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Israeli Government Has List of Hostages Set for Release Today; 13 Israelis, 4 Thais Released on Saturday After Delay; 39 Palestinian Prisoners and Detainees Freed on Saturday. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired November 26, 2023 - 03:00   ET

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

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[03:00:00]

LAILA HARRAK, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world. I'm Laila Harrak.

It's day three of the four-day truce between Hamas and Israel. And the Israeli government now has the names of the hostages who will be freed today.

13 Israelis and four Thai nationals were released Saturday, but only after an hours-long delay threatened to upend the exchange. While following preliminary medical checks, all of the former hostages were taken to Israeli hospitals for care and to be reunited with their families.

The deal also called for the release of 39 Palestinian prisoners and detainees on Saturday. And earlier, Hamas had stalled on releasing the hostages in a dispute over which Palestinians the Israelis were willing to release. And aid groups say some 187 trucks made it into Gaza Saturday with food, water, fuel and medical supplies. It's only a small fraction of what's needed. 61 of those trucks reached heavily damaged Northern Gaza, the most trucks in one day since the war began.

Elliott Gotkine is following all this for you and joins us now live from London. Good morning again, Elliott. The second hostage prisoner exchange now behind us, completed, but it has been a nerve-racking ordeal.

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Very much so, Laila. And for several hours, it was unclear if this painstakingly mediated truce done by the -- overseen by the Qataris between Israel and Hamas, it was unclear whether it was going to collapse before even reaching the halfway point.

As you say, at issue ostensibly for Hamas, they say, was the amount of aid being allowed into Northern Gaza and also the identity of some of the Palestinian prisoners that Israel was due to release in terms of the seniority or the number of years that they had been serving in Israeli prisons.

In the end, it did go through. And as you say, we saw 13 Israelis freed from captivity after 50 days in captivity after being kidnapped by Hamas during that murderous rampage of October the 7th. They were handed over to the Red Cross and then to hospitals where they were reunited with their families.

At the same time, 39 Palestinian prisoners, this is women and minors, teenage boys, were freed as well. And they were also reunited with their families too. So, two days of this truce done. And despite that kind of rocky start, seems to be holding for now. Of course, let's remind ourselves that this deal provides for 50 Israelis to be freed and also for 150 Palestinian prisoners to be released as part of this deal.

I think there were also some concerns on the part of the Israelis that, although the deal hasn't been published, this deal, we don't know the precise terms of it, but Israel says that one of the terms of this deal is that mothers would not be separated from their children.

And with the release of Hila Rotem, a 13-year-old girl, by Hamas, her mother, Raaya, remains in captivity, it is presumed. In fact, the Israelis saying it's unknown where she is and what happened to her. So, a bit of concern that this part of the deal, which Israel says is included in this agreement, is not being kept to. But for now, as we say, this truce two days in, we're in day three, is holding. Laila?

HARRAK: It's holding. Elliott Gotkine reporting in London, thank you very much, Elliott.

And four hostages from Thailand were released Saturday. That's in addition to ten that were released Friday. The Thai prime minister says they were taken to a hospital in Israel for checkup and are in good health. None of them needed emergency medical care. Thai officials estimate that 18 Thai citizens are still being held hostage.

To talk more about this, Journalist Manisha Tank joins us now live from Singapore. Some much-needed good news for families in Thailand, what more do we know about those that have been released?

[03:05:03]

MANISHA TANK, JOURNALIST: Very much so, it is very good news for them, Laila. But I think it is important to point out that this was a separate agreement. It is not the same as the one that Elliott was just talking about of the 50 hostages that were going to be released. This is a separate agreement between the Thais and all the parties concerned.

As for the condition of those that were released, the four that were released on Saturday, in addition to ten that were released on Friday, those four that the prime minister himself putting it out on social media that they were in good health, that they were communicating well. And that's a really important point, given everything that they would have been through over the last few weeks.

I do want to mention those ten that were received at the Shemer medical facility, the Shemer Medical Center, reputably the fourth largest government hospital Israel. They were observed by hospital workers as potentially lacking in nutrition. They were speaking to one of our CNN teams. They added that they were stable but not healthy. So, there's obviously quite a bit of work to be done just in terms of rehabilitation at the moment.

There has also been a statement from the Thai foreign minister about this. He was expressing how he was elated to welcome the good news that you are speaking of and also sending congratulations to all of those who have been recently released and their families.

But with that, Laila, we cannot forget that the Thai foreign ministry has also informed us that they estimate -- estimate, note, it's still very unclear -- that they estimate that there are still 18 Thai nationals being held hostage by Hamas.

And the context of this is many of them are migrant workers. Their families back home in Thailand depend on them for the incomes that they send. This has been a trying time not just for hostages, not just in terms of everything that they've seen in the past few weeks, but for their families and their entire communities, there is still a lot of work to be done, Laila.

HARRAK: Manisha Tank in Singapore, thank you so much for your continued coverage.

And I'd like to bring in Daniel Levy from London. He is the president of the U.S./Middle East Project. A very good day, Daniel, so good to have you back with us.

The focus right now is still very much on the war. But we want to look further down the line. How do you see this ending? Where do we go from here?

DANIEL LEVY, PRESIDENT, U.S./MIDDLE EAST PROJECT: Well, we now have -- although this is clearly going to be a bumpy road in the next few days, we now have proof of concept. We know a little more than we did just a very few days ago. We know that political negotiations, not militarily options, can get these Israelis and others being held in Gaza home. Those are going to be in exchange deals for what it seems largely political prisoners that Israel is holding of Palestinians. So, we know the negotiations can work.

We know the Qatari-led mediation, with others, but the Qatari-lead mediation has proven highly effective, including during moments of tension with Qataris taking a very pragmatic and unusual step of flying to Israel yesterday. We know America has taken a degree of ownership of this process as well.

We know also the level of destruction inside Gaza, an important report yesterday, that the number of women and children alone, civilians who have been killed in just two months, is double the number of women and children killed in Ukraine in almost two years. That's from The New York Times. And, crucially, we know that the Israeli government, having not been keen on this deal, was pressured into this deal by domestic pressure, by the actions of families, especially those being held inside Israel.

So, we know that we can go forward with this. But, and that's crucial, it's what you referenced, the Israeli government has expressed its determination to continue with this war and devastation after this phase of releases. So, can one leverage all of the things we've seen in order to bring this to an end? And that's what I hope will be put to the test.

HARRAK: I mean, it's a really significant point that you make there. How do you feel that balancing act that we see, the Israeli leadership undertaking right now, on the one hand, you know, being pressured into this deal, we can say, and as you outlined, but at the same time, it's still committed to continuing this war because it wants to eradicate Hamas, its stated objective? Do you think that is a tenable position for this government?

LEVY: Well, I think it remains domestically tenable, right? I think they can still carry the public with them.

[03:10:00]

But can they carry the public when the public also increasingly sees that there is a choice? It's getting the Israelis out or continuing the war. Increasingly, those will come into tension.

Can they carry this forward internationally? Thus far, America has given them an awful lot of rope. Now, America, the U.S. administration, wanted this deal to happen. They also want that if Israel continues, that we do not see the same level of death, destruction, devastation. I don't think that's going to bear out. You have Palestinians in a smaller area of Gaza now who have been forcibly displaced. So, I think we're going to see a return, I fear, to the horrendous scenes.

Does American patience then wear thin? Does the president of the U.S. finally lean into a ceasefire? And how long would it take them to carry the Israelis? And, thirdly, it's what you said, is this goal of eradication a viable goal to be achieved? I think most people would argue it is not. Hamas will continue. Hamas has demonstrated its ability to continue.

And the cost in doing so would be of such a scale, the level of war crimes and the violations of international law being committed are something that the world, if it does not prevent this, will have as not only a stain on its conscience but be unable to go anywhere and say, we uphold international law, because look what you did when Israel was violating that.

HARRAK: I just have a few seconds left, unfortunately, Daniel. In closing, how is this current war shaping the future of the region?

LEVY: At the moment, in terribly disturbing ways, because I think we are moving towards a zero sum, and that's what we have to pull back from. So, will there be a regional effort to try and not only end this but to address the bigger question of the occupation, Palestinian dispossession, the lack of Palestinian rights, the fact that not Israel and not the Palestinians and not the region will live in peace and security if you don't address the root causes.

HARRAK: Daniel Levy, president of the U.S./Middle East Project, always good to talk to you, thank you so much.

LEVY: Thank you.

HARRAK: Emotions were pouring out as Palestinian prisoners arrived home after release from Israeli prisons.

Still ahead, an emotional welcome and tearful family reunions in the occupied west bank.

Plus we'll get insight about the treatment of Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

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HARRAK: The gulf nation of Qatar, which was instrumental in mediating the hostage deal negotiations, says it's hoping to extend the truce beyond the agreed-upon four days. Meantime, it's trying to multiple fronts to keep the current deal going.

The Qatari Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson told CNN he's working with senior Qatari officials to alleviate concerns from both sides that the other is not living up to the agreement. He also says he's working with Israel, Hamas, Egypt, and the U.S. to ensure the agreed- upon number of aid trucks is reaching Gaza. And as we've been reporting, aid groups say 61 trucks arrived in Northern Gaza Saturday. That's the most on a single day since October 7th.

On the Palestinian side, 39 former prisoners are spending their first morning at home following their release by Israel on Saturday. They were freed in return for the hostages handed over to Israel by Hamas.

And as CNN's Nada Bashir reports, the former prisoners received a celebratory welcome in the occupied West Bank.

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, for yet another night, the crowds have gathered to show support and welcome release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees who have been released as part of that truce agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Today, we have seen some 39 prisoners and detainees released, among them 33 minors, children under the age of 18. Many of them held under administrative detention, meaning no clear charges were laid against them, no ongoing legal process.

And throughout the day, we've seen families waiting anxiously to find out whether or not their loved ones would be listed in the 39 released on Saturday. We managed to catch up with the Tamimi family who are waiting to find out whether or not 17-year-old Wisam would be released, and, of course, we have seen their utter relief to find out their son has now been released after being held under administrative detention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WISAM TAMIMI, RELEASED PALESTINIAN PRISONER: It's an indescribable feeling. We thank God. He brought us out of the place we were in. It's a relief. Praise be to God.

HUNAIDA TAMIMI, WISAM'S MOTHER: I can't describe how I feel. I seriously can't believe it. I'm in a dream my son is with me. Praise be to God, and God willing, every mother will find my joy, God willing.

I can't say anymore. May God spread joy to all the Palestinian people, may God grant them happiness. We want to smile and laugh. Thank God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: Over the course of this four-day truce, we are expecting to see a total of 150 prisoners and detainees at least released as part of that exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Now, there are many families still hopeful they will see their loved ones released as part of this agreement, but we've been speaking to many families, many locals who say while they are happy and have welcomed the release of their loved ones and many friends and neighbors, their happiness is subdued. They tell us that they have paid a heavy price for the release of these detainees and prisoners, referencing the war in Gaza, and the mounting civilian death toll we have seen in the Gaza strip.

[03:20:12]

Of course, this is a very delicate, very fluid situation, and it remains to be seen whether or not the terms of that truce are upheld over the next few days, whether we will continue to see these Palestinian prisoners and detainees released, and, of course, whether we continue to see the safe return of Israeli hostages currently held captive by Hamas in Gaza.

Nada Bashir, CNN, in al-Bireh, near Ramallah.

HARRAK: Randa Wahbe is an Al-Shabaka policy analyst, she joins me from Oakland, California. Randa, a warm welcome to CNN.

Tellingly, this group of detainees that has been released is very much like the first group that has been liberated, women and children. And, tellingly, while some have been sentenced for crimes, the majority have been under administrative detention, meaning not charged, not put on trial, not convicted of anything. How common is that form of imprisonment by Israel?

RANDA WAHBE, AL-SHABAKA POLICY ANALYST: Yes. So, just to take a step back, administrative detention is a policy under Israeli military law that allows for Palestinians to be detained in military prisons indefinitely without charge and without the ability to stand trial. They are arrested and held under secret information that neither they nor their lawyers are ever privy to.

And since the beginning of the military occupation of the West Bank in 1967 and then military law, Israel has used this policy to routinely imprison thousands of Palestinians, particularly targeting activists, political leaders, students, children. Right now, there are about 36 children under administrative detention, people who work for non- profits and human rights organizations.

And this policy is above all a policy to try to crush dissent to Israel's continued control over the Palestinians and to try to fracture and break Palestinian society so that we cannot make our demands for freedom.

So, right now, Israel has ramped up its administrative detention policy and it's reached a 20-year high. There's 2,000 Palestinians in administrative detention, 1,000 of them who were arrested in the last seven weeks alone.

HARRAK: Ronda, just because when you hear administrative detention, it sounds very abstract. So, what kind of evidence is required for someone, a child or adult, to be held under administrative detention?

WAHBE: So, we actually have no access to the evidence that is used against the administrative detainees to keep them in detention. This is only shared between the military judge, who is a soldier, and the Israeli intelligence. The lawyer nor the person in administrative detention is ever privy to this information.

But what I can tell you is how administrative detention affects the detainee and their families themselves. It's not only a gross violation of international law because of the lack of due process and the right to a fair trial, but it also has a major psychological impact on the detainees and their families because they have no idea why they're being detained, they have no idea how long they're going to be detained, and their lives are completely upended and their futures are uncertain.

The other thing that I'm told is that many children picked up by the IDF will be interrogated without a parent present and can spend days in solitary confinement. Is that your experience?

WAHBE: Yes. That is accurate, and it's very harrowing. So, when children are arrested, they're usually arrested -- actually, when all Palestinians are arrested, they're usually arrested during a late- night raid or an early-morning raid on their home. And they're arrested without a warrant. They're taken blindfolded and handcuffed. Their families do not know where they've gone. And oftentimes it takes 24 hours to 48 hours to even be able to locate what detention center they are in.

And during that period, children have said and have testified that that's when they are experiencing a lot of torture, where they are being beaten, where they are being put in stress positions. They are not treated like children or afforded any rights as children. They are criminalized like adults and they are treated with the same brutality as adults.

They often undergo long military interrogations and they are forced to make confessions under duress and torture without the presence of their parent or a lawyer.

HARRAK: And, of course, really remarkable, the children are being tried by military courts, which is quite unique, I understand, as well.

[03:25:00]

So, the other thing that's quite remarkable is military courts in Israel have, I understand, a nearly 99 percent conviction rate. I mean, that seems extraordinary. I mean, these kids and people who come before the court don't stand a chance.

WAHBE: Right. Well, Israel, just to mention, is the only place in the world where children are charged and tried in military courts. And there is an extremely high conviction rate because this is a system that is meant to control the Palestinian population. And so the children that are being detained in this system, it is used to intimidate and punish them in order for more largely suppressed Palestinian demands for freedom.

So, since 1967, at least 1 million Palestinians have been arrested. That's one-fifth of the total population. So, either every Palestinian has been arrested or knows someone who has. It has become part of Palestinian life.

HARRAK: Randa Wahbe, thank you so much for speaking to us.

WAHBE: Thank you.

HARRAK: The number of journalists killed in Gaza, Israel and Lebanon since the October 7 Hamas attack has increased to at least 57. This after the committee to protect journalists confirmed the death of four Palestinian journalists on Saturday.

The journalism advocacy group says 50 Palestinian, 4 Israeli, and 3 Lebanese journalists lost their lives since the Israel/Hamas war began last month.

We'll take a quick break.

For our viewers in North America, we'll have more coverage of the Israel/Hamas war in just a moment. For international viewers, Mission Tiger is next.

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[03:30:00]

HARRAK: Welcome back to all of our viewers in the United States and Canada. I'm Laila Harrak and you're watching CNN Newsroom.

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Qatar's emir on day two of the hostage release, and working the phones to resolve any delays in the process, and to expedite the release of American hostages held by Hamas.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is with the president in Massachusetts.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The White House is closely watching the coming hours, waiting to hear whether any American citizens will be part of the next group of hostages that are expected to be released on Sunday. No American citizens were included in the first releases that occurred on Friday and Saturday.

But the White House says they are hopeful that at least three Americans will be coming out in the coming days. It's expected that they will be part of this larger group that had been negotiated to release 50 women and children. And the American citizens who officials are focusing in on are two women and that young four-year-old girl, Abigail Idan, whose parents were killed in the October 7th attack by Hamas.

But it also comes as President Biden has been working the phones, trying to ensure that this deal and the implementation of the deal remains on track. On Saturday, he spent some time on the phone speaking with the emir of Qatar as well as the Qatari prime minister, as there were some delays in the hostage release, concerns that the release might fall apart for Saturday. The president spoke with them to talk about the potential hurdles and also ways to overcome it.

And, ultimately, around 1:30 P.M. Saturday, the White House got word that the deal was moving forward, the release was moving forward, and the Red Cross would soon retrieve those hostages. Vice President Kamala Harris spoke to this out in California.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: There were some issues and challenges around implementation. President Biden spoke with the emir to resolve those issues, and we do believe they are going to be resolved.

We're going to continue to be diligent and vigilant in doing all that we can in that regard, to ensure that there is humanitarian aid going in, that hostages are going out, and our highest priority, of course, are the American citizens who are being held.

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SAENZ: Now, the White House has been unable to pinpoint an exact day the Americans will be released but they are hopeful they will be released in the coming days. And then there's also concern about the other Americans believed to be held hostage by Hamas. There are about ten Americans who were unaccounted for. The president told reporters on Friday that he did not know all of their conditions.

Arlette Saenz, CNN, traveling with the president in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

HARRAK: The 17 hostages released by Hamas on Saturday had to cross two borders before they arrived back in Israel.

CNN Military Analyst Colonel Cedric Leighton tracks their journey.

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COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: They really had a circuitous route going through these border crossings and ending up in Tel Aviv.

But let's take a quick look at some more detail here, because the first crossing that they had is here at Rafah, which is the crossing from Gaza into Egypt. And then they went from Egypt to the Kerem Shalom crossing, which crosses both from Gaza into Israel, as well as from egypt into Israel. They crossed through this way. And then there is another crossing down here at Nitzana where they could also have crossed.

And then when you go back to the other map here, the first day's hostages went to the air base at Hatzerim. That's not the case, as far as I know, today. But for tonight's release, all of them seem to be ending up at hospitals here in Tel Aviv.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN ANCHOR: So, essentially going like this, then up to the hospitals up there.

LEIGHTON: That's right.

MARQUARDT: What's interesting, Colonel, is that there are a number of crossings between Israel and Gaza directly. And those are not being used. These two days, they've gone from Gaza into Egypt before going into Israel. So, why do you think that is? And do you think that that will continue in these next two days, at least?

LEIGHTON: I think it will continue that way, Alex, because, first of all, the crossings in the north have all been damaged. So, they are crossings that basically are not permissible --

MARQUARDT: Erez up there.

LEIGHTON: Erez is the one up there, exactly right near Sderot, that crossing is completely unusable for these purposes right now. And it's also dangerous for Hamas to go in there.

[03:35:01]

The other reason is these have -- especially Rafah has the facilities, the border crossing facilities, the Egyptian customs, Israeli officials also end up there. So, that was the best way for them to move and then to go in this way, and then up through the areas as we talked about.

MARQUARFT: We've been so focused, of course, on the treatment that these hostages may need, but you can imagine, Shin Bet and the IDF, so the local security service, domestic security service, they're going to be speaking to these hostages. What are they going to be asking? What do they want to find out about their ordeal?

LEIGHTON: So, one of the key things is that they wanted to know is, for example, what did they see? Did they see things like this? Did they see these tunnels? Did they notice where they might have been? Did they have any daylight at all? Were there times when they were outside?

For the most part, as far as we know right now, the hostages were held inside tunnels like this one. And they didn't really have any interaction with any other groups. They may have had some interaction with other hostages. That would also be a point of interest. They would want to know what kind of facilities so that they could match them up with any maps of tunnels that the Israelis may have to see if there's some points of vulnerability that could be exploited for future operations.

And then, of course, the other thing they'll want to know is did they encounter these kinds of people, which they obviously did, many of them, when were they there? Were they only with Hamas? Were they with other groups? Those are the kinds of things they may or may not know, but those are the kinds of questions they would be asked in a case like this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRAK: Thomas hand, who thought his nine-year-old daughter, Emily, was killed in the Hamas attack on October 7th has now been joyfully reunited with her.

You also see 13-year-old Hila Rotem getting a bear hug from her uncle in that video. Israel wants to know why her mother, Raaya, was not also released Saturday.

Ukraine's capital takes a hit from Russia's largest wave of drone attacks since the war began. And now, people whose homes were damaged are trying to pick up the pieces, that's ahead.

Plus the U.S., Japan, and South Korea roundly condemn North Korea's launch of a spy satellite. Details on the way.

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[03:40:00]

HARRAK: Israeli security officials are looking over a new list of hostages that Hamas says it will release in the coming hours. That's according to the Israeli Prime Minister's Office. It comes after Hamas turned over a group -- a second group, rather, of hostages Saturday after an hours-long delay.

Red Cross buses carried 13 Israeli and four Thai nationals out of Gaza. In exchange, Israel says it released 39 Palestinian prisoners, including 6 women and 33 teenage boys.

Here's a look now at the 13 Israelis Hamas released on Saturday. They include seven children, the youngest, three years old.

Now to Russia's war on Ukraine, where the capital, Kyiv, is reeling from a Russian attack unlike what the city has seen before. Anna Coren has the story from Kyiv.

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Russia has launched the largest number of attack drones on the Ukrainian capital ever since it launched its invasion on this country in February of last year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says this attack was a deliberate act of terror.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COREN (voice over): In the early hours of Saturday morning, loud explosions could be heard all over Kyiv as the capital's air defense systems worked in overdrive.

Just after 2:30 A.M., an unprecedented swarm of drones began to attack Kyiv from multiple directions, terrorizing its more than 3 million residents.

75 Shahed drones were launched by Russia. Authorities say 74 were shot down.

Debris from one of the downed drones hit this kindergarten in the city's suburbs, meters away, hundreds of residential apartments.

Shattered windows, a sign of how close the war had come, too close for Yevgenia (ph) and her two young daughters.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard the sirens and ran into the hallway and were waiting for this to pass, like always. But then we heard a huge explosion. We thought our house was going to be destroyed.

COREN: The residents in Kyiv are used to hearing the air raid sirens and the explosions of the air defense systems working overtime, but nothing quite like this. For more than six hours, there was a barrage of Shahed drones targeting the capital. And this behind me is the result of one of those drones shot down.

Inside the kindergarten, Oliga (ph), one of the teachers, is distraught.

All my life I've worked here. Look at the destruction, she cries.

Her colleague says, everything is okay, we will clean this up, don't worry. Thank God everyone is alive.

Five-year-old Yurislava (ph) looks through the fence at a playground she would frequent every day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's my kindergarten. I had music and dancing classes in this building. I feel sad that the drone came and destroyed my school.

COREN: Her mother, Natalia (ph), in tears, thinking this was supposed to be a safe place for her only child.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: it's very painful to see this. COREN: Residents in Kyiv and across the country have been expecting this. Russia has spent months stockpiling weapons specifically aimed at targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure as the temperatures plunge. And with winter now here, these people know this is just the beginning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: we've got used to this, but I don't want to get used to it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN (on camera): Falling drone debris damaged several residential buildings around Kyiv. The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, General Zaluzhny, says this is war.

Back to you.

HARRAK: Our thanks to Anna Coren reporting there.

The U.S. is pointing a finger at Iran following an attack on an Israeli-owned container ship. That's according to two U.S. defense officials who say the vessel was hit by a suspected Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean on Friday.

[03:45:01]

One official says the ship took minor damage and there were no injuries.

The vessel is registered in Malta but it's owned by an Israeli conglomerate. One U.S. official says Iran's Revolutionary Guard is likely behind the attack.

North Korea claims it sent its first spy satellite into orbit earlier this week. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his counterparts in South Korea and Japan are condemning the launch. South Korea calls it a clear violation of a U.N. resolution that prohibits the north from using ballistic missile technology.

CNN's Will Ripley is in Taipei with the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): As if the world doesn't have enough to worry about, rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea claims big progress in its satellite program.

Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un appearing triumphant in state media, posing for propaganda cameras with a team of North Korean scientists and engineers, celebrating an apparently successful third attempt to put a spy satellite into orbit. Two failed launches earlier this year.

Pyongyang promises more satellite launches in the near future, satellites crucial to improving the accuracy of North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile program, a program banned by the United Nations Security Council, possibly perfected with the help of Russian rocket scientists, acting on orders from President Vladimir Putin.

Kim and Putin's September summit at this Russian space launch complex signaling Moscow's growing support for Pyongyang's space program, a partnership believed to be providing Putin with badly needed North Korean weapons, arming Russian soldiers on the battlefields of Ukraine.

Putin told state media reporters at the time Russia would help North Korea launch its own satellites and rockets, saying that's exactly why we came here.

Japanese authorities issued an emergency warning, what they believed to be a satellite carrying ballistic missile soaring over Okinawa.

FUMIO KISHIDA, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER: Today, North Korea conducted a launch using ballistic missile technology.

RIPLEY: The Japanese prime minister condemning the launch. Swift reactions from South Korea, Seoul suspending military pacts with the north.

HEO TAE-KEUN, DEPUTY MINISTER FOR NATIONAL DEFENSE POLICY, SOUTH KOREA: The North Korean regime is entirely responsible for this situation.

RIPLEY: A troubling sign even for locals who live every day under threat from the nuclear-armed north.

BAE RA-MI, SOUTH KOREAN RESIDENT: the successful launch of North Korea's spy satellite means that their technology has improved that much.

RIPLEY: We're at North Korea's brand-new satellite control center.

In 2015, I met with senior officials at North Korea's satellite control center. They insisted their purpose was peaceful space exploration, expressing outrage at ongoing speculation they were secretly operating a ballistic missile development program.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: our peaceful launch was not a threat yesterday, a threat to you today, and it won't be a threat tomorrow.

RIPLEY: Tomorrow has arrived, and this may be just the beginning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY (on camera): And tensions are already flaring on the Korean Peninsula. The South Korean military says less than 24 hours after the satellite launch, a ballistic missile was launched from the North Korean capital area, but they believe that missile failed just minutes after taking off.

Now, in the meantime, the big question, the unanswered question is, whether this satellite is actually able to conduct reconnaissance. We know that it's in orbit, but can it actually surveil U.S. military installations in places like Guam or Hawaii or Japan? That remains the unknown question.

Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.

HARRAK: The World Health Organization says it's received more information from China about a spike in cases of children with pneumonia or respiratory illnesses. Well, Chinese health authorities told them the rise in cases in Northern China stems from typical seasonal germs and not from any new or unknown bacteria or virus.

The WHO adds, Chinese officials report that symptoms are consistent with respiratory infections that arrive every winter.

Derek Chauvin's attorney says he found out that his client was stabbed in prison on the news. And now he says the prison is ignoring his calls. That's next on CNN.

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HARRAK: Derek Chauvin's attorney says the prison where his client was stabbed on Friday is refusing to talk. The former Minneapolis Police officer is serving time at a federal prison in Arizona for the murder of George Floyd three years ago.

His attorney says he found out about the stabbing on the news and hasn't been able to verify anything, despite calling the prison seven times. He says Chauvin's parents are getting the same treatment. Chauvin's attorney believes a lot of inmates in that prison want to make a name for themselves by killing him.

A mix of rain and snow is expected to spread east across the United States with some cold weather to follow. Here's CNN Meteorologist Elisa Raffa.

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We've got cold settling into the central plains after a couple of inches of snow fell across parts of Kansas. That snow is now headed off to the Great Lakes.

We've had some snow showers in Chicago as we go through the day on Sunday. That will start to kick across the Great Lakes and it kind of meets up with this area of low pressure that developed off the Carolina Coast. That starts to meet up and move north, creating some heavier rain from New York up to Boston.

Notice the snow showers too across the Great Lakes, that starts to kick in the wake of that front. That lake-effect snow could dump up to a foot of snow for some communities right off the coast of those lakes, like Cleveland. You can see the rain totals from New York to Boston, again, could be on the heftier side, up to about two inches.

Now, after this, we'll find some Arctic air start to spill south, first up into the Great Lakes and then it starts to spread east across the northeast, going into early parts of the week. But by Tuesday and Wednesday things get chilly.

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I mean, take a look at some of these high temperatures. These, again, are the daytime high temperatures, barely breaking freezing for cities like Pittsburgh and Syracuse, where average highs are in the middle and upper 40s, but, again, barely breaking freezing, near New York, an average high of 51 degrees. You're looking at temperatures in the upper 30s all day on Tuesday.

Looking at the extended, you'll see that Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, some of the coldest parts of the week. Temperatures do try to rebound, but, overall, we're going to find temperatures staying below average through the next couple of days.

HARRAK: Michigan State University has a new head football coach after the last one was fired in September amid accusations of sexual harassment. The school announced it hired Jonathan Smith, who spent the last six seasons coaching Oregon State. He helped lead the team to 18 wins in the last two years. Smith says he's excited to join Michigan State, adding that the program has everything it needs to, quote, compete at the highest level in college football today.

And, finally, once the rubber capital of the world, Akron, Ohio, is now more famous for being the hometown of basketball great LeBron James. Visitors lined up for Saturday's opening of a museum dedicated to the 38-year-old's life and amazing career.

He became the league's all-time leading scorer in February, and the museum takes fans on a tour from his early days to his draft, his journey into the NBA, the Olympics, business, and philanthropy. In his 21 seasons so far, LeBron went on championship runs with the Cavaliers, the Heat, the Lakers, as well as Olympic gold with Team USA. And all proceeds from ticket sales will go back into the community. Great stuff.

And that wraps up this hour of CNN Newsroom. Thank you so much for your company. I'm Laila Harrak.

Do stay with us. Kim Brunhuber picks up our coverage after a short break.

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