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CNN International: Trump Takes Heat Over Remarks on Being a Dictator; Milei Sworn in as President in Argentina, Pledges Start of a New Era; China, Philippines Trade Blame Over Maritime Incidents; University of Pennsylvania President Quits in Antisemitism Controversy; Powerful Nobel Peace Prize Speech. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired December 11, 2023 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster. If you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with our top stories this hour.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to visit the White House on Tuesday as additional aid for Ukraine remains stalled in Congress. This will be Zelenskyy's third visit to Washington since the war began -- the war in Ukraine began.

Donald Trump says he is no longer planning to testify in his civil fraud trial in New York today. Trump's attorneys have previously advised the former president not to testify because of the gag order in the case.

Trump has been taking heat over plans to use his executive power in unprecedented ways during a potential second term. And for comments on whether he would be a dictator. But he's trying to reframe the narrative that he would be a threat to democracy by calling it a hoax. CNN's Alayna Treene has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, Donald Trump speaking at an event last night hosted by the New York Young Republican Club, doubled down on comments that he had made during a town hall with Fox News earlier in the week. And he essentially said that he would be a dictator for one day if he reclaimed the White House in order to build a wall and to, quote, drill, drill, drill.

But Trump also attempted last night to undercut the narrative that he would be a threat to democracy by character -- characterizing it as a new hoax cooked up by Democrats. Take a listen.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In the past few weeks, the radical left Democrats and their fake hews allies have unveiled their newest hoax that Donald J. Trump and the Republican Party are a threat to democracy. Do you believe it? That's what it is. It's a hoax. It's a new I -- we call it now the threat to democracy hoax, that's what it is.

TREENE: The former president also repeated claims last night that he thinks Joe Biden is the, quote, real threat to democracy.

And so, I think, you know, there's a couple of things worth pointing out here. There is a concern and I've spoken about this with Donald Trump's advisers and other Republicans, that some of this ramped up rhetoric is not going to play well outside of his loyal base. Especially if he were to go on and win the Republican nomination and then advance to the general election.

I think that's why you're seeing Donald Trump, as we've seen him do time and time again, to reclaim the narrative on this. And that's essentially what he's doing. He's trying to flip the script and put this on Joe Biden. He's claiming that this is an artificial narrative being spread by Democrats when really Biden is the one who's using the government to go after him and his political enemies. Pointing to the series of indictments that he has facing.

But you know that's not really an argument that seems to be resonating outside of Donald Trump's closest group of supporters. And of course, there's also no evidence that the White House has had any involvement in the indictments against Trump.

Now, I do also think it's very important for us to be clear about the greater context of this. Which is that Trump himself has said publicly that if he were to reclaim the White House in 2024, he would use the Justice Department to go after his political foes. And his team has already been formulating plans to move the Justice Department under presidential control and try to strengthen the power of the executive branch.

Now, another thing I think is just very interesting is the unintended consequences of Donald Trump continuing to talk about this. And that is that it's giving Joe Biden and the Democratic partying an opening. What Democrats have been trying to do is paint the election as not only a rematch between Trump and Biden, but a choice between authoritarianism and democracy. And so, this is just another opening for Democrats to use to go after. Donald Trump.

Alayna Treene, CNN Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Argentina's new president is promising that his inauguration marks the start of a new era for the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAVIER MILEI, ARGENTINE PRESIDENT (through translator): We did not seek, nor do we want the hard decisions that will need to be taken in the coming weeks. But unfortunately, we have been left with no choice. However, our commitment to Argentines is unchangeable. We are going to make all the necessary decisions to fix the problem caused by 100 years of waste by the political class. Even if it is going to be hard at first.

[04:35:00] If a country is lacking in reputation, as is unfortunately the case with Argentina, businesses will not invest until they see a fiscal readjustment bringing it down. And no less important for gradualism is it necessary that there is financing, and unfortunately I have to tell you again that there is no money.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: The world is watching to see how he addresses an economic crisis of epic proportions. President Milei claims no government has ever received a worse inheritance. CNN's Patrick Oppmann has more on the ceremony and Milei's approach to the presidency.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Argentina has a colorful and controversial new president. For much of his candidacy, Javier Milei seemed like the longest of long shots. His brash style has been compared to that of Donald Trump. He calls himself an arco capitalist and he campaigned with a chainsaw, a symbol of the slashing cuts he said he wanted to make to Argentina's loaded bureaucracy.

But Malay also was able to tap into the deep anger that many Argentines feel to the previous leftist administrations that govern Argentina and have brought it to the brink of financial collapse. Milei has thrown out many radical ideas that he said he would adopt as president, including adopting the U.S. dollar as a national currency. Reducing the number of ministries that the Argentine government has, and upending many of the relationships that Argentina has with countries in the region and around the world. And that's perhaps why we saw Ukrainian. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Argentina for Milei's swearing in.

It remains to be seen, though, how much of this Milei will actually be able to get done. His coalition does not control Argentina's Congress, which means it's going to be uphill battle getting many of these sweeping reforms adopted. And it may turn out that while it was politically successful for Milei to campaign as a radical outsider, governing as one may be much more difficult.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: In Egypt, day two of voting in its presidential election underway with indications of another win for incumbent President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Sisi is going for an unprecedented third term after change in Egypt's constitution in 2019 permitted it. He started serving as president in 2014, and should he win, he could remain in office. Until 2030. One Egyptian voter says she considers the right to vote vitally important.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOUSHIRA SHAKER, VOTER (through translator): I just came now at the end of the day, but I found large turn out in lines of people waiting to participate, and this is a great patriotic spirit. I'm calling on everyone to go down and participate. You should. This is our President and this is our country and we have to preserve it because, thank God, no matter how much trouble and problems we're going through. We're still much better off than others and we need to preserve the condition we're in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Four candidates are in the ballot, including Sisi. Voting is taking place over three days and the results are expected on December the 18th.

Tensions between the Philippines and China flaring up again in the South China Sea. Both nations are accusing one another of dangerous maneuvers and a collision that happened this weekend in the contested waters of the Spratly Island chain. The Philippines has summoned the Chinese ambassador to complain about what it calls aggressive actions. It's the latest in a series of maritime confrontations between the two countries. CNN Beijing Bureau Chief Steven Jiang joins us now with more. How -- what do we read into this particular incident, Steven?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, Max, as you know, now, surprisingly, both governments blaming the other as the culprit that caused these latest incidents over the weekend. But the root cause, of course, is this long running territorial disputes between Beijing and many of its neighbors, including the Philippines, because China claims sovereignty over almost the entirety of the 1.3 million square miles South China Sea.

But there are strategic and tactical reasons why we are hearing more about these dramatic encounters. Because the Philippine government under President Marcos has been increasingly publicizing these incidents, obviously trying to draw more global attention to and presumably more international support for the Philippines. Because they do have that sense of urgency.

Now, with the Philippines has done back in 1999, they deliberately ran ashore a World War II era vessel on the Thomas Second Shoal. That's part of the Spratlys, to stake its claim. And over the years, they've been mostly able to use that as a military outpost, rotating its marines in and out and resupplying it with civilian missions.

But that's changed since Chinese leader Xi Jinping took power with China's foreign policy and military operations in the region becoming more assertive, and some will say, more aggressive. So now of course, with the Filipino ship being so old, it's literally rusting away, so they need to repair it urgently to shore up their claim. Otherwise, the fear is, it's just going to be washed away by water and that's exactly what the Chinese are waiting for.

[04:40:00]

So, they could swoop in and take control of the reef and potentially even militarizing it as they have done with so many other reefs and islets in the South China Sea. So that's why strategically we have seen President Marcos really

deepen and broaden its cooperation with the U.S. by giving the U.S. military more access to Filipino bases and to -- and restarting these joint air and sea patrols with the U.S. And that's also why, in the eyes of Beijing, all of the Philippines has been doing is to doing the U.S. government's bidding to stir trouble in the region, to challenge China's interests and supremacy in the region. So, the U.S. is very much seen as being involved in this growing saga.

So Max, these latest incidents, really is worrying to a lot of people because it doesn't bode well for where this situation is headed with the global and regional implications, for sure -- Max.

Yes, the U.S. urging China to abide by 2016 arbitration ruling over these disputed waters, clearly China just isn't doing that. So, what's the end game do you think?

JIANG: Well, the Chinese does not even recognize the legitimacy of that tribunal. So, that's why they've been saying time and again, including more recently that they were going to continue, ignore the rulings handed down by that court. But the fear as I mentioned is the Chinese eventually taking control of more previously uninhabited reefs and islets in the region and militarizing them -- Max.

FOSTER: OK, Steven, in Beijing, appreciate it. Thank you.

The head of the COP28 climate summit is warning that progress is not coming fast enough as delegates in Dubai spar over the future of fossil fuels. The President of the UN Climate Change Conference says major divisions remain over whether or not fossil fuels should be phased out, and if so, how, and at what pace. With the conference due to end on Tuesday, the UN's climate chief has made a plea for negotiators to move beyond their disagreements.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON STIELL, UN CLIMATE CHANGE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY: The global stock take needs to help all countries get out of this mess. Any strategic land mines that blow it up for one, blow it up for all. The world is watching, as are 4,000 members of the global media, and thousands of observers here in Dubai. There is nowhere to hide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Still to come, a show support for Harvard University's president as she faces pressure to step down over her testimony in Congress about anti-Semitism on campus.

And more fallout from that hearing. The President of the University of Pennsylvania has resigned. The school says the change of leadership is necessary and appropriate. Details next.

[04:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) FOSTER: Well, at least 600 members of Harvard University's faculty have now signed a petition urging officials to resist calls for the removal of University President Claudine Gay. The petition comes amid pressure on Gay to step down following her testimony on anti-Semitism before Congress last week. She was amongst three university leaders who failed to say unequivocally that calling for genocide against Jews would violate their school's code of conduct.

The Harvard petition urges officials to, quote, defend the independence of the university and resist political pressures.

Meanwhile, the University of Pennsylvania has appointed new leadership after President Liz Magill resigned on Saturday over her testimony before Congress. The chairman of the school's board of trustees also resigned. Julie Platt, the board's new interim chair said the change of leadership was necessary and appropriate. CNN's Polo Sandoval reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The University of Pennsylvania will begin final exams this week under new leadership after controversy resulted in the resignation of two university officials. Among them Liz Magill, the now former university president.

She, along with the heads of Harvard and MIT, have been heavily criticized since last week for failing to recognize that calling for a Jewish genocide is a direct violation of the university's codes of conduct.

Here on the campus, we have seen reaction and heard reaction from students, including one in particular who's also the Vice President of the Jewish Heritage Program, who told CNN over the weekend that he felt that this was a step towards accountability for the university administration.

Separately, we also heard over the weekend from the Governor of Pennsylvania. Who spoke at a local synagogue, joining both Jewish and non-Jewish community leaders, strongly condemning violence against all faiths. This is what he said.

JOSH SHAPIRO, PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR: In whatever form, whether anti- Semitism, Islamophobia, racism, homophobia, it has no place here in Pennsylvania, in a place founded on the promise of William Penn. We will not tolerate it.

SANDOVAL: The governing organizations at Harvard continue with their regularly scheduled meetings the last few days. This amid growing calls for their president Claudine Gay to step down. Gay has issued an apology recently. A Harvard spokesperson declining to comment.

Polo Sandoval, CNN Philadelphia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: And some news just into us, the United Nations General Assembly will resume its emergency session on the situation in Gaza on Tuesday. That's according to a statement from the UNGA President Dennis Francis. It follows the U.S. vetoing a UN Security Council resolution on Friday calling for a humanitarian ceasefire.

Representatives from Egypt and Mauritania called for the special meeting, citing a resolution that says the UNGA can convene to make recommendations when the Security Council, quote, fails to exercise its primary responsibility to act as required to maintain international peace and security.

This year's winner of the Nobel Peace Prize wasn't able to accept her award in person here. What she said in a powerful speech written from her prison cell, just ahead.

[04:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Tributes pouring in and being paid to one of the NFL's all- time greats. Frank Wycheck, who died on Saturday at 52. The former Tennessee Titans player was found unresponsive in his home. In a statement, his family said it appears he fell and hit his head earlier in the day. Wycheck was one of the Titans' most popular players. Famed for being part of the Music City Miracle in the 1999 playoffs. His family paid -- plans to honor his wishes by working with experts on brain injury research.

Stories in the spotlight, the children of Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf on Sunday. She was awarded the prize back in October for her decades of human rights activism, for which she has been sentenced to a total of 31 years in prison in Tehran. At Sunday's award ceremony, her children delivered her lecture written by Mohammadi from her prison cell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALI RAHMANI, SON OF NOBEL PRIZE LAUREATE NARGES MOHAMMADI (through translator): I'm confident that the light of Freedom and Justice will shine brightly on the land of Iran. At that moment, we will celebrate the victory of democracy and human rights over tyranny and authoritarianism. And the outcome of the people's triumph on the streets of Iran will resonate worldwide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: In her lecture, Mohammadi highlighted how young people in Iran have been a catalyst for civil resistance, adding quote, the Iranian people will dismantle obstruction and despotism through their persistence. Have no doubt, this is certain.

[04:55:02]

France celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights. President Emmanuel Macron said it's important to carry on the fight to recognize the rights of women, children and the LGBT community at the palace in Paris, where the draft was signed. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): The work is immense. But I know that you are courageous. I know as well that we are together, united by the strength of this fight. And by the certitude that each time we give up a centimeter, it's a centimeter of regression that we accept for ourselves too, or for our children or for our brothers or sisters, because this fight is universal. Giving up or accepting its loss in one place is accepting its regression for ourselves, too.

Nothing, nothing must be given up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: The UN General Assembly proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, establishing the groundwork for the international human rights law.

And dozens of swimsuit clad people in Santa Hats endured the frigid air Sunday in Budapest, all for a good cause. Participants of the 20th Budapest Santa Speedo Run, chanted ho, ho, ho, as they ran through the city. The runners jumped, skipped and danced to stay warm and appear to enjoy themselves despite the cold. Organizers of the run donate their participation freeze -- fees in the freeze. And this year the donations will benefit the Tiny Ray of Hope charity, which supports families raising severe -- severely premature babies with disabilities. Brave man.

Thanks for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London. "EARLY START" is next right here on CNN with a brand-new CNN poll and the numbers coming out this morning in two battleground states for the 2024 U.S. presidential election. It's good news for Joe Biden, it seems. Stay tuned for that.

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