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Donald Trump Vows To Become Dictator For One Day; Kevin McCarthy To Endorse Donald Trump; Tornadoes Ripped Through Tennessee; Trump Will Not Testify Again In New York Fraud Trial. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired December 10, 2023 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You're live in the "CNN Newsroom." I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. Good evening. We begin this hour with Donald Trump doubling down on his vow to be an American dictator. He claims only for one day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, Baker today in the "New York Times," he said that I want to be a dictator. I didn't say that. I said I want to be a dictator for one day. But the "New York Times" said, and you know why I wanted to be a dictator? Because I want a wall. Right? I want a wall. And I want to drill, drill, drill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Those comments came during an 80-minute airing of grievances last night at a gathering of New York young Republicans filled with Trump loyalists and MAGA diehards. The former president who is waging what he has called a righteous crusade, touted the criminal indictments against him and took aim at his likely democratic rival for the White House, accusing president Biden with no evidence of weaponizing the Justice Department for political purposes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Every time radical left Democrats, Marxists, communists and fascists indict me, I consider it a great badge of honor. I'm being indicted for you. These are not indictments in the traditional sense. These are Biden indictments against their -- this is just against a political opponent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Again, there is zero evidence that the White House has anything to do with the indictments against the former president. Despite his complaints, though, that he's being unfairly victimized, Trump sounded like he is out for revenge, suggesting he would use a second presidential term to go after Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He's opened up a Pandora's box that may never let our country be the same. I only can say to Joe is be very careful what you wish for because what you've done is a terrible thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Let's bring in former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger who served on the January 6th committee. Congressman, great to see as always. A dictator for a day. Should the American people take Trump at his word?

ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah, you have to take him at his word. He loves this stuff, by the way. I mean, it makes him feel powerful. I mean, you think about what that even implies that, you know, calling somebody a dictator makes him feel powerful, not ashamed. You know, and the problem is, is when people think of dictators, you know, they think of Saddam Hussein in a military uniform or il Duce, you know, on the balcony.

You can wear a suit and tie and be a dictator. I mean, and Trump has made it clear. He's not saying he's going to march armies into Canada. What he's saying is he's going to get in there and do whatever he wants. He said before, he said what, a year or so ago, that we need to basically disregard the Constitution in some areas. Vivek Ramaswamy, by the way, on that debate stage the other day, made a big deal about saying he was going to ignore Congress, saying that Congress didn't matter.

I mean, this is where not just Donald Trump, but the party is trending. And you can see that by the cheers, the number of cheers after he said, I'll just be a dictator for a day. So eventually, as my colleague Liz Cheney said in her book, you know, eventually you got to start taking President Trump at his word.

ACOSTA: Yeah, but you know, despite that congressman, Republicans I'm sure you've noticed this, are downplaying these anti-democratic comments. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX): It's entertainment. You know, you've -- we've been around the him long enough, it's entertaining.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I think it was a joke.

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): I think that's probably just fairly kind of typical Trump rhetoric.

REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY): We all know Trump uses unique expressions when he explains things.

SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): Sometimes a little baby will spout off all sorts of words that you don't take them either literally or seriously, and that's a bit of what we're seeing I think from President Trump in this campaign right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: What do you think Congressman, is some of this a little bit of whistling past the graveyard? What do you think?

KINZINGER: Well, I think a little bit of it is, I think a little bit of it is performative on Trump's part. Again, he loves this. The whole thing that unites the -- I won't say the conservative movement because there's nothing conservative about it -- but the GOP at the moment,

the whole thing that unites the base is just like taking on liberals. We're gonna take on the Democrats. We're gonna take on the media. We're gonna say things to anger them to make them irate, nothing matters, LOL. And that's what you're seeing right now. And so, I think some of it is performative, but you don't have to look at what he's saying to look at the things that he has said in serious moments to look at his actions when he was president, the things that he is very clearly said he will do.

He said in his announcement speech, I am your retribution. I mean, most people when they run for president go up and say like you know I have a vision for the future or I'm the way that we're gonna get to a good economy.

He is running on being the retribution of people that he's convinced, he's spent his entire life convincing, are victims. He's a victim himself in his own mind. So, you know, to my former colleagues, like I get it, there may be some performative in there, but don't whistle past the graveyard as you said. This is very serious.

[17:05:00]

And if Donald Trump wins, he's going to put people around him that aren't going to be like Bill Barr, who's willing to say no for the sake of the Constitution. He'll put people around him that say, you are the Constitution, Mr. President, and I'll do whatever you want.

ACOSTA: Right. And the other thing that he was talking about last night is going after Joe Biden if he gets back into the White House, if Trump gets back into the White House. I mean, despite the fact that he is claiming he's the victim in all of this of weaponization of the Justice Department, it sounds like that's what he wants to do if he gets back in the White House.

KINZINGER: Well, of course. I mean, it's -- you know, I've tried to grapple with, you know, does truth for some of these folks' matter? You know, do they care what the truth is or not? I think most Americans do. There may be a certain group in the base that doesn't, but here's the truth. Donald Trump is not a victim of Joe Biden's Department of Justice.

Donald Trump is a victim of launching an insurrection on January 6th, of trying to hide classified documents that frankly DOJ gave him ample opportunity to return, of paying hush money of, you know. All this kind of stuff that he's on trial for is his own doing.

And so, to say you're going to come in, that's how banana republics are made, when you just simply prosecute the last administration because you're ticked off. Look, it is very dangerous to go after the last administration, unless we had what we had over the last few years. In that case, I think it's more dangerous for the country to not go after the last president that attempted a coup.

And by the way, all you have to do, Jim, and you know this well, is look at the comments from people like Kevin McCarthy after January 6. Look at the comments from all these people that say what he did was impeachable, what he did is beyond the pale. They may change what they're saying now, but they haven't changed the facts of what happened a few years ago.

ACOSTA: Well, you just mentioned Kevin McCarthy, and it sounds like the former House speaker is going to be supporting Donald Trump in this next election and he has some advice, apparently, for the Trump campaign. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

ROBERT COSTA, CBS NEWS SUNDAY MORNING HOST: Will Donald Trump be the nominee?

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): Yes. In the Republican Party? Yes.

COSTA: Can he count on your support?

MCCARTHY: Yes.

COSTA: That's an endorsement.

MCCARTHY: I will support the president. I will support President Trump.

COSTA: Would you be willing to serve in a Trump cabinet?

MCCARTHY: In the right position. Look, if I'm the best person for the job, this is what I tell President Trump too. What President Trump needs to do in this campaign, it needs to be about rebuilding, restoring, renewing America. It can't be about revenge.

COSTA: He's talking about retribution day in, day out.

MCCARTHY: He needs to stop that. He needs to stop that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Congressman, is Kevin McCarthy dealing with reality?

KINZINGER: Well, no, I mean, he says he needs to talk about rebuilding and restoring. Certainly, Donald Trump is not going to be the face of restoring and rebuilding. Yeah, he was right at the very end by saying that Donald Trump needs to stop that, but let's work in reality. He's not going to stop that. This is his whole campaign.

The whole reason he's running, Jim, is for retribution. It's for revenge. It's to stay out of jail. It's to be able to pardon himself if in fact he is convicted. It's the whole reason he's running. Kevin knows this and sadly, Kevin McCarthy went from my friend and somebody who I think was the future of the GOP talking about things like climate change and how the Republican Party can do a better job in dealing with those issues, to somebody that made a deal with the devil to become Speaker of the House with Donald Trump. He has sold everything out.

So, he has no choice now. I mean, he has to support Donald Trump now because that's the only political future Kevin McCarthy has. But it's sad in a way because I think Kevin had so much potential that he kind of flushed for nine months of speakership.

ACOSTA: And it sounds like the Speaker, the new Speaker, Mike Johnson, is going to be calling for a Biden impeachment inquiry vote this week. What's your sense of it?

KINZINGER: Well, it's zero surprise. I said at the start, the only thing I'm surprised about is that they haven't impeached him already. This was a political promise made. You know, Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced articles of impeachment on Joe Biden's first day of the presidency, on nothing.

This expedition, this -- so usually if you have an impeachment inquiry it's because there's good grounds to believe that you need to proceed with impeachment not because you need to get more information to see if there's grounds for an impeachment.

Because if that was the case, every president in history would have had an impeachment inquiry against them so that the other side could see if there were grounds to impeach. It's really disappointing and I think it's frankly gonna backfire on the Republican Party because they're going after Hunter who's got his own issues, but so far, I've seen no evidence that this links to Joe Biden.

ACOSTA: And Congressman, I'm sure you just heard in the last couple of hours that the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky will be visiting the White House this week, visiting Washington as these talks over Ukraine aid have really stalled.

[17:10:00]

And it sounds like they're going to get bogged down over whether this aid is going to be tied to, you know, something along the lines of upgrading security down at the border. What happens to Ukraine if they don't get this aid?

KINZINGER: Well, it's very simple. Ukraine, whose winning this war, and frankly, just simply by defending your own country, you're winning a war. But you can also take into account in this counteroffensive, they shut down the Black Sea Fleet. They've gotten back half of the territory that Russia initially occupied in the opening stages. It would be hard for Ukraine to win if we don't keep going.

Europe will have to step up, obviously, as they have. They've stepped up significantly. But we, Jim, this is the fight of our generation. This is the one that we're going to look back on. It's like 1938, what did we do? And if we fail to follow through on this, it will be an embarrassment. You know, I'm bitter about Afghanistan. You throw this on top of Afghanistan and there will not be a single country that's willing to trust the word of the United States of America again. They should separate this from the border, just get it done. But I

also say to the White House, do some of the stuff on the border. You really need to, because we have to do anything to get this aid package through, because I really think it's that existential to the future of Ukraine and the current world order, to be honest with you.

ACOSTA: Well, and speaking of Ukraine, one of the things that President Biden has done since he's been in office is expand NATO. I mean, he's been able to help usher in the expansion of NATO. And if Trump wins re-election, I mean, a lot of U.S. allies around the world are concerned that Trump could just withdraw the U.S. from NATO, that NATO would just essentially cease to exist as it stands now. What do you think happens to NATO? I mean, do you buy into those kinds of scenarios? What's your sense of it?

KINZINGER: Yeah, it's a real concern because, you know, John Bolton told us, I believe in his book or in interviews after his time in the Oval Office, that Donald Trump wanted to get out of NATO. That wasn't performative. That wasn't just saying somethings that he could get an applause line. He truly wanted out of there. He doesn't understand what NATO is. He thinks like the U.S. is paying all this money into NATO, when really, it's just a commitment among allies and frankly has been the greatest thing to prevent war in the last 70 or 80 years.

But take it very seriously, Donald Trump will withdraw from NATO. And if you're somebody that doesn't want to get America embroiled in another war, none of us want to get America in another war, you get rid of NATO and I guarantee you that makes war very likely for the United States because the greatest security construct in the post- World War II order will be shattered.

ACOSTA: Alright Congressman Adam Kinzinger, thanks very much for your time this afternoon, appreciate it.

KINZINGER: You bet.

ACOSTA: Alright. Coming up, at least six people were killed after tornadoes ripped through Tennessee over the last 24 hours. We're live on the ground amid the devastating damage. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:17:07]

ACOSTA: In Tennessee, at least six people are dead and dozens injured after multiple tornadoes ripped through the state late yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: Oh my gosh.

UNKNOWN: Oh my gosh.

UNKNOWN: Oh no.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ACOSTA: Some wild video there. CNN's Rafael Romo is in the hard-hit neighborhood of Madison, just outside of Nashville, where the recovery efforts are still underway. Rafael, what a punch this area took from these tornadoes. What are you seeing?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A tremendous punch, Jim, indeed. And what we have been able to see is a devastation caused by those 13 tornadoes. And the Tennessee Office of Emergency Management said that that's how many tornadoes were spotted here on Saturday. And what I can tell you is that in this particular neighborhood here in Madison, in the north side of Nashville, many homes are a total loss. There are many downed power lines and trees, total devastation here.

Authorities say 22 structures have collapsed and Governor Bill Lee has declared a state of emergency. I was talking to a gentleman who lives here on this block earlier and he was telling me that him and his wife were watching TV when they realized after listening to the forecast that their area was in the danger zone and they ran to the kitchen, a decision that ultimately, he says saved their lives. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREGORY CHANCE, TORNADO SURVIVOR: Devastated. A friend of mine lost his life last night down the street. Don't think it won't happen to you because I thought that, but I was wrong. So, when they say there's, a storm coming, make sure you pay attention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And Jim, restoring power to this area is going to be another challenge for officials -- 26,000 people remain without power this afternoon, and this after 18,000 were reconnected earlier today. So still many challenges, not to mention also the cleanup effort. Jim, back to you.

ROMO: Alright, Rafael Romo in hard hit Tennessee. Rafael, thank you so much.

In the meantime, Trump was set to head back to New York courtroom to testify in a civil fraud trial tomorrow, but he's making other plans. We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:23:45]

ACOSTA: Former President Donald Trump has had a change in plans, posting on Truth Social. He says he will not testify tomorrow in his New York civil fraud trial. New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing Trump for $250 million and seeking to bar him from doing any more business in the state. CNN's Zach Cohen joins us now. Zach, what's going on here? I thought there was all of this talk that he was gonna be there and charge in there and lay out his case and not so much. ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: A pretty clear reversal

here from the former president. Look, I mean, in all caps and classic sort of Trump fashion posting today, just on the eve of this scheduled testimony that I will not be testifying on Monday, his lawyer released a new statement saying, he's already testified once, he has no reason to speak to a judge who imposed an unconstitutional gag order, he calls it, in the case.

Now look, that's not what we heard from Trump's attorney a few days ago. On Thursday, Alina Habba, another one of his lawyers, told reporters that, look, despite being advised by counsel not to testify again because of that gag order, Trump was adamant in that he wanted to take the stand for a second time, but take a listen to her explanation of why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALINA HABBA, TRUMP'S ATTORNEY: He still wants to take the stand, even though my advice is at this point, you should never take the stand with a gag order.

[17:25:00]

But he is so firmly against what is happening in this court and so firmly for the old America that we know, not this America, that he will take that stand on Monday. He will open himself up to whatever they want because he's not afraid. People that are afraid cower. President Trump doesn't cower. We'll be back on Monday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: People that are afraid cower. President Trump does not cower, but you know, in the span of 48 hours, things have changed. Clearly, Trump not scheduled to appear in the courtroom tomorrow anymore. But that doesn't stop him and his lawyers from attacking the judge and prosecutors in this case, as we've seen repeatedly, not just in New York, but also across the various investigations and cases that he's involved in too.

So, it remains to be seen how this case will shape up. The New York attorney general is saying, look, this is just a distraction. Trump was offering to testify again to distract from the facts and the fact that they've proven he engaged in widespread fraud and his kids engaged in widespread fraud as part of the Trump Organization. You know, we'll have to see what the judge ultimately imposes, but we need to remember that the judge has already sided with the prosecutors in this case.

ACOSTA: Right.

COHEN: It's just a matter of how much in damages the judge decides Trump needs to pay.

ACOSTA: And do we know if he will still show up and just not testify?

COHEN: That's a good question. We have seen Trump show up at the courthouse and speak outside the courthouse even when it's not his day to testify. So, that is a possibility we could see him appear but we have to wait and see for now.

ACOSTA: Yeah. Easier to speak outside the courtroom when you're not under oath and so on.

COHEN: And no gag order.

ACOSTA: No gag order. Alright, Zach Cohen, thank you very much. Joining us now with more CNN senior legal analyst and former assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Elie Honig. Elie you never cower that's why we like you here at CNN. But it sounds like Trump is backing down from fighting this out on the witness stand. What do you think?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Yeah, Jim. This is the smart move or I guess I should say the least self-destructive move for a couple reasons. First of all, as Zach just said, Trump has already lost a piece of this case. The judge has already ruled against Donald Trump for the AG on one of the causes of action. It's not as if Donald Trump's testimony was going to get the judge to reverse himself.

The other thing is Donald Trump already testified in this case. He was called to the stand as one of the AG's witnesses. That did not go well for Donald Trump. His testimony was all over the map, he was non- responsive at time. He was self-contradictory. So, looking at this from a lawyer's point of view, there is no reason for him to get up on the stand. Now, politics and P.R.-wise, that's not my area, but legally here he's done the least dangerous thing by deciding not to testify.

ACOSTA: Right. And one attorney, Alina Habba, said Trump would testify despite the gag order today. The other attorney, Chris Kise, basically blaming the gag order for the reversal. They're not on the same page, it doesn't sound like.

HONIG: Well, and I'm mystified by his lawyers blaming the gag order. That is nonsensical. Let me tell you why, Jim. It applies no matter where Donald Trump is. It applies to anything he might say on his social media feed. It applies to anything he might say out on the street. It applies to anything he might say from the witness stand. He's not allowed to criticize the judge's staff. That's it. It's a very narrow gag order, and it doesn't matter whether he's on the stand or not. So, to me, that is a bogus excuse that I'm not buying at all.

ACOSTA: And if Trump did violate the gag order again, I mean, Zach and I were just talking about this --

HONIG: Yeah.

ACOSTA: -- maybe he'll show up tomorrow and speak outside the courtroom. And I suppose if you were to violate the gag order in that kind of a setting, could he get in trouble and what kind of trouble would that be?

HONIG: Sure. So, Donald Trump has already violated this specific, very narrow gag order twice, two different times he's defied it and he's continued to comment about the judge's clerk, which by the way, to me, is completely out of bounds by Donald Trump. That is something nobody ever should do or should be allowed to get away with.

The thing is, the penalties thus far have been minimal, laughably minimal. He was fined $5,000 the first time, $10,000 the second time. That's for Donald Trump, he could care less about that. So, if he continues to do this, the judge is gonna have to decide how to actually enforce some discipline. So, there's a little bit of a staring match going on here. We'll see if Trump has the gall to do it again. But if he does, the judge really has to stand up for his staff in a firm way.

ACOSTA: And Trump's legal team also blasted the Attorney General, Letitia James, for her, quote, "rapid and unreasonable pursuit of President Trump." That's how they put it. On Friday, she posted this video on social media. Let's listen to this. Talk about it on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LETITIA JAMES, NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL: Donald Trump can continue to try to distract from reality. He can continue to call me names. But as the judge said today, the standard is truth. And the truth is on our side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now, she says Trump's experts and his earlier testimony actually helped her case. What do you think about that?

HONIG: Well, she might be right about that. I think there were definitely some question marks about the expert's testimony. But I have to say this, that video we just saw from Letitia James is wholly inappropriate. Her conduct throughout this trial has been wildly inappropriate.

She has been making public comments outside of the courtroom, non- judicial public comments throughout this case, attacking Donald Trump saying he's a liar, saying his other witnesses, his family members, are liars. Whether one believes that's true or not, that is inappropriate for an attorney general handling a case.

[17:30:00]

If you did that in a criminal case, if I did that, the case would be dismissed for prosecutorial misconduct. This is not a criminal case.

I'd be disciplined. It is just inappropriate for an attorney general to make ongoing public commentary about the substance of a case, to comment on the truthfulness or lack of truthfulness of a witness while they're testifying. We would not accept that in any other context.

Prosecutors like to say, we do our talking in court, and I think the attorney general ought to abide by that. ACOSTA: And do you think, Elie, it's because she has been attacked so much by Donald Trump that she feels like she has to respond, that there has to be some kind of response? Is that part of this, do you think?

HONIG: That may be what's in her mind, but I don't think that's an appropriate response. Prosecutors get attacked all the time. You keep quiet. You take it. You develop thick skin. Look at Jack Smith. He's getting attacked every day. He makes responses, forceful responses, in court through his -- through his attorneys, through his filings, through his motions.

It would be perfectly appropriate for Attorney General James to do that, to put in motions, to make arguments in court. What inappropriate is for her to take the Twitter for her to make extraneous videos like this, for her to be making comments outside on the courthouse steps.

ACOSTA: All right. Elie Honig, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

HONIG: All right.

ACOSTA: All right, coming up, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to visit the White House this week as the fight over funding for Ukraine continues. We will talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:35:28]

ACOSTA: With emergency funding for Ukraine stalled in Congress, tonight, we have learned that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is coming to Washington. The White House announced President Biden will host the Ukrainian leader on Tuesday. He will also meet with senators up on Capitol Hill.

Joining me now to discuss, retired army colonel and combat veteran Eugene Vindman. He joins us now in the studio. He is also running for Congress in Virginia Seventh District. What do you make of this visit from Zelenskyy? I mean, it sounds as though, you know, to borrow an expression, they're bringing in the heavy artillery to try to get this funding through Congress.

EUGENE VINDMAN, RETIRED COLONEL: Absolutely. And frankly, his last trip here was not successful. He did not get to address a joint session. It was disappointing from our perspective. So, I hope he can address the folks that he needs to address, make his case. It's critical that Ukraine is funded. They're an ally, they're in some trouble right now, and they need our support.

ACOSTA: Yeah. What's the fallout? What happens if Ukraine doesn't get this funding?

VINDMAN: Well, Ukraine is not going to give up. So, what this does is it increases the bloodshed on the battlefield. It increases the risks to the United States, our own national security interests. But I don't see Ukraine folding in the short run. The Europeans won't stand for that. And frankly, our eastern flank NATO partners. So, countries like Poland, Romania and the Baltics.

This actually increases the risk that they may send troops or they may take more vigorous action. They don't want Russia to win and have Russia on their doorstep.

ACOSTA: And if these talks break down and Congress leaves for the holidays at the end of the week, that's it, there's no aid for Ukraine. Is this a win for Putin?

VINDMAN: It is absolutely a win for Putin. And frankly, what really bothers me is dysfunction in Congress, dysfunction in the House that's leading to this point. National security has always trumped other political, domestic political concerns. And here, that's not the case.

And, you know, we think about what are the impacts? What are the impacts in Virginia? What are the impacts nationally? Well, when Russia attacked Ukraine last year, gas prices spiked, which means people were paying more at the pump.

This is why the so what -- why is it important that we support Ukraine? It's not only values, but there are also sort of national security interests and local interests, domestic interests. Food prices spiked as well. So, you're paying more at the grocery store.

We're an interconnected world. We can't forget about our obligations to our allies both from values perspective but also from national security perspective.

ACOSTA: I want to ask you about something that Senator J.D. Vance, Ohio Republican, said earlier this morning on CNN about Russia's war against Ukraine. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH): What's in America's best interest is to accept Ukraine is going to have to cede some territory to the Russians and we need to bring this war to a close. But when I think about the great human tragedy here, hundreds of thousands of Eastern Europeans, innocent, have been killed in this conflict. The thing that's in our interest and in theirs is to stop the killing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: You have a United States senator saying that the Ukrainians will have to cede some territory to Russia. What do you think of that?

VINDMAN: He's absolutely wrong. If you cede territory to Russia, they're like a bow constrictor. They'll digest the portion that they have, they'll rebuild, and they'll continue to do this in 10, 15 years. We'll be facing a Russia that is starting to rebuild an empire, potentially absorbing countries like Belarus, and it is the absolutely wrong perspective. And to have Ukrainians live under an authoritarian regime, does he think that the bloodshed will stop? No. It's never going to happen that way. So, it's a false argument. It's just absolutely not true and it's the wrong perspective.

ACOSTA: Somebody that you and your brother tangled with not that long ago, President Trump, now former President Donald Trump, has a history of dismissing the NATO alliance, the importance of it. He's obviously running again. He's probably the very likely nominee of the Republican Party at this point.

As you know, there are allies across the world who are concerned about what happens to NATO if Trump gets back in the White House. Your thoughts?

[17:40:00]

VINDMAN: Yeah, so, I mean, I think Trump and his allies in Congress are providing aid and sugar (ph) to dictators around the world. And Trump this week talked about being a dictator for one day. Well, guess what? As a student of history, it only takes one day to install yourself as a dictator for life. So, I think one day dictator is one day too many, and the American people just won't stand for it.

ACOSTA: Yeah. Are you shocked over the lack of outrage in the Republican Party over these dictator comments from Donald Trump? I mean, I guess you had a bit of a front row seat to the impeachment process when he was impeached over holding up funding to Ukraine to get dirt on Joe Biden. That's all sort of in the rearview mirror. But when you hear him say what he is saying now, what goes through your mind?

VINDMAN: Yeah. So, I'm not shocked, frankly. I'm not shocked by anything the Republican Party does. I mean, they've sacrificed their values for -- in support of national security. They're supporting by their lack of action and the fact that they're wreaking chaos.

Dictators around the world -- just a few weeks ago, our credit rating was reduced in the United States for no other reason other than the chaos in the Republican Party, the fact that we're not able to govern ourselves.

We faced a series of government shutdowns. They're more likely to come. That's why the 2024 election is so critical. That's why I volunteered again, that I've decided to take an action personally and run for office, because I think democracy is at stake and we have to defend democracy in 2024, maintain Virginia Seven, the race that I'm in, and also win back the House.

ACOSTA: All right. Colonel Vindman, great to see you as always. Thanks a lot.

VINDMAN: Thank you so much.

ACOSTA: Appreciate it. As the war between Israel and Hamas intensifies, U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken is forcefully condemning the atrocities that took place against Israeli women on October 7th.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The atrocities that we saw on October 7th are almost beyond human description or beyond our capacity to digest, and we've talked about them before, but the sexual violence that we saw on October 7th is beyond anything that I've seen either.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: But Blinken is also warning Israel to do more to protect civilians and provide humanitarian aid in Gaza. The IDF says they've struck more than 250 targets in just the last day. The Israeli prime minister's office says 137 hostages remain inside Gaza, including 20 who are believed to be dead.

Let's go live to Tel Aviv where CNN's Alex Marquardt has the latest on the fighting. Alex, what's the latest?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, it's clear that Israel is still battling to take full control of northern Gaza. They are facing what they're calling strongholds of persistent resistance. One of those is the Jabalia refugee camp, where we've seen fierce clashes between Hamas and Israeli troops over the past few days.

Today, there were strikes on a home, according to a Palestinian news agency, that left several dozen people dead, others trapped beneath the rubble. But so much of the focus has been on Southern Gaza, particularly around the biggest city in southern Gaza, Khan Younis, where Israel is trying to encircle the city and go after Hamas leaders who they believe to be there.

But as they move south, there are also reports of dozens of Palestinian civilians who have been killed in the northern and eastern parts of the city. Israel on Saturday night issued what they called an urgent appeal for civilians in very specific areas of Khan Younis to flee to an area near the coast. It is unclear whether the civilians there got that message because it was posted online and it's unclear whether there are actually shelters there that they can flee to, as Israel has asserted.

And you're absolutely right, Jim, Secretary Blinken speaking out again today, saying that there continues to be what he calls a gap between Israel's intent to try to keep civilians safe and what's actually playing out on the ground. Jim?

ACOSTA: And Alex, Qatar's prime minister is giving an update on how negotiations are going. What's he saying?

MARQUARDT: Frankly that they're not going very well. I mean, he didn't hold back. There was no spin there about, you know, the ability to get the parties back to the negotiating table. U.S. officials had been telling my colleagues and me that they were trying to resurrect the hostage deal that would see hostages released and perhaps a military pause, resume. Qatar, of course, has been at the very center of these mediation efforts. Here's what the prime minister said earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED BIN ABDULRAHMAN BIN JASSIM AL THANI, QATARI PRIME MINISTER: It always takes two parties to be willing to such an engagement. Unfortunately, we are not seeing the same willingness that we had seen in the weeks before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:45:00]

MARQUARDT: So, Qatar, the U.S., Egypt, those main three mediators will continue to try to get Israel and Hamas to negotiate. But for now, those talks are not happening. Israel says 137 hostages remain inside. Twenty of them, however, are dead. We believe one of them is Sahar Bauch (ph). That was announced, in fact, by Hamas the other day, that he was killed in an overnight raid to rescue him by the IDF. His death is confirmed by the kibbutz where he lived and was kidnapped from October 7th. Jim?

ACOSTA: All right. Alex Marquardt, thank you very much for that update. We appreciate it.

Still ahead, why Elon Musk is now allowing the disgraced conspiracy theorist, Alex Jones, back on his social media platform. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:50:14]

ACOSTA: One of the world's leading voices of disinformation, Alex Jones, is back on X, formerly known as Twitter. The conspiracy theorist was taken off the social media platform five years ago by Twitter management after Jones repeatedly broke its rules prohibiting harassment and hate speech.

CNN's senior media reporter Oliver Darcy joins us now. Oliver, I think I know what has changed, but what's going on?

OLIVER DARCY, CNN SENIOR MEDIA REPORTER: Well, Jim, there was this right-wing pressure campaign after Alex Jones did an interview with fellow extremist, Tucker Carlson, and Elon Musk has basically given into it and decided to restore the account of Alex Jones.

And look, Elon Musk is free to do so. You know, he is free to saturate X, his social media platform, with as much hate and conspiracy theories as he wants. He is clearly going to continue to do so.

I think the question here, Jim, now is, are others going to feel comfortable continuing to associate with this platform given the amount of hate speech and conspiracy theories and misinformation that has surged on the platform since Elon took over and since he started making some of these decisions? You know, you have companies like the NFL that have business relationships with X. Are they going to feel comfortable associating with this platform as Elon Musk goes, you know, further into the fever swamps? You have entertainers like Taylor Swift who post updates to fans. Is she going to feel comfortable associating with this platform? You know, you have news organizations on there. The White House is on there.

I think the question moving forward as Elon Musk pushes this platform further and further to the extreme is, are the others, is everyone else, all the normal people, going to feel comfortable posting content and just kind of hanging out there?

ACOSTA: And Oliver, another thing I wanted to talk to you about out of the world of media over this past week is what former Trump official, Kash Patel, said about the press in recent days. Let's play that and talk about it on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KASH PATEL, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO ACTING U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE IN TRUMP ADMINISTRATION: We will go out and find the conspirators not just in government but in the media. Yes, we're going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections. We're going to come after you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Yeah, I mean, Oliver, Patel is being touted by Trump as a possible acting attorney general or high-level administration official if Trump gets back into the White House. What is your sense of things? I mean, is this -- obviously, the tendency for a lot of folks is just to pass this off as bluster. But we know what he has done in the past, what Trump has done in the past, going after the press and so on. What do you think?

DARCY: Yeah, Jim, it's extremely disturbing, and I think you saw a lot of people say that. You know, hearing someone talk about weaponizing government to overtly target critics in the press is, frankly, un- American. And so, you're seeing a very forceful reaction from people who are opposed to this. You know, you saw the Biden campaign refer to these people as a cabal of snowflake henchmen in the statements, and you're seeing a lot of alarm elsewhere.

What's really disturbing and unnerving about that clip is earlier, Steve Bannon, who was Trump's former top political strategist, he clearly states, he says, this is not just rhetoric, this is actually what we want to do. He asked Patel if he can get it done, if he can prosecute some of Trump's critics. He answers in the affirmative.

And, of course, Jim, Donald Trump himself has made it very clear that he wants to do this. You know, he has posted about investigating Comcast because he doesn't like coverage he's got from NBC News and MSNBC.

ACOSTA: Right. DARCY: He is not denouncing these sorts of comments. So, very, very alarming and it should really send a chill through anyone who cares about a free press when they hear those remarks.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. All right. We've seen this film before. I think we're going to see it again. Oliver Darcy, as always, thanks so much. And make sure, everybody, to take a look at Oliver's column, his nightly column, "Reliable Sources." It's a must read. Oliver, thanks.

In the meantime, tonight, find out who will be the 2023 CNN hero of the year. Join Anderson Cooper and Laura Coates for a night of stars and celebration. "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" begins tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern.

In the meantime, coming up, Trump doubles down on his vow to be a dictator for one day while also insinuating he will come after Joe Biden if he gets back into the White House, if Trump gets back into the White House. We'll talk about that in just a few moments. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:59:13]

ACOSTA: You're live in the "CNN Newsroom." I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. Good evening. We begin this hour with former President Donald Trump doubling down on his vow to be an American dictator, he maintains, only for one day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Baker today in "The New York Times," he said that I want to be a dictator. I didn't say that. I said I want to be a dictator for one day. But "The New York Times" said, and you know why I wanted to be a dictator? Because I want a wall, right? I want a wall, and I want to drill, drill, drill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: That dictator talk came during an 80-minute airing of grievances last night at a soiree filled with Trump loyalists and MAGA diehards up on Capitol Hill. Many Republicans are downplaying the former president's draconian pledge.

[18:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX): It's entertainment. You know, we've been around him long enough. It's entertaining.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I think it was a joke.