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Gunman who Killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Captured and Charged; Rebel Leader Talks to Outgoing Syrian P.M. on Possible Transition of Power; Russia Reacts to Former Syrian Leader's Forced Removal and Granting of their Political Asylum; One of Philippines' Most Active Volcanoes Erupts for the Second Time This Year. Aired 3-3:45a ET

Aired December 10, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead.

The man suspected of shooting a prominent healthcare CEO has been captured and charged with murder after eluding authorities for five days.

Restoring order after Assad's Syrian rebels meet with the toppled regime's outgoing Prime Minister, the first steps towards forming a new government.

And Donald Trump's cabinet confirmation drama as Republican senators begin to fall in line behind some of the President-elect's picks. Others are not such an easy sell.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us.

And we begin with the capture of the man accused of gunning down the CEO of UnitedHealthcare last week in Manhattan. New York prosecutors wasted little time charging Luigi Mangione with murder. After five days on the run, the 26-year-old suspect was arrested at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania with police saying he acted noticeably nervous.

We're also told he was found with a weapon and other key evidence linking him to Brian Thompson's murder. Mangione is an Ivy League graduate and high school valedictorian who comes from a prominent family in Baltimore.

CNN's Brynn Gingras has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D), NEW YORK CITY: We have a strong person of interest in the shooting that shook our city last week.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After a five-day manhunt, the main suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is in custody.

Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old former valedictorian from Maryland who police believe carried out the heinous act in Manhattan last Wednesday, was caught while eating in a Western Pennsylvania McDonald's.

JOSEPH KENNY, CHIEF OF DETECTIVES, NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT: He did not have his name prior to today.

GINGRAS (voice-over): Mangione not on police radar as he had no arrests in New York City or elsewhere.

LUIGI MANGIONE, THEN-STUDENT: To the class of 2016, a kind of class that only comes around once every 50 years.

GINGRAS (voice-over): Mangione graduated from the prestigious Gilman School, a private all-boys high school in Baltimore, Maryland in 2016, where he was top of his class.

MANGIONE: It's been an incredible journey and I simply can't imagine the last few years with any other group of guys.

GINGRAS (voice-over): He went on to college at the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated with a bachelor's and master's in engineering. A former classmate called him, quote, "a totally normal guy."

Police now trying to figure out what changed. Authorities say he was carrying a multi-page document pointing to a possible motive. It railed against the healthcare industry and suggesting that violence is the answer. Quote, "these parasites had it coming" and quote, "I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done," it read.

KENNY: 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.

GINGRAS (voice-over): Mangione comes from a prominent Maryland family that owns Lorian Health Services, a nursing home chain in the state where Luigi volunteered in 2014, according to his LinkedIn page.

They also own country clubs in Maryland. A look into what is likely his Goodreads profile made earlier this year shows he called the infamous Unabomber Ted Kaczynski a political revolutionary.

Quote, "it's simply impossible to ignore how prescient many of his predictions about modern society turned out," it reads.

Authorities sifting through social media postings like this one to glean more clues.

KENNY: We're still working through his social media. We're going to do a complete scrub of that.

GINGRAS (voice-over): This while authorities work to connect Mangione to their crime scene through possible DNA, fingerprints and pieces of evidence like this fake I.D., which is also the same one the suspect used to check into a hostel on the Upper West Side of Manhattan before the murder.

GINGRAS: Investigators still trying to figure out what that motive is and they are scrubbing social media accounts like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, hoping that there can be some sort of connection learned from those social media accounts.

Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Steve Moore is a CNN law enforcement contributor and a retired FBI supervisory special agent. He joins me now from Los Angeles. Steve, good to have you with us.

STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR AND RETIRED FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: Good to be here, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So now that a suspect has been arrested and charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York.

[03:05:02]

What stands out to you, given the details that are coming to light about Luigi Mangione and why he may have done this?

MOORE: Well, it just dovetails nicely with what the theory has been the entire time. It's somebody who is aggrieved and angry at the healthcare system, although it may it appears that it may be not just limited to healthcare, but that would be a main issue, especially for somebody who has back pain, severe and chronic.

That was interesting to me. And the fact that he had the manifesto on him and it wasn't a manifesto in case I get arrested. It was a manifesto, I believe, that he was going to send or in some way transmit to the press or the police to kind of explain and justify at some level his actions.

CHURCH: Yeah, I want to talk more about that two page manifesto that was found in his possession, criticizing the healthcare industry. How far do you think it goes in perhaps explaining his motive here?

MOORE: Well, I think it goes a long way towards explaining his motive. It doesn't go an inch towards describe -- towards justifying what he did and what I learned. I worked a lot of extremist groups and issue groups that were violent when I was in the FBI.

Almost every single one had a manifesto or some type of document that justified their existence or their actions. This really locks him in to the -- to -- well, ironically enough, the Unabomber type of operator who is aggrieved and angry enough and has the psychological wherewithal to harm someone to make their point.

CHURCH: And Steve, you mentioned Mangione's back injury. How do you think that might have played into this murder and why he did this?

MOORE: I think, first of all, the back the back issue could give an indication of -- what of his interaction with the healthcare system. It may be something that he's seen over and over again trying to get treatment and maybe because of chronic pain. Those types of claims are frequently reviewed or even declined.

So it may be that he is in that situation where his healthcare was either denied or he had trouble getting it. And I think the other thing is you have to put in the amount of stress and psychological issues that severe chronic pain can cause a person.

CHURCH: Yeah. And Mangione was found with a gun and suppressor consistent with the murder weapon. How likely is it that he was planning another targeted attack as some have suggested?

MOORE: I don't think we can rule it out. But to me, it appeared that he was carrying with him the essentials that he needed in case he had to leave. We used to call them go bags or some -- something along that line, where if you have to leave without going back to your hotel room or your room at a hostel, you have with you everything you need to go forward, regardless of what your plans are.

The things he could not replace were his I.D.'s and his weapon. And so he kept that with him either for protection or for future actions, which we certainly couldn't rule out.

CHURCH: Steve Moore, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

MOORE: Thank you.

CHURCH: Turning now to Syria, where CNN teams in Damascus report hearing a series of explosions just a short time ago. And you can see a large plume of smoke visible in the sky in this drone video. There's no word on what might have caused the explosions.

Meanwhile, rebel groups in Syria are preparing to take control of the country's government. The leader of the main rebel group, Abu Mohammed 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 on who will be the transitional prime minister. The rebels say they will release a list of senior Assad officials wanted for torture. There are long documented reports of the Assad regime committing atrocities against Syrians.

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.

[03:10:09] They have issued a general amnesty for soldiers conscripted into the military, but that does not apply to those who volunteered.

The civilians' life in Syria is starting to return somewhat to normal. In Aleppo, people are back on the streets, some shops are open, and Syria's central bank employees are returning to work today for the first time since the Assad regime's fall.

CNN's Paula Hancocks joined us now live from Abu Dhabi. Good to see you, Paula. So what more are you learning about the meeting between the rebel leader and the outgoing regime, and how they plan to move forward and form a new government?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, we're certainly seeing the physical symbols of a transitional power being put in place. So this meeting at the Four Seasons Hotel in Damascus was held, and it was held between the man who is effectively the de facto leader, if you like, at this point of Syria, the leader of HTS, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, along with the outgoing prime minister.

So the prime minister who was there under the now-toppled Assad regime.

We have heard from al-Jolani, that outgoing prime minister, that he is keen to see a smooth transition. He has said, really, as Damascus was falling, that he would do what is necessary to create that space for the smooth transition. And just the fact that he is still in Damascus, he is not one of those who has fled the country.

Now also at that meeting was the man who is leader of the Salvation Government, prime minister, I should say, of the Salvation Government, which is HTS-affiliated. It was ruling in the area where the rebels really had control, Mohammed al-Bashir.

Now he appears to be a key figure in all this, the very fact that he was at this meeting. But we are hearing an actual prime minister, a transitional prime minister has not been named at this point.

But what we're hearing from many sides is that there is hope that this appears to be moving peacefully. The fact that you have remnants of the outgoing regime that are physically present, that are willing to work towards this transitional time, along with the rebels, is giving some countries, including the United States, some hope. Rosemary.

CHURCH: Our thanks to Paula Hancocks, joining us live from Abu Dhabi with that report.

America's top diplomat is urging the rebels who toppled Assad's regime to prepare for inclusive governance in Syria. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says senior officials are travelling to the Middle East to work with regional partners on the crisis.

He did not say whether the U.S. is considering contact with the leading Syrian rebel group, which it had designated a terrorist organization. But he made clear the U.S. has enduring interests in Syria. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We have a strong interest in preventing the re-emergence of ISIS, given the death and destruction that it's wrought for so long. We have a clear interest in ensuring that whatever weapons of mass destruction or components are left in Syria do not fall into the wrong hands.

We have a clear interest in doing what we can to avoid the fragmentation of Syria, mass migrations from Syria, and of course the export of terrorism and extremism. The region and the world have a responsibility to support the Syrian people as they begin to rebuild their country and chart a new direction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: 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. He says his country is taking steps to address any threat that could emerge following Assad's ouster.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We are taking all the actions necessary to try to ensure our security with regard to the new situation created in Syria.

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 will benefit greatly. Those who attack us will 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)

[03:15:04]

CHURCH: Right now, Netanyahu is in Tel Aviv to testify in his ongoing corruption trial. It covers three separate cases alleging the Prime Minister did favors for businessmen in exchange for gifts and favorable media coverage.

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 CNN's Jeremy Diamond is following developments for us outside the courthouse. He joins us now live. Good to see you again, Jeremy. So with Prime Minister Netanyahu set to testify in his corruption trial, what is he expected to say?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Israeli Prime Minister actually just entered his courtroom. He greeted some of his supporters who had come into the room, including several ministers of his own government. He was trying to smile throughout the proceedings.

And interestingly, he did not sit down at the defendant's bench, instead remaining standing until the cameras in the room were ushered out of that courtroom. But this is a moment in Israel's history. The first sitting Prime Minister to stand to face criminal charges, to take the stand, I should say, to face criminal charges.

This trial encompasses three separate cases, but all of it effectively boils down to allegations of corruption. The charges that he faces are bribery, fraud and breach of trust, alleging that he did favors for businessmen in exchange for gifts and favorable media coverage.

If indeed he is convicted, the process that could take several more years before a verdict is actually reached, he could indeed face prison time.

But this is also very much a test of whether or not a sitting Israeli Prime Minister can continue on with his duties and testify in a trial at the same time.

And for months now, the Israeli Prime Minister and his legal team, his political allies have been seeking to play this moment, arguing that amid the security situation right now in particular, that a sitting Prime Minister should not have to stand and testify in his trial at this moment.

And it will be quite time consuming. For several weeks going forward, three times a week for as many as much as six hours per day, the Israeli Prime Minister will indeed be on the stand facing questions initially from his own defense attorneys and then ultimately facing questions from the prosecution.

The Israeli Prime Minister yesterday insisted that despite the attempts by his legal team and his political allies as recently as last night to delay this very moment that he is in fact eager to speak. He said he will speak today and that he will speak against these, quote, "absurd and baseless accusations that he says he is facing." Rosemary.

CHURCH: And we know you will continue to monitor this story. Jeremy Diamond, joining us live from Tel Aviv with that report.

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.

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[03:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

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 Pete 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 now from Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN 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 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 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 Hegseeth. 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 they 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's still some time left in this confirmation process, which, of course, can get bumpy rather quickly.

Manu Raju, CNN Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: For more on this, I'm joined by Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia and editor of "A Return to Normalcy? The 2020 Election that (Almost) Broke America."

Always good to have you with us.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA-CENTER FOR POLITICS: Thank you so much, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So a positive day, apparently, for Donald Trump on Capitol Hill Monday after two of his more controversial cabinet picks met with Republican senators. Senator Lindsey Graham sounded fairly upbeat about Pete Hegseth, for defense secretary, and Tulsi Gabbard, for director of national intelligence, but said they both have questions to answer about past actions.

On Gabbard, he said she needs to explain why she amplified Russian propaganda and why she opposed the killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, among other issues. What do you make of what he said about Gabbard, particularly with the spotlight on Syrian events right now?

SABATO: One thing you can say about Donald Trump, he's good at sensing vulnerabilities and he tries to get out in front of them, at least keeping those vulnerabilities away from him. But he's been moving from cabinet officer to cabinet officer to cabinet officer, depending on which one looks most vulnerable.

[03:25:02]

And right now, kind of new, it's Tulsi Gabbard because of the Syria headlines. The fact is she defended Assad, she met with Assad, she said good things about Assad, and I don't think there are many people left in the world other than Vladimir Putin who have good things to say about Assad.

So that's a problem for her, as well as the dozens and dozens of national security officials, former administration officials from both Democratic and Republican administrations that have come out and urged the Senate to reject Tulsi Gabbard for the intelligence post. So these are going to be aired, one assumes, in her confirmation hearings. One assumes we'll have the FBI security checks, we hope, by that time.

And a lot can happen. It looks pretty good for these nominees right now, but a lot can happen before the hearings are even held.

CHURCH: Indeed. And then on Trump's defense secretary nominee, Pete Hegseth, Senator Graham said he still has the same deep concerns related to financial mismanagement and personal misconduct that he expressed last week, but said Hegseth was candid and gave explanations to Graham's concerns.

He added that he is predisposed to support nominees, but we'll see where it goes. What do you think that means for Hegseth?

SABATO: Well, Lindsey Graham tries to keep a strong relationship with Donald Trump because he has to. He represents South Carolina. It's one of Trump's best states.

And undoubtedly, when Lindsey Graham comes up for re-election in the not distant future, he could have a Republican primary challenger that could take him out, and he knows it.

So he can every now and then say something contrary to what Trump is saying will come out against a nominee, but he can't do it very often. And that's what you're seeing with Hegseth.

Also, there's something very clever that the Trump people are doing. They decided to get tough. And so they have picked Senator Joni Ernst from Iowa to demonstrate what they're willing to do.

And they've all but told her in various ways that if you do not back down from your objections to Pete Hegseth, we are going to find a strong nominee who will knock you out of the GOP berth when you come up for re-election in the next election, the midterm elections in Iowa.

Well, you know, there aren't many senators who want to lose their Senate seats.

CHURCH: Yeah, very true. And of course, Larry, on Trump's pick for FBI director, Kash Patel, very few Republican senators are pushing back. So it looks like Trump will get his way with Patel as well.

Is that your reading of this, despite concerns about Patel's credentials for the job and, of course, his intentions?

SABATO: The odds favor all of these nominees simply because it's the Trump party. They're all afraid of Trump.

And Trump has made it clear that he's going to cost them if they don't support his nominees. However, Kash Patel could be an exception. There's a lot of fear about him among almost everybody that I've talked to in and around and close to and a veteran of the FBI. There's great concern about whether he's suited for that position, whether he's going to go after Donald Trump's enemies.

After all, Patel in his book had his own enemies list of supposedly deep state people, many of whom were associated in some fashion or another with the FBI. So I wouldn't be as sure about him as I am about some of the other nominees. CHURCH: Well, we are all watching very closely to see where this goes. Larry Sabato, always a pleasure to chat with you. Thank you so much.

SABATO: Always good, Rosemary. Thank you.

CHURCH: 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. Back in just a moment.

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[03:30:00]

CHURCH: Welcome back everyone.

Syrian communities across the globe are celebrating the fall of Bashar al-Assad's 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.

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)

CHURCH: The Syrian civil war has displaced millions since it began in 2011, with Turkey saying it hosts nearly three 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.

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

[03:35:07]

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)

CHURCH: In Haiti, the government says gangs have crossed a red line after being accused of killing at least 184 people over the weekend. The Haitian prime minister's office accused a gang leader of carrying out a massacre in Port-au-Prince, which one human rights group says was sparked by accusations that witchcraft had caused his child's grave illness.

The U.N. says most of those killed were elderly men and women. Officials are promising to bring those responsible to justice.

Still to come, rapper Jay-Z is asking for the identity of a woman accusing him of rape, and he had some harsh words for the woman's attorney. We'll have the latest on the civil lawsuit he's facing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back everyone.

Sean Carter, better known as billionaire rap mogul Jay-Z, has filed a motion asking a court to require a woman accusing him of rape to reveal her identity or dismiss the lawsuit altogether.

CNN's Kara Scannell has more now from New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TONY BUZBEE, ATTORNEY FOR JANE DOE: The day will come when we will name names other than Sean Combs, and there's a lot of names. It's a long list already.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jay-Z is the first celebrity to be accused alongside Sean Diddy Combs of sexual assault, according to a civil lawsuit brought by a Jane Doe.

BUZBEE: The names that we're going to name, assuming that our investigators confirm and corroborate what we've been told, are names that will shock you.

[03:40:05]

SCANNELL (voice-over): The lawsuit was first filed against Combs in October, including allegations that celebrity A also assaulted a minor. On Sunday night, it was amended to identify Jay-Z, whose real name is Sean Carter, as that celebrity.

The rapper is accused of raping a 13-year-old girl at an after-party following the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000. The woman alleges she was drugged and, according to the lawsuit, at that point Carter began removing plaintiff's clothes as she grew more and more disoriented.

Then, the lawsuit alleges Jay-Z raped her while a female, identified as celebrity B, watched. The lawsuit was brought by plaintiff's lawyer Tony Buzbee, who has filed 20 lawsuits against Combs. Combs has vigorously denied any wrongdoing.

The Texas lawyer said they contacted Jay-Z to try resolve the matter through mediation before filing the lawsuit.

Jay-Z denied the rape allegations, calling them heinous. He said the lawsuit followed an attempt at blackmail, and said Buzbee is a deplorable human being. My heart and support goes out to true victims in the world who have to watch how their life story is dressed in costume for profitability by this ambulance chaser in a cheap suit.

The musician, who is married to Beyonce, said his heartbreak is having to explain to his children the cruelty and greed of people.

Buzbee responded on X saying the alleged victim never demanded a penny from Jay-Z and accused the rapper of trying to bully them into silence. We will let the filing speak for itself and will litigate the facts in court, not in the media, he said.

SCANNELL: Strong denials from Jay-Z. He said that if these allegations were true, there would be criminal charges, not the civil lawsuit. His lawyer saying this is an attempt to smear the rapper's name.

In fact, his lawyer on Monday night asked the judge to require the Jane Doe who brought this lawsuit to refile it using her real name or dismiss it, saying fair is fair.

Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: One of the Philippines' most active volcanoes has erupted for the second time this year, forcing thousands to flee their homes. Mount Kanlaon sent a powerful blast of ash and gas up to three kilometres into the sky.

About 87,000 people were ordered to evacuate, with more than half of them considered to be in a danger zone. Authorities say they are preparing for the worst-case scenario and will raise the alert levels again if necessary.

Thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "Marketplace Middle East" is next, then "CNN Newsroom" returns at the top of the hour with our Max Foster. Do stay with us.

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