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UnitedHealthcare CEO Shooting Suspect Formally Charged; Inside Syria's Notorious Saydnaya Prison; Netanyahu Says New Chapter in the Middle East After Assad Regime Fall; Controversial Trump Picks Finding More GOP Senate Support; Kremlin Silent on Assad's Whereabouts in Russia; What's Behind the Shortage of Guinness. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired December 10, 2024 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:11]

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome. I'm Anna Coren.

Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, prosecutors charge Luigi Mangione with murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO.

A transition of power in Syria. Rebel leaders meet with the country's ousted prime minister to determine next steps.

And after the fall of the Assad regime, some European countries are acting quickly to pause asylum claims for Syrian refugees.

after a five-day manhunt, there's finally a suspect behind bars for the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO in Manhattan. And not long ago New York prosecutors charged him with murder. 26-year-old Luigi Mangione was arrested on Monday while eating at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania. Police say he got nervous and started kind of shaking when asked if he'd recently been to New York.

Well, police say Mangione was found with a gun and suppressor, quote, "both consistent with the weapon used in the murder," as well as a two-page document railing against the health care industry. The Ivy League graduate faces five charges in Pennsylvania, but did not enter a plea in court.

CNN's Brian Todd tells us what's known about Mangione and his privileged upbringing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUIGI MANGIONE, SHOOTING SUSPECT: All these endeavors took a huge amount of courage.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Graduation video suggests Luigi Mangione was valedictorian at this prestigious all boys private school in 2016. His family owns a nursing home chain in Maryland and his cousin is a state legislator. Authorities say the note found in his possession railed against the health care industry. JOSEPH KENNY, CHIEF OF DETECTIVES, NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT: We

don't think that there's any specific threats to other people mentioned in that document but it does seem that he has some ill will toward corporate America.

TODD: The note said, quote, "These parasites had it coming" and "I do apologize for any strife and trauma but it had to be done," according to a police official who has seen the document. The note says he acted alone and that he was self-funded, and it asked why we have the most expensive health care in the world, and yet are ranked 42nd in life expectancy.

JONATHAN WACKROW, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: Oftentimes when, you know, suspects leave these types of documents, it's really to try to control the public perception of what their act was.

TODD: Authorities are also investigating other writings of his online. The profile photo on an X account that appears to belong to Mangione features what looks like an x-ray image of a spine with hardware from a surgery and a profile on Good Reads also appearing to belong to Mangione lists a number of books about coping with chronic back pain. That profile also reviews the anti-technology manifesto of the Unabomber.

"He was a violent individual, rightfully imprisoned, who maimed innocent people," the post says, but it also calls him an extreme political revolutionary and notes how prescient many of his predictions about modern society turned out.

ED DAVIS, FORMER BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: Is it someone that was individually aggrieved? Someone whose family members suffered as a result of a decision that this company made? Or is it a broader sort of activist person that is rebelling against capitalism?

TODD: On the one hand, analysts say, the crime was carefully planned.

JOHN MUFFLER, FORMER U.S. MARSHAL: He definitely did his operational planning, pre-attack surveillance, knew his -- knew the location of this meeting and knew where he was going to be.

TODD: But on the other hand --

MARY ELLEN O'TOOLE, FORMER SENIOR FBI PROFILER: There are a number of mistakes that this shooter made to include leaving forensic evidence behind. The DNA, all the videos, taking off his mask.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Well, the Mangione family released a statement, saying, "Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi's arrest. We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson, and we ask people to pray for all involved. We are devastated by this news."

We're turning now to Syria where rebel groups are preparing to take control of the country's government after a swift and stunning march to power. The leader of the main rebel group Abu Mohammad al-Jolani met former President Bashar al-Assad's outgoing prime minister on Monday to discuss the transfer of power. But a source tells CNN that a decision has not been made yet of who will be the transitional prime minister.

The U.S. says it's not planning to review the terrorist designation of the leading rebel group, but the State Department says that could change in the future. Meanwhile, rebels and civilians are tearing down symbols of the Assad regime and the rebel coalition says members of Assad's military forces must register with them. They have issued a general amnesty for soldiers conscripted into the military, but that does not apply to those who volunteered.

[00:05:03]

For civilians, life in Syria is starting to return somewhat to normal. In Aleppo, people are back on the streets. Some shops are open and banks are expected to reopen in the coming hours.

For several frantic hours on Monday, people searched Syria's most notorious Saydnaya prison. They suspected that some prisoners were being held in secret cells inside what Amnesty International called the human slaughterhouse.

Well, CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The stream of families never stops. Climbing towards Syria's most notorious Saydnaya Prison, pushed on by reports that thousands of people imprisoned by the regime of Bashar al-Assad are still trapped alive in a section underground.

The red section of the prison, they've been trying for days to reach it, Mesun Labud (PH) tells us. There's no oxygen because the ventilation went out. And so they all may die. For the sake of Allah help them.

Is someone from your family in the prison?

(Voice-over): My three brothers and my son-in-law, she says.

The roads are choked with cars full of people looking for loved ones. As soon as they see our camera, they approach, holding lists of names of those who vanished inside Assad's dungeons, never to be seen again.

We have to get them out before tomorrow, this man says. They don't have food. They don't have water.

Everybody just started running. It's not clear if they have managed to get into this part of the prison.

(Voice-over): My God, my God, the woman prays. My God, as the crowd surges towards the prison.

So it looks like they think that they have managed to get access. A lot of celebratory gunfire. People now just flooding in.

(Voice-over): After the initial jubilation, an agonizing wait for confirmation from the rescue workers. Many here have been waiting for decades. Hope was something they didn't let themselves feel until now.

Rescue workers with Syria's White Helmets break through the concrete looking for a way in. No one is certain where this red section is, or if it even exists. Inside the prison, family members are searching, too.

You could see people everywhere just combing through all the papers and records they can find looking for names, seeing if maybe their loved ones are there.

(Voice-over): Tens of thousands of Syrians were forcibly disappeared in Saydnaya, lost in the abyss of a prison that was known as a slaughterhouse. Industrial scale, arbitrary detention and torture, all to keep one man in power.

They call this the white area of the prison because they say the conditions here are much better than in other areas, but you can see it's still miserable.

(Voice-over): In the center of the prison, another frantic rush. Someone thinks they have found a tunnel. They desperately try to get a look inside. Others look on, helpless, not knowing is agony. Assad may be gone, but the legacy of his cruelty remains.

(On-camera): After we returned from our trip to Saydnaya, a group called the Association of Detainees and the Missing in Saydnaya said that they do not believe that the red section exists, that they are confident that all of those who were detained in Saydnaya were released on December 8th before 11 a.m., and the White Helmets, those rescue workers that you saw there, have now confirmed that they have concluded their search.

Clarissa Ward, CNN, Damascus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the fall of the Assad regime has opened up a new chapter in the Middle East, and he insists the collapse was the result of Israel's blows against Hezbollah and Iran, both supporters of the Assad government.

His comments come as the Israeli military released video showing what it said were forces preparing for and then entering Syria. Over the weekend Mr. Netanyahu ordered the military to take control of the buffer zone that separates the Israeli occupied Golan Heights from the rest of Syria.

The U.N. confirmed that Israeli troops have entered the Syrian buffer zone, which it says is a violation of the 1974 agreement on disengagement with Syria.

[00:10:05]

But Netanyahu says Israel will ensure its security by maintaining its presence in the Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria back in 1967.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Today, everyone understands the great importance of our being there on the Golan, and not at the foot of the Golan. Our control of the Golan Heights guarantees our security. It guarantees our sovereignty. And the state of Israel is establishing its position as a center of power in our region as it has not been for decades.

Those who cooperate with us benefit greatly. Those who attack us lose big. We want to see a different Syria, both for our benefit and for the benefit of the people of Syria.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Well, joining me now from Jerusalem is Yaakov Katz, senior columnist at "The Jerusalem Post," a fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, and author of three books on the Israeli military including "Shadow Strike."

Yaakov, thank you for joining us. Prime Minister Netanyahu is taking credit for what really has unfolded in Syria but behind that confidence, I guess, is there genuine concern about what is transpiring across the border?

YAAKOV KATZ, SENIOR COLUMNIST, THE JERUSALEM POST: Israel is very concerned, Anna, because as the Syria disintegrates and collapses, there's a lot of advanced weapons that Bashar al-Assad and his father before him amassed and accumulated over the years whether it's air defense systems and surface-to-air missiles, whether it's ballistic missiles including scud missiles, or even the chemical weapons, some of which Assad gave up back in 2013, but is believed to have kept a substantial amount of in the years since.

And Israel wants to make sure that as rebels of all different kinds, and no one yet knows exactly what their intentions are going to be towards the state of Israel, or in general towards this entire region, Israel wants to try to take those assets off the chessboard. So what it has been doing over the last 48 to 72 hours is striking all across Syria, mostly with its air force to eliminate these capabilities whether it's the air force of the Syrian military that no longer exists, whether it's the chemical weapons suspected sites or missile production facilities. Those are the key targets that Israel has been striking.

COREN: Yaakov, this buffer zone, let's talk about that, in the Golan Heights. Netanyahu says it's a temporary defensive position. Do you think it could be something more permanent?

KATZ: I wouldn't anticipate that it's going to be permanent. It's also not the first time that Israel has entered the buffer zone. We saw this back in the first iteration of the Syrian civil war back in 2011, 2012, when also there was concern that Syria was disintegrating, Israel moved some of its military into the buffer zone basically more of a symbolic message to whoever is there that we as Israel was basically saying, we will not tolerate any violation of the agreement from 1974 that was supposed to see the Syrian side of the border demilitarized.

Israel is basically concerned that whatever happens in Syria is up to the Syrian people. It's up to the international community. This is not something that Israel is going to be able to engineer one way or the other, but at least along its own border. And I think that, Anna, this is even more important in over the last 14 months, when we've seen what happens when Israel neglects its border security, like what happened last October 7th when Hamas barreled across the border and massacred so many people in southern Israel, Israel wants to make sure that there is no threat that is now merging along its own border.

So what I would anticipate is that it will stay there for a short period of time. It won't be something that's going to be long term. It's going to be there to be able to defend itself for the short term and to send a message to whoever might be taking over the country to the north. Don't even try to militarize what is supposed to be a demilitarized zone.

COREN: Well, let's talk about that because until last week Israel relied on Bashar al-Assad's regime to ensure that Syria would not become another launching pad for attacks on Israel. I mean, how will Israel deal with the largest rebel group, HTS, that is assuming power?

KATZ: This is a big question, Anna. And Israel is obviously concerned. HTS, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, is a offshoot or a rebrand of an offshoot of al Qaeda. These aren't exactly liberal progressives who are now taking over Syria so Israel is obviously being very vigilant and is watching what happens. But I think that Israel also has to be modest in what it can impact or how it can impact what's happening in Syria.

[00:15:02]

You have now Turkey in Syria, you have obviously American forces. You still have Russian forces. You have the Kurds and the Druze and the Alawites. This is a country that is now fractured into so many different pieces. But Israel is going to be very -- is keeping a watchful eye especially on HTS, because of its radical Salafi Islamic background and its stated purpose, and the way that it has controlled some of the territory in Idlib Province, for example, over the last few years.

Israel does fear that they will eventually turn their guns potentially against the state of Israel. So therefore it's trying to remove those weapons off the chessboard. It's beefing up and bolstering its own defenses, and it's going to keep an eye on what happens there in case there is a new emerging threat. Just after Israel dealt with Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, it actually wants to walk away from war, not have to engage now in another new front.

COREN: Yaakov Katz in Jerusalem, always great to get your analysis. Thanks for joining us.

KATZ: Thank you.

COREN: Well, returning to our top story. After a five-day manhunt there's finally a suspect behind bars for the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO in Manhattan. And not long ago New York prosecutors charged him with murder. 26-year-old Luigi Mangione was arrested on Monday while eating at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania.

Well, CNN senior national security analyst Juliette Kayyem is in the U.S. joining us from Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she is also a professor at Harvard.

Juliette, always good to see you. What do the circumstances around his arrest and what he had on his person at the time tell you about the suspect and his state of mind?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes, so it tells us two things. Means and motive. So what was found was, of course, the gun. And it looks like it was essentially a sort of 3-D printer gun, a homemade gun. It's prevalent here in the United States, although there are some regulations around it. And then, of course his DNA, hair, everything physically that's going to tie him to whatever the New York investigators had.

The second is, of course, motive. He left a manifesto. That manifesto basically admitted to the crime and why it needed to be done. It also showed that he understood that the crime was wrong and he sort of apologizes for it and that's going to get to why, in fact, did he target the CEO, Thompson, in this murder? And what was going on in his life and his physical ailments, including a back injury that many friends and family are -- have now talked about since he was arrested. What did that have to do with why he chose Thompson and essentially hunted him down over a couple of days in New York City?

COREN: This handwritten manifesto that that was with him, I guess, yes, talk to us about what it shows to his motivation and does it appear that perhaps he was planning another attack?

KAYYEM: That's what I wonder. It talks about -- it says in the plural, these sort of people who are responsible for how bad, in his mind, American health care and the health care system is towards Americans. He also kept the gun. And so investigators are going to wonder, did he keep the gun because there were other people on his list? He also references Ted Kaczynski. People remember that's the Unabomber. Very similar circumstances, very -- came from a well-to-do family, was sort of anti-technology, anti-sort of establishment, hid for several decades and killed through sending bombs through the mail.

Kaczynski has sort of an aura or mythology around him here in the United States as did this suspect in terms of what we saw last week with people sort of supporting what he was essentially doing, what his motive was, which is sort of going after these big health care companies in the representation or by targeting one of its main CEOs.

COREN: Juliette, from what you are learning, does anything stand out to you about Luigi Mangione's background or at what point I guess he would have been radicalized? I mean, how do you go from Ivy League to, you know, alleged murderer?

KAYYEM: Yes, there's a lot of questions I have. I mean there's something happened. You have a person who was not on this trajectory and then obviously we are reading about and hearing about a back injury or back surgery that led to I think basically a life in which he tuned out.

[00:20:06]

He moved to Hawaii. He lived in sort of a community facility, often complained about his back. He seemed estranged from his family, or they didn't really know where he was. His social media posts show people who knew him trying to connect with him through his social media. So he sort of drifted off. And so what was that triggering and how did he become radicalized?

I will say some things are answered as we talked about last week, I thought this was a sophisticated, relatively sophisticated attack and killing to the extent he was able to evade law enforcement, sort of, you know, you know, in all sorts of ways, sort of evade the surveillance. In the end, it was a McDonald's worker who recognized him because of a lot of the investigations that have gone on and a lot of the disclosures by the NYPD.

But he was he was smart and we know that. And he was into apps and technology and engineering. He understood how -- what the surveillance state was like and then and how to evade it. And the one other thing I want to add is his, you know, this is really hard. And I want to be careful here but his family clearly knew it was him when they saw the pictures. The family did not come forward. So I think we're going to see that narrative come out over the next couple of days as well.

COREN: Yes, that's a really interesting point. And Juliette, just before you go, would you say the police got lucky because, as you said, it was a McDonald's employee who tipped off the police.

KAYYEM: Yes.

COREN: Notified the police that he was there.

KAYYEM: Well, they were lucky that someone came forward and recognized him but the worker would never have known what they were looking for, who they were looking for, except for the great sort of puzzle pieces that the NYPD put together. The sort of vast array of video technology. So I think in the end, it was that -- it was a later picture, which was that taxi cab picture where you see his eyebrows.

The eyebrows are very distinguishing trait that you sort of get a better sense of him than when he was in a hood that then was sent out nationally. And look, almost all great law -- a lot of great law enforcement ends with a community member or a plain citizen saying wait a second, I saw that the police were looking for that. So the luck came. But that was because of a lot of pieces being put together by the NYPD and other law enforcement. COREN: Juliette Kayyem, always great to get your insights. Thanks so

much for joining us.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

COREN: Well, some of Donald Trump's most controversial picks for his next administration spent another day with Senate lawmakers looking to drum up support. The latest from Capitol Hill just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:25:03]

COREN: In the coming hours, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to take the stand for the first time in his historic corruption trial. He faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate cases alleging the prime minister did favors for businessmen in exchange for gifts and favorable media coverage.

The trial started more than four years ago, and his lawyers have tried to delay his deposition. It's the first time a sitting Israeli prime minister will take the stand facing criminal charges. If Netanyahu is convicted and it's upheld on appeal, he would have to resign. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Well, the FBI is gearing up for detailed background checks on thousands of appointees for Donald Trump's incoming administration including his pick for Defense secretary, Peter Hegseth. But these investigations may have little bearing on whether Hegseth and other controversial picks make it into the next Trump cabinet.

Manu Raju has more from Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Republican senators began to fall in line behind Donald Trump's most controversial picks, including to run the FBI. That, of course, is a position that wouldn't necessarily need a nominee. But Donald Trump is signaling that he is ready to fire the existing FBI director Christopher Wray, even though Wray has three more years left on his term, and replace him with Kash Patel, someone who's been very much in line with the MAGA wing of the Republican Party.

But a number of Republican senators including the incoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley, who is trying to -- who said in a letter issued on Monday that he has, quote, "no confidence" in Wray's leadership, told me after his meeting with Kash Patel that Patel actually agrees with his position.

SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R-IA): If you will look at a letter I sent to Wray today that this nominee thinks that those things are wrong, they violate my responsibility of congressional oversight. And he wants to make sure that congressional oversight works.

RAJU: And then there's Tulsi Gabbard, someone who has taken positions on Ukraine that is counter to a lot of Republicans' views in supporting Ukraine, also went -- took a trip to meet with Bashar al- Assad. Of course, now the ousted Syrian dictator. She met with him back in 2017. Her positions on Syria have caused a lot of concerns as well, but she met with a number of Republican senators and afterwards several of them sounded open to supporting her nomination, including Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): We've had policy differences, I know her, I like her, you know, she wanted to stay in the JCPOA. I thought that was a mistake but, you know, she'll be serving Trump.

RAJU: And then there's Pete Hegseth. Of course he is one of the most controversial nominees because of allegations of past misconduct, including excessive drinking, including allegations of sexual assault, something that he has denied but there's been some Republican senators who have held out so far including Senator Joni Ernst. She's a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and has pointedly not taken a position yet on his nomination.

She met with him for a second time. That second meeting occurred on Monday. Afterwards, she indicated she is open to supporting his nomination, saying that she would support him through the process but wouldn't say specifically she's a yes yet, but sounded very positive based on some assurances that he gave her.

So for Donald Trump's key nominees at the moment, things are looking positive for him, but there is still some time left in this confirmation process, which of course can get bumpy rather quickly.

Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Protests continued for another night in Seoul, with thousands gathering to tell President Yoon Suk Yeol, sorry isn't good enough. The president offered an apology for his botched attempt at imposing martial law on the country last week, a move officials voted to overturn in just a matter of hours.

Well, President Yoon acknowledged it caused anxiety and inconvenience for residents who say the attempt at an apology is not enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEONG CHAE-YOUNG, UNIVERSITY STUDENT (through translator): The president's statement cannot be that short and just saying sorry. It's not supposed to end just like that. The people were so scared that night martial law was declared. I couldn't sleep well, but he just tried to end it with a few words. I don't think it's the right way to end that situation, and I'm very disappointed about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: President Yoon survived an impeachment vote from the opposition-led parliament, but he's been banned from traveling overseas while authorities consider charging him with insurrection. Well, Sean Carter better known as billionaire rap mogul Jay-Z is

asking a court to require a woman accusing him of rape to reveal her identity or dismiss the lawsuit altogether. In a motion filed Monday, Jay-Z's lawyers argued it's an issue of fairness and that his accuser's attorney is urging the media -- using the media to damage their client's reputation.

[00:30:13]

The woman alleges Jay-Z and rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs raped her when she was just 13 after being drugged in an afterparty for the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000.

Jay-Z has denied the accusations.

Well, still to come, Russia's future with Syria is now in limbo after the Assad government was overthrown in Damascus. We'll have the latest from Moscow on the Kremlin's concerns in the region.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COREN: Welcome back to our viewers around the world. I'm Anna Coren, and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, Syrian communities across the globe are celebrating the fall of Bashar al-Assads regime. But the future of Syrian asylum seekers is now unclear.

The U.K., Germany, and Austria announced they're pausing asylum procedures as they assess the situation. And Austria's interior minister says they're also looking into deporting people back to Syria.

Well, meanwhile, Turkey says it will take steps to allow Syrians to return home voluntarily.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRESIDENT (through translator): As Syria returns to stability, voluntary, safe, honorable, and regular returns will increase. It is my belief that our Syrian brothers' longing for their country, which has lasted 13 years, will slowly end now.

We have started seeing signs of this already. To prevent congestion and to ease traffic, we are opening the border gate for crossing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: The Syrian civil war has displaced millions since it began in 2011, with Turkey saying it hosts nearly 3 million Syrian refugees.

As Syria goes through a transfer of power, an international chemical weapons watchdog is expressing, quote, "serious concerns" over the fate of unaccounted chemical weapons in the country.

And the Pentagon says the U.S. is working with its partners to ensure the chemical weapons don't quote, fall into the wrong hands.

Bashar al-Assad was found to have used chemical weapons against his own people on multiple occasions during the civil war.

Well, the Kremlin remains silent on the exact whereabouts of Bashar al-Assad and his family, who have reportedly been granted asylum in Russia.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more reaction from Moscow on the collapse of Assad's regime.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Syrians celebrate the end of the Assad regime, ransacking the former leader's luxurious palaces --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

[00:35:10]

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Russian leader Vladimir Putin was handing out medals to Russian soldiers, marking Heroes of the Fatherland Day in Moscow.

The Kremlin confirming Putin personally granted Bashar al-Assad asylum here.

"Naturally, such decisions cannot be made without the head of state," the Kremlin spokesman said. "It is his decision."

The Russians refusing to comment on Bashar al-Assad's exact whereabouts or whether his wife, Asma al-Assad, once described as a rose in the desert in a controversial article in "Vogue" magazine, is with him.

Moscow says Assad was granted asylum on, quote, "humanitarian grounds," even as Syrians storming his palace in Damascus discover the lavish life the former dictator was leading, finding a huge collection of luxury cars, including Ferraris and a Lamborghini.

The full brutality of the regime also coming to light as people stormed the notorious Saydnaya Prison, infamous for torture and killings, desperately trying to free those incarcerated here.

Syria's transition, also on display in the Russian capital. PLEITGEN: As of this morning, the flag of the Syrian opposition flies

above the embassy here in Moscow. The Russians, formerly the biggest backers of Bashar al-Assad, say they understand there is now a new reality in Syria.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Russia's air force played a major role in helping Bashar al-Assad turn the tide at the height of Syria's civil war and push rebel forces out of much of the country; also making Vladimir Putin one of the most influential players in the Middle East.

And Moscow maintains not just a major air base in Syria but also its only port in the Mediterranean Sea, where Putin's navy conducted large-scale exercises just last week.

But the Russians acknowledge the future of their military presence in Syria is now uncertain, and their capacity to influence Syria's future appears limited, Putin's foreign spy chief seemingly acknowledging.

"The situation is obviously complicated," he says. "The thing is, Syria is a country composed of many diverse parts, and whether various factions represented in the opposition are able to reach an accord will, in many ways, define the fate of the Syrian people and Syria as a state."

The Russians say they are in touch with the armed groups now controlling Syria, and while Moscow says it currently does not see the security of its bases here threatened, its forces have been placed on alert.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Out of Guinness? Coming up, we take you to a British pub to hear why kegs of the famed dark stout are disappearing from behind the bar.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:40:08]

COREN: Later this month, the earliest complete stone tablet of the Ten Commandments is going up for auction at Sotheby's in New York.

The tablet was discovered in 1913, in what is now Israel, during railway excavations near the sites of early synagogues, churches and mosques.

About 1,500 years old, it is one of only ten known tablets and the only one inscribed with Ten Commandments. It is expected to sell for 1 to $2 million.

Well, Guinness is as much a staple of the British isles as a plate of fish and chips, but a few new unlikely customers have caused pubs to start running out of the beloved beverage.

CNN's Anna Stewart investigates whether you can still get a proper pint.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: One pint of Guinness, please.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No problem.

STEWART: Here, we're going to have the perfect two-part pour, part of the tradition of Guinness. But not everyone is going to be as lucky as I am to get their hands on this Irish stout.

British pubs are worried about a shortage.

Are you going to run out?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've already run out. Last week we ordered 30 kegs, and we received 15.

STEWART: Guinness is made by Diageo, and they say they are at full capacity. They just can't make enough of the stuff.

So, why is it so popular? This is the drink of old men and rugby stadiums.

Well, Gen Z is driving up demand. Celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Olivia Rodrigo have become unlikely poster children.

And then there's the Split the G contest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You basically have to take one to two gulps or so and land this line, black and white line, in the gap in the letter "G."

STEWART: So close. Just at the top of the "G."

Well, that was a failure.

Luckily, there isn't a shortage of Guinness Zero, so I could give that another go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: And finally, the Charles Dickens Museum in London is ready for Christmas.

One of Dickens' most popular stories, "A Christmas Carol," has had a lasting influence over the culture around the holiday, symbolizing it as a time for both celebration and charity.

The museum is the last surviving home of the author, decorated in an authentic Victorian style fashion, giving the visitors of Christmas present a peek into Christmas past.

Well, thank you so much for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Anna Coren. WORLD SPORT is next, and then I'll be back in 15 minutes' time with more of CNN NEWSROOM. See you then.

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(WORLD SPORT)