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CNN International: Iran: President Raisi Confirmed Dead After Helicopter Crash; Cross-Examination of Michael Cohen Resumes Today. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired May 20, 2024 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: More now on our breaking news out of Iran, the country remembering President Ebrahim Raisi, who has died in a helicopter crash. News agencies say they that the government convened an urgent meeting to discuss the incident and what happens next. His chair at that meeting was left vacant and a black sash, as you see here, was placed in his memory.

Iranian officials say the helicopter ran into trouble in heavy fog on Sunday. It was returning from a trip to the Iran-Azerbaijan border where the president attended a ceremony for the opening of a new dam. Among the eight others killed in the crash, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

You see him here in this video addressing the United Nations. Just last month, he spoke with our Erin Burnett. Here is part of that interview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOSSEIN AMIR-ABDOLLAHIAN, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): We have announced several times that the entire nuclear program of Iran is in its totality within the framework of a peaceful program. And we have been strictly focused on that goal. But we witnessed over the past few months that repeatedly certain Israeli officials repeated that in order to win in Gaza, a nuclear weapon must be used by Israel.

And I do think that America must pay closer attention and focus on the adventure seeking regime in Israel so that such a crisis will not happen in Gaza. Because Netanyahu showed he will not respect any of the red lines. So he's the one that must be brought under control.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, joining me now is Fawaz Gerges, a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science, author of "Making the Arab World." A good friend of this show and this network. The public face of the country's foreign policy was, of course, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. And while a conservative and aligned with the regime's foreign policy, he had overseen some described as a relatively successful period of rapprochement, not least with some of the sort of regional leaderships, the UAE and the Saudis.

But ultimately, at the heart of this story, the death of the Iranian president and indeed the foreign minister, Fawaz, in a helicopter crash earlier on Sunday. At the heart of this are two men who frankly do not hold the most important files when it comes to Iran, that of national security, deep national security and the ideological direction of the Islamic regime. What do you make of their passing and what happens next?

FAWAZ GERGES, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS PROFESSOR, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: Well, I mean, I think it's a big loss for Iraq, as you said. I mean, it's the two top leaders in Iraq, even though the president was not, is not the commander in chief.

[04:35:03]

He plays a major role in helping to really in terms of foreign policy and domestic politics. And I'm glad really you have, I mean, paid attention to the foreign minister, Hossein Abdollahian. I think he has emerged as the top ambassador for Iran worldwide.

Abdollahian, the foreign minister, had close relations with the Revolutionary Guard, in particular, the assassinated General Soleimani. He defended Iran worldwide. He played a major role in Iran's rapprochement with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and other Arab regimes.

He played a major role in the Iranian foreign policy towards Israel after Hamas attack on Israel on the 7th of October. So you have a major vacuum now, even though, as you have reiterated throughout this particular program, Iran has a formal system of succession that the commander in chief, the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he is at the head, at the top of the helm. And you have a National Security Council.

But the reality is, I mean, the loss of the two top leaders come at a very challenging time for Iran, both domestically, regionally and internationally.

ANDERSON: Well, Iran has, as we've just learned, has elected the top negotiator Ali Bagheri as acting foreign minister. He, of course, was the deputy foreign minister and he's been elected as the acting foreign minister in place of Hossein Amir Abdollahian. And of course, he has, as you rightly point out, been overseeing indirect negotiations with the United States on the nuclear file.

GERGES: Absolutely. But I don't think he will be acceptable to the hardliners, the ultra conservatives in the parliament and elsewhere. He's not seen as a, basically, a conservative, a hardline conservative, as Hossein Abdollahian, the former foreign minister.

I think what we need to keep in mind, what we tell our audience, everything now is in transition. We have to wait and see how the elections take place in 50 days from now and what the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, decides to do with this particular, I mean, the foreign ministry. But the reality is, I think if you ask me, what are the major challenges facing Iran now?

The major challenge facing Iran is for the regime to reassure people inside Iran and outside Iran that there will be stability, there will be continuity, there will be order, and there will be peace. I was basically struck before we knew that the helicopter was crashed. The Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, tried to reassure the Israeli public by saying there will be no disruption. Don't worry, that the affairs of the state will continue. And surely they will continue because unlike most Arab states, Iran is a highly institutionalized state. You have a formal system of succession, a hierarchy of power.

So the question of stability, the question of order, the question of control lies at the very heart of what the regime will try to really project both domestically and internationally. And I think at this particular point, Becky, there is a great deal of shock and mourning inside Iran. But once the dust settles, once the period of mourning ends, people are going to ask questions.

You know, why the regime has not been able to really protect and shield its top leaders? Israel has been assassinating Iranian leaders for the past few years. The United States assassinated General Soleimani. In fact, General Soleimani was as important, in fact, if not more important than the President Raisi.

So there are questions that the regimes will have to offer answers to in particular domestic constituency, given the extent and the gravity of this particular tragedy.

ANDERSON: Yes, this is a regime whose reputation is and continues to be on the line. The projection of power, both internally and externally, I think, as you rightly suggest, will be important for the leadership at this point.

[04:40:00]

And there will be no love lost by, for many Iranians, of the death of the Iranian President. What do you make of the potential for a revival of the sort of protest movement, which has gone quite quiet, it has to be said? I mean, still there, still very active, sort of below the surface.

But does this provide an opportunity -- and this will be a worry, I'm sure, to the regime -- for those who see cracks in the system to reemerge?

GERGES: Well, I doubt it very much, even though Bagheri could be wrong. Because, I mean, I think the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the security apparatus in Iran has been able to really clamp down against dissent, social dissent, protest by young men and women, to also exclude and isolate reformist members of the political elite.

But I think what we need to, I mean, highlight is that the regime will have to basically manage any kind of factional politics inside Iran, not between the conservatives and the reformists, but within the conservative hardliners as well. Because President Raisi was considered a senior contender to replace the Supreme Leader. The Supreme Leader is 85 years old, and there are a lot of questions about success. But now the question, given the death of the President, people are talking about the fact that the Supreme Leader's son, Mojtaba Ali Khamenei, could basically replace his father.

And this really goes against the ethos of the revolutionary elements inside Iran. They don't really want a hereditary state. So you have many questions now will be asked, who could really basically succeed the Supreme Leader in the next few years?

And will the son of the Supreme Leader position himself to succeed his father? So yes, there are many questions now.

ANDERSON: Good to have you. I'll let you have that glass of water. Always a pleasure. Faraz, thank you so much. And we will be right back.

[04:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Well, Donald Trump's criminal trial could see more dramatic moments today as the cross examination of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen resumes. CNN's Marshall Cohen explains what is expected to happen next.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: We are expecting Monday morning Michael Cohen will be back on the witness stand to finish up his testimony. The defense is in the middle of its cross-examination. They are trying to undermine his credibility and trying to persuade the jurors not to believe what he told them about the hush money payments to the adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

The defense at that point when they're done with Cohen, the prosecutors will get another bite at the apple. They'll be able to pose some questions to him as well. But after five weeks of testimony, they don't have any other witnesses to call.

They are going to at that point rest their case and then it's on the defense. They can put on a case. They can put on some witnesses if they want, but they don't have to. The burden is of course on the prosecutors to affirmatively prove their case to the jury.

So they may have one or two witnesses on the defense side. Donald Trump's lawyers have not said definitively whether or not he is going to testify in his own defense. It is possible but seems rather unlikely.

Looking later into the week, the judge has signaled that closing arguments could begin as soon as Tuesday. Then of course there would be jury instructions and then what we've all been waiting for, jury deliberations. Not exactly sure which day that would begin, but the end is near for this historic trial, the first ever trial of a former U.S. president.

Marshall Cohen, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: And I'm Becky Anderson here in London. We'll continue to bring you all the latest developments from Iran as we cover the breaking news of President Raisi's death.

[04:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: For new details on the breaking news out of Iran, President Ebrahim Raisi has died in a helicopter crash that also killed the country's foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and seven other people. Ali Bagheri Kani, who led indirect negotiations with the U.S. over nuclear issues and prisoner exchanges, has now been elected as the acting foreign minister. The Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has announced five days of public mourning.

And several world leaders have sent their condolences to Iran.

A statement from Russia's foreign minister reads, in part: We will always remember these outstanding political figures as true patriots of the Islamic Republic who firmly defended the interests of their state and gave their lives to selfless service to the motherland.

[04:55:04]

Condolences from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to Syrian state media, quote: President Assad affirmed Syria's solidarity with the Islamic Republic of Iran and with the families of the deceased and his comrades, expressing his deep regret and condolences for this painful incident and the great loss that resulted from it.

So more coming up in the hours ahead. For the time being, thank you for joining us this morning. I'm Becky Anderson in London. CNN "THIS MORNING" is up next after this quick break. Stay with us.

[05:00:00]