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CNN International: Recording, Emails Shed New Light on Trump Campaign's Efforts to Reverse 2020 Loss; High Waves and Coastal Flooding Threaten Western U.S.; Barrage of Russian Strikes Reported Across Ukraine; Almost Naked Party in Moscow Triggers Jail Time, Fines; Wrongfully Detained American Calls for Biden to Secure His Release. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired December 29, 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]

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Bianca Nobilo. And if you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with our top stories this hour.

Russia launched a barrage of missile strikes on several Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv and Kharkiv overnight, causing casualties. Ukraine's Prime Minister says a maternity hospital and shopping center in the eastern Dnipro region were also hit.

And Donald Trump has been removed from the Republican primary ballot in the state of Maine. The move is based on the 14th Amendment's Section 3 insurrectionist ban in the U.S. Constitution. Colorado removed Trump from its ballot earlier on this month, but his name will remain on the primary ballot in another key state, we've just learned, California.

Exclusive reporting from CNN sheds new light on the Trump campaign's actions after his 2020 election loss. CNN has examined recordings and e-mails that provide a behind-the-scenes look at efforts to keep Trump in office and plans to use fake electors to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's victory. CNN reporter Marshall Cohen has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: We've known bits and pieces of this story, but now we're getting the full picture.

It comes from Ken Chesebro, who in many ways was the architect of the fake electors' plot. CNN has obtained recordings of his recent interview with Michigan investigators and hundreds of e-mails that he turned over. They reveal the last-minute scramble on the eve of January 6th to get those fake certificates to Washington, D.C. Take a listen to Chesbrough describing what happened when Trump campaign officials realized that the ballots from Michigan and Wisconsin were stuck in the mail.

KENNETH CHESEBRO, PRO-TRUMP ATTORNEY: The general counsel of the Trump campaign is freaked out that Roman reported that the Michigan votes are still in the sorting facility in Michigan, which doesn't look like they're going to get to Pence in time.

So, the general counsel of the campaign was alarmed and was chartering -- they didn't have to charter a jet, but they did commercial.

This is like, yeah, so this is a high-level decision to get the Michigan and Wisconsin votes there. And they had to enlist, you know, a U.S. senator to try to expedite it to get it to Pence in time.

COHEN: Now, remember, they needed to get those ballots to the House floor because they wanted to have Mike Pence throw out Joe Biden's real electors and replace them with Donald Trump's fake electors.

In the end, the campaign didn't charter a jet. Staffers booked last- minute tickets on commercial flights, and they ferried the ballots to D.C. on January 5th. Once they got to D.C., there was a series of handoffs and couriers that even included some help from Senator Ron Johnson's office. The ballots eventually reached the Capitol in time, but Pence's team said they didn't want them. He refused to go along with the plan.

By the way, this episode is vaguely referenced in special counsel Jack Smith's indictment against Trump. Sources tell CNN that some of the people involved, including the staffers who were on those flights, have even spoken to Smith's team.

But it's not clear how many of these details from the last-minute scramble are going to factor into Donald Trump's criminal trial, which is scheduled to begin in March.

Marshall Cohen, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: The U.S. Justice Department is threatening to sue Texas over its new immigration law. It gives local law enforcement in Texas the authority to arrest migrants, and it grants judges the ability to issue orders to remove them from the United States.

[04:35:06]

In a letter to Republican Governor Abbott obtained by CNN, the Justice Department wrote that the law violates the U.S. Constitution and warned the U.S. would sue unless Texas refrains from enforcing this new law.

Abbott signed Senate Bill 4 into law last week, and it is set to go into effect in March.

A successful launch for a SpaceX rocket on a secret mission for the U.S. military. The Falcon Heavy rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center last night, carrying the X-37B space plane.

It operates with no crew, and with its destination and purpose a closely guarded mystery. The military says the plane will carry out cutting-edge research. How intriguing. The landing of the rocket's twin boosters was equally spectacular. The launch comes just weeks after China launched its own secretive spacecraft.

In the U.S., daring surfers from all over the world braved the elements to ride some huge waves in Northern California. Pro surfers took part in the legendary Mavericks competition held in Half Moon Bay on Thursday. That's as the National Weather Service issued a high surf warning that waves could reach up to 30 feet. That's nearly 10 meters.

And a scary sight just northwest of Los Angeles as a rogue wave swept away onlookers. Officials in Ventura say about 15 to 20 people were briefly washed down a street about 30 to 50 yards. Eight people were transported to local hospitals.

More than 7 million people are under wind advisories and 6 million are under high surf warnings on the west coast of the United States. In California, the city of San Diego is under a coastal flood advisory and a high surf warning until Monday. And San Francisco could see waves of up to 40 feet through Friday morning.

More details now from CNN meteorologist Elisa Raffa.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: An intense high surf and coastal flooding event is unfolding in California. The National Weather Service is calling it exceptional, something we haven't seen in many years.

They're warning that that recurrent risk is extreme. It is dangerous and could cause a threat to life from drowning. Some of these waves have been so high, some of them already measuring by buoys up to 28 feet in some parts of California. And in some parts, they could be even higher than that and cause some damage.

Here's the culprits. We have multiple storms that are swirling into the west coast. There's one swirling up towards the Pacific Northwest. And then here's another one on its way that's packing a punch with intense winds as it works its way eastward into California going into Friday.

Here's a look at some of these coastal alerts from the U.S.-Mexico border up into Oregon. Looking at some high surf alerts for wave heights from Santa Barbara down towards San Diego. You're looking at high surf warnings for up to 25 feet for some of those waves. For the San Francisco Bay Area, up to 40 feet.

When you have waves that tall, they could be destructive. You're talking about damage to piers and jetties, so something that they'll have to watch out for. Also, when you have waves that high, you're talking about inland flooding.

You've got some coastal alerts, again, from San Diego up to San Francisco for that minor coastal flooding. Some of those low-lying areas could get some inundation. Because also on top of that, we have the maximum high tide for the month so far. That's happening right now.

So, again, adding insult to injury with some of these taller oceans that are kicking more and could send some of that flooding inland.

Also, like I mentioned, packing a punch with the winds. Wind alerts for these wind gusts up to 50 to 60 miles per hour going through the weekend. And you can see that happening, especially going into Friday in San Francisco and areas to the north where you could get those gusts up to 60 miles per hour.

But I want to point out, look at how intense the wind is in the heart of this storm over the ocean. That's why these waves are so intense, because those winds kind of churning the ocean, picking them up and sloshing them towards the California coast. So, something that they'll continue to have to watch because here's another wave. So, this will continue, this threat, going into the weekend.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: The Ukrainian general staff tells CNN that Friday was the biggest wave of Russian air attacks since the beginning of the full- scale invasion. We'll go live to Kyiv after a short break.

[04:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: We go back to Ukraine now, which came under massive Russian airstrikes this morning, according to Ukraine's prime minister.

Officials say cities across the country took Russian fire in recent hours, including Kyiv, which caused fires, damage, and casualties. The Ukrainian general staff called it the biggest wave of Russian air attacks since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion.

For more, we're joined from Kyiv by Helena Lins, a reporter for CNN Portugal. So, Helena, you're in Kyiv, one of the cities that was struck with this barrage overnight. What was the experience of you and your team? And tell us just how extensive and intensive this bombardment was.

HELENA LINS, REPORTER, CNN PORTUGAL: Hello, Bianca. The explosions, we could hear them in the morning, early hours in the morning. It was a loud morning here in Kyiv. And right now, we are in a central area of the city where, as you can see, this building, a business building, has been hit. It was not being used, but there's still some damage.

When we arrived here, there were, you know, parts of it on the road, as well as a lot of shattered windows. And this was, as you were saying, a massive attack.

You know, Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that more than 100 missiles were launched. Around, more than 80 cruise missiles were shot down, 20 drones as well. But still, there were some damages in the city.

So, these 18 cruise missiles that I'm talking about and the 20 drones were shot down around the country. But here in Kiev, there is this building, there's also a warehouse that caught fire. And from the other side of the street, a metro station was also damaged.

As you know, a lot of these metro stations are used as shelters. So, this one was damaged. The main entrance is still closed.

The teams are now working on cleaning the streets and repairing the damages. The metro station in Kyiv is working. People can access this metro station from another entrance. But still, this Lukianivska metro station was also one of the parts of the city that there was some damage.

[04:45:00]

And as you were saying, this was a massive attack. So not only in Kyiv, but also in other parts of the country. As for Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Odessa, Dnipro, all of these cities have also registered explosions.

And Lviv, a city in the West, which is not so common to be hit, also registered explosions and damages. In this city, a lot of people from the East take shelter. So this was an attack to the entire country.

And unfortunately, there's at least more than 10 people dead already. And as you were saying, the prime minister of the country already said this was one of the biggest attacks in Ukraine. A massive attack that hit not only metro stations, business buildings, but also reportedly hospitals, schools and residential areas as well.

NOBILO: Helena Lins in Kyiv, thank you very much. Stay safe.

In Moscow, some Russian celebrities are now facing intense backlash for showing up barely clothed at an almost naked themed party.

It comes as the country implements an increasingly conservative social agenda. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO (voice-over): Dress code optional. Quite literally. An almost naked themed party hosted by a popular blogger in the lead up to the holidays in Moscow has gone viral in Russia.

Blogger Anastasia Ivleeva organized the party in the heart of Moscow's nightclub district on December 21st.

Partygoers showed up half clothed or with barely anything on, with outfits made of mesh, lingerie, and other creative materials to strategically cover limited parts of their body. But photos of the almost naked partygoers have sparked outrage across some parts of Russian society.

Internal criticism has mounted about how a party of this nature could go ahead as Russians continue fighting on the frontlines in Ukraine.

Orthodox church officials, pro-war activists and pro-Kremlin lawmakers have all denounced the scantily clad partygoers. Attendees are now facing legal action. A court verdict against the party said the event was aimed at propagating non-traditional sexual relationships.

Rapper Vacio, who showed up wearing a sock covering his intimate areas and not much else, has been found guilty of petty hooliganism by the Russian courts. He has been sentenced to 15 days in jail and fined 200,000 rubles or roughly $2,200. Planned New Year's parties organized by celebrities who attended the party have been replaced with other stars.

Ivleeva apologized via her Instagram page, posting a 21-minute video asking for forgiveness and a second chance. Other celebrity partygoers have followed suit.

In a previous video, Ivleeva claimed the event was an opportunity to showcase photos created during her tenure as the chief editor of the now defunct Russian edition of Playboy.

Ivleeva also faces legal action and hefty fines. A collective lawsuit filed against Ivleeva on Tuesday by 22 people and initiated by a Russian actor seeks compensation of one billion rubles, that's $11 million, for moral damages.

Backlash against the party comes as authorities in the country are pushing an increasingly conservative and homophobic agenda.

Just last month, Russia's LGBTQ community movement was deemed an extremist organization by the country's Supreme Court.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO (on camera): Wrongfully detained American Paul Whelan marked the grim fifth anniversary of his captivity in Russia on Thursday. In an exclusive phone interview with CNN, Whelan revealed his state of mind after five years in detention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL WHELAN, WRONGFULLY DETAINED AMERICAN IN RUSSIA (via phone): I start the day, you know, singing the national anthems of my four countries, and, you know, things get progressively worse from there.

But, you know, there are people I speak to. I make calls home, I write letters, I read books, but it's extremely difficult being innocent and in prison and waiting for people to help you. It's a disintegrating experience. Your mind, your body, your soul, everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Whelan was arrested five years ago while visiting Moscow for a friend's wedding and then sentenced to 16 years in prison accused of spying. The ex-Marine also had a message for U.S. President Joe Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHELAN: I'm more than past ready to return home and I'm counting on the U.S. government to come for me, and soon. The time is now to take decisive action and bring this debacle to a close.

[04:50:00]

President Biden, please use every resource available to secure my release as you would do if your own son had been taken hostage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Earlier, CNN spoke with Whelan's brother about his wrongful imprisonment and his concerns about his brother's well-being.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID WHELAN, PAUL WHELAN'S BROTHER: I think, unfortunately, Paul is -- his mental health is breaking down, his resilience is starting to crumble, and that's not unexpected after five years.

Unfortunately, I think no matter how tirelessly the U.S. government wishes it could bring Paul home, without the cooperation of the Kremlin, it's unlikely to happen. And so, I think there's this very frustrating point with Paul's situation where he may have to last another 11 years or some part of that before the U.S. government is successful at bringing him home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan called Whelan's detention an appalling milestone.

Stormy weather made for a scary landing for this plane at Heathrow. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:55:10]

NOBILO: We've got some stories in the spotlight for you.

A passenger jet from Los Angeles experienced some serious winds while landing in London on Wednesday. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh, stop it!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: That's so British.

I'm also a nervous to fly, so now I feel really sick. An aviation enthusiast caught the moment on camera. You heard the enthusiasm.

Heavy crosswinds from Storm Gerrit shook the plane just before it touched down, causing that wild wobbling that you see there. But fortunately, aside from the brief scare, everything was fine. Clearly a competent pilot, and the plane landed safely. Now, this is a food fight like you've never seen them before. Dozens of people in face paint and military garb hurl eggs, flour, and firecrackers during a mock coup in a small Spanish town. It starts when one group takes over the mayor's office and issues absurd laws. When people break the newly established laws, they pay up in real money, all of which goes to charity. An inevitable battle with the opposition restores order. It's all part of a 200-year-old annual festival, marking the biblical massacre of the innocents by King Herod.

That was a lot. That does it here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Bianca Nobilo in London. "EARLY START" is next. Have a wonderful New Year. I will see you in 2024.

END