Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

CNN International: Six Americans Wrongfully Detained in Venezuela Return Home; U.N. Security Council Vote on Gaza Delayed for Third Time; Trump Appeal of Colorado Ballot ban Expected Soon; Ohio Woman Charged with Felony After Miscarriage; Judge: Georgia Election Workers Can Go After Giulian's Assets. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired December 21, 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 is off today, but just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, free at last.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no way to understand what it's like to be in prison unjustly and not have any way out. They make your life a living hell.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Most here have escaped the bombs only to be trapped in this misery. Disease and starvation, the UN's warned, may soon kill more than those bombs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the Supreme Court is going to take this case and I think the Supreme Court is going to reverse the Colorado Supreme Court.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He feeds on grievance just like a fire feeds on oxygen and this is going to end up as a grievance that helps him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.

FOSTER: It is Thursday, December the 21st, 9 a.m. here in London and 3 a.m. in San Antonio, Texas, where six Americans wrongfully detained in Venezuela are enjoying their first night of freedom in quite some time. Lots of handshakes and hugs as they stepped off the plane and back onto U.S. soil. They were released on Wednesday after the White House agreed to a controversial prisoner swap with the Venezuelan government. Two of the former detainees expressed their gratitude and relief.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SAVOI WRIGHT, RELEASED FROM VENEZUELA: Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, free at last. I'm very emotional, exciting, grateful.

I didn't know if I would ever make it out. And it's really scary to be in a place where you're used to having freedoms and you're locked into a cell, sometimes with four other people, a very tiny cell, and to realize, am I ever going to get out of this? Am I ever going to make it home? How did I get to this point?

EYVIN HERNANDEZ, RELEASED FROM VENEZUELA: I'm incredibly grateful to my family, to my friends, to President Biden for getting me home, for getting all of us home. And honestly, all you think about when you're in prison is how you didn't appreciate being free while you were free. There's no way to understand what it's like to be in prison unjustly and not have any way out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, the U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs says no other Americans are currently being held in Venezuelan prisons. The group of 10 people released includes four others not pictured here, as well as the notorious fugitive known as Fat Leonard, who is scheduled to appear in U.S. federal court in the day ahead. More on him in just a moment.

But to get the Americans out, the Biden administration handed over the Venezuelan president's money man. He's accused of cooking the books to steal hundreds of millions of dollars for the Maduro regime.

CNN's Ed Lavandera explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT(voice-over): Ten Americans who've spent months and years imprisoned in Venezuela are now back in the United States. Six men who were officially listed as wrongfully detained by the U.S. government touched down in San Antonio, Texas, Wednesday night.

Among them, Joseph Cristella, Eyvin Hernandez, Jerrel Kenemore, and Savoi Wright.

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We have no higher priority than doing everything we possibly can to bring our fellow citizens out of harm's way.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Also included in the deal is Leonard Francis, the infamously corrupt military contractor known as Fat Leonard. He was the mastermind of the largest bribery scandal in U.S. naval history. He fled to Venezuela after his conviction in 2015.

The U.S. had eased some economic sanctions against Venezuela as the country took steps to open its elections and agreed to return Alex Saab, an ally of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Saab was facing prison time in the U.S. on corruption and money laundering charges. The Venezuelan government is also releasing 20 political prisoners,

some seen leaving prison by a CNN team in Venezuela. The Biden administration says this deal is a sign of improving relations between the U.S. and Venezuela and part of its effort to push the socialist dictatorship toward more democratic reforms.

But the deal comes as the Maduro regime is threatening to take over part of a neighboring country. Guyana sits just east of Venezuela, and Maduro wants control of the small country's oil reserves.

[04:05:02]

And a senior administration official says Maduro still faces criminal charges in the U.S., including drug trafficking and corruption. President Biden is vowing to keep the pressure up on the Venezuelan president.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Venezuela thus far is keeping their commitment toward a democratic election, but we're going to hold them accountable.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): But this deal sparks renewed frustration for families of some other Americans imprisoned abroad. Paul Whelan has been held in a Russian prison for nearly five years, his brother recently telling "OUTFRONT" his family is growing frustrated with the Biden administration.

DAVID WHELAN, BROTHER OF PAUL WHELAN: Unfortunately, I don't see that the government is any closer to bringing Paul home than they were a year ago.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): But President Vladimir Putin so far is refusing to make a deal for his release.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to negotiate.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): The Russian president said last week, we want to negotiate and the agreements must be mutually acceptable and satisfactory to both sides, like the one made to release Brittany Griner more than a year ago in exchange for an international arms dealer. But the hope for these other American families is that the U.S. could strike another deal to bring their loved ones back home.

LAVANDERA: The release of these American detainees unfolded so quickly on Wednesday that their families didn't have time to make it to Texas to watch them walk off the plane. Two of the American detainees spoke after they arrived.

They said they were grateful to the Biden administration for negotiating the release and that they were grateful to finally having the chance to reunite with their own families.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, San Antonio, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE) FOSTER: Israel is pressing ahead with its offensive against Hamas in Gaza, as a source tells CNN talks are ongoing for a possible deal to pause the fighting in exchange for the release of more hostages.

The White House says, quote, very serious discussions are underway.

But a source told CNN that the deal isn't believed to be imminent. Meanwhile, the Israeli military on Wednesday continue to strike what it says are Hamas targets.

Deadly explosions were reported in Rafah in the south and Jabalia in the north. The Israeli prime minister vows the offensive will continue until Hamas is eliminated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We're continuing in the fight until the end. It will resume until the elimination of Hamas, until the victory. All Hamas terrorists, from the first to the last, are marked for death. They only have two options, surrender or die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, this as a U.N. Security Council votes on a resolution calling for a suspension of hostilities in Gaza is set to take place today. It's already been delayed three times this week as the U.S. weighs whether or not to support it.

CNN's Clare Sebastian following developments for us. Do you know what the negotiations are about around this resolution?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It seems to be boiling down to the language, Max. The phrase cessation of hostilities, according to a diplomatic source to CNN's Becky Anderson, is one of the things under discussion. We know that the U.S. does not support compelling Israel to a permanent ceasefire.

So I think that's the sort of delicate moment here. There's also, you know, some moves to try to establish a U.N. monitoring mechanism in Gaza, which is also under negotiations at the moment, according to the U.N. source.

But look, they are now going through the night, according to the UAE permanent representative, very intensive talks, according to the White House. So, clearly a concerted effort to try to get to something that the U.S. at least won't veto. Maybe they'll abstain.

But Secretary Blinken making it very clear on Wednesday exactly why the U.S. is sort of, has been consistently and is still trying to push for the kind of language it wants. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLINKEN: I hear virtually no one saying, demanding of Hamas that it stop hiding behind civilians, that it lay down its arms, that it surrender. This is over tomorrow if Hamas does that. This would have been over a month ago, six weeks ago, if Hamas had done that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: This is the seventh time that the U.N. Security Council has tried to come to consensus on something around the Israel-Hamas war. They've succeeded only once. So clearly, as I said, a very concerted effort.

Secretary Blinken, though, at the same time on Wednesday saying that he wants to see the conflict in Gaza move to a lower intensity phase was the phrase he wanted to, he pushed. So look, everyone agrees that they want to minimize the harm to civilians. It's the issue of a pause versus a ceasefire that's still under discussion.

FOSTER: Is it binding on Israel?

SEBASTIAN: So if the U.N. Security Council does pass a ceasefire resolution, which I think is very unlikely given the U.S. position, then yes, Israel as a member of the United Nations would be compelled to follow the Security Council decisions. It doesn't, of course, cover Hamas, which is not a state actor, is not a member of the United Nations.

But unlike the General Assembly resolution that we saw last week, this would, in fact, be binding.

FOSTER: OK. And in terms of movements on the ground, that just carries on until this is resolved?

[04:10:00]

SEBASTIAN: Yes, I mean, I think it was telling on Wednesday that we saw attacks, deadly attacks in both the north of the Gaza Strip in Jabalia and in the far south in Russia -- in Rafah, literally opposite ends. It's still going on. The IDF is very clear that they are targeting specifically Hamas strongholds, militants' buildings where they have intelligence that militants are hiding. They say that that's where they're calling in airstrikes.

But, of course, this is all amping up the pressure both on the U.N. Security Council and separately on the hostage negotiation talks, which we understand are now back underway.

FOSTER: OK, Clare, thank you.

We are learning new details about the three Israeli hostages who were mistakenly killed by Israeli soldiers in Gaza. They were apparently able to flee their captors five days before they were shot dead by the IDF troops.

That's according to the IDF, who says their voices were picked up during a gun battle between Hamas and Israeli forces from a camera mounted on a military dog. The IDF says that that video was located on Tuesday. Meanwhile, one of the mothers of the slain hostages has this message of forgiveness for the unit involved in her son's death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IRIS HAIM, MOTHER OF SLAIN HOSTAGE YOTAM HAIM (through translator): I know that everything that happened is completely not your fault. It's nobody's fault except the Hamas. May their name and memory be wiped off the face of the earth.

We all need you to be safe and sound. Don't hesitate for a single moment. If you see a terrorist, don't think that you have deliberately killed a hostage. You need to protect yourselves, because that's the only way you would be able to protect us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, the father of another one of the mistakenly killed hostages is also speaking out. He's accusing the Israeli prime minister of cowardice for failing to call him or visiting him to express condolences.

Israel's foreign ministry says it has come one step closer to a new agreement with Cyprus that will, quote, help Israel's economic disengagement from the Strip. Israel and Cyprus are negotiating a maritime corridor that will be a direct route for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza without passing through Israel. If the corridor agreement goes as planned, it'll be the first time that Israel has eased its sea blockade since 2007, when Hamas took control of Gaza.

Now, take a look at this silent protest in the Netherlands. These are some 8,000 children's shoes, all lined up in one of Rotterdam's largest street markets, some with little stuffed toys nearby. According to the protest organizers, each pair of shoes represents a child reported killed in Gaza during the war between Israel and Hamas.

The organization says they wanted to, quote, make the number visible, a tangible display of the staggering loss of life.

U.S. Park Police are investigating vandalism to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. This comes after they discovered the steps covered with red paint and messages of free Gaza. Police say it may take several days to remove the paint.

Donald Trump's Supreme Court appeal of his Colorado ballot ban could come any day now. The former president is already fundraising off the ruling, which says he's disqualified from running for office because he participated in the 2021 insurrection, CNN's Omar Jimenez reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): First came the ruling, now the fallout. A sad day in America, Trump writes, as he reacts for the first time on social media since the Colorado Supreme Court's decision to keep him off its state's 2024 Republican primary ballot.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I'm thrilled to be back in your incredible state.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): And with just 28 days until the Iowa caucuses, every major Republican presidential candidate is coming to Trump's defense.

RON DESANTIS, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They basically just said, what, you can't be on the ballot? I mean, how does that work?

NIKKI HALEY, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will beat him fair and square. We don't need to have judges making these decisions. We need voters to have to make these decisions.

CHRIS CHRISTIE, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think he should be prevented from being president of the United States by the voters of this country.

VIVEK RAMASWAMY, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Unelected judges are not going to decide willy nilly across the state who ends up on a ballot and who doesn't.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Even as they defend Trump, his rivals are still campaigning to beat him in the GOP primary, with time running out until the first contest in January.

DESANTIS: It'll give Biden or the Democrat or whoever the ability to skate through this thing. That's their plan. What they don't want is to have somebody like me who will make the election, not about all those other issues.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): The Biden campaign says it's ready for any of the Republican candidates, regardless of the courts.

BROOKE GOREN, DEPUTY COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, BIDEN-HARRIS CAMPAIGN: We're not going to comment on ongoing litigation. What I will say is that the president looks forward to defeating Donald Trump or whoever else emerges from the Republican primary on the ballot box in November in 2024.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): The court's ruling is based on the 14th Amendment, which disqualifies anyone from future office if they engaged in insurrection.

BIDEN: Whether the 14th Amendment applies, we'll let the court make that decision. But he certainly supported the insurrection.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): The court's decision will now most likely end up at the United States Supreme Court.

[04:15:00]

JIMENEZ: Now, as we've seen with many of his legal cases during his presidential campaign, Trump is already fundraising off the Colorado State Supreme Court ruling based on the us versus them theme that has become a staple during his campaigns. Outside of the politics of it all, Trump is still on the ballot for now, because essentially this court decision is placed on hold until January 4th, a day ahead of the deadline for the state to be certified as a candidate and pending Trump's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which could settle this issue for the country. Omar Jimenez, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Still to come, prosecutors in Ohio charge a woman with a felony after she suffers a miscarriage. Why the case is sparking new discussions, not only about women's reproductive rights, but women's health in general.

Plus, U.S. border security nears a breaking point. Officials in Texas say they're trying their best with the resources they have, but processing migrants is becoming overwhelming.

And lava flows from that volcano in Iceland is easing, though. Authorities aren't ready to let people in a nearby village back into their homes just yet. We'll explain why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:20:00]

FOSTER: Two Georgia election workers now have the green light to go after Rudy Giuliani's assets right away to collect their award. A judge in Washington gave them the go-ahead on Wednesday. That's after the former Trump attorney was ordered to pay close to $150 million to two women who sued him for defamation over his statements after the 2020 election. And as Jessica Schneider reports, the judge concluded some of Giuliani's own claims don't even add up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The judge in this case is really coming out with some scathing language against Rudy Giuliani in giving these plaintiffs the green light just to start or try to start collecting anyway their $148 million right now. And she's really criticizing Rudy Giuliani and his failure to really cooperate with this process. She's saying that he refused to turn over evidence revealing his worth. And he refused to do that earlier.

And she put it this way. She said, such claims of financial difficulties of Giuliani, no matter how many times repeated or publicly disseminated, just are difficult to square with the fact that Giuliani affords a spokesperson.

You know, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, they've pointed out that Rudy Giuliani owns property in Florida and New York. His New York apartment actually on the market right now for $6.1 million. They've also pointed to his contract with Newsmax for a show.

So they have repeatedly pointed out that Rudy Giuliani has money. And now the judge is saying you can immediately, starting today, go after that money and try to collect your $148 million verdict.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Now to Washington, where the Senate is taking the rest of the year off, leaving behind a mountain of problems and a lengthy legislative to-do list as well.

It includes everything from how to fund the U.S. government and the further shutdown to the crisis at the southern border, which Republicans insist must be tackled before the U.S. can come to the aid of allies Israel and Ukraine.

A woman in the U.S. state of Ohio is being charged with felony abuse of a corpse after she suffered a miscarriage in her bathroom. Brittany Watts carried the fetus for more than 21 weeks, which is right around the time the fetus becomes viable, preventing doctors in Ohio from legally performing an abortion. Now the case is reigniting the conversation on women's reproductive health. CNN's Whitney Wild has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After the death of her 22-week-old fetus, Brittany Watts felt distraught, heartbroken, empty, according to texts she sent to local television station WJW.

A coroner's report and 911 call obtained by CNN detailed the days before and after the miscarriage that led to her arrest and felony charge.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had a mother who, um, had a delivery at home and came in without the baby.

WILD (voice-over): In mid-September, Watts visited St. Joseph Hospital multiple times and was told her water broke and her fetus would not survive. Medical staff recommended Watts be induced into labor, the report says. At first, she declined medical care, but later returned to the hospital intending to give birth.

According to a Washington Post interview with Watts' attorney, Watts waited eight hours to give birth as doctors and officials considered whether inducing her would violate Ohio's abortion laws.

Watts went home. Two days later, she miscarried into a toilet. Watts returned to the hospital a third time after her miscarriage, where hospital staff called police.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is a very early pregnancy, so if it was born alive, I am certain it is not now alive.

WILD (voice-over): Investigators found the fetus still stuck in the toilet at Watts' home. Watts now faces a felony charge for abuse of a corpse.

The coroner's report states the fetus died in utero. In a recent hearing, a prosecutor described the case like this.

The issue isn't how the child died, when the child died. It's the fact that the baby was put into a toilet.

WILD (voice-over): Watts' attorney told CNN in a statement there is no law in Ohio that requires a mother suffering a miscarriage to bury or cremate those remains. Women miscarry into toilets every day.

Bioethicist Katie Watson called the criminal charge absurd.

KATIE WATSON, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, NORTHWESTERN MEDICINE: I think this is an example of a woman violating feelings rules. She didn't perform sadness and she didn't perform respect in a way that the prosecutors could recognize. And so they chose to punish her with the prosecution.

WILD (voice-over): Watts' case has set off heated debate over criminalizing pregnancy outcomes, including miscarriages.

WATSON: This is about misunderstanding miscarriage and how it works. It's about misunderstanding the psychological and psychiatric reactions that some people have during and after a miscarriage.

WILD (voice-over): Abortion rights group Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights is urging prosecutors to drop the case.

[04:25:00]

The group's co-founder, Dr. Marcela Azevedo, told CNN the risk to other women facing non-viable pregnancies is enormous.

DR. MARCELA AZEVEDO, COFOUNDER, OHIO PHYSICIANS FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS: The criminalization of her pregnancy outcomes further stigmatizes both abortion and pregnancy. But it certainly particularly affects communities that are Black and Brown. And it creates a bigger discrepancy and it doesn't allow them to feel safe.

WILD: CNN has reached out to the prosecutors in this case. They did release a lengthy statement, but it did not comment on the substantive facts of the Brittany Watts case. They more or less outlined what had happened in court up to this point and then noted that the case is with the grand jury and they were unable to comment beyond that.

We also reached out to the hospital in this case, St. Joseph Hospital, which declined to comment, citing patient privacy. But they did stress that safety and security of their patients is their highest concern.

Whitney Wild, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Still ahead, voters in Colorado react to the state Supreme Court decision keeping Donald Trump off the presidential primary ballot.

Plus, extreme hunger adding to the trauma of daily life in Gaza. We'll show you what people are doing to survive.

[04:30:00]