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CNN International: Syrians Hold Friday Prayers, Celebrate Freedom From Assad; Syrians Search Morgues For Missing Loved Ones; New Jersey Lawmaker Holds News Conference On Drone Sightings. Aired 11a- 12p ET
Aired December 13, 2024 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
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RAHEL SOLOMON, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Good morning or good evening, depending on where you're watching. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.
And ahead on CNN Newsroom, as Syrians desperately search for their loved ones, CNN's Clarissa Ward takes us inside a morgue where the bodies left behind are a reminder of Bashar al-Assad's brutal legacy. Plus, lights in the skies, residents and lawmakers left scratching their heads and searching for answers over what's behind the mysterious drones hovering over New Jersey. And the woman who set off a firestorm in the U.S. in 2006 by falsely accusing three Duke men's lacrosse players of rape, well, now she is admitting she lied about the encounter.
And the Syrians are ending the week with a new sense of freedom after the collapse of their country's brutal dictatorship, but rebel leader Mohammad al-Jolani is urging them to use caution and celebrate without firing shots.
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SOLOMON: This is the moment when accidental gunfire caused deadly chaos in the northern city of Raqqa. Witnesses tell CNN that a man lost control of his machine gun and mistakenly opened fire on bystanders, killing at least one person.
And for the first time since the regime was overthrown, thousands of people gathered across the country for Friday prayers. But, as life slowly begins to return to normal, the UN chief says that he is concerned about, quote, "violations of serious sovereignty" following Israeli airstrikes and the deployment of the IDF troops behind the buffer zone. Despite that, Israel's Defense Minister is ordering the military to stay on captured territory.
Meanwhile, America's top diplomat and the Turkish Foreign Minister wrapped up a meeting a short time ago on the future of Syria. Antony Blinken is in the region trying to get Middle Eastern nations to support a peaceful transition. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We're very focused on Syria, very focused on the opportunity that now is before us and before the Syrian people to move out from under the shackles of Bashar al-Assad to a different and better future for the Syrian people, one that the Syrian people decide for themselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: And this weekend, Blinken will be in Jordan, which is hosting the summit of foreign ministers from Western and Arab nations to discuss a smooth transitional process for Syria.
I want to now take you to New Jersey, where officials are updating us on New Jersey drone sightings. Actually, I'm understanding now that that press conference has not started. So, we will get to that once it begins.
But, for now, CNN's Clarissa Ward is in Damascus with a look at what Syrians are saying about their new-found freedom after enduring a brutal regime.
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CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: People are flooding into the central Umayyad Square from around Damascus. They're flooding into squares across the entire country. This is the first Friday since Bashar al-Assad left the country, and you can see, understandably, so many people here are celebrating what they see as the greatest victory of a lifetime, after 53 years of totalitarian rule under Bashar al-Assad, after hundreds of thousands of dead and disappeared into Syrian prisons. Finally, Syria, for these people, is free.
This is what you hear over and over (FOREIGN LANGUAGE), Syria is free, and the crowds are getting bigger and bigger here, as people really just absorb the magnitude of this moment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, thank God. We're so grateful that we finally can speak freely. We can criticize. We can help. We can feel like this country is our country.
WARD: What does this moment feel like in that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like a dream. It's like a dream. At the end, I felt like I'm going to lose the hope. He is going to leave, and now we got back the hope. Honestly, it's like a dream came true.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, it's a great feeling. We are in Umayyad Square. We are in the middle of Damascus, stating (ph) freedom, stating we are still want the same demands of democracy, of participation, of justice.
WARD: And everyone understands that there are a lot of question marks still about what comes next and what the new Syria will look like. And yet, you see people from every --
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WARD: And you hear a lot of chants that you heard from the very beginning, the uprising of 2011. People would risk their lives to take to the streets.
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WARD: This is the flag (ph) of the Syrian revolution. For most of these people, they never imagined that they would be able to chant these chants and wave that flag right here in the Umayyad Square.
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SOLOMON: And Clarissa has also been speaking with some of the family -- some of the many Syrians who will spend their weekend searching for their missing loved ones and their family. She visited a morgue in Damascus, where the bodies left behind bear witness to the cruelty inflicted by the Assad regime. We do want to warn you that you may find her report disturbing.
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WARD (voice-over): A woman wails on the floor of the Mujtahid Hospital. My mother, she has been missing for 14 years, she says. Where is she? Where is my brother? Where is my husband? Where are they? Dr. Ahmed Abdullah shows us into the morgue, where about 35 bodies have been brought in, discovered in the military hospital days after the regime fell. They are believed to be some of the last victims of Bashar al-Assad.
Take a look. This is the crime of the regime, he says. Even in the "Middle Ages", they didn't torture people like this. Another man points to their tattered clothing, evidence he says that most were detainees at the much feared Saydnaya prison. Even in death, they are still only identified by numbers. Everyone here heard about the horrors that took place in Assad's notorious prisons, but to see it up close is something entirely different.
WARD: A lot of them have bruises, have horrible wounds that seem to be consistent with torture. I just saw one woman retching as she came out of the other room. Families are now going through trying to see if their loved ones are here.
WARD (voice-over): There is not enough room for all of them in the morgue. So, a makeshift area has been set up outside. More and more families stream in. The light from their cell phones, the only way of identifying the dead. My only son, I don't have another. They took him for 12 years now, just because he said no, 12 years, my only son, this woman shouts. I don't know anything about him. I ask Allah to burn him, she says, of Assad. Burn him and his sons like he burned my heart. A crowd swarms when they see our camera. Everyone here has lost someone. WARD: All of those people are asking us to take the names of their
loved ones to help them try to find them.
WARD (voice-over): It is a mark of desperation, such is the need for answers, but finding those answers will not be easy. At the military intelligence facility known as the Palestine branch, officers burned documents and destroyed hard drives before fleeing. But, their terror was on an industrial scale. Troves and troves of prisoner files remain. It will take investigators years to go through them. Below ground, more clues etched on the walls of cells that look more like dungeons.
WARD: So, you can see this list of names of it looks like 93 prisoners here. There is also a schedule for keeping the cell tidy and just graffiti everywhere. People trying to leave marks for someone to find.
WARD (voice-over): Down here, insects are the only life form that thrives. It's clear that anyone who could survive this will never be the same again. The cells are empty, but the doors are finally open. The quest for answers is just beginning.
WAR: The one thing the Assad regime did do a very good job of was documenting its own crimes. And so, the question now is, how long will it be until you start to see human rights groups, investigators coming in to Syria to try to start the vast process of pouring through all of that data, and then what's the next step towards getting some sort of justice for these people? Could these Syrians choose to do what the Ukrainians did, which was essentially to open themselves up to be under the jurisdiction of the ICC?
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That would be the hope of many Syrians. But, the disappointment as well for a lot of people you talk to here is that Bashar al-Assad is very unlikely to ever see his day in court, because, of course, he is now in exile in Moscow.
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SOLOMON: And top American diplomats are sounding cautiously optimistic about a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal. U.S. Secretary of State discussed the issue with Turkey's Foreign Minister Friday. Antony Blinken says that he has seen encouraging signs that a deal is possible.
Meantime, speaking in Jerusalem after meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan implied Thursday that a hostage and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas could be drawing near. Take a listen.
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JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: I got the sense today from the Prime Minister, he is ready to do a deal, and when I go to Doha and Cairo, my goal will be to put us in a position to be able to close this deal this month, not later. Now, we've been close before and haven't gotten there. So, I can't make any promises or predictions to you. But, I wouldn't be here today if I thought this thing was just waiting until after January 20th.
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SOLOMON: All right. Turning now to the latest on the investigation into the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, two court dates are now set in Pennsylvania as the suspect Luigi Mangione fights extradition to New York. The first hearing concerns state charges brought against him by Pennsylvania. A few days later, he will return to court to challenge the judge's decision to deny him bail.
Now, separately, according to ABC News, prosecutors in New York have started presenting evidence against Mangione to a grand jury. We've also learned that neither Mangione nor his mother were insured by UnitedHealthcare, the company whose CEO he is accused of murdering.
Meanwhile, we are hearing that the alleged killer is not interacting with other inmates in prison.
CNN's Jason Carroll has more details.
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JASON CARROLL, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Luigi Mangione is fighting extradition to New York. While that happens, this is the prison where he is being held. It's the State Correctional Institution at Huntingdon, the oldest operating state prison in Pennsylvania. Mangione's cell looks much like the one you see here, according to a law enforcement source. His actual cell is 15 by six feet. A Department of Corrections spokesperson says he is in a single cell and not in solitary confinement. He is not interacting with other inmates at this time. He has a bed, a sink, toilet and a desk with a seat.
STEVE BOHNEL, PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE: It's always interesting to see a prison in your backyard that frankly most people wouldn't be able to pick out of a map or wouldn't know the name of, and now everyone is interested in the type of food he is eating, the cell block that he is in.
CARROLL (voice-over): Meals at the facility are served three times a day, 06:15, 1040, and supper at 05:15. On the menu, Mangione has a choice between chicken parmesan and a dish called pizza beans. The Department of Correction says Mangione has taken his meals in his cell and is not interacting with other inmates, adding, all inmates are afforded time outside their cells, even if they are a higher custody level.
Mangione's case has received a great deal of national attention. So, perhaps no surprise, he is already known to some inmates. That type of notoriety is also an added security concern at a correctional facility.
JUSTIN PAPERNY, PRISON CONSULTANT: Any prison state or federal is a predatory environment, and there could be prisoners who are there for a long time, perhaps looking to get in the media, get some attention. So, he has got to learn to enjoy his own company in a little cell with a desk, with a toilet, with a little -- with a pen to be able to write, with a sink, because he will not be around prisoners, as I see it, for quite some time. The prison just can't risk it.
CARROLL (voice-over): Huntingdon's inmates have made headlines before Mangione. Cosmo DiNardo, who was convicted of murdering four men and burying them on his parents' property, served part of his life sentence there. Nick Yarris also served time there. Yarris was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in 1982 on rape and murder charges, his sentence overturned in 2003 due to DNA evidence. He says his time in Huntingdon are years he will never forget.
NICK YARRIS, AMERICAN WRITE AND STORYTELLER: He decided to send me to Huntingdon prison, the hardest prison in America at that time.
JOE ROGAN, AMERICAN PODCASTER: And what was he going to do before that?
YARRIS: I don't know, but he made sure I went to the place that they broke you.
CARROLL (voice-over): Mangione's time there could be measured in weeks, as prosecutors push to have him brought back to New York.
CARROLL: The Department of Corrections also says that Mangione is allowed to have visitors there at the facility, but so far, the only person to visit him has been his attorney, and that was Thursday afternoon.
Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.
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SOLOMON: A newly released U.S. Justice Department report finds that there were no undercover FBI agents at the January 6 insurrection on the U.S. capitol.
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The inspector general report rejects unfounded claims from Trump allies, including some Republican lawmakers, that FBI agents were there that day riling up the mob. The President-elect told Time magazine that he will begin reviewing possible pardons for those charged and convicted in the riots within the first nine minutes, quote, "after his January 20th inauguration."
Furious drones continue to be spotted over the state of New Jersey, and now lawmakers are demanding answers.
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REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): I've been a little frustrated there hasn't been enough transparency letting people know what's happening.
REP. JOSH GOTTHEIMER (D-NJ): The public has a right to know what all these drones are.
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SOLOMON: A former FBI agent will break down the potential threat. Plus, the woman at the center of a notorious accusation of rape making a surprising confession. We'll hear from her coming up.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. I want to take you to New Jersey, where we are now getting an announcement on the series of drone sightings. Let's listen together.
GOTTHEIMER: On the unidentified drones in our area, I'm sure you've heard about this. I think it's really important from a safety perspective that we talk about it.
Just before Thanksgiving, the state and FBI began receiving reports of unidentified drone activity across many of the counties in New Jersey, including in my district. Reports of drone activity have only surged since then, literally coming in by the scores every day. Some reports have suggested that these drones are the size of small cars. According to our military officials, since November 13th, Picatinny Arsenal, which is defense system -- our defense base in New Jersey, the army facility, which is specifically in Morris County, has had 11 confirmed sightings of unauthorized drones flying over its airspace. Just this morning, Senator Andy Kim reported that he saw several drones himself with his own eyes just last night.
I understand why so many in our community and our state are concerned when you hear reports of drones flying above us or see activity yourself, and federal agencies responsible for controlling the airspace don't properly and quickly brief the public, then it leaves a large vacuum of information.
As a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, I have been in regular communication with our federal law enforcement officials, including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security and the FAA, and we expect additional classified briefings early next week.
I want folks to understand, and I want to know for certain, where are these drones coming from? Because right now, there appears to be huge question about where they're coming from, of these unauthorized, seem to be, unauthorized drones. I want you to know that based on the information and the briefings that I've received to date, I'm not concerned about any imminent threats to public safety or our national security regarding these drones. But, and I've made this very clear to the FBI, to Homeland Security and the FAA, the agency is chiefly responsible for monitoring drone activity.
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They must immediately disclose more information to the public. It's totally and completely unacceptable that you have all this drone activity going on, that people are seeing with their own eyes, and even if it's not all drone activity, and some of it is manned aircraft, there appears to be plenty of drone activity that people are seeing with their own eyes. The fact that the federal agencies responsible for briefing the public have not come forward in a clear way is unacceptable. There has to be some explanation to the public for all this increased activity, and they must do so now.
That's why I've written to the FBI, DHS and FAA this week and asked them to immediately brief the public, not on a piece of paper, but in person. They also need to work closely with state and local law enforcement, who have done a very good job of bringing in a lot of this information, to give them the equipment they need to monitor drone activity. There is clearly too much of it here in Jersey and other parts of the country.
Today, I'm also urging federal law enforcement agencies, which are led by the FBI and DHS, to allow state and local law enforcement to deploy assets that can safely take down drones that shouldn't be in the air right now. The technology exists to be able to do this, and law enforcement, working with federal agency parents, need the tools to react and address any threats from unwelcome and unregistered drones. Again, they have to work closely with their partners, I'm talking about DHS and the FBI, which are the lead agencies, the FBI being the lead agency, right, and make sure that local law enforcement has the tools they need, and work closely with their partners in federal law enforcement to make sure that any threats from unwelcome and unregistered drones are dealt with.
Together with legislation that I've introduced, called the RADAR Act, to expand federal grants for local law enforcement, to make radar systems more available to state local police and be able to track these drones, this will ensure that only the drones that should be in the air, for registered purposes, are in the air. I'm not talking about small recreational drones at the beach or taking pictures at a wedding. I'm talking about drones that fly over military bases, reservoirs, airports, first responder locations, critical infrastructure and other sensitive sites, performing reconnaissance. Drones that are unlicensed, unregistered and unwelcome should not be flying over our airspace.
For instance, drones, just a few weeks ago, prevented a medical helicopter from landing to help a crash -- a car crash victim in Somerset County. New Jersey can't become the Wild West of drone activity. No state can become the Wild West of drone activity, and Americans shouldn't have to worry about what's flying unauthorized overhead, especially as technology like AI advances an unprecedented clip.
I assure you, as a member of the Intelligence Committee, I remain laser focused on making sure that random unidentified drone activity isn't something that our communities will have to deal with going forward. But, this is about taking steps to make sure that local law enforcement, state law enforcement, had the tools they need to monitor and deal with unauthorized drone activity, especially over critical infrastructure, over first responder sites, over reservoirs, over places where they are over our military bases, places where these drones should not be. And right away, and I'll say this again, the FBI should be standing at
a podium with the Department of Homeland Security and briefing the public and explaining to them what these drones are. There is no reason they're delaying on providing those briefings and ensuring that everybody has the resources to respond. And I'll take questions on that in a minute. I want to talk --
SOLOMON: OK. We've just been listening together there to Representative Gottheimer of the state of New Jersey, as he details the public concern about reported drone sightings. He said a few things. He said they have been getting these reports of scores every day, scores of reports of these drone sightings. Some of these devices or drones appear to be the size of small cars, he said. He did underscore that he continues to not be concerned about an imminent threat, but did call on repeatedly federal agencies, specifically the FAA, to come out and clearly explain, where are these drones coming from?
I want to continue the conversation now and bring in former FBI Supervisory Special Agent, Tom Adams. He also helped pioneer the FBI's counter-drone program. Great to have you, certainly on the back of that press conference. Let me just start with the question there that the representative posed, which is, why can't Washington just come out clearly and say where these drones are coming from and what exactly they are?
TOM ADAMS, FORMER FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT, & HELPED PIONEER THE FBI'S COUNTER-DRONE PROGRAM: Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. A few things. I understand the representative's frustration as well as the public's frustration with this. There is a lot of unanswered questions that are out here.
I think a few things to recognize is that, one, the three-dimensional airspaces, it can be very challenging to not only detect threats, but to be able to assess the threats, if you are able to detect them, then also to respond appropriately if there is a threat.
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But, I think we're seeing three big things here, of which the representative touched on, which I'll touch on also. One is, I think there likely are some drones that are being visually detected or spotted by alert public as well as public safety out there. Some of these drones may or may not be nefarious. They may or not be violating FAA rules and regulations. I think we're also probably seeing some copycat people that have thrown up their drones now that there is a lot of news reports where were seeing some of that.
You've heard people mention that the DHS and DoJ as well as the representatives that there may be actually lawfully crewed (ph) aircraft that are out there flying. I can tell you from my firsthand experience conducting operations for the FBI as well as investigations into the suspected sighting of drones of critical infrastructure, is that it was fairly common for drones, for planets, crewed aircraft and even lower orbit satellites to be misidentified as drones at night. But, the big thing that I think is worth mentioning is the
representative talked about that the state and local law enforcement and also the owners and operators of critical infrastructure need to have the tools to be able to detect and then, when appropriate, react to drone threats. And there is one point I want to make real quick, is that he mentioned that the DoJ and the DHS should be giving state and local law enforcement some of their tools to defeat drones in the airspace, as well as use specific tools, but the current federal laws prevent the DoJ and DHS from doing that. So, I would ask that Congress actually take this opportunity to step up and start getting some meaningful legislation forward so that we have the tools and techniques to build protect our airspace.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Tom, I think, and is that the sort of moral of the story thus far? I think a lot of people might find it surprising that these law enforcement agencies aren't equipped to detect some of these drones, aren't equipped to assess what they are. And you have said that our nation is extremely unprepared to be able to detect, assess and respond to drone-related threats. Is that the sort of moral of the story here, the lesson here?
ADAMS: I really think that this is the bottom line lesson. Something to keep in mind is that there is a wide variety of drone technology that can be used to assess threats in the airspace. They all have limited capabilities that they don't see for an infinite amount of distances. And so, you really have to have those technologies deployed at the critical infrastructure locations that need to be protected. So, you can't rely on a detection system that's 20 miles away to be able to detect a drone or suspected drone that's 20 miles away. It's just -- that's just not really -- I mean, it's possible, but some of that equipment is really expensive and more meant for military purposes.
So, we have to change the laws that would allow owners and operators of critical infrastructure to use, as well as public safety, to use a wide range of detection technologies. And then the other thing that needs to happen is we need to begin a pilot program that would authorize state and local law enforcement under the direction of the DoJ and the DHS to begin to thoughtfully and carefully deploy this technology, to assess and then, when necessary, respond to threats in the airspace.
Something to keep in mind is that this technology is -- can be -- increase the risk to the national airspace as well as the people and infrastructure that we're trying to protect. So, it's got to be deployed very carefully. Just the fact that there is a drone in the airspace doesn't mean that it needs to be defeated or brought down. There needs to be a more careful thought process that goes into this.
SOLOMON: Yeah, certainly. Certainly a lot of risks and considerations to keep in mind, but an important issue, as evidenced by sort of what we're seeing in the state of New Jersey, where I live as well.
Tom Adams, great to have you. Thank you.
ADAMS: Thank you. SOLOMON: And a surprising confession from the woman at the center of
the case that shocked America nearly 20 years ago. In 2006, Crystal Mangum said that she was raped by three members of Duke University's lacrosse team. Well, now she admits that she lied about the entire thing. Mangum had been hired to dance at a house party that the team was throwing. The case captivated the nation, and police arrested the three students that she had accused. North Carolina's Attorney General later dismissed the charges, citing a lack of evidence.
But now, the woman at the center of these allegations has been speaking on a popular podcast and saying that this is the real story. Take a listen.
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CRYSTAL MANGUM, MADE FALSE RAPE ACCUSATION AGAINST DUKE LACROSSE PLAYERS: I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me, when they didn't, and that was wrong, and I betrayed the trust of a lot of other people who believed in me and made up a story that wasn't true, because I wanted validation from people and not from God, and that was wrong when God already loved me for who I was.
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Regardless, I didn't need to seek validation from him, because I already had validation from him. I just didn't know it. And I heard my brothers, and I hope that they can forgive me, and I want them to know that I love them and they didn't deserve that. And I hope they can forgive me, and that I hope that they can heal and trust God and know that God loves them, and that God is loving them through me, letting them know that they're valuable and they didn't deserve that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: And Duke Athletics has declined to comment to the school's student newspaper. The university, its President, and head men's lacrosse coach at the time did not respond to the student newspaper's request for comment. There has been no reported comment from the players.
We'll be right back.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. You're watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.
Emotions continue to run high in Syria, with Friday prayers happening for the first time since President Bashar al-Assad was ousted and fled the country. Rebel leader Mohammad al-Jolani urging fellow Syrians to celebrate the fall of the brutal Assad regime, but without firing shots.
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SOLOMON: It follows this incident when accidental gunfire caused deadly chaos in the northern city of Raqqa. Witnesses say that a man lost control of his machine gun and mistakenly opened fire on bystanders, killing at least one person and injuring several others.
Meantime, the international community is grappling with the implications of the Syrian government's collapse. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced visit to Iraq Friday to meet with Iraq's Prime Minister, following a string of meetings in Turkey and Jordan. And this weekend, Jordan will host a summit on Syria's future with foreign ministers from Western and Arab nations.
And amid the jubilation and relief felt by many Syrians as their country enters a new era, there is also lingering trauma for those impacted by the brutality of the Assad regime.
Salma Abdelaziz has the story of a prominent activist who risked everything to stand up to the country's authoritarian ruler.
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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is activist Mazen al-Hamada recounting all the ways in which he was tortured inside a regime prison. They broke my ribs, he says. He would jump up and come down on me. I could feel my ribs snapping. He is then asked in this documentary how he feels about his tormentors. I will not rest until I take them to court and get justice, he says. This image, tears flowing from his haunted eyes, made al-Hamada the face of serious torture victims, and inspired drawings by U.S.-based artist and friend Marc Nelson.
MARC NELSON, ARTIST AND FRIEND: That just bore into my soul, his face, his expression.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): When an uprising against the Assad dynasty erupted in 2011, al-Hamada was among the first to join demonstrations. It made him a target of the regime. In 2012, he was detained by security forces after smuggling baby formula into a besieged suburb of Damascus. For nearly two years, he endured medieval torture techniques, rape, beatings and psychological abuse. After his release, he fled to Europe and vowed to tell the world his story. He spoke to journalists, met White House officials, appealed to U.S. lawmakers, but nothing changed. me. Mazen felt defeated and homesick, his friend and a fellow prison survivor told us.
OMAR ALSHOGRE, FRIEND AND SYRIAN PRISON SURVIVOR: When he got out and lived in this world, he has seen that the world doesn't care, and that's the only hope he had to live for, that the world care enough to go and save the cellmates that he left behind.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): He flew back to Damascus in February of 2020, and was almost immediately forcibly disappeared, again, Nelson began to draw.
NELSON: This is the only way I think I can think of as an art person to keep his memory, because every week, every other day, every month, draw him.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): His fate unknown until rebels took control of Damascus and burst open serious prisons. Images of al-Hamada's body surfaced online, too gruesome for us to show. He was killed inside the notorious Saydnaya prison and his body dumped at a nearby hospital, his family says, just one week before his dream of a free Syria was realized. But, his testimony against tyranny is everlasting.
ALSHOGRE: His story will all be -- always be used as an evidence and a testimony against this regime that need to be prosecuted.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): One of the first to stand up to Assad was one of the last of his victims. Now, Syria's new rulers say justice for him and countless others is their mission.
Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: We have some breaking news just into CNN. Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been admitted to a hospital in Luxembourg. The 84-year-old Pelosi reportedly suffered an injury during an official engagement while visiting the European nation. Pelosi is the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House.
Let's bring in CNN's Lauren Fox with more details. Lauren, what are we learning?
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. We are getting a new statement from her office spokesman, but it's pretty vague in terms of what exactly happened. I'll read part of it for you. It says quite -- quote, "While traveling with a bipartisan congressional delegation in Luxembourg to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi sustained an injury during an official engagement and was admitted to the hospital for evaluation."
Now, this statement goes on to say that Pelosi is currently receiving excellent treatment from doctors and medical professionals. She continues to work and regrets that she is unable to attend the remainder of the CODEL engagements to honor the courage of our service members during one of the greatest acts of American heroism in our nation's history.
Finally, the statement says, Pelosi was personally and officially honored to travel with this distinguished delegation, many of whom had family members who fought in World War II, including her uncle Johnny. She looks forward to returning home to the U.S. soon.
So, it does not say exactly what happened, but obviously, Nancy Pelosi often leads or is part of these bipartisan delegations abroad, a CODEL, an opportunity for lawmakers to meet with governments abroad. It's also an opportunity for sort of Republicans and Democrats sometimes to come together on these trips. She has often led these across the seas, and it's obviously going to be a continued question of how she is recovering. We don't have a lot of details at this point, but we are working our sources. And I would just note that a lot of folks that I'm talking to, even folks who do not know exactly what happened, are wishing her a fast and speedy recovery. Rahel.
[11:40:00]
SOLOMON: As do we. Keep us posted. Lauren Fox, thank you.
OK. Now, over to France, where they are welcoming their fourth Prime Minister this year. You are looking at live pictures from Paris, where the handover ceremony is taking place. French President Emmanuel Macron appointed centrist Francois Bayrou to the role earlier. It follows days of political deadlock after former French Prime Minister Michel Barnier was ousted in a no-confidence vote last week.
But, as CNN's Melissa Bell explains from Paris, deep divisions in parliament could spell significant headwinds for the incoming Prime Minister.
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MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A centrist French politician, he now becomes the fourth Prime Minister this year to take over at a particularly difficult time. But, he is considered a politician who can federate as many of those disparate French political forces as possible. It's unclear whether it will actually work in the long term, and his government can hold longer than Michel Barnier's did, which had a historic low, a historic record, rather, for brevity. It was just three months long. Whether Francois Bayrou can stay longer, much depends, of course, now on what happens in parliament. He is going to have to name a new government that the three very different blocs in parliament can agree upon, or at least that none can vote down.
But, he is considered a centrist. He is well respected in French politics. He has been further to the right at times, under certain presidents, closer to the left at others, forming his own middle party, the MoDem, many years ago. And so, he is considered both to have the stature and the center position that might allow, if anyone could do it, a Prime Minister to take time -- to take control at this very divided time in French politics.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: Our thanks to Melissa Bell there.
And despite a potential looming trade war with China, Donald Trump has invited the Chinese leader to his inauguration. Will Xi Jinping take him up on that very unusual invitation? Plus, the President-elect is Time's "Person of the Year". But, what he told the magazine about lowering prices and growing -- grocery prices is quite different than what he said on the campaign trail. Coming up, we'll take a look with that and much more with CNN political commentator and host Michael Smerconish. Don't go away.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. China's leader is saying thanks, but no thanks, to Donald Trump's invitation to his inauguration. Sources told CNN that, on Thursday, Xi Jinping will not attend January 20th, the inauguration, Trump team has said that the non-traditional invite to Xi was an effort to create an open dialog with U.S. adversaries.
CNN's Kristen Holmes has more details.
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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have learned that President-elect Donald Trump unsurprisingly wants to make his inauguration a global affair. So, he is reaching out, either directly or indirectly, through back channels to foreign leaders to invite them to the inauguration.
[11:45:00]
Just to give you an idea of how this normally works, generally, foreign leaders aren't directly invited to the inauguration. What happens is the joint committee, a bipartisan committee that works on the inauguration, works with the State Department. They send out invitation to diplomats who then will attend the inauguration. They do not reach out directly to foreign leaders. But, Donald Trump is clearly doing things differently. Now, one of the people we know he has reached out to is China's Xi Jinping. He is not expected to attend, and said he will send a delegation of senior Chinese officials. But, it does raise the question as to who else Donald Trump is talking to.
We have spoken to sources close to the former President, now President-elect, about these conversations, and they say a lot of them are casual, and the aides are not really keeping track of who he has invited yet, because they're not involved in all of these conversations. They might be a pull aside when he was at Notre Dame in France. They also could come in the form of an ask while he is on the phone with a world leader about a different topic, formally saying you should come to the inauguration. So, it will be interesting to see how this all plays out and who actually shows up.
Again, it's unsurprising because it's Donald Trump. He likes to make a spectacle. He likes to have a show. But, it is surprising in the sense that this isn't the way these things are generally handled, even though it is up to his discretion, his team's discretion on who comes, who is invited. He has the ticket. It will just be interesting to see how it all ends up playing out.
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SOLOMON: All right. Kristen, thank you.
Much to discuss with Michael Smerconish, the host of CNN's Smerconish on Saturday mornings. He joins us now live from Philadelphia. Michael, always good to see you. By most accounts --
MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN HOST, "SMERCONISH", & CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You too. SOLOMON: -- it's been a great week for President-elect Trump between
the Time cover, the ringing of the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. But, I want to tick into one comment that he made to Time that's bringing a lot of attention this morning. So, this was on prices and grocery prices. He said, look, they, the Biden administration is what he is saying here, look, they got them up. I'd like to bring them down. It's hard to bring things down once they're up. You know, it's very hard.
Now, Michael, to be fair, economists will often point out the same thing, but it does sort of get at the challenge in front of him, right? He made these big campaign promises that now he has to deliver on. I'm curious what you made of that comment.
SMERCONISH: Rahel, it's so funny you bring that up because I thought when he made that comment in the Time interview, not exactly the sort of thing that he would have said in one of the debates. Right? Now, it's all about lessening expectations. It's all a function of where you set the bar and what are people expecting. And now that he has won the job, and he recognizes there is going to be accountability relative to food prices, because everybody now has Thanksgiving in the rear-view mirror, and it was the most expensive that we've had in recent memory. So, I think that's what's going on here.
If I can make a second point, it would be this. I took note of how Donald Trump is owning being the Time "Person of the Year". And I think it's important for your global audience to know, it's not necessarily a good thing. It's for better or for worse, that person who has most impacted the news, and on that basis, he deserves it. But, there have been plenty of bad actors in the past who have been recognized as the "Person of the Year".
SOLOMON: Yeah. That's a very fair point, important distinction there.
Speaking of our global audience, Michael, how do you read the invitation from Trump to Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration? Sort of on the surface at face value, it's a bit of a head scratcher, considering his tough on China's stance in tariff policy. On the other, is it a window into how he plans to approach foreign policy, that maybe he thinks his personality or his art of the deal tactics can win over adversaries?
SMERCONISH: I think it's probably a little of both, and I agree with Kristen's report, which is to say, mostly he is a showman. His national celebrity really is attributable to the success of his reality TV program. And I think Michael Wolff wrote a book in the first Trump administration. It was one of the first sort of tell-alls to come out, and he said something that I think is true, that Trump regards every day as like a television episode with a beginning, a middle and an end, and he is intent on holding your attention and getting you to come back tomorrow.
Can you imagine if Xi Jinping were sitting there? First of all, where would he sit? That would be just an interesting dynamic. Actually, the more that I think about it, I'll bet that Joe Biden, President Biden, would give him his seat, and probably Secretary Clinton would give him her seat. There are a lot of individuals. It's going to be so awkward. Kamala Harris, here, Xi Jinping, you can have my seat. But, seriously, like, where would you put him? What would the protocol be? But, for Trump, it would be a must-watch TV moment.
SOLOMON: Yeah. I mean, to your point, it would sort of be like reality TV to just sort of watch the dynamics of some of those world leaders.
Michael, let me ask you more serious topics while I have you.
[11:50:00]
Your reaction to the murder, or not to the murder, actually, but the public reaction to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The suspect's lawyer has said on our air that he is getting offers to help pay his defense. The suspect, Luigi Mangione, has become a hero in some circles, by those who feel like they're aggrieved by the health insurance industry.
Michael, I wanted to read for you, the CEO of the parent company pens an OpEd for The New York Times today, and in it, he basically tries to humanize Thompson. He talks about his background. He talks about his family. Just reminding people that this was a human being. This was a person. But, he also acknowledged, and this is what I thought was interesting, that the healthcare system is flawed, and says that they welcome input on how to fix it. What did you make of this, and what's your reaction been to this whole sort of media storm?
SMERCONISH: So, I've been appalled by the way some have sought to create the presumed gunman as cast him as a martyr. I think we can do two things at once. OK? I would like to think we can appropriately mourn what was an assassination, horrible, horrible event at the start of day in Midtown Manhattan, and say that that violence is never justified, and at the same time recognize there are so many shortcomings in the United States' healthcare delivery as compared to other nations. We spend so much more, and yet have less of a life expectancy, among other metrics.
But, I'm uncomfortable. I'm really -- I mean, there are wanted posters being posted today in Midtown Manhattan of healthcare CEOs, and I worry about the contagion, and I worry about the message that it sends, if all of a sudden we respond to the criticisms that were being raised by this gunman. But, I've been overwhelmed with telephone calls on my radio program for the last 10 days of people who say what happened to that CEO was terrible. But, may I tell you what happened to a member of my family with coverage? Everybody, it seems, has a story of discontent.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Yeah. It's such a conundrum, right, because how do you respond to some valid concerns sort of in this environment, when someone has lost their lives -- lost their life.
Michael Smerconish, we'll leave it here, but I appreciate you being here. Thank you.
SMERCONISH: OK. Appreciate you too. Thank you.
SOLOMON: By the way, you can catch Smerconish every Saturday at 09:00 a.m. Eastern Time on CNN. That is 01:00 p.m. in London.
All right. And still ahead for us, booze in space. We will show you how a Japanese sake maker plans to make a batch in space, and the shocking amount a single bottle is expected to sell for.
We'll be right back.
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SOLOMON: Before we go, one more thing. A Japanese sake maker is going where no sake maker has gone before, space. The company behind popular sake brand Dassai plans to blast sake ingredients to the International Space Station to ferment a first of its kind brew.
[11:55:00]
The brewer-in-charge says that the difference in gravity could affect how heat transfers in fluid, causing a different fermentation process in space than on Earth. The price will be out of this world as well, because one bottle will run you more than $650,000.
Well, speaking of money, we know your time is money. So, thank you for spending some time with me today. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. Stick with CNN. One World is coming up next.
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