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CNN International: Pope Makes Christmas Plea For An End To The Fighting In Gaza, Humanitarian Aid, Liberation of Hostages; Hamas-Run Health Ministry: Israeli Attack Kills At Least 70 At Al-Maghazi Refugee Camp in Gaza; Bethlehem Cancels Christmas Celebrations In Solidarity With Gaza. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired December 25, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

RICHARD QUEST, HOST, CNN NEWSROOM: Hello, and welcome to you where you are all viewing around the world. I'm Richard Quest in London. A plea from the Pope to stop the violence in Israel and Gaza. He makes that as dozens are reported dead in a strike on central Gaza refugee camp. We'll bring you the latest on the Israel-Hamas war. Also, it is Christmas morning. We will show you the pictures of the festivities so far, as the Royal Family the United Kingdom heading to church this morning, the King and Prince William, all that.

A very good Christmas Day to you. And urgent plea from Pope Francis to end the fighting in Gaza and help its suffering residents and free the remaining hostages, the Pope and what he said in Rome in a moment. But, he spoke as the Hamas-run Health Ministry is reporting at least 70 people were killed in Israeli airstrike on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp. Israel's Military says it's reviewing the incident. All this as the pleas for humanitarian pauses and UN resolutions calling for steps to aid and to allow more aid to enter. Israel's Prime Minister says the military is intensifying operations inside Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Citizens of Israel, we are deepening the war in the Gaza Strip. We will continue to fight until the total victory over Hamas. The war has a price, a very heavy price in the lives of our heroic warriors, and we are doing everything to safeguard the lives of our warriors. But, one thing we will not do, we will not stop until we achieve victory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Will Ripley is with me. Will is in Tel Aviv. The level of death and destruction this morning on this Christmas morning, and Israel says they are reviewing. But, what more do we know of what happened, Will?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I wish I could say it's a Merry Christmas in this region, this war-torn region, Richard. But, alas, it is the exact opposite. Every day we get more reports of people dying. And so, yesterday, the latest, at least 70 people dead in central Gaza, and the numbers keep going up, well over 20,200 people, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza, and because Israel is expanding this military operation, that message that you just played from Prime Minister Netanyahu was just hours really after he had a conversation with the U.S. President Joe Biden.

And while they talked about the potential refacing objectives and phasing of this war, in other words, the United States really hoping that Israel will shift strategy from this, basically carpet bombing approach where they're using these massive weapons to destroy tunnels and other infrastructure that Hamas is using to launch attacks against Israel and conduct its operations, the U.S. wants Israel to look at a way to basically be able to root out the top leadership of Hamas, well, leaving the innocent people, the thousands of children and women and elderly in Gaza who have died as a result of this.

They're much more than collateral damage. These are people with families, people whose lives were cut short, just like the Israelis that were killed horrifically on October 7 when Hamas militants crossed over into this country and created the conditions now for a war that's stretching on into its third month with really no end in sight. And it's not just Gaza that's being impacted by this. It's also being felt in the occupied West Bank. Pope Francis, when he was talking on Christmas Eve, he said the world's hearts and the hearts of Christians are in Bethlehem. But, physically, almost nobody is there right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY (voice-over): Christmas is canceled in Bethlehem. Church bells ring. But, no one is 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 is 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 looked (inaudible).

RIPLEY (voice-over): Wow, beautiful. 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.

[08:05:00]

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 crowd is gone, shops and restaurants shuttered. The handful still open, empty.

KHALID BANDAK, TOUR GUIDE: Most of the festivals were canceled 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 UN 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 like this.

RIPLEY: You never seen it this empty?

SAMMOUR: Like this here, 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 is very bad.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Father Spiridon Sammour has been in Bethlehem since 1970. 54 years, he has 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 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 VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: Pope Francis also said in his Christmas mass that the message of Jesus's birth has been rejected by war and not just the war here, all of the other wars and conflicts bubbling around the planet. A lot of people, Richard, praying for more peaceful times ahead. But, that road seems so far away from where we're standing right now here in Israel.

QUEST: Will, even the incongruity of the moment, but let me wish you please a Happy Christmas, such as the one can have in difficult circumstances. Thank you, sir.

Now, Israel's Military has revealed information on a tunnel network that it says served as operational headquarters for Hamas in northern Gaza. They demolished the tunnel system after recovering the bodies of five Israeli hostages earlier this month. The IDF says the tunnels in the area of the Jabaliya refugee camp were connected to the residence of the commander of Hamas' Northern Brigade. He was killed last month by Israeli forces.

In Vatican City, Pope Francis has called for an end to the Israeli- Hamas war. It was his annual "Urbi et Orbi" to the city, to the world, blessing in St. Peter's Square. He also urged the release of the hostages being held, and he expressed sorrow for those who have been killed in the conflict.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS (through translator): I bear in my heart the sorrow of the victims of the abominable attack of the seventh of October last, and I reiterate my urgent appeal for the liberation of those still being held hostage. I plead for an end to the military operations with their appalling harvest of innocent civilian victims.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: For more on the Pope's message, our Vatican Correspondent Christopher Lamb is with me. I feel -- I don't want to be cynical or disrespectful, but I feel I've heard it before in terms of the Israeli-Hamas war, and it don't -- doesn't seem as if either side is listening.

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Richard, yes. You can be right to think like that. But, the Pope has to keep on going and to keep on making his message and to try and change hearts and minds. The Pope doesn't have armies, but he does have moral influence. And today, he really tried to once again call for the world to reject war. He said it's time to say "no to war". That war is an aimless voyage and an inexcusable folly. As you heard, he also called for an end to the Israel-Hamas war, which he said was leading to an appalling harvest of innocent victims.

Now, Francis uses these messages to try and, as I said, change people's --

QUEST: Right.

LAMB: -- hearts and minds. And I think that's all he can do at this point. He has to try and influence from his position.

QUEST: A warm welcome to you as our Vatican Correspondent. And let me just ask you, what -- I mean, the Pope has had some ill health of late. How did he look to you today?

[08:10:00]

LAMB: Well, you're right. The Pope has suffered from a bout of bronchitis, but he does seem to have got through that. And I think today and in other recent public appearances, he is, I think, doing well. He has recovered from that. He has been vulnerable to these respiratory illnesses. As a young man, he had part of his right lung removed. And he has been hospitalized this year for bronchitis. But, he seems to be bouncing back and to have recovered, and he is certainly someone who wants to keep going for as long as he possibly can. He has just marked his 87th birthday, but he shows no signs of slowing down.

QUEST: Christopher, your first Christmas with us at CNN, and allow me in a short while, please come down and join me and pull a Christmas cracker because we have to find some joy of Christmas somewhere in these difficult times. So, I'll see you in a moment or three.

LAMB: Thank you, Richard.

QUEST: Now, for the first time, Ukraine is officially celebrating Christmas Day on December the 25th. It's a new law that's changed the state holiday. It now departs from the Russian orthodox tradition of January 7. It's all part of a cultural shift away from Moscow after its invasion nearly two years ago. President Zelenskyy says Ukraine is paying for peace and for justice and for life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): In the end, darkness will lose. Evil will be defeated. Today, this is our common goal, our common dream, and this is what our common prayer is for today. For our freedom. For our victory. For our Ukraine. For the day when we can all come together at home in a peaceful year of peaceful Christmas. And say to each other: "Christ is born".

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: The duel (ph) follows, of course, even as he is speaking, Russia launching several drone missiles attacks on Ukraine overnight. There is no word of damage or death.

Thousands of people are protesting against Serbia's government for what they call blatant election theft. At least 35 people have been arrested on Sunday in Belgrade, the capital, the sixth straight day of protests. The unrest began after President Aleksandar Vucic declared victory for his Serbian Progressive Party during snap parliamentary elections this month.

U.S. law enforcement officials are struggling to keep up with record levels of migrants showing up at the southern border. Thousands of migrants who left southern Mexico on Sunday, making a long trek by foot towards the United States. The organizers are calling the caravan "the exodus of poverty". The border officials say the spike is being driven by pseudo legitimate travel agencies, which ultimately connect the migrants to smugglers. This is CNN on Christmas Day. I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: I want to bring you some breaking news coming in to CNN. We are learning that Kremlin critic, Alexei Navalny, is now in a penal colony in northwestern Siberia. More than two weeks, his family have been unable to locate him or find out any details about him. CNN's Nada Bashir is following this for us this morning. And this has happened in the last hour or so. So, what do we know?

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, that's right. We've just received confirmation from Alexei Navalny's lawyer who has, after two weeks of not knowing his whereabouts, said that he has now been confirmed to be in a penal colony in northwest of Siberia. He had previously been thought to have been held in a penal colony about 150 miles east of Moscow, and there has been mounting concern over his location also, of course, his conditions and the conditions he is facing in detention. We have just received a statement as well from the Director of new Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, speaking on the conditions, he may well be facing, while in detention, saying the conditions that are harsh with the special regime in the permafrost zone. It is very difficult to get there, and there are no lesson delivery systems.

So, there is concern about keeping contact with Alexei Navalny. He, was of course, sentenced once again back in August of this year to 19 years in prison for charges relating to extremism. He had already been serving a sentence of 11 and a half years in prison on charges that both he has denied and also those associated with him. Many of his supporters have, of course, said that they believe these charges are politically motivated. Alexei Navalny, of course, a key and prominent critic of President Putin. And of course, he has been one of the most prominent threats to President Putin's leadership as well.

QUEST: Thank you, Nada Bashir. I'm grateful. Thank you.

King Charles III is to deliver his annual Christmas broadcast message in around two hours from now. Earlier, the Royal Family attended the morning service at Sandringham. There you see the King and the Queen. You see Prince of Wales, the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children behind. And behind them further on you'll see even more hundreds of people gathered outside the church to see the King and Queen. Also there, there you have the Tindalls. You have the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, and his ex-wife, the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson. The King's speech will be his second since assuming the throne.

In Australia, thousands of people flocked to Sydney's Bondi Beach for some fun this Christmas. Well, everyone has got into the true Christmas spirit with holiday themed swimwear. Trips to Bondi Beach are an Australian Christmas tradition. A different scene in the west of Sydney where hail fell in the town of Grenfell. It created a white Christmas of sorts. Weather officials say golf ball-sized chunks were reported in the region.

Scientists say 2023 is officially the hottest year on record, and that next year could be even hotter. Simon Cullen looking back at the world's extreme weather over the past year, a report on the progress being made towards battling climate crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIMON CULLEN, JOURNALIST (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 DIR., 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's average temperature briefly rose more than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, a crucial threshold that scientists say could 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 UN-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.

[08:20:00]

SIMON EVANS, CARBON BRIEF: The tricky thing is that it's an agreement between basically nearly 200 countries by consensus. So, there is 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 is a lot of hypocrisy to share around. The UK has actually backtracked on its policies. Australia has begun to move forward with its policies to reduce emissions, not succeeding yet. So, that's a concern, but it's also proposing and has supported 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's looked like China's emissions are coming to a peak. I think there is probably more confidence this time around that we really are seeing a structural shift in our 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Christmas Day and Christmas Day crackers. He only joined CNN at the beginning of December, come in Christopher Lamb, our Vatican Correspondents. Stand there, sir. Good to see you. Right. Here is your tool. Right. Choose your cracker.

LAMB: Good middle one.

QUEST: You're going for the middle one. Go for the cheap one. There we go. Thank you. You'll be welcomed here. Oh, yes. There we go. Ritual humiliation, pop that on. Why did the turkey join the band?

LAMB: I don't know.

QUEST: Because it had the drumsticks. And here is your present to go with it. Happy Christmas, sir. Welcome. Thank you very much. This is CNN. We continue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Those of us who have a gentle disposition might care to look the other way. Well, if you can. After all, if you prefer to spend your Christmas morning in your pajamas, there is a group of swimmers here in London who like a very more bracing start to the Christmas Day, an icy plunge. They are other participants in this year's Peter Pan Cup. It's a race that's been held in the city since 1864.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Race number four on the board.

LUCY HARRIS, MEMBER, SERPENTINE SWIMMING CLUB: People think it's a pretty bonkers way to start your Christmas morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why don't we inflict this pain upon us?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You never really enjoy getting in. We will be honest.

HARRIS: On Christmas day, we get up at about six. It's zero degrees outside. You're driving. It is pitch black, and there might be 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: Races, former veteran members of the club.

HARRIS: J.M. Barrie who wrote Peter Pan, he donated the first cup, and that is why it's called the Peter Pan Cup.

[08:25:00]

My grandfather, Albert Greenberry, swam in the 700 from 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. And then, my family took over the honor of presenting the Peter Pan Cup on Christmas Day. This is 1986. Here is me and my brother, my sister. I went every single Christmas Day to present a cup with my family. Every year, I thought I really should try this. And I never did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lucy --

HARRIS: Harris.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- Harris. Yeah.

HARRIS: It was about 52 when I started. I have to be in the first race because I get so nervous that I just have to get it over and done with. As I'm walking down towards the serpentine, I'm really, really nervous, and then getting in the water, I was like, how am I going to do it? Am I going to do it? Why am I doing it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Already.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 21, 22, 23, 24, 25. Come on. Hurry up.

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, that what I've done. When you get out, it's like your fingers feel like they're burning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know it's very cold now. We're about five minutes.

HARRIS: The people who swim and who belong to the serpentine are particularly unique in their own way.

PAUL ARTHERTON, MEMBER, SERPENTINE SWIMMING CLUB: T, most important part of swimming.

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

ROBIN HUNTER-CODDINGTON, VICE PRESIDENT, SERPENTINE SWIMMING CLUB: It doesn't matter how cold waters you're getting in. And when there is ice, we still get it.

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

HARRIS: The Christmas race is the ultimate race, and I don't know ever give it up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: I'm never going to start. I will give it all up. Out last Christmas cracker today. This one is with Anna (inaudible). Go on. Choose your poison.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will go with this one.

QUEST: Go on. One, two, three. Oh, you win it. Give me the joke. This is all part of our tradition. There is your present for later. There is your hat to put on now, the ritual humiliation that goes with. Here, well, I read the joke. Here we go. How can you tell, how can you tell Santa has had a drink?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know.

QUEST: He has got rosy cheeks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excellent.

QUEST: Thank you very much. (Inaudible). Where is your hurry? That's our program today in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Richard Quest in London. World Sport is next. A very Merry Christmas, whatever you are celebrating this year.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)