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Zelenskyy: Brave Ukrainians Are Fighting Putin's Forces; U.S. Announces It's Sending Patriot System to Ukraine; Netanyahu Announces Controversial New Government. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired December 22, 2022 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As evidenced by these videos showing migrants risking their lives, and the lives of their children to end their wait in Mexico and start life in the U.S.
FLORES: The Venezuelan couple in our story says that their first appointment with an immigration judge is set for November 2024. That's nearly two years from now. But that speaks to the backlog in U.S. immigration court. According to analysis of federal data by a group at Syracuse University, for the first time in history the number of cases in U.S. immigration court now exceeds 2 million.
Rosa Flores, CNN, Brownsville, Texas.
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MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hearing similar stories of migrants crossing the border in the state of Arizona. Some arrived in Yuma on Wednesday saying they waited for five hours for chance to cross the border and seek asylum. One Cuban migrant says he's happy his treacherous journey is now over and he's finally in the U.S. Many migrants who arrived on Wednesday are from Cuba or Peru or Colombia. Which means more migrants from Mexico and Central America fall under title 42 are likely still waiting to cross that border.
But dozens of migrants received a warm welcome in Philadelphia on Wednesday where many of them reunited with family members who are already in the U.S. City officials were also there to hand out winter coats and help migrants with legal services. The migrants arrived in Philadelphia from Texas. In the past few months Texas Governor Greg Abbott has been bussing migrants to cities in the northeast which welcomed them.
Still ahead, signs of life for the U.S. economy as the latest consumer confidence port beats expectations.
Plus --
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Ukraine didn't fall. Ukraine is alive and kicking.
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FOSTER: Ukraine's president speaks to Congress. We'll have reaction from a former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate.
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FOSTER: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster. If you are just joining us, let me bring you up to date with our top stories this hour.
and delivered an emotional speech about needing more aid to fight Russia's ongoing war in his country. Mr. Zelenskyy and President Biden emphasized their relationship and vowed victory over Putin.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's going to fail. And he's going to fail -- he's already failed because he now knows that there's no way he's ever going to occupy all of Ukraine. There's no way in which he is going to be accepted by the Ukrainian people. And so, he's failed in the past and was very important for him and everyone else to see that President Zelenskyy and I are united two countries together to make sure he cannot succeed.
ZELENSKYY: They threw everything against us -- similar to the other tyranny, which in the Battle of the Bulge, threw everything it had against the free world.
Just like the brave American soldiers, which held their lines and fought back Hitler's forces during the Christmas of 1944, brave Ukrainian soldiers are doing the same to Putin's forces this Christmas.
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FOSTER: Former U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton says she thought Mr. Zelenskyy's speech to Congress was extraordinary. She says the Ukrainian leader helped both Democrats and Republicans to understand what's at stake in the fight against Russian aggression.
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HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER U.S. DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It connected the struggle of Ukrainian people to our own revolution, to our own feelings that we want to be warm in our homes to celebrate Christmas and to get us to think about all the families in Ukraine that will be huddled in the cold. And to know that they are on the front lines of freedom right now. They're fighting, their cause is our cause. I believe that the Ukrainians have proven that they are a really good investment for the United States. They are not asking us to be there to fight their war. They're fighting it themselves. They're asking us and our allies for the means to not only defend themselves but to actually win. So, I think this had a positive effect.
(END VIDEO CLIP) FOSTER: It's $1.8 billion U.S. aid package for Ukraine includes armored vehicles, mortars, rockets, grenades and tactical gear. But it's the single Patriot Air Defense System that's getting all of the headlines. CNN's Pentagon correspondent Oren Liebermann has the details.
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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Patriot missile, the U.S. military's most advanced missile defense system capable of shooting down a variety of targets from ballistic missiles to aircraft. The system will bolster Ukraine's air defenses which have had to contend with repeated Russian barrages of drones, missiles and more.
The Patriot batteries will fit like an extended dome over Ukraine's current systems. Patriots can have a range of 40 miles or more and the radar can detect threats even further away. A long range air defense capability which Ukraine has requested for months. Below that are systems like the U.S. provided NASAMS with a range of 25 miles. A medium range system that's proven very effective. And then there are other short range options like stingers that Ukraine has used as well.
MARK CANCIAN, SENIOR ADVISOR, CSIS INTERNATIONAL SECURITY PROGRAM: Patriots are significant politically and useful militarily but they're not a game changer.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): This is a high end system. Missile experts say a Patriot battery with missiles costs about $1 billion. So, Ukraine shouldn't use these to take out relatively expensive Iranian drones. The system itself has six major parts according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A control station, a radar set, a generator, an antenna and of course, the launcher and missiles. It takes about 100 personnel to operate a full system.
Nearly 20 countries have Patriot missile batteries. Israel has use them to intercept drones and even Syrian aircraft. Saudi Arabia has effectively used Patriots to intercept ballistic missiles and more from Yemen.
CANCIAN: I think the system will work against a wide variety of Russian threats. This is by far the most complicated system that we have given to the Ukrainians.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): But complete training on Patriot batteries takes weeks, not more. Time is one luxury Ukraine does not have.
LIEBERMANN: Pentagon officials say it will take several months to train up Ukrainians on how to operate the Patriots. They'll try to compress that timeline as much as they can but it is a complex system.
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And I think we're about to find out if it's even possible to compress it beyond several months. I also wouldn't overlook the other capabilities in this $1.8 billion
Ukraine assistance package. More of the HIMARS, ammunition that they've used so effectively, more vehicles, precise-guided bomb kits, JDAMs. In military terminology that will allow the Ukrainians to carry out bombing missions from fighter jets. We'll have some technical know-how that they'll have to implement to make that work on their Soviet-era fighters. But they've done that before and I think there's no doubt they'll do it again.
One final note on this package, there's a lot of non-NATO standard artillery ammunition in here. Why is that significant? The U.S. doesn't produce that. So, that's being sourced from elsewhere. That will go to the tubes and the artillery, the ammunitions, the weapons that Ukraine already has, that'll help them on the systems of which there already familiar for what is still a punishing ground battle.
Oren Liebermann, CNN, in the Pentagon.
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FOSTER: Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer says members are making good progress on a $1.7 trillion bill to fund the U.S. government. The vote could come Friday or Saturday. The measure includes more than $44 billion for aid to Ukraine. And an overhaul of the Electoral Count Act of 1887, the Secure Act 2.0 which builds on retirement savings, options for American workers and a ban on TikTok on government-issued devices.
Now we're getting some mixed signals on the strength of the U.S. economy. Consumer confidence grew in December and was revised upwards for November. That would mean a better than expected holiday season for retailers. But the housing market is seeing a slowdown. Existing home sales fell nearly 8 percent from October to November. And that's the 10th straight month of decline in the longest losing streak on record going back to 1999.
Two of former top lieutenants of the crypto exchange FTX are now charged with defrauding investors. And the former CEO of the now bankrupt company has been extradited from the Bahamas. These images shows Sam Bankman-Fried being taken to the United States to face charges. He's expected to appear before a judge in New York later today. Bankman-fried was arrested last week on eight counts of fraud and conspiracy. Prosecutors accuse him of stealing money from FTX customers to support other investments and donate money to political campaigns.
Twitter is facing accusations the company unfairly targeted certain groups in its mass layoffs after Elon Musk took over. Amongst the claims, more women were let go than men and employees on medical or parental leave were also let go. The allegations were made by 100 former employees who are demanding arbitration against the company in place of a lawsuit they are prohibited from joining. Twitter has not responded to a request for a comment on that.
Benjamin Netanyahu cuts a deal with coalition partners to form Israel's next government. Why even some of his allies are uneasy with his cabinet picks. That's ahead.
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FOSTER: Israel is one step closer to having its most right wing government in history. On Wednesday, Prime Minister designate Benjamin Netanyahu announce that he formed a new government coalition. But as CNN's Hadas Gold reports, the incoming cabinet is set to include politicians who were once considered to be on the extreme fringes of Israeli politics.
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HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The new Israeli government setting off alarm bells around the world. Even allies warily eyeing Benjamin Netanyahu's new ministers who will make up the most right- wing government in Israeli history. A stark change from the last coalition now made up all of men and all Orthodox except for Netanyahu himself.
Most recognizable is Itamar Ben-Gvir, once convicted of anti-Arab racism and supporting a Jewish terrorist group. Now, National Security Minister in charge of Israeli police.
Eager to allow Jews to pray at Jerusalem's holiest site where only Muslims are now allowed to worship, a place that has sparked intifadas and even wars.
Former Israeli ambassador to the United States Danny Ayalon warning Washington will be on high alert.
DANNY AYALON, FORMER ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO U.S.: If they will perform what is conceived in Washington as provocations. For instance, change of status in Temple Mount, or unchecked enlargement of new settlements. This could be a very, very big problem for and it to allow and for the government.
GOLD (voice-over): Then there's Bezalel Smotrich, another far right settler lawyer turned politician has been named Minister of Finance and has also been given power to appoint the head of the Israeli body, which controls border crossings and permits for Palestinians. Smotrich supports abolishing Palestinian Authority and annexing the West Bank. Israel staunchest ally the United States perhaps hoping the rhetoric won't match the actions.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We will gauge the government by the policies it pursues rather than individual personalities.
GOLD (voice-over): Other appointments causing uproar include a gay rights opponent who has vowed to ban pride parades to position in the education ministry, and proposed changes to the law of return for the restricting who was considered Jewish enough to be permitted to immigrate to Israel.
Netanyahu for his part has repeatedly claimed that the buck will stop with him.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER-DESIGNATE: I've had such partners in the past, and they didn't change an iota of my policies. I decide the policy with my party.
GOLD (voice-over): But as the government has taken shape, his critics like this cartoonist say he's creating a monster he won't be able to control.
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GOLD (on camera): And, Max, when Netanyahu and his coalition partners won that election on November 1st actually with better results than people were expecting, he promised he would be able to form a government in a week or two. But then he ended up needing to ask for an extension and weeks and days of wheeling and dealing with all of the different people who wanted something out of him to form this new government. Well then, it wasn't until just minutes before the midnight deadline last night that he finally was able to call the Israeli president and notify him he had managed to form a government.
But actually, in fact he hasn't yet formally signed final coalition agreements with at least two of the parties. And actually, there are some laws that need to be passed in order for three of his ministers to be able to take over their duties. Including one bill that's required because one of the ministers that he wants to appoint was previously convicted of tax offenses. So, he will need a special bill in order to be able to take over that position.
Another interesting factor in all of this is Benjamin Netanyahu taking over, once again, actually just happened in the last few minutes. And that's when we learned that Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, actually called Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today to congratulate him on his win and on forming the new government.
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We also were told by Netanyahu office there, they discussed things like Ukraine, the war in Ukraine and Iran. It will be very interesting to see how Benjamin Netanyahu's relationship with Vladimir Putin will develop over the next few months and years. Because in the past Netanyahu used to talk about what a great relationship he had with Putin. At one point there was even a billboard up in Israel of Netanyahu and Putin together. So, now with the war in Ukraine, it'll be very interesting to see how that relationship develops -- Max.
FOSTER: Hadas Gold in Jerusalem, thank you.
NASA says good-bye to a ground breaking Mars mission. Just ahead, the reason the Insight lander program is ending.
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FOSTER: NASA has announced the end of a ground breaking mission that studied the interior of mars. After more than four years on the red planet the Insight lander stopped responding to messages from mission control. The program posted a message on Twitter writing from the lander's point of view.
My power's really low, so this may be the last image I can send. Don't worry about me though, my time here has been very productive and serene. If I can keep talking to my mission team, I will -- but I'll be signing off here soon. Thanks for staying with me.
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Brazilian football legend Pele will spend Christmas in a Sao Paulo hospital due to his worsening health. His daughter said on a message on Instagram that it's best for him to continue receiving care with doctors nearby instead of spending Christmas at home. The Albert Einstein Jewish Hospital said on Wednesday that Pele's cancer is progressing and he's experiencing kidney and cardiac dysfunctions which require greater care.
The New York Yankees have named superstar outfielder Aaron Judge as their U.S. team captain. Judge is now just the 16th team captain in team's history following in the footsteps of other baseball greats like Lou Gehrig and Jeter. The reigning American League MVP is the first captain for the Yankees since the hall-of-famer, Jeter, retired in 2014. Judge spoke about how meaningful the new role is to him.
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AARON JUDGE, NEW YORK YANKEES OUTFIELDER: This is an incredible honor that, you know, I don't take lightly and, you know, I'm going to continue to try to be, you know, the same leader that I've been the past six years. Continue to lead by example. And I know there's probably going to be a couple more responsibilities with this, but, you know, I'm here to embrace every single obstacle and, you know, continue to lead this team and lead this city to not one but, you know, multiple championships down the road.
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FOSTER: The 30-year-old is coming off an historic season. He just signed a record-breaking contract with the Yankees worth a reported $360 million over are nine years.
Thanks for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London. "EARLY START" with Christine Romans is next.
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