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CNN International: Biden-Trump Showdown; Prosecutors Ready to Take on Trump and His Continued Support for Capitol Rioters; Israel: 250 Airstrikes on Terror Targets in Past Day; Gaza Residents Walking Perilous Line Between Life and Death; Republicans in the U.S. Congress Stonewall Ukraine Aid; White Angels Take Air to Frontline Town Avdiivka. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired December 06, 2023 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers, joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Bianca Nobilo live from London, Max Foster is off this week. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Joe Biden is trying to walk back remarks he made on Tuesday.
DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He is running and I just I have to run.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're getting a preview of the special counsel's playbook as he prepares to go to trial against Donald Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are ready to explain to the jury how he encouraged the violence on January 6th.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tuesday afternoon, an apparent Israeli airstrike demolished this building in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People have been forced to run from place to place, seeking shelter. It simply is chaos at this point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.
NOBILO: It's Wednesday, December the 6th, 9:00 a.m. here in London and 4:00 a.m. in Washington, where U.S. President Joe Biden is walking back a candid remark about his possible rationale for seeking reelection. He told Democratic donors at an off camera fundraiser on Tuesday.
Quote: If Trump wasn't running, I'm not sure I'd be running.
But just a few hours later, when pressed by reporters at the White House, Mr. Biden said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you be running for president if Trump wasn't running?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I expect so, but look, he is running and I've just -- I have to run.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you drop out if Trump runs out?
BIDEN: No, not now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: The Biden campaign was quick to downplay the president's remark about running because of Donald Trump, and they pointed to the fact that President Biden has repeatedly described Trump as unique threat to the country. Democratic strategist Maria Cardona says Biden is right to believe that he's the only one in the best position to defeat Trump again.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I'm actually not at all surprised that he said this. It is no secret that he believes that he is the only one that can beat Trump. Because in fact, he has been the only one that has beat Trump. And look, he focuses on this is the reason why he is asking for reelection to finish the job. It was clear literally the day after Donald Trump left the White House that he was going to run again. And look what he did when he didn't win reelection, he almost destroyed our democracy. Our democracy was hanging by a thread.
He is running again, and the one person that was able to beat him last time I think is the one that is best position moving forward to meet him again. And when you have. Somebody like Donald Trump, who is focused on going after his opponents, who he described as vermin. Who talks about immigrants as poisoning the blood of our country. Who said on Truth Social that he would get rid of the Constitution of the United States.
I think that is one of the most important reasons why someone who beat him already. Is running again to protect us from someone who has already told us he wants to be a dictator and wants to walk into the Oval Office and make it his own.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBILO: Maria Cardona there.
Four Republican candidates will take to the stage tonight in Alabama for the party's fourth presidential primary debate. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis all expected to participate. Each one of them is looking to separate themselves from the pack to be seen as the top Republican rival to Donald Trump -- who's skipping the event as he has for all the previous debates. Vivek Ramaswami gave a preview of his strategy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VIVEK RAMASWAMY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've been in the race and there are some deep differences in this party and I don't intend to play with kid gloves and you shouldn't want people vetted for running for U.S. President should sit across 5he table from Xi Jinping. He isn't trained to playing with kid gloves either.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: Meanwhile, Donald Trump is again attacking the U.S. president's mental fitness for office. He told Fox News that he does not think Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee by the time the election arrives in November next year.
[04:05:00]
Mr. Biden, at 81, is just four years older than Trump. But Trump also sidestepped a question during the town hall about whether he would abuse power or seek retribution against political enemies. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS: Any way, have any plans whatsoever if reelected president to abuse power, to break the law, to use the government, to go after people.
TRUMP: You mean like they're using right now. So, in the history of our country what's happened to us again has never happened before. Over nonsense, over nothing, made-up charges.
HANNITY: I want to go back to this one issue though, because the media has been focused on this and attacking you. Under no circumstances, you are promising America tonight, you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody.
TRUMP: Except for day one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: Former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney says she'll do whatever she has to do to stop Donald Trump from being reelected to the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIZ CHENEY, FORMER U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: I think there's a huge amount of work to be done after this election cycle. Whether it's rebuilding the Republican Party, which increasingly looks like, you know, maybe an impossible task, or helping to begin a new party that's very focused on what the Republican Party used to stand for before this cult of personality. But right now, and in this election cycle, I'll do whatever I have to do to make sure Donald Trump's not elected.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: Cheney lost her post in the House Republican leadership and ultimately her seat in Congress after publicly rejecting Trump's claim that he won at the 2020 presidential election. She says it may be time to run a third party candidate to draw votes from Trump as she mulls a third party run in 2024. Cheney says that she fears what Trump might do in a second term, backed up by Republicans who might not defend the Constitution over him.
And we're learning new details about the special counsel's planned legal strategy ahead of Donald Trump's federal election subversion trial next year. Federal prosecutors say the plan to present evidence that Trump's continued support for Capitol rioters helps to show that he intended to inspire violence on January 6th as part of the conspiracy that he led to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Our Katelyn Polantz has the latest now from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Federal prosecutors are saying in court that at Donald Trump's trial next year related to the 2020 election, they are ready to explain to the jury how he encouraged the violence not just on January 6th but generally was condoning violent supporters of his for some time around the 2020 election. Now this is a piece of the story as we're learning what exactly prosecutors are doing to prepare to go to trial in March in federal court in Washington, DC. Taking Donald Trump to trial on four different charges related to his attempts to obstruct Congress and to conspire to disrupt the transfer of power from him to President Joe Biden.
And in this court filing on Tuesday, the prosecutors are laying out that not only do they want to argue that to the jury, they also want to show the jury things that Trump had said over the years that weren't specific to the 2020 election. About how in 2012, 2016 and other years he always had talked about doubting votes because of the possibility of fraud. That was some argument that he had made publicly.
They also talked about wanting to explain how he said in a presidential debate in 2020 to the Proud Boys, the extremist group, stand back and stand by, and then how he sympathized with rioters even in recent months after he was charged. Said to them that he sympathized with them, you know, put them on screens at his rallies, singing the national anthem. People who were imprisoned for January 6 violence. And then also said that he was interested in potentially pardoning them.
So all of that prosecutors say, very well is something that they believe a jury should hear so that they can explain to them the motive and the intent that Donald Trump had after the 2020 election. That there is a story and a history here of violence. That the character traits of the former president is something that really should be heard about how he's always tried to doubt elections and how he's always sought to exploit the possibility of violence as a way to hold on to power politically.
Katelyn Polantz, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBILO: The U.S. Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, who's taken an oath to, quote, defend the Constitution against all enemies, including domestic ones, says that he intends to blur the faces of the January 6th insurrectionists before he releases Capitol Hill security footage from that day.
[04:10:03]
The reason to protect them from federal prosecution and retaliation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: We have to blur some of the faces of persons who participated in the -- in the events of that day, because we don't want them to be retaliated against and had to be charged by the DOJ.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: Federal prosecutors already have footage from January 6th, but also have relied on regular citizens to identify some of the rioters. And critics fear that blurring the video could hamper that process. You'll recall the Capitol insurrection interfered with lawmakers inside who were exercising their constitutional duty to certify President Joe Biden's election victory.
It is just past 11:00 a.m. in Gaza where the Israel Defense Forces say they've carried out about 250 air strikes on Hamas target in just the past day. The enclave second biggest city, Khan Younis in the south, is bearing the brunt of that damage. The Israeli military says it's also destroying terrorist infrastructure and rocket launches. In central Gaza eyewitnesses report multiple strikes. A nearby hospital says it's received dozens of bodies on Tuesday. Its spokesperson says many people are still trapped under rubble.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is rejecting the idea of an international force responsible for security in Gaza after the war. He says only the Israel Defence Forces should control the disarmament of Gaza.
So for more on all of this, let's bring in CNN's Clare Sebastian joining me here in London. Claire, bring us up to date on the operation and where it stands at the moment.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so what we're seeing is an expansion and a significant one. This is now day six in this phase after the truce ended on Friday. And look, yes, there's a lot of focus on the south, but not just the south. There's more strikes that we're seeing up in the north. There's a hospital, the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza. Where the head of the Hamas run health ministry in Gaza says that it's under siege, essentially. There's no fuel. They say they have more than 100 bodies that they can't bury, and essentially there is now no healthcare in northern Gaza.
But the fact that we are now seeing a significant operation in the south centered around Khan Younis, where the IDF said on Tuesday that it was in the heart of the city, having encircled. It so is more sort of street to street urban combat that we're seeing.
That is creating a delicate situation. Because even before this phase of the operation, Israel was coming under increasing pressure to do more to protect civilians. And now that they are fighting in an area where they have pushed civilians to evacuate to up until this point, more than 80 percent of the population of Gaza is now displaced. We are likely to see displacement on top of displacement because of this. Despite the fact that they say that they're leafleting, there are QR codes that people can look at to find out exactly where to evacuate.
But also it's a test of how far international public opinion, and in particular the U.S., will go to support Israel in this. We're hearing that there have been direct conversations, according to U.S. officials, with Israel pushing them to do more to protect civilians. Prime Minister Netanyahu is very steadfast in his speech on Tuesday, saying that, you know, they are going to continue with the full force for a complete victory. But he also, as you as you pointed to, noted about the -- what he his vision for the security situation of Gaza after this is potentially over. Take a listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Gaza must be demilitarized and in order for Gaza to be demilitarized, there is only one force that can ensure this, and that force is the Israel Defense Forces. No international force can take responsibility for this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEBASTIAN: So this is really notable because we have not heard much from Israel about what their vision is for Gaza post war. It's not exactly -- I mean there, there had been some vague discussions in various quarters about potentially an international peacekeeping force. It hadn't got that far. It may be at odds with the U.S. position that has urged Israel not to reoccupy the Gaza Strip and is pushing for some kind of leadership from a revitalized Palestinian Authority. But certainly it is critical at this point because we're also hearing from U.S. officials, after this phase, this ground operation may have to be over by January. So certainly the focus has to shift at this point to what happens.
NOBILO: Clare Sebastian, thank you.
15,800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel's offensive began on October the 7th, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah, which gets its data from Hamas controlled sources. The Hamas government claims more than 60 percent of homes in the enclave have been destroyed or damaged since the start of the war. Displaced residents have been driven south by the attacks and Israeli orders meant to keep civilians out of the line of fire. CNN's Ben Wedeman has a closer look at what Gaza residents are being
forced to endure and a warning to you that his report contains disturbing images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They came here hoping to escape the war and this is what happened.
[04:15:00]
Tuesday afternoon an apparent Israeli air strike demolished this building in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.
Civilians more than 50 are now martyrs, says Abu Bassin. The building's owner had given them shelter. They all came from the north.
Under the sand and the rubble is a lifeless body. There's his head, someone says. While others, peering into the ruins, search for survivors.
Is anyone alive, he calls out.
Without heavy equipment, bare hands must suffice. At Deir el-Balah's only functioning hospital, the injured are rushed inside.
The hospital spokesman says they received more than 130 injured and more than 90 bodies. CNN cannot confirm the death toll. Once again, so many of the victims are children. Stunned, confused, terrified, she grasps her mother's hand. The injured, treated on the floor.
The lucky are among those who fled and then fled again further south. And up in places like this, makeshift camps devoid of running water, electricity or sanitation. A plastic sheet is all that protects Anas Mosleh and her family from the elements.
We spend all night hearing rockets and bombs, she says. We're living between life and death. We may die at any moment.
Indeed, in Gaza now, the line between life and death is perilously thin.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBILO: Egyptian officials say 50 trucks full of humanitarian aid crossed into Gaza through the Rafah border crossing on Tuesday, and two of them were carrying much needed fuel. That's an addition to 36,000 pounds of supplies from the U.S. airlifted into Egypt and then driven into Gaza. More supplies are expected to be delivered via military aircraft in the coming days. The U.S. Agency for International Development also announced an additional $21 million in relief for Gaza. This follows an initial allotment of $100 million announced by the U.S. President back in October. The agency says the funds will provide displaced residents with food, shelter and health services too.
Coming up for you on the program, U.S. Republican lawmakers are standing firm against approving more aid to Ukraine unless their demands are met. The White House calls it crazy.
Plus, Ukraine's White Angels bringing life saving supplies to the frontline. We'll hear from the brave people working in the war zone.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NOBILO: Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will make a highly anticipated appearance before an inquiry into the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and that starts in the next hour. Johnson will face two days of questioning with his reputation and that of the Conservative government at stake ahead of an election next year.
The panel has already heard damaging testimony about his handling of the pandemic. And that includes claims of government incompetence and allegations that Johnson told colleagues he would prefer to see people die in large numbers rather than order a second lockdown. His testimony could also be damaging for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who was the chancellor or finance minister at the time.
The Pentagon says it's getting to the point where the U.S. cannot sustain its current aid to Ukraine without major action by Congress. President Joe Biden is proposing a new aid package, but it's facing a roadblock in Congress thanks to Republican stonewalling. Frustrated by the inaction, Mr. Biden says he isn't giving up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: The failure to support Ukraine is just absolutely crazy. It's against U.S. interests. It's against the interests of the of the world. It's just wrong. And we're going to get that -- we're going to get that aid. We're going to get it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: CNN's Manu Raju tells us what happened on Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ukraine aid and Israel aid stalled at this critical time despite the pleas by American allies for new money to help with those two wars. Uncertain if that will be resolved this year or punted into the New Year as a major division between the two parties continues to exist. Namely over a separate issue dealing with the southern border. The migrant crisis has surged the southern border. Republicans want tighter policies on immigration to be part of their larger deal to deal with Israel as well as Ukraine. They say all that needs to be tied together in order for the them to consent, particularly when it comes to Ukraine. So when behind closed doors earlier on Tuesday, when Senate senators
all met with administration officials who were trying to lay out an urgent case to approving Ukraine aid, instead it broke out into a fight over border security and immigration policy, which led to a shouting match of sorts.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY) U.S. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: It was immediately hijacked by Leader McConnell. And even one of them started, was disrespectful and started screaming at the -- one of the generals and challenging him to why he didn't go to the border.
SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): We want to help Ukraine and Israel, but we've got to have the Democrats recognize that the trade here, the deal is we stop the open border. They don't want to do that. So Republicans are just walking out of the briefing because the people there are not willing to actually discuss what it takes to get a deal done.
RAJU: But amid this stalemate, Democrats are still trying to press ahead and setting up a key procedural vote to move forward in this big aid package. But because it does not have those tighter immigration policies that Republicans want and Democrats say is simply a non- starter.
[04:25:00]
This means that Republicans are poised to block it, which means that aid to Ukraine, aid to Israel will continue to be stalled, hanging in the balance amid this bitter partisan feud over immigration.
Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Russian troops shelled the city of Kherson early on Tuesday morning. Two civilians were killed in the attack, according to a local official, and one more person was wounded. Ukraine's military says Russia targeted civilian infrastructure across the country, with drones and missiles overnight, on Tuesday into Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his forces shot down a Russian aircraft in the Black Sea. He says that aircraft was attempting to strike the Odessa region.
Russian forces are pressing on with the long running drive to capture the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, with both sides saying that they made gains on Tuesday. CNN's Anna Coren follows a group of Ukrainians called the White Angels who are bringing supplies to people still living in that war zone.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At a warehouse stocked with humanitarian aid, 23-year-old police officer Dmytro Solovii picks up supplies. Food, water, hygiene products and a generator are on the list. He is part of the White Angels unit and they're heading to his hometown of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region on the eastern front, where one of the most fierce and bloody battles is being waged in the war in Ukraine.
I was born in this town, he tells me. My neighbors are there, my relatives my friends. It's my duty to help them. We are their hope.
But getting to Avdiivka is a death trap. Shortly after leaving us with his GoPro rolling, he spots Russian shelling through the windscreen.
Look, the bomb has landed. Report incoming of an ugly bastard. And there's another one, he tells his colleague.
Russian artillery, mortars and drones target the road. And yet Dmytro remains calm. This perilous journey has become routine despite multiple close calls. Driving past the sign that proudly states Avdiivka is Ukraine, the town of once 30,000 residents is now deserted, devoid of the living, as almost every single building has been shelled.
But surprisingly, some people still live here, including Dr. Vitalii Sytnyk, head of the local hospital.
Diagnosed with terminal cancer, he's decided he's not going anywhere.
We have a job and we do it, he explains.
He called the White Angels to evacuate a man who'd just been injured from shrapnel. As they load him into the van, the idle chatter is interrupted.
Incoming, it's a mortar, explains the doctor. Sometimes it rustles and then bang, that would be a tank.
As the explosions get louder, it's time to go.
COREN: This is the road to Avdiivka. There is one way in, one way out. We are not allowed to travel to the town, which is 17 kilometers away. The military has banned all media, saying it's just too dangerous. But for the White Angels, they travel on this road multiple times a week, risking their lives to support the less than 1,300 people still living in the town.
COREN (voice-over): As the White Angels begin the dangerous drive out, Dmytro reflects.
It's very sad what's happening to my town, but one day we'll rebuild Avdiivka and I will live there with my grandchildren. We just need to believe.
A belief that keeps this community among the ruins alive.
Anna Coren, CNN, on the outskirts of Avdiivka, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBILO: Still to come, the leaders of elite American universities face tough questions from U.S. lawmakers about anti-Semitism on their campuses. We'll have details on that hearing.
Plus, they voted for Donald Trump once but will they do it again? As the clock ticks down until the Iowa caucuses, local Republicans are still unsure of how they'll cast their vote.
[04:30:00]
