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Rebels Appear To Have Entered Damascus As Regime's Defenses Collapse; Trump Doubles Down On Support For Pete Hegseth; Relief Is On The Way From The Bitter Arctic Air. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired December 07, 2024 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:03]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

And we start tonight with breaking news out of Syria, where rebels have cleared a path to the capital. They say they're marching to the gates of Damascus. The big question is, where is President Bashar al- Assad? There are conflicting details about his exact whereabouts. And just moments ago White House National Security adviser Jake Sullivan at the Reagan National Defense Forum making America's position clear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The United States is not going to dive into the middle militarily, dive into the middle of a Syrian civil war. What we are going to do is focus on the American national security priorities and interests. And I named the three of them that I see. The first critically is do not let this allow for the resurgence of ISIS. And we are going to take steps to make sure that that happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Sullivan's remarks coming after President-elect Donald Trump weighed in on the conflict as well. Earlier today on Truth Social, Trump declared the U.S. should, quote, "have nothing to do with it. This is not our fight."

For the latest now, we are joined by CNN's Nic Robertson.

And Nic, I know you have new reporting on this.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. Sources are telling us now that President Bashar al-Assad's military defenses of the capital Damascus have now effectively collapsed. We're also hearing from residents less than a couple of miles from the center of Damascus that they are seeing rebels on the streets there.

And this really fits the emerging picture that's developed hour by hour of rebels arriving from the south, from the east and from the north into those outer suburbs around the capital Damascus. We knew that there was a reconnaissance force of rebels inside the capital overnight last night. They were able to figure out that Bashar al- Assad wasn't at his normal places of residence, which was gave them to understand that effectively Assad was on the run somewhere.

They're still looking for him. They don't know where he is. If he's left the capital, if he's somewhere else in the country, or even if he has left the country completely. But the picture that is emerging now, what is just a couple of hours after midnight there in Damascus, about 2:00 a.m. in the morning, is that rebels are now on the streets very close to the center and the military defenses that Assad's army, the police force, have it appears melted away.

In fact, we saw 2,000 of Assad's army in military trucks. Some of those trucks hauling heavy weapons, fleeing out of Syria into Iraq, crossing the border and driving into Iraq. And this is not quite unprecedented, but it is utterly unheard of in the recent history. Assad's family has had an iron grip over Syria for the last 53 years. Here is his army fleeing into a neighboring country. Rebels on the streets of the capital. The president nowhere to be seen.

And effectively the rebels, as you said, at the gates of Damascus and the gates seem to be open, and there's nobody behind the gates.

DEAN: Absolutely incredible. Great reporting there, Nic. That really brings us up to date on what continues to be an ever changing, very fluid situation there in Syria.

Nic Robertson, thank you so much.

We are also following breaking news tonight on the manhunt and murder investigation of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson. We've now learned that NYPD divers have been searching the lake in Central Park for evidence, including the murder weapon. This comes as we're also learning New York City police detectives are now on the ground in Atlanta in connection with that investigation.

And joining us now live from the Manhattan bus station where that suspect was last seen is CNN national correspondent Gloria Pazmino.

And Gloria, also a story in which we've seen a lot of developments today as well.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we have gotten a significant amount of new information in the last few hours, Jessica. And what we know is that investigators have been led on a new path ever since they realized that the murder weapon was not found inside the backpack that was found in Central Park last night. So, as you said, the NYPD has sent a team of its divers searching for the murder weapon in the park, in the Central Park Lake, I should say, directly behind the boathouse.

This is a very prominent area of the park and that is where we see NYPD divers going into that water, searching for this murder weapon. A critical piece of evidence in this investigation. The only thing that was found inside the backpack was a Tommy Hilfiger jacket.

[19:05:04]

That's according to our law enforcement sources. So now we know they have a jacket. They have a backpack. They have some DNA that was picked up on a water bottle that the suspect appears to have left behind. And they know that the suspect traveled to this bus station here behind me. They have video of him entering the bus station, but never leaving, so they are assuming that the suspect likely left the city of New York on a bus on here at this bus terminal behind me.

Of course, they also have what police here have referred to as the money shot. That is the image of the suspect at the hostel where he was staying, where he briefly pulls down his mask and flashes that smile. That is the image that the police has been trying to spread around the country as they search for the identity of this man.

One thing I want to point out, Jessica, is just how incredibly fast all of this happened. We have gotten new timeline details from police here and that show that from the moment that the suspect opened fire killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson to the moment he arrived here at the bus station, it was less than an hour. He was moving incredibly fast. First on the bicycle then through Central Park then on a cab, finally arriving here and looking for his way out -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Gloria Pazmino, with all of those latest developments, thank you very much for that reporting.

And joining us now to discuss further, former FBI assistant director for the Criminal Investigative Division, Chris Swecker.

Chris, thanks so much for being here with us.

CHRIS SWECKER, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE DIVISION: Good evening.

DEAN: I want to get your reaction first to this breaking news that New York police detectives are now in Atlanta as part of this investigation. We know that that's where that bus route originated. What does this tell you about where they are in this investigation?

SWECKER: Well, first of all, I think it's unfathomable that they haven't identified this person yet and, you know, Mayor Adams has come out and said that they have identified him, but they're not going to give his name because they don't want to tip him off. Well, by doing that, they just tipped him off. They're also tipping him off by announcing that they are in Atlanta looking for him. So it seems like they're, you know, they're being very careless. NYPD or at least the mayor is being very careless at this point in putting that information out.

But having said that, you know, that's where that bus was headed. I understand there are about seven stops that that bus made or would make between there and Atlanta. So I'm sure they have people on the ground at the other stops as well.

DEAN: It sounds like you feel a bit critical about how they're handling this. How would you say they've handled this so far, the NYPD?

SWECKER: Yes. Well, I think it's been brilliant so far, but I think what they put out today was ill advised, or at least what the mayor put out today was ill advised. He says they don't want to -- they know who he is, but they're not going to identify him because they don't want to tip him off. By doing that they just tipped him off, or at least the mayor did. And that will radically change his behavior now that he knows that law enforcement knows who he is and has his identity.

That will -- I'm not going to give a, you know, he'll do countermeasures and I'm not going to go into all those countermeasures. But he's going to change his behavior if he knows that they have his identity.

DEAN: And we also got this news today that these divers are in this lake in Central Park looking for potentially the murder weapon. This was after they found the backpack in Central Park. What do you make of those details?

SWECKER: Yes, perfectly logical. You know, I would have thought -- I thought originally that the backpack might have been in the pond because they didn't find it anywhere else or ponds and it's very logical that they would be diving for that weapon. He has no, again, he has no reason to take the weapon with him. He's done a few things that are smart. He's done some other things that are not so smart.

So it's hard to assess his, you know, whether this is a true professional or not. But, you know, he's you know, he's done some things that will have and can and will lead to his capture but he's not going to take the gun with him.

DEAN: Yes. What is your sense, just having had your years of experience in terms of the planning that went into this. But then also to your point, the slip-ups that also existed and yet he really does seem to, as Juliette Kayyem said earlier last hour, to be -- he really understood how to weave through a city that is high on surveillance.

SWECKER: Right.

DEAN: What do you -- what are your thoughts on this suspect and his planning?

SWECKER: Yes. I mean, I think he's a young, very young, highly motivated individual. He, you know, obviously planned this well. He, you know, the way he handled his weapon speaks to good training or some, you know, some type of professional training.

[19:10:05]

The way he handles the gun, the way he had the sort of the weaver method of shooting. When his gun jammed, he was able to clear it very quickly. That's, you know, amateurs can't do that. And the way, as you said, the way he moved through the city, he didn't try to get in a car. He didn't try to, you know, take immediately, take public transportation. He had it very well-planned where he had the, you know, the bike stashed elsewhere. He got rid of the backpack. He came out on the other side of the park.

The only thing he probably didn't account for was the fact that there is such a dense concentration of video everywhere in that city, and this is how they solved the Boston marathon bombing is using the video to identify the people and having the public identify that -- you know, those two people. So video has played a big role here. I think they know who he is. They've said as much, and I think the noose or the cordon is tightening up pretty well right now. They'll have him within a day or two.

DEAN: OK. You have a unique perspective on this because you were the former director of global security at Bank of America. It was a role where you were responsible for the security of executives, including CEOs.

SWECKER: Right.

DEAN: I'm curious what your advice would be for executives right now for companies watching this and very concerned about the people that work at their companies.

SWECKER: Yes. Executive protection is an important part of the overall security package, if you will, for any corporation. I do have quite a few security assessments and there's a lot of components to go into it. But when you have a published out conference like this where it's specific to the company and you know that the CEOs and the top officers are coming and that you know that there's controversy that's the time to kind of up your game with the executive protection.

Now, sometimes the executives push back and they don't want people around them. They want to be approachable. But if you were doing the threat analysis sort of in hindsight, I would say this was kind of a high risk conference for this particular CEO and other top officers in the company so I think they have executive protection. They should have been using it. It's an important part of any security package for any corporation of that size.

DEAN: Yes. And we had a piece on last hour about just the vitriol that has kind of exploded across social media.

SWECKER: Right.

DEAN: That this has really become kind of -- this killing of the CEO has become a place where a lot of Americans have focused their deep frustration and anger at the health care system writ large, at the health insurance industry. What do you think about that in terms of, are you surprised by that kind of turning of the tide, where they're essentially cheering on this suspect?

SWECKER: Yes, I mean, I saw this in '09 during the financial crisis when a lot of people turned on the banks in the same way and felt that they were responsible for the biggest crash we've had in my lifetime. And so again this is where you have to be on top of your game in corporate security and, you know, assessing the risk, if you will.

We saw this with Eric Rudolph, for example, the Olympic bomber. There was some sympathy for him. There were a lot of people that were aligned with him and they were, you know, they put out T-shirts, "Run, Eric, Run." So, you know, sometimes you get a little bit of a Robin Hood dynamic and I don't think it's -- I don't think people are going to be, you know, going out of their way to help him but it is a dynamic that law enforcement has to factor in.

DEAN: All right. Chris Swecker, thank you so much for your analysis there. We really appreciate it.

SWECKER: Thank you.

DEAN: Still ahead, more on the manhunt for the UnitedHealthcare killer. What a network of amateurs think they can do to identify and locate the suspect. Plus, five years after a massive fire tore through Notre Dame Cathedral President-elect Trump is among those helping celebrate its grand reopening. We'll take you there.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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DEAN: Amazing. The doors of the Notre Dame Cathedral officially opening for the first time since 2019, when a fire broke out, destroying so much of the iconic Paris landmark. And today, dozens of world leaders including President-elect Donald Trump gathering in the French capital to celebrate its reopening and the rebirth of the beloved 12th century cathedral.

CNN's senior international correspondent Melissa Bell is in Paris with more on today's ceremony and the significance of Trump's return to the world stage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the first time in more than five years, the bells ring out at Notre Dame. The cathedral officially reopened. The pomp and circumstance celebrating the restored monument, an impressive backdrop to Donald Trump's return to the world stage as president-elect.

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A symbolic knock on the door by the Archbishop of Paris. The cathedral awakens. And resounds with a hymn of praise and then applause for the firefighters who risked their lives to save what they could. A devastating fire damaged the Paris landmark in April 2019. A global audience watched in horror as the famous spire toppled.

The historic reopening bringing together some 50 heads of state including Trump, who met with President Macron at the Elysee Palace before the ceremony began.

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT: It's a great honor for the French people to welcome you five years later and you were at that time president for the first time. And I remember the solidarity and your immediate reaction. So welcome back again. Merci beaucoup.

BELL: Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was also in Paris for the reopening and took the opportunity to continue to advocate for U.S. support in his country's war with Russia.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT: It certainly seems like the world is going a little crazy right now, and we'll be talking about that.

BELL: Trump and Macron seated together as the French president noted the symbolism in the rebuilding of this monument.

MACRON (through translator): We have rediscovered what the great nations can do. We can achieve the impossible. And this cathedral is a happy metaphor for what a nation and what the world can be.

BELL: Next the organ was called back to life. Its 8,000 pipes took six months to tune, clean and reassemble. Notre Dame now restored beyond its previous glory and ready to hold its first mass on Sunday.

FR. MAXIME DEURBERGUE, NOTRE DAME RESTORATION TEAM: I was very grateful and moved by this worldwide emotion. In some ways, it's a rebirth. In fact, she was never -- I say she. She was never dead. There was always the soul was there.

BELL: A touching moment for the team who led the painstaking restoration and for everyone who watched as the cathedral was brought back to life.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Truly amazing. Joining us now is Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer. She's the acting president for the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Alexandra, thanks so much for being here with us.

ALEXANDRA DE HOOP SCHEFFER, ACTING PRESIDENT, GERMAN MARSHALL FUND OF THE U.S.: Thank you for having me.

DEAN: I want to just talk first about -- we were just watching video from the ceremony, from these world leaders all coming to Paris as Europe and the world prepares for the return of President-elect Trump to the world stage. What did you take away from this scene this afternoon?

DE HOOP SCHEFFER: Well, first of all, I think it was a rare moment of global unity at a time of polarization but also geopolitical uncertainty. And it was a moment to take stock of how much the world has changed since 2019, when the cathedral was, you know, caught by this fire, but also since 2016, when Donald Trump got reelected first.

And if I could sum it that way, I would say it was a win-win moment both for Trump and for the French President Emmanuel Macron. For Trump, this was an opportunity to return to the international stage. For President Macron, you know, he's in a difficult domestic situation. His government just collapsed a couple of days ago. And so this was a moment also for him to host what became a political event. And that I think on both sides benefited both Trump and Macron.

DEAN: And your organization is committed to the idea that the U.S. and Europe are stronger together. It's about keeping in place those tenets that were built after World War II that has seen the U.S. become such a superpower in terms of global policy and how it moves within the world. What would you say the state of the relationship is today between the U.S. and Europe? And where do you see it going with President-elect Trump returning to office?

DE HOOP SCHEFFER: Well, I think the first test for the Transatlantic relation under Trump to will be Ukraine. The way Trump will deal with Ukraine will shape the future of the Transatlantic relationship for the four years to come, and that's why, you know, President Macron was very eager to actually host this trilateral meeting in Paris, and he did so before the ceremony of the reopening of Notre Dame.

He convened Donald Trump, but also Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in the Elysee Palace. And this was an opportunity, again, for the French president to show that he could serve as a sort of mediator, or at least an important European interlocutor vis-a-vis Trump.

[19:25:14]

We also know that Trump came with a couple of advisers on the Middle East in Paris. And finally, this day finished with a high level dinner convening some of the high level politicians present in Notre Dame and again having Trump and Zelenskyy at the dinner. So this was a highly significant political moment. And again, it's really remarkable and quite striking to see how Trump's attendance underscored how he is already redefining U.S. foreign policy more than a month before he officially takes office, and how European leaders and world leaders are eager to engage with him before his official inauguration.

DEAN: Yes, it was certainly striking to see all of that on display today.

Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer, thank you so much for your time. We really appreciate it.

DE HOOP SCHEFFER: Thank you.

DEAN: Still ahead, major developments by the minute in Syria as rebel forces now on the outskirts of Damascus as video shows Syrian army soldiers fleeing their country. We are closely monitoring this.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:30:57]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News. DEAN: Breaking news coming out of Syria. A resident in Damascus telling CNN, rebels appear to have entered the capital as Bashar al- Assad's regime defenses collapse. Rebels are moving across the country at a blistering pace, capturing four cities in a day.

Let's go to CNN's Nic Robertson first. Stunning developments, Nic, in just hours and really in the last several hours as well.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It really is. It's almost difficult to keep pace and track of exactly what's happening. But in the past couple of hours residents inside a neighborhood of Damascus less than three miles from the city center say that they are seeing rebels on the streets there.

And at the same time, we are getting information from sources who are telling us that the Bashar al-Assad regime's military defenses of the capital, Damascus, have melted away, are collapsing. In other words, sort of effectively fallen, if you will.

This fits an emerging picture through the day where rebels have arrived from the north, the east and the south, getting into suburbs just right around the capital. Some of those suburbs about five miles from the center of the capital. That was sort of late afternoon early evening. But as we've gone into the night it's about 2:30 in the morning there in Damascus now.

We now know that the rebels are on the streets. The residents are saying that they can hear some sorts of clashes going on, but adding to that mix, the fact that President Bashar al-Assad, his whereabouts are now unknown. The rebels last night had a reconnaissance force inside the capital looking for where he may be.

They weren't able to locate him. He wasn't in his normal locations. They're still looking for him. They don't know if he's in the capital somewhere hiding out, somewhere else in the country, or even if he has left the country at this time, that is unclear.

But the picture that is emerging here is Assad's defense forces essentially downing tools and running away, 2,000 of them were seen fleeing across the border with some of their heavy weapons into Iraq earlier this evening.

So, the military defending the capital has gone. The president whose capital it was, has disappeared. The rebels are in the city. We're getting close to that point where until we hear from Assad, he effectively seems to be now ousted from power.

This is something that's still in the process. It's not complete. We can't say that definitively, but the momentum where we stand at this minute right now, the momentum is heading in that direction.

Obviously, we will have to see what happens in the morning and learn more details. But it's the rebels who are driving forward. It's the rebels who've arrived at the city gates, who have opened the city gates, have pushed through, found no one defending it and not found the president of the country there either. DEAN: Yes, they certainly seem to have all the momentum and something that is unfolding in real time. Nic, stay with us. I do want to go to CNN's Oren Liebermann, who is joining us now from Simi Valley, California where you, Oren, were with a lot of US Officials at the Reagan Defense Forum. What are you hearing from US officials right now?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was just earlier today that a number of US officials told my colleagues that the Syrian regime could fall -- the Assad regime could fall within a matter of days. And the way it's looking right now is that timeline may have been far too extended, given what we're seeing. The US, the Pentagon have been watching this very closely, and that's because of the role that Syria plays in US National Security.

There are some 900 US troops in Syria as part of the coalition to defeat ISIS. The US is determined not to play any sort of role in the Civil War there. They're certainly not siding with the Assad regime or the rebels who are led by a US designated terrorist organization. And yet, what happens there affects the country and the US right now has two goals.

First, to protect its own forces and then still, the mission that it's had now is to make sure there is no resurgence of ISIS especially as the regime itself collapses.

National Security adviser, Jake Sullivan spoke a short time ago here at the Reagan National Defense Forum. Here is how he says he views this.

[19:35:10]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: It's important to start by observing why this is happening. And it's really happening for two reasons. First, Assad has been brutal and repressive to his own people and totally intransigent in terms of actually trying to provide a better life or a better future for the people of Syria. And so, the people of Syria are fed up.

Second, Assad's backers -- Iran, Russia, and Hezbollah -- have all been weakened and distracted and so he has not had the support from those three actors that he expected to be able to count on and has been left basically naked. His forces are hollowed out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: It is that latter point that effectively created the circumstances under which all of this was possible. Assad has been propped up by Russia for most of the past decade, and yet Russia is distracted. Iran has had its most powerful proxy, Hezbollah severely weakened by Israel and that created the grounds to make this possible. And yet, that's not a situation in which the US sees any reason at this point to get involved. And by the way, that was a message we heard from President-elect Donald Trump as well, who said there was no reason to get involved. And at least on this specific point there's absolute agreement between the Biden administration and the incoming administration. Both are watching all of this unfold. It could have profound impacts on the region and already is.

The US, though watching from a distance and making sure its own forces are safe in Syria.

DEAN: All right, Oren Liebermann, for us in California. Our thanks to you and Nic Robertson in London with that great reporting. We're going to continue to monitor this. We're going to take a break and we will be right back.

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[19:41:24]

DEAN: President-elect Trump once again expressing confidence in his pick to lead the Department of Defense. Pete Hegseth on Capitol Hill this week trying to persuade senators to support his bid, saying he's, "a changed man" after several damaging allegations of misconduct surfaced about him.

Here's what Trump told NBC News when asked if any senators have agreed to confirm Hegseth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: He loves the military, and I think people are starting to see it, so, I will be working on his nomination along with a lot of others.

KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS: Since you bring him up, do you still have confidence in Pete Hegseth?

TRUMP: Yes, I do. I really do, he's a very smart guy.

REPORTER: Have you gotten assurances from senators that he's going to be confirmed? Do you think he can make it?

TRUMP: No, I think he will. Yes. I've had a lot of senators calling me up saying he's fantastic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Joining us now, political reporter for NOTUS, Jasmine Wright.

Jasmine, what are you hearing from your sources on the Hill? I think everyone wants to know if Hegseth can get enough support to get confirmed.

JASMINE WRIGHT, POLITICAL REPORTER, NOTUS: Yes, well, my sources on the Hill say that basically everybody is waiting for the background check and that report, obviously, that process is now underway according to Pete Hegseth's lawyer. And so, of course, that will take some time, but certainly that is what folks on the Hill are waiting for.

Now, when I talk to people close to the president-elect, what they say is that they want Pete Hegseth to have a fair confirmation process, whether or not he gets confirmed at the end, I think is an open question right now. But they want that process to go through and they don't want it to end up like Matt Gaetz.

I think a lot of people, after they saw the media playing around Pete Hegseth and his lawyer changed earlier in the week, and they saw him really being combative on the Hill with press saying that he doesn't owe them anything. All he owes is to the lawmakers and to President Trump himself. So, they really wanted President Trump to come out defending him. Now, we've heard that certainly in that clip.

And so, I think that what folks are waiting now for is the background check, because, of course, you can deny all of these anonymous media reports. They, in their own words, saying that they didn't happen or you know, saying that he is a changed man but certainly what they can't deny is what could be in those background checks. So, I think that on the Hill, that is kind of where the conversation is right now.

DEAN: Yes, it gives them a little potentially cover or on the flip side could make some of them potentially more comfortable with this.

Do you get the sense at all that that Hegseth is being used as sort of a heat shield of sorts to take attention or kind of plow the way for some of the other more controversial Cabinet picks -- Tulsi Gabbard, RFK Jr. -- people like that, who without Hegseth would maybe be getting some of this attention.

WRIGHT: Yes, I mean that's possible. I was actually talking to somebody who knows the president-elect very well and during the Matt Gaetz conversations, they basically told me that he's not putting up somebody kind of as a sacrificial lamb so that all of his other, maybe more controversial or what people would think are less qualified nominees can get through.

He's putting up the people that he wants to see in these positions because he believes that the American people gave him a mandate to tear down the systems in which he believes, really kind of tortured him for the last four years. And so, these are the people that he wants to see in these positions. That doesn't mean that he doesn't have backups.

Of course, a lot of that conversation around Pete Hegseth this week was about him talking to folks like DeSantis and other potential Republicans that could come in, if it was clear that Hegseth wouldn't be able to go through the process any further.

So it's not saying that he's not talking to other people, but certainly he wants to see the people who he initially nominated in these roles and he wants them, and the folks around him want to see them at least make it to the confirmation process, really trying not to embolden the Senate to be able to just to declare, even before the process starts, that these folks are dead on arrival.

[19:45:13]

DEAN: Yes and we heard from Speaker Mike Johnson defending Hegseth earlier. I want to play a clip of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): Look, I like how he's approached it. We've all made mistakes in our lives, right? But we believe in redemption and what Pete brings to the table is a love for the military, a great education background, a great experience set.

I think he's well-suited for the job, and he will shake up the status quo, which is why this pick is so important. That's what President Trump -- that's the common denominator. People who will shake it up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And Jasmine, it's just interesting watching that because Trump has not struggled as much with House members to kind of get them in line. Obviously, in a Senate confirmation process, the House doesn't really have any say at all. But seeing Mike Johnson out there speaking for in favor of Pete Hegseth, certainly, you know, is good for Pete Hegseth.

But it is interesting just how different it is when you go to the Senate. Some of those senators, again, on six-year terms, not two-year terms, are a little more willing to or could be a little more willing to buck Trump in some way.

WRIGHT: Yes, and I think that this is a real test for Senate Republicans who I think really do want to give precedence in deference to the president-elect with his choices. But certainly there are going to be certain things that they are just unable to accept and, you know, maybe some of that womanizing, those womanizing allegations aren't the biggest deal for most of the people.

But certainly, the drinking allegations I've heard from a number of folks on both sides of the aisle are a bigger, bigger deal. And they're waiting to see what that background check shows. I mean, when you think about Speaker Mike Johnson and other House Republicans coming to the defense of Pete Hegseth, he went over to that side of Capitol Hill and asked them to rally around him, to put pressure on these Senate Republicans who may want to be more independent or who may want to buck some of Trump's nominees.

Basically saying that I need you guys to support me, and so, here you're seeing Mike Johnson speak out. You're probably going to be seeing more and more of them speak out over the next two weeks, really trying to ramp up the pressure on Senate Republicans potentially, maybe even those female Senate Republicans who do take issue with some of the allegations of sexual assault and other type of womanizing allegations that we've seen in the media over the last five, six, seven days. And so, I think you're going to see more of an effort to kind of circle around Pete Hegseth trying to defend him, certainly, at least until that background check process comes up, Jessica. But of course, right, what we don't know is what we don't know, which is are there more allegations waiting and any more allegations makes it that much more difficult for him to stay in this confirmation process.

DEAN: And I just want to ask you too, on a separate subject. President Biden reportedly considering announcing these preemptive pardons for people who may be targeted by the Trump administration for prosecution once he takes office. We know that Congressman Jim Clyburn has been a proponent of this, Senator-elect Adam Schiff, though, who might be one of those people considered for a pardon.

Again, though we need to underscore, none of these people have done anything illegal. There are no charges against them. But Schiff is reportedly urging the president not to do this, saying it would come off as, quote defensive and unnecessary. What are you hearing about this?

WRIGHT: Well, when I had heard the conversation kind of percolating in the White House, it hadn't actually reached to my understanding, President Biden's ears I think now that it is so far in the news that potentially has changed, but it certainly was happening amongst more senior aides that were feeling nervous for folks who again, they believe that didn't necessarily commit any crimes but would potentially be on that retribution list, particularly after a president-elect named Kash Patel as the FBI chief.

So, certainly those conversations were happening kind of in a vacuum. Probably starting in earnest in the last few weeks. And so, it's going to be an open question of what happens, whether or not they're just floating it, see whether or not people like it, whether or not they're really serious about it happening.

I think that that conversation, Jessica, is happening at the same time where after Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, there's real pressure on him from clemency groups, from lawmakers on the Hill, including Ayanna Pressley, who we spoke to for a story as well as Hakeem Jeffries for Biden to provide clemency to the just about 10,000 open petitions right now and for people under federal custody.

And so, those kind of conversations are happening at the same time, both yes, preemptive pardoning and for Trump's retribution list, but also providing clemency for people who these folks in these advocacy groups really believe deserve it. Especially when you think about the fact that right now, President Biden has basically pardoned about the least amount of people compared to his predecessors, only about 25 people to this point, in his administration.

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DEAN: All right, Jasmine Wright, as always, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

And still ahead, after days of frigid temperatures and snow, things are about to change. The forecast is next.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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DEAN: Relief is on the way from the bitter arctic air that's been keeping things absolutely freezing in a lot of the country. Let's bring in Elisa Raffa. She's in the Weather Center with more. What are you tracking, Elisa?

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We still have temperatures above freezing even as the sun is setting here. It's 50 degrees in Nashville, 54 in Saint Louis. After highs, widely in the 60s today. So, really rebounding as that Arctic air gets kicked out.

We've got temperatures 10, 15, even 20 degrees warmer than they were this time yesterday in some locations. And it's because that arctic air that's kind of been in place since Thanksgiving is finally exiting, and its letting some warmer air come in and temperatures will start to go on the other side of average.

We will start to find highs continuing in the 50s and 60s across the eastern half of the country on Sunday about five to 10 degrees above normal; in some places, 20 degrees above normal. Same thing going into Monday as well. We'll find these temperatures pretty warm even up towards New York. Highs in the 50s, about seven degrees above normal.

Now, when you look at the forecast in New Orleans, you've got these temperatures in the 70s, warm and above average. But look at what happens, it comes with rain. What's happening is, is they're kicking out the cold air with a storm. And that storm is going to linger in the Gulf over the next couple of days and could cause a limited flood threat. We have multiple days of a flooding risk along the Gulf Coast on Monday and Tuesday. We have a level two out of five slight risk there for parts of New Orleans, the Florida Panhandle.

On Tuesday, it starts to stretch up towards Atlanta and then even getting up into the Carolinas and it's because the system is kind of slow moving and the way that its positioned, the moisture in the Gulf of Mexico will just continue to feed into it and funnel it. So, we'll continue to find some of this rain that could be heavy at times.

We could find rainfall rates two inches per hour at times. So you have a lot of rain falling in a short amount of time. And some of these areas have saturated soil, so they can't really take that much more rain. So, something that well need to watch overall looking at some three to five inches of rain possible -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Elisa Raffa with the latest for us. Thanks so much..

We do have breaking news out of Syria right now. A source telling CNN rebels appear to have entered the Capital of Damascus as the Bashar al-Assad regime's defenses collapse.

We're going to have much more on the stunning, quick moving developments, next.

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