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Iranian News Agencies Report Iran Executes Second Protester; Lockerbie Bombing Suspect in Custody; January 6 Committee Hold Meeting on Criminal Referrals; Special Counsel Ramps Up Trump Criminal Probes; Libyan Man Accused in 1988 Lockerbie Attack in U.S. Custody; Final Four Teams Preparing for World Cup Semifinal Matches. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired December 12, 2022 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in United States and all around the world. I'm Bianca Nobilo.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Max Foster, joining you live from London. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Lockerbie bombing that took down Pan Am flight 103 and killed 270, most of them Americans.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It has been the tip priority to find the truth and to hold these people accountable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The man believed to have made the bomb is in custody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here at DOJ, we hereby refer all of this to you for investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The House is making it very clear that a criminal action has taken place.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is the beginning of the new beginning. And that is to explore the heavens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London. This is CNN NEWSROOM With Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.

FOSTER: It is Monday, December 12th, 9 a.m. here in London, 12:30 p.m. in Iran. Where we're learning the government has now executed a second man connected to the antigovernment protests that have been gripping the nation for months. Government affiliated news agencies say the man was publicly hanged just a few hours ago.

NOBILO: He was convicted of allegedly killing two members of the security forces and injuring four more. Iran carried out its first known execution connected to the protests last week. And for more on this were joined by CNN's Salma Abdelaziz. Salma, what are you learning?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, this morning, Iran hanged in public a man in the city of Mashhad. Again, I want to emphasize the public part of this. Because that means residents of that city could have potentially seen his body this morning on the streets. It happened in the early hours, again, of today. This is the second man that we know has been executed since the start of this popular uprising now in Iran.

And he was allegedly convicted of waging war against God. The allegation from Iran's authorities is that he was found to have killed two members of the Basij with a knife. Those are, of course, the all- important security forces and wounding four others. Again, this is the second man. The first man was, again, hanged publicly on Thursday. He was also convicted, allegedly, according to government-affiliated news agencies of stabbing a member of the Basij.

Now in the case of this man who was executed today, I want to point out when the Iran's authorities allege this incident took place. They say it took place on November 17th. I'm pointing that out so that you can get a sense of this timeline. In less than a month this man went from allegedly stabbing and killing two members of the Basij to facing an execution.

And that's what rights groups are pointing to. That's what activists are saying. They're saying these are sham trials, they're speedy executions. There's very little fair that is happening in these courts in Iran. They believe -- activists and those on the ground -- that Iran is using this as yet another tool of repression. Yet another way to silence protesters, to crush this dissent, to keep them off of the streets.

Amnesty International in particular has been tracking these executions. They say there are 17 others that Iran is pursuing the executions with. They say these are absolutely sham trials. That's what Amnesty International says. But as we will see in these protests time and team again, the Iranian authorities scrambling to find ways to crush dissent, and yet somehow it only rallies people more.

FOSTER: Do you get a sense, I mean, it's really hard getting the messaging, isn't it, out from the place, but in terms of whether or not it will put protesters off from going out again.

ABDELAZIZ: I think it's probably the opposite, Max. I think activists on the ground, supporters of this uprising, they would tell you this only makes them double down. These two men, whose pictures have been plastered all over state media, are now already heroes to those opposing the government on the ground. Make no mistake about it, this protest movement has gone on for nearly three months now, has absolutely shaken Tehran to its core. It's one of the biggest challenges the Islamic Republic has faced since its inception. In crushing this dissent there have been huge consequences. Rights groups say over 400 people killed, thousands of people arrested and yet every day, more and more people making these brave acts of defiance in the face of this very brutal and crushing movement to silence them.

[04:05:03]

FOSTER: Salma, thank you.

Now more than 15 million Americans are under winter weather alerts across 14 states right now. On the East Coast, the state of Massachusetts is already deploying more than 800 officials, locally, to try to help resolve the situation. Now more than 15 million people are under those weather alerts, and here's some sound from one of the situations.

That was a scene at California's Heavenly Mountain Resort on Saturday, where the things are pretty disastrous. A major storm bringing rain and wind and heavy amounts of snow to much of the Western U.S.

NOBILO: And it's not just the U.S. Well, here in the U.K. and we're dealing with our first cold snap of the season. It's impacted travel to say the least. Max and I both struggled to get in this morning. And Manchester airport was closed for a short time over the weekend. So, right now let's go live to CNN meteorologist Britley Ritz from the weather center in Atlanta. Britley, lots to discuss today. Which parts of the U.S. are in most danger now as people are waking up this morning.

BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, the Sierra Nevada mountain range still dealing with snow yet this morning. So, additional snowfall on top of the feet that we've already picked up and now the system's tracking east. So, the Rockies back into the upper Midwest and the Northern Plains expected to be dealing with this here today, tomorrow and the following.

Look at Soda Springs, California, 60 inches over the last 48 hours. An update on the forecast snowfall totals over the next three days within the central Rockies, model now expected to pick up over a foot of snow. Blizzard warnings are now in effect for parts of the northern and central plains. These are areas that are likely to pick up winds of over 35 miles per hour over a three hour period of time where visibilities are expected to be down near a quarter of a mile or less.

Again, rain still coming in on the California coastline, but riding up the Sierra Nevada mountain range and the Rockies holding onto the snowfall once again across parts of the four corners and northern Rockies as well. That area of low pressure is going to take its track further east, bring in heavy rain and severe weather across parts of the plains.

But on the backside of that low where temperatures aren't quite warm enough to produce rain but aren't quite cold enough for snow, we wind up with ice, nearly a quarter of an inch up to a half an inch possible. This could be a significant icing event where will likely have widespread power outages and then of course trees down and travel not going to be happening -- especially across the eastern Dakotas and back into central Minnesota. Again, that threat of severe weather along the warm front and the cold front as it continues it push farther east along the lower Mississippi Valley today and into Tuesday. Today more of a slight risk of severe weather across western Kansas in the Panhandle of Oklahoma.

But across Tuesday, the northern part of Louisiana -- where we highlighted in orange -- that's more of an enhanced risk of severe weather where we likely have damaging winds. That's one of the bigger concerns. But long-lived tornados cannot be ruled out either. So, that's what will have to watch here on Tuesday. That's the biggest threat across parts of the lower Mississippi Valley.

And it's not just the lower 48 of the United States. In London dealing with this as well, you mentioned, Max, Bianca, where you have low visibilities and slick roadways.

NOBILO: Meteorologist Britley Ritz, thank you.

FOSTER: A trio of seasonal viruses is currently wreaking havoc on the U.S. healthcare systems. Surging cases into the triple-demic, meaning COVID-19, RSV and the flu are affecting millions of Americans and putting a strain on hospitals across the country.

NOBILO: New data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control shows at least 13 million flu-related illnesses. 120,000 hospitalizations and more than 7,000 deaths, all linked to the flu so far this year.

FOSTER: The CDC also says all but seven U.S. states are seeing high or very high respiratory virus activity. And the CNN analysis shows more than 80 percent of hospital beds across the U.S. are currently in use, meaning hospital are just full, more than they've been at any point since the pandemic.

NOBILO: In just over a week, a Select Committee in the United States House is expected to release its final report on the January 6 insurrection.

FOSTER: It also is set to announce its decision on possible criminal referrals for Donald Trump and his allies. And sources say the committee met on Sunday to discuss the matter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): We will be releasing our report, I think around the 21st that will include whatever decision we've made on referrals. If we do make referrals, we want to be very careful about how we do them. But I think we're all in agreement that there is evidence of criminality here and we want to make sure the Justice Department is aware of that.

[04:10:00]

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): The criminal referrals themselves aren't necessarily something that is going to wake DOJ up to something they didn't know before. But I do think it will be an important symbolic thing that committee can do -- even more than symbolic, just very clear that Congress thinks, you know, a crime has been committed here or that the DOJ should investigate it.

(END VIDEO CLIP) NOBILO: It's unclear if the House committee has made its decision on the referrals. And to CNN's Elie Honig explains, it's even less clear how the Justice Department would respond to them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: If a committee makes a referral over to DOJ, this is Congress. Remember, committee is staffed with a bunch of elected, partisan, members of Congress. And so, like it or not, it will look political, and Donald Trump will say, can you bet if he's part of this, or anybody who's part of this referral, look at that, it's a political prosecution. You have Congress, a bunch of elected partisan elected officials asking DOJ to prosecute, and there goes DOJ doing just as they're asked. So, that is the risk here. There is also the risk potentially of DOJ sort of recoiling and saying, listen, we don't take our marching orders from Congress, we are an independent body. We are part of the executive branch. So, it could cut both ways here. It's a very delicate balance that the committee needs to achieve.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: All of this comes as newly-appointed special counsel is moving fast on a pair of criminal probes and involving Trump. CNN's Katelyn Polantz has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: We're getting a better understanding of the set up an approach of the new special counsel's office. These investigations have been very aggressive since special counsel Jack Smith's appointment in November. And he's got a lot of prosecutor who've been working on these cases for months before his arrival.

Already the team that Smith inherits is twice the size of the special counsel investigation under Robert Mueller. About 20 prosecutors working with Jack Smith on the January 6 side alone.

According to several sources who spoke to CNN anonymously, some of those people are digging into a financial investigation that has flown under the radar and that already is pretty sizable as well. They've looked at funding of rioters, political contributions. And in recent weeks are reporting team understands some of the January 6 prosecutors are asking also about Donald Trump's knowledge and understanding of what was about to happen at the Capitol on January 6.

So, Smith is examining the former president very closely, trying to understand the plan and was it to steal the election. We we've learned that investigative team has always been able to take a case up to Trump if the evidence leads them there.

Of course, aside from that January 6 work, other national security prosecutors have been looking at the handling of federal records after Trump left office. And they too are shifting to working for Jack Smith. On the Trump side, allies of the former president tell CNN's Kristen

Holmes, Paula Reid, Jeremy Herb, Zach Cohen, Evan Perez and I, that perhaps it's a good thing. Smith has been living in Europe for the past few years. One source told us that he's not been marinating in the soup of January 6. And if Trump were to be charged a case about legal advice that the president was getting around January 6 may be very difficult to prove at trial.

Katelyn Polantz, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: The U.S. Congress is scrambling to craft a spending bill before government expired -- government funding expires this week. And the White House is bumping up pressure on lawmakers to move quickly to pass the package.

NOBILO: It would provide everything from pandemic funding to additional money for Ukraine and disaster relief funds, and the White House is warning of disastrous consequences if it's not done on time.

Meantime, U.S. markets are bracing for an anticipated rate hike from the Federal Reserve this week. Traders are betting on a smaller increase than the previous four rate hikes.

NOBILO: Investors hope inflationary pressures are easing enough for the Fed to pivot the economy away from recession. The U.S. Treasury Secretary said that while stocks -- shocks, rather, are always possible. She thinks inflation won't a worry this time next year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANET YELLEN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: I think we'll see a substantial reduction in inflation in the year ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's going to take a year.

YELLEN: Well, I believe by the end of next year you will see much lower inflation if there's not an unanticipated shock.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But for families who are paying more at the grocery store, when 2023 comes around, do they need to be worried about a recession?

YELLEN: There are always risks of a recession. The economy remains prone to shocks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: A senior White House aide says Washington is still negotiating for the release of imprisoned U.S. Marine veteran Paul Whelan in Russia. National Security Council official, John Kirby, says the Biden administration made serious efforts to bring him home, along with basketball star Brittney Griner. But it didn't work out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN KIRBY, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: We are still negotiating for Paul Whelan's release. There was a very serious, specific proposal made to the Russians to try to get both of them out together. And it just didn't land anywhere. Didn't go anywhere with the Russians.

[04:15:00]

And then, as we progressed through the summer and into the fall, again, the conversations ongoing with the Russians. It was clear, Martha, that they were treating Paul very separately, very distinctly because of the sham espionage charges they leveled against him and then it kind of came together last week in the endgame with just a Bout for Griner deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Meanwhile, we are learning more about Brittney Griner's flight back home after being released from the Russian penal colony. Last week, one of the diplomats who led the prisoner exchange was on her on that flight from Abu Dhabi, and this is what he had to say about getting her out of Russian control.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGER CARSTENS, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR HOSTAGE AFFAIRS: When she finally got onto the U.S. plane, I said Brittany, you must have been through a lot over the last ten months. Here's your seat, please, feel free decompress, we'll give you your space. And said oh, no. I've been in prison for ten months now listening to Russian, and you want to talk. But first of all, who are these guys? And she moved right past me and went to every member on that crew, looked them in the eye, shook their hand, and asked about them, got their names making a personal connection with them. It was amazing.

And then later on, on an 18 hour flight, she probably spent 12 hours just talking. And we talked about everything under the sun. And I was left with the impression that this was an intelligent, passionate, compassionate, humble, interesting person, a patriotic person, but above all, authentic. I hate the fact that I had to meet her in this manner, but I actually felt blessed having the chance to get to know her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: A man accused of making the bomb that brought down Pan Am flight 103 over Scotland decades ago is now in U.S. custody. 270 people died on that day in 1988, 259 on the plane and 11 on the ground in the town of Lockerbie. It remains the U.K.'s deadliest terror attack.

FOSTER: The suspect was initially charged by the U.S. back in 2020. He's been held in Libya for years. Libyan authorities say he confessed in 2012. But it's unclear whether those statements will be allowed into the U.S. court. CNN's international diplomatic reporter Nic Robertson joins us now. A lot of people are asking how he ended up in the U.S.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: And we don't have an answer for that right now. We do know that the Libyan law enforcement agent who interviewed him back in 2012, the FBI interviewed this law enforcement officer in 2020, two years ago, which led to the charges. But at that time the officer said if the Libyan government was willing, then he was prepared to go to court and testify.

So, I think the implication there, for me at least and what we have from the FBI is that the Libyan government has been assisting in this somehow, but we don't have those details formally yet. But I think just to give you an idea. This man, Abu Agela Mas'ud Kheir al-Marimi was a Libyan intelligence agent, the FBI says, from 1973 to 2011. And during that time, he was one of their bomb-making experts.

The fact that it took the FBI five years after he was initially questioned to learn of the questioning and then another three years shows you the painstaking process that's been going on here. But for the families, of course, this is hugely important, it will be the first person to be brought to face justice on U.S. soil. So that's very big.

Abu Agela Mas'ud Kheir al-Marimi who was convicted in a Scottish court that was held in the Netherlands to try to sort of get a way to move the process forward, always protested his innocence, was released from Scottish jail after serving eight years, he had prostate cancer. You know, I met with him not long after he got back to Libya, still protesting his innocence. Took his innocence, he said -- or his professed innocence went to his, you know, deathbed with him. There was no proof put forward three was that he was innocent.

But just the I think for a lot of the audience just to recap, the scale and scope of the investigation, this is a huge step, but some of the prior steps, massive. A debris field ever 845 square miles, and it was a tiny, tiny fragment of a circuit board found embedded in a piece of clothing that allowed the investigators to figure out where that clothing was purchased in a store in Malta. What suitcase it was put in, in which container on board the aircraft. And therefore, figure out who was responsible for the suitcase and the blame fell on Libyan intelligence agents and Masud -- as he is called in a shortened version of his name -- was allegedly the bomb maker. And this places him now to be facing these charges in a U.S. court shortly.

FOSTER: Incredible work, as you pointed out, by the investigators. Thank you so much, Nic.

Now just ahead. After 26 days and 1.3 million miles traveled, Orion is safely back on earth. What it means for the future of space exploration.

[04:20:02]

NOBILO: Plus, it's been a month, but no closure for the families of four college students murdered in their own beds. We'll have the latest on the investigation. FOSTER: And to the World Cup, the remaining four teams are gearing up

for the highly-anticipated semifinal round.

NOBILO: We'll take you to Qatar where the excitement is building, Amanda.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yes, 28 teams down, four left standing. Very much the calm before the semifinal storm here in Doha. I'll be here live with all the latest in just a couple of minutes. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: After a thrilling weekend at the World Cup, the remaining four teams are now gearing up for another round of drama.

FOSTER: You can't address -- not address what you're wearing.

NOBILO: Well, it just, you know, subliminally I want people to know who I was supporting.

FOSTER: Very subliminal.

[04:25:00]

The semifinals will start on Tuesday with the 2018 runner-up Croatia taking on Argentina and its superstar Lionel Messi. Would you ever imagine us saying that at the beginning of this tournament. Then on Wednesday Morocco will try to extend its Cinderella run against the reigning champions France.

NOBILO: Morocco is the first African team to reach the final four. And to help fans celebrate Morocco plans to operate 30 special flights to carry supporters from Casablanca to Doha.

FOSTER: What's Croatia doing?

NOBILO: Lots, I mean look at me.

FOSTER: Let's go to Amanda Davis who is at the center of the action in Doha. She's feeling so smug. And for us on the English side, it's not great.

NOBILO: I'm not smug. I'm so proud. There are less than 4 million Croatians. It's very impressive that they've got such a brilliant team. But Amanda, tell us what we can expect from the semifinals. And there's only one right answer as well, which is obviously that Croatia is going to trounce everyone.

DAVIES: Well, is far as I'm concerned it is all about the fighting spirit. That's been the phrase that has coming out of the Croatian camp and Zlatko Dalic the last couple week. And yet they are there again.

But I've got to tell you. It is quiet this morning, a real sense of kind of the calm before this storm as these teams are now in touching distance of the big one, Sunday's final year Doha. First time in three weeks, actually, there's been no queue for me to get my coffee this morning. Because today is match day minus one -- as it's known in the business. And that is the day ahead of Croatia's big game with Argentina. We get the last moments to see both of these teams in training, to assess the mood in the camp for a few minutes before their final press conferences ahead of their big clash on Tuesday.

And Croatia, as you've been saying, back in the semifinals of this World Cup for the second time in a row, having already dashed the hopes of Brazil, and Neymar. They've now got their sights set on doing the same to Lionel Messi, the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner. Of course, so much talk about this being the one trophy he wants to win before he calls it a day for his country.

But it's been really interesting how Croatia had really fought, dug deep and dampened all the skill, the momentum of the teams that they've been playing up to this point. And their striker Bruno Petkovic has said, as far as they're concerned, it's not just about one man Lionel Messi, it's about stopping the collective. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNO PETKOVIC, CROATIA STRIKER (through translator): We don't have a specific plan or individual idea to stop Messi. We have seen before when we played against very good teams with very good individual players that we were playing as a team. We never focused on an individual. So, I don't believe we will have a special plan to top one player, because Argentina has a lot of good players. So, we will not focus just on one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVIES: Well, of course, it was France who beat Croatia in the final four years ago. They also back in the semifinals, the first defending champions, actually, to make it into the semifinal of the next tournament since 1998. But they want to go one step further and they're confident of that. They want to become the first back-to-back winners of the World Cup since 1962. But if there's a lot of people supporting Croatia, then Morocco is a whole other level. As we know, the first African side to reach the semifinal of a World Cup. The first side of an Arab nation to reach the semifinal of a World Cup. Hundreds of thousands of fans flocking in here on those extra flights that you've been talking about. Their coach, Walid Regragui, says as far as he's concerned, his side are "The Rocky" of this tournament.

NOBILO: Amanda Davies live from Doha thank you.

FOSTER: Thank you Amanda.

NOBILO: Who are you supporting now that England's been knocked out?

FOSTER: Oh, it's so hard, isn't it. I can't support France because they knocked out England. So, I'm going for Morocco.

NOBILO: Right, we'll have words. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL NELSON, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: It is the beginning of the new beginning. And that is to explore the heavens. The plan is to get ready to go with humans to Mars late in the decade of the 2030s. And then even further beyond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: It is the dawn of a new age of space exploration. After 26 days and 1.3 million miles traveled, NASA's Artemis 1 mission has come to an end. The agency latest comes 50 years after its last mission to the moon with Apollo 17.

NOBILO: First phase of the Artemis program was a critical unmanned test flight, which could pave the way for astronauts to return to the lunar surface and beyond. CNN's Kristin Fisher has more on the mission and what lies ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: A textbook splashdown of the Orion capsule in the Pacific Ocean this afternoon ending a successful Artemis one mission ...

[04:30:00]