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FTX Founder Likely to Waive Extradition in the Bahamas; Iran Using Social Media to Crack Down on Protesters; U.S. Congress Must Pass New Funding Bill by Friday; Covid Deaths in China Could Approach One Million; Argentina Celebrates World Cup Victory. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired December 19, 2022 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM I'm Max Foster. If you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with our top stories this hour. The House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection will soon hold its final public meeting to present its summary and possible criminal referrals against former President Trump.

And just days before Title 42, a Trump era policy restricting migrants during public health emergencies, is set to expire. Border officials say there are at least 10,000 migrants waiting at the U.S./Mexico border adding to the growing humanitarian crisis there.

Disgraced former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to appear in a Bahamian courtroom today. A source familiar with the matter tells CNN, Bankman-Fried will waive extradition. Once that happens, he would likely return to the U.S. quickly. Bankman-Fried faces federal criminal charges in an eight-count indictment for alleged fraud and conspiracy. As the investigation unfolds, U.S. authorities could file more charges against him.

Elon Musk is giving all Twitter users a chance to weigh in on whether he should continue to run the social media company.

The Tesla and SpaceX founder tweeted this, shall I step down as the head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.

In just a few short weeks as CEO, Musk has faced controversy and backlash over mass layoffs, botched rollouts of new features, banning journalists and his handling of previously banned accounts as well. But the latest controversy, he just reversed his decision to ban tweets that link to other social media platforms. A policy that lasted less than 24 hours. But last checked 58 percent of users in that poll said yes, Musk should step down. The poll is set to conclude on Monday night.

Now, in Iran, there are reports another soccer player has been arrested for allegedly supporting anti-government protests. A pro- government news agency says former national team captain Ehsan Hajsafi was detained for participating in demonstrations in Germany. A football agent says the player was banned from leaving Iran four weeks ago and he wasn't allowed to attend his team's training camp in Dubai. The agent says the player expressed his support for Iranian women in an Instagram post which has been deleted. Hajsafi has played for a German club and is a dual German-Iranian national.

As protests continue across Iran, CNN has learned that authorities are using technology to gain access to protesters' cell phones and social media accounts. The government is then using this information as evidence to suppress and arrest in many cases prosecute them. CNN's Katie Polglase has this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATIE POLGLASE, CNN INVESTIGATIVE PRODUCER (voice-over): Moody, reflective, like many teenagers, Nika Shahkarami considered her Instagram page a safe space for self-expression. But her death on September 20th, during protests in Iran, turned her into an icon. And her Instagram page into a blank slate. Who disabled it and why became yet another mystery surrounding what happened to her.

CNN previously revealed evidence suggests Nika she was detained at the protests shortly after this video was filmed.

[04:35:00]

But the Iranian authorities have always denied any involvement in her disappearance or death. Now, CNN can exclusively reveal that Meta, Instagram's parent company, investigated Nika's account after she disappeared, concluding they themselves were not involved in disabling it. In other words, it was either Nika herself or crucially someone with access to her account that took it down.

And as recent reporting by the Intercept revealed Iran's highly sophisticated system for phone hacking, it raises the question of whether social media platforms can keep accounts secure.

When protests erupted in Iran, Nika began using Instagram as a diary for her activism. But this online activity may have ended up working against her. After Nika's death, the Iranian state began publishing evidence like this CCTV footage attempting to clear the state of any involvement in her death. First, they said she was pushed from this building. Then she fell from it. Next, they referenced suicidal messages in documents extracted from Nika's mobile and Instagram conversations. It was open acknowledgment they were accessing her phone and her social media accounts.

But she's not alone. As flames engulfed the notorious Evin prison in mid-October, inside was Negin. She was accused of sharing activist posters like these on Telegram, the encrypted social media platform. We've changed her name for her safety. Her words are read by an actor.

NEGIN, POLITICAL PRISONER (read by an actor): I think they already had my Telegram chats because they often talked about it. There were certain photo. I had shared relatively politically photo. They would show me the photos from that Telegram to claim I was the admin, but I kept denying it.

POLGLASE: She says the Iranian authorities reactivated Negin's Telegram account. She says it see who try to contact her and reveal the network of activists she was in touch with. The same tactic may have been used with Nika's Telegram account. Weeks after her death, two of her friends noticed her account was back online. It disappeared shortly after.

POLGLASE (voice-over): Nika's family are still reeling from her death. One close family member told CNN authorities are still refusing to return her phone. The Iranian authorities have not responded to CNN's request for comment. While Meta said they couldn't share specifics on her account, but they confirmed they did not originally disable it.

Telegram told CNN in every case they had investigated the device had been confiscated or the user unwittingly made some access possible by not setting a two-step verification password or using a malicious app impersonating Telegram.

Still, questions remain as to whether Meta, Telegram and other tech companies are doing all they can to protect their users as the world wakes up to the increasingly tech savvy ways regimes such as Iran are using to monitor and hunt down activists.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, Katie's with me. I mean, there's going to be more cases, aren't there? This is just one that you found out about and publicized and probably got a quicker reaction from Facebook as a result. But what more have you learned about how they did it?

POLGLASE (on camera): Well, I think that it shows just how sophisticated this is now becoming. This is not just what they're currently doing remotely but still using the old fashion methods as well in terms of forcing people in person to hand over their devices -- confiscating devices as well. It just means they're adding more to their playbook effectively in terms of how they may be accessing not only your phone but your social media accounts. And let's not forget that some of these platforms are encrypted. Users feel secure. They feel safe using them, particularly Telegram. It's been widely used by activists throughout Iran during these protests. And so, I think it does call into question whether tech companies are doing all they can and whether they're well I quipped enough given how sophisticated the technological apparatus is that the Iranian government are using.

FOSTER: Absolutely, Katie, thank you very much indeed.

U.S. Congress is barreling towards a funding deadline. That could bring a government shutdown by next weekend. What's at issue and how likely we are to see a deal next on CNN NEWSROOM.

Plus, China has reported its first COVID-related death since easing pandemic restrictions. We'll look at why some experts fear the situation could still get worse.

[04:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) FOSTER: We are less than five hours away from the opening bell on Wall Street. Investors are hoping to see the markets rally after closing in the red on Friday. New data out this week could show that the U.S. housing slump is likely to continue. But it could offer some signs that the worst will soon be over with the job market still strong and wages growing.

The clock running down for U.S. lawmakers on Capitol Hill. They have until Friday to pass a new funding bill to keep the government up and running. If they can't meet the deadline, the government will have to shut down. Our Daniela Diaz has more on what's to come.

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DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Time is running out as lawmakers race against the clock to try to pass a government funding bill before Friday at midnight. That is when the current funding legislation is set to expire and could trigger a government shutdown here in the United States.

However, lawmakers have expressed optimism that they'll be able to bake that deadline and pass a bill before then with them announcing Republican and Democratic appropriators just last week that they have reached a top line number for government funding. $1.7 trillion to fund the United States government, starting December 24th. That was negotiated for weeks. They were not able to reach agreement on domestic spending here in the United States. But now that they reached that top line number, they're just writing the bill text. Which we expect to come out in the next 24 hours.

Once that bill text comes out, then starts the whole process to pass the bill here on Capitol Hill. We expect that the Senate to take it up first. There will be some delays as some Republicans, a handful are expected to oppose this bill, but we do expect it to pass. Then go to the House for passage with just a simple majority before it goes to President Joe Biden's desk by Friday for signature.

Now, while there still is no bill text, we do not expect a government shutdown should negotiators be able to really meet that deadline, which they have expressed to us time and time again in the last couple of days they will be able to do that and prevent a government shutdown.

Daniella Diaz, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Researchers in Hong Kong estimate China's COVID death toll could approach a million over the course of the country's reopening.

[04:45:00]

The study comes as China has reported its first COVID related death since easing pandemic restrictions earlier this month. Health officials announced on Sunday that two patients died in Beijing but they gave no other details on those cases. China has now reported more than 5,200 deaths from COVID since the pandemic began.

But experts outside of China believe that number is much higher, saying many deaths have gone unreported. So far President Xi Jinping has mostly been silent about the unraveling of his countries zero- COVID strategy. CNN's Ivan Watson is with us now with more on this. Ivan, what you make of this strategy and these numbers which are really going to frighten people?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, part of this is that there's been a lot of research on the COVID pandemic and all the other countries around the world. China has succeeded in holding off just uncontrolled spreading of the virus through these very severe lockdowns and quarantine camps that it created over the course of nearly three years now. And it has announced in just the last month that it is doing away with very many of those measures. As omicron has basically burst China's zero-COVID bubble.

So now it is going to face the kind of infections and illness that every other country in the world has basically faced. And that's where these projections are coming. The report that you cited coming out from Hong Kong University has yet to be peer reviewed. It's projecting that if China stays with the current status quo, if it doesn't manage to ramp up its vaccination levels or get more anti-viral medication out, that it could face up to 1 million people dying as a result of the illness.

Other projections put that even higher at 2 million or lower. But at the end of the day, it's going to be in the hundreds of thousands of people who are likely going to die. The most vulnerable people are senior citizens. And that's where China is at its weakest point right now, where you only have about 42 percent of Chinese people over the age of 80 who have gotten all three necessary doses of the locally- made vaccine to protect them. So that's a huge, very vulnerable portion of the population where you could see those high mortality figures.

The other part that is kind of so bewildering, is it was just last month, Max, that the Chinese government was almost talking about a crusade against COVID, where if you were in contact with somebody who had COVID, you could get sent away to a quarantine camp. And now we're getting messages from local governments -- like the central city of Chungking, that, hey, if you're a public sector worker and you've an asymptomatic case of COVID or mild symptoms you can still go to work as usual. So that's a big, sharp U-turn, some serious whiplash for a population that's been told for the better part of three years that COVID is a deadly, deadly disease that should be avoided at all costs -- Max.

FOSTER: Ivan Watson live in Hong Kong. Thank you very much indeed.

Still ahead this hour, euphoria in Argentina. Why Sunday's World Cup victory offered much-needed relief during uncertain times. We'll have a report from Buenos Aires next.

[04:50:00 all] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Argentina celebrations have erupted from city to city after Sunday's World Cup victory. The Argentines have waited 36 years for another title and this one comes during a very difficult times. For more on what the title means for the country, Stefano Pozzebon has this report from Buenos Aires.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: It's only a few hours since Argentina has become the 2022 FIFA world champions. And the people behind me that have taken over the streets, all from Buenos Aries, clearly have no sign, no intention of going back home.

It's a moment that Argentina has been waiting for, for more than 36 years. Since the late, great Diego Maradona won it in 1986. And it's a moment that comes at perhaps a very dire time for Argentina. The country is in deep financial trouble, with over 90 percent of annual inflation rate and also, a deep political polarization.

But all of these troubles have, frankly, been swept away this Sunday by a triumph of Lionel Messi and his teammates in Qatar, giving back a trophy that have been waiting, and longed for so long.

It's also a moment to rejoice for Messi himself, long called the greatest player of his time but actually never winning a World Cup until Sunday when he finally achieved the only trophy that was still missing from his cabinet.

And from Buenos Aires, as soon as the penalties were over, people just simply took over the streets. There were signs of celebration and joy. There are thousands of people now really just singing and celebrating together.

For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Buenos Aires.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Week 15 in the NFL saw some exciting finishes meanwhile but perhaps none crazier than the Las Vegas Raiders victory over the New England Patriots. On the final play of regulation with the game tied at 24 apiece, Patriots receiver Jacoby Myers threw a wild lateral trying to keep the play alive, but defender Chandler Jones took the ball away, rumbling 48 yards for the game-winning touchdown against his former team. Raiders win 30-24.

Tennis star Venus Williams will participate in the Australian Open again. The seven-time grand slam champion was awarded a wild card entry into the tournament which is next month. In a statement she said it will be an honor to play for the fans again. This will be her 22nd time in the open.

[04:55:00]

It will also mark the first competitive match Williams has played since this year's U.S. Open where she lost in the first round.

30 years after the original movie the sequel to the block buster film "Avatar" is now in theaters worldwide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know you think I'm crazy. But I feel her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: "Avatar: Way Of Water" topped the box office with $134 million giving director James Cameron his first $100 million opening weekend. Globally it's already brought in $435 million, but it less than analysts predicted and may make it difficult for the movie to turn a profit, would you believe. It's estimated the sequel needs to make more than $2 billion to do that given how expensive it was to produce in the first place.

And finally, this hour, a fitting thank you from one of the biggest action stars on the planet. While filming the next "Mission Impossible" movie in South Africa, Tom Cruise took a moment to thank the fans for watching his "Top Gun" sequel while jumping from an airplane.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: Are you coming?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not on your life. Good luck. OK. We'll see you down there.

CRUISE: Thank you for supporting "Top Gun: Maverick" as always, thank you for allowing us to entertain you. It truly is the honor of a life time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Can you believe it, he is 60 years old. "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning" part I is set to release this July with a sequel due out the following year.

Thank you for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London. "EARLY START" with Christine Romans is next here on CNN.

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