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Netanyahu Under Pressure Over Hostages' Killing; Al Jazeera Journalist Dies After Israel Attack In Gaza; U.S. Lawmakers To Resume Talks On Ukraine, Israel Aid; Trump Repeats Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric At Campaign Rally; Ukraine Facing New Challenges As U.S., E.U. Aid Stalls; Taiwan Faces Disinformation Campaign Ahead Of Crucial Election; Senior Italian Cardinal Convicted Of Embezzlement. Aired 5- 6a ET

Aired December 17, 2023 - 05:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:00:33]

NICK WATT, CNN HOST: Welcome to all of you watching here in the United States, Canada, and around the world. I'm Nick Watt. Ahead on CNN Newsroom. CNN has just learned that hostage talks involving Israel's Mossad and Qatar have taken place, as crowds demand the safe return of those still held captive in Gaza.

Heavy rain and strong winds currently battering the state of Florida, are making their way north. We'll have the East Coast forecast.

Plus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They're poisoning the blood of our country. That's what they've done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: Donald Trump's latest anti-immigrant remarks on the campaign trail and how the Biden team is calling him out.

We begin with the growing anger and political pushback in Israel against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's military strategy to bring hostages held in Gaza back home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Without the military pressure, we would not have succeeded in creating an outline that led to the release of 110 hostages. And only continued military pressure will lead to the releases of all of our hostages. My directive to the negotiating team is based on this pressure, without which we would have nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WATT: Mr. Netanyahu spoke after IDF troops mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages while they were shirtless and waving a white flag. Israel's military now says it had no advance intelligence about those hostages and that soldiers did not expect to be approached by them. A preliminary review of the incident has been completed by the IDF and CNN is working to obtain that.

Meanwhile, a source tells CNN that Israel's Spy Chief, Mossad Director David Barnea, has now met with Qatar's Prime Minister in Europe for talks about hostages. We're still waiting to get more details. But in Israel, the deaths of those three hostages have created a political firestorm for Mr. Netanyahu, with protests continuing into a second day on Saturday.

Elliott Gotkine is monitoring developments. He joins us now from London. Elliott, I think we've got to start with this Mossad meeting with Qatar. How significant could that be?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Potentially it could be very significant, Nick. Let's not forget that it is the Mossad Chief David Barnea. He is Israel's go-to guy for these negotiations with the Qataris and the Qataris of course have been dealing with Hamas. There's no direct contact naturally, so the Mossad Chief has been speaking with the Qataris who have then in turn been speaking with Hamas' political representatives in Doha.

So that will perhaps give a spark of hope to the families of those 129 hostages, 21 of them believe to be dead, still being held captive inside the Gaza Strip ever since they were abducted during Hamas's massacre of October the 7th. Because there will be hopes that at least something is happening but of course it was only just last week we were there are a few developments which was that David Barnea was due to go to Doha. We learned that that trip was cancelled by the Israeli government.

We also heard even from sources in the United States that Hamas just wasn't prepared to talk right now. There was no one on the other side of the negotiating table and of course it was difficult enough to get that first truce in place and get those 110 hostages freed by Hamas in exchange for Israel releasing Palestinian prisoners.

Now, it's become even more difficult because Israel has to speak to the Qataris. The Qataris have to speak to the Hamas political representatives in Doha who then have to speak to the military fighters of Hamas inside the Gaza Strip who of course are doing their very, very best to avoid being detected and killed by the Israelis who are doing their very best to kill them.

So it's a much more complicated situation than it was before. But certainly this meeting will signal to the families who still have loved ones being held captive in the Gaza Strip for more than two months now that at least something is being done and perhaps the government is paying heed to their demands to make getting those hostages, get them freed, get them back into Israel right now as the number one priority as opposed to seemingly having the military operations as the number one priority, Nick. [05:05:20]

WATT: I mean, Elliott, Israel is -- they're playing a very difficult game here. I mean, they're trying to eliminate Hamas. They're trying to get these hostages back. And now they're also trying to talk to Hamas. I mean, this is not an easy situation that they're in.

GOTKINE: And I think, Nick, to be fair, Israel has always said, this is not going to be easy to fulfill all of those objectives, but it is prepared to do everything that it can to fulfill them. And, of course, the trauma of October the 7th is still very raw in Israel. And this now news of Israeli forces themselves accidentally killing three Israeli hostages who were tantalizingly close to freedom will just kind of add to the trauma. And we did hear contrition, responsibility from the Chief of the General Saff, Herzi Halevi, and also from the Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant. But they all still insist that the way to get the hostages back is to keep up the military pressure on them.

WATT: Elliott Gotkine in London, thanks very much.

Now, earlier I spoke with Mark Regev, Senior Adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. I asked him about the international pressure Israel is facing to implement a ceasefire in Gaza and how that pressure impacts the Israeli government.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK REGEV, SENIOR ADVISER TO ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Of course, we listen very closely to international interlocutors and especially to our good friends, the Americans. Of course, we take what they say very seriously, and I believe what we say to them, they take seriously.

And we are, as we as we pursue Hamas, and we will defeat Hamas, we will destroy its military machine, we will end their rule of Gaza, but as we pursue that campaign, we are very aware that we have to, at the same time, in parallel, work to safeguard the civilian population. We don't want to see unnecessary death. And at the same time, of course, augment the humanitarian effort. And as you know, just recently, we opened up the Kerem Shalom crossing for supplies to come in from Egypt to the Gaza Strip.

We want to make sure that the civilian population of Gaza receives food, medicine, water, shelter. Ultimately, the target of operation is Hamas and not Gaza civilians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Now, Al Jazeera is accusing Israel of assassinating one of its journalists in southern Gaza this weekend. The Qatari News Network says Israel Defense Forces are deliberately targeting its journalists in the conflict, something Israel strongly denies.

CNN's Melissa Bell has the story, and a warning her report contains graphic and distressing images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The sounds of yet another family in Gaza torn apart by grief. Nothing, it seems, can shield the civilians here from the nightmares of this war, neither age, nor location, nor profession. Journalists are meant to be protected, a reflection of the importance of their work shining a light onto the dark horrors of a conflict now in its 11th week.

Instead, it has now taken yet another journalist's life. Samir Abu Dhaka, a cameraman for Al Jazeera, was killed according to the network in the southern city of Khan Younis.

WAEL DAHDOUH, AL JAZEERA GAZA BUREAU CHIEF (through translator): We made the report, we filmed and we were done. The civil defense was with us while we were leaving they hit us with a rocket.

BELL: For Al Jazeera's Gaza Bureau Chief injured in the strike alongside his colleague, the cost of this war was already unimaginable.

Wael Dahdouh lost his wife, daughter, son and grandson in an Israeli airstrike in late October, learning that his family had been killed while on air. His 15-year-old son, Al Jazeera said, had hoped to become a journalist, like his father. The network issued a statement Friday saying that it holds Israel accountable for systematically targeting and killing Al Jazeera journalists and their families.

HISHAM ZAQOUT, AL JAZEERA CORRESPONDENT (through translator): This is a new crime against Palestinian journalists that adds to the crimes of the Israeli occupation.

BELL: CNN cannot independently verify the allegations. On Saturday, the IDF told CNN it has never and will never deliberately target journalists.

[05:10:01]

But, just days ago, CNN's own reporting and analysis suggests that it was Israeli tank fire that killed Reuters journalist in southern Lebanon in October. The IDF says the incident is still under investigation.

Within Gaza, Abu Dhaka is one of the more than 60 journalists killed since the conflict began, according to figures from the committee to protect journalists, making this the deadliest war for reporters since tracking began in 1992.

Now, Wael Dahdouh, who buried his own family just weeks ago, is grieving once again, and once again saying goodbye as the light of Gaza's journalism shines a little bit fainter. Melissa Bell, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT: Now, as the deadly fighting between Israel and Hamas continues, so too does a dire humanitarian crisis. CNN has gathered a list of vetted organizations that are on the ground responding. You can find details on how you can help at a special section of our website, CNN.com/impact.

Almost 50 million people are under threat of severe weather today, as a strong storm system moving out of the Gulf of Mexico is expected to bring flooding, power outages, and travel headaches across the east coast through Monday. CNN Meteorologist Elisa Raffa has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The heavy rain continues in Florida this morning as flood watches continue through your Sunday morning. Some of that torrential rain continuing to work its way up the east coast. Coastal flooding also still a concern onshore wind continuing to slosh some of that ocean coastal erosion possible for some of those beaches.

Now the flood alerts have been extended up the east coast from D.C. Philly up towards Maine, 60 million people under the threat for some flooding across 17 states. The severe risk also continues to work its way up the east coast going into Sunday.

You see that yellow there, that's a level two out of five from Wilmington to Charleston. The greatest threat for some 60-mile power damaging winds and isolated tornadoes as the system just packed so much moisture and spin. You could see some of the heavy rain working its way into the Carolinas. All of those deep reds show where there could be some downpours from charlotte and then points east. It continues to work its way up with the heavy rain and gusty winds from the mid-Atlantic up into the northeast going into Monday.

New York, Boston could all see some pretty hefty downpours as we start out the work week here. Rain totals were looking at pretty widespread 24 inches of rain from the Carolinas up through the mid-Atlantic from New York and Boston. Some minor concerns for some of those rivers and streams that they'll have to keep watching as we start out the work week.

On top of this, the storm system is going to continue to strengthen right off the coast. So those winds are going to continue to spin and continue to pop. We're looking at some wind gusts from the Carolinas inland, probably 30 to 40 miles per hour. But on the coast, the outer banks could see some gusts up to 60 miles per hour.

Same thing from the tip end of Long Island, some 60 mile per hour gusts and then up from Massachusetts into Maine where you've got some high wind watches already. In effect, you could see the alerts. All of those brown colors there showing where you have these wind alerts that stretch up into the northeast. Again, that's through Monday.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT: Next, hopes that dialogue can break the deadlock, U.S. lawmakers on Capitol Hill are set to resume talks on aid packages to Israel and Ukraine, as the Republicans demand changes closer to home.

And dangerous anti-immigrant rhetoric from the Republican Party's front-runner for the presidential nomination, what Donald Trump said at a campaign rally on Saturday. That's ahead.

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[05:17:51]

WATT: In the coming days, negotiations will resume in Washington over funding for Israel and Ukraine, two American allies at war. As we've reported extensively, it's bogged down amid the partisan debate over U.S. border security. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez reports from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Senate negotiators and Biden administration officials wrapped another day of meetings on Saturday as they try to reach a consensus on border policy changes to pass a key supplemental funding request.

In October, the White House requested billions in additional funding for Ukraine and Israel, as well as for border security and other priorities. But that request has remained stalled as Republicans urge the White House to attach border policy changes to that supplemental as they're unhappy with the situation along the U.S. southern border.

Now, President Biden has said he is open to compromise. And Senate negotiators as well as White House officials have been working around the clock to discuss some potential changes.

Now, sources tell me some of the proposals on the table include, for example, raising the credible fear standard for asylum seekers, mandatory detention of migrants, as well as expanding a fast-track deportation procedure and expelling migrants at the U.S. southern border without giving them the chance to seek asylum.

Another sticking point, according to sources, is parole authority, which allows some migrants to temporarily live in the United States on a case-by-case basis. But all of these issues are complicated and officials and negotiators are trying to find some level of compromise to, again, push that supplemental funding request forward.

The President has repeatedly made the case that the request is not only for the national security of Ukraine and Israel, but also for U.S. National security. And he is urging all to get that supplemental across the finish line. Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT: Former U.S. President Donald Trump is once again lashing out at immigrants coming into the U.S. At a campaign event in New Hampshire on Saturday, he railed against migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border. CNN's Steve Contorno has the details.

[05:20:10]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Former President Donald Trump returned to the granite state for the first time in a month, continuing a ramp up of political activity heading into the final week before voters start to cast ballots in the Republican presidential primaries. During his remarks, President Trump continued the dark and what the civil rights group have said is xenophobic rhetoric about undocumented immigrants. Take a listen to what he said.

TRUMP: They're poisoning the blood of our country. That's what they've done. They poisoned mental institutions and prisons all over the world. Not just in South America, not just the three or four countries that we think about, but all over the world. They're coming into our country from Africa, from Asia, all over the world. They're pouring into our country.

CONTORNO: For former President Donald Trump, the focus of many of these recent campaign visits has to convince their supporters not to be complacent. They know what they're leading in the polls and there's been a lot of coverage about how much they're leading in the polls and they don't want their voters to think they don't have to show up at the caucuses or at the primaries.

He said they need to, quote, "weed out the insincere rhinos." He also spent a lot of time talking about New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, who endorsed his rival Nikki Haley this week, the former South Carolina Governor. Listen to what he had to say about Sununu.

TRUMP: So what he did is his wish was whatever he could do to stop Trump because he didn't like me and I didn't like him. But the thing is, I didn't like him. I always felt guilty. I gave New Hampshire everything they asked for and much more. And it's hard to do that when you can't stand the governor, right? what a selfish guy.

CONTORNO: While Trump was in New Hampshire, many of his rivals were in Iowa, the first nominating state. Their caucuses are going to be on January 15. DeSantis got there on Saturday and is going to be there for the next few days. Haley arrives Sunday and she will be spending the rest of the week there as well. Trump, meanwhile, will return to the Hawkeye State on Tuesday.

Steve Contorno, CNN, Durham, New Hampshire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT: U.S. President Joe Biden's campaign has reacted to Trump's rhetoric, saying he, quote, "parroted Adolf Hitler" in his remarks. CNN's Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein says Trump's rhetoric might not help him in the general election next year. Here's what he told CNN's Jim Acosta a little earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: The big picture is that the U.S. faces a situation that I believe we have not been in since arguably the two decades before the civil war. I mean, you really have to go back, I think, to John Calhoun's dominance, the South's dominance of the Democratic Party in the 1840s and 1850s to look at the last time, the dominant faction in one of our two parties was not committed to American democracy as we have understood it and practiced it throughout our history.

And this is an extraordinarily challenging and in many ways ominous situation for the country. Whatever happens in the 2024 election, Trump has shown there is an audience in the Republican coalition in particular for all of these kinds of arguments.

You know, in polls while he was president, 90% of Republicans said Christianity in the U.S. is under attack. Three quarters said that discrimination against whites is now a bigger problem as discrimination against minorities. And in multiple polls, 55% to 60% of Republicans said the traditional way of American life is disappearing so fast that true patriots may have to use force to preserve it.

So there is an audience for this. But as you note, there is also a substantial audience that has been mobilized in three consecutive elections to prevent this vision from being implemented. And we are in a position now where a majority of voters are unhappy about the economy, discontented about Biden, maybe think he's too old to run for another term. But it's a very different proposition to say that most Americans in the end will be able to -- will be willing to empower someone talking so explicitly, echoing fascist leaders from the darkest moments of the 20th Century.

I've said to you before, and I believe again, Trump throws Biden lifelines every day. Voters are unhappy with the way things are going in the country, but that doesn't mean they're willing to go in this direction either.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: That was CNN's Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein.

Now Chileans will head to the polls in just a few hours for a referendum on a new constitution. The current one dates back to Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship, and the proposed draft is seen as even more conservative. It strengthens free market principles and imposes strict rules around immigration. This is the second attempt to change the old constitution like the previous one. This time it's expected to fail as well.

Still to come, as Ukraine waits for much needed aid, new attacks hit multiple parts of the country.

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[05:28:17]

WATT: Now, the latest developments in Israel's war with Hamas. CNN has just learned from a source that Israel's Spy Chief, Mossad Director David Barnea, has met with Qatar's Prime Minister to talk about the hostages in Gaza. There's no word yet on the details of that meeting. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to

suggest on Saturday that new talks are underway to try to release more of the captives. He spoke publicly for the first time after the IDF mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages on Friday. Protests over those deaths continued for the second day on Saturday, turning up political pressure on Netanyahu.

Now, as Israel's war against Hamas rages on, Iran-backed proxy groups like the Houthi rebels in Yemen are ramping up attacks against U.S. and Israeli-link targets in the region. CNN's Katie Bo Lillis has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN REPORTER: A U.S. Navy ship shooting down 14 drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, this according to U.S. Central Command. This is the latest in a series of attacks by Houthi militants on apparent U.S. targets and on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden that the group says is in response or in retribution for the Israeli war inside of Gaza.

The Houthis are a broadly Iran-aligned militant group that U.S. officials believe are opportunistically seizing the moment to try to cast themselves in the region and at home as defenders of the Palestinian cause. They're not under direct command and control from Iran, but Iran does offer them weapons, training, funding.

[05:30:00]

The issue for the United States here is that while they are deeply concerned about securing shipping in the Bab al-Mandab Strait and beyond so that the global economy isn't impacted, they also want to avoid a situation where the Israel-Hamas conflict sucks in Iran and the United States directly.

So far, U.S. officials believe that Iran is calibrating its response to the Israeli invasion of Gaza by allowing proxy groups to launch attacks on the United States and Israeli-linked targets up to a certain threshold but not beyond.

That's why, in part, that you have seen the U.S. act with restraint so far and avoid responding directly to these Houthi attacks. They're trying to keep the situation from escalating.

U.S. officials also largely believe that they're capable of dealing with many of these Houthi-launched munitions. They have repeatedly shot down one-way drones. Homegrown Houthi ballistic missiles aren't seen as especially accurate. And the cruise missiles are a little bit more accurate, but it's not clear that they could actually sink a ship.

So, in this situation, it's likely that the Houthis were trying to use what's known as a swarm tactic, launching multiple drones to try to confuse and overcome U.S. air defenses by sheer numbers. Clearly, it doesn't appear that this worked in this instance. So I think the thing to watch here will be, at what point does the

Biden administration consider that these ongoing attacks from the Houthis have become so risky to international shipping that they can't go unanswered. At this point, not clear that that threshold has been reached.

Katie Bo Lillis, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT: To Ukraine now, an attacks across the country this weekend. Kyiv's air defense system says it intercepted at least 30 out of 31 drones, which targeted various regions, including the capital. We've also heard that at least one person was killed in a drone attack on the hard-hit city of Odesa on Sunday.

Odesa was attacked earlier this week as well. This, as at least one person was killed in Russian strikes on the southern Kherson region, according to military officials down there. This police bodycam footage shows a hospital being hit.

And this video shows new shelling on the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk, where an oil reservoir burst into flames. No immediate comment from authorities there or from Kyiv about exactly what happened.

Now, as Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russia seems to have stalled, so too has the arrival of major aid packages from both the E.U. and the U.S. It's dampening the mood in Kyiv, even after a week that saw the E.U. agree to open membership talks. Nick Paton Walsh has more from the Ukrainian capital.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It really has been an appalling week for Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy returning to the country here, putting a brave face on it, stalling the fact that they have now begun membership talks with the European Union, but apart from that, he's travelled to Washington, travelled in Europe, trying to bolster the possibility of funding, and he's resolutely failed.

The United States Congress really unable to get themselves together to continue the billions of funding that Ukraine so urgently needs, and the European Union too. While being sunny in their disposition about the veto Hungary put in preventing their 55 billion dollars of aid coming Ukraine's way, and saying they'll have another go in January. It's a Putin sympathizer, Viktor Orban of Hungary, who put that veto in and saw the morale impact on Ukraine's front lines already palpable, frankly before we heard all of this bad news.

The fact that the West was wavering, having a real impact on those in the trenches here, facing a bleak winter ahead, facing a renewed Russia, a Russia with billions of dollars to spare, and slowly getting its military industrial complex together. It's really a group of fringe Republicans, it's fair to say, that are

holding this up, some suggesting Ukraine should be able to present a finite goal for a finite price tag. Some saying, well hey, if you're losing the war, why should the U.S. give you more money if you're a loser, if you're winning the war, why do you need it, and if you're a stalemate war, then maybe now is a good time to negotiate.

Essentially blind to two things, the U.S.'s recent history of fighting long, complicated wars of choice, they should be aware of the trillion-dollar price tag of the messy state you can get into a conflict, where an end goal is often elusive, and also too, of Europe's previous century.

The history of what a power-Hungary, territory-Hungary power can indeed do, if not stopped, at an earlier moment. Desperately, Ukraine needing Western assistance, desperately now finding it not forthcoming, and Russia really re-equipping, Hungary as I say, to continue moving forwards.

[05:35:00]

We visited many frontline positions over the past two weeks in the west around Kherson where Ukraine's attempting a brave move across the river. There are suggestions that they are not seeing the progress they want.

And after you've got to the far east, they are losing ground, it seems, to Russia trying to take yet another town of minimal strategic significance with whatever resources they can throw at it. And at the same time, too, where the southern counter offensive should have yielded the most amount of gain we've seen troops there experiencing significant casualties and really struggling to hold the ground they gained.

It's going to be a bleak winter ahead, but really there's been a staggering failure, frankly, of U.S. politicians and of European unity to get those billions continuing to move. It will impact Ukraine as early as January, so a deep, dark few months ahead here for Ukrainians who've held on so long.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kyiv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT: Earlier I spoke with Tymofiy Mylovanov, President of Kyiv School of Economics. We discussed the wider concerns over the war, specifically how some in the West are having second thoughts about aid as another brutal winter closes in on Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TYMOFIY MYLOVANOV, PRESIDENT, KYIV SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: We haven't gotten the support from the United States and we haven't gotten the support from the E.U. We have gotten the formal opening of negotiations with the E.U. accession and at the victory. But it's a strategic medium to the long-term victory and there will be many more barriers and steps and milestones away. So you are correct. There is no funding and the E.U. case is particularly appalling. There is one person who is able to hold off aid while there is a broad consensus by the EU that this aid should be given.

The U.S. is slightly different. It's domestic politics, but it also, you know, shows you that Ukraine just got -- caught into the crosshairs of this debate about the South Border Control. And it's really, really unfortunate and it would be frankly ridiculous if Ukraine is going to lose because of this domestic political issue.

WATT: And how is President Zelenskyy trying to spin this back home? I mean, I imagine this, you know, hits morale of everybody in Ukraine who we've just described have been fighting, waiting, suffering long and hard. Is the President -- is Zelenskyy managing to spin this as not the disaster that perhaps it is?

MYLOVANOV: Well, it's a little bit different domestically in Ukraine. In the news, in the world, in the West, this is very black and white. You know, Ukraine needs help, Ukraine needs aid, it's not getting. Ukraine is not getting it. Is Ukraine winning, is Ukraine losing? Is their stalemate?

In Ukraine, it feels very, very different. We get attacked by Russia daily, at least Kyiv, and the East and South. So, for example, I myself experienced seven air alerts on Thursday, missiles on Wednesday, on Monday, drones overnight over my head tonight.

So, it's every day. So, you know, in some sense, we do not have a choice. And my morale is much more affected by what I hear about my friends dying in the front lines, rather than the aid.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT: In less than a month, voters in Taiwan will go to the polls to choose a new president and more than a hundred legislators. Taiwan intelligence has warned that China is once again working to influence the voting through disinformation and other tactics. CNN's Senior International Correspondent Will Ripley has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A chilling picture of weaponized Chinese disinformation. Deepfake videos, doctored audio, casting a sinister shadow over Taiwan's upcoming presidential election. CNN inside a closed-door briefing with senior intelligence officials in Taipei. Beijing's goal, they say, boosting the chances of candidates seen as friendlier to China to win next month's crucial presidential race.

A senior security official tells CNN Chinese leaders held a secret meeting in the mainland last month, hashing out election interference plans. The meeting, chaired by Wang Huning, the fourth-ranking leader of China's Communist Party.

Wang ordering officials to be more discreet. And Taiwanese intelligence tells CNN they even say the Chinese military is involved, claiming PLA Base 311, a psychological warfare unit in the mainland, is targeting the self-governing democracy with disinformation.

[05:40:03]

The mainland's Taiwan affairs office says Taiwan elections are purely China's internal affairs and allow no interference by any external forces. Taiwanese officials say, the secretive gathering just days after Chinese leader Xi Jinping traveled to San Francisco, a four-hour marathon meeting with President Joe Biden.

(On camera): President Biden told President Xi not to interfere in Taiwan's election. Is China going to listen to that?

PUMA SHEN, CO-FOUNDER, KUMA ACADEMY: I don't think so, because they keep doing it.

RIPLEY: Puma Shen is a professor and politician seeking a legislative seat for Taiwan's ruling democratic Progressive Party. Since taking power in 2016, the DPP prioritizes partnership with Washington over economic ties with Beijing, defying the Chinese Communist Party's preferred political agenda, a more China friendly platform championed by two opposition parties currently trailing in the polls.

SHEN: For China, it's all about how to sway the people in the middle, I mean the swing voters.

RIPLEY: He says methods include spreading disinformation, malicious rumors, deliberately planted magnifying narratives favorable to Beijing, trashing politicians seen as tough on China. From false claims the ruling party's vice-presidential candidate is a U.S. Citizen, to fabricated allegations of mass surveillance by Taiwan security agencies over Taiwanese individuals.

Fact checked in real time by journalists in this Taipei newsroom.

EVE CHIU, CEO, TAIWAN FACTCHECK CENTER: Usually we have a lot of rumors and disinformation, but not so political. And now, because of the election coming, and there's many political and malicious ones.

RIPLEY: Her grim warning misinformation is at an all-time high. And Shen says, not just in Taiwan. Is China also trying to influence the U.S. election?

SHEN: Definitely, they actually have real engagement with real people, so they're getting better and better.

RIPLEY: Distorting the truth, endangering democracy, one vote at a time. Here in Taipei, it's not just psychological warfare they're worried about. Officials are also accusing China of military and economic coercion. On Friday, Beijing filing a trade probe against Taiwan, which could hurt the economy just weeks before the election. We've reached out repeatedly to China's Taiwan affairs office for comment. So far, no response. Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT: One of the most powerful men at the Vatican will now spend years in prison after an historic fraud trial. Ahead, the rise and fall of one of Italy's most prominent cardinals.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:45:53]

WATT: The former Vatican Chief of Staff has become the first cardinal ever to be tried and convicted of financial crimes by a Vatican court after a historic fraud trial. Seventy-five-year-old Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu was sentenced to five and a half years behind bars for his role in various financial crimes.

Part of the case that was called the Vatican Trial of the Century centered around a multi-million-dollar London property deal that went wrong. Becciu denies the charges against him and is promising an appeal.

Let's bring in CNN's Vatican Correspondent Christopher Lamb from London. Chris, some of the details here are extraordinary?

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Nick. They are something out of a novel, it seems, at times. The trial went on for two and a half years. It involved, at the center of it, this disastrous investment that the Vatican made in a property in Chelsea, in London.

The Cardinal was convicted for his role in that disastrous investment. He was also found guilty of embezzlement of funds by sending hundreds of thousands of euros to a self-described security consultant, a woman called Cecilia Marogna, who said that she would help free a kidnapped nun in Africa.

But the Vatican prosecutors said that she used the funds that she was sent on personal expenditure, including on high-end fashion brands. And the Cardinal was also found to have wrongly sent funds to a charity run by his brother in Sardinia.

But I'd say that this trial is -- must also be looked at in terms of the long-running battle that the Pope has been engaged in -- in the Vatican and trying to bring transparency and accountability to the Vatican's finances.

WATT: Christopher Lamb in London, thank you very much, and we will be right back.

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[05:51:52]

WATT: Premier League football team captain, Tom Lockyer, is in stable condition after he suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch during a match on Saturday. CNN World Sports Patrick Snell has more on the Luton Town Players Health.

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PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: We would witness truly harrowing scenes this weekend in the English Premier League as the Luton Town Captain, Tom Lockyer, collapsed on the field of play. This was during his team's away fixture to Bournemouth on Saturday.

Now, according to his club, Lockyer suffered a cardiac arrest midway through the second half at the Vitality Stadium. Both teams were taken off the pitch, amid really distressing images as the 29-year -old Welshman received medical treatment before being taken off on a stretcher and hospitalized.

Luton say Lockyer is in a stable condition. Luton revealing players from both sides were in no state of mind to continue after seeing their much-loved teammate and friend taken off. Both sets of players later re-emerging once the game had been called off, walking around the pitch and applauding fans who'd shown their support for Lockyer. The Luton Town manager Rob Edwards amid scenes of very high emotion.

Lockyer underwent heart surgery in June after he also collapsed during Luton's playoff victory that sealed promotion to the Premier League. He would later tell Sky Sports that it was due to an irregular heartbeat, adding he'd been given the all-clear following a procedure.

Luton Town declared their skipper was thankfully responsive, adding our medical staff have confirmed that the Hatter's captain suffered cardiac arrest on the pitch on Saturday, but was responsive by the time he was taken off on the stretcher. He received further treatment inside the stadium, for which we once again thank the medical teams from both sides.

Well, wishes coming in from the football community at large, Manchester United taking to social media to declare the thoughts of everyone at United are with you, Tom.

While Fabrice Muamba, who suffered a cardiac arrest during a match in 2012, showing his support for Lockyer via X, wishing you a speedy recovery, Tom Lockyer. It's great to hear you are responsive and alert, rest up, and God willing, you recover well. Thinking of you and your family today. And we here at CNN certainly wishing Tom all the very best at this time. Back to you.

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WATT: A closer look now at the drug ketamine and the role it played in the death of friend star Matthew Perry back in October. The autopsy report revealed that Perry died from quote, "the acute effects of ketamine and subsequent drowning."

Perry was found unconscious in the hot tub of his home in Pacific Palisades, California. According to the autopsy, the star had been receiving ketamine infusion therapy for depression and anxiety a week and a half prior to his death.

Earlier I asked Dr. Scott Miscovich to explain why this drug proved deadly for Matthew Perry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. SCOTT MISCOVICH, FAMILY PHYSICIAN: In the autopsy report with Matthew Perry, you know, he had an IV infusion like, you know, a week and a half prior.

[05:55:05]

Well, one of the reasons it's used IV is it was used as an anesthetic that it rapidly gets into your bloodstream within about 45 minutes and it fades out. So that was no way near his system and it was gone. They did find it. It was in his stomach and the half-life for oral ingestion, it's about four to four and a half hours. And put this in perspective, they found 3540 nanograms of medicine in his blood.

Normally, it takes about 2000 for anesthesia. So he basically had enough of that medication in him to be anesthetized. So that's not something you want to be having in your system and being around a swimming pool or behind a wheel of a car or walking along a steep edge.

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WATT: A British boy who had been missing for six years is now back in the U.K. Authorities say Alex Batty, who is now 17, returned home after he was found near Toulouse, France. Earlier this week, police say they must still take formal statements, and so it's too soon to determine whether a criminal investigation will take place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT BOYLE, ASSISTANT CHIEF CONSTABLE FOR GREATER MANCHESTER POLICE: Earlier today, Alex met with a family member alongside Greater Manchester Police officers at Toulouse before heading back to the U.K. This moment was undoubtably huge for him and his loved ones and we are glad that they have been able to see each other again after all this time.

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WATT: Patty had been missing since age 11 after his mother and grandfather took him on a Spanish holiday. His mother did not have legal guardianship at the time.

I'm Nick Watt. Thanks for spending part of your day with me. For viewers in North America, CNN This Morning is next. For the rest of the world, it's African Voices Changemakers.

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