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After a Portion of Cabin Rips Out at 16,000 Feet, FAA Grounds Certain Boeing 737 Max 9 Aircraft; 2024 U.S. Election; Civil War, According to Trump, "Could Have Been Negotiated"; Trump Retaliating to Biden's Address in Pennsylvania; Diplomats Strive to Stop Crisis from Getting Out of Control; Hezbollah Fires More Rockets Into Israel; Sec. Blinken on a Diplomatic Visit to Jordan; Dramatic New January 6th Footage; Pres. Biden Wasn't Aware for Days that Defense Sec. Austin was Hospitalized; Missile Attacks in Ukraine Left 11 Dead, Including 5 Children; Election in Bangladesh; Historic Lunar Mission Set for Launch; India's Solar Observatory Reached Intended Position with Uninterrupted View of the Sun. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired January 07, 2024 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Good to have you with us.

Ahead on "CNN Newsroom". We're learning more about what happened when a piece of an Alaska Airlines plane blew off in flight. Details and why investigators are asking for the public's help.

Plus, Donald Trump makes a bizarre claim about the Civil War and levels an attack on one of his top rivals. The latest from the campaign trail in Iowa.

And on the third anniversary of the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, the Department of Justice releases new videos showing an encounter between a Republican congressman and rioters.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom with Lynda Kinkade."

KINKADE: We begin this hour with a terrifying midair emergency that left a hole in a passenger jet flying at an altitude of 16,000 feet. The National Transportation Safety Board officials said a door plug came off the Alaska Airlines flight shortly after takeoff, causing the cabin to depressurize. Incredibly, the plane landed safely with only minor injuries among the 177 passengers and crew.

The NTSB is investigating and held a news conference a few hours ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER HOMENDY, CHAIR, U.S. NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: When you are a customer, purchased such as an airline, purchasing an aircraft, Boeing would make an airframe, one airframe which is sold to multiple customers, and the customers will order the design that they need for their operations.

This particular aircraft for Alaska is certified for up to 189 passengers. And given the 189-passenger threshold, Alaska would not have to have emergency exit doors at that location in the aircraft. Alaska actually only has on this, plane 178 seats.

But this door, mid-cabin door plug, there's one on the left, there's one on the right, they are not operational. What you would see in the cabin if you are a passenger is a window and just part of the cabin. You would not see those as doors unless you are outside of the aircraft.

Now, we know that there were 171 passengers on board the airplane with two pilots, the captain was flying at the time. They also had four flight attendants on board. Fortunately, all passengers deplaned. We are not aware of any serious injuries. We are aware of reports of minor injuries. With that said, I imagine this was a pretty terrifying event. We don't often talk about psychological injury, but I'm sure that occurred here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: While the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has ordered the temporary grounding of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft operated by U.S. Airlines or in U.S. territory. One passenger described the terrible moments after the hull ripped open in the plane before the emergency landing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I understand from talking to a lady who was sitting in the row immediately behind where the panel blew up that there was a -- you could see later that there was a two-window section panel that blew up, it's about as wide as a refrigerator and about two thirds as high. And she said there was -- I guess, a boy and his mother were sitting in that row and his shirt was sucked off him and out of the plane and his mother was holding onto him and she said her own little boy's phone went out too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Frightening. Well, the NTSB is asking for the public's help finding the missing door plug that flew off that plane. Graeme Braithwaite is a professor of safety and accident at the U.K.'s Cranfield University. He joins us live from Cambridge, England. Good to have you with us.

GRAHAM BRAITHWAITE, PROFESSOR OF SAFETY AND ACCIDENT, CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY: Thank you.

KINKADE: So, what I found quite surprising was that this is a relatively new plane delivered to Alaska Airlines November 11th. What would be your first line of questioning in this investigation?

[04:05:00]

BRAITHWAITE: So, the investigators will come to this with an open mind. And they will want to look at everything from the manufacture of this aircraft through to its delivery and through to any maintenance that might have occurred at Alaska over the last two months. But I think the focus will be, is there anything unusual about the way in which this aircraft was made, and was there anything that might have been missed during the quality assurance processes? That inevitably would take place in that manufacturing.

KINKADE: And near where that panel blew off, we know -- we heard today that seats blew out. Some people lost their clothing. The chair of the National Transport Safety Board said this could have been catastrophic had the plane been at cruising altitude. Just describe for us what passengers would have experienced and what could have happened had this flight been further along in its journey.

BRAITHWAITE: So, you can only imagine it was a pretty terrifying experience for those on board. You absolutely don't expect something like this to happen. It is an incredibly rare event. But any decompression is likely to involve a sudden rush of air. There might be a significant change in noise because you now hear the slipstream outside of the aircraft. And, those oxygen masks will drop down in front of you, as per the safety video, and people will need to put those on.

So, that's a pretty frightening thing. It should immediately be followed by the crew descending to try and get to the aircraft to 10,000 feet. And 10,000 feet is a perfectly breathable altitude. This particular aircraft would have been pressurized as if it was 8,000 feet inside the cabin. The event happened at 16,000 feet. So, that's 8,000 feet difference in pressure to equalize through that hole.

If this aircraft had been at a cruising altitude up at 35,000 feet, then it would have been much more extreme. And our concern there would be that as the air rushes out very quickly, then passengers sat in that area would be vulnerable. So, it's a good reminder that when airlines say keep your seatbelt fastened as much as you can, then that's probably a very sensible thing to do, even though this is such a rare event.

KINKADE: Yes. And, Professor, investigators are now calling on anyone who may have seen that part of the plane panel to call in. What could that piece reveal about what may have happened?

BRAITHWAITE: So, the thing that we're referring to is a section that looks about the same size as an aircraft door. So, it's known as a plug and it sits in that door frame. And as I explained in the earlier bit of this piece, some customers will choose to put a door there if they have got a very high configuration in terms of passengers, this particular airline just has a plug. So, it's got a normal size window in it, and it's the section that's bolted to the aircraft.

So, if that's gone, they are going to want to have a look at, you know, can we see some fatigue (ph)? Can we see some damage? Can we see something missing from manufacturing? You know the -- investigators are driven by evidence, and if they can find that piece of physical evidence, it'll help us understand much more clearly what might have gone wrong in this case.

KINKADE: And we do know, Professor, that the FAA has ordered the temporary grounding of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft operated by U.S. Airlines or in the U.S. territory. Do you believe that all airlines globally that use the Boeing 737 MAX 9 do the same?

BRAITHWAITE: I would imagine that if you are operating the 9 with this plug configuration rather than the door, then an inspection is a very sensible thing to do at this point. And that's what the FAA are requiring. I know United Airlines have already started that inspection process. It takes about four to eight hours in the maintenance hangar to do that. So, that inspection is really sensible.

One thing we know about the National Transportation Safety Board process is that as soon as they find something that is of concern and they will feed that directly back through the regulator, the FAA, and they share that around the world. One thing we do in aviation very well is actually share that information.

So, I know, for example, in the UK, the Civil Aviation Authority has already said for aircraft to fly into U.K. airspace, any 737 MAX 9 with this plug configuration would need that inspected before they do that. So, we're going to take a very, very conservative approach as an industry.

KINKADE: Yes, as you would expect and hope as a passenger, I'm sure. But when you look at that list of airlines, quite a number impacted. Plenty of cancelled flights as a result. We know that today was the planning phase. Tomorrow the investigation begins. How long could this investigation take?

BRAITHWAITE: So, I think it could take quite a period of time to understand the full set of contributory or causal factors behind something like that. And we always say that because we want to make sure we get the right answer, not just the fast answer.

[04:10:00]

Now, having said that, that doesn't mean that we have to wait until we do something. So, you will see this conservative approach. The FAA have come forward and grounded that particular element of the fleet, which I think was a very sensible thing to do in these circumstances. As soon as they've got information that allows them to unground them or a process or an inspection that allows them to unground them then -- and then we'll do that.

But I think at this stage of the investigation, nobody credible would be saying exactly how long it will take to finalize because we just don't know how far we need to go to understand. Was this a one off, was this an unusual defect, or is this something more systemic?

KINKADE: All right. Cranfield University's Graham Braithwaite in Cambridge, England, we appreciate your time. Thank you. Well, Former U.S. President Donald Trump is suggesting that the American Civil War could have been avoided through negotiation. At a campaign event in Iowa on Saturday, Trump argued that the fight to end slavery in the U.S. was ultimately unnecessary. And then American President Abraham Lincoln should have done more to avoid the bloodshed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Civil War was so fascinating, so horrible. It was so horrible, but so fascinating. It was -- I don't know, it was just different. I just find it -- I'm so attracted to seeing it. See, there was something I think could have been negotiated, to be honest with you. I think you could have negotiated that and they could have been negotiated and they wouldn't have had that problem. But it was a tell -- it was a hell of a time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: When Trump's comment come ahead of the state's caucuses, which will happen in a little over a week where he has had a significant lead over his rivals. The former president also lashed out at President Joe Biden in a speech in -- Joe Biden's speech in Pennsylvania on Friday.

CNN's Alayna Treene has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Former President Donald Trump crisscrossed the state of Iowa this weekend, and really tried to deliver his closing arguments to Iowa voters in the lead up to the January 15th caucuses. And one of the main goals of his speech was not just to talk about the primary, but to look ahead to a potential general election rematch with Joe Biden.

And a key part of that was responding to a speech that Biden gave on Friday where he accused Donald Trump of being a threat to American democracy. Trump, as we've seen him do time and time again, try to flip the script and argue that Biden is actually the threat to democracy and pointed to the series of indictments that he is facing as proof of his argument.

Now, Trump also spent a lot of time this weekend attacking Nikki Haley, something that's really interesting. As someone who has covered the Trump campaign for quite a bit, I can tell you that these are some of the sharpest attacks we've heard from Donald Trump on the campaign trail so far. Trump argued that Nikki Haley is in the pocket of Biden donors and also tried to paint her as an establishment figure. Take a listen to what he had to say.

TRUMP: People who fund Nikki Haley and Ron aren't working for your interests. They're working for the interests of other nations and themselves, and so are those two. Nikki would sell you out just like she sold me out. I mean, I'll never run against him. He was a great president. Why would I run?

TREENE: Now, I think the context of these Haley attacks is really important to note. We see that Nikki Haley is rising in the polls in New Hampshire. It's something that Donald Trump's team is very carefully watching as well. And I think that, you know, it also comes as he's spending a lot of money as well as not only the campaign, but also his leading Super PAC are pouring millions of dollars into attacking Nikki Haley in New Hampshire. And so, I think we're going to continue to see him train that fire on her in the weeks to come.

Alayna Treene, CNN, Newton, Iowa.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, Republican presidential candidate and Trump's rival, Nikki Haley, is once again criticizing her former boss. She was also campaigning in Iowa this weekend and said that Trump was, "Good at breaking things, but wasn't good at fixing them. She also said that chaos follows Trump, and pitched herself as a new generational leader that will leave the baggage behind.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: For those that want me to hit Trump more, I just -- I'm not going to do it. I told you that I'm not going to do it. If he lies about me, I'll call him out on it. If he's done something wrong, whether it's the economy or how he talks about dictators and those things, I'll call him out on every one of those issues. But I just think politics is personal enough and I think let's focus on the issues in getting America back on track.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: While Ron DeSantis takes a swipe at Donald Trump while campaigning in Iowa, the Florida governor criticized the former president for not having a plan to tackle election integrity, despite Trump's constant gripes and falsehoods that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

[04:15:00]

DeSantis cited this as one of the many reasons Iowans should support him over the current presidential frontrunner. From the campaign trail, CNN's Steve Contorno filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has staked his campaign on a strong performance in Iowa, and he has spent a lot of time here. And with nine days until the Iowa caucuses, that was a big part of his closing pitch during his visits here throughout the weekend. He was reminding voters that he is a candidate who visited all 99 counties. He is a candidate who has been unafraid to debate in any setting, obviously contrasting himself there with Former President Donald Trump, who has not debated any of these candidates at all.

And when it comes to Trump, he said he had a chance to watch the former president at his rallies over the weekend. And he said, "This is not the same candidate by any stretch of the imagination."

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL), U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would say though, beyond that, it's just when you're doing the 99, the full Grassley (ph), it takes a lot of time, but I think it's a lot of benefit. I think the -- I think -- you know, I'm a better dad and husband. I'm a better governor. I'm a better candidate. And I'd be a better president as a result of going through this.

So, the choice on January 15th, I think, is very simple. Donald Trump is running for his issues. Nikki Haley's running for her donor's issues. I'm running for your issues. I'm running for your family's issues. I'm running solely for this country's issues. And we have an opportunity here. Indeed, we have a responsibility to stand up and make our voice heard in 2024. And Iowa gets the first crack at it.

CONTORNO: DeSantis also reminding voters that the Iowa caucuses generally have pretty low turnout compared to primaries. And if they just show up with some friends and some neighbors, they might be able to change the outcome here and perhaps deliver a surprise for him going into New Hampshire.

Steve Contorno, CNN, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, approximately 25 million people are under severe weather alerts in the U.S. as the northeast is bracing for a winter storm. Overnight, the heaviest snow is expected in central and northern New York and throughout New England. Boston could get six to eight inches of snow. Officials there are advising passengers to check on their flights before going to the airport. More than 600 flight cancellations were reported on Saturday.

A few flakes were already spotted in New York City and Philadelphia Saturday afternoon, but rain has now overtaken the snow in those cities. In Connecticut, transportation officials are preparing for the snowstorm headed their way.

CNN's Solo -- Polo Sandoval is in Hartford with more on the state's plans to keep thousands of miles of roads clear and safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, officials have said that they do not expect any major disruptions in some of the major cities throughout the northeast. However, going into Sunday, we do expect at least some significant snowfall, particularly in portions of the northeast. In fact, if the weather -- if the forecast holds true, we are expecting what could be perhaps one of the biggest snowstorms here in Hartford, Connecticut that we've seen in about three years from last time when we saw close to a foot of snow. It's one of the reasons why Connecticut transportation officials have really been preparing for this. They've been deploying, pre-stationing and -- pre-positioning, we should say, over 600 pieces of dedicated snow removal equipment. It will be their job to work, really throughout the night, to make sure their nearly 4,000 miles of roadways are safe and clear.

One of the things that officials have on their side is the fact that this storm will be hitting on the weekend, during the overnight hours. So, because of that, they do expect the impact to this -- of this storm to be at least fairly minimal, or at least that's what they hope for. I want you to hear directly from one transportation official as he breaks down, really, why this storm is one that they're watching.

COMMISSIONER GARRETT EUCALITTO, CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION: We're New Englanders. We're used to it, but I think it's a -- it's going to be good refresher course for a lot of people here at the DOT, but also people throughout the state this is what a winter should look like.

SANDOVAL: Experts are, though, tracking and monitoring what is likely going to be a bigger, even more menacing storm that will start from the interior of the U.S., according to meteorologists, and eventually be cutting its way all the way up to the Great Lakes region with a combination of ice, snow and heavy wind as well.

Polo Sandoval, CNN Hartford, Connecticut.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: With diplomats rushing to the Mideast to prevent the war in Gaza from spilling over. But amid the talks, more fighting breaks out on Israel's northern border. That story ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:20:00]

KINKADE: Welcome back. Diplomatic efforts are shifting into overdrive to prevent the war in Gaza from spilling into other places in the region. Right now, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Jordan where he held talks earlier this morning. This is video of him touring a World Food Programme warehouse before heading to Qatar and the UAE later today.

What top EU Diplomat Josep Borrell held his own talks in Lebanon on Saturday, saying it's a must to prevent the country from being dragged into the conflict. But as diplomats work to prevent an escalation, more fighting is breaking out on Israel's northern border. Hezbollah militants say, they fired a barrage of rockets from Lebanon at an Israeli observation post Saturday. Israel says, it later struck back at the unit that fired the rockets. Hezbollah said that was only what it called an initial response to the recent killing of a senior Hamas leader in Lebanon.

For more analysis, we are joined now by Yaakov Katz, a senior columnist for the "Jerusalem Post". He's joining us live from Jerusalem. Good to have you with us.

YAAKOV KATZ, SENIOR COLUMNIST, THE JERUSALEM POST AND AUTHOR, "SHADOW STRIKE": Thank you.

KINKADE: So, today marks three months of war. Israeli ministers have begun debating what Gaza could look like after the war. The only thing that seems to be clear is there is no consensus. We've got two senior Israeli ministers discussing Gaza where Palestinians would lead.

[04:25:00]

And given that you've got your finger on the pulse in Israel, what is the public view on this war especially given the fact that Netanyahu's support, according to the polls, is waning?

KATZ: It's a complicated question because on the one hand, Israelis would like to see a continuation of the war for Israel to be able to achieve its goals, of toppling the Hams regime in the Gaza Strip. Preventing a recurrence of the style massacre, the likes of which took place on October 7th. And retrieving the 130 plus hostages that remain inside Gaza being held by Hamas.

On the other hand, Israelis would also like to see an end to this conflict. And the question is, how do we do that in a way that preserves security on the one hand. But on the other hand, also allows Gaza to rebuild, to reconstruct, and to be a place that is stable and will not be taken over again by a terrorist entity like Hamas. And that is this complicated balancing act that Israel and the International Community, together with Palestinian partners, need to find a way to walk, that will be able to preserve security but also give Gaza the opportunity to flourish.

I think that Israel is also strained, as you mentioned Lynda, by political considerations. There are members of Netanyahu's coalition who do not want to see any role for the Palestinian authority inside Gaza. On the other hand, it's hard to imagine any scenario for the day after without the Palestinian authority. And Netanyahu is in the middle because he doesn't want to lose his coalition. So, you have got a lot of different levers here that are at play at the same time.

KINKADE: Yes, I mean, it is a big question that you raised there. If, you know, Hamas has gone, would the Palestinian authority step in and run the Gaza Strip? And if not, why not? Talk to us more about who's against that.

KATZ: Yes, the Palestinian authority which is basically been the entity that rules the Palestinian people inside what's primarily the West Bank, they used to be in the Gaza Strip and they were kicked out in 2007 by Hamas when they lost the election in the prior year in 2006. Hamas overran them in the summer of 2007, and they haven't been there since.

And when you look at their operations or their governance, let's call it in the West Bank, they also haven't been effective. There's rampant corruption. The leader of the Palestinian authority, Mahmoud Abbas, is in his 18th or 19th year of his four-year term. He's in his late 80s. He's no longer effective. They have laws on their books that call for payments to be made to terrorists who murder Jews. They have incitement within their education system.

So, there are a lot of Israelis who are skeptical that this so-called peace partner of ours is what should take over and fill the vacuum that's going to be created inside Gaza. On the other hand, we also have to recognize that there aren't people lining up to take on this role. There are Israelis who I speak to, also in government, who talk about some Saudi, Emirati, Egyptian initiative. Well, I look around and I don't see any Saudis or Emiratis or Egyptians who are even asking or offering to take the Gazan refugees into their countries, let alone come and take over the Gaza Strip.

So, I think that we're left with really only one viable option, and that is some role for the Palestinian authority. But it's highly politically volatile if I could call it that, because the right-wing elements of Netanyahu's coalition are against seeing them empowered. Maybe out of a fear that this could lead to some pressure on Israel to actually engage in a larger diplomatic negotiation with them about the larger conflict that we have also in the West Bank.

KINKADE: Yaakov, the U.S. Secretary of State is in the region, this is his fourth trip since the Hamas terror attacks. What are the expectations of this trip with regards to Israel? Because we know that the U.S. is the biggest supporter of Israel and certainly providing much of the weaponry used in this war. What do you think we can expect from this trip?

KATZ: I think that Secretary Blinken is here, Lynda, because he wants to get his -- put his finger on the pulse of what's happening in Israel. And what is the continued direction of the operation in the South, America would definitely like to see Israel deescalate and move from this high intensity stage of the conflict to a less intense stage of the conflict where Israel has a buffer zone. It is in greater defensive posture but it also will continue to go into Gaza as needed to take out Hamas infrastructure as it might be required based on intelligence and operational needs. America would like to see that happen in the South.

In the North, as you mentioned earlier, there was that massive barrage of rockets on Saturday. The situation there is highly tense. There are 100,000 Israelis who have been evacuated from their homes because of the threat from Hezbollah. There was the presumed Israeli strike in Beirut in the Dahieh neighborhood, which is the stronghold of Hezbollah.

So, the situation there is tense. It could -- within the snap of a finger, lead to a full out war, and America wants to see this war contained. They don't want a larger escalation that would bring in the whole region. So, Blinken is here to, kind of, say to the Israelis, let's see how you continue to deescalate in the south, and let's make sure we don't escalate in the north.

[04:30:00]

KINKADE: And in your latest article in "Newsweek", you write about how various U.S. Presidents have -- had different visions for peace in the Middle East. And over the years, Netanyahu has been pressured to agree, at times having his arm twisted, as you put it. He doesn't seem to be facing much pressure from the U.S. at this point in time. Is it only a matter of time?

KATZ: I believe it's only a matter of time. The Americans are giving Israel a lot of leeway, I think, out of a genuine understanding that something needs to change here. That it makes no sense for any country to live with a terrorist monster like Hamas along its border and to be allowed to do what Hamas did to us here in Israel on October 7th when it massacred 1,200 people and took another 240 hostages. This needs to change. But at the same time, the patience is not unlimited. And the legitimacy that Israel has on the international stage is also not without a limit. And therefore, Israel does need to come up with some sort of diplomatic vision, right?

We always need to remember, Lynda, the military means or military action is a means towards a political resolution. So, the military operation is not the end all of what we want to see happen in Gaza. We need to create conditions through the military to be able to allow for something politically to happen there. And that's what America wants to find out. And that's what Blinken wants to make sure that Netanyahu is still on track to articulate, what is the political resolution?

And what I was writing about was how we still have yet to hear from our prime minister. What is his vision for that day after? And instead of Israel outlining it, what's likely going to happen based on the past is that someone else is going to come shove it down Israel's throats and say, this is what you got to do. Take it or leave it. And it might not be under optimal conditions. So, my suggestion is, we should outline what we want before someone tells us what to do.

KINKADE: Yes, I mean, as you say, the patience is running out as we -- as the death toll in Gaza is rising. We appreciate your time today, Yaakov Katz from the "Jerusalem Post", thanks so much.

KATZ: Thank you.

KINKADE: Well, still to come, we have new footage of rioters harassing lawmakers during the January 6th Capitol attack. And the video is shocking.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:35:00]

KINKADE: Welcome back. It's three years since the U.S. Capitol was stormed, and the Justice Department has released new alarming footage where January 6th rioters harassed two Republican lawmakers through cracks in the entrance to the House chamber. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm at the Capitol doors. We're all outside the building. We're trying to get in. We got the glass broken. These are all your patriots. This is our house. This is our house. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our house.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our house.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you handle this then?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Open the door, brother.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How can you handle it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, man. Open the door.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're socialist pigs. You're not jail patriots and put this world together?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How can you handle it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's wrong with you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You got kids. You got kids? We got kids. We're fighting for today. America's got sons. So, you better watch out, boy.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't hear what this guy's saying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, you all. What are you all saying? We're your friends.

Yes. Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think they're going to --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, we just got pushed up in front. He's -- I've never had a ticket in my life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on, man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ever. You want my license number?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're real American citizens. We're sick of this. And we're making it knowing that we're sick of it. OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 30 years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you -- huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I've never had people act this way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say it again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been in law enforcement in Texas for 30 years --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Talk a little louder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- and I've never seen people act this way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's because you've never seen corruption just like we have seen this last month.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm ashamed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm ashamed of my Congresspeople. They don't even stand up for it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're giving away --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're giving away my grandchildren's and your grandchildren's freedom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need to back up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Freedom is at hand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go find another door, everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you understand we're fighting for you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You ought to put the guns down that -- we're not going to do anything, you know. That's dumb.

Breathe, breath. Hey guys, you got to breathe. Put the gun away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys can get the same paycheck when the government gets replaced with real governors.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With a good --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Reall people. Real government.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not going to be good for your future, man.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are fake. It's all fake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, former President Donald Trump continues to repeat lies and disinformation about the events of the insurrection. On the campaign trail this week, he once again referred to the rioters in the mob as hostages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You have the hostages, the J6 Hostages, I call them, nobody's been treated ever in history so badly as those people. But those J6 Hostages going to jail for 20 years and 18 years and it will go down as one of the saddest things in the history of our country. By the way, there was Antifa and there was FBI, there were a lot of other people there too, leading the charge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Of course, those claims have been debunked time and time again.

The White House says, U.S. President Joe Biden and the Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin shared a conversation Saturday after Mr. Biden was caught unaware that Austin had spent days in a hospital. Arlette Saenz has more.

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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Joe Biden was unaware for days that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalized since New Year's Day. A source familiar with the matter tells CNN, the National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan briefed President Biden on the issue after he, himself, had learned about the hospitalization on Thursday afternoon.

The Pentagon did not publicly disclose Austin's hospitalization until Friday. He -- they then revealed that he had entered Walter Reed Medical Center after an elective medical procedure and he had experienced some complications. He's -- has stayed there throughout the week and remains there at this time.

Now, the Pentagon has not provided much information about how serious this matter was, but they did say that Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks did assume some of the duties and responsibilities of the defense secretary while he was there. The Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, did assume full duties over the weekend, but he released a statement saying that he is on the mend and is looking forward to returning to the Pentagon. But he did address some of these transparency issues with not disclosing the fact that he was in the hospital much sooner.

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He wrote in this statement, "I also understand the media concerns about transparency and I recognize I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better." He added, but this is important to say, this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure.

Now, his hospitalization comes at an important time as the U.S. is still grappling with the -- Russia's war in Ukraine and also the conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas. There are also greater concerns about that conflict is spreading and becoming a wider regional issue.

So, still many questions remain about what exactly sent Austin to the hospital and why he waited so long to disclose this, not just to the public, but to President Biden. Arlette Saenz, CNN, traveling with the president in Wilmington, Delaware.

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KINKADE: Well, Ukraine says crews have been searching through the rubble of destroyed homes and buildings for survivors after Russian missiles hit the Donetsk region on Saturday. Officials say, 11 people were killed including five children, eight others were wounded. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered condolences and warned Russia that there will be consequences for these attacks.

Joining us now for more is CNN's Barbie Nadeau in Rome. So, Barbie, Russia, again, attacking civilian targets, residential homes, killing 11 people. What more can you tell us?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Yes, you know -- I mean, Ukraine saying, these were not military targets. These were three residential buildings that were struck with these powerful S-300 Russian missiles. You know, the 11 dead, the five children, they're still searching for more. They were able to find one person alive in that rubble but they are still searching for it. So, the casualties could go up. We haven't seen these sorts of larger numbers for quite some time of casualties in one attack, Lynda.

KINKADE: And of course, over the past five days or so, Moscow has carried out some of the largest attacks since their invasion two years ago, and it comes as Ukraine is carrying out more cross-border attacks.

NADEAU: That's right. You know, these cross-border attacks are proving to be very, very damaging to Russia as well. On Friday, an attack on a Russian stronghold, just as the Russian military leadership, they say, we're doing inspections in Belgorod, did destroy -- the Ukrainians say, did destroy, you know, a large stronghold there.

This all comes as Russia is celebrating Russian Orthodox Christmas. Vladimir Putin, on Saturday night, visited with some -- celebrated with some families who had lost loved ones in the military operation, as they call it. And today, will be expected to do some celebrations again. Ukraine, of course, celebrated December 25th.

KINKADE: All right. Barbie Nadeau, we'll leave it there for now. Thanks very much.

Well, still to come, voters in Bangladesh are casting their vote in the country's controversial general election. We'll have a live report next.

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KINKADE: Welcome back. Voting is well underway in Bangladesh. And the country's general election, that many critics say, is one sided. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling party is expected to win a fourth straight term, largely because the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party is boycotting the polls.

CNN's Vedika Sud joins us from New Delhi with the latest. Good to see you. So, this is a highly controversial election, largely because the main opposition party is boycotting it. Explain why.

VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely. Even the last election, the general election, in Bangladesh was equally controversial for the very same reason because back then the main opposition party had said, Lynda, that there was rigging of polls that had taken place. That was their main allegation. This time again, that is a concern. Not only by the main opposition party, but by critics as well, both inside Bangladesh and outside.

Now, we've seen a lot of violence in the lead up to this general election. We've seen protests in the roads by the main opposition party, followed by a massive crackdown on supporters of the main opposition party. We've seen arrests take place. The main opposition party has over and over again claimed that thousands of their supporters have been arrested. Some have even been -- some of them have even left the country.

Now, at a time like this when Sheikh Hasina calls her country a democracy, one would expect free and fair elections. One would expect some opposition from the main opposition party. But in this case, like you pointed out, the main opposition party has boycotted the election. They had given the option to Sheikh Hasina. In fact, it was a demand from the main opposition party some months back that she steps aside as the prime minister of the country and lets the caretaker government supervise this election, and that was a demand she rejected. After which we have seen a lot of violence on the streets of Bangladesh.

Now, this morning, Sheikh Hasina did cast her vote. There are just a couple of hours left before voting closes, in fact, and then the counting will begin. But at a time like this, the big question is, what does this mean for the democracy of Bangladesh? On the eve of the general election, there were protests that were led by main opposition leaders, party leaders, and here's what one of them had to say about the current state of affairs in Bangladesh. Listen in.

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JUNAID SAQI, CHIEF COORDINATOR OF GANATANTRA: We are protesting against a fraudulent election. It is absolutely a false election. They are snatching our voting rights, the people's voting rights. So, it's not an election at all. We want voting rights. We want democracy.

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SUD: It's a sham. It's a farce, that's what the main opposition party is saying in Bangladesh , along with critics of the Sheikh Hasina government. Now, she has been credited with turning around the economy in the 15 years that she's been in power, as well as making the garment industry the second largest in the world.

But along with that, she's also criticized for a lot of reasons, including authoritarianism along with muzzling free speech. At a time like this -- also the economy is now backsliding because you've had the IMF also build them out last year. So, the big question remains, where really does the democracy of Bangladesh stand as of now? Back to you.

KINKADE: Vedika Sud, good to have you reporting for us today. We will check in with you again later. Thanks so much.

More than 50 years after Apollo, NASA set its sights back on the moon. Coming up the boundary pushing technology it's using to get there.

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KINKADE: Welcome back. Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is hailing his nation's latest achievement in outer space as an extraordinary feat. India's solar observatory has just reached its intended position, an orbit with an uninterrupted view of the sun. The probe launched in early September on a five-year mission. It's packed with instruments to study the sun, including how solar winds and flares affect the Earth. The mission follows India's landmark mission to the moon last year, becoming the fourth country to make a soft landing of a probe on the lunar surface, and the first to land closer to the lunar south pole than any other craft.

Well, Monday could be a landmark day in NASA's long-term mission to return to the lunar surface. The Vulcan rocket is set to take off, loaded with equipment that will gather data for future moon missions. But as CNN's Kristin Fisher reports, not all payloads are scientific.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, dead comet (ph).

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Apollo 17, 1972, the last time the U.S. made a soft lunar landing. Now, 50 years later, NASA technology is returning to the surface of the moon. The Peregrine Mission One is a NASA collaboration with private space companies. Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic spearheaded the design of the lunar lander which you can see here being loaded onto a Vulcan rocket. The rocket itself was created by the United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, and this will be its inaugural flight.

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NASA's taking a backseat on the mission with Astrobotic running operations from its own ground control in Pittsburgh. Peregrine is due to land on the moon on the 23rd of February, gently touching down near the Gruithuisen domes, which are named after the Bavarian astronomer.

Peregrine marks the start of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, which will allow the government space agency to outsource the launch and transport of its lunar cargo to private companies. That cargo is key to NASA's Artemis program which aims to put the first woman and the first person of color on the moon. The Peregrine Lander is a boxy two and a half meters long and just under two meters tall.

On board, pieces of NASA cargo, some of which will gather valuable data for future moon missions. Also on board, an assortment of payloads from seven different countries, including a Bitcoin encoded coin from the Seychelles, a lunar rover built by students at Carnegie Mellon University, and even human remains, thanks to Elysium Space. Capsules containing a portion of Elysium customers loved ones will create a lunar memorial for friends and relatives to look at in the night sky.

Hot on the heels of Peregrine will be NASA's second CLPS mission, Intuitive Machines' Nova-C Lander will launch on a SpaceX rocket as early as February, delivering five more payloads to the moon's south pole. With around a dozen companies bidding for NASA's lunar contracts, Peregrine marks the start of a brand-new moonshot and a giant leap for the entire space industry.

Kristin Fisher, CNN.

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KINKADE: Well, that wraps this hour of "CNN Newsroom". I'm Lynda Kinkade. Good to have you with us. I'll be back with much more news after a very short break. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

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