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Syrian Rebel Forces Take Control Of Syria's 2nd Largest City; In Response To Israeli Strikes, Hezbollah Fires Two Projectiles Toward Israeli Territory; IDF: Israel-American Hostage Omer Neutra Was Killed On Oct. 7th; Little-Known State Senator Launches Longshot Bid To Lead DNC; Andrew Cuomo Reportedly Mulling Run For NYC Mayor; White House Transformed For Holidays With "Peace And Light" Theme. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired December 02, 2024 - 12:30   ET

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

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[12:34:24]

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Syrian rebel forces claim they've taken control of Syria's second largest city, Aleppo. After launching a rapid offensive last week, this is the biggest challenge to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in almost a decade. In response, Syrian and Russian jets stepped up airstrikes targeting Syrian opposition in the city of Idlib.

CNN Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward is in Beirut, Lebanon. So, Clarissa, the rebels claim that they have made significant gains in and around Aleppo. What are you hearing about the reality on the ground?

[12:35:06]

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, make no two ways about it, Dana. These are the most significant gains that we have seen the rebels make in eight years to be in full control of the city of Aleppo, Syria's second largest city, the center of commerce, is a huge deal. It's something that the rebels were never actually able to entirely pull off.

And a big part of why they weren't able to do that was because Syria had the support of Iran and Hezbollah and, of course, crucially, Russia. So it may be that the rebels could see that Russia was distracted with Ukraine, that Israel has been fighting Hezbollah and Iran, and that now was the moment to try and pull off this offensive.

But it is gathering pace, Dana. They are now also telling citizens in the city of Hama, the central city of Hama, that they should be careful, that they should stay away from the regime. The expectation is that there will be some kind of an offensive there imminently. They have managed to entirely take over Idlib province. But they are now coming under heavy airstrikes.

The White Helmets, the civil defense group that monitors what's going on in those areas, saying that at least 25 people have been killed in the last couple of days, some of them women and children. A hospital was hit in Idlib.

So, a lot of anxiety now as everyone waits to see what this portends and what it means for the future of Syria's notorious dictator, Bashar al-Assad, Dana.

BASH: Yes, really, really remarkable turn of events in Syria. Now, you are in Lebanon. We're several days into the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire. Hezbollah has just fired two projectiles into Israeli territory. What's happening now?

WARD: That's right. So there is definitely a sense of high tension in this moment. Hezbollah releasing a statement basically saying that after continuous violations from the IDF, it felt it had no choice but to retaliate. Those two projectiles were fired into an area that's known as the Shebaa Farms, which is controlled by Israel but is viewed under international law as actually being a part of Syria.

And I want to be very clear, though, Dana, that there have been continuous violations since the ceasefire took effect early Wednesday morning. CNN spoke to a U.N. peacekeeping source who says that Israel has violated that ceasefire about 100 times. But there are many people on both sides of this border who are desperately hoping that this doesn't escalate further and that the ceasefire prevails, Dana.

BASH: Absolutely. Clarissa, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

And now to an incredibly somber update, the IDF is confirming the death of American-Israeli soldier Omer Neutra. His family was told that Omer was one of the 254 hostages taken during the brutal Hamas terror attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023. But they just received the tragic news that Omer was actually killed that day and his body was taken to Gaza.

I spoke with Omer's parents, Ronan and Orna Neutra, on October 7th of this year.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

ORNA NEUTRA, MOTHER OF ISRAELI-AMERICAN HOSTAGE OMER NEUTRA: We really hope that Omer is keeping up hope, that he's strong. He's a very social person. He's a connector. We pray that he's not alone. And we pray that, you know, his strengths hold up until we are able to save him and get him out of there.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BASH: No one knew during that interview that Omer was murdered the entire year earlier. Their hope was inspiring. And while one hostage family mourns, another is shaken. Hamas terrorists released a propaganda video showing Edan Alexander, an American citizen, pleading with Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump to do whatever they can to free the remaining hostages.

Now, this is the only part of the video we're going to show. CNN cannot independently confirm when it was recorded, but Edan does acknowledge the new president-elect. Edan's mother, Yael, spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu about the video, who said conditions are ripe for a hostage deal.

Yael, her husband, Adi, and their daughter are constantly fighting for the release of their son, showing remarkable strength and resolve. It has been 422 days since the October 7th massacre, and 100 innocent people taken that day are still in Hamas captivity.

We'll be right back.

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[12:44:24]

BASH: After Democrats suffered sweeping defeats in the 2024 elections, the party's national committee must choose a new leader.

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JAMES SKOUFIS, DNC CHAIR CANDIDATE: I've won on tough Trump turf three times. I've won when governors face red waves.

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BASH: That was James Skoufis. He is a little-known 37-year-old New York state senator who's launching a long-shot bid to chair the national party. Skoufis is a self-described outsider and an underdog and one of the at least four candidates to lead the DNC, or at least have their hats in the ring to lead the DNC.

[12:45:04]

Others are Martin O'Malley, former Maryland governor in 2016 presidential candidate. He also served as Social Security commissioner under President Biden. Ken Martin, the head of Minnesota's Democratic Farmer and Labor Party. Ben Wikler, Wisconsin's Democratic Party chair.

And James Skoufis is here now. Thank you so much for being here. OK, so, with respect, I'm not telling you anything that you don't know. You're not exactly a household name. But why do you think you are the Democrat to lead the national party back from its losses this year?

SKOUFIS: First, thank you for having me. And, obviously, I'm not a household name. I am starting as the outsider in this race. That's very clear. But I'm also starting as the candidate who best knows how to win, especially on difficult terrain. And that is all that we should care about as a Democratic Party. And that's all that the next DNC chair should be focused on.

Look, we've gotten into the habit as a party of lecturing voters as opposed to listening to voters. I've spent the last four years, and I represent a district that isn't blue or even purple. Trump won it by 12 percentage points, while I just got re-elected by 14. And the past four years, I've heard from voter after voter the issues of public safety, of the economy, and especially affordability. And for the better part of those four years, our national party and members of our party have labeled any Democrat that has tried to raise the issue of border security as racist, has tried to peddle Brookings' white paper talking points and trying to convince voters that the economy is doing well, when, in fact, they go to the supermarket and see clearly that it's not doing well.

And so, I will do, as DNC chair, what I've done in a tough, tough district for the past 12 years, and that is show up everywhere, speak to people where they are, go on every outlet, not just those outlets that have been traditionally friendly for Democrats, and start to rebuild the once big tent and repair the frayed edges that are on both sides, the middle and the left, and build this coalition so that we're a dominant party once again.

BASH: And as you well know, as the DNC chair, it's not just about winning a district like yours, which has, what, 320,000 people, even though it clearly is a red district. It's about raising money. It's about leading an important national apparatus. Why do you think you're qualified to do that?

SKOUFIS: That's right. And so, fundraising is certainly an important piece on the money side. And I think by any objective, I'm one of the strongest fundraisers in New York state politics. Obviously, we need to scale that. I'm able to have those conversations.

But the most important piece here is reorienting how we spend that money. I have talked to DNC donors who have told me point blank they will not give another red cent to the DNC unless it is a completely restructured organization. And I'm well situated in the sense that I will not owe anything to the D.C. consultant class or the cocktail circuit in Washington.

And one of the first things I will do is direct that all of these vendor contracts at the DNC be allowed to expire. Let's rebid them. No more friends of friends of congressmen being given seven and eight figure business because they're well connected at the DNC.

And let's move those investments to the boots on the ground, the state parties, the county parties. We need a 30 to 44 county strategy, not just a 50 state strategy. New partnerships with organized labor. That's where the crux of our spending needs to be focused on.

BASH: Before I let you go, because you are a state senator in New York, I want to ask about your former governor, Andrew Cuomo. He, of course, resigned in 2021 in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal. He is reportedly mulling a run for New York City mayor. You worked with him in Albany. Would you support that potential comeback for that particular job?

SKOUFIS: I overlapped quite a bit with former Governor Cuomo. Certainly, I worked with him when I could. There were many times when I very strongly disagreed with him. And, look, I believe in a robust primary. There are some exceptional candidates, including one of my colleagues, State Senator Zellnor Myrie already running for mayor.

I believe that our nominees are stronger through the Democratic primary process. I wish President Biden would have stepped down sooner. I think that an open primary would have strengthened Vice President Harris's nomination.

And so if former Governor Cuomo wants to run for mayor, God bless. And we'll see what he does, I suppose, in the next few weeks.

BASH: All right. Well, thanks for coming on. Nice to virtually meet you. And we'll be talking to you as this process goes forward. Thank you so much.

SKOUFIS: Thank you.

BASH: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the White House, where the First Lady just unveiled this year's holiday theme. Some holiday cheer after a quick break.

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[12:54:29]

BASH: The White House is decking the halls for Biden's final Christmas on Pennsylvania Avenue. 300 volunteers spent the weekend decorating with white paper doves, brass bells and even a carousel.

CNN's Betsy Klein is at the White House. Betsy, you got a sneak peek.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: That's right. There are going to be about 100,000 visitors to the White House this holiday season. And CNN was very lucky to be among the first in the door very early this morning to take a tour.

The theme this year is a season of peace and light, according to First Lady Jill Biden. And a notable one is they prepare to leave office in January. But those 300 volunteers over the holiday weekend just raced the clock to deck those halls, get things ready.

[12:55:11]

And I want to take you quickly by the numbers of the decorations here at the White House. There are 83 Christmas trees, 9,800 feet of ribbon, including some trees made of ribbon, 28,000 ornaments, 2,200 paper doves handmade by those volunteers and 165,075 twinkling holiday lights. So lots of sparkle.

Some highlights, there is a carousel around the official White House Christmas tree and really just a moment. No matter who is in office, it is a time to celebrate and enjoy the people's house this season.

BASH: Yes. It sure is. Looks beautiful. Betsy, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Thank you for joining Inside Politics today. CNN News Central starts after the break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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