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Sources: Post-Brexit Trade Deal Expected Today; Manafort, Stone Among 26 Pardons on Wednesday; Scaled-Back Festivities This Christmas in Bethlehem. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired December 24, 2020 - 04:30   ET

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

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[04:31:52]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Sources say the U.K. and the European Union are closing in on a post-Brexit trade deal with an announcement expected today. Now, this would come after months of tense negotiations and just one week before the end of the year deadline.

In the past hour, the Irish foreign minister said the two sides had agreed in principle on fisheries, a key point of contention in talks. He said he also expects big announcements later in the day.

So, joining me now to discuss these developments is CNN's European affairs commentator, Dominic Thomas.

Dominic, great to see you.

DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Great to see you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, you know what? It wasn't so long ago. We were told this trade deal was not going to happen. What suddenly changed?

THOMAS: Yeah, it's been -- it's been quite a remarkable process. When this post-Brexit period started out and people criticized the 11-month transition period saying this would never be long enough and it's clear that this situation is not over yet.

And if there is a deal and has to be scrutinized before it goes for review in the U.K. parliament, the devil will be in the details. But the fact is that the European Union, in conjunction with negotiators and from the U.K., seemed to have arrived at some kind of agreement over this particular deal.

And I think that events that took place over the last few weeks compounded by the frustration around COVID and so on have pushed the government towards negotiating and compromising and arriving at some kind of deal that will help us move this to the next chapter.

CHURCH: And, Dominic, how significant is all of this? And could the nightmare scenes of trucks stuck at the port of Dover due to the travel ban associated with COVID have given perhaps a nasty preview of life without a trade deal, or perhaps spurred Boris Johnson into action?

THOMAS: Yeah. You know, Rosemary, we had so many conversations where we're looking at simulations of what a no-deal Brexit would look like. The British people in lockdown because of COVID, because of the government's mishandling of COVID got to witness in the front seat the televised spectacle that was taking place, and that is taking place in Dover, and to hear the prime minister and the transform secretary earlier in the week essentially downplaying the situation there in two days, downplaying the number of trucks seen there into the thousands and also downplaying the impact on the supply chain.

And the British people know for themselves by going to the shops, the shops that they can go to due to the lockdown, know there are problems there so the nightmare of Brexit is playing out on the television screen, and this have to have pushed the government towards making the compromises and the concessions. And ironically, this may actually help them get this through parliament, because it's clear that the kind of devil aligning the details will be things that the far right that the Brexiteers may not agree with. But now with the British public pressure may get this deal over the line.

CHURCH: Right, and, of course, we don't know the details. We know that they appear to have reached some sort of deal in principle in terms of fisheries which was a big sticking point.

[04:35:03]

But what will this mean for Britain going forward and how will this change life in the United Kingdom?

THOMAS: I mean, this is a really important, you know, question. I mean, at the end of the day, the entire Brexit process has never really been about the future trading relationship. It's always been an emotional relationship dealing with sovereignty, independence, and autonomy, driven by these Brexiteers and these far right elements in British society that at all costs have wanted to extricate themselves from, let's face it, an incredible organization that since World War II, is a short emission of the E.U.

And the British people are going to now have to try and recognize whether or not that call for sovereignty and achieving that particular process has been worth it long term when they start to realize what it means to be a heard country, to be on the outside of their European Union partners that so many people have grown up with. So it's a new Britain afloat and one really doesn't know where it's going to go.

But this question of the emotion is really the key aspect in all of this.

CHURCH: Yeah. Incredible journey it has been for everybody.

Dominic Thomas joining us -- thank you very much for your analysis. Appreciate it.

THOMAS: Thanks, Rosemary. CHURCH: Well, President Trump is now at his resort in Florida for the

Christmas holiday. Before leaving Washington, he issued 26 more presidential pardons to people convicted of federal crimes. Among them, former Trump associates Paul Manafort and Roger Stone. Charles Kushner, the father of the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner, also was pardoned.

And the COVID relief bill adopted by Congress suddenly faces an uncertain future. The president said $600 cash payouts to individuals was ridiculously low and called for Congress to amend it to $2,000 per person.

On Wednesday, President Trump vetoed the annual defense spending bill that both chambers of Congress recently passed. It sets up what could be the first veto override of his presidency, pitting members of his own party against him.

Trump's former national security adviser is slamming the president's move. Listen.

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JOHN BOLTON, FORMER U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: For 59 straight years, our parties have compromised their differences to give clear policy direction on defense for the full year. And what Trump's veto does here potentially is put that in jeopardy, at a time when we're suffering from one of the worst computer attacks in our history, when we see threats all around the world, continuing to grow from China and elsewhere. To do this because he doesn't like this provision or that provision, nobody in Congress would have written this bill exactly this way.

But they legislated, which is actually what they're paid to do. And for the 60th year in a row, we've got a bill. It's an act of gratuitous -- purely gratuitous act by the president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Joining me now is CNN political analyst Patrick Healy. He's also "the New York Times" politics editor. Good to have you with us.

PATRICK HEALY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Great to be here.

CHURCH: So, in the wake of a particularly chaotic day, one Republican aide is calling President Trump unhinged after he vetoed the defense spending bill. Threatened to do the same with the COVID relief bill, pardons more friends and felons and then heads off to Mar-a-Lago for Christmas.

Is Trump unhinged? Or is there a plan to create unequal havoc and burn down the house before he leaves office?

HEALY: Well, Rosemary, he has really divided the Republican Party with just four weeks left in his presidency, it's an extraordinary way to go out. You know, you went over all of the key points. What he is doing right now is he's drawing lines in the sand at the

11th hour on COVID relief before benefits run out on the defense spending bill. You know, on other fronts, and putting Republicans in very uncomfortable positions. Just looking at the Georgia Senate race, for instance, the two Republican senators who are now returning for re-election now voted for the COVID relief bill that President Trump is now calling a disgrace.

So, he's really dividing the party and confusing just a lot of Republicans about what he's up to.

CHURCH: And President Trump issued another wave of pardons (AUDIO GAP) including ones for Roger Stone, Paul Manafort and Charles Kushner, Jared Kushner's father, of course. Who might be next do you think? And is this a buildup for a pardon for himself?

HEALY: Well, that's a great question, Rosemary. You know, it's extraordinary. This president has given so many pardons to people who helped him politically, who may have stayed silent as we know, or did stay silent, perhaps, you know, in hopes of a pardon.

So, I think what we're looking at right now, Rosemary, is whether he starts actually pardoning members of his own family, you know, proactively, including himself. I mean, pardoning himself would be sort of the big one, so to speak. There's also, of course, Rudy Giuliani.

But I think it's the family and Giuliani in particular that we're watching right now.

CHURCH: Yeah, and Steve Bannon waiting in the wings as well.

HEALY: Sure.

CHURCH: So is President Trump ultimately testing the loyalty of his party? Pushing everyone to the absolute limit to see who stands with him, who stands against him? Even suggesting his very loyal Vice President Mike Pence is not doing enough for him which is just an incredible statement?

HEALY: Really, this president wants to go out of office, Rosemary, you know, holding people to loyalty tests, ultimately. How loyal are you willing to be. Even threatening that senators and governors will face -- Republican senators and governors will face primaries in 2022, basically at President Trump's urging because if they don't support him now, you know, he will come back to haunt them, so to speak, in a year and a half, two years by supporting Republican primary opponents.

So, you know, it really is sort of an extraordinary loyalty test including to Mike Pence who is going to have to get up and run on January 6th, the Electoral College certification process in the Congress. You know, ultimately, Mike Pence has a constitutional duty to do, you know, we will see if he does it, again, with this president, a lot of it is noise, more than actual action.

CHURCH: Indeed. Patrick Healy, many thanks and merry Christmas. HEALY: Merry Christmas to you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Well, President Trump's pardons on Wednesday are reigniting bitter memories for families such as these in Iraq. We will hear their stories and their outrage as four Blackwater militiamen convicted of a massacre walk free.

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CHURCH: Perhaps the most controversial pardons President Trump granted this week were given to four former Blackwater security contractors convicted of helping carry out a massacre in Iraq. 17 civilians including two young boys were killed when Blackwater staffers opened fire in a Baghdad Square in 2007.

Arwa Damon is covering the story from Istanbul. She joins us now live.

So, Arwa, what has been the reaction to this for those who suffered and lost loved ones?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A lot of shock, Rosemary, a lot of disappointment, a lot of re-felt pain, especially because initially they did wait so long for even a semblance of justice. And really a lot will tell you that this just reawakened these fairly widespread emotions that many Iraqis share. That Americans don't really value their lives.

Here's a look at what happened and how one of the victims felt.

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DAMON (voice-over): The horror-filled memories of that day in September 2007 still haunt those who survived, whose physical scars may have healed. But who grappled with the psychological trauma nearly every day.

I remember seeing a woman and her son. Their car was in front. It was on fire. She was crying out until she burned to death with her son, Hasan Jaber Salman says.

There was so much gunfire, it wasn't normal. Bodies just fell in the street. I wasn't wounded yet. I moved my car to get away. And I was shot multiple times.

It was a sunny day in Baghdad, one where the population would almost pretend their country was being ravaged by violence but these illusions shattered quickly in Iraq. In an instant, a busy Baghdad round-about in the town square turned into a street of blood.

Ali Abdel Razzaq (ph) was the youngest victim. Just 9 years old. Shot in the head in the backseat of his car as his father helplessly watched him die. My son was the heart of our family, his father Mohammed told us years ago. The shooting rampage was carried out by what was then Blackwater, a

private security company notorious for its brutes and trigger happy behavior.

Blackwater claimed its personnel were under attack. Numerous accounts said that was not true.

From his hospital bed at the time, Salman had described how Blackwater operatives opened indiscriminately at civilians. No one fired at Blackwater, they were not attacked by gunmen. They were not targeted, he said.

Salman travelled to the U.S. to testify, almost seven years after the massacre.

In the end, one of the Blackwater operatives was sentenced to life in prison. Three others sentence from 12 to 15 years. Salman, a lawyer himself, felt that there was a semblance of justice. It renewed his faith in American ideals, not anymore.

President Trump, the first recent U.S. president to pardon convicted killers, left the murderers, the men who destroyed his life walk free.

I say to him, your decision, you're going to have to face God on this, Salman says. You did not fulfill justice. You pardoned the criminals and the killers. The blood of the dead and the wounded is on your hands.

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DAMON (on camera): And, Rosemary, Salman also spoke about how dangerous this decision was, in the sense it sends a message that even a country like America is willing to let killers and criminals walk free. Therefore, what's to stop any other countries? But sufficed to say, you know, this news has been so unspeakably devastating for so many in Iraq, already a war-torn country.

CHURCH: Yeah, totally understood. Many thanks to Arwa Damon, with important and moving perspectives there.

Well, Iran's foreign minister is dismissing President Trump's allegations that Tehran was behind Sunday's rocket attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. In a tweet directed at Trump, the foreign minister wrote: Putting your own citizens at risk abroad won't divert attention from catastrophic failures at home.

But President Trump is directly blaming Iran for the attack and threatening it, even though CentCom says it wasn't Iran, but an Iran- backed rogue militia.

[04:50:09]

Still, the president warned Iran, that even if one American is killed, he will hold Iran to account.

Well, next, perhaps not as merry a Christmas but one that will be deeply important to many. We're live in Bethlehem where the celebrations are muted this year, due to the pandemic.

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CHURCH: It is Christmas Eve across the globe, and the focus is on what's believed to be the little town where Jesus was born. Celebrations are taking place there. But they are scaled back this year because of the pandemic.

There's a scouts parade ahead of the nativity light show and Christmas messages from political leaders.

And Elliott Gotkine is in Bethlehem. He joins us now live.

Good to see you again, Elliott.

So, what's been happening and how different is the atmosphere this year?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Rosemary, this morning, we've seen the streets being sterilized ahead of the arrival of the Latin patriarch. We can see that shops are shuttered.

[04:55:02]

And although there are few more people you can see in Manger Square behind me than there were earlier today, those that aren't journalists or security and medical personnel, they'll be local Palestinians because the West Bank will be in lockdown, so Palestinians can't travel into Bethlehem from other towns across the West Bank.

So there's not going to be any performances. Usually, people also come here to soak up the cheer and atmosphere, to see carol concerts and other performances maybe even attend midnight mass. All of that is scaled back. Those performances are not going to happen and any allergy attending midnight mass.

The event is the procession of the Latin patriarch. Even the patriarch himself is a doubt today. He's just recovered from COVID. So, he's due to be here in an hour and a half, by scouts, marching bands but far fewer bands than he ordinarily would be met with. He'll likely go in for prayers as well.

So, you know, Christmas hasn't been cancelled but it is much more somber and much more low key than it ordinarily would be.

CHURCH: Yeah, it is very different for everyone across the globe. We're looking at those live pictures in Bethlehem. And talking there with journalist Elliott Gotkine, who is live in Bethlehem. Many thanks to you.

And thank you for your company. I'm Rosemary Church.

EARLY START is coming up next. You're watching CNN. Have yourselves a wonderful day.