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Syria Rebels Appoint Caretaker Prime Minister; New DOJ IG Report On Subpoenas Of Members Of Congress And Staff During Probes Into "Crossfire Hurricane"; Key GOP Senators Appear To Be Falling In Line On Trump Picks; CEO Murder Suspect Fighting Extradition, Denied Bail At Hearing; Netanyahu Takes The Stand In His Corruption Trial. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired December 10, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:41]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. Thanks so much for joining me today on CNN NEWSROOM. And let's get right to the news.

We begin with Syria, where the rebels have now appointed a new caretaker prime minister. Mohammad Al-Bashir has announced he will oversee the power transition for the next three months. He also says that Assad era civil servants will continue to serve as ministers in the caretaker government until March 1st.

Syrian rebels say they will soon as well name which senior officials from the past Assad regime are now wanted for torture. They have declared a general amnesty for Syrian military conscripts, though they exclude those who volunteered to serve.

The collapse of the Assad regime has triggered a punishing military response from Israel. Israeli forces have launched airstrikes at multiple military targets across Syria. They've also deployed ground troops into and even beyond a demilitarized buffer zone inside Syria for the first time in 50 years. Despite those actions, the Israeli military insists it is not interfering with internal affairs -- internal affairs unfolding in Syria.

CNN's Clarissa Ward is in the streets of Damascus for us, where Syrians are celebrating the fall of just the brutal Assad regime.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The first couple of days we were here, the streets were pretty subdued. There was a lot of anxiety. And today were really seeing people are out and they are celebrating.

Take a look behind me -- all these young people. They are celebrating. They are posing for photographs, holding up their babies to show with rebel fighters.

And I actually wanted to bring in. I've just been talking here with this young Syrian woman, Judith, tell me how this moment feels.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As you can -- is this working?

WARD: Yes. It's working.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As you can see, this is 50 years of silence. This is the year action of 50 years. He kept us in the dark. He kept us in the death.

This is the reaction of the Syrian people after 50 years of this regime, of this death, of this darkness. This is the new generation that will come out to the light. Now, this is the reaction.

WARD: How does it feel for you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For me, as a 25 years old daughter, this is my father and this is my mother. This is this is unspeakable reaction. This is me coming to the light again. It's the rebirth of the Syrian people again.

WARD: Did you ever imagine after 14 years?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no, no, no, no. For me, its been 13 years. For my dad, it's been 50 years.

WARD: When you see, look behind you, you see rebel fighters with their technicals, with their big weapons.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is this is victory. This is the -- this is the happiness I have never witnessed before. I've been living 13 years in war, in death and darkness. And this is amazing. This is unspeakable actually, this is -- here you can see the breath of freedom.

This is absolutely amazing. This is I hope we can do more. This is this is only the beginning. This -- it has to be a mess in the beginning. But I'm sure we can do something more and more in the future.

WARD: Thank you so much, Judith.

And it really is sort of wonderful, honestly, to hear that kind of optimism because as I mentioned, those first couple of days, those first few days, a lot of tension, a lot of anxiety, some chaos and looting in the beginning. Now that there is a degree of calm and control in the city, you are seeing people come out.

And finally, just this outpouring of jubilation after more than 50 years under the totalitarian regime, totalitarian regime of Bashar al- Assad and Hafez al-Assad, his father before him, after 14 years of the most brutal and ugly civil war, these people want the world to know that Syria is free and is beginning a new chapter.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Quite a change in such a short period of time. Clarissa Ward there in Damascus, thank you. Today, the State Department is telling Syria's HTS rebels, those that

led to the overthrow of the Assad regime, that the return of American Austin Tice who's been held there for more than a decade, is a top priority for the administration.

[15:05:03]

It's been over 12 years since Tice was detained near Damascus while covering the war in Syria. He is believed to be the longest held U.S. journalist overseas.

CNN's Jennifer Hansler is following the developments from the State Department.

Jennifer, I've been watching this very closely because, of course, you've had people coming out of some of the prisons there, others going inside attempting to free those still -- still held. We haven't heard anything about Austin Tice.

Based on your conversations, does the U.S. have any information about where exactly he might have been held, or are they in the dark here?

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: Well, Jim, unfortunately, they have not yet gotten any more new information as these swift developments are happening in Syria. But they are hoping to take advantage of this window of opportunity in the wake of the fall of the Assad regime to try to get more information about Austin. You heard from the State Department earlier today confirming that they have conveyed to groups on the ground, including HTS, that this is a top priority for them as they are going around liberating these prisoners that were held by the Assad regime to look out for Austin. And if they find him to get him back home safely.

Now, Jim, the State Department would not say whether that conversation had been conveyed directly or through third parties, but they said they do have ways to get messages to this group, which is a U.S. designated terrorist group. They also noted that there is no legal barrier to them talking to this terrorist group, if it is in their interest to do so.

Now, the Tice family has expressed hope that this could also be an opportunity to get Austin home after more than a decade. But at this point, we heard from the administration that they do not yet have any new information on his condition or whereabouts -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yeah. Now he's lived more than a quarter of his life in detention in Syria.

Jennifer Hansler, thanks so much.

For more on the remarkable events in Syria, I'm joined now by Clara Broekaert. She's a research fellow at The Soufan Center.

Thanks so much, Clara, for joining.

CLARA BROEKAERT, RESEARCH FELLOW, THE SOUFAN CENTER: Thank you for having me, Jim.

First, if I could talk about the politics now, there, the rebels have appointed a caretaker prime minister. Can he and can the rebels credibly put Syria on a path to stability now? What are the next steps here?

BROEKAERT: Well, we've seen positive signs in the past weeks of a moderated and more pragmatic Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, HTS. We've also seen in the past 4 or 5 years in Idlib, where Mohammad al-Bashir was the prime minister of this kind of fiefdom, almost all the Syrian salvation government that in fact, they are capable of building up a institutions and a bureaucracy to govern. However, obviously for minorities, it will remain a concern whether they will be protected, even if leadership now has portrayed themselves in rehab their image as moderates. It's going to be a time that will tell us whether this has trickled down to the men on the ground.

SCIUTTO: Yeah, I mean, I wonder, as you note there, they do have a track record based on the territory that they have controlled so far in terms of how they behaved, but they also have a past, including ties to al Qaeda. And based on your sense and the people you talk to, there, is it believed that this change is tactical or long term, right? Is it an attempt, or has it been an attempt to say, hey, let people accept our rise, and then we go back to our old ways?

BROEKAERT: It seems it seems like a genuine kind of evolvement of the group. I will say that obviously the chaos and the real politic of what's happening in Syria right now might change some -- some of those factors.

Let's say that they enforce really a strong policy of moderation and pragmatism. What happens to more radical elements within their ranks? Do they desert? Do they join ISIS? Do they join more extremist groups?

So there are those questions that are being asked, and I'm saying this because this power, there's not really a power vacuum as such, but the rebels still have to kind of affirm and control, or a certain more control over certain areas of Syria. What happens to ISIS, which we know is still active there, especially what happens to ISIS fighters who are now in prisons in northeastern Syria, which is currently controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, by the courts.

But we know that the Kurdish there are being attacked by the Syrian national army, which is a Turkish backed rebel group. What happens when they have to, you know, put their resources towards defending themselves against the Syrian national army away from overlooking these detention facilities, which hosts thousands of ISIS fighters?

SCIUTTO: Yeah. I mean, it's a good point. You make that perhaps some of the fighters wouldn't be satisfied with what their leaders or the changes that their leaders bring about.

[15:10:06]

So let's talk now about Israel's military response now to the collapse, a series of really punishing airstrikes across Syria targeting navy vessels, weapons, stores, missiles, you name it. I mean, how do we interpret this from a military perspective? I mean, there's been some criticism of this for Israel carrying out so many strikes inside Syria.

But I have to wonder if some of the regional players might quietly welcome this in an effort to destroy military equipment that would otherwise fall into the hands of the HTS rebels.

BROEKAERT: Well, I think that's a great point. If you're Saudi Arabia right now or United Arab Emirates and you see that Islamists have been able to topple Assad, what does that mean for Islamists within your own country? So that's definitely a good question. Whether they may be tacitly approve of the fact that some of this military capabilities are destroyed by Israel.

But Israel is really leveraging the current situation to their own objectives. You know, it's this attitude of nobody's minding shop. We will be able to get away with a lot without significant kinetic and diplomatic pushback. So there's this safety aspect right there, thinking if we take out 70 to 80 percent of Syria's strategic capabilities cannot fall in the hands of extremist factions.

SCIUTTO: Yeah.

BROEKAERT: But I don't think that's the only -- yeah, I don't think that's the only thing that's happening, though. I do think this is also about, for example, natural resources. We know that the Golan Heights and surrounding areas are really important for Israel's water supply, which in turn is important for -- for its agriculture. There are multiple things at play here for Israel.

SCIUTTO: Smart. And we should note the U.S.s carried out its own airstrikes in areas formerly controlled by Russian forces, who have since withdrawn those strikes against ISIS targets there. Before we go, we, of course, have a new president coming in in the U.S. in a little over a month here.

Trump before the fall, shared on social media that the U.S. should not get involved in Syria at all. Do you have a sense of where the Trump administration lands here, particularly with the question, does the U.S. keep its relatively small military presence on the ground with Kurdish forces, who still control a significant portion of the country? And what would the relationship be between HTS rebels and those Kurdish forces?

BROEKAERT: I think that's a great question. I think the next weeks will be especially important. We want to see how ISIS reacts to this. We know that today, they killed 54 people in Homs who were former --, formerly aligned with us, with Assad and Assad's forces. But I think depending on how we see ISIS and it's posture in the country, this will really depend. This will really impact U.S. foreign policy and the Trump administrations point of view on Syria, though I do think, though, I do think it will be largely a hands off approach.

SCIUTTO: And largely a hands-off approach. And then from Russia's perspective now, I see satellite photos that indicate that Russia is remaining in those bases that it has established there the naval base on the Mediterranean, as well as an air base. Are we should Russia be confident that it will be able to keep those bases under -- under the new leadership without Bashar al Assad, their ally there?

BROEKAERT: I think there are really no certainties. I see that they, you know, quietly moved some of their ships more into -- into the sea, pushed them away from land. I think some of their warships have moved.

It will be very crucial to see how the transition government then flows into a more permanent government for -- for Russia to decide what to do. But I will say this is a huge strategic loss for Russia. If they truly do, do lose those -- those bases, those bases in, in Syria.

SCIUTTO: No question. Iran losing influence as well. Clara Broekaert, thanks so much for joining us.

BROEKAERT: Thank you so much.

SCIUTTO: Coming up, the suspected killer of the UnitedHealthcare CEO now faces a murder charge in New York. What we're learning about the case against him, the items found during the arrest and his motivations.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:17:54]

SCIUTTO: The Justice Department's watchdog says that Donald Trump's DOJ improperly subpoenaed phone records and emails of two members of Congress and 43 staff in 2017, Republicans and Democrats, as well as several journalists. One of those staffers is Trump's own pick now to run the FBI Kash Patel, this when he was a staffer on the House Intelligence Committee.

The subpoenas are related to alleged leaks of classified information to the media, including to CNN.

During congressional investigations into what was called Crossfire Hurricane, that was the codename for the FBI's probe into connections between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election is when these alleged access to these phone records took place.

CNN senior justice correspondent Evan Perez has more on the sweeping leak investigations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The Justice Department secretly obtained the phone and email records of two members of Congress and 43 staff of congressional offices as part of a sweeping investigation that also included getting the records of reporters. This is leak investigation that was going on during the Trump administration from 2017 to 2021.

Now, the inspector general of the Justice Department said that the prosecutors who were doing these investigations did not have any proper reason to obtain these -- these records. They said that the people who were chosen as part of these investigations were simply chosen because of their proximity to some of the classified information. So people who simply had access to that were included here.

Now, among those who was targeted was Kash Patel, who is now, of course, the Trump -- President Trump's new pick to run the FBI. At the time, he was a staffer for the House Intelligence Committee under Devin Nunes, Kash Patel, was on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to try to make his rounds as he tries to persuade senators that he should be approved to run the FBI.

Now, the Justice Department has since made changes in the way it conducts these types of investigations.

[15:20:06]

They've added new hurdles and they have new requirements for higher level approval before approving getting the access to records belonging to reporters, as well as members of congress. Among those reporters that was targeted as part of this broad sweep back in 2017, where reporters from CNN, from "The Washington Post" and "The New York Times".

Evan Perez, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Quite a sweeping -- sweeping investigation.

Well, on Capitol Hill today, Republicans seem to be lining up behind all of President-elect Donald Trump's contentious cabinet picks. Pete Hegseth, Trump's defense secretary pick facing a host of scandal and misconduct allegations, got a boost from Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, who said her conversations with him have been, quote, encouraging.

And more and more GOP senators are expressing optimism about Kash Patel, Trump's choice for FBI director who has a long history of espousing conspiracies.

Kristen Holmes covers Trump for us and has new reporting on how the Trump team is feeling about the state of these nomination fights -- Kristen.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jim, Trump's team is feeling far more confident this week than last week when it comes to these specific cabinet posts. We know that last week, there was a lot of question as to whether or not the secretary of defense nominee, Pete Hegseth, was going to make it through the weekend. Now they are telling me, and I believe, sources close to Donald Trump, that they believe there's not only a pathway, but they're starting to see these senators come around. And a lot of that is based on Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa. We know that they've been watching those meetings very closely. Now, Hegseth has been focused particularly on women senators. That's

something the Trump transition team is watching carefully, because they do believe that three particular women senators, Senator Collins, Murkowski and Senator Ernst, could be the determining factor when it comes to Hegseth.

But when it comes to his cabinet picks, overall, we are not done yet. He is starting to see all of these various candidates up there on the Hill, meeting with lawmakers, and they do feel like its going very well.

Kash Patel, someone who is considered incredibly controversial, who's been tapped to lead the FBI, obviously, after Christopher Wray gets fired and Donald Trump is in office, has been having almost glowing meetings with some of these senators, we've seen these senators come out saying that they're inclined to back him. These are senators who were kind of questionable on whether or not they would actually back Patel.

So right now, the transition feels like it's in a very good place with these candidates. We also believe its going to be a number of these cabinet picks up on the Hill next week, too. They're going to be cycling through as we really start to see the epicenter of this administration and transition move from here in Palm Beach over to Washington, D.C. as we inch closer and closer to that inauguration -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Thanks so much, Kristen Holmes.

And we'll be right back with more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:26:19]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back.

In just the last hour, 26-year-old Ivy League grad Luigi Mangione was denied bail in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, and began fighting extradition to New York. That is where he is accused of killing UnitedHealth insurance CEO Brian Thompson last week. On his way to court this morning, sporting an orange jumpsuit, he yelled to those gathered in part, this is completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people.

The six-day manhunt for Mangione ended when a customer spotted him at a McDonalds yesterday morning in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Police have since charged him with second degree murder in New York, as well as gun and forgery offenses in Pennsylvania.

Joining us now, CNN's chief law enforcement and intelligence analysts, as well as NYPD veteran, John Miller, and Steve Moore, CNN law enforcement contributor and retired supervisory special agent for the FBI.

Good to have you both here. John, I wonder, if I could begin with you, do investigators have a better

picture now of just how Mangione descended into this abyss, right? A smart, accomplished high school valedictorian, UPenn grad, a privileged kid, how he turned into quite a public alleged assassin.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, they don't have a richer picture in that, they've had him for 24 hours, and their focus has been, let's connect the gun in Pennsylvania to the shell casings in New York. Let's connect the individual in the jail to the DNA we recovered at the scene. Let's connect the fingerprints on his hands to the fingerprint we lifted from the telephone that we found near the murder.

So they've been focused on making sure that they rack and stack their probable cause in anticipation that something like today might have happened, that he would fight extradition.

But in the world of the journalists and others, a lot of people have been peeling -- peeling back those layers to see a kid who was a masters degree student with a job, who went off the radar from his family, spent time in San Francisco doing what we don't really know yet, something we're still working on, and posting some very provocative things about violence being the better answer than useless protest when it came to corporate greed on the Internet under, you know, the, the chat places that he was. So that's the picture we're getting now.

SCIUTTO: Yeah. You know, it's interesting as you described that there. And as I've been reading about his case, it strikes me as evocative of the stories of domestic terrorists, right, folks who got drawn into international terrorism, often via radicalization on the internet, disconnect from their families and otherwise. You know, often the stories we've covered before, terrorists who were drawn to ISIS, say, who were otherwise privileged and get drawn in, find a sense of purpose.

Stephen Moore, I wonder if you see a parallel with that path to violence as well.

STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: Absolutely do. I've worked several cases of white supremacists and groups like that. I had one guy who was an aerospace engineer who was -- whose life seemed to be failing him, and he got on with communicating with white supremacist groups and what he actually was looking for was some kind of validation and some kind of friendship, really.

[15:30:00]

And they provided him with a sense of value, but the value that it was inherent only in their views. And so, it seems like in a way, he took beliefs that were somewhat rational and somewhat irrational and was radicalized.

SCIUTTO: Yeah, yeah. I want to ask you both, starting with you, John, about another piece of this that is just alarming and conserving the broad public support for him that you're seeing expressed online and elsewhere, with folks saying that, you know, he's a martyr, that that the CEO somehow deserved this because of the failings of the private health care industry here.

I wonder how concerned law enforcement is about this kind of violence becoming epidemic, because, I mean, there's some parallels to January 6th. Even the Trump assassination here, folks, feeling that violence is an okay way to exact political change.

MILLER: Well, let's attack that with two quick points. Number one, the NYPD issued an intelligence report today to hundreds of its local law enforcement partners across the country, with whom they share intelligence on the threat stream. And it said, and I quote, the NYPD also cites the positive online reaction to the killing of Thompson, noting that -- I'm quoting now, this rhetoric may signal an elevated threat facing executives in the near term, with the shooting itself having the capability to inspire a variety of extremists and grievance driven malicious actors to violence now.

Point two is this morning in Lower Manhattan at a hotel, there was a major conference of CEOs of big Wall Street firms, hedge funds, major corporations. And when police got there at 8:30 in the morning, the light posts around the hotel, the windows had all taped upon them, wanted posters, wanted fliers, you know, for the different CEOs of the big companies with their names and pictures.

And by the time I got down there, they'd been taken down. But security had also been drastically increased around all the entrances of that particular hotel, and for that conference. So you can see this is rolling.

SCIUTTO: Yeah. And so that's a police problem. And Steve Moore, it's an FBI problem. I mean, it's -- they got to address this I imagine as they would other violent extremism.

MOORE: Exactly. And you're going to have to classify it. You're going to have to learn about it. And you're going to have to get into -- into the mind of the people who would do this.

The problem is the world kind of loves Robin Hood, and these people are not seen as terrorists and murderers by some people, but those who are doing justice to the unfairly rich, to the greed -- greedy parts of society and that's where you have to start.

How do you combat that when there is something in some people that is drawn to that? It's a revenge thing.

SCIUTTO: Yeah. No question.

So, John, how does law enforcement -- there's a long road here, right? You got to continue the investigation. You already have the charges, but, of course, you're going to get to trial. It's going to be very public. You might have some of these folks, I don't know, coming out in support of him, right? I mean, how do the authorities manage a legal proceeding like that? I have to say, it sort of reminds me to some degree of, you know, some of the armed groups in the 1960s, right, who had a public following, even as they carried out or attempted to carry out violence.

MILLER: You know, as Steve said, was really interesting about, you know, the parallels and what you suggested in your question between radicalization that we saw by groups like al Qaeda and most particularly ISIS and this phenomenon, but it has an interesting key difference, which is, you know, in the ISIS case, ISIS would, you know, be out there online posting propaganda and drawing people in.

And they promised valor -- you'll be a hero belonging. You'll be a part of something bigger, empowerment. What you do will matter.

And yet we look at this individual through his writings, and they'll exploit his computer and his phone and get more into who, if anyone, he was talking to. But like the Unabomber of whom he has at least posted that he's a fan, he seems to be self-created, self-radicalized, self-inspired by being, as Steve described him, a loner who had been detached from his social network and found his way into this image he had created for himself as this lone ranger who would go against the big corporate monster.

SCIUTTO: Wow. And from so much privilege as well.

Well, John Miller, Steve Moore, I'm sure well be talking about it again. Thanks so much for joining.

MOORE: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Well, law enforcement veterans examining footage -- video footage of Thompson's shooting of the health care executive noticed an unusual looking firearm, one experts telling CNN he did not even recognize the kind of weapon.

Fast forward to Luigi Mangione's arrest, the officers discovered in his backpack what appeared to be a 3D printed pistol, the so-called ghost gun, along with a silencer, also apparently 3D printed. A ballistics test should determine if it is the gun used to kill the CEO. Ghost guns, so you know, are untraceable self-assembled guns, which are, of course, difficult to track and regulate.

Joining me now is an expert on this type of weapon, Nick Suplina. He's a senior vice president for law and policy at Everytown, a gun safety advocacy group.

Nick, thanks so much for joining.

NICK SUPLINA, SENIOR VP FOR LAW AND POLICY, EVERYTOWN: Thanks for having me.

SCIUTTO: So first, let's start, and gosh, I you know, it just shocks me there are enough guns in this country as it is far too many, one might say. And now you have the ability to just print one out yourself. You don't have to go buy one. So -- so what do we know about how that's done? How they're purchased, how they're assembled?

SUPLINA: Well, you know that there is an emerging threat -- I would say not long ago, we would have considered it a future threat of 3D printed firearms. And that threat is here now. And it is it is deadly serious.

Available online are the sort of files you need to download to your 3D printer exactly what you need to print the component parts. And here it looks like the frame of the pistol, as well as potentially the silencer as well.

And the ease with which you can do this now with kind of printers that are available to, to average consumers, not industrial level equipment is really alarming. And I should say, you know, the sites that are promoting these designs and websites, their goal is to undercut federal and state firearms laws. They're not really shy about it. They are saying it.

And so as I was listening to your last guest talk about, you know, trying to understand this -- this shooters motivation, the radicalization that other, you know, extremists go through. All I think to myself is these online 3D printed websites are designed precisely for those that are seeking to do war with the government, who want to take violence into their own hands. And we've seen this countless times.

SCIUTTO: Goodness. I mean, is there any sense of how many are out there now? And you're saying its a particular kind of person who uses it? Not so much day to day crime, but more politically motivated crime?

SUPLINA: Well, listen, the problem of ghost guns is now a problem of everyday crime. What you have seen more frequently, what we've seen tens of thousands of recoveries over the last, you know, five or so years has been these online kits where you -- you buy the unfinished lower receiver or frame and you use some tools, some milling and drilling devices, and then you've got what you need to make the rest of your firearm.

Those were very popular. Thankfully, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has a regulation now that has dramatically curbed the presence of those kits online. But this is the next chapter. This is 3D printed firearms, and we're not seeing them by the tens of thousands. But if you go onto some of the sites that host these, -- these prints, these blueprints, you're seeing tens of thousands of downloads.

And again, you don't need to be an expert to understand who is this most appealing to? The folks that do not want a background check, do not want a paper trail, do not want law enforcement tying the firearm back to them. And unfortunately, we're seeing this horrifically play out in this assassination in midtown Manhattan. But there are other groups out there right now who are touting their 3D printed firearms that are part of militia or extremist groups or hate groups precisely because they're untraceable.

SCIUTTO: Good Lord. The Biden administration, as you know, tried to regulate ghost guns to some degree in 2022. What specifically did the administration try? And has it worked at all?

SUPLINA: Yes. So the administration issued a regulation that really was focusing on the kits that I was discussing. These online kits for creating firearms and early results have shown maybe dips in the number of these crime guns that are being recovered, or rather, these ghost guns that are being recovered in crime.

That rule, however, was challenged also by gun extremists. It's actually in front of the Supreme Court right now. We're hopeful that the Supreme Court will uphold the rule. We think that it should, based on the law.

[15:40:03]

But yes, we are seeing the effect of that rule, 3D printed firearms, like I said, is the next chapter. And there's a lot the federal government has to do if we want to curb this problem before it becomes as ubiquitous as these ghost gun kits.

SCIUTTO: Yeah. I mean, I've used a 3D printer with my kids, and you could download these files for, I don't know, snoopy, right, easy to do and imagining that its as easy to get the model for or the specs rather for a gun as it is for toys is -- well, it's alarming.

Nick Suplina, thanks so much.

SUPLINA: Thank you.

SCIUOTTO: Coming up next, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's day in court, his first in a long running corruption trial against him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, finally took the witness stand earlier today in his long running corruption trial that will likely force him to juggle between the courtroom and war room for weeks.

Netanyahu is charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust. He denies any wrongdoing, describing the allegations and investigations against him as a witch hunt. He told the court he was astonished by the sheer absurdity and scale of the injustice.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more from the court in Tel Aviv.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the first time that a sitting Israeli prime minister has taken the stand in his own defense in a criminal trial. It is an extraordinary moment, not only for the history that is being made as the Israeli prime minister walked into this courthouse and then began testifying in his own defense, but also because of the moment at which it comes, with Israel facing a multi-front war. That was part of the reason why the Israeli prime minister sought to delay this very moment of testifying in this case unsuccessfully, though, as the judges ultimately ruled that he would have to show up to testify in his own defense, a process that could take several weeks. [15:45:04]

We expect that the prime minister will testify as many as three times a week for as long as six hours per day, initially beginning with questions from his own defense attorneys, who have been giving him a lot of running room here to make comments about foreign policy accusations against the media, as he really tries to make his own case. But then the more serious cross-examination will come from the prosecution.

And there are three cases that are involved in the trial that the prime minister has been facing for four years now. They are case 1,000, case 2,000 and case 4,000, all of them effectively boiling down to allegations of corruption that the Israeli prime minister offered favors to wealthy businessmen in exchange for more favorable media coverage, or in exchange for lavish gifts, some several hundred thousand dollars in champagne bottles, in jewelry and other gifts that these businessmen allegedly provided.

Now, the prime minister and his attorneys, of course, maintain that he is innocent. And we have heard the prime minister already on the stand making his case, defending himself against these allegations, insisting that he is innocent.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: That case has been a long time coming. Jeremy Diamond, thank you.

The Middle East remains a key focus for the White House in the final weeks of the Biden administration. Sources say the president and his advisers are working closely with officials from the incoming Trump team to secure a cease and hostage deal to end the war, or at least pause the war in Gaza.

CNN's senior White House correspondent, M.J. Lee, joins me now.

And, M.J., there's been a flurry of activity again. Trouble is we've seen previous flurries of activity with no outcome. Is it your sense that they're closer this time?

M.J. LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Jim, you and I have certainly discussed many times on your show just what a top priority this has been for the Biden White House over the course of this war, trying to facilitate a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict.

But as you just said, it has been elusive for well over a year now for all of the efforts that the U.S. officials here have been making to make this happen and, in fact, so elusive that actually, over the last couple of months, the people that are involved and who would be in the know have basically said there have been no formal negotiations to even speak of. But as of the past few weeks, we reported today that these talks have sort of quietly restarted with U.S. officials again getting involved and essentially making a last minute, or I should say, an 11th hour final push to try to get a ceasefire and hostages release deal across the finish line.

And as a part of that, and U.S. officials we have talked to would say this is basically appropriate. U.S. officials have been in close consultation with the incoming Trump transition team and even more notably, it has been made clear, I am told, by the Trump transition officials that they share in this goal of wanting to get this war to end before January 20th, when incoming president Donald Trump will be sworn back into office.

You know, President Biden and former president, the incoming president, Donald Trump, they may not actually seem to agree on much, but this is clearly an area, Jim, where the two actually see eye to eye and have a shared goal. They would like this conflict to be over. This has been top of mind for the current sitting president for a while, as we just talked about, and it is a top priority for the incoming president, who basically doesn't want this conflict on his plate when he assumes the presidency. And the Trump team has made clear they are supportive of whatever the Biden administration needs to do to get this done, and that communication has been made clear, we are told.

And just for broader context, I should say, U.S. officials we've been talking to will talk about the fact that perhaps sort of the environment and the context is a little riper now for Hamas to have sort of the incentive to come to the table because of things like Hezbollah striking a deal with Israel for a ceasefire across the Lebanon border, given the situation with Iran being weakened, Yahya Sinwar having been killed over the last couple of months.

So keep all of that in mind as you are thinking about this current White House and what it is doing, and the incoming Trump White House as well.

SCIUTTO: But let me ask you a question. Is the incoming Trump team leaving this to the Biden team, or are they trying to get involved in the negotiations as well?

LEE: So my understanding of what we have reported is that the negotiations are being run still by the current Biden administration and the U.S. officials here.

[15:50:01]

But what they are doing is keeping the Trump team really apprised of any developments and the negotiations that are happening so that they are basically fully in the know.

But again, I think all of that is happening, especially because the Trump team has made clear they would like this war to end as well.

SCIUTTO: M.J. Lee, thanks so much.

LEE: Thanks.

SCIUTTO: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: 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 kilometers, two miles into the sky. About 87,000 people were evacuated, with more than half of them considered to be in the danger zone.

Authorities say they're preparing for the worst case scenario and will raise the alert levels again if necessary.

Before we go, it is one of Ireland's favorite exports. But now pub goers in the UK are grappling with a shortage of supplies of Guinness as the maker of the legendary ale drink struggles to keep up with demand.

CNN's Anna Stewart explains why the beloved beverage has become so popular through the years, and whether and where you can still get a proper pint.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No problem.

STEWART: And here were 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?

JASON PATRICK GLYNN, CORRIGAN MANAGER: We've already run out.

[15:55:01]

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: Basically, you 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. Well, actually, there isn't a shortage of Guinness Zero, so I could give that another go.

Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Looks pretty good. Thanks so much for joining me today. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington.

"QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is up next.