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Dozens Killed in Refugee Camp in Gaza; Bethlehem Cancels Christmas Celebrations in Solidarity with Gaza; Despite Record Global Heat, Signs of Progress; Swimmers Gearing Up for Annual 'Peter Pan Cup' in London. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired December 25, 2023 - 00:00   ET

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

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.

[00:00:33]

Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, reduced to rubble. The Hamas- controlled Ministry of Health says dozens of Palestinians have been killed in a Gaza refugee camp.

Rising temperatures around the world. We look at the challenges of climate change and possible reasons for hope in the new year.

And celebrating Christmas by taking an icy plunge. It's a tradition dating back over a century.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Michael Holmes.

HOLMES: It is a quiet morning in the city of Bethlehem, quieter than usual Christmas morning. The celebrations in the city Christians believe to be the birthplace of Jesus were canceled this year due to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. But subdued services are still being held at the Church of the Nativity.

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HOLMES: The city in the occupied West Bank put aside the traditional Christmas events in solidarity with Gaza.

Meantime, Israeli forces announced approximately 200 targets in Gaza were hit over the past day. The IDF says its troops located a Hamas weapons compound inside what they called a civilian structure it said is near schools, a mosque and a clinic.

It all comes as the IDF disclosed new information on what they said was an underground tunnel network believed to be used by Hamas. The Israeli military claims the tunnel served as the Northern headquarters for Hamas. At least 70 people were killed at the al-Maghazi refugee camp in

central Gaza. That's according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health. Several others were said to be wounded. Many others, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

CNN's Will Ripley joins me now from Tel Aviv with more details.

Will, Gazans are being told by Israel to move from one place to another, but it seems that all of the enclave is a target. Tell us what more we know about what happened in the al-Maghazi refugee camp?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, the information about the number of dead, at least 70, is coming from the Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

And the video is just -- well, frankly it's like the video that we've been seeing from Gaza throughout this conflict, if they can get it out, because it's so difficult to transmit accurate information.

Our journalists on the ground there, working so hard, having to get up on rooftops, you know, just to find a signal, to feed the stuff back.

But what we are seeing is just wounded people being piled into ambulances. And what is being alleged by the Palestinian Red Crescent, on the ground in Gaza, is that this residential square was targeted.

Now what the Israel Defense Force has claimed is that Hamas will embed itself in these tunnels, or in these areas where civilians are sheltering, undisturbed by the piling number of civilian deaths, well over 20,000 now, according to that Health Ministry in Gaza.

But in this case, CNN reached out, wanting a comment about this accusation by the Palestinian Red Crescent that they were targeting a residential square specifically. IDF saying that they are, quote, "reviewing the incident," and then saying that, despite what they call the challenges posed by Hamas, they say they will continue to follow international law and try to take feasible steps to minimize the harm of civilians.

Because again, they claim that Hamas is deliberately trying to operate and -- and conceal itself within these civilian areas, putting innocent children, innocent people at risk.

And of course, as you know, Michael, thousands and thousands of them have died since the start of this conflict on October 7th.

HOLMES: Just horrific, looking at those images there, yet again.

And because of this war, a very different Christmas in Bethlehem.

RIPLEY: Yes, we want to Bethlehem, which is normally full of people. They would be waking up. They would have had the Christmas mass. They would have had just, you know, lots of Christmas revelry and celebration, as they do every single year and they have for thousands of years. But for at least in modern memory, this is the first Christmas in

decades that they haven't had a tree. They haven't had decorations. And they haven't had people visiting. Casting a very sad shadow of what's supposed to be a holiday of joy.

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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.

[00:05:05]

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, SHOP OWNER: The root of the tree, you see, and we carve it, and it look, the nativity scene.

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 saved (ph). I don't keep want to keep my father at home. Tell him not to give up from hope (ph).

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 canceled, during that -- 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 -- REV. SPIRIDON SAMMOUR, GREEK ORTHODOX NATIVITY CHURCH: I have never

seen that.

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

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

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

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RIPLEY (on camera): Pope Francis said that a message of Jesus's birth is being rejected by war as he began Christmas celebrations at the Vatican. He also said that Christians around the world have Bethlehem in their hearts.

But, Michael, there's nobody there to show it in person. It's a city that sits empty and really desolate on a day that it's supposed to be full of so many people to celebrate the -- the Christmas holiday.

HOLMES: All in solidarity with Gaza. Will Ripley there in Tel Aviv, appreciate it. Good to see you, my friend.

Well, the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wife is calling on Pope Francis to help secure the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza.

In a letter to the Pontiff, Sara Netanyahu requests him to use his influence to, quote, "demand the unconditional release of all the hostages without delay."

Now, it comes as the pope urges the world to think about those suffering due to the wars on Christmas Eve.

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POPE FRANCIS, LEADER OF CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): Let us be near our brothers and sisters who are suffering because of war. Let's think of Palestine, Israel, Ukraine. Let's also think of those who are suffering because of misery, hunger, and slavery.

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HOLMES: Thousands of people in Serbia's capital are protesting the ruling government for what they call blatant electoral election theft.

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HOLMES: At least 35 people were arrested on Sunday in the sixth straight day of protests, according to CNN's Serbian affiliate, N1.

The unrest began the day after President Aleksandar Vucic declared victory for his Serbian Progressive Party during snap parliamentary elections.

Opposition parties and rights groups say the party and Mr. Vucic himself are guilty of bribing voters, committing violent crackdowns on dissent, and corruption, among other things.

Amid dire warnings from scientists about this year's record temperatures, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore is hopeful things can still turn around. What he told CNN, coming up after the break.

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HOLMES: Scientists say this year will officially be the hottest since record keeping began. And unsurprisingly, they're worried about what that means for the future of our planet.

But former U.S. Vice President Al Gore told CNN we can still do something to fight the climate crisis.

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AL GORE, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: We still have the ability to -- to seize control of our destiny. Here's the good news.

If we stop adding to the overburden of these greenhouse gas pollutants in the sky, if we reach what they call true net zero and stop adding to the heat-trapping capacity up there, the temperatures will stop going up right away.

And if we stay at true net zero, half of the human cause to greenhouse pollution will fall out of the atmosphere in as little as 25 to 30 years.

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HOLMES: Now, as the year saw record heat across the globe, which fueled deadly extreme weather, a glimmer of hope also emerged. CNN Simon Cullen explains.

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SIMON CULLEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Record-breaking wildfires in Canada, deadly floods across large parts of Africa and polar ice caps in long-term decline.

ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: We are living through climate collapse in real time, and the impact is devastating.

CULLEN (voice-over): Even before the year was out, scientists had declared with certainty that 2023 would go down as the hottest recorded year in human history.

DR. SAM BURGESS, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, COPERNICUS CLIMATE CHANGE SERVICE: The year has been quite extraordinary, and myself and many climate scientists have really run out of adjectives to describe the sheer volume of records broken, and how they've been broken.

CULLEN (voice-over): In November, the earth average temperature briefly rose more than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, a crucial threshold that scientists say have irreversible consequences.

BURGESS: The evidence is very, very clear. The warmer our world is, the more likely we are to have extreme events. And those extreme events are likely to be more intense and more frequent.

CULLEN (voice-over): With the El Nino system warming water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, 2024 could be even hotter.

Given the scale of the challenge, many countries were hoping that global climate talks in Dubai would deliver the bold action needed to limit further warming.

In the end, the agreement did put a sharper focus on the future of fossil fuels.

CULLEN: For the first time in the history of U.N.-led climate talks, the words "fossil fuels" appeared in the final text of an agreement. But it only referred to transitioning away, not phasing them out.

SIMON EVANS, CARBON BRIEF: The tricky thing is that it's an agreement between, basically, nearly 200 countries by consensus. So there's always compromises at the end, and that's what leads to disappointment. But I think it's, nevertheless, a significant moment.

CULLEN (voice-over): And some countries that claim to take the climate threat seriously are still looking to approve new fossil fuel projects.

BILL HARE, CEO, CLIMATE ANALYTICS: There's a lot of hypocrisy to share around. The U.K. has actually backtracked on its policies. Australia has begun to move forward with its policies to reduce emissions. Not succeeding yet. So that it's a concern.

[00:15:12]

But it's also proposing and has supported a very large expansion to gas export projects and to coal export projects.

CULLEN (voice-over): However, there are some glimmers of hope. Carbon brief analysis shows that while China's coal infrastructure has grown, the country has invested so much in renewable energy over recent years that its emissions could actually begin to fall in the year ahead, marking a dramatic turnaround for the world's biggest polluter.

EVANS: There have been moments in the past where it looked like China's emissions are coming to a peak. And I think there's probably more confidence this time around that we really are seeing, you know, a structural shift in that economy.

CULLEN (voice-over): Analysts say that could be a game-changer. Not just for China's domestic emissions: it could also give the Chinese leadership extra incentive to push for even stronger global action.

Simon Cullen, CNN, London.

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HOLMES: Adam Met is the founder of Planet Reimagined and a U.N. sustainability advocate. He joins me now.

We just heard in a story, Antonio Guterres, the United Nations secretary-general, saying last month, quote, "We are living through the climate collapse in real time. And the impact is devastating." Would you agree with that, climate collapse in real time?

ADAM MET, FOUNDER, PLANET REIMAGINED: I believe we are seeing the worst impacts of climate change that we have ever seen on this planet. Human caused climate change. And while we have so far to go, 2023 has been an incredible year for progress. And it's just the first step towards so much more progress we need to make.

But 2023 has also been the wake-up call for so many people around the world. The massive flooding, the forest fires, the hurricanes and extreme weather are all caused by climate change. And I think 2023 finally gave us that wake-up call that we needed.

HOLMES: Yes, it's such a long time coming for those who have been advocating since probably the '70s.

The reality, though, is as the window closes to keep warming to an increase of 1.5 degrees, that may already be too late. The numbers are going in the wrong direction. Global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels in 2023 were a record high.

Can you see any meaningful reverse anytime soon? And in time?

MET: Yes, we are producing more fossil fuels than ever. But, at the same time, we're also producing more renewable energy than ever.

And I see a moment very soon where the oil and gas companies are going to realize that producing renewable energy makes more sense for their bottom line.

Places like Exxon have activist investors now on their board. We see places like BP and Chevron starting to invest more in renewables.

Now, renewables, in particular solar and wind, are some of the cheapest forms of energy on the planet. And if we can make that business case, then that's the ball game.

But at the same time, in 2023, we realize that 70 percent of people on the planet actually believe climate change is a problem. And they want governments to be doing more about it.

HOLMES: Yes.

MET: That's a huge change.

Now, that last 30 percent, we don't have to worry about them. They're probably never going to end up changing their mind.

But, in focusing on the 70 percent, if we take them and get them to that next rung on the latter, of active participation in the political process, then we'll be able to get real concrete change moving us in the right direction.

HOLMES: There does seem to be positive moves in that regard.

But you still have, just as an example, leading U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump said this past month that, if elected, on day one, he will quote, "drill, drill, drill," referring of course, to oil.

How discouraging is it to see politicians, the fossil fuel industry and its lobbyist still wielding such influence and power at a time like this? When you point out solar is the cheapest form on the planet yet they still wield that power.

MET: I'm discouraged that so many politicians are still focused on drilling.

However, on the positive side, some of the largest delegations to COP this year came from Republican members of Congress. They're starting to realize that fossil feels aren't the things that are going to boost economies in their district. They aren't going to bring new jobs to their district.

So slowly, overtime, with places like the Conservative Climate Caucus, we're seeing more and more Republicans on board. That doesn't discount the fact that there are a lot of conservative members of the United States Congress that are still focused on drilling.

[00:20:06]

Now, it's going to take people in their district looking for these new jobs, looking to go boost the economy in places like solar and wind. So while I am worried, I do see the tide starting to shift. HOLMES: Yes. Yes, I -- one hopes so. As we -- as 2024 comes upon us,

what -- what are the positives, the biggest positives right now in terms of climate change? What still gives you hope? You've touched on some of them. The renewables. The engagement of the younger generation, I guess. What keeps you optimistic?

MET: There's so many things that keep me optimistic. When we focus on technology, there are two ways of thinking about technology. One is the technologies that are still decades away.

And while there's a lot of money going into places like carbon capture, and hydrogen, and nuclear, and we've had incredible investments in 2023, they're still very far away from being commercially viable and scalable.

So the things I am optimistic, on a technological front, are new ways of producing solar, new ways of capturing that electricity with battery storage, and there are a lot of companies that have come really close to rethinking the way the transmission grid works in the United States and around the world.

Because not only do we need to focus on energy, we need to focus how we're getting that energy to people.

I'm also seeing a lot -- a lot of advancements in places like manufacturing, in places like construction and in places, as we're focusing on the day-to-day things we use, from food to clothing.

So as we focus on the business side and the political side when there's enough political will, then we really see that movement in technology.

HOLMES: Dr. Adam Met, we're hopeful, too. Appreciate you making the time. Thank you.

MET: Thank you.

HOLMES: Still to come on the program, imagine spending Christmas morning every year braving the elements to take part in a swim. Meet some of the hardy souls who do it, after the break.

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HOLMES: Well, while most of us might prefer to spend Christmas morning in our pajamas, there's a group of swimmers in London getting ready to take a plunge into icy waters.

And meet some of the participants, now in this year's Peter Pan Cup, a race that's been held in the city since 1864.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Race number four. All aboard!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People think it's a pretty bonkers way to start your Christmas morning. PAUL ARTHERTON, MEMBER, SERPENTINE SWIMMING CLUB: Why do we inflict

this pain upon ourselves?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You never really enjoy getting in, to be honest.

LUCY HARRIS, MEMBER, SERPENTINE SWIMMING CLUB: On Christmas day, we get about at about six. It's zero degrees outside. You're driving. It's pitch black. And then with the ice on the windscreen, and you're thinking, what am I doing?

LAURE LATHAM, HONORARY SECRETARY, SERPENTINE SWIMMING CLUB: It's 7 a.m. in the morning. We are in the changing room of the Serpentine Swimming Club in Hyde Park, in London.

HARRIS: The Christmas day race started in the late 1800s. It's one of the oldest swimming races in the world.

LATHAM: Racers, former members of the club.

HARRIS: James Barrie, who wrote "Peter Pan," he donated the first cup. And that is why it's called the Peter Pan Cup.

My grandfather, Abbott Greenbury (ph), swam in Serpentines in 1906. He was probably one of the handful of people who swam religiously every day. He became president of the club in 1935, until he died in 1955.

[00:25:11]

And then my family took over the honor of presenting the Peter Pan Cup Christmas day.

This is 1986. Here's me and my brother and my sister. I went every single Christmas day to present the cup with my family.

Every year I thought, I really should try this, and I never did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lucy Harris.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Harris, yes.

HARRIS: I was about 52 when I started. I have to be the first race. As I'm walking down toward the Serpentine, I'm really, really nervous. And then getting in the waters, how am I going to do it? Am I going to do it? Why am I doing it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thirty-one, 32, 33, 34, 35. There we are.

HARRIS: It's really hard to get into that water. And you think these thoughts. But you do it. And then after it's like, oh my God. Look what I've done.

When you get out, it's like your fingers feel like they're burning.

I actually don't feel very cold now but in about five minutes.

The people who swim, and who belong to the Serpentine are particularly unique in their own way.

ARTHERTON: Tea. The most important part of swimming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Feeling the rush, feeling the cold. It's just an amazing thing to do.

ROBIN HUNTER-CODDINGTON, VICE PRESIDENT, SERPENTINE SWIMMING CLUB: This does not help cold waters. We'll get in. And when it's ice, we still get in.

ARTHERTON: You come out, you have a hot toddy, and you wish people a merry Christmas. What better start for Christmas morning as that?

HARRIS: The Christmas race is the ultimate race. And I don't think I'll ever give it up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Yes. Better them than me.

Well, here's an out of this world holiday gift from NASA. The U.S. space agency released this stunning new image, known as the Christmas tree cluster.

NASA explains the nebula gas around it resembles the pine needles of a Christmas tree. It's made up of a grouping of relatively young stars, a mere one to 5 million years old.

The cluster, some 2,500 light years from Earth.

And, we leave you with an update. Santa, of course, making his way around the world at this hour. The North American Air Defense Command, NORAD, is tracking Saint Nick. And right now he's over the U.S., Indiana, in fact. He's surely heading to your chimney any time now.

All right. Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. You can follow me on X, Threads, and Instagram, @HolmesCNN. Stick around. I'll have more news in 30 minutes.

"INSIDE AFRICA" coming up next as Santa continues his way around the world.