Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
CNN International: U.S. to Support Latest Gaza Resolution at U.N.; Detroit News: Trump Pressed Michigan Republicans Not to Certify Vote; Giuliani Claims Bankruptcy After $148 Million Defamation Judgement; Czech Republic Reel from Deadliest Mass Shooting in Decades; Texas Governor Charters Migrant Flights to Chicago. Aired 4- 4:30a ET
Aired December 22, 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 all around the world. I'm Max Foster in London. Bianca will be back next week, but just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Israeli military warning Gaza residents it will retaliate with more airstrikes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We do have that resolution now. We're ready to vote on it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yet another recording of a phone call allegedly made by Donald Trump in 2020 pressuring local election officials.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bankruptcy is not a magic wand. It doesn't automatically make a person's debts disappear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We believe with Mr. Guliani is prepared to respect the bankruptcy process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.
FOSTER: It is Friday December the 22nd 9 a.m. in London, 11 a.m. In Gaza where there's growing pressure for fighting to stop. The U.N. Security Council is expected to vote today on a resolution calling for a suspension of fighting and an increase in humanitarian aid for Gaza. The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. spoke with reporters after a closed- door session Thursday night denying the measure was watered down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES: We have worked hard and diligently over the course of the past week with the Emiratis, with others, with Egypt, to come up with a resolution that we can support and we do have that resolution now. We're ready to vote on it. It's a resolution that will bring humanitarian assistance to those in need.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, it comes as more than 20,000 people in Gaza have been killed by the Israeli military since October the 7th. The Hamas run Palestinian Health Authority reports Israel says its military has destroyed a strategic network of Hamas tunnels under Gaza City and killed over 2,000 terrorists since the last pause in fighting ended on December the 1st.
Meanwhile, a new report from the World Food Program and other U.N. agencies says more than one in four households currently face extreme hunger and Gaza is headed for a famine if the conflict continues.
CNN's Will Ripley is live this hour in Tel Aviv. How important then, Will, will this vote be today?
Well, this vote is significant and important and that the United States after repeated delays and vetoes by the U.S. is finally prepared It seems barring some last-minute change to be on board here with this U.N. ceasefire and humanitarian aid resolution.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now part of the reason why the U.S. says it was delaying is because they were worried that the procedures that were written into this resolution as it was drafted would actually slow down the delivery of aid to the people who desperately needed in Gaza.
But of course, U.S., Israel strong allies and the United States wanted language in there to firmly condemn Hamas for instigating this with the horrific terror attacks of October 7th. Something that Israel feels has gotten lost in all of the noise and of course the horrific developments in Gaza and the skyrocketing death toll when you have the Hamas controlled health ministry in Gaza and the Ramallah Palestinian Health Ministry both claiming that the death toll has now surpassed 20,000 people.
Israel saying that more than 2,000 Hamas militants have been killed since the last ceasefire ended. That ceasefire, of course, was a phased transfer of hostages. But there are still women, there are still elderly Israeli hostages, and there are still Israeli hostages that are in urgent need of medical care. But Hamas has flat-out rejected the offer that Israel put on the table. Delivered through intermediaries in Qatar to Hamas, that offer for a week-long pause in the fighting so that 40 -- 35 or 40 of these hostages who really desperately need to get out of there urgently -- of course probably all of them do. But these are the most urgent cases. Hamas said they're not willing to talk about any sort of hostage exchange until there's a full ceasefire, a full stop in the military activity in Gaza.
Something that Israel says isn't going to happen They've been intensifying their street fighting. They blew up a huge underground tunnel complex yesterday. [04:05:00]
You're talking about offices and apartments, living quarters, command bunkers for the senior leaders of Hamas including Yahya Sinwar -- according to information that CNN obtained overnight, Max. So clearly their military operations are continuing -- Israel's are but Hamas are too. They launched a barrage of around 30 rockets at Israel yesterday all of them intercepted by the Iron Dome.
But clearly despite all of these deaths, all of these Israeli airstrikes leveling 80 or more percent of Gaza including nearly all of the hospitals, certainly all the hospitals in the north and just a handful still functioning in the south, yet Hamas can still fire dozens of rockets and, Max, their international credibility amongst other extremist groups has been rising according to U.S. intelligence who believe that Hamas is more credible now after the attack on October 7th and their ability to continue fighting against Israel.
Which could mean, unfortunately for Israel, more dollars flowing in, more weapons flowing in for Hamas, more training and certainly no Immediate end to this extremist organization that Israel has vowed it will continue fighting until they disappear.
I was in the West Bank yesterday talking to people who said Hamas is much more than just a couple of figureheads, Max. There's a lot of people, a lot of leadership pockets of Hamas spread out around not just Gaza, but other Palestinian areas and frankly people said it's just not going to go away. Not anytime soon and certainly not easily.
FOSTER: You talk about the intensity increasing, but the White House in Israel's acknowledged the need to transition to lower intensity campaigns. What can you tell us about that?
RIPLEY: Well, this is certainly an acknowledgment on the part of the Israelis that this current strategy, while very dramatic and very deadly, has not been effective. And so, they need to find a way to continue to go after the leadership of Hamas while keeping the everyday people out of it.
You cannot have a situation where two million people are living and nearly all of them are displaced from their homes. You have thousands of people that don't have clean water, don't have food. You have half of that population at the starvation level. You have not only famine, but you have disease, unsanitary conditions, children who haven't been in school. You know, imagine sharing one bathroom with 2,000 other people, sleeping outside in tents, not having a shower for seven, eight weeks. These are the conditions, not to mention a lack of medicine, almost no functional medical care. It is just the kind of situation that Israel knows they cannot -- it cannot continue.
So, they're now talking about the possibility of going into northern Gaza, starting to build, you know, temporary housing for people so they can start to return back to their homes. But it is just a disastrous situation.
And of course, there is so much hatred on both sides, so much distrust on both sides It's just a situation that you stand back, and you have a look and you think, you know how both sides got there. And you just wonder how are both sides going to get out of this.
FOSTER: Yes, it's a long-running question, isn't it? Will Ripley and Tel Aviv. Thank you so much for that.
We've already heard the phone call where Donald Trump pressured officials in Georgia to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election. Now "The Detroit News" says it has yet another recording of the then president urging officials in Michigan to do the same. The paper says Mr. Trump personally pressured two Republican officials to not certify the elections. Saying they'd look terrible if they did. CNN hasn't heard the call. But our Erin Burnett spoke earlier with one of the journalists who says he has.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRAIG MAUGER, REPORTER, THE DETROIT NEWS: What I heard listening to the audio of this conversation was the then president of the United States encouraging pressuring contending arguing in favor of these two Republican County canvassers not signing the certification of the 2020 election for Wayne County.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Marshall Cohen has more on that.
MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Stunning news from Michigan where the "Detroit News" has published excerpts of a phone call that former President Donald Trump made in November 2020 to two election officials in Detroit. The goal of the call was to convince them not to certify the results of the election which he had lost to President Joe Biden.
According to "The Detroit News," Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel Tried to twist the arm of those election officials and convince them not to sign the certificate that would certify the results from Detroit, which is a heavily Democratic County. Here are some of the key quotes.
Donald Trump said quote: We can't let these people take our country away from us.
Everyone knows Detroit is crooked as hell.
He also said: How can anybody sign something when you have more votes than people?
[04:10:00]
That of course was a false claim, one of his many lies about the election that thousands if not tens of thousands of dead people had voted, more votes than people.
Perhaps the most stunning revelation in this tape though is when Ronna McDaniel told the officials, quote: Do not sign it. We will get you attorneys. And then Trump said: We'll take care of that.
Incredible developments and a audio recording of Donald Trump in his own words. To be clear, CNN has not obtained this recording and has not Independently verified its contents, but it was reported by "The Detroit News" just last night. Here is a reaction from the Trump campaign.
They have vociferously pushed back on the idea that he ever did anything wrong. He says -- his campaign spokesman says quote: All of President Trump's actions were taken in furtherance of his duty as president of the United States to faithfully take care of the laws and ensure election integrity.
However, it's hard to take that at face value. Trying to overturn an election is the opposite of election integrity and that's why Trump is facing federal charges, federal criminal charges for trying to overturn the election.
Marshall Cohen CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Republican National Committee Chair, Ronna McDaniel, has responded to "The Detroit News" article saying: What I said publicly and repeatedly at the time, as reference in my letter on November 21, 2020, is that there was ample evidence that warranted an audit.
Trump's longtime ally Rudy Giuliani says he's all but broke. And he's asking the federal court for protection from bankruptcy. The move comes just days after a jury ordered Giuliani to pay nearly $150 million for defaming two election workers in Georgia. The disgraced attorney says he has assets of up to $10 million. But he says his debts are up to half a billion dollars. Which includes that defamation judgment, three other pending defamation cases. Nearly a million dollars in unpaid taxes and hundreds of thousands of dollars in lawyers and accountants' fees.
One of Giuliani's attorneys explains why they filed for bankruptcy protection now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARY FISCHOFF, ATTORNEY FOR RUDY GIULIANI: We're going to do everything we can to make sure that all his assets and all his liabilities are properly disclosed. Obviously, with judge Howell's decision yesterday to accelerate the collection process on behalf of the plaintiffs, we had to rapidly file this case. We believe Mr. Giuliani is prepared to respect the bankruptcy process and understands that true, honest and accurate disclosure of assets and liabilities is a prerequisite to having the bankruptcy court assist him with this reorganization.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, CNN's legal analyst Elie Honig explains what's at stake with Giuliani's bankruptcy claim.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: By declaring bankruptcy Rudy Giuliani has now voluntarily put himself within the jurisdiction of a federal bankruptcy judge and a trustee. Their job is to identify his assets, to value them fairly and then to dole them out proportionally.
So Ruby Freeman and Ms. Moss will get some money. They're certainly not going to get anything near a $148 million. But it's important to know, if Rudy Giuliani tries to play games now, if he commits fraud, if he tries to dump off his assets, he's subjecting himself to potential bankruptcy fraud.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Well, we're hoping to learn more details about a deadly shooting rampage in the Czech Republic. Meanwhile, in about an hour, Police in Prague is set to hold a press conference a day after they said a gunman killed at least 14 people at the city's Charles University and left 25 others wounded. Officials now say three of those wounded victims were foreign citizens. Investigators believe he later took his own life but that's yet to be confirmed. Police have said they're still looking into his motive and they haven't released his name yet.
Saturday will be a day of mourning in the Czech Republic and the Prime Minister tried to convey the shock his nation is feeling right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER FIALA, CZECH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We're all shocked by the horrendous act and it's hard to find the words to express condemnation on the one hand and on the other the pain and sorrow that our entire society is feeling in these days before Christmas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, the attack happened even though police had received a tip about the shooter and try to stop him just before the rampage. More details now from CNN's Melissa Bell.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Terror on the streets of Prague. Students risking their lives to escape a gunman's bullets that killed more than a dozen on Thursday afternoon. More than 20 were injured, 10 severely, in the shooting at Prague's Charles University before the gunman, an enrolled philosophy student, was eliminated, police said.
[04:15:00]
It's an attack that has rocked the Czech Republic. PETR FIALA, CZECH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): There is absolutely no explanation, no justification for this. Like many of you, I am feeling a deep sorrow and disgust over this incomprehensible and brutal violence.
BELL (voice-over): As night fell on Prague, details emerged about the 24-year-old suspect. Before the deadly shooting in the capital, police said the shooter left his home village where his father was found dead. Intent on further bloodshed, he made his way to the Czech capital.
Tipped off, police forces rushed to evacuate the building where the shooter was due to attend a lecture, but he struck elsewhere. Forcing students to barricade themselves inside classrooms, later evacuated en masse. Their preparation for end of year exams brutally shattered by the country's deadliest shooting in decades.
No indication of a link to international terrorism, the Czech interior minister confirmed, but tonight a city in shock on a continent where mass shootings are few and far between.
Melissa Bell, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: The White House, coming up, condemning the Texas governor for flying migrants to Chicago, as President Biden faces mounting pressure to address challenges at the border.
Also, Nikki Haley hits the campaign trail in Iowa and is confronted by a voter who wants her to be tougher on Trump. What she had to say about her top opponent coming up.
Plus, activity around an erupting volcano in Iceland appears to be slowing. We have the latest from the eruption zone.
[04:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Texas Governor Greg Abbott is escalating his policy of transporting migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border to sanctuary cities across the country. He's now chartering flights to send migrants to Chicago. On Tuesday, some 120 asylum seekers were flown from El Paso, Texas to Chicago, according to a statement from Chicago's Office of Emergency Management and Communications. The source told CNN that migrants signed a voluntary consent waiver upon boarding the flight. But CNN could not confirm that detail. The White House and state officials slammed Abbott's move. Calling it a, quote, political stunt.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. JESUS "CHUY" GARCIA (D-IL): We find ourselves in this condition because people like the governor of Texas, Governor Abbott are engaged in human trafficking. Spending billions of dollars to cause hurt and to cause political divisions so that they can profit from the political advantage that they seek
BRANDON JOHNSON, CHICAGO MAYOR: The buses coming from Texas have not centered people's humanity and it's actually been quite raggedy.
It's disheartening that the governor of Texas is literally invoking chaos without having like a real clear willingness to coordinate.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: On Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador about how to slow the unprecedented migrant surge. And CNN's Priscilla Alvarez reports there on that from the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: The White House is slamming Texas Governor Greg Abbott for what it calls his extreme policies on immigration. Saying that the governor, quote, demonizes and dehumanizes people.
Now this after the Texas governor flew migrants to Chicago in his latest affront against the Biden administration's border policies. But it's other incidents along the Texas Mexico border that are also raising alarm. In a video obtained by CNN, a woman is shown holding a crying baby in her arms in the Rio Grande as two members of the Texas National Guard watch. Those members do not intervene.
The video which was filmed on December 12th and lasted for about seven minutes, was filmed by an immigration activist. Now the Texas Military Department denies that they did not help the migrant.
Saying in a statement quote: Texas National Guard Soldiers approached by boat and determined that there were no signs of medical distress, injury or incapacitation and they had the ability to return the short distance back to the Mexican shore. The soldiers remained on site to monitor the situation.
Now the woman in this situation did make it back to the Mexican side with her child. But it's incidents like this that underscore what has become in untenable situation along the U.S. Mexico border. On Thursday President Biden and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador spoke by phone about the unfolding situation on the U.S. southern border. Where the two agreed on additional enforcement actions and how urgently they're needed to reopen some of the key ports of entry that have been closed. So, personnel can help with the processing of this unprecedented surge of migrants.
The president also asking senior U.S. officials including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mallorca to go to Mexico in the coming days to continue discussions.
Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, at the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE) FOSTER: Recent polling shows Biden is way behind his predecessor Donald Trump when it comes to immigration and border security. An issue that could jeopardize the president's re-election campaign.
A Poll conducted by Marquette Law School shows Biden trailing Trump by 23 points among registered voters on which candidate would better handle border issues and immigration. Biden's immigration policy approval rating has also dropped 13 points in the past three years.
Nikki Haley held a Town Hall Thursday, where the former U.S. -- U.N. ambassador rather, tried to set herself apart from the other Republicans running for the White House, including the former president. She was confronted by an Iowa voter who called on her to more strongly criticize Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOTER: I want to support you. I also want to hear from you that you also think there's a danger here. Because this is not good for our country and it's not good for the church.
[04:25:03]
And I want to be able to support someone who agrees with that.
NIKKI HALEY, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I wouldn't be running if I didn't think that he's not the right person at the right time. I have said multiple times. I don't think it's good for the country for Donald Trump to become president again. I've made that very clear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis believes Trump's legal woes have done damage to the Republican Party. On Thursday, the Florida governor discussed with CBN News Trump's several indictments criticizing them whilst noting their impact on the race as well.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RON DESANTIS, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's a republic it's not a monarchy. Everyone has a right to be able to run. Obviously, Trump could win the primary. I'm not convinced he can win the general. I can.
I would say if I could have one thing change, I wish Trump hadn't been indicted on any of this stuff. I mean, honestly, I think that, you know, from Alvin Bragg on I've criticized the cases. I think, you know, someone like a Bragg would not have brought that case if it was anyone other than Donald Trump. And so, you know, he -- someone like that's distorting justice, which is bad. But I also think it distorted the primary --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And because it's helped you? Is that what you're saying?
DESANTIS: It's both that but then it also is just crowded out I think so much other stuff and it sucked out a lot of oxygen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's interesting, you saying it made it tougher in a way, and it made it tougher for you and others.
DESANTIS: I think for the primary it distorted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Primary.
DESANTIS: Yes, I think it distorted --
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has lost his appeal with Maine Superior Court to be on the state's primary ballot. The court sided with the state's director of elections. He said Christie missed the deadline to submit 2,000 voter signatures to the state. Christie's campaign says they disagree with the decision and are evaluating their options.
Still to come, more rain and more flooding is on the way the parts of Southern California as we head into the holiday weekend. Details on that just ahead.
And American Paul Whelan tells CNN he's being targeted inside a Russian prison. When we come back, why he says he's afraid for his safety?
