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CNN International: Trump Campaign Pushing for Big Win in Iowa Caucuses; Judge Rules Names of Alleged Associates, Victims of Jeffrey Epstein Be Made Public; Rescuers Search for Survivors as Death Toll Climbs to 131; Lava Flow Eases, Gas Pollution Could Reach Capital; Health Experts Warn of Fastest-Growing Subvariant; Turkish Football Turmoil. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired December 20, 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 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.

Israel and Hamas are not near a final deal at the moment on the release of hostages in Gaza, according to an Israeli official, but negotiations are ongoing.

The Colorado Supreme Court has removed Donald Trump from the state's 2024 ballot, ruling that he's ineligible for office based on the 14th Amendment's insurrectionist ban. Trump's team has vowed to swiftly appeal that decision.

The Trump campaign says the Colorado judges are biased against the former president and that the ruling is part of a larger effort to sway the 2024 election for Joe Biden. On the campaign trail in Iowa shortly after that ruling, Trump opted not to address the court's decision, choosing instead to double down on his angry anti- immigration rhetoric and the effects he claims undocumented migrants are having on the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's crazy what's going on. They're ruining our country. And it's true. They're destroying the blood of our country. That's what they're doing. They're destroying our country. They don't like it when I said that.

And I never read Mein Kampf. They said, oh, Hitler said that in a much different way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: The Trump campaign has a lot riding on Iowa, as Jeff Zeleny explains with their battle plan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: Sometimes when you're leading by a lot, everyone says, oh, why should I go and vote? The margin of victory is so important.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump is back in Iowa with that margin of victory squarely on his mind. But the outcome of the Iowa caucuses, now less than four weeks away, may depend less on Trump than the work being done on this makeshift assembly line inside his campaign headquarters.

BRAD BOUSTEAD, VOLUNTEER: One box at a time. This is how Trump's team is trying to build a landslide, sending gold-stitched hats and carefully curated care packages to nearly 2,000 of their precinct captains. Look right here. Here's a personalized letter from the president.

ZELENY (voice-over): Brad Boustead is a volunteer and one of those precinct captains who speak on Trump's behalf on caucus night and agree to bring in 10 new supporters. In 2016, he supported Ted Cruz, who beat Trump here with the help of a stronger organization.

Now, Boustead marvels at Trump's operation.

BOUSTEAD: Somebody's got to screw the lug nuts on the Cadillacs, so the little jobs are the most important jobs.

ZELENY (voice-over): While Trump's extreme rhetoric often sounds the same in this campaign.

TRUMP: When I'm reelected, we will begin -- and we have no choice -- the largest deportation operation in American history.

ZELENY (voice-over): His organization is dramatically different this time, driven by a sophisticated data driven effort to find Trump supporters who have never attended a caucus before.

In the last three months, Trump has visited Iowa more than a dozen times, hitting all corners of the state in a highly targeted strategy for a front runner not resting on a commanding lead. From the moment you walk into a Trump event, the organization is apparent. Back at the campaign office, these commit to caucus cards are entered into a database.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got you in there.

ZELENY (voice-over): Supporters are called within three days, which advisers say often didn't happen in 2016.

BRENNA BIRD, IOWA ATTORNEY GENERAL: The polls don't matter. The one that really matters is caucus night, isn't it?

ZELENY (voice-over): Brenna Bird, Iowa's attorney general and one of Trump's top supporters, warns against complacency.

BIRD: I think his only danger is that people think that he might not need their vote. And that's not true. We need everybody to go out and vote on caucus night.

ZELENY (voice-over): An army of Trump surrogates is also descending on Iowa, holding small organizing events, hammering home the same message.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My only worry is low turnout.

ZELENY (voice-over): With Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley in a fight for second place. Trump is working to close down the 2024 primary on its opening night.

JIMMY CENTERS, IOWA REPUBLICAN POLITICAL CONSULTANT: He wants to run up the score. So, caucus night looks more like a coronation than a caucus.

ZELENY (voice-over): Jimmy Centers, a veteran of four Republican caucus campaigns in Iowa, said the Trump organization may overwhelm its rivals.

CENTERS: They are quietly building a very tenacious and robust organization all across the state. I think that's going to be worth several points on caucus night.

ZELENY: So, some of the most important work happens when the former president's not here.

CENTERS: That's precisely it. And it's been happening like that for eight years.

ZELENY: The Trump campaign looking for that decisive victory, hoping the Iowa caucuses bring an end to the campaign rather than the beginning of it. The reality is the Trump ground game is considerably different than it was eight years ago. There, in fact, is a detailed organization, a sophisticated operation.

The question is, do all these visits to Iowa open the door to more supporters or have they turned off some Republicans eager to turn the page?

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Waterloo, Iowa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[04:35:00]

FOSTER: The names of more than 150 of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged associates and victims will be made public next year after a ruling by a U.S. federal judge. Epstein was indicted in 2019, accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls. He died by suicide whilst awaiting trial. CNN's Jean Cazares has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This order is born out of the civil suit filed by Virginia Giuffre that, according to legal documents, was settled in 2017. But names have continued to remain redacted until this point.

So what names are we now going to learn? Well, according to the order, and let's show everybody, first of all, alleged victims of Jeffrey Epstein. Now, the court says the reason they are going to be public now is because they already have been public.

People have done interviews. There have been testimony by some of these alleged victims. Some of documents have had these names in them.

Also alleged associates of Epstein's that once again have gone public already, testified in the trial. Detectives, assistant state attorneys, their names have been redacted in some documents. A public figure who, according to the court order, is one of many names in Epstein's address book, that will become public.

Journalists whose names have been redacted will become public. An individual who allegedly recruited young women to give Epstein massages will be released. An individual whose role has been widely reported in the media, the court order says, that they have been prosecuted overseas for sex trafficking. That name will be released.

But the overall theme is that these people have already been named in documents or named in the trial. So, there's an availing of to the public already.

Who will not become public? Victims of Jeffrey Epstein's who were minors, who have remained private, who have not come forward at all. They will maintain their privacy right.

According to the order, there is a number of days that all of the John and Jane Doe's will be allowed to appeal this if they want. Following that, if no one appeals it, then everything will get in order and in an early 2024, these names will be public along with the documents that previously had all those names redacted.

Jean Casares, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Google could be cutting you a check, though it might be a pretty small one. As part of an antitrust settlement, Google has agreed to pay $630 million to roughly 102 million U.S. consumers. Google has to dish out another $70 million to states as well. The settlement resolves long-running allegations that Google harmed competition for its App Store terms and fees.

Most of those impacted won't need to file a claim to receive payment. Those eligible for compensation will get $2 or perhaps more. It depends on how much they spent at the Google Play Store between August 16, 2016, and September 30 of this year.

Rescue workers in China scrambling in sub-zero temperatures to reach survivors after one of the deadliest earthquakes to hit the country in nearly a decade. State media says at least 131 people have been killed and hundreds of others injured. Tens of thousands of people had to be evacuated and others spent the night in temporary shelters. For more, let's get to Steven Jiang, who has the very latest for us from Beijing -- Steven.

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, Max, you know, after rescuers dug through the debris for a second night, authorities are now saying their search and rescue effort is basically over. Although there might still be some small-scale operations going on, according to state media reports, focused on some remote villages not only hit by the initial quake but also subsequent mudslides because officially there are still more than a dozen people missing.

But the fact the official death toll as well as casualty figures have been revised up only slightly from Tuesday to Wednesday is perhaps a reflection of the remoteness of this quake zone, sparsely populated, mostly rural and often mountainous, even though the epicenter was only some 60 miles or so from the provincial capital city of Gansu.

The authorities say now their focus is shifting to post-disaster relief, including treating the injured. There are nearly 1,000 people injured in this quake, but also resettling the tens of thousands of people forced to evacuate from their homes and farms.

Now, this, of course, is no easy task in the best of condition, but right now that harsh winter condition, the zero freezing temperature you mentioned, really hampering the effort as well. And it may also take some convincing for some of them to leave because many of them are very poor farmers. And they told state media they're not only worried about their lives and safety, but also their livelihood, including the fate of their crops and livestock.

[04:40:00]

But overall, the authorities say they have restored electricity, communication signals, as well as road access to most parts of this zone. This quake zone hit by that very powerful tremor late Monday night -- Max.

FOSTER: Steven in Beijing, thank you.

Authorities say there's little threat that the volcano in southern Iceland will impact international air travel. Lava flows are down significantly since Monday's eruption, but some areas, including the capital, may experience gas pollution. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is on the scene.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): The Arctic night illuminated as the earth breaks apart from the fissure bursts its molten core.

Weeks of earthquakes led to this display of our planet's fire and force. It's never possible to say exactly when or if a volcano like this one near the town of Grindavik will erupt. Officials took no chances, though, evacuating the population after weeks of tremors.

Thousands of shakes were felt in November, and all knew what they could bring. Thankfully, none were in Grindavik town when the volcano, around two miles away, finally did erupt. This crack in the surface of our world, close to four kilometers or more than two miles long, spewing lava.

PLEITGEN: This is as close as the authorities are going to let us to the volcanic eruption in the southwest of Iceland. It's a so-called fissure eruption. That means an eruption along a crack that can be several miles long rather than on a volcanic cone.

Now, one of the good things about these eruptions is that actually usually they don't spew ash into the atmosphere very high, which can, and has in the past, disrupt air travel internationally. Of course, in a place like Iceland, that can have massive effects.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Previous eruptions in Iceland have lasted weeks or even months.

In the town of Grindavik, the earthquake damage is clear. The lava may follow.

HALLGRIMUR INDRIOASON, JOURNALIST: If this activity goes on, then the big question is, will Grindavik be inhabitable in the long run?

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Whether people can ever move back here depends on a new set of geological circumstances being created right now.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, near Grindavik, Iceland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Still to come, the busy holiday travel rush in the U.S. almost here. We'll have details on what you can expect at the airports.

Plus, U.S. health officials warn of the fastest-growing COVID-19 subvariant. The one out there right now. Details straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: The busy holiday travel rush about to kick into high gear across the U.S. One airline industry group expects about 2.8 million passengers will fly per day between Thursday and New Year's Day. That would be a 16 percent increase over last year. On Tuesday, the U.S. Transportation Secretary warned bad weather could cause some delays. The FAA has opened more than 150 new East Coast routes to try to keep air traffic moving smoothly.

The World Health Organization and U.S. health officials are warning that a variant, a subvariant, of COVID-19 is spreading quickly. CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell has those details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the strain known as JN1, now being characterized as a variant of interest by the World Health Organization, is the fastest growing here in the United States.

And that's because it has a growth advantage over other variants that are spreading here and around the world. If you look just back about a month ago in November, it accounted for about 4 percent of new cases in the United States, according to CDC's estimates. And now that's up to more than 20 percent nationally.

It's already predominant in the northeastern part of the United States and is expected to become the dominant variant here in the U.S. and worldwide over the coming weeks.

What we know about JN1 is that it's descended from another subvariant of Omicron known as BA2.86. Now, this variant we were paying a lot of attention to over the summer because it has a number of mutations in its spike protein that experts worried would make it better at evading our existing immunity from COVID, either from vaccination or from prior infection. It didn't end up taking off with the speed that a lot of people feared it would.

But JN1 is a descendant of that variant, and it does seem to have a better ability to spread, at least than its predecessor. The good news, though, is that early research suggests that the currently updated vaccines for COVID should protect well against JN1, at least in terms of severe disease. And so, public health officials, especially here in the United States, are encouraging folks to get their updated COVID vaccines if they haven't already.

Currently, only about 18 percent of U.S. adults have done so because COVID hospitalizations are rising. In many parts of the country, they're at the medium or even high levels. They have been increasing, along with hospitalizations from flu and RSV as well.

And so, as we're heading into this winter respiratory season, a lot of folks are traveling. The encouragement is, of course, to get protected any way possible.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Turkish football players return to the pitch, but with more anger directed at officials. Ahead, how last week's attack on a referee could change the game forever.

[04:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Football in Turkey resumed on Tuesday after last week's shocking attack on a referee, but it didn't last long. The Super League match between Istanbulspore and Trabzonspor was stopped after Istanbul's chairman told his players to leave the pitch when the team was denied a penalty. Some players seemed reluctant to do so. One can be seen kneeling and pleading with the chairman to reconsider, but to no avail. Trabzonspor was leading 2-1 when the match was suspended. The Turkish Football Federation will have to decide if and when the match will resume.

The federation has already imposed a permanent ban on Faruk Koca after the club president punched a referee in the face last week. Scott McLean attended one match in Istanbul on Tuesday and has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In this match, Basaksehir won 3-1 against Sivasspor, but the focus for many in football wasn't on this highly entertaining match, but on the officials. This was the first game back since professional football was suspended in Turkey last week after a club president punched a referee in the face. That incident has prompted a lot of soul searching in this country.

The aggressor was given a lifetime ban from football. He is also facing criminal charges and possible jail time.

Turkish football has for years been trying to crack down on bad fan behavior, but now plenty say that crackdown needs to also extend to players, coaches and even team presidents.

In this match, ironically, the home team manager was not on the touchline. He was suspended after receiving four yellow cards in prior matches, in part for bad behavior toward the referee. Referees were not an insignificant part of this match either.

There were two penalties given and a goal called offside was later ruled onside by VAR. After the match, the losing manager had plenty of criticism for the referees. I asked him whether Turkish football culture has a problem when it comes to respect for officials.

SERVET CETIN, SIVASSPOR COACH: We try to approach all referees with respect and love. Sometimes we get angry, but this comes and goes. Today, for example, I hope the referees were correct in their decisions, because otherwise they'll get a reaction from Sivasspor fans.

[04:55:00]

This accumulates, this turns into anger.

MCLEAN: I also spoke with the Polish Basaksehir player who scored two goals in this match. He said, the officiating in this one could have been better. I also asked whether he thinks major changes are needed to prevent violence from happening again.

KRZYSZTOF PIATEK, FOOTBALLER: I don't think so. I think we are like humans. Football is only emotion. We need to keep calm sometimes and I think this cannot happen again.

MCLEAN: The Turkish Football Federation has promised tougher penalties for those who abuse referees. One former Turkish professional referee told me that this is a critical moment for football in this country and that the decisions made by the Football Federation, expected next month, will ultimately determine whether any changes will actually be lasting.

Scott McLean, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: And the stories of the spotlight this hour. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld met with hostages who had been released by Hamas and that's amid the ongoing war, of course, in Gaza. In a social media post, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, thanked Seinfeld and his family for visiting the organization's headquarters in Tel Aviv on Monday.

The organization shared that Seinfeld spoke with families about his commitment to raising awareness about the hostages in the ongoing conflict.

Blue Origin, back in business, launching rockets into space. It successfully launched an uncrewed science mission on Tuesday from its facilities in West Texas. It's the first lift-off after the Jeff Bezos-founded company spent more than a year recuperating from a failed test flight. Although no one was on board on Tuesday, Blue Origin hopes to restart tourist trips to the edge of space soon, according to the company officials.

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