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Dems Blame Musk for Looming Government Shutdown; Worker Strikes Hit Major Companies Days Before Christmas; U.S. Diplomats Visit Syria; "Approximately 2,000" U.S. Troops in Syria. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired December 20, 2024 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

DOUG HEYE, FORMER RNX COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: -- is, we're not going to pass a debt ceiling. That makes the next two years extremely interesting. Certainly, the next 14 hours and two weeks as well.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: So, again, if you can't get your own House in order, Republicans, don't come blaming Democrats for something of your own doing. If the government shuts down tonight, Jim, this is at the feet of Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, all of the billionaires who were not elected, except for Trump, we're not elected but yet Trump is giving them massive power. That's not what the American people voted for.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Is Elon Musk a shadow president right now? Is he a co-president with Trump?

HEYE: Well, no, he's not a co-president, but Democrats have found a very effective messaging tactic and they're not just using it now, they're going to use that for weeks and weeks.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, one of the things that we saw yesterday, Maria, is Elon Musk was sort of leading the parade.

CARDONA: Yes.

ACOSTA: He was tweeting, he was X-ing, whatever we call it, some 12 hours ahead of Trump.

CARDONA: Exactly. And --

ACOSTA: As a Democrat, how do you -- what are you going to do about that?

CARDONA: Well, you pointed out, that, is he the one who is in charge? Is he the actual president? Is Donald Trump the vice president? But look, this is of Trump's doing. Trump is the one who brought him in. Trump is the one who is giving him that kind of power. And that's why I'm saying that that's what Democrats need to continue to point out because that's not what the American people voted for. The American people voted for Donald Trump because he said that he was going to bring down the price of groceries, he was going to bring down the price of housing. He has done nothing to try to affect that. And in fact, his plans do exactly the opposite. And what he's doing now is he's injecting chaos. He has no idea how to do calm. We know he doesn't like calm. This is the exact opposite of calm when the American people are hurting and this is not what they voted for.

ACOSTA: Yes. Doug, you mentioned some of these Republicans who are defying Trump. I mean, could that be a sign of things to come?

HEYE: Oh, absolutely. And this is why we've seen so many stories about --

ACOSTA: Is that why he's backing off and saying, OK, go ahead and let it shutdown guys because he doesn't have full control over --

HEYE: He doesn't have any control right now, right? He's a president- elect, not president. But we've seen so many stories over the past few weeks of how will Mike Johnson control these House Republicans? The reality is we know it's Donald Trump's party. It's about Donald Trump. And I think it's probably really nice weather right now in Palm Beach, take Donald Trump to the golf course. Make him play 36 holes. That would be a good thing for Republicans moving forward.

ACOSTA: Distract him?

HEYE: Absolutely.

ACOSTA: Yes. All right. Guys, thanks a lot. Appreciate it. Happy holidays.

CARDONA: Thanks, Jim.

HEYE: Thank you.

CARDONA: You too.

ACOSTA: Still to come, just days before Christmas and Hanukkah, thousands of workers at two major companies at the picket line. How will it affect your morning coffee and your holiday packages? Please don't say that about the holiday packages. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:35:00]

ACOSTA: Happening now. It's the second day of a Teamster strike involving Amazon drivers. Hundreds stopped working on Thursday, but an Amazon spokesperson told my colleague Vanessa Yurkevich, the company does not consider this a strike at all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Do you consider this strike illegal?

KELLY NANTEL, AMAZON SPOKESWOMAN: There is no strike. This is a protest that has been facilitated by the Teamsters. There are no Amazon employees and no third-party drivers who pay dues to the Teamsters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And Vanessa joins me now. Vanessa, you've gotten some new reporting on the Amazon protest. What can you tell us?

YURKEVICH: Yes. So, we just got word from the Teamsters that initially they called the strike at seven locations. But since yesterday, this has expanded to other locations. And I just want to be clear, these are not all striking workers, but about 200 locations, Amazon locations, are now seeing people turning out in protest. So, you have folks that are affiliated with the Teamsters, the union representing those Amazon workers. You have Amazon employees. You have other Teamsters who are with other unions like UPS coming out and supporting. But demonstrations, protests have spread to about 200 locations.

But essentially, Amazon is saying we don't recognize this as a strike at all because these employees, these third-party drivers who work for Amazon are not recognized by the National Labor Relations Board. But for these folks, these drivers, this is very personal, they are working during the holiday season. Some are on strike, but some are still working. And they just believe that the pay they are receiving is not adding up to what they should be getting. Listen to two of those workers from Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRENTON KNIGHT, AMAZON DRIVER: When you look at other companies like UPS, I mean, they are doing a lower volume now and they're getting paid a lot more than we're getting paid and we're getting more volume and less pay. That don't seem fair.

SAMANTHA THOMAS, AMAZON DRIVER: We already came to that conclusion that we were not recognized, even though we are the face of Amazon. We wear the uniform. We drive the trucks. When we pull up to your house, you say, oh, that's Amazon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YURKEVICH: Now, Amazon says that they've invested millions of dollars into their third-party driver's program, but ultimately these drivers feel like it is simply not enough. I mean, I think many Americans know that these drivers work very long shifts and sometimes harsh conditions, and a lot of these drivers have said that they feel pressure to do their job even faster, and especially during the holiday season, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes. And, Vanessa, what about Starbucks?

YURKEVICH: Yes, this morning you have Starbucks workers on strike in three locations, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles. And Starbucks does recognize over 500 unionized stores. So, they have been negotiating with their union since February. But the union saying that, hey, we wanted a deal by the end of the year, and it is creeping up to that time, and we haven't seen an acceptable contract yet. [10:40:00]

Starbucks says that they're disappointed that they thought they were getting somewhere with these union workers. But ultimately, the union saying that it's not good enough. And, Jim, I should just point out, yes, this is the holiday season. These unions know what they're doing. This is a profitable time for Amazon and Starbucks, and they're clearly looking to make a dent, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes, we want our peppermint mochas too. I mean, that's on the line as well. All right. Vanessa Yurkevich, thanks a lot. Happy holidays. Appreciate it.

YURKEVICH: Happy Holidays.

ACOSTA: When we come back, more on the looming government shutdown. Plus, a team of U.S. diplomats in Syria for the first time since the fall of the Assad regime. We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: After the fall of Syria's brutal dictator, Bashar al-Assad, a U.S. delegation is in Damascus today to meet face to face with the country's new leadership. Currently, the U.S., the U.N., and other countries have all designated this de facto authority as a terrorist organization.

[10:45:00]

But aside from preventing an ISIS resurgence in Syria, the State Department says its top priority is the return of Austin Tice, the American journalist who went missing in Syria back in 2012. CNN's Alex Marquardt joins me now. A lot to unpack. But U.S. officials making this first visit to Syria is an important first step.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It's remarkable. The U.S. cut diplomatic ties with Syria back in 2012. So, this is the first high level delegation to be going to the country in many years. And of course, their goal there is to meet with the new leadership. Ahmed al-Sharaa is the head of this group, HTS, that overthrew Assad just some two weeks ago.

And my colleague, Jennifer Hansler, has just confirmed that this delegation did meet with this man, with Al-Sharaa, who is designated by the U.S. to be a terrorist. He's got a $10 million bounty on his head. His group is designated a terrorist group. There are sanctions against them. There are sanctions still against Syria.

So, you can imagine that those are some of the issues that were discussed in the meeting today. At the same time, the U.S. has been really pushing HTS and the country as a whole to move towards an inclusive representative government that is respectful of women and different sex, one that does not allow terrorists to be harbored in the country, one that does not have chemical weapons.

So, you can imagine this was a rather intense discussion. And of course, one of the top priorities, if not the top priority of the U.S. government is to find Austin Tice. And we know that Roger Carstens, the head of Hostage Affairs, is also in that delegation. He has been following every lead he possibly could. Until today, he's been in Jordan and in Lebanon coordinating those efforts. There's also a new senior Biden official for Syria now, for the next few weeks of this administration, named Daniel Rubinstein.

And one more thing to note, Jim, is we just learned yesterday, remarkably, from the Pentagon that there are some 2,000 U.S. troops inside Syria. That's more than double the number that we knew about. It had been 900. This raises questions about transparency, it raises questions about why there was this influx of U.S. troops. They are primarily there to fight against ISIS. Obviously, it's been a very unstable time the past few weeks, and we have seen a significant uptick in airstrikes against ISIS.

ACOSTA: All right. Alex Marquardt, very important. Thank you very much. Let's discuss more now with Democratic Congressman Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts. Congressman, you've been very vocal about the U.S. role in Syria's future. What do you make of what Alex was just saying a few moments ago and what the future holds?

REP. JAKE AUCHINCLOSS (D-MA): I think in charting the course for the future, the United States has to be clear what we're trying to do and what we're not trying to do. What we're not trying to do is nation building like what's attempted in Iraq. What we are trying to do is prevent any ISIS resurgence or safe harbor. We're trying to get our hostage returned. We are trying to ensure that any governance in Syria respects the rights of minority groups, women, Kurds, Druze, et cetera. And we want to ensure that the new Syrian government adopts a non-belligerent posture towards Israel and its neighbors. Accomplish those things, I think that is a significant victory for the United States and for Israel.

ACOSTA: And you told the Hill earlier this month that what happens in Syria matters to the wider world, specifically to authoritarian countries looking to undermine the U.S., including China. You introduced a bill this week taking aim at China over fentanyl. What can you tell us about that?

AUCHINCLOSS: It's an example of bipartisan collaboration that should continue into next Congress with the GOP trifecta. This was a tripartite series of bills that directly aim at dismantling the fentanyl supply chain by going at its source. China is responsible for about 97 percent of the fentanyl precursors that are being exported to the United States, either directly or through the Mexican drug cartels.

These bills sanction those chemical manufacturers in China, divorcing them from their financial supporters. It adopts strong sanctions and fees against the shippers who are bringing them to U.S. ports. And it constitutes a joint task force counter opioid to fuse together all organs of state power in the federal government to make clear that this a congressional and presidential priority.

ACOSTA: And, Congressman, you can't see it where you are, but we have it up on our screen right now, 13 hours 10 minutes to government shutdown. What do you think? I mean, should Democrats work with the Republicans at this point? Do the Republicans need to just sort this out on their own? Can you strike a deal in time to prevent a shutdown?

AUCHINCLOSS: We did have a deal. And then GOP leadership caved to Donald Trump in the health insurance lobby. And, you know, Jim, we're heading into Christmas. I got three little kids. I got a long Christmas list for them. Cigna Express scripts and CVS Caremark and Donald Trump are not on my Christmas list. I am not going to support a deal that hands presents over to the next administration, clears the political decks for Donald Trump and allows health insurance companies to jack up prescription drugs again. That's not on my list. So, we're going to hang firm for democratic values.

ACOSTA: And I guess a lot has been happening on social media from Donald Trump and Elon Musk, his very important political ally right now. We were showing this earlier on in the program. The president- elect was essentially saying on Truth Social, go ahead and shut the government down now. We can show that to our viewers again if we have it handy. What's your response to that?

AUCHINCLOSS: It's irresponsible for the president-elect to talk about shutting down the government. Shutting down the government means that air traffic controllers are working without pay and are working less efficiently over the busiest travel season during the entire year. It means that we are slowing down funds to -- for biomedical research, including pediatric cancer care.

Americans pay for and deserve a government that works for them, and to have the incoming president use it as a bargaining chip, being egged on by his biggest donor, I think sets a bad tone for his next administration, and it undermines, I think, the olive branch that Democrats have extended, me included. I have said, where we can find common cause with Donald Trump or Elon Musk, we're willing to drive it forward, on fentanyl, on sanctions on Iran, on rebuilding our maritime industrial base.

But if he's coming in here and he wants to, you know, break things that American people rely upon, then we're going to hold the line.

ACOSTA: And I did -- we were asking about foreign policy a few moments ago. I do want to ask because it seems that Elon Musk is also delving into foreign policy. Earlier today in the last 24 hours, he appeared to endorse the far-right alternative for Germany or AFD Party. That is a far-right party. Members of that party have shown some affection for Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. Are you concerned about that?

AUCHINCLOSS: Yes, I'm concerned about that. I'm concerned about when one individual who owns some of the most important companies in the world, defense industrial based companies, media and information companies, also has the ear of the president, and is fusing together those different elements of power into, I think, outsize influence.

I think we also, though, as Democrats, as commentators need to recognize that the shelf life of Elon Musk might be kind of short. We're talking about an individual with a huge ego orbiting around Trump, eclipsing him. I think you and I both know, Jim, Donald Trump does not like that very much. And we may see that Elon Musk's influence does not survive 2025.

ACOSTA: But they seem to be working in cahoots with one another right now. What -- how do Democrats deal with that?

AUCHINCLOSS: Well, we deal with that by focusing on those with the levers of power. So, it's Mike Johnson, right? Despite all the noise surrounding us, Donald Trump is not president of the United States. Elon Musk is not in any office of government power. Mike Johnson is the one who holds the gavel. Mike Johnson is the one who agreed to a deal with Hakeem Jeffries. Mike Johnson is the one who reneged upon that deal with Hakeem Jeffries. And Mike Johnson is ultimately the one who needs to put forward a responsible deal to fund the government and to lower drug prices for the American people.

ACOSTA: All right. Democratic Congressman Jake Auchincloss, we're all watching what's happening up on Capitol Hill today. Thanks so much for taking time for us. We appreciate it.

AUCHINCLOSS: Good afternoon.

ACOSTA: All right. Just ahead, dramatic storylines, renewed rivalries, what to expect from the weekend -- this first weekend of the college football expanded playoff. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:55:00]

ACOSTA: The first 12 team college football playoff is set to kick off tonight when Notre Dame faces in state rival Indiana. CNN's Andy Scholes joins us from South Bend, Indiana. A little snowy out there, that should make this matchup pretty fun. What can you tell us Andy?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Jim, you couldn't have asked for a cooler matchup to kick off the first ever 12-team college football playoff. You got the Hoosiers taken on Rudy and Indiana has not beat Notre Dame here in South Bend since '98. That's 1898. So, Indiana certainly trying to make some history. There's an interesting dynamic with these fans, Jim.

You know, Indiana, traditionally a basketball school, football team, not that great. So, for decades, Indiana fans have cheered for Notre Dame football, but that's certainly not going to be the case here tonight. I've been catching up with some fighting Irish and Hoosier fans. They're certainly pumped for this in state matchup.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You always have hopes when you get a new coach, but to see how you're football turn around like it has, that's nothing I've ever seen before.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Usually, root for Notre Dame football and IU basketball, but this year we've got IU football. So, we're half and half. We don't want to root against Notre Dame (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My in laws are huge Notre Dame fans. So, there's definitely that like family rivalry going on right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would be kind of ironic if we're wearing green and they're wearing red a week before Christmas. This going to be basically the Christmas Bowl, it looks like.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes, the Christmas ball. And you know, Jim, these schools are very close. They're less than 200 miles apart and a lot of the alumni live in Chicago and Indianapolis. So, as you can imagine, the demand for the tickets for this game are through the roof. The get in price just to get into the stadium tonight is going for about $800 bucks right now.

ACOSTA: Wow.

SCHOLES: That is by far the most expensive of the four college football playoff games this weekend. This the only game tonight. You got three more games tomorrow. SMU at Penn State, Clemson at Texas. You can watch those games on our sister network, TNT, and stream them on Max. Then the nightcap tomorrow night is Tennessee at Ohio State.

But, Jim, all the games -- or I should say, three of the four, the only warm game is in Texas. The other three going to be below freezing at kickoff. It's going to be 28 degrees here in South Bend for kickoff. And like that fan said, it's going to look like the Christmas Bowl. We got snow on the ground, Notre Dame fans wearing green, Indian fans wearing red. It should be a lot of fun.

[11:00:00]