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Renewed Strikes Hit the Jabalya Refugee Camp Sunday; Hamas- Controlled Health Ministry: 15K+ Killed in Gaza; Iran-Backed Houthis Attack Vessels in Red Sea; Report: Sea Levels Could Rise 30 CM in Next 30 Years; Ukraine: Spy Chief's Wife in Hospital Recovering from Poisoning; Schwarzenegger Hosts Families of Hostages Held by Hamas. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired December 04, 2023 - 00:00   ET

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

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Paula Newton in New York.

[00:00:35]

Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, Israel ramps up its ground offensive, saying the fighting has spread throughout all of Gaza in order to wipe out Hamas.

U.S. Navy shoots down drones launched by Houthi rebels as violence against commercial shipping escalates in the Red Sea.

Plus, as COP28 continues, scientists turn to artificial intelligence to help combat climate change.

And we do begin this hour with an expanding war in Gaza and devastation inside the enclave as Israel pursues those who carry out the brutal attacks on October 7th.

Israeli Defense Forces now say that ground operations are expanding to include all of Gaza, including Southern areas where many have now taken shelter.

The IDF is warning civilians to evacuate large areas within the enclave. But the problem is, it's unclear how many are receiving those warnings, given there is limited electricity and internet services.

Now, meantime, the IDF also says it killed a Hamas commander in an airstrike Sunday. Israeli officials say he was responsible for carrying out some of the deadly raids inside Israel in October.

Meantime, the official Palestinian news agency says strikes hit the Jabalya refugee camp again Sunday. And that was for a second straight day.

CNN chief global affairs correspondent Matthew Chance is in Tel Aviv with our update.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Israel continuing to carry out strikes across Gaza, hitting what it says are Hamas targets up and down the densely-populated territory.

There are dramatic images of another Israeli strike on the Jabalya refugee camp in Northern Gaza. The strikes there on Saturday killed dozens, according to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Health Ministry.

Israel, which is vowing to destroy Hamas and secure the release of more than 130 hostages still held in Gaza, says it's identified and destroyed hundreds of Hamas tunnels. It's also started focusing its strikes on Southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands have fled in recent weeks to escape the intensive military operations in the North.

In a bid to limit the mounting civilian casualties, estimated by Palestinian officials at more than 15,000 people so far, Israel has issued maps dividing the Gaza Strip into what it calls evacuations sectors, multiple blocks. They're each assigned a number from which Palestinian civilians are ordered to leave ahead of any Israeli military action.

But, you know, poor Internet and communications in Gaza means it's unclear if these warnings are getting through.

Amid international concern, Israel has been allowing aid trucks carrying humanitarian relief into the Gaza Strip, with essential supplies of food, water, and medicines.

But the Israeli military is continuing, and vowing to continue to ratchet up its pressure on Hamas. They're saying it will wage its campaign as strongly in Southern Gaza as it did in the North.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Joining me now is Israeli Defense Force spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus. And thanks so much, and good morning to you. We appreciate you taking the time.

JONATHAN CONRICUS, IDF SPOKESMAN: Thanks for having me.

NEWTON: Can you explain why it's -- Thank you. Now, can you explain why it's necessary to expand the ground operation further? Especially since, you know, the risk to civilians, it's very real on the ground. And can you tell me if that ground invasion in the South has already started?

CONRICUS: Yes. Good morning, and thank you.

And of course, we understand that the situation on the ground in the various locations inside Gaza, it's difficult, and it's not a pleasant one. We understand that, and we are aware of that, and we are trying to alleviate the suffering on the Palestinian civilian side.

But the reason why we're operating is very, very clear. There's a direct link, a logical and military link, between each and every Hamas stronghold underneath civilian neighborhoods in Gaza, whether it is in the North or in the South, and the atrocities of October the 7th.

Without these strongholds that Hamas has been developing, building and fortifying over years, underneath Gazan civilians, they wouldn't have the ability to launch October 7th, or the atrocities that they did.

[00:05:12]

NEWTON: Understood. Understood. But you can understand that, to many in Gaza, the maps you released in terms of evacuation zones seem rather useless to them. Right? Can you be more specific about the care that the IDF is taking to make sure civilians have a chance to get to safety?

You know, many are saying they don't have enough time, and I'm sure you, like many of us, have seen the USF spokesperson, James Elder, who's been in Gaza, and he's bearing witness, saying that so many innocent children are dying.

CONRICUS: Yes, I've seen the very emotional statements made by him and others. And I think that it is -- I can understand the person -- personal duress. But I don't think that what he's saying is correct.

And he's blending in a lot of his personal interpretation, talking about humiliation, and all kinds of things that are just detached from reality.

What we are busy doing is defending ourselves and trying our best to get civilians out of the way where we are fighting.

NEWTON: But he is --

CONRICUS: We didn't choose --

NEWTON: He is U.N. official. He is a U.N. official. I just want to get to the first part of my question, then. Specifically, what more can civilians do? Can you try and give them more time, at least? A lot of them say they're running out of time, even if they want to follow out -- follow through on your instructions.

CONRICUS: Yes. I think that's a very good point. Because if you remember, the first days of the fighting in the North, we warned two weeks ahead of time that North -- people in Northern Gaza need to evacuate towards the South, because we're going to operate.

And you know what UNICEF said? They said that it's not possible to do so. And UNRWA said it's not possible, and there were people throwing words around like "war crimes" and other things, when we are trying to evacuate people into relative safety.

And now we're seeing kind of a repeat of that same practice, where we are dammed if we do, and we're damned if we don't. And we're criticized for trying to save Palestinians from the consequences of being in a combat zone. We don't want them there. And we want to fight Hamas where Hamas is.

If Hamas would have located itself -- would have located itself outside of the urban areas and fight us there, then of course, the civilian population wouldn't be affected. But Hamas hasn't done that. It's using the civilians.

NEWTON: I do want to get to something that U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin warned about in his speech, and he said quite clearly, you can only win in urban warfare by protecting civilians.

And he added that this would help Israel with having a victory, a strategic victory.

Is the IDF taking any of that advice on board? Because I can tell you from his speech, his implication is that the IDF is not listening.

CONRICUS: I would beg to disagree. We are definitely listening, and there is a very strong and intimate coordination and cooperation and communications between us, the Israelis, at the military level, and I'm sure at the political level, as well, and our American counterparts. There's lots of intelligence being shared, and we do listen.

And the new map that you've spoken about that we're talking about is the result of yet another step, another detailed and very specific effort that we are doing in order to give advance warning in relevant time in specific locations to Palestinians that they need to evacuate a specific area.

It's not a blanket statement of everybody in Khan Younis evacuate. No, it's specific neighborhoods, exactly in an attempt to do that.

But at the end of the day, what we have to do is to defeat Hamas for Israelis to be safe. If we don't defeat Hamas, Israelis won't be safe. And that is a situation that is unsustainable for us.

NEWTON: And in terms of keeping Israelis safe, what can you tell us about the progress you've made so far in diminishing Hamas? The Israelis still hear the sirens. The troops collapse (ph), and then the rockets were launched again from Gaza.

And including apparently -- and please correct me if I'm wrong, from Northern Gaza, places we assumed were already in IDF control.

CONRICUS: Not so much from Northern Gaza. There's a significant -- (AUDIO GAP) -- capabilities in Northern Gaza. They're not done yet. We haven't defeated them totally militarily in the North yet. But we've made good progress. We have taken out enemy combatants. We have significantly degraded their enemy capabilities.

As your report had stated before, we have destroyed quite a lot of underground infrastructure, tunnels and shafts, more than 500 of them. And we have taken out a lot of combatants from the battlefield.

What I think is -- what we need to do, and to make very clear, is that until we get all of the Hamas battalion strongholds, and until we work on them and take them off the battlefield, there will be active fighting.

[00:10:11]

And we said from the beginning to Israeli civilians and to anybody listening in the world, that this unfortunately will take time. It won't be a quick and easy operation. It's a difficult operation in difficult combat terrain, where we're fighting a very committed enemy that has no issue with sacrificing civilians for their military cause.

We, on the other hand, are trying to limit our (AUDIO GAP ) -- in order to get the job done without exposing the civilians to that danger.

And last, what I will say, we will get the job done, and we will free Gaza of Hamas, and we will freeze Southern Israel of this menace that has been terrorizing Israelis for far too long.

NEWTON: Lieutenant Colonel Conricus, we'll have to leave it there. Thanks so much, appreciate it.

CONRICUS: Thank you for having me.

NEWTON: Now, more than -- more than 15,000 Palestinians, meantime, have been killed since October 7th. That's according to the Hamas- controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza.

The death toll is expected to rise in the coming days, especially with renewed airstrikes from Israel. As the IDF says, as you just heard there, that they're continuing to target Hamas.

CNN's Ben Wedeman has more details on how Gaza's hospitals are struggling to help those in need, and how residents are responding to those attacks. Now, a warning: his report contains disturbing images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Look around. This is Gaza City's Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, where the wounded are treated in the open, on wooden pallets. The emergency ward is already jammed.

The courtyard is full of body bags. Dozens were killed in a series of Israeli strikes Saturday, many more still under the rubble.

(SOUNDS OF ARTILLERY)

WEDEMAN (voice-over): Israel claims one of the strikes killed a senior Hamas commander, who helped plan the 7 October attacks. He was, perhaps, one dead among many, many others.

This woman lost her daughter and grandchildren, and names them all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ayla (ph), Granan (ph), Hamousa (ph), Usmail (ph), Fajoul (ph), Raluj (ph), Wadam (ph), Muhammad (ph), Hasmallah (ph).

WEDEMAN (voice-over): "And may God judge those watching us die," she cries.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): It's a similar scene in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza. More wounded, many of them children. Many more dead. Many of them children.

"They bombed an entire street," says Saad (ph). He pulled his brother, Mohammed (ph) from under the rubble. His brother Mohammed (ph) was dead. Says Saad (ph), "Let me say goodbye to him."

"My father's been killed," cries this boy after a strike on the Jabalya refugee camp Sunday. The seven-day truce seems like the distant past.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Now, the international push to get humanitarian aid into Gaza is, of course, continuing amid the airstrikes. But the Palestine Red Crescent Society says 100 trucks carrying food, water, medical supplies, and more crossed the border from Egypt into Gaza on Sunday.

Now, the effort to get people out of Gaza, thankfully, is also continuing. Egyptian officials report nearly 900 dual nationals crossed from Gaza into Egypt over the weekend. They include citizens from the U.S., Turkey, Germany, Canada, Australia, and more.

U.S. military officials, meantime, say Houthi rebels have launched attacks on ships in the Southern Red Sea. According to a statement from CentCom, the targets were commercial vessels connected to at least 14 nations. They do not list Israel as one of those nations.

The U.S. says it has every reason to believe Sunday's attacks were, quote, "fully enabled" by Iran. Yemeni fighters say their attack drones targeted two Israel ships.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YAHYA SAREE, HOUTHI MILITARY SPOKESMAN (through translator): The Yemeni armed forces renewed their warning to all Israeli ships, or those associated with Israelis, that they will become a legitimate target if they violate what is stated in the statement and previous statements issued by the Yemeni armed forces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: CNN's Zach Cohen has more now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZACH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: U.S. officials telling CNN that an American warship shot down two more drones on Sunday, both belonging to Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Now, the U.S. destroyer downed the first drone while operating in the Southern Red Sea. At the same time, the ship say a ballistic missile that was launched, and landed in the vicinity of a commercial ship that was operating in the area.

[00:15:11]

Now as the U.S. warship responded to the commercial vessel's distress call, it shot down a second drone that was flying towards both those ships.

Now, this is just the latest in a series of incidents involving U.S. forces, not only in the Red Sea but across the Middle East since the October 7th attack on Israel by Hamas.

The Houthis have claimed responsible for attacking Israeli commercial vessels in the Red Sea, and said it launched ballistic missiles into Israel itself.

The U.S. deployed two carrier strike groups to the region in an effort to deter Iran and its proxy groups from expanding the conflict. But those same ships have constantly come under attack from Iranian-backed groups like the Houthis. This raised the question about what more can the Biden administration do to protect American forces deployed to the region.

Zachary Cohen, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Just ahead for us, the president of COP28 climate summit claims there's no science behind phasing out fossil fuels to help global warming. And climate activists are outraged.

And new details emerge about the 26-year-old suspect in the Paris attack that left one person dead and two others injured. The latest, after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: Climate scientists and advocates say they're alarmed after the president the COP28 climate summit claimed there's no science behind phasing out fossil fuels to limit global warming.

Sultan al-Jaber is the UAE's climate envoy and also heads the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. He made the comments November 21 at a climate panel event. He said phasing out fossil fuels was inevitable, but that the world needs to be pragmatic about it, suggesting the shift could negatively impact global commies.

Some countries at COP28 are calling for a fossil fuel phase-out. Others want to phase down, which has weaker language.

Now, the head of the climate advocacy group says Al-Jaber's statements raised deep concerns over his ability to lead the U.N. climate talks.

Now, while leaders debate the future of fossil fuels at COP28, CNN's Elisa Raffa has more on how rising sea levels could impact cities like Dubai and New York over the next 30 years.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELISA RAFFA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: COP continues this week in Dubai, as global leaders try to put climate goals into climate action.

This is a Climate Central simulation on what inaction can look like. At three degrees C of warming, that host city of Dubai gets inundated by sea-level rise.

And our sea levels have already risen about three centimeters on average per decade over the last century. So the last 100 years, we've added 30 centimeters of ocean rise.

Now, going forward, we could add that same 30 centimeters, but just in the next three decades. So rising just as much in the next 30 years as we did in the previous 100.

[00:20:06]

That rise can amount to about a foot, as much as a foot, or that 30- centimeter mark.

More profound coastal flood events from tides and storm surge could be an issue. Moderate flooding could occur ten times as often.

Major cities are already vulnerable to sea level rise, like Boston, New York, Charleston, Miami, New Orleans. They all deal with something called sunny-day flooding. Sometimes it doesn't even take a storm anymore to get that water to go inland, just a regular high tide that's higher now than it was before.

Here's a look, another simulation, three degrees C of warming, water coming into the National Mall there at D.C., Lady Liberty standing around even more water if that warming continues to rise.

But like I mentioned, COP is all about actions, right? So if you look at a place like New York City, if that carbon pollution continues, future generations, like Gen Z and Gen Alpha, could see 6 to 7 degrees of warming if we keep these emissions as business as usual, as they are right now.

But if we cut them, look at how significantly the warming could be cut, too, closer to two degrees of warming, which is much closer to that Paris Climate Agreement goal of 1.5.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Joining me now is Vilas Dhar. He's the president of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, and he just got back from COP28, where he hosted a panel focused on how A.I. can be used to create climate solutions. He's also a key member of a U.N. high-level advisory board on A.I.

So Vilas, that makes you the perfect person to speak to right now. Look, I understand there are a lot of scientists and advocates there at COP28 with you, advocates like Al Gore, in fact. When it comes to alleviating the most extreme effects of this climate

crisis -- and I'm talking about accelerating our action with knowledge -- are you expecting profound change?

VILAS DHAR, PRESIDENT, PATRICK J. MCGOVERN FOUNDATION: You know, it's interesting, I think you're right. Accelerating decision-making that's driven by data is at the key of his. And I am expecting profound change. The question is when it will happen and what tools are going to empower it.

For me what I was really excited by in my time there was the amount of attention that people are paying to the most powerful tools we're developing right now around artificial intelligence. And we're seeing real tangible impact from tools that are being deployed at massive scale, Paula.

NEWTON: So in real time, things about, you know, weather, disaster prevention?

DHAR: Exactly. I'll give you an example. I think one of the challenges as we do the global stock-take, has been that we're still operating off of pretty limited information.

Just yesterday, an organization called Climate Trace has announced that they now have 350 million-plus data sources that let us understand carbon emissions in a very granular way. Driven by artificial intelligence, incorporating geospatial intelligence, and bringing together a whole technical suite, here's what this lets us do.

It means if you're a business and you want to ensure that your supply chain is carbon neutral, you now have an independent verification system that uses A.I. to let you understand your carbon footprint.

If you're a government that wants to make sure you're hitting your targets, you now have an ability to go and make that the case.

These kinds of tools are changing the way we make decisions around climate, and take abstract goals like a long-term carbon output goal and make it measurable and real. It means these tools are changing the way we make decisions.

NEWTON: And in terms of the impact it can actually have, some studies have said, perhaps it could decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent. I mean, is that being too optimistic? Or do you think not being optimistic enough about what A.I. could do?

DHAR: I think the challenge is we need to bridge the gap between a sense of what these A.I.-based tools might be able to do, and where they actually intersect with the communities who can use these tools, whether it's ten, 15, or 20 percent, and leaving aside the question of how bad implementations of A.I. might actually increase carbon emissions, even in just the amount of electricity it takes to generate and run some of these models. The more fundamental problem is this, Paula. We're not entirely sure

that the private sector standing by itself is going to be able to deliver the kind of solutions at the scale we need in order to address the climate challenge that we have in front of us.

It means that we have to move A.I. capacity out of these private companies and move them into communities at the front lines.

One of the incredible conversations we had at COP was to bring in indigenous leaders who are looking at how they address illegal poaching or illegal logging, and using A.I.-based tools that will let them actually go out and be be more effective in that work.

But to do that, we need to upscale. We need to move A.I. capacity out of private companies and into the public sector. And we need to invest in making sure that communities are empowered to use these tools to do the work that they think is necessary.

NEWTON: Yes, and it is a very good point. Because many times, it is indigenous peoples all over the planet, really, who are at the, you know, sharp end of the effects of the climate crisis.

I want to ask you, though. I mean, there have certainly been a lot of alarms, headlines about A.I. that everyone is listening to. And I hear you about what you're saying in terms of engaging governments going forward.

[00:25:10]

And yet, I think what everybody wants to hear is that A.I. will provide us with a, you know, I hate to say, a silver bullet when it comes to the climate crisis. Is it a contributor at this point, or is there hope that we find solution in a decade or two from A.I. that will help us solve this problem?

DHAR: Well, I think we know and everybody acknowledges there's no such thing as a silver bullet when it comes to the climate crisis. This is the product of decades of human action, and no single tool is going to change it for us.

But what I will tell you is this. If we are able to move away from some of the tabloid headlines I know we've all seen about A.I. and Silicon Valley companies and focus on real meaningful tangible outcomes, there's a different story ahead.

We've recently been working with the United Nations on a project called VISA (ph) that incorporates all kinds of data sources, from telecom to geospatial, and lets us do geospatial knowledge about how we do disaster resilience at scale.

And what I'll tell you, Paula, is for the communities that are facing the worst possible outcomes of climate, these kinds of A.I. tools are going to deliver impacts not over a decade, but over the next year.

And when we see projects like Visa (ph) taking shape, that gives me a lot of hope. You know, it's a time when we have to, and a moment of global stock-take, acknowledge that we're not as far ahead as we need to be on climate response.

But these tools could accelerate. If we do them with the right intention, we bring civil society and the gold majority into the conversation.

NEWTON: And that does have the capacity to save lives in the here and now, because we've seen so many people at the climate crisis really lose their lives, maybe risking their lives in that.

Vilas, we have to leave it there, but great conversation. Really appreciate it.

DHAR: Thank you so much, Paula.

NEWTON: The suspect in Saturday's Paris attack swore allegiance to the Islamic State in a video posted to social media, French officials say.

Police arrested the 26-year-old after one person was killed and two others injured in that attack. Officials say the two people who were injured have now left the hospital, following treatment.

A French anti-terrorism prosecutor says an investigation is underway for murder and attempted murder in connection with that terrorist organization.

Now, in a controversial but largely symbolic vote, Venezuelans have overwhelmingly approved the referendum to create a new state on land in neighboring Guyana.

Now, the Essequibo region has been in dispute for well over a century. It is rich in oil and minerals, and makes up about two-thirds of Guyana's national territory. But Venezuela has claimed the land since the late 19th Century.

The International Court of Justice ruled Friday that Venezuela should not take any action that would seek to modify the current borders, which are internationally accepted.

The referendum has been a political rallying cry for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is casting it as a vote against imperialism.

Guyana says the threat of annexation is existential. The vote has raised concerns of a possible military conflict in the region, with both sides ramping up the defenses and neighboring Brazil doing the same.

Still to come for us, neither side may be gaining ground in Ukraine, but one city faces daily shelling from Russian forces. A look at the destruction in Kherson. That's just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:30:46]

NEWTON: Russia's continuous bombardment of the Kherson region in Southern Ukraine killed another three people Sunday. Authorities say a 78-year-old man lost his life when a village was attacked by Russian forces occupying the opposite bank of the Dnipro River.

And military officials say Kherson City was under heavy fire when a multi-story building was hit. Two people died there, and seven others were injured.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The daughter was standing here. Such a terrible explosion. She started screaming. I've never heard anything like that. I didn't understand anything of what was happening, so I came here, and then I understood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, as the fighting continues, Ukraine believes the wife of a top military intelligence official may have been poisoned. Ukrainian foreign minister told CNN it's highly likely that Russia is behind it. CNN's Fred Pleitgen has the latest now on Ukraine's investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Ukraine's military intelligence wages war in the shadows, but it is hitting the Russians hard, orchestrating cruise missile attacks on Vladimir Putin's Black Sea fleet; ousting Moscow's forces from oil and gas drilling platforms off the coast of occupied Crimea in a daring amphibious assault; and attacking the Russian capital with long-distance combat drones --

(SCREAMING)

PLEITGEN (voice-over): -- while maintaining deniability.

The man leading the intelligence service GUR, is Kyrylo Budanov, one of Russia's most feared enemies.

"I appeal to Russian soldiers, to those who got lucky enough to survive in destroyed trenches," he recently said. "It will be even worse. You have a choice: die or save your life."

But now, Ukraine believes the Russians may have struck back. Kyiv saying Budanov's wife, Marianna Budanova, has been poisoned by what they say is, quote, "a heavy metal."

A Ukrainian source telling CNN Budanova tested positive for both arsenic and mercury poisoning. Ukrainian officials believe the Kremlin could be behind it, like the foreign minister in an interview with CNN's Erin Burnett.

DMYTRO KULEBA, UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Definitely, our intelligence chief is the enemy of Russia, as all of us are, all those who are fighting against Russia. So it's highly likely that Russia is -- is behind it. PLEITGEN (voice-over): Kremlin-controlled media already in a feeding

frenzy, rejoicing in the news while seemingly brushing off the allegation.

OLGA SKABEEVA, RUSSIAN NEWS ANCHOR (through translator): Maybe she just broke a thermometer during one of the parties with their husband's colleagues. Not very sensational, but Ukrainians and their Western owners literally screamed from such news and began to blame Putin.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): But in a different episode, they brought in a Russian parliamentarian, accused of poisoning and killing a former Russian agent in London in 2006, to explain how it would be done.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Was something slipped in her tea and she drank it?

ANDREI LUGOVOI, FORMER KGB SPY (through translator): There's no other way to poison food and drink, other than to pour it in and slip it in somehow.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): In the past, the U.S. and others have accused Vladimir Putin of ordering poison attacks on his opponents. And few groups have enraged the Russian leader more than Ukraine's military intelligence, led by Budanov, the former head of Ukraine's foreign intelligence says.

VALERIY KONDRATYUK, FORMER HEAD OF UKRAINIAN FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE (through translator): I believe that this was a personal revenge from Putin, personal revenge for all the shame that the defense intelligence, under the leadership of Budanov, have inflicted on him, shame that supersedes what Prigozhin has done to him.

PLEITGEN: The Kremlin hasn't issued a direct denial of these allegations, but they do seem to be trying to brush them off. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov came out and said, quote, "Ukraine blames Russia for everything." All this, as Kyrylo Budanov's wife battles the effects of that poisoning.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Russian media is reporting the police raided gay venues in Moscow over the weekend. It happened just one day after Russia's top court banned the, quote, "international LGBTQ movement" and called it an extremist organization.

During the raids, officers reportedly took photos of people's passports, but didn't detain anyone. Police say they were routine drug raids, according to Russian media, but Russian officials have not commented.

ISIS is claiming responsibility for a deadly explosion that ripped through a Catholic mass service in the Southern Philippines Sunday. Authorities say at least four people were killed and dozens of others were injured in the blast. The Philippines president condemned the attack and added that additional security personnel have been deployed to assist in that area.

The Philippines is also continuing to feel aftershocks from a powerful quake over the weekend. The U.S. Geological Survey says a 6.9- magnitude earthquake shook the Southern city of Tandag on Monday morning. There are no initial reports of damage or injuries and no tsunami threat. It comes after a 7.6-magnitude quake struck the region Saturday.

At least 11 climbers have died in Indonesia after the eruption of Mount Merapi in West Sumatra Sunday. Twelve are still missing, and dozens more were evacuated. Officials say the eruptions sent volcanic ash as high as three kilometers into the air, covering nearby towns.

Experts say the eruption is ongoing, and they are warning people to avoid the area.

Mount Merapi -- pardon me, Mount Merapi is the most active volcano on Sumatra, living up to its name, which means mountain of fire.

OK, still to come for us, Arnold Schwarzenegger meets with families of people still held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, hoping to shine a light on those still held captive.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger hosted families of three hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. He described himself as, quote, "a big friend of the Jewish people in Israel" and wanted to lend his support to those still held captive.

CNN's Camila Bernal has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The former governor saying that these are the stories that we need to hear, and not just once, but as many times as possible. The stories of those that have been most impacted by this war.

Now, we heard from a 14-year-old girl who described what it was like living through that October 7th attack. She described hearing the screens, the gunshots, the explosions, and said she was hiding with her mother and others and waited until she had to be rescued by the IDF.

She said that even after she was rescued, she was devastated to see what was left of her home, to see the destruction, the bodies, the blood, described smelling the war.

Days later, she also found out that her father had been killed by Hamas and found out that her cousin had been kidnapped. So it was extremely difficult for her emotionally then and even now as she remembers everything that she's gone through.

[00:40:15]

She said her cousin was eventually released and expressed joy over finally having him home, but also being extremely sad and heartbroken for other families who still don't have their loved ones home.

That's the case of a 27-year-old man who we heard from, as well, who described his father being missing. This is what he told me.

BAR RUDAEFF, SON OF ISRAELI HOSTAGE: We know nothing about his situation or where he's at. And he is without his glasses, without his medication, including blood thinners, as someone who had a heart attack two years ago. And we just want him back. That's all we want. All the families, we just want our loved ones back at home.

BERNAL: And this is all arranged by the Museum of Tolerance, Jerusalem, in order to have these families come to the U.S. and share their stories here, as well. Many of them saying that they're holding onto hope; and the only future they see is one where their loved ones come back home.

Camila Bernal, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: As the Republican-led House of Representatives returns to work this week, they'll do so with now a three-vote margin, after New York Congressman George Santos was expelled from the House Friday.

Still, Speaker Mike Johnson says he believes his party has the votes it needs to launch an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden. And Johnson says that, unlike the two impeachments of Donald Trump, the inquiry against Joe Biden will not be used as a partisan political tool.

All right. Santa Claus has come to town in Liverpool, England. That may not be the jolly old fellow we all know, but thousands of his lookalikes taking part in the U.K.'s largest Santa dash.

The participants hoofed it for five kilometers -- I dare say, that's not very much, folks -- dressed in red and blue outfits to raise funds for children's hospital.

In 2005, the run earned a Guinness world record for the largest Santa gathering. Runners say it's a lot of fun and a healthier way for Santa to get around town, rather than riding on a sleigh.

I bet. Look like they're having fun there.

I'm Paula Newton. My colleague Laila Harrak will be here at the top of the hour with more news. WORLD SPORT is next.

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