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Israel-Hamas War; Christmas Effectively Canceled In Bethlehem Amid War In Region; Trump Urges Federal Appeals Court To Grant Immunity; Flooding And Blizzards A Risk For Central And Southern Plains. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired December 24, 2023 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:37]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

We begin with fears of growing escalation in the Middle East. The Pentagon says an Iranian attack drone struck a commercial ship operating in the Indian Ocean on Saturday. A U.S. Defense official says a fire broke out on the chemical tanker with nearly two dozen crew members on board, but no one was hurt.

The strike comes as newly-declassified U.S. Intelligence suggests Iran has been deeply involved in a series of attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.

Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is announcing a deepening of the conflict in Gaza saying the fighting will intensify until there's a victory over Hamas. At the same time, Israeli's military assault, one of the deadliest days of the conflict with 15 soldiers killed since Friday.

The IDF says it struck more than 200 targets over the past day and killed several Hamas militants all this as mounting civilian deaths grow beyond 20,000 according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza.

And we're covering this story from all angles. Let's go to Kevin Liptak who's over at the White House for us. Kevin, how are the U.S. and other players in the region responding to this attack on that chemical tanker? It's another provocation, it sounds like, from Iran.

The question becomes does the Biden administration, does the U.S. respond at some point? What can you tell us?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. They are simply watching this. There's a heightened level of concern because it is fueling these concerns inside the administration that this conflict could widen any further.

And I think this incident in the Indian Ocean really does underscore two things, Jim. One, this is the first time that the U.S. has directly accused Iran of one of these kinds of attacks since the October 7th terror attacks. Their focus previously had been on the Houthi rebel group inside of Yemen.

And second, this is well outside of the Red Sea, that area that they had previously been focused on. So it does sort of underscore the concerns that these tensions, that this conflict could be spreading outside of that region.

At the same time yesterday there were these continued incidents inside the Red Sea, certainly a tense and chaotic day there as well. CentCom saying that the Houthi rebels targeted a U.S. warship, a number of commercial vessels as well. So certainly the U.S. is watching this with a lot of concern.

And what the U.S. has done is tried to organize this coalition to try and beef up security in the Red Sea because as well as the military concern, there's also economic concerns.

You've seen a number of global ship companies cut off access to the Red Sea over concerns that their vessels could be targeted. And so what you've seen the U.S. do is apply sanctions on Iran, on the companies that back their drone program. You've seen the U.S. beef up its military presence in the region as well.

But certainly this is something that they're still very much trying to get a handle on and certainly something that President Biden and all his top officials are watching as this holiday period unfolds, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes. And Kevin, I'm just wondering, I mean do you get the sense from when you're talking to your sources that the administration is losing patience with Iran over this and with the Houthi rebels? I mean I would have to think that that is building.

LIPTAK: Yes. I think that's certainly true. And I think there's an interesting sort of discrepancy here because you've seen these Iranian-backed proxies in Syria go after U.S. troops in the region, U.S. bases, and the U.S. has struck back at those positions.

They have not yet struck back at the Houthis. And I think it's an open question of why. Sort of underscoring all that is the concern that that could potentially escalate this conflict further. And that is certainly something that the Biden administration and the White House deeply wants to avoid?

ACOSTA: You know, that's absolutely true, Kevin. All right. Thank you so much.

Let's go to CNN's Will Ripley in Tel Aviv. Will, we're hearing reports of violence near the Rafah Crossing. What do we know about that?

[14:04:50]

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Before we get to that Jim, just some breaking news. We've just confirmed with an Israeli military spokesperson that they have recovered five bodies of male hostages, three of them military, two of them civilian. We know that they were found at the Jabalia refugee camp. That is in northern Gaza.

Now we do not know the identities of these hostages as of yet, but we will, of course, continue to get more information about that, just another unfortunate development.

But there are major developments to the south in southern Gaza at the Rafah Crossing with Egypt. Take a look at what happened just a few hours ago.

Absolute chaos in the streets at that vital crossing where aid trucks come in from Egypt into Gaza. The crowds apparently so desperate to try to grab whatever aid they could get from the trucks, in a situation where you have the entire population of Gaza with acute food insecurity. A catastrophic level of people who just don't have enough to eat, the desperation, the anger, the outrage growing. People becoming so enraged that they were trying to run from the trucks with whatever they can have in their hands.

We don't know how that gunfire erupted or exactly who was firing the shots. We don't know if anybody was hurt or killed. But clearly, if this video doesn't underscore just how desperate the situation is inside Gaza right now, all you have to do is look and listen, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes. Will, let's go back to that. I know there's not a whole lot you can tell us. But when we're looking at that video and if we could show it again to our viewers, it's sort of an aerial bird's eye view of what looks like chaos in this crowd. Is this where the gunshots were taking place? Or I mean, it looks like people are carrying aid on their shoulders and on their backs away from aid trucks.

I'm just trying to get a sense as to, do we know if gunfire was going off because of that rush to get those supplies, or was this fighting that was going on near the scene? I guess we just don't have all the answers yet.

RIPLEY: That's absolutely right, Jim. It is so chaotic there right now that all that we can do, all we can ascertain from this video is that there were massive crowds that essentially rushed the convoy of aid trucks as soon as they come across that Rafah Crossing from Egypt.

People were trying to break into the trucks. They were trying to steal items off the trucks. We have other videos where you see people just with bundles of items in their hands. They might not have even known exactly they were grabbing for. But they grabbed what they could and they ran. And then at some point shots were fired and a lot of gunfire could be heard.

We don't know who was firing the shot. We don't know where the gunfire came from. Those are all still unanswered questions but it really does underscore just how volatile the situation is inside Gaza right now, Jim?

ACOSTA: Yes Will. And I also think it gets to the desperation for aid, this relief that has been coming into the Rafah Crossing in a sort of a trickle-like fashion. It just has not been coming in in any kind of way that provides any sort of substantial relief to the Palestinians in Gaza.

Can you tell us a little bit about that because this has been an ongoing issue. And so you know, people are wondering why they're seeing the look of desperation in those crowds there. It's for obvious reasons.

RIPLEY: Yes, absolutely. You have so many people who are essentially starving at this point. You have people who are cut off from their family members. And by the way, the problems, Jim, are not just inside Gaza.

Of course, Gaza is enduring the bombardment. They are enduring the ground combat. You have more than 20,200 people now reported dead by the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza.

But there are also problems in other Palestinian areas here like the occupied West Bank. We visited there and the West Bank includes the very historic and iconic city of Bethlehem. This is where people normally would rush in huge crowds to celebrate the Christmas holiday.

And yet unlike the mass hysteria you see there in Gaza, it is an absolute ghost town in Bethlehem because the city has essentially been blocked off. There are military checkpoints preventing tourists from coming in, although not a lot of tourists are wanting to visit there this stage.

And it is really catastrophic for the people in that area who rely on Christmas tourism for their livelihoods, not to mention the overall feeling of sadness on what is supposed to be a special holiday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: Christmas is canceled in Bethlehem. Church bells ring but no one is listening. The season's magic missing from Manger Square along with the Christmas tree and dangling decorations.

In the biblical birthplace of Jesus, only sadness fills the air.

ALI THABET, BETHLEHEM RESIDENT (through translator): My son asked me why there's no Christmas tree this year. I don't know how to explain it.

[14:09:53]

RIPLEY: Are you sad?

THABET: Of course. Of course I'm very sad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The root of the tree, you see. And we carve it. And this is the Nativity spot.

RIPLEY: Beautiful.

Bombs may not be falling here, but everyone feels the fallout.

RONY TABASH, THIRD GENERATION SHOP OWNER: Since three months, honestly, we don't have one sale. I don't want to keep my father at home. So not to give up some hope.

RIPLEY: Hope is in short supply in Bethlehem, for businesses banking on a busy Christmas, no comfort and joy, only silent nights. The usual crowds, gone. Shops and restaurants, shuttered. The handful still open, empty.

KHALID BANDAK, TOUR GUIDE: Most of the festivals were canceled during that -- because of the war in Gaza.

RIPLEY: Across Bethlehem, red and white warning signs instead of red and green. Barbed wire instead of mistletoe. Barricades instead of decorations.

Israeli bulldozers left behind piles of rubble blocking every road in and out. Walls and checkpoints, part of life for Palestinians.

This is a new extreme. Israel blames the blockade on security threats. Palestinians, the U.N. and human rights groups call it collective punishment, cutting people off from their homes, their loved ones, their livelihoods.

When you see it empty like this --

FATHER SPIRIDON SAMMOUR, HIGH PRIEST, GREEK ORTHODOX NATIVITY CHURCH: I have never seen it like this.

RIPLEY: Never seen it this empty?

SAMMOUR: Like this year, no.

RIPLEY: The restaurants, the hotel, the shops, the square, emptiness surrounds you here in Bethlehem. Perhaps nowhere do you feel it more than here, the Church of the Nativity.

SAMMOUR: It's very bad.

RIPLEY: Father Spiridon Sammour has been in Bethlehem since 1970 -- 54 years. He's never seen a Christmas season like this.

SAMMOUR: Christmas is joy, love and peace. We have no peace, we have no joy.

RIPLEY: Long lines usually wrap around the basilica. The grotto, always standing room only. Now you can practically hear a pin drop.

Priests are still praying -- praying for all this madness to end. But these days, only God is listening.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: Sadness and suffering all around. And before I send it back to you, Jim, I just got some brand-new information about those five Israeli hostages. They were found inside a Hamas tunnel in northern Gaza, the Jabalia refugee camp. So that is a bit of new information. We'll continue digging for more throughout the night here.

ACOSTA: Ok. Will Ripley, outstanding reporting as always.

Will, thank you very much.

Here in the U.S. Donald Trump is arguing that lobbying election officials to overturn the 2020 election was within his official responsibilities as president. That argument was part of a brief filed last night in which attorneys for the former president asked an appeals court to dismiss his criminal election subversion case, one day after the Supreme Court refused to decide for now whether he is protected from prosecution.

In the filing Trump's attorneys argue that, quote, "President Trump has absolute immunity, adding that under our system of separated powers, the judicial branch cannot sit in judgment over a president's official acts. That doctrine is not controversial," according to his attorneys.

We should note as the question of as the question of immunity is being decided by an appeals court, it's clear the scope of presidential immunity is in fact quite controversial.

CNN's Marshall Cohen is following all of these developments. And the Trump attorneys, they're trying to make this case for absolute immunity. What chances does that stand to have in the courts? That's going to be a tough argument to make.

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a tough argument, Jim, because no president in our history has ever been granted this level of sweeping immunity.

You just mentioned one of the key arguments from Trump's attorney that everything he's accused of doing in this election subversion indictment actually was an official action that he took as part of his responsibilities to the nation.

Some of Trump's allies like Mark Meadows and Jeffrey Clark at the Justice Department have made similar arguments in other cases, and they have been rejected. It will be interesting to see if Trump can somehow convince the judges on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that these were part of his official duties, to overturn an election.

Let me read for you another quote from their filing that came in very late last night. Quote, "In the 234-year tradition of not prosecuting presidents for official acts despite ample motive and opportunity to do so, provides powerful evidence that the power to do so does not exist."

They're saying that because no one has ever done this before, you can't do it now. Of course, that same argument could be turned on Donald Trump because no one has ever tried to overturn an election before.

[14:14:45]

COHEN: And also Jim, another part of their argument is that because of impeachment and specifically his acquittal in his second impeachment that that closed the door to any prosecution.

Let me read for you another quote from this filing. Trump's lawyer said, quote, "Before any single prosecutor can ask a court to sit in judgment of the president's conduct, Congress must have approved of it by impeaching and convicting the president. That did not happen here."

Look, Jim, these are novel arguments. We're in a novel situation. It will be up to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to decide.

ACOSTA: Quite a novel situation indeed. All right. Marshall Cohen, thank you very much. Really appreciate the reporting today.

Let's discuss with CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen. He served as special counsel of the House Judiciary Committee during Trump's first impeachment trial. Norm, great to see you as always.

Trump claims he has absolute immunity, that legal argument so far convinced the courts. I mean if presidents have absolute immunity, I suppose, why did Ford ever pardon Nixon? I mean, you know, I don't -- how is it that they can just argue they have absolute immunity?

NORM EISEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Jim, it's an astonishing proposition. Of course, I practiced law with John Lauro, criminal defense lawyer, Trump's lead counsel. And he's an audacious defender. But John has outdone even himself here.

If presidents had absolute immunity, Jim, the presidential election would become a stampede for the criminally-minded so they can get to the Oval Office. It's not just election overturning, where would it stop. They could do bank robberies, kidnappings, murder. That is inimical to American law. There's no hint of such absolute immunity anywhere in our Constitution, the prior cases of the Supreme Court. As you point out, if Trump's arguments were correct, Richard Nixon would have refused to resign because he wanted to take advantage of his absolute immunity and take his chances that Congress would acquit him.

So it is not going to work. But Jim, it's not about winning. It's about running out the clock.

ACOSTA: Right. And you know, they throw another, you know, filing at the judges and say, ok, let's talk about absolute immunity. It eats up more time which is always key to Donald Trump.

And Norm, Trump's lawyers also claim he can't be pro prosecuted for election interference because he was never convicted by the Senate. Let's parse that out and talk about that.

I mean the impeachment process has nothing to do with the legal process. Those are two separate things. And I remember, I'm old enough to remember when Mitch McConnell said he wasn't going to vote for conviction during the second impeachment because he said there's this whole legal process that could take place. Let the courts decide if Donald Trump did something. It can't be both.

EISEN: Well, if the absolute immunity argument is a loser, the impeachment argument is frivolous. I mean it's not even colorable, Jim. I checked the Constitution this morning, and what the Constitution actually says is, that if a president is convicted, he or she shall, quote, nevertheless be liable for criminal proceedings. Nevertheless is not the same as only if they're convicted are they liable. So they're turning the Constitution upside down, Jim.

ACOSTA: And there's this new recording -- we haven't heard it yet. But apparently it shows Trump pressuring election officials in Michigan to rescind their vote to certify the 2020 election results. This is sort of an astonishing pre-holiday news bomb that came in "The Detroit News" the other day.

But we asked Michigan secretary of state about this. Here is what she told me yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOCELYN BENSON, MICHIGAN SECRETARY OF STATE: That really underscores the vast conspiracy, for lack of a better word, that was at play. A really coordinated effort in all of the battleground states to delay certification, create enough confusion about the validity of the election results.

If you have people block or refuse to certify, that gives you another reason or him another reason to say, see, there's something wrong, even though there was no evidence that there was anything wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Norm, what do you make of the prospect that the special counsel Jack Smith is really kind of compiling evidence of a larger conspiracy and more detailed conspiracy than the public really had a sense of in the immediate aftermath of the 2020 election on January 6th.

EISEN: I think Jack Smith is going to present a sweeping nationwide conspiracy. We already knew that Donald Trump, we've heard the tape, pressured Georgia election officials to recognize him as the winner even though he lost the election, and to block the recognition of the actual winner.

[14:19:56]

EISEN: Now there's reporting that there's a tape of the same in Michigan. So this is powerful evidence. That is the essence of what Smith has said the crimes of Donald Trump are an elaborate set of nationwide alleged acts to frustrate the legal winner from taking office, Joe Biden, and instead for Donald Trump to hang on to power even though he lost.

There could not be a more serious allegation of criminal behavior than that and the evidence seems to be piling up. No wonder Trump doesn't want this case to go to trial and is trying to delay with these silly absolute immunity and impeachment arguments.

ACOSTA: Right. If you're claiming you have absolute immunity. It doesn't matter how big the case gets, how large the mountain of evidence gets, if you have absolute immunity, it's absolute.

Amazing stuff. All right. Norm Eisen, thank you so much for coming up on this Christmas Eve. We really appreciate it.

EISEN: Have a wonderful holiday, Jim.

ACOSTA: You as well.

And still to come, U.S. officials warning the border with Mexico is near a breaking point as record numbers of migrants arrive seeking asylum. We're live at the border.

Plus some areas of the U.S. are in for a white Christmas, even blizzards. But for most it's going to be warm and rainy on this holiday. We'll bring you the last forecast next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[14:21:17]

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ACOSTA: You're looking at live pictures of the fog closing in on Chicago during this busy holiday weekend for travelers. Millions of Americans are also at risk of flooding and blizzard conditions along the Central and Southern Plains.

Joining me is CNN meteorologist Chad Myers. Chad, great to see you on this Christmas Eve. Wow, that looks like a lot of nasty weather in the middle of the country. It's going to mess up a lot of travel plans. What can you tell us.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And you know, only 134 planes according to Flight Aware have been canceled today. With all this weather, from Minneapolis down to New Orleans and Houston now 2,000 flights have been delayed, but only 134 actually said no, we're not going.

And to be in all honesty, this area is in a dreadful drought. They will take the rain. They're saying to themselves, you had 364 other days to rain. Did you have to pick Christmas eve?

But here we go. We'll take the rain when we can get it and not look back. There will be some areas though with 2-4 additional inches like you said. Could cause certainly some ponding on the roadways. Some of those highways could be flooded for a time.

And something else that's going on. An awful lot of wind. You talked about the snow. A blizzard warning now still in effect for parts of Nebraska. Winds are going to be 50. It's going to be snowing like crazy. And it's not going to stop for the next couple days.

Move you ahead though to tomorrow noon, still raining from Minneapolis -- it's raining in Minneapolis all the way down to the Gulf Coast.

The snow is back out to the west. The load doesn't move much which means the snow is in the same place, which means Denver you could slow down with some snow. We had some slowdowns in Chicago, especially Midway with fog, with low cloud cover. And then by the time we work our way into Wednesday, it does appear that the rain, the low clouds and possibly even, yes the wind itself could slow down those northeast airports.

Someone not being slowed down today, 2.8 million packages, according to norad.org have already been delivered, and there's still more to come, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Chad, that looks like Santa's sleigh right there. He looks like he's doing ok though.

MYERS: Yes.

ACOSTA: No fog, no rain.

MYERS: No.

ACOSTA: I mean nothing slows him down. All right.

MYERS: And about a half hour ago we saw him fly under the space station which was quite cool.

ACOSTA: All right. Go Rudolph. We're going to need you.

Thanks, Chad, appreciate it.

MYERS: You're welcome.

ACOSTA: You bet.

All right. We'll continue tracking Santa during the afternoon and we'll bring some updates as they come in. But look at him go there. He's delivering a lot of presents right now, a pretty packed sleigh there.

We'll stay on top of it. We'll be right back.

[14:28:07]

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