get this done quickly, most likely in January.

SAVIDGE: All right. Ross Garber, always good to get your insights, thank you very much.

GARBER: Thanks, Martin.

SAVIDGE: And still ahead, plenty of criminal cases rock the news in 2019 from the Amber Guyger trial to the controversy surrounding actor Jessie Smollett.

[14:45:01]

Up next, a look at the biggest crime stories of 2019.

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SAVIDGE: While political news dominated much of the headlines this year, 2019 was also marked by stories of gun violence, sex crimes and illegal turmoil.

CNN's Jean Casarez takes a look at the nine biggest crime stories of the year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A celebrity hoax, a multimillionaire suicide, a college admissions scandal and more gun violence, all part of the top nine crimes and misconduct stories of 2019.

Number nine, in the early hours of January 29th, Empire star Jussie Smollett says he was called a homophobic slur and the N word, then attacked by two men who put a noose around his neck.

JUSSIE SMOLLETT, ACTOR: I see the attacker masked and he said this is MAGA country (BLEEP) punches me right in the face.

CASAREZ: One problem, law enforcement determined it was a hoax.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why would anyone, especially an African-American man use a symbolism of a noose to make false accusations?

[14:50:04]

CASAREZ: He was charged with felony, disorderly conduct for reporting a fake assault.

In another twist, the state's attorney, Kim Foxx, later dropped all of the charges against the Empire actor.

Number eight, a Mormon family massacred in a remote area of Mexico, ambushed by the gunmen thought to be affiliated with a drug cartel. More than 200 rounds fired at the caravan, killing three women and six children. Several children survived, including 13-year-old Devin Langford who walked more than 14 miles to get help, telling ABC News --

DEVIN LANGFORD, SHOOTING SURVIVOR: It felt real scary and it felt like a lot of bullets.

CASAREZ: His father says his surviving children are living miracles.

Number seven, a former Dallas police officer on trial for murder tearily testified she thought she was in her own apartment when she shot and killed her neighbor.

AMBER GUYGER, FORMER DALLAS POLICE OFFICER: I was scared this person inside my apartment was going to hurt me.

CASAREZ: That neighbor, a young black man named Botham Jean. Jean was sitting on his couch when Amber Guyger shot and killed him after mistakenly entering his apartment. The jury didn't buy it.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: We have breaking news out of Dallas, Texas right now. A jury has just found a former Dallas police officer guilty on murder charges.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I give her a hug, please? CASAREZ: But Jean's brother showed the world strength and grace as he hugged Guyger during sentencing. She was sentenced to ten years in prison.

Number six, a 13-year-old girl in rural Wisconsin kidnapped by a man who had been stalking her for weeks. The assailant snatched Jayme Closs from her home in the middle of the night after murdering her parents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Suspect has specific intentions to kidnap Jayme.

CASAREZ: 88 days later, on January 10th, Jayme escaped. Wearing only pajamas and her captor's shoes, she approached a neighbor walking her dog.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And when she told me who she was, I have figured she must have left in a hurry.

CASAREZ: The community rejoiced. Jayme was alive.

Jake Patterson was convicted and sentenced to two life terms with the murder of Jayme's parents and 40 years for her kidnapping.

Number five, R&B artist R. Kelly's world came tumbling down this year as criminal charges piled up. He is facing indictments in Illinois, New York and Minnesota on charges that include recruiting women for sex and behind back tapes that purport to show him having sex with underage girls. Kelly has pleaded not guilty and passionately proclaimed his innocence to CBS's Gayle King.

R. KELLY, R&B ARTIST: I didn't do that stuff. This is not me. I am fighting for my (BLEEP) life.

CASAREZ: Kelly's trials in Chicago and New York are set for next year.

Number four, from New York to California, hate crimes hit a 16-year high according to the FBI.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: We are following breaking news, reports of a shooting at a synagogue, north of San Diego, California.

CASAREZ: And it's being felt in communities like Poway where a synagogue was targeted by a white teenage gunman on the final day of Passover.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More shots came running right at me.

CASAREZ: Lori Kay, a member of the congregation, lost her life saving others.

In November, a Milwaukee man was charged with a hate crime after allegedly throwing acid on a Hispanic man following a traffic altercation.

MAHUD VILLALAZ, ACID ATTACK VICTIM: And then it started burning really bad.

CASAREZ: Mahud Villalaz suffered burns and scarring. The suspect, Clifton Blackwell, is facing 35 years in prison. He's accused of telling Villalaz a U.S. citizen born in Peru to go back to his country.

Number three --

BOLDUAN: Power, money, sex and potentially dozens of underage victims.

CASAREZ: Federal prosecutors say behind the scenes multimillionaire Jeffery Epstein ran a sex trafficking enterprise, paying underage girls to have sex with him and other powerful men.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The alleged behavior shocks the conscience.

CASAREZ: After cutting a generous deal with federal prosecutors back in 2008, the investment banker's luck ran out in July.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Arrested on federal charges, Epstein was held without bail.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I brought him up to 75 girls from eighth grade to ninth grade at just school parties.

CASAREZ: However, there will be no trial. Just weeks later, Epstein was found hanging in his jail cell. The medical examiner ruled it a suicide.

A judge gave victims a chance to speak at a hearing after Epstein's death.

[14:55:01]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He continued to rape me. I cried myself to sleep that night.

CASAREZ: Number two, a scam involving some of the country's most prestigious universities exploded into a national scandal after federal prosecutors filed fraud and money laundering charges against 50 people, including actresses Felicity Huffman, Lori Loughlin and her husband.

The mastermind, William Singer, CEO of a college prep company. He coordinated with parents to either rig standardized test scores or bribed college coaches and officials to accept their children as elite athletes even if they had never played that sport.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Between roughly 2011 and 2018, wealthy parents paid Singer about $25 million in total.

CASAREZ: Some parents pleaded guilty, including Huffman who served 11 days in prison. But 19 parents, including Lori Loughlin, continue to fight the charges.

And the number one crime and misconduct story of 2019, unprecedented gun violence.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We begin with two American cities reeling today at a nation devastated, a pair of mass shootings.

CASAREZ: From El Paso, Texas to Dayton, Ohio --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The horrific bloodshed taking place in the span of just over 13 hours.

CASAREZ: As El Paso's Walmart filled with shoppers in late August, a lone gunman opening fire with an assault-style weapon.

The 21-year-old suspect told police he was targeting Mexicans.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He shot eight more bullets. I counted them because I said one of these is going to be mine.

CASAREZ: 22 people were killed.

And hours later in Dayton, Ohio, another mass shooting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired. (INAUDIBLE) shots fired.

CASAREZ: Crowds of people run from the shops. Police respond within seconds.

MAYOR NAN WHALEY (D-DAYTON, OH): He was wearing body armor and he used .223 caliber high capacity magazine.

CASAREZ: Police said the gunman, who later died, was stopped. Despite their quick action, he was able to kill nine people. In the end, 31 dead.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: Up next, we have new details about that tourist helicopter crash in Hawaii.

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SAVIDGE: We're learning new details about a tourist helicopter crash in Hawaii. Police have identified at least some of the victims when the chopper went down in the island of Kauai. That was Thursday. Officials believe that all seven passengers were killed, including the pilot.

A 13-year-old and her mother from Wisconsin were among them.

[15:00:01]

The other victims are believed to be members of a family from Switzerland. Right now, the cause of that crash is still unknown.