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Fed Interest Rate Cuts by a Quarter-point Percentage; Verdict Expected on Dominique Pelicot, 50 Others on Mass Rape Case; U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Arguments on the Possible Ban of TikTok; U.S. Detects First H5N1 Bird Flu Case. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired December 19, 2024 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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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, dozens of verdicts are expected soon in the mass rape trial that shocked France. We are live outside the courthouse on Avignon.
Plus, Washington and Wall Street bow to Trump's influence as U.S. markets mark an historic tumble.
And a Human Rights Watch report accuses Israel of genocide by deliberately depriving Palestinians in Gaza of water.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.
CHURCH: All right, to the volatile day in Washington and on Wall Street, where major decisions by U.S. government officials could have major repercussions for Americans in the year ahead.
And Donald Trump seems to be in the middle of it all. The president- elect followed the lead of tech billionaire Elon Musk, telling his Republican allies in Congress to reject a bipartisan government funding bill. Now this comes just days before Christmas, as Trump and his team make new demands to keep the government from shutting down.
Meanwhile, the Dow fell more than 1,100 points, extending its losing streak to 10 days. That is the longest since 1974.
The U.S. Federal Reserve announced a quarter-point interest rate cut, as expected. But Chairman Jerome Powell warned that Trump's tariffs and other factors could keep inflation high through next year, meaning fewer rate cuts in the future.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JEROME POWELL, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: You ask about 2025. I think that the slower pace of cuts for next year really reflects both the higher inflation readings we've had this year and the expectation that inflation will be higher.
You saw in the SEP that risks and uncertainty around inflation we see as higher. Nonetheless, we see ourselves as still on track. The point about uncertainty is it's kind of common sense thinking that when the path is uncertain, you go a little bit slower. It's not unlike driving on a foggy night or walking into a dark room full of furniture. You just slow down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: All right, let's go live now to CNN's Marc Stewart, who joins us from Beijing with a look at how Asia-Pacific markets are reacting. So Marc, what are the numbers look like this out?
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Rosemary. We are seeing declines across the major markets in Asia. We saw a pretty significant decline in South Korea, the Nikkei in Japan also seeing declines.
Why is this happening? Well, as you heard from the Fed chair, this idea of a slowdown and higher inflation is something that is not only concerning to just Americans, but to the global audience.
If inflation persists, as the Fed chair is asserting, and if we don't see as many rate cuts as has been hoped, it certainly could impact the global economy.
When inflation is high, the cost of borrowing money is also high. So for example, if an American family wants to buy electronics, put it on their credit card, that debt, that bill will cost more. If they want to buy a car, same thing holds there.
Many of those products are not only made in the United States, but abroad, including here in Asia, where we have a lot of Japanese and Korean electronics makers and automakers. So what happens in the United States is certainly a concern on a global scale.
And this threat of inflation persisting well into 2025, after a very rough year in 2024 in many parts of the world, is going to create some uncertainty for traders.
Now I did talk to one analyst today who suggested that what we have seen in the United States has been a bit of an overreaction, and perhaps we will see more opportunities to buy because of this decline. That's something we're going to have to see.
But as we know, Rosemary, from our many conversations together, these markets are fickle and at many times resilient. One thing to look forward to, especially in the week ahead as we look closer to Christmas, is this idea of a Santa Claus rally. And that's pretty much what it is. When there is excitement about the holidays, the end of the year, even looking toward the beginning of the new year, some of the worries in the past may temporarily be dropped, and that could encourage a rally once again on Wall Street.
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Rosemary, the opening bell in New York, set for a little bit more than six hours from now. We'll have to see how that all transpires. But certainly there is hope that this was just a one-time decline.
CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Marc Stewart joining us live from Beijing.
Well the woman at the center of one of the darkest criminal cases in modern French history is expected in court any moment now. Prosecutors say Gisele Pelicot was raped by more than 50 men at her home over nearly a decade, and that the abuse was organized by her husband, who is accused of drugging her and inviting complete strangers to assault her. We're now awaiting the verdicts against Dominique Pelicot and other suspects in the case.
So let's turn to CNN's Melissa Bell, who is standing by inside, or just outside the courthouse, we should say, in the French city of Avignon. So Melissa, what are the expectations as we await these verdicts?
MELISSA BELL, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you can see, perhaps behind me, Rosemary, a huge amount of interest. There has been throughout this more than three-and-a-half-long month trial, not just the many journalists who turn up day in, day out to follow the proceedings, but also many people who just come to stand outside and show their support for Gisele Pelicot, and again here today.
We've also heard chants of rapists, we see you, against some of the accused. This is a trial, Rosemary, that has really captured the imagination of people, not just here in France, but elsewhere, partly because of its nature.
We're talking about 51 men, one of them still on the run, but the 50 others expected here this morning to receive their sentences. The sentences that have been requested by the prosecution range from four years to 20 years.
The longest sentence, the 20 years for a couple of men, including Dominique Pelicot, who's accused of having, over nearly a decade, invited dozens of men to rape his wife after having given her prescription pills to sedate her.
The nature of the trial, not just the scale of what happened, the horror of what was visited upon Gisele Pelicot, but of course her extraordinary decision, Rosemary, to waive her anonymity, thus waiving the anonymity of the 51 men on trial here in Avignon today.
There are also a further 21 men, by the way, who were seen on some of those horrific videos by police, but that they have failed to identify. Of the 51 identified, 50 of them in the court behind me will be finding out how long they'll be spending in jail.
The point is, though, that by waiving her anonymity, what she did is she waived theirs. And her idea, her plan, her strategy behind that, her reasoning was that it was time, as she put it, that shame changed camps.
And also, so in a way, almost whatever the verdicts today, whatever the sentence in these particular men received, the fact that it has been as public as it has really has turned it into something of a societal reckoning, taken it far beyond this simple courthouse and the precise nature of what happened to Gisele Pelicot.
And I think one of the most remarkable things about it is how humble she's remained, saying, look, I'm just normal. I'm doing this for other women so that they can look at if they've been victims of sexual abuse, have the courage to speak up and say, if Madame Pelicot could do it, in her words, so can I.
CHURCH: And Melissa, as you have been reporting to us, we've been looking at these live pictures of Gisele Pelicot arriving there at the courthouse. And as you point out, I mean, just incredible that she has gone public with this incredible, brave effort on her part.
Talk to us about a little more. You did touch on this, but a little more on how this is resonating outside of France, but also maybe perhaps more importantly, inside France.
BELL: I think it is the fact that she's chosen to make this as public as it has been, the fact of her courage that has really spoken to people well beyond the borders of France and really shone a very harsh light on rape culture, on the societal questions that this raises.
In the end, what we're going to be looking at today is 50 men in this box, as I say, one still on the run, with the question at the heart of this trial, how these many men, ordinary men, that's something that we've heard over and over again over the course of the trial. There are truck drivers. There's a journalist. They come from all walks of life, all ages, all backgrounds. Some are married. Many are fathers.
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How could these apparently normal men, monsieur tout le monde, we say in French, Mr. Anybody, have gone to a house, found a woman clearly sedated and done what they did with none of them ever raising the alarm about what was being done to this woman, this over the course of a decade? I think those very uncomfortable questions about women in society, about rape, about its place in the question of consent.
These are issues that speak to people everywhere, not just women, by the way. The other remarkable question that's been raised about this trial is that question of consent.
Many of the men on trial here today have denied the accusation, saying that they believed, some of them, that because the husband was there, this was as good as Gisele Pelicot's consent. And that's really quite an extraordinary sentiment. And when you hear it spoken out loud, I think that is what has led to
all the articles that we've seen, all the soul searching. And again, it isn't just about what's happened here in Mazan, the outskirts of Avignon. It's about what happens elsewhere.
And what is spoken of, what is understood, how consent functions and how women's voices can be heard on these issues, too.
CHURCH: Melissa Bell, joining us live from Avignon in France as we await the verdict. We will, of course, stay on top of this story. I appreciate your report there, Melissa.
Israel has launched deadly airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, hitting ports and energy infrastructure in the capital, Sana'a.
Houthi officials say at least nine people were killed and three others injured in those strikes. The strikes come just hours after the Iran- backed militant group launched its latest attack on Israel.
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The IDF says a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted early Thursday morning in central Israel. The Houthis say they targeted two sensitive Israeli military targets in Tel Aviv with missiles and the strikes achieved their goals.
The group also says Israeli strikes in Sana'a will not deter them from responding and continuing to support Palestinians in Gaza. Tensions between Israel and the Houthis have escalated since the war in Gaza started last year.
Lawmakers now have less than two days to come up with a new plan to keep the U.S. government funded into March. They also have to address Trump's new demand to raise the national debt ceiling before he takes office. Trump's critics argue he's been too heavily influenced by Elon Musk on this spending bill.
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REP. DANIEL GOLDMAN (D-NY): Donald Trump has been asleep at the wheel. This is being negotiated intensively for weeks now. I find it hard to believe that Trump was not clued into what was going on, but probably more likely just paid no interest until his benefactor, the one who spent nearly $300 million to get him elected, the one multibillionaire richest man on earth who has numerous federal contracts, chimed in to oppose this bill. And all of a sudden, Donald Trump scrambled to try to kill it because his puppet master said so.
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CHURCH: So now it's back to the drawing board for everyone involved. If they want to keep the federal government running. CNN's Manu Raju has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump torpedoing a carefully negotiated bipartisan compromise to avoid a government shutdown by the end of the week. This negotiation had happened behind closed doors for several weeks and ultimately a deal was reached. It came out just last night.
That deal, about 1,500 pages in length. They had a whole wide range of provisions, but the most significant part, it would extend government funding until mid-March to avoid a shutdown.
Now, throughout the course of the day, anger began to build on the right. Republicans, particularly conservative members, said that it was a bad deal that Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, cut with Democratic leaders and cut with the White House.
They pointed a number of provisions that they did not like in there. There were some politically toxic measures as well, such as raising the salary, giving a salary increase to members of Congress.
But perhaps most significantly, it was Elon Musk who came out to oppose the bill very loudly, calling on members who vote for the bill to essentially lose their elections. And it wasn't just Musk. After Musk came out in his opposition, then Donald Trump himself came out opposed to the measure.
He and J.D. Vance issued a scathing statement over this bill. He attacked the bill and he also added a highly complex issue on top of it. He is now demanding that Congress raise the national debt level, avoid the first ever debt default. That could have happened next year.
He wants that done now because he doesn't want to deal with it when he's president, even though doing so is a highly complicated issue that will be very difficult to resolve in just two days.
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That's one reason why Republicans and Democrats alike have concerns, including this Republican senator.
Are you frustrated?
SEN. KEIN CRAMER (R-ND): I'm very frustrated. Can you tell? But I'm frustrated with a smile.
RAJU: I mean, you're frustrated with the president, with the president-elect.
CRAMER: I'm frustrated with his team to not have engaged sooner than this.
RAJU: Do you think Trump should have made his demands earlier?
CRAMER: Well, that would have been very helpful. Yeah. I mean, maybe he hadn't thought about it until just today. But yeah, that would have been very helpful.
RAJU: Is it realistic to raise the national debt limit in two days?
CRAMER: I would not think so. I would not think so. But, you know, it's almost Christmas. It's amazing what people might do to get home.
RAJU: Now, how this gets resolved remains an open question, but there is considerable concern and frustration within the ranks. Republicans don't think it's realistic to add the national debt limit. Democrats say they don't want to negotiate.
And if they do negotiate the debt limit, they're going to demand a whole host of measures that probably would go too far for Elon Musk and Donald Trump. So how this gets resolved remains a major question as yet another crisis moment begins to engulf Washington.
Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Donald Trump has long claimed that members of Congress who investigated the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol should go to jail. And now a House Republican investigation into the attack is siding with Trump and going after former GOP Congresswoman Liz Cheney for her part in probing Trump's role in what happened that day.
The GOP report concludes that Cheney should be prosecuted for witness tampering for working with one of the star witnesses against Trump. Other Republicans are now concerned they could be the next target. And one lawmaker who spoke anonymously to CNN said they don't think it's fair to Liz Cheney.
Still to come, the U.N.'s refugee agency is sounding the alarm as one million Syrian refugees are expected to return home in the next six months. We'll have details after a short break.
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CHURCH: Next hour, Russian President Vladimir Putin will address the nation in his annual press conference. He's expected to take questions from Russian citizens about domestic issues like housing and the economy. But it's unclear whether he will talk about the assassination of a top general in the streets of Moscow earlier this week.
Russian officials have detained a man who allegedly confessed to planting the explosive device that killed Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov and his aide on Tuesday.
CNN's Matthew Chance brings us the latest.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On Russian TV, news that Moscow police have already detained a suspected bomber. This 29-year-old Uzbek citizen arrested in a village outside the capital has now confessed, according to prosecutors, to planting the explosive device that killed Igor Kirillov, one of Russia's top generals and his assistant. [03:20:06]
UNKNOWN (through translator): During interrogation, he explained that he was recruited by Ukrainian special services, then arrived in Moscow and received an improvised explosive device. He placed it on an electric scooter, which he parked at the entrance of the apartment building where Igor Kirillov lived.
CHANCE (voice-over): Video released by the Russian security services purports to show the suspect setting up a surveillance camera in a car outside. The camera is said to have live streamed the attack to Ukrainian intelligence, which has indeed claimed responsibility for the killing.
The suspect's then shown on video, possibly under duress, saying he was promised $100,000 and a European passport for, in his words, pressing the button.
But the bombing on the streets of Moscow is only the latest in a series of assassinations of prominent figures supporting Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine, starting with Daria Dugina, an outspoken advocate of the conflict and daughter of a pro-Kremlin nationalist killed in a car bombing in August 2022.
Ukraine denied involvement, but the shooting just last week of Mikhail Shatsky, a Russian missile developer outside Moscow, was orchestrated by Ukrainian intelligence, according to a CNN source in Kyiv, as was the car bombing in November of Valery Trankovsky, a senior Russian naval officer in Crimea.
There have been numerous other killings, too, as Ukraine steps up assassinations far from the front lines, cementing a reputation for vengeance.
Matthew Chance, CNN, London.
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CHURCH: A new Human Rights Watch report is accusing Israel of committing crimes against humanity in Gaza by deliberately depriving Palestinians of enough water to survive.
The rights group alleges Israel is intentionally destroying water infrastructure, blocking aid and obstructing repairs and, quote, "deprived the majority of the more than two million Palestinians living in Gaza of access to even that bare minimum amount of water," which has contributed to death and widespread disease. The group says Israel's policy, quote, "amounts to an act of genocide."
The report says there's been a particularly devastating impact on Gaza's infants, pregnant and breastfeeding women and people with disabilities Israel has denied the accusations in a statement on X, the Israeli foreign ministry says Israel had, quote, "facilitated the continuous flow of water and humanitarian aid into Gaza."
Health officials in Gaza say Israeli attacks killed dozens of Palestinians on Wednesday, adding new urgency to the revived ceasefire negotiations. U.S. officials joined by mediators from Egypt and Qatar are making intense efforts to advance the talks. And even Hamas appears to be optimistic about a potential deal.
More now from CNN's Jeremy Diamond in Jerusalem.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is optimism in the air, significant diplomatic activity in the region and a clear sense of momentum towards a potential hostage and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
But will there actually be a deal? That is indeed the question at this moment, as we are seeing a number of officials arriving in the Middle East to try and get this deal across the finish line.
The latest arrival in the region appears to be the CIA director, Bill Burns, who has been the top U.S. official in these negotiations for months now. He often travels and arrives in the region at critical junctures in the process.
And this does indeed appear to be one of those critical moments yet again, following visits by the national security adviser Jake Sullivan last week, President Biden's top Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, also in the region.
And of course, we've seen an Israeli delegation, Hamas delegations in both Cairo as well as in Doha, Qatar. And accompanying this flurry of diplomatic activity, you also have the rhetoric. We've heard optimism from the Americans, from the Israelis, from all sides, really saying that they believe that we are closer than ever to a deal.
Hamas also joining that optimistic rhetoric yesterday in a statement saying that they believe a deal is, quote, "possible." A Hamas source also saying that the state of talks is, quote, "positive and optimistic."
But they are also offering a note of caution, as so many others involved in the process are as well. Hamas saying that a deal is possible as long as Israel does not continue to make additional last minute demands in this process. And all sides are really urging caution, even as they are sounding an optimistic note, because we have seen so many times before these two sides get very, very close to a potential agreement, but ultimately a deal not falling through.
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But officials in the region believe that conditions are now at their ripest for an agreement to actually take place. And there's no question that it is very much needed. As we are watching in Gaza over the last 24 hours, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 38 people have been killed.
More than 200 have been injured. And of course, the humanitarian conditions in Gaza certainly not improving. Much needed aid would get in if a ceasefire were to go in place.
And then, of course, there are those 100 hostages still held in the Gaza Strip, about half of whom Israel believes are still alive.
Their fate, of course, also hanging in the balance.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.
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CHURCH: Meanwhile, a source tells CNN that Israel's prime minister has instructed the country's military to remain in the area of Syria's Mount Hermon until the end of next year. Israel captured the strategically important mountain after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime earlier this month, initially characterizing it as a temporary security measure.
However, Syria's new leader and other Arab countries are accusing Israel of a land grab. Mount Hermon overlooks Lebanon, Syria and Israel and is just over 35 kilometers, that is about 22 miles from Damascus, putting the Syrian capital within artillery range.
Well, as a new era dawns in Syria after the fall of the Assad regime, the United Nations Refugee Agency says one million Syrians are expected to return to their home country in the first six months of 2025.
The UNHCR warns that more than 90 percent of the population will require humanitarian aid to survive. It has also unveiled a recovery plan for the war-torn country, seeking more than $310 million to address the critical needs of returning Syrian refugees.
And earlier, I spoke with Rula Amin, senior communications advisor and spokesperson with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Regional Bureau for the Middle East and North Africa. And here's what she said about Syrians wanting to return home.
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RULA AMIN, SR. COMMUNICATIONS ADVISER, UNHCR: People cannot just pack their stuff and take their children and go back to uncertainty. They want to be assured and they want to have the confidence that when they go back, they will be safe, their rights will be respected and that they will have a chance to work, to make a living, to send their kids to school.
These assurances will only come through a peaceful transition and through the international community's commitment to help Syrians rebuild Syria.
CHURCH: And if this happens, this return of the one million Syrians in these first few months of the new year, they will, of course, require an immense amount of resources to settle them. How can they all be housed, fed and looked after when there's already needs, great needs when it comes to humanitarian aid? AMIN: Yes, there are great needs, you know, a lot of the basic
infrastructure in Syria, like electricity, water systems, schools, health services, hospitals have been destroyed and most important, their own homes have been destroyed.
So to be able to pick up, they will need a lot of support from us as humanitarian agencies, but also from the world to help them rebuild.
They need shelter. So if they go back and their house is destroyed, they want to make sure that agencies like UNHCR will be able to have the resources to help them rebuild it, to give them plastic sheeting, to cover the windows and doors and later on to rebuild, that the international community will invest in electricity, in water.
So these are very, very basic needs. And the main strength, the main element that Syrians have to be able to do this is themselves. They have endured so much suffering and hardship in the past 14 years.
More than 13 million Syrians have been displaced out of their homes. They had to flee some inside the country, some outside the country. And yet we saw a lot of resilience, a lot of willpower to protect the children and to try to give them a future.
Now, they have so many hopes that this trend, this change in Syria will mean an end to their displacement, an end to their suffering, an end to all kind of hardship. However, mixed with these hopes, they have also many, many questions. How safe is Syria going to be? They are worried. Is there going to be internal fighting or not? Will the new regime be democratic? Will it respect people's rights?
So before packing up and leaving the host communities and the host countries they lived in, they want to be able to be, let's say, confident that they won't have to move again and to flee again if they return.
And that's why what we say is also very important.
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Every refugee has the right to go back to its country whenever this refugee chooses to be so. And when they do that, we are there to help them.
However, we appeal to all these countries that hosted Syrian refugees in the past 14 years to be patient. Please be patient with them. Give them the space. Give them the time to be able to make an informed decision and a voluntary decision to go back. Please don't force them to go back. That's against international law.
Many people think that because the regime of President Bashar al-Assad had fallen, it means all kinds of security concerns that Syrians have had disappeared.
Now, many of these security concerns have disappeared, but other risks are emerging and these risks could be addressed and could be eliminated. But people want to be assured before they make that step. ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Rula Amin, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Still to come, the U.S. Supreme Court holds the fate of TikTok in its hands. Why the app could avoid a ban in the U.S., depending on the outcome of an emergency hearing next month.
Plus, Donald Trump's talk of tariffs is threatening to keep inflation higher than hoped. How the U.S. Federal Reserve is responding. That and more after a short break. Stay with us.
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CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." I'm Rosemary Church. I want to check today's top stories for you.
Israel has launched deadly airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, hitting ports and energy infrastructure in the capital Sana'a. Houthi officials say at least nine people were killed and three others injured in those strikes. The strikes come just hours after the Iran- backed militant group launched its latest attack on Israel.
We are awaiting the verdicts right now in the mass rape trial in France. Gisele Pelicot arrived at the courthouse just a short time ago. Prosecutors say her ex-husband arranged for more than 50 men to sexually assault her over nearly a decade. They have asked for the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for him.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is now forecasting only two interest rate cuts next year instead of four. Fed Chair Jerome Powell says Donald Trump's threatened tariffs are likely to mean higher prices for consumers, keeping inflation above the two percent target until 2027.
Ryan Patel is a senior fellow at Claremont Graduate University's Drucker School of Management. He joins me now from Los Angeles. Good to have you with us.
RYAN PATEL, SR. FELLOW, DRUCKER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT-CLAREMONT GRADUATE UNIVERSITY: Good to have you, Rosemary.
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CHURCH: So let's start with the threat of a government shutdown fueled by Elon Musk trying all of Wednesday to undermine Speaker Mike Johnson's bipartisan spending bill and President-elect Donald Trump eventually weighing in and killing it off just before the deadline. Then insisting he wants to add the toxic issue of raising the national debt limit.
Where's all this going and what are the risks and implications of a shutdown around the holidays?
PATEL: Yeah I mean I'll address the first thing. I think the first thing is that the stopgap bill has been an issue in the past and I think that's what's being raised. Although they're not in office yet so that makes it really sticky. I think the second piece is the government shutdown. Like the reason why there is a stopgap because you can't afford to do that.
Especially when you talk about lost jobs and how it can deter, you know, the way the economy works and has a big impact. So I think both parties know this but, Rosemary, these are the things that we may see going to next year that things get called out that's not efficient.
How to get things done and it makes it is really sticky around the holiday time and then you kind of see the Democrats coming out and putting the onus back on the Republican Party.
Then we're back to the blame game versus should we just try to help the economy and do the right thing and get to the right topics. Obviously this by the way we're doing this we're talking about it is creating a lot more awareness but what I want is more solutions.
CHURCH: And of course the timing is even more unfortunate because all major U.S. indices dropped on news the Federal Reserve was cutting interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point Wednesday and only planning to make two interest rate cuts in 2025 despite previously suggesting they might make four, and also bumping up its inflation forecast.
So the Dow tumbled more than 1,100 points, the longest losing streak since 1974. What is all this signal to you for the future of the U.S. economy?
PATEL: Well I think this is a day where typically you and I'd be talking about well this was a complete reaction to the Fed. Part of it is you kind of knew it was coming. It was kind of pre-planned not the four but the two cuts for next year. It just shows you that the uncertainty is real and what I mean by uncertainty is that businesses better get ready to adapt to some of these globally economic questions that are occur.
Does it mean the economy is a lot more weaker than it was last year? No. But is the growth as fast as it's going to be? That is what is causing a lot of these things especially when you think about the global economic footprint, when you think about the inflation you think about potential tariffs, think about certain industries especially manufacturing supply chain being disrupted, you they're going to have an impact.
I think that's what today and the streak is kind of looking it's trying to look at the crystal ball and say where is the good news coming from and it's not there just yet and really needing to show wage growth and back to pre-pandemic numbers every time we have this conversation, Rosemary, it just shows we're not there at that high clip of growth where many of these investors are looking for.
CHURCH: So generally how worried should Americans be about rising inflation due to tariffs or anything else?
PATEL: I think the rising inflation is real with or without tariffs to be very honest tariffs but the actual tariffs makes it even worse, you know, question becomes how it is I think Jerome Powell put it when he put only two rate cuts next year should put you on notice that everything is not back just yet or to that degree.
And so anything on top of that would then become you know if you have tariffs does that mean no rate cut then right does that mean you know where is it going to be the growth and so to me there was already some uncertainty within the market and investment world when it comes to the Fed alone, you add the policy on top of that.
It does provide some filter to that and then maybe Jerome Powell was trying to get ahead of it but I don't really necessarily think that he was planning to put the two rate cuts because of Trump's policy.
CHURCH: All right so what happens going forward. Ryan Patel it was a pleasure to chat with you. Many thanks.
PATEL: Thank you, Rosemary.
CHURCH: The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments over the potential ban of social media app TikTok set to happen in less than a month. Lawmakers previously demanded the apps' Chinese owners sell their interest in the business to non-Chinese owner due to national security concerns.
CNN's Joan Biskupic has more details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: In a first amendment battle that could affect about 170 million Americans who use the TikTok platform the nine justices have agreed to hear the company's challenge to a federal law that would ban it from the United States.
The court will hear the case on January 10th and the justices will really be racing against the clock. Under the disputed federal law TikTok could be banned in America on January 19th. The controversy traces to last April when Congress passed and Joe Biden signed a ban on the popular social media platform.
[03:40:03]
The law was responding to years of concern in Washington that TikTok's Chinese parent company posed a national security risk. The government argues that China could covertly manipulate the app to affect content and access users' data.
TikTok Incorporated is an American company but the ultimate parent is ByteDance which has Chinese ownership. The TikTok platform would be banned in the U.S. unless it is divested of that Chinese ownership. If that doesn't happen TikTok would lose the opportunity to be available through platforms and apps here.
TikTok has argued that the law unfairly singles it out and violates speech rights. The company lost in an important federal court below an appellate court which said the federal government had made a good case on national security grounds.
We'll see whether the federal government can do the same before the justices. It will be the last major argument by the Biden administration at the high court. Again the law is set to take effect in about a month on January 19th which is a day before Donald Trump's inauguration and his return to the White House.
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CHURCH: The U.S. is working to contain the spread of the H5N1 bird flu virus. The California governor has declared a state of emergency after it spread to four dairies in Southern California despite efforts to contain it. More than half of the 61 confirmed cases of bird flu in humans have happened in California.
Federal officials have confirmed the country's first severe case in Louisiana. The victim is hospitalized after being exposed to sick and dead birds in a backyard flock.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people in close contact with backyard flocks or dairy farms need to take precautions but the risk to the public remains low.
Officials in the French territory of Mayotte say the true death toll is still unknown days after a powerful cyclone decimated the region. At least 31 people have died and nearly 1,400 were injured.
The greatest damage has been to the island slums home to many undocumented migrants and a major source of concern as rescue crews continue to search for survivors. Some progress is being made. The ferry linking the two main islands resumed service on Wednesday and officials announced vital services would be available soon.
Well the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO is expected in a Pennsylvania court in just a few hours. Coming up details on what to expect and when he might be returned to New York.
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CHURCH: Welcome back everyone.
Well in just a few hours the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO is set to appear in a Pennsylvania court.
[03:45:06]
Luigi Mangione faces two hearings. One on local charges related to when he was caught and an extradition hearing. Mangione's lawyer says he will not fight extradition to New York where he is facing 11 charges in the murder of Brian Thompson.
The charges include first-degree murder as an act of terrorism implying Mangione meant to intimidate and scare the public with this crime. But some legal experts say that charge might be an overreach and that prosecutors will have trouble proving that argument in court. There are also concerns about backlash from the public given the support Mangione has received.
Iran's most prominent human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi says she will never stop fighting for democracy and equality. Speaking exclusively to CNN while on a three- week medical release from prison, Mohammadi says she doesn't fear retribution by the Iranian regime.
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NARGES MOHAMMADI, NOBEL LAUREATE AND JAILED IRANIAN ACTIVIST (through translator): The moment they let me in the ambulance and I saw the streets I felt liberated and I felt I could see a woman who was crossing the road without a headscarf and they recognized me and they greeted me and I started chanting woman life freedom.
And I felt that this is not a movement that is going to lose its strength and it's still going strong because our women are very strong and I was filled with joy to see our women like that. And I greeted freedom because I realized I was not surrounded by guards and I could leave prison but it was -- I had a kind of dual feeling about leaving prison.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I understand what you're saying but I'm also I mean I'm just so amazed that you would be leaving prison for only a period of time you're jailed for defying the state and yet you still come out and you shout the slogan woman life freedom. You're on an international television interview right now. They'll be shown all over the world and in the United States and you're still standing up for what you believe in. Are you not afraid of the consequences?
MOHAMMADI (through translator): I have been tried for nine times but you know I and I they continue to convict me of various crimes but I think the path that I have chosen will never stop, not even the prison walls and all these convictions can ever stop me.
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CHURCH: President-elect Donald Trump's pick for border czar says the incoming administration is ready to implement mass deportations but he told CNN that they will need major funding from Congress and a minimum of 100,000 beds for detention centers.
Priscilla Alvarez explains.
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PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President-elect Donald Trump and his team have floated some draconian measures when it comes to detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants at a large scale. But the basic elements of the plan and what some of his Trump aides have said publicly are similar to what the U.S. has seen before, including most recently during the Obama administration.
And the person at the helm Tom Holman a veteran of in immigration enforcement was also at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency during the Obama administration at a time where the then former president was considered to be quote the "deporter-in-chief."
Now where there are similarities it is for example prioritizing public safety and national security threats. Now Obama did that and President Joe Biden did that. The difference however was that during the Obama years ICE agents if they were going in to arrest someone that they were targeting could also potentially pick up those who also had an undocumented status in the household.
How some Homeland Security officials called this term quote "collaterals" and that is something that Tom Holman has said he would do again essentially going to pick up those that they are trying to target but not leaving people behind who may also be undocumented.
Then too there is family detention on that front. President Joe Biden ended family detention while Obama had expanded it and it is something that is expected to make a return as well.
Now the numbers bear out how Obama became what some immigrant advocates and Democrats called the deporter-in-chief that included for example 2.9 million deportations in his first term and 1.9 million deportations in his second term.
[03:50:03]
Compare that to Trump's first term and he was around more than 1.5 million people but in any given year Obama reached around 400,000 people that they were able to deport many of which were recent border crossers. So while he did reach big numbers in one year they were still limited in how many deportations they could execute on.
Now of course the other part of this is that the circumstances have changed including who is crossing the U.S.-Mexico border so while there are about 1.4 million people with pending deportation orders many of those can't be returned because there aren't diplomatic relations between the U.S. and those countries or because they are still going through some sort of process so this can all become very complicated very quickly.
And of course Donald Trump has also cited for example the Eisenhower administration and their aggressive and unprecedented sweep of undocumented immigrants.
So there is still room here for those draconian measures that Trump has floated before that could be baked into plans moving forward but the basic elements of it are ones that are quite common in the way that Immigration and Customs Enforcement carries out its operation and those elements of it are similar to what was seen before most recently under the Obama administration.
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CHURCH: Still to come, why Donald Trump and Jeff Bezos have been trashing and criticizing each other for years but lately they're becoming best friends. Details on their complicated history, just ahead.
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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: I did have a dinner with Tim Cook. I had dinner with sort of almost all of them and the rest are coming and this is one of the big differences I think between we were talking about it before. One of the big differences between the first term -- the first term everybody was fighting me. In this term everybody wants to be my friend. I don't know my personality changed or something.
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CHURCH: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump there bragging about his popularity among tech billionaires who now have Trump's ear and major influence on his decisions.
Trump had dinner with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk at Mar- a-Lago Wednesday night according to a source familiar with the matter. We should note Amazon made a million dollar donation to the Trump inaugural fund but Bezos who also owns the "Washington Post" has a complicated history with the president-elect.
Here's CNN's Randi Kaye.
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JEFF BEZOS, AMAZON AND BLUE ORIGIN FOUNDER: If we're talking about Trump I think it's very interesting. I'm actually very optimistic this time around.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos earlier this month offering his take on president-elect Donald Trump's second term.
BEZOS: What I've seen so far is that he is calmer than he was the first time.
KAYE (voice-over): That's a lot coming from a guy who has been on the receiving end of much of Trump's ire. Some of it dates back to the 2016 campaign when Trump suggested Bezos was using his ownership of the "Washington Post" as a weapon against Congress to keep politicians from looking into Amazon no tax monopoly.
TRUMP: I have respect for Jeff Bezos but he bought the "Washington Post" to have political influence and I got to tell you we have a different country than we used to have.
[03:55:08]
Believe me if I become president oh do they have problems.
KAYE (voice-over): In 2016 Trump suggested Bezos was using the newspaper to evade taxes.
TRUMP: The "Washington Post" which is just a ploy for Amazon so that Amazon doesn't pay taxes. KAYE (voice-over): Bezos responded to Trump's attacks regarding taxes
writing on Twitter, "Finally trashed by realdonaldtrump. Will still reserve him a seat on the Blue Origin rocket." Included in the tweet the hashtag send Donald to space.
BEZOS: And you know I have a rocket company so I you know the capability is there.
KAYE (voice-over): He also chastised Trump for threatening those who dare to scrutinize him.
BEZOS: We are allowed to criticize and scrutinize our elected leaders.
KAYE (voice-over): After Trump was elected in 2016 Bezos and Trump took a brief pause from blasting one another. The two men met in December 2016 at Trump Tower.
By the time Trump ran for president again in 2020 he'd rebooted the jabs aimed at Bezos. When news of Bezos' impending divorce was published in the "National Enquirer" in 2019 Trump saw an opportunity and crowned Bezos with a new nickname referring to him in a tweet as Jeff Bozo.
More recently their icy relationship seemed to thaw. After the first assassination attempt on Trump's life in July in Pennsylvania Bezos wrote on X, "Our former president showed tremendous grace and courage under literal fire tonight. So thankful for his safety and so sad for the victims and their families."
And just last month Bezos congratulated Trump on an extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory in the 2024 election.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Palm Beach County, Florida.
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CHURCH: We are following breaking news in France looking at these live pictures where a court has reached a decision in the Pelicot mass rape trial. We've been watching this of course Giselle Pelicot was raped by 50 men. At this stage we understand her husband Dominique has been found guilty on all charges.
We will continue to follow this case and bring you the details after the break. I'm Rosemary Church. "CNN Newsroom" with Max Foster continues in London next.
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