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Ukrainian President Appeals for U.S. Aid Despite Opposition from Republicans; COP28 Formally Closed with a Historic Deal for Fossil Fuel; Aid to Ukraine Unsure to Come; Israel Military Retaliates to Militant Groups; China and Vietnam Strengthen Ties; Nicolas Maduro Wants to Invade Guyana; Football Club President Lost His Temper. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired December 13, 2023 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all our viewers around the world. I'm Max Foster, in London. Just ahead on "CNN Newsroom," Israeli forces suffer one of their biggest losses in a single instance since the ground operation against Hamas began in Gaza.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy strikes out on a much-needed U.S. aid package on his visit to Washington.

And the president of the COP28 climate summit hails an historic deal, one which some countries believe could signal the end of the fossil fuel era.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from London, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Max Foster.

FOSTER: Questions mounting about what's next for Ukraine after its president's 11th hour appeal for more U.S. military aid went unanswered. Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with senators and the U.S. House Speaker on Tuesday during his third visit to Washington, but Republicans are refusing to grant more security assistance unless their demands for tougher U.S. immigration rules are met.

The U.S. president offered more support, but not as much as last year, proving American backing for Ukraine is neither a guarantee nor an open-ended commitment. Joe Biden told Republicans their roadblock is playing into the Russian president's hands, whilst President Zelenskyy stressed the progress that has been made.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Thanks to Ukraine's success in defense, other European nations are safe from the Russian aggression, unlike in the past.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Putin is banking on the United States failing to deliver for Ukraine. We must, we must, we must prove him wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: In Ukraine, the mayor of Kyiv says 53 people, including eight children, were injured in a Russian missile attack on the city a short while ago. A top military official says the country's air defense intercepted targets over Kyiv and the majority of the injuries were caused by window glass blown out by the blasts. The falling debris damaged homes and a children's hospital. Ukrainian troops tell CNN they need immediate US support as the winter sets in.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports from the front lines in Zaporizhzhia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The war isn't over, or even slowing. Avdiivka in the east, the next town Moscow wants to slowly swallow. Endless Ukrainian drone videos show the huge losses. The latest U.S. intelligence estimate, Russia has had 13,000 casualties here.

A huge number offered without evidence, but a clear bid to show American aid to Ukraine is, right now, hurting Russia. The lack of a potent summer breakthrough means Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy faces perhaps his toughest weeks ahead. He had to take time away from fighting Europe's biggest war since the 40s to get caught between these two politicians as they have their own squabble.

Here on Capitol Hill, the lawmakers are eager to go home for the holidays at the end of the week.

In Ukraine, weeks later, they may start running out of money on the front lines.

It is life and death. One helicopter pilot in the East told me.

MYKOLA, UKRAINIAN HELICOPTER PILOT: It will be very difficult for us to fight without your assistance, but we have no choice. This is very serious things because unfortunately we don't have enough power within our country to support our army, but we extremely need it. This is just a question. This is just a point of our survival.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): Russia is relentless, shelling the city of Kherson hard most nights and mornings this week. And, said Ukraine's security service, possibly behind a cyber attack hitting a major cell phone provider. It impacted air raid sirens, air raid alerts on phones and added to the sense of Putin moving in on what's left of civilian safety in Ukraine as winter looks bleaker.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: A U.S. intelligence assessment has revealed the high price Russia has paid for its war in Ukraine. That includes more than 300,000 troops killed on the battlefield. CNN's Natasha Bertrand has details from the Pentagon.

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NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: The U.S. released declassified intelligence on Tuesday, indicating that Russia throughout the last year plus of its war in Ukraine has suffered extremely heavy losses on the battlefield. But the intelligence also indicates that the Russians are determined to keep throwing troops at the war and push forward.

[03:05:10]

In one intelligence assessment that was downgraded and released on Tuesday, the U.S. intelligence community assessed that just since October alone, the Russian military has suffered 13,000 casualties as part of its war in Ukraine. But that same assessment says that the Russians are still determined to continue to move forward and that the Russians hope that U.S. support for Ukraine will continue to dwindle amid the coming winter months.

Now, in another intelligence report that was provided to Congress and obtained by my colleague on Tuesday, the U.S. intelligence community assessed that a staggering 87 percent of Russia's pre-war force has been depleted as a result of its war in Ukraine, whereas Russia started with around 360,000. ground troops that it was able to put into its fight in Ukraine, it lost about 315,000 of those troops.

Now, the reason that the U.S. is disclosing all of this intelligence on Tuesday when President Zelenskyy in Washington, D.C. to plead with lawmakers and the Biden administration to keep providing Ukraine with aid and military equipment is because the U.S. is trying to convey to lawmakers and to the international community that the Ukrainians' war against the Russians has been an extremely good return on investment. They have essentially managed to deplete the Russian military to such an extent that it is more weak now than it has been in many, many decades.

And so the U.S. now says that the momentum has to continue. The US and international community have to continue to support Ukraine at this very pivotal moment because if they don't, then the Russians will only continue to fight even harder though more bodies into the fight and hope to maintain -- to take complete control over Ukraine.

Something obviously that the United States does not want to see, but the U.S. really emphasizing on Tuesday as President Zelenskyy visited Washington, D.C. is that President Putin of Russia is closely watching what the U.S. Congress and the U.S. is going to do moving forward, closely monitoring whether the U.S. is going to be able to continue supporting Ukraine at the pace and the level that it has been over the course of this war.

Natasha Bertrand, CNN at the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Tymofiy Mylovanov is the president of the Kyiv School of Economics and is Ukraine's former Minister of Development and Trade. He's with us. from Kyiv. Thank you so much for joining us. How has this visit been interpreted in Ukraine?

TYMOFIY MYLOVANOV, FORMER UKRAINIAN MINISTER OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TRADE: Well, it's difficult for us to see that Ukraine has become a victim of domestic political struggles in the U.S. It's very personal because I've had several friends died and killed by Russians at the front lines over the last several days.

And, you know, it is true that the ammunition and weapons is scarce on Ukrainian side. It is true that Russia is pushing, and I think there's also a blind spot that Russia has also been deploying new technologies, not just people. They are throwing bodies at the war and they don't count it, but they also have increased substantively their technological capabilities.

So in fact, Russia in some ways are getting stronger and it is felt throughout Ukraine. So, you know, it's really painful and difficult for us to see the delay in the aid.

FOSTER: The reality is, right now, Ukraine isn't getting the money it needs to make progress in this War, does that mean, what does it mean for the war and their position within it?

MYLOVANOV: Well, Russia has no incentive to stop. And I think Russia wants to get into a much better position to bargain with NATO or the U.S. over the next years, over all kinds of foreign policy issues. So it's not just about Ukraine. You know, people who think that somehow if Ukraine falls or if Ukraine negotiates and surrenders or pleases Russia, Russia will not use the new political capital or geopolitical capital it will get in this victory. To further some of its agenda. Well, those people are mistaken.

FOSTER: There is a thought that President Putin is really just holding the front lines until Donald Trump wins, if indeed that is the case of the U.S. election. Is that your feeling too, that if Ukraine doesn't get the money it needs to make the progress it wants and Russia doesn't have the incentive for now, that the front lines will just hold and it will become this war in the virtual space as much as anything else?

[03:09:56]

MYLOVANOV: I'm not sure that's true. So I think one aspect of this is definitely correct, that Russia is, at least there is a feeling here that Russia is counting on more and more political fighting in the United States as the election drove closer. And maybe after the elections happen, depending on the outcome, Russia will have some more policy space.

But it is not true that they're just holding the line. They're actively moving but they actively harassing even in the Ukrainian troops even in those areas where there is no active combat and while the line is moving by a mile a day or by half a mile a day the number of people of losses are staggering and we just heard reports about the Russian losses, but there are Ukrainians losses, too. So while the territory might not be moving very fast to be truly visible from outside, people are dying on both sides.

FOSTER: The reality is, though, isn't it, if you look at some of the political movements in Eastern Europe, for example, and in the U.S., that Ukraine is losing support, actual support, if not moral support. There may be countries broadly behind Ukraine, but they're not willing to offer the same sort of resources they were in the past.

MYLOVANOV: Well, yes, but, and no, again, it's a little bit more complex than that. The public support, as you mentioned, moral support is there. Germany is actually has increased over the duration of this war. The support has become much more solid. But of course, there is Hungary, there is Slovakia, and they are creating a lot of pressure and a lot of resistance. There is also an economic blockade, de facto now from Poland to all the way to Hungary now, well, not complete, but it's there. It's adding to the sea blockade imposed by Russia. So, you know, those blockades are not complete, but I fear Ukraine does feel surrounded and in a very tight spot.

I do hope, however, that the newly-voted Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, will mitigate and will bring some balance and reason to this situation. Because if there is a strategic interest for some countries, it's truly for the Eastern European countries that Russia doesn't get the upper hand. They stand to lose the most.

FOSTER: Okay. Timothy Milovanov in Kyiv. Thank you so much for joining us today.

The Israeli military now says nine soldiers have been killed in a single incident in northern Gaza as the ongoing battle against Hamas intensifies and expands. One of those killed was a battalion commander. This is one of the deadliest days for Israeli forces since ground operations began in Gaza in October. We heard earlier from retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and CNN military analyst Cedric Leighton about this latest incident.

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COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It sounds like it may have been something where they thought they could set up a battalion headquarters, a forward headquarters, and that headquarters was either compromised or somehow attacked either by booby trap or some other means. And that was what possibly resulted in these deaths.

So if that is the case, you know, it clearly represents the possibility that Hamas is, you know, not only still alive and moving around in northern Gaza. It also represents the possibility that they have capabilities that the Israelis have not been able to neutralize at this point. And that, of course, spells a potential danger for other Israeli forces in that area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Meanwhile, the rift between the U.S. and Israel now spilling into public view. It's reflecting growing differences between the two allies as Israel intensifies its war against Hamas, and the civilian death toll in Gaza rises. CNN's Alex Marquardt has the details from Tel Aviv.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): The deeper Israel gets into its war in Gaza, the more discomfort the U.S. is expressing as Israel's closest ally.

The most pointed comments yet from President Joe Biden telling donors that Israel is losing global support and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs to change tactics, which Biden says is difficult with Israel's current government. the most right-wing in Israeli history.

The conservative poll by far-right ministers means Israel, quote, "doesn't want a two-state solution," Biden said.

BIDEN: Two states for two peoples, and it's more important now than ever.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): All indications are that is not Netanyahu's goal.

In a taped message before Biden's comments, Netanyahu admitted there are differences in who the two countries believe will govern Palestinians after the war. But Netanyahu knows how critical American support is, thanking the U.S. after it was the only country to vote against the U.N. Security Council's resolution for an immediate ceasefire.

[03:15:02]

Israel is still battling militants in Gaza's north while pushing south. The IDF claims to have killed an estimated 7,000 militants, while the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health says that over 18,000 people have been killed in Gaza, with almost the entire population displaced.

Biden's national security adviser is telling CNN that Israel must open this Karam Shalom border crossing to allowed aid directly into Gaza. Jake Sullivan says they're telling Israel it's an emergency. We are asking you to do this ASAP, he says, because of the nature of the humanitarian situation on the ground.

We saw aid trucks being inspected, but they're still being routed through Egypt.

MARQUARDT: Right here is where Egypt, Israel and the Gaza Strip all meet. These trucks coming into Israel from Egypt could, in theory, go straight into Gaza to deliver that aid, but for now, that is something the Israeli government is not allowing.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): Humanitarian groups describe horrendous conditions for displaced Palestinians. This mother trying to push rainwater out of the tent that she shares with nine children, including a baby.

Damn Hamas and Israel, it's enough for us, says Fatma. Have mercy on us and stop, or let Israel kill us all and give us relief.

13-year-old Rana says her family has nine people in their tent, also full of water.

My siblings are freezing, Rana says. We don't know what to do. We want to go back to our homes and not drown.

Alex Marquardt, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Elliot's here with more on these Israeli casualties in Gaza. And this is one of the worst incidents they've had so far.

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: It is. So the death toll we were earlier told this morning was seven. In fact, that's now been upgraded to nine people, nine Israeli soldiers being killed in a single incident. They're from the Golani Brigade mostly, which is one of the commando units and includes a brigade commander, and it's not the deadliest. The deadliest was October 31st to November the 1st, when 11 were killed in a single incident, but clearly this is a blow to Israel.

Now we don't have the full details, official details from the IDF. They have been briefing military correspondents in Israel, and what seems to have happened is that Israeli soldiers came under fire in Shijaya, that's just east of Gaza City, one of the last two holdouts or strongholds of Hamas that the IDF is targeting. They were in Shijaya, they came under fire, a detonation of an explosive device, probably an IED of some sort.

They then went into a building. Other troops tried to join them or to help them. Another explosion went off and those explosions seem to have been responsible for this large number of casualties. And that brings the overall death toll for Israeli soldiers since the ground operations began in earnest around the 27th of October to 115.

FOSTER: In terms of the progress in that northern part of Gaza, there was a suggestion that they'd cleared the area, but clearly they're still trying to make sense of it and where Hamas are hiding out.

GOTKINE: The defense minister, Yoav Galant, was talking about how Hamas was being dismantled there and how fighters were surrendering, giving up their weapons. They said they were running out of weapons, they were running out of arms, but the job wasn't yet done.

And there's no greater evidence of that than this incident, which has killed nine Israeli soldiers and wounded others as well. There was another incident where another soldier was killed. So 10 in total, it seems, for Tuesday. But yeah, so they're still trying to finish the job from their perspective in the North, but at the same time, of course, we've seen them focusing their attention more on Khan Younis in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, the second biggest city in the enclave, where they believe that Yahya Sinwar and the other Hamas leadership and masterminds of the October the 7th massacre are hiding underground.

FOSTER: How do they know when they've dismantled Hamas?

GOTKINE: I suppose it's in the eye of the beholder. Does dismantling Hamas mean that there's no rocket fire or less rocket fire? Does it mean that they simply no longer have the capability to carry out a rampage of the sort that they did on October the 7th? Does it mean that they no longer have the capacity to govern? I'm sure that different people interpret it in different ways.

And we assume that at some point the U.S. perhaps will put enough pressure on Israel to say, okay, enough is enough. And there will be some way of Netanyahu trying to sell this to the Israeli public as mission accomplished. But I think no one's under any illusions that destroying Hamas is going to take time. And the question is, is Israel going to have that time in order to carry out that objective or fulfill that objective, even if such an objective is possible?

FOSTER: Elliott, thank you.

A new agreement to curb global warming has been announced at COP28, the summit there. But does it go far enough to protect the future of our planet?

[03:20:05]

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FOSTER: An historic deal has just been announced at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai. It urges nations for the first time to transition away from fossil fuels, blamed for global warming. But the new deal doesn't obligate countries to phase them out altogether. Instead, it presents a series of eight options to reduce emissions and asks countries to quote "contribute to the goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050." While the agreement leaves open loopholes that will allow the continued use of coal, oil and gas. Some climate experts say this really does mark the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era.

David McKenzie joins us for more reaction on the deal. And we can't underestimate how hard it was to get the words fossil fuels even into this announcement.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right Max. If you look at the draft that we saw yesterday about the attempt to get fossil fuels in there, it wasn't even in that draft communique from the COP28 summit. So yes, this is certainly progress. Many countries are lauding this deal, even activists saying that this shows a historic move away from fossil fuels in the near future to allow the world to combat the very worst impacts of the climate crisis.

There are loopholes and already people are pointing out that calling for an option of carbon capture and unproven technology on a large scale does present loopholes for countries that are still looking to exploit their fossil fuels. But you know, just I'm looking at some of the key wording here, you know, accelerating towards the phase down of unabated coal power. That's a very significant move. The world has been addicted to coal for, you know, hundreds of years

now. And this will be. potentially a very important meeting. The COP President, Sultan Al-Jaber, said this was a historic moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SULTAN AL JABER, MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY OF THE UAE: We have delivered a comprehensive response to the global stock- take and all other mandates. Together, we have confronted realities and we have set the world in the right direction. We have given it a robust action plan to keep 1.5 within reach.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKENZIE: Well, the key will be implementing this plan. And because it doesn't dictate that countries need to phase out fossil fuels, there'll still be a lot of horse trading, I think, in the future. Max?

FOSTER: What do you think, one round, those holdouts, countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq?

MCKENZIE: I think it was an enormous amount of pressure coming from many nations. More than 100 nations were wanting to have more direct language in there.

[03:25:03]

Now that includes fossil fuel giants like the U.S. and the European Union bloc of nations, but also countries in the Pacific Islands that are facing the worst ravages of the climate crisis. I think both the moral authority and the pressure coming from the United Nations and others pulled this over the line.

But it is typical in these kind of negotiations to move towards one extreme and then kind of meet somewhere in the middle. This is a consensus approach by nearly 200 nations of the earth. And again, it's worth stressing that what actually happens now is that countries actually have to put their money where their mouth is and make this transition happen in the next 10 to 20 years. Max?

FOSTER: Absolutely. David McKenzie, thank you.

Now, an alarming new report about the health of our planet says the Arctic region this year experienced its hottest summer on record. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that Arctic temperatures hit a record 43 degrees Fahrenheit or around 6 degrees Celsius. It also reports sea ice is continuing to shrink, exposing the dark surface of the ocean, which means it's absorbing more heat from the sun have reported that 2023 will officially be the hottest year on record worldwide.

A short while ago, tropical cyclone Jasper made landfall over Queensland in northeastern Australia, bringing with it wind gusts of up to 140 kilometers an hour. Along the coast, there's a risk of dangerous flash flooding brought by intense rain. Ahead of the storm, residents prepared by moving outdoor furniture and laying down sandbags. Here's one resident.

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UNKNOWN: Well, it'll be interesting, it'll be a bit of a show, but it's not going to be much fun, but we've got to be ready for it and we're trying to be ready for it because we heard the mayor...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, we'll keep you updated on the storm as it continues to impact that part of Australia.

Now, still to come. Ukraine's President visits Washington pleading for military aid, but are his hopes of getting a deal now over?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: The U.S. president warning Republicans that halting security aid for Ukraine would be the greatest Christmas gift for Russia's Vladimir Putin. But not even an in-person plea from Ukraine's president is getting them to budge. CNN's Manu Raju has details on the deadlock in Congress.

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MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fears in the capital that Ukraine aid could be stalled permanently. amid a dispute over immigration that has completely stymied negotiations in the Senate.

[03:30:00]

Republicans they are demanding that aid to Ukraine be paired with stricter border policies. And Democrats say that what the Republicans are proposing is just far too much than they are willing to accept.

The end result, a bill that they try to advance, Democrats did, without those stricter border measures failed in the senate on Wednesday evening.

Now, one of the key Republican negotiators, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, told me that he believes that something needs to be done now, because there will be a migrant surge at the border even worse than now if Donald Trump becomes president and migrants, believing that they need to come over the border now before 2025.

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): You have a presidential candidate who says he will close the border on day one. Donald Trump said that within the last 48 hours. He is likely to be the nominee and likely to win the race. What do you think is going to happen with future flows next year? They're going to double over the four-time increase in the last year of Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: But there is so much uncertainty about how this ultimately will get resolved, given the divide over the policy, as well as the process. The Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, wants to move these bills individually, Ukraine aid, Israel aid, as well as dealing with the border tied, have the border tied to Ukraine.

Democrats want Israel and Ukraine and everything else tied together as one big package, but they first have to agree on the policy. And they are nowhere near an agreement on that, which is why there is a belief in the Capitol that members will leave town for the holidays without dealing with aid to Ukraine at a time when the White House warns that urgent action is needed or Ukraine will be kneecapped in its war against Russia.

Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Clare Sebastian tracking all those developments. I think what we learned from yesterday is that Zelenskyy's political capital has pretty much run out in Washington. It all depends on whether Biden can reach this deal on the border.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think the question is how much Biden's political capital on immigration is he willing to give up and support Ukraine?

FOSTER: Yes.

SEBASTIAN: He did hint in the press conference they are looking for compromise. His team is working with Republican and Democratic senators to try to find a way through this. But I mean, for Zelenskyy, it was an impossible task. Right? He came, he had to come, he had to show to his people that he's doing everything he can to try to get this aid. But he was embroiled in these partisan politics.

And you can see him treading this fine line. Senators coming out of that meeting said that he sort of studiously avoided talking about immigration, instead trying to focus on the issues where he could potentially move the needle, like trying to reassure senators that there wouldn't be a corruption issue when it comes to U.S. aid money flowing in.

Obviously, we've had comments like they don't want a blank check, things like that, in the past, talking up Ukraine successes, saying they've taken back 50 percent of the territory that Russia took at the beginning of the war.

Now, of course Ukrainians are watching this very closely. But I think would be an understatement to say Russians are watching it very closely as well. We have a reaction this morning from the Russian ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, who said Zelenskyy's trip turned out to be completely lacking of substance, an empty attempt, he said to show that Ukraine is more important than U.S. security proved to be a failure. Everyone is tired of the Kievan beggarman.

So they're using it as a way to sort of undermine, to mock Zelenskyy, which is something that they, that they do a lot. But watching very closely, because it's not nuance, Max. I mean, if more U.S. aid to Russia means less chances of winning. And of course, overnight, we see another missile attack on Kyiv, which

was thwarted, 10 missiles according to the Air Force shot down. But that's the third missile attack in five days after a long pause of some two and a half months. So this has Ukraine on edge because they are short, Zelenskyy said, of missile defense munitions.

FOSTER: Yes, because it's an air war, isn't it, as we go through the winter.

SEBASTIAN: Well, this is the big concern, that they are going to target critical infrastructure. And look, I spoke to Ukrainian M.P. who runs a commission that handles the flow of military aid into the country, and she said, look, as they ramp up the use of missiles, if we are going to see a major attack in the tens and hundreds of missiles, they don't have the munitions to put that down. And that will put the city at grave risk.

FOSTER: Yes, OK, Clare, thank you.

Israeli prime minister's office has revised the number of hostages held in Gaza down to 135, after the Israel Defense Forces reported that the bodies of two hostages have been recovered in Gaza.

The IDF says a 28-year-old woman and a soldier were taken hostage by Hamas during the October 7th attack. Their bodies were recovered during an operation that killed two IDF reserve soldiers. According to the hostages and missing persons family's forum, in her last phone call the woman asked her father to look after her to hunting dogs.

The ongoing Israeli ground offensive in Gaza has resulted in deteriorating living conditions, which are contributing to the spread of several infectious diseases. Palestinian and international medical authorities report thousands of cases of chicken pox, meningitis, upper respiratory illnesses, lice, scabies, and skin rashes.

[03:35:05]

And on Tuesday, harsh weather dealt another blow in a camp for displaced families. Intense rainfall caused flash flooding in many tents, soaking mattresses and leaving families with no dry place to sleep. One humanitarian expert describes the dire situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE ENGLISH, EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST, UNICEF: When we speak to parents, they are exhausted mentally, physically, just absolutely shattered by the exertion of trying to keep their children alive on a day-to-day basis.

You know, it is hard to imagine just the sheer level of terror, of pain, of misery that families are going through every day, each and every day, and parents are making impossible choices. Do you stay? Do you take the risk of moving when we've seen the fighting move around the territory?

Even basics like water, you know, is now potentially a death threat for children. We know that there is just not enough, and the water that is there could make children sick. So, it's impossible choices for parents and, you know, at the moment, sadly, no end in sight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Israel's military says it struck Syrian army targets and Hezbollah positions in Lebanon amid fresh exchanges along its northern border. Israel says the strikes are in response to launches from inside Syria and missile and mortify coming from Lebanese territory.

Cross border exchanges have become a daily occurrence since the Hamas attack on Israel on October the 7th.

CNN's Ivan Watson rode along with U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon and filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: On patrol with United Nations peacekeepers, armored personnel carriers rumbling through towns and villages of southern Lebanon. This is what a daily patrol looks like for the U.N. peacekeepers and as you can see, they take security very, very seriously.

Communities near the border with neighboring Israel appear all but deserted. That's because this tense border region has been the scene of a deadly cross-border conflict between the Israeli military and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah.

That is the Israeli security fence, just a couple of hundred yards away. And this United Nations peacekeeping post is as close as we can safely get to the Lebanese border with Israel, which has been a front line now in a conflict that's gone on for more than two months.

From this post, we can easily see the Israeli village of Avivim, also apparently deserted.

ESSIE O'CONNELL, COMMANDER, UNITED NATIONS INTERIM FORCE IN LEBANON: It's quieter today. Earlier this morning there was a few explosions heard to our east.

WATSON: Lieutenant Essie O'Connell commands a platoon of around 30 Irish and Maltese soldiers at this small outpost. Have any of these explosions, any of these munitions come close to this position?

O'CONNELL: Yes, we've had some land two, 300 meters away from the position here.

WATSON: The UNIFIL peacekeeping force has been deployed in southern Lebanon since 1978 and currently consists of more than 10,000 troops. Its primary mission is to monitor this tense border and help the Lebanese armed forces take over security here.

STEPHEN MACEOIN, COMMANDER, UNITED NATIONS INTERIM FORCE IN LEBANON: Our very presence here makes it very, very difficult for actors on either side to do, shall we say, unsavory things in this area. WATSON: Southern Lebanon is the stronghold of the powerful Iranian-

backed Hezbollah militia, whose guerrilla fighters blend into the countryside.

Hezbollah says it is attacking Israel to show support for Palestinians in Gaza. And the Israeli military is quick to retaliate.

MACEOIN: We have seen advanced anti-tank guided missiles. We've seen air strikes. We've seen artillery strikes. We've seen small arms fire.

WATSON: Despite these weapons, the peacekeepers only have a mandate to shoot in self-defense, and their mission is dangerous. During a month- long war with Hezbollah in 2006, Israeli strikes killed five U.N. peacekeepers and wounded many more. And last year, Lebanese gunmen attacked a UNIFIL vehicle, killing an Irish peacekeeper and wounding three others.

Hezbollah denied a Lebanese judge's accusation that the chief suspect was a Hezbollah member. At sunset, the engines of Israeli drones echo over the hills.

MACEOIN: There are ordinary men, women and children living here in South Lebanon. And indeed, across the border in Israel. My hope is that the conflict will recede. But am I concerned that it will escalate? Absolutely.

WATSON: Peacekeepers are afraid they can't stop this conflict from spiraling into a much bigger war.

Ivan Watson, CNN on the Lebanese border with Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[03:39:53]

FOSTER: There's outrage in Poland after a far-right lawmaker disrupted a Hanukkah celebration in parliament on Tuesday. You see the politician here grabbing a fire extinguisher and using it to put out the candles on a large menorah. He then took to the podium in the chamber to describe the Jewish holiday as quote, "satanic."

The parliament speaker excluded him from the city, sitting saying there will be no tolerance for racism, xenophobia, or anti-Semitism.

Still to come, dozens of new cooperation deals signed between China and Vietnam, including on maritime security in the disputed South China Sea.

We'll have a live report from Beijing on Xi Jinping's state visit to Hanoi.

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FOSTER: Vietnam says 36 cooperation deals have been signed with China during President Xi Jinping's two-day state visit to Hanoi. They reportedly include agreements on maritime security in the disputed South China Sea.

According to Chinese state media, Xi says China's relationship with Vietnam is a priority in building neighborhood diplomacy and he praised their strategic and economic partnership.

Xi's visit comes just three months after U.S. President Joe Biden was in Vietnam looking to strengthen ties with China's neighbor.

CNN's Marc Stewart joins us now from Beijing. It does feel as though Vietnam is a really crucial country in the center of this geopolitical axis between the U.S. and China.

MARC STEWART, BUSINESS JOURNALIST: Absolutely, Max. If you look at the landscape, Vietnam, especially in recent years, has become almost a destination in the sense that it's a real economic powerhouse, especially after the pandemic. It's where many American companies went as an alternative to China.

So if we look at the landscape right now, we have two nations, Vietnam and China, which are neighbors to each other. They are both communist nations, yet at the same time, they have had some rivalry. Namely, focusing on the South China Sea.

But we are getting word from state media, really on both sides, that there is this new positioning of relations. That's a phrase that we've heard from Chinese state media.

It was certainly a warm reception in Vietnam for Chinese President Xi. There were children lighting the streets with flags. There was a 21- gun salute. There was a military-band serenade. And then on Wednesday, Xi met with Vietnam's president as well as the prime minister.

Let's go back though to this issue of the South China Sea. It is a contentious issue as it is with many nations in this part of the world, including with Vietnam. But according to state media reports, they've agreed China and Vietnam to build trust and to build cooperation, including maritime patrols in the Gulf of Tonkin, according to state media. And that's a real pivotal area off Vietnam's coast.

[03:44:55]

Also, a hotline is going be set up between these two nations if there's any kind of issues, particularly around fishing. But it shows this idea of cooperation, maritime cooperation, as well as also a lot of talk about economic cooperation.

But Max, we can't ignore the timing about all of this. As you mentioned, President Biden was in Vietnam earlier this year in the fall at a time when Vietnam is trying to build up its economic resources, also sharing its concerns with the South China Sea.

The last time though President Xi was in Vietnam, Max, was about six years ago. So, a lot of symbolism behind this visit, as well as these substantive agreements. FOSTER: Will it get to the point where Vietnam has to pick sides or

can it work with both partners?

STEWART: Well, I think it really wants to work with both partners. And I think that that's why it certainly expressed, for lack of better words, respect to President Xi and said we want to move forward on many of these issues.

And there were some issues of wording. We know that Vietnam has been reticent to take money from the Belt and Road Initiative, which is China's big economic program, but it clearly sees this need to be diplomatic force to both the West and to its communist neighbor.

FOSTER: And it was interesting seeing Xi just travel outside China. Are we going to see more of that, do you feel, as tensions rise around the world?

STEWART: Well, Xi Jinping is really on this effort to show the world that there is an alternative to the West. It's not just the United States way of handling things. We've talked about before this idea of a new world order.

So in order to promote that, expect to see that him on the move, perhaps. You know, the COVID restrictions have been lifted. China was, of course, one of the last places in the world to lift those restrictions. We just saw him at the APEC summit meeting with President Biden.

So, when he is on the move like this, because it is still somewhat novel, he is getting a lot of attention and of course generating headlines.

FOSTER: Absolutely. Marc Stewart in Beijing. Thank you.

Twenty-three Pakistani soldiers killed in a deadly terror attack on Tuesday. Officials say a six-man suicide squad attempted to drive a truck full of explosives into a military camp. It's the deadliest attack on that country's armed forces this year. Another assault on Tuesday ended with the death of 54 militants.

The attacks come less than two months before Pakistan's general election. And there are concerns about holding the vote amid a surge in militant violence.

British lawmakers have advanced the government's controversial plan to deport many migrants to Rwanda for processing, despite widespread criticism and divisions within the ruling conservative party. The draft bill passed its first parliamentary hurdle on Tuesday. With 313 lawmakers voting for the legislation and 269 against, dozens of right- wing conservative M.P.s abstained over objections the bill is not tough enough.

The draft legislation was revived and rewritten to override legal challenges. The conservative government defended the bill's legality in parliament.

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JAMES CLEVERLY, BRITISH HOME SECRETARY: The new treaty that I signed last week with Rwanda and the bill that accompanies it are game changing. The principle of relocating people to a safe country to have their asylum claim processed there is entirely consistent with the terms of the Refugee Convention. Both the High Court and the Court of Appeal unanimously, unanimously confirmed this point.

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FOSTER: The legislation is likely to face additional challenges from lawmakers on all sides, as well as opposition from the upper chamber, the House of Lords.

Argentina is set to devalue the peso by more than 50 percent. As part of emergency reforms to fight hyperinflation and boost its struggling economy, the conversion rate changes from 365 pesos to 800 pesos per dollar. It was announced on Tuesday, along with cuts to public works projects, and energy subsidies.

The sweeping reforms come just days into the term of the new president, Javier Milei, who campaigned on a pledge to get rid of the peso and replace it with the dollar. The president said during his inauguration on Sunday, the country will have to endure a period of hardship before it can move forward.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says he'll sit down with the president of neighboring Guyana on Thursday to discuss a growing territorial dispute. Venezuela has proposed creating its own state on a massive oil-rich stretch of land inside Guyana, raising fears of conflict. It's a dispute that goes back more than a century, as CNN's Isa Soares reports.

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[03:49:59]

ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's an outlandish attempt at a land grab that has the world on edge. Long live the full map of Venezuela. This is President Nicolas Maduro revealing his new vision a larger, a more powerful Venezuela. Which includes Esequibo, a lush and vast patch of land that makes up two-thirds of neighboring Guyana.

Maduro is now threatening to invade Guyana after an incendiary referendum at home backed his bid to claim sovereignty over the territory.

Let's publish and take to all the schools, high schools and universities of the country the new map of Venezuela, he says. Across the border, Guyana's President Irfaan Ali is ringing alarm bells.

IRFAAN ALI, PRESIDENT OF GUYANA: This is a direct threat to Guyana's territorial integrity, sovereignty, and political independence.

SOARES: Roughly the size of Florida, Esequibo has been a part of Guyana since 1899 when international arbitrators set the current borders. Venezuela has long sought to control the territory. And the discovery of more than 11 billion barrels of oil and gas off Guyana's coast by oil giant ExxonMobil in 2015, which put the country on track to become the world's highest per capita oil producer, has only emboldened Maduro.

Now he's escalating tensions even further. Naming a major general as the head of the new Esequibo state, and telling oil companies operating in the region they have three months to pack up and leave.

This, as he orders Venezuela's national oil company to start exploring the area. He immediately will proceed to give operating licenses for the exploration and exploitation of oil, gas and mines in all of Guyana Esequibo, he says. It's a move out of President Putin's playbook. And the fear, Guyana's president tells me, is that Maduro feels empowered by the Russian leader's invasion of Ukraine.

ALI: We cannot allow a situation like Ukraine in this Western Hemisphere. We cannot allow the annexation of a territory in this Western Hemisphere.

SOARES: Allies and neighbors too are taking note. Brazil's President Lula da Silva has ordered additional troops and armored vehicles to his northern border.

Something we don't need in South America's war. We don't need a war. We don't need conflict, he says. What we need is to build peace.

And long-time ally, the United States, is conducting flight operations within Guyana, while throwing its support for the country's sovereignty and robust security.

Isa Soares, CNN, London.

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FOSTER: Chaos on the football field in Turkey after a club president punches a referee in the face. We'll tell you what happened next after a quick break.

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FOSTER: The world of Turkish football is in turmoil after a club's president went onto the pitch and punched a referee in the face. The president has resigned and the Turkish Football Federation has suspended matches across all leagues.

CNN's Scott McLean has more from Istanbul.

[03:54:58]

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SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the man who ran onto the pitch of a top-tier football match in Turkey on Monday and punched a referee in the face is facing criminal charges. He has also now resigned from his job. That job, by the way, is as the president of one of the teams that was playing.

Now, in the video, you can see Faruk Koca, the president of Ankaragucu, a mid-table team in the Turkish Super League, run onto the pitch and deliver a blow directly to the ref's face. Two other people kicked him while he was down. Not long after that, ref had a very noticeable black eye.

Now Koja was arrested by police not long after announcing his resignation on Tuesday saying in part, quote, "in order to avoid any further harm to the Ankaragucu Club, Ankaragucu fans, the community I am in and my family, I would like to announce that I have resigned. I hope that this incident, which I more than anyone else cannot accept, will provide a reason for purification of shortcomings and a culture of violence."

This, though, is a far cry from his initial statements after the match. He told Turkish state news agency Anadolu that he lashed out because of the referee's wrong decisions in the game and said his aim was to react verbally and spit in the ref's face. He said he slapped the ref rather than punched him and denied that his supposed slap could have caused the referee's skull to be fractured as his doctor reported.

Now according to CNN Turkey told another TV channel that he blacked out and didn't remember what he did. The Turkish Football Federation announced that all matches in the top tiers had been suspended indefinitely and the referee's association called on refs not to work any matches in protest.

The incident has received widespread condemnation across Turkey right up to the president Recep Tayyip Erdogan who called the referee in his hospital room to wish him a quick recovery.

Scott McLean, CNN, Istanbul.

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FOSTER: The James Webb Telescope giving scientists a rare glimpse of the aftermath of a supernova. This is the closest and most detailed look ever inside an exploded star. The supernova remnant known as Cassiopeia A has intrigued scientists for decades. Analyzing the image could help researchers better understand what fuels a supernova and how, and why they happen really.

Thanks for joining me. I'm Max Foster. I'll be back with more CNN Newsroom after the break.

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