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CNN This Morning
Today: Bezos Visiting Mar-a-Lago To Meet With Trump; Israeli Troops To Remain In Syria Buffer Zone; Windy Weather Continues In Southern California. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired December 18, 2024 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:35]
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Wednesday, December 18th.
Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to get ideas from them. Look, we want them to do well.
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HUNT: Mission to Mar-a-Lago. Amazon -- Amazon founder Jeff Bezos visiting the president-elect today, the latest tech billionaire to make the pilgrimage.
Plus --
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KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No one can walk away. We must stay in the fight.
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HUNT: Harris's next move the vice president reaching out to young Americans. Could she be gearing up for another run for the White House?
And this --
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ALVIN BRAGG, MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This was a killing that was intended to evoke terror.
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HUNT: Indicted for murder. The suspected CEO killer now facing first degree murder for an alleged act of terrorism.
(MUSIC) HUNT: Five a.m. here on the East Coast. A live look at New York City on this Wednesday morning.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
Another day, another tech titan making the trek to Mar-a-Lago. Today, it's Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' turn to meet with President-elect Trump at his Florida estate.
The CEOs of Apple, Meta, TikTok, and more -- have already made the trip, prompting this observation from Senator Bernie Sanders.
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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Just 150 billionaire families spent nearly $2 billion to buy our recent elections. This is not democracy. This is not one person, one vote. This is not all of us coming together to decide our future. This is oligarchy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: For Bezos, it seems the calculus is clear. He could need help from the incoming administration in his space race against Elon Musk. And he's been publicly singing Trump's praises since the election.
Here was Bezos speaking at the New York Times DealBook summit.
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JEFF BEZOS, AMAZON FOUNDER: I'm actually very optimistic this time around that we're going to see -- I'm very hopeful about this -- his -- he seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation.
And my point of view, if I can help him do that, I'm going to help him.
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HUNT: The president-elect, suddenly feeling the love from former critics. And he's wondering out loud why.
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TRUMP: I had dinner with sort of almost all of them, and the rest are coming. And this is one of the big differences, I think, between we were talking about it before, one of the big differences between the first term.
And the first term, everybody was fighting me in this term. Everybody wants to be my friend. I don't know, my personality changed or something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right. Let's bring in Mychael Schnell. She's congressional reporter for "The Hill".
Mychael, good morning to you. Thanks for being here.
I'm not sure it's his personality that changed. What do you make of Bezos being the latest to go down to Mar-a-Lago? What does it say about where we are and has a tie in to politics here in town?
MYCHAEL SCHNELL, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, THE HILL: I think there are a few things here. A, it's the fact that during the first term, the tech companies really did draw a lot of ire from Trump and some of his closest allies. So, now, we're seeing this pattern, as you mentioned, of these tech titans, head down to Mar-a-Lago, meet with Trump, Mark Zuckerberg going down there, donating $1 million to the inaugural fund, Jeff Bezos now doing the same with Amazon, expected to give that $1 million to the inaugural fund as well.
So it seems like these tech companies are trying to curry some favor with Trump as they head into the next four years. But also, Bezos has a particularly other interest in this. And that's Blue Origin, right? He is in direct competition with Elon Musk's SpaceX. Elon Musk, of course, donated somewhat of $200 million to help Trump get reelected. And he's now one of the -- the president-elects closest allies. So, Elon Musk sort of sees I think -- I think that Jeff Bezos here sees that if he's going to be racing against Elon Musk in this area, he's going to want to try to curry some favor with Trump as well.
Now, the political ramifications here, of course, there's always oversight on Capitol Hill of these tech companies and even just Trump himself has criticized these tech companies in the past, criticized Jeff Bezos personally in the past, saying that folks are trying to have a clean slate and head into the second term with a better relationship. That's what Trump said himself. The people who were against him first time are sort of changing their tune this time.
[05:05:01]
HUNT: Significantly.
Mychael, while I have you, I also want to ask you about what's going on on Capitol Hill because you write about the House Speaker Mike Johnson, and some members of his conference. House Republicans are upset with how he is handling the current government funding fight, right?
SCHNELL: It's one way to put it.
HUNT: And you write, it's a, quote,
Republicans are upset with how he is handling the current government funding fight right and you write, its a, quote, total dumpster fire, end quote.
SCHNELL: That was actually a quote from a lawmaker.
HUNT: Right, from a lawmaker, yeah, right. That's what's in your headline. Are they going to get this done before Christmas? And probably more
importantly, what does this say about what it's going to be like to govern for them when their majority is even slimmer in the -- in the New Year.
SCHNELL: They're likely going to get it done before Christmas. There's no appetite right now for a shutdown, particularly for Republicans. They want to have a clean introduction to Trump's first 100 days. And when they're going to have that trifecta, Democrats do not want to have a shutdown. That's typically almost always their position.
But this is really forecasting that there are going to be a lot of difficulties for Republicans to govern over the next two years. Now, Republicans are very excited saying they have this mandate in Washington with this trifecta, but they still have to deal with extremely slim margins. Plus, the filibuster in the Senate.
Just talking about the House for starters, Republicans are going to have an even slimmer majority come next year. It's going to be 217 to 215, because Matt Gaetz is not taking the oath of office.
HUNT: Totally insane.
SCHNELL: Totally insane, two cabinet members going to the administration. That means that on any party line vote, if just one Republican breaks ranks and votes with Democrats, it's game over. It's 216 to 216 and the House a tie fails.
So if Republicans are having trouble right now with this four-vote majority trying to pass different priorities, some easy layup items, that should be layups, it's going to be even harder next year when they're talking about something like tax reform and they're talking about immigration reform.
Debt limit -- debt -- may send shivers up people's spines, but debt limit is likely going to come up next year. Again, we remember what kind of mess that was two years ago. So absolutely this is forecasting that if it was difficult in the 118th Congress, 119th is going to give it a run for its money.
HUNT: All right, Mychael Schnell, I hope you get some rest over the holidays because preparation, no rest for the weary in 2025. Thank you very much for being here.
All right. Coming up next here, morning in Madison, a community coming together after a deadly school shooting as police dig into the shooter's background.
Plus, Israel's prime minister making a trip to Syria as its forces move further into that country following the fall of Assad.
And Kamala Harris vowing to stay in the fight, giving a nod to one of her most viral moments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.
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[05:12:09]
HUNT: Israeli forces will remain in a buffer zone on the Syrian border seized after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu making the announcement while on an unprecedented visit to the summit of Mount Hermon Tuesday, Syria's tallest mountain. Israeli forces captured the summit and surrounding foothills after the fall of the Assad regime earlier this month. The area allows soldiers an unrestricted view of Lebanon, Syria and Israel.
Netanyahu saying they'll be camped there for the foreseeable future.
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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): This brings up nostalgia for me. I was here 53 years ago with my soldiers in a general staff reconnaissance unit. This place has not changed. It is the same place, but its importance to Israel's security has only been reinforced in recent years, and especially in recent weeks, with the dramatic events taking place here below us in Syria, we will determine the best arrangements that will guarantee our security.
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HUNT: And CNN's Max Foster joins us live now from London.
Max, good morning to you.
Our man who looks at optics -- wow, that video of Netanyahu standing on top of that mountain, obviously, there are strategic military issues related to it. But talk a little bit about not just that, but also why it is that Netanyahu would want to be seen standing there and talking to the cameras?
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, he looked pretty thrilled, didn't he? And he has got history there, of course, because he served there. It was in 1973 that, you know, Israel last had control of the mountain after the Yom Kippur War. And, you know, a lot of hardliners in Israel feel they should never have let go of its possession. But this was part of the negotiation with Syria, all of which in, you know, Netanyahu's view is redundant now because the regime has gone away.
So, you know, they have to find a new way of securing their own positions. And, you know, you can just see the views from there. You can see across these countries, you can see crucially across the buffer zone, which is meant to protect, you know, a safety zone really, between Syria and Israel. If there were any skirmishes. So it's strategically important, but symbolically it's so important as
well. And when they talk about staying there as long as is required, until Israel is safe, it's going to be very difficult to see a situation where certainly someone like Netanyahu or some conservatives in Israel would be willing to give it up again because they've done it before and they feel they shouldn't have done it the first time.
HUNT: And, Max, this, of course, all comes as there seem to be a series of indications that a hostage release deal may actually be at hand. This is the CNN's -- CNN's latest reporting here.
[05:15:01]
Quote, Hamas has become the latest party to the Gaza hostage and ceasefire negotiations to voice optimism about the prospects of reaching a deal amid a flurry of diplomatic activity in the region. An official -- in an official statement on Tuesday, Hamas said reaching an agreement was possible. A Hamas source also added that the talks were positive and optimistic. An Israeli source familiar with the matter told CNN that a deal was still potentially weeks away, and Hamas also cautioned that hurdles remain, suggesting Israel was imposing new conditions in the negotiations.
There's also some noise around Israel and Saudi Arabia and potential normalization there.
What do you make of all, of all of it, especially as Donald Trump's inauguration looms on January 20th?
FOSTER: We've been here before, haven't we, Kasie?
HUNT: Yeah.
FOSTER: But what we've got this time is lots of positivity coming across all the different parties involved here. Crucially, between the Palestinian areas as well, and Israel. So, you know, all the sensitive points are the ones we've talked about before. You know, obviously Israel wants to get the hostages out. That's a priority.
So which hostages are released? At what point? And during the different phases trying to tie that in with the withdrawal of Israeli troops, it appears that on the Hamas side, they've accepted that there will still be some Israeli troops in Gaza after all of this, but they're just trying to agree on which areas they pull out of and which areas the Gazans can move back into, into the north, for example.
So lots of, you know, the broad principles seem to be there, as they have been for some time. But certainly the sounds are that they're getting some sort of agreement on those key crucial issues. And who knows? You know, if it speeds up, you could have a Donald Trump coming into power with hostages being released at the same time.
HUNT: Well, and he basically -- Donald Trump has said if this is still an issue when I take office, I think the phrase was, there'll be hell I think was involved. Although, forgive me, I'm quoting off, off the cuff, but basically it was a little bit of a threat that seems to have potentially galvanized some of this.
Max Foster for us this morning -- Max, thank you. I always appreciate it.
FOSTER: Thank you.
HUNT: See you soon.
All right. Coming up next here on CNN this morning, bragging rights of galactic proportions. A duo of Chinese astronauts breaks a record held for more than 20 years.
Plus --
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ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR., HHS SECRETARY NOMINEE: We should leave it to the woman. We shouldn't have government involved.
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HUNT: RFK, Jr. meeting with Republican senators on Capitol Hill as they grapple with his views on abortion.
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[05:22:06]
HUNT: All right, 21 minutes past the hour.
Here's your morning roundup.
Grief and anger at a candlelight vigil in Madison, Wisconsin. The community gathering to honor the victims of Monday's shooting at a private school. A teacher and a student killed in the attack.
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MAYOR SATYA RHODES CONWAY, MADISON, WISCONSIN: We will never be the same, but we will get through this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And our children, our loved ones, are stuck between a crossfire. When is it enough?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Police still digging into the 15-year-old shooters background. They say figuring out a motive is their top priority.
The suspect in the Gilgo Beach killings now charged with the murder of a seventh woman. The partial remains of Valerie Mack were found back in 2000, the rest in 2011 on Gilgo beach, near the remains of another alleged victim of Rex Heuermann. He's pleaded not guilty to all charges.
New dash cam video just in to CNN shows the moment of a deadly plane crash in Honolulu Tuesday. You can see the flames and the heavy smoke in the distance. The plane was on a training flight when it crashed into an unoccupied building near the airport. Two people were killed.
A new frontier and bragging rights in outer space, two Chinese astronauts now have the record for the longest spacewalk going a total of nine hours yesterday. Until then, the record was held by the United States with a time of eight hours and 56 minutes. Set back in 2001.
Time now for weather. Windy weather continues in southern California today, but the fire threat expected to clear soon.
Let's get to our meteorologist, our weatherman Derek Van Dam.
Derek, good morning.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. Good morning, Kasie.
Residents in southern California know how a small, inconspicuous little fire can turn into a monster. And we obviously saw that with the Franklin Fire last week. And how dangerous that became and how quickly that exploded, that containment. Right now, 78 percent for the Franklin Fire in and around Malibu. But were monitoring what is still a very, very small fire. But something I want to show of note, this is the Soto Fire.
It's near riverside. A 20 percent containment. 30 acres have been burned so far. This is all part of another Santa Ana wind event that is occurring right now. We have a high fire danger across this area. The Santa Monica mountains into the Santa Susana Mountains.
This is the area that we have our high wind advisories and alerts in effect. Wind gusts have gusted over 60mph in some of these locations. So that northeasterly wind that's the offshore flow. And again, it's all dependent on the exact direction of where that wind comes up. And over the mountain ranges and accelerates down towards the coastline.
That will continue to peak this morning. And then the winds will subside later today and certainly into the day on Thursday, another major storm impacting the Pacific Northwest with high winds, lots of energy and certainly lots of rain.
[05:25:04]
Right along the coastline here of Oregon and Washington could pick up another 2 to 3 inches with high elevation snowfall for them. And then I want to point your attention towards the Tennessee River Valley. This is an area that a cold front is racing through.
Look at all the lightning about to impact the Nashville region. Could see some marginal severe weather across the region, but the bigger flash flood threat. Here is another concern that we want to keep in mind. Memphis to Nashville today could pick up some rain that causes some localized flooding -- Kasie.
HUNT: All right. Derek Van Dam for us this morning -- sir, always great to have you. Thank you so much. VAN DAM: Thank you.
HUNT: All right. Still ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING: falling short. AOC's bid to be the top Democrat on a powerful House committee fails. Did Nancy Pelosi pull the strings?
Plus, new charges for the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO. And new outrage over his growing support.
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JESSICA TISCH, NYPD COMMISSIONER: We have seen a shocking and appalling celebration of cold blooded murder.
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