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Presidential Candidates Face Off In 4th GOP Debate; Senate Republicans Block Ukraine, Israel Funding Bill; IDF Surrounds Hamas Chief Yahya Sinwar's House In Gaza; At Least Three Dead After Shooting On UNLV Campus; Freed Hostages, Families Express Anger with Netanyahu; Hecklers Interrupt Boris Johnson's Apology to COVID Victims; Discovering the Great Spine of Africa; U.S. Senate Republicans Block Ukraine Aid Package; Fighting Ramps Up as Tough Winter Approaches; Illegal Crossings Threaten to Overwhelm Southern Border. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired December 07, 2023 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[01:00:30]
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Ahead on CNN Newsroom. The four biggest challenges Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination came out swinging in their final debate before the voting begins. On Washington Republicans block a U.S. aid package for Israel and Ukraine over border security. And new details on Israel's hunt for a top Hamas leader whose house is now surrounded.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta, This is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: Four Republican presidential hopefuls took to the stage just hours ago in a high stakes face off as they tried to set themselves apart from front runner Donald Trump less than six weeks before the first nominating contest in Iowa.
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy took part in the fourth Republican debate which had the smallest number of participants so far.
There were several sharp clashes as the candidates sparred over issues ranging from electability to the border, and whether Trump is fit to return to the White House. Haley has been rising in the race faced criticism from Ramaswamy and DeSantis. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON DESANTIS, REPUBLICAN U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We beat the Democrats on election integrity, I have delivered results. That's what we need for this country. And you have other candidates up here like Nikki Haley, she caves. Anytime the left comes after. NIKKI HALEY, REPUBICAN U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We pass pro-life bills. We moved in unemployment from 11 percent to 3 percent. We took on the unions and we took on Obama when it came to the unions to Syrian refugees and everything in between. And so I've had a fight. And so as much as Ron says that that's not true.
VIVEK RAMASWAMY, REPUBLICAN U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: After you left the U.N., you became a military contractor. You actually started joining service on the board of Boeing whose back you scratched for a very long time, and then gave foreign multinational speeches like Hillary Clinton is and now you're a multimillionaire, that math does not add up. It adds up to the fact that you are corrupt.
CHRIS CHRISTIE, REPUBLICAN U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've had these three, acting as if the race is between the four of us. The fifth guy who doesn't have the guts to show up and stand here. He's the one who has you just put it his way ahead in the polls. And yet, I've got these three guys were all seemingly to compete with, you know, Voldemort, he or shall not be named.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Well, Trump skipped this debate as he has the three previous ones and said he participated in a fundraiser in Florida. A closer look now at the Republican debate from CNN Julia Benbrook in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a debate without the front runner, the remaining Republican White House hopefuls making their case to voters in Alabama.
DESANTIS: I have delivered results. That's what we need for this country.
HALEY: I have been a conservative fighter all my life.
RAMASWAMY: it is going to take a leader from the outside with fresh legs from the next generation to unite this country.
CHRISTIE: It's often very difficult to be the only person on the stage who's telling the truth.
BENBROOK (voice-over): Front and center former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, positioning herself as the best alternative to Donald Trump.
HALEY: I love all the attention fellas, thank you for that.
BENBROOK (voicec-over0: Her key rival Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, trying to jumpstart his campaigns less than six weeks before the first votes are cast in Iowa.
DESANTIS: We know from her history, Nikki will cave to those big donors when it counts. And that is not accepted. BENBROOK (voice-over): The two going at it on a range of issues including the economy and foreign policy.
DESANTIS: You harm an American service member you're going to have hell to pay when I'm President. We are not going to let our troops be sitting ducks.
HALEY: I dealt with Iran every day when I was at the United Nations and they only respond to strength.
BENBROOK (voice-over): The other two candidates on stage former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, looking for their own scene stealing moments.
RAMASWAMY: I mean, Nikki, if you can't tell the difference between where Israel is and the U.S. is on a map, I can have my three-year-old son show you the difference.
BENBROOK (voice-over): As for former President Trump the candidates on stage insisting that it's time to move on.
DESANTIS: The idea that we're going to put someone up there that's almost 80 And there's going to be no effects from that. We all know that that's not true.
CHRISTIE: He is unfit to be president. And there is no bigger issue in this race, Megan, then Donald Trump.
BENBROOK: Trump spent his evening out have fun fundraiser in Florida supporting his candidacy. In Tuscaloosa, I'm Julia Benbrook.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:05:05]
BRUNHUBER: And joining me now to discuss the debate from Alexandria, Virginia is Alice Stewart, CNN political commentator and Republican strategist and from Colchester, England, Natasha Lindstaed, professor of government from the University of Essex. Thank you so much for being here both of you. No shortage of sparks flying. Alice's to start with you. What's your biggest takeaway from tonight?
ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, clearly, Kim, with this 40 days left into the Iowa caucus, these candidates are leaving nothing on the field. They have put everything out there for the voters to see. And this was, by all accounts, one of the most fiery debates, especially given that there's just four people on this on the stage.
And I was really shocked at the level of attacks against Nikki Haley. And what that says to me is that she clearly appears to be a big threat to the candidate, specifically DeSantis and Ramaswamy. And that, you know, from her standpoint is a positive if you if you're the receiving of attacks, you're clearly out front, and I think she handled it well. She showed again, her strength and foreign policy. Ron DeSantis did a good job of showing that he is a winner and a proven leader. And Chris Christie in the face of boos from the crowd, really continued to stick his fire to Donald Trump and saying Donald Trump is the one we need to take out.
By far the biggest loser again is Vivek Ramaswamy. He came across as a petulant child and his constant insults are more personal as opposed to substance just goes to show that he is a fraternity guy, not a viable, respectable candidate for president.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, I want to go back to your point about Nikki Haley, certainly at the center of the attacks as expected, and Natasha, it's a fight for momentum leading into Iowa. Did anyone gain any tonight?
NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: So I don't think anyone moved the meter that much. I do think that Nikki Haley did well, and she faced a lot of the attacks. And I would agree that that's a sign that she is the front runner. She's been recently endorsed by billionaire, Charles Koch. She is getting some momentum with donors. And she does well with middle and upper class Republicans, particularly educated ones. And she's polling pretty well in New Hampshire.
And so she was on the defensive, and for the most part, she came across as sort of the adult in the room. But the other candidates besides Chris Christie never really addressed the big elephant in the room, which is Donald Trump. And I would agree with Chris Christie's remark that they acted like they are competing against one another when Donald Trump is, you know, 40 points or more above them in the polls, and what are they doing to stand out against Donald Trump?
I mean, Ron DeSantis, can't even really answer the question if he thinks that Trump is fit to lead. And I think ultimately, that's the question that they will have to answer.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. And Chris Christie certainly tried to, you know, make the point that he wouldn't answer that question. I want to -- I wonder here did Haley herself. I mean, she seemed a bit muted throughout the debate, certainly, for parts of it anyway, did she do enough to consolidate her position as the Trump alternative? Do you think Alice?
STEWART: I think she made the case, as she has done in all of the debates, that it's time for new leadership, fresh leadership. And while she didn't devote all of her time to attacking Donald Trump, she has said what she said before in terms of putting out that Donald Trump did add to the debt and what he has done to not positively impact the economy, which is one of the things he constantly talks about.
But she makes the case that it's time for a new generation of leadership, positive, forward looking leadership, and, again, with all of the foreign policy issues that are -- on the front burner right now, her leadership and foreign policy is something that sets her apart from the other candidates.
And again, you know, we heard some of her going against Donald Trump. I was shocked, but not surprised to hear Ramaswamy. Again, he really is quite supportive of Donald Trump saying hasn't having the audacity to say that January sixth was an inside job by the government and saying that the 2020 election was filled with widespread voter fraud, which is not true.
But again, the fact remains. They need to take this case to Donald Trump. He is the person to beat because Donald Trump stands between them and Joe Biden and they had no order to get to Joe Biden. They have to take out Donald Trump. That's the case that need to make often in the next several weeks as they head into Iowa. Because they need that a good place out of Iowa to springboard into New Hampshire and these other early states.
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BRUNHUBER: Yes. Alice, you mentioned a new generation of leadership. I mean, that's a line Ron DeSantis used there to make his case. He was fairly solid. Natasha, did he help his case enough here?
LINDSTAEDT: I don't think he did enough. He was solid. He was better than he was in the first debate. I think he always appears a little bit awkward. And he was trying to go on the offensive with Nikki Haley, who he obviously believes is his biggest threat.
But I think he's not coming across as forceful enough hints as to why he is better than Trump. And he's not doing that well in polls in his own state. I mean, he's about 50 percent approval rating in Florida. So he's been dipping there.
And if you look at the beginning of the year, where he was pulling pretty strongly against Trump, he hasn't done very well. And we see he just keeps going down in the polls. And I don't think he's coming across as likable enough. His favorability rating amongst all Americans is around 32 percent.
So he would need to do something really different in these debates to stand out as to why people should vote for him instead of Trump. The only argument he's really making is that basically he's younger.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. All right. So the fourth debate in the books after each one, we always say, you know, but the real winner was Donald Trump. Alice, does that still hold true do you think?
STEWART: Well, by all accounts, it appears that he didn't lose any support tonight, because, you know, what we had is four people on the stage, really duking it out with each other. And Donald Trump, meanwhile, sits back in at a fundraiser.
And, you know, as someone who has worked on three presidential campaigns and been involved in dozens of presidential debates, I think it's an important part of the process. And I think it's a real shame that he doesn't go in participate in these debates and show the contrast with the voters and, and really demonstrate that he wants to earn their vote.
And, you know, it doesn't seem to make a difference. People continue to support him for whatever reason, that I think it's an unfortunate part of hidden not participating in these debates, because I think there are still a lot of voters that are undecided and want to see that contrast with these voters, and he's depriving them of that opportunity.
BRUNHUBER: All right, we will have to leave it there really appreciate having you both on. Alice Stewart and Natasha Lindstaedt. Thank you for joining us.
STEWART: Thanks, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Out of money and almost out of time, that's how the White House is describing its ability to keep funding its military aid to Ukraine. But on Wednesday, U.S. Senate Republicans blocked an aid package that would have provided more money for both Ukraine and Israel, the stumbling point, their demand to link the military aid with adopting a stricter border security policy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINDSEY GRAHAM, U.S. SENATE REPUBLICAN: We're more exposed here at home in the short term, then Putin winning and Ukraine. Ukraine is very important, so is Israel. So it's time one. But nothing's more important to me right now than securing our homeland that's the most exposed to a terrorist attack, and other bad things in modern history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Republicans oppose the aid package even though it also contained close to $14 billion for border security. White House says it will run out of money for Ukraine by the end of the year if funding isn't approved. President Biden spelled out what stay. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDE, U.S. PRESIDENT: We can't let Putin win. It's when our overwhelming national interest in international interest of all our friends, any disruption in our ability to supply Ukraine clearly strengthens Putin's position.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: For more analysis, we're joined by Peter Zalmayev, the director of Eurasia Democracy Initiative. And he's speaking with us from Keith. Thank you so much for being here with us.
So, watching what's playing out here in the U.S. over funding for Ukraine. What do you make of it? Are you optimistic Congress will get this mess sorted out?
PETER ZALMAYEV, DIRECTOR, EURASIA DEMOCRACY INITIATIVE: Well, I certainly am. I mean, we have no other option but to be optimistic. It is obviously unfortunate that this issue, you know, has become hostage to the other issue, which, you know, as Democrats have claimed, is unrelated the border security be as it may, we understand it's an important issue. And the argument is being made is why should the Americans can, you
know, be concerned with helping secure Ukraine's borders when their own borders are not secured? You know, having said that, you know, this will be a significant blow not just to Ukraine's ability to defend itself, but to America's very credibility on the world stage and what's at stake is it's simply tremendous.
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You know, Ukraine, it is clear, will not be able to defend this territory, let alone go on any other counter offensive for any significant time once this age dries up, and the consequences will be simply catastrophic.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. And we heard the co-chair of the Ukrainian Congress -- Ukraine group in Congress, I guess, tell it telling CNN that Ukrainians have had to start rationing their munitions, which really underscores the immediacy of this.
So more broadly, as we head into the winter and the Ukrainian counteroffensive seems sort of to have under delivered I guess. Are we seeing more signs of internal political division in Ukraine right now?
ZALMAYEV: Well, yes, I'd say that's the, you know, a victory, you know, has anyone wants to be, you know, sort of a father to a victory. But, you know, we say, defeat is a complete orphan. There is an internal strife happening in Ukraine indeed, you know, as both sides political and military leadership, I tried to sort of lay the blame on the sputtered, you know, counteroffensive on each other.
You know, Zelenskyy, President Zelenskyy has some serious thinking to do, about how to proceed how to move forward, he has to come up with a plan B in the case of U.S. assistance, drying up completely. A calls are increasingly going out to the Ukrainian president to think about emulating Israel's example and creating a government of national unity.
Instead, what we've seen is a serious of opposition politicians, including the former President Petro Poroshenko, being prevented to lead the country on diplomatic visits to try to shake out relations with some troublesome western part hasn't been included in Hungary. This is definitely not the right way to go.
Having said that, let's not, you know, exaggerate to you know, what is happening as far as the mood of Ukrainians. Let's also, you know, understand that as difficult as the winter months are promising to be the mood is that of high anxiety concerned, but not of resignation once again.
You know, we understand that this is a war for Ukraine's existence, that Ukraine's existence is what's at stake and no less Vladimir Putin's goal remains annihilation of the Ukrainian state.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, before we go, you touched on the Ukrainian mood. I just want to ask you there since you're there in Kyiv. I mean, you know, you talk about the resilience but how are Ukrainians are coping going under, you know, yet another winter here under attack?
ZALMAYEV: Well, like I said, anxiety, fatigue, obviously didn't help what you saw in Congress. Yesterday, the hope is that, you know, well, you know, even if -- hopefully after the new year, you know, the congressman will put their heads together and do what is right. We are facing a renewed Russian bombing campaign about energy and infrastructure hasn't really gone into its, you know, in this mode similar to last year, but it will probably soon start.
You know, like I said, we understand that, you know, Putin if he were to sit down and negotiate with Ukrainians, it could be on terms hugely unfavorable to us. That's something for Western allies to understand. If they stopped giving Ukraine weapons, it doesn't mean that it will encourage Russia to negotiate or Ukraine to negotiate. It will only slowly but surely lead to Ukraine's disappearance as an independent state.
I'll just have to refer to you to the recent cover of The Economist magazine with a sort of photo montage of Vladimir Putin sinister looking as always, and --
BRUNHUBER: Russia winning.
ZALMAYEV: Is Russia winning and that's a question that has it everyone's mind.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, that's it. Listen, we are out of time but really appreciate getting your perspective on all this.
ZALMAYEV: Thank you.
BRUNHUBER: Peters Zalmayev, thank you so much.
It was exactly two months ago that Hamas launched his terror attack on Israel, killing about 1,200 people and the Israeli military is forging ahead with its campaign to eliminate the militant group in Gaza. Israel Defense Forces blurred the faces of its soldiers in this video from Khan Youunis, the second largest city in Gaza. That's where they say they've surrounded the home of Yahya Sinwar. Hamas' highest ranking leader based in Gaza. They didn't say where they believe he is but asserted he's underground. Listen to this.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK REGEV, SENIOR ADVISEDR TO ISRAEL PRIME MINISTER: I think it's a symbolic victory for Israel but it will be a real victory very soon. It's only a matter of time before we get the man who was directly responsible for the massacre of 1,200 Israelis on October 7. The brutal massacre, the atrocities, the rapes, the burnings, the beheadings, we will reach him and justice will be done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, the head of the World Food Programme says everyone in Gaza is hungry, its access to food and water limited and the humanitarian system is collapsing. The Israeli military says it has breached Hamas as defense lines in Khan Younis during a fierce battle with the militant group. CNN's Alex Marquardt has more on the fighting.
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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): The new phase that Israel's military announced now leaving Gaza second biggest city Khan Younis in chaos and parts in ruin. This resident of Khan Younis searching the rubble of this house after an Israeli strike. Handi Tinera (ph) says 30 people were inside most of them children.
Everybody is hurt, he says. I don't know how we made it out alive. Israel's military said Wednesday morning and had carried out about 250 airstrikes in Gaza in the previous 24 hours. It is now operating quote in the heart of Khan Younis telling civilians to evacuate parts of the city.
This Israeli leaflet has a verse on it from the Koran. Ominously, it refers to know as warning that a flood was coming. The flood overtook them, it reads while they persisted in wrongdoing.
What isn't flowing into Gaza is enough aid. The Biden administration has sharply warned Israel, they aren't doing enough and the U.S. hopes to see a change in Israeli military tactics during this new phase.
MATTHEW MILLER, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: Too many civilian Palestinian civilians continue to be killed. We want to see the civilian death toll lower than it has been we want to see the civilian led death toll, lower than it is today lower than it has been the past few days.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): In Northern Gaza, the IDF said today they found a large cache of weapons including missiles, rocket propelled grenades and all kinds of explosives. And while Israel expands and intensifies its operations, 138 hostages are still in captivity, with talks over their release broken down.
New recordings released Wednesday reveal angry confrontations by released hostages and hostage families in a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Some accused him of prioritizing politics and said the military's pummeling of Gaza threatened the hostages' lives.
A former hostage whose husband is still in captivity accused Netanyahu of having no intelligence on the hostages' locations.
The feeling we had there was that no one was doing anything for us, she said. The fact is that I was hiding in a place that was shelled and we had to be smuggled out and we were wounded. At one point, Netanyahu was heckled with cries of shame.
Another woman told the defense minister, I'm not willing to sacrifice my son for your career. My son did not volunteer to die in defense of the homeland. He was a citizen who was kidnapped from his home from his bed.
MARQUARDT: Netanyahu was pressed by the hostages and their families to release more Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the remaining hostages. Netanyahu responded that he heard their heartbreak but claims that Hamas wanted a higher price than just the Palestinian prisoners.
He went on to say that it was the Israeli military pressure that got the first wave of hostages released. We are now seeing that pressure yet again in Gaza as the IDF drives further south into the Gaza Strip. Alex Marquardt, CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: And we'll have much more on the leaked audio between the former Israeli hostages and the Prime Minister. Coming up later this hour, plus the latest on deadly shooting in Las Vegas, why police say their swift response potentially saved other lives. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: U.S. has filed charges against Russian soldiers accused of committing brutal war crimes against a U.S. citizen in Ukraine. Attorney General Merrick Garland says this is the first such case and it's likely there'll be more. Evan Perez has the details.
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EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: U.S. prosecutors charged for Russian soldiers with war crimes for allegedly abducting and torturing an American who was living in Ukraine during the Russian invasion. The case against the Russian soldiers marks the first time that the U.S. government is using a decade's old law aimed at prosecuting those who commit crimes against American citizens.
Attorney General Merrick Garland called the charges an important step towards accountability for the illegal war in Ukraine.
MERRICK GARLAND, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: These charges against for Russia affiliated military personnel the Justice Department's first criminal charges under the U.S. war crimes statute. They are also an important step toward accountability for the Russian regime's illegal war in Ukraine. Our work is far from done.
PEREZ: Now according to the indictment in the state of Virginia, the Russian soldiers including two commanding officers, violently abducted the American from his home in the Ukrainian village of Mylove. The soldiers allegedly beat and tortured the American in a Russian military compound, where he was held for 10 days in April of 2022.
After abducting him, the victim was forced to endure at least two interrogation sessions and the Russian soldiers also put the American through a mock execution shooting a bullet just inches past his head, according to the court documents. The four accused are believed to be in Russia and U.S. authorities say
that they will work to bring them to justice in the United States. And this may not be the last such case. The Attorney General said that investigators are working on additional war crimes prosecutions in the Ukraine war. Evan Perez, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: The University of Nevada in Las Vegas will be closed for the rest of the week after three people were killed in a shooting. Police responded to the active shooter call just before noon on Wednesday. The suspected shooter is dead but police have yet to release their name. Now they're trying to find a motive for the shooters actions. CNN's Stephanie Elam has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: panic on the campus of UNLV as the university sent emergency messaging to the campus community telling everyone to run, hide, fight, as there were reports of an active shooter in Beam Hall initiating a massive police response. Students, staff and faculty sheltered in place, some recounting how they close window curtains and locked themselves in classrooms. Others reported hearing shots fired and glass shattering.
But what the shooter started around 11:45 a.m. local time on Wednesday ended when two UNLV campus police officers killed the assailant in a shootout outside of Beam Hall where Police say the man began his shooting rampage on the fourth floor before going to other floors.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said the shooter killed three people and injured a fourth person who has been upgraded from critical to stable condition for other people were sent to the hospital for having panic attacks. Sheriff Kevin McMahill said in a press conference that the quick thinking of one officer potentially saved many lives.
SHERIFF KEVIN MCMAHILL, LAS VEGAS METROPOLITICAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: There was a gathering just outside of the building where the students were playing games and eating food. There were tables set up for them to build Legos. And if it hadn't been for the heroic actions of one of those police officers who responded there could have been countless additional lives taken.
ELAM: While police know the name of the shooter. They are not releasing it until the next of kin can be notified. UNLV will be closed for the rest of the week. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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BRUNHUBER: All right. Still to come, Boris Johnson tried to apologize to families of COVID victims in Britain but they didn't want to hear it. The reason for the former prime minister's public appearance just ahead. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Israel has announced it will allow a minimal increase in the amount of fuel entering Gaza each day. As of Tuesday Israel said the limit is two tankers of fuel daily, roughly 60,000 liters. The exact amount of the increase was not announced and will be determined from time to time.
But Israel's war cabinet says the extra fuel is intended to prevent the outbreak of diseases. The move also comes after pressure from the U.S. to boost fuel shipments to Gaza.
Meanwhile the Palestinian Red Crescent Society reports 80 trucks of food, water, and medical supplies crossed into Gaza on Wednesday in addition to the 150 trucks that were reported over the previous two days. Well below the average of 170 trucks during the humanitarian pause, according to the U.N.
The humanitarian aid reaching Gaza is far below the pre-war levels and basic necessities for survival are scarce. Many people must now scavenge among the bombed-out ruins for food, water, and basic necessities.
The U.N. High Commission for Human Rights offered this grim assessment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLKER TURK, U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: Palestinians in Gaza are living in utter deepening horror. Military operations, including bombardments, by Israeli forces continue in north, middle, and south Gaza, affecting people who have already been displaced multiple times, Forced to flee in search of safety. But no place is safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Mahmoud Abbas the head of the Palestinian Authority that governs the West Bank reportedly said his organization was ready to govern Gaza once the fighting ends. That brought a swift rejection from Benjamin Netanyahu who said the Palestinian Authority would never control Gaza as long as he was prime minister.
Earlier Netanyahu had dismissed the Palestinian Authority as incompetent and blamed it for not retaining power in Gaza and allowing Hamas to take over.
Now, as we reported earlier, Leaked portions of a meeting between former Israeli hostages, the families of those held hostage, and the Israeli war cabinet including Prime Minister Netanyahu, revealed deep disapproval over Israel's military campaign.
Some argue that ongoing Israeli strikes on Gaza were endangering hostages and were counterproductive to getting them freed. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has our report. And I just want to note, we are
playing the comments as they were recorded in Hebrew with subtitles.
[01:34:50]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Give them back whoever the hell they want, give them all back, the women, the men.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the anguish of a recently- freed Israeli hostage pleading with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You think the men are strong? My husband would beat himself every day, punch his face until it bled, because it was too much for him. And now he is alone, and God knows under what conditions.
And you want to topple the Hamas government just to show that you have bigger balls?
DIAMOND: The unidentified woman was among a handful of freed hostages and dozens of hostage families who met with Netanyahu and his war cabinet on Tuesday with many urging a new deal with Hamas to free the estimated 138 remaining hostages in Gaza.
Leaked audio from the meeting published on the Israeli news site YNet, giving a glimpse into the tense and emotional meeting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have no information. No information.
DIAMOND: And the dangers hostages face including from Israeli fire.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The fact is that we were shelled. The fact is that no one knew anything about where we were.
DIAMAOND: A second former hostage describing precarious conditions for elderly Israeli hostages.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They live on borrowed time. They are hardly functioning. All day, they lie on mattresses, most of them need glasses and hearing aids that were taken from them when they were kidnapped. They have difficulty seeing and hearing which affects their functioning even more.
DIAMOND: Another former hostage, alleging Hamas captor s were touching the girls, underscoring the urgency for the Israeli government to secure their release.
LIOR PERRY, FATHER KIDNAPPED BY HAMAS: Very tense in very emotional. Lots of shouting.
DIAMOND: Lior Perry (ph) whose 79-year-old father is still a hostage, left the meeting convinced that Netanyahu and his cabinet are far more focused on the war than hostage negotiations.
So you don't feel after this meeting that getting the hostages out is the number one priority of this government?
PERRY: No, not at all. I feel it's exactly like they were saying all along. They said they have two goals for the war. Bringing down Hamas, and releasing the hostages. And we always said that those two goals cannot work together because one interferes with another.
DIAMOND: The Israeli prime minister emerged from the meeting expressing sympathy for the hostages.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I heard stories that broke my heart, I heard about the thirst and hunger, about the physical and mental abuse.
DIAMOND: But he quickly vowed to press forward with Israel's offensive in southern Gaza, where the Israeli military is carrying out heavy airstrikes and pushing in ground forces.
Another pause in fighting seems out of the question, which means the hostages will have to wait.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They know they must survive but they are on the verge of losing hope.
DIAMOND: are you worried that your father is losing hope?
PERRY: Definitely yes especially he you mention it to Milly (ph), a nurse -- the young nurse that was with them the whole time and she was released at the end of the week. Told us that they are feeling a second betrayal now.
The first one on October 7th when nobody stopped him from being abductions from his house. And the second one now when the cease-fire was over and there were no more releasing of hostages and he hears the bombing coming back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Former British prime minister Boris Johnson ran into hecklers on Wednesday as he tried to make his excuses with the U.K.'s public COVID inquiry that's examining how he and his former government implemented lockdowns and other measures during the pandemic.
Johnson resigned last year amid revelations that his staff held parties and other gatherings while the U.K. was in lockdown. He tried to apologize to families affected by COVID-19 but hecklers, you may not hear them so well in this clip, they were not having any of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Can I just say how glad I am to be at this inquiry? And how sorry I am for the pain and the loss, and the suffering.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please stop. Please sit down. Please sit down, or I'm afraid you'll have to leave the hearing room. JOHNSON: No I understand the feelings of these victims and their
families. And I am deeply sorry for the pain, and the loss, and the suffering of those victims and their families.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Protesters held signs that said, quote, the dead can't hear your apologies. According to the PA news agency.
[01:39:47]
BRUNHUBER: After they were ejected from the meeting, protesters told reporters they did not want Johnson's apologies. Johnson didn't cite specific errors he considered he or his staff made at the time.
All right. Coming up, we see how one man's journey into the Angolan highlands could help protect one of Africa's largest river systems.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: Now to our "Call to Earth" series.
The Kasai River in Angola is Africa's second largest river by volume. It flows directly into the largest, the Congo, supplying tens of millions of people with fresh water. But until recent years, huge portions of it have never been documented by science.
Part of Rolex's Perpetual Planet Initiative explorer Steve Boyes has embarked on a series of expeditions to discover and protect these river systems and the life that depends on them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEVE BOYES, EXPLORER, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY: The Eastern portion of the Angola Highlands water tower (ph) was previously known as the "terra do fim do mundo", the land at the end of the earth by the first Portuguese explorers. It was the farthest place from anywhere, and it is.
All we have is satellite imagery to look at and try and prepare ourselves for what we are going to do that day. But we are the first people to document these river systems.
And when I say document, we are establishing early 21st Century river baselines -- ecological and hydrological baselines.
I'm Dr. Steve Boyes, I'm a National Geographic Explorer and the project leader of the Great Spine of Africa Series of Expeditions. I've never wanted to be anything else other than an explorer, and a conservationist.
I gave up writing my master's dissertation and for the next decade, my entire world was the Okavango Delta. I couldn't think of anything else, I never wanted to leave.
So I went to all the universities in the states around the world to advocate for the Okavango Delta to become a world heritage site, UNESCO.
And that happened, but within three months, we were in Angola. I kind of broken out of that -- that's -- you know, it has to become a UNESCO World Heritage site. And we went up to the source.
We were the first group to do so. We were told by all of the top scientists -- geologists, (INAUDIBLE), that these were seasonally- flooded wetlands. And when we get there, we find an ancient crystal- clear acidic source lake.
We see that that's surrounded and sustained by peatlands. And none of this is known to science. We crossed the entire Okavango River Basin, all the way into the Kalahari Desert, beyond the Okavango Delta followed the water to its end. Exploring this entire water tower structure.
[01:44:48]
BOYES: Now, a water tower in this context is not a wooden structure on top of a building in New York. It is a high-altitude, forested watershed, high rainfall with high water storage capacity due to peatlands. It's like a giant sponge.
Now, that sponge is sustained by forests, protecting water or creating rainfall, receiving rainfall and flushing it down into the peatlands that hold that water for thousands of years.
We've always wondered why Africa has the megafauna, why it has these great grand wildernesses, these great migrations. And it's because of these water towers.
Africa's managed to weather these climatic oscillations that have happened naturally in the past through this water storage capacity that naturally exists in these high-altitude sources.
So these water towers are keystone to our future. They're unexplored, un-surveyed, scientifically misunderstood most of the time.
And that is what we're urgently chasing after in the Great Spine of Africa Series of Expeditions. This starts with exploration, discovery and science. We need to understand the flows of these rivers. We need to understand the importance of and nature of those sources.
And then we work with local people who are already our guides through all of our expeditions, to protect those landscapes into the future.
This new center of endemism (ph) is emerging a large-scale water tile that wasn't known, peatlands that weren't known, source lakes that weren't known are being documented for the first time in the 21st century. This is early 21st century exploration in reality.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: And for more from "Call to Earth", you can go to CNN.com/CallToEarth.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: The U.S. aid package for Ukraine has hit a stumbling block just as the White House warns the money for Kyiv is drying up. On Wednesday, Senate Republicans blocked an aid package that set aside close to $106 billion for Ukraine, Israel, and other security priorities. The reason? Republicans are linking the aide with adopting tougher border security policies in the U.S.
The White House says the money for Ukraine will runout by the end of the year if Congress does not approve more money, but insists they're ready to compromise on immigration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've already laid out in our negotiations (INAUDIBLE) is what we are willing to do, significantly more. Particularly, we start off with the equipping the border capacity that we need on the border, from judges to more border security. In addition to making some substantive changes.
But they are unwilling to do it. It's take everything we have here, their one proposal, which is extreme, or nothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The impasse over aid comes as the Russian president tries to bolster ties with some U.S. allies, and fighting ramps up in Ukraine along the front lines.
Fred Pleitgen reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ukrainian forces desperately trying to hold the line against waves of Russian attacks. Avdiivka on the eastern front has become the epicenter of Vladimir Putin's brutal invasion of Ukraine.
Frontline troops speaking to CNN say they can withstand the onslaught, but only if they continue to get weapons from the U.S.
"Of course we won't back down," this soldier says. "But we really won't win without the support from the United States."
[01:49:53]
PLEITGEN: Games are hard to come by in the harsh eastern European winter. Nearly all front lines are static, even though tough battles are ongoing.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visiting a command post, imploring his forces to keep fighting on. "I beg you to win, to be strong. Don't waste your initiatives,"
Zelenskyy said.
But Ukraine's president is also dealing with the increasingly grim results of Russia's attacks, visiting a children's hospital treating amputees and a military clinic where Zelenskyy thanked battle-scarred soldiers for their service on Ukraine's armed forces day.
"Victory is ahead," he said. "And what else, could there be an alternative? We all know there can't."
But despite massive battlefield losses, the Russians are not backing down. And as the U.S. tries to isolate Vladimir Putin internationally, some of America's most important allies in the Middle East are rolling out the red carpet for the Russian leader.
Both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have not sanctioned Russia over the war in Ukraine, and remain important partners for the Kremlin on the world's oil and gas markets.
"Today, thanks to your position, our relations have reached an unprecedented high-level," Putin said in the U.A.E.
Putin's message to the U.S. and its allies, Russia will not be isolated even under heavy sanctions, his economy is afloat, and his war chest filled to continue his assault against Ukraine.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN -- Berlin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: The United States is struggling with a massive influx of migration along its southern border. Border patrol agents in Texas say they've apprehended 8,000 people making illegal crossings in just the past three days, more than 3,000 in the past day alone. Local leaders are demanding see the situation for himself.
Rosa Flores reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The unprecedented migrant surge on the U.S. southern border has forced thousands of migrants including Laurean and her three-year-old son from Venezuela to wait outside for immigration processing in two states -- Texas and Arizona.
So you've been here for hours?
Federal authorities temporarily shutting down two international crossings with Mexico in the last week and redirecting port of entry personnel to process migrants.
In the Del Rio border patrol sector, migrant apprehensions have exceeded 2,500 per day some days this week, according to a law enforcement source.
TOM SCHMERBER, MAVERICK COUNTY SHERIFF: We need somebody from D.C. to come over and see this problem.
FLORES: Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber, a Democrat, says the influx puts a strain on his limited force.
SCHMERBER: I don't have the manpower and I don't have the equipment.
FLORES: His deputies respond to drownings on the Rio Grande. Scenes like these, showing an unconscious migrant mother getting CPR while her children scream have happened too often in the last month, making Maverick County the deadliest area for migrants in this 10-county border region, says medical examiner Dr. Corinne Stern.
Have you seen these many drownings in a very short period of time before?
DR. CORINNE STERN, MEDICAL EXAMINER: No, not like this. And especially not at this time of the year.
FLORES: Dr. Stern says in the last week or so six migrant children between the ages of zero and 15 have drowned in Maverick County alone.
DR. STERN: It's horrible. We shouldn't be burying our children.
FLORES: Laurean shows us the water was about knee high when she carried her son across the river.
She says that she gets emotional because it has just been a very tough journey. Would you invite President Biden to come here to Maverick County?
SCHMERBER: It would be great. It'll be very good. I think that it would help him a lot.
FLORES: In Arizona --
MARK DANNELS, COCHIESE COUNTY, ARIZONA SHERIFF: Why won't the president meet with us so we can address community concerns?
FLORES: The sheriff of Cochise County, a Republican, also calling on President Joe Biden to visit his border state.
DANNELS: This is frustrating, it's insulting, and for us trying to do everything we can to protect our citizens.
FLORES: Daily migrant apprehensions and border patrol's Tucson sector have nearly doubled in just months, a homeland security official says. Smugglers are dropping off large groups of migrants in remote areas, creating a transportation nightmare according to CBP.
GOVERNOR KATIE HOBBS (D-AZ): We need the federal government to act --
FLORES: Arizona's Democratic governor also frustrated with the Biden administration's border response.
HOBBS: We need the federal government to step up and do its job and secure our border. FLORES: As for Laurean, she is counting her blessings after surviving
the journey.
Would you do it again? No, she says that she would never do it again.
[01:54:50]
FLORES: Her message for migrants? Stay home.
The Biden administration has added legal consequences to illegal entry into the country. It's dealing with this current surge happening here in Eagle Pass, Texas and in (INAUDIBLE) Arizona by using something called enhanced expedited removal, which means that asylum officers make a determination on a migrant's case while they're in custody.
So if a migrant has no legal basis to stay in the United States, they are swiftly deported. Now, this comes with its own challenges. And it's already testing the migrant detention infrastructure on the U.S. southern border, with some facilities already overcapacity.
Rosa Flores, CNN, Eagle Pass -- Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Guyana is pushing back against what it calls an existential threat from its eastern neighbor Venezuelan. That country's president, Nicolas Maduro, is calling for the creation of a new Venezuelan state.
Now, this hypothetical state is called Guyana Essequibo, and it's made of two-thirds of Guyana's national territory. Venezuela has long claimed this oil-rich heavily-forested territory as its own and disputes the boundary set by international arbiters in 1899.
On Sunday, Venezuelans voted in a referendum symbolically approving an annexation, but in a bid to make it real, President Maduro announced a new map showing the disputed territory marked as Venezuela's.
Guyana's leadership says this is unacceptable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IRFAAN ALI, GUYANESE PRESIDENT: The measures announced are in blatant disregard of an order given by the international court of justice on December 1st, 2023.
Guyana views this as an imminent threat for its territorial integrity and will intensify precautionary measures to safeguard its territory.
We will not allow our territory to be violated, nor the development of our country to be stymied by this desperate threat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Guyana's president told CNN the country is working with allies in taking every diplomatic measure it can to stop Venezuela's blatant land-grab. All right. Thanks so much for watching.
I'm Kim Brunhuber.
I will back with more CNN NEWSROOM right after the break. Please do stay with us.
[01:57:10]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: Hello and welcome to all of you joining us around the world and everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Kim Brunhuber.
Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM: Israel says its troops have surrounded the home of the leader --
