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CNN This Morning

BBC Journalist Beaten & Kicked as Protests Spread in China; Iran Calls for U.S. to Be Banned from World Cup; Pilot, Passenger Alive after Plane Gets Tangled in Power Lines; NFL Free Agent Beckham Jr. Kicked Off Flight; Trump Under Fire for Dinner with White Supremacist. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired November 28, 2022 - 06:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It's Monday after Thanksgiving. I hope you're well fed and plump like me. Look.

[06:00:02]

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) this weekend.

COLLINS: No one looks plump.

LEMON: Barely. Barely.

COLLINS: It's Monday morning.

LEMON: You had a good Thanksgiving? We missed you.

HARLOW: Home in Minnesota. It was so wonderful. And without me you guys matched. You literally wore the same outfit Friday?

LEMON: I know. I saw you hanging out with your family.

COLLINS: That was a great weekend.

LEMON: Alabama lost.

COLLINS: I didn't make it home for Thanksgiving, but I made it home for the leftovers.

HARLOW: Alabama won, Vikings won. What happened to LSU?

LEMON: I don't know. Did they play this weekend? I have no idea.

Listen, we've got a lot to get to this morning. It is November 28th. It's Monday morning.

Rare protests and clashes with police now spreading all across China. The crowds fed up with COVID restrictions and calling for their president to step down. We're going to take you live to Beijing.

COLLINS: Also this morning, it's an incredible rescue, this video from a power line. A small plane crashing into an electrical tower with two people dangling about 100 feet from the ground. We'll tell you how rescuers pulled them both out alive.

HARLOW: Also, hosting a Holocaust denier at Mar-a-Lago for dinner. We're going to explain to you who Nick Fuentes is and why did this meeting even happen in the first place. That is the lingering huge question this morning. We have this and many more stories covered from coast to coast.

LEMON: OK, but we're going to begin with the unprecedented protests erupting across China, including the capital, Beijing, and the country's financial center, Shanghai.

Demonstrators by the thousands demanding an end to zero-COVID restrictions, others calling for democracy and political freedoms.

The Chinese people have been subjected to harsh lockdowns, and they are angry. Some even calling for President Xi Jinping to step down.

That can be a very dangerous thing to say publicly in China. The police response has been brutal, video showing chaotic scenes of protesters being pushed, dragged, and beaten.

And also watch this. The moment a BBC reporter was taken into custody in Shanghai.

So here's what the BBC is saying: that journalist Ed Lawrence was kicked and handcuffed for hours before being released. Selina Wang is live for CNN this morning in Beijing.

Hello to you. These protests are historic. What is going on there?

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, it is surreal, unbelievable.

Last night, I was in the middle of a protest in Beijing, not just against COVID but against the regime itself. This happening in an authoritarian country where dissent is not tolerated and brutally quashed.

So last night, I went to where the crowds of people were gathering. This was in a central area of Beijing. Lots of mostly young people there for hours in the cold. They were chanting over and over, "We don't want COVID tests. We want freedom. We want to be unsealed."

Many people there also holding white papers in their hands. That is a sign of solidarity against censorship. They sang and cheered. Lots of cars were driving by honking in support. I spoke to a few protesters, including one, and I asked him how he was feeling. This is what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I'm overwhelmed. Every conscientious Chinese should be here. They don't have to voice their opinions, but I hope they can stand with us. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WANG: And, Don, there was a heavy police presence there the entire time, but after 2 a.m., you saw rows of police, masses of them filing in, pushing everybody back. Basically, forming a wall to get us to disperse.

An unprecedented level of public dissent here, Don, since Xi Jinping took power a decade ago, and not just happening in these big cities but really, across the country.

COLLINS: And Selina, we also understand that a BBC reporter was arrested, was beaten by the authorities. What are they saying about that this morning, and has he been released?

WANG: Yes, the BBC is saying that he was held for several hours, that he was released. During that arrest, he was beaten and kicked by the police, they said in their statement,

The BBC says they received no official explanation or apology from the Chinese authorities. And this is what the U.K. business secretary said. He said, quote, "There can be absolutely no excuse whatsoever for a journalist that was simply covering the process going on for being beaten by police."

Now, video showed that there was a more violent response at the Shanghai protests, many scenes of arrests, police pushing, dragging, and beating people.

LEMON: All right. Selina Wang, thank you very much.

COLLINS: -- Ed Lawrence for the BBC. Yes.

HARLOW: All right. A critical soccer match has really been overshadowed by what has turned into a geopolitical standoff on the world stage at the World Cup.

Iran this morning is demanding the United States be kicked out of the World Cup entirely. This is after the U.S. Soccer Federation changed the Iranian flag on all of its social media platforms ahead of this match. The move was meant to show support for women protesting for human rights in Iran.

The countries play tomorrow. The U.S. essentially needs to win to advance.

Amanda Davies is live for CNN this morning in Doha, Qatar.

Good morning to you.

Iran says the U.S. cannot play and needs to get out of the tournament. And U.S. Soccer is speaking out, explaining why it did this.

Good morning, poppy. U.S. Soccer saying this is a show of support for women in Iran, fighting for basic human rights.

[06:05:13]

We know there was always going to be a political backdrop to this match between Iran and the USA. But on Sunday, U.S. Soccer bringing the politics very much to the forefront with this action. They've said it's a one-time move for 24 hours. And it's only on their social media platforms that they've changed the logo.

Iran, for their part, calling for the U.S. to be thrown out of this World Cup, to be handed a ten-match suspension. FIFA, world football's governing body, as yet haven't commented.

And whilst U.S. soccer haven't revealed who was behind the decision, how many people were involved in taking this moment, as so often is left to the players to publicly front up and speak. And this is what U.S. defender Tim Ream had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM REAM, U.S. DEFENDER, U.S. MEN'S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM: Like I said, we support women's rights. We always have, always will. That -- that message will -- will remain consistent. And what we're doing as a team is supporting that while also trying to prepare for the biggest game this squad has had to date.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

A. DAVIES: It is the biggest game that this squad has had to date. But the U.S. boss, Gregg Berhalter, and his Iranian counterpart, Carlos Queiroz, fronting out to the media a little bit later on Monday.

You suspect this will be the topic that dominates the headlines, despite the high-stake consequences of Tuesday's game.

HARLOW: Yes. We've -- as we've learned through this World Cup, it is about so much more than soccer. Thank you, Amanda, very much.

So joining us now to talk about all of this and for perspective is former men's national team player, Charlie Davies.

Thank you so much for being on set with us.

You saw Amanda's report there, and now you're seeing Iran say that the U.S. should be kicked out of this altogether. What do you think of all this?

CHARLIE DAVIS, FORMER U.S. MEN'S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM: Well, for me, if I was a player in that locker room, I would think that this is distraction. This is an opportunity for Iran to try and take all the focus that the U.S. Men's National team had on this game, knowing that it's win or go home, to try to throw that doubt into the locker room; to make them start talking about other things rather than going out and winning this game.

HARLOW: You think that's what Iran is trying to do?

C. DAVIES: I do. HARLOW: But the bigger message here and what the United States has

done and taken a stand for human rights in this way. You've played 17 times on the national team.

C. DAVIES: Yes.

HARLOW: Are you proud to see this?

C. DAVIES: I am. I mean, I got to represent the U.S. in the Olympics in Beijing in 2008. So I know what a sport can do for a country, what the sport can do for the world, and how it unites.

And you look at the U.S. Women's National Team, what they've been able to do --

HARLOW: Yes.

C. DAVIES: -- in terms of fighting for -- for equity and equality. So it's one of those things where I can't speak for U.S. Soccer, but I am proud to be a part of U.S. Soccer and to represent our sport for -- in this country.

LEMON: You can speak for yourself, right?

C. DAVIES: Yes.

LEMON: So it's -- I mean, it's a little bit different now, right? Kind of Monday morning quarterbacking.

C. DAVIES: Yes.

LEMON: But if you were there, what do you think you would do?

C. DAVIES: Well, I'd be talking with my teammates for sure and saying, you know, this is great that we are using our sport to try and help women across the globe.

But at the same time, we have to go out there and win this game. And if we can win this game and go as far as we can, then we can continue to bring up these topics.

I think the Iranian women right now are the focus across the world right now because of this sport, because of Iran being in the World Cup, which is awesome, which is the idea is to bring up these topics, so many different topics with Qatar hosting this World Cup.

But I think what these players are doing, especially the Iranian players, to go against a lot of what their country is telling them to do, is --

LEMON: You really think you have this much spotlight if you -- afterwards? Because the world's attention, I don't think, will be focused on the American team afterward, not to the extent that it is now. You think -- you think the impact is now?

C. DAVIES: I think now and in the future. I think for the U.S. Men's National Team, they have a job, and that is to win this game. At the same time, all these players are being more well-informed on women's rights. What Iran is bringing to the table. What they're trying to do. They're trying to win, as well.

I mean, the ultimate goal for Iran is to continue to progress through the World Cup so that this topic can continue to be talked about.

COLLINS: Yes. What's kind of been your takeaway as you've been watching this overall? Because it has been all of these off-the-field controversies that they've been dealing with, in a way that they did not want to deal with. But that has really kind of overshadowed a lot of the actual games that we've been seeing.

C. DAVIES: For me, I've absolutely loved these games. There's been so many goals and so many exciting moments for the fans to come together.

This is why the World Cup is so special, because you have so many different people from all the countries in the world that are participating coming together. That's what's so special about it.

[06:10:07]

And I think we've seen that, whether it's Argentina and Mexico, and that big rivalry. Now with U.S./Iran. The fans coming together in the same stadium, and they're celebrating the sport together.

HARLOW: On the flight home, guys, on Thursday, on Thanksgiving, the whole plane was watching the World Cup. My husband, obviously, was watching the Serbia match.

LEMON: Yes.

HARLOW: Very upset about that.

COLLINS: The U.S. played that afternoon.

HARLOW: Yes. Yes, and then U.S. played, you know, the next day. And you have said that going into this match tomorrow against Iran, the U.S. has to play like they did against the U.K., right? What is that like?

C. DAVIES: In terms of the intensity, they have to be aggressive and attack. Against Wales in the first 45 minutes, it was spectacular. You got the goal; they're up 1-0.

But then they went into defensive mode. We took our foot off the gas, and we allowed Wales to build that confidence and start to attack us. Because we were just focused on protecting the lead, instead of extending the lead.

So against Iran, similar to how England came out and whooped them, 6- 2, we have to do the same thing. Just be aggressive, be proactive. And I think if we do that, we win this game.

LEMON: Any predictions?

C. DAVIES: Yes. Two-one in. Two-one in for the U.S.

COLLINS: All right, Charlie. Thank you so much. These are really important topics, so thanks for joining us.

C. DAVIES: Thank you for having me.

LEMON: Thank you very much.

So a white supremacist and a Holocaust denier dining with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Why the ex-president is now lashing out at Kanye West.

Plus --

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Two people were in a plane crash in high-tension wires, hundreds of feet up. How firefighters were able to make the incredible rescue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:16:07]

LEMON: OK, can you look at this? That is real. It's not a kite. That is real. It's an incredible rescue in Maryland overnight. Nothing short of miraculous.

So luckily, fire crews were able to remove both the pilot of the small plane and the passenger, who were trapped for seven hours after they crashed into power lines in Montgomery County, Maryland, on Sunday evening.

Want to go there now with CNN's Pete Muntean.

Good morning to you, Pete. Good morning for the folks who are rescued. Right? Obviously, the incident is terrible. How were they able to make this rescue happen?

MUNTEAN: Indeed and good morning, Don.

For those folks who are now on the ground after those long, cold, dark hours in that single engine plane that rescuers left purposefully the folks inside dangling there for hours as they tried to figure out how to safely cut off the power of these high-tension wires.

This plane crashed into these wires. They're critical wires, used by PEPCO, at about 5:30 last night.

But it wasn't until well after midnight that the crews were able to start this rescue. They came up using a cherry picker and were able to get the pilot and passenger off one by one. That process, in and of itself, took about an hour.

What is so interesting here is that the ground crews were able to communicate with those on board the plane using a cell phone. And incredibly, they weren't all that hurt.

I want you to listen now to one of the 100 firefighters who are on the scene here, who says it really wasn't until folks were on the ground that they were able to learn the true extent of their injuries. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF SCOTT GOLDSTEIN, MONTGOMERY COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: Both patients have been transported from the scene to local area trauma centers with serious injuries. There is a hypothermia issue, as well, but there's also orthopedic and trauma injuries from the crash.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: What is also so interesting here, Don, is that that plane was removed from the power lines around 2 this morning. The FAA and the NTSB will investigate.

Really out-sized impact of this crash here. About 120,000 people at one point were without power here in Montgomery County, one of the wealthiest counties in the U.S. Not to mention the fact that, at one point schools were closed.

In fact, they will still be closed, even though the power has been restored to so many people here in Montgomery County.

This is a huge issue here, Don. Power lines were out. Traffic lights were out. This was a huge problem last night.

Things are getting back to normal now, though. PEPCO here is on the scene, trying to restore the power to folks and also making some repairs here to the infrastructure that the plane crashed into and make sure that things are fully safe and back to normal.

COLLINS: Pete, I know the investigation is still under way. It's only been a few hours since this accident happened. But you're a pilot. How could you see something like this happening?

MUNTEAN: I think the thing that investigators will have to key in on here first is the weather. In fact, it was so bad here last night that commercial flights going into Reagan National Airport at some points couldn't get in.

So at one point the weather here was only about 200 overcast, meaning there was a cloud layer only 200 feet above the ground here. The airport nearby here, the Montgomery County airport, only about a mile away. So the question is the pilot's decision making.

Why did they choose to press on when the weather was so poor here last night, and could they see these high-tension wires as they were trying to come into land.

COLLINS: Yes. A lot of fog. Pete Muntean, thank you.

HARLOW: Well, this morning, we're learning a lot more about why NFL player Odell Beckham Jr. was kicked off an American Airlines flight. This happened in Miami on Sunday morning. And the flight crew says that he didn't respond to requests to fasten

his seat belt. Beckham's lawyer says his client was sleeping, and this was just a case of a flight attendant being overzealous.

[06:20:02]

Let's go to our Leyla Santiago. She joins us live from Miami International. What happened, Leyla?

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Poppy, it was just around this time about 24 hours ago that Odell Beckham Jr. was about to get on a flight to go to L.A., ultimately being escorted by police off that flight. They're saying that he failed to comply with safety protocols.

So as you mentioned, very different takes on what happened. Let's go ahead and read together the statement from Miami-Dade Police as to what they saw happened.

They say, "The flight crew was concerned for a passenger (Mr. Odell Beckham Jr.), as they tried to wake him to fasten his seat belt. He appeared to be coming in and out of consciousness prior to their departure. Upon the officers' arrival, the flight crew asked Mr. Beckham several times to exit the aircraft, which he refused. The aircraft was deplaned at which time Mr. Beckham was asked to exit the plane, and did so without incident."

We should mention, at this point, no indication of any sort of charges or investigation. But quite a different take from his attorney, because he's saying that this wasn't necessary at all.

HARLOW: Is Beckham saying anything himself this morning?

SANTIAGO: Yes. So he tweeted. Right around the time that this happened, he tweeted out and said, "Never in my life have I experienced what just happened to me. I have seen it all." That was tweeted right around the time that many folks watched as officers pulled him off that plane. Again, without incident.

So let's get the details from his side. Because his attorney explains it, as you said, as an overzealous flight attendant, saying, "The overzealous flight attendant refused to simply allow Mr. Beckham to fasten his seat belt and proceed with the flight and instead removed everyone from the plane," again, calling it completely unnecessary. Sort of painting the picture of he was just asleep.

HARLOW: OK. Leyla Santiago, many more answers needed, I think. Thanks for your reporting from Miami -- Kaitlan.

COLLINS: All right. Former President Trump is now attempting to explain why he hosted a Holocaust for dinner at Mar-a-Lago. We'll get reaction from a former Trump administration official, who is also Jewish.

LEMON: Plus, racism, homophobia, and torture. The conditions Brittney Griner is likely to face in a Russian penal colony. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[06:26:46]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, what do you think of Donald Trump having dinner with a white nationalist? What do you think about it, sir?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You don't want to hear what I think.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Former President Trump is under fire this morning for turning a blind eye to bigotry after he dined with an outspoken anti-Semite and unabashed racist at his private club last Tuesday night. Trump says Nick Fuentes, who is one of the country's most prominent young white supremacists, was a guest of his guest, Kanye West.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KANYE WEST, RAPPER: So Trump is really impressed with Nick Fuentes. And Nick Fuentes, unlike so many of the lawyers and so many people that he was left with on his 2020 campaign, he's actually a loyalist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: In three statements issued on Friday, the former president, who recently announced his third bid for the White House, sought to defend himself, arguing that he had, quote, "never met and knew nothing about Fuentes beforehand" and that the dinner was initially supposed to be just him and Kanye West, who also, as you know, has his own history of anti-Semitic remarks.

While it remains how -- unclear how much Trump knew about Nick Fuentes and his pretty well-documented bigotry, before their dinner, he hasn't denounced Fuentes' views in those statements. And if you're not familiar, Fuentes is this high-profile figure on the far right, a Holocaust denier.

But he's best known for running the America First Organization, which according to the ADL, quote, "seeks to forge a white nationalist alternative to the mainstream GOP."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK FUENTES, WHITE NATIONALIST AND HOLOCAUST DENIER: We've got the white Christian men that built this country the first time, and we'll do it again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Fuentes attended the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. He also recently called for the military to be sent into black neighborhoods.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FUENTES: Just send the military in. Do what must be done. Send the military into these black neighborhoods, make the streets safe. They'll complain about it. It doesn't -- it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. They're never going to vote for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: CNN is told Trump found Fuentes very interesting during their dinner. And Fuentes praised Trump when he ad-libs his speeches. That led the former president to tell other people at the table, quote, "He gets me," according to "The New York Times."

The dinner is the latest instance in which the former president has been criticized for failing to condemn supporters who promote white nationalism. Probably the best known was after the aftermath of that rally in Charlottesville, when Trump said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Excuse me.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: And you had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: As you'll recall, Trump also faced criticism for refusing to disavow former KKK leader, David Duke. He initially declined to condemn the Proud Boys, as when he was asked at a debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CROSSTALK)

BIDEN: The Proud Boys.

TRUMP: The Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: There's been silence from Republican leadership, but a handful of Republicans have criticized Trump for dining with Fuentes this weekend, like outgoing Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ASA HUTCHINSON (R-AR): No, I don't think it's a good idea for a leader that's setting an example for the country or the party to meet with avowed racists or anti-Semites.

[06:30:00]