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CNN International: Argentine Team head back home as World Cup Winners; Elon Musk Polls Users asking Whether he Should Resign; Argentina Creates World Cup Victory over France; Is Messi then Greatest Footballer of all Time; Iran using Social Media to Crack Down on Protesters. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired December 19, 2022 - 08:00   ET

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

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MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, welcome to CNN "Newsroom", I'm Max Foster in London. Just ahead a U.S. House Select Committee set for its final public hearing investigating the January sick capital riots. We'll look at what's at stake for Former President Donald Trump.

Then Twitter users vote to remove Elon Musk as head of the platform in the poll created by Musk himself, but will he stick to his word am if? And team Argentina heads back to Buenos Aires as football world champions. We're live in the Capitol with all the reaction to this remarkable match.

The stage is set in Washington for major announcements from lawmakers investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Just hours from now the U.S. House Select Committee will hold its final public meeting marking the end of his exhaustive probe into the capital attack.

According to a CNN source, the committee is expected to present criminal referrals it plans to make to the Justice Department for several people, including Former President Donald Trump. CNN's Senior Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid has the details.

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PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The January 6 committee will hold its last public meeting today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is crunch time for the committee.

REID (voice over): To roll out the results of it's nearly two years long investigation into the capitol attack. During the meeting, Lawmakers are expected to vote to approve their final report.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): The evidence is there that Donald Trump committed a criminal offense in connection with his efforts to overturn the election. There's sufficient evidence to charge the President.

REID (voice over): Lawmakers are also expected to announce they will refer at least three criminal charges against Former President Trump including insurrection, obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy to defraud the federal government. A source tell CNN

SCHIFF: This is someone who tried to interfere with a joint session, even inciting a mob to attack the Capitol. If that's not criminal, then no matter what it is.

REID (voice over): Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson also told CNN, the panel is looking at different types of referrals. In addition to referrals to the Justice Department for potential criminal prosecution they're also considering referrals to state bars for possible disciplinary action to the Federal Election Commission for any campaign finance violations and to the House Ethics Committee. Today's meeting is expected to not only name people being referred, but also lay out a legal basis for those decisions. Among those who could face referrals, a handful of Trump's former aides and advisers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is about Donald Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They cheated with the machines state election officials ignored or violated the state law.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, Mr. Clark.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you? Good morning - DOJ.

REID (voice over): Including Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows lawyer John Eastman, Former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark and Former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani. Also on the table possible action against fellow members of Congress who stonewalled the committee's work.

SCHIFF: We have weighed what is the remedy for members of Congress? Is it a criminal referral to another branch of government or is it better that the Congress police its own?

REID (voice over): As the committee is rushing to tie up nearly two years' worth of evidence gathering.

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): We want to make sure no one slips through the cracks. We want to make sure that the key organizers and movers of this attack don't escape the scrutiny of the justice system.

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FOSTER: Alright, Paul Reid reporting a quick programming note for you. You can watch our special coverage of the hearings starting at 1 pm Eastern time, 6 pm in London. Right here on CNN. Elon Musk gave Twitter users a chance to weigh in on this future the social media company but he may not like the result.

But Tesla and SpaceX founder tweeted this Should I stepped down as the Head of Twitter? The Answer, Yes, more than 17 million votes were cast and 57 percent of respondents want him to step down. So far, his short tenure has been filled with chaos and controversy. CNN technology reporter Brian Fung joins us now from Washington D.C. I was trying to look back at some of the other polls he's held he has stuck to them as the stuck to the results. So he is presumably going to stick to this one as well.

BRIAN FUNG, CNN TECHNOLOGY REPORTER: Presumably although Musk has not said anything in response to the outcome of the poll since it closed. All of this is caps off kind of a whirlwind weekend for Twitter and for Musk personally. And it all goes back to when Musk went to ban a number of journalists from Twitter for covering him.

[08:05:00]

FUNG: And that in turn inspired a whole range of reactions from Twitter users who announced that they were moving to other platforms. And amidst that backlash, Twitter started quietly banning links to rival a platform known as Mastodon.

And then on Sunday, Twitter made that policy official coming out with an abrupt announcement saying that it would no longer allow links out to other major social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and even true social, the social media platform alternative owned by President Donald Trump for President Donald Trump.

And you know, that policy created its own wave of backlash, culminating in Sunday's decision by Twitter to revert that policy or pull it back and modify it and this incredible poll by Elon Musk suggesting that perhaps he should step down as CEO, which as we know now this morning has ended with most users voting in the affirmative. We'll have to see whether, you know Elon decides to take the plunge and step down and if so, when? All of that is still very much in the air.

FOSTER: OK, Brian, thank you very much. Indeed, we'll wait to see when he responds if he's in LA it's still pretty early of course. Severe weather in the Gulf of Thailand is hampering efforts to find and rescue 31 sailors missing. After Royal Thai Navy warship sank early on Monday.

Thai authorities say strong winds tilted the ship and sea water rushed into the vessel through an exhaust pipe that shut down the electrical system leaving the crew unable to maneuver or pump the sea water out. According that is to the Thai Navy 75 crew members have been rescued. At last report three sailors were in critical condition.

Winter officially sets in this week and Ukraine says Russian attacks of course more critical damage to the energy infrastructure in Kyiv. Ukraine says Moscow launched 35 drones on Sunday night, 23 of them towards the capitol where Kyiv says most were shot down, 2 people were reportedly injured. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in the Belarusian capitol for talks with President Alexander Lukashenko.

The Kremlin says this will be a working visit but the chip is raising concerns that Belarus could join the fight in neighboring Ukraine. Clare Sebastian, following all the latest developments joins us from London with more. What do we expect to come out of this meeting then? Is there any sort of suggestion there may be an announcement of some kind?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max the Kremlin has refuted any suggestions that it might be trying to draw Belarus into participating in the conflict in Ukraine.

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin Spokesman today speaking to Russian state, New Jersey and obviously he called the suggestion stupid and unfounded but this is significant, not because it's talks between Putin and Lukashenko the head of Belarus and itself because they have met a number of times since the start of this conflict. But this is you know, just something that comes with a bit of ceremony, the greeting there that if we can show it again.

Body language said it all he was met personally by President Lukashenko flowers is all kinds of pleasantries, even a hug. This is the first time that President Putin has visited Belarus in more than three years and it's not just him. He comes with his Foreign Minister, who has already arrived.

According to Belarusian state media, the Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, is also in Belarus. So this is a bit of a show of force. It also comes amid some increase in military activity; Belarus announced snap drills last week. There are also pictures out this morning via state media from the Russian Defense Ministry showing Russian forces that joined a sort of grouping a battalion in conjunction with Belarusian forces, they are doing training in Belarus today.

Those pictures came out this morning. So all of that fueling concerns among Ukrainian officials, that Russia could potentially be preparing for a new offensive could be using Belarus potentially as a staging ground as they did at the beginning of this conflict. But we don't have any concrete evidence as yet. That is happening as having said that they President Zelenskyy did say on Sunday, that they are prepared for any kind of defensive scenario on that Northern border, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Clare, thank you. Now the 2022 World Cup final is going down in history as one of the most sensational finals ever. Argentina beat France in the dramatic penalty shootout, netting Argentine soccer legend Lionel Messi. His first World Cup title was you believe the wind because sheer pandemonium in Argentina as large crowds gathered in the streets.

It was a huge disappointment for France of course, despite several stunning comebacks. Journalist Stefano Pozzebon was in the thick of the World Cup celebrations in Argentina on Sunday. You can see the pure joy from fans all around him there. I will show those images a bit later on but I think everyone has seen them.

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FOSTER: So pretty much went viral didn't they? What's it like today then? I guess it's all about meeting the team when they get back. STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Precisely, Max. Yes. It's all about waiting the national team and waiting, one man, Lionel Messi. I thought its 10 am here in Buenos Aires, I thought of giving you a good old look at the today's newspaper and you can see the front pages of sporting newspaper or national newspaper. They're all about the national football team and this men, Lionel Messi were 35 was able to finally conquer the last trophy that was still missing from his cabinet.

And I think Max, yesterday we really saw a moment where Argentinians were able were allowed to feel proud for the nation. This is a country that right now is in the middle of a deep financial crisis. There is inflation spiking up over 90 percent and the last few years so with a pandemic, there has been really a serious gloom.

But yesterday was a good day to be Argentina; we spoke with one in particular. Solange was born in the States, but has been living in Argentina for pretty much her life. That's what she told us have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POZZEBON: What does it mean to be Argentinian today?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are really happy. I think this is the best moment for us. We need it and I think we deserve it today. So I think we all the world was waiting for us. So let's go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POZZEBON: I think that was yesterday a great sense of what exactly Solange was saying their sort of deserve. We have been going through so much Argentina; at the end of the day is the land of tankers. One of the things that they were saying yesterday is like, if we don't suffer, we won't succeed.

So even the rollercoaster of emotions of leading to Neil against runs. So then France managing to equalize it twice, going into extra time and finding the penalties sort of gave it a very Argentinian feeling and once that final penalty was through the net. It was just an explosion of joy here in Buenos Aires, Max.

FOSTER: Just explain for people outside the country, they don't fully understand that, you know, a lot of people saying how Messi really showed his loyalty to Argentina as well. And that connection is really there, because I know you'll see left to play football outside the country early on. There's been some criticism of him and how Argentinean he really is? But just explain how this has healed all those risks?

POZZEBON: Yes, definitely. I mean, if Messi left in year 2000, when Argentina was again, in a very deep financial trouble because Barcelona made an offer to him and his family to give him a growth hormone therapy when he was 13, because they saw the potential to have what he could have become in terms of a football player, but he needed these help. The club that he was playing for here in Rosario in Argentina was not able to pay for that treatment because the whole country was pretty much bankrupt.

It ended up bailing out the following year. So for years, the idea of an Argentinian kid who learns to play football in Europe and of course, it's a very different style of football. The ones that he's played in Europe compared to the ones that he's played here and conquering so much in Europe but never delivering for Argentina caused some fraction.

All of that was swept away yesterday he went into third World cup and just making you know, comparing himself gave into the level of the grade Diego Armando Maradona, I think Max.

FOSTER: We'll talk a bit more about this. Stefano thank you. So to come after the break I'll be joined by World Sports Amanda Davies to ask that all important questions, is Messi now the greatest footballer of all time the talking point of the day?

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FOSTER: Is Lionel Messi, the greatest footballer of all time? Sunday's World Cup finals have been hailed as one of the greatest games of football, possibly ever. Argentina beating France on penalties being the 35-year old finally won his first World Cup and he's pretty much got the whole set now.

These were the scenes if you didn't catch them yesterday, holding up the trophy. It really was all about Messi when it came to the celebrations being carried around on his teammates shoulders and reaching out there to the fans. These were the reactions around the world in the U.K., in the hands of God.

Here you have the foot of God and just thank you, Messi. And these are papers from all around the world, everyone telling exactly the same story. So then we asked the question, is he the greatest footballer of all time when you put them up against Maradona, Pele or even Ronaldo? World Sports Amanda Davies, of course, following every twist and turn of this tournament and all the other tournaments she can tell us. Is he the greatest footballer of all time, Amanda Davis?

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Max, I feel as quite a responsibility you're giving me to Clare on behalf of the entire world, but there was very much a school of thought even before Sunday's final. That's yes, because of the longevity of his career, the records that Lionel Messi has broken and how he does? What he does producing those moments of magic that makes?

Children like we've got behind us here trying to recreate those moments in playgrounds in their garden, at school on the playing fields that regardless of how that final finished. He would absolutely still end his career as the greatest, you know, perhaps, in terms of other Argentinians. You know, the only other person to have superseded him in up to this point was Diego Maradona because of the way he led Argentina to that success in 1986. But what we saw last night with those goals, the way he very much led from the front, produced performed under pressure and took that team with him. This was a young group of players who yes, wanted to win for Messi, but Messi wanted to win for him.

And there was really a feeling that in the last couple of years, he has embraced his role as the Senior Member of the team walking out of the tunnel ahead of these young stars, leading them on to an off the team Buster and the training pitch much like watching the Mighty Ducks.

You can argue it backwards and forwards but from how he's performed in this tournament on this stage and now finally adding that one piece of silverware that was missing from his career. I think, yes, you have to say he is now the greatest.

FOSTER: He may not be the next tournament he could possibly I guess one person who is almost certainly going to be there as Mbappe a right and we should look to him as someone who potentially could step into Messi's shoes in the future because he's so young. And he did get that hat trick?

DAVIES: Yes, I mean, your heart kind of broke for an Mbappe last night. I was there for the trophy presentation and unusually they presented him with the award for the top scorer of this tournament. Eight goals, two assists are finishing ahead of Lionel Messi.

He had to go up and collect that before he collected his runners up medal but you know, this is a player who at 19 years of age who won the World Cup in Russia four years ago. He was so close wasn't he to World Cup number two?

[08:20:00]

DAVIES: But you saw the respect between those two Paris Saint-Germain team mates and Mbappe and Messi and certainly you expect him to go on and win plenty more in the years to come.

FOSTER: Amanda will let you continue to enjoy the parties. I'll be going on all day I'm sure there. Now still to come an investigation reveals how Iranian authorities are using technology to monitor and crackdown on protesters that exclusive report up next.

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FOSTER: Now to Iran as protests continue across the country. CNN has learned that authorities are using technology to gain access to protesters cell phones and social media accounts. The government has been using this information as evidence to suppress the rest and in many cases prosecute them. CNN's Katie Polglase has this exclusive report.

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KATIE POLGLASE, CNN INVESTIGATIVE PRODUCER (voice over): Moody, reflective like many teenagers Nika Shahkarami considered her Instagram page, a safe space for self-expression, but her death on September 20, during protests in Iran, turned her into an icon and her Instagram page into a blank slate, which disabled it and why became yet another mystery surrounding what happened to her.

CNN previously revealed evidence suggesting Nika was detained at the protests shortly after this video was filmed, but the Iranian authorities have always denied any involvement in her disappearance or death. Now CNN can exclusively reveal that Meta, Instagram's parent company investigated Nika's account after she disappeared, concluding they themselves were not involved in disabling it.

In other words, it was either Nika herself or crucially, someone with access to her account that took it down. And as recent reporting by the intercept revealed Iran's highly sophisticated system for phone hacking, it raises the question of whether social media platforms can keep accounts secure. When protests erupted in Iran, Nika began using Instagram as a diary for her activism, but this online activity may have ended up working against her.

After Nika's death, Ukrainian states began publishing evidence like this CCTV footage, attempting to clear the state of any involvement in her death. First, they said she was pushed from this building, and then she fell from it. Next do they reference suicidal messages in documents extracted from Nika's mobile and Instagram conversations?

It was an open acknowledgement they were accessing her phone and her social media accounts, but she's not alone. As flames engulfed the notorious Evin Prison in mid-October, inside was Negin. She was accused of sharing activist posters like these on Telegram, the encrypted social media platform. We've changed her name for her safety. Her words are read by an actor.

NEGIN, POLITICAL PRISONER: I think they already had my Telegram chats because they often talked about it. There were certain photos. I had shared relatively political photos. They would show me the photos from that telegram to claim I was the admin but I kept denying it.

POLGLASE (voice over): She says the Iranian authorities had obtained these chats despite not yet having Negin's phone. She believes they hacked her account and she now faces six years are in jail.

[08:25:00]

POLGLASE (on camera): While in prison the Iranian authorities reactivated Negin's Telegram account. She says it was to see who tried to contact her and reveal network of activists she was in touch with. And the same tactic may have been used with Nika's Telegram account. As weeks after her death, two of her friends noticed her account was back online. It disappeared shortly after.

POLGLASE (voice over): Nika's family is still reeling from her death. One close family member told CNN, authorities are still refusing to return her phone. The Iranian authorities have not responded to CNN requests for comments. While Meta said they couldn't share specifics on Nika's account, but they confirmed they did not originally disable it. Telegram told CNN in every case they had investigated the device had been confiscated, or the user had unwittingly made such access possible by not setting a 2-step verification password or using a malicious app impersonating Telegram.

Still, questions remain as to whether Meta, telegram and other tech companies are doing all they can to protect their users. As the world wakes up to the increasingly Tech Savvy ways regimes such as Iran are using to monitor and hunt down activists. Katie Polglase CNN, London.

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FOSTER: Now we have some very sad news to bring you today. Our colleague and friend longtime distinguished CNN Journalist Drew Griffin, as passed away. Drew was with the investigative unit of CNN based in Atlanta since 2004.

He earned many awards including a Peabody Award in 2015 for his probe in two delays at Veterans Affairs hospitals. Do lose his battle with cancer over the weekend. He was surrounded by family Drew Griffin was 60 years old. Thanks for joining us in CNN's "Newsroom", I'm Max Foster in London. "World Sport with Alex" is next.

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