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CNN International: Ukraine: Assessing Whether Russia Launched ICBM On Dnipro; Intl. Court Issues Arrest Warrants For Netanyahu & Gallant; Police Report Reveals New Details From Sexual Assault Allegation Against Trump's Defense Secy. Pick Pete Hegseth. Aired 11a- 12p ET
Aired November 21, 2024 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
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ERICA HILL, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Welcome to our viewers from around the world. I'm Erica Hill in New York.
Just ahead on CNN Newsroom, Russia intensifying its strikes on Ukraine, as Kyiv is assessing just what type of missile was used in this latest attack, one that could represent a significant escalation. Plus, the International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, and also a top Hamas commander. We are live in Jerusalem with the latest. And new details about the sexual assault allegations facing Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's pick will Defense Secretary.
We begin this hour with developments in Russia's war on Ukraine. Kyiv now says it is assessing whether Russia fired an intercontinental ballistic missile at the city of Dnipro in eastern Ukraine. So, the following recording is said to convey the sound of the impact from a strike there earlier today. Take a listen.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
HILL: At this point, Ukrainian authorities have not confirmed the authenticity of that recording, but they had earlier accused Russia of firing an ICBM. There is also this video, which has been geo-located by CNN and shows the moment of impact from that attack earlier today. We have also obtained exclusive pictures that show missile debris from the strike. A source says the fragments picture do not necessarily belong to one missile. All of this, of course, happening in a week of creeping escalation in Moscow's war on Ukraine. The Kremlin, for its part, isn't commenting on this latest strike.
CNN's Clare Sebastian is following all the developments for us from London. So, Ukraine still trying to determine whether this was an ICBM. What more do we know so far, especially now that we do have these pictures and videos?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. There is still no official designation or comments, Erica, as to what exactly it was that Russia fired. Originally, we got word from the Ukrainian Air Force, definitively they said that it was an intercontinental ballistic missile. There were later comments that sort of couched that, a foreign ministry spokesperson saying that it had all the characteristics, that they were waiting expert conclusions. Similar comments came from President Zelenskyy, saying that, again, that it had the characteristics, he said, speed, altitude of an intercontinental ballistic missile. But, meanwhile, we had a Western official telling CNN that they believed it was a ballistic missile, not an intercontinental ballistic missile.
So, I think, look, there are weapons in Russia's arsenal that sort of blur the lines when it comes to what exactly would class as an intercontinental ballistic missile. That is generally a range classification over 5,500 kilometers of range. But, as I said, no official comment as of yet. But, I think if you look at the scale of this strike on the city of Dnipro, which is a city of almost a million people, the fourth largest in Ukraine, the message from Moscow is very clear and very significant, given that they don't shy away from verbal nuclear saber rattling, usually, that they've decided to say nothing about this today, the Kremlin using the well-worn tactic of referring all comments to the Defense Ministry, who also do not respond to requests for comments.
And we got a really extraordinary insight into the sort of transmission of that policy. Take a listen to what happened midway through a Foreign Ministry press conference today, a regular Foreign Ministry press conference with the spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIA ZAKHAROVA, RUSSIA'S FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN (Interpreted): Hello.
VOICE OF UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Interpreted): Masha?
ZAKHAROVA (Interpreted): Yes. I'm having a briefing.
VOICE OF UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Interpreted): On Yuzhmash, the ballistic missile strike, which the Westerners started talking about, we are not commenting at all.
ZAKHAROVA (Interpreted): Yes. OK. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEBASTIAN: So, of course, we don't know who she was speaking to on the phone. Yuzhmash is a sort of weapons factory in Dnipro. So, you get sort of some insight there into the behind the scenes and how those instructions get through, and I think also the seriousness of this moment in Moscow, though, of course, the concern for Ukraine is that this cycle of escalation is not over.
HILL: Certainly that it's not over, and just what it could mean if, in fact, this was an intercontinental ballistic missile. There is so much talk, though, about this escalation, and we heard from Russia earlier in the week, of course, saying this is now a new phase of war, just with that authorization alone, even before the ATACMS were fired. Adding this into the mix, I guess, is this is what we should now come to expect, is that the sense that it is going to be a continued escalation?
SEBASTIAN: I think it's very hard to predict. It's always very hard to predict what Russia is going to do next. There has been a lot of rhetoric in the lead up to this, and obviously this was an extraordinary week, as you mentioned, where we saw Ukraine deploy both U.S.-made ATACMS long-range missiles on Russian soil, and then we got confirmation today, via a Russian -- a Russian Defense Ministry report, that they had shot down two Storm Shadow UK-produced long- range missiles, we believe, in Russia.
[11:05:00]
So, that crosses a red line for Russia, for sure. Also, we had President Putin earlier in the week signing a decree, updating the nuclear doctrine. So, this fits this pattern of this sort of ladder of escalation. And as I said, I think there is two real concerns for Ukraine now. One is that there is another notch up on this ladder that Russia is willing to go for. And secondly, what these more explicit threats from Moscow and certainly the nuclear connotations of using a missile like this, even without knowing whether or not it was an ICBM, what that means when it comes to the calculus for the next U.S. administration and the future of U.S. aid. Erica.
HILL: Yeah, absolutely. Clare, really appreciate it. Thank you.
Also joining us this hour, retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling. He is a CNN military analyst, and the former Commanding General of the U.S. Army Europe and Seventh Army. Good to see you, as always. Picking up on what we've seen here, there is still the back and forth, right? Ukraine initially saying the air force that it was an ICBM and sort of backtracking it had the characteristics. I know you've seen the video. We've shown some of these pictures. Based on what you see, what do you think was fired?
LT. GENERAL MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: A couple of things, Erica. I mean, you're going to be able to track through satellite what kind of missile it is and what location it was launched from. When you're struck by it, like the city of Dnipro was today, you just know that it's coming out of the exo-atmosphere and striking the ground.
The thing that struck me the most in watching the films that occurred, and hearing initially that it was an ICBM, an intercontinental ballistic missile, first of all, I thought, OK, that's a huge strategic raise by the Russian Federation. But, what's interesting, if it's a medium-range ballistic missile, as your reporter was just talking about, those were supposed to have been destroyed by the Russian Federation several years ago under a treaty. So, both cases have some meanings.
The third thing that I'd say is, when you watched the film, as you're showing right now, you're going to see multiple strikes, both intercontinental and medium-range ballistic missiles can be what's called MIRVed (M-I-R-V), and that stands for Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicles. So, each one of those missiles can carry several, and I counted six strikes in this film, but they can count several missiles coming out of one missile or one -- excuse me, several explosions, several warheads coming out of one missile.
Both countries, the United States and Russia, have these MIRV vehicles like this coming out of missiles. Truthfully, they're designed primarily for nuclear war, to deliver multiple nuclear weapons across the continent, but they can also carry high explosive weapons and chemical weapons to a target, and I think that's what Russia is relying on.
The one last thing, if you ask, why is this happening now? Well, with the delivery of the ATACMS missiles, the use of the UK Storm Shadows, as you were just talking about, that is pushing Russia back away from the frontlines with Ukraine. So, they are going to continue to look for ways to fire these kinds of missiles or other kind of bombs from extended distances. And you can't strike all the locations where they're coming from, because, as -- we got to remind ourselves, there is 11 time zones across Russia. It's a huge country, thousands of miles. They can keep moving back and avoid having their attack location struck by the Ukrainian forces.
But, it is pushing things away from the frontlines, and it is causing Russia to use different kinds of munitions.
HILL: It's interesting too, as you make the point that it's pushing Russia away from the frontlines. We also have the UK's Defense Intelligence warning, and when it comes to the frontlines, specifically for Ukraine, saying that it is less stable than it has been at any point in this war since the earliest stages of Russia's full-scale invasion. Adding that to what we've seen in terms of the increase in the weapons that are being used and the response we're seeing from Russia, what do you anticipate in the coming days?
HERTLING: Erica, it's a great question, because in the past, over the past two years, I think I could predict what was going to happen next. But, where we are right now, truthfully, both sides, the Ukrainian and the Russian sides, are fatigued. And what I mean by that is they are losing soldiers, Russia more than Ukraine. They are losing their weapons systems, and Ukraine, obviously being supplied by both the United States and other Western countries, is dependent more on the resupply coming. And as Russia -- or excuse me, as Ukraine, has gone into the Kursk Oblast, they are fighting for territory to potentially trade away to get their territory back.
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This is a war that has been fought on the frontlines and at extended distances over terrain. The illegal invasion and the criminal invasion by Russia into the territorial integrity of Ukraine has just caused more and more problems for both sides. But, we're almost three years into this now, and both sides are suffering significantly. What is going to come next? I don't know. I still continue to believe that Ukraine is fighting courageously. Russia is depending now on more and more alliance support from North Korea, Iran and even China. So, we're going to see where this adds up, is how much damage can be
done? It's like two big boxers in a ring going at each other for a very long time. Who is going to lose their will first? And I personally think Ukraine will continue to hang on if they're given the support and the supplies to do so.
HILL: Yeah, and that's the -- and that, of course, is the big if in terms of that support and the supplies.
General Mark Hertling, always appreciate your insight. Thank you.
HERTLING: Thank you, Erica.
HILL: The International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the war in Gaza. It accuses them of war crimes, including using starvation as a weapon of war and intentionally attacking the civilian population of Gaza. The court also issuing a separate warrant for Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, an alleged mastermind of the October 7th attacks. Israel says he was killed in an airstrike in September.
Mr. Netanyahu calls the warrants against him and Gallant "absurd and antisemitic", many Palestinians calling it a key step toward justice and accountability.
Nic Robertson joins us now with more from Jerusalem. So, in looking at these charges, what more can you tell us about them, Nic?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, the most serious of charges of all, they lay the blame and responsibility for what's happening in Gaza and not all the deaths, it is saying, by far the more -- almost 44,000 Palestinians have been killed there. But, it is laying the responsibility at the feet of the Prime Minister and of the former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been the key decision maker in deciding how the war in Gaza should be prosecuted.
He has -- he was warned, the government was warned by the ICC back in October last year to sort of follow the international norms and standards of warfare. Otherwise, don't complain if you're called out on it later, was essentially the warning, and this is what's happened, and precisely what the ICC is accusing the Prime Minister of, and has issued these arrest warrants because they believe that there is evidence to support that the Prime Minister is responsible for war crimes in using starvation as a method of warfare, of crimes against humanity, by murder, by persecution and other heinous acts.
So, this is very strong language. It's very legalese language. It's very strong language, and it's really for the Prime Minister, the strongest international rebuttal for what Israel has been doing, the way it's responded to Hamas' brutal attack on October 7th last year that killed more than 1,200 Israelis and took more than 250 other hostages. But, the consequences for the Prime Minister, a huge, 124 countries as signatories to the Rome Statute, which means those 124 countries are obligated to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he lands in their country and send him to the ICC for trial.
It puts the Prime Minister in the same position as, for example, the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, who didn't go to the BRICS summit in South Africa this year because he is afraid, because he also faces an ICC arrest warrant that he might be extradited to the ICC from there.
HILL: There has been, we heard, obviously, and then talked about the reaction there from Netanyahu in terms of these charges, but there, to your point about all of the other countries here, what are we hearing globally in response to these arrest warrants?
ROBERTSON: Well, the Dutch have said that they would follow through with what's expected from the Rome Statute that they would arrest and send to the ICC courts for a trial.
[11:15:00]
What we've heard from the head, Foreign Policy Affairs Chief at the European Union, Josep Borrell, has been very clear, obviously, the pushback and the anger and frustration that we've heard from the Prime Minister's office here, calling this antisemitic, calling it absurd, a low moral point, a cloud over the ICC, are things that we've heard from other top ministers here as well. What Josep Borrell is saying is, look, this is not political. This is a legal ruling, and it needs to be adhered to.
Now, it is clear that the Prime Minister, Prime Minister Netanyahu now, is going to have to choose very carefully some of the countries he can go to. He can still go to the U.S. He can still go to India, but China would be off limits, for example. So, he is going to have to research pretty carefully wherever he goes that that country is either going to ignore what the ICC has said or is -- or doesn't sign up to the Rome Statutes.
HILL: Yeah. It is quite the development today. Nic, really appreciate it. Thank you.
There is more turbulence in the Trump transition. A police report revealing new details about assault allegations against Trump's pick for Defense Secretary. We have those details. Plus, a look at the short list for Treasury Secretary in a new Trump administration and the challenge they may face on day one.
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HILL: This just into CNN. The Illinois Supreme Court has overturned convictions for Jussie Smollett related to an alleged hoax in 2019. The actor was convicted on allegations that he staged a racist and homophobic attack against himself in downtown Chicago. And so, we'll continue to bring you more on that as we learn more.
We also have some new information and new details to tell you about when it comes to the sexual assault allegations against Donald Trump's Defense Secretary pick Pete Hegseth. The city attorney for Monterey, California, has released the police report from that 2017 incident following a public records request, and it details what allegedly happened, according to the victim, descriptions of video surveillance from that night as well. Hegseth had said the encounter was consensual. The woman, though, told police he blocked her from leaving a hotel room, took her phone and sexually assaulted her. She said she thinks she may have been drugged. Hegseth was not charged with a crime. His attorney acknowledged he did pay the accuser a settlement, which included a confidentiality agreement.
It's unclear, frankly, how questions over this incident could impact his nomination. Hegseth is set to visit Capitol Hill today alongside VP-elect J.D. Vance. He will be making similar visits across the Capitol, as we saw J.D. Vance do with another Trump cabinet pick earlier this week, Trump's choice for attorney general, former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz. He too is at the center of sexual misconduct allegations.
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The House Ethics Committee voted not to release the results of their investigation that was done against the will of the Democrats on the panel. Even some Republican senators, though, at this point, are calling for the Committee to make those findings public ahead of Gaetz confirmation hearing.
CNN's Alayna Treene is following all of these developments for us from Washington. So, Alayna, first, let's start with what more we have learned about these allegations when it comes to Pete Hegseth.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, I think one of the key things, Erica, to keep in mind is that, well, one, we seeing a lot more new details in this police report. It's not exactly the same account that we know Pete Hegseth has been saying publicly and also telling the Trump team there are far more details in this than were revealed before. But, I think one important thing to keep in mind as well is that a lot of these allegations caught Donald Trump's team off guard, and remember, they moved on his process very, very quickly. Donald Trump had essentially put his name out there and decided to have him go down to Florida to interview with him at Mar-a-Lago, and then really soon after he made the pick, or he made the announcement about Hegseth public and said it publicly.
And so, there wasn't a lot of vetting, is what we've been told that went on when it relates to Hegseth specifically. And again, they weren't totally prepared for some of these allegations to come out. Now, we have heard them responding, Donald Trump's team, to this today. There was a statement from Karoline Leavitt, one of his spokespeople, that -- our future Press Secretary, I should say, that essentially lays out and makes the claim that since he was not charged with any crimes, that this doesn't make a difference, that they are moving forward with Hegseth as Donald Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon, and that it doesn't change anything in their eyes.
And I tell you as well, I've spoken privately with some of Donald Trump's top advisors. They've kind of made the same case to me that essentially this hasn't changed things, at least not for now. Now, of course, the big question is, what you just posed, how will Republicans respond to this? Because at the end of the day, they really do have the ultimate say on what will happen with Hegseth and if he is going to be able to get through those very important confirmation hearings.
And the other thing I will just note as well that, apart from all of these allegations of sexual assault or misconduct that relate to both Hegseth but also Matt Gaetz, there is other things too that are creating an easiness on Capitol Hill, and that is, are they even qualified for the job in and of itself? And those are questions I think that we're expecting some senators to try and get to the bottom of during these meetings today.
HILL: Yeah. There is that whole point of, are you ready to do the job that you are being tasked with?
When it comes to these visits on Capitol Hill today, this is going to be sort of similar, as I understand it, to what we saw with J.D. Vance and Matt Gaetz.
TREENE: That's right. Exactly. And they've actually started to see some of these meetings today take place between J.D Vance and Hegseth. We saw Bill Hagerty, who, of course, is in the running, we know, and has been interviewed for the Treasury Secretary role in a Trump -- in a second term for Donald Trump. He came out saying that he supports Pete Hegseth. It's very similar to what we saw Matt Gaetz do yesterday with J.D. Vance.
And I do want to talk about, though, J.D. Vance's role in all of this, because one thing that's been very interesting is that over the past two weeks, we've rarely seen the Vice President-elect in public. I've had a lot of people, a lot of my sources, calling me, asking me, where is J.D. Vance? You've seen a lot of Elon Musk. You've seen a lot of RFK Jr. and Donald Trump Jr., but not a lot of J.D. Vance. What I'm told is that really this re-emergence of him on Capitol Hill being this unofficial Sherpa to Matt Gaetz and to Pete Hegseth is really kind of him showing his new directive off, which is Donald Trump has tasked him directly with being his point person on Capitol Hill. He wants J.D. Vance to be the one who not only helps ensure that his cabinet picks get through, but also that nobody stands in the way of his agenda.
And that all ties back to what we know Donald Trump and his team believe, which is that they were given a mandate. Some people questioned whether or not that's actually the case. But, they believe that the people voted for him and that he deserves to be able to enact the policies that he wants, and they want J.D. Vance to be the one to ensure that that happens. So, this is a really big test for him, these two days, and how these meetings go. Erica.
HILL: Yeah. One of many tests ahead for the Vice President-elect. Alayna, appreciate it, as always. Thank you.
Well, as Alayna noted, we are still waiting for some of the President- elect's key cabinet positions to be filled, including Treasury Secretary, Labor Secretary as well. Take a look at some of the top contenders who we have for Treasury. Scott Bessent, Senator Bill Hagerty, Kevin Warsh, Marc Rowan. We look at all of this, of course, you've got a Tennessee Senator on there, the former Federal Reserve Governor, Kevin Warsh, and the billionaire investor there. Whoever lands that role is, though, immediately going to face a mix of urgent deadlines, as well as the responsibility for rolling out some of Donald Trump's economic plans.
Joining me now is CNN Economics and Political Commentator Catherine Rampell, who, of course, is also an Opinion Columnist for The Washington Post.
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It is nice to see you. I feel like it's been a minute, my friend. So, happy to talk this through with you. Let's start off with those picks for Treasury. As we are watching and waiting and trying to read the tea leaves, although we know Donald Trump is the man who can often make snap decisions, what are you seeing signs of in those picks and what it would actually mean?
CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, & OPINION COLUMNIST, THE WASHINGTON POST: What I have heard is that Trump kind of wants two key attributes in his Treasury Secretary. One, he wants someone who will be forcefully behind Trump's own tariff agenda, and two, is he wants someone whom the markets respect. Unfortunately, those conditions are somewhat mutually exclusive. Markets tend to not like the idea of global tariffs and trade wars and other sort of saber rattling that Trump has threatened. So, I think that's part of the reason why we have seen this race for Treasury Secretary, this decision-making drag on for quite a while.
And a bunch of names have come up and have been tossed out, the ones that you have mentioned just now, for the most part, I would say, these are relatively traditional picks, more so anyway than some of Trump's other cabinet choices. Someone like Kevin Warsh had been a Fed governor before, traditional Republican. That said, Trump had passed him over for Fed Chair last time around, because at the time, Warsh indicated that he was not behind Trump's particular vision of politicizing the Federal Reserve. So, I don't know what that bodes for his standing this time around. But, yeah, it does seem like every day I hear, Oh, it's about to be announced, it's about to be announced, and then we hear nothing.
HILL: And then we wait, and we game it out a little bit --
RAMPELL: We wait.
HILL: -- as we wait. So, as we wait for that, there are some picks that we do know about, and I'd love to just pick your brain, specifically looking at Commerce, right? The fact that this is also, as Trump had said, that Lutnick is going to have additional responsibility for the office of U.S. trade. Combining these elements, what could that change? What would it mean?
RAMPELL: So, Commerce has traditionally had a lot of involvement in trade and tariffs, actually. So, some of those responsibilities are undertaken by the USTR, the U.S. Trade Representative, and some of them are under the umbrella of the Commerce Department and other agencies within Commerce. So, you may recall, for example, that Trump's first term, he had Wilbur Ross as Secretary of Commerce, and Wilbur Ross basically oversaw an investigation, saying that steel, aluminum and even automobile imports were threats to national security. Trump ultimately acted on two of those three. So, it's not entirely unusual here.
However, Howard Lutnick, Trump's choice for Commerce, who had been in the running for Treasury Secretary, and I guess got this as something maybe of a consolation prize, has been very enthusiastic about Trump's tariff plans. So, I think we should expect to see more aggressive action coming from that department going forward.
The other thing that I would point out is that in addition to oversight -- or responsibilities related to trade, Commerce is essentially a collection of a lot of independent statistical agencies, many of our major independent statistical agencies, almost everything, except for the agency that produces the jobs report, so, the agency that produces GDP, our population counts, weather data, scientific standards, all of those things, they're all under the umbrella of Commerce, and those were all, again, supposed to be independent, and I think that there is a reasonable worry that under a more politicized Commerce Secretary, that some of that independence might be compromised, and as a result, there are threats to potentially the integrity of those data. I really hope those don't come to pass, but I think that is a real threat.
HILL: It is such an important point, and it is important to highlight it and to be aware of it. We're a little tight in time. Before I let you go, there are also concerns about potential conflicts of interest when it comes to Howard Lutnick.
RAMPELL: Oh, yes. Almost all of Trump's candidates for many of these jobs have lots of conflicts of interest, and in fact, that's part of the reason why the Trump transition team has not, apparently, signed the documents necessary to have any sort of meetings, briefings with the current administration and its deputies and agencies, because many of these picks have not put out a plan to figure out -- to clarify how they will deal with ethical concerns, how they will deal conflicts of interest.
[11:30:00]
And now Howard Lutnick, a major financier, we don't necessarily know how he is going to prevent having any sort of conflicts of interest related to his own personal fortunes and personal investments, as they may conflict with his responsibilities as Commerce Secretary, if, in fact, he gets confirmed.
HILL: Yeah. Catherine Rampell, appreciate it, as always. Thank you.
RAMPELL: Thank you.
HILL: Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene will have a new role in the next Congress to help tackle government inefficiency. Greene will chair a new Oversight Subcommittee that will work with the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, which, of course, is being led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. The panel will look at the salaries of government workers and wasteful spending.
Still to come here, Russia escalating its strikes on Ukraine, and new questions at this hour about just what type of missiles were used. A report from Moscow just ahead. Plus, arrests in Nairobi ahead of President William Ruto's national address in Kenya on Thursday, what he said today that may quell the anger of anti-government protesters.
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HILL: Welcome back. This is CNN Newsroom. I'm Erica Hill in New York.
Our top story, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry says it is still trying to establish exactly what kind of missile Russia fired in an early morning attack on the city of Dnipro. CNN has obtained video of what is thought to be the moment of impact.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
HILL: Ukraine's military initially accused Russia of launching an intercontinental ballistic missile. A Western official says Russia launched a ballistic missile, not an ICBM. The Kremlin, for its part, has not yet commented on the attack.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Moscow and filed this report a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Russians so far not directly commenting on their alleged intercontinental ballistic missile strike against Dnipro in Ukraine. The spokesman for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, at a regular call with journalists earlier, was asked the question whether or not the Russians would comment on this matter. He said that they would not, and that the military need to be asked.
He was then asked afterwards whether or not he would be willing to comment on the Russians threatening to use more force against Ukraine after the United States gave Ukraine the go-ahead to use those ATACMS, surface-to-surface missiles, which, of course, were provided by the United States to strike deep into Russia. And there again, the spokesman for the Kremlin said that only Russia's military would comment on that.
[11:35:00]
Now, there was a bit of a moment earlier in a press conference by the spokeswoman of Russia's Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, where during her regular press briefing, she appeared to get a phone call ordering her not to talk about the alleged intercontinental ballistic missile strike. She later clarified that situation and said that she had asked for clarification about the topics of her press briefing, and was simply receiving an answer. In total, though, from any officials here in Russia, so far, there have not been any comments. Of course, one of the things that the Russians have said that after the United States gave the Ukrainians that go-ahead to use the ATACMS, surface-to-surface missiles, for strikes deep into Russia, that there would be a strong response coming from the Russian Federation.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Taking a look at some of the other international headlines we are watching today, "Rust" had its world premiere on Wednesday at a film festival in Poland. The movie's producer, Alec Baldwin, dedicated the film to the cinematographer who was accidentally killed on set three years ago. Baldwin, of course, was initially charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Halyna Hutchins. That charge, though, was later dismissed. Her husband agreed to have the film finished and also signed on as an executive producer, so her final work could be seen.
An Australian teenager fighting for her life now in a Bangkok hospital after drinking tainted alcohol -- what's suspected to be tainted alcohol in Laos. Another Australian tourist has died. This is the latest death in a series of suspected methanol poisonings of foreigners in the Laosan (ph) town of Vang Vieng. It's a popular destination for backpackers. No information, though, has been released at this point by authorities in Laos.
Australia considering a ban on social media for kids under the age of 16. The Online Safety Act was introduced to parliament for approval. Under the bill, social media companies could be fined millions of dollars if they don't take what it calls reasonable steps to prevent age-restricted users having accounts. The ban would apply to platforms such as TikTok, X, Instagram and Snapchat, among others.
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HILL: Police in Nairobi making several arrests on Thursday, ahead of Kenyan President William Ruto's State of the Nation address. Although no big protests did develop today, there was heavy security presence around the capital city. You may recall, proposed tax hikes earlier this year set off deadly anti-government protests. The government ultimately scrapped that controversial finance bill.
CNN's Larry Madowo is joining us now live from Nairobi. So, what did we hear today in that address?
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The big takeaway from this, Erica, was President Ruto ordering that two deals that would go to the Indian billionaire Gautam Adani's company be canceled. One had already been signed to build and operate power transmission lines in Kenya for 30 years. That's now gone. That deal was worth about $736 million. Another was ongoing in the tendering process for another Adani company to take over the running of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, that's the main airport here in the country. There had been widespread anger at these two deals, and many people on the streets had been calling for them to be scrapped, calling them corrupt.
But, President Ruto did not do that until the overnight indictment of Gautam Adani and some associates in New York. It's only after that happened, President Ruto saying, based on new information from partner nations, he is canceling those deals. And some reaction, really, from social media, from Kenyans, saying he was not paying attention to what they were saying until another jurisdiction said that there was probably corruption involved in this company that he canceled that.
But, overall, President William Ruto saying that the state of the nation is resilient. He says that he will do everything to make sure he succeeds. He will listen to every Kenyan. He appeared to directly address, Erica, these concerns by some in the country about abductions and forced disappearances, arbitrary arrests of people who are critical of his government, activists, social media users, who are prominent in their opposition to his government. There have been many calls on the streets and more recently online for people saying Ruto must go. Even though he dropped those unpopular tax proposals, he fired his cabinet, then reconstituted the cabinet. Half of the cabinet came back. He added members of the opposition.
So, for many young people who risked their lives to be on the streets in the summer, they feel that the political class betrayed them, and this spin that President Ruto delivered in the joint sitting of parliament did not convince them.
HILL: Larry Madowo, really appreciate it. Thank you.
A: Just ahead here, questions -- new questions about Donald Trump's pick to lead the nation's intelligence community, why Tulsi Gabbard doesn't trust the very agencies she could oversee. Plus, Comcast planning to make some big media moves amid concerns the President- elect could try to intervene once he is in office. A closer look at the tension between Donald Trump and the media.
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HILL: President-elect Donald Trump's choice for America's top spy chief facing fierce criticism now on both sides of the aisle, and the controversy goes beyond accusations that Tulsi Gabbard promotes Russian propaganda. We're now learning that Gabbard, just like her potential boss, has a deeply rooted distrust of the agencies she would oversee. The former congresswoman has never served in an intelligence role, but if confirmed as Director of National Intelligence, she would actually oversee 18 of the country's spy agencies.
CNN's Katie Bo Lillis joining me now live from Washington. So, in terms of these concerns and in terms of her distrust for those very agencies, what more have you learned, Katie Bo?
KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN REPORTER: Yeah. I mean, what's really fascinating about Gabbard is that if she is confirmed, she will be the most publicly anti-surveillance official to ever lead the very part of the U.S. government that is responsible for collecting foreign intelligence, for collecting information on America's adversaries. Back when she was a Democratic Congresswoman, Gabbard introduced several pieces of legislation that are almost antithetical to how the intelligence community sees its role. She introduced two pieces aimed at really defending Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor, who revealed bulk collection by the NSA on America's data in 2013, as well as Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, both seen really as kind of enemies of the state within the intelligence community.
But, Gabbard, we're worthy of protecting from prosecution, she also introduced a piece of legislation that would have wholesale repealed one of the most powerful and sweeping authorities that the U.S. has to collect foreign intelligence on foreign targets overseas, over concerns that that authority also allowed the intelligence community to sort of collect Americans data through what's known as a back door, and may have violated -- in Gabbard's view, violates American civil liberties.
So, in some ways, she fits this kind of pre-existing political coalition of both libertarian-leaning Republicans as well as progressive Democrats who have concerns about American surveillance authorities that are meant to target foreign targets, but in fact, also may -- could arguably said by some of these critics to violate American Civil Liberties as well. But, Gabbard's in sort of insistence on wanting to sort of wholesale remove this authority is a pretty extreme step. Right? This isn't about reforming. This is about removing that authority.
And so, I think for members of the intelligence community, that raises a lot of questions about how she will approach sort of the rules of intelligence gathering once she is in a position to control both the budget and the priorities that govern these 18 agencies.
HILL: Yeah. Well, certainly get another one we can chalk up to. It will be interesting to see how all of this does, in fact, play out.
Katie Bo Lillis, really appreciate it. Thank you.
If past is prologue, Donald Trump's government could bring heavy scrutiny to the U.S. media landscape. In what's been criticized as a possible attempt to get out ahead of some of that scrutiny, two of MSNBC's most about anti-Trump hosts recently met with the President- elect at his Mar-a-Lago home.
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Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski say they wanted to restart communications with Trump. It also comes as Comcast is revealing plans to spin off a number of its cable networks, including MSNBC and CNBC, spinning those into a separate company. So, the question is, as that happens, will Trump intervene once he is in office?
CNN's Matt Egan joining me now from the New York Bureau. So, as we look at this, look, there are two things at play here, right? There is the very difficult situation of the media at this moment in time from a business perspective, and certainly cable networks, as we know very well, in a changing business model environment, and then there is the reality of what could happen with this attempt to spin off these cable networks once Donald Trump is back in Washington. MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yeah. That's right. Exactly, Erica. As you
mentioned, the media industry is in the midst of a lot of turbulence right now, in large part because of cord cutting and shifting viewing habits, and President-elect Trump is returning to power, just as it appears that the media industry is going to be on the verge of a series of deals of consolidation, and it feels like the first big shoe to drop came this week when Comcast announced these plans to spin off MSNBC, CNBC, USA, network E!, and a number of other cable assets into an independent company. Right? They're going to be independent from the Comcast mothership and actually from the NBC broadcast deal.
Now, to be clear, this transaction does not need the blessing of Trump regulators, but this is not going to be the last deal. It is widely expected that there is going to be more deals, because we have seen these -- this cord cutting, right? I mean, Comcast, the number of video subscribers that they have right now has plunged by about 40 percent since before COVID. This has happened as many people are cutting a cord, right? They are looking at other assets and other options, like Max, which is owned by our parent company, but also Netflix and YouTube TV and Hulu.
And so, the question is, what happens when there is another deal? Because this new spun off asset that has MSNBC and CNBC is probably going to need to bulk up by buying more cable companies or get acquired by a bigger one, and either way, it would require the blessing of Trump regulators.
And so, that's why eyebrows were raised this week when Trump's pick to lead the FCC, Brendan Carr, he suggested that his agency's review of the Skydance-Paramount deal is going to be linked in part to the 60 Minutes interview. He has told Fox News that he would want to see transcripts of a 60 Minutes interview with Vice President Harris, as they review that transaction. Media analyst Craig Moffett, he told me that those comments from Trump's FCC pick really speak volumes, and it says media outlets traditionally described as liberal may have a very hard time doing deals.
And look, Erica, I reached out to the Trump transition team. Have not heard back. And it is too early to say how they may or may not react to deals that may or may not happen. But, clearly, we are going to have this collision of a media industry in crisis and looking to do deals with a President who has had a very turbulent relationship with the media. I don't see what could possibly go wrong here.
HILL: Yeah. I don't see what could possibly go wrong either, right? And it's not just about whether there is an interpretation of whether certain networks lean a certain way. It's the fact that they're actually looking to go after journalism in a number of ways as well. So, we are watching that space.
Separately. I am fascinated by this move by the current Justice Department wanting Google to break up with Chrome, which seems like that would be a tough thing to break up. I could be wrong. What more do we know about this and the chances of that actually happening?
EGAN: Yeah, Erica. This is a really big deal. The Justice Department is asking a federal judge to basically throw the book at Google. They're calling for a sweeping set of punishments related to that really important antitrust ruling against Google. They're calling for the judge to require Google to sell off its Chrome search engine, which is used by billions of people around the world. They also want a judge to have a ban on search engine agreements that Google has reached in the past with Apple and others, and also to require Google to syndicate its search results.
You put all together, and if this were approved by a judge, it would amount to some of the toughest penalties against a tech giant in really a generation. Not surprisingly, Google is pushing back pretty strongly here. They are describing DoJ's proposal as extreme and warning that a punishment like this would break Google products. The company said DoJ chose to push a radical interventionist agenda that would harm Americans and America's global technology leadership. Erica, Google has promised to appeal, and that is a process that could take years to play out.
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HILL: Wow. Matt Egan, keeping you busy, thank you, my friend.
EGAN: Thanks, Erica.
HILL: So, imagine your company's revenue nearly doubles in a year. One popular chip maker, of course, involved heavily in AI, celebrating that feat in its latest earnings report. So, how is that stock faring today?
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HILL: Welcome back. A quick check of the markets for you at this hour, as you can see, little bit of movement, a little bit. We'll take whatever little bit we can get. As we're looking at all of that play out, though, of course, there is a lot of expectation about what would happen today, following Nvidia's earnings on Wednesday, third quarter revenue reaching just over $35 billion. You can see how that's playing out. The company's popular semiconductor chips are key to AI technology. Nvidia's -- Nvidia estimates, though, that its fourth quarter sales will reach $37 billion.
CNN's Anna Stewart joining us now live from London with the latest. So, this is one that sort of everybody was waiting for, because Nvidia has had so much attention over these last several months. How are we seeing it play out, especially as they talk about what's ahead?
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was interesting. Today, there was an expectation that perhaps the share price wouldn't do so well. It actually popped on the open and now it has dropped, as many people expected. And this is despite this being the world's most valuable listed company in the world that has released an earnings report for the third quarter that is, frankly, quite stellar.
Let me run you through some of the numbers. For the third quarter, revenue was up 94 percent compared to a year before. But, if you look at where we were at this time last year, Q3 of last year, it was actually up more than 200 percent year-on-year. So, what we have here is essentially Wall Street having not just lofty expectations for Nvidia's performance, but actually kind of stratospheric expectations here. They're expecting it to keep rising. The outlook is also good. Actually, revenue for next quarter, the outlook, it kind of beats the analyst consensus, and there is a lot of hope for a new chip that it's brought out for the Blackwell line. It's a new generation of chips, and expect to be able to sell far more than even have demand for.
So, it's all very exciting. But, clearly, I think investors want to see a bit more. And actually the industry as a whole, there is perhaps some feeling that maybe there has been a bit too much hype in the sector.
HILL: Right. Too much hype and concerns about hitting a wall.
STEWART: Yeah. This has been an interesting narrative that we've had even for the likes of Ilya Sutskever, who is one of the founders of OpenAI, suggesting that, particularly if we look at generative AI models like ChatGPT, that perhaps we're not seeing the same sort of improvement model-to-model, that there is a limit as to how much human data you can actually put into these models, and that even if you kind of throw more computational power at them, will they improve much more?
I would say, if you look at AI more broadly and what it's going to do and what it is already doing with healthcare and medicine, the progress is huge. And of course, Erica, the Holy Grail that all of these big companies are working towards, artificial general intelligence. You can see it as the Holy Grail or the end of humanity, depending on what your risk outlook is. But, there is a lot of progression there. So, while some skeptics about some of the commercial aspect of AI, there is a lot of exciting stuff to come, particularly for Nvidia, who will build all of the structures there, all the infrastructure.
HILL: Yes. Absolutely. Anna, great to see you. Thank you.
Well, thanks to all of you for spending part of your day with us here on CNN Newsroom.
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I'm Erica Hill in New York. Our coverage continues up next with One World. Stay with us.
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