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Syria and Russia Fight Rebel Coalition; French Government Faces Collapse Ahead of No Confidence Vote; Allies Irritated by President Biden's About-Face Over Pardon of His Son; Ukrainian Troops Defend Against Drone Attacks in Kursk; Angel Merkel Reveals First Impressions of Donald Trump; Who is Kash Patel, Trump's Pick for FBI Director?; White House Halls Decked with "Peace and Light". Aired 12-1a ET

Aired December 03, 2024 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:10]

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, Syrian and Russian jets are striking back as the rebel coalition moves further into the country. They say they won't stop until the land is liberated for the Syrian people.

Israel and Hezbollah exchanged fire during what the United States calls a successful ceasefire. Plus France's government could topple after lawmakers put forward a no confidence vote on the prime minister.

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

KINKADE: Syrian and Russian forces are ramping up airstrikes against opposition fighters in northern Syria as a new rebel offensive shows no sign of slowing down. Syrian rebels claim they are in control of much of Aleppo and Idlib Province, and the U.N. says Syrian army airstrikes have killed dozens of civilians, injuring many more, and nearly 50,000 people have had to flee in the past few days.

Syria's long running civil war has resulted in several groups with areas of heavy influence inside the country. Everything in pink is controlled by the regime. Kurdish forces have a strong presence in the yellow area and large parts of Aleppo and Idlib Province in the green are now in rebel hands.

The head of the Internationally Recognized Syrian Opposition made this vow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HADI AL-BAHRA, HEAD OF INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED SYRIAN OPPOSITION (through translator): We see that if the regime does not respond to the people's demands, this military operation will continue. We will liberate our lands and restore the rights of the Syrian people. All the Syrian people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, the Russian air power that's beating back rebel forces has kept them at bay for years and has been key to keeping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in power. And even though the Russian military is now more stretched because of the conflict in Ukraine, the Kremlin says its support for Syria will continue.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Syria quickly descending back into all-out war. President Bashar al-Assad's army, seemingly caught completely off guard, retreating. As rebel groups make sweeping advances, taking much of the second largest city, Aleppo, and capturing large amounts of arms as they move forward.

These are the tanks of the regime, this fighter says, the pigs. This is one, two, three tanks, four tanks of the defense forces, and there are their buses. Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad calling on his biggest backers, Russia and Iran, to help bail him out, meeting with Iran's foreign minister as Tehran is already mobilizing regional forces for battle on the Syrian government's side.

The rebels will be confronted, Iran's foreign minister said, and I'm confident that this phase, like the previous ones, will also be passed with pride by the government, the people of Syria, and the Syrian army.

In a show of force, Assad's military releasing this video, claiming to show their counter push in Syria's northwest, but acknowledging they're relying on Russian air power to help their ground forces. The Russians now effectively fighting two major wars, in Syria and Ukraine simultaneously.

Of course, we support Bashar al-Assad, the Kremlin spokesman said. We continue our contacts on the relevant levels. We are analyzing the situation.

This as fighting in Ukraine grinds on at a steep cost in both lives and in money. President Vladimir Putin signing off on Russia's 2025 budget with almost a third of the money now going to defense and military spending. And while Moscow's troops have been making steady progress in Ukraine --

Hello, sir, we're from CNN television. (Voice-over): -- a senior aide to Vladimir Putin telling me the

Kremlin hopes the incoming Trump administration will end the war on terms favorable for Russia.

(Through text translation): Do you think the Trump administration will be able to settle the Ukraine conflict?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Naturally, we hope that the new administration will approach this issue with a desire to maintain peace on the planet, and not to incite war, pushing Ukraine to self-destruction.

[00:05:05]

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: For more, I'm joined by Steven Cook, a senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of "The Ends of Ambition: America's past, present and future in the Middle East."

Good to have you with us.

STEVEN COOK, SENIOR FELLOW, MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Thanks for having me.

KINKADE: So Russia's backed government, the government of Assad now under threat, Syria again in the midst of a civil war. This, of course, adding to a number of conflicts already raging in the Middle East, right?

COOK: Absolutely. The Syrian conflict had been static for the better part of the last five or six years, and then suddenly it's now back on the front burner with this rather stunning uprising in which the rebel groups have overrun government forces in Aleppo and are now threatening the city of Hama. So once again Syria is a vortex of instability in the Middle East.

KINKADE: So talk to us about Russia's support for the Assad regime. And just how big is Russia's presence inside Syria?

COOK: Yes, well, the Russians have spread across about 20 bases. They have a major air base in the western part of the country as well as a very significant naval base at Tartus on the mediterranean. And the Russians are deeply invested in Syria. It is the place from which the Russians can most influence the region. And as a result, they are expected to as they have begun doing to support the Assad regime, mostly through airstrikes.

And we've seen that begin over the course of the last few days. That is, in fact, how they saved the Assad regime between 2015 when they first intervened all the way up through the uprising that began just a few days ago.

KINKADE: Right. So you've got Russia bombing rebel groups from the air. You've got Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah fighters on the ground, and, of course, Iran has pledged to help Syria. Can you explain for us why Russia, Hezbollah and Iran are so invested in Syria?

COOK: Yes. Well, as I said, with Russia, this is the place from which it can exercise influence around the region. For Iran, Syria is critical to the supply and now resupply and reconstruction of Hezbollah, its primary proxy around the region, the most capable or at least until the Israeli offensive against Hezbollah began in September, the most capable of Iran's proxies. And for the Iranians to lose Syria would be a strategic setback of very significant proportions for them. And that's why both Russia and Iran are likely to do what they can to salvage the Assad regime.

KINKADE: And we know now that Russia wants to spend about a third of its entire budget on the military next year. How weak is Russia right now?

COOK: Well, I think Russia is quite weak. The Russian military has had a very hard time over the course of the last few years in taking over Ukraine. They expected that to be -- it's a relatively easy military operation and now they are back to military operations in Syria. They are stretched. Their economy is not doing as well as people think it is. Inflation is running actually twice of what the official figures are.

So the Russians are stretched, and unlike when they first intervened in Syria almost 10 years ago, they're going to have a much harder time concentrating force in that theater.

KINKADE: And can you tell us about what might be happening in the capital, in Damascus, right now and where Assad could be?

COOK: Yes, the reports from Damascus have been scattered and somewhat sensational. There are reports that the presidential palace had been overrun, that there was fighting in the streets, that major military units were fighting with each other. None of those seem to be proven to be true. We need to be very, very careful with reports coming out of Damascus since there are no international journalists there. And thus these reports are likely to be, you know, misinformation or disinformation.

But it is clear that the Assad regime itself is not as strong, did not have the war as well in hand as many had believed. And so although there's a long way to go before we can talk seriously about the end of the Assad regime, the ease with which these rebel groups overtook government forces in Aleppo and are now threatening Hama, would suggest that Assad does not have a really capable forces beyond his air force that are -- that can defend his regime and defend Damascus.

[00:10:08]

KINKADE: Yes, there was certainly plenty of reports coming out of Aleppo of, you know, his forces just fleeing.

COOK: Exactly.

KINKADE: Steven Cook, we'll leave it there for now. But great to have you with us. Thank you so much.

COOK: Thanks very much.

KINKADE: Well, an exchange of airstrikes is testing a shaky ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. On Monday, Lebanese authorities say Israeli strikes killed at least nine people in southern Lebanon marking the deadliest day since the truce took effect last week. Israel says it's retaliating after Hezbollah fired two projectiles towards Israeli occupied territory. But the Iranian backed group says it targeted Israeli military positions after days of repeated Israeli strikes.

A source with U.N. peacekeeping forces in Lebanon says Israel has breached the ceasefire agreement about 100 times since last week. Here's how the U.S. State Department views it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATHEW MILLER, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: What we have seen since the ceasefire went into effect is it being successful? Broadly speaking, it has been successful in stopping the fighting and getting us on a path where we are not seeing the -- just daily loss of life that we had seen for two months prior.

Now, with respect to violations or potential violations of the ceasefire, we set a mechanism up to look into this very question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, on the heels of that tenuous truce, there's a renewed push by the Biden administration to try and secure a ceasefire in Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer on Monday in Washington. Dermer didn't answer questions as he left the U.S. State Department but Blinken had been expected to express the U.S. position that a ceasefire and hostage release deal is urgently needed, as are plans for the day after in Gaza.

Well, U.S. and Israeli leaders are expressing grief and outrage over the death of an American Israeli soldier, Omer Maxim Neutra. The Israeli military now says Neutra was killed during the Hamas attack on October 7th last year near the Kibbutz Nir Oz and his body is in Gaza. He was previously believed to be alive and held as a hostage in the enclave. The Israel Defense Forces say the 21-year-old had been serving as a tank platoon commander in the IDF at the time of the attack.

Neutra's parents spoke to CNN last week about efforts to bring the hostages home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OMA NEUTRA, OMER MAXIM NEUTRA'S MOTHER: Everyone wants their loved ones home. They all need to come home. The ones who are alive need to come home for rehabilitation and the ones who are deceased need to come home for a proper burial, and for closure for their families. So whatever is needed, we -- all of the families are craving for their families to come home and for this nightmare to finally end for all sides.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, following news of Neutra's death, the U.S. raised the Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Flag over the State Department on Monday.

Well, Donald Trump is putting Hamas and other groups holding hostages in the Middle East on notice. The U.S. president-elect says there will be all hell to pay if the captives aren't released by his inauguration day on January 20th.

Well, some of Trump's cabinet picks will spend this week meeting with U.S. senators on Capitol Hill ahead of their confirmation hearings. They include attorney general pick Pam Bondi, Defense secretary hopeful Pete Hegseth, and director of National Intelligence pick Tulsi Gabbard.

The special counsel who prosecuted Hunter Biden is pushing back on the U.S. president's claim that his son was unfairly targeted. David Weiss' team says there was none and never has been any evidence of vindictive or selective prosecution in the cases. It comes as some of the president's own allies are questioning his decision to pardon his son after repeatedly saying he wouldn't do it.

CNN's Paula Reid has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even as President Biden publicly declared he wouldn't pardon his son.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I said I abide by the jury's decision. I will do that, and I will not pardon him.

REID: Sources tell CNN that people in the West Wing and those close to Hunter Biden believed a pardon was always coming.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Will you testify?

REID: In June, Hunter became the first child of a sitting president to be convicted of a crime.

The jury has found Hunter Biden, the president's son, guilty on all three counts in this case after three hours of deliberation.

HUNTER BIDEN, PRESIDENT BIDEN'S SON: Good morning.

REID (voice-over): After that historic conviction on gun charges, he faced another federal case in Los Angeles on tax charges. But just hours before the trial was set to begin, he entered a surprise guilty plea on all of the counts he faced.

ABBE LOWELL, HUNTER BIDEN'S ATTORNEY: This plea prevents that kind of show trial that would have not provided all the facts or served any real point in justice.

[00:15:00]

REID: Sources familiar with Hunter's legal strategy tell CNN he would not have pleaded guilty, exposing himself to the possibility of 17 years in prison and possibly more than $1 million in fines without the expectation of some form of clemency.

And even as the White House repeatedly denied a pardon was on the table, one senior White House official told CNN they felt certain Biden would pardon his son before leaving office, saying, I know how much he worries about Hunter. Then, after the president spent the Thanksgiving holiday with Hunter, his wife and their son, Biden informed his staff about the pardon decision on Saturday night.

On Monday the White House had no clear explanation for the president's flip flop.

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I can speak to where we are today and so I can't speak to hypotheticals here. Where we are today, the president made this decision over the weekend. He thought about it. He wrestled with it.

REID (on-camera): One former White House staffer asks the question, which is, if it was so obvious that the president was going to pardon his son, why did he and the White House pretend otherwise for so long? We do not have an answer to that question, but another source points to the fact that, look, the president did allow David Weiss, who began investigating Hunter in the Trump administration, allowed him to continue his work, allowed the Justice Department to bring two cases against his son.

They argue that this pardon should not undermine the lengths that Biden went to to allow the DOJ to act independently. But again, that was not the message from the White House over the past year. And their contradictions have now made this pardon a far greater controversy.

Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, still to come, the French government could be just days away from collapsing. What the prime minister did to anger lawmakers on both the left and right. We'll have an interview next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Well, the French government may be on the verge of collapse after lawmakers put forward a no confidence motion against Michel Barnier. The centrist prime minister's 2025 budget is deeply unpopular. It includes more than $60 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts in the hopes of bringing down the deficit.

The far-right National Party led by Marine Le Pen has vowed to join lawmakers on the left to take down Barnier unless he concedes to several of their demands.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARINE LE PEN, NATIONAL PARTY GROUP LEADER (through translator): We are tabling a motion of censure and we are going to vote it because the French people have had enough. They have had enough of being thrashed, they have had enough of being mistreated. Some may be thought that with Michel Barnier, things would get better, but they were even worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, Dominic Thomas is CNN European Affairs commentator and professor at UCLA. He joins us now from Paris.

It looks beautiful behind you right there. How are you doing?

DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Not too bad. Things are good, nice and early. But a beautiful day ahead.

[00:20:03]

KINKADE: Excellent. So the prime minister was appointed by the president to bring stability to the government. Instead, he could be out. Is this potentially the start of the downfall of the government?

THOMAS: It certainly looks that way, Lynda. All the way back in June during the European elections, the far-right did exceptionally well. And in order to rethink and revisit that situation, Emmanuel Macron called early legislative elections and ironically they did not provide him with greater clarity except to emphasize the fact that the society was deeply polarized and the government that he subsequently appointed after waiting several months ultimately does not have a parliamentary majority.

It relies on support from either the far-right or from the left coalition and in this particular case, they have announced that this budget legislation that he forced through will not come with their support and they are calling for Wednesday, in other words for tomorrow, French time, for a vote of no confidence. And if they go ahead with that, this government will fall.

KINKADE: And so as you mentioned, he tried, the prime minister tried to push through this budget in this deeply divided government, even making concessions when he realized he couldn't get it through. And then he tried to go around getting a vote in parliament. In hindsight, was that a mistake?

THOMAS: Well, it will be. I think yes, absolutely, and as we've seen relying on this article, 49-3, which allows a government to push legislation through without subjecting it to a vote, is something which all the way back to 2017 since Emmanuel Macron was elected his successive governments have relied on this more than any government in French history, and so in this particular case, they went to that again and it enraged people during discussions around pension reform and other legislation that he has put through.

So this is a package that essentially is continuing along the lines of providing concessions, tax concessions to the wealthy, while going after public services, social services as a way to balance that particular budget. And in this case, this has proved completely unpalatable, especially to the to the far-right that is simply unwilling to go along with this and would rather see this government collapse than continue with negotiations. Now they did back down over some of the projected reforms over

reinstating an electricity cost as an outcome of the energy crisis, but most people are feeling a cost of living pinch here. And these further measures are simply not going to be supported by the various opposition parties that together hold a majority in this particular parliament -- Lynda.

KINKADE: Yes, and it was interesting that it's not just the far-right. I mean, both sides really, the far-right and the far-left, have a problem with this budget, right?

THOMAS: They absolutely do. And they not only have a problem with this budget, they have a problem with this particular government. Unfortunately, we find ourselves in a kind of electoral crisis situation. The legislatives just simply reinforce the idea that we have a deeply divided society between these three branches of the left, far-left, the far-right, and the center-right government that is moving increasingly to the right.

So there is no ultimate outcome to this solution and should this government collapse, it would be extraordinarily difficult for Emmanuel Macron to put through a government that would be able to legislate thus we have a crisis there. And he cannot constitutionally call for another legislative election until the summer of 2025. So yet again, a lot of unpredictability, a lot of uncertainty, which is, of course negatively impacting confidence in France, confidence in its economy, which is at the very heart of this budgetary crisis.

KINKADE: The president is meant to reign, is due to remain in office until 2027. But if Barnier goes, how soon could Macron be gone? And what does this all mean for stability in France?

THOMAS: Yes, I mean, this is this is a great question. We're in sort of uncharted territory. Clearly the situation is unsustainable. But Emmanuel Macron is himself safe. It's the question of being able to legislate, of appointing a government in this particular climate that will be able to secure support from the far-right or the far-left, whatever configuration he comes up with will find opposition.

This means that the question increasingly moving forward has to therefore go back to focusing on Emmanuel Macron and whether or not it is going to be possible for him to remain in office all the way through to 2027 with this evolving constitutional crisis, which essentially France faces itself in, and which is also, of course, weakening the focus on Europe, on European questions as increasingly European countries are focusing on these domestic challenges that they face as we see not far from here in Germany as well, where that particular government has also collapsed and is facing federal elections coming up in February of 2025.

[00:25:06]

KINKADE: Dominic Thomas, great analysis as always and thanks for getting up bright and early for us in Paris. Not so bright just yet. It will be soon. Thank you. Well, protesters have rallied in Georgia's Tbilisi for a fifth

consecutive night after the government suspended talks on joining the European Union until 2028. They have faced a violent crackdown by police using tear gas and water cannons that has alarmed international watchdogs. Amnesty International says in some cases police violence has amounted to torture.

The former Soviet state's outgoing pro-Western president, who's called for a fresh election after a contested October vote, says pro-European protests will continue across the country.

Well, as Western allies pledge new military aid, Ukraine is fighting to defend the front lines in Kursk. Just ahead, how troops there are combating an onslaught of Russian drone attacks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

The U.S. has announced a new $725 million military aid package for Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says it will include Stinger missiles, HIMAR rockets and anti-personnel mines. It's part of the Biden administration's efforts to bolster Ukraine's defenses before Joe Biden leaves office next month.

Well, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also reaffirmed his support for Ukraine on a visit to Kyiv, promising to deliver more air defense systems next year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLAF SCHOLZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): My visit to Kyiv today made one thing very clear to me. Ukraine will prevail. We have talked not only to the current American administration with which we had a very good cooperation in this regard. But we've also talked to the future president, Donald Trump, too. I believe that we can set on developing joint policies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, the military aid can't come soon enough for Ukrainian forces as troops on the front lines try to hold off swarms of Russian drones.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports from Kursk on Ukraine's defensive efforts there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They have a three-second window. Rushing out with a U.S.-supplied Stinger and an aging anti-aircraft gun to shoot down Russian attack drones in the fleeting moment they fly overhead in range.

Three kilometers from them.

WALSH (voice-over): They could hit that and prepared to. But the radar is wrong and they paused to hear it.

[00:30:04]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: Turn there.

WALSH (voice-over): So repositioned the entire truck, but suddenly, the drone has vanished.

It sounded like a decoy, but that usually means others are coming, and the sky is filling up with drones in the next region.

A month ago, the targets here seemed endless. November was a record month for drones across Ukraine. They usually crash into towns, not this empty field.

Their sound slices through the dark.

WALSH: It was pretty low and close, and while they think this is Ukrainian drones headed for Russia, the Russians also used this moment to take the same routes to try and sneak their drones in.

WALSH (voice-over): Right now, a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia is underway. So, they've been forbidden, even if they could, to fire.

Each night, they watch Russian drones weave their complex way out of their tiny range.

When the defenses fail, the icy silence breaks. Moscow pummeling the border town Sumy here with a cluster munition missile that killed 12 in an apartment block. Because Ukraine is still inside Russia, holding positions in Kursk.

This thermal drone image shows just hours earlier, the dawn's fight in Kursk for Oleksandr (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: The assault teams came in the dawn grey. There was almost no contact. We worked with birds [drones]. Then the infantry simply swept them up.

WALSH (voice-over): In the positions they've hit, no sign of the North Korean troops meant to be in Kursk. Instead, Chechens, even African mercenaries. But above all, endless waves of Russians.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: I have the impression they have unlimited people. It's like the next Russians don't know what happened to the previous Russians. So, they go there, into the unknown. WALSH (voice-over): His Humvee is a mess. He hasn't slept for three days, and shelling has damaged his hearing. But he knows what he'd say to President-elect Donald Trump: When Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in the '90s, we were promised protection.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: You took away our nuclear weapons? You promised us protection? Yes, in simple terms, so keep your word. We're being slaughtered, and you're still trying to play games, to defend your interests. You have to give everything you could to end this war in two days. Who will believe the words of the U.S. or England, who are pissing themselves in front of Russia? Pardon my English.

WALSH (voice-over): Confident they can hold out in Kursk. Less confident of how long the West expects them to.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Sumy, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel says her first impression of Donald Trump was that he may have envied some of the world's most controversial leaders and how they ruled.

Speaking with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, she detailed what struck out to her about Trump when he first took office.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I remember very distinctly when Donald Trump was first elected. You did one -- you were the only one to actually welcome his election conditionally. In other words, based on the respect and the adherence to mutual values: democracy, freedom, diversity, rule of law, human rights, et cetera.

And I just, you know, wonder whether you thought he did act in that way, and especially, because you said he was clearly fascinated by the Russian president: "In the years that followed, I received the distinct impression that he was captivated by politicians with autocratic and dictatorial traits."

How did that manifest itself to you?

ANGELA MERKEL, FORMER GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): Well, in the way that he spoke about Putin, the way that he spoke about the North Korean president.

Obviously, apart from critical remarks he made, there was always a kind of fascination at the sheer power of what these people could do.

So, my impression always was that he dreamt of actually overriding, maybe, all those parliamentary bodies that he felt were, in a way, an encumbrance upon him, and that he wanted to decide matters on his own.

And in a democracy, well, you cannot reconcile that with democratic values.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, you can hear Christiane Amanpour's entire conversation with Angela Merkel about her time as chancellor and her memoir, "Freedom."

It airs Tuesday at 1 p.m. in New York. That is 6 p.m. in London.

Well, as the president-elect's final cabinet and leadership choices take shape, we're learning more about his pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel.

CNN's Randi Kaye breaks down his plans to turn the federal agency on its head, along with other sweeping actions.

[00:35:06]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KASH PATEL, FORMER MEMBER OF TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: I'd shut down the FBI Hoover Building on day one.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kash Patel has big plans to shake up the FBI if he's confirmed as FBI director under President Donald Trump.

He blames the so-called deep state for weaponizing government and going after Trump.

PATEL: We are on a mission to annihilate the deep state.

KAYE (voice-over): His plan for the FBI's Hoover Building, if he were to shut it down?

PATEL: Reopening it the next day as a museum of the deep state.

And I'd take the 7,000 employees that work in that building and send them across America to chase down criminals. Go be cops.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

PATEL: Hey, how are you?

KAYE (voice-over): Patel, as a House Republican aide, also accused the deep state and the FBI of fabricating a Trump-Russia scandal during the 2016 election, only to sabotage Trump.

While an inspector general later found no political bias in the FBI probe, Patel criticized mistakes made in securing surveillance warrants.

PATEL: I was a lead investigator where we exposed the Russia-gate crimes that Comey, McCabe, Strzok, and Page and so many others committed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Patel, did you answer any of the questions?

KAYE (voice-over): In 2020, when Patel was working in the Pentagon, he promoted Trump's false claims that the 2020 election had been stolen. Since then, he's threatened to prosecute journalists who dismissed the election falsehoods.

PATEL: We're going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections. We're going to come after you. Whether it's criminally or civilly, we'll figure that out. But yes, we're putting you all on notice.

KAYE (voice-over): Patel also promoted Q, the so-called anonymous leader of QAnon, a movement that has spread conspiracy theories.

PATEL: There's a lot of good to a lot of it. He should get credit for all the things he has accomplished, because it's hard to establish a movement.

KAYE: Patel got his start as an entry-level public defender here in South Florida. He then went on to become a federal prosecutor focusing on terrorism.

And then, he joined the first Trump White House as an aide, as well as the Pentagon.

But it is worth noting -- and this really speaks to his bravado -- Kash Patel has repeatedly claimed that he was the lead prosecutor in the Benghazi investigation into the attack on the U.S. compound in Libya, where four Americans died.

Well, it turns out according to "The New York Times," he certainly was not. "The New York Times" is reporting that he was a junior Justice Department staffer at the time and was not part of the trial team.

Randi Kaye, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, still to come, the White House gets a festive spruce-up just in time for the holidays. We'll have the details of this year's theme.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back.

Some news on Elton John. He has a severe eye infection that has apparently left him unable to see.

The 77-year-old entertainer shared his health update at "The Devil Wears Prada" event in London on Sunday.

John said he lost the use of his right eye in July and struggles to see out of his left eye.

[00:40:04]

Elton John said he loved hearing the performance and said it sounded good, even though he couldn't see it.

The singer-songwriter officially retired from touring in 2023, but he wrote the score for the musical.

Well, the White House decorations went up over the weekend. The office of first lady Jill Biden says this year's theme is a season of peace and light.

The decor includes thousands of twinkling lights and floating paper doves. Julia Benbrook takes a look at the final holiday season under the Biden administration.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the White House.

First lady Jill Biden unveiling this year's holiday theme: a season of peace and light.

JILL BIDEN, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: We are guided by the values that we hold sacred: faith, family, and service to our country. Kindness toward all of our neighbors and the power of community.

BENBROOK (voice-over): The decor includes 83 Christmas trees, more than 28,000 ornaments, and over 165,000 lights. More than 300 volunteers helped create the winter wonderland.

BIDEN: It's been incredible to watch all of you transform this space year after year.

KAYE (voice-over): The first Christmas tree display on the tour is dedicated to Gold Star families, with the stacked stars representing all six branches of the military.

As guests continue down the East Colonnade, they're surrounded by bells, symbolizing the sounds of the holiday season.

And in the Blue Room, the official White House Christmas tree, an 18.5-foot Fraser fir presented by Cartner's Christmas Tree Farm in North Carolina.

White paper doves carry messages of peace in the Red Room, and finally, in the State Dining Room, trees adorned with self-portrait ornaments crafted by students from across the country, in hopes that each child can see themselves reflected in this year's display.

BIDEN: May our nation be blessed with peace and light this holiday season.

BENBROOK (voice-over): Reporting at the White House, I'm Julia Benbrook.

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KINKADE: Well, the U.K. is also getting into the holiday spirit. Take a look.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one. Yay!

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KINKADE: Keir Starmer there, switching on the Christmas tree lights outside 10 Downing Street for the first time since becoming prime minister.

Starmer and his wife, Victoria, were greeted by a choir to mark the festive occasion, followed by a performance by the band of Scots Guards.

We might bring that to you next hour.

Thanks so much for watching this edition of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade. I will be back at the top of the hour with much more news. Stay with us. WORLD SPORT is next.

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