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Growing Humanitarian Crisis In Gaza; Violence Break Out At The Rafah Border Crossing; Iranian Attack Drone Strikes Chemical Tanker; Sara Netanyahu Sends Letter To Pope Francis; Interview With Former State Department Middle East Negotiator And Carnegie Endowment Senior Fellow Aaron David Miller; Migrant Encounters At Southern Border Rise To New Highs; Migrant Encounters Highest Number Recorded; Turmoil At Harvard University Amid Plagiarism Scandal; Interview With Wife Of Navy Lieutenant Ridge Alkonis Brittany Alkonis; Lt. Ridge Alkonis Now In U.S. Prison Awaiting Parole Hearing After Release From Japanese Jail; LAPD Chaplains Bring Understanding, Warmth To Police Ranks; UNRWA Says, 85 Percent Of Gaza Population Displaced As War Rages On. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired December 24, 2023 - 16:00:00   ET

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

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[16:00:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. Good afternoon.

We begin this hour with the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We're seeing violence break out at the Rafah Border Crossing near the Gaza Egyptian border. If you haven't seen this video, it just came in a short while ago to CNN. It shows crowds running as gunfire is ringing out in the streets.

Meanwhile, fears of a growing escalation in the Middle East are also on broadcast this evening. The Pentagon says an Iranian attack drone struck a commercial ship operating in the Indian Ocean on Saturday. A U.S. defense official says a fire broke out on the chemical tanker with nearly two dozen crew members on board, but no one was hurt.

This strike comes as nearly -- as newly declassified U.S. intelligence suggests Iran has been deeply involved in a series of Houthi rebel attacks on ships in the Red Sea. We've got reporters here at home and across the globe following all of these latest developments.

First, let's go to Will Ripley live in Tel Aviv with more on this outbreak of violence at the Rafah Crossing. And more than just gunfire, Will, it's just seems like out now chaos breaking out outside that crossing area. What can you tell us?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a lot of factors that are leading us up to this moment. The Rafah Crossing is one of the few lifelines for the more than 2 million people who live in Gaza because it's where aid trucks from Egypt can drive across and they can deliver desperately needed aid that is coming in a few dozen trucks today. Certainly, not enough to even put a drop in the bucket of the need of the people of Gaza.

And so, you had a situation where people who are now very hungry, very anxious after week after week after month of airstrikes and on the ground combat. These aid trucks came in and the crowd basically made a mad run for them, trying to steal aid off the trucks, trying to grab whatever they could, make a run for it from this area. And so, it was completely chaotic scene. And then, as we're about to show you, gunfire erupted.

It is Christmas Eve in Gaza and you can hear the gunshots. You see people with bundles of whatever was on those trucks. They might not have even known for sure what was on the trucks, you know, on their backs, on their shoulders, just trying to get away from that scene. It just is -- it is a picture more clear than you can say with words of exactly how dire the situation is right now for people living in Gaza because they not only have to endure the bombardment, the constant relocation, you know, getting orders that they have to pack up their families, all of whom are probably exhausted because they don't often sleep at night if there's airstrikes, you know, very hungry then they're trying to get this aid. Then there's gunfire that rings out in the crowd.

We don't know even know where the guns -- gunfire came from. We don't know who was shooting. Those details are so difficult to get out of Gaza right now because even getting an internet signal to feedback pictures or get information from the brave reporters who are living there and trying to transmit this information, Jim. So, all we could do is just show you this and once again convey to the United States, to the world, the real sense of urgency in making the situation in Gaza better for these people.

They desperately need it, but getting to a better place seems to be the all-elusive question because there's just so much between Israel and Hamas that is unresolved. The fighting continues. It's actually intensified over the weekend. Certainly not the direction that anyone wants to see this situation going, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes. Well, I mean, it goes to the sheer desperation in Gaza right now. It is just getting to a scale that you have to wonder at some point whether it's going to be difficult for really anybody to get a lid or a handle on the situation there. It just seems to be spiraling.

Let's go live to Kevin Liptak. He's live over at the White House for us. And there's another item that the Biden administration has to keep its eyes on. The Pentagon says an Iranian drone attacked a chemical tanker in the Indian Ocean. How is the U.S. responding to this?

[16:05:00]

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. And I think what's notable about this, Jim, is the U.S. is pinning blame directly on Iran for this incident. Previously, they'd been focused on the Iranian-backed rebel group in Yemen, the Houthis, now they're saying that this was Iran's direct responsibility. We haven't seen that since the October 7th terror attacks. The other notable thing is that this is occurred far from the vicinity of the Red Sea, which is the area that they had been so focused on for the last several weeks. And it all goes to show you that these fears of a widening conflict are sort of well-founded when you talk about what the Biden administration is looking at.

Now. that's not to say that things were any quieter yesterday in the Red Sea either. There were multiple incidents, separate incidents, one involving a U.S. warship, others involving commercial and merchant vessels, all targeted by those Houthi missiles and drones.

So, the White House, the Biden administration, still very much trying to get a handle on this. They have created a coalition of countries to try and beef up security in the Red Sea, but certainly, President Biden watching this very carefully as the situation unfolds, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. And, Kevin, thank you for that. Will, and we are one hour away from the start of Christmas in Bethlehem. It's typically bustling with tourists, holiday festivities ahead of midnight mass, but with the war raging in Gaza, the West bank has canceled all celebrations. How subdued is the atmosphere there right now?

RIPLEY: You know, the Pope, Jim, during Christmas Eve mass at the Vatican said, tonight our hearts are in God -- are in Bethlehem. And our hearts are basically all that's there, because people aren't there and that is a huge problem for the businesses that rely on tourists, on pilgrims that normally flood one of the most crucial sites in the world for Christians, normally a place that people flood into over this holiday season, but not this year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY (voice-over): Christmas is canceled in Bethlehem. Church bells ring, but no one's listening. The season's magic, missing from Manger Square, along with the Christmas tree and dangling decorations. In the biblical birthplace of Jesus, only sadness fills the air.

ALI THABET, BETHLEHEM RESIDENT (through translator): My son asked me why there's no Christmas tree this year. I don't know how to explain it.

RIPLEY: Are you sad?

THABET: Of course. Of course, I'm very sad.

RONY TABASH, THIRD GENERATION SHOP OWNER: The root of the tree, you see, and we carve in it, look, the nativity spot.

RIPLEY: Beautiful.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Bombs may not be falling here, but everyone feels the fallout.

TABASH: Since three months, honestly, we don't have one sale. I don't want to keep my father at home so not to give up from hope. RIPLEY (voice-over): Hope is in short supply in Bethlehem. For businesses banking on a busy Christmas, no comfort and joy, only silent nights. The usual crowds gone, shops and restaurants shuttered, the handful still open, empty.

KHALID BANDAK, TOUR GUIDE: Most of the festivals were cancelled during that -- because of the war in Gaza.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Across Bethlehem, red and white warning signs instead of red and green. Barbed wire instead of mistletoe. Barricades instead of decorations. Israeli bulldozers left behind piles of rubble, blocking every road in and out. Walls and checkpoints, part of life for Palestinians. This is a new extreme. Israel blames the blockade on security threats. Palestinians, the U.N., and human rights groups call it collective punishment. Cutting people off from their homes, their loved ones, their livelihoods.

RIPLEY: When you see it empty like this --

FATHER SPIRIDON SAMMOUR, HIGH PRIEST, GREEK ORTHODOX NATIVITY CHURCH: I have never seen it like this.

RIPLEY: Never seen it this empty?

SAMMOUR: Like this year, no.

RIPLEY: The restaurants, the hotels, the shops, the square, emptiness surrounds you here in Bethlehem. Perhaps nowhere do you feel it more than here, the Church of the Nativity.

SAMMOUR: It's very bad.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Father Spiridon Sammour has been in Bethlehem since 1970, 54 years. He's never seen a Christmas season like this.

SAMMOUR: A Christmas is joy, love, and peace. We have no peace. We have no joy.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Long lines usually wrap around the Basilica. The grotto, always standing room only. Now, you can practically hear a pin drop.

Priests are still praying. Praying for all this madness to end. But these days, only God is listening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY (on camera): What was most striking for me, Jim, is walking around Bethlehem and you run into tour guides or you run into business owners who are kind of walking around, wondering what their purpose is. People kept coming up to us, just wanting to talk, wanting to just express how heartbroken they are that during this season, which is supposed to be a season of joy, and it's not just Christians, by the way that go to Bethlehem to celebrate, Muslims go celebrate with Christians together. And back before all of this happened, people from Israel, Jewish people would come as well. And everybody gathered. It was a time of joy. And it is such a stark contrast now to see it empty, to see it sad. And everybody, of course, really grieving there for what's happening in Gaza as well.

[16:10:00]

ACOSTA: Yes. So, much pain in that region right now. Will Ripley, thank you very much, as always for your reporting, we appreciate it.

Eleven weeks into the war and more than 100 hostages remain held captive inside Gaza. Sara Netanyahu, the wife of the Israeli prime minister, is now pleading with the pope for help getting those hostages back home. Here now to discuss this and all the latest in Israel is Aaron David Miller. He's a former Middle East negotiator for the State Department.

Aaron, you know, I guess I did want to talk about this video that we saw at the top of the program, I'm sure you've seen this, where it just looks like all out chaos breaking out near the Rafah Border Crossing. You see people desperate for supplies running with those boxes of supplies and you hear gunfire going off.

It just goes to what seems like a level of desperation that is almost spiraling at this point. What's your sense of it?

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR AND SENIOR FELLOW, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT: My sense is that not enough aid is getting into Gaza. I think that it's not because of the absence of trucks, it's largely because of the reality that Israeli military action and campaign, however, justified from their point of view, is making it very difficult to de-conflict in these areas.

People are being pushed farther and farther south, even in Rafah. It's going to create a huge -- already has created a huge problem for the Egyptians who are worried, I'm sure, about a mass breakout through those gates into Israel proper.

I do think, though, Jim, that not a scintilla of aid would have gotten into Gaza had it not been for the Biden administration's relentless pressure on the Israelis. But the reality is I think January is going to be a critical month here. There's a hope and more of an expectation on the part of the administration that Israeli military tactics are going to have to change. And hopefully, with that change is going to come reliable and predictable corridors.

Some measure of stability to deliver the kind of aid that Gaza needs, 500 trucks a day pre-October 7. We're not getting nearly that amount. So, I think that's the dynamic here that somehow fundamentally has to change.

And it's going to be hard. Hamas wants to survive. They believe that ultimately pressure will build and the Israelis will have to not only considered, but be forced to accept a cessation of hostility. So, in all of these dynamics, Jim, not a single one, hostages, aid, Israel's attaining its military objective, they're all running in the wrong direction.

ACOSTA: Well -- and there's another component, Aaron, and that after the Israelis, I guess, shift their tactics, who comes into to run Gaza? I mean, can't you see a scenario unfolding where you see more situations like what we're seeing today? Because things have just been obliterated to the point where, I mean, the Israelis aren't going to want Hamas to run things. So, who runs Gaza?

MILLER: That question, Jim, I'm afraid nobody has an answer for. And I can predict -- make a prediction that by the end of next year 2024 maybe the Israeli military taxes will shift. So, the intensity of their kinetic campaign will have been fundamentally reduced. That will allow humanitarian aid into Gaza for immediate assistance and perhaps for reconstruction.

But the reality is Hamas is probably going to exist in some form. Palestinian authority is in no shape to take control. The Arab states are reluctant to contribute forces. I don't see an international coalition developing. And I think it's reasonable to expect, or it's realistic to expect, that the Israelis will be operating in Gaza, even if they slow down the intensity of their comprehensive airstrikes and artillery, they'll be operating in Gaza for months to come.

I don't see -- I see the situation getting worse before it gets much worse. And we haven't even addressed the issue of what's happening in the Red Sea or the Houthis and the Iranian piece of it.

ACOSTA: Yes. Well, and that's what I was going to ask you about next. I mean, what does that mean for the days ahead? Because it does feel like things are moving in the direction of, at some point, there's going to be a U.S. response to what we're seeing there. And it -- the Biden administration has been sending these signals. I think that they're trying to get the Iranians to understand that, you know, there might be a response coming and they need to get the message, but they're just not getting the message.

MILLER: The options there look pretty bleak. And there are only two or three. Number one, change the routes, go around the Cape of Good Hope, but in terms of supply chain, that adds an extra month. Number one.

[16:15:00]

Number two, they can attack Houthi missile and drone sites directly in Yemen. Yemen's a big place, and these mobile systems are easy to move around. So, those airstrikes would have to be very comprehensive and I'm not sure the Houthis plan to bend. Iran is perfectly capable of fighting the United States to the last Houthi.

If the administration actually is now signaling that Iran is responsible for these attacks, suppose one of those drones had hit an American commercial ship --

ACOSTA: Right.

MILLER: -- flagship, the -- and Americans had been killed or Americans being killed in Iraq and Syria because they're under fire, at least a hundred attacks since October 17th by pro-Iranian missiles, if in malicious, if in fact they're signaling that Iran is responsible, then the gap between words and deeds here is pretty clear.

Hard to believe that the United States is about to launch an attack against Iranian -- directly against Iranian assets. I think the next play here is perhaps striking Houthi targets in Yemen. They don't want to do that. The Saudis don't want them to do that. But it's hard to tell how that's going to play out.

ACOSTA: All right. Aaron David Miller, we'll be watching. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.

MILLER: Thank you, Jim. Thanks for having me.

ACOSTA: All right. And coming up, U.S. officials will meet with Mexico's president this week as a record surge of migrants at the southern border pushes security efforts to a breaking point. That's next. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[16:20:00]

ACOSTA: The migrant holding area in Eagle Pass, Texas has been empty, but that will likely change in the coming hours as the surge at the U.S.-Mexico border continues. Some U.S. officials say the southern border is near what they call a breaking point. December's 9,600 migrant encounters are the highest number recorded, according to a Homeland Security official.

While U.S. officials struggle to cope with that surge. Mexico's president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, invited U.S. officials to discuss the crisis. President Biden is sending Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Homeland Security officials to the talks this week in Mexico City. Let's go to CNN National Correspondent Rafael Romo, who is on the southern border in Eagle Pass, Texas.

Are things quieting down there? Is it maybe just a Christmas respite? What can you tell us, Rafael?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I would definitely call it that, Jim. I can reiterate the point you made in the introduction. This holding area has been empty for at least a couple of hours, and this section of the border has been much less active than what we saw yesterday.

But officials with Customs and Border Protection are still sending the same message to would be asylum seekers that we've heard for months now, they say that smugglers continue to recklessly endanger lives for gain and that crossing the border unlawfully is extremely dangerous. But that message is either not getting through to the intended people or the reasons -- this is more likely probably, the reasons why they come continue to be more powerful than anything else. And this new migrant surge, especially here in Eagle Pass, where we are, has reignited the debate about the physical barriers at the border. As you may remember, Jim, Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered buoys installed in the Rio Grande over the summer to serve as floating barriers. Earlier, I spoke with an expert on the Rio Grande who told me that the reality is that those barriers have had a negative impact on the river itself while not making a difference when it comes to the migrant surge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADRIANA MARTINEZ, FLUVIOLOGIST/SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY: I agree that it's a problem, but we know that the buoys aren't working, right? I've been on the river at the buoys taking measurements, and I've had immigrants cross right in front of me, right upstream of the buoys. And so, they're not actually doing what they're supposed to do. We had an influx of migrants come just in the last few weeks, and the buoys are in place, right? So, they're not actually having an impact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: How many immigrants have entered the United States recently, you may ask? According to the latest figures released by Customs and Border Protection, nearly a quarter of a million people were detained at the U.S. border with Mexico during the month of November.

In a statement, CBP said that the U.S. Border Patrol encounters a total in fiscal year 2024, which started on October 1st, are lower than this point in fiscal year 2023. But, Jim, it remains to be seen if that changes once December figures are included. Back to you.

ACOSTA: All right. Rafael Romo, thank you so much for all your hard work on the border right before the holiday. We really appreciate it. Thank you so much.

Coming up, more turmoil at Harvard as the school's embattled president, Claudine Gay, comes under fire for alleged plagiarism. The students who say it's time for her to resign, they are speaking out. We'll talk about that next. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[16:25:00]

ACOSTA: Protests continue to grow, calling for the release of a Navy lieutenant being held in a California prison after being transferred from a Japanese jail.

Fire trucks and firefighters took part in a protest on Saturday outside the federal detention center in Los Angeles where Navy Lieutenant Ridge Alkonis is being held. Earlier this month, Alkonis was transferred to U.S. custody after serving more than 500 days for a three-year sentence for negligent driving in Japan. He was involved in a car crash that resulted in the deaths of two people, but he says it was caused by an acute case of mountain sickness that made him lose consciousness. Alkonis even made a phone call from the prison to the protesters to thank them for their support.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. RIDGE ALKONIS: Individually. But it looks simple a big sea of blue from up here. But it means the world to me to know that no matter how alone I feel, the truth that there's people out there that love and care about me. And have (INAUDIBLE) for so long.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And Lieutenant Alkonis' wife, Brittany Alkonis, joins me now. Brittany, thank you so much for joining us. My goodness, what an ordeal you and your family have been through. Tell us, when you and your children were last able to visit your husband, how's he doing?

BRITTANY ALKONIS, WIFE OF NAVY LIEUTENANT RIDGE ALKONIS: So, we're able to see him on Fridays. We saw him this past Friday. He's -- you know, he's doing OK. We're grateful that he's in an area of the prison where we know that he's safe. But he's still not home, you know.

[16:30:00]

At the end of the visit, we still leave, and he's stuck in a prison, and he can't be with his kids this Christmas. So, it's still hard.

ACOSTA: Yes, it's got to be hard on the kids, especially on Christmas. They want to be with their dad.

And we have to remind people, this was a horrible accident. But he was not drinking, right? He was not on drugs. And he had some kind of mountain sickness or altitude sickness. Is that essentially what it was as he was driving from Mount Fuji, and I guess that caused him to lose consciousness? Can you walk us through what happened? And how did it end up in this situation where he's behind bars and dealing with all of this?

ALKONIS: So, we had driven as a family that morning up Mount Fuji. My husband was going to be deploying soon, and that's what our daughter asked to do before he leaves -- before he left. And so we drove up the mountain. We hiked for as long as the kids could, got back in the car, and then drove down. We were going to go get some ice cream. He was mid-conversation with my daughter when he just lost consciousness. There was no waking him. It led to an accident. The accident didn't wake him.

Tragically, two people passed away from the accident. He was taken directly to jail. He was held in solitary confinement for nearly a month. He was not given medical care. He asked repeatedly to be seen by a doctor. He asked for a blood alcohol test. He asked for a drug test. He was told that none of that was needed because they knew what happened. They knew he fell asleep at the wheel, which was false, and they would ask him, well, if you didn't fall asleep, then what happened? And he would say, I don't know. That is why I need to see a doctor.

For the next year after that, he was fully exposed to Japan's hostage justice system. Everyone swore up and down. He would get a suspended sentence. That's your best hope in Japan. There is no innocent until proven guilty. It's about a 99.7 percent conviction rate. So, you hope for a suspended sentence? Like I said, everyone in the Navy said that he would get it. He did not. He was sentenced to three years in prison. We appealed. Nothing changed. And so just about a week-and-a- half ago, we got him back to the U.S via prisoner.

ACOSTA: I mean, are you confident that the parole commission will release your husband when they decide his case? Is that the next step? And apparently he had an appeal at some point, but it was denied. What can you tell us about all that?

ALKONIS: So, he had an appeal in Japan. The appeal itself was not denied. However, all the relevant evidence was. So, the judge has said that his medical diagnosis was not relevant to the case, which was just absurd.

The next step is there's two different routes this could take. One is the parole commission, like you said, we are working through that legal process. It is very clearly laid out. The parole commission has been very professional. They've been on top of this. We are 100 percent confident that once the process plays through, he will be returned to our family. However, that process can take time, and it's not necessary. The president has the ability to commute his sentence and send him home.

And service members all over the world have been watching this, and they're scared. They're scared of how vulnerable they are in Japan. And then, finally, he's back on us soil where our government finally has the opportunity to do right by him, and they refused to do so. So, that's been really hard. That's been a tough pill to swallow.

ACOSTA: Yes. Well, Mrs. Alkonis, we really appreciate you telling us about your husband's story, and we wish your family the best and hope he can get home just as soon as possible. I'm very sorry for what your family has been going through, especially during the holidays. It's terrible. I'm really sorry about that. But thank you for raising awareness about his case. And please keep us posted because we'd like to know if and when -- hopefully when very soon, when he gets out.

Brittany Alkonis, thank you very much for your time. We appreciate it.

ALKONIS: Thank you so much.

ACOSTA: All right, we'll be right back.

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[16:35:00]

ACOSTA: Police across the country are facing a shortage of new recruits. So, in Los Angeles, the LAPD's chaplain corps has a waiting list. Each police chaplain delivers solace, spiritual guidance and compassion to officers who may have faced relentless pressure and emotional strains on the job, and CNN National Correspondent Mike Valerio has more. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MONSIGNOR FRANK HICKS, LAPD CHAPLAIN CORPS: I have a law enforcement background, I'm a recovering alcoholic and I'm also a chaplain.

MIKE VALERIO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In the heart of the City of Angels, there's a monsignor with a motorcycle.

HICKS: Just like a police officer in his uniform. I'm in my uniform, and they understand what my uniform is. I understand what the uniform is.

VALERIO: Monsignor Frank Hicks is one of 47 members of the Los Angeles Police Department Chaplain Corps, the corps mission counsel and compassion for officers under relentless pressure.

What do you see of our police officers that perhaps we in the public don't see?

[16:40:02]

HICKS: Human beings. They are human beings. They make mistakes. And I just want to walk with them.

VALERIO: The results, according to the LAPD's top brass, added resiliency within the ranks. Captain Aaron Ponce commands the Olympic division near downtown Los Angeles, where Monsignor Hicks has forged friendships for nearly 15 years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here, Stephen (ph), the chaplain, they have become a fixture of the station, and I think that's also an important aspect because that's in a relationship building, you start to build trust.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you're walking towards it, you can see how horrific the accident was.

VALERIO: Chaplains respond to sudden loss within the department, like the death of Officer Darryl Cunningham, killed by a drunk driver only days before Thanksgiving.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm here for the officers that are on scene.

VALERIO: Chaplain Martin Morehouse, who the department leans on when guidance is needed most briefly, unable to speak, not immune, he later told us, to the intensity of loss.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The most important thing is to know that there's somebody there who is thinking of them, who is with them.

VALERIO: Rabbi Israel Hirsch is a Holocaust survivor, a Korean war vet, and an LAPD chaplain who just turned 90.

How do you form a sense of trust with officers?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I try to be their partner. I try to talk to them as if I was their brother. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Father, we give you glory, we give you honor, and we give you praise, Lord.

VALERIO: The LAPD's chief chaplain, Kenneth Crawford, is one of ten corps members who balances duties as both a pastor and a sworn officer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not there to speak sermons to them. I'm not there to try to overwhelm them with whatever I believe, theologically or spiritually or religiously. I'm there to just be that person who will listen to them.

VALERIO: The LAPD tells us there's a waiting list of 20 people to join the chaplain corps, even as police recruiters face challenges nationwide. But in trying times, these chaplains see themselves as sources of solace and light, helping those who continue to answer the call.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even if they're in the tough times, they can look to your light for guidance on how not to accept the darkness. And maybe that light in you will bring the light out to others.

VALERIO: Mike Valerio, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: All right. Right now, you are looking at live pictures of Santa Claus making his way around the world, not that weather radar, but there it is, NORAD Santa tracker. Where is he at right now? It usually says at the top of the screen, you can hear the jingle of the sleigh bells. That gives us some sense. He's somewhere -- I can't tell where that is, but he's definitely on his way.

And we have an expert coming in -- Poland and Austria, is that what it says there? He's making his way across Poland and Austria. So, he's cruising at a pretty serious clip there.

CNN's Josh Campbell is following all of this for us. Josh, this is serious stuff here. He's already covered Africa. Update us and our viewers as best as you can. Where is Santa heading next? And I understand you're getting some new details on some pretty top secret Santa technology that is helping the U.S. military track his sleigh. What can you tell us about that?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim, this segment specifically for the kids out there, you're going to want to pay attention because we're getting real time updates from the U.S. military. As you mentioned at last track Santa was over Europe. Just a few hours ago, he made his way from the Philippines, across the Middle East, and now in Europe. If everything stays on schedule, he will be entering U.S. Airspace later this evening.

Now, as far as how the U.S. military is able to track Santa, this is a team that's called NORAD. They are responsible for monitoring objects in the sky. A very senior general with NORAD tells CNN that the military has numerous satellites in orbit that are actually able to monitor the location of Santa's sleigh thanks to that big red nose on the most famous reindeer of all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GEN. BLAISE FRAWLEY, DEPUTY COMMANDER, NORAD: Rudolph is leading the way. His nose serves multi purposes. As you're aware from the song, his nose guides Santa through bad weather. But for us, because we use our satellite systems to track Santa globally, they look for heat signatures or what we call infrared, I.R. And Santa's nose is a nice big I.R. signature for our satellites to track.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now, that's a really cool job, right, tracking Santa with us military. If you're a kid out there wondering how do I get that job someday, NORAD tells us that you have to study math. This is a tracking operation that involves lots of calculations, lots of numbers. So, again, if you want that job with the U.S. military someday, you got to pay attention in math class, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes. It's Santa's science, in a way.

And, Josh, we're learning the U.S. Secret Service is also playing a role in Santa's gift delivery nations this year.

[16:45:00]

I had no idea about that. What can you tell us about that?

CAMPBELL: Yes, I'm learning this. The Secret Service is obviously responsible for protecting the president and the president's family. We're also told that recently a group of elves from the North Pole actually traveled to the Secret Service training compound outside Washington, D. C., undergoing rigorous specialized training.

Now, law enforcement sources tell me that the job of these elves isn't to protect Santa. Santa has never had a threat against him. Everybody loves Santa Claus. This is interesting. This is actually solving an important mystery. We're told from law enforcement sources that the job of these elves is actually to help Santa figure out if kids are awake or if they're asleep, because all of us know Santa is not going to deliver toys if kids are still awake. So, if you're a kid out there, you got to listen to your parents, Jim, when they say it's time to go to bed.

ACOSTA: Yes, you got to listen to your parents. Go to bed and stop asking for a PlayStation, whatever it is, just hope for the best that Santa has got it covered.

And what was the deal that -- we just saw some video there, one of the elves made The Beast disappear. I don't know if we can show that to our viewers again, but that was impressive. I didn't know elves could do something like that.

CAMPBELL: Yes, it was really impressive. In fact, the Secret Service, as they often do in these training programs, they learn just as much from the trainees as the trainees learn from them. So, incredible feat there, to make that beast disappear. Obviously, that's something they hope never happens in real life.

ACOSTA: Yes, we can't have that happen during a motorcade. The president may not be happy about that.

All right, well, in the meantime, Josh, thank you very much. You covered all the bases there for us, and we know Santa's on his way. We'll let you get back to tracking Chris Kringle throughout the evening.

CAMPBELL: Merry Christmas, Jim.

ACOSTA: Merry Christmas to you, Josh. I really appreciate it. Thanks for your time.

And we'll keep tracking Santa throughout the evening. Stay with us. Our holiday coverage here on CNN continues on the CNN NEWSROOM in just a few moments. We'll be right back.

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[16:50:00]

ACOSTA: The humanitarian crisis inside Gaza is worsening by the day. The U.N. says nearly 85 percent of Gaza's total population has been forced to flee their homes. Despite that, the Israeli military is now telling civilians to evacuate once more as the fighting expands across a large portion of Gaza.

And CNN's Nada Bashir gives us an inside look at the devastation and destruction inside Gaza. We have to warn you that this video is graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER (voice over): Scenes of panic in the cold darkness of winter, Central Gaza once again coming under heavy bombardment. Over the weekend, dozens are said to have been killed, adding to a death toll already topping 20,000, according to the Hamas- controlled health ministry in Gaza, whose figures U.N. officials say were found to be accurate with previous conflicts.

Those injured, including many children, rushed to the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah. Wounded parents seem here trying to comfort their young, but they have already seen too much.

Parts of Central and Northern Gaza have been almost entirely emptied, if not flattened. This U.N.-run school in the Al-Bureij (ph) refugee camp has become a vital shelter to thousands, but it is desperately overrun.

AMIRA ABDEL BASSET, GAZA RESIDENT: 20 families living in this room. About 63 people, including children, pregnant women, elderly people. Where can these people go? Where can we take them? We are staying here.

BASHIR: But for those who do choose to flee, there are no guarantees of survival, with regions deemed safe by the Israeli military offering little in the way of security.

JEHAD, GAZA RESIDENT: To say we're scared is an understatement. We're terrified. If I go to Deir al Balah, what will I do with my baby? If I don't find shelter there, do I keep her on the streets?

BASHIR: Israel says it remains committed to destroying weapons and underground infrastructure belonging to Hamas Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday telling the Israeli people that war comes at a heavy price after 15 Israeli soldiers were killed in combat over the weekend. This as the Israeli military pushes ahead with plans to expand its military operation across both Northern and Southern Gaza despite the Biden administration calling on the Israeli government to move towards a lower intensity phase of the war.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Israel is a sovereign state. Our decisions in the war are based on our operational considerations and I will not expand further.

BASHIR: Indications that Israel may double down on its air and land operation has raised alarm bells. The U.N. warning that there are simply no safe spaces for civilians to turn to. 1.9 million Palestinians are now said to be displaced within Gaza, the vast majority taking shelter in the south.

But even in Gaza's southern cities, in areas designated as so called safe zones, Israel's airstrikes have already left a deep scar. In the city of Rafah, a vital gateway for aid being transported from Egypt. There is no peace for civilians.

ISRAA ABOU AL-AWF, DISPLACED FROM KHAN YOUNIS TO RAFAH: We were told to head to Rafah, that it was a safe area. Where is the safety? Look. Look at the people. In every house, there's at least one wounded, one dead. Where is the security in Rafah?

BASHIR: But it is not just the horror of military warfare which is now threatening the lives of those in Gaza. On Sunday, a scene of utter desperation and chaos in Rafah, people grabbing whatever they can carry from aid trucks at the border crossing. Those who survived Israel's relentless bombing campaign must now also survive a worsening hunger crisis.

[16:55:05]

Talk of famine now creeping into the vocabulary of the world's diplomats but still no word of a humanitarian ceasefire.

Nada Bashir, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. Good evening.

We begin this hour with a hunger crisis fueling panic and turmoil inside Gaza. This is new video obtained by CNN showing a chaotic scene at the Rafah crossing near the Gaza Egypt border earlier today.

[17:00:04]

Gunfire can be heard as crowds are seen running in different directions.