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CNN International: Trump Addresses Criticism Over Musk's Role On His Team; Trump Suggests He Could Meet With Putin Early In His Presidency; CNN Obtains Final Draft Of House Ethics Report On Matt Gaetz. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired December 23, 2024 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JIM SCIUTTO, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Welcome to CNN Newsroom. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington.
Ahead on today's show, shocking details from the final draft of the House Ethics report on former Representative Matt Gaetz, damning allegations of paying women for sex and drugs. We're going to bring you the alarming findings. Plus, Luigi Mangione in court today for his arraignment, his plea and live details from outside the New York court. And people are getting ready for Christmas with some family favorite films, but our Anna Stewart took it a step further and went into the Hogwarts world herself.
After a dramatic week on Capitol Hill, Donald Trump is now pushing back on criticism of Elon Musk and his role, suggests he could meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin soon after he takes office as well. The U.S. President-elect traveled to Arizona on Sunday to speak to conservative activists and preview his second term in office. His remarks covered a wide range of issues, from threatening to retake U.S. control of the Panama Canal to future talks on negotiating an end to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
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DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND CURRENT PRESIDENTIAL- ELECT: These crazy wars that we're in, one of the things I want to do and quickly, and President Putin said that he wants to meet with me as soon as possible. So, we have to wait for this, but we have to end that war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: He didn't mention that Russia began it by invading Ukraine. Trump also pushed back on attacks from lawmakers against tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who led an effort to block a bipartisan government funding bill last week.
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TRUMP: There have been hoaxes. The new one is President Trump has ceded this, the presidency to Elon Musk. No. No. That's not happening. He is not going to be President. That I can tell you. And I'm safe. You know why? He can't be. He wasn't born in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Interesting that he felt the need to respond.
For more on Trump's speech, let's bring in CNN's Stephen Collinson, who is joining us live from D.C. First on the comments about Elon Musk, because it's notable. There was some deliberate prodding by Democrats of Trump on Musk's role, even repeatedly calling Musk, President Musk, and it seems clear that Trump was listening and heard. Did you sense a note of sensitivity in those comments from the President-elect?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: I think so. Often when the President-elect is joking, it feels like there is some ulterior motive. It didn't seem like to me, at least, that -- having watched him for many years that he particularly enjoys these assertions by Democrats, which are clearly an attempt to get under his skin, that really what we have is President Musk, and not President Trump, starting in next January. Obviously, Trump will control the awesome powers of the presidency.
But, I think beyond the politics, this gets to a very serious point about the huge influence that Musk, the world's richest man, who has billions of dollars of contracts from the U.S. government, will play when he has Trump's ear during the next presidency. He has, after all, been with Trump pretty much all the time since he won the election. He'll be heading this Department of Government Efficiency, which will be able to get rid of myriad regulations and rules which affect U.S. corporations, including his own. So, he is going to have huge influence, and this poses massive conflicts of interest. So --
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
COLLINSON: -- you do wonder, the personal stuff aside, and whether Trump has kind of created a political monster here that he won't be out of control, how this is going to play out in the new administration.
SCIUTTO: He has enormous business before --
COLLINSON: Yeah
SCIUTTO: -- the U.S. government, enormous defense contracts, SpaceX, certainly interest in Tesla and Trump's policy regarding electric vehicles.
Let's talk about Trump now and the way he consistently describes the war in Ukraine. It's not the first time he said he wants the war to end or that he is going to end it. But, he once again describes it as something that happened, right, this war that has happened there. He does not say what is a explicit fact that Russia invaded, that's the cause of this war. And does that give us an indication as to how he is going to attempt to end this, or perhaps would pressure he might put on Ukraine?
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COLLINSON: Yeah, and that mission has very important implications for the eventual deal, if there is going to be one, I hesitate to say a peace deal in Ukraine, because it will probably just be freezing a war that would be in danger of erupting at any future point, because if Putin doesn't pay a price for the invasion, if he is allowed to keep much of the territory in the Donbas area, etc., that he seized during this incursion into Ukraine, logically, it might convince him that he could do this again in the future, not just in Ukraine, but elsewhere in Europe. That doesn't seem to be greatly a concern of Trump's.
So, this whole question of the origin of the war is very important. It's interesting. Last week, the President-elect was saying that the war was going to be a tough one to solve, and I think he is correct, notwithstanding his previous pledges to end it within 24 hours, if he becomes the President. There is going to be some hugely consequential diplomacy in the early months of the new administration. That's not just going to be about ending the war in Ukraine, but the entire relationship between the United States and Europe is going to be bound up in this U.S. relations to NATO. Trump is going to demand, I assume, massive spending hikes on defense in order to get the Europeans -- or in order to stay involved in the Ukraine situation from the U.S. point of view.
So, it's going to be very interesting to see what unfolds strategically beginning in January.
SCIUTTO: And he explicitly raised the possibility of reducing U.S. military --
COLLINSON: Yeah.
SCIUTTO: -- assistance to Ukraine in interviews.
Stephen Collinson, thanks so much for joining us.
COLLINSON: Thanks.
SCIUTTO: Well, back here in the U.S., a damning report expected to be released today regarding Matt Gaetz, Donald Trump's first choice, you may remember, to be attorney general. CNN has now obtained a final draft of the House Ethics Committee report that finds the former Republican lawmaker paid tens of thousands of dollars to women for sex and drugs on multiple occasions. This includes paying a 17-year-old girl for sex, in violation of Florida's law on statutory rape. Gaetz had already resigned from Congress, withdrew his name as well from consideration for attorney general. He does deny any wrongdoing and he is still floating ideas for his next career move.
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MATT GAETZ, FORMER U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: Some of you, throughout this conference, have even given me a few suggestions. My fellow Floridians have asked me to eye the governor's mansion in Tallahassee, maybe special counsel to go after the insider trading for my former colleagues in Congress. It seems I may not have had enough support in the United States Senate. Maybe I'll just run for Marco Rubio's vacant seat in the United States Senate. I enjoyed some of those folks.
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SCIUTTO: Let's get more from CNN's Katelyn Polantz in Washington. And when you read the extent of what this Ethics Committee found that Gaetz violated House rules, state and federal laws on prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, acceptance of impermissible gifts, provision of special favors, I mean, it is a broad and damning report.
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: It is. And Jim, I should note, the report is now out there. The House Ethics Committee has posted it on its website. There is also several hundred pages of essentially the evidence that they're gathering that is also online, publicly available now, showing text messages, showing supposed payments, the things that back up this report.
What the Committee found here, notably, is three different buckets of activity that they are basing their findings around that Matt Gaetz, when he was a congressman, engaged in commercial sex, so, reimbursing or paying women for sex, statutory rape, which they believe may be a violation under Florida state law, so, engaging in sex with a woman who at the time was a minor, 17-years-old, heading into her senior year of high school, and then also engaging in the use of illicit drugs.
They spoke to more than a half dozen witnesses, including the woman who was the underage victim at the time, got her testimony, if that is outlined in this report, and some of the women were telling the House Committee that they understood they were generally expected to have sex with Matt Gaetz and were being paid, one person being paid more than $5,000 in total, another person not receiving money but getting a trip to the Bahamas with the congressman at the time. There are also text messages that the House says they have where Gaetz was asking women to bring drugs to him so that they could use them during meetups.
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All of this coming together with that specific allegation about him having sex with the underage girl twice at a party in July of 2017 when others were around, and then she receiving about $400 in cash from the congressman, really searing allegations that Matt Gaetz has denied both to the Committee and publicly claiming that they are false, each thing that the Committee is alleging here, but the Committee is putting all of this out now publicly, not just their report and the findings, but also additional information that they have gathered evidence and others.
SCIUTTO: As you describe each of those things, now public, Katelyn, that's all illegal, right? I mean, if proven in a court of law, that's illegal activity. Why no prosecution?
POLANTZ: Well, the Justice Department did look into the --
SCIUTTO: Right.
POLANTZ: -- possibility of federal charges here. One thing the House Committee found, Jim, is that there was not a violation of federal sex trafficking charges. So, that would have required him crossing state lines with someone who was underage and there was not evidence of that. So, the Committee is quite clear on that point.
Matt Gaetz, he says he was exonerated by the Justice Department. That is not exactly what happened here. What happened was the Justice Department investigated him related to federal laws and declined to bring any charges. But, the Committee is finding here, and what they're looking at is the ethics of this, of what a sitting member of Congress can and could be doing, and they're documenting it whether there could be any situation in court from this. They are alleging that they believe there was a violation of Florida state law, but that is not for the House to decide ultimately, and Matt Gaetz has not been charged with any crime.
SCIUTTO: Yeah. Katelyn Polantz, thanks so much.
Well, another case we're following closely, the suspect in the murder of a UnitedHealthcare CEO has pleaded not guilty to state murder and terrorism charges. 26-year-old Luigi Mangione made an appearance in a New York courtroom earlier today. He faces 11 counts in New York in addition to four federal charges now. A short time ago, Mangione's lawyer spoke of her concerns to the judge.
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KAREN FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO, ATTORNEY FOR LUIGI MANGIONE: I'm very concerned about my client's right to a fair trial in this case. He is being prejudiced by some statements that are being made by government officials. Like every other defendant, he is entitled to a presumption of innocence, but unfortunately, the way this has been handled so far, his rights are being violated.
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SCIUTTO: Joining us now is CNN's Kara Scannell. Kara, we, of course, saw Mangione there next to his lawyer as she spoke. Tell us what else happened in the courtroom. Can you describe it all, his demeanor?
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Jim, this was just about a 20- minute hearing. It was his arraignment on those state murder charges. He entered into the courtroom wearing plain clothes, but he was shackled at his wrists and at his ankles. He had two plain clothes officers escorting him arm in arm down the center aisle of the courtroom. And then, when he was seated at the table, there was a wall of officers around him. So, very hard to actually get a glimpse of him. You had a better shot when you could see him on the camera. And this is the first time in about a decade that they have allowed the broadcast of any proceeding in New York State Court, something that they had done at the request of media organizations. So, in the hearing, very briefly you just heard from Mangione saying
that he was not guilty to these charges, and then they were talking about the case, as you saw his lawyer making her concerns on the record about the publicity in the case, about the perp walk with Mangione exiting the helicopter, walking down that long pier in New York City, and that was when he was going into federal custody, because he was charged last week with federal charges, including murder and stalking, in addition to the state charges that he was in court with today.
So, his lawyer already teeing up this issue of the fighting jurisdictions, and that was something that came to a head as well when the judge asked who has primary custody of Mangione. He is currently in federal detention, and the state prosecutor said he believed that they did, because federal prosecutors said that the state case could go first, the judge saying, well, then he should be in state custody, but there is a lot that they have to work out to figure out where he is exactly going to be held, as he is awaiting trial on both state charges and federal charges in the shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Jim.
SCIUTTO: Kara Scannell, now quite a moment in the courtroom there. Thanks so much.
All right. So, to discuss the law here, let's bring in former Miami- Dade County Court Judge, Jeff Swartz. Jeff, good to have you.
JEFF SWARTZ, FORMER MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COURT JUDGE, & PROFESSOR, THOMAS M. COOLEY LAW SCHOOL: Good to have -- good to be back, Jim.
SCIUTTO: So, first, hearing from his lawyer there talking about concerns, and listen, this is a high-profile case. She is not the first defense lawyer to say exactly that, or quite similar, worried about whether you -- there is so much attention, finding a jury, etcetera.
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Are those valid concerns? And if so, what do you do about them?
SWARTZ: They are very valid concerns, and there really isn't much you can do about it on a nationwide basis. I had the same problem when I looked at the perp walk, and I guess she raised what was the mayor of New York doing in the middle of that perp walk, other than the fact he wanted to be surrounded by FBI agents, some of whom may have been responsible for arresting him themselves to make it look like he was part of the police. Other than that, it was just a big show.
I think that the feds took custody of him to prevent an extradition hearing and all the discovery that would go with it. When feds arrest people outside the district, they're charged. They just do a removal hearing, and the judge only has to decide, yeah, he is wanted back in that district and send him there. And I think they wanted to get him back quickly, and I think that's the way the feds got involved.
I'll be really amazed at the end of 30 days what the indictment is going to say, if there is one, and if there is one, I think it's going to be the basis under which some sort of plea is going to get worked out in this case.
SCIUTTO: Now, there appears to be an agreement between federal and state prosecutors here and that we have heard, after these federal charges were filed last week that the state prosecution will go first, at least there is a commitment to do so, though I imagine that could change. Do you see any potential friction between those two parties going forward? Is that all going to work smoothly?
SWARTZ: Not really. I think that, yes, they're going to let the state go first. Generally, the federal authorities let state prosecutions go before they pursue theirs. I think in this particular case, the fed has jumped in to help with the removal, as I said, and I think that if they do charge, the idea will be that they will get a plea that will go concurrent with the state charge, which is life without parole, and he will go into federal custody, because I don't know that the state authorities really want to deal with him for the rest of his life.
SCIUTTO: Understood. And tell us about the evidence before -- this is going to go before a jury at some point. It's not for you or I to judge. But, but based on what you've seen here, let's say you were in the courtroom judging this kind of case, would you say that this is a airtight case against the defendant?
SWARTZ: As much as it can be, I think this is an airtight case. They're talking about thousands of hours of observation on cameras showing where he was going and what he was doing. I think the biggest piece of evidence is when he pulled down his mask at the hostel to be able to flirt with someone. I'm not sure that he didn't want to get caught. I think that there is a certain amount of this that is just -- really just piling on. I don't think this is going to be a really difficult case for the state to prove. And I -- they could try this case for months, or they can try it for a few weeks. Either way, I think this case is going to come back. The only defense he really has is going to be jury nullification. I'm a good guy. These are bad guys. This guy deserved to die. And so, therefore, that would be his defense.
SCIUTTO: There are lawyers who have brought up his tremendous fall from grace. Here is a guy who was a valedictorian of his class in high school, went on to UPenn and quite a challenging major, right, I mean, computer science. He did well, and now here he is accused of murder. Do you envision the possibility of a insanity defense?
SWARTZ: Well, the problem is that insanity requires that you not know the consequences of the act that you do, and that you don't know whether it's right or wrong. Here, when you run away and hide from police and try not to get caught, that's basically admitting you know you did something wrong. And obviously he knew the nature and consequences of his act because he wrote it down. I don't see insanity being a defense. The issue for him is going to be to try to show how he became radicalized, what happened during all of this six-month period that he disappeared off the face of the earth, even to his family, that somehow or another he is -- he got radicalized, and it's going to be interesting to find out how that all came about. We'll find out that through his social media and through his computer searches.
SCIUTTO: No question. Yeah. The radicalization, it's almost evocative of cases involving terrorists, domestic terrorists, right --
SWARTZ: Yeah.
SCIUTTO: -- radicalized online --
SWARTZ: Yes.
SCIUTTO: -- and other ways.
Jeff Swartz, thanks so much.
Still to come --
SWARTZ: Thank you. Happy holidays.
SCIUTTO: Happy holidays to Jeff as well.
Well, another story we're following overseas, several families of Israeli hostages in Gaza say they have now received, quote, "signs of life". We're going to details in a live report from Jerusalem.
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Plus, a look at the political fallout from the horrific attack on a German Christmas market. That's all coming up.
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SCIUTTO: Authorities in Gaza say more than 50 people have been killed or injured in an Israeli military operation in central Gaza. They say all of the casualties were civilians, more than half of them women and children. Officials say 20 residential units were destroyed in the Israeli assault that involved military vehicles, bulldozers, drones and aircraft. CNN has asked the IDF for comment. In Israel, several families of hostages taken captive by Hamas into Gaza say they have now received "signs of life" from their loved one. That's according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
Elliott Gotkine is live in Jerusalem with more. First, those signs of life is so key, right, because you have these ongoing talks, some renewed hope, although we've heard that before. Just knowing that some are alive is so important here. Are these talks getting anywhere?
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Look, we've heard from officials, Jim, that there is optimism that progress is being made. In fact, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself speaking to Israel's parliament, the Knesset, in the past few minutes, saying, I wish to tell you with caution, there is a certain progress in terms of these negotiations, adding, we continue operating in every way relentlessly until we bring everyone home.
But, as you note, Jim, for the past year or so, ever since the one and only ceasefire took place back, I think, in October of last year, back in November, excuse me, of last year, that there have been negotiations. There have been hopes. There have been comments and briefings about just a few more details to be sorted out, to be agreed upon, and then we're over the line, and one of the most notorious incidents being President Biden himself campaigning in Michigan, I think it was back in February, chomping on an ice cream and telling reporters he hoped that a deal would be done that very weekend. So, we've had these periods of optimism. These talks have been on and off.
There are talks going on. So, when they're talking, there is always hope that they can reach an agreement. It's obviously better than when they're not talking. These talks are going on in Doha. They're still being mediated by the Qataris and the Egyptians. But, certainly what we're hearing from officials and some saying as much as 90 percent of the deal is done, but as we've seen in the past, it does pay to be cautious, but these signs of life the families have -- some of those families have received will no doubt feed into their optimism that if and when a deal is done, that their loved ones will be coming back alive.
SCIUTTO: Yeah. We've heard for so long about that last 10 yards, right, to get it over the finish line.
I do want to ask you about another story, because there are claims, accounts of explosive robots outside a hospital in Gaza, the Kamal Adwan Hospital. What do we know and what is the response we're hearing from the military?
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GOTKINE: Jim, this is the director of the hospital, Kamal Adwan Hospital, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, which he says has been under siege for the best part of three months, and then saying, as you note, that -- accusing the IDF of placing what he describes as explosive robots at the gates of the hospital. Now, the video that we've seen shows these boxes which hospital staff say -- says that there are explosives inside and say that they are boxes containing explosives, we were trying to get comment from the IDF for quite some time. Finally, in the last few minutes, got a comment from a spokesperson from the IDF who says that the IDF did not place "explosive robots" in quotes, or any type of explosives at the entrance to the Kamal Adwan Hospital. The IDF asks the media not to spread unfounded Hamas propaganda.
But, as I say that, this is what the director of the hospital is saying. This is what the IDF is saying. We can't independently confirm one way or the other. But, certainly, we do know that as those talks and negotiations to try and secure a ceasefire and the release of some of those hostages, 100 of them, about a third of them believed to be dead, who were kidnapped more than a year ago, to get them freed from captivity, the war continues to rumble on and continues, as you noted in your introduction, in Nuseirat in central Gaza, continues to exact a heavy toll on the Palestinian population of Gaza.
SCIUTTO: No question. Elliott Gotkine, thanks so much.
Staying in the Middle East, Jordan's Foreign Minister is in Damascus for meetings with Syrian officials, including the country's new de facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, led the group of rebels that ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad earlier this month. The Jordanian official's visit comes amid a flurry of diplomatic meetings between Syria's new leaders and regional powers, as well as others, including the U.S. On Sunday, al-Sharaa met with Turkey's Foreign Minister in Damascus and said all weapons in Syria will now be controlled by the state. Earlier, former members of Assad's security services gathered in Damascus to hand over their weapons to the transitional government. Quite a moment, and things moved so quickly there,
Well, to Europe now, where Germany finds itself dealing with the political fallout from Friday's deadly attack in Magdeburg in the eastern part of the country. The far-right party, AfD, says it will hold a march this hour to remember the five people killed, more than 200 injured when a car rammed a crowded Christmas market deliberately. Hundreds of supporters of Germany's far-right movement held an anti- immigration rally over the weekend in Magdeburg. The alleged attacker is a Saudi citizen who settled in Germany in 2006. Investigators say he has a history of making troubling, offensive social media posts, something German authorities were apparently alerted to by Saudi Arabia.
CNN's Matthew Chance reports from the scene of the attack.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the German authorities have now acknowledged they did indeed receive a warning from Saudi Arabia about this individual that is now being held as the suspect in this Christmas market car ramming. That individual has been named as Taleb Al Abdulmohsen, a 50-year-old man, a doctor, psychiatrist, who was originally from Saudi Arabia. He is anti-Islam. He describes himself as an Islamophobe, and has often posted on social media very aggressive messages against Islam. He called himself the most aggressive critic of Islam in history. He has been warning repeatedly on social media that Germany is trying to Islamize Europe, posting conspiracy theories and things like that.
You can see, the marketplace behind me has still been sealed off, that there is police cordons everywhere, as forensic teams scour through the debris of that attack, picking up any evidence they can, of course, while cleaning the streets, to be frank, of the blood that has been left on the pavement as a result of so many casualties.
Meanwhile, that suspect has made his first appearance in a German court with the judge there placing him in pre-trial detention, as this intensive investigation continues.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Magdeburg in Eastern Germany.
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SCIUTTO: What a sad story. Well, coming up, an inside look at life inside a Russian jail from former U.S. prisoner Paul Whelan. Plus, President-elect Donald Trump says he will move quickly to end Russia's war in Ukraine, and he has noted that Russia's President is eager to meet him.
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SCIUTTO: Welcome back. You are watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington, D.C. Here are some international headlines we're watching today.
10 people are dead following a plane crash in southern Brazil. The plane went down Sunday morning, minutes after takeoff, killing everyone on board. Debris hit several buildings, injuring 17 people on the ground. All of the victims on board are said to be members of the same family. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash.
More details now in the gruesome death of a woman who was set on fire on a New York City subway car, as it sat at a station on Sunday. Police say a suspect is now in custody. Charges are pending. Authorities say the attacker used a lighter to ignite a blanket the victim was wearing, then sat on a bench on the platform and watched her die.
Just two days before Christmas, several Amazon workers remain on strike. Thousands in the U.S. walked off the job on Thursday. Amazon disputes that figure, says the picketers are what it called outsiders. It says customers can expect their packages to arrive on time for the holidays. Logistics experts warn, however, that some shipments could face delays.
And 37 people in the U.S. will no longer face federal death row. U.S. President Joe Biden commuting the sentences of those inmates to life without the possibility of parole. This decision leaves only three federal prisoners whose crimes include mass shootings and acts of terrorism to await execution.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is threatening retaliation after drone strikes deep in Russian territory. Multiple attacks hit buildings in the southwestern Russian city of Kazan on Saturday. You see one there. Several buildings were damaged. Russian state media said there were no casualties. Ukraine did not immediately acknowledge the strikes, but one official noted that Kazan's gun powder plant is essential, and you can see the drone there, is essential to Russian military production.
The Ukrainian military says North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia have been given fake Russian documents. The military papers reportedly include Russian names and birth places, though they are signed in Korean. Kyiv claims the Kremlin is trying to conceal the presence of foreign troops on the battlefield. It is estimated there are as many as 12,000 North Korean soldiers in Russia fighting.
Incoming U.S. President Donald Trump is doubling down on his campaign pledge to end Russia's war in Ukraine. Trump has said he will stop the fighting within days of taking office. He hasn't said exactly how. He is suggesting he could meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin early in his administration. Trump says the Russian leader is eager to meet with him as well.
Joining us now is Tymofiy Mylovanov. He is the President of Kyiv School of Economics, and former Ukrainian Minister of Economic, Trade and Development. Tymofiy, good to speak to you again.
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TYMOFIY MYLOVANOV, PRESIDENT, KYIV SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: Hello.
SCIUTTO: I want to ask you how you read President-elect Trump's comments, because he said once again, the war will end. He wants to help end the war. He laments the people dying on both sides. He does not say Russia must end its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, which is a fact. So, I wonder how you read his comments. Do you think that he will be fair to Ukraine?
MYLOVANOV: I hope so, but we don't know. He also said other things before. He said Russia is a loser when Syria -- Assad regime fell. He also recently met in Paris with President Zelenskyy, President Trump and President Zelenskyy, and he was sympathetic to Ukraine. So, it's on and off. There is a lot of anticipation, uncertainty, and worry in Kyiv and in Ukraine. We all want the war to stop. We understand there is some plan behind it, but he has not made public. But also understand that there is no expectation that will end really quickly.
SCIUTTO: Do -- he has said that he may, possibly, I think, was the word he used, reduce U.S. aid to Ukraine, as he makes this effort. Does that concern you? Because, listen, the war, Ukraine is already having trouble pushing back against Russian advances where, with less U.S. aid, you would imagine they might lose more ground.
MYLOVANOV: Yeah. I think if that happens, that will simply encourage Russia to continue to fight as the frontline can collapse potentially without the U.S. aid, and I think that's not going to be in the interest of the new administration. I think they will soon come about on this issue. But, of course, there is a concern that Ukraine might simply be abandoned completely, and it will be an Afghanistan story where the entire country will collapse, and it will look really, really bad for the new administration. There is a concern like that, but no one believes it will happen.
SCIUTTO: The way you described it there is exactly how when, I speak to even Republican lawmakers on the Hill here, it's the case they hope to make to Donald Trump that he does not want to be seen as the U.S. President that lost Ukraine, that he does not want Ukraine to become, in effect, his Afghanistan. And I wonder if you think that would be an effective argument with Trump.
MYLOVANOV: I have heard that argument too. I actually believe it. I think Ukraine will fight and try to defend against Russia without the U.S. support, and it will be bloody. There will be millions of refugees. It will be in the news all over the world. But, I do think that there is a -- whatever happens with Ukraine, the Trump administration and President-elect Trump will actually own the results of it, because it will be four years in the term, and a lot of things will happen since that. So, it's in everyone's interest, and specifically in President-elect's interest, to create a durable peace.
SCIUTTO: It seems that there is more and more public acknowledgement that Ukraine will not be admitted to NATO in the near term. So, I wonder, can you describe a Plan B security arrangement that would give Ukraine confidence it has Europe's backing, America's backing, and a credible defense against another Russian invasion?
MYLOVANOV: Credible defense means, a, some troops on the ground, peacekeeping, European whatever, but some troops have to be there, and it also means serious logistical and production structure that gives Ukraine the ability to have defense weapons that can strategically deter Russia, or if need be, repel a new invasion.
SCIUTTO: That's -- It's interesting. It's -- some lawmakers and others have described to me an arrangement somewhat similar to what the U.S. has with Israel, right? Again, not a mutual defense agreement, but an understanding that the backing will always be there. I wonder what your view is of what kind of territorial concessions Ukraine would need to make, because even Zelenskyy seems to be publicly leaving the door open to that, whereas in the past, he would have said, no, we're not going to give up any territory. Does that mean Crimea and part of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine?
MYLOVANOV: My view, that's going to be determined by the reality on the ground. In fact, I don't mean it in the way President Putin means, but I mean in the way that it is impossible, frankly, it is impossible to take these territories back.
[11:40:00]
But, it's also impossible to cede any territories. So, neither Russia, nor Ukraine, nor the leadership of these countries are in a position to give up any new territories or try to take new territories, but they might be willing. There might be a way to temporarily diplomatically accept de facto situation.
SCIUTTO: Perhaps an armistice. Tymofiy Mylovanov, thanks so much for joining. We wish you the best of luck.
Letters and phone calls from once captive American Paul Whelan reveal life inside a Russian prison where he was for years. The former U.S. Marine was released as part of a prisoner exchange with Russia in August. That deal arranged by the Biden White House. Whelan had been in prison since 2018 on espionage charges, which he denied. In correspondence during his captivity, Whelan described conditions in a remote prison, and his phone calls centered on possible efforts to get him out.
Oren Liebermann is at the Pentagon. Tell us more what we learned about these communications.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Jim, this is a fascinating look inside the life of Paul Whelan while he spent more than five and a half years inside a Russian prison, much of that in a remote prison camp in Mordovia, Russia. As you pointed out, he was arrested in December 2018. He wasn't released until years later on August 2024, along with Evan Gershkovich, The Wall Street Journal reporter, both of whom the U.S. had determined were wrongfully detained.
And I should note this look at Whelan's life in prison comes from our fantastic reporting from our colleague Jenny Hansler over at the State Department, who received about a dozen phone calls during Whelan's time in prison, as well as four handwritten letters. And that's where we get this look at Whelan's time inside of a Russian prison.
He told her essentially what it was like there and what he would do to pass the time. Every morning, he would wake up and sing four national anthems. He held U.S., British, Irish and Canadian citizenship, and he would start his day by singing those national anthems. He would then try to write letters to not only certain journalists, including Jenny Hansler, but others as well as a way, not only of focusing in his mind and giving him something to think about, but also, of course, as a way of keeping his story out there and making sure it remained a cause, not only for the administration, but also for Americans in general, so they simply wouldn't forget about him as he spent time in prison.
Of course, there were very, very difficult moments. He said he was excited to see that Trevor Reed and Brittney Griner were being released, even though it was difficult for him to not be a part of those deals. And over his time there, of course, he had some low and some very difficult moments, wondering if his case wasn't making any progress, if there was any progress at all. He did have the chance last summer, in August of 2023, to speak directly to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and he warned that he believed he was running out of time, that he wouldn't survive to see his elderly parents. His beloved dog had passed away while he was inside a prison. So, all of this is what he had time to think about, certainly lots of
time, spending five and a half years inside of a Russian prison.
Conditions, he said, deteriorated. The prison hospital was known as, quote, "the bone yard", because of the complete lack of medical care that was provided inside of that so-called hospital facility. Food was about as bad as it gets, and that's how he had to keep himself going for all of these years, until essentially the last bit of a period when there were six months of very quiet diplomacy between the U.S., Russia and about a half a dozen other countries to make that prisoner swap happen that allowed Paul Whelan to be a free man to come home for the first time in five and a half years since his arrest. An absolutely incredible story, worth reading all of it online, a look at Whelan's time inside a Russian prison, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Oren, was there any surprise that he was allowed to share such details about conditions?
LIEBERMANN: So, our colleague asked about that. How is it you're able to make these phone calls? He says he even had a burner phone, and some of those calls came from that burner phone. Our colleague, Jenny Hansler, would see on her phone a call from a Russian number, and she immediately knew after the first one that is who it was and what he was there to talk about. The calls ranged from six minutes to 30 minutes. The letters, four of those, ranged from one page to six pages. So, of varying lengths and in different degrees. He was able to share what it was like. He said on some of those calls for his burner phone, he was -- he was inside of a very small room, and other prisoners would give him cover to make sure that nobody was coming.
When it was an official phone call, he says he believed he was being listened to, but the Russians essentially were at least somewhat OK with some of those official phone calls, and that, from his perspective, helped keep his story out there and that joyous moment of him coming home.
SCIUTTO: Yeah. Maybe it served Russia's interest to know they were holding an American, right? Let the world know. Oren Liebermann, thanks so much.
Coming up next, if you are hoping for a white Christmas and you're traveling in the U.S., be careful what you wish for.
[11:45:00]
We've got the holiday weather report for you just ahead.
Plus, the holiday magic of Harry Potter is very much alive and well in England. We're going to give you a special tour.
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SCIUTTO: This is expected to be yet one more record-setting holiday travel season in the U.S., but a series of storms could mean delays, as people rush to join loved ones for Christmas and Hanukkah. On Tuesday, some U.S. cities in the Northeast could be hit with snow and freezing rain, while in the western U.S., a new storm there could bring heavy coastal rain starting tomorrow.
I want to bring in CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam. And Derek, listen, I don't want to wish bad travel on anybody. I kind of like to see snow around Christmas. It has been freezing here in D.C., but no snow. So, where are we going to see it for Christmas?
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You're our travel trouble spot for tomorrow, and I believe that you might get some freezing rain, which isn't really ideal for travel conditions heading to friends and family to go celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah.
But, listen, let's talk about the best day to travel, which is likely today if you're along the East Coast. So, this is, of course, the airline impacts in terms of weather, but you can see green means no expected weather delays because of the anticipated weather moving through along the Eastern Seaboard. But, this little clipper system doesn't look like much now, but I do believe that this is going to pick up some moisture and create a bit of trouble as we head into the day tomorrow, Christmas Eve, and we are paying close attention to it, because, look, we've got 120 million Americans expected to either hit the roads, the airlines, the trains, whatever form of transportation they can get to their loved ones to celebrate this holiday season. So, this is the clipper system. It's moving through the Great Lakes,
bringing some snow fall now, and then we've got a mixture of precipitation for D.C. tomorrow morning. More details on that in just one second. And then we've just got a series of storms that are lining up behind it. So, as we go further ahead from Christmas, we expect a very active weather pattern across the entire country.
But, here is a look where we're expecting some of the rain fall to impact the airlines, Memphis to Dallas. That's for tomorrow, Christmas Eve. And then I'm going to focus in on what's happening here in around the District of Columbia. So, this area is actually under a winter weather advisory that begins tomorrow morning, and sure enough, just in time for 08:00 a.m. If you're getting that early head out the door to loved ones, look at that. You could see that shading of pink. That indicates either a mixture of rain and snow, or perhaps some light freezing rain in and around our nation's capital. So, that I-95 corridor could become very slick, especially on some of the elevated bridges and overpasses right within Philadelphia to Baltimore, all the way to Washington.
Now, we could see some festive flakes in New York City. And I do believe that we have the possibility, at least, to see a white Christmas in the Big Apple stretching into New York, or rather, Baltimore and Boston, because of this past week snow storm that we received. So -- but, more importantly, this icing along the I-95 corridor, again, Philadelphia to D.C., could be the concern. So, head and plan accordingly.
Look at the rain fall, though, across the Tennessee and into the mid- Mississippi River Valley.
[11:50:00]
That will bring wet weather for much of the region there.
Series of storm systems over the West Coast. That continues to bring us our high elevation snow and low elevation rainfall.
And hey, I'll leave you with this, Jim. We've got to have one inch of snow on the ground for this to be considered a white Christmas. Here is where we have that snow fall, the very typical areas, the Great Lakes, but look at that, New York, maybe, just maybe. We'll get that one inch of snow on the ground.
SCIUTTO: I, for one, would like to see it, but listen, I know it could mean a nightmare on the highways.
Derek Van Dam, thanks so much.
DAM: Travel safe.
SCIUTTO: Well, a house in Germany may win the best Christmas lights display. In today's one more thing, we're going to show you this holiday masterpiece. Find out the wonderful cause it helps support. Stay with us.
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SCIUTTO: Reliving the magic of Harry Potter is a holiday favorite for many fans, but did you know, you can now experience some of the Christmas spirit in person.
Anna Stewart, CNN's self-proclaimed biggest Harry Potter fan, gives us a tour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(VIDEO PLAYING)
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's that time of year when we all re-watch family favorite movies, but this time, I'm taking it a step further.
STEWART: Could there be a more magical place to spend the Christmas holidays than Hogwarts?
STEWART (voice-over): This is the great hall, all decked out for a festive feast.
STEWART: Laura, nice to meet you.
LAURA SINCLAIR-LAZELL, HEAD OF SHOW EXPERIENCE, WARNER BROS. STUDIO TOUR LONDON - THE MAKING OF HARRY POTTER: Hello. Nice to meet you.
STEWART: You're going to give me the grand tour.
SINCLAIR-LAZELL: I am indeed. Welcome to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London - The Making of Harry Potter. I'm Laura Sinclair-Lazell, and I'm head of Show Experience.
STEWART: You are the person who is going to tell me everything about this place, and I should tell you, I'm probably CNN's biggest Harry Potter fan or nerd, depending on how we view these days.
SINCLAIR-LAZELL: Amazing. Well, you've come to the right place.
STEWART (voice-over): It feels like we have walked into a Harry Potter movie, minus one enchanted ceiling and two tables, which allows more room for visitors.
In the movies, Professor Flitwick made light work of baubles. It's a lot more work for the Muggles working here.
STEWART: Those aren't real peas?
SINCLAIR-LAZELL: No, sadly, not. No.
STEWART: None of the food is real.
SINCLAIR-LAZELL: Not real, not this time. No.
STEWART (voice-over): With stomachs rumbling, time to move on. Now, you may remember this scene, Hagrid lugging a Christmas tree across the Hogwarts courtyard.
SINCLAIR-LAZELL: So, this is very reminiscent of that moment. And this would have been the original costume as worn by Martin Bayfield. So --
STEWART: So, this is what was worn by the body double.
SINCLAIR-LAZELL: Absolutely, yeah. Any of the long shots that you see were usually worn by him.
STEWART (voice-over): Time for a little retail therapy, and it's been snowing,
SINCLAIR-LAZELL: We use shredded paper --
STEWART: This is shredded paper?
SINCLAIR-LAZELL: -- or shredded plastic, yes, and then on top we sprinkle some glitter to give it that kind of real life snow effect.
STEWART (voice-over): From Ola banders to flourish and plots. Diagon Alley has everything the witch or wizard needs.
STEWART: OK. If you could go into any of these shops for real, which one would you go into?
SINCLAIR-LAZELL: I'm torn. Probably, I'd want to hang out with the twins.
[11:55:00]
STEWART: You don't want to --
SINCLAIR-LAZELL: So, I'd want to go to the Wizard Wheezies. Yeah.
STEWART: OK.
SINCLAIR-LAZELL: Don't pick up a few jokes.
STEWART: Maybe the Quidditch shop for me --
SINCLAIR-LAZELL: Yeah. Right.
STEWART: -- once I've got my wand.
STEWART (voice-over): And clearly, it would be a Firebolt.
STEWART: It's the Firebolt, the fastest broomstick in the world.
STEWART (voice-over): Although, sadly, no holiday sales here. And to end the tour, a breathtaking view of Hogwarts in the snow.
Anna Stewart, CNN, Watford.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Well, that looked like a lot of fun. Before we go, a Christmas tradition continues in Germany. Every year,
Josef Glogger strings about 45,000 lights around his home to create an illuminated nativity scene, which has drawn crowds for more than two decades. It now has 30 figures, and new ones are added each year, which Glogger built himself in his garage. The light show was encouraged by his wife, who died of leukemia last year, and the proceeds go to leukemia and stem cell research. It's quite a show.
That does it for CNN Newsroom today. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington, D.C. Please do stick with CNN. One World is up next.
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