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Major Winter Storm for Central and Eastern U.S.; Trump Hush Money Case; Mike Johnson Retains U.S. House Speakership with Tiny Majority; New Orleans Attacker Used Rare Compound in Explosive Devices; Trump Hotel Explosion "Intended as Wakeup Call"; U.S. to Sell $8 Billion in Weapons to Israel; U.S. Surgeon General Warns of Link between Cancer and Alcohol; Israeli Attacks Destroying Gaza Health Care System; Sports Highlights. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired January 04, 2025 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and around the world. I'm Fred Pleitgen in London. And here's what's ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.
A major winter storm is about to cut a path across much of the United States. What tens of millions of residents can expect and why they won't want to be traveling.
Donald Trump will not face a penalty in his criminal hush money case, even as the judge upholds his felony conviction. We will explain.
And as we learn more about the investigation, there are questions over security measures taken before the deadly terror attack in New Orleans.
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PLEITGEN: We begin this hour, however, with that major winter storm preparing to bear down on the central U.S. and then cover more than 1,300 miles, all the way to the East Coast in the days ahead.
Right now, some 65 million people in the U.S. are under winter weather warnings or watches. Starting today, people are bracing for heavy snow and significant ice. On top of that, severe storms and tornadoes could impact the South on Sunday. The storm system is likely to cause hazardous travel and power outages.
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PLEITGEN: And with just over two weeks to go before Donald Trump's second inauguration, we now know he will be the first convicted felon sworn in as U.S. president.
A New York judge ruled Friday that his hush money conviction will stand. And Trump is reacting, calling the decision, quote, "a political attack" and a, quote "rigged charade" on social media and accusing judge Juan Merchan of being a, quote, "radical partisan."
But the judge also said Trump will face no legal penalties and essentially said the case is now over. Paula Reid has more.
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PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, president- elect Trump is still a convicted felon after this opinion. But there is some good news because the judge is revealing that he will not face any penalties at his January 10th sentencing. The judge did have the option to impose a jail sentence here.
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He says he will not do that. And in a rare move, he previews how he's thinking about the sentencing.
Saying, quote, "While this court, as a matter of law, must not make any determination on sentencing prior to giving the parties and defendant an opportunity to be heard, it seems proper at this juncture to make known the court's inclination to not impose any sentence of incarceration.
"A sentence of an unconditional discharge appears to be the most viable solution."
So to translate that, this January 10th sentencing will largely just be performative. Now it's also notable the judge is making a big concession about Trump's role as president-elect, something that his lawyers have repeatedly argued should be factored in here.
Here, the judge says, "To assuage the defendant's concerns regarding the mental and physical demands during the transition period, this court will permit the defendant to exercise his right to appear virtually for this proceeding, if he so chooses."
So they're essentially saying, we agree with your defense attorneys, that you have a lot going on as president-elect during the transition. So you should not be burdened by having to travel all the way up to New York.
So that is a significant shift from Judge Juan Merchan, who has not been as receptive to similar arguments over the course of this case.
Now here, the Trump team is pushing to get the entire conviction, the entire case tossed out. They were not successful there. So they can continue to appeal the conviction, even though there will be no penalties.
But it appears the Trump team is not fully satisfied with this opinion.
Today, in a statement, Trump communications director Steven Cheung said, "There should be no sentencing and president Trump will continue fighting against these hoaxes until they are all dead" -- Paula Reid, CNN, Washington, D.C. (END VIDEOTAPE)
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PLEITGEN (voice-over): U.S. House Republicans gave Mike Johnson another term as House Speaker on Friday, the first day of the 119th Congress. They selected him as leader on the first vote, unlike the weeks of wrangling over the speakership that took place a couple of years ago.
But the day was not without its drama. Johnson could lose -- only lose the support of one member to retain the gavel and initially, two lawmakers refused to back him. But intervention from the president- elect flipped the holdouts. A call from Trump got South Carolina's Ralph Norman and Keith Self of Texas onside.
Republicans told CNN that Johnson respects the power of conservatives.
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REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): The Speaker realizes that he needs to listen to the conservative folks, to the base.
REP. DUSTY JOHNSON (R-SD): We want to make sure that this is honestly a collaborative environment.
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PLEITGEN: Still, Johnson will have the narrowest majority in nearly a century. He'll meet with his caucus this weekend to flesh out an agenda now that Republicans control both Congress and the presidency.
But with the GOP's razor-thin margin in the House, Democrats have significant influence, a point the minority leader was keen to point out.
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REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: House Democrats will always put American values over autocracy, benevolence over bigotry, the Constitution over the cult, democracy over demagogues, maturity over Mar-a-Lago.
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PLEITGEN: Thomas Gift is the director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College right here in London. But he joins me today from Harrisburg in Pennsylvania.
Thank you very much for coming on, Thomas. First of all, I want to get to this Donald Trump sentencing. He's obviously going to be the first convicted felon to take office as President of the United States. But does this in any way make a difference or move the needle to
anyone, really?
THOMAS GIFT, DIRECTOR, CENTRE ON U.S. POLITICS, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Well, thanks so much for having me, Fred. It's great to be with you.
I think the short answer to that is no. One thing that we've seen with Donald Trump is it doesn't matter what he does, right?
Scandal after scandal, mini scandal after mini scandal, essentially nothing budges his approvals, particularly among his hard-Right Republican base. So if January 6th wasn't able to change opinions toward Donald Trump, I don't think that, you know, the decision on this sentencing will.
PLEITGEN: One of the things that obviously we were watching very closely yesterday was the vote in the House on the Speaker. And Mike Johnson obviously won that vote. But essentially, wasn't it Donald Trump that won the vote for him?
GIFT: Well, it's certainly a big win for Donald Trump. You know, Johnson really uniquely bridges, I think, three different factions of the GOP: the MAGA loyalists, the party establishment and then this highly disruptive, kind of drama-driven set of Republicans who are pushing more for systematic upheaval.
But absolutely, this is a big win for Donald Trump. I think his one concern was that all the attention would be detracted away from him. In the leadup to his inauguration, he wanted to make sure that that didn't happen. Certainly didn't want to have a redo of the 15 rounds that we saw with Kevin McCarthy.
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So this is a big win for Donald Trump, absolutely. He showed that he can keep his party in line.
PLEITGEN: It was so interesting also because, afterwards, we heard some of the people who had been holdouts saying that, essentially, they changed their minds because of Donald Trump either calling them but in general, to help Donald Trump.
I want to read you one quote and this comes from Mike Johnson shortly after he was elected.
And he said, quote, "I think President Trump is arguably the most powerful president, certainly of the modern era, maybe in all of American history. His voice is a big one. And I was certainly humbled and honored to have him weigh in on my behalf."
How powerful do you think Donald Trump is now, considering he controls the Republican Party?
And the Republicans obviously now have the Senate, the House and the White House as well. GIFT: Well, you're absolutely right that Trump is going to get what
he wants, at least in the short term.
You know, Trump essentially told his allies who were not voting for Johnson, Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Keith Self of Texas, to stop the nonsense and get in line.
And I think one of the big, you know, benefits for Donald Trump heading into this new Congress is that he can say, basically, I have the mandate. You know, I allowed Congress to be fully unified in the Republican Party.
And, you know, he always has this threat of primarying those who don't essentially fall in line with his agenda. So you know, right now, Donald Trump has all of the winds behind him.
PLEITGEN: What do you think some of these more radical Republicans who, in the end, changed or went back and voted for Mike Johnson at the behest of Donald Trump?
What do you think that they will want in return?
In other words, how much trouble do you think that they could create for Mike Johnson as he takes the gavel again?
GIFT: No. That's an absolutely great question. If there's one thing that Johnson won't be able to do, it's stand on principle. He'll need to be a highly malleable House Speaker. That means cutting deals. That means horse trading. That means doing essentially everything he can within the ethical bounds to keep a fractious party in line.
We don't know what kind of concessions Johnson had to make to get the Speaker's gavel but presumably there were some that -- and that was true of Kevin McCarthy when it took 15 rounds for him to be the House Speaker. And odds are it's true with Johnson as well.
You know, Trump's agenda is ultimately going to rise and fall depending on his relations with Congress. So he's going to have to rely on Johnson to be both his interpreter and his enforcer. But the fact that Johnson comes in without resounding support means that that won't be easy.
PLEITGEN: Thank you very much, Thomas Gift, coming to us today from Harrisburg in Pennsylvania. Thank you again.
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PLEITGEN: And the final preparations for the state funeral for the late U.S. President Jimmy Carter are set. The days-long goodbye to the former Democratic president will begin in the coming hours in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. Here's CNN's Eva McKend with details.
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EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: The people here in this small community of Plains have been girding themselves for this moment for quite some time. And time and time again, they described this period as bittersweet, as so much of the country will be able to reflect on the life and legacy of Jimmy Carter.
Things will kick off in nearby Americus at the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center. That is where members of Carter's Secret Service detail will usher the body into the hearse. These, of course, are members of the detail that have served under him for many, many decades.
Then Jimmy Carter's body will proceed here to his hometown of Plains, where people will have the opportunity to line the streets, to say their final goodbyes.
The motorcade will then make its way to Atlanta for tributes and then to Washington, D.C., and then, true to form, right back here to Plains, to his final resting place. Take a listen to how this community is thinking about this moment.
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MARVIN LASTER, CARTER FAMILY FRIEND: I want everybody to understand that, you know, the grave is only getting the body. His spirit will live on forever. And the legacy that he lives, that he left behind, will live forever.
And it's incumbent upon each of us to live the type of life that Jimmy Carter did, not focused on self but trying to do the best that we can do for all of mankind.
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MCKEND: And so the tributes that we will see in the coming days will truly be a multi-state affair. But it is going to end where it all started for Jimmy Carter, right here in Plains -- Eva McKend, CNN, Plains, Georgia.
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PLEITGEN: Some new developments in the New Orleans attack and the Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion. Despite a number of similarities, including the two trucks rented via an app called Turo, both happening on New Year's Day and both involving U.S. military servicemen, who were on tours in Afghanistan roughly around the same time.
A law enforcement source tells CNN there is no definitive link between the two events. There is also new information about explosive devices planted by the New Orleans attackers. Sources tell CNN they contained a rare organic compound not previously seen in the United States.
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What that compound does is unclear but investigators are now trying to learn how the man obtained it.
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PLEITGEN (voice-over): And new memorials are showing up on Bourbon Street. This one is written in chalk and lists some of the names of those who were killed in the attack. On Friday, the coroner released the names of 12 of the 14 victims who were hit by the attacker in his pickup truck.
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PLEITGEN: A couple who survived the attack told CNN they knew it was not an ordinary road accident.
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JESSICA WILSON, NEW ORLEANS ATTACK SURVIVOR: He jumped, pretty much almost tackled me out of the way, jumped and pushed me to the curb, where his foot was struck. And then he was laying on the ground. I was standing over him. He was screaming, "My foot, the truck hit my foot. My truck hit the -- the truck hit my foot."
JACOB WILSON, NEW ORLEANS ATTACK SURVIVOR: I didn't think it was a drunk driver because we were halfway down Bourbon Street. I mean, we weren't at the beginning, you know, of Bourbon Street.
And then as soon as they went by us, there was -- it was a loud explosion from the crash. And I looked back and the officers were already surrounding him and they already had their guns drawn. So you know, you could just tell this wasn't a normal thing.
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PLEITGEN: Now temporary barriers designed to prevent a similar attack are now in place in Bourbon Street. But, of course, there are questions why those barriers were not in place on New Year's Eve. Omar Jimenez has the latest on the investigation.
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OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Investigators saying they've determined that 42 year old Shamsud-Din Jabbar set fire to the Airbnb in New Orleans, where he was staying ahead of the attack.
Authorities say he set a small fire in the hallway and strategically placed accelerants around the house as part of his effort to destroy evidence.
All of this, as federal authorities are now warning law enforcement across the country to be on the lookout for potential copycat attacks.
So you're the council member that represents the French Quarter. How would you assess the ability to prevent something like this before New Year's day in this area?
FREDDIE KING III, NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCILMAN: Well, seeing how it hadn't happened before, I would assume that for us to figure that we had it pretty under control. But after the events on New Year's Day, we clearly have weak spots. We clearly have vulnerabilities.
JIMENEZ: I saw some of those archers on the streets -- you know, those yellow ones on the sidewalks now?
Why weren't those there before?
KING: That is a question for our law enforcement.
JIMENEZ: This is where that truck entered Bourbon Street in the early morning hours of the New Year. There was a police vehicle here, essentially stationed as a makeshift barrier as some of the city's previously installed barriers were under repair.
But even if a vehicle took up this entire street, you can see there still was a good amount of space to go around that onto the sidewalk, which, as we know from video, is essentially what happened.
Now you see some yellow temporary barriers on the sidewalk but those were not there when this attack unfolded.
The city police department has made clear in recent days that barriers previously installed to try and prevent vehicles from coming down the street were under repair ahead of February's Super Bowl in the city and many of the current measures in place are temporary.
But going back years to 2019, a private security firm warned the risk of terrorism, including by vehicular attacks, remained, quote, highly possible and recommended the vertical safety structures that can move up and down, known as bollards, be fixed and improved immediately. That didn't happen.
KING: It's still a bit unclear as to what took so long. We are definitely going to look into this as a council to figure out who had the contracts. If they were tied up, tied up where?
Why was this moving forward?
JIMENEZ: For some business owners who were open at the time of the attack?
CHARLES WEBER, CO-OWNER, THE ALIBI BAR AND GRILL: It was traumatic. You know, it wasn't just like a random shooting or something or whatever. This was like you were seeing it all down the street.
JIMENEZ: The extra barricades are a welcome sight for him.
WEBER: It's very nice to see them. And we know we have more to go. I'm happy to see them all. And I'm happy to see, you know, all the police officers.
JIMENEZ: Now obviously here in New Orleans, we've got the Super Bowl in a month. So I actually asked that city councilman if he feels satisfied with the security measures in place right now.
Well, he said those sidewalk archers are just a start for the wider safety picture that he wants to see. But then on the up and down bollards that were being repaired at the time of this attack, that approval for repair only went into effect in November but it was known they weren't effective for years. So why the delay? Well, we learned Friday that the city council is putting in place a fact finding committee to try and answer just that -- Omar Jimenez, CNN, New Orleans.
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PLEITGEN: The FBI says the man who blew up that Tesla Cybertruck in Las Vegas suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and wrote about his political grievances before the incident.
Police say Matthew Alan Livelsberger shot himself in the head just before the truck exploded outside the Trump hotel, injuring seven people.
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In writings on his cell phone, Livelsberger, a decorated U.S. Army Green Beret, said the incident was intended as, quote, "a wakeup call and not a terrorist attack."
He expressed support for president-elect Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Authorities say family issues or personal grievances in his life may also have been factors in the incident. Livelsberger traveled from Colorado to Nevada to carry out the bombing.
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PLEITGEN (voice-over): This surveillance video shows him at an EV charging station in Arizona. The active duty soldier wrote that he needed to cleanse his mind of, quote, "the brothers I've lost" and relieve himself of what he says is "the burden of the lives that I took."
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PLEITGEN: And when we come back, he was the head of the last functioning medical facility in northern Gaza until an Israeli raid shut down the hospital and he was taken away. Now human rights groups are pushing Israel to reveal the whereabouts of Dr. Abu Safiya. That's up next.
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PLEITGEN: Welcome back.
Folks in the U.S. may be in the process of selling billions of worth of weapons to Israel.
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A government source tells CNN that the State Department has informally notified a House and Senate committee of the plan.
The sale of about $8 billion in arms would happen just weeks before U.S. President Joe Biden leaves office. The proposed weapons include air to air missiles, artillery shells and bombs.
The U.S. official said the proposed sale is to, quote, "support Israel's long term security."
Israeli officials are back in Doha as well, trying to hammer out a deal with Hamas. It's the first time the two sides have come together since the end of January. Since then, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has worsened considerably. Much of Gaza is becoming less livable as Israel continues to pound the enclave.
I want to bring in our own Paula Hancocks from Jerusalem, who's monitoring that situation.
Paula, there's so much at stake here, especially with the situation in Gaza worsening to such an extent.
What can these talks achieve?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, obviously the best case scenario is that it does secure that ever-elusive cease-fire, the release of hostages from Gaza, in conjunction with Palestinian prisoners being released. This is the end game.
But we have been at this process for many, many months now, that there have been these working level talks, as they are in Doha today, trying to bridge the gaps between Hamas and Israel.
Now we know that the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, convened a security cabinet meeting yesterday on Friday. And within that he agreed the mandate that the negotiators have, the parameters to what they can agree to at this point.
We have also heard from Hamas and they said that they confirmed their seriousness and their positivity in trying to secure this deal. They are working level talks at this point though. So they there are no individuals in Doha that are able to create any kind of breakthrough or sign on the dotted line, if you like.
So this is a process that we have been at many times. But obviously there are hopes that this time may be different and may be able to secure that ever elusive cease-fire.
Now we also know that Israel is coming under increasing pressure to reveal the whereabouts of a prominent Palestinian health director. This is Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya. He was detained in recent days when his hospital, Kamal Adwan, was closed down. And there are growing concerns about his well-being.
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HANCOCKS (voice-over): These are some of the last images of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya seen in public. The prominent Palestinian hospital director was arrested by the Israeli military late last month after a raid shut down Kamal Adwan, the last major functioning health facility in northern Gaza.
The question is, where is Dr. Abu Safiya now?
Physicians for Human Rights Israel have filed a petition with the country's top court, demanding his whereabouts after receiving conflicting information from the Israeli military.
An Arab Israeli lawmaker wrote to Israel's defense minister, asking the same question. Former detainees tell CNN he is being held in Sde Teiman detention center, notorious for human rights violations.
The IDF tells CNN Dr. Abu Safiya was, quote, "apprehended for suspected involvement in terrorist activities," accusing him of being part of Hamas. It provided no evidence to back up these claims.
Dr. Abu Safiya sent increasingly dire updates over recent months as Israel targeted the area around, then within his hospital, claiming it was a Hamas terrorist stronghold, a claim the hospital director called nonsense. He repeatedly called for aid, refusing to leave at a deep personal cost.
He lost his son in an Israeli airstrike. U.N. experts say they are gravely concerned about his fate. Amnesty has called him the voice of Gaza's decimated health sector.
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HANCOCKS: Now the U.N. has said that the closing of the Kamal Adwan hospital has put some 75,000 Palestinians still in northern Gaza at risk -- Fred.
PLEITGEN: Paula Hancocks there for us in Jerusalem, thank you very much.
And some encouragement: if you're taking part in Dry January, the surgeon general issued a new alcohol warning and called for a new measure to inform people about the danger. That is coming up next.
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PLEITGEN: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Fred Pleitgen in London and this is the CNN NEWSROOM.
America's top doctor is putting the spotlight on growing evidence of a link between alcohol and cancer. The U.S. surgeon general warns that even drinking small amounts of alcoholic beverages could increase your risk of developing the potentially deadly disease. CNN's Brian Todd has more. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Straight off the holiday partying season, a stark warning about the effects of alcohol from America's top doctor. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy today issued a warning that alcohol consumption can increase our risk of cancer and Dr. Murthy called for new warning labels on alcoholic beverages.
DR. BENJAMIN WEINBERG, GASTROINTESTINAL MEDICAL ONCOLOGIST, MEDSTAR GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: I think it really helps raise awareness that alcohol is a risk factor for certain diseases, including cancer and that even lower levels of alcohol use can still be associated with the development of certain cancers.
TODD: The Surgeon General's Office says alcohol is now the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, behind tobacco and obesity.
Dr. Murthy said in a statement that alcohol is responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths every year in the U.S. compared to 13,500 deaths associated with alcohol-related vehicle crashes every year.
Dr. Murthy says a majority of Americans are unaware of this risk. How ignorant of it have we been?
WEINBERG: Yes, so he showed in his survey data that less than half of Americans were aware that alcohol is a risk factor for the development of cancers, whereas more Americans were knowledgeable about other things, such as radiation, tobacco smoke, ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
TODD: The surgeon general's advisory says the link between alcohol consumption and cancer risk is well-established for at least seven types of cancer breast, colorectal, esophagus, liver, mouth, throat and the larynx or voice box.
We asked MedStar Georgetown oncologist, Dr. Benjamin Weinberg, what exactly alcohol does to the body to cause some cancers.
WEINBERG: Alcohol is broken down into acetaldehyde, which is a breakdown product that can inadvertently cause DNA damage, directly hurting our cells and sometimes causing cells to grow rapidly, causing cancers.
Another mechanism is that it can they can induce inflammation, which can be bad for our cells and also bad for our DNA. They can also raise levels of certain hormones.
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Like estrogen, which have specifically been linked to the development of breast cancers.
TODD: Is any amount of booze OK?
Does moderate drinking say two drinks a day for men, one for women raise our risk?
WEINBERG: I would say try to drink one drink or less per day and one drink to keep in mind is five ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer, 1.5 ounces of spirit. It's not a bottle of alcohol. It's not a six pack of beer. So people need to be aware of those quantities.
TODD (voice-over): And some of the major spirits companies have been preparing for this news.
Top brewers Molson Coors and Anheuser-Busch InBev and major spirits producers Diageo and Pernod Ricard have all been boosting their portfolios of nonalcoholic drinks to address an increasing number of consumers who are ditching alcohol.
TODD: Now as far as those new warning labels that Dr. Murthy is recommending are concerned, only Congress can mandate those.
On the question of whether the incoming Trump administration will support new labels, it is worth noting that President-elect Trump does not drink. And Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's choice for Health and Human Services Secretary, no longer drinks -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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PLEITGEN: And as that doctor said, very important to keep in mind a drink is not a six-pack of beer. The surgeon general's warning generally, though, comes at an interesting time regarding alcohol consumption trends, as our own Harry Enten explains.
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HARRY ENTEN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: If we look at the trend over just the last six years in terms of the percentage of Americans who believe that alcohol, even in moderation, is bad for your health, you look at those under the age of 35.
My goodness gracious, look at this, goes from 34 percent in 2018 to 65 percent, nearly doubling in just six years among those under the age of 35.
If you look at those age 35 and older, yes, you're seeing a climb but it's not to the same degree.
So the bottom line is here, Americans, more Americans are believing alcohol, even in moderation, is bad for you. And that is being driven primarily by those under the age of 35.
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PLEITGEN: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is shelling out more than $300 million to help monitor the bird flu and help prepare for potential outbreaks. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the risk to the general public is low.
But the Biden administration emphasized the importance of protecting human and animal health and, of course, food safety.
Still ahead, the U.N. says Gaza's health care system is, quote, "on the brink of collapse." A surgeon who has spent time there joins me next to speak about the human suffering she witnessed firsthand. Stay with us.
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PLEITGEN (voice-over): Welcome back, everyone. And we do have a developing story for you in South Korea, where opponents of the country's impeached president clashed with police outside his official residence a little while ago.
Video we just received shows police blocking the protesters and hustling some of them away. Investigators tried to serve an arrest warrant on president Yoon Suk-yeol at his residence yesterday. His security detail managed to stop them.
The warrant is valid until Monday and we're waiting to see if the authorities will try again. Yoon faces charges of abuse of power and orchestrating a rebellion following the martial law he briefly imposed last month.
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PLEITGEN: Staying in South Korea and investigators are hoping to get a better idea about what happened in the cockpit of the jetliner that crashed there last week. In the coming hours, officials expect to compile the entire transcript from the plane's cockpit voice recorder.
The plane's other black box, the flight data recorder, will be analyzed in the United States. The Jeju Air Boeing 737 crashed while making an emergency landing last week, killing 179 people on board. Two crew members survived. The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
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PLEITGEN: This week, the United Nations warned that Israeli attacks on Gaza's hospitals have pushed its health care system, quote, "to the brink of total collapse." The U.N. human rights agency documented more than 130 strikes on nearly 40 medical facilities between October 2023 and June 2024.
The report says hundreds of health and medical professionals have been killed, as well as patients and civilians and the situation has reached, quote, "a catastrophic level." Israel claims Hamas uses hospitals as cover for military purposes but
the U.N. found these claims, quote, "vague and broad and, in some cases, appear contradicted by publicly available information."
The Israeli envoy to the United Nations in Geneva claims the report is, quote, "politically driven."
The report comes as the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees says there's an urgent need for winter supplies in Gaza. UNWRA says severe cold has resulted in the death of several Palestinians, including at least five babies. The Gaza's -- and Gaza's civil defense says more than 1,500 tents and shelters were flooded after heavy rain.
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PLEITGEN: And I want to bring in Ana Jeelani, who's a pediatric orthopedic surgeon. She's been to Gaza twice in the current conflict in her work with the British charity group Medical Aid for Palestinians. She joins me now live this hour from Manchester in England.
Thank you very much for joining me, Dr. Jeelani. And I want to get to your experiences in Gaza in a second. But first of all, I think you were -- last time you were there was October. Describe for me how difficult it is to get in there.
Because when we hear doctors are getting into Gaza, we always think medical care will improve. But in many cases, it's difficult to even bring some of the instruments they need.
DR. ANA JEELANI, PEDIATRIC ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON, MEDICAL AID FOR PALESTINIANS: Yes. So I've been to Gaza twice. The first time we went through Rafah and the second time we went through Allenby and the Kerem Shalom crossing.
And the second time, particularly in October, when there are more restrictions and we were told not to take any medical equipment, we could only take personal medication, our bags were checked.
And it's incredibly difficult. We're going in without any of our tools, even simple things like bandages and medications, paracetamol. We could not take anything in. And that was stipulated by COGAT, who coordinate our movements inside Gaza.
PLEITGEN: From your perspective and your experience, then, when you were there, what is the state of the medical sector in Gaza?
As far as the current state of the hospitals, many of which are partially or completely destroyed but also the availability of medicines and other things that you were already alluding to a little bit.
JEELANI: It's completely destroyed. And I've come from a vantage point where I've seen the system in March and then I've seen it again a couple of months later. And it's horrific. There is very -- it's very difficult to sustain life in Gaza in the hospitals. There's constant bombardments. There's the threat to medical personnel.
A lot of the staff that I worked with in October themselves had been arrested or detained. And during the siege of Nasser Hospital, which is where I was the second time, you know, patients have no food. There's -- the availability of clean water is sparse.
As an orthopedic surgeon, we use plates, we use screws. And, you know, none of that was available. And I was operating on a child, trying to save their leg and wanted to insert some antibiotics locally into the area.
[05:45:03]
And I was told, we don't know when the next shipment will come. We cannot use this antibiotic on this child.
So everything that you try and do as a surgeon to sustain life, it felt like there was always an obstacle and it seemed very by design that we could not provide the best services.
And it's shocking. It's absolutely shocking. The amount of mass casualties that we were dealing with, if those mass casualties were dealt in any developed world, the system would be, you know, overwhelmed. But in Gaza, you know, those mass casualties are sometimes twice a day. And it's terrible.
PLEITGEN: What can you do, if I may ask, when you don't have the gear that you need, when you don't have the medication you need?
How do you help that child who can't get those antibiotics?
What if you don't have those screws that you need to, for instance, heal a leg?
JEELANI: Yes. So you have to be inventive. You have to think of ways that you can overcome it. And unfortunately, those patients will succumb to infections, will succumb to amputations that could have been avoided if we had the right equipment and the right kit.
So a lot of the statistics that you see of amputations, it's because we don't have the surgeries and the kit and the equipment to do the primary surgeries. And so unfortunately, for that child, it was an amputation that could have been completely avoided if we had the medical equipment.
PLEITGEN: How do you think that the situation -- or how do you see the situation getting worse as winter drags on?
Because obviously, also in Gaza, in the Middle East, it is a very cold time of year. We saw that some of those tents were washed away by flooding.
What is that going to do to an already vulnerable population?
JEELANI: It completely decimates it. And in surgery, we have the triad of trauma. So the trauma triad of death. And part of it is hypothermia. So if you are cold, your body does not clot. You do -- you don't stop bleeding.
And when you don't stop bleeding, your muscles don't get oxygen. And then you die. And it's a well-known thing in the medical world. So you know, all these injuries that are coming in, that are still constant bombardments that are happening and constant shelling attacks by quadcopters and sniper shots that we see in the hospitals.
All of these children and men and women that are sustaining these injuries are not going to survive. And part of that is because they are cold. It's not just the patients. A lot of the people who work in hospitals, the healthcare workers, they've been displaced. They're in those tents.
I remember a colleague of mine saying he couldn't come to work that day because his tent had completely washed away and he'd lost all of his belongings. So it's not only the patients but it's the people who are trying, you know, regardless of the circumstance, to provide healthcare that are being affected.
And the cold just compounds all of this. And we've seen reports of, you know, babies dying of hypothermia. It's cold. I was there in March the first time. And, you know, the nights were cold. And so I can't imagine currently how cold it is.
PLEITGEN: One final question, what are the Israeli authorities doing to relieve the situation or at least at least help in the situation, get medicine in?
JEELANI: So on the ground, I did not see any evidence of any help. And I can only talk about my own experience. I didn't see any way that even when, you know, the polio vaccination was going on, we were still getting children who'd -- there was a ceasefire at that time, partial, that had, you know, had their polio vaccination.
And then the evening they'd come back in with horrific injuries and sometimes they'd been killed. So on the ground, I did not see any help from the Israeli authorities.
PLEITGEN: Ana Jeelani, thank you very much for joining us from Manchester.
And we will be right back.
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PLEITGEN: Welcome back. And we are turning to sports now. And the NBA, where six-time all-star Jimmy Butler has been voicing his displeasure with the Miami Heat, indicating this week that he wants a trade from the team.
Joining me now from New York is CNN sports correspondent Carolyn Manno.
And Carolyn, the Heat are responding with a pretty strong and costly message to Butler.
CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: They are, Fred. I mean, the rumor mill has really been swirling around Butler's future with the team for the last month or so.
And now it seems that this is not going to be resolved in an amicable way. After reportedly asking the team for a trade, Butler doubled down on that request publicly.
On Thursday, he told reporters after a loss that he wants to get his joy back from playing basketball and that he really cannot envision that happening while still on Miami's roster.
So Miami is now suspending Butler seven games. The team citing actions detrimental to the team over the course of the season and in particular the last few weeks. This all comes as the Heat are in the middle of a playoff race right now, currently the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference.
So much more to come on this story as those two continue to battle.
In the meantime, the list of accolades for LeBron James keeps growing, despite leading what feels like pretty much every statistical category in the league right now. There had been one milestone that had eluded the global superstar.
Michael Jordan played in almost 500 fewer games than LeBron but he still held the scoring record for the most career 30-point games. Now LeBron James owns that one, too.
After a 30-point effort in the Lakers' 119-102 win over Atlanta on Friday night, he now has 563 30-point games to date and counting for King James. Just incredible longevity that he has had in his career.
Elsewhere, the final week of the NFL's regular season kicks off later on Saturday with two games. You've got a divisional doubleheader, both with huge playoff implications. A Ravens win over the Browns in the early game earns them the AFC North title and the three seed. A loss would open the door for the Steelers to win it in the late game.
However, the team is playing Joe Burrow and the Bengals, so that is a tough task. After starting the season 1-4, they are now riding a four- game win streak and at 8-8, they also need wins and losses by the Broncos and Dolphins if they want to keep their long shot playoff hopes alive.
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JOE BURROW, QUARTERBACK, CINCINNATI BENGALS: Yes, it's not great. We put ourselves in this spot so we can't complain about it. But we can control what we can control and that's going out and trying to win a game on Saturday night.
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MIKE TOMLIN, HEAD COACH, PITTSBURGH STEELERS: Certainly they're a motivated group.
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Trying to play their way into this tournament. But certainly we're a motivated group to be quite honest with you. We got to get the stench of the last few performances off of us.
And there's no better way to do that than a home divisional win versus a formidable group going into the tournament.
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MANNO: It's going to be fun.
Before we go, Fred, we need to share with you and our viewers maybe one of the most unique traditions in college football. It's certainly the most stomach churning. I'll try to get through this as best I can.
That is University of Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck getting an entire jug of mayo poured on him after his team won their postseason bowl game. The game is sponsored by the Duke's mayo company, which explains the mayonnaise bath.
But it does not explain why Fleck is so excited. College football is quirky in this way. I'm trying not to look at it, to be honest, because it's not something that I'm particularly interested in seeing.
But a little bit of fun in the college game and a lot to look forward to on the NFL side.
PLEITGEN: I was thinking of dipping my fries on that guy after he got hit with that mayo. But I have to say, those AFC North games, that sounds absolutely amazing. All those teams or even the Browns are still dangerous, even though they're out of it. That defense is definitely something to contend with.
Thank you very much, Carolyn, for that update.
And a poignant scene at the White House as President Biden honored seven Americans with a Medal of Honor. Six of the U.S. Army soldiers were recognized posthumously decades after their actions during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. The seventh attended the ceremony in person.
The Medal of Honor is the nation's highest military award for valor. It honors members of the armed forces for risking their life above and beyond the call of duty. Mr. Biden will award the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to 19 people today, including former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
And that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fred Pleitgen. For viewers in North America. "CNN THIS MORNING" is next. For the rest of the world, it is "CNN Academy." Stay tuned.
