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CNN International: Federal Officials Criticized for Drone Response; Hegseth, RFK Jr., Look to Shore Up Support in Washington; German Chancellor Scholz Faces Confidence Vote; EU Sending Envoy to Talk to Syria's New Leaders; Family of Captive American Journalist in Syria Hopes to Find Him; Stockholm Bakes Up Annual Gingerbread House Competition. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired December 16, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

AMARA WALKER, CNN HOST: Hi everyone, and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Amara Walker. This is CNN Newsroom. Just ahead, it's as if an atomic bomb fell. That is how one resident describes the destruction on the French Islands of Mayotte after a powerful cyclone rip through the Archipelago.

Plus, mystery in the skies. Unexplained drone sightings are growing in the United States. We're going to tell you what officials are doing to try to calm nerves. And German Chancellor Olaf Schultz facing a confidence vote this hour, we are live in Berlin for the very latest.

Hundreds are feared dead after Cyclone Chido ripped through the French territory of Mayotte, made up of two main islands. Mayotte's land area is about the size of Washington, D.C. It lies in the Indian Ocean off the East Coast of Africa, just West of Madagascar. You can see just the damage left behind.

At least 11 people have been confirmed dead, but government officials now say the death toll could rise to the thousands. Chido's winds topped 200 kilometers per hour when it hit on Saturday. You can see there, it flattened entire neighborhoods, damaged the airport and knocked out power to many areas. One resident says he has never known such fear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BALLOZ, MAYOTTE RESIDENT: It was the wind, the wind blowing, and I was panic. I screamed, we need help. We need help. I was screaming because I could see the end coming for me. Now there's nothing much people can do. People are keeping still. They haven't moved. They're waiting for help, help for food, for the electricity to be back up, and water also, there's no running water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Well, France says help is on the way. It's deploying hundreds of emergency workers to Mayotte. CNN's Jim Bittermann brings us the latest now from France. JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Communications is the first thing to go out and as a consequence a great deal of difficulty and part of officials to find out exactly how extensive the damage is apparently only about 1/3 of the island is accessible by road. The other two thirds are cut off because of downed trees and high winds and whatnot that are still blowing through the area.

So, the officials are trying to grapple -- the grappling to get a picture of how it looks, but they know it's a disaster so far. In fact, President Macron spoke to the Pope about it yesterday and said there's going to be a crisis meeting he'll preside over tonight at the Elysee Palace. They're trying to get as much aid as they can.

But one of the problems is this is a very remote island. It's off the Coast of Africa. It's on -- but the closest French territory is Reunion which is about 900 miles away, and they're going to set up an air bridge between Reunion and Mayotte to ferry and supplies and help. There's already about 1600 -- that have been mobilized, 800 rescue workers, that sort of thing.

But it's going to take time, and it's going to take time to find out exactly how expensive the damage is. It's probably the poorest part of France, and also, because of France, is part of the European Union, probably the poorest part of the European Union. It is really an area that is basically about 300,000 people in the area the size of -- twice the size of the District of Columbia, United States.

And as a consequence, they're very sparse population centers. So, they're sparse population, and they're isolated in various communities. It's mainly agricultural. So as a consequence, it's going to be difficult to find out exactly where the damages, where the deaths may have taken place?

WALKER: All right, thanks to Jim Bittermann for that. And there are growing calls for the U.S. military to do something, or say something more about the mysterious drones flying over the U.S. The drone sightings, which had mostly come in the Northeast spread to new parts of the country over the weekend.

A key Air Force Base in Ohio was forced to close its air space when a number of drones were spotted in the area. Members of Congress are growing increasingly frustrated at the lack of explanations from federal authorities, despite assurances that the public has nothing to fear that there is no threat to national security or public safety. The military and homeland security have had little to say about the drones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOSH GOTTHEIMER (D-NJ): I've had briefings, as I've said, that makes me feel confident, based on those briefings, that there's not an imminent threat to public safety, but it doesn't answer the question, where all these drones coming from, the people are seeing and why aren't we doing a better job of tracking them and understanding that?

[08:05:00] And most importantly, why aren't isn't the FBI coming clean with the public, instead of, as you know, first telling them that they're seeing things? Some of them may be man aircraft, some may be helicopters, but it doesn't make any sense when I spoke to some law enforcement last night and told me they saw them with their own eyes above them a large drone.

So, you know, listen, I'm going to believe them. The question is, you know, what are they? And let's make sure we get that information in that briefing and also give local law enforcement the tools they need, both to track these drones and to deal with them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Well, just moments ago, CNN's Sunlen Serfaty las spoke to my colleague Sara Sidner about the growing pressure on the Biden Administration to do more about the sightings.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Concern is growing, and pressure certainly is increasing on the administration to be more transparent and clearer in how they're handling this and distribute the information that they know. This incident at the Air Force Base over the weekend at Wright Patterson, right outside Dayton, Ohio, really increasing the alarm the fact that that air space was closed for four hours.

This is, as you noted, a very critical air space Air Force Center at host, the Air Force Research Lab, the National Air and Space Intelligence Center. So certainly, concerning that a drone would be flying in that air space overhead. And it comes as these drone sightings are only increasing now, extending beyond New York and New Jersey.

But other places, especially in the Northeast, so that only increasing the alarm here. And we have seen a recalibration of sorts from the administration over the weekend, really leaning into this message that they are on it.

Despite, as you noted, some frustration from lawmakers demanding more answers, but we heard from the Secretary of Homeland Security over the weekend, saying that he is not aware of any direct national security concerns and trying again to tell the public that the administration is on it. Here is what the secretary had to say,

ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: There is no question that people are seeing drones. And I want to assure the American public that we in the federal government have deployed additional resources, personnel, technology to assist the New Jersey State Police in addressing the drone sightings.

SERFATY: So, the administration, they are really trying to express that they are increasing some resources to take care of this issue and learn more about this issue. Meantime, Republican Mike Waltz of Florida, President-Elect Donald Trump's incoming National Security Adviser, really taking issue with where exactly these drone sightings are happening, specifically over military sites and restricted air spaces. Here's what he had to say.

MICHEAL WALTZ, TRUMP'S PICK FOR HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I think what the drone issue points out or kind of gaps in our agencies, gaps in our authorities, between the Department of Homeland Security, local law enforcement, the defense department. It's pointing to gaps in our capabilities and in our ability to plant down on what's going on here? We need to get to the bottom of it, and I think the Biden Administration is working to do that.

SERFATY: Now, lawmakers on both sides though Sara are certainly expressing very vocal frustrations on the part of the administration here for what they believe is not being as transparent as they would like, and calling for new regulations over drone. So, this certainly is going to be something Sara, we are going to see on Capitol Hill this week.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: All right, our Polo Sandoval has been tracking the story. He has latest for us. Hey there, Polo. I mean, it feels like the number of sightings is just growing, right, especially the number of states now you can add Ohio to it. Tell us more about these specific sightings. What are people reporting that they are seeing from the ground?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Amara we're so far into this mystery. Now there's a legitimate question about how many of those are actual drone sightings that should be concerning officials, and how much of it may be basically just a level of hysteria among so many people, because this is such a mystery. There's still so many questions about this.

You mentioned some real-world impacts that we've already seen, for example, at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Southwest Ohio, over the weekend, authorities there having to temporarily close their air space as they investigated the presence of drones over their airfield.

Now we should mention the leadership at that base was did assess the situation, and they established that those drones did not have any those incursions, I should say, did not impact that base. But against a reminder of what we're seeing now weeks into this, all the DHS and the FBI, the two federal agencies that are really leading the way in terms of trying to figure out what or who is behind this?

They continue to maintain that they've looked at -- they've assessed the situation, and they've established that they don't believe that this is any sort of public security threat. None the less, it is fueling frustrations, but also a sense of disbelief among several local officials in states like New Jersey, where this all started last month, where they're wondering why the government either can't or won't actually explain what is truly behind us here?

[08:10:00] I should mention though Amara, I heard -- we heard over from the Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas over the weekend, and he recognized that, yes, although many of these are likely, in fact, just crude airplanes flying normally, the secretary also recognized that many of these are not.

And so, I think that that was really quite significant, because there was a sense among many of the leaders in New Jersey that their concerns were going ignored, that they were basically being pushed aside. So, I think that that may be met with some sort of positive response as we continue to try to figure out exactly what's behind these drones would start in New Jersey, and now at least six U.S. states with similar reports.

WALKER: Yeah, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Polo, tell us more about the theories that are out there, and also more of what federal officials have said about -- you know what these things are in the skies? I've heard a lot of many of this being manned aircraft.

SANDOVAL: Right. And as we heard from the FBI last week, they established that, after looking at many of these videos, many of these images -- many of these images that have been shared by folks, they did establish that a large -- majority of them, many of them are, in fact, just airplanes.

But then, as we mentioned again from the Department of Homeland Security Secretary, it is quite obvious that many of these are not. So, there's still a question as to what's actually behind this. And when you asked about theories, if you go back for the last week, we heard from a member of Congress offer one theory without evidence, that there was an Iranian mother ship off the Eastern Coast that was sending this in.

Now the Pentagon very quickly denied that and said that there's no such thing. But I think that that still just raises some fairly legitimate questions about whether or not there is some sort of foreign state that may be involved, although, to be very clear, both the Pentagon and the White House have said repeatedly that do not believe that that's the case.

So now the question is, is this some sort of, perhaps inter government operation, some sort of test, that's a question. Or could it be commercial related? Because the FAA, the Federal Agency that really is in charge of air space, estimates that roughly 800,000 drones are registered with them, and those are split right down the middle.

So those are 800,000 possibilities here in terms of -- in terms of what we've seen. But I think what we have heard in my conversations with folks who work in the drone industry, experts in drones, they tell me that this is likely a wake-up call about the need for further regulation and more rules when it comes to these aircrafts over us.

WALKER: Polo Sandoval, appreciate your reporting.

SANDOVAL: Thanks Amara. WALKER: Thanks so much, Polo. Well, look now at what is on the agenda for the U.S. President and President-Elect. Joe Biden will deliver remarks at the Department of Labor and later host a Hanukkah Holiday Reception. For Donald Trump and his allies, it is a critical week as they work to build support around Trump's cabinet picks.

Robert Kennedy Jr., Trump's choice for Health and Human Services meet Senators on the Hill today. Over the weekend, Trump offered a public show of support for Pete Hegseth there on the far right, his Defense Secretary pick appearing with him at a college football game.

There is a snapshot a few of those from inside the suite where the President-Elect and the Vice President-Elect were sitting. CNN's Steve contorno joining us now from West Palm Beach, Florida. Hi there, Steve. I mean, this really was, when you look at the pictures inside the suite, they at the Army Navy game, it really was a who's who of Trump's circle right now as he's making this transition?

First off, let's start with Pete Hegseth and his appearance. And also, notable the fact that not much of Ron DeSantis was seen at all.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: In fact, Ron DeSantis was at the game the Governor of Florida, but sort of separately and didn't really make an appearance in Donald Trump's booth. It's an interesting dynamic, because just a week ago, it was thought that Ron DeSantis was on the short list to potentially replace Pete Hegseth as the Nominee for Defense Secretary, as Hegseth continues to face questions about his past.

But those fears and concerns seem to be putting put behind Donald Trump and Hegseth that had a much more productive week on the Hill last week, seeming to be moving toward getting the support he needs from at least 51 Republican Senators. Now there's still a long way to go, obviously.

But the show of support over the weekend by Donald Trump for Pete Hegseth as well as Tulsi Gabbard, his pick to lead as Director of National Intelligence. She was also in the booth with him as well. Just you know this public display of support for some of these embattled nominees clearly sending the signal to Senators on Capitol Hill that Donald Trump intends to stick with these nominees.

He doesn't anticipate backing off like he did with Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, and hoping that they fall in line, and we will see if they do so in these critical next weeks of meetings on the Hill.

[08:15:00]

The last week, potentially of meetings this year, as senators are anticipated to go home for the holidays at the end of the year or at the end of the week.

WALKER: Another controversial pick that we did not see in that booth, Steve was Robert Kennedy Jr. What can you tell us about his first trip to the Capitol since being chosen? I mean, it seems that he does face quite an up-hill battle. And over the weekend, of course, we heard Senator Mitch McConnell issuing this warning in reaction to RFK Jr's attorneys petitioning federal regulators to withdraw the polio vaccine.

CONTORNO: We know that RFK Jr., plans to meet with about two dozen Republican Senators on Capitol Hill this week. And as you said, it's the first time he will be meeting on the Hill with lawmakers in anticipation of his nomination hearing. And yes, he has certainly stirred up many concerns over his positions on vaccines, including from some Republican Senators.

And he also has some concerns among Republicans about the fact that he has long been a supporter of women having the right to choose and have abortion access available to them, and that is something that certainly makes a lot of anti-abortion groups anxious about his nomination.

But look, there are also some Democrats who have expressed potential interest in siding with RFK Jr., on his views on the environment, on his attacks on big pharma, on getting processed foods out of the system and some of these forever chemicals out of our everyday products.

And so, he has a potential to have both alienated a diverse group of lawmakers, but also find commonality with some, and that is one of the reasons why Donald Trump turned to RFK Jr., in the first place when his campaign needed support from people who have -- for years believe that RFK Jr., was outside of sort of the establishment and was willing to stand up for the people.

And it's also one of the reasons why he intends to stand by him, and obviously the Senate will have a say and decide whether or not he will be the nominee to or the person who will lead our health agencies. But right now, Donald Trump is standing by him and is making no suggestion that he intends to pull back that nomination at this time.

WALKER: All right, Steve Contorno in West Palm Beach, Florida. Steve, good to see you. Thank you. The Israeli Prime Minister says he spoke to President-Elect Trump on Saturday night and what he describes as a very warm phone call. Benjamin Netanyahu says they discussed a range of issues, including the need to bring home the remaining hostages in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I discussed all of this again last night with my friend U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump. It was a very friendly, very warm and very important conversation. We spoke about the need to complete Israel's victory, and we also spoke at length about the efforts we are making to free our hostages.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Hamas and other groups are believed to be -- still be holding about 100 hostages in Gaza. Israeli authorities say an unprecedented number of Israelis have been spying for Iran. Dozens have been arrested over the past year, accused of carrying out missions like photographing military bases and even plotting government assassinations. Our Jeremy Diamond reports on the fallout following the arrest of one alleged cell leader.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In this low income building in the City of Haifa, Apartment 5 looks just as ordinary as every other, until you notice the spot where police broke in. Israeli authorities say the man who lived here, Azis Nisanov was the leader of a group of Iranian spies.

LEONID GORBACHEVSKY, NEIGHBOR: I wasn't surprised. I was shocked. It was like thunder amid clear scars.

DIAMOND (voice-over): His next-door neighbor, Leonid Gorbachevsky, was home when police pried the door open with a metal bar. He says they turned the place inside out and found piles of cash. Israeli police say Nisanov led a seven-person cell of Israelis who gathered intelligence for Iran for more than two years and are now awaiting trial. And the Haifa 7 are allegedly just one cell. Israeli authorities say they have uncovered multiple spy rings in recent months.

MAOR GOREN, ISRAELI POLICE: If you go check the last years, the last decades, we can count on two hands how many people got arrested for this last six months, we have over 30 Israeli citizens that got arrested.

DIAMOND: So that's unprecedented?

GOREN: Yeah, of course.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Superintendent Maor Goren, who oversaw the investigations, says the arrest foiled multiple assassination plots as well as ongoing intelligence gathering efforts.

DIAMOND: While some of these alleged Iranian spies were accused of plotting to kill senior Israeli officials, others had a different task, photographing Israeli military bases like the Nevatim air base right behind me.

[08:20:00]

And Israeli officials say those photographs, that information, actually helped the Iranian carry out those ballistic missile attacks in April as well as in October.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Missiles struck Nevatim Airbase in both of those attacks, and while the base's location is known to Iran, police believe zoomed in photos and videos provided additional targeting intelligence.

GOREN: Some of them got recruited by the Iranian by using the social media.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Many of those telegram messages provided by Israel's Shin Bet security service are wildly unsophisticated, spam style messages offering interesting and exciting jobs that pay a very high salary. In one series of messages provided by the Israeli police, an alleged Iranian handler writes, we just need brave men. Are you brave for a lot of money? Before tasking, their mark with buying gasoline and setting off forest fires.

ODED AILAM, FORMER MOSSAD OFFICIAL: It's worked and based on the theory of the big numbers.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Oded Ailam, a Former Top Mossad official, says Iran is more interested in casting a wide net than in recruiting skilled operatives.

AILAM: And they say to themselves, OK, if we fail here, we go to the next one. And they don't really care of the outcome.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Unlike previous Iranian intelligence efforts in Israel, which have largely involved Palestinian recruits, the majority of those arrested in the last year have been Jewish Israelis, many of them knew immigrants, according to the police, they were also often poor or had criminal histories, people like Slava Gushchin, who lived in this apartment and was allegedly part of the Haifa cell. For neighbors like Ricky (ph) and Moshe who saw him struggling and had given him food and clothes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shock, shock.

MOSHE, NEIGHBOR: No one could believe it. People that know him that also brought him food and everything they want to kill him.

DIAMOND (voice-over): A sense of betrayal for the accused spy next door.

DIAMOND (on camera): And Iran did not return our request for comment about the spying allegations. As for Aziz Nisanov, the Alleged Leader of the Haifa seven. I spoke to his attorney, who did not deny that Nisanov photographed these military bases, but said he did not know that he was working for Iran.

He said that his motives were purely financial and that he did not believe he was harming Israel's security. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: Jeremy, thank you. Still to come, Germany's Leader is trying to clear the way for a snap election. We're going to have a live report from Berlin next. Then rebuilding Syria, more than one week after President Bashar Al Assad was ousted by rebels. Western nations pushing for stability in a nation torn apart by war.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:25:00]

WALKER: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is facing a confidence vote. He is likely to lose it, paving the way for elections in February. Now, right now, a debate is underway before the voting starts. We should get the results in the next hour or so. Last month, Germany's governing coalition collapsed after disagreements over the country's weak economy pushed the chancellor to sack his finance minister.

Let's go live now to Berlin. And CNN producer Sebastian Shukla. Seb, take us through the process that is playing out today. What do we expect?

SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: That's right, Amara. I'm in the belly of the Bundestag right now, and in that gray building, that room just behind me, over there, is where the debate is currently taking place. It's where Olaf Scholz finished speaking about half an hour ago, where he started this confidence vote.

He made some comments about why this is an important time for Germany to be able to come together. What's going to happen in terms of process is that the debate will finish in around 45 minutes time, and then the members of the Bundestag will come out and they will vote in the ballot boxes of bins, just behind me.

What will then happen is a process of which is pretty formulaic, to be honest. It will be a vote counting, and then we will find out whether the vote of confidence that Olaf Scholz has called, he will win or he will lose. Amara, if I am perfectly honest, there are very, very small prospects that he will survive this.

And what that means is that we will then pave the way. Bundestag, MPs would have paved the way for elections to be held on February 23. There is a very ceremonial process where Scholz has to go to the President Frank Walter Steinmeier and request the date for him to call elections. But the parties have already agreed that date amongst themselves, well ahead of this vote, Amara.

WALKER: Seb, tell us what the polls are showing and which party is ahead in the polls at this stage?

SHUKLA: Well, if you're Olaf Scholz, the polls make for appalling reading, frankly. The Christian Democratic Union Party, the party formerly of Angela Merkel, is way ahead in the polls. I mean, almost unassailable is their lead, which puts Olaf Scholz and his current coalition really at risk of losing power altogether.

But if you look in detail at those polls, they actually make for even worse reading, because they are not only in third place, it's a very close third place to the greens. And notable in all of this actually is the surge and the rise of the far-right party, the AFD, who currently, as things stand, if the election was held today, would become the second largest party here in the Bundestag.

And that obviously comes with it a myriad of difficulties for forming any coalition. The CDU, headed by Friedrich Merz, is expected to win, and that will make forming a government here very difficult. Germany is often known for forming coalitions rather than having an outright party, largely due to its proportional representation in the way the country votes. So, this is going to be a seminal moment for Germany, and I will note that back in 2005 Gerhard Schroder was the last chancellor to lose a confidence vote that paved the way for 16 years of stability under Angela Merkel, Amara.

WALKER: Sebastian Shukla, thank you very much. Live for us there in Berlin's Bundestag. Well, still to come, more than a week after the fall of the Assad regime, the new leadership in Syria has yet to lay out a vision of how the country will be governed. My conversation with an expert on the region is coming up.

And then American journalist Austin Tice has been missing for 12 years inside Syria. His brother spoke to CNN earlier about why the family has new hope of finding him alive.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:00]

WALKER: The U.S. is encouraging American citizens to leave Syria due to what it is calling a volatile and unpredictable situation. The United Nations and the European Union, meanwhile, are making a push for stability in a country shattered by 13 years of civil war.

The EU's envoy to Syria will be in Damascus today to hold talks with the country's new Islamist rulers, more than a week after Bashar Al Assad's regime was overthrown by rebel forces. It comes as a country is taking a step toward normalcy. Students returned to the classroom on Sunday after most schools were reopened.

But the U.N. Special Envoy for Syria says many challenges remain, and he called for a quick end to Western sanctions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEIR PEDERSEN, U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SYRIA: We need to see that this is fixed quickly. We will hopefully see a quick end to sanctions, so that we can see, really a rally around building up Syria again. And then my last point, we need to see, of course, justice and accountability for crimes, and we need to make sure that that goes through a credible justice system and that we don't see any revenge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Well, of course, the future of Syria very much on the minds of Western diplomats. Let's talk about this further. Colonel Derek Harvey was the National Security Council Director for the Middle East during the Trump Administration. He's joining me now live from Washington.

Colonel, thank you so much for your time. First off, I do want to ask you about this meeting, as this EU envoy is headed to Syria to meet with the Syrian leadership at this point. What would you be curious to ask and how does the rest of the world hold the new leadership accountable to have a representative government?

COLONEL DEREK HARVEY, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL DIRECTOR FOR THE MIDDLE EAST: Well, I think first and foremost, we have to be patient with this emerging government in Syria. They are surprised, as the rest of the world, that they are now in charge, and they were probably, I guarantee it, they were not prepared to be in this position this week, starting a new government and figuring out how government works.

They have some limited experience in managing the areas that they did control in northwest Syria, but this is such a humongous difference for them. So, the international system, the United Nations, their neighbors, the United States, Russia, are all focused on trying to establish stability, understand this government that's emerging, and see where they can hope, particularly in the humanitarian arenas.

WALKER: Can you talk about, though, how difficult this is going to be, because this is a fractious country, and of course, you have the HTS at the head of the rebel groups, but there's also various rebel groups that have to be brought together?

HARVEY: Well, that's correct, and Assad ruled with an iron fist, politics of the gun. And you know, we have a history now of autonomous groups fighting for independence or autonomy.

[08:35:00]

For example, the Kurds, we've got the Druze said, have had a great deal of autonomy recently, the Islamist in the northwest and the oppressed people that have been through so much harm and dislocation. So, it's going to be very challenging to bring a government together.

I would just point to, you know, it's probably easier than what we had in Iraq, where the system was so destroyed, but it's going to be a significant challenge. And what emerges over the next six months is going to be focused on stability. It probably will not be getting to formalizing a government with any elections for quite some time.

WALKER: Colonel, if you will, stay with us, because we are receiving reports of the first public comments allegedly made by Bashar Al Assad, the ousted Syrian leaders since the rebels to control the country. We want to get this report and then come back to you, Colonel, if you will.

A post published to the Syrian presidency telegram channel today states that he was evacuated to Russia on the evening of December 8th from a Russian air base in Syria, and that his departure was unplanned. It's not clear if Assad still controls that Telegram account. But let's get more now from CNN's Fred Pleitgen in Moscow. Fred, what are you hearing?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think, Amara, you're absolutely right that the key phrase here is allegedly posted by Bashar Al Assad on the Telegram channel and on other social media channels. Now the Syrian presidency those have actually been disabled over the past couple of days after Assad fled here to Russia, but have now apparently gone back online.

And the statement has now been posted again, allegedly from Bashar Al Assad. We're not sure it's whether it's really from him, but these are what used to be the official channels of the Russian -- of the Syrian presidency. Interesting, the way he starts this statement is that it says Moscow, and then puts today's date.

So obviously insinuating that he is here somewhere in Moscow. And I want to read you some key lines. He, as you mentioned, said that he did not evacuate from the Syrian capital Damascus until the early morning hours of Sunday, December 8th, and actually didn't leave Syria until the evening of Sunday, December 8th.

He says, as quote, as terrorist forces infiltrated Damascus. I moved to Latakia, which is, of course, the coastal area of Syria, where also that air base is situated, in coordination with our Russian allies to oversee combat operations, he says. And then he says, upon arrival at the Khmeimim Air Base, that is, that Russian base that morning.

It became clear that our forces had completely withdrawn from all battle lines and that the last army positions had fallen. So obviously clear that for Assad, the position was no longer tenable. He then later said that as the Russian base itself came under attack, that the Russians made the decision to immediately evacuate Bashar Al Assad to the Russian capital from Syria.

It was interesting because there was actually a statement that was put out by the Russian Foreign Ministry, which was the -- on the day that Assad fled, which was the first time that it was ever acknowledged that he had left Syria, where the Russians had said that Assad had actually put -- or told his confidence to put in place a transfer of power in Syria.

And then had decided to leave the country, that it was Assad's decision. He, apparently here is now saying that it was the Russians decision to do an emergency evacuation of him. Then he says, at no point during these events did I consider stepping down or seeking refuge, nor was such a proposal made by any individual party, most probably talking about the Russians.

He left, then later, however, goes on to say, and this is another quote, when the state falls into the hands of terrorism and the ability to make meaningful contribution is lost, any position becomes void of purpose, rendering its occupation meaningless. Apparently, Assad there saying, indeed this is him that he believes that the point of the presidency of Syria has become void.

That position has become a void. So obviously, he's seemingly saying that he is now gone for good, and that position is now gone for good as well. Obviously, if this was indeed him, it would be the first time that we've heard from the defunct leader of the former Syrian Arab Republic, who apparently is somewhere here in Russia.

We're not exactly sure where. However, the Russians, of course, have said that they have granted Bashar Al Assad and members of his family asylum on what they call humanitarian grounds, Amara.

WALKER: It's fascinating that if this is indeed Assad, as we keep couching this report with that, he would use his first statement to say that it was an unplanned, that this was not planned, that he was basically forced to leave the country.

PLEITGEN: Yeah.

WALKER: You mentioned this just slightly, Fred, but any indications as to where Assad and his family might be in Russia?

PLEITGEN: Yeah, absolutely not. I mean, right now, it's completely unclear where exactly he is.

[08:40:00]

The Russians came out and they were asked that actually several times, a spokesman for the Kremlin, others as well, here in Russia, where exactly Bashar Al Assad is here, whether he's in Moscow or somewhere else, the Russians have said that at this point they're going to leave that without comment, so they're not saying where he where exactly is.

He's apparently being kept under wraps, and certainly not hasn't been in public since he went here. It's unclear whether he's in the Russian capital or somewhere else ever. We actually did a report last week that the Assad family, this is according to an anti-corruption NGO report from them in 2019, that extended members of the Assad family have apparently bought a considerable amount of real estate, what's known as the Moscow City, which is sort of the financial capital, the financial district, I should say, of the Russian capital.

It's got a lot of skyscrapers, lot of office space, but also a lot of luxury apartments. And this anti-corruption NGO said that the extended members of the Assad family had bought at least 19 apartments in that area. The talk is of around $40 million.

But again, completely unclear whether he is there, whether members of his family are there, but we do know, Amara, and I think this is something that's actually important point. Is that for the Assad family, they have been affiliated with Moscow for a considerable amount of time.

In fact, Assad's oldest son, Hafez Al Assad, who is of course, named after Bashar Assad's father, he did his dissertation at the Moscow State University, and actually defended that dissertation on November 29 which is exactly the same day that Syrian rebels entered Aleppo, took control of Aleppo, which, of course, rang in. That lightning did not demise of the Assad dynasty, if you will, over the Syrian-Arab Republican, Amara.

WALKER: Interesting timing. Fred Pleitgen, really appreciate your reporting there from Moscow. Thank you very much. Let's go back now to Colonel Derek Harvey. Colonel, thank you so much for standing by. Just want to get your take on this apparent, alleged, purported statement from Bashar Al Assad in Telegram.

It's -- I found it's interesting that if indeed it is his first statement, that he would choose these moments to emphasize that he basically left the country, you know, I guess, in the last moments, and that this was not planned, and it was a Russian decision. HARVEY: That is interesting in Russia is trying to posture themselves. They saw the writing on the wall, and they were trying to, you know, ease him out, I think, and shift of refocusing on their presence there, what they could get in the future. This is -- I would just emphasize, you know, the United Nations and others are calling for justice and accountability.

And you know, Assad being in in Moscow, a lot of family members and probably others that were part of the security services, this could become a point of contention between, you know, Moscow and Syria and others in the region, maybe the United Nations too, because people are going to be seeking accountability and justice, and there's a lot of culpability there amongst the Assad family that is now residing in Moscow.

WALKER: We're going to have to leave there. Colonel Harvey, really appreciate your time and expertise on this. Thank you very much.

HARVEY: Thank you.

WALKER: Well, Austin Tice, as you mentioned, was taken captive by Syria's government more than a decade ago. Tice was one of the first American journalists on the ground as the country Civil War grew in intensity, but he was abducted and then jailed by Syria's government in late 2012.

With the fall of the Assad regime, what American official now says, there's now a full court press to find Tice and the U.S. is leaving no stone unturned. Austin's brother spoke to CNN's Kasie Hunt earlier about the ongoing search for him and why his family has new hope of finding him alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON ROBERT TICE, BROTHER OF AUSTIN TICE: It's been to say a challenge would be an understatement. Austin is someone that was such a strong presence in all of us, siblings, lives, and especially in kind of guiding us and protecting us and carving a path for us and so not having him there, especially, making big decisions, you know, career wise, or, you know, even what I graduated with in my degree, those would have been conversations I would have had with Austin.

And so, every time that those thoughts, the big decisions happen, I miss him especially. And then, you know, during the times when our whole family is together, I miss him. So, it's just been every day missing him and the hope of having him home again.

KASIE HUNT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Explain a little bit about why your family is so confident that Austin is still alive and could be reunited with you?

TICE: Yeah, I would say that there's two sources for that kind of hope. One is that everyone in the United States government, even all the way up to President Biden, has said and that they know that Austin is alive. And then also, we have our own independent, vetted source that has told us the same information. [08:45:00]

And so, we know that Austin has been alive this entire time in his captivity, and we know that he can be brought home, and we're just hoping that that happens soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Great that they have so much hope to hold on to. That was Simon Robert Tice, the brother of American Austin Tice. We'll be right back.

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WALKER: One of Donald Trump's most controversial cabinet pick steps up his push to win confirmation this week. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be in the spotlight on Capitol Hill, meeting with senators. According to sources familiar with his thinking the Health and Human Services pick plans to play down his skepticism of vaccines and play up his advocacy for healthy foods.

Meanwhile, President-elect Trump put on a show of support for his embattled defense secretary pick, giving Pete Hegseth a seat in his box at the Army Navy football game over the weekend. Lots to discuss. Joining us now to analyze the Trump transition, is Larry Sabato. He is a Director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. Hi, Larry. It's always good to see you.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR POLITICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thank you.

WALKER: Let's start with the Army Navy game. And of course, you know, we look at these pictures from inside that suite, and it really was a who's who of Trump circle right now as he's working on this transition. But the fact that, you know, Pete Hegseth his pick for defense secretary was right there by his side along, I think right there behind him is also Tulsi Gabbard.

Let's talk about Pete Hegseth, and the strong statement he's obviously making about his unwavering support for him and really their optimism for his chances of getting confirmed.

SABATO: Yes, they're optimistic now about Hegseth and really all the others, because they think they've identified the button they have to push to get them all approved. And that button is a direct threat to members of the Senate, Republicans in the Senate, especially those coming up in 2026 not very far away, the midterm elections.

And basically, they're saying, no problem. You decide what you want to decide on this, but if you vote against our nominees, we're going to find a strong primary challenger for you, and given Donald Trump's virtual control of the Republican Party from top to bottom, we're going to defeat you.

You will no longer be a senator. Well, guess what. That has a real impact mentally and emotionally on these Republican senators, and suddenly they start saying good things about nominees they previously criticized.

WALKER: Then, what will you be watching then for when it comes to RFK Jr.? I mean, he is quite controversial. We've already had Senator Mitch McConnell, who has issued this warning about his stance on vaccines, and, of course, his lawyer, you know, petitioning federal regulators to withdraw the polio vaccine.

Mitch McConnell being a polio survivor as a kid. I mean, RFK Jr., conspicuously was not present there in that box, although another controversial pick, Tulsi Gabbard was. I mean, what do you make of all that?

[08:50:00]

SABATO: Well, of course, RFK Jr. has been around Donald Trump virtually daily down at Mar-a-Lago. So, I don't think they've abandoned RFK Jr., and he's a he's a key part of Trump's effort to attract and keep Democrats, or at least some of them, on board in the Trump coalition.

But RFK Jr. has Republican critics and democratic critics, and there are a lot of positions that RFK Jr. has taken over the years, like, say on abortion, that will not be very popular with Republicans. And already you have some of the pro-life groups in the Republican party saying, if you're going to put RFK Jr. in your cabinet, we want some specific commitments from him that he will defer to pro-life positions when he makes decisions at his cabinet office.

And I'll tell you that Mitch McConnell here made a very important statement when Democrats criticize a Trump nominee for this, that or the other. Republicans and independents kind of avert their eyes. But in the case of Mitch McConnell, he suffered from polio as a child.

WALKER: Right.

SABATO: And it has affected him directly, and now he has said indirectly didn't mention RFK Jr., but said, if you're going to criticize the polio vaccine, don't count on my support.

WALKER: For those who are watching the Army Navy game and saw Daniel Penny, who was acquitted of those charges stemming from the choke hold that killed a homeless black man. What did Vice President-elect JD Vance gain by having him as his guest of honor there?

SABATO: Because Daniel Penny has become a hero to the right and far right in the Republican Party. They think he's got a good case, and obviously was acquitted by a New York jury, but they like the fact that he represents as an ex-Marine, as a young person who did something as a good Samaritan, he represents the values that keep whites in the Republican Party.

And whites are still a very large majority of Republican votes across the country. So, for JD Vance being from Ohio, a state that is predominantly white, and that has transferred from the Democratic Party, now solidly to the Republican Party. That's what Republicans want to happen across the country. WALKER: Larry Sabato, it's always interesting to speak with you. Thank you very much. You have a great week. Appreciate it.

SABATO: Thank you, Amara. Appreciate it. Thank you.

WALKER: Stay with us. We'll be right back.

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WALKER: Skaters can now glide on ice in Paris' iconic Grand Palais, where one of the world's biggest ice rinks has been installed. The French landmark will be open for skating throughout the holiday season. There are lights -- DJ and plenty to look at, including the glass roof of the French landmark.

The venue was recently used to host fencing events during the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. That is a beautiful view, isn't it? And finally, this hour, bakers showcased their building and design skills at a gingerbread house competition in Stockholm on Sunday. The annual event was held at the Swedish Center for Architecture and Design.

[08:55:00]

Bakers competed in three categories, centered around this year's theme come back. This year, the people's choice award went to a cookie recreation of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory seen here. I love that. Look at all the details. Thank you so much for being with me. That is my time. Thanks for being with me here on CNN Newsroom. I'm Amara Walker. "Connect the World" with Becky Anderson is next.

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