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South Korea Issues Arrest Warrant For President Yoon; Crews Comb Through Debris After Deadly Jeju Air Crash; Honoring Former President's Public Health Legacy; Police Arrest Dozens During Anti- Abduction Demonstrations; Keeping London Safe As Revelers Ring In 2025; Remembering Jimmy Carter's Impact; Aaron Brown, Former CNN Anchor, Dead at 76; Mike Johnson Fighting to Hold Onto House Speakership. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired December 31, 2024 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[00:00:35]
PAULA NEWTON, CNN HOST: Hello and a very warm welcome. I'm Paula Newton.
Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, a South Korean court issues an arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol. We'll have a live report just ahead.
Plus, grieving families camp out at Muan International Airport, waiting for more information about their loved ones following the tragic South Korea airline crash.
And tributes from around the world following the death of former President Jimmy Carter. A state funeral will be held on January 9th.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Paula Newton.
NEWTON: So in what is truly a historic turn, South Korea issues an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol amid a month of political tumult and chaos. The president was swiftly impeached and suspended from power after he issued a short-lived martial law decree earlier this month. He's facing charges of abuse of authority and orchestrating a rebellion.
Yoon's martial law decree led to public protests and mass resignations from his cabinet.
CNN's Marc Stewart is following developments from Beijing. And as we've said, a very dramatic turn of events here.
MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And, Paula, this is a story that has been developing for the last four or five hours. We learned about it first thing this morning.
Let's first talk about this arrest warrant. According to investigators, the arrest would have to take place within seven days after a warrant such as this has been issued, but it is also something that could be extended.
So we are just going to have to wait and see how this all plays out. But let's get to the context in all of this because it is very important.
Even though President Yoon has been suspended, he is stripped of his powers, he is still at the presidential residence. He is still protected by his security team.
And this warrant is not necessarily something that happened out of the clear blue. This all stems from that declaration of martial law, that unprecedented declaration we saw back on December 3rd.
As a result, there was an investigation that took place. The nation's Corruption Investigation Office actually offered -- issued three summons for the president. They want to talk to him, asking for his cooperation, but he refused. And that is what led to this arrest warrant.
During that period of martial law, which we saw unfold live on television, he allegedly ordered his defense minister list of several high ranked politicians, civil activists, even judges. And that has obviously prompted a response by the government as a whole.
Now, we are hearing from you his attorney. He is fighting back, saying that this arrest -- this arrest warrant, the mere issuance of this arrest warrant is illegal and invalid.
He did issue some hints that the president comply with the warrant, saying that there are some serious issues with all of this.
He did go on to say, though, that the president will confidently respond when due process goes on. So what that means, how that looks like, that is still very murky.
But, Paula, we are going to have to keep watch on this potential arrest and see how this timeline unfolds from Seoul, South Korea. Paula?
NEWTON: Yes. Certainly his defiance, making an already complicated situation even more chaotic.
Marc Stewart, for us, really appreciate the update.
Now, as well as that political chaos, South Korea dealing with a national tragedy. Investigators are still working to identify victims from, in fact, that deadly plane crash that killed 179 people over the weekend.
Families of the victims are literally camping out at Muan's International Airport until they can get information on their loved ones who were onboard that flight. CNN's Mike Valerio reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE VALERIO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It is the unmistakable outcry of grief, heard throughout South Korea's Muan International Airport.
(CRYING)
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Families unable to absorb the anguish of the Jeju Air catastrophe.
(SHOUTING)
Hundreds of relatives huddling in the departure hall, waiting for news of whether their loved one's remains are found.
A friend of a couple killed in the crash said he came here to confirm for himself his friends of 30 years are simply gone.
I have nothing to say, but it's tragic, he told us. I watched the news all day, and for now, they say bird strike could be the cause. I'm so shocked and hurt. I cannot even put it into words.
VALERIO: Now, so many people have chosen to stay. They're not going anywhere. And that's seen evidenced by all of these tents that go from here pretty much to the end of the terminal. They go back three tenths to the edge of the check-in counters.
You see food deliveries throughout the day. Let's keep going this way.
And the echoes of grief.
VALERIO (voice over): The scenes inside are just a short drive from the cataclysmic crash site, the tale of the doomed airliner still jutting above the field, a mountain in the middle of the debris.
More than a thousand people now mobilized to sift through pieces of the plane.
VALERIO: The crash scene is absolutely harrowing. Just a few steps away, you can see where the doomed Jeju Air jetliner careened through the embankment and burst into flames.
And more than a day later, you can still see forensics teams in their white suits combing through the debris, along with members of the police force as well as members of the South Korean military.
Now, to my right, you can see soldiers looking through the fields and around them, to give you an idea of the force of this crash. A full football field away from where we're standing, you can see mangled, twisted chairs thrown from the jetliner.
A representative of the victim's families urging an even larger response.
PARK HAN-SHIN, REPRESENTATIVE, JEJU AIR CRASH VICTIM'S FAMILIES (through translator): What I want to request from the government is to increase the manpower so that the recovery can be carried out more swiftly. I hope my siblings, my family, can be recovered and returned to us, even if only 80 percent intact. VALERIO (voice over): For now, Muan remains the epicenter of a nation in mourning, the weight of unspoken farewells and quiet desperation made unbearable of an absence of answers.
Mike Valerio, CNN, Muan, South Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: The U.S. Treasury Department is sounding an alarm over what it's calling a major incident. Treasury officials notified lawmakers on Monday that China state-sponsored hackers infiltrated several department workstations.
Now, the hackers gained access by using a stolen key for a third-party software service provider.
Treasury officials says the company notified the department of the breach earlier this month. The source says CNN told CNN that Treasury officials plan to brief the House Financial Services Committee next week in a classified meeting.
And we do have new information on the preparations for Jimmy Carter's funeral services honoring the 39th U.S. president, will begin January 4th and conclude on January 9th.
The former president will lie in repose at the Carter Center in Atlanta. His remains will then be transferred to the U.S. Capitol, where he will lie in state.
Carter's official funeral service will take place at the National Cathedral in Washington on the 9th, where President Joe Biden will deliver the eulogy. Biden says Carter himself asked him to deliver that speech.
When Carter ran for president in the 1976 election, Biden was in fact the first senator to endorse him. Biden is also designated January 9th as a national day of mourning. Carter will be laid to rest in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, at the same location his wife Rosalynn was buried following her death last year.
Now, after leaving the White House, Jimmy Carter also spent time focusing on public health issues. The Carter Center worked hard to eliminate Guinea-worm disease, which is in fact caused by an ancient parasite.
It affects people who drink water contaminated with larva that grow into worms, as much as a meter long. It is incredibly painful.
In fact, in 1986, it infected some three and a half million people, mostly in Africa and Asia. The incidence of Guinea-worm has now dropped by 99.99 percent, with just 14 cases reported last year.
Dr. Kashef Ijaz is a Vice President for Health Programs at the Carter Center and he joins me now from Atlanta. I do want to offer our condolences to you and everyone at the Carter Center to begin with.
[00:10:07]
It is a loss, I'm sure, especially given, you know, the moral bearing that he has had with all of you for so many years now.
We do want to talk specifically though about this devotion really and belief in public health and how it could change lives. I mean, eradicating this kind of an insidious disease, Guinea-worm, you know, it would be enough in life to have that one achievement.
In terms of how he decided to follow that through, what was President Carter's role in all of that?
KASHEF IJAZ, VICE PRESIDENT FOR HEALTH PROGRAMS, CARTER CENTER: Well, first of all, thank you for having me on your show. And thanks for your kind remarks in honor of President Carter.
Indeed, he was a great leader and a humanitarian. And the contributions of President Carter towards public health cannot be overstated. When it comes to Guinea-worm, that has been our flagship program.
And in 1986, when we started to work on Guinea-worm under President Carter's leadership, as well as Dr. Bill Foege, who has been famous for the smallpox eradication. You know, he actually also helped guide, you know, President Carter to work on disease eradication elimination efforts and focusing on neglected tropical diseases and specifically, you know, Guinea-worm became the flagship program.
And when we started working on it in 1986, there were 3.5 million cases estimated every year which were reported in 21 countries.
And now, last year, we only reported 14 human cases on a planet of eight billion people.
Now, this is a remarkable achievement, Paula, because this is a disease that is a parasitic disease. It does not actually have any vaccine. It does not actually have any medication or therapeutic to prevent it. It's all about behavior change, treating the sources of water. And it was achieved by working directly with the communities.
NEWTON: And really having success in those communities with public health can be incredibly tricky, even though, as you said, it's changing behaviors.
It seems to be though so well suited to President Carter's life and legacy. Just look at how he grew up on a farm in Southern Georgia and how he understood that he would have confidence in those communities and that he knew that if you put the time in, those communities would know how to cure themselves of some of these tropical diseases.
IJAZ: You're absolutely right, because President Carter believed in these communities. He wanted to empower these communities. And these are the people who are at the end of the road, because President Carter always said that there are no neglected tropical diseases. These are all neglected people. And we need to empower them. We need to provide them with guidance and tools. And they have full community ownership in order to eradicate this disease.
NEWTON: You know, I will borrow a phrase from another president, President Obama, in fact, to describe President Carter. He had President Carter the audacity of hope, right? The audacity to believe that diseases can and importantly should be eradicated. Where did that faith come from?
IJAZ: So, you know, for people like me who are in public health, to me, disease eradication and elimination is the Holy Grail. And, you know, it's sort of the final frontier of public health. And President Carter and Mrs. Carter always believed in reducing human suffering. That was the humanitarian part in them.
And he wanted to end the suffering of the people who were suffering from these neglected tropical disease and dreadful diseases, which not only caused, you know, basically a disability when you're looking at, like, river blindness and trachoma, where people will go blind. But then there is also an impact on the economic situation of these communities as well.
So, this is where it came from where, you know, President Carter was committed to eradicating and eliminating diseases which impact these most vulnerable populations.
NEWTON: Well, as you've been speaking, we continue to show pictures of President Carter and, of course, his wife, Rosalynn, and all that they did all over the world in those communities.
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Dr. Kashef Izaz, thank you so much for really highlighting all of their work, both in the United States and around the world. Appreciate it.
IJAZ: Thank you very much, Paula.
NEWTON: Weeks after the fall of the Assad regime, authorities say another mass grave has been uncovered in Syria. We will have the details.
Plus, Kenyan police are cracking down on protests over alleged government sanctioned abductions, while the response from Kenya's president is still confused.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: According to Syrian state media, authorities have discovered another mass grave believed to contain hundreds of bodies. And a warning, we're about to air images you may find disturbing.
This latest alleged mass grave was found in the former rebel stronghold of Aleppo. Syria's Interior Ministry says DNA testing will be done in an effort to identify the bodies. Syrians have been discovering what are thought to be mass graves right across the country since the fall of the Assad regime. Some 150,000 people in Syria are unaccounted for. That's according to the International Commission on Missing Persons, which says most of them were kidnapped or detained by the Assad government and its affiliates.
As you can hear, there are sirens blared in Israel Monday as the military announced it intercepted another missile launch from Yemen. Iran-backed Houthi militants have frequently fired drones and missiles toward Israel in support of the Palestinians in Gaza. And Israel has been retaliating with strikes against Houthi targets inside Yemen.
Israel's ambassador to the U.N. issued what he called a final warning to Houthi leaders telling them to pay attention to what's happened to their allies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANNY DANON, ISRAEL AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: I'm saying to the leadership of the Houthis, I have a message for you today. Perhaps you have not been paying attention to the lessons of this past year.
Let me remind you what happened to Hamas, to Hezbollah, to Assad, and to all those who thought to destroy us. This is not a threat. It is a promise. You will share the same miserable fate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Meanwhile in Gaza, winter weather is making already miserable conditions even more painful. Heavy rain has flooded camps for displaced people, with water seeping through the thin tent materials and soaking mattresses, blankets and clothing.
The Gaza Health Ministry says five newborns and a two-year-old have already died from the cold. And the U.N. warns more children's lives will be lost in the coming days when it's expected to become even colder.
Temperatures in the enclave now reach lows of around 10 degrees Celsius or about 50 Fahrenheit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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IBTISSAM AL-ASSAR, DISPLACED PALESTINIAN (through translator): I swear we swam. I have three children. And my daughter is sick with a permanent condition. I'm scared about her with the little children dying. I'm afraid. My children, my boys' covers are soaked. All night, I'm up trying to cover them and warm them up. I swear we've had enough. It's too much.
ALI DAIFALLAH, DISPLACED PALESTINIAN (through translator): Those who don't die from the war will die from the cold, hunger, and thirst. And we have become desperate from this life.
(END VIDEO CLIP) NEWTON: Now to an emotional reunion in Ukraine's capital.
(CRYING)
Tears of joy, of course, as families have released Ukrainian prisoners of war embrace their loved ones. Ukraine's president says 189 former captives returned home Monday, exchanged for some 150 Russian troops.
Vladimir Zelenskyy says the former captives include soldiers and officers from frontline areas and two civilians from the port city of Mariupol.
Rights groups in Kenya, meantime, say more than 50 people have been arrested during protests over alleged government abductions. Kenya's president repeatedly denied the allegations until this past weekend.
CNN's Larry Madowo picks up the story from there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The people out on the streets demonstrating against abductions in Kenya fear that these alleged disappearances return Kenya to a dark history where critics of the government would get picked up, would get tortured, and sometimes would even get killed.
They are out on the streets to reject any attempts to bring Kenya back to that history that changed in 2010 with the promulgation of a new constitution.
President William Ruto has always denied that anybody was getting abducted in the country. Until Saturday when he suddenly appeared to change his position and announced that he would stop these abductions on condition that the young people of Kenya behave, that they're polite, they're disciplined.
Many on social media immediately rejected that attempt at respectability politics. In the last few weeks alone, at least six more young people have disappeared. Some of them posted critical, AI- generated images of President William Ruto in a casket. One of them was a popular cartoonist who did this satirical silhouette of President William Ruto.
And for their families, they're just devastated.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I am here as a parent. Please, I am begging. I have cried enough. I do not have strength. I feel like dying.
MADOWO: A judge in Nairobi has ordered Kenyan authorities to immediately and unconditionally release six of the latest cases of those who are missing and to show up in court soon to explain why they should keep detaining them. That will be an interesting one if they do resurface, because the police have maintained that they don't have them and that they're holding investigations. But CNN has spoken to some of these families who feel that the police have done nothing to investigate the disappearances of their kids. Some of them who say they were tracked down using their phones. And they believe only security forces have that capacity to track down people who have been critical of the government of President William Ruto on social media.
Larry Madowo, CNN, Luanda, Angola.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: New Year's Eve celebrations in parts of Europe are already canceled, thanks to stormy weather.
Just ahead, what partiers in London need to know about ringing in 2025 and getting home safely afterward.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:25:14]
NEWTON: New Year's Eve preparations are in full swing right around the world at this hour. In New York, one million people are expected to flood the streets of the city. Security plans, obviously, already in place. And officials say police officers in uniform and in plain clothes will be on patrol. That's including canine teams and units on horseback.
Now, the confetti drop in Times Square was tested over the weekend. Looks like fun. But here's the thing. Wet weather could put a damper on celebrations.
Tickets for New Year's Eve fireworks in London are already sold out, but wind and rain in the U.K. could wreak havoc on that party as well. Getting around the city is tough on a good day.
And as CNN's Anna Stewart found out, officials have been preparing for the crush of partiers for months.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From parties on the tube, to scenes like this, the struggle to get home, New Year's Eve is a big night and a major challenge for transport for London. Time to see how it all works --
STEWART: I'm so excited.
STEWART (voice-over): -- from the driver's seat.
STEWART: Do you get nervous, like, going into the platform and seeing huge crowds?
STEFAN YOUNG, DRIVER, TRANSPORT FOR LONDON: It takes a certain individual to become a driver. For you to have, like, say, nerves of steel, you're coming in a platform, you can't be too jittery, you can't be too jumpy, can't be too shaky.
You just got to come in knowing that in your mind everything's fine.
STEWART (voice-over): Fortunately for Stefan, there are many more eyeballs on platforms on the night.
RALPH DAVISON, NETWORK RESILIENCE STRATEGY MANAGER, TRANSPORT FOR LONDON: So we have additional staff. All over the combine, we have additional staff. And we ask them to keep an eye out on absolutely everyone.
STEWART (voice-over): The team here starts planning for New Year's Eve in July. And then they manage the crowds by watching it all unfold live from this control center.
DAVISON: Your safety is our priority.
STEWART (voice-over): To prevent overcrowding, you may have to queue outside stations for, well, quite a while.
And once you've made it onto a tube, the party may continue, giving drivers like Stefan some light relief.
YOUNG: It gives me something to do look at, have a little giggle to myself because obviously everyone's been out having a good time enjoying New Year's Eve, and I've been stuck in my little office.
STEWART (voice-over): Of course, the little office does come with a perk, the power to chat to the passengers.
YOUNG: Almost again, mind the gap between the train and the platform.
STEWART: This is Anna Stewart from CNN. Happy New Year. And please, mind the gap.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: I want to thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton. WORLD SPORT is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): He appointed more African-Americans to the judiciary than anybody before him. And I haven't heard people talk about that a whole lot today.
[00:30:12]
But Jimmy Carter did that, and nobody has come close to that since him until now with Joe Biden. And he, too, happens to be from, not a Southern state, because I know where the Mason-Dixon line is. But it was a former slave state, that Delaware was.
And so that is what these enlightened Southern gentlemen did -- (END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Paula Newton in Atlanta, and we do bring you some breaking news. A major loss for journalism.
Veteran journalist and former CNN anchor Aaron Brown passed away on Sunday at the age of 76. That is according to his family. He gained prominence for his live coverage of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AARON BROWN, FORMER CNN ANCHOR: For those of you just joining us, let's just briefly recap what we know. About an hour ago, about 8:45 Eastern time, one plane crashed into the tower -- the World Trade Center tower on the right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Brown, in fact, won the prestigious Edward R. Murrow award for his 9/11 coverage. He also played a major role in shaping CNN's evening news format.
His former producer remembered him, saying Aaron's approach to news and storytelling was driven by the fact that his delivery was always deeply human.
CNN, of course, we send our condolences to his family and loved ones.
CNN anchor John Vause joins me now. He worked with Aaron Brown for several years.
And, John, I really want to thank you for being with us. And I'm -- just give us your reflections about the man that you knew and the man you worked with.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: He was a tough guy to work for, but he could also be quite mentoring. He could be quite supportive. And he would always ask some of the most difficult questions you could ever possibly imagine.
But I remember that day on 9/11, and he was actually on air earlier than CNN had planned for him to come over from ABC. So, he -- his very first day at CNN was pretty much the 9/11 coverage.
And a few hours after that moment, which you just played, was the moment which I think anybody who is watching probably doesn't forget. It was when the South Tower came down. Aaron was live on air. He just stopped. He looked at it and paused, and he shared this moment that everybody was thinking -- was "good Lord, there are no words."
And he paused, and it was a moment which everyone shared, because at that moment there were none. But he then went on to find the words, and he -- and he covered that day incredibly well. I mean, it was a day of -- that was owed very much to Aaron in a journalistic way.
And when he finally got off the roof of the New York bureau, back in the day when it was opposite Penn Station, and he told me that he went to D.C. about a week later, and he walked into a hotel foyer and everybody in that foyer stood up and applauded. Such was their connection with Aaron for his coverage of 9/11.
NEWTON: Yes. John. And you're so right in that, for each and every one of us, it helped shape the way we looked at that terrible tragedy that day. And we still, many of us, remember his voice, how calm he was. And as you point out, how human those words were.
In -- in terms of what he brought to journalism, though, he really did base it in the basics of storytelling.
VAUSE: He was old-school. He was very much in the Peter Jennings mold, the -- you know, the -- you know, the -- the legendary ABC anchor who was the anchorman's anchor, if you like. And Aaron was very much his protege.
And he could be very demanding. He was a great writer. He was a great reporter. He was always about the facts. He -- you could never pick his politics.
But I would always remember, as a reporter, he would always ask the most obscure, yet the most sort of incisive questions you could possibly imagine. It was almost like doing your -- you know, your midyear midterm year finals or something, every time you're doing a live shot with Aaron. Because if -- if you didn't know the answer, the most important thing he taught me was the words "I don't know" are perfectly acceptable.
And, you know, that's one of the greatest things that he taught me as a reporter. But he also taught me to, certainly, lift my game and be a much better reporter, to be ready for those questions that only he could ask.
NEWTON: Yes. And as the world and politics have become so much more complicated, it is something so many of us can learn.
His approach, his style was calm, John, almost meditative. In knowing him, given the way journalism has gone, it must have been difficult for him to stick to that style. I'm sure he had lots of opinions of people saying, you know, can you pick it up a little bit?
VAUSE: The funny thing is that anybody who watched NEWSNIGHT regularly -- and I was a regular viewer -- it was a show that had inside jokes. And if you were, like I said, if you're a regular viewer, you -- you knew what the jokes were, and you were part of the club.
[00:35:05]
And that was the gift that Aaron had. He could bring everybody in, if you were a regular and if you knew him. And he had a very dry sense of humor. Very, very dry at times. But, you know, you were part of the family almost, and you knew the jokes that and the -- you know, the inside gags that were happening at the time.
The sort of ironic thing about his life, though, is that he was, in fact, a university dropout. He never finished. He went into the Coast Guard Reserve.
And then at the end of his career, he ended up being this great lecturer and the head of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona University. So, it was kind of like a full circle, in many ways, for him.
NEWTON: And I'm sure his students gained a lot of insight from his teaching. I do wonder, in terms of the day itself, though, if we return to 9/11, that really is the moment that his career will be known for.
I wonder how he interpreted that day. You gave that anecdote about people applauding. I didn't know him, but from what I have heard, it probably made him a little bit uncomfortable.
VAUSE: Yes, he was very much, you know, the journalist's journalist, and he was -- he didn't like the fame. He didn't like being in the spotlight outside of his office hours, if you like.
I remember being on the roof of the New York bureau with him at the time, and I told him what my job was at CNN. I had this self-assigned job of being the U.S. affairs correspondent. Before 9/11, I could be going around the country choosing any story I wanted to do.
He asked me, "Does God know that you have this job, because you don't have it anymore. The world has changed."
And he was right. Everything had changed.
And he -- he was mentoring in a way that was tough but fair. And also, he -- he was willing to share his -- his wisdom and his experience, too. Not with everybody. But, you know, those people who sort of connected with him, because he was -- he wasn't the easiest person to get on with for some people. But I always found that he was -- you know, he could be very supportive, and he could be very accommodating and very much in your corner, if you asked for his help.
NEWTON: Indeed. A giant, really, in this industry. And again, there for so many pivotal moments.
John Vause, we are grateful to you for sharing your memories of him and his career. Thanks so much. Really appreciate it.
Joining us now is Jon Auerbach. He was, in fact, a senior producer on NEWSNIGHT with Aaron Brown.
And firstly, I just want to give you our condolences, obviously, given that you worked closely with him. Obviously, this is terrible news. If you could just share kind of your thoughts about what comes to mind about the kind of journalist he was and the kind of colleague he was.
JON AUERBACH, FORMER PRODUCER, CNN'S "NEWSNIGHT" (via phone): Thanks, Paula.
Yes, it is. I think cable news and journalism in general has really lost an important person today.
And, you know, I don't want to rehash everything John Vause -- All the good things John just said. But I think it's true.
You know, look, for the first part of the decade of this century, Aaron was the face of news. Whether it was 9/11, whether it was the Iraq, Afghanistan invasion, Katrina, Indonesia. Aaron was front and center of everything.
And I think for viewers, his sort of calm demeanor -- not yelling at you, not being hysterical -- sort of gave everybody, I don't want to say a sense of calm, because it's hard to say there's a sense of calm in the midst of this chaos, but it certainly didn't make people feel any worse or more concerned about things.
They knew they were getting the story. One of the things Aaron always stressed, I think, to reporters on the air and to his staff and to guests, that it's OK to say, "I don't know" as an answer. Because that's truthful. And that's what we know at the time.
So, if you don't know the answer, say you don't have an answer, and we'll move on to something else. And I think that's something that also viewers learn to appreciate.
NEWTON: You know, I read, in what he was telling people about what inspired him to this career. There aren't many people who really see it as a vocation. Apparently, he did. And it was actually from the assassination of John F. Kennedy that he decided he wanted to be a journalist.
In working with him day in and day out, did he have that sense of responsibility to say, look, this is a vocation, and we owe this to our audiences?
Absolutely. he never took himself too seriously. He was grateful for the position he was in but again, never thought he was better or smarter than anyone else. Even a lot of times, he was the smartest guy in the room, but he never talked down to guests or people that he was working with.
[00:40:06]
You know, I think one of the things, you know -- I talked about the viewership of Aaron, but for his colleagues, it was -- he was a journalist's journalist. He was a writer. He was a craftsman. And that's something that maybe viewers don't realize but peers do.
And I think that's what earned him respect, not just within CNN, but across broadcasting, was just the poetry that he would create. Whether it was a toss, you know, into a guest; whether it was a produced piece, where he would rework the script with his producers. There was a craft there that, again, viewers might not necessarily pick up on, but those that worked with him and around him sure did. NEWTON: And, John, I want to ask you, in the latter years, he had been
teaching. Given the fact that journalism media has changed so much, what do you think are the enduring things that Aaron wants to be able to leave to the profession he loved so much?
Because it can be tough out there right now, even when you're trying to go after the facts only, please, and give the audiences as much transparency as you can.
AUERBACH (via phone): Well, certainly, reporting is still the most important thing. You need to get out there. You need to talk to people. You need to talk to the people that know things. You need to double check with those people and what those people are saying. Don't take anything for granted.
Again, you know, I talked about his writing ability. You know, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter that you're on television, as opposed to your newspaper reporter. Writing is still important. The basics of journalism still exist. And I think that's what he stressed.
But -- but again, also, have a sense of humor about it. Don't forget that. Don't forget you're human. Don't forget the people you're talking to are people and not just sources or interviewees. You need to have a rapport. You need to be personable, not just on air. When -- you know, there are certain human values that just need to not be forgotten while you're pursuing journalism.
NEWTON: Yes. You're so right. The word is thrown around a lot. The authenticity issue. But he really was authentic on air, and so many people saw that hour after hour after hour during those tragic events of 9/11.
John Auerbach, again, our condolences to losing a friend and a former colleague, and I want to thank you.
AUERBACH (via phone): Thanks, Paula.
NEWTON: And we will be right --
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[00:46:29]
NEWTON: Tributes for former U.S. President Jimmy Carter are pouring in from around the world and across the political spectrum.
Crowds gathered at the Carter Center in Atlanta to remember the man from Plains, Georgia. Some left flowers and candles, even peanuts, to honor the peanut farmer who became president.
Atlanta resident Courtney Fitz says she talked to her three young sons about Carter's important role in the civil rights movement, and she explained what she would remember about the former president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) COURTNEY FITZ, ATLANTA RESIDENT: His universal kindness, the humanity in President Carter cannot be denied or understated. Ever. And that's something that, as a mom, we're always trying to teach our young men. And he exemplified it every day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Kind words there. Now, Carter served only one term in the White House after a series of missteps and policy failures, most notably the Iran hostage crisis. But he rebuilt his legacy after his presidency.
CNN's Tom Foreman reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAM DONALDSON, FORMER ABC NEWS ANCHOR: Good evening. The U.S. embassy in Tehran has been invaded and occupied by Iranian students.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The American hostages in Iran; inflation and a weak economy; an energy crisis, too. It all confronted and confounded President Jimmy Carter during his single term in office.
JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We attest once again to the inner and spiritual strength of our nation.
FOREMAN (voice-over): But in recent decades, historians and pundits alike have taken a second look at his presidency and are finding a legacy of success that does not lie in predictable political metrics.
SUSAN GLASSER, STAFF WRITER, "THE NEW YORKER": It was Carter's personal integrity, his morals, his values, partially why we're going to be celebrating his extraordinary life over the next couple of weeks is for that reason.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Legislatively, the Democratic maverick and Washington outsider faced stiff opposition from both sides of the aisle.
Yet, he racked up a largely winning record for his issues in Congress: for example, promoting job security and energy policies. When gas lines formed and consumer prices soared, he steadily worked to improve the situation without pandering to voters.
CARTER: All of us must learn to waste less energy.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Through shrewd negotiations, Carter personally brokered the biggest, longest-lasting Mideast peace deal of modern times between Israel and Egypt.
CARTER: Congratulations. All of us owe them our gratitude and respect.
FOREMAN (voice-over): He vowed to bring every hostage in Iran home alive, and at Ronald Reagan's inauguration, he learned he had done it. CARTER: The aircraft carrying the 52 American hostages had cleared
Iranian airspace on the first -- first leg of a journey home. And that every one of the 52 hostages was alive, was well, and free.
FOREMAN (voice-over): After his presidency, Carter worked endlessly alongside his wife, Rosalynn, building homes for poor families, teaching Sunday school, and striving to eliminate health threats in Africa.
CARTER: We believe that, in the next 2 or 3 years, we'll have zero cases of guinea worm in Sudan.
KATE ANDERSON BROWER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It wasn't about the amount of money that they could make with paid speeches and sitting on boards. It was about really helping people. It sounds like a cliche, but I mean, it's absolutely true about the Carter's.
FOREMAN: All of this is making some historians rewrite their own history books to say Jimmy Carter, far from being the failed president that many people have imagined him to be, may be one of the more important presidents of modern times.
[00:50:14]
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: And we'll be right back with more news in a moment.
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[00:54:28]
NEWTON: A U.S. federal appeals court is denying Donald Trump's bid for a new trial in a civil sex abuse case. The court upheld the $5 million verdict that found Trump liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s.
A separate jury awarded Carroll more than $83 million after finding Trump defamed her by denying the abuse. Trump has also appealed that verdict, and his spokesperson says more appeals are imminent.
In Washington, Republican Congressman Mike -- Mike Johnson is fighting to lock down the votes he needs to hold onto the speakership. President-elect Donald Trump gave him a boost by endorsing Johnson's bid to keep the gavel, but it may not be enough.
[00:55:14]
Alayna Treene explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, President-elect Donald Trump on Monday weighed in, in the speakership fight that is really shaping up to be a contentious battle over Mike Johnson and whether he can get reelected to the top role in the House.
TREENE (voice-over): Posting on Truth Social Monday, Donald Trump wrote this. He said, quote, "LET'S NOT BLOW THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY WHICH WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN. The American people need IMMEDIATE relief from all of the destructive policies of the last Administration. Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard working, religious man. He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN. Mike has my Complete and Total Endorsement."
Now, look, this is clearly a big boost for Mike Johnson, especially as you note that many House conservatives are really --
TREENE: -- skeptical of Johnson. As of now, we know that Thomas Massie, one Republican in the House, has said that he plans to vote against him for speaker.
And one big question, really, was whether or not Donald Trump was going to weigh in on this fight at all, particularly after we saw the spending fight play out in the days before members of Congress left for the holiday recess.
We saw Donald Trump at the 11th hour really come in and blow up the deal that Mike Johnson had negotiated with the Senate and Democrats regarding spending levels.
But all to say, Donald Trump --
TREENE (voice-over): -- is now saying that he is endorsing Johnson.
And part of the reason I'm told that he decided to make that announcement is because Donald Trump really believes that he has a mandate to run Washington --
TREENE: -- once he is sworn into office. And he really wants someone in that speakership role who is going to be loyal to him and who will carry out his agenda and his priorities.
And he does believe that Mike Johnson will do that, particularly after we've seen Johnson, for several months now, really try to show Trump that he is behind him and that he will support him in all of his different endeavors.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: That was Alayna Treene there. I want to thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton. "THE SOURCE" with Kaitlan Collins is next.
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