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Last Hamas Stronghold In Northern Gaza Surrounded; U.S. Aid Delays To Ukraine Are 'Dreams Come True' For Putin; Russian Opposition Leader Alexey Navalny Missing From Prison; COP28 Draft Deal Slammed For Dropping Call To Phase Out Fossil Fuels; Ukraine's Zelenskyy Makes Plea for U.S. Aid as War Grinds On; Poland's Law and Justice Party Loses Power after 8 Years; Qatar Sent Millions to Gaza Years, Backed by Israel; China's Xi Jinping to Visit Vietnam; Kim Jong-un Accused of Stealing Billions in Crypto for Weapons; Harvard's Governing Board to Decide President's Fate. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired December 12, 2023 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up here on CNN, with Gaza already wallowing in unprecedented human misery and suffering, Israel warns the war with Hamas could drag on for months.
It's not just about the money, with Republicans in Congress said to stiff Ukraine by blocking billions in financial aid. Ukraine's president wants democracy in Europe could soon be at risk.
And Alexei Navalny, jailed opposition leader and outspoken Putin critic appears to be lost somewhere within Russia's notorious prison system.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: U.N. General Assembly is expected to vote Tuesday on non- binding resolution to money and immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. This comes as Israel's defense minister calls on Hamas fighters to surrender, claiming the last two Hamas strongholds in northern Gaza and are surrounded and must battalions that are on the verge of dismantling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YOAV GALLATAN, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINSITER (through translator): We are nearing a breaking point in northern Gaza Strip and Gaza City. And we will continue this operation in other places as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Israeli ground operations is said to be expanding in the south triggering concerns or a spiraling humanitarian crisis amid reports of ongoing heavy fighting. The head of the largest U.N. aid agency in Gaza says local stuff now feel abandoned after the U.N. Security Council failed last week to pass this ceasefire resolution. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPPE LAZZARINI, COMMISSIONER GENERAL, UNRWA: It's beyond disappointment, the feel abandoned by the international community. The frustration deep disappointment, outrage also by a number of hosts regarding the absence of Israel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: CNN's Alex Marquardt is following developments he has the very latest now from Tel Aviv and wanting some of the images you're about to see are disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Israel says after two months of fighting, it is still battling Hamas in two different strongholds in northern Gaza militants have held out but Israel claims they are now on the verge of being dismantled.
One area is the Jabalya refugee camp, where residents said dozens of civilians were killed over the weekend. Since the fragile week long pause and the fighting ended, Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip and focused on the south in Khan Younis, the second largest city there where Israel believes senior Hamas leaders may be hiding.
As Israel expands its operations the number of civilians killed and wounded grows. The entire house fell on my head and I was pulled from underneath the rubble, this woman said. We would have been better off dead with my children, rather than living in this grim reality.
An urgent appeal was issued by the IDF this weekend for even more civilians to evacuate parts of Khan Younis, but it's unclear how many would have heard the orders. And it isn't a guarantee of safety or shelter, medicine, food and water, which are all in short supply.
We were displaced from the north to the south for safety but there is no safety in the South, this woman said. It has led to deteriorating chaotic scenes. The United Nations Secretary General warning the public order will completely break down soon.
COL. MOSHE TETRO, COORDINATION OF GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES IN THE TERRITORIES: The situation is very challenging, but I think that the State of Israel does much beyond our obligations by the international humanitarian law.
MARQUARDT: You call the situation in southern Gaza challenging last month, you denied that there was a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Do you acknowledge now that there really is a dire humanitarian crisis?
TETRO: What I'm saying is, like I've said the situation is very, very challenging.
MARQUARDT: But it's not a crisis in your opinion.
TETRO: As I see it. It's a challenge. It's a huge challenge.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): When the United Nations Security Council held an emergency session on Friday to vote on a ceasefire resolution, the United States was the only country to vote against it vetoing the resolution. The U.N. vote coming the same day that the Biden administration used an emergency maneuver to bypass Congress and approve the sale of 14,000 more tank rounds for Israel.
Today in Jerusalem, Palestinian areas protested the war with a general strike. Also seen in the West Bank, Lebanon and Jordan.
MARQUARDT: On a normal afternoon these small streets in East Jerusalem would be teeming with people who live here, tourists, shopkeepers selling all kinds of things. But today there are very few people out shops are all closed and it's eerily quiet. Business and life really coming to a standstill in solidarity with Gaza.
[01:05:00]
AYMAN AL SAFADI, JORDANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Israel has created an amount of hatred that will haunt this region that will define generations will come and therefore, it's hurting its own people as much as it is hurting everybody else in the region. This is a war that cannot be won.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): Alex Marquardt, CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Aaron David Miller is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment, who spent more than two decades as a Middle East negotiator at the U.S. State Department. Aaron, thanks for being with us.
AARON DAVID MILLER, SENIOR FELLOW, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT: Pleasure to be here, John, always.
VAUSE: Thank you. Now, I want you to listen to the Qatar Foreign Minister on the wider impact of all that death, and that destruction and the ongoing military offensive in Gaza, the impact it's having around the world, here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMED BIN ABDULRAHMAN BIN JASSIM AL THANI, QATARI PRIME MINISTER NAD FOREIGN MINISTER: Seeing these images, right now that's coming out to visit every day is not just affecting those forces, which are in Lebanon, Yemen --
BECKY ANDEERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Backed by Iran.
SHEIKH MOHAMMED: But it also affects an entire generation that might be radicalized because of these images.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And well, this wall says it does not target non-combatants. That's a long way short of actively trying not to kill them, which is what the U.S. is now calling for. One country that will can reign in Israel and until the United States does, is it not unreasonable for the rest of the world to assume that the U.S. is OK with Israel's military offensive and all that comes with it.
MILLER: Look, having tethered itself to Israel's warnings, and I think the President very much agrees with what they're trying to do, which is to destroy Hamas military infrastructure above and below ground and kill those senior leaders responsible for October 7.
And in the process, and Hamas is sovereignty in Gaza, which might over time, if in fact, you can get a governing force in there and enough humanitarian and reconstruction aid actually give Gazan something's that it hasn't had, either under the Palestinian Authority or certainly since 2007 when Hamas took over security and prosperity.
And with that commitment, comes the hammering by the international community by the democratic -- large elements of Democratic Party, young Americans, Arab Americans international world opinion with a tethering comes incredible criticism for the exponential rise in Palestinian (INAUDIBLE) and humanitarian catastrophe that Israel's military operations have caused.
VAUSE: Beyond Gaza though there's been this investigation by the Washington Post was found the IDF may abuse white phosphorus, highly restricted chemical banned by many countries through recent cross border attack on Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. He's a spokesman for the U.S. State Department.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW MILLER, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: Our expectation of every country to whom we provide military assistance, weapons and other assistance, is that they use that assistance in full compliance with international humanitarian law and the laws of war, and Israel is no exception.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The key to all of this was that white phosphorus may have come from the United States. And that may be the official line from the State Department. But the reality is, the Israelis have been given a very long leash here to achieve their war aims. And, you know, that's often been the case in the past as well, which has often led to these criticisms of the United States. It's not being, you know, an honest broker in the Middle East.
MILLER: Well, right, I know it'll come as a shock to viewers but having participated in almost every negotiation from the 80s, through the early aughts of the century, we're not an honest broker. We have we -- have a different sort of relationship with Israel, which leads to giving the Israelis more often than not the benefit of the doubt, whether it comes to negotiations, or whether it comes to warming.
And the fact is, Israel shouldn't be an exception, but it is an exception, as a consequence of their close relationship. So look, I think the administration, frankly, is within the limits of, of the -- of what the President wants. I think that the administration is in some respects, this is the language is performative.
VAUSE: Well, the U.S. has called out Israel in the past, the most memorable moment was back in 1990. Secretary James Baker before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, probably giving out the phone number for the White House, asking the Israelis to call when they're serious about peace talks. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES BAKER, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I have to tell you, Mr. Levine, that everybody over there should know that the telephone number is 1-202-456-1414 when you're serious about peace, call us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Another moment that wasn't as obvious as that no was dramatic but in 2016 the (INAUDIBLE), U.S. warned the Israelis it would slow shipment of weapons over the high civilian death toll in Lebanon.
[01:10:07]
So, these moments happen. They so often happen behind the scenes. But they're crucial, not just for U.S. credibility, but also for Israel. Sometimes Israel needs a friend who will get advice support back.
MILLER: I think that's probably right. I worked for Baker. I remember that line. And yes, the U.S. can and has, at discrete moments used its influence and leverage. And I -- as I mentioned before, I think, given the fact that the clocks are not synchronized, I think you could well see such a moment if by January there isn't a change in the Israeli temple, a military operation.
VAUSE: Aaron, we'll leave it there. But good to have you with us and your memory and your experience and where you've been and what you've got is invaluable. Thank you, sir.
MILLER: Thanks, John. Always a pleasure to be with you.
VAUSE: The fate of the war in Ukraine and possibly freedom and democracy in Europe is now depending on reforms to the U.S. immigration system reforms, which have long been opposed by Democrats but demanded by Republicans who probably had lawmakers looking passage of billions of U.S. aid for Ukraine to border reform. Ukraine's president has arrived in Washington with a message for them. Putin's dreams are coming through.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Putin must lose, must lose so that everyone else who sees Russia's war on Ukraine as his personnel lecturer at the so called University of Aggression, gets the message loud and clear. Putin must lose.
(END V IDEO CLIP) VAUSE: Unless there is a last minute breakthrough. Congress will most likely adjourn by the end of the week with nowhere it seems to pass the Ukraine funding bill for months to come.
What Vladimir Putin is most outspoken critics opposition leader Alexey Navalny is apparently missing within the Russian prison system. Supporters say it's been almost a week since they last heard from Navalny, who at last report was being held in a penal colony east of Moscow. But now prison officials say they he's not there. Brian Todd explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One of Vladimir Putin's worst enemies a thorn in the side of the Russian strong man for more than a decade now missing from Russian penal colonies. A spokesperson for Alexey Navalny posting on X quote, we still don't know where Alexei is.
KIRA YARMYSH, ALEXEY NAVALNY SPOKESPERSON: Right now that he's completely alone. And he is literally in the hands of people who wants to try to keep him. So we don't know what they will do again.
TODD (voice-over): He had been scheduled for transfer from one penal colony to an even harsher one.
SARA MENDELSON, FORMER U.S. HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE AT U.N.: If he's been transferred, that period of transferring is extremely dangerous, because he doesn't have access to lawyers. People don't know where he is. Those people transfer him essentially can do what they want with him.
TODD (voice-over): Just days ago, Putin announced he would run for president in March amid a crackdown on dissent. Navalny's organization has vowed to campaign against Putin even putting up a few short lived billboards, could there be a link to his disappearance.
MENDELSON: This is a period when he wants to make sure there's absolutely no possibility of any kind of interference, internally.
TODD (voice-over): The most prominent and visible challenger to Putin's rule in Russia, Navalny has tried before to run against Putin for the presidency.
In 2017, he was attacked with an antiseptic green dye that he said damaged his vision in one eye. He was poisoned in 2020 with a Soviet era nerve agent that almost killed him. After doctors in Europe saved his life, he prank called the Russian agents who he believes tried to kill him by putting poison on his clothes.
ALEXEY NAVALNY, RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER (through translator): Well imagine underpants. And then what place. The insights the groin.
TODD (voice-over): Putin has denied his security services were involved.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): If they had wanted to, they probably would have finished the job.
TODD (voice-over): Navalny returned to Russia despite the risks.
NAVALNY: I have to go back because I don't want these, you know, groups of killer exist in Russia. I don't want Putin be ruling of Russia.
TODD (voice-over): He was promptly arrested, convicted and sentenced to 11 and a half years, but he continues to criticize Putin from jail.
NAVALY (through translator): In order to extend his own personal power, Putin is tormenting a neighboring country, killing people there.
TODD (voice-over): Navalny's legal team has raised concerns about his health saying that last week he was dizzy in his cell and had to be given an IV and his daughter last summer told CNN he's had health problems in jail and lost weight.
DARIA NAVALNAYA, DAUGHTER OF ALEXEY NAVALNY: I'm of course incredibly worried. They are not providing any support any medical help for him in prison.
[01:15:00]
TODD (voice-over): In August Alexey Navalny was sentenced to another 19 years for allegedly supporting extremism. And his legal team says he faces another 14 accusations that could result in up to 35 more years in jail. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well hold out the disappearance of Alexey Navalny. We're joined by CNN national security analyst Steve Hall, who's also the former chief of Russia operations for the CIA. Good to see you.
STEVE HALL, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Great to be here, John.
VAUSE: OK, so from your experience knowing Russia and knowing Vladimir Putin as you do. What's the best case scenario here for developing? What's the worst case scenario?
HALL: Yes, I'm afraid there's a lot more of the latter than there are the former, I mean, the best case for Navalny. I mean, depends on how you how you define that for him. I think many of us were surprised after the FSB, the internal security service that Putin runs inside of Russia, tried to poison him, he went to Germany for treatment, that then he came back to Russia. So he's very clearly dedicated.
I'm not sure if we were to free him or he would be allowed to be to go free today, whether he would actually leave Russia, although in my opinion, that would be the best.
The worst case scenario for him is obviously he could simply die, which should be a very positive thing from Vladimir Putin. But he's got a very delicate line to walk on that. He knows that Navalny is one of the more effective opposition leaders and that direct killing of him, could actually lead to some public backlash.
So, right now I think Putin is trying to balance (INAUDIBLE) do I just send him to a really, really bad prison worse than the one he's in? And just perhaps live and die on his own in, you know, in jail in our custody? Or, you know, or do I just keep them in jail for 20 or 30 years? So those are the bad options for the Navalny.
VAUSE: Well, here's the latest in the State Department on Navalny's whereabouts. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MILLER: We did not have any information about his whereabouts. We are deeply concerned for Mr. Navalny's well-being. We have communicated to the Russian government that they are responsible for what happens to Mr. Navalny while he's in their custody, and they will be held accountable by the international community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Yes, right. Really, that sounds kind of laughable in a way if it wasn't so serious. In some ways, is Navalny's disappearance a sign of a more emboldened Vladimir Putin. He's had a good couple of months.
HALL: Yes, I'll be really fascinated to see where indifferent Navalny turns up. I mean, there was discussion of transferring him to a different prison. And then Russia, that's not usually done via airplanes. They usually put them on a train. And it takes a long time. It's possible that he's just in transit to another location. It's also possibly, you know, it's entirely possible that he's simply dead that they've either killed him or let him die.
But why now, I think is the question you're asking. And I do feel Putin probably believes he's, you know, a little more emboldened now, because he has always placed bets on the idea that the West was going to lose focus, that we were going to not understand what was really going on and get, you know, attracted to something else, whether it's in the Middle East prices or you know, internal stuff going on elsewhere.
So I think he feels he can get away with stuff that you know, perhaps he couldn't a little while ago.
VAUSE: Yes. Well, as you say, Putin is feeling obviously good about this delay in the Ukraine funding bill, which is being stalled in the U.S. Congress by, you know, some Republicans.
CNN reporting Putin is very closely what's happening in Congress in the United States, for obvious reasons. And that's why the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in the U.S. trying to rescue that $60 billion in aid and the sharp support on Capitol Hill. Here he is speaking on Monday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENSKYY: Russia is set on more than just Ukraine's land resources or our people. It won't be satisfied with just a part of Ukraine or even all of it. Ukraine is just a stepping stone for Russia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So what's your assessment here? If Ukraine was forced into some kind of negotiated settlement with Moscow, where that essentially unleashed Putin across Europe? Would you have that capability?
HALL: Well, you know, it certainly could. I mean, you have to go back really just a very short period of time in history to when a similar type of thing happened with the country of Georgia, whether the Russians decided they were going to invade the country. The Georgians, you know, tried the best as they could, without really anybody's help to defend themselves. But then they were just essentially left out to dry. They were sort of backroom promises that were made to Georgia. But Russia just went ahead and did it anyway. And it worked out.
So, Putin's lesson from that was OK, I can bid on this. I can try Ukraine. And although there's been a substantial pushback against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, nevertheless, he does sense I think that things are starting to drift and that he has a chance.
I think there's a real strong historical similarity between what's going on right now. And what happened before right before World War II when people were saying, oh, you know, the Germans, the Nazis, you know, we can just leave them alone. It's really not our problem, and it expanded much bigger. I think that there's a good chance that Russia will not stop with Ukraine because it worked in Georgia, it's working in Ukraine, what's to stop them from, you know, going the next step.
[01:20:06]
So I think, yes, we need to be very concerned about that. So let's get right.
VAUSE: Steve, good to have you with us. Thanks so much. Appreciate your time.
HALL: My pleasure.
VAUSE: Coming up here on CNN, a climate crisis into is dividing Dubai. The sharp disagreement over a proposed deal on climate action. Why there's outrage and disappointment and why not it's COP28.
Plus, how Qatar has been able to send millions of dollars to Gaza for the past five years, all with Israel's blessing summit in suitcases filled with cash. Details on the controversy in a moment.
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VAUSE: Tropical Cyclone Jasper is strengthening slightly as it approaches Australia's north east coast, with wind speeds of 100 kilometers per hour. Landfall expected north of Cannes on Wednesday. Officials say a warning wind speeds could increase to 140 kilometers per hour, and there is potential for dangerous flash flooding as well. The COP28 summit in Dubai is coming to an end in much the same way it
began surrounded in controversy and allegations the U.N. annual climate change summit was hijacked by the fossil fuel industry.
The Summit's final agreement has faced backlash on Monday, there was from the United States, the E.U. island nations environmentalist all because there was no reference to a total phase out of fossil fuels and the desperate need for it. With the summit set to end Tuesday, time is fast running out to now revise the final wording.
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SULTAN AL JABER, PRESIDENT, COP28: The time for discussion is coming to an end. And there is no time for hesitation. We must still close many gaps. We don't have time to waste.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The E.U. says the current draft is insufficient and unacceptable. And much more must be done to curb and unabated use of fossil fuels.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOPKE HOEKSTRA, EU CLIMATE COMMISSIONER: There is a great majority of countries who actually wants and demands more in terms of phasing out and in terms of what is in the text. And it is up to us to make sure that these voices are being heard. And that this is solved in the next day or the next days or however long it's going to take.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Joining us out from Hong Kong is Gabriel Leung, a public health expert and the former Dean of Medicine at Hong Kong University. He's also working with closely with charities around the world to fight climate change and the public impact from climate change. It's good to have with us. Thank you for being with us this hour.
GABRIEL LEUNG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HONG KONG JOCKEY CLUB CHARITIES TRUST: It's a delight. Thank you.
VAUSE: OK, so we've had CO28 wrapping up in the coming hours. And there is this growing concern the final statement or communique will have no reference to the urgent need to totally phase out the use of fossil fuels.
Former U.S. Vice President and environmentalist Al Gore posted this tweet on X, COP28 is now on the verge of complete failure. The world desperately needs to phase out fossil fuels as quickly as possible.
[01:25:03]
But this obsequious draft reads as if OPEC dictated it word for word it is even worse than many feared.
So if this conference is annual summit ends, as the Vice President has indicated, where will that leave global efforts to limit warming of the planet? And what are the implications from a public health point of view if that's the case?
LEUNG: I think that you were talking about the mitigation aspect of climate change. And then there is the adaptation aspect. So the mitigation aspect is to limit the damage to the environment, to climate change, through the reduction of carbon emissions, fossil fuels, and really controlling things at source.
And of course, one would hope and pray that we all have the wisdom, and that sense of common future to reduce emissions as much as possible. And I think that many, many ministers and countries are working very hard in the COP process, are hoping for a final communique that would reflect the common goodwill of the people of the world.
VAUSE: Well, right now as the planet warms, we're seeing in more extreme weather events, these are the obvious consequences. But then there is not so obvious like, like this climate change is happening see a tsunami of infectious diseases, and we have fewer and fewer drugs that can treat them that report from Fortune Magazine, as well, as the York Times reported last month, climate change drives new cases of malaria complicating efforts to fight the disease.
So right now, not enough is being done right now to weatherproof infrastructure globally. How much is being done when it comes to trying to minimize an outbreak of disease?
LEUNG: I think that COVID-19 has shown the world what infectious diseases can do, and have done. COVID-19 is not going to be the last pandemic of the century. We may well see another one before too long. And I think that the major and the most obvious disease class, or vector borne diseases, so mosquito borne diseases, tick borne diseases, that has a direct link with climate change.
So for example, you mentioned malaria, the U.S. -- continental U.S. has not seen locally acquired, locally transmitted malaria for 20 years until this summer, in Florida, and Texas, and even in Maryland. So you have now got about a handful of cases over the last few months of locally acquired malaria of both the falciparum and the vivax varieties passed on by Anopheles mosquitoes.
So, there are many, many other such diseases like dengue, and also, of course, yellow fever, and Japanese encephalitis. The list goes on.
VAUSE: Right now, if you look at the, you know, the fallout from global warming when it comes to damage to infrastructure, when it comes to the essentially the destruction caused by these more extreme, more often dangerous weather events. Compare that to what we could see in terms of death, spread by waterborne diseases, spread by mosquitoes, diseases which for many parts the world had never seen for generations to say nothing of what new possible diseases that could come from all of this.
Where is the most sort of, from your point of view, what's the biggest danger here from the obvious effects of climate change from these diseases, and the spreading of it from mosquitoes, that kind of stuff?
LEUNG: I think that it's both. And of course, there is another much more direct and much more cute type of health effect. And that is heat waves. So you will know, of course, from the experiences in temperate climate zones.
So as far back as a decade ago, you saw the heatwave of Paris during that particular summer, killing thousands. And you see that every year now in really unfamiliar places, with this very acute heat related events, leading to cardiovascular diseases, leading to heart attacks, leading to strokes, leading to dehydration of particularly vulnerable groups.
So the equity angle is also extremely important. But I think the greatest danger is that we are not walking in with our eyes wide open, that we are letting this creep up to us without even knowing about it, or actually being on the alert for it. And that is why surveillance and measurement of this increasing burden at the nexus of health and climate, like vector borne diseases and mosquito borne diseases is so, so important. And we're very ill equipped to do so at the moment.
VAUSE: Gabriel, thank you for being with us. Thank you for your recent insight into this. It's not something we talk about a lot, I guess. Good to have you with us.
Ahead as the Ukrainian president makes a plea for more U.S. funding, the very latest on the war in Ukraine in the ground and the air how drones are helping Ukrainian troops counter Russian forces.
[01:29:53]
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VAUSE: Welcome back.
The Ukrainian president will soon make a last-ditch appeal to members of the U.S. Congress to try and save billions of dollars in U.S. assistance that is currently in limbo.
Without that financial aid, the Ukrainian president has warned Ukraine could lose the war to Russia and democracies across Europe would be at risk to an emboldened Vladimir Putin.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports now on the very latest on the war from the Kherson Region.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Out of Kherson City, past the bridge the Russians invaded and left on, you reach a new phase of hope and anxiety in this war.
Down on the edge of the Dnipro River on this isolated right bank, lone groups of Ukrainians are making rare advances into Russian occupied land. But it's tiny tools, hand-rigged, donated drones win small gains. The U.S. is stalling on the big money Ukraine needs to make the
breakthrough the West wants. And you can feel the anger of that here. It is relentless work.
"I think it'll be very difficult without American help," he says. "Our supplies are also ending so we need theirs."
"We have had days so busy we launched 15 to 20, and I got ten minutes rest between flights," the pilot says. "I never imagined this will be my war. It's the PlayStation generation, headsets directing cheap single-use drones on a one-way flight into the Russian lines."
He's just saying that the weather has cleared up. The fog just settled over the river. And the Russians are very aware of this threat. And you can see them now trying to find the targets.
This keeps the Russians off the road by day and help Ukraine take ground.
Now, they maneuver towards a Russian checkpoint. Killing here, somehow remote, yet also intimate.
Another prized target emerges, a Russian-equivalent drone unit hiding in a red roofed house, worth sending two drones at. The first, as it closes in, taken out by the jamming. The second picks it up.
[01:34:49]
WALSH: At night, another unit elsewhere near the city takes over. Thermal imaging help them find Russians hiding in the woods across the river near Krynky (ph) a village where Ukraine has a valuable foothold.
This unit too was hunted and used a cheap device to spot the frequency used by a Russian drone passing above. This operator dons a new cloak as he launches a drone off the roof. See how it reduces his heat signature, probably invisible to the Russians above.
The night in battered Kherson City is no respite for civilians. Sirens, yes. But also a series of Shahed Russian attack drones.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lights off, lights off --
WALSH: They close on us, the motor whine lower as it passes over our heads.
Anti--aircraft guns pierce the blackout. There really is little life to be enjoyed here and what is left to (INAUDIBLE) news that a rare food handout, they're fast gone.
The shelling is relentless, a woman injured here the night before, her neighbor knocked off her feet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't drink, but yesterday I drank a bottle of wine. We all have our guardian angel. We women here are resilient. WALSH: Kherson liberated last year is still in the grip of the war.
And unless they push the Russians back, a dark and bloody normal awaits.
In the summer we saw kids out here playing, it's not just a bitter winter that is forced them indoors. It's the fear of artillery strikes at any time. The protective wall now built around the children's playground, a sense really of the city getting ready for a bit more of life underground, some of it in bomb shelters.
Especially here at the maternity hospital still open for tiny miracles and readying this basement to be their new ward. Built by the Soviets for a nuclear war, it's now a shelter because the floors above have been hit again and again.
But there are sparks of life here, even if this is the view that Yevgenia had when she gave birth just seven hours earlier.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not scary. We have got used to the shelling. I've been here since the start of the war and occupation. We'll only leave if the heating goes off.
WALSH: Kira, conceived in spring when an end to the war was imaginable, but born into a city lost to Russia's slow grind to nothing.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN -- Kherson, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: After eight years of authoritarian rule, Poland's populist Law and Justice Party is no longer in power. Confidence vote Monday paving the way for centrist opposition leader Donald Tusk to take power.
He served two terms as Poland's prime minister from 2007 and expected to do so again with an official vote later this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TUSK, POLAND OPPOSITION LEADER (through translator): This is really something extraordinary that from tomorrow we will be able to repair the harm so that everyone in Poland -- everyone without exceptions, all Polish citizens will really feel at home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: E.U. chief Ursula Von Der Leyen congratulated Tusk saying, "Your experience and strong commitment to our European values will be precious in forging a stronger Europe for the benefit of the Polish people."
For years, Qatar has been sending millions of dollars to Gaza, sometimes in cash, all with Israel's blessing.
But CNN has learned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allowed the payments to flow to Hamas despite concerns raised from within his own government.
CNN's Nima Elbagir has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Israel's mourning continues even as the karma around Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu grows, questioning whether his policies helped prop up Hamas.
In a series of interviews with key Israeli players, CNN and the Israeli investigative platform, Shomrim, were told how Netanyahu allowed Qatari cash donations to Hamas for years, without supervision, despite concerns from within his own government.
MAJ. GEN. AMOS GILAD, FORMER SENIOR ISRAELI DEFENSE AND INTELLIGENCE OFFICIAL: $30 million per --
ELBAGIR: -- month.
GILAD: -- per month.
ELBAGIR: Ok.
GILAD: $360 million -- it's more than a billion. It's simple mathematics.
ELBAGIR: That's a lot of money.
GILAD: A lot of money, $1 in Gaza is like $20 in the U.S. For them, it was like relief. It was like oxygen. Can you live without oxygen? No, so it is a dramatic, historic mistake.
[01:39:50]
ELBAGIR: Former Israeli prime minister and former defense minister Naftali Bennett says he was among those repeatedly raising concerns to Netanyahu.
When Bennett became prime minister in 2021, he put a stop to the suitcases of cash to Hamas, moving the transfer of financial support to Hamas from cash to a U.N. mechanism.
NAFTALI BENNETT, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I stopped the cash suitcases because I believed that's a horrendous mistake to allow Hamas to have all these suitcases full of cash that goes directly to re-arm themselves against Israelis. Why would we feed them cash to kill us?
ELBAGIR: The cash deliveries were supposed to help, among other humanitarian needs, pay Gaza's civil servants. And pictures in 2018 showed workers lining up to a sea of 100-dollar bills.
Israel approved the deal in a security cabinet meeting in August 2018 during a previous Netanyahu tenure as prime minister. An Israeli official defended Netanyahu's decision, telling CNN successive Israeli governments enabled money to go to Gaza, not in order to strengthen Hamas, but to prevent a humanitarian crisis. That's true, but no one else approved it in cash.
Former prime minister Bennett says that Netanyahu underestimated Hamas.
BENNETT: I think the approach towards Hamas was one of sort of a nuisance type terror organization that can shoot rockets, can cause a bit of havoc here and there, but not much more than that.
ELBAGIR: So underestimated?
BENNETT: Absolutely. And in that sense, we have learned the lesson. We have to believe our enemies.
ELBAGIR: This lesson has become a turning point for Israel, one even longtime Netanyahu allies like Zvika Hauser acknowledge.
ZVIKA HAUSER, FORMER CHAIR, KNESSET DEFENSE AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: That was a strategic lesson for the Israeli society that you can talk a lot about peace. You can try to do a lot of things.
You can come to the White House, and get some Nobel prizes but in some point, enough is enough. And if you ask me what symbolized October 7th? October 7th mostly symbolized the Israeli society, no more take risk.
ELBAGIR: Risks such as this, heeding the toll of human suffering and international calls to slow the pummeling of Gaza before Israel is satisfied Hamas has been destroyed whatever the cost.
Nima Elbagir, CNN -- Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: When we come back here on CNN just weeks after Vietnam improved ties with the United States and Japan, guess what, China's Xi Jinping now headed to Hanoi.
[01:42:49]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Well, expect lots of smiles, handshakes and flowery compliments in the next few days with Chinese president Xi Jinping on a two-day visit to Vietnam.
Here live from Beijing, CNN's Marc Stewart, following the developments there. No surprise, just a couple of weeks ago, Vietnam improved relations with the United States, also Japan.
So what do you know, Xi Jinping shows up?
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No surprise at all John. And this visit actually makes a lot of sense because of right now if we look across the landscape of Asia, Vietnam is very much a land of opportunity.
In fact, when it comes to China, Vietnam is China's largest trading partner in the region. Vietnam is number four in the world. And it's getting the attention not only of China but the United States. President Biden was just there and they elevated their relationship.
A lot of American companies are turning to Vietnam especially for manufacturing. Since the pandemic, they realized some of the supply chain snags and snarls that came from being so heavily dependent on China. They wanted somewhere else to go.
And so American companies are focusing on Vietnam. And for that reason, China is also reaffirming its relationship, economic relationship with Vietnam, talking about basically extending and strengthening the Belt and Road initiative, which is China's big infrastructure program.
In fact Xi Jinping telling a local newspaper, he really wants to encourage opportunity on things such as connectivity, green energy as well as critical minerals.
But this is also a time when there are also some potential complications, some potential obstacles. Right now, China without question is declaring sovereignty over the South China Sea. Not only the waterways but some of the islands, some of the sandbars, some of the passageways.
And that is a point of contention with Vietnam, saying that it too has rights to those waters along with Malaysia and the Philippines. So expect during these meetings that we are going to see over the next few days between Xi Jinping and Vietnam's president or prime minister to expect to hear some discussion about those waterways.
Xi Jinping telling a Vietnamese newspaper this is something that he feels as far as differences can be properly managed.
This is his third visit since 2017. As we mentioned, President Biden was just in Vietnam in September.
So John, we have many economic superpowers keeping watch and wanting to be part of this very vital country here in the Asian region, John.
VAUSE: Marc thank you. Marc Stewart live with us in Beijing with what the Chinese president is up to this hour. Thank you.
No country in the world is more heavily sanctioned than North Korea. No country is more isolated and few are more impoverished. Yet, despite all of that North Korea has developed and built an extensive stockpile of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
And it seems Kim Jong-un has funded the family business through a complex international web of hackers and cryptocurrency criminals.
CNN's Will Ripley has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Every North Korean missile test, every satellite launch, every nuclear test, likely crossed Kim Jong-un's cash-starved country millions of dollars. Where does that money come from? How does Kim's regime evade heavy sanctions, advancing its nuclear and ballistic missile programs at breakneck speed?
ANNE NEUBERGER, DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: We certainly believe that North Korean hacking of crypto currency around infrastructure around the world is a major source of revenue for the regime.
RIPLEY: A staggering more than $3 billion in stolen crypto over the past five years. U.S. lawmakers say a record $1.7 billion last year alone.
SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): So, where does that money go? Straight into North Korea's illegal nuclear program.
RIPLEY: An underground pipeline, of illicit wealth, fueling Kim's nuclear ambitions, pumping payments into Pyongyang from places like Russia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Vietnam.
WARREN: Does that pose a threat to our national security?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It does, Senator.
RIPLEY: The U.S. believes North Korea has a global shadow army, secret operatives posing as I.T. professionals, government officials, freelance block chain developers, even hiring westerners to hide their connection to Pyongyang.
Spanish police arrested Alejandro Cao de Benos earlier this month, known as a special delegate for North Korea. The U.S. accuses him of helping North Korean officials use tech for money laundering. He posted a message on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying, "There is no extradition. The U.S. accusation besides being false does not exist in Spain."
Blacklisted by the U.S. as modern-day digital pirates, North Korean operatives are linked to ransomware attacks, targeting online gaming, gambling, and banking industries, even in American hospitals.
[01:49:45]
RIPLEY: North Korea exploiting online vulnerabilities using stolen money to mass produce missiles, funding the Kim family's lavish lifestyle, palaces, planes, yachts, and this armored Mercedes limousine carried on Kim's private train to that September summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The latest breach from North Korea's notorious Andariel (ph) hacking group, targeting South Korean defense firms and others. A yearlong investigation by South Korean police and the FBI exposing grave vulnerabilities in Seoul's cybersecurity defenses -- around 250 sensitive files, 1.2 terabytes of classified data stolen. A crime concealed through rented servers. A secretive trail of digital deception leading straight to the North
Korean capital, breaching borders, defying digital defenses, threatening global stability.
Will Ripley, CNN -- Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: After the break the fate of the president of Harvard University is on the line after her appearance before Congress and testimony about rising anti-Semitism on campus. Details in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Special counsel in Donald Trump's election subversion counsel has asked the Supreme Court to decide if the former president has immunity for any alleged crimes committed while he's in office.
This is apparently an extraordinary move by Jack Smith as he's bypassing in appeals court to get a fast, decisive ruling on what is a fundamental issue in Trump's case.
Trump's legal team argues any actions he may have taken over the 2020 election results were part of his official duties as president therefore granting him immunity.
That has to be resolved before Trump goes to trial in March.
The Harvard Corporation, one of the governing bodies running the university is expected to announce a decision on the fate of president, Claudine Gay on Tuesday, that's according to sources.
This comes amid a growing chorus of support for Gay from Harvard's community including the executive committee of Harvard's Alumni Association.
Gay apologized after coming under fire for failing to denounce threats of violence against Jewish students during a contentious congressional testimony last week.
CNN's Jason Carroll has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLAUDINE GAY, PRESIDENT, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: My name is Claudine Gay.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tonight more signs of support for Harvard University's president Claudine Gay, amid calls for Gay's removal after a Harvard board of directors meeting.
As of Monday, roughly 700 members of the school's faculty have signed a petition, which calls on university leaders to resist political pressures and outside forces trying to remove Gay.
Harvard legal scholar, Laurence Tribe, who previously slammed Gay for her testimony before Congress, signed the petition supporting her. In an email to CNN on Monday, he wrote, "Once external pressures,
whether from ultra wealthy donors or from politicians pursuing their ideological agendas override the internal decision-making processes of universities, we are on the road to tyranny."
The Harvard Alumni Association said it unanimously and unequivocally supports president Claudine Gay. Students, such as Tristan Dalvey says, Gay's testimony before Congress fell short, but he would like her to say.
TRISTAN DALVEY, HARVARD STUDENT: I feel like she does support the Jewish community here.
CARROLL: Paulina Kempinsky is Israeli and says she has not felt safe being Jewish on campus and the testimony last week from university leaders about anti-Semitism on campuses made things worse.
[01:54:52]
PAULINA KEMPINSKY, HARVARD STUDENT: I was really expecting a -- clear statement of we are against anti-Semitism.
CARROLL: The presidents from Harvard, M.I.T., and the University of Pennsylvania all came under intense scrutiny after their congressional testimony where they failed to condemn calls for the genocide of Jews as it related to university policies against bullying and harassment.
REP. ELISE STEFANIK (R-NY): So, the answer is yes, that calling for the genocide of Jews violates Harvard code of conduct, correct?
GAY: Again, it depends on the context.
CARROLL: Gay later apologized for her responses, telling the Harvard Crimson, "words matter". University of Pennsylvania's president was forced to voluntarily resign Saturday.
The next day, New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, the House Republican who conducted a lot of the questioning at the hearing and is a Harvard alum, tweeted, "One down, two to go."
The congresswoman has come under scrutiny in the past for campaign ads that some in her party say echo the great replacement theory, a belief that black Americans and Jews want to replace white Americans.
Until recently, Rabbi David Wolpe was part of Harvard's anti-Semitism Advisory Group, created in the wake of October 7th. He was chosen by Gay. He says, Gay's testimony was the final straw. He resigned last week.
RABBI DAVID WOLPE, VISITING SCHOLAR, HARVARD DIVINITY SCHOOL: I had wanted, from any of the presidents, a certain urgency and anger, and indignation.
CARROLL: but instead, you got what?
WOLPE: Instead, we got legalisms and equivocations. CARROLL: Should Gay resign?
WOLPE: Not for me to say, really. I don't take a position --
CARROLL: Why not?
WOLPE: Because I'm a rabbi who's been at Harvard for two months.
CARROLL: Jason Carroll, CNN -- Boston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us.
The news continues after a very short break with my friend and colleague Rosemary Church.
See you right back here tomorrow.
[01:56:55]
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