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Trump-Backed Spending Bill Fails in House; Putin Holds Ritualistic Annual Press Conference; Emotional Reunions as Syrian Refugees Return Home; Luigi Mangione Makes First Appearance in Federal Court; 51 Guilty Verdicts, a New Hero, and Fears Justice Not Served; CNN Speaks to IDF Official at Kerem Shalom Crossing. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired December 20, 2024 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ZAIN ASHER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome. I'm Zain Asher.
[00:00:10]
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, the U.S. government barrels towards a shutdown after the House fails to pass a Trump-backed funding bill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Do you think this is an adequate person? Or just a scumbag?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has some choice words for Vladimir Putin after the Russian president's year-end news conference.
And the man accused of killing a healthcare CEO in New York returns to the city to face charges. And the mayor was there to greet him.
All right. We are now just 24 hours away from a U.S. government shutdown after a Trump-backed plan to keep the government running failed to pass.
Republicans are scrambling after resistance to the bill's two-year suspension of the debt limit, supported by Trump, left the legislation falling well short of the majority needed.
Thirty-eight Republicans defied the president-elect by voting nay. And now a lot of finger-pointing happening right now on Capitol Hill.
Here's the U.S. House speaker blaming Democrats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): All but two Democrats voted against aid to farmers and ranchers, against disaster relief, against all these bipartisan measures that had already been negotiated and decided upon. Again, the only difference on this legislation was that we would push the -- the debt ceiling to January of 2027.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: That was House Speaker Mike Johnson there. And meantime, Democratic leadership is looking to put billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk at the center of the shutdown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): The Musk Johnson proposal is not serious. It's laughable. Extreme MAGA Republicans are driving us to a government shutdown.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right. And GOP leadership is now regrouping, looking at what steps to take next.
CNN's Manu Raju has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, even though Donald Trump tried to pressure Republicans to fall in line behind this 11th-hour effort to avoid a government shutdown --
RAJU (voice-over): -- he got bucked by 38 members of his own party, as well as Democrats, who voted en masse against this proposal to avoid a government shutdown.
One big reason why: it included a provision to suspend the national debt limit for two years. Remember that issue of a debt limit was a complex, complicated issue that typically, Congress spends weeks, if not months, to try to negotiate.
No one wants to vote, really, to raise the borrowing limit in the United States. And Donald Trump does not want this to be part of his first-year agenda.
So, he wants to take it off the table now. He's saying, deal with it now. And so, he doesn't have to worry about when he's president.
RAJU: But there's a problem. There are Republicans in the ranks who say that they will never vote for a debt limit increase, especially if it does not have spending cuts.
REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): This just stinks. That's why America doesn't trust government, and it's for good dadgum reason.
RAJU: And you said shut it down.
BURCHETT: That's what it takes to bring us to the table.
REP. BOB GOOD (R-VA): Any extra-supplemental ought to stand on its own merits and not be attached to it, and it ought to have pay-fors. And the debt limit must not be increased without commensurate spending cuts and fiscal reform.
REP. ERIC BURLISON (R-MO): But when I ran for office, I said that I would not vote to raise the debt ceiling. And so, I haven't -- I've never voted to raise the debt ceiling.
I mean, I love Donald Trump, but he didn't vote me into office. My district did.
RAJU: You want to shut it down?
BURLISON: I'm not afraid of a shutdown.
RAJU: Now, this all comes as Donald Trump, of course, intervened late in this whole process. There was a bipartisan deal that was on the glide path to becoming law to avert a government shutdown.
But then --
RAJU (voice-over): -- when Trump intervened late and said that he wanted the debt limit increase to be part of this plan, and he berated that bipartisan deal that Mike Johnson cut, as a result, it's left Congress scrambling to try to figure out a solution.
And now that the Plan B has failed, Mike Johnson is trying to figure out if there's any way avoid -- to avoid a government shutdown. That will occur at midnight to Saturday morning, and how long that could last remains a major question.
RAJU: So, the two sides are on opposite sides on how to resolve an issue that could be crippling to so many Americans who rely on government services, government employees, contractors, and the like, as a shutdown now looms in just a matter of hours.
Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right. Michael Genovese is a political analyst and president of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount. He's also the author of "The Modern Presidency: Six Debates That Define the Institution." He joins us live now from Los Angeles.
[00:05:00]
Michael, thank you so much for being with us. So, Plan A, the bipartisan agreement, that failed, and then the Trump-backed deal, that also failed. So, Plan A and Plan B failed. What next?
MICHAEL GENOVESE, POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Plan A was on course to be passed until Donald Trump intervened and added something to it, which is the debt ceiling. And so, Donald Trump scuttled his own best interests.
And then now today, he -- they failed to pass the Donald Trump- supported bill. What's next? Let's see what Elon Musk decides to do and what -- how he weighs in.
Because increasingly, Republicans are looking to Elon Musk instead of Donald Trump for their direction. And so, you know, no one wins in a budget shutdown. There are a lot of losers. Donald Trump will be one of them.
ASHER: I mean, it is interesting, isn't it, that Elon Musk, you know, a billionaire who, of course, spent a lot of money backing Trump, has now emerged as this -- as a sort of major political force?
But just in terms of what does happen next, do you see a possibility of maybe some kind of resurrection of the bipartisan agreement, the original sort of Plan A?
GENOVESE: Well, Plan A is still the best course of action. And so, Donald Trump's desire to get the debt ceiling included probably is off the table.
I don't think the Democrats want it. Certainly, a lot of Republicans don't want it.
So, Trump would be best served by just backing away. He's been politically tone-deaf on this and shot himself in the foot. He needs a budget deal. He needs it now. He does not want to face that in January.
ASHER: It is interesting, though, that the House did reject the Trump- backed deal. Did that come as a surprise to you?
I mean, obviously there -- a lot of Republicans do have issues with raising the debt limit. But just the fact that they did reject his deal, how embarrassing is that for both Donald Trump and Elon Musk?
GENOVESE: It's, I think, more embarrassing for Donald Trump, because Elon Musk is sort of still on the sidelines, shouting at all the players. And he has a much bigger profile on social media than Donald Trump. And so, Musk is in a much better position than Trump.
Elon Musk is younger. He's richer, and he's had a more important social media impact than Donald Trump. I mean, he's all the things Donald Trump wants to be.
And he's free to do what he wants, because he isn't tethered by the fact that one will become president, and it'll all be thrown on his shoulders.
So, Leon -- Elon Musk can play up the field as much as he wants, and Republicans are looking more and more to him for leadership and guidance.
ASHER: So, is there a pathway now to actually reach a deal? What are your thoughts on that?
GENOVESE: There absolutely is. Go back to the original deal that both sides agreed to. No one liked the deal. It doesn't serve a lot of the purposes that the right or the left wants, but it's something that everyone can live with. And so that's what you need to do.
Our budgeting process for decades and decades has been broken. It's no way to run a government, but that's what we're stuck with. And so, you just try to make the best deal you can and then recoup in the new administration.
ASHER: Yes. I mean, for our international audience, you talk about the budgeting process being broken. I mean, this does seem to happen -- for people who are watching this show from various parts of the world -- this does seem to happen in U.S. politics more often than it should, I think it's fair to say.
Can you just talk to us a bit more about how we got to this point and why it does seem to happen so often?
GENOVESE: It happens almost all the time, and that's a problem.
How did it get this way? The Constitution says that the Congress passes the budget.
Now, in 1921, over 100 years ago, the Budget and Accounting Act gave the president the right to submit budgets. But Congress still has to pass them. And you've got a very divided Congress, and it's evenly divided right now.
Neither side wants to budge. They did in the compromise that Donald Trump really rejected. And so, they just have to go back to that.
It makes no sense to have the process like this. We should at least have, at worst, a two-year budget cycle rather than a year-by-year cycle. Because we never seem to get it right.
ASHER: But in your view, the only sort of way out of this is to go back to the original plan that -- that Donald Trump sort of, as you point out, shot himself in the foot by, you know, telling everyone not to vote for it and making changes at the last minute.
We'll see what happens tomorrow. Shall we?
Michael Genovese, live for us there. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
GENOVESE: Thank you, Zain.
ASHER: All right. Now to a terrible tragedy in Nigeria, where at least 35 children have been killed in a crowd crush at a funfair.
Police say that six others were critically injured. The mayhem unfolding at an Islamic high school in the Southwestern part of the country.
It's not at all clear what set off the crowd, but authorities say the main sponsor of the event is actually among the eight people who have been arrested here.
[00:10:06]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAYO LAWAL, DEPUTY GOVERNOR OF NIGERIA'S OYO STATE: The resultant effect of this very careless act is the huge death that we have recorded, unfortunately, and avoidably, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: A police spokesperson expressed sympathy for all the families affected by the tragedy and promised justice.
All right. Political correctness was out the window as Ukraine's president spoke about his Russian counterpart on Thursday.
Vladimir Zelenskyy addressed a European Council meeting in Brussels asking for more air defense systems to protect Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
He also responded to an idea floated by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, during his annual press conference, suggesting it would be interesting to see Ukraine's air defenses take on Russia's newest new Oreshnik ballistic missile.
In a response on social media, Mr. Zelenskyy posted a video of the conference and called the Russian leader a, quote, "dumbass" in the text above it. His verbal response was no more flattering.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENSKYY (through translator): He says that we will strike somewhere in Kyiv, for example, with the Oreshnik, our new bomb, and let them put up air defenses and let's see what happens.
Do you think this is an adequate person? Just a scumbag.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Mr. Putin's press conference is his annual ritual in Russia, aimed at portraying him as a competent leader, firmly in charge of the country.
But as Matthew Chance reports, that narrative was a tougher sell this time around.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Vladimir Putin's audience virtually standing to attention as he swaggered into the auditorium.
But the Kremlin's strongman is under intense pressure, on his devastating war in Ukraine, for instance, and he's keen to promote Russia's recent territorial gains.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: The situation is changing dramatically, as you will know. Movement is taking place along the entire front line, every day.
CHANCE (voice-over): But every day, the cost of the war, blood and treasure, is also rocketing, with an incoming President Trump calling for a rapid end to the conflict.
The Russian leader said he was open to compromise on Ukraine and ready at any time for a Trump meeting.
PUTIN: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: First of all, I don't know when we will meet, because he doesn't say anything about it. I haven't spoken to him at all for over four years.
CHANCE (voice-over): But it would be, Putin added, from a position of Russian strength.
PUTIN: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: I believe Russia has become much stronger over the past two or three years. Why? Because we are becoming a truly sovereign country. We are no longer dependent on anyone.
CHANCE (voice-over): But that strength seems to have disappeared recently in Syria, where key Kremlin ally Bashar al-Assad was overthrown.
It was a geopolitical blow for an overstretched Russia, which maintained critical bases in Syria.
And now Putin, who admits he hasn't even spoken to Assad since he escaped to Moscow earlier this month. He's forced to negotiate, if not plead, with the Syrian rebels he once ruthlessly bombed.
PUTIN: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: The overwhelming majority [of the groups] tell us that they would be interested in us keeping our military bases in Syria. I don't know, we have to think about it.
CHANCE (voice-over): This annual Putin extravaganza, highly choreographed and tightly controlled, is designed to trumpet achievements, but it is getting hard for the Kremlin, amid a spate of setbacks, to claim everything is going Russia's way.
Matthew Chance, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right. Let's dig deeper into Mr. Putin's statements at his press conference.
For that, we're joined from Washington by CNN military analyst and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.
Colonel, thank you so much for being with us. Always good to see you. So, Vladimir Putin, we heard Matthew Chance outline there that he
essentially said in his annual address that he was ready to compromise, that he was willing to have possible talks with Donald Trump.
Just walk us through what that actually looks like, because if Putin is willing to negotiate, can the U.S. -- can the Ukrainians actually trust that the Russians are actually going to stick to their side of any kind of ceasefire agreement?
[00:15:04]
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, the short answer to that, Zain, is they cannot.
And I thought it was very interesting that he mentioned that he would be willing to speak to Trump but not mentioning Zelenskyy at all.
And of course, that fits with the Russian narrative that Ukraine is not worthy of being a country. It is not worthy of being, in their view, of being an independent state.
So, this fits the narrative. And if the United States makes the mistake of conducting business about Ukraine without the Ukrainians, then that would be not only a significant mistake, but it would be a very detrimental blow to the Ukrainian war effort, both diplomatically and militarily.
So, the way this would work is if the, if the Russians decided that they were in enough of a position of strength to negotiate a peace or a ceasefire of some type, they would probably try to do it alone with the United States.
The United States should not agree to that. They should insist that the Ukrainians be part of the -- of any deal and of any negotiation. And that would be, I think, a critical factor. And that might even stop the negotiations from happening, at least at this particular point in time.
ASHER: I mean, you mentioned that any kind of U.S.-brokered deal would -- would obviously be a mistake. I mean, obviously, it would be a huge blow to Zelenskyy. I mean, they've been fighting for two years now. And for that to essentially go to waste would be, you know, devastating for the Ukrainians.
My question to you, though, is what message? I think equally as important does that send to the rest of Europe? I mean, the former sort of -- former Soviet republics that a lot of people are worried could be next.
LEIGHTON: Yes, especially the Baltic states; Poland; you know, any of those areas would potentially be at risk.
And you know, what it would mean for the Europeans is that they would absolutely have to up the ante when it comes to their own defenses. Many countries, the Baltics and Poland specifically, have increased their defense budgets considerably. NATO has more members now with the addition of Finland and Sweden. Finland, of course, having a large, long border with the Russians. And that would be, I think, a critical -- a critical element.
So, the Europeans would potentially have to move troops closer to the front lines with the Russians. They are considering putting troops in Ukraine after a ceasefire deal is reached. But the problem is how do you get to that particular point?
And the Europeans really don't have, at the moment, the diplomatic muscle to, by themselves, broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. And that therein, I think, lies the crux of the problem.
The Europeans are dependent on the United States, both diplomatically and militarily, at the present time. And they need to find a way to get beyond that particular point and make sure that they can safeguard their Eastern borders. And by safeguarding their Eastern borders, that means making sure that Ukraine stays a free and independent country.
ASHER: And just in terms of the North Koreans, I mean, the North Koreans, a lot of them are going home in body bags. And President Zelenskyy did say, listen, there is absolutely no reason why North Korean soldiers should be willing to fight for and die for Vladimir Putin, especially because this war is so unnecessary.
Just walk us through what the North Korean specifically have gotten out of this relationship.
LEIGHTON: Certainly, the individual soldiers who are fighting and dying for this cause, whatever -- however you might want to term it, they are not getting anything out of it except for military training.
Now, on the strategic level, the North Koreans are most likely getting all kinds of data from -- from the Russians. They're getting data that will help them with their missile programs, potentially also for their nuclear program. They are getting aid from the Russians.
And in essence, the North Koreans are joining in a kind of a partnership, not only with Russia, but also with China and distantly with Iran, that is basically designed to circumvent Western sanctions that are directed against Russia, North Korea and Iran.
And so, those -- those efforts are, at a strategic level, very important for the North Koreans, because they need every possible means to gain things like foreign exchange, foreign technologies, and those technologies would include the ability to target U.S. military installations in the Asia Pacific region, as well as, of course, South Korean installations and South Korean infrastructure.
ASHER: All right. Colonel Cedric Leighton, live for us there. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
[00:20:04]
LEIGHTON: You bet. ASHER: All right. The U.S. is preparing to send its first high-level
delegation to Syria since the country's rebel forces ousted President Bashar al-Assad.
Well, the White House has tapped former ambassador and Syria envoy Daniel Rubinstein to lead the effort in the final weeks of the Biden administration. Rubenstein and other senior officials are expected to visit Damascus in the coming days to talk with Syria's interim leaders about the transition to a new government and other issues, as well.
It is unclear whether the delegation will meet with the leader of the militant group which ousted the Assad regime. The U.S. has designated the group a terror -- terrorist organization.
All right. Many Syrian refugees are eager to return home now that the Assad regime has fallen. It's a day millions in the Syrian diaspora have been waiting to see for many years.
But mixed with the hope for the future, a lot of people are afraid the current instability could lead to further chaos for Syria.
Here's our Salma Abdelaziz with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Before Ahmed Marjan (ph) hugs his mother for the first time in 13 years, they both kneel in prayer.
Gratitude for a reunion they never believed would come.
This is one of many emotional homecomings across Syria after the sudden fall of the Assad regime.
At just 19 years old, with security forces hunting him down, Marjan (ph) fled his family's home in Aleppo.
Here he is in 2016.
AHMED MARJAN (PH), REFUGEE RETURNED HOME: Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Reporting for an opposition-based media network as barrel bombs rained down from the sky.
Later that year, Marjan (ph) filmed the exodus as thousands withdrew from the last remaining rebel enclave in Aleppo.
"We are leaving with our dignity," Marjan says in this clip. "And we will return one day."
That promised return is now finally on the horizon. Marjan says he is planning to move back to Aleppo from Gaziantep, Turkey, where he currently lives with his wife and their two young daughters.
ABDELAZIZ: What is your dream now for Syria's future?
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): "I'm optimistic about the future," he says. "And I have huge hope that the country will be better than before."
But not all are keen to hurry back to an unstable country with an uncertain future, says this human rights defender.
HUSSAM KASSAS, SYRIAN ASYLUM SEEKER: There's no sustainable peace, and which makes me really afraid of getting back there.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Hussam Kassas, who is seeking asylum in the United Kingdom, is among tens of thousands of Syrians whose applications for asylum were suspended after the U.K. and other European countries paused the process to reassess, now that the threat of Assad is gone.
For years, Kassas has documented potential war crimes committed by all major parties to the conflict. If he goes back, he says, his family could be targeted or worse.
ABDELAZIZ: Why do you not feel safe to return?
KASSAS: We expected a lot of revenge killing will happen. Those soldiers will seek revenge from the people who were trying to help them accountable, actually.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Many Syrians in the diaspora long to return and rebuild. But this moment of great hope brings with it great uncertainty.
Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: "Merci, Giselle." That phrase echoing through France as its mass rape trial ends. We'll hear from the victim turned heroine and those who say the sentences were too light.
And suspected CEO killer Luigi Mangione arrives in New York to face murder charges, escorted by police and, actually, even the mayor of the city, as well. Ahead, new details about Mangione's alleged motivation -- motivation to kill.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:26:27]
ASHER: It was a whirlwind day for accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione. He had appearances in three courtrooms in two states and was hit with new charges that could bring the death penalty.
And two weeks after the deadly shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan sidewalk, court documents are revealing new information about Mangione's alleged motivation. Kara Scannell reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Accused killer Luigi Mangione back in New York and behind bars. New video showing him handcuffed and in an orange jumpsuit, stepping off a helicopter and being escorted toward a transport van by scores of armed officers.
Mangione is now also facing federal charges in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel.
SCANNELL: Karen, do you have any comment on these charges today?
KAREN FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO, ATTORNEY FOR LUIGI MANGIONE: Not at this time. Thank you so much.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Mangione's high-profile defense team not saying much about the new charges before and after their client's first appearance in federal court.
Inside, Mangione traded the jumpsuit for street clothes as he entered the courtroom, flanked by marshals with his ankles shackled.
His federal charges are a firearms offense, two stalking charges and murder through the use of a firearm, which carries a potential maximum sentence of the death penalty or life in prison.
Mangione did not enter a plea, and his defense team did not seek bail.
The new federal criminal complaint also revealing new details about the notebook found on Mangione during his arrest at an Altoona, Pennsylvania, McDonald's.
According to the complaint, the notebook contains several handwritten pages that expressed hostility toward the health insurance industry.
And one entry dated October 22nd, 2024, less than two months before the murder of Thompson, describes an intent to, quote, "whack one of the CEOs at an insurance industry conference."
The federal charges are added to the long list of state charges he's already facing.
ALVIN BRAGG, NEW YORK DISTRICT ATTORNEY: We charged him here in Manhattan earlier this week with murder in the first degree, among additional charges, which carry the maximum sentence of life without parole. We've had state prosecutions and federal prosecutions proceed as parallel matters, and we're in conversations with our law enforcement counterparts.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Mangione began his day in a Pennsylvania courtroom, where he had two back-to-back hearings: first on the firearm and forgery charges brought against him in Pennsylvania. Second, to waive his extradition to New York.
PETE WEEKS, BLAIR COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: He committed crimes in Blair County. They're allegations at this point. But you know, we're not in the practice of just dismissing charges, simply because someone has more serious charges somewhere else.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Mangione won't face the charges in Pennsylvania until after he is tried in New York.
SCANNELL: Karen Friedman Agnifilo said that Mangione appreciates the support. She called the federal charges a pile-on. And federal prosecutors today saying that they expect the state case will move forward and go to trial first.
However, at this point, it is unclear when Mangione will appear in state court and be arraigned on those 11 felony counts.
Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right. In France and beyond, many are trying to process the astonishing mass rape trial that resulted in guilty verdicts across the board.
But fears also that justice was not served.
The survivor at the center of the case has been called an inspiration for going public with the atrocities that she endured and forcing France to reckon with gender-based violence in a way that it simply hasn't before.
Melissa Bell has a look at the trial's takeaways.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gisele Pelicot was determined that the shame should not be hers. Waiving her anonymity and, with it, that of her rapists.
"Rapists, we see you," shouted the crowd outside as inside, Dominique Pelicot received the maximum sentence of 20 years for the drugging and mass rape of his then-wife, Giselle, over nearly a decade.
Outside the court, there was anger that the 50 other men on trial alongside him had not received the maximum sentences sought by prosecutors.
But as she left the court, Gisele Pelicot made no comment on the verdicts.
GISELE PELICOT, SURVIVOR (through translator): I have faith now in our capacity to carve out collectively a future where everyone, women and men, can live in harmony, in respect, and mutual understanding.
BELL (voice-over): A stark contrast to the brutality of a trial that saw the violent rapes of an unconscious Gisele Pelicot shown in court day after day.
Through the videos shot by her then-husband of more than 50 years, Dominique Pelicot, unmasked by chance in 2020 when a guard caught him filming up women's skirts in a supermarket.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police. Police. BELL (voice-over): An incident that led police to the horrors that
this unassuming retiree had on his phone and computer. Videos of more than 200 acts of aggravated rape against his wife, most including other men.
It was not far from the couple's home in the sleepy town of Mazan, in Southern France, that he met the men after recruiting them online.
Dominique Pelicot's lawyer said her client will consider whether to appeal. "We are going to take advantage of the delay, which gives us ten days to decide if we want to appeal this decision," she said.
As she left court. Gisele Pelicot was again celebrated for making the trial public and for having, in her own words, forced shame onto the perpetrators and where it belongs.
Melissa Bell, CNN, Avignon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: A heap of humanitarian aid is piling up at one of Gaza's main border crossings, and Israel is being blamed for the backup. Hear what an Israeli official tells CNN, when we visited that crossing, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Zain Asher.
[00:35:02]
Medics in Gaza tell Reuters Israel launched several strikes on Thursday, killing dozens of Palestinians. The attacks were mainly focused in and around Gaza City, where buildings and homes were flattened. Some shelters and refugee camps were also hit.
Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders, is accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing in a new report published Thursday.
Israel has denied allegations of ethnic cleansing in the past, saying its goal is to wipe out Hamas.
Meantime, an Israeli official says that real progress is being made towards a ceasefire and hostage deal. But the official added there are still gaps that must be closed with Hamas.
Aid groups claim the IDF is not allowing enough supplies into Gaza as the war rages on.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond traveled to the Kerem Shalom crossing and spoke to an Israeli official about the worsening humanitarian crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: We are on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom crossing, where you are seeing pallets of humanitarian aid being offloaded here.
But the problem is, this aid simply isn't getting to the people of Gaza in the quantities that are needed.
Humanitarian aid agencies say that the Israeli government and the Israeli military --
DIAMOND (voice-over): -- are to blame for that, not facilitating the safe distribution of aid. The Israelis deny that. They insist that enough aid is getting into Gaza, and that they are facilitating that aid.
DIAMOND: But I pressed one of the top Israeli officials responsible for getting that aid in on that very question.
They say that there -- the issues are the Israeli military's unwillingness to facilitate safe distribution of aid.
COL. ABDULLAH HALABI, ISRAELI COORDINATION AND LIAISON ADMINISTRATION: Now, the Israeli troops on the Israeli side, just in the last few weeks, facilitated several options in order to enter the -- the aid to the Gazan side.
DIAMOND: Does your role stop at this checkpoint? Do you believe that your role stops at this checkpoint, that you're not responsible for how safely the aid can get distributed inside of -- inside?
HALABI: The international community is responsible to deliver the aid from the crossing points to the people of Gaza. It's their responsibility.
DIAMOND: But don't you have a responsibility for making it safe?
HALABI: We facilitate -- facilitated the -- the crossings and the aid to the crossing. We inspect the -- the aid. We put it in the platforms. And we encourage the -- the humanitarian community and the organizations to come and to take the aid.
The main problem, the main obstacle is the capabilities distribution.
DIAMOND: Amid that dispute between the aid agencies and the Israeli military, these pallets of aid, they are piling up. And this isn't a theoretical problem. We are seeing that the humanitarian conditions in Gaza, they simply aren't getting better.
In fact, there's a lot of chance that it could get worse. With the arrival of winter, the rains, the need for shelter is rising. Respiratory illnesses are rising, and people are sometimes going without food for days.
Of course, a ceasefire deal could improve all of this, bringing an enormous flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. We know that those negotiations, of course, are ongoing.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom crossing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: We'll be right back with more after this short break. Don't go away.
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[00:40:29]
ASHER: The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is restricting the use of drones in 22 locations in New Jersey until mid-January.
This comes in reaction to a rise in alleged drone sightings across the state that have prompted public confusion, outrage, and concern.
The new rules limit drone flights at power stations and other critical infrastructure. Drone restrictions were already in place since late November at a Trump golf course and a military research facility.
The FAA has said multiple times that there is no threat to safety or national security.
And Macau is marking 25 years since it returned to Chinese rule after hundreds of years under Portuguese control. China's President Xi Jinping was there for a special flag-raising ceremony just a few hours ago.
Macao is a Chinese special administrative region, region rather located near Hong Kong.
Xi also presided over the inauguration of Macau's new leader, the first since the handover to be born in mainland China and not have a background in business.
Kosovo's capital, Pristina, is 95 percent Muslim, but that isn't stopping people from enjoying a decidedly Christian celebration. They're flocking to three Christmas markets in a display of cultural diversity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL SEHLSTEDT, CHRISTMAS MARKET VISITOR FROM SWEDEN: I think it's very clear that, you know, Kosovars will take any opportunity for a social gathering, even -- even if there is no religious connection to -- to Christmas or anything like that. Any opportunity to be outside, to meet and to see other people, I think will be popular here in Pristina.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: The markets include such symbols of the yuletide as Father Christmas, as well as activities for kids, too.
Mainly, it's a chance to set aside differences and enjoy oneself. Pristina's mayor says, "We're celebrating life. We are celebrating the city. We are celebrating freedom and inclusivity." All right. Thank you so much for watching. I'm Zain Asher. I'm going
to be back at the top of the hour, once again, with CNN NEWSROOM. But first, WORLD SPORT starts after this short break.
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[00:45:30]
(WORLD SPORT)
