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CNN International: Biden Meets with Families of Americans Still Held by Hamas; Israeli Government Cancels Mossad Chief's Trip to Doha; Former Trump Attorney Speaks to Investigators; U.S. High Court to Decide the Fate of Major Abortion Drug; Dow Hits Record High as Fed Moves Toward Rate Cuts. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired December 14, 2023 - 04:30   ET

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

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MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: For the first time, President Biden meeting in person here at the White House with some of the family members of those American hostages that are still being held captive in Gaza. About a dozen of those family members, we are told we're here at the White House. Several others tuned in virtually.

When these family members came out to speak to reporters afterwards, they said that they were grateful for the White House's continued close engagement with these families. And they said that the Biden White House understands that each of their loved ones isn't just a name or a face, but that they are somebody's son, somebody's mother, somebody's grandmother. Here's what one of those family members said.

JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN, FATHER OF HOSTAGE SAGUI DEKEL-CHEN: It was terrific, terrific meeting and conversation. I think we all came away feeling that as families of hostages, of American Israeli hostages, which are 8 out of a total of 138 hostages, we felt that and we felt before, and we were only reinforced in seeing and believing that we could have no better friend in Washington or in the White House than President Biden himself and his administration.

LEE: And when I have spoken with some of these family members in recent days, they said, understandably, that they are starting to grow increasingly desperate for any news about their loved ones and any movement to get more hostages out.

You'll recall, during the seven-day truce in the Israel Hamas war, each day of that truce, a small number of hostages was successfully getting out. But that truce, of course, ultimately fell apart. The war has resumed, and no hostages have gotten out since then. And so, these family members are all pressing both the Israeli Government as well as the Biden administration to basically get creative to do really anything, take any action to try to get additional hostages out.

But the tough reality right now, according to CNN's reporting, is that there is no movement at the moment. There isn't even a formal negotiation to try to get Hamas back to the negotiating table as it relates to these hostages. Our reporting is that in recent days, Hamas has actually been entirely unresponsive to various overtures that have been made to once again discussed at some kind of deal, some kind of negotiation to get more of these hostages out.

So that certainly is not good news for these families. But they did say after this meeting at the White House and seeing the president in person, that those meetings, that meeting, helped to refuel their hope that the White House is in fact trying to do everything that they can to get more of these hostages out of Gaza.

MJ Lee, CNN, the White House.

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FOSTER: A dire humanitarian crisis deepening in Gaza as Israel's war against Hamas intensifies, and Israeli officials vow to fight until the end. New video shows what overwhelmed hospitals are now facing and we want to warn you that viewers will find these images disturbing. The video was shot at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza on Wednesday. It shows those injured being treated on the floor amid chaotic scenes. Many casualties brought in on Wednesday after a reported strike. Several other hospitals in Gaza also reported receiving a high number of civilian casualties that same day.

And it's not just the expanding war, but also the weather that's bringing more misery to Gaza's displaced population. Heavy rain has flooded makeshift tents and some had to dig trenches to try to keep the water out. Elliott has been following all of this for us. First of all, this cancelled trip to Doha. Does that mean that future hostage negotiations are ruled out for now?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Well, it seems that they are at an impasse. Let's not forget that this truce that Israel had with Hamas, brokered by the Qataris, ended on December the 1st. And ever since then there have been attempts to try to resurrect it, either in the way that it was, which was women and children first, or to try to get, let's say, a newer and improved deal, which might actually allow for some of the men that Hamas abducted during its terrorist attacks of October the 7th, and who are still being held captive in the Gaza Strip.

And just to reiterate, there are 135 hostages the Israelis believe still being held by Hamas, 19 of those are believed to be dead. So, Israel, trying to get them out. And it believes that actually the intensification of the fighting ratcheting up that pressure on Hamas militarily, is what will get Hamas back to the negotiating table. And that's a view that is shared in some parts of the U.S. administration as well.

The problem, as we were hearing from MJ's report, is that Hamas is apparently deaf to these overtures from the Qataris right now. And the other thing to bear in mind is that it was hard enough to get that first truce to come into effect. Now it's even harder because the Israelis and the Americans are speaking with the Qataris. The Qataris are speaking with the political leadership of Hamas in Doha. They then have to speak to the military leadership inside the Gaza Strip. Who are doing their very best to avoid detection and being killed. So, that is complicating matters.

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Then on top of that, you've got this report that we heard from someone familiar with the hostage negotiations telling us -- following a report on Israeli television as well, that David Barnier, the head of the Mossad, the Israeli Foreign Intelligence Service, was due to go to Doha to try to put renewed impetus into these talks to try to get a truce back on track. To get some of those hostages back. And then the government, the Israeli Government cancelling that trip. That has outraged families of loved ones, who we heard praising the Biden administration. We couldn't hope for a better friend in the White House to support us in trying to get the hostages back. They do not feel the same way about this Israeli Government. They think that it could be doing far, far more.

FOSTER: OK, Elliott, thank you.

Up next, CNN exclusively obtains audio of former Trump attorney Kenneth Chesbro speaking with Michigan prosecutors. Want new revelations came out during that sit down, just ahead.

And the U.S. Federal Reserve may have just given investors the American public a major holiday gift. Why an announcement from the Fed chairman sent stock markets soaring?

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FOSTER: We're now hearing a dramatic account about exactly what happened inside a December 2022 Oval Office meeting from a former attorney for Donald Trump. Kenneth Chesbro sat down for an interview last week with Michigan State prosecutors investigating the fake elector's plot. And CNN has now exclusively obtained audio of that interview. The lawyers in that 2020 meeting were told not to get Trump's hopes up about overturning the election. Chesbro said one attorney named Jim Troupis, who has had -- who has led Trump's failed election challenge in Wisconsin, told the president it was over in that state.

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KENNETH CHESEBRO, FORMER ATTORNEY FOR DONALD TRUMP: It's clear that Troupis personally told the president there is zero hope for Wisconsin. As part of this message -- I think crafted to try to get him to concede or just, you know, give up this, this long shot challenge.

So, there was a conscious effort to deflect him from a sense of any possibility that he could see to just, you know, give up this long shot challenge.

So, there was a conscious effort to deflect him from a sense of any possibility that he could pull out the election.

(END VIDEO CLIP) FOSTER: Well, Chesbro went on to explain that when it came to Arizona, he deviated from the plan. He says he told Trump he could still win, explaining how alternate electors he helped assemble in Arizona and six other states gave Trump an opening to continue contesting the election until Congress certify the results on January 6.

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CHESBRO: So, I ended up explaining that Arizona was still hypothetically possible, because the alternate electors have voted. And I explained the whole logic. Because the auto electrics have voted, we had more time to win litigation.

So, it was, I think clear in a way that maybe hadn't been before that we had till January 6th to win.

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FOSTER: Those comments created problems by apparently giving Trump renewed hope he could still stay in office. Chesbro described how the former RNC chairman left the meeting concerned and later warned him and another attorney not to tell anyone about what happened.

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CHESBRO: Right after the meeting, Troupis said that, that Reince Priebus is extremely concerned with what I told the President about Arizona and about the real deadline being January 6 and that he was going to do damage control -- Reince was going to follow up. I mean, I was trying to mitigate whatever optimism I guess I created.

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FOSTER: Chesbro has been cooperating with state investigators in Michigan, Nevada, Wisconsin and Georgia, a state where he was indicted alongside Trump and seventeen others and pleaded guilty in October to participating in the elector's conspiracy.

The battle over abortion is moving back to the Supreme Court 17 months after it ended the constitutional right to the procedure. Since then, abortion has been left up to the states, leading some to impose near total bans on it. But now the High Court will look into an issue related to abortion induced through medication, as opposed to surgery. And as Paula Reid reports, the ruling could have a ripple effect on abortion rights nationwide.

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PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Supreme Court says it will consider whether to restrict access to a widely used abortion drug. Mifepristone, when taken with another drug, is one of the most commonly used methods of abortion in the U.S.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): Has this abortion drug been on the market for more than two decades?

DR. ROBERT CALIFF, HEAD OF FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION: Yes, 23 years, I think.

COLLINS: And has it been used by millions of women during that period?

CALIFF: Many millions.

REID (voice-over): Right now, the drug remains available nationwide. The Supreme Court put on hold lower court rulings that would impose restrictions that abortion opponents would like.

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): I am concerned because more than half of the abortions in this country are medical medicinal and these drugs have been legal in our country for years.

REID (voice-over): Last year, the conservative-leaning court overturned Roe v. Wade, altering the landscape of abortion rights in the U.S. Now, more than half of states outlaw or severely restrict the procedure. By agreeing to take up the case on Mifepristone, the court will once again wade into the abortion debate. A decision, which is expected by July, could put the justices in the middle of the presidential election. Where abortion has become a hot issue.

RON DESANTIS, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm pro-life. I believe in creating a culture of life.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now you have this tremendous power to negotiate something, and something will be negotiated because we have to bring our country together on this issue.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Court got Roe right 50 years ago, and I believe Congress should restore the protections of Roe v. Wade once and for all.

REID (voice-over): Abortion battles are also heating up at the state level. This week, the Texas Supreme Court ruled against a woman who sued for the right to an abortion just hours after she fled the state to get her procedure.

KATE COX, PLAINTIFF WHO SOUGHT EMERGENCY ABORTION: There's no outcome here that I take home, my healthy baby girl, you know, so it's hard, you know.

REID (voice-over): And this week, the Arizona Supreme Court heard arguments from abortion opponents who want to revert back to an 1864 state law banning nearly all abortions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Abortion is health care. And what that means is that this court's decision will have a profound impact on the ability of pregnant Arizonans to access that health care.

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REID (voice-over): State Supreme Courts in Wyoming and New Mexico are also hearing arguments this week on abortion restrictions. And in Michigan, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill to expand access and repealed a state insurance coverage requirement.

GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): Let's protect the freedom to make your own decisions without interference from politicians, and let's get it done.

REID: The courts decision in this case is expected to come down by July, and that is the height of the presidential campaign season. So, no matter which way the court goes on this issue, the presidential frontrunners will likely face renewed pressure and new questions on one of the most contentious issues in American life.

Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

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FOSTER: The new trading day getting underway in the U.S. in just under five hours, all eyes on it as well. Look at the futures currently. They are up after a pretty stellar performance yesterday.

Meanwhile, European markets also up, really following that lead. But it was a slightly different across Asia, a bit more of a mixed bag as you can see. But generally, pretty positive, particularly if you look at. Hong Kong and South Korean exchange.

The U.S. stock market did so on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve announced it would keep interest rates steady for the rest of the year. And the chairman also said the Fed would pivot towards rate cuts next year. This shift comes after almost two years of aggressive rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. CNN's Vanessa Yurkovich has more on what's at stake.

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VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: At 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, when the Federal Reserve announced that it was pausing rates, we saw the Dow pop. You can see it right there on your screen, 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time. That line just shoot up and ultimately that led the Dow to close up 1.4 percent setting a new all time high record. Beating the record that was set two years ago. And it was a great day for Wall Street overall. The S&P and the NASDAQ, also gaining and closing up. And this was because of that Fed announcement that they were holding interest rates steady, but also what markets had been anticipating for a little while now. The Fed projecting that they could cut rates in 2024 potentially three rate cuts.

And this is good news for the American people. It shows that the Fed believes that inflation is cooling enough. And also, when you pause or cut rates, you are essentially allowing for mortgage rates to cool and come down. Also, interest rates to cool on credit cards, student loans and car loans. So, this was a great day for Wall Street. But encouraging news for the American people. Jerome Powell, however, saying that there is still more work to do on the inflation front. Prices are still too high, but we're ultimately heading in the right direction. Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN New York.

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FOSTER: Tesla is recalling almost all of its two million cars in the U.S. because of problems with its autopilot feature. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says Tesla had agreed to a software update that will limit the use of the auto steer feature if a driver cannot take control of the car whilst the feature is engaged. The recall comes after a review of nearly 1,000 crashes while the autopilot was on. A detailed investigation published by "The Washington Post" found at least eight serious accidents, including some fatalities happened whilst the autopilot was in use.

Still to come, the NFL announces who will host the Super Bowl in 2027. It's a city quite familiar with that big game.

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FOSTER: If you live in Southern California, mark your calendar to stay home and avoid the traffic for Super Bowl 61 in 2027. On Wednesday, Los Angeles was announced as the host city for the big game. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says the league is excited to bring the Super Bowl back to the Sofi Stadium again after it hosted the game in 2022. It'll be the ninth time the Los Angeles area has been home to the championship game. The official date hasn't yet been announced, though.

In the NBA, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has done it again. He's just been suspended indefinitely following an altercation during Tuesday's loss to the Phoenix Suns. During the third quarter, Green was being guarded by Phoenix Sun Centre, Jusuf Nurkic. He spun around wildly and his arm struck Nurkic in the face knocking the Sun's player to the ground. Green apologized and says it was an accident but he was thrown out of the game. His third ejection this season and his second suspension. The NBA says it considered Green, quote, repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts.

To college sports now. Where for the second time in two months, student athletes at the University of Utah are being offered a chance to drive home new vehicles. It's part of a deal for managing the athletes' names, images and likenesses for endorsement opportunities. Members of the schools, men's, and women's basketball teams, as well as gymnasts and now part of the NIL Collective joining the football team. They'll be able to lease a 2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee or a 2024 Ram 1500 truck paid for by the collective. And it covers insurance as well.

Here are the stories in the spotlight. Painting of Oprah Winfrey now hanging at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. The former talk show host appeared joyous as she unveiled the painting of herself looking regal in purple and holding an olive branch on Wednesday.

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Artist Shawn Michael Warren, a Chicago native, called Winfrey his friend and muse during his speech at the unveiling.

NASA engineers are trying to solve a software glitch from 15 billion miles away. It's happening on the Voyager 1 spacecraft, which is exploring the outer reaches of our solar system. Voyager's flight data system appears to be stuck on auto repeat, meaning the spacecraft is sending the same information back to Earth over and over. The Voyager can still receive commands from Mission Control. NASA is still trying to figure out what caused the problem before deciding what to do next.

Doritos want to help you be the head of your holiday parties with this season. With a party limited-edition, Nacho Cheese Flavored Spirit which is supposed to taste just like the classic chip and already it's apparently a hit selling out in less than a day online. Doritos collaborated with Empirical, a Danish company known for its creative custom spirits. For those lucky enough to snag a bottle, they recommend mixing it into a Bloody Mary or Margarita, but it can still also be enjoyed neat over ice.

And before we go. Take a look at this. A grandfather trying to tuck his granddaughter into her nap. Ending up tucking himself in and the video obviously has gone viral. Ramon Aranda was putting his granddaughter into her crib when he fell into the crib himself. He lost his phone in the process. The girl's mum tried to help find the phone by looking at the surveillance video. She later posted it on TikTok, and it's now had more than 25 million views. Grandfather and granddaughter safe, you'll be reassured to learn.

Thanks for joining me on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London. "EARLY START" is next.

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