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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Judge Threatens To Kick Trump Out Of Court For Comments During Testimony; Trump Escalates Attacks On Haley As He Seeks NH Knockout; Haley: "I Know Trump Threw A Temper Tantrum About Me Last Night"; Sources: Capitol Police Investigating Trump Ally Roger Stone After He Allegedly Calls For Assassination Of Two House Dems In Recording; Mediate Tape Shows Roger Stone Calling For House Democrats' Death; New U.S. Strikes Against Houthis In Yemen; Freed Israeli Hostage Speaks On Captivity; Kate, Princess Of Wales, Hospitalized After Abdominal Surgery; King Charles To Receive Treatment For Enlarged Prostate. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired January 17, 2024 - 20:00   ET

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

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Schwarzenegger gets pulled aside for hours, ultimately agrees to prepay potential taxes on the watch, which was apparently going to go to some charity auction.

A source close to the actor, though, says the whole ordeal would make for a very funny cop movie, which is duly referenced to the 90's hit, the Kindergarten Cop. Officers tried and failed to use a credit card machine, wasn't working, so then they gave up and they haul him off to an ATM. He needed more cash than the ATM would allow him to withdraw in a day, and the bank was closed. So then a different officer brings him a new credit card machine, and that did the trick.

Wow. Thanks for joining us. We appreciate it. "AC 360" starts now.

[20:00:40]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Tonight on "360," sparks fly in the courtroom between the judge and the former president on the day E. Jean Carroll, the woman he's already been found liable for sexually abusing took the stand.

Also, tonight, Trump ally Roger Stone on tape, allegedly talking about assassinating two Democratic congressmen. We'll speak to one of them tonight.

And later, my conversation with a former Gaza hostage who reveals that much of her captivity was spent locked with her husband and children and others in an exam room at a major hospital in Gaza.

We begin with these words, "I would love that." That's what the former president told Judge Lewis Kaplan today after the judge in his second defamation trial threatened to remove him from the courtroom, to which the judge replied, "I know you would."

An issue, his comments during plaintiff E. Jean Carroll's testimony. She took the stand today, telling jurors what it was like to endure the most powerful men in the free world, at the time, calling her a liar and denying what's now a matter of legal fact that he sexually abused her in a New York department store in the 1990s, a denial he repeated after court today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER US PRESIDENT: This is a person I have no idea until this happened. Obviously, I have no idea who she was and nor could I care less. It's a rigged deal. It's a made-up fabricated story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Oh, from there, he went to New Hampshire for a campaign event in Portsmouth. Joining us now, CNN Legal Analyst Joey Jackson. Also, with us Kaitlan Collins, anchor of "The Source," and CNN's Kara Scannell who was in the court today as this all played out.

So, Kara, take us inside. What was it like?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So E. Jean Carroll is on the stand, you know, facing Donald Trump. He is just two tables away from her as she's beginning to tell this story. And she says, almost off the bat, Donald Trump assaulted me. He lied about it, and shattered my reputation.

And at that moment, Trump physically reacted, shaking his head side to side as if to say no. And from there, that just kind of began his reaction to her testimony.

A lot of it involved him leaning over to his lead Attorney Alina Habba, whispering to her, and making these statements. And that was not audible to us -- the reporters in the courtroom that were sitting behind him.

But at one of the breaks, this is when Carroll's attorney brought it up saying that they could hear, sitting in front of Trump. And they were concerned the jury could hear some of the comments that he was saying, you know, including that this was fake, she's a con job, and it's a witch hunt.

So that was something that was raised to the judge once the jury was out of the courtroom, so was outside their earshot.

COOPER: So how much of her testimony had taken place at that point?

SCANNELL: Well, at that point, she had been on the stand for about two hours when their judge finally had that exchange with him saying, you know, I'll kick you out of the courtroom if you're going to continue with this.

And she was taking about her experience. You know, this case is about damages. It's not about the assault. So she was talking about what happened to her after he made these statements from the White House in June of 2019.

She's talking about the kind of threat she received, how she was changing her life. She got a pit bull. She bought bullets for a gun she inherited and keeps it beside her bed. Just talking about how much this impacted her, people wishing that she would die, saying that they hope she would be raped. So just explaining to the jury what she went through after these statements were made.

COOPER: There were requests by the former president's attorneys for the judge to recuse himself, declare mistrial. How did that go?

SCANNELL: Yes, well, this again, Judge Lewis Kaplan, he does not really mince words. This is -- the Trump's attorneys asked for the judge to recuse himself, saying, after this whole exchange, you took the word of your former law clerk. You didn't even give us a chance to explain. The judge just looked at them and said, "Denied."

They also had asked for a mistrial because one of the attorneys was questioning Carroll about e-mails, and Carroll acknowledged she probably deleted some of the threatening e-mails. They're saying while she deleted e-mails, we want a mistrial. This was in front of the jury. And the judge said "Denied" and told the jury disregard everything the lawyer said.

COOPER: Joey, so between the former president's statements in court and also afterward, I mean, is he giving new fodder for even more defamation claims?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Look, I really think he is. If it's not defamation claim, certainly it's to the issue of punitive damages. And we've seen that and, first of all, what are punitive damages? That's what this case is largely about. It's about punishing and deterring someone from engaging in misconduct like this, defaming and what is it worth, right?

And so, the reality is if you're continuing to say things, continuing to make statements -- and I'll say this, right, I know it's a civil case, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law applies civilly, too.

[20:05:05]

And so, I think the attorneys will say, look, judge, this is ripe for the consideration of this jury, goes to the state of mind, goes to his inability to accept any responsibility here, and it goes exactly to what my client is talking about about how she's demeaned, doesn't feel safe, and is being threatened. And as a result of that, let it in.

And so, it's up to a judge's determination. But certainly, I think if he's going to say something, accept the consequences of those statements. And that's what we saw.

COOPER: Kaitlan, just such a prime example of how the former president used this as part of the campaign trail. I mean, saying, you know, throw me out and the judge saying, yes, I know you would like that.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: Because it is something that he would be able to use, and to say, look at this judge. And he came out, you know, immediately after attacking the judge at length because the judge is pretty no nonsense, which is this judge's reputation with Trump's attorney and the way that she was questioning E. Jean Carroll throughout this, repeatedly denying her efforts because she wasn't properly marking exhibits or didn't have them in the transcripts, you know, just following basic court procedures as a part of this.

But I think the fact that Trump was in the room today also speaks to how he's viewing this, which is that it's important for him to be there because he did not attend the first trial. And after that multimillion-dollar verdict was awarded, we had the town hall with him the next day. And I asked him if he regretted not testifying. And he said, no, because my attorneys told me that I shouldn't be there.

Today, he made clear that he does feel that he needs to be there, that his presence is warranted. I think there's a real question of, of course, you know, that behavior and the fact that the judge was threatening to be evict him from the room because he was speaking so loudly of how that's going to help him here, and if it is.

But it is very clearly something he's using as part of the campaign trail. Tomorrow, he says he can't go. And they asked for a delay in the trial because of Melania Trump's wife's -- or Melania Trump's mom's funeral is tomorrow. He was kind of arguing that he couldn't go.

But his presence, I should note, is not required. He does not have to be there. He didn't go to the first one.

COOPER: Kara, the -- you talked about these deleted e-mails, text messages. Did -- why did E. Jean Carroll say she deleted them? And are there any messages she has to show them?

SCANNELL: So they showed some of the tweets she got, some of the Facebook messages. So we saw some of the, you know, vitriolic language that was thrown her way. But she said her physical reaction was to, like, recoil when she saw them. So her only way to deal with it, she felt, was to delete it immediately and put it out of her mind.

You know, she did say that she keep some of them. We did see some of them, but, you know, it was more of her trying to tell this story of just how she felt when she saw some of them including, you know, ones that were, you know, your -- stick a gun in my mouth and pull the trigger. That's one of the ones we saw today.

COOPER: Joey, could the deletion of those messages, I mean, is that a big deal?

JACKSON: So, here's how it plays into account, right? Now, you have these deleted messages, but what do people generally do, right? Let's look at habit and custom.

When you put something that's vitriolic on many people's, you know, threads, they're going to get rid of it. So you can't make the argument that as a result of deleting it, for example, it didn't happen or it's fabricated or you're telling the jury something that just isn't so.

Normal human behavior is if you see something that is so denigrating to you, you know, you want to remove it. And so, I think as a matter of credibility, it doesn't hurt her at all. But just to the general notion of how she felt as a result of this, how it impaired her, how it impacted her safety, how she talked about needing security, I mean, I think it's huge to the issue I addressed before, which is punitive damages. How much will the jury award is the question.

COOPER: Joey Jackson, Kara Scannell, thanks. Kaitlan Collins is back at the top of the hour, and her guest is going to be House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Again, from court, and the former president continued his campaign in New Hampshire. Rivals Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley have been campaigning there as well.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny is in Rochester. Governor Haley just had some especially sharp words for the front runner. So, Jeff, what happened at the Haley event tonight?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, in respect, Anderson, Nikki Haley was responding to the comments that Donald Trump has been making both in person here in New Hampshire, but also in his television ads. He's really been focusing his attention and his attacks on her, setting his sights on her because, of course, she potentially stands in between his rise and his rush to the nomination.

But she was talking about specifically immigration, some ads he's running, and Social Security. She said he's been lying about her record. Take a listen to what she said just a few moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know Trump threw a temper tantrum about me last night. One of those things that my friend Trump said was that I didn't want to close the border. You saw what I said about the border. He said I didn't want a wall. What I said is I don't want just a wall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: And how were they responding?

ZELENY: So those words ...

COOPER: Oh, go ahead.

ZELENY: I was going to say, Anderson, those words temper tantrum are something that we really not heard Nikki Haley use before. Clearly, time is running short here for her to make her case to New Hampshire voters. But certainly, that, you know, some giggles in the crowd when she said that. But the reality is some voters here are still trying to decide between him, her or even Ron DeSantis.

[20:10:14]

COOPER: What else did she have to say? ZELENY: Anderson, she's been continuing to make her argument about

electability. It was really one of the hallmarks of her argument she made in Iowa.

She asked Republicans and even independents in the audience to think about the general election and how Republicans have lost so many elections in recent years in the Trump era. She had this message for them as they think to the future.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALEY: But the only way we're going to win is if we elect a new conservative generational leader and put the negativity and the baggage behind, and focus on the solutions of the future.

(APPLAUSE)

Don't complain about what happens in a general election if you don't play in this primary on Tuesday.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So clearly expressing the importance of that primary on Tuesday. Anderson, you can see she's shaking hands with, literally, every last person in the room here as she normally does. She didn't take questions, which is the tradition of New Hampshire town halls, but she will be doing so tomorrow night here on CNN.

But one thing that's key, Anderson, as we talk to many voters here, she has a welcome audience amongst those undeclared voters, which is more than a third of the electorate here, essentially independent- minded voters who can vote in the primary next week.

Donald Trump accused her of trying to infiltrate the Republican primary. But in New Hampshire, those independent voters are so key. So certainly her message is resonating with at least some of them and several Republicans who we talked to here tonight as well.

COOPER: It's interesting she doesn't take questions at these town halls, which is such a tradition. DeSantis was also in New Hampshire today. How was he -- what is he saying?

ZELENY: There are serious questions hanging over his campaign tonight. He's actually flying back to Florida tomorrow, we are told. Initially, it was unclear if he was returning to New Hampshire this week.

He, of course, wanted to debate Nikki Haley. She said she wouldn't debate him, she wanted to debate Donald Trump.

But he was talking about, you know, needing a true conservative. So he's been attacking her as well. But there is no doubt in New Hampshire, at least, this is a two-person race at least at the top of the ticket. So he is going to refocus some of his efforts on South Carolina. Of course, that is the first of southern primary -- her home state,

but some deep concerns here about the future of his candidacy. Again, he'll be in Florida tomorrow, but his aides insist he will come back here before the primary.

COOPER: Jeff Zeleny, thanks very much.

Next, more on how the former president is going after Nikki Haley, his own former UN ambassador and how it fits his pattern of using racist dog whistles.

Later, an Israeli mother held hostage by Hamas in a Gaza hospital with her children and others, what she went through, what life is life for them now after nearly two months in captivity.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:16:38]

COOPER: Now that Nikki Haley has gained ground in New Hampshire, the former president has started doing what he has done so many times before to opponents and adversaries, perceived enemies alike. He is painting her falsely as less than American, referring to her on hi social network as Nikki "Nimrada" Haley, with Nimrada in square quotes, misspelling what is, in fact, Governor Haley's first name, which is Nimarata.

He also posted a claim by the outfit, Gateway Pundit -- again false -- that Governor Haley might not be a US citizen. It reads, quote, "This disqualifies Haley from presidential or vice presidential candidacy under the 12th Amendment."

Now, keeping them honest, Nikki Haley is the child of immigrants from India's Punjab province, was born in the small South Carolina town of Bamberg. That's in the United States.

Nikki is her middle name, just as Mitt is Willard Mitt Romney's middle name, Robert was Julius Robert Oppenheimer's middle name.

The difference, of course, is that although the names Willard or Julius might sound stiff or old-fashioned, they don't sound foreign like Nimarata does, at least to some which for now appears enough for the former president to latch on to. He's done the same with another well-known Indian-American Vice President Harris, suggesting again falsely that she was born elsewhere as he does here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They say that she doesn't qualify because she wasn't born in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: When he wasn't doing that, he was theatrically enunciating her first name for effect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And nobody treated him worse than Kamala. Kamala Harris, Kamala. Kamala. You know I have to say Kamala.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Keeping them honest, when it comes to trying to paint some American citizens as foreigners, the former president does not limit himself to South Asian subcontinent. More than a decade ago, his target, of course, was the first black president. He's what he was lying about 12 years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, I've been told very recently, Anderson, that the birth certificate is missing. I've been told it's not there and it doesn't exist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: None of that was true. And we and others pointed that out, but he kept at it for years. And to this day, he almost never fails to mention President Obama's middle name.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: President Barack Hussein Obama. President Barack Hussein Obama. Barack Hussein Obama.

Crooked Joe Biden and his boss, Barack Hussein Obama, did this to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Now, it's not just African-Americans or Indian-Americans he does this to, it's an American judge of Mexican descent, and Elaine Chao, the Asian-American wife of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're building a wall. He's a Mexican.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: He's not from Mexico, he's from Indiana.

TRUMP: In my opinion, he has Mexican heritage. And he's very proud of it.

Mitch McConnell and his wife Coco (ph) Chao, Coco (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Elaine Chao, as you might remember, was a member of his cabinet, and her husband was his top ally in the Senate. None of that, though, seems to matter for the former president. Racist dog whistles are just too appealing for him to pass up. Perspective now from CNN Political Commentator, Former Special

Assistant to President Obama, Van Jones; also, Pollster and Communications Strategist Frank Luntz.

So Van, first of all, what do you make of now the president focused on Nikki Haley and repeatingly trying to kind of otherize people of color?

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it's just what he does that part of it is he's insulting her. He's trying to get under her skin, but he's also trying to incite us.

A big part of this isn't just the kind of racial -- a game that he plays against people of color, it's also a show of force. He knows he's going to annoy liberals doing this. He knows he's going to annoy progressives doing this. And that we're going to frown, and pout, and scold him. You know, he's not going to back down.

[20:20:15]

So it shows he's powerful, see, I'm powerful. I can say mean things to people. And then when nice people say, don't be mean, I stay mean. See, I'm strong.

This is a kind of psychological game that he plays when he does this. He knows we're going to get mad, and it plays into his strategy of looking tough by punching down.

COOPER: Frank, do you think that resonates with voters?

FRANK LUNTZ, POLLSTER AND COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIST: It does. And my shock, I got a chance to interview voters in eight different caucuses, and every Trump voter -- all of them -- 100% were so behind him, behind his rhetoric, and behind his approach, and behind everything because they think he's a victim -- a victim of you all, a victim of the court system, a victim of the entire political system in America.

It's working with them, and it's scary because, in the end, and this is my focus for the next 10 months, if we continue to play this game, if we continue to divide by race, by gender, by age, by geography, by all the divisions that we have, where is America going to be when this is all done? There are some things that are more important than an election.

That's the next generation and the health and safety of our democracy. And it is under threat. I agree completely with what Van just said.

COOPER: And you're seeing that in focus groups. You're seeing -- I mean, things are worse -- you and I were just talking -- things are worse than you've ever seen them.

LUNTZ: I hear it. And I know that more people believe that the country is going to be worse for their kids than ever before, less people believe in the American dream than ever before.

I thought the American dream was to welcome people from other countries, give them a home here, allow them to succeed, allow them to prosper because it makes America stronger. And yet, it feels like some of in politics is hostile to that, is actually opposed to the American dream.

COOPER: Van, I mean, does this put Haley in a tough position with Republican voters? I mean, does she have to then somehow -- does she just ignore it or does she have to somehow address false claims, that she's ineligible to run, for instance? I mean, you're kind of damned if you do and damned if you don't.

JONES: And that's exactly the brilliance of what he does. He forks you. He goes low, and then you have to go low to defend yourself or you have to try to ignore it, and then it gains traction, et cetera.

A good thing about Nikki Haley is that, I think, most people in the Republican Party know her. They know who she is.

To Frank's point, I think people are proud of the fact that her family came here and has done well, and she's done well. And so I think that, you know, she's relatively safe from this type of stuff. I really don't think it's going to have the effect of othering her.

I really think it's more just about he wants to show that he's not going to bow down to liberal convention and liberal elites, period. And that's really more what he's doing. I think Nikki Haley would be better off ignoring this stuff and continue to make the case that she's making, which is that, you know, she is certainly more electable than he is. And she has ideas that I think are better for America than he does. I'm no fan of and Nikki Haley or any Republicans, but, you know, certainly, she's the better choice for Republicans.

But this is the type of stuff, and Frank is right. It's seeping in now to the culture, the nastiness, the divisiveness, the pettiness, is becoming something that not only people are used to but come to expect, and that's bad for everyone.

LUNTZ: Well, someone has to say no. Someone has to stand up and literally say ...

JONES: Yes.

LUNTZ: ... enough or call out your own side. So when people say things within the Democratic Party, on the far progressive side, that challenges, let's say the Jewish community, they need to say enough. And on the right ...

JONES: Agree.

LUNTZ: ... if Trump does this, enough.

COOPER: Didn't Chris Christie do that? And ...

LUNTZ: That's the whole point. It's not just about elections. It's not just about who wins and who loses.

If you ask me is this good for Republicans to win the election, in some states, frankly, it is. Is this good for democracy? Absolutely not.

And New Hampshire, the key to what's about to happen, Iowa makes a statement. New Hampshire makes presidents. And in New Hampshire, she's been gaining and gaining. She's going to get the lion's share of Chris Christie's votes, but losing Vivek Ramaswamy is good for Trump. He's going to get the lion's share there.

In the end, it's about the health of democracy in the long-term. If Trump wins in New Hampshire, it's all over. If Nikki can beat him in New Hampshire, we go on for another five or six weeks at least.

COOPER: Yes, Frank Luntz, appreciate it. Van Jones as well.

Coming up, did the infamous Republican operative and ally to the former president, Roger Stone, say he wanted two Democratic members of Congress assassinated. New tapes suggest he did. Stone says it's fake. We'll talk about it with one of the members of Congress Eric Swalwell in his first interview on Stone's alleged comments.

Also, the wife of Britain's future king in the hospital, her father- in-law, King Charles, will be there soon as well. We have details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:28:58]

COOPER: Nine days ago, the media news website, Mediaite, published an exclusive allegation that Roger Stone, a longtime Republican operative and key ally to the former president, that told an associate, a former NYPD officer named Sal Greco that two Democrats needed to be assassinated.

The conversation reportedly took place at a restaurant in Florida. Stone called the story fake. He tweeted that Mediaite, quote, can't produce the recording. He said something very similar to the next day, two days after that Mediaite published recording.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGER STONE, TRUMP ALLY: (Inaudible) go find Swalwell, and get this over with. It's time to do it. Then we'll see how brave the rest of them are. Either (inaudible), either Swalwell or Nadler has to die before the election. They need to get the message. I'm just not putting up with this (expletive) anymore."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Now, CNN has not confirmed the authenticity of the recording. Stone has since called the tape, quote, "AI-generated BS." Those were his exact words.

Sources tells CNN that Capitol Police are now investigating the alleged comments. We should point out that last year CNN aired video gathered by the January 6th Committee of Stone on January 6th saying -- and I'm going to clean up his words here -- "F the voting. Let's get right to the violence."

[20:30:10]

Stone called that evidence deep fake videos. Joining us now for his first interview since the recording was revealed is Congressman Eric Swalwell.

Congressman, so according to sources, I understand you weren't able -- you weren't aware of this recording until it was published, is that right? And I'm wondering what your reaction was.

REP. ERIC SWALWELL, (D-CA): That's right, Anderson. And you know, frankly, I was stunned that he was so brazen about it and maybe I shouldn't be stunned because the truth is, when it comes to Donald Trump and his henchmen like Roger Stone, they prefer violence over voting. They are bankrupt of any ideas that would help anyone who watches your show. And so they want to, as he said, get right to the violence.

And so, yes, I was stunned. I'm still stunned. We can't normalized this at all and all I ask of my colleagues, who I serve with, is let's join together and let's allow our unity to be the antidote to these types of threats, and that we condemn them whether they are against Republicans or Democrats.

COOPER: Do you take Roger Stone's alleged threat seriously?

SWALWELL: I do. I take them seriously for my family. I take them seriously for my staff. And as we saw with Speaker Pelosi and the attack on her husband, too often, the target of an attack is on the move and it's our family and our staff who are often stationary at the home or the office. And so, that is the priority and I thank law enforcement in prior threats and I hope in this threat for taking that seriously.

COOPER: Sources are telling CNN, both Capitol Police and FBI are investigating this alleged threat. Can you say if you are cooperating with either agencies or anything you can say about it?

SWALWELL: Yeah, Anderson, all can I say right now is I stand ready to cooperate, but I also am not going to be intimidated. And I know, in part, the aim of a threat like this and someone was arrested not too far from where Roger Stone lives a couple weeks ago for making a similar threat against my kids, that they were going to kill my children. The aim of these threats is to silence me and to silence anyone like me in Congress from speaking out against Donald Trump.

And in fact, Roger Stone said on that audio tape that I need to get the message. Well, message received and my message back to Roger Stone is, I'm not going away and the American people who have voted against Donald Trump, every single day since he was elected in 2016, they are not going away either. And they have put us in the majority in the House. They have put us in the majority in the Senate. They put Joe Biden in the White House. And Donald Trump and his henchmen have been losers ever since. And so, if the aim is to make us go away, it's not going to work, but I will do everything I have to do to protect my family and staff.

COOPER: Do you think he should be charged with something? I mean, what consequences do you think would be appropriate?

SWALWELL: Well, Anderson, it looks like this was his voice. And an outside independent organization called Ai-SPY, not affiliated with me at all, they put out a report saying that this was human generated and it sure sounds a hell of a lot like the way Roger Stone has talked about me in the past and the way that he talks about Donald Trump's political opponents.

And so, all I ask is that, if this is what he said, that he's treated no better and no worse than anyone else. And that anyone else who makes threats against Republicans or Democrats, that we start to have a rule of law that says we're a country where we settle our scores at the ballot box, not through violence. And when you use violence or threat and violence, you're going to pay the price for that and you're going to be held accountable.

COOPER: Congressman Eric Swalwell, thank you very much.

SWALWELL: My pleasure, thanks, Anderson.

COOPER: Coming up, we have breaking news. More U.S. action against Houthi rebels in Yemen. We have a live report from the Pentagon and a 360-exclusive. Sharon Kunio was a hostage in Gaza for 52 days. I spoke to her about the day her family was kidnapped and the major hospital in Gaza, she said she was held at, at one point or for much of her captivity.

Also tonight, major medical issues for Britain's king and the wife of its future king, details on that ahead as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:38:15]

COOPER: Breaking news to report. For the fourth time in less than a week, the U.S. has carried out strikes against the Houthi militants in Yemen whose attacks on vital shipping lanes in the Red Sea have raised alarms about possible major economic fallout throughout the world. Oren Liebermann is at the Pentagon tonight. What are you learning?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, we've learned the targets of these U.S. strikes were 14 missile launchers used by the Houthis, both anti-ship ballistic missile launchers as well as anti-ship cruise missile launchers. These are the types of weapons the Houthis, an Iranian-backed rebel group have used to target international shipping lanes. As you pointed out, this is the fourth time in less than a week the U.S. has targeted Houthi sites in Yemen. The U.S. here showing a willingness to go after Houthi weapons and the types of capabilities they have used to target international shipping here.

Meanwhile, the Houthis have given no indication they will back down. They have threatened to continue to target U.S. assets as well as U.K. assets. It's those two countries that launched the first set of strikes on Thursday night. That was followed up by a U.S. follow-on action as U.S. Central Command put us on Friday. Yesterday, the U.S. struck a series of anti-ship ballistic missile launchers and then this, further strikes against Houthi capabilities in Yemen here.

It is worth noting the context here. Twice this week, the Houthis have successfully targeted and struck a U.S.-owned and operated vessel in the Gulf of Aden. In both cases, it was minor damage and the ship continued on its way here. But you see this playing out essentially in a very violent way. It's worth -- finally, I'll point out, Anderson, that the U.S. hadn't carried out strikes earlier as the Biden Administration was trying to avoid an escalation in the region here. But now, the U.S. feeling compelled to act.

COOPER: Oren Liebermann, thanks. This was the scene yesterday in Gaza's second largest city, Khan Younis. Patients and others at the Al-Nasser Hospital fleeing from nearby Israeli airstrikes as IDF forces headed towards what is the largest hospital in the city.

[20:40:00]

COOPER: Israel said Hamas has recently carried out a launch from within the Al-Nasser Hospital compound toward its forces. The hospital is where my next guest says she was held for most of her 52 days of captivity in Gaza. In a 360 Exclusive, I spoke to 34-year-old Sharon Kunio about the day, October 7, when she and eight of her family members, including her husband and twin daughters, were kidnapped. Plus, how she was treated and what she remembers from Al-Nasser Hospital. I spoke to her earlier today.

So Sharon, first of all, how are you doing? How are your daughters?

SHARON ALONI-KUNIO, RELEASED HAMAS HOSTAGE: We're not doing very good. I have -- I'm suffering from depression. I have anxiety attacks and panic attacks. The girls also suffer from rage. They have confidence issues. They can't really rely on anyone and they keeping asking when is their dad coming back from Gaza.

COOPER: You and your kids, your husband David, your sister, her child, were all taken from Nir Oz, the kibbutz, and you were actually separated from Emma, one of your 3-year-olds. They are both -- they are twins. When did you realize that she wasn't with you?

ALONI-KUNIO: After we broke out of the window, they separated me from my sister, Emma and my niece Amelia. I was not really conscious because of all the smoke, and I realized that one of them is dragging me away, and I was -- I was sure he was about to rape me and kill me. And when I looked back, I haven't seen my sister, my daughter or my niece. And I had no idea what happened to them.

COOPER: You were -- you had been hiding in your safe room in Nir Oz with your husband, with your two kids, with your sister and her daughter. Finally, you had to leave because they had lit the house on fire and the smoke. You were going to suffocate. You were taken to Gaza. Where were you held initially? ALONI-KUNIO: Initially, we were in a house, a civilian house with two terrorists guarding us inside a room for 24/7, only me, David and Julie. After nine days, the house next to us was bombed and then they decided to move us. They brought in an ambulance that disguised David as corpse. They put me in traditional Arab clothes and they put Julie on me and covered her with a sheet and told me to look down.

COOPER: When you were in this house, you were only with your one daughter. You didn't know -- did you know where Emma was?

ALONI-KUNIO: No. I kept asking them, begging them, crying to them, please look for my daughter. Her name is Emma. She looks exactly like this one. They are identical twins. Please, please. They just told David always to tell me to leave them alone. They don't know what happened to her.

COOPER: That must have been horrific to be separated from your three- year-old and for her identical twin sister to be separated as well.

ALONI-KUNIO: Yeah. It's probably the hardest thing that we have to go through during our captivity, not knowing where she is, if she's even alive.

COOPER: So the house you're staying in, the house next door gets shelled, and they -- your captors actually transport you out of that house in an ambulance? So, they used an ambulance to put you and your husband and your daughter Julie. They ask your husband to pretend to be dead and lay on a stretcher, is that right?

ALONI-KUNIO: Yeah, correct, and they covered him with a white sheet.

COOPER: There has obviously been a lot of discussion about what role hospitals are -- how hospitals are being used by Hamas and other groups. You actually ended up being taken to a hospital and held with other hostages in a hospital, is that right? What hospital was it?

ALONI-KUNIO: The hospital was Al-Nasser in Khan Younis.

COOPER: The Al-Nasser Hospital?

ALONI-KUNIO: We were taken there, up until the end -- yeah, up until the end. There were about three rooms of hostages, each one was 10 to 12 people in it. Small rooms, 12 square feet.

COOPER: And when you're at the hospital, what were conditions like? And did hospital personnel know you were there?

ALONI-KUNIO: They used one hospital personnel to come and see us every other day. He knew who we are. He went along with it, and we were held there up until we were released.

[20:45:00]

COOPER: And what sort of conditions -- you were in an exam room with 10 to 12 other people. Did have you bathroom, a shower, or food? ALONI-KUNIO: It's not in the room. We had bathroom outside. But they used to lock us in the rooms, so we had to knock in order to get stuff or even go to the bathroom. Sometimes they would open up after five minutes, sometimes it would take a few hours. It was really hard when we all had diarrhea and vomiting, and when we -- at first, we didn't have showers and after a while, they gave us a bucket and a glass.

COOPER: You were reunited with Emma that -- I mean, can you describe that moment?

ALONI-KUNIO: Yeah. We were brought into the room in the middle of the night and around morning or noon the next day, they asked us to do a video for some elderly officers or something, and four or five people came inside the room. And suddenly, I heard a voice of a baby crying outside the door and I grabbed David and I tell him, "Oh my God, this is Emma's voice." And he's telling me, "What are you talking about? She's not here, you know that." And I told them I'm losing my mind. I'm hallucinating.

And then the crying starts to get louder and it sounds like it comes into the room, and then I just saw a person holding Emma and giving her to me like she's a package, and she's hysterical and crying, and I'm trying to calm her down, but she wouldn't. And then I started to sing her this lullaby I sing for her every night and just then she began to relax a bit. But, the first night with her was really difficult because she would wake up screaming and wouldn't calm down for hours, and they would yell at us to be quiet.

COOPER: Emotionally, what is it like at this time? I mean, to be in this room with all these people in this hospital. I imagine you're hearing what's happening outside. You're hearing shelling in the distance. How would you get through the days? How was your husband?

ALONI-KUNIO: It was really difficult because we had no information. We didn't have radio or TV, so the only thing -- the only stuff we knew is when we used to ask them, our captors, for a bit of information, what was going on and we didn't really get any hope from them. We kind of felt that everyone had given up on us. We had no idea what is happening in Israel, that everyone is fighting for us, and we really suffered from depression every day. I used to cry almost every day because I didn't have my depression pills also, and David was so frustrated, he used to beat himself in the face sometimes until he bled.

COOPER: On Friday, November 24th, something changed. What happened on that day?

ALONI-KUNIO: On November 24th, a man came inside and asked to talk to David. And after I think 20 minutes, David came back with a frightened face and I told him what happened. And he said that one of the officers wants to talk to him and he would be back in two hours, and it sounded kind of weird, so we asked one of the captors if he's really coming back and he said no. They are taking him to a place with other men because a deal has begun and they are bringing back only women and children at the moment. And they let us -- they told us they will come back for him. We didn't know for how long and for three hours, we just sat there and cried. And I begged him not to go. And he told me he was so scared and asked me to fight for him, and the girls cried and begged him not to go and said, why does the our father has to leave? Why can't they take someone else's dad? It was a really -- I think the hardest day, and this is the day I'm stuck on, and I can't really manage to recover from.

COOPER: From that separation, I understand you tried to convince David to let you stay with him in Gaza and send your girls back to Israel.

ALONI-KUNIO: Yeah. I told him we have an amazing family from both sides.

[20:50:00]

ALONI-KUNIO: I know they will take good care of them. I don't want to leave you alone in Gaza. I know what it's like to be there, and it's really difficult. We have barely food. The food we had was moldy. It was so hard to be there and to think that he is going to be there alone by himself, God knows where. It was the hardest decision I had to make in my life, they didn't really give us even any choice because they just stated a fact that the men are going to other places.

COOPER: And then he's taken away. Have you had any word about him since?

ALONI-KUNIO: We just know that he was taken down to the tunnels.

COOPER: So, how do you get through each day now?

ALONI-KUNIO: I usually cry all day. I try to be strong for the girls because I know they look up to me currently, because I'm both mother and a father right now. But when they don't see me, I cry. I watch videos of him. I hear sound voices from him just to kind of feel connected to him.

COOPER: Do your daughters ask a lot about him?

ALONI-KUNIO: Every day. Every day.

COOPER: Is there anything else you want people to know or you want to say?

ALONI-KUNIO: Yeah. I want people to understand that every minute counts and every minute is in captivity lasts like a lifetime. And tomorrow would be the double amount of time that I was in captivity that my husband and the other 135 people are in against their will. And everything needs to be done in order to make a deal and bring him home now.

COOPER: If David can hear this now, is there anything you want to say to him?

ALONI-KUNIO: My love, I hope that I am making you proud for fighting for you. And I promise you, I won't stop up until I can't breathe anymore. I will fight for you, for bringing you home for our girls because you deserve it. And I love you. And I can't wait to see you.

COOPER: Sharon, thank you so much for your time.

ALONI-KUNIO: Thank you so much, Anderson.

COOPER: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:56:50]

COOPER: Kate, Princess of Wales, the wife of the future British king is hospitalized after abdominal surgery. Next week, her father-in-law King Charles will also be in hospital when the 75-year-old monarch has his own medical procedure. I have details now from CNN's Royal Correspondent Max Foster in London.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): From her recent engagements, the Princess of Wales has looked well and been in good spirits. The first suggestion that she may have been unwell came on Wednesday when Kensington Palace announced she was in hospital, recovering from abdominal surgery. It was successful. And a source told CNN it wasn't cancer related.

She would need to remain in hospital for up to two weeks though and up to three months, recuperating at home in Windsor. All engagements and travel are being put on hold as they have for Prince William, as he takes care of his family.

Then news that King Charles would also be going to hospital next week with an enlarged prostate. We're told it's benign and it was announced on the same day because it meant he had to cancel a meeting with government ministers on Thursday in Scotland. In total, three out of four of the most senior British working royals out of action. No further updates expected until the princess leaves hospital or takes a turn for the worse.

Kate is keen on fitness and enjoys playing sports, so she is expected to recover well. The palaces rarely release private medical details, which is why they haven't explained what the surgery was actually for. But she could have been spotted leaving the hospital and questions would have been asked why she was cancelling engagements.

A source told CNN that the king took the view that sharing his condition would encourage other men to have their prostates checked.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: So Max, what happens when so many members of the royal family are not doing what they normally do, appearing in places?

FOSTER: Well, I think a lot of it comes down to the Queen Camilla. She'll be out and about I'm sure next week to show continuity in the monarchy because I think the surprise here is that, these key members are vulnerable and William stepped in to sort of support them. And she will be supported by Anne and Edward, and Edward's wife Sophie, really expressing how the monarchy has been slimmed down because, of course, Prince Andrew is no longer working, neither are Harry and Meghan and of course, the queen isn't either. So, it is a much more slimmed down monarchy and this is fragility to it that I think we saw today.

COOPER: And how are people in the U.K. reacting?

FOSTER: Well, people in the U.K., I think initially, they were a bit puzzled by the amount of time that the princess will need to recover. And now, I think they feel quite shocked because she is the vibrant centerpiece really of the royal family. She's the one that makes front pages. We're not going to see her for months. And you know, she is this picture of health. And quite surprised really, quite shocked really that she could potentially be vulnerable, with the experience of the queen dying not that far away in the memory.

COOPER: Yeah. Max Foster, thanks very much. Appreciate it.

That's it for us. The news continues. "The Source" with Kaitlan Collins starts now.