Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Protestors Demand Netanyahu Change Tactics in Gaza; U.S. Defense Secretary in Israel for War Assessment; North Korea Tests Missile that Could Reach Whole U.S.; Trump Taking Migrant Rhetoric to Dark New Extremes. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired December 18, 2023 - 06:00   ET

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

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: Operate in Nebraska. O'Neal, the epitome of passion and perseverance. She was born with a congenital heart defect.

[06:00:07]

She had surgery as a kid, but then the issue came about again in college in 2019. She had to have another surgery. Doctors telling her she should give up the sport.

And instead, after months of rehab, she returned to the court, leading her Longhorns to a second straight national title. John, just recently, a week or so ago, she was the No. 1 pick in the new Pro Volleyball Federation. What a story to start our day.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST/ANCHOR: Thanks, Andy [SIC].

WIRE: You got it.

AVLON: Really appreciate it, man.

WIRE: You got it.

AVLON: Thanks for joining us. I'm John Avlon. CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. So glad you're with us. I'm Poppy Harlow with Phil Mattingly in New York. And there's a lot going on on this Monday, December the 18th.

Happening right now, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is back in Israel this morning, his visit part of the international pressure campaign on Israel to change its tactics in Gaza and to restart those truce talks. The growing protests coming after the killing of three hostages by Israeli soldiers.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: And one month from today, voters actually to start voting. It's the Iowa caucuses. Republican frontrunner Donald Trump using darker, more extreme rhetoric in that final sprint, the White House slamming Trump for what it calls fascist rhetoric.

HARLOW: And right now, a very powerful storm system barreling up the East Coast with heavy rain and gusting wind and the damage it left behind and the potential travel delays it could cause this busy holiday week.

CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

We begin with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meeting right now with Israel's defense minister. Pressure is growing on Israel to change its tactics in Gaza.

A senior defense official tells CNN that Austin wants a, quote, "very clear articulation" of Israel's war effort and strategic objectives. There were huge protests this weekend after three Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas were shot and killed in Northern Gaza.

MATTINGLY: Israel's military says it mistook Yotam Haim, Alon Shamriz, and Samer Talalka for Hamas members, even though they now said the men were waving a white flag as they approached Israeli soldiers.

And overnight, the IDF says it discovered what it calls the biggest Hamas tunnel in Gaza. It stretches two and a half miles long, 160 feet underground. The IDF says it's wide enough to drive a vehicle through, equipped with electricity, ventilation and communications systems. CNN could not independently verify those claims.

We start off this morning with CNN's Natasha Bertrand, who is live at the Pentagon; and CNN's Jeremy Diamond, who's live for us in Tel Aviv.

Jeremy, I want to start with you. It is tough to over-emphasize just how extreme the pressure has gotten on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, both domestically but also internationally. How big of an influence is that going to have in terms of what he does next?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's no question that Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government are coming under enormous international pressure, but in particular, the pressure from the United States is perhaps the one that can be the most effective.

That is, of course, because the United States is the biggest supplier of weapons and security assistance to the state of Israel, and they fully recognize here in Israel that they need U.S. support in order to continue this war against Hamas.

There has been a recognition among Israeli officials who I've been talking to for weeks now that, at the end of the day, if there is a clock that is ticking on this war. That clock is being run in Washington.

And so these meetings today between Secretary Austin and Israel's war cabinet, which follow discussions between Jake Sullivan, the national security advisor to President Biden, and the prime minister of Israel in the last few days.

All of these are part of a bigger picture and conversation about exactly what happens next. For the United States, they very much want to see a change in terms of what we're seeing in Gaza.

Fewer civilians killed, a less intensive bombing campaign, a less intense ground offensive, and instead, shifting to intelligence-driven raids to go after senior Hamas commanders.

But the question is when exactly will that happen? There's no question that the United States wants that to happen far sooner than Israel does.

And so the question is, will Israel bow to the pressure of the United States, and if so, how quickly?

HARLOW: And to that point, Natasha, this reporting that a senior defense official tells CNN Austin wants a, quote, "very clear articulation" of Israel's war efforts. What is he looking to hear today from the defense minister, from leadership there?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, exactly, what Jeremy laid out. He is hoping to get a sense from the Israeli war cabinet and Israel's defense minister just what their plan is for shifting to this lower intensity phase.

CNN first reported just earlier this month that this is something the administration was hoping that Israel would do, that they essentially assessed that the international support for Israel is running lower and lower, really by the day.

[06:05:03]

And so the time that Israel has to continue this massive large-scale operation in Gaza with the amount of air strikes and raids that it is doing there, really is running out.

And so the administration is looking for answers by the Israelis about how long they intend to maintain this phase inside Gaza with this large-scale offensive there. And Secretary Austin is going to be looking at what the plans are for the next phase of this operation, a more targeted phase, as Jeremy laid out.

Something that uses more specific intelligence to target the senior Hamas leaders in a way that is more contained and more limited.

MATTINGLY: Jeremy, we've been listening through the IDF about this tunnel they discovered. They say it's the biggest Hamas tunnel. What more do we know at this point about what it was actually used for?

DIAMOND: Yes. You know, typically, Phil, when we see images of Hamas tunnels that the Israeli military have discovered, they're the kind of narrow tunnels that you'd have to walk single-file down in order to get through. But this one is far different.

You can drive a large vehicle through it, according to the Israeli military. It reaches up to 50 meters underground. It's fully equipped with electronics systems, ventilation, communications systems.

Now, this tunnel doesn't actually cross into Israel from Gaza, but where it does emerge is about 400 meters away from the Erez crossing, which is one of the key crossing points between Israel and Gaza.

It's also where Hamas terrorists attacked on October 7th in order to get into Israel. It was one of the points that they used.

There's no evidence that this tunnel was used on October 7th at this point, in terms of what the Israel military has provided.

I also think it's interesting that the Israeli military also said that they actually discovered and secured this tunnel weeks ago, but they only chose to show it to the media and reveal these videos in the last few days.

I think that's also a sign of what the Israeli military wants the media to focus on. They want to push the conversation back in the direction of Hamas's infrastructure underground, what they've been able to accomplish.

And also the resources that they have used in Gaza rather than spending them on the people in Gaza is the key point the Israeli military wants to make.

HARLOW: That's really interesting, Jeremy. That they've had this for weeks and just released it.

Natasha to you, the U.S. military is saying that it shot down 14 drones in the Red Sea over the weekend. What more are we learning about another new attack today on a key U.S. asset there?

BERTRAND: Yes, Poppy, so over the weekend, a really significant escalation, where the USS Carney, which is in the Red Sea right now. Ot did shoot down 14 of those drones that were launched from Yemen.

And this is part of a wave, of course, of attacks we have seen from Houthi rebels operating in Yemen, who say they are going to continue to target international shipping as a way to respond to, retaliate against the international community and particularly the United States and Western support for Israel.

Now, we are getting word just this morning from a U.S. military official that yet another wave of attacks has occurred in the Southern Red Sea. The USS Carney responded to yet another distress call from a commercial ship operating in the Southern Red Sea.

Multiple projectiles were targeting that vessel, according to the military official.

But this all comes as the U.S. and the world are trying to figure out a solution to this major problem, something that is really causing an impediment to international shipping.

The third largest shipping company in the world actually has paused operations in the Red Sea because of all of these missiles, drones, and projectiles being launched from the Houthi rebels there.

In a statement, the largest, third largest shipping companies, CMA CGM said, quote, "We're deeply concerned about the attacks on commercial vessels unfolding in the Red Sea region. The situation is further deteriorating, and concern of safety is increasing." This is something that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will be

discussing with his counterparts in the region this week, trying to bolster a multinational naval task force that could better protect the ships that are operating in the region, guys.

HARLOW: Natasha, thank you for that update.

And Jeremy, thanks for the reporting, as well, from Israel. We'll get back to you soon.

MATTINGLY: Well, breaking overnight, Japan says North Korea test- launched a ballistic missile that has the potential to reach all of the United States, both West and East Coasts.

HARLOW: So this launch comes after the U.S. and South Korea met on Friday, emphasizing that any nuclear attack would be met with, quote, "swift, overwhelming, and decisive response."

Steven Jiang joins us live from Beijing. Is this new? This ability to reach not just the West Coast but the East Coast?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, Poppy, this was concerning, because that range you mentioned was just the initial assessment by the Japanese defense ministry, in terms of this potential range of over 9,000 miles.

But on this launch, though, this missile flew for 73 minutes and to an attitude of only 3,700 miles, and traveling a distance of about 620 miles before falling into the waters West of the Japanese island of Hokkaido.

And also, it's important to note here, because for it to reach the U.S., it needs to be fired at a flatter trajectory. And according to experts we talked to, this is an ability they have yet to prove. Because the North Koreans would have to ensure the warhead survived a much longer and shallower reentry into the atmosphere.

But still, if this is confirmed to be another ICBM, intercontinental ballistic missile, this would mark the third time they have conducted this kind of test just this year. First in April, then July, and then likely again on Monday.

[06:10:13]

This is also likely a solid-fueled missile. That's more advanced than the liquid fueled version, because they are more stable. They could be moved more easily to avoid detection and then they can be initiated within minutes, instead of hours' preparation needed for the liquid- fuel version.

All of that, of course, is pointing to this maturing, this growing reliability of their weapons program, which was very much illegal under very strict U.N. sanctions.

So that's why this is very concerning to the U.S. and its allies, this kind of provocation but also this kind of defiance and this kind of provocation at a time when the U.S. is very much preoccupied with two other wars in other parts of the world already -- Poppy.

MATTINGLY: All right. Steven Jiang, thank you.

HARLOW: Ahead for us, Donald Trump escalating his anti-immigration and pro-authoritarian rhetoric over the weekend; also defending the January 6th rioters as "hostages." What does that mean for the race for the White House?

MATTINGLY: And overnight, a scare for President Biden outside his campaign headquarters in Delaware. Spoiler: he's fine. But what we know about the car that crashed into his motorcade. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:15:04]

HARLOW: Welcome back. Donald Trump amping up his anti-immigrant rhetoric to new levels on the campaign trail. Just four weeks left until Iowa caucuses.

At a rally in Reno last night, Trump described the surge in migrants at the Southern border as an invasion. Remember, that's a word he's used before. He also vowed to launch the largest deportation operation in American history if re-elected. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is an invasion. This is like a military invasion. Drugs, criminals, gang members, and terrorists are pouring into our country at record levels. We've never seen anything like it. They're taking over our cities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Trump also defended fake electors in Nevada, who tried to help him cling to power after he lost the election by more than 7 million votes. They're set to be arraigned today, and Trump accused Democrats of weaponizing law enforcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They weaponized justice. They're a bunch of dirty players. Look at what they're doing right here to Michael and great people in this state. It's a disgrace. Joe Biden is a threat to democracy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Omar Jimenez here with us. Omar, the language is not surprising. He said things like invasion, et cetera, before. But it's obviously strategic for him, right?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, at this point, we're a month away from the Iowa caucuses, which is when we're actually going to get data from voters who are actually voting, as opposed to likely voters in the form of poles. And -- but if you look at those polls on the Republican side, former

President Donald Trump has clearly established himself as the person to beat.

And this weekend, I think we saw what is clearly a focal point of these final messages as we head into the Iowa caucuses.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Former President Donald Trump is zeroing in on his campaign message in the final weeks before the Iowa caucus.

TRUMP: Given the unprecedented billions of Biden illegal aliens who are invading our country, it is only common sense that, when I'm re- elected, we will begin -- and we have no choice -- the largest deportation operation in America.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): While holding rallies in two early voting states, he tapped into a similar immigration message that helped catapult him to the White House in 2016.

TRUMP: They're poisoning the blood of our country. That's what they've done. They've poisoned mental institutions and prisons all over the world.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Trump also praised dictators, claiming that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was, quote, "very nice," and he quoted Vladimir Putin.

TRUMP: Vladimir Putin. Has anybody ever heard of Vladimir Putin? Of Russia, says that Biden's -- and this is a quote -- politically- motivated persecution of his political rival is very good for Russia, because it shows the rottenness of the American political system.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): The Biden campaign responded forcefully, writing in a statement, "Donald Trump channeled his role models as he parroted Adolf Hitler, praised Kim Jong-un, and quoted Vladimir Putin while running for president on a promise to rule as a dictator and threaten American democracy."

Trump's GOP rival, Chris Christie, slammed the rhetoric and is calling out Nikki Haley for not condemning it.

CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's disgusting, and what he's doing is dog-whistling to Americans who feel absolutely under stress and strain from the economy and from the conflicts around the world.

Nikki Haley should be ashamed of herself, and she's part of the problem, because she's enabling him.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): He, Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, are locked in a race for second place. While speaking in Iowa, Haley singled DeSantis out for running negative ads against her.

NIKKI HALEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Ron DeSantis has not put one truthful ad up there about about me. He has spent millions of dollars against me. and while he's lying about me, I'm going to tell you the truth about him, because he doesn't want to hear it.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): And DeSantis continues his huge campaign push in Iowa.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've already done all 99 counties, and we're just going to keep going for good measure.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Despite a major setback in his political operation, after the sixth senior leader of the Never Back Down super PAC in support of him stepped down.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ (on camera): Now, look, I was talking to the head of the University of New Hampshire survey center recently. And New Hampshire comes after Iowa.

He reminded me that, at least in that state, upwards of 50 percent of voters typically don't make their decision until the final weekend before an election.

So a lot can happen, and a strong second place in any one of these early states, could send a message that messaging like what we saw from the former president this weekend is vulnerable and that it's anyone's race to win.

But obviously, a tall task for a lot of these campaigns at this point.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): No question about it. Omar Jimenez, thank you.

HARLOW: All right. Joining us now, CNN political commentator Jamal Simmons; former Republican strategist, now political strategist for both parties and pollster, Lee Carter; and Semafor reporter Shelby Tackett [SIC] -- Talcott.

Good morning, guys.

I'm going to ask you, as a former Republican strategist, now political strategist for both parties. Good morning.

Strategic, obviously, ahead of Iowa. But what's different, I think, this time than when he ran before, both times, is that he has laid out very clearly, he and his team, how they would implement these things, how a mass deportation would be -- the word he used a couple weeks ago? Camps. Right? How he would do it.

So it's not just rhetoric now.

LEE CARTER, POLITICAL STRATEGIST: It's not just rhetoric. And he's talking about action, and he's very, very specific about what he's going to do.

And I think polling suggest this is actually what Americans, or at least Republicans, want to hear. They want to hear this kind of strength in their leadership.

And so when everyone is attacking and saying this is authoritarian or they're saying that this is fascist, it actually could backfire against Republicans who are going to be more energized to support him.

Because the more you attack the people that support him, the more they're likely to dig their heels in and say, that's not what this is all about. I actually want -- you know, the number one issue to me is the economy; number two is immigration.

HARLOW: You don't have another "deplorables" moment.

CARTER: That's exactly right. Don't, don't, don't say "deplorables."

MATTINGLY: Shelby, can I -- strategically, I understand, you know, to Lee's point, where the stands and the ranking of Republican primary voters, the interest in the topic and the subject matter. But the language itself, to I think, an average person, a lot of it, particularly when you're talking about poisoning the blood and things like that, it -- it's abhorrent, to be completely candid.

Does it have any impact whatsoever when you talk to other Republican candidates? They look at that and say, there's an opportunity there.

SHELBY TALCOTT, REPORTER, "SEMAFOR": I actually kind of agree with what was just said. Not really because, again, so much of Republican voters are so concerned about the border. And this is exactly what they want.

And they also view Donald Trump's rhetoric, in particular, as sort of something that they just have to deal with when potentially voting for Donald Trump. They don't take it as seriously as, say, if Ron DeSantis or Nikki Haley said it, where it would be a little bit more out of character. And so I think that's important to keep in mind.

Now, my question is how does this kind of rhetoric affect Donald Trump's standing in a potential general election? I think -- I think those are the kinds of voters that would be wary of voting for him because of this kind of rhetoric.

But I don't think it's going to, and it hasn't yet affected him in a Republican primary.

JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, it's authoritarian. It's fascist. It's also racist, right?

I grew up in Detroit, Michigan, which is on the border with Canada. And let me tell you: Michigan is overrun by Canadians. They're coming in all the time. But nobody ever complains about Canadians coming in the country, right?

We're here in New York City. There are -- you know how many Eastern Europeans are working in bars and restaurants up and down in Washington, New York? Nobody ever complains about those people either.

This is really about the Southern border, which is really about Latino Americans, and that -- or Latinos who are coming across the Southern border.

I think that is the question that people --

CARTER: Well, the rhetoric's --

SIMMONS: -- hear and that's what recoils them. It's because they know, this isn't about the America we're becoming. This is not an America where everybody gets to participate. This is about an America Donald Trump wants to have, that stops people from being able to participate.

CARTER: I think the rhetoric has expanded, though. He's going well beyond Latinos and the Southern American border. He's starting to talk about how everyone is coming in.

And when he went in and he started talking about the blood and all of that, he wasn't just talking about South Americans. He was going all over the map.

And it was -- the rhetoric is -- I understand why people on its face say it's very dangerous. But you have to be careful when you criticize it, because you're going to be asking people to come to terms with the fact that you're calling them racists, that you're saying that they might be authoritarian. You're saying that they might be fascists.

And the sort of cognizant dissonance that you're asking somebody to go through to say that, if I believe that I must be like that, too, is just -- it's a step too far. You could talk about it being too much, the rhetoric itself, but be careful how you label it.

HARLOW: It's an interesting point, Jamal. How does the White House appropriately and most effectively thread the needle while also -- they put out this statement, right? Their response, they said it echoes "grotesque rhetoric of fascists and violent white supremacists threatening to oppress those who disagree with the government," they went on.

While also acknowledging what is a crisis at the Southern border. You cannot deny the numbers that are far beyond any point in the Trump administration. It's a -- here's what we're going to do about it.

SIMMONS: Here -- the -- the Democrats have been pushing a comprehensive immigration reform for a long time. Right? Everyone knows you've got to increase security at the border.

That's technology. It's some more agents. It's also figuring out a pathway to citizenship for people who are her.

The problem is the Republican solution is all of the enforcement mechanisms and none of the things that actually make it work.

I was on an airplane once, coming in from -- into Newark, and there was a guy sitting next to me who was speaking in Spanish. I speak just enough Spanish for us to be able to communicate.

He was with his son. They walked eight days, he told me, to get to the border, and they were being moved up to New Jersey, to come in. He called his wife on his cell phone and was planning at looking at New York City as they were flying in, and saying, "American dream, American dream" and wanted her to see it on face time while they were, like -- while they were on the plane.

[06:25:02]

What do we do about the people who are dying to get into this country. And they're going to come here; they're going to work hard. They're going to build families. That is the lifeblood of the American society. I think that's what Democrats know.

And the people who vote for Democrats are either people who are -- you know, they're diverse. They sort of care.

Or they are people who just think, like, yes, we ought to be an America where those folks get to come in here, and make the country better.

CARTER: And independents especially agree with you. Independents, one of the primary issues to them is -- is immigration, and they're incredibly disappointed that Joe Biden had all -- you know, he had every ability to be able to get the decision passed. He didn't deal with it.

And they look at that, and they say it's one of the biggest failings of this administration. And that is going to be a big problem for him, come -- come to the general election.

HARLOW: You guys stick around. We've got a lot more, obviously, to get to here with you. We're also tracking this really nasty storm, if you're just waking up on the East Coast this morning. Sixty million people up and down the coast. There's flash flooding. There's storm surge, tropical-storm-force winds, all coming today.

MATTINGLY: And this just in. Southwest Airlines forced to pay a $140 million fine for the system meltdown last December. What the airline must also do for passengers. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: All right. Take a look at this. This is new video this morning. It shows the moment after a car crashed into President Biden's motorcade. This happened last night in Delaware.