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Isa Soares Tonight
Syrian Rebel Leader Says Syria Is Not Ready For Another War; IDF: Israel Carried Out 480 Strikes In Syria Over 2 Days; FBI Director Wray Says He will Resign After Biden's Term Is Over. Aired 14-14:30p ET
Aired December 11, 2024 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
ISA SOARES, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: Hello, and a very warm welcome, everyone, I'm Isa Soares. Tonight, the leader of the Syrian rebel forces
that toppled Bashar al Assad's regime is now overseeing quite a delicate as well as dangerous, potentially chaotic transition of power. And this map
that we've shown you of Syria shows really extremely complicated web of alliances, the green area here that they're overseeing, mostly HTS.
In fact, the HTS leader, Mohamed al-Jolani says foreign governments should not fear war with Syria, and he believes his country is heading towards
political stability. But that hasn't stopped foreign powers from taking this moment to work toward their own strategic goals. Israel says it struck
Syria nearly 500 times in just a period of two days.
And reports from Turkey say a Turkish drone this week destroyed military vehicles as well as ammunitions in northern Syria that had been seized by a
Kurdish group. Germany's Foreign Minister is urging Turkey as well as Israel not to jeopardize a peaceful transition in Syria. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNALENA BAERBOCK, FOREIGN MINISTER, GERMANY (through translator): If we want a peaceful Syria, the country's territorial integrity must not be put
into question. I will say just as clearly, neighbors such as the Turkish and the Israeli governments, which claim security interests must not
endanger the process with their actions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: That's the German Foreign Minister. We'll bring you one story from Darayya shortly. But as I mentioned, the Israeli military says it has
struck Syria nearly 500 times in the last couple of days, destroying its Navy and hitting weapons stockpiles. And a Syrian activist group claims
Israel was operating several kilometers beyond the Syrian side of the buffer zone near the Golan Heights.
You can see here. So, we're looking really at this part here of land. CNN cannot independently confirm that claim, but it's near an area, Israeli
forces captured on Sunday. Our Jeremy Diamond has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the dead of night, Syrian Naval ships going up in flames. At daybreak, this is all that
remains of the Syrian fleet at Latakia after Israel launched a wave of strikes intended to destroy the strategic arsenal of the newly-deposed
regime of Bashar al Assad.
Israeli missile ships fired the fatal blow at Latakia. Many more were carried out by Israeli jets. Altogether, nearly 500 strikes since the fall
of Assad's regime.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER, ISRAEL (through translator): We have no intention to intervene in Syria's internal affairs. But we certainly intend
to do everything necessary to take care of our own security.
DIAMOND: The Israeli Prime Minister says the strikes are aimed at preventing the Assad regime's strategic and long-range weapons from falling
into the hands of radical Islamists. Syria's rebel leader Ahmed al-Shar'a, better known by his moniker Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, previously led Syria's
al Qaeda affiliate.
And while he has struck a more moderate tone, there is still considerable uncertainty about what this new Syria will look like. Israel Ziv, a retired
Israeli General, says Israel has long prepared for this scenario.
ISRAEL ZIV, RETIRED ISRAELI GENERAL: To be honest, we have those plans for over a decade. It took like a -- I think three days to refresh those plans
and refresh the Intelligence to make the decision and to go for a very big operation.
DIAMOND: The Israeli military estimates that the operation has destroyed 70 percent to 80 percent of Syria's strategic weapons, including jets and
attack helicopters, cruise and ballistic missiles, as well as air defense systems. It also struck Syria's chemical weapons depots.
ZIV: The strategy now behind the strikes is about taking off any future potential threats that can be shot back at us.
DIAMOND: Israel has also sent ground troops into Syria, capturing 155 square mile buffer zone that has separated Israeli and Syrian troops for
half a century after Syrian troops abandoned their posts.
[14:05:00]
But Israel is also capturing strategic points beyond that buffer zone, a move it insists is temporary. Israel's actions drawing criticism from its
neighbors.
AYMAN SAFADI, FOREIGN MINISTER, JORDAN (through translator): The aggression that Israel conducted against Syria and occupying this land is a violation
and a breach of international law, and an unacceptable escalation.
DIAMOND: And the United Nations.
GEIR PEDERSEN, U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SYRIA: We are -- continue to see Israeli moments and bombardments into Syrian territory, this needs to stop.
DIAMOND: Israel very well may, having already accomplished what it set out to do. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: And a moment of hope as well as uncertainty in Syria, particularly in Darayya, which was one of the first places to see peaceful protests
during the Arab Spring against Assad's brutal rule. Darayya was also the scene of some of the worst atrocities really that we've seen of the war.
Huge swathes of the Damascus suburb are now rubble.
Jomana Karadsheh met with one woman there whose loved ones disappeared in Syria's notorious prison system. Have a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(GUNFIRE)
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What's left of Darayya tells of the horrors that unfolded here. Every corner scarred by
a ruthless regime's fight for survival. This Damascus suburb rose up peacefully, demanding freedom. More than a decade on, a shattered Darayya
and its people are finally free.
"This was for our children", Um Firas tells me, "it's so they don't have to live under the tyrant's rule." Her story of loss and pain, so unfathomable
for us, yet so common in this place that for years endured some of the most brutal tactics of the Assad regime. Besieged, starved and bombed into
surrender.
(on camera): Um Firas says they came out asking for freedom, and they were met with bullets and tanks. She says we're not terrorists, and they did
this. And imagine, she says, there were women and children living in these homes. So many men like her husband Marzin(ph), detained and disappeared.
Two years later, a released prisoner told her he saw him in jail. "They beat him so much his wounded leg was infected. He was in so much pain", she
says. "There was no medical care in prison and because of all he was going through, he lost his mind. The prisoner last saw him taken away, crying and
screaming hysterically."
She went from one detention center to the next, searching for him until they broke the news to her in the most cruel of ways. They handed her his
belongings and told her to register his death. "There are no words to describe how I was feeling when I left", she says. "I was holding on to the
hope he would be released and our family would be reunited. They didn't even give me his body."
This is the last photo she has of Marzin(ph) and his youngest boy. Ghaith(ph) doesn't remember his dad, Nord(ph) was six and so attached to
his father. Every day he would wait by the door for him to come back. "When I would hear someone calling Baba, dad, it was torment for me", Um Firas
says. "What did these children do to be deprived of their father?"
She has to be strong for her boys. She says she is all they have. Her father also disappeared into the black holes of Assad's jails, like her
husband, their only crime, she says, was being from Darayya. She says I'm just one of thousands and thousands of stories, and that's just in Darayya.
And just imagine how many more there are across Syria.
(voice-over): With the end of this dark chapter in their history, a new life, a new Syria emerges from the rubble of their broken lives. Jomana
Karadsheh, CNN, Darayya, Syria.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Our thanks to Jomana Karadsheh and team for that powerful report. Now, multiple sources tell CNN, an American-made long-range drone was
accidentally shot down by Kurdish forces in Syria. Officials say the Syrian Democratic Forces thought the drone -- similar to the one you're actually
seeing here was Turkish and posed a threat.
In the last few days, the U.S.-backed fighters in northern Syria have been clashing with militants supported by the Turkish government. America's top
diplomat will be traveling to Jordan as well as Turkey this week to lay out four key principles the United States expects of the new Syrian government.
In a statement, Anthony Blinken said that includes respecting the rights of minorities, securing chemical weapons, allowing the flow of humanitarian
aid and preventing Syria from being used as a base for terrorists. While in the region, Blinken is also expected to talk about the need for a ceasefire
and hostage deal in Gaza. We'll stay across the developments for you on that story.
Well, police in the United States are building their case against a suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO. Law enforcement sources tell CNN,
fingerprints taken from the New York crime scene matched prints taken when Luigi Mangione was arrested.
[14:10:00]
On Tuesday, he was denied bail in connection with last week's murder of Brian Thompson in Manhattan. The 26-year-old could be seen struggling with
officers and yelling at reporters as he was brought to the courthouse. Mangione is fighting extradition from Pennsylvania to New York.
Tom Dickey, the attorney for Mangione tells CNN his office has received offers to cover the suspect's legal bills. Dickey also says he does not
think New York police have the right suspect. And still to come tonight, we'll hear from one of the individuals accusing Sean Combs of sexual abuse
in an exclusive interview with CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister.
Plus, a future FIFA men's World Cup host brings human rights back to the forefront. We'll explain a bit later this hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Now, for the first time ever, one of the accusers of Sean Combs is speaking to the media in an exclusive interview with CNN, John Doe(ph), who
filed a complaint against Combs in October, tells us about his experience with the music mogul back in 2007. Our Elizabeth Wagmeister spoke with the
accuser -- we must warn you that this interview contains graphic language.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN REPORTER: According to your lawsuit, you were hired by a security firm to work security at one of the infamous white
parties that was thrown by Sean Combs in the Hamptons. What was that experience like?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At first, he was incredibly friendly, very gracious.
WAGMEISTER: So, you had a friendly chat, and then, according to your lawsuit, at some point later in the night, Sean Combs himself offered you a
drink. This didn't come from staff or someone holding a tray of drinks. It came from him directly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct. The first drink started to have some effect on me, and I just thought, wow, these are really strong drinks. It wasn't
until the second drink and it was already too late, that I realized that there was something wrong with the drinks. Sadly, Sean Combs was waiting in
the wings. He was watching from some sort of vantage point, and once I was in a helpless position and he was sure that he was in a position of power,
then he took advantage of the situation.
WAGMEISTER: You allege that you were forcibly pushed into an SUV by Sean Combs. That act alone, according to your lawsuit left you in considerable
pain. And then once inside the vehicle, your lawsuit says "plaintiff was held down by Combs, who overpowered him while he struggled to escape due to
the effects of the drugs in his system." And it goes on to say that he sodomized you.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was screaming, I was telling him to stop, it was incredibly painful. And he was acting like it was nothing, and he seemed to
be disconnected from it. It was abusive beyond belief.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, representatives for Combs declined to comment on John Doe's(ph) allegations on Tuesday. Since the lawsuit, it was filed in
October, Combs' lawyers have said their client has never sexually assaulted anyone. Well, some breaking news just to bring you. We are learning that
FBI Director Christopher Wray is saying he will resign sometime before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House, of course, which
happens next month in January.
Wray still had some years left to serve out his term, but Trump has been pushing for Kash Patel to take over. I want to bring in Katelyn Polantz who
joins us now. So, Katelyn, what more has the FBI director said? It's no surprise to any of us that President-elect Trump wanted him out, right?
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME & JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Trump wanted him out. But this is a position where Christopher Wray has three years left of
a ten-year term that he was appointed to that he will not be serving out. This is a man who came from a very well respected history, working in
private practice law was chosen by Donald Trump in 2017 to fill the shoes of Jim Comey, who was the FBI director Trump fired.
And then Trump became very unhappy with Wray over the course of his presidency. Wray continued to serve as the FBI director, overseeing the
bureau at a time where the FBI was under intense fire and he was defending them on the work they were doing with January 6th enforcement, prosecuting
all of those Capitol riot defendants, finding all of the evidence against them.
That was part of the FBI's work as well as the work the FBI did on that search of Mar-a-Lago, Trump's own residence. So, it became quite clear Wray
was not going to be sticking around one way or another once Donald Trump retook the presidency, Trump made clear he would be wanting his -- a
different person in, Kash Patel, that -- that is the person he would want to nominate for the FBI director.
And so, Wray is now heading that off by saying today in a town hall with people in the FBI that he is going to be serving only until the end of this
administration. I'll read for you a couple of the things that he said. "After weeks of careful thought, I've decided the right thing for the
bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current administration in January and then step down.
My goal is to keep the focus on our mission, the indispensable work you're doing with the FBI on behalf of the American people every day, in my view,
this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we
do our work."
So, Chris Wray, exiting or planning to exit quite soon as the FBI director, so that a different person that Donald Trump wants to take that job. Kash
Patel, who has been very at odds with many of the things --
SOARES: Yes --
POLANTZ: The FBI has done publicly, will be able to be installed through a Senate confirmation process.
SOARES: And he also said, Katelyn, I'm seeing here, the director also insisted the FBI cannot change, quote, "its commitment to doing the right
thing the right way every time." How would this announcement -- of course, you know, he had three years left or so of this ten-year term. How would
this be received, you think, by the FBI, by colleagues in the halls of power there as well?
POLANTZ: Well, one of the things that Wray has done as well as the Attorney General Merrick Garland above him in the Biden administration is they've
tried to reinforce the confidence of career people at that agency who have felt that they were under attack for their work. There have been so many
people within the FBI that Trump personally was publicly criticizing, and also some of the practices of the FBI, including how they were obtaining
foreign surveillance warrants.
That was something that even courts started looking at more closely, and that there were reforms coming. So, Wray has been out there in recent years
defending the bureau and trying to instill a confidence in the people who work there. Again, but it is a moment where Trump has issues still with the
way the FBI does its work.
And so, this final message from Chris Wray, you know, is one in which he's trying to keep things steady, at least from the remarks that we've been
able to obtain. Two people today -- and what is ahead for the bureau once he steps down, January 20th is, there could be a vast amount of change with
how things are done there.
SOARES: Stay with us, Katelyn. Let me bring in David Shapiro; former FBI agent. I think he's with us. Do we have him? Do we have him yet? Yes, we
do.
DAVID SHAPIRO, FORMER FBI AGENT: Yes --
[14:20:00]
SOARES: David, good to see you. Katelyn, do stay with us. David, just your reaction of what we're seeing. We're now hearing FBI Director Christopher
Wray is planning to resign at the end of the Biden administration term. Of course, we still had several years as part of his term. Your reaction. Is
this expected?
SHAPIRO: Yes, most FBI directors do not actually complete their ten-year terms. So, that he's leaving does not shock me.
SOARES: Doesn't shock you, but the way -- I mean, he clearly knew from what we had heard from President-elect Trump that it was either you go or I push
you out. Was that not the message?
SHAPIRO: Yes, it seems that, that was the message, which is especially surprising considering Mr. Trump appointed Mr. Wray.
SOARES: Yes, and he says here, "after weeks of careful thought, I've decided the right thing for the bureau is for me to serve until the end of
the current administration in January and then step down. My goal is to keep the focus on our mission, the indispensable work you're doing on
behalf of the American people every day."
He does go on to say that it's about commitment to doing the right thing the right way every time. I wonder whether this then, David, opens the
door, clears the way for Kash Patel because he has been meeting with senators.
SHAPIRO: It would seem to clear the way for Mr. Patel that, that is obviously why Mr. Wray is quitting. He doesn't feel that he will be long in
that position anyway. But there's a lot to be said for this. You know, the bureau, the work is done by the street agents, right? The special agents
and all of the help that they get.
Management at that level, at the director level, serves mainly as a figurehead or a source of confidence in this inspiration. The FBI director
doesn't really investigate the cases or perform Intelligence services him or herself.
SOARES: And David, before we talk about what we likely to see from Kash Patel if he's then given the green light is, you know, of course, we know
that President-elect Trump was -- that Christopher Wray was appointed by President-elect Trump, President Trump at the time. And what actually
happened to their relationship? How did that relationship sour over the years?
SHAPIRO: Well, I think the allegations about the alleged connections with Russia, really unnerved President-elect Trump. He -- I think President-
elect Trump sensed that he wasn't getting a fair shake from the leadership of the bureau.
SOARES: Stay with us, David. Let me bring Katelyn Polantz back into the conversation. And, Katelyn, you know, David and I were just talking about -
- can you hear me, Katelyn?
SHAPIRO: Yes.
SOARES: Fantastic. We're just talking about, of course, whether this opens the door for Kash Patel, who has been meeting with senators. Does this --
well, you know, what have you been hearing from those meetings? Does this potentially clear the way? Does -- is it going to be easier for him to be
accepted here to get the green light?
POLANTZ: Well, it remains to be seen how that will go. We're still a long time away from an actual --
SOARES: Yes --
POLANTZ: Confirmation hearing, especially because Wray is staying for another more than a month. But once we get into that place -- so far, there
have been senators that have been praising Patel as he's been doing these meetings on Capitol Hill, and there hasn't been an enormous amount of
pushback to his nomination, at least in the halls of Congress.
That's different than what there has been around the country and from people in the bureau, there's a lot of discussion right now of whether
Donald Trump is going to want to use the FBI to go after his political enemies, and how that could be done. That's a major question hanging over
things that clearly, Wray is not going to be a part of anything like that with him exiting right at the turnover of the administration.
And right now, it is Kash Patel who is clearly the person that Donald Trump wants to nominate into this position to lead that bureau.
SOARES: And very much, Katelyn, on that note, very much a loyalist.
POLANTZ: Yes, very much a loyalist. Somebody who has even in his history sued Wray himself and the Justice Department, a lawsuit that was dismissed.
But is a person that has gone -- tried to go up against someone like Wray, someone who even was appointed by Trump himself. There's just such a divide
between people like Chris Wray, even though Wray was coming from the first Trump administration, was aligned with Republicans in a lot of different
ways previously.
There's a divide between those types of people and this new guard that Donald Trump is bringing in and major questions about what they're going to
want to be doing in those posts.
[14:25:00]
SOARES: David, let me just pick up with what we just heard from Katelyn in terms of the new guard with Kash Patel, wants confirmation, if confirmation
then goes ahead. What are we likely to see as Kash Patel if he does get the green light as FBI director? What are you most concerned about here?
SHAPIRO: Well, I'm more concerned about not the guard, but the guards. While Mr. Patel might assume the position of the Guard, capital G, the
bureau is run by its agents. And if he decides to get in the way, chaos and ineffective investigations, inadequate Intelligence gathering will ensue.
So, while I don't wish Mr. Patel any bad luck, he's got to recognize where the work is done, who does the work? Why they do the work? And they're not
looking to be loyalists themselves. So, let's look at the guards.
SOARES: And as part of those guards, is President-elect Trump part of this guard, trying to influence those guards?
SHAPIRO: Well, again, I'd have to read into Mr. Trump's mind, but --
SOARES: Yes --
SHAPIRO: I sense that he would like to hold the final kibosh --
SOARES: Yes --
SHAPIRO: On anything that approaches what he experienced earlier during the beginning of Mr. Wray's -- shortly after Mr. Trump tried to run again for
President and he had to deal with the Russia allegations.
SOARES: And Katelyn, let me go back to you. I mean, just as we hear, of course, this breaking news, the FBI Director Wray is announcing his
resignation, most likely to come, of course, at the end of President Biden's term. Just talk to our viewers just around the world. How
successful has he been as FBI director would you say?
POLANTZ: Well, this has been a difficult few years for the FBI --
SOARES: Yes --
POLANTZ: But it's also been a couple few years where they've had to do an enormous amount of work, especially on those January 6th cases. I mean,
that might be the most significant, expansive law enforcement operation that this country has seen in recent memory aside from maybe September
11th. This is a moment where the FBI was tasked to piecing together video from around the Capitol and identifying hundreds, if not thousands of
people on the grounds those days, so that Justice Department prosecutors could build cases.
That was the FBI's work, the underpinning of those cases. And so, Wray often had to defend the work publicly of the FBI when it was under attack
politically. Of course, this is something that Donald Trump says he wants to wipe away from the history books. He wants to pardon the Capitol rioters
who were prosecuted using that evidence.
And so, looking back at Chris Wray's moments as the director of the FBI, that will be something very much remembered, the work on January --
SOARES: Yes --
POLANTZ: Sixth, no matter what Trump does.
SOARES: Yes --
POLANTZ: And of course, that Mar-a-Lago search, sending the FBI to Mar-a- Lago --
SOARES: Yes --
POLANTZ: To collect the classified records that Trump was keeping --
SOARES: Yes --
POLANTZ: There.
SOARES: How can we forget that? Katelyn Polantz and David Shapiro, really appreciate you both taking time to speak to us on this breaking news story.
Thank you very much. I've got some more news on this. Let me just bring you up-to-date -- FBI Director Wray wrestle with whether to resign we're told -
- we're told before his ten-year term, especially as President-elect Donald Trump has said he plans to replace him with Trump loyalist as we were
saying, Kash Patel.
This coming in, sources telling CNN, Wray wants to facilitate an orderly transition, but some in the FBI are worried his departure would normalize
Trump's penchant for replacing FBI directors he doesn't like. So, that's going to come in the next month or so. Trump -- President-elect Trump had
mentioned, had showed his intent to replace him with Kash Patel -- we shall see of course if Kash Patel does indeed get the green light.
That's it for us for this hour, I'm Isa Soares, shortened show here, "OUR CALL TO EARTH" day coverage continues next with Restoring the Andes.
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