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Argentina's World Cup Winners Arrive Home To Hero's Welcome; January 6 Panel Recommends Criminal Charges Against Trump; FTX Founder Bankman-Fried Agrees To Extradition To U.S.; Harvey Weinstein Found Guilty On 3 of 7; EU Countries Agree Gas Price Cap To Contain Energy Crisis; Putin Makes Rare Visit To Minsk For Talks With Belarus Leader. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired December 20, 2022 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Actually going to drive through the avenue as the team progresses up from the airport and the Football Federation headquarters --
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Stefano, let me interrupt you because I'd like to say goodbye to our audience here in the United States. They'll head to AC360 which is in progress for everyone else watching internationally. Another -- Everyone else watching internationally (INAUDIBLE) CNN Newsroom. That's now.
Hello, everyone, I'm John Vause at the CNN Center. We are now watching the return of Argentina's World Cup champion team for the first time in 36 years, bringing home the World Cup champion trophy.
Besides the white party, we are right now at international -- Buenos Aires airport, a lot more on that story later this hour. Also had this hour, Donald Trump's legal problems now mounted with a congressional investigation, declaring his referring his charges to the DOJ for his role in the insurrection on January -- on the capital of January 6.
OK, let's get back to Argentina right now. The players got off that flight just a few moments ago. And of course now on that roof or that bus -- that open top bus. And they will head to the team headquarters from here from the airport and once said, I will take a bit of a rest that's been quite the flight back from Qatar.
OK. Yes. So from here, they will obviously they'll head back to the Team Cup headquarters will be quite the celebration during the day. Argentina is celebrating a national holiday which is declared by the government to in -- after the victory and in light of their homecoming, which hundreds of thousands are expected to mark.
Let's go back to Stefano Pozzebon, who's been watching all of this with us for the last hour or so. So Stefano, of course, the man of the moment is Lionel Messi. He was one that came off the plane first of all the players. He's one carrying the trophy. He's one which basically stirred (ph) this team to this historic win. He's one of the most people are waiting to see, I imagine.
POZZEBON: Yes, indeed, he truly is the symbol of this team and the symbol of these workouts, I guess the four years. We had these debates on whether Messi is the best player of his generation, the best player of the past 15 years. And by the way, he led his team, not just by performance on the pitch and with football skills, but also in terms of leadership in the changing room, in steering the team ahead after the dramatic loss against the Saudi Arabia in the opening match.
You can tell the message really has silenced that debate. He's undoubtedly the main leader of this team. It's no coincidence that he was the one that carried the trophy going out of the plane first, and that -- his coach, Lionel Scaloni, had a hand on his shoulder. You can see now smiling, laughing as he is with his teammates on the open bus that in a few hours will carry him to downtown Buenos Aires.
A few moments ago, by the way, John, he was straighter on his phone. I wonder who he was texting, or whether he was posting something on social media and must be quite, quite a poster directly from the champion of the word.
But you can tell that this is happening at 3:00 a.m. in the morning in Buenos Aires, and there are fans and they have been camped out of the airport for hours. 10 hours maybe more. We have been waiting for this, for the whole as of Monday. And so these always helps to create expectations for what will come on Tuesday as this team, these players will be taken into the streets of Buenos Aires to receive the hero's welcome that Argentina wants to give them. John.
VAUSE: It seems was a celebration across Latin America. It's sort of everyone. Here they say it what a healthy child has many fathers. There are a lot of fathers for this team.
POZZEBON: Yes. One thing that I think it's remarkable, John, is that I normally live in Colombia, and Argentinians are not very popular around South America at least.
VAUSE: Nicely put.
POZZEBON: They have grudges with the Chileans, they have grudges with the Bolivians, of course they had a sporting rivalry with Brazil and all the other teams and player especially when it comes to football. There is a sort of feeling about the Argentinians but I think that this team because of Messi, because the character he is. Because of the humbleness of his persona on and off the peach, really has managed to capture the spirit and gain fans across the region.
[01:05:04]
It's been 16 since 2002. So it's been 20 years since the World Cup was last in South America after four straight wins from European teams. Italy first and then Germany -- Spain, Germany and France. And now that he's back on South American soil. The entire region celebrating.
VAUSE: Stefano, please stay with us. We'll have a lot more coverage in this hour. We appreciate you being on the line there with us on Buenos Aires, Stefano Pozzebon. Coverage for this continues.
From Buenos Aires to Paris, there was another hero's welcome for the World Cup runners up. French national team on Monday greeted by thousands of supporters, many waving flags, setting of fireworks and chatting their names so their favorite stars. They said even though the team came up short against Argentina their effort was worthy of a celebration like us.
Now to an unprecedented move from the House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection in Washington, recommending four criminal charges against former President Donald Trump, obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States conspiracy to make a false statement and aiding or assisting an insurrection.
The panel also claims evidence of conspiracy to impede a Federal officer and seditious conspiracy. The Justice Department now has to decide if it will file charges. Trump's campaign calls the committee's work a partisan witch hunt. More details are from CNN's Manu Raju.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): After a sprawling investigation with more than 1,000 witnesses interviewed in reams of new evidence obtained the January 6 committee today concluded that Donald Trump was directly responsible for the Capitol insurrection, and recommended that the Justice Department prosecute the former president on for federal charges.
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): Ours is not a system of justice, where foot soldiers go to jail in the masterminds and ringleaders get a free pass.
RAJU: The unprecedented developments come after the seventh committee Democrats and two Republicans voted unanimously to adopt the report and issue criminal referrals against Trump and one of his attorneys John Eastman. In 154 page summary of the report released today, the committee also accusing several Donald Trump's associates, like attorneys, Rudy Giuliani and Kenneth Chesebro, along with former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, an ex-top DOJ official Jeffrey Karp, as taking part in a conspiracy in making its case at a final public meeting. The committee detailing how Trump ignored many of his top advisors who tried to persuade him to acknowledge his loss.
JEFFREY ROSEN, FORMER ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: He wanted to talk about that he thought the election had been stolen or was corrupt, and that there was widespread fraud. And I had told him that our reviews had not shown that to be the case.
RAJU: Instead, he pressured then Vice President Mike Pence even be rating him on the morning of January 6, as he was set to preside over the certification of Biden's victory.
ROSEN: I remember hearing the word win (ph).
RAJU: But also uncovering details about his weekslong pressure campaign against state officials to change their election results, as he tried to strong on the Justice Department to make purposely false statements to keep him in office despite knowing he lost, all culminating in instructing his supporters to march on the Capitol on January 31st.
HOPE HICKS, FORMER TRUMP AIDE: He said something along the lines of, you know, nobody will care about my legacy if I lose. So that won't matter. The only thing that matters is winning.
RAJU: The committee even accused Trump of spreading false claims of election fraud for the purposes of soliciting contributions in the amount of about $250 million, outlined possible attempts to influence witness testimony, potential employment dangled before one unnamed witness and an unnamed lawyer advising a client.
REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA): The witness could in certain circumstances tell the committee that she didn't recall facts when she actually did recall them.
RAJU: The lawmakers also referred House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, three members of his conference, Jim Jordan, Scott Perry and Andy Biggs to be sanctioned by the House Ethics Committee for failing to comply with subpoenas as part of their investigations.
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): We did not choose to make referrals based on the underlying conduct, but rather on the essentially open and shut failure to comply with a congressional subpoena.
RAJU (on camera): Now, Senate Republicans are divided over the January 6 committee's report, some criticizing the committee is overly partisan, others saying it's only up to the justice department decide what to do with these criminal referrals and others praising the committee's work.
[01:10:05]
Now one comment that got a lot of attention in the aftermath of Monday's meeting was from Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell who said, quote, the entire nation knows Trump was responsible from January 6. He did not use Trump's name, but it was very clear who he was referring to, saying the entire nation knows his responsibility. Other Republicans did not agree, including Senator Rick Scott of Florida, who told me I have not seen a poll that says that. Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
VAUSE: To Los Angeles down, Ron Brownstein, CNN, senior political analyst, and the senior editor for The Atlantic. Ron, thanks for being with us. So we've got on the one hand, we've got this recommendation for prisons to be charged with criminal charges. It's historic, it's not unprecedented.
On the other hand, it's a recommendation, it's not binding. So there's the immediate question, does this increase the likelihood Trump will be charged? And then beyond that, what are the political implications here?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN, SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I don't know if they're recommending it increases, the odds that Trump's will be will be charged. The quantity and quality of the evidence that they marshal in support of their recommendation, I think, is pretty powerful, however, and really, I think draws a line of points a finger at the Justice Department.
You know, if you read through this executive summary of the report, it makes a very powerful case about Trump's personal culpability at every step of the road toward the violence on January 6, and all of the ancillary efforts to overturn the election. So in that sense, I think it does increase pressure on them. But the referral itself probably does not.
VAUSE: Trump's Vice President Mike Pence, who Trump's supporters wanted to hang on January 6, he was asked about possible charges against the former president by Fox News. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: I hope the justice department understands the magnitude of the very idea of indicting a former president of the United States, I think that would be terribly divisive in the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Other Republicans, Trump defenders, Trump himself have one that criminal charges could deepen divisions could lead to violent protests. Could an argument be made that the threat of riots and violence by Trump and his supporters is a good reason for bringing charges in the first place?
BROWNSTEIN: Exactly. Right. I mean, look, I mean, I think, you know, students of authoritarianism, through history and around the world, say very clearly, that a coup without consequences is practice. And that is really the situation that U.S. I think now finds itself into to have all that occurred, go forth, and there'll be no consequences in the end, because Trump and his supporters are able to intimidate the justice system into believing that it would be too much of a tension in society or too much rending society could be enormously destructive to the, you know, the future of American, the stability of American democracy if there are grounds to charge him.
And certainly the committee made a very powerful case that there are, it's really hard to see how the Justice Department can avoid the conclusion that it needs to go forward.
VAUSE: It's been a very tough year for the former president. And when it comes to January 6, and who should be facing charges, the Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell simply said, the entire nation knows who is responsible for that day. Beyond that, I don't have any immediate observations.
It seems to be another sign the GOP is no longer willing to mount an all-out defense to the former president. Another sign that, you know, Trump's influences at least take away. What do you say?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, well, look, I think the answer is yes. There was not the full throated defense today, that there might have been before a midterm election in which Trump committed the seemingly unpardonable sin and the final the straw that broke the camel's back and the GOP was pushing forward candidates who lost not everything else that has happened over the last few years from extorting Ukraine to stockpiling a classified documents.
But Mitch McConnell still has not gone as far as Liz Cheney did in her simple declarative sentence today, that Trump based on his behavior is unfit to hold office, like many Republicans, McConnell, and I think most elected Republicans will criticize aspects of Trump's behavior, but not go that far with that kind of bright line. And I think McConnell has clearly left the door open to support Trump, if he is the GOP nominee in 2024.
Now will he be? I think this further reduces the odds. I think this will cause more Republican elites and perhaps even some Republican voters to conclude that he has too much baggage to win a general election again in 2024, which may be correct.
But the fact is, is that the party still has not made a clear statement that they believe his conduct has disqualified him. And as long as that is missing, there remains the possibility that they could in fact, lock arms behind and again should GOP voters choose Him as their nominee in 2024.
[01:15:00]
VAUSE: Why were there more names on that list of referrals to the Department of Justice? Rudy Giuliani comes to mind for example.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Well, I look, I think that, you know, that there was a very clear decision here to zoom in very tightly, not only in terms of who was singled out for a criminal referral, but even in their treatment of kind of the broader acquiescence and collaboration with this multifaceted effort to overturn the election that ran through the states, that ran through Congress. There was very little discussion of the other Republican members of Congress who were urging, you know, extreme action on Trump, including the declaration of martial law.
And in the discussion of the fake electors in the States, the committee kind of bent over backwards to give them the benefit of the doubt by suggesting that many of them were misled by Trump himself.
This seemed to document John designed for one purpose to make the case against Trump and his immediate inner circle to kind of lay out before the Justice Department why they believe illegal criminal action is necessary. But the cost of zooming in to that effect may have been to obscure the picture of just how broadly within the party, the rot that we saw after 2020 spread.
VAUSE: Ron, thanks for being with us. Ron Brownstein there in Los Angeles. We appreciate it.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me, John.
VAUSE: The former head of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried has agreed to extradition from the partners to the U.S., reportedly against the advice of his own legal team is now working out final details with prosecutors. CNN's Patrick Oppmann has more now reporting from Nassau.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Bahamian prosecutor said that they had come on Monday to the courthouse behind me expecting to finalize an extradition agreement that will allow Sam Bankman-Fried to leave the Bahamas essentially end his fight against extradition and go to the United States where he is facing federal charges for his alleged role in the meltdown of the FTX crypto organization and in trading house that did not take place as very quickly.
In the hearing on Monday, prosecutors and Bankman-Fried's local attorney faced off. There was finger pointing and accusations. The local attorney said that he had not been consulted not been part of this agreement, that had an reach apparently, according to prosecutors with Bankman-Fried's U,S, attorneys.
They were accusations throughout the hearing, and eventually, the judge allowed at Sam Bankman-Fried's own request a call to take place between his local attorney and U.S. attorneys to try to work out whatever differences have occurred.
Shortly thereafter, within minutes, we saw Bankman-Fried to be taken away under heavy guard back to the prison where he's currently being held. Some of his U.S. representative said that he had been eager to leave Bahamas and faces charges against some charges that can leave if he is convicted over 100 years in jail.
And one of the reasons behind that change in his legal strategy is that he is incarcerated at the moment at a prison in the Bahamas that according to State Department and human rights groups is really unfit for prisoners. There's no space for enough beds. It's infested with maggots and rats and it's a violent place.
And certainly, one can understand why a billionaire, a former billionaire like Bankman-Fried would not want to spend any more time there. But as the expiration -- as the extradition negotiations have broken down here, it appears that he will be staying in the Bahamas or behind bars for some time longer. Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Nassau, the Bahamas.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
VAUSE: Disgraced former movie producer Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty again on sexual assault charges including rape this time by a jury in Los Angeles. But he was acquitted on another charge and the jury couldn't reach a verdict on three others.
Attorney Gloria Allred, who represented one of the four accusers in this case, praised all of the women for taking a stand against Weinstein.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLORIA ALLRED, ATTORNEY FOR JANE DOE NUMBER 2: Breaking through their fear of what could happen to them if they spoke out against Mr. Weinstein has been a transformative experience for all of those who might have represented. So I commend all of my clients for their courage and sacrifices to win justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: More details on the jury verdicts from CNN's Natasha Chen.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
NATASHA CHEN, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The jury found Weinstein guilty of the three counts that were related to the first Jane Doe accuser, and this case involved four women accusing him of rape and sexual assault charges for a total of seven counts to which he pleaded not guilty. But again, the jury only found him guilty on those three counts related to the same accuser.
For the second accuser and the fourth accuser, the jury could not come to a decision and those were declared mistrial for the third accuser. The jury found him not guilty on that sexual assault charge.
[01:20:08]
Now, the fourth accuser over the course of the trial was identified as Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a filmmaker and the wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom. The attorney for Jennifer Siebel Newsom released a statement saying in part while we would have preferred that those jurors had found him guilty on all counts, we understand that it was a complex trial made more difficult by the defense teams argument that a woman who was assaulted must forego her chosen career or be accused of consent after the fact.
That attorney also said that you never know how politics may play into things regarding her client's marriage to the California governor.
The attorney for Harvey Weinstein also released a statement specifically referring to this first accuser where he was found guilty on those three counts. The attorney said Harvey is obviously disappointed however, hopefully because with this particular accuser, there's good grounds to appeal based on time and location of alleged events. He's grateful the jury took their time to deliberate on the other counts, and he is prepared to continue fighting for his innocence.
Now, this Los Angeles jury deliberated for 41 hours that is far longer than the jury deliberated in New York, in his New York trial, where he was convicted and sentenced to 23 years in prison. He is appealing that case.
And so what happens in this case becomes very interesting. Now with these three guilty counts, he could be facing up to 24 years in prison on this trial, and the jury is supposed to reconvene tomorrow to hear more arguments about the sentencing and guidelines. Back to you.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN, tackling Europe's energy crisis a deal that will make the Kremlin what he said, well they say rather, is unacceptable. Also the closest allies, Russian President Vladimir Putin touts his ties with the Belarusian leader, as Ukraine worries what this will mean for the ongoing war.
And then later this hour, the Grinch and the good fella. Police say a serial burglar was caught red handed, trying to steal presents from under Robert De Niro's Christmas tree. Yes, you talking to me? More on that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Almost 24 minutes past the hour. Welcome back, everyone. You watching CNN and this is a scene right now at 3:23 in the morning in Buenos Aires. This open top bus is carrying the Argentinian national team to the team's headquarters with our (INAUDIBLE) just a few hours.
Keep in mind, this is it almost 3:30 in the morning. These are the people that showed up just for that bus ride from the airport to the team headquarters about a 15 minute journey. This is not the official ticker-tape parade.
But still as you can see, there are literally thousands of people who've taken to the streets in the wee hours of the morning to welcome home this World Cup champion site after a sensational four to win over the World Cup defending champions France, of course the hero of the match Lionel Messi is on board that bus. He carried the trophy from the plane which touchdown about an hour or so ago there in Buenos Aires.
And again tens of thousands of people at the airport waiting for this team to arrive. We can see them there kissing the cup. Well the trophy, how about that. More that story as it goes on. You're watching CNN.
[01:25:08]
EU energy ministers have now agreed to a cap on the price of natural gas, which will be triggered when prices crossed $120 per megawatt hour for three straight working days. This is the latest measure to try and tackle an energy crisis sparked by Russia's war in Ukraine, made worse by dramatic cuts by Moscow for gas deliveries. According to state media, the Kremlin called the deal unacceptable, saying it violates market pricing is a one EU official reacted to the agreement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KADRI SIMSON, EUROPEAN COMMISIONER OF ENERGY: While it is important that we have today agreed to limit excessive gas prices, it is equally important that we can now move forward with making joint purchases of gas a reality. We can move forward and accelerate permitting. We can create a new complementary LNG benchmark and we can reinforce our energy solidarity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: In Ukraine, the country's energy infrastructure has come under attack once again from drones, attack drones launched by Russia. Many of those drones were aimed at Ukraine's capital were a critical facility was hit.
(INAUDIBLE) Russia has taken its toll as much as the power outages were introduced Monday nationwide. Despite the damage, Ukraine's president says most of the drones were shut down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Today's morning in several regions and cities of our country was unfortunately spoiled by that characteristic sound of the Iranian head drones, but most of them luckily did not reach their intended targets. And that made our morning a little better today. 30 Shahad drones were shot down. A good result.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Strikes across Ukraine came hours ahead of a rare trip by the Russian leader to Belarus. During that visit, Vladimir Putin notably said Russia does not play to absorb Belarus, and that his country has no interest in absorbing anyone. The U.S. State Department had this response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NED PRICE, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: Look, I think a statement like that has to be treated as the height of irony coming from a leader who is seeking at the present moment right now to violently absorb his other peaceful next door neighbor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: More now and the significance of Putin's visit to Belarus from CNN's Nick Payton Walsh.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voiceover): Russia's president makes so rare trip to his smaller neighbor, Belarus, and the timing has everyone wondering why. Putin talking into local specially baked bread has always been bigger on the world stage, demanding his towering Belarusian counterpart come and see him. But was he here is he wants something?
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We have certain areas of military cooperation and it's not just supplying each other, which in my view is incredibly important, it's also working together and cooperating.
WALSH: As usual, it's hard to decipher what the Kremlin head is actually up to. But his forces have been dropping hints for weeks. Endless public exercises along the border between Russian and Belarusian troops, not the top tear, but at the least designed to leave Ukraine worried.
Kyiv's top brass have gone one further and sounded the alarm of a full scale invasion from Belarus in the weeks ahead.
And late last week, accusing Russian planes of flying from Belarus's skies as they dropped the missiles behind this raid, which killed a young boy and three others.
Careful warns a rescuer here as his helmet camera footage shows another child pulled from the rubble, that relentless Russian targeting of Ukraine's infrastructure persisting early Monday, these rare images claiming to show damage to one facility, which as dawn breaks is swamped and firefighter foam.
Ukraine's president saying Monday, Russia had received 250 new Iranian attack drones, likely the Shahed loitering munitions, but he was sure to find more emotional reasons why Ukraine needs arms.
Ukrainian children in their letters to St. Nicholas are asking for air defense weapons for victory and for them for all Ukrainians who, he said. They understand everything our children. Let us act.
Yet the constant saber rattling to Kyiv's north on the border means even less chance of goodwill for now. Nick Payton Walsh, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
VAUSE: David Sanger is a CNN political and national security analyst as well as White House and national security correspondent for The New York Times. He is with us this hour from New York. Good to see you, David.
DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Good to see you.
[01:29:54]
VAUSE: So this visit by Putin has sparked a lot of speculation as a pretext for Belarus to commit troops to fight in Ukraine, maybe possibly reunification or absorption by Russia.
Here is how the Russian president sees that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Those unscrupulous outside critics either don't understand what they are talking about, or they say it on purpose, misleading people who don't know much about the topic.
It is not about absorption. It's about the coordination of economic policy. Just as is done by many other integration associations. Everything else is superficial, nonsense. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Like all that nonsense of talking about training Belarusian pilots to use special weapons, which means nuclear weapons. But are we reading too much into this trip?
SANGER: Well, it's hard to know, but it seems likely that Putin is probably satisfied with having a Belarus that is just run by a friendly client dictator. And that's what he's got right now.
In fact, it's his only friend and true ally in the region. And ultimately, what would he like Ukraine to be like, essentially like Belarus, basically to be able to install a leader who would do his bidding at all times. So he has that now in Belarus.
And the main utility for him right now of the country is that it remains a threat to Ukraine, one that is pretty close to the capital of Kyiv. And thus forces the Ukrainians to keep a lot of their troops up around Kyiv and the rest of the capital on that border, and thus not in the disputed areas down the south and east where the war's hottest.
VAUSE: As for the possibility of Belarus joining Putin's war, and opening a front in the north, the Institute for the Study of War says Moscow continues to struggle its (INAUDIBLE) -- who are already in Ukraine with the weapons they need. And it goes on to say, "It's important not to overestimate the likely capabilities of Russia, or combined Russian-Belarusian forces to conduct it successfully. The Institute for the Study of War continues to assess that it's unlikely that Lukashenko will commit the Belarusian military which will also have to be re-equipped to the invasion of Ukraine."
The assessment seems to be, you know, it could happen, but it's unlikely it would happen anytime soon. How do you see it?
SANGER: That's about right in my view. So look, Lukashenko has looked at the performance of the Russian military, many of which had been based on his territory, and then came down and got into that 40-mile- long log jam of cars in March -- late February and early March, on the way into Kyiv.
My guess is Lukashenko has thought to himself, the only thing worse than the Russians embarrassing themselves this way would be if his own troops did. And of course, he is trying to cling to power here, and his main claim to fame is the Russians will back him up. So my guess is he has no great desire to end the war directly.
VAUSE: You know, with Putin visiting Belarus, there was no letup in those Russian drone attacks on Ukraine's civilian infrastructure. And the Ukrainian president appeared by video link at a security summit in Latvia. He asked the British prime minister there to increase the supply of air defense systems to our state (INAUDIBLE) and help speed up the corresponding decisions of partners."
Adding that "100 percent air shield for Ukraine is one of the most successful steps against Russian aggression." Is the 100 percent possible, air shield -- is that possible? Also (INAUDIBLE) of modern tanks and ammunition. At this point, are European militaries capable of meeting those requests from Ukraine from their existing inventories?
SANGER: So the problem is a pretty complex one. First, you're not going to get 100 percent protection. The Ukrainians are doing a pretty good job at shooting down these drones, which move pretty slowly. These are largely Iranian supplied.
But it looks like 30 percent -- 35 percent are getting through. You saw the damage yesterday, and before that in Odessa. So these have been a pretty effective tool for the Russians for knocking out critical infrastructure.
The second thing I think that we've learned out of this is that it's not enough simply to build air defense. You've got to knock out the drones from their launch areas. And many of them were being launched from inside Ukraine. Some of them have relatively short range.
And you've got to begin to choke off the supply of parts to the Iranians and the Russians for building them.
[01:34:52]
SANGER: So going after the drones is going to turn out to be a pretty big and complicated project for 2023.
VAUSE: Yes, and they've been doing a lot of damage. The question is how long will Ukraine's power structure, national power grid last?
David, thanks for being with us. We really appreciate it.
SANGER: Thank you.
VAUSE: Still to come here, even though the U.S. Supreme Court keeps in place a hangover from the Trump administration, which has seen hundreds of thousands of migrants expelled from the U.S., many on the U.S. border, U.S.-Mexico border, are still bracing for a surge in migrants.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back.
Well, slowing the number of migrants crossing into the U.S. was the main topic during a meeting between the presidents of the U.S. and Ecuador Monday. Joe Biden says both countries have made historic strides on migration, and the leaders from both countries pledged to uphold respect for human rights.
The meeting comes as a Trump era immigration policy known as Title 42 has been allowed to stay in place at least for now. A ruling by Supreme Court Justice John Roberts had blocked a lower court decision to end the policy after more than a dozen Republican leaders, their states rather, fought the Biden administration to try and keep it in place.
Now, the Biden administration and the ACLU representing families challenging Title 42 will have to file their response to the Supreme Court's ruling by Tuesday evening.
Title 42 is actually part of U.S. law that deals broadly with public health and social welfare issues. It allows the federal government to take emergency action to keep contagious diseases out of the country.
But the policy had rarely been used before then-President Donald Trump implemented it back in March of 2020. It's since been extended multiple times, including by the Biden administration. Back in April, the CDC said the order was no longer needed with COVID cases in decline. But still, the policy has remained.
Meantime, border cities like El Paso, Texas preparing for a surge of migrants if Title 42 is lifted. Officials say an emergency operation center has been activated to coordinate response efforts to ensure the community remains safe.
CNN's David Culver has more from the other side of the border in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Generally quiet here at the U.S. Mexico border in the early morning hours, but you can see actually just over my shoulder this couple having just crossed over the river. They are now walking up to the U.S. side where we are starting to see some border patrol officials head over to meet them.
Generally, it's a steady flow throughout the day, and certainly they're expecting to be a potential surge as we get closer to Wednesday when Title 42 is expected to officially end. And the preparation here is that there could be hundreds, if not thousands, that attempt to cross over.
[01:39:50]
CULVER: And you could even see what's relatively new in recent weeks. This chain link fence along the U.S. side of the border seems to be an effort to then funnel some of the migrants to a certain point to then be processed.
Interesting to know what we saw here arriving over the weekend. And I arrived on that side, the U.S. side, El Paso before driving here to Ciudad Juarez.
Let me show you what was inside the airport in the early morning hours of Sunday, late Saturday to past midnight into Sunday. Dozens of migrants camped out on the floor.
And I talked to one of the security guards there. They seem unfazed. They say this is something they've seen in recent weeks. And a lot of those folks had started from places like Venezuela, making their way up, and many of them position themselves here on this side where I'm standing, for several weeks, if not months, in preparation to cross over.
And it's interesting to see what was here when we were here just about a month ago. We can show you from above, hundreds of camps they were set up, tents. This is where a massive encampment where aid workers estimated some 3,000 people at some point were basically living in preparation to cross over.
Now, fast forward to what we saw over the weekend along this same spot, that same vantage point from above, you can see it was cleared out. And we can show you in late November the clash with police as Mexican officials decided to clear out that camp, evicting many of the migrants who were here, and tearing down the tents, and having them move along.
We talked to the mayor here in Ciudad Juarez, wanted to get a sense of what kind of coordination he has with his counterparts in the U.S. I asked him if he's regularly talking with them.
CRUZ PEREZ-CUELLAR, CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO MAYOR: We've have a lot of communication. We work together.
CULVER: What is your biggest concern when it comes to Wednesday, and what could happen with the lifting of Title 42?
PEREZ-CUELLAR: The real concern, you know, the real problem that we can have, and we have talking with American authorities, is they have to try to process them quickly.
CULVER: His biggest concern there is that U.S. officials may not process the migrants quickly enough. That's interesting to note, of course, he doesn't want to backlog on this side, his side, the Mexican side.
And he's hoping the U.S. officials are able to get the migrants through quickly. Of course, the strain on resources is obvious. On the U.S. Side and right here, on the Mexican side.
David Culver, CNN, Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And a controversial plan by the British government to deport many refugees to Rwanda for processing has been upheld by the country's Supreme Court.
CNN's Nada Bashir reports now from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Another life lost in Britain's icy waters. Another reminder of the dangers faced by migrants attempting to cross the English Channel from northern France.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More blankets.
BASHIR: As many as 40,000 migrants have braved the dangerous crossings since the beginning of this year alone. Now, the government IS doubling down on its plan to tackle illegal migration.
RISHI SUNAK, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: When legal proceedings conclude on our migration and economic development partnership, we will restart the first flights to Rwanda.
BASHIR: It was an 11th-hour legal intervention which grounded the first deportation flight in June. Now, after months of deliberation, high court judges in London have ruled that the policy is, in fact, lawful despite fierce criticism from lawyers and refugee advocacy groups.
SOPHIE LUCAS, LAWYER FOR CLAIMANTS: There are serious concerns around the functioning of the asylum system in Rwanda, as well as serious concerns about political freedom of expression.
BASHIR: Under the government's scheme, thousands of migrants arriving in the U.K. illegally could be deported to Rwanda to have their asylum claims heard there. Among them is Yousef, a Syrian refugee whose name we've changed to protect his identity. He was one of the more than a hundred asylum seekers due to be deported to Rwanda in June.
YOUSEF, SYRIAN ASYLUM SEEKER (through translator): I want to live in peace in the U.K. to work and build a future here for my wife and son. It just breaks my heart. There is no future for my son in Syria.
BASHIR: Yousef says he fled his war-torn home town of Dara (ph) in Syria in 2017, leaving behind his wife and child in the hope of building a new life for them overseas.
Yousef's journey took him from Syria to Lebanon and then onward to Libya, where he says he was detained for eight months before fleeing to Europe.
YOUSEF: We were given very little food or water. They would beat us, torture us. Then after I left Libya, I traveled across the sea to Italy. It was a very difficult journey. We were stuck at sea for about three days. One more day, and I think we would have died.
[01:44:52]
BASHIR: Like many refugees, Yousef then traveled to Calais in northern France, where he spent weeks living in a squalid refugee camp, waiting to be smuggled on a small boat to the U.K.
It's this very crossing that the government is now clamping down on, despite widespread concern over how effective and how ethical the Rwanda deportation deal really is.
COLIN YEO, IMMIGRATION LAWYER: There's no evidence it's putting anybody off. But we are talking about people who fled really serious problems -- civil wars, massive human rights abuse in their own countries.
BASHIR: While a high court has now ruled in favor of the government, the court has also ruled that all potential deportation cases must now be considered on an individual basis. And campaign groups say they are still considering all legal options to appeal the judgment.
But for those fleeing some of the worst hardships imaginable, the prospect of being turned away is almost too much to bear.
YOUSEF: If they send me to Rwanda, then it's over for me. After all the struggles I've faced, the long journey I've taken to reach this point, it will be devastating. I would kill myself.
Nada Bashir, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, from zero COVID to zero plan, now a new study reveals Beijing's abrupt drawback of pandemic restrictions could kill hundreds of thousands of people.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: They've not had a reason to celebrate like this in the past 36 years, that's the last time an Argentina team returned from the World Cup as champions. And that team arrived just a short time ago at Buenos Aires airport.
They got off the plane. There was a red carpet. Lionel Messi was holding that trophy on high as they boarded that bus there. It is a topless bus.
And this is not the official parade. This is the parade at about 3:48 a.m., with must be tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of fans for a very short trip from the airport to the team headquarters about 15 minutes away.
And they're turning out now, you can imagine what it will be in a few hours from now when the official parade actually gets underway. They're heading to the team headquarters where the team will rest up for a few hours, maybe shake off some of the flight, get ready for those official celebrations.
And of course, man of the moment, Lionel Messi, will be the one who mostly there to cheer on. The 35-year-old veteran, the hero of the tournament for Argentina.
Continue to follow this event, this incredible scene out of Argentina at so early in the morning, when so many people have gathered to see this team. It truly is incredible to see this right now.
Well, after micromanaging the country's pandemic response for three years, Beijing has now decided dealing with COVID is just an issue of personal responsibility. So with the abrupt end of zero COVID and lifting so many restrictions so quickly, multiple studies have found China is on course for a million deaths, possibly more within a year.
[01:49:48]
VAUSE: Research from Hong Kong University found the worst could be avoided with widespread vaccination of a fourth booster, access to any viral medication and a big increase in the intensive care capacity at hospitals.
Beijing is relying on private companies to import COVID medication to ease pressure on domestic shortages.
Professor Ben Cowling is the chair of epidemiology at the University of Hong Kong, and joins us now from Hong Kong. Professor, thank you for being with us.
BEN COWLING, CHAIR OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: My pleasure.
VAUSE: So along with the research there from Hong Kong University, there are a number of other models predicting a staggering death toll. Last month, for example, at Trinity (ph) Health Care System warned that China's hospitals could be pushed to capacity between 167 and 279 million cases nationwide which could lead to between 1.3 and 2.1 million deaths.
The Institute for Health Metrics and evaluation at the University of Washington predicted more than 322,000 dead by April next year, and a Reuters analysis of those numbers found if that trend continued, the death toll would reach 1.3 million by the end of next year.
There is this headline though from China's "Peoples Daily", which declares "Wrong, wrong, and wrong again. Some western media's unprincipled criticism of China's COVID policy."
So is it possible everyone is wrong and Beijing's right?
COWLING: Well, we have to be clear what exactly we are talking about first. If we're talking about infections, then there's absolutely no doubt there is going to be a very large number of infections within the next 1 to 2 months across Mainland China, because there is very little pre-existing immunity in the population. And there is very little measures now in place to stop the virus from spreading.
So more than half of the population is most likely going to be infected this winter. It could be a lot more than half of the population.
But in terms of the severe cases, that's where we're going to have to be careful what exactly we are talking about.
Professor Jong Namsan (ph) -- the expert in southern China, said there won't be very many COVID deaths this winter and I agree with him because without doing much testing, there is no possibility of having a lot of COVID deaths.
The daily number of confirmed cases at the moment is just a few thousand. And I'm sure there is many, many more infections than that.
So if we are talking about how many COVID deaths will there be reported, that may only be a small number. But how many excess deaths resulting from this large wave of COVID infections, I think that's likely to be in the hundreds of thousands. And as you mentioned just now, there is some estimates that it might
even reach a million. I don't know exactly how large it will be. And I hope it is a smaller number. But it's clear that there are still many unvaccinated older people in China and that's where the bulk of the severe cases will be.
VAUSE: One thing we've learned about COVID over the years, let's say, for example, what happens in China doesn't necessarily stay in China. What does this mean for the rest of the world?
COWLING: Well, we're certainly on alert for the possible emergence of new subvariants from omicron, or even new variants. If you remember back last year when India had a very large epidemic, the delta variant came out of that epidemic because when there's a lot of people infected, that's a lot of opportunities for the virus to find a new path to evolve in a new direction.
But having said that, even if there is a large number of infections in Mainland China in the next 1 to 2 months, there's already a lot of infections occurring around the world -- in Europe, North America, elsewhere.
And so I don't think there is a particularly unique risk of a new variant coming out of Mainland China, but we do have to be on alert for particularly, new subvariants of omicron, which can then cause further waves in other parts of the world. But let's see what happens.
VAUSE: "Peoples Daily" has been writing almost daily commentaries defending the timing of ending the zero COVID policy. On Monday, arguing that policy adjustments are not arbitrary decisions, but grounded on epidemic prevention and control practices, as well as scientific research.
If that's the case, then why in communist-controlled Mainland China did officials choose to draw back zero COVID just as winter and flu season arrives, but might be just a possible worst time of year to do so?
COWLING: Yes. I can't think of many times of the year when it would be a worst time to reopen than coming into the winter. And one other point to make is that if there had been a plan and a timeline expressed, for example, six months ago, the government saying we are going to hold on for another six months, but then we're going to have to relax the measure. We can't keep on going any longer.
So take that opportunity, use the window of opportunity to get vaccinated, and get the hospitals ready, and so on. It would've been a different story. But these decisions to relax all the measures and to reopen were done in a very short space of time, giving limited opportunity for preparation and anticipation of what is now happening.
VAUSE: We're out of time, but it is just a bizarre sequence of events, considering how micromanaging the communist government has been up until this point.
Professor Cowling, thank you so much. We appreciate your time, sir. COWLING: Thank you.
[01:54:50]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: It seems not even tough guy actor Robert De Niro is safe from a possible Christmas grinch who broke into his New York home. That's according to New York police department who says De Niro's Upper East Side town home broken was into early Monday morning.
And according to CNN's chief law enforcement analyst and intelligence analyst, I should say, the alleged burglar is (INAUDIBLE) of New York's very easy bail law which is so easy these days.
Apparently, criminals are back out on the streets incredibly quickly, and right now the police know some of them by their first names.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN MILLER, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT And Intelligence ANALYST: So it's 2:45 in the morning, this is when I would usually be on the way home. The 19th precinct specialty anti-crime unit, the public safety unit, is driving around, and they see a woman who seems to be checking the doors of commercial places, and they say, is that Janice because she's supposed to be in jail. She's a known burglar in the precinct.
They keep her under surveillance. And she goes down some stairs into kind of a town house, and doesn't come out. When they follow up and look down the stairs, they see there is a forced entry, the window is broken, the door is open, and there, amidst all the presents and an iPad, and other things, is one of the most prolific burglars in the precinct, who has broken in.
So they take her into custody. Robert De Niro is upstairs, he's asleep. He doesn't know anything about this so the police wake him up and he hears all this activity. There's other people at home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The 79-year-old actor, best known for films like "Taxi Driver, "Raging Bull", "The Untouchables" was apparently asleep, upstairs, at the time of the alleged break-in.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
The news continues next here with Laila Harrak.
I'll see you right back here tomorrow.
In the meantime, here are some images live from Buenos Aires, a homecoming like no other.
See you tomorrow.
[01:58:17] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
