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CNN International: Republican Candidates Move on to New Hampshire; Trump Eyes Win in New Hampshire After Iowa Landslide; U.S. Secretary of State Speaking at World Economic Forum in Davos; People Flee Khan Younis Hospital as Israel Forces Approach; U.S. Launches New Strikes Against Yemen's Houthi Rebels. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired January 17, 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]
ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. It's Wednesday, January 17th. I'm Bianca Nobilo.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Max Foster. It's 9 a.m. here in London, 4 a.m. in New Hampshire, where the Republican candidates for the U.S. presidency are shifting their campaigns into a higher gear.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis took part in a CNN town hall on Tuesday night, where he tried to differentiate himself from frontrunner Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think that he was the former president of the United States. He's one of the most famous people that's ever been involved in American politics. And there's obviously a lot of Republicans that appreciated his policies. But you still had roughly half of the Iowa caucusgoers that made another choice. And so that shows me, that tells me that there is an appetite for a different leader.
If Donald Trump is the nominee, the election will revolve around all these legal issues, his trials, perhaps convictions if he goes to trial and loses there, and about things like January 6th. We're going to lose if that's the decision that voters are making based on that. We don't want it to be a referendum on those issues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: Trump is counting on another big win in New Hampshire after his landslide victory in the Iowa caucuses. The former president came to New Hampshire on the attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nikki Haley in particular is counting on the Democrats and liberals to infiltrate your Republican primary. You know that. That's what's happening.
We have these two people. We really got to get back on to Biden and beating the Democrats and not wasting a lot of time with these two.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, Trump was joined on stage by entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who dropped out of the presidential race after Iowa and endorsed Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Last night, I was honored to receive the endorsement of a man who has become a true leader and earned the admiration of so many patriots.
So he has a big, beautiful, bright future ahead. Vivek Ramaswamy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: Nikki Haley is hoping for a better showing in New Hampshire, where recent polls show her gaining ground on Trump. But she says she won't take part in any more debates unless Trump does, too. Meanwhile, Haley is dealing with another controversy involving race and American history.
So last month, she failed to mention slavery when a voter asked her about the cause of the Civil War. And on Tuesday, she said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you a racist party? Are you involved in a racist party?
NIKKI HALEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No. We're not a racist country, Brian. We've never been a racist country. Our goal is to make sure that today is better than yesterday. Are we perfect? No. But our goal is to always make sure we try and be more perfect every day that we can.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, Haley's campaign tried to clarify her remarks, issuing a statement that says America has always had racism, but America has never been a racist country. Here's how CNN political commentator Ashley Allison responded to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Nikki Haley is not trying to be a leader in this moment. She's not even really going after Donald Trump. She hasn't. And so she's in New Hampshire also. Maybe if she was taking this tone in Iowa, I could see. But New Hampshire, you have moderates, you have independents. They understand the history of this country. What she said is just factually wrong.
When we think about the indigenous people who were moved from their land in this country, the lineage of slavery, it's offensive, especially coming from South Carolina, where her claim is that she was lowering the Confederate flag after nine black people were murdered by a white supremacist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Now, Donald Trump will be back in the New York courtroom today for the defamation case against, well, brought against him by journalist E. Jean Carroll. In New Hampshire, the former president blamed all of his legal troubles on President Joe Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They're bullshit indictments, I'll tell you. They're Biden. You know what I call them? I call them, they're Biden indictments. No, they've weaponized the DOJ. They go after their political opponent.
Now, in this particular case, it didn't work out so well. If I didn't get indicted all these times and if they didn't unfairly go after, I would have won, but it would have been much closer, I tell you.
[04:05:00]
I don't know if I would have made the trade. I might have just liked the position we're in right now. And we're doing very well on that score.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: Well, now on the race for New Hampshire, from CNN's Jeff Zeleny.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump arriving in New Hampshire --
TRUMP: This is the biggest one.
ZELENY (voice-over): -- following a landslide victory in Iowa, eyeing a decisive one-two punch on the road to the Republican nomination. And what he hopes will be a rematch with President Joe Biden.
TRUMP: This is the first because the big night is going to be in November when we take back our country and truly, we do make our country great again.
ZELENY (voice-over): Along the way, he made a voluntary detour to federal court in New York to watch jury selection in a defamation case against him. The latest sign of how the courtroom is a critical piece of this campaign. Nikki Haley sought to turn a narrow third place Iowa finish into a winning message on electability.
HALEY: Our campaign is the last best hope on stopping the Trump-Biden nightmare.
ZELENY (voice-over): That pointed argument rests at the heart of her weeklong push to the New Hampshire primary, hoping to tap into Americans exhausted by there pleading options. She amplified that call in a new TV ad.
ANNOUNCER, POLITICAL AD: The two most disliked politicians in American Trump and Biden.
ZELENY (voice-over): In New Hampshire, Haley were confident smile as she tried to will the primary into a two-person race.
HALEY: He is not my concern. I'm going after Trump.
ZELENY (voice-over): On the heels of a distance second place showing in Iowa, DeSantis began his day in Haley's home state of South Carolina, hoping to plant a flag outside New Hampshire to keep his presidential aspirations alive.
DESANTIS: Nikki Haley said, only the top two from Iowa, you know, go on to be viable. Well, guess what? We punched our tickets.
ZELENY (voice-over): DeSantis and Haley intensified their bitter duel over who is the leading alternative to Trump. Yet the former president's 51 percent Iowa win suggests most Republicans may not be looking for one.
Trump's unifying tone in Iowa --
TRUMP: I want to congratulate Ron and Nikki for having a good -- a good time together. We're all having a good time together. And I think they both actually did very well.
ZELENY (voice-over): -- belies the reality in New Hampshire, where he and his allies have been on the airwaves tearing into Haley, hoping to blunt any momentum.
ANNOUNCER, POLITICAL AD: Nikki Haley, too weak, too liberal to fix the border.
ZELENY (voice-over): While Iowa is the first stop on the Republican nominating calendar, once again, marked the end of the road for two more candidates, including former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, a fierce Trump critic, and Vivek Ramaswamy, the entrepreneur who endorsed Trump and is set to appear with him here in New Hampshire.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Henniker, New Hampshire.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBILO: The U.S. Senate has taken the first step in possibly avoiding a partial government shutdown. Senators voted to advance a short-term funding extension that would set up two new funding deadlines in early March.
FOSTER: Right now, Congress has until Friday to stop funding from running out for priorities, including military construction, veterans affairs, transportation, housing and the energy department. The rest of government is funded until February 2nd. Here's more from the Senate majority leader.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Now, while most Democrats and Republicans want to avoid a shutdown, a small group of hard right extremists seem dead set on making a shutdown a reality. With little leverage to actually enact their agenda, these extremists have tried again and again to bully the speaker, bully their own Republican colleagues and bully the country into accepting their hard right views.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: The U.S. Defense Secretary was released from the hospital this week after being treated for post-surgical complications from his prostate cancer. And now we're hearing his aides call for an ambulance on New Year's Day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY'S AIDE: Can I ask, can the ambulance not show up with lights and sirens? We're trying to remain a little subtle.
911 DISPATCHER: Yeah, I understand. Yeah, usually when they turn into a residential neighborhood, they'll turn them off. Is he reporting any chest pain at all?
AIDE: No.
911 DISPATCHER: OK. Did he pass out or does he feel like he's going to pass out?
AIDE: No.
911 DISPATCHER: OK, and like you said, he's awake. He's alert and oriented. He's not confused or anything like that, correct?
AIDE: Correct.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, Lloyd Austin's doctors say he was suffering from nausea, pain and urinary tract infection. It's not clear why Austin, who is 70, initially chose to keep his diagnosis and treatment secret, even from the White House and Congress.
NOBILO: But the decision caused outrage among Republicans. The Pentagon's inspector general has launched a review into the incident. FOSTER: Now, sources say the U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI are now
investigating comments allegedly made by Roger Stone.
NOBILO: In an audio recording, the Trump ally appears to discuss assassinating two well-known House Democrats in the weeks before the 2020 election. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[04:10:00]
ROGER STONE, ADVISER TO FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP: Either Swalwell or Nadler has to die before the election. They need to get the message. I'm just not putting up with this sh*t anymore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: Stone is referring there to Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell and Jerry Nadler. The tape was obtained by website Mediate.
FOSTER: CNN can't independently, well, hasn't independently obtained the recording, but Stone denied making the comments in a statement to Mediate and claimed they were generated by AI.
U.S. President Joe Biden expected to underline America's impact on the battlefields in Ukraine when he meets with a bipartisan group of lawmakers today.
NOBILO: Additional U.S. support for Ukraine has been held up for weeks now in Congress. Many Republicans are demanding any new aid be tied to tighter border security and immigration policies. The White House has seen encouraging signs of progress, though, on those border talks.
FOSTER: Sources say the plan is for Biden to largely focus on Ukraine. White House officials tell CNN President Biden will lay out setbacks that Ukraine could suffer in its fight against Russia without additional U.S. aid.
NOBILO: And Ukraine's president is urging world leaders to prevent the war from becoming a frozen conflict.
FOSTER: Yes, Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a passionate plea in person at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday. He's calling on Ukraine's allies to deliver more weapons and resources needed to win the war. He expressed gratitude for their support, but also criticized them for not doing enough sooner.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Full force of the sanctions could have forced Putin to concessions. Because of don't escalate, time was lost. And the lives of many, of many of our most experienced warriors who fought since 2014 were lost. Some opportunities were lost.
(END VIDEO CLIP) NOBILO: Mr. Zelenskyy thanked the White House for its support during
a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Washington's top diplomat says the U.S. is determined to see Ukraine succeed.
FOSTER: France announced another round of military assistance on Tuesday, including dozens of long-range cruise missiles and hundreds of bombs. French President Emmanuel Macron says he plans to visit Ukraine in February to finalize the security agreement. He says he believes Russian aggression in Ukraine poses the biggest threat to the security of France and Europe.
Meanwhile, Switzerland has agreed to hold a peace summit for Ukraine in the coming months.
The suspect charged with three counts of murder near New York's Gilgo Beach has now been charged with a murder in the second degree of a fourth victim.
Rex Heuermann's attorney says he's innocent, but prosecutors introduced new evidence which could seal his fate. CNN's Brynn Gingras has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICOLETTE BRAINARD-BARNES, DAUGHTER OF MAUREEN BRAINARD-BARNES: I was only seven years old when my mother was murdered.
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nicolette Brainard- Barnes speaking publicly for the first time after facing in court the man accused of killing her mother, Maureen.
BRAINARD-BARNES: I remember she read to me every night, and now I can no longer remember the sound of her voice. I wish she was here today, but she was taken from us.
Rex Heuermann charged with killing Maureen Brainard-Barnes, a 25-year- old woman who vanished in 2007 and is believed to be the Gilgo Beach killer's first victim.
Heuermann is now accused in the murders of all four women who were found within a quarter mile of each other along the same stretch of parkway on Long Island and infamously became known as the Gilgo Four. He's pleaded not guilty.
RAYMOND TIERNEY, SUFFOLK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This indictment marks a change in the investigation.
GINGRAS (voice-over): A hair found on a belt used to bind Barnes matches the DNA profile of Heuermann's now estranged wife, Asa Ellerup. The discovery made using advanced nuclear DNA analysis.
TIERNEY: We believe these DNA results are significant. Nuclear DNA, as illustrated, is much more discriminant.
GINGRAS (voice-over): In the 23-page updated indictment, prosecutors lay out more evidence they say ties the 60-year-old architect to the killings of the four women authorities say were sex workers. Hairs found on Megan Waterman's body and the burlap bindings match Rex Heuermann and his wife's advanced DNA profile.
And a hair found on Amber Costello's body matches Heuermann's daughter, Victoria, evidence Heuermann's attorney is already taking issue with.
MICHAEL BROWN, REX HEUERMANN'S ATTORNEY: All along we have been told that the evidence is unsuitable for nuclear DNA testing. This morning was the first time, and this is 13 plus years, that miraculously nuclear DNA testing and results have come forward.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Police say burner phones and computer activity also show communications with some of the victims. A credit card statement found in a storage locker and cell phone records further confirm Heuermann's family was out of town when the murders took place, which allowed, quote, unfettered time to execute his plans for each victim, the indictment reads.
TIERNEY: The grand jury investigation of the so-called Gilgo Four is over.
GINGRAS (voice-over): A step forward for family members continuing to seek justice.
MELISSA CANN, SISTER OF MAUREEN BRAINARD-BARNES: These victims had families. They were human beings with aspirations and hope for a better future for themselves.
[04:15:03]
GINGRAS: And that is the younger sister of Maureen Brainard-Barnes. If you remember, investigators say the killer called her from her sister's cell phone after her disappearance. So you can imagine how long she has been living with this. Finally saying that she feels like justice is coming to be served.
As far as what's next in this case, Heuermann is expected back in court next month. And the district attorney says they hope to use some of these new advanced DNA analysis to look into some of those other bodies that were discovered in that same stretch of highway. So it's possible we might see some more developments in this case.
Brynn Gingras, CNN New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBILO: Happening right now, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos, answering questions from Thomas Friedman of The New York Times. Let's listen.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: This is an inflection point. President Biden talks about this often. It's an inflection point geostrategically. I think it's also an inflection point in the Middle East.
And when you get to an inflection point, you have to make hard decisions.
THOMAS FRIEDMAN, THE NEW YORK TIMES: When we talk about a transformed Palestinian authority, Mr. Secretary, it seems to me in many ways it's the answer to, now that I hear you, four challenges Israel faces. That is, right now, challenge number one, since October 7th, Israel's lost the narrative in this war. That's how it's ended up in the world court, number one.
Number two, it went to war without any vision of the morning after or a Palestinian partner that could help it govern Gaza. Number three, we're trying to put together a regional alliance to deal with threats from Houthis and Hezbollah, which can only be dealt with through a regional alliance, and that requires a Palestinian component.
And so when you think about it, a credible, legitimate Palestinian state in peace with Israel becomes the answer to all three of those questions. You've just said that's a challenge this prime minister will have to rise to. Do we have the Palestinian leadership for that? And when we talk about a transformed Palestinian authority, what do we mean? What are we looking for?
BLINKEN: So, again, we don't purport to make these decisions for others. There have to be ways, means, vehicles for Palestinians to make these decisions. But I think what we're talking about is two things. You're talking about a governance, a government and a structure of governance that maximizes the ability of the authority to actually deliver what the Palestinian people want and need.
But it also has to be able to operate in what you might call a permissive environment. In other words, with the support of, with the help of Israel, not with its active opposition. Because even the most effective authority is going to have a lot of trouble if it's got the active opposition of any Israeli government.
But I think it's also clear from conversations that are going on now that the Palestinians are looking very hard at how they can come up with a more effective governance that can actually deliver what people want.
Some of what needs to be delivered is the basic function of government services. No corruption, transparency in the way government is pursued. There are also things that people want that they can't on their own deliver absent a partnership with Israel. So that has to be part of the equation as well.
FRIEDMAN: When we think of the time frame for this playing out, if we can get here...
NOBILO: Civilians flee a hospital compound in southern Gaza. This is coming up next as Israeli forces move closer. The latest on the war against Hamas that Blinken was just referring to in a live report ahead.
FOSTER: Plus, a Japanese tech company admits its obligation to compensate victims of what's been called one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British history. NOBILO: And a rare sight in Dallas, Texas, that's snow. Bitter cold
weather is affecting much of the U.S. right now. We'll tell you just how cold it's going to get.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: In Gaza International doctors at the largest hospital in Khan Younis say people are fleeing the compound as the Israeli military moves closer to the southern city.
NOBILO: Videos show people carrying personal belongings as they leave Al-Nasr Hospital area where some had taken shelter. Earlier Tuesday, the Israeli military claimed Hamas had carried out a recent launch from within that hospital compound.
FOSTER: Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces tell CNN about 25 rockets were fired into southern Israel from Gaza on Tuesday. Most were intercepted and no injuries were reported. Hamas's military wingers claim responsibility for that.
CNN's Paul Hancocks following developments and joins us now live from Abu Dhabi. They clearly show they're still capable of firing these things off -- Paula.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's the key there, Max. The fact that despite all of the heavy bombardment and fighting that the Israeli military has carried out against Hamas, they are still capable of launching 25 rockets into southern Israel.
Now, we understand that most of them were intercepted, there were no injuries, but this is the most significant amount that we have seen from Hamas for some time.
Now, when it comes to that hospital that you mentioned, Al-Nasr Hospital in Gaza, in Khan Younus, it is an area where a significant amount of the internally displaced within Gaza would have moved to as they were moved from northern Gaza, and many were sheltering in the compound and in the grounds of a hospital, believing that they would be safer there than anywhere else.
So what we have been seeing are images of people fleeing on foot, they are carrying what they can, whether it's mattresses or blankets or carrying their children, trying to get away from what we can hear in the background appears to be explosions, potentially from Israeli airstrikes, and also from small arms fire.
[04:25:00]
Now, Israel did say that Hamas had launched one of those rockets we mentioned earlier from the compound earlier in the day, and that is why they were targeting that area.
We heard from one American doctor speaking to us who was in that area saying, quote, the hospital is shaking and there is panic. Now, we have heard from Israel's defense minister that the intensity
of the bombardment is going to lessen, that the intensive stage will, quote, end soon. We're not seeing any indication of that at this point, or we do know though that one division has actually left Gaza, we've been told that by the Israeli military. But there is still intense fighting between Israel and Hamas within Gaza, which of course is putting civilians in mortal danger.
The latest figures we have from the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza is that 10,600 children have been killed so far, more than 24,000 killed overall.
FOSTER: OK. Paula, thank you for joining us from Abu Dhabi.
A third round of U.S. strikes against Houthi militants in Yemen hasn't stopped them from attacking vessels in the Red Sea. A U.S. defense official says American forces destroyed several anti-ship missiles on Tuesday, that the Iran-backed militants were preparing to launch from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
NOBILO: But just a few hours after the U.S. strikes, the Houthis claim to carry out a direct hit on another carrier, which they say was bringing missiles to Israel. Here's CNN's Oren Liebermann.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: For the third time in the past several days, the U.S. has carried out strikes in Yemen targeting the Houthis. This time, U.S. Central Command says they went after anti-ship ballistic missiles that were preparing to be launched and posed an imminent threat to international shipping lanes.
The U.S. has tried to limit and disrupt the Houthis' ability to target international shipping lanes because of the effect that's had on international shipping, forcing many of the world's largest carriers to go around Africa, adding thousands to international shipping routes. The U.S. has tried to degrade the ability of the Houthis to launch the sorts of missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones that they have used to target shipping. But they have not completely destroyed that ability.
And several hours after the U.S. strike, the Houthis launched an anti- ship ballistic missile at a Maltese-flagged carrier. They struck that carrier, according to U.S. Central Command, doing minor damage. The ship was able to continue on its way, but it shows you the threat the Houthis still pose.
And that's on top of a missile on Monday that damaged a U.S.-owned and operated vessel, the Gibraltar Eagle. That vessel, too, suffered minor damage, no injuries, and was able to continue on its way.
But it's because of this ongoing threat that the U.S. Transportation Department has recommended that U.S.-flagged or U.S.-owned ships, for now, avoid the Red Sea.
This is an upgrade of a warning or a recommendation they made last week, which was supposed to have an end date on it. Now that recommendation to avoid the critical waterway is, at least as of right now, indefinite.
So although the U.S., with the strikes that it conducted with the U.K., was trying to restore safety and security to the Red Sea, you can see the turbulence there. You can see the threat still posed to international shipping and the fallout from the Houthi attacks on one of the world's most critical waterways.
Oren Liebermann, CNN, in the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBILO: Meanwhile, Iran is ramping up attacks against regional enemies. It fired missiles at Sunni militants in western Pakistan on Tuesday, killing two children, according to authorities.
FOSTER: The Pakistani Foreign Affairs Ministry condemned the strikes as an unprovoked violation of its airspace by Iran and warned of retaliation. This attack comes a day after Iran launched missiles into northern Iraq and northern Syria.
Now, still ahead, the Republican race for the White House shifts to New Hampshire. Donald Trump hoping to maintain his rock-solid lead in the Granite State.
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