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Rebels Declare Damascus "Free," Claim Assad Fled Capital; Source: Assad Nowhere To Be Found In Damascus; Sources: Police Close To Identifying CEO Shooter; U.S. Defense Sec. Announces $1 Billion Aid For Ukraine. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired December 07, 2024 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Can you just sort of explain the anatomy of this opposition group, of this rebel force, and potentially what any next steps would look like?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, the principal force is HTS, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. This is a force that grew out of al-Qaeda, grew out of al-Qaeda in Iraq. They sent representatives to Syria to -- during the revolt against Assad that began in 2011.

They, after a period, decided that they weren't going to follow al- Qaeda's lead on being international terrorists. They became designated a terrorist group in of themselves, but they became a more nationally focused Islamist group.

But there have been other principal groups. One of the biggest groupings, of course, the Kurdish minority in Syria, mostly in the northeast of the country. They got support from the United States. Assad himself was a member -- is a member, of the Alawite sect, which is a minority Shia Islam offshoot in Syria.

This is why he was able to bring support from Iran, because Iran saw him as a kindred religious spirit, if you will, and able to help support their proxy in neighboring Lebanon. What became coined to Iran's distaste of the Shia crescent was this sort of axis of connection between Tehran across Syria to Lebanon and Hezbollah there, putting pressure on Israel, of course.

So there was that side. Russia, for its own interests, had interests in the port city of Tartus and a military airbase Latakia in the Mediterranean. This is all sort of in the Alawite heartland, if you will, of Syria, which is on the Mediterranean coast.

So, again, this was in Russia's interest to exert its influence. An old client, Assad's father, Hafez al-Assad, was a client, if you will, during the Soviet Union of the Soviets. That's where a lot of their military equipment was purchased from.

So those alliances were sort of old alliances, but they were what shored up Assad. But what he saw arrayed against him were Islamist groups, were Western interests in terms of the United States backing Kurdish groups. And, of course, a plethora of other smaller regional groups.

But what the HTS leader was able to do significantly, what Julani was able to do significantly, was over the past number of years, while their grouping had been cornered in the northwest of Syria, was rekindle relationships with smaller rebel factional commanders and bring them back on board under an umbrella and get some significant training, it appears, to become a cohesive, effective force able to make the lightning moves that they've been able to across the whole country.

Remember, this is when you're moving a military around a massive battle zone, you need communications, you need effective command structures, you need an obedient and compliant forces that go to the places they're told, do what they're told there, and move on to the next location without choosing themselves to go off track, if you will.

And they've executed this over the past couple of weeks, which really speaks to a level of training and discipline that I think had previously perhaps been underestimated of their capabilities.

JIMENEZ: And of course, we have seen the collaboration of many of these groups come together, at least in the context of sweeping through many of the cities that we've seen in this offensive. It's really progressed rapidly over the past week or so.

Nic Robertson, I really appreciate the reporting and perspective.

I want to add to this conversation with CNN Analyst and Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton, who joins us now from Washington. So, Colonel, we were just talking about some of the context that led up to this moment and some of the groups that are involved in this rebel fighting force as well.

But, obviously, this region and this country has been watched incredibly closely, supplied militarily incredibly closely by a number of countries and groups over the past decade, really, stemming back to the -- a little bit past the Arab Spring.

[23:05:07]

Can you just give us, our viewers, a sense of, I guess, the interested parties, so to speak, which militaries and countries are watching what's unfolding in Syria most closely right now? And what are the implications of the moment that we're seeing unfold?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Omar, there are a lot of countries that are looking at what's happening in Syria. Some of them fearfully, some of them apprehensively. And it's, you know, it's basically the plethora of countries in the neighborhood.

So you're looking at the Israelis, for example, they are watching this very carefully. They were no fans of Bashar al-Assad or his father. But what they are looking at is taking away this Iranian base that Syria had become up until this point. It was also a base, Syria was also a base for Hezbollah, Hezbollah being a major Iranian proxy. And of course, Israel has been fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Patriot attack being one example of some of the things that the Israelis have done to decimate Hezbollah. And also some of the attacks that involved Iran have helped to weaken Iran, actually.

And because of that opening, that gave the rebels an opening to move forward. Other countries that are watching this very carefully are Jordan, to the south of Syria, and then to the east you have Iraq, and to the north you have Turkey. And Turkey is looking at this because of several factors.

One of them is that they have relationships with some of the rebel groups that are involved in the efforts to oust Assad. Some of them are involved in the northern areas, along with the HTS rebels that Nic has talked about. And then you of course have the Iranians who have lost a big foothold here in Syria, and that of course makes a huge difference.

And then as far as the major powers are concerned, we have the Russians. The Russians have bases, as Nic mentioned, in the western -- northwestern part of Syria, one of them a naval base at Tartus. The other one, an air base at Khmeimim (ph), which is in Latakia province. And that is an area where the Russians tried to basically establish a foothold in the eastern Mediterranean.

This is now at risk, but this is also an area that is currently, as best as we can tell, still controlled by government forces that have up until now been loyal to Bashar al-Assad. So these are some of the players. And then of course there is the United States that has a base at Al-Tanf, which is in the southern part of the country, basically where Iraq, Jordan, and Syria meet at a border there.

And then we have smaller bases that are in the Kurdish area in the northeast. So there are all these different players, including the United States, that are taking a look at what is happening in Syria. Some of them, like the United States, trying to stay out of the fighting.

Others are very much involved, either through monitoring means or through weapons transfers. And that's the kind of thing that we're seeing here, Omar. And that makes this a very difficult thing to analyze and a very difficult thing to watch, because the things that we have come used to seeing, the things that we've taken for granted, are now basically over after 50 plus years of rule by both Assad and his father.

JIMENEZ: Colonel Cedric Leighton, I really appreciate the perspective. Stay close. We'll likely come back to you as we continue to follow this developing situation.

I want to bring in former U.S. envoy to Syria, James Jeffrey, who joins us now. He's the chair of the Wilson Center's Middle East Program. Really appreciate you being here. I want to start a little bit of where we left off with the colonel there, because some watching from the outside might say, OK, the rebels essentially are capitalizing on a weakened state of allies here, with Russia, of course, focusing on its war in Ukraine.

Iran has, of course, dealt with attacks back and forth with Israel and devastating blows to Hezbollah as well. Russia, of course, has been Assad's main ally in the sky as well over the course of this war. But I wonder, as you watch sort of these developments in the rapid offensive of these rebels, are you confident that these opposition forces will actually be able to hold on to what they've taken so rapidly?

JAMES JEFFREY, FMR. U.S. ENVOY TO SYRIA: I'm confident that the Assad regime is finished. What comes after, I'm not sure. And that should be of some concern to people in the region and to your viewers. But my reassurance is it's better than what we had before.

Assad was a brutal dictator. Half the population, 12 million people, were displaced to flee his terror. Over half a million people were killed. He used chemical weapons.

[23:10:09]

Furthermore, he was a major part of the Iranian regional axis. That axis has been broken apart finally with his demise after Hezbollah, after Hamas, and after the Israeli defeat of the Iranian missile barrage. This is a huge victory for the people of the region, for the United States, and for security.

However, things turn out on the ground. We can deal with it. We're a big country. We've got a big military. We've got a lot of partners and allies on the ground. We have Israel, we have Turkey, and we have our Syrian Democratic (INAUDIBLE) in the Northeast.

We can work this. We don't want to get involved. President Biden and President Trump both made that point today. But what they're saying is we don't want another Afghanistan. They want to reassure the American people. But we have huge interests here to ensure that the Russians are pushed out, if possible, the Iranians stay out, and we don't have a return of Assad.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, to this point, we know these rebel forces, this rebel coalition is made up of a number of different groups right now. But the leading force in this is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, HTS, they've been leading, again, this push, this offensive through. They are still designated, however, as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States.

I know there's a lot of different factors here, of course, Russia, Iran, foreign terror organizations, whatever they may be. But how do you anticipate the United States handling sort of any next steps, even if it would be supportive, of course, of the end of the Assad regime?

JEFFREY: Well, again, we need to work primarily through partners and allies who have military control. We have, other than our troops in the northeast and a little bit in this, as the colonel said, in the southeast at all times, a few troops on the ground.

But we do have close ties with Israel, with Turkey, and with our Syrian Democratic Forces allies. In terms of Julani and the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, we dealt indirectly with them when I was the envoy, because as they were in the terrorist list, we couldn't communicate directly with them. But nonetheless, they claim their reform.

Now, this is a problem. When we went into that huge effort after 9/11, we didn't say we were going to kill every Islamist. What we said is we would only kill those or put them out of action if they were continuing terrorist operations against us and the rest of the international community.

If they were willing to reform, if they were willing to, whatever their beliefs, not conduct international terror, we would find a way of living with them. This is exactly what Julani is offering and what he's been doing for the last six years. Will he hold to that? I don't know.

But he has held to that for the last six years. He has not conducted any international attacks. And while he's on our list, believe me, we are extremely assiduous in taking out terrorists all around the Middle East. We haven't touched anybody in his movement for many years. And that shows you how we really think about it.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, when you served as U.S. Special Representative for Syria and as Special Envoy as well, I believe it was from 2018 to 2020. Correct me if I'm wrong there. But can you characterize the difference between where we are right now and sort of what the picture was back in 2018?

Because some might be looking at this and say, well, this seems like a major stalemate that's been broken. And in a week, the rebel forces have advanced and taken all these cities. And here we are at the beginning of a potential new chapter in this country.

But, obviously, the civil war spans back over a decade at this point to just after the Arab Spring. So where were we in 2018? And how do you compare that moment to what we're looking at now?

JEFFREY: That's a very important point. And the good news is this is a success, among very many other things, of American diplomacy and military action over two administrations, the Trump and the Biden. We were losing the war after Russia came in.

Halfway through the Trump administration, when Mike Pompeo came in, we decided we would contest Iran and Russia and Assad in Syria. You remember the two strikes to stop the chemical weapons use, the destruction of the Russian mercenaries when they came across the Euphrates.

But also President Trump specifically called on Assad, Russia and Iran not to attack Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Julani and Idlib in September of 2018. And that led to the first of a set of ceasefires. So we froze the conflict during the Trump administration, hoping for a better outcome. [23:15:04]

And the Biden administration, while it had some questions, continued that freezing and, very importantly, kept our troops in the Northeast and in the Southeast in continued close coordination with Turkey and with Israel and with our partners on the ground. And that led to this frozen conflict that is now flipped very much to our advantage.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, you have you have specifically interesting insight here for sort of what's next as well. Obviously, you know, you served under President Trump at the time. The president-elect is set to take office in a month from now.

Obviously, we'll inherit whatever next chapter we're seeing here as we continue to sort of -- to monitor and try to confirm as many details as we can. The president-elect did put out a statement today sort of at the end of it, saying the United States should have nothing to do with this. This is not our fight. Let it play out. Do not get involved.

I'm just curious, moving forward, what do you anticipate the United States's role to be with an incoming Trump administration and sort of understanding the posturing the administration had in his first term?

JEFFREY: You're right. That's how he ended the statement. But he began the statement by underlining how encouraged he was by the fact that these forces were going to bring down Assad, and this was a good thing.

Again, when we say we're not involved, that's a signal to the American people that we're not going to do something as incredibly dumb as our decades-long endless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And that is a very good thing. But that doesn't mean we don't have interest.

We've got a NATO ally, Turkey. We've got a very close partner, Israel, as well as Jordan, Iraq, and other countries and movements involved here. And we also have the stability of the region that we care a lot about. And we've just spent a year essentially fighting alongside Israel.

So we need to take care of our own people on the ground first, ensure they're safe, suppress the Islamic State elements that still are active below the Euphrates. We need to work again with Turkey, with Israel, with the Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurds in the Northeast.

Those all have, if you will, skin in the game. We need to push for a ceasefire. We need to push for protection of civilians and turn to the U.N. under U.N. Security Council Resolution 2254 that everybody still accepts that calls for reconciliation, new constitution, elections, and a countrywide ceasefire.

That's the path forward. The U.N. is ready to move out on that. We should support it.

JIMENEZ: James Jeffrey, really appreciate the perspective. Thank you for being here. JEFFREY: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: Of course.

And stay with CNN for more on the breaking news happening in Syria. We're still trying to confirm a lot of details in this fast moving story as rebels appear to have entered Damascus and they are claiming Damascus is free. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:21:35]

JIMENEZ: All right, everyone, welcome back. Breaking news in Syria right now. President Bashar al-Assad's grip on power is quickly crumbling. Rebel forces have entered the capital of Damascus and they've declared Damascus free, claiming Assad has fled the city.

Now, a source tells CNN that the Syrian military there has fallen, adding that Assad is nowhere to be found. And rebels have been sweeping through the country since launching an offensive last week. They claim to have captured four cities in one day before reaching the capital.

Syrians were seen tearing down and setting fire to posters of Assad. Rebels say senior Assad regime officials are preparing to defect in the capital as well. We're also seeing reports of Syrian soldiers fleeing the country and going to Iraq. U.S. officials tell CNN that Assad's regime could fall within days.

CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson joins us live from London. Nic, all right, obviously, a lot of fast moving details here and a lot of developments as we're trying to follow them. Can you just catch our viewers up for those who might just be tuning in? What is the moment that we are seeing right now? What is the significance of this moment?

ROBERTSON: This is the end of the regime of Bashar al-Assad and brings to an end of 53 years that he and his father, their dynasty, has ruled the country with an iron fist, with brutality, locking up, killing people, turning tanks and howitzers, heavy guns on the citizens of the country every time they pleaded and tried to rise up for democracy, to have elections. It was -- that sort of thing was denied.

What we are witnessing right now quite literally is a change of power. And we're hearing that articulated. It appears by statements that appear to be coming from the former regime prime minister who's calling on people not to go into government buildings.

And it appears to be coming from the rebels as well because they appear to be issuing statements telling their fighters not to shoot in the air, although it has to be said we've seen celebratory gunfire right in the center of Damascus this evening.

They're saying don't rush into government buildings. The picture that's being painted here that's emerging is that the rebels are trying to have a reasonably stable transition of power with the government so that government buildings aren't looted, so that the state can continue to function.

And in many ways this looks like a typical, you might call it a coup in some countries, where whoever is throwing over the old power says that they're going to take over the TV and radio stations because they want to control the narrative, broadcast to the population.

And oftentimes when the new leader appears on the old state media, that is the moment when you can say the watershed has been crossed. The military elements on the ground are the vanguard of that happening. They will now secure the city.

It's a large city and it will take them time to do that. They will be on the lookout for elements that have been loyal to the former regime, that haven't put down their weapons, that may be holding out, but by and large so far it appears the army has scattered.

[23:25:11]

Of course the rebels will want to assume absolutely strong control, checkpoints around the city, stop any chance of elements of Assad's leadership, loyalists regrouping.

But the reality of the picture at the moment is that Assad's -- the rump elements that were loyal to Assad seem to be gravitating towards the northwest of the country, the Mediterranean coast where Assad's family stronghold would be, if you will, the Alawite sect's stronghold.

This is the picture that's emerging. This is a transition. It's dynamic. It's messy. It's unclear. It doesn't have signposts. People don't know where to go, what to do. You're looking at people arriving at the airport there earlier to find that, you know, to find that there was no officials there, no one to check them in, no one to check their bags, no one to stamp their passports, and to be faced with people that were unfamiliar filming them, people running away here, scared.

So there is fear. There is concern by the residents of Damascus who believe their government, believed Assad's government telling them that everything was fine, that they were going to be protected. They're waking up today to find out that hasn't happened.

There is a transition. And we'll see more of this unfolding through the day.

JIMENEZ: And if this is indeed the moment of regime change in Syria, it will have significant reverberations throughout the region and much beyond.

Nic Robertson, really appreciate the reporting. Stay close to us because CNN, we've got more breaking news happening right now that we're going to keep you in the loop on, including as we have been talking about Syrian rebels saying Damascus is free. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:31:11]

JIMENEZ: Welcome back, everyone. We're following breaking news in Syria where rebel forces are preparing to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad's regime. They have declared Damascus free, claiming Assad has fled the capital. And a source tells CNN that the Syrian military there has fallen.

As video shows, some soldiers fleeing Damascus as well. Rebel fighters say they're planning to take over state media offices to broadcast their victory over Assad, adding that some senior regime officials are preparing to defect in the capital.

I want to go live now to Doha, Qatar, where I'm joined by Charles Lister. Charles is the director of the Syria Encountering Terrorism and Extremism programs at the Middle East Institute. Thanks for being here.

I want to sort of contextualize this moment and sort of explain to our viewers how we got here, maybe going back to even the Arab Spring. But of course, we have seen various chapters of conflict between the Syrian regime, the government, and various versions of opposition forces, even the rise and fall of ISIS, for example. Just kind of catch us up to how we got to this moment.

CHARLES LISTER, SR. FELLOW, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Yes, first of all, thank you for having me on this historic day. I mean, Syrians are waking up to a day now where the Assad regime and its family will no longer be in control of Syria for the first time in 54 years.

So this is really a historic change for Syria. Most of the Syrian population alive today know nothing but Assad family rule, and it has been uniformly across that 54 years, a brutal rule. Since, as you say, 2011, with the outbreak of the Arab Spring, Syrians took to the streets initially to demand political reforms.

They were met very swiftly by brutal suppression, machine guns, tear gas, helicopter gunfire, that then spiraled into a civil conflict in which the regime has embraced what it has called an Assad or We Burn the Country approach to suppressing the opposition. And that, frankly, is why it's taken 14 years to get to this point.

But ultimately speaking, despite 82,000 barrel bombs, 340 chemical weapons attacks, half a million dead, 130,000 people missing, the Syrian people didn't give up. And we're seeing the consequences of what had been over the years a fraying, a decaying, a fragmenting regime that collapsed very quickly after a series of triggers and obviously this rebel offensive that's taken over over the past 12 days.

JIMENEZ: And millions of refugees created over this time as well. And Charles, you know, I think one of the things that some might look at here is they might ask, where are Assad's allies in Russia, in Iran? Obviously, we know they are preoccupied in their own wars, Russia, of course, with Ukraine, Iran and its fights, proxy fights back and forth with Israel through Hezbollah as well, which, of course, has been devastated.

Can you just explain the significance of those ally ships? And did their, I guess I'll call it, lack of involvement, at least in this past week and a half, as far as where I can see, how significant that may have been in allowing an opportunity for the rebels and opposition groups to move as quickly as they have through the country?

LISTER: Yes, I mean, so first off, Russia rescued the Syrian regime from almost guaranteed defeat in September 2015, when it launched a military intervention. Iran, in fact, had intervened directly and through its very powerful proxy Hezbollah in 2012 and 2013.

And so throughout the majority of the Syrian crisis, both Russia and Iran and its proxy partners had proven themselves wholly loyal and determined allies of the Assad regime, ensuring that Assad was protected from any kind of defeat or indeed even an internal coup at one point.

[23:35:14]

What's been most surprising, as I think you're pointing out, is that both of those allies or partners of Assad haven't really been by his side in the way that most might have expected over the past 12 days of this big opposition offensive. And I think there are a number of things at play.

I mean, first of all, as you say, Russia is distracted by events in Ukraine. Iran (technical difficulty) by a lot of the regional developments we've seen play out since October the 7th. But I think also under the surface, both of those governments have expended an enormous amount of resources to protect Bashar al-Assad.

But Assad has done nothing to play ball throughout a series of diplomatic initiatives over the past 18 months that if he had been somewhat pragmatic, frankly speaking, we would not be sat here right now having this conversation.

The Arab world would normalize their ties with Assad in the spring of 2023, in expectation that Assad would give some concessions, make some reforms in the country. But, in fact, he did none of those things. And the situation in the country spiraled to a much worse situation.

And then earlier this year, Turkey, which controls an enormous amount of leverage over the Syrian crisis in being the primary supporter of the opposition, reached out and was expressed an interest in normalizing ties with Assad.

In an exchange for that, Turkey -- sorry, Syria and Assad insisted on the kind of maximalist demands that made that an impossible scenario of normalization. So really, Assad burnt a lot of bridges, even amongst his own allies. And I think that is why ultimately they didn't do everything in their power to try to protect his seat in Damascus. JIMENEZ: And whether for those reasons or not, we saw the rebels make quick work, I mean, through multiple cities, through Aleppo, through Hama, through Homs. And now, of course, we're seeing these images out of Damascus as well.

But the opposition group isn't just made up of one group. We're seeing multiple different factions here that have made up this rebel offensive. Can you just explain the significance of these various factions coming together, who they are, and why you think they've been so successful?

LISTER: Gosh, so this is where Syria becomes extraordinarily complicated. I mean, it has been an unbelievably complex 14 years. You know, at one point years ago, there were over 1,000 armed opposition groups. The number of -- the numbers have reduced with time, as a lot of them have merged.

What we've really seen is, at the tip of the spear of this offensive has been a group called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS. Now, seven or eight years ago, they were a publicly avowed affiliate of al-Qaeda.

The group has changed in some quite dramatic ways over the last eight years. It remains very conservative, but its governance practices are far more pragmatic than certainly than they used to be. A lot of the steps that group has taken to moderate its stance and to kind of embed itself more deeply in the Syrian revolutionary movement has seen this much greater unity of purpose that has been demonstrated over the past 12 days, in which the entire spectrum of the armed opposition in Syria, from nationalists and everyone else in between, have unified to launch this territorial offensive.

And I think for the first time in 13 or 14 years, that unity has really made a difference on the ground. And then, of course, beyond that, there is the political opposition that maintains offices across the Middle East region, that maintains open and very constructive relations with the international community.

The challenge now will be to see that political opposition unify its purpose with the armed groups on the ground in order to create some kind of a unified vision for what comes next. And then, of course, the even bigger challenge of reconciliation with what remains of the Syrian government in Damascus.

That is the big challenge that lies ahead. But for now, of course, Syrians are, I think, uniformly exhilarated by the idea that there is light at the end of the tunnel after 14 years of a hellish civil crisis.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, perhaps in a sign of the will of the people, we actually are hearing a little bit from some Syrian government officials right now. For example, Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali just said the government stands ready, quote, "to cooperate with any leadership the people choose".

It is part of a recorded message. Also that, "We are ready to cooperate with any leadership that people choose, offering all possible support to ensure a smooth and systematic transition of government functions, preserving state facilities". That's coming from the Syrian Prime Minister.

[23:40:06]

To hear a statement like that, that we are willing to work with whatever happens, not blind fealty to President Bashar al-Assad, I mean, what is the significance of a statement like that to you?

LISTER: Well, it's an olive branch, which is encouraging in this situation. I think it also reflects, frankly, that those within the regime in these high positions of power have lost, and so they have very little other option but to issue that olive branch.

There has also been, or there have also been, over the last week or so, a surge of communication between the armed opposition groups, including HTS, and some of these regime figures. It's, of course, been entirely secret, but a relatively open secret for those of us working on this issue.

And I think a lot of that was intended, perhaps surprisingly for many outside observers, that was intended by these armed groups, including HTS, to avoid the scenario whereby Assad one day leaves and then we just restart a whole new civil conflict.

And so I think that, plus the fact that, as I say, the vast majority of Syrians have lived through such a hellish situation for so long. That no matter where they might have stood over the last 14 years, the humanitarian crisis, the economic crisis, I mean, there really is no understating how much Syrian people are suffering these days on all sides.

The idea that change is now afoot, I think, has created a kind of optimism on all sides that the Syrian people can unite and figure this all out. Now, that is the optimistic take in these very, very early minutes and early hours. But for now, it's a very encouraging sign, and one can only hope that that kind of communication and that kind of understanding and the move towards a peaceful transition is where we're headed right now.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Of course, governing with the power that you seize is often a different battle entirely. But, of course, even these developments that we've been continuing to follow, significant nonetheless, and the end potentially of decades of an al-Assad ruling over the country of Syria.

Charles Lister, Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute, really appreciate you being here. Thanks for your time and insight.

LISTER: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: All right, everyone, our breaking news coverage continues. We're going to squeeze in a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:46:11]

JIMENEZ: Welcome back, everyone. We're following breaking news in Syria, where Prime Minister of the country, Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali, says the government stands ready to, quote, "cooperate with any leadership the people choose". His comments come as rebel forces have declared Damascus free, claiming President Bashar al-Assad has fled the capital.

A source tells CNN the Syrian military there has fallen, as videos show some soldiers fleeing Damascus. Rebel fighters say, as well, they're planning to take over state media offices to broadcast their victory over Assad, adding that some senior regime officials are preparing to defect in the capital.

And we're also hearing from some United States officials that President Biden and his team are closely monitoring the extraordinary events in Syria and staying in constant touch with our regional partners. We're going to have much more on this breaking news as these developments come in.

But we want to update you on a few other stories that we're following right now, as well. Authorities are bracing for another day in the manhunt for the shooter, excuse me, of a health insurance CEO here in the United States.

The search for the murder weapon drags on in New York as the investigation expands to Atlanta. That's where it appears the bus the suspect is believed to have taken to New began its route. CNN's Gloria Pazmino has the latest.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Well, the finding of this backpack inside of Central Park last night has now led investigators down a different path after the backpack was processed in an evidence lab by the NYPD, which found that there was no weapon inside of that backpack.

So the NYPD sent a team of its divers into the lake at Central Park, and that is where they have been searching for a murder weapon. The only thing that was found inside the backpack, according to our law enforcement sources, was a Tommy Hilfiger jacket. So law enforcement sources confirming to us that the divers are on the search for a gun.

Now let's talk about all the other evidence that police have been able to gather so far. We've seen the surveillance video. We know about the backpack. We know about the jacket. We also know that they have a potential DNA evidence that was left behind on a water bottle that the suspect left behind not far from the crime scene.

Now, of course, the missing piece here is who this person is. What is the identity of this person? And one of the most important pieces of evidence is what NYPD officials here have referred to as the money shot. That's the photo we see of the suspect at the hostel where he was staying.

You see that he is pulling down his mask and flashing a smile. That is the only full view that we have of this person's face. The police are hoping that that will help to identify who this person is. For now, two people briefed on this investigation tell us that they believe the NYPD is close to identifying this man.

Now, we are also learning more about just how fast it all happened. We know that from the moment the suspect opened fire killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson to the moment he arrived right here to this bus terminal behind me, it was less than an hour.

It took him less than an hour to commit the shooting, to escape on a bike, to ride through Central Park, to exit the park and get on a cab and ride here, where police have video of him entering the bus terminal but not ever leaving the terminal. That leads them to believe that the suspect has likely left the city of New York.

On that front, they are working with law enforcement agencies around the country, including the FBI, as well as other local police departments as they try to identify who this person is.

[23:50:14]

For now, detectives here in New York City have said there is no indication that the shooter and the CEO had any prior interaction or that this was in any way related to Thompson's personal life. In the meantime, there is a $50,000 reward for any information that may help lead to the capture of the suspect.

Gloria Pazmino, CNN, New York.

JIMENEZ: Thank you, Gloria.

And for everyone else, our breaking news coverage continues after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIMENEZ: Welcome back, everyone. We want to bring you more now on the breaking news in Syria, where 50 years of authoritarian rule by the Assad family is quickly crumbling. Rebel forces have entered the capital of Damascus, and the rebels have declared Damascus free, claiming President Bashar al-Assad has fled the city, according to a statement on Sunday.

Syria's prime minister says the government is ready to, quote, "cooperate with any leadership the people choose". A source tells CNN that Assad is nowhere to be found and that the Syrian military there has fallen as well.

[23:55:08]

Rebels have been sweeping through the country since launching an offensive last week. They claim to have captured four cities in one day before reaching the capital. And a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council is saying President Biden and his team are closely monitoring the extraordinary events in Syria and staying in constant touch with regional partners. We're going to continue to bring you updates on this story as these quickly moving developments come in. We also, though, want to keep you updated on a number of stories going on throughout that region and beyond. For example, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced an additional $1 billion military aid package for Ukraine on Saturday.

He also argued strongly for U.S. leadership around the world that the U.S. has led a coalition of countries to arm and equip Ukraine's military since Russia invaded in February 2022. Secretary Austin said it would be a mistake to abandon Kyiv. The aid package includes weapons vital for Ukraine's defense.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Now, that package will provide Ukraine with more drones, more rockets for its HIMARS systems and more support for crucial maintenance and sustainment. And that brings the total of U.S. security assistance committed to Ukraine since February 2022 to more than $62 billion.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

JIMENEZ: All right, everyone, thank you for joining us. I'm Omar Jimenez.

The breaking news coverage is going to continue after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)