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CNN International: U.S. Defense Secretary Visits Israel for High-Stakes Talks; Iran-Backed Houthi Rebels Attack Two More Commercial Ships; Texas Governor Signs Controversial Border Bill; Volcan Erupting on Reykjanes Peninsula in Island; Crucial Aid for Ukraine Faces Delays. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired December 19, 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]
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the U.S. and around the world. I'm Max Foster in London. Bianca's off today, but just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin held high stakes talks with top officials amid concerns over Israel's military offensive in Gaza.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Israelis and Palestinians both deserve a horizon of hope.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Governor Greg Abbott signed into law what the ACLU dubs one of the most radical anti-immigrant bills ever passed by any state.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senate Bill 4 is now law in the state of Texas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where the counteroffensive was supposed to have kicked Russia to the sea this summer, now it is mud, death, deadlock, and the remnants of American help vanishing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.
FOSTER: It is Tuesday, December the 19th, 9 a.m. here in London, 11 a.m. in Tel Aviv, where on Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin held high stakes talks with top Israeli officials amid concerns over Israel's military offensive in Gaza. Austin sat down with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel's Defense Minister to discuss current operations as the U.S. puts pressure on Israel to transition to a more targeted campaign in Gaza to reduce civilian casualties. The U.S. Defense Chief says he discussed pathways towards a future for Gaza after Hamas and the protection of civilians in Gaza during his meetings. The Pentagon Chief is also taking up Houthi rebels on Red Sea shipping, which he says must stop, and he's urging other countries to publicly condemn the Houthi aggression. Right now, Lloyd Austin is attending a Red Sea security summit in Bahrain, which is one of the countries taking part in a new U.S.-led initiative to keep this key waterway safe. Houthi forces, who have sided with Hamas, took responsibility for attacks Monday on two commercial vessels that they claim are linked to Israel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: All countries have the right to move freely and lawfully in international waters. But that foundational global right is under new threat today from the totally unacceptable attacks on merchant vessels by the Houthis in Yemen. That's endangering our common prosperity and the lives of innocent mariners.
And these reckless Houthi attacks are a serious international problem and they demand a firm international response.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: The growing Houthi threat has prompted major companies to pause their operations in the Red Sea, which has been driving up energy prices.
CNN's Clare Sebastian following developments for us. This is the point at which this does become an international issue. A global issue if you take in the oil prices. Just explain, if you could, just the relationship between what's happening in the sea and what's happening in Gaza.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, so this is where it gets complex, right? Because, in a sense, you know, the Houthis are not a neighbor of Israel, they're not directly impacted, but they are an Iran-backed proxy in the region.
And, you know, a spokesperson on Twitter has said that they're doing this in protest over what's happening in Gaza, over the sort of humanitarian situation that's unfolding for Palestinians there. I think that makes it very uncertain. It's not clear how far they'll go. They're known to be pretty well equipped and well armed.
But you're right, this is now an international problem and it's beyond what the U.S. has already been doing in terms of the sort of deterrent efforts to prevent a wider war. We know that almost instantly, as soon as the war broke out, the U.S. put two carrier strike groups in the eastern Mediterranean.
Now this is about our shared prosperity, is how Lloyd Austin put it. This is an economic problem because the Red Sea leads to the Suez Canal. That's, you know, around a tenth of global oil demand transits through there.
Lloyd Austin said in the past month that the Houthis have attacked or seized merchant vessels 12 times. They're still holding the 25-member crew of one vessel that was seized in mid-November. So, he's there in Bahrain, he's trying to garner international support.
They just launched this new Operation Prosperity Guardian, it's called, which brings together, he said, more than a dozen countries to conduct joint patrols in the Red Sea. That includes a number of NATO countries, the U.K., France, Canada. That is a measure of just how seriously people are taking this.
[04:05:00]
Because, of course, if you cannot transit commercial vessels through the Red Sea, that impacts, you know, commerce globally. It could feed into inflation, which is, of course, what the U.S. has spent and the rest of the world has spent in the last two years trying to bring down.
Having said that, though, if we can look at oil prices now, they have stabilized a little bit this morning, even coming down slightly likely due to those U.S. efforts to bring together this multinational taskforce.
FOSTER: It's a huge challenge, isn't it, for the U.S. right now across the politics and the economics?
SEBASTIAN: Yes, I mean, look, Lloyd Austin, the latest U.S. official to go to the region and to tread this increasingly fine line, right? He continues to express unwavering support towards Israel, to express horror over the October 7th attacks. But then they are also stepping up efforts to try to get Israel to, one, do more to protect civilians, and two, to try to transition to the next phase of the conflict, which would be more sort of hyper-localized. They've called it more targeted, less presumably destructive towards civilians, while at the same time trying to prevent a wider war.
And if you do send joint international patrols to the Red Sea, that is also delicate. You know, there is a risk that you could open up another front. So, again, another fine line they have to tread there.
FOSTER: Clare Sebastian, thank you so much.
In the U.S., nearly two dozen lawmakers have written a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, expressing what they called grave concern over the signing of Texas' border bill. The state's Republican governor signed a bill into law on Monday which makes illegal border crossings a state crime.
The measure is creating fear throughout the Latino community in the state. In the letter, Joaquin Castro, a Democrat from Texas, called on the Attorney General to stop the controversial bill from going into effect, writing: We urge you to assert your authority over federal immigration and foreign policy and pursue legal action, as appropriate.
CNN's Rosa-Flores has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They are poisoning the blood of our country.
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former President Donald Trump's hardline immigration stance echoed in Texas, where Governor Greg Abbott signed into law what the ACLU dubbed as one of the most radical anti-immigrant bills ever passed by any state.
GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R), TEXAS: Senate Bill 4 is now law in the state of Texas.
FLORES (voice-over): SB-4 creates a new state crime for illegal entry into Texas, gives local police the power to arrest and judges the power to remove violators.
ABBOTT: But the problem is far more than just numbers.
FLORES (voice-over): After multiple attempts, the controversial measure passed a Republican-led legislature.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's an un-American.
FLORES (voice-over): But not without a fight by the Democratic minority that erupted into this on the House floor --
ARMANDO WALLE (D), TEXAS STATE HOUSE: Y'all don't understand the shit you all do hurts our community.
FLORES (voice-over): -- after Republicans cut debate short.
WALLE: And y'all don't understand that. You don't live in our (EXPLETIVE DELETED) skin.
FLORES (voice-over): That is Texas State Representative Armando Walle from Houston -- an American with Mexican roots. He says he fears SB-4 will lead to the racial profiling of Latinos across Texas.
WALLE: Why do we and those who look like me, why do we have to carry our passports around?
FLORES (voice-over): The Republican authors of the bill say there is no need to safeguard the measure against racial profiling. Texas has now determined the cost of SB-4, some county governments fear its unfunded mandate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't agree with the cost that being shifted over to our local taxpayers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't agree.
FLORES (voice-over): Texas Republican Senator Brian Birdwell voted against a measure saying it's unconstitutional.
BRIAN BIRDWELL, (R) TEXAS STATE SENATE: You are setting a terrible precedent for the future by invalidating our obedience and faithfulness to our Constitution.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe SB-4 is completely constitutional.
FLORES (voice-over): For Americans outside of Texas --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Representative Walle --
FLORES (voice-over): Walle warns SB-4 could be used to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Arizona's 2012 so-called "show your papers" law, which upheld that immigration is a federal function.
WALLE: This is their road map now, now they have a much favorable Supreme Court.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is not in conflict with the precedent set in Arizona versus. U.S.
FLORES (voice-over): As for Walle, who lost the fight against the law, but it was one of the strongest voices against it.
WALLE: It fills me with pride because I've had elderly people today tell me that they were proud that somebody stood up for them, stood out for somebody who didn't have a voice.
FLORES: I asked Governor Abbott point blank if he's trying to overturn Arizona versus the United States. That's the 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld that immigration is a federal function. Now, Governor Abbott first said that he believes that this law stands alone, that it is constitutional.
And then he said, quote: We also welcome a Supreme Court decision that would overturn the precedent set in the Arizona case.
Rosa Flores, CNN, Brownsville, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[04:10:00]
FOSTER: The judge in Donald Trump's civil fraud trial has denied the former U.S. president's latest attempt to have the case thrown out and did so in scathing fashion.
He slammed Trump's accounting experts, saying it would be a glaring flaw to assume their testimony was true and accurate. And he rejected key points of the Trump team's defense, saying the disclaimers on financial statements do not protect him from liability. Oral arguments are scheduled for next month.
The attorney general's office is seeking more than $250 million for Trump and his adult sons to be banned from doing business in New York.
The U.S. Appeals Court has rejected Mark Meadows' bid to have his election subversion case moved from Georgia to federal court. The former Trump White House chief of staff is accused of violating Georgia's racketeering law as part of a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results.
Meadows has pleaded not guilty. The Appeals Court rejected his argument that the case should be moved since it was carrying out his official duties in the Trump White House.
Two U.S. election workers from Georgia are suing Rudy Giuliani again. They say the former New York mayor and one-time attorney to Donald Trump is still spreading lies that they engaged in election fraud in 2020. Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss just won a nearly $200, I'm sorry, $150 million verdict against Giuliani for defamation on Friday. Now, in a new lawsuit, they're asking for a permanent injunction to stop him from making false claims, which he's continued to do. An adviser to Giuliani declined to comment on the issue.
A spectacular volcano erupting in southwest Iceland after weeks of seismic activity, a crack of about 3.5 kilometers has opened up along the Earth's surface, releasing fountains of lava into the air. 4,000 nearby residents were evacuated last month.
So far, there are no reports of any injuries, and the government says the eruption doesn't pose a threat to life. Look at those images there.
CNN's Melissa Bell following developments live for us from Paris. Obviously, they've had a huge amount of warning this is going to happen, so they're really just trying to see how it develops I assume.
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. You'd seen over the course of the last few weeks, Max, many hundreds of small earthquakes, and fears that this volcanic eruption would follow. And so, it did.
That small village fishing town of Grindavik had been evacuated overnight already since last month. Now it is the entire town that's been evacuated, some 4,000 people waiting to see when they'll be allowed home.
The good news is, though, although we've been hearing that that crack that you mentioned, which was growing, in fact, from that 3.5 kilometers to nearly 4 kilometers overnight, was continuing to expand. It does seem now that the lava flows are changing direction towards the north and east and therefore away from the town of Grindavik. That had been one of the big fears, that it might see some substantial damage, although those fears now seem to be allayed.
It is instead the fear of toxic gases and the impact they might have on residents nearby or on the nearby region that are now the real issue, with authorities warning people not to try and get anywhere near this very impressive volcanic activity. You can see on the images just how impressive it is.
It was about 10 p.m. last night that the first explosions happened, with that lava beginning to flow out, really many hundreds of cubic meters of it flowing out overnight. Now, we've seen over the course of the last few hours people trying to make their way to it. Of course, people are always attracted to try and get a closer look at these things. But it is those toxic fumes that authorities are warning about.
For now, Max, it doesn't appear that we're going to see anything like the sort of chaos that we saw back in 2010. You'll remember, for those of us who are old enough to, the 100,000 flights that have been cancelled worldwide, the two million travelers who'd been impacted by this, we're not expected to see anything like that.
In fact, for the time being, despite those very impressive images and the proximity of Reykjavik, there has been no fallout to principal infrastructure, and notably to flights either in Iceland or elsewhere, Max. But a close eye being kept on the lava flows and, again, those toxic fumes and where they head next -- Max.
FOSTER: Yes, it really does look like another world. Melissa Bell in Paris, thank you so much.
Millions of Americans are under winter weather alerts from the Great Lakes to the Appalachian Mountains. Forecasters say the earliest any of the alerts could be lifted is Tuesday morning.
Some areas could see up to a foot of snow with blustery winds. Flooding has left Jefferson, New Jersey, under a state of emergency after Sunday's intense storm along the East Coast. Frigid air has settled in. Hundreds of thousands are still without power there.
Crucial aid for Ukraine is facing pushback in the U.S. and Europe as Russia's war grinds on. We'll have a live report from Kyiv next.
[04:15:00]
FOSTER: The White House is warning that aid for Ukraine will run out at the end of this month unless Congress approves more funding.
Senators have been negotiating for weeks on an aid package that also includes U.S. immigration reform. But reaching a deal before the new year seems unlikely since many Republicans want more time to discuss the package.
The Defence Department wrote a letter to lawmakers saying additional aid for Ukraine would be in America's best interest and that the assistance is vital for Ukraine to continue its fight for freedom.
Joining us from Kyiv is Nick Paton Walsh, CNN's chief international security correspondent. Nick, as the U.S., you know, Congress delays this approval, you spent time with fighters on the frontline and what do they make of it all?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's a strange mix of emotions here.
[04:20:00]
Already before this aid has run out, we are seeing on the frontline Ukraine seeing a resurgent Russia struggling to get equipment to the correct places, struggling it seems also at times with personnel because of the extent of casualties there indeed receiving and struggling to hold land that was hard fought for during the summer counteroffensive, even that not considered as successful as many had hoped.
But at the same time too, there is likely to be in the weeks and months ahead a cash crunch. It doesn't mean the lights suddenly go out here, there seems to be -- according to the last Pentagon numbers -- about a billion still in the accounts but there's only one more announcement of aid that's going to come according to the White House.
So already the fear here is the money will soon be gone. It will take probably a little while for it to actually physically run out. But the fact that it is beginning to ebb, huge impact on morale, huge impact on the ability of Ukraine to apply resources to the frontlines, ammunition being rationed in some areas and that is having an acute impact on the ability for Ukraine to defend its positions.
Here's what we saw down in the area where the southern counteroffensive was supposed in the summer to have made the most progress.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALSH (voice-over): This was where the billions were meant to spell a breakthrough but where the counteroffensive was supposed to have kicked Russia to the sea this summer, now it is mud, death, deadlock, and the remnants of American help vanishing.
WALSH: It's a notably different mood here, dark, frankly. In the summer they were buoyed, feeling like they had the world at their back moving forwards. Now it's slow, dangerous and a real sense of despair to be honest.
WALSH (voice-over): 40 Russian drones swarmed one Ukrainian trench here in a day. Down here in this tiny basement the rule is do not get seen. The other side are not so lucky.
Two Russians spotted moving a load. They guide in a mortar strike. There are just so many Russians now.
Usually more meat means more mince, the commander says, but sometimes their machine struggles to handle it and sometimes they have success.
Batteries die fast in the cold and Russian jamming seems to damage them too. This is Orikhiv, whose streets reek of crushed lives and how much horror Moscow is willing to bring to be seen to win.
WALSH: It's been a matter of months since we were here in the summer. How much more damage has been done.
WALSH (voice-over): If you've stopped thinking about Ukraine, be sure Putin hasn't. At command they watch a wasteland, tree lines now bare.
The dead, the injured. It's unclear if Russia treats them differently. Another Ukrainian drone aims for a foxhole.
What they've struggled with are the waves of Russian assaults. Dozens of Russian prisoners, well trained and equipped, backed up by armor, who they say are given a mix of drugs. They show us this graphic video of a wounded Russian, his legs severed, seemingly high enough to smile through his fatal injuries.
Still, they claim they have held hard-won ground, but at a huge cost.
As we say in the army, he says, the counteroffensive was smooth on paper, but we forgot about the ditches. Colossal changes are taking place. They started making their own attack drones and outnumber ours, but they use them badly, like a kid's toy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translated text): Excuse me. What's happening?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translated text): Heavy injuries!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translated text): From what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translated text): Dexter, Dexter, I'm Bremya, do you copy?
WALSH (voice-over): They say a drone has hit a trench and blown up a gas heater.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translated text): Begin the evacuation, begin the evacuation! Evacuate with a small vehicle. Did you move already?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translated text): We didn't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translated text): Why not? Why not?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translated text): No transport, no transport.
Evacuation, start evacuation.
WALSH (voice-over): The silence. The wait for news, agony.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translated text): Copy, is he dead?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translated text): Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translated text): It's over, evacuate him, no rush. We can't help him already.
Evacuate in a small car. Have you left yet? Not yet, not yet. Why not? Why not? The silence, the wait for news, agony.
WALSH: Does it feel like the casualties are getting worse?
WALSH (voice-over): Every casualty makes a difference, he says. It affects everyone's morale. It's very painful for me.
Sergei, aged 48, was one of four Ukrainians to die in that area that day and about 50 that week. They haven't had to really talk about losing in this war, but this is what it looks like.
[04:25:00]
It's not just drones. This Russian video seems to show a new threat, gas, caustic, flammable. The Ukrainians have had nine incidents on this front, killing one. Here are two survivors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): At first, I saw smoke. We ran out from the trench and the gas suddenly caught fire. The trench was in flames. This gas burns, blinds you, you can't breathe, shoots down your throat immediately. We didn't even have a second.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): You inhale it twice. Then you fail to breathe.
WALSH (voice-over): Medical reports confirm their poisoning and a Ukrainian official told CNN a form of CS gas was being used.
WALSH: And there was injuries inside your mouth?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): On my cheeks, everywhere, inside the mouth. My face is swollen and covered in red marks.
WALSH (voice-over): It is an ugly, savage world, even on a TV screen, where there seems little Moscow won't do, but too much the West won't.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALSH (on camera): Now we asked the Ministry of Defense for a comment in Moscow. They haven't responded to us. There have been suggestions from Western analysts that the continued reports we've seen from Ukrainians of the use of gases like that may just be Moscow testing what the response internationally will be for it violating the chemical weapons convention. It would be in no doubt a toll here. We are seeing a sea change on the ground just as American aid and European aid runs out, stalls, whatever happens. The message is clear. Western unity isn't what it was. And Moscow will make use of that in the weeks and months ahead. It is extremely grim here -- Max.
FOSTER: OK, Nick, in Kyiv, thank you so much.
Still ahead, Donald Trump quoting Vladimir Putin and Adolf Hitler on the campaign trail. We'll see whether it's helping or hurting his chances for reelection.
Plus, a deadly earthquake hits northwest China where they're also dealing with below freezing temperatures. We'll go live to Beijing for the very latest on that.
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