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CNN International: Luigi Mangione Pleads Not Guilty to State Terror and Murder Charges; 15 Year Prison Sentence for U.S. Citizen, Gene Spector, in Russia; Russian Cargo Ship, Ursa Major, Sinks in Mediterranean Sea; FAA Lifts Ground Stop for All American Airlines Flights; Super-fast Solar Probe Makes Close Approach to the Sun; Parker Solar Probe is the Fastest Man-made Object Ever; House Panel Releases Texts and More as Evidence Gaetz Paid for Sex; Former U.S. President Bill Clinton Hospitalized With Fever; Guatemalan Man Charged, Accused of Setting Woman on Fire; Netflix Hopes to Score Big With Its Christmas NFL Games; Santa Clause Departs on Sleigh From Arctic Circle. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired December 24, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

JEREMY SALAND, FORMER MANHATTAN PROSECUTOR: Joel Seidemann, the Prosecutor, and Judge Carro right now in the state court, in that courtroom, the same way she'll do that in the federal court, regardless of the theory of being stalking or this being some sort of terror act, which, again, I think is inappropriate and won't stand at the end of the day. But, she's doing what she can with the tools that she has to make him look like a real person, that -- someone that should be concerned and cared for, and make sure he gets that fair shake in the courtroom.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Jeremy Saland, thank you so much for your analysis that -- this is a case that's been watched by so many people and there's so much interest. There were even women in the court yesterday, just there to see Mangione. We will see how all of this plays out, both cases as they go along parallel lines. Appreciate you. A new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Christina Macfarlane. This is "CNN Newsroom". Just ahead, Russia sentences a U.S. citizen for 15 years jail on charges relating to espionage. We'll take a look at the fallout from the House Ethics investigation into Matt Gaetz, including text messages showing he paid for sex on multiple occasions. And a developing story out of the U.S. on Christmas Eve, American Airlines has grounded all flights due to a technical issue.

And we start with news of another long prison sentence handed to U.S. citizen in Russia. Russia's state media reports Gene Spector was sentenced to 15 years in a maximum security penal colony on charges related to espionage. It happened after a secret trial. State media report he had previously pled guilty to mediating bribes given to a former Russian deputy prime minister and was serving a four-year sentence for that offense. Nada Bashir is following the story and joining us here in London.

And Nada, so tell us what more do we know about Spector and these charges that have been leveled against him?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this information coming in earlier today, according to state run media in Russia, there is limited publicly available information regarding these charges. But as you mentioned, Gene Spector who was born in Russia but then later relocated to the U.S. and received citizenship there, has now been sentenced to 15 years in prison according to Russian state media, in relation to charges relating to espionage. As you mentioned, he had previously already been serving jail time in Russia regarding crimes in which he pled guilty to back in 2020, essentially, aiding, mediating bribes to a former deputy Russian prime minister.

So there had already been the question of his legal rights in Russia as he continued to serve jail time there. According to an independent journalist who was in the courtroom today representing Mediazona, essentially, Gene Spector has been sentenced to at least 13 years in what is being described as a maximum security penal colony facility. He's also received a fine around more than $140,000 or the equivalent. So this is a significant penalty laid against Gene Spector.

And as you mentioned, Christina, this is one of several now U.S. citizens who have received prison sentences in Russia, including in just the last year. We've seen in October, who's originally from Michigan, he was sentenced by Russian court for allegedly serving as a mercenary in Ukraine. That's according to Russian state media. And in July, Robert Woodland, another U.S. citizen, also now of Russian origin, was also sentenced by Russian court to a penal colony in Russia in relation to drug related charges.

So, concern there. We are still waiting to hear more from U.S. officials in Washington with regards to the situation that Gene Spector now faces and what his legal rights may be there as well.

MACFARLANE: I know you'll continue to keep across this as it develops. Nada Bashir, thank you. And as Nada was saying there, Gene Spector has become the latest in a string of American citizens who've been sentenced to prison in Russia. U.S. Marine veteran Paul Whelan is speaking out about his ordeal during the five years he spent in custody there. Whelan was arrested by Russian authorities six years ago this week and imprisoned on charges of espionage, which he's always vehemently denied. The U.S. State Department designated him as a wrongfully detained person in May of 2020. He was convicted and sentenced to 16 years, imprisoned, then transferred from Moscow to a remote prison camp. From there, Whelan began a personal campaign for his freedom, including phone calls and writing letters to a CNN reporter. Earlier this year, the U.S. government secured Whelan's release in one of the largest prisoner exchanges since the Cold War. Whelan sat down with CNN's Anderson Cooper and Jennifer Hansler, the State Department Reporter whom he reached out to from Russian captivity. Here is part of that conversation

[08:05:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL WHELAN, AMERICAN WRONGFULLY DETAINED IN RUSSIA FOR MORE THAN FIVE YEARS: I sent more than 2,000 letters to my parents.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR OF 'ANDERSON COOPER 360': Wow.

WHELAN: We've got a stack of them at home. I sent letters to the Congresses, both to the House and the Senate, the parliaments in Canada and England and Ireland. And they were all the same sort of thing, talking about the restrictions, how the prison was doing things, how I was -- yeah, it's --

(LAUGH)

WHELAN: -- it's interesting to see, because there's some of my usual jocularity in these, as well as some serious things. And --

COOPER: How much were you able to kind of remove yourself from your surroundings through writing letters, through reading, through anything else?

WHELAN: Staying in touch with the English language, staying in touch with authors that I was familiar with, that was quite important. I had books, English books coming in from the consulates, through my family. I had a lot of mail that came in. When Brittney was released, she had people write hundreds of letters to me. That was extremely important.

I mean, at one point, Jennifer and I were just discussing this, I was writing out ridiculousists (ph). Do you remember your ridiculous (ph)?

COOPER: Yeah.

WHELAN: I would write out the 10 reasons why I wasn't a spy, or the 10 reasons why Putin need to get -- needed to go. All of these kind of funny things that kind of sprang to mind.

COOPER: Yeah.

WHELAN: I've still got some of them written down.

COOPER: Really?

WHELAN: Yeah. But that -- that was an important part of like staying sane.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Now, a sanctioned Russia cargo ship went down in the Mediterranean Sea and two crew members are now missing according to Russia's foreign ministry. The ministry says the Ursa Major sank south of Spain Monday night, following an explosion in the engine room. Ukraine's military intelligence claimed on Tuesday that the Kremlin was sending the ship to Syria to bring back weapons and equipment. The company that owns the ship was sanctioned by the U.S. State Department in 2022. Now, we are following breaking news on an aviation situation in the U.S. The FAA just minutes ago, lifting a nationwide ground stop for all American Airlines flights. The airline is apparently boarding flights again, but earlier, the airline cited a technical issue for a brief halt to flights taking off. Our Derek Van Dam is joining us. And Derek, is this crisis averted on Christmas Eve?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, think about it. This is one of the busiest travel days of the year across the United States. People are traveling to family and friends' house. Then you get this ground stop for American Airlines, the largest airline in the country, and you've got on top of that, compounding these impacts from the flight grounding, is the weather.

So, so many components here, very fluid situation. FAA just lifting that ground stop this morning, roughly at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, but we still have the knock-on effects of the thousands of people traveling in and out of these hubs. Remember, Washington Reagan National Airport, JFK, into the LaGuardia Airport. This area here is a hub for American Airlines, which was just grounded because of this technical glitch according to the American Airlines.

So we're looking at the current inbound and outbound flights in and across the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. This is FlightAware.com and overlaid on top of this current air traffic is also the weather. So, you can see that there is some weather moving into the East Coast as we speak, into these some of these larger American Airlines hubs. So, this is a concern as we compound the impacts of this busy travel day at the airports, but also the potential of weather snarling up things even further, and having that knock-on effect later into the day, into Christmas Day as well.

So, roughly 120 million Americans are traveling this week and look how many people are traveling by air. That's just shy of 8 million people. This is the United States alone, and this is also compounding the issue with the ground stop that was just lifted, is that's being a cold front and the weather. So, snow flying now into JFK, LaGuardia near New York.

But what's more concerning is what's happening across the Washington, D.C. region, north into Baltimore and Philadelphia, a light glazing of ice perhaps on the runways within this region as freezing rain is falling from the sky. A mixture of rain and snow, not a good combination, especially not a good combination when you have a ground stop and the ramifications that will be felt throughout the course of the day today.

So what you're looking at here is a nationwide forecast, weather delays at the airport hubs, the largest airport hubs. Of course, we've got the weather included in this forecast, but we've got the ground stop that was just lifted, that could of course compound the wait times for people to get on board their approaching arriving and departing flights. So here's a look at the current forecast going forward. This system will move rather quickly off the East Coast, but we still have the light drizzle and light freezing rain that could cause more glazing on the roadways along the Eastern Seaboard from D.C. to Philadelphia.

[08:10:00]

So Christina, it's an active morning here, considering it is Christmas Eve, this is the worst-case scenario that we could have at the moment.

(LAUGH)

MACFARLANE: Yeah. Keeping fingers crossed, people can make it back through technical glitches and snow, Derek.

VAN DAM: Yeah, and the weather.

(LAUGH)

MACFARLANE: I know, Derek. Appreciate it. Thank you.

VAN DAM: All right.

MACFARLANE: Now, history was made a short time ago in space. Now, if all went according to plan, NASA's Parker Solar Probe zoomed past the sun in humanity's closest-ever approach to a star. And it did it at record speed. The probe is flying at 430,000 miles an hour, or nearly 700,000 kilometers per hour, the fastest manmade object in history.

Now, to put that in perspective, it's fast enough to reach Tokyo from Washington, D.C. in under a minute. Yes, that is quite mind boggling, isn't it? Let's get some perspective on this milestone achievement. We're joined by Scientist Stephanie Yardley from Northumbria University. Thanks so much for joining us.

So, as I said there, I think we know this event has just happened in the past few hours. Tell us, is the probe intact? Was the mission of success?

STEPHANIE YARDLEY, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, NORTHUMBRIA UNIVERSITY: I guess that's the nerve-racking part, is we don't actually know right now, because we're not in contact with the spacecraft. Hopefully, we will get a beacon tone come back on the 27th of December saying that all systems are OK and the spacecraft is OK. But fingers crossed, everything went OK a few hours ago and it's still flying quite through the corona, very, very close into our star.

MACFARLANE: When will you know that everything is OK? And when will you receive the data that this probe has been collecting?

YARDLEY: So, we should know sometime on the 27th of December that the probe is OK. It should send this OK tone or this beacon tone back to the team, but it won't be until probably starting around New Year's and then into late January that we'll start to receive the data back from the spacecraft as the spacecraft gets to a point where we can start communicating with it again and downloading the data here to earth.

MACFARLANE: And so, just tell us what the mission was, what data this probe was collecting and why this was such a historic mission. YARDLEY: So, it has four instruments on board, all collecting different data sets from magnetic fields, electric fields, density, temperature. So, we're trying to understand more about the sun's outer atmosphere, the corona. Why is it so much hotter than the surface? How does this constant stream of particles from the sun known as the solar wind, how has this accelerated into space, and more about some of these eruptions or explosions on the sun that have caused some of the aurora that we've seen early in the year. How have the -- how do they form in the atmosphere? So a lot of interesting questions that hopefully this probe will answer.

MACFARLANE: And I'm sure a lot of people actually remember that aurora because that was the -- what we refer to it as the Northern Lights on earth, I suppose, and that was just a few months ago. I think people remember for the first time ever really seeing that aurora. Why is it so important for us to gather this information about the sun's activity?

YARDLEY: Well, it's our closest star and it affects us on a daily basis, particularly with what we call space weather. So, these eruptions or other phenomena from the sun can cause direct impact here at earth. So not does it just cause the spectacular display of the Northern Lights, but you can also get problems with the power grids, problems with satellites, astronauts, and the radiation from the sun can affect them as well. So it's really important that we understand how they form and how they travel through space and impact us here at earth and in space in general.

MACFARLANE: And no doubt this really was a feat of technical engineering as well to be able to fly that close to the sun. But, we'll have to leave it there, Steph, but we will keep our fingers crossed for the 27th of December when, hopefully, you'll be receiving some information.

(LAUGH)

MACFARLANE: Thanks so much, Steph. We'll be back after this quick break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:16:20]

MACFARLANE: Turning to U.S. politics now and a dramatic turn of fortune for former Congressman Matt Gaetz. Just last month, he was eyeing a top cabinet position in Donald Trump's second administration. Well, that ship sailed weeks ago, and now a House Ethics investigation has produced a sizable list of alleged misdeeds. The panel saying it has evidence showing Gaetz paid for sex on multiple occasions. He has denied the allegations.

CNN's Marshall Cohen is in Washington, following the fallout from this report. And obviously, this report was released in full yesterday, on Monday, Marshall, and it contained some damning evidence within Matt Gaetz's text messages. Just tell us what the Ethics Committee found. MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Yes, that's right, Christina. It was a damning and disturbing report on former Congressman Matt Gaetz. This was the Republican-run House Ethics Committee which said that it found substantial evidence that Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women for sex and drugs, all while he was serving in the U.S. Congress.

Most importantly, the panel also found that Gaetz had sex with a 17- year-old high schooler in summer 2017. The report concluded that this violated Florida's state statutory rape laws. Now, over the past few years, as Gaetz has faced all of this legal scrutiny, he has vehemently denied that he ever paid anyone for sex. He also denies any illegal drug use.

In a social media post, yesterday, after the report came out, here's how he responded. He said, "There is a reason they did this to me in a Christmas Eve - Eve report, and not in a courtroom of any kind where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses."

But look, Christina, there was a lot of evidence. The committee examined 14,000 pages of documents. The committee interviewed many of the key eyewitnesses. The report even includes texts of Gaetz allegedly asking women for drugs and haggling over payments. There are texts from one of these women telling a friend, you can see it here on the screen, that Matt never paid me. How much did he pay you? WTF. The friend said that she got $400 and offered some advice. Ask him for the money "before you have sex."

There's even a detailed ledger of payments in this report between Matt Gaetz and multiple women using Cash App and Venmo. And some of the women later testified that these payments were indeed for sex or drugs. And Christina, I should point out, the Justice Department looked into many of these allegations for potential federal crimes, but never filed any criminal charges against Matt Gaetz.

MACFARLANE: And Marshall, in the wake of the report, we saw that some of Trump's allies have actually come out in support of Gaetz, but has Donald Trump himself said anything yet?

COHEN: Well, President-elect Trump has not said much publicly, but last night, Gaetz posted a photo on social media of a note that he said he got from Trump. In that note, Trump said that the report was "Very unfair", and he was reacting to an article from a right-wing outlet that was attacking the credibility of some of the witnesses who testified against Gaetz.

MACFARLANE: All right, Marshall Cohen there in Washington. We appreciate your reporting. Thank you.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton is expected to be out of the hospital and back home in time for Christmas. The 78-year-old was admitted Monday after developing a fever.

[08:20:00]

One longtime associate is describing Clinton's condition as not urgent or dire by any means. Since leaving the White House nearly 25 years ago, the former president has endured several health scares.

Now, a 33-year-old Guatemalan man is now charged with murder after allegedly setting a woman on fire on a New York subway train, ultimately killing her. Surveillance video appears to show the suspect watching the victim burn from the bench outside the subway car. Police say the suspect entered the U.S. unlawfully sometime in the last six years, his arraignment could occur sometime today.

Now still to come, Netflix hopes to score big with its Christmas NFL Games. Will it be a Christmas miracle? We'll take a look. And we've just got a word that Santa has begun his worldwide journey. Hooray.

(LAUGH)

MACFARLANE: We'll bring you his sendoff and how you can help.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Now, watching football on Christmas Day is a tradition in the U.S. This year, however, there's a twist. You can only see the Steelers-Chiefs and the Ravens-Texans NFL Games on Netflix, and the streaming service has got some big names to attract Christmas viewers. One worry, will Netflix crash under the weight of expectations? Elizabeth Wagmeister explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With star power so big, on a holiday so beloved, Netflix's first foray into the NFL might just be called the second Super Bowl.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Anytime the game is on, in our household, we're around the TV and I think a lot of people feel the same way. So it's a very interesting proposition that Netflix is bringing to the table.

MARIAH CAREY, AMERICAN SINGER-SONGWRITER AND RECORD PRODUCER: This Christmas, we all get our wish.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Mariah Carey opens each of the two Netflix Christmas games with the recorded version of her holiday mega hit, "All I Want for Christmas is You." Then, a touchdown for Netflix as Beyonce performs a live halftime show during the second game between the Texans and Ravens in her hometown of Houston.

MATT BELLONI, FOUNDING PARTNER, PUCK: Netflix did a really smart thing in getting arguably, a bigger name than Kendrick Lamar, who is headlining the Super Bowl halftime show to headline the Netflix Christmas Day halftime show.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): And what about that other star in the stands with the Chiefs and Steelers kicking off the day? Taylor Swift may just be the gift that keeps on giving. Possibly back to cheer on Travis Kelce, just as she did last Christmas. Great for the NFL and Netflix, maybe not for the NBA, which traditionally owns the Christmas audience. MANNO: The NFL is king, you know, and if they find a way to become easy to find on Christmas Day, you could not blame NBA executives for being a little bit concerned about what that might mean for the ratings of their holiday slate.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): But as Netflix continues its push into live programming, the streaming giant has something to prove. " The Love is Blind" reunion had major technical glitches, as did the recent Mike Tyson and Jake Paul fight.

BELLONI: The NFL is not going to be as forgiving as Mike Tyson and Jake Paul if there are technical glitches,

[08:25:00]

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Netflix has one key advantage. It's global. Both Christmas games will be available worldwide, streaming in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and German. And the NFL has made clear it wants to expand overseas.

MANNO: More than 250 million subscribers globally, 80 of those in the United States and Canada. If it goes well for Netflix, I'd imagine that they would continue to be interested in upcoming live sports rights, and that'll continue to shift how and where people watch.

WAGMEISTER: Now, Netflix appears to continue getting into the sports game, just over the last week, announcing that they have acquired the rights to the FIFA Women's World Cup for the year 2027 and 2031, which is a huge deal in the sporting world. And it's really no surprise that Netflix wants to continue with live sporting events because in this TikTok age where viewers are everywhere, sports remains one of the few things that families get together, and it always delivers a good rating. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: As we noted earlier, it's set to be a stormy Christmas Eve in the U.S., but no matter what the weather is, nothing will stop one of the most highly anticipated trips around the world. That is of course, Santa Claus packing up his sleigh with gifts and setting off from his home village in Northern Finland on Monday, ahead of the Christmas holiday. Look at this cute reindeer. Clouds gathered to cheer on Jolly Old Saint Nick as he prepared for the annual flight from the Arctic Circle. Before he left, Santa had an important message for children around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTA CLAUS: I think it's impossible to be good and nice all the time. Yes, it's too much to ask. You should just try to do your best, as in all things in life. And if you can be quite good almost all the time, don't worry about the gifts. It's time to relax.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGH) MACFARLANE: Good message from Santa there, although he might need more than one reindeer, I think, to get around the world and that you are looking at the Santa Tracker, the Global Santa Tracker, which currently, if I have a quick look, is Northern Australia. Heads up Australia. He is in Northern Australia. You can see there, him just flying over cans, I believe, headed now up towards the north, and keep your eyes peeled overnight tonight. It got somewhere to go before he meets us here in the U.K., that's for sure.

And elsewhere, I believe on the coast of Florida, there was a bit of Santa action, if you can see there. Look at this, multiple Santas surfing it out on Christmas Eve. And why not? Because of course, good tidings they bring -- tidings, get it?

(LAUGH)

MACFARLANE: All right, I better be quiet now and go away. Thank you for joining us here on "CNN Newsroom." I'm Christina Macfarlane. "World Sport" is up next. Have a Happy Christmas.

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