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CNN International: Syrian Opposition Forces Enter City Of Aleppo; New Accusations of Violations By Israel And Hezbollah; Macron Tours Notre Dame One Week Before Official Reopening. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired November 29, 2024 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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PAULA NEWTON, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello, and a very warm welcome to our viewers. I'm Paula Newton in New York.
Ahead right here on CNN Newsroom, Syrian armed rebels have entered Aleppo the first time since government forces recaptured the city back in 2016. We will have a live report on the latest. Plus, a first look inside the newly restored Notre Dame Cathedral, five years after it was destroyed by fire. My guest is the President of the nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds for its restoration. And a record numbers of shoppers in the U.S. are expected to take advantage of sales today. We'll look at how Black Friday is going so far.
And we do begin this hour with major developments in Syria, where opposition forces have entered the city of Aleppo. Now, a video geo- located by CNN shows a rebel fighter, you can see it there, driving through the deserted streets on the western side of the city. Rebel groups launched a surprise, large-scale attack on Syrian government troops this week. Now, earlier, rebel officials told CNN, fighters had taken a town about 20 kilometers from Aleppo. Opposition forces appear to be exploiting the power vacuum left by Hezbollah when it pulled out of Syria for Lebanon.
Now, for greater perspective, we do want to turn to our CNN Senior International Correspondent Ben Wedeman, who has reported extensively from Syria. Ben, the fallout from this could be significant, as you've pointed out, especially now that CNN has confirmed that those rebels indeed have entered the city of Aleppo.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. They've entered the city of Aleppo from the western side, and they've entered areas, Paula, that have always been under Syrian regime control, even though the regime drove the rebels out of Aleppo in 2016. The rebels never controlled some parts of western Aleppo. So, this is definitely a dramatic change, especially when you take into account that this rebel offensive began only on Wednesday, and here we are Friday evening, and it appears that they've taken at least 66 villages in the western part of the Aleppo province, according to the rebels, and now they are in Aleppo itself. Now, the regime has put out statements saying that they've reinforced
all locations along the various battlefronts. That's the words they used. But, you have to keep in mind that until Wednesday, there were no battlefronts in Aleppo itself, and according to residents in western Aleppo that CNN has spoken to, they have seen regime forces pulling back from those western neighborhoods. So, this is definitely a dramatic change, when you consider that in March 2020, Russia and Turkey basically worked out a ceasefire agreement for northern Syria, with the rebels largely concentrated with about five million people, many of them displaced from other parts of Syria and Idlib province, which is to the west of Aleppo.
And basically, there was a stalemate. There was a lot of infighting among the rebels themselves. There was sort of back and forth skirmishes with regime forces. But, it was thought that the situation was basically static, and all of a sudden we see this lightning offensive being launched by these rebels, clearly taking advantage of the fact that Hezbollah has pulled all its forces out of Syria to throw into the fight against Israel. And of course, they've also lost almost their entire senior command.
And of course, Iran has taken a series of blows from Israel, both in Syria and at home. And in fact, Iranian media is reporting that a brigadier general for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been killed in Aleppo in the last few days. And finally, Russia, which came to the rescue of the regime of Bashar al-Assad in September 2015, is clearly distracted by the war in Ukraine. So, basically you have -- it's the Syrian army which is the main military force right now operating in that part of the country, and the Syrian army is not, shall we say, a top of the line fighting force. Paula.
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NEWTON: And given what you just outlined, Ben, I am interested on what your opinion is. Given your experience, I know it's hard to know what the regime, the Syrian regime's reaction might be to this, especially now that we are reporting that, as you said, those government forces have actually retreated, at least from our reporting.
WEDEMAN: Well, certainly they do have an advantage, the Syrian government forces, and that they do have air power and they have superior firepower in terms of artillery, which we understand that they have been using to try to fire for into Idlib province and in the areas that are now under rebel control. But, I think you have a basic problem is that this is a regime that isn't very popular, and there has always been resentment against it, and certainly once the ball gets rolling, once a force like this with the rebels start to advance dramatically, as they have, the fragile morale of the Syrian army could simply collapse altogether, and you could see sort of retreats across broad fronts.
So, they're in a very vulnerable position, and it's questionable to what extent its traditional backers, Hezbollah, Iran and Russia, can actually come to their rescue. Pauls.
NEWTON: OK. A lot to parse there, as we continue to follow this fascinating story. Ben Wedeman, glad to have you with us, as you continue to follow the story, and we'll continue to check in with you. Thank you.
I want to go now to H. A. Hellyer. He is a Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies. I am curious to learn -- thank you for joining us. I am curious to learn from you how surprised you are at this, given what Ben described. Obviously, they were the skirmishes. The rebels were always trying to gain more of a foothold. But, to actually enter Aleppo, Syria's second largest city at this time in the fashion they have, I mean, what's your take?
H. A. HELLYER, SR. ASSOC. FELLOW, ROYAL UNITED SERVICE INSTITUTE OF DEFENCE AND SECURITY STUDIES: First, thank you very much, Paula, for having me. Always a pleasure to be here, and good to hear from Ben, who, of course, has great experience in this area, but I think that his analysis is correct. The Syrian regime continues to be deeply unpopular among huge swathes of the Syrian population. Of course, it also has popularity in other areas as well, but there is that deep- rooted dissent and antipathy towards it, and it managed to hold sway in large parts of Syria as a result of, frankly, external support, in terms of Hezbollah, in terms of the Iranian regime as well.
What we've seen over recent months is the, quote, unquote, "Axis of Resistance" really showing that actually the strength of it is not what people considered it to be. And I think that this particular offensive would have been in the works for quite some time, where the rebels would have thought, actually, we have an opportunity to take back some territory in Syria, while Hezbollah is being pounded in Lebanon as a result of the Israeli invasion and offensive where the Iranians are trying to simply hold on to regime stability within Iran itself.
So, I think that it's an opportune moment that they saw, and I think you'll see a lot of people being very conservative about their predictions from here on in because really, I don't think anybody knows how far this can go.
NEWTON: Understood. Yeah.
HELLYER: It's not -- I don't think it was launched by the Turks, for example. I don't think that that's the issue here. I think it's really about how the rebels think that they can proceed, how much they can get. And it doesn't mean that there is an end to negotiations, either, but I do think that it means that the landscape has changed quite dramatically.
NEWTON: And I do want to get to the issue of Turkey in a moment. Before we get there, though, I am going to read what CNN knows to be a statement from those rebels, and they said the goal of the operation is to liberate our occupied territories from the criminal regime and Iranian militias as well, to establish a safe environment for displaced people to return to their cities and towns. I mean, the underlying intent from that is actually quite concerning. I remind everyone that, according to the UN, some 300,000 civilians lost their lives in the Syrian conflict altogether. What do you make of the statement from the rebels at this point?
HELLYER: I think they're very clear. They're not intending on simply stopping where they've reached so far. It's not simply about the holding the territory that they've taken in the last few days.
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It will be about expanding and extending. Of course, the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad will try to regroup. But, as Ben pointed out, the fighting force of the Syrian army is not the best, and they can no longer count on Hezbollah, nor to the same extent the Iranian regime, in order to bolster their forces. So, the question will be, how quickly the Syrian rebels can actually move before surrounding countries, external forces try to put a bit of a freeze? And I think that they will, at some point, try to put a bit of a freeze, because this is a deeply destabilizing set of events. So, I think that you will see countries in the region try to move forward in terms of some sort of diplomatic path. But, the Syrian rebels, I think, will go as far as they can, as quickly as they can, and other countries will be trying to keep up.
NEWTON: I note that they will be trying, the rebels, to move, win and hold. It is interesting. You had --
HELLYER: Yes.
NEWTON: -- mentioned Turkey. When we talk about external powers, you talked about Iran, but we also, of course, have to talk about Russia and Turkey. We do --
HELLYER: Yes.
NEWTON: -- have a Turkish security source saying to CNN that Turkey had attempted to halt the rebel offensive to, quote, and I'm quoting, "this Turkish security official here to prevent further escalation of tensions in the region due to Israel's aggression", and they're referring specifically to the wars in Lebanon in Gaza. I --
HELLYER: Yes.
NEWTON: -- take what you will from that. But, what do you believe could be Turkey's next move here?
HELLYER: Well, I think Turkey made it very clear. It's not that they oppose the Syrian rebels' move in Syria as much as they didn't support it. And also, I think their overriding concern is that it throws another, quote, unquote, "destabilizing element into the mix", OK, and I think that that's the point there, that what you have right now is an Israeli government that has declared -- that is engaged in a war on Gaza, where we have an incredibly dire humanitarian situation where tens of thousands of civilians have been killed, and where the prospect for annexations in the West Bank by the Israelis and further moves in Gaza. I mean, all of this is going to be part of a wider set of moves that the Turks are going to be very nervous about, and opposed to much like the rest of the region, frankly. So, throughout that, and then, of course, when we talk about Lebanon,
there is an incredibly tenuous ceasefire deal that's currently holding in Lebanon, even though it's been violated several times already over the last few days by the Israelis. So, throwing something else into the mix, where Syria becomes a live arena again, and has been pointed out there haven't been -- there hasn't really been a live front in Syria for quite some time. There've been skirmishes, small-scale things, but nothing like this.
NEWTON: Yeah.
HELLYER: I think that that's what took this, and not only took the Turks by surprise, but was something that they wanted to avoid, at least at this moment in time.
NEWTON: Yeah, certainly concerning, as many will be watching the developments in the coming hours and days.
Again, H. A. Hellyer, we really appreciate your perspective. Thanks so much.
HELLYER: Thank you so much, Paula. Take care.
NEWTON: Now, it is day three of a fragile but still holding ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. That's despite accusations of violations coming from both sides of the border. Israel's Foreign Minister is warning of an immediate response from the IDF if Hezbollah does violate the truce. Israel says it killed more than 2,500 Hezbollah operatives since late September, when the military ramped up its offensive in Lebanon. Now, meantime, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will not agree to end the war in Gaza until Hamas is dismantled. Listen.
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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (Interpreted): I'm ready for a ceasefire at any moment, but ending the war, I'm not ready for that, because we also need to achieve the elimination of Hamas.
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NEWTON: Now, Gaza's Health Ministry says Israeli bombs killed at least 20 people on Thursday. Several homes in Nuseirat were hit, sending dozens of people to the Al-Awda Hospital with injuries, and the hospital director says Israeli forces are blocking delivery of medical supplies, food and fuel to the hospital. CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment on all of that.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond continues to follow all of these developments from Tel Aviv for us. Good to have you on, Jeremy. I want to speak first just about the ceasefire and its durability.
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You, for weeks, but also principally in the last few days, have been speaking to Israelis who, when they look at this ceasefire, are still fearful about, is this going to hold? What more are you learning, especially now that we are in the first few days of the ceasefire?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. That's right. The residents of northern Israel, those who remain there, but also some 60,000 who were displaced from their homes over the course of the last year. They are all incredibly skeptical of this ceasefire agreement, largely because they watched in 2006 when a ceasefire agreement was reached between Israel and Hezbollah that ultimately Hezbollah ended up building up a whole range of infrastructure, military infrastructure right on the border, including not only these rocket launchers and anti-tank missiles that they have fired at their homes, but also these tunnels and attack infrastructure that has been discovered by the Israeli military very close to the border.
And so, their fear is that Hezbollah will not abide by this agreement, will once again build up, again, covertly under the noses of the United Nations and Israel and others involved in this process, and that Israel won't actually be able to prevent that from happening.
The Israeli government right now, what they are doing is they are trying to prove to the residents of northern Israel that they are going to be capable of enforcing this ceasefire agreement, and also that they have maintained their freedom of action in the skies above Lebanon. And indeed, we've seen that over the course of the last few days in actions where the Israeli military, including one that was just confirmed now by them, has carried out airstrikes in southern Lebanon against what they are saying are Hezbollah positions, and what they are claiming are violations of the ceasefire by Hezbollah.
The Lebanese side, for its part, is calling these actions by the Israeli military the real violations of this ceasefire, and that, of course, speaks to how complex and how risky these actions by the Israeli military and the potential for it to blow up this ceasefire will be going forward, in the sense that Israel is not only a party to this ceasefire agreement, but also trying to be the party that actually goes ahead and enforces it. But, Israeli government officials have made very clear to me that they would not have agreed to this ceasefire if they did not believe that they would retain and that the United States had provided assurances that Israel could retain this kind of freedom of action in the skies above Lebanon.
But, so far, despite some of these violations that have been claimed by both sides, this ceasefire, for now, appears to be holding. Paula.
NEWTON: Jeremy Diamond for us. We'll continue to keep an eye on it. Appreciate it.
Still has come for us, a first look at a restoration project more than five years in the making. Next, we go live to Paris to see the makeover of Notre Dame Cathedral after what we all remember to be that absolutely horrific fire. Plus, I speak with the president of the organization partly behind raising the funds to restore the beloved Gothic gem to its full glory.
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NEWTON: Celebrations in Paris this past hour is one of the city's most famous landmarks, the Notre Dame Cathedral. You see it there, in all its glory, is restored. We are getting a first glimpse inside the historic cathedral, more than five years after a devastating fire wreaked havoc. Now, earlier today, French President Emmanuel Macron toured Notre Dame for a final inspection. That is a week before its official reopening. Now, he told restoration workers, they have, quote, "transformed ashes into art". Listen.
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EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (Interpreted): Don't forget that you repaired, that you contributed to reinvent, that you love this place, that you rebuilt it. Don't forget that during these five years of your life, you shared together, without a doubt, the most beautiful project of this century. And do not forget the thanks that I give you, but also your families, because I am aware of the sacrifices they agreed on so that you can keep this promise of rebuilding Notre Dame within five years. You did it, and that is an immense pride for the entire nation.
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NEWTON: The blaze in 2019 was a major setback, of course, for the monument, which has stood tall for some 860 years. It's incredible just even to see that video today of the spire there burning, and there you see it falling. Now, the work has come with a hefty price tag. It's estimated to cost about 700 million euros. That's about $738 million.
We go live to our Melissa Bell, who is just outside the cathedral there in Paris for us, on what I'm glad to report is a glorious day for France, likely for the entire country, especially when Macron really, coming out of this tragedy, was so determined about its rebuilding within that tight timeline. I know many were skeptical, but he must be reveling in its restoration today.
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He was, and I think that was the point of the visit. If you cast your mind back to 2019, you mentioned a moment ago, Paula, the spire falling in front of the screaming crowd who had been watching this fire engulf Notre Dame for several hours by then. It was that very night that Emmanuel Macron, you'll remember, facing a lot of social unrest, this was the (inaudible) time, had stood in front of the front side of the cathedral and said, look, it will be rebuilt, and it will be rebuilt within five years. Very few believed that it could be done.
And so, whilst the actual opening will only take place next weekend, with the first mass next Sunday, Paula, this was the final construction site visit by the French President, his seventh, but also the opportunity, I think, to tell the world that he had achieved what many said couldn't be done.
And so, he stood inside and addressed some of the 2,000 men and women who have been so closely involved in this very careful, very delicate, very difficult restoration. I got to go inside with him at that moment to see it for myself, and it really is very different to what it was before the fire. Gone are those -- that somber solemnity. It is sparkling clean. The paintings are entirely redone and restored. The guild work is shining. It is stunning inside. And so, he spoke to them about what they'd done. Have a listen.
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MACRON (Interpreted): You have been the alchemists of this work site, and you have transformed the blackness into art. The flame was a national wound, and you've been the remedy through determination, commitment and work.
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BELL: So, in just over five years, that pledge will have been respected. You mentioned ago -- a moment ago, the price tag, formidable as it is, more than $740 million. Overall, they managed to raise even more than they spent, and I think that's a testament to just what this cathedral means well beyond the borders of France, Paula. Across the world, from 150 countries, it is 340,000 individual donors who, in the end, donated more than $800 million. It's an astonishing figure, and I think it speaks to the fact that that night, as not just the crowds here around the Ile Saint-Louis and Ile de la Cite began to gather here in Paris physically to watch in horror as the cathedral burned.
It was through our air and on other networks that the whole world tuned in that night to watch the flames engulf the cathedral with questions about whether the tower on that left hand side would stand, whether the entire edifice might crumble.
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In the end, two years to make sure that it stood upright, another three to get it lovingly restored, and the effect, as we saw today and the world will discover from next week, is absolutely extraordinary, Paula.
NEWTON: It really is, and no trip to Paris has ever been complete for me without at least walking past it, even if I couldn't go inside. I have to say, Melissa, it brought a smile to my face today to see you in front of it, and I'm glad you got a chance to go inside.
Melissa Bell for us live in Paris. Appreciate it.
We do want to get more on this. I'd like to bring in Michel Picaud. He is the President of the nonprofit organization Friends of Notre-Dame, which helped to raise funds for the restoration of the iconic Paris cathedral. And I welcome you to the program. As Melissa just pointed out, right, there were so many private donors, not just in France, but all over the world. And I want to ask you, can you describe what this day means to you, after all you and the other donors have done?
MICHEL PICAUD, PRESIDENT, FRIENDS OF NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS: Thank you very much, Paula. So, this day is an historic day for us, because, as you know, many donors have donated for the restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris all over the world, and we have -- at Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris, we have more than 50,000 donors all over the world, and of which 45,000 donors in the U.S. So, it's -- for us, it's very comforting to see that we have been able to achieve this key milestone of reopening the cathedral in this restoration.
NEWTON: And in terms of that painstaking restoration, I like to call it a resurrection, especially given the timeline, I know there is more to be done, but in terms of when the public will be allowed back in in the coming days, there is more to do in the exterior. But, how extraordinary is it that it was able to be done in this timeline?
PICAUD: So, I think it's a wonderful achievement, which was done by the project team, to be able to reopen, and as you have seen, perhaps, and you will see it from next week, the interior of the cathedral is completely restored. So -- and now we have evidently a roof and spire and vaults which have been rebuilt. So, I think this key milestone of the reopening was it was a key challenge, and to have succeeded in this challenge, thanks to the generosity of French and international donors, is really a key achievement. So, we are very proud, and I think the whole world must be very proud of this achievement, because the whole world has participated in this restoration of the cathedral.
NEWTON: Yeah. Interesting, not just a French achievement, but one that many can take pride in around the world. I mean, why do you believe so many people around the world were first so shaken by this catastrophe? In terms of people who aren't even Catholic, really, it has just stood as such a sacred thing for the Republic itself, but also for the so many tourists.
PICAUD: Yeah. I think the Notre-Dame de Paris as a unique role, and I think it belongs a little bit to everybody all over the world. Everybody know how -- most people know Notre-Dame de Paris for different reasons, be the religious reason, or be the historical reason, or be the cultural reason. But, I think everybody, when the spire fell down and this fire happened, I think everybody was touched and wanted to contribute to the restoration of this marvel, which is Notre-Dame de Paris.
NEWTON: On a personal note, I don't know when you were last in the cathedral, have you seen it in its full glory so far, and what is your reaction?
PICAUD: Actually, I was there in the cathedral today with President Macron. And this is very impressive. I must say that I was also on the square in front of the cathedral when the cathedral burned on April 15, 2019, and I have been regularly able to visit the cathedral in the next -- in the last five years, and to see it now completely freed from all the scaffolding that we had to install inside the cathedral to restore it, and in this beauty and very bright and blonde colors of the stone, and with the paintings restored and colorful, so I think it's very impressive, and we are really touched by this restoration of the cathedral, as you said before.
NEWTON: Indeed, as so many are around the world. As President Macron said, it was a national wound that has now been healed.
Michel Picaud, we will continue to follow the restoration efforts as they continue there for Notre Dame. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.
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PICAUD: Thank you very much for your attention. Thank you.
NEWTON: OK. Still ahead for us, Mexico's President disputes Donald Trump's account of a phone call they had. We'll have the latest on that. Plus, Mark Zuckerberg's meeting with the President-elect, and new threats to U.S. lawmakers, this time to Democrats in Connecticut.
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NEWTON: And welcome back. You are watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Paula Newton in New York. Here are some of the international headlines we're watching today.
Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of the Georgian capital Tbilisi.
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NEWTON: As you can see there, they clashed with police in the early hours of the morning after Georgia's ruling party said the government would suspend EU membership talks. Georgia's relations with the EU have deteriorated sharply in recent months, most notably over the country's recent disputed elections.
Voters in Ireland are casting their ballots today in what is shaping up to be a very close race to choose the new government. The stakes are enormous in this election. All 174 seats in parliament are up for grabs. 38-year-old Prime Minister Simon Harris, the youngest in Ireland's history, seemed to be riding high. That is until last week. Critics slammed Harris as insensitive after a video went viral showing him appearing to walk away from exasperated care worker.
British lawmakers have just approved a bill to legalize assisted dying. After hours of debate today, the House of Commons voted 334 for and 275 against supporting the bill. Over the years, high-profile figures have given emotional first-hand testimony on the subject. Under the legislation, terminally ill people would be able to take a substance to end their lives. The bill must still pass the House of Lords and parliamentary committees.
Now, it is countdown, if you can believe it, to Inauguration Day in the United States, and current President Joe Biden has a message for his successor. He is urging President-elect Donald Trump to rethink his plan to impose new tariffs on Mexico and Canada. Now, Mr. Biden's comments on Thursday come on the heels of Trump's recent phone call with the President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum. Now, on Truth Social, Trump posted this description, saying he said the conversation was productive. He went on to say that President Sheinbaum had agreed to stop migration through Mexico into the U.S., quote, "effectively closing the southern border." But, President Sheinbaum is Disputing Trump's interpretation of that call.
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She says she never agreed to close the shared border, and in fact, it's not possible.
Joining us now from West Palm Beach, Florida is CNN's Steve Contorno. Yeah, a very confusing phone call, and then description thereafter. I mean, what's the fall open like?
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah. That's right, Paula. It's interesting that there is such a curious amount of disconnect in a phone call that both sides described as relatively positive and an important sort of flash point in the relationship going forward. However, there is a chasm in how they are describing this call. You read what President-elect Trump said. Well, here is what Mexico's President Sheinbaum said. She wrote, "Everyone has their own way of communicating, but I can assure you, I give you the certainty that we would never, and we would be incapable of it, propose that we would close the border. It has never been our approach, and of course, we don't agree with it."
Now, I will point out that Trump's statement said that Sheinbaum had agreed to, quote, "effectively close the border." So, perhaps that word effectively is doing a lot of work, and his description of closing the border to migrants and drugs, maybe perhaps is different from her description of allowing trade and tourism to continue. However, one thing that remains unclear and amongst a lot of unclarity is whether or not Trump feels satisfied by the call enough to lift his threats of a 25 percent tariff on Mexican goods. He said that that would persist until the country had done more to help the U.S. maintain the border, stop the flow of migrants and the flow of drugs across the border. And while he believes he got concessions out of the Mexican President, he has not yet said if it's enough for him to lift that threat of a tariff, Paula.
NEWTON: And also a lot more going on there in the tradition at Mar-a- Lago -- in the transition, pardon me, at Mar-a-Lago. Meta Chief Mark Zuckerberg met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Wednesday. I mean, social media definitely still top of mind for so many. What more are you learning about Trump's approach to social media companies?
CONTORNO: It's one of the -- going to be one of the key areas of the U.S. economy and business world to watch, because Trump has been all over the place on this issue. He is someone who previously said TikTok should be banned, but he has now not indicated whether he will go through with a U.S. law that is taking effect that would require TikTok to shut down if it doesn't sell to a U.S. company. He actually was a pretty prolific user of TikTok during this campaign.
He is also someone who has been incredibly critical of Facebook in the past. In fact, over the summer, he published a book that included a threat to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, saying that he would put him in prison with a life sentence if the Meta CEO was involved in any capacity in the 2024 elections. But now they are together at Mar-a-Lago, as we continue to see this warming between business leaders, Silicon Valley, Big Tech, and President-elect Donald Trump.
It's unclear what that means going forward, because Donald Trump did elevate someone to FEC Chair in Brendan Carr, who has been incredibly critical of Facebook. He has lumped them in with other Big Tech giants that he says need to be reined in. So, it will be interesting to see whether Trump's description and his warming of his relationship with Zuckerberg is reflected in the people who he has emboldened and put in power.
NEWTON: Steve Contorno, thanks for that, as you continue to follow the transition there, live from Florida. Appreciate it.
Now, four U.S. House Democrats and one Senator, all from Connecticut, have been targeted by bomb threats. Now, the incidents happened while they were at home on Thursday celebrating Thanksgiving. One of the threats was made against Congressman Jim Himes, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. Law enforcement says there is no evidence of actual bombs, thankfully, and all threatened are now safe. Now, these incidents come after several of Donald Trump's administration picks were also targeted with similar threats. Former FBI Director and CNN contributor Andrew McCabe says these types of threats are common, unfortunately, for high-profile individuals.
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ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: It presents the same challenge to law enforcement each time someone engages in it. They probably know 90 percent sure that these threats, as they come in, are worthless. They are hoax. There is nothing to them, but they can't take the risk of not responding on the off chance that one real threat gets through.
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NEWTON: Joining us now is CNN's Zachary Cohen, who has been following all of this.
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I mean, the Democratic lawmakers were the targets of those Thanksgiving Day bomb threats, and I know, thankfully, that there didn't seem to be an actual threat. And yet, when we had at least two assassination attempts on President-elect Trump in the last few months, it must be concerning for all.
ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Absolutely. It speaks to this hyper-partisan, hyper-politicized environment we're currently in, and one that has really created deep divisions within American society. But look, these five Democrats that we know of that say they were targeted with bomb threats on Thanksgiving morning, all really describing a similar experience that they were notified by law enforcement of the threat. Law enforcement eventually went and investigated and found no evidence of an actual bomb.
But, it's interesting, because even without an actual bomb being present, and thankfully so, this still does cause damage, and this still does really raise fears and concerns amongst both those lawmakers and government officials who find themselves often targeted in this way, and also law enforcement, who is really struggling and grappling with how to respond to these incidents and how to better prevent them from happening.
Now, the latest lawmaker from Connecticut to say that he was targeted on Thanksgiving Day is Democrat Senator Chris Murphy. Now, Chris Murphy's spokesperson, in a statement to me, said that this appears to be, quote, "part of a coordinated effort involving members of Congress, multiple members of Congress, and public figures", suggesting that there could be some linkage between the bomb threats to these five, at least five Connecticut lawmakers, the ones that are part of the delegation that represent Connecticut, and it remains to be seen. Law enforcement is still very much investigating what happened here, investigating both the language of these threats and also investigating potential -- who potentially could be behind them.
At the end of the day, like you said, this is a bipartisan concern. This is something that just as recently as this week, one day prior to these Democrats receiving threats, several of Trump's cabinet officials and cabinet picks received similar threats too. So, something that both Republicans and Democrats in this country are dealing with, and something law enforcement views as a challenge and one that they have to deal with increasingly -- with increasing focus as this continues to happen, and frankly, it continues to happen more and more with each passing day.
NEWTON: Yeah, absolutely, very preoccupying, I'm sure, for security officials, but also as well for the politicians and their families, and they're trying to keep their family safe.
Zachary Cohen for us. Thanks so much.
Now, the Black Friday shopping frenzy has been going on for several hours now. Coming up, we'll check in to see if retailers in the U.S. are seeing opportunity in this.
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NEWTON: Black Friday shopping in past years, look at that chaos, hopefully, we know it likely is not to be the case for today's shoppers of taking advantage of markdowns at department stores and shopping malls across the country.
[11:45:00]
You see them there in Atlanta. Look, sales on the day after Thanksgiving help energize retailers, driving consumers into those brick-and-mortar stores, even though many people these days, of course, they prefer to look for gifts and do their browsing online.
For more on Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, we want to bring in CNN Economics and Political Commentator Catherine Rampell. I -- telling you, this is not your mother's Black Friday. When I say mother, I mean myself. How has this transformed, thankfully, perhaps transformed retail in the last few years, especially everything was just turned upside down again by the pandemic?
CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah. I think a few things have happened. One, of course, is that there has been this longer term shift to online shopping, which was accelerated by the pandemic, and you're seeing a lot of deals going out even in the past week or two, in advance of both Black Friday and Cyber Monday, meaning that it's sort of that -- those promos have sort of been spread out over a longer period of time. So, I think you're less likely to see the traditional big spike in retail sales on Black Friday because those deals are available earlier, and they're available from not leaving your couch.
Beyond that, you've also seen that consumers have spent down a lot of their so-called excess savings from the pandemic, which is now a few years ago, but people had acquired -- had accumulated, rather, quite a bit of savings because of not being able to travel, not going out, because of those transfer payments that were coming from the federal government, because of higher wages coming in. But, a lot of that cushion has been spent down. So, consumers have been a little bit pickier, I guess I would say, this year, than they have been in years past, because they have less cash to play with.
And finally, on top of all of this, you will have a lot shorter shopping season than is usually the case between Thanksgiving and Christmas, all of which suggests that retailers may see a somewhat slower holiday shopping season this year than they would like.
NEWTON: Yeah. And believe it or not, that is actually significant for holidays in terms of how long those stores are actually open, how many days they have to rack in those sales.
Catherine, I know you've spoken so much of this in the last few days. Top of mind are these tariffs, right? We all know that so much of what -- so many of us, not just in the United States, buy, comes from, let's say, just to name one country, China, but obviously also in some cases, Mexico. What are we looking for in terms of the effects of those kinds of tariffs on what people are buying? And I also want to point out that this could mean a larger and spreading trade war among many countries.
RAMPELL: Absolutely. So, look, Trump's threatened tariffs have not gone into effect yet, and knock on wood, they won't. I think they would be very devastating, not only for the U.S. economy, but for a lot of our trading partners around the world, if, in fact, he imposes, for example, the 25 percent tariffs across all China -- excuse me, all Canadian and Mexican products, that would lead to higher costs for consumers, a lot of missed sales opportunities, potentially lots of layoffs, etcetera. So, all of those things would be bad. And you've already seen some companies actually pulling forward some of their orders to sort of hedge against those tariffs.
So, again, I mentioned a few countries that Trump has lately threatened tariffs against. But, of course, he ran his whole campaign talking about global tariffs of 10 percent or more, plus 50 percent, 60 percent, 100 percent, whatever, percent tariffs on Chinese goods. So, a lot of retailers, for example, in the United States have been preemptively purchasing our -- more products from those major suppliers to sort of guard against the idea that prices could go up in the next few months.
Now, that's risky, because they don't normally want to buy inventory that far in advance. It means that, of course, they have that cash outlay relatively early. They don't know if the products that they're buying for next spring, next summer, even next Christmas, will ultimately sell. So, there are accumulating a lot of stuff that may not sell or may have to sell at deep discounts. So, all of those things have been painful to retailers.
There is, however, a potential marketing upside, I guess. At least for right now, there have been a number of companies that have been advertising to consumers, this is the best price you're going to get. Get your pre-tariff deal now. Now, surprise, surprise, businesses are always saying that now is the best price. Now is the best time to buy.
[11:50:00]
But, it may ultimately be for some products, again, depending on how this trade war shapes up, if it materializes. But, yeah, that's one of the many marketing schemes that I think I have -- that we should expect consumers to see popping up in the months ahead.
NEWTON: Yeah, because there is still quite a bit of time between now and inauguration. He says it's an executive order that he'll sign on day one. I mean, hopefully that won't happen, and if it does, it won't be 25 percent or 10 percent additional on China. But, in terms of people shopping patterns, I guess the distortion could already be in effect. I mean, I know I've heard from small business people already saying that they have a lot of concern and have seen their orders have been affected, but also consumers, right, may say, might be time for me to buy an appliance, a big ticket item now, just in case.
RAMPELL: Right. And I think that's somewhat what retailers are hoping for. Look, the best-case scenario is if consumers get spooked and buy a bunch of stuff now and then the tariffs don't materialize. The worst-case scenario is if consumers say, I don't have the cash to spend right now. Maybe I'm not going to purchase those big ticket items. Maybe I'll wait a little bit, and then the prices go up, and then sales fall off. Some people will still ultimately have to replace their dishwasher, or refrigerator, or whatever other major expenditure there is, but a lot of people will just continue to put it off.
So, there is a lot of uncertainty right now that's built into this threat of trade wars, particularly since we don't know where the tariffs might be implemented, right? Maybe it'll be on China. Maybe companies can hedge against that by shifting some of their supply chains to other big manufacturing bases in Malaysia or Vietnam or other places. But, maybe Trump will tariff those places as well. So, it's not clear in this game of whack-a-mole where it's safe for both the retailers and their wholesalers and everybody else in that supply chain, as well as the consumers who ultimately, again, are going to bear a lot of the cost of those tariffs. At least that's what we saw last time around when Trump waged these trade wars. There was quite a bit of research showing that the costs were either mostly or entirely passed along for American consumers.
NEWTON: Catherine Rampell, we will leave it there for now. Appreciate it.
And we will be right back with --
RAMPELL: Thank you.
NEWTON: -- more news in a moment.
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NEWTON: Paleontologists in Peru have unearthed the fossil of an ancient crocodile believed to be more than, wait for it, 10 million- years-old. It's thought to be a young specimen of a gharial-type crocodilian that was likely three to four meters long. Now, adults of the species grow up to nine meters in length, while it once inhabited Peru and neighboring countries. This type of crocodile no longer exists on the entire American continents and is now only found in Asia. The discovery was made in fossil-rich desert region of Peru and is notably well preserved, missing only part of the animal's left limb in tail. A lot of research that will happen there.
Now, the first North Atlantic right whale calf of the season has been spotted off the coast of the Carolinas. The young whale was seen alongside three potential mothers with rescuers, pardon me, researchers, unsure which of the older whales to the calf belongs. Now, for wildlife advocates, the sighting is cause for hope, given the species is nearing extinction, mainly due to human interaction.
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It's estimated that only about 370 of the massive creatures remain, including fewer than 70 reproductively active females. That's significant, indeed.
Now, before we go, one more thing. There is a new Best in Show at the 92nd annual National Dog Show. Vito, Vito the pug. This is the first time in two decades that a pug has won the title at only two and a half years old. My goodness, he is still a baby. Vito has racked up 25, 25 Best in Shows over his short career. His co-owner Carolyn Koch said she is very proud of her pug. He is indeed very cute, even though I have no idea how they judge these things, because they all look good to me.
I want to thank you for spending part of your day with me. I am Paula Newton in New York. Stick with CNN. Zain Asher will be here momentarily with One World.
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